Bismillah,

It’s time to offer a different type of analysis of an already huge story.

As most of you have heard, Why Islam has been under a lot of heat lately because of their attempt to do dawah on New York subways. The goal is to place ads within the subways that provoke thought with those who see the ads thus, drawing them to their website where they can learn more about Islam. The controversy? The controversy arises with the sponsors of the ads and some bigoted republican, Peter King, who is calling on the Metropolitan Transit Authority to take down the ads claiming Sheikh Siraj Wahaj, a supporter of the ads, is “linked to terrorism.”

I thought it was time for me to do my research and analyze the subway controversy.

As I was doing my research the first place I went to look for information was WhyIslam.org. To my surprise they had nothing on their Web site mentioning anything about the controversy.

This in turn, provoked me to write this post offering my advise to both Why Islam and anyone else who may be put in the situation of crisis communication (may Allah protect us from this):

1. Information on Web site*

From a public relations perspective, not having information on the website is not a very good idea. So far, it seems Why Islam has really defended themselves well, mashaAllah. However, in crisis communication you should always provide outsiders with information.

I understand that millions of people must have gone– and are still going– to the Web site. And I also understand the over all goal is to educate the public about Islam. However, know that millions of reporters are also going to the Web site looking for any information about the controversy and looking for any statements from the organization. This is perhaps the first place a reporter looks. So my advice to Why Islam is to place a section on the Web site with a statement about the controversy, and any other information debunking myths surrounding the crisis situation.

If you don’t already have a communications director get a PR person to write the pieces that will go up on your Web site. This is extremely important for the credibility of your company. The way it looks as of now is that there is something shady that no one wants to talk about.

May Allah make it easy on all those involved.

2. Get people to write letters to the editor (opinion pieces), in defense of the ads.

Get public figures to back you up and support you. I saw that the mayor was not against the ads saying that if people wanted to spread Islam, they are protected by free speech. When writing press releases or opinion pieces one should mention these big public figures and their stance with your campaign. It will build your credibility, and get you more public support.

The most important aspect of this is to get people who are well informed and preferably people from your communication/PR department to write any press releases or other statements that will be sent to major media.

3. Always have a calm and collected spokesperson.

The general image of Muslims today is that they are violent and always angry. Having a spokesperson who is both eloquent in speech but not someone who gets angry easily is the way to go. CAIR does a great job of this with their spokesperson, Ibrahim Hooper. He knows when to be tough when he needs to, but he’s also not raging with anger.

The video with Br. Azeem Khan was a great example of this as well:

4. Be proactive, not reactive. Take advantage of the media blitz.

This is hard with crisis communication, only because you have to be reactive to the issue that has just ensued. However, be prepared and minimize the possibility of the situation getting any bigger.

Be prepared for anything they might throw at you. With the media spotlight on you, do more dawah activities and work. Make pseudo events and invite media to your events, give back to the community and during Ramadan give lots of food to the poor.  This should all of course be done purely for the sake of Allah, but there is no problem using this opportunity for spreading Islam by inviting the media. This can be done in various communities sponsored by Why Islam. And each locality can invite the media of that area to attend an iftaar or any other event sponsored by Why Islam.

5. Build good relations with reporters, and get contact information.

Not all reporters are out to make you look bad. Be nice and courteous with them and exchange contact information. Let them know that if anything new happens you’ll call them to report on it. That way anytime you have a major event in the future, you build a good relationship and can have a nice story about Islam run in the paper or on the news.

6. Pray istikhara before making any moves.

This is especially important for Muslims because we may think that we will say something that will make the situation better, but wallahu alem things get turned on us very quickly and easily. Seek Allah’s help in everything that you do and put your trust in Him alone.

For anyone in a crisis communication situation, be sure to follow these few guidelines of many.

We ask Allah ‘az wa jal to make it easy on the Muslims everywhere, and to give us success in this life and the hereafter, ameen.

Wallahu ta’ala alem.

—-

*If anyone is wondering why I wrote “Web site” rather than “website”then this is because this is the way it is written in Associated Press style.

This post is for everyone who wants to start a blog or wants to improve the traffic to their (already existing) blog.

And no, no my friends, this is not going to be a tutorial on how to set a blog up. Rather, this post is dedicated to the writing tips needed to make your blog successful. I will be teaching many many writing techniques in my media writing class, inshaAllah.  Here’s a taste:

1. Fear Allah in everything you write. Take naseeha from others.

I’ve posted things up and taken things down several times. And I’ll probably continue to do this once I realize a mistake. Humble yourself, and realize you’ll be held accountable for everything.

2. Have a theme.

When people come to your blog they should know exactly what type of topics they can expect to see. Of course you can veer off and talk about other topics. However, people like certainty. People who come to my blog know that I will never write about celebrity gossip. Rather, they can expect to see posts about media, Islam, culture and more. Differentiate yourself from all other blogs out there.

3. Write in an organized fashion.

ofen timez i c peoples write lik dis and i’z wants to bring dem back 2 skool.

When you write on your blog, actually write in a professional manner. No one wants to decider code on your blog; It requires too much from your audience. It will make your audience reluctant to read more than the first paragraph of your post. Also, be mindful of grammar, punctuation and the over-all appearance of your post.

4. Pay attention to your headlines and leads.

The most important parts of an article are the headlines and the leads (hooks) to your stories.

You have to try to catch people’s attention in the very beginning if you expect them to read more. The lead is the very first paragraph to your article. It should generally give the readers an idea of what the whole post will be about. It can be in the form of a story, an anecdote, or even just facts. I will cover these in depth in my class, inshaAllah.

5. Write in inverted pyramid style.

Start with the most important information. As the article goes down the information becomes less and less important. This is flexible for blogs. But it’s definitely a useful way to write and get your point across fast. This is something every journalist does, and likewise it works well with blogs too.

6.  Have a unique outlook on different topics.

If you want to write about a subject that many other people have written about or you would like to write about a general topic, offer a new outlook or perspective to the topic at hand. No one wants to read things that they’ve heard in other places — unless they are Islamic reminders. However, even with Islamic reminders sometimes it’s nice to give real examples of the topic at hand. This in turn, will help the reader identify with the topic and open way for dialog/discussion. Also, include some of your personality in your theme and the style in which you write.

7. Include pictures with your post.

For every post, include at least one picture. If you’re post becomes lengthy, it gives the eyes a break from all the words if you include pictures thus making it more visually appealing for people to continue to read until the bottom of your post.

8. Don’t start off with questions or quotes.

One rule in journalism is that we never start articles with questions or quotes. There are rare exceptions to this rule. If you ever decide to start off with a question, the only time it’s acceptable is if you answer it immediately after you ask it. Again, don’t demand too much from your readers.

9. Write on an 8th grade level.

This really depends on your audience. If your target audience is a specialized group of people this could be different. But try avoiding jargon and gobbledygook. Write in a manner in which all people 13 and up can understand. (This is another journalistic rule.)

10. Interact in in the comments section.

If you want to make your blog interactive, the best way to do this is for you yourself to interact with those who come to your site. Your blog will not be warm and welcoming if you do not answer people’s questions and contribute to the discussion.

I hope these were helpful, and inshaAllah I will be covering many, many more writing tips and techniques in my media writing class later this year, inshaAllah.

Use these techniques and watch your traffic grow. Use Alexa.com to check your progress every once in a while. This will show you what number your website ranks against all the other websites in the world. The more traffic and people linking to your blog, the higher your rank.

And lastly, write things that you think will be of benefit to people.

Wallahu Alem.

Brought to you by Minbar Media.

BBC News printed this article which I find pretty interesting and shocking. Particularly the last two sentences of the article:

Source: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/7514567.stm

The young film-maker told the BBC she was repeatedly groped in broad daylight by a van driver in a Cairo traffic jam as she walked on the pavement.

His behaviour made her so angry she ran after the van and held on to the side mirror to force the driver to stop so she could take him to a police station.

She was equally shocked by the attitude of other passers-by. Some tried to dissuade her from going to the police – others blamed her for what she was wearing (a baggy sports outfit).

In the end, after a tussle with the man that lasted for more than one hour, the strong-willed Ms Ostath dragged the man to the police station.

But even there, police officers refused to open an investigation and insisted on the presence of her father despite the fact that she is not a minor – she is 26.

Impudent allegation

After Noha’s story was published in the Badeel daily, editor-in-chief Muhammad El Sayyed Said wrote that the behaviour of the crowd was characteristic of oppressed societies, where the majority identified with the oppressor.

He blamed the increase in sexual harassment on what he said were “three decades of incitement against women” from the pulpits of some of Egypt’s mosques.

“This verbal incitement is based on the extremely sordid and impudent allegation that our women are not modestly dressed. This was, and still is, a flagrant lie, used to justify violence against women in the name of religion.”

The British foreign office says Egypt is one of the countries with the highest number of cases reported to embassy staff regarding sexual offences against visiting women.

It warns them to be extra cautious in public places especially when alone because of the risks.

Ms Abou El-Qoumsan says Egyptians need to re-evaluate their value system and school curricula and to ensure that the rule of law prevails and prevents offenders and criminals walking free because of a breakdown of basic notions of right and wrong.

Thanks to surveys like this, one encounters an endless number of newspaper articles reflecting the feeling that Egypt is in the grip of a moral crisis.

Perhaps nothing illustrates Egypt’s loss of a moral compass than the responses of some men in the ECWR study.

Some said they harassed a woman simply because they were bored. One who abused a woman wearing the niqab said she must be beautiful, or hiding something.

—————————————————————————

The study fails to mention the fact that most women in Egypt don’t wear proper hijab. They wear tight clothes, do their make-up and have half of their arms (and sometimes hair) also showing.

Hijab is an accessory for most girls in Egypt.

Egyptian authorities are useless. They don’t do anything. They give you a ticket when you stop your car somewhere for five minutes to wait for someone, and then they don’t give tickets to people who speed or those who don’t wear seat belts. The funny (not-so-funny) thing about the authorities in Egypt is that THEY are the ones that harass girls in the streets the most!

Anyway, just thought I’d add this to previous discussions. Wallahul musta’an.