Nancy (left) accepts a memento from Zabariah.
KUCHING: The Sarawak Islamic Information Centre (SIIC) has launched its own web application (app) to facilitate the search for information on Islam by the public – Muslims and non-Muslims alike.
The ‘IICpedia’ also hosts the platform to enable users to find out SIIC’s activities all year long.
Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department Datuk Seri Nancy Shukri, who launched the app at the audtorium of Pustaka Negeri here yesterday, congratulated SIIC for heeding the call for digital technology.
She said the move also indicated that Islam was never a religion that did not embrace technology.
“The ‘Islamification’ of technology allows Muslims worldwide to show a different side of our religion – its helps forge a new, more global Islamic identity.
“The adoption and Islamification of technology have a deeper meaning, characterised by how the young generation of Muslims are adopting and using technology to move away from older, conventional practices,” she said.
Nancy also pointed out that technology had enabled Muslims to learn, question, teach and expand network via various social sites and mobile apps, as opposed to the past when seeking knowledge about Islam was fairly restricted to religious and educational institutions, as well as learning from the ‘ulama’ (Muslim scholars).
“Via the app (IICpedia), Muslims here can now download and utilise a myriad of other apps to help know prayer times and the ‘qiblat’ (direction of the Kaabah, where Muslims must face in every prayer), as well as the information about and the direction to the nearest mosques, halal restaurants and travel destinations.
“In fact, there are even apps that can help us improve our recitation of the Holy Quran and verify facts about Islam,” she said.
SIIC chief executive officer Zabariah Matali was among those witnessing the launch.