Pakistani social networking site for Muslims

"Millatfacebook is Pakistan's very own first social networking site. A site for Muslims by Muslims where sweet people of other religions are also welcome."

This is the statement that greets you when you go to millatfacebook.com. The six young entrepreneurs who created the site say it is for Muslims to interact online. The Urdu word "millat" means "nation".

The new site has already attracted over 4,300 members. Some of the members say they joined so that they could stay in touch with their friends when Facebook was blocked. Others see the site as an alternative for Muslims angered by the American site.

"A service that does not hurt the sentiments of any religion"

The founders of the site write on the page that they have set up their alternative site because of Facebook's refusal to take the complaints of Muslims seriously.

"The reason behind the launching of Millatfacebook is very simple," Azhar Siddique, an advocate and one of the site's co-founders, told Deutsche Welle.

"Facebook was basically meant to disturb the thoughts of Islam as well as certain other religions; as far as Millatfacebook is concerned, it is going to provide a service which won't hurt the sentiments of any religion. It is open for all – it is only meant for social networking and there should be no direct or indirect hurt to anybody in any case whatsoever."

Blasphemous "Prophet-drawing competition"

Earlier this month, a user of the popular American social networking site posted an initiative called "Everybody Draw Mohammad Day" – they called on members to draw the Prophet in order to promote so-called "freedom of expression". The depiction of any prophet is considered blasphemous by Islam and is prohibited.

In response to the post, some Muslim activists and students took to the streets of Pakistan to protest. Facebook received hundreds of complaints.

A court in Lahore imposed a ban on the site, which the Pakistan Telecommunications Authority then implemented. It also blocked YouTube for displaying what it considered "sacrilegious content" and restricted access to hundreds of other websites.

Facebook's statistics state that the site has some 400 million users worldwide. In Pakistan, there are some 2.5 million users.

Goal to become biggest Muslim social networking site

Therefore, with fewer than 5,000 members, Millatfacebook has some way to go if it wants to catch up with the original Facebook. However, the goal is to become the biggest Muslim social networking site in the world.

With members from countries as far flung as Britain, Russia and Canada, the founders are satisfied that they are already on the way.

But Dr Hasan Askari Rizvi, an international relations expert and Facebook user, had his doubts: "I think the whole Facebook issue has become more of an issue in Pakistan. There is less controversy in any other Islamic countries and therefore this Facebook may just be a Pakistani enterprise. It is not going to take off in the other countries."

"Faith should be strong enough to counter blasphemy"

However, even in Pakistan, the site has its critics, who say that the online experience is far from adequate. Others, such as Amara, an associate professor of English at Punjab University, simply could not see the point in a new site.

"If it succeeds in replacing the old Facebook there will still maybe be the same issues. If you make your own room dark and close your own eyes, how does that stop people from harming you?" she asked.

"Our faith should be strong enough no matter how many Facebooks there are, whether there are one or a million, our faith should be strong enough to be able to counter blasphemy against the Prophet."

Pakistan lifted the ban on YouTube earlier this week. Facebook is expected to be banned until the end of the month. The page that originally caused offense among Muslims has disappeared from Facebook.com.

Author: Anne Thomas
Editor: Grahame Lucas