CAIRO – In a special ceremony in Zurich, Egypt’s Dar Al-Ifta (Fatwa Council) received a special international award on media for its role in developing a better image of Islam in the media, particularly in the West.
“The Dar Al-Ifta team under the leadership of Sheik Dr. Ali Gomaa, the Grand Mufti of Egypt, has been selected by the Media Tenor Board to receive the Media Tenor Special Award for 2011,” Media Tenor said in a statement published on its website.
The announcement of the award to Dar Al-Ifta was made public on Friday, October 7.
According to the Swiss organization, the selection was made on the 10th anniversary of 9/11 attacks to highlight the role played by the prominent organization in showing the true image of Islam.
Media Tenor research showed Muslim leaders are receiving less than 10% of airtime when journalists report about Islam.
Acknowledging the challenges, Grand Mufti Ali Gomaa worked to develop a much better understanding of the media, particularly in the West.
“Dr Gomaa selected team members to travel to Europe and the United States to meet with print media, TV-stations and newswires in order to understand better the inner workings of the media environment and to be better prepared in case of future challenges,” the statement said.
“Dar Al-Ifta started writing opinion pieces for Western media and thereby raising the share of voice of Muslims in the media, resulting in a much better understanding of issues amongst the Western audiences.
“To recognize the work and in order to support Dr Gomaa and his team in further improving their efforts, Media Tenor is presenting the Special Media Tenor Award for 2011 to Dar Al-Ifta,” the statement added.
Media Tenor is one the biggest international associations in media watching, analysis and categorizations.
It has more than 10 branches all over the world that watch and analyze the output of more than 150,000 organizations around the world on which think-tanks depend on in more than 80 countries.
Building Bridges
Receiving the award, Dr Ibrahim Negm, a conselor to the Grand Mufti, reiterated Dar Al-Ifta's commitment to extending bridges of mutual understanding to the West.
"Dar Al-Ifta is committed to building bridges of cooperation, human mutual approach and coexistence between different cultures and civilizations," Dr Negm said in a speech after receiving the award, according to Dar Al-Ifta's website.
The award came as a result of years of efforts by Dar Al-Ifta on the public, Arab, Islamic and international levels by using the most advanced media outlets, including social media, to send its message all over the world in nine different languages, he added.
Dar Al-Ifta is an educational institute founded to represent Islam and the international flagship for Islamic legal research since its establishment in 1313 AH/1895 CE.
It fulfills its role by keeping contemporary Muslims in touch with religious principles, clarifying "the right way," removing doubts concerning religious and worldly life, and revealing religious law for the new issues of contemporary life.
Dar Al-Ifta draws upon the Qur’an and the sunnah of Prophet Muhammad (peace and blessing be upon him), and consults the opinions of jurists throughout history to carry out its important role of helping Muslims live their lives according to the principles of Islam.
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