London: Angry over the removal of certain
Islamic pages from Facebook, more than 2.5 million Muslim
users are likely to quit the social networking website,
according to a media report.
Following the removal of four extremely popular Islamic
pages from the website, the Muslim community has expressed
anger and a template letter that has been pasted into numerous
Facebook pages accused the website`s founder Mark Zuckerberg
of "ignoring the feelings of more than 2.5 million Muslims",
the Daily Mail reported.
The letter reads: "Although you have attended the
world’s best communication skills courses you have been most
successful in growing great hatred and hostility between you
and Muslims around the world, but seriously this time you have
caused an almost unrepairable [sic] damage."
The letter demanded not only that the pages are
reinstated but that new rules are introduced which make it a
violation of Facebook?s terms to post anti-Islamic comments.
Apart from reinstating the four deleted pages, the
letter demanded the website to ban disrespecting Islamic
religious symbols and disable any Facebook page which does so.
It warned that unless its demands are met Facebook`s
"2.5 million Muslim users" will join `madina.com` -- a social
networking site for Muslims.
A spokeswoman for Facebook said that the Islamic
pages, which included "I love Mohammed" and "Quran Lovers",
were taken down because they were being used to `spam` users,
which is against the company`s policy.
The letter also accused Facebook of "irresponsible
behaviour" for allowing to host "Everybody Draw Mohammed Day"
pages which sparked controversy for encouraging users to draw
portraits of the Prophet.
According to the report, there is no specific ban on
images of Allah or the Prophet Mohammed in the Quran but there
is one line which is commonly taken to mean that it is
impossible for human hands to recreate his likeness. To
attempt to do so is an insult to Allah, it is believed.
Madina.com is a site set up specifically for the Muslim
community. It pledges to abide by the Islamic principles and
encourages unity among the community.
It also asks female users not to use their photographs in
their profile.
PTI
