Assalamu ‘alaykum dear friends of Ijtema.net!

It’s finally here… an exciting, new development from the Ijtema team… the Muslim Bloggers Directory!

The Muslim Bloggers Directory is a categorised collection of links to Muslim blogs, vlogs, and other multimedia channels, with a custom search engine allowing visitors to search through the actual contents of listed sites. It is open to submissions from the public… and it is entirely FREE!

Come on over and see if your site has been listed. If not, submit it today, and become part of the Ijtema community! Visit the FAQ page to learn more about the directory and how to use it, including how to claim an existing entry.

We hope to see you there soon!

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As you have noticed, IJTEMA has been silent for the past half year or so. However, as promised, we had been working behind the scene on our next service. It derives from the same IJTEMA philosophy- sharing good content.

In preparation for the forthcoming launch of our latest service, we launched a new Facebook page, and Twitter stream.

To find out more, please stay tuned on Facebook and Twitter. If enough of you join the fan page on Facebook, we can register for a decent shortcut (i.e., facebook.com/ijtema). So please become a fan NOW!

We shall make the final announcements very soon, inshaAllah.

Please remember IJTEMA and the whole Ummah in your Du’a in this blessed month.

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IJTEMA is in crisis. We tried to come up with solutions, but we have failed so far. The model that we work on- reading a ton of blogs, selecting a few of them, posting them and finding relevant image is a very time consuming process. We are not even sure how much we have achieved, looking at our site meter. It would seem that the model of IJTEMA is a failure.

We also had constant attrition in memebers leaving the group because of their other, “real life” obligations- as IJTEMA duty takes quite some time. And it is not even clear what was being achieved. We had trouble getting new recruits, as we did not write much ourselves, but promoted others’ writings.

The IJTEMA photo contest that we had, two years ago was a success, and I look back at that wistfully. We were unable to do something similar this year.

So we have decided to shut down the normal operation of IJTEMA for the time being. We do not want the brand that we have made to get lost, so the site will be there for some time, inshaAllah. Also because we want the archives to be available, at least for some time.

We are also planning to have a blog directory. InshaAllah it will be completed.

In the meantime, if you want something of your own writing to be published here at IJTEMA, please do forward it to editor AT ijtema DOT net

Therefore, allow me to say JazakAllah khair to our group members, the writers and to our readers for staying around all these years when we were experimenting with IJTEMA, and inspiring us. We hope to be back, one day, when we have another idea worth experimenting with. InshaAllah that time it will be a success.

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We need your help.

It’s not money. We need something more. We need your participation.

The Islamosphere has grown considerably over the time since IJTEMA was first launched almost two years ago in March 2007.  In size, scope and quality. It has become very difficult for us to keep track of the new pots that are coming up every minute.

We need your help in keeping Ijtema at it’s best. Please share with us the posts you like- including your own. The post you like is publicized, you also gain a link as a hat-tip, and Ijtema benefits. Only with your active help, can we hope to bring you the best.

A Ijtema blog directory is just in the offing. We shall need your help in making that directory a useful resource, inshaAllah.

Please go here and drop us a tip.

JazakAllah khair in advance.

-IJTEMA team.

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Voting to select the category winners is open until the 19th December, 2008.

So, umm… if you like what we do… you know what to do! {grin}

Best wishes to all the other nominees!

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And just to help you keep up the Ramadan spirit all year round, insha’Allah, check out this awesome series of short posts on how to realise the true beauty of Salat. Eleven posts on, and I think it’s still being updated! Subhanallah.

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Just a quick note that, due to the advent of the final ten nights of Ramadhan, updates may not be as frequent. Please remember us and the entire ummah in your thoughts and prayers. Ameen!

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The team at Ijtema.net wish all of our readers a wonderful and fulfilling Ramadan!

If you have an interesting and inspiring story to share about this sacred month, why not submit it to the MuslimMatters.org Ramadan short story contest? There are some great prizes on offer, so do check it out, as the deadline is 15th September!

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Umm Zakiyya is a mother of two, a Katrina survivor, an active community member and student of knowledge (Islamic and secular). She is currently enrolled for an MA in English, and refuses riba-based loans, so she and her husband are paying out-of-pocket for her education.

Umm Zakiyya has created a short video starring Zakiyya for a scholarship opportunity. The video that gets the most views gets the scholarship. So we can help simply by taking 2 minutes to go watch this sweet little video, and by sharing this with others inshaAllah.

“You can help me win a scholarship just by watching this
video. The entry that secures the most views will win a $5,000
scholarship. All you have to do is view the video, available at this
link.  If you want to help even more, you can forward this video to
everyone you know. Every view helps. If you have a blog, facebook,
myspace page or website, I would certainly appreciate a link.”

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SO5oP8YlxR8

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