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Lucerne, Switzerland. The Dar Al Ifta team under the leadership of Sheik Dr. Ali Gomaa, the Grand Mufti of Egypt has been selected by the Media Tenor Board to receive the Media Tenor Special Award for 2011. Ten years after the terror attacks in New York and Washington it remains a challenge for religious leaders to explain the relations between what religion stands for and the terrorist acts that are committed in its name.
The latest attack in Norway just a few weeks ago highlights how important it is for journalists to understand their role in providing context and background information: too often rumors are taken as facts and once the headlines are printed the damage is often done. .
Media Tenors ongoing research into religion as reported on in the global opinion leading media shows that Muslim leaders are receiving less than 10% of airtime when journalists report about Islam. Back in 9/11 2001, Dr. Ali Gomaa, the Grand Mufti of Egypt, was immediately preparing press releases condemning the terror attack and clarifying that any person injuring an innocent cannot declare himself being in line with the Qur´an. But his interviews and thoughts found only resonance in media from the Arab region. Other religious leaders such as Dr. Mustafa Ceric, the Grand Mufti of Bosnia-Herzegovina, experienced the same difficulties to get his voice heard in the Western media.
Acknowledging these challenges, the team of Dr. Ali Gomaa at the Dar Al Ifta have developed a much better understanding of the media, particularly Western. Dr Gomaa selected team members to travel to Europe and the United States to meet with print media, TV-stations and newswires in order to understand better the inner workings of the media environment and to be better prepared in case of future challenges. Dar Al Ifta started writing opinion pieces for Western media and thereby raising the share of voice of Muslims in the media, resulting in a much better understanding of issues amongst the Western audiences.

To recognize the work and in order to support Dr Gomaa and his team in further improving their efforts, Media Tenor is presenting the Special Media Tenor Award for 2011 to Dar Al Ifta.

About the Dar Al Ifta: The Dar al Ifta in Egypt, Cairo is an educational research institute founded to represent the Islam with particular focus on Islamic legal research. It is aiming at keeping Muslims in touch with religious principles, assisting in determining ‘the right way´ as well as facilitating an understanding between religious and worldly life. For more information visit www.dar-alifta.org.

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