Salamworld, the Social Network for 'Core Muslim Values'

Facebook has won a near-billion following around the world by being all things to all people. Nearly anyone can join and search out people and groups they know (or would like to know). It’s a teeming and sometimes raucous online party—and nobody gets turned away. Does the same model work with a user base that shares a common identity and that at some level is more interested in defining cultural boundaries than blurring them?

Abdul-Vakhed Niyazov, the chairman of Salamworld, thinks the answer is yes. His company, headquartered in Istanbul, aims to launch what it hopes will be the world’s next great social network—a Facebook founded on what he calls “core Muslim values.” Salamworld’s founders, an array of Turkish, Russian, and Central Asian businessmen and media professionals, say the site’s development is driven by the absence of an online environment that fosters Islamic community rather than Western-style individualism. Other sites contain content that would be objectionable to most Muslims, he says.