There are hundreds of millions of Muslims worldwide, practicing their faith in a huge variety of different ways. They are a disparate group, yet they are united through their core beliefs. They are a group whose origins are found some 1400 years in the past, their ethnicity often inextricably linked with their faith. Hitherto, however, there has been no way to easily unify them and their common appreciation of Islam. The .HALAL gTLD will change this.
As Halal is one of the concepts of the Islam religion, the .HALAL gTLD is the perfect way to easily and simply tie together online the peoples of various nations connected religiously to the Muslim community which was first established more that 1400 years ago.
The .HALAL gTLD will be a community application with open to those who embrace the concept and requirements of Halal.
Islam is the monotheistic religion articulated by the Qurʹan, a text considered by its adherents to be the verbatim word of God (Arabic: Allāh ), and by the teachning and normative example (called the Sunnah and composed of Hadith) of Muhammad, considered by them to be the last prophet of God. An adherent of Islam is called a Muslim.
The majority of Muslims are Sunni, being 75–90% of all Muslims. The second largest sect, Shia, makes up 10–20%. About 13% of Muslims live in Indonesia, the largest Muslim country, 25% in South Asia, 20% in the Middle East, 2% in Central Asia, 4% in the remaining South East Asian countries, and 15% in Sub-Saharan Africa. Sizable communities are also found in China, Russia, and parts of Europe. With over 1.5 billion followers or over 22% of earthʹs population, Islam is the second-largest and one of the fastest-growing religions in the world.
Halal (Arabic: حلال ḥalāl, ʺlawfulʺ) is a term designating any object or an action which is permissible to use or engage in, according to Islamic law. The term is used to designate food seen as permissible according to Islamic law.
The terms Halal is also applied to many other facets of life; and one of the most common uses of these term is in reference to meat products, food contact materials, and pharmaceuticals. In Islam there are many things that must clearly be defined as halal.
The concept of Halal has slowly become accepted as a consumer lifestyle choice encompassing not only religious practices and food, but also finance, non-food products and logistics. Halal provides a set of laws and guiding principles, and separates out those animals that are prohibited (‘haram’) and permitted (‘Halal’). As well as outlining methods of slaughtering, Halal prohibits consuming blood or blood products and intoxicants (e.g. alcohol) etc.The common understanding of Halal is still limited to religious needs and only applicable to Muslims. It is considered a given in Turkey and the Middle East, although consumers in this region generally do not place much importance on specific Halal branding, certification or country of origin.
A robust gTLD has the power to bring together Muslims across national borders in a free-flowing exchange of information and commerce. There is not a .COM or .ORG equivalent of .HALAL--a domain that has universal appeal across a common religion.
Asia Green IT System Bilgisayar San. ve Tic. Ltd. Sti. (AGITSys) was founded in (as is headquartered in) Turkey (an Islamic nation that straddles Europe and the Middle East) by Muslim people with great affinity with their religion, which manifests itself in both pride and honor. Because of this, and their devotion to creating a quality online space for the Muslim faithful amongst others, AGITSys’ founders have gathered together a highly experienced team with a variety of Internet-based expertise, a daunting but critical task. The team behind AGITSys has taken a leading role in working toward dedicated Muslim domain names for more than 8 years. No entity is better suited to manage the .HALAL gTLD, nor more dedicated to providing new online tools and services to facilitate the unification of the .HALAL community online. The .HALAL gTLD will increasingly open up the vast resources of the Internet and the interconnectedness it brings to the Muslims community, while stimulating the introduction of more information and resources among Muslims online. The .HALAL gTLD is designed to accommodate a global community, and AGITSysʹ team’s work with ICANN has always looked not just to serving Muslim people but all users of the internet - thus serving Muslims and those interested in the Muslim faith all around the world – whilst simultaneously achieving ICANN’s goal of creating greater competition in the gTLD space. |