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History_of_Allah-com, page : 4
interactive sites. But texts have at all times been fluid and embedded in intertextual
relations and extratextual contexts. Further, texts have always been mere
traces surrounded by what has been lost or suppressed; not only the Internet Archive
but any archive has always had many more holes than content. For all these
reasons, the interpretation of texts must necessarily be an open-ended, dialectical
A HISTORY OF ALLAH.COM
107
hermeneutic exercise. A hermeneutic approach can therefore go a long way to
helping us understand web texts, just like any other text.
THE SURFACE:
SUFIS QUICK TO EMBRACE A NEW MEDIUM?
The address Allah.com was registered relatively early (in 1995) (correction: It was registered in 1986 in Santa Fe, NM, USA then transferred in 1995 to another offshore registry, Figure 1: showed 1986 date ) and for many
years (1998–2006) appeared to be linked to the Sammaniyya tariqa, a Sudanese
religious brotherhood. More specifically, it referred to the spiritual authority of
Shaykh !asan al-Fati" Qariballah (d. 2005), a famous Sammani shaykh from
Omdurman. Originally, it called itself “the site (electronic mosque) of Allah on
the Internet”; later, this was toned down to the “First Site of Prophet Muhammad
on the Internet.”1 Its mission was to promote “The Leading Islamic Revival
relations and extratextual contexts. Further, texts have always been mere
traces surrounded by what has been lost or suppressed; not only the Internet Archive
but any archive has always had many more holes than content. For all these
reasons, the interpretation of texts must necessarily be an open-ended, dialectical
A HISTORY OF ALLAH.COM
107
hermeneutic exercise. A hermeneutic approach can therefore go a long way to
helping us understand web texts, just like any other text.
THE SURFACE:
SUFIS QUICK TO EMBRACE A NEW MEDIUM?
The address Allah.com was registered relatively early (in 1995) (correction: It was registered in 1986 in Santa Fe, NM, USA then transferred in 1995 to another offshore registry, Figure 1: showed 1986 date ) and for many
years (1998–2006) appeared to be linked to the Sammaniyya tariqa, a Sudanese
religious brotherhood. More specifically, it referred to the spiritual authority of
Shaykh !asan al-Fati" Qariballah (d. 2005), a famous Sammani shaykh from
Omdurman. Originally, it called itself “the site (electronic mosque) of Allah on
the Internet”; later, this was toned down to the “First Site of Prophet Muhammad
on the Internet.”1 Its mission was to promote “The Leading Islamic Revival