KUALA LUMPUR, Jan 29 — A Malaysian startup is aiming for Muslims to latch on to its Islamic-compliant internet browser that offers a Muslim-friendly experience, including warnings when users approach websites featuring gambling or pornography.
Hasni Zarina Mohamed Khan, managing director of Salam Web Technologies MY Sdn Bhd, said the mobile browser SalamWeb is targeted at users in Malaysia and Indonesia — two countries with significant Muslim populations.
“We know the Internet has the good and the bad, so SalamWeb offers you a tool to create this window that lets you go to the Internet to see the good,” she was quoted saying by the Bloomberg news service.
“We’re promoting universal values — although SalamWeb is targeted to Muslims, it can be used by anyone,” she also said.
She hopes to have 10 per cent of the 1.8 billion Muslims worldwide using SalamWeb, which also has built-in messaging and news features.
According to Bloomberg, SalamWeb also has content filters that are vetted by the community to tag web pages as appropriate, neutral or inappropriate.
Bloomberg said SalamWeb products have been certified to be compliant by the independent Shariah advisory firm Amanie’s Shariah Supervisory Board, and was developed using the open-source Chromium software used as the basis of the Google Chrome web browser.
A check by Malay Mail on the Google Play store showed the SalamWeb Browser app as having been released on December 10, 2018, with over 10,000 downloads to date and with a crowd-sourced review score of 4.9 stars currently.
The free app is touted by its Dubai-based developer Salam Web Technologies DMCC on Google Play as the “World’s First Shariah Certified Web Browser”, as well as claiming to be the “world’s only Shariah-certified collection of digital tools”.
“It’s a safe online environment that lets you connect and contribute to the Muslim community near and far,” the app developer said.
Among other things, the app developer said users can use SalamWeb to browse, chat, explore, be entertained and “do everything you normally do online”.
Features highlighted include a customised news feed, chat group, widgets for Muslim prayer times and Qibla Compass for Muslims to use during prayer times and daily quotes.
The app is also listed by the developer to be available also for free on the Apple App store.
The SalamWeb website — which is available in English, the Malay language and the Indonesian language — said the app developer works with globally-recognised experts and authorities to ensure their products are in line with their Islamic faith, while also embracing the modern Muslims’ lifestyle.
“We don’t define where everyone’s individual journey takes them, we don’t judge, block or censor — we simply provide digital tools that help our users filter out the noise and focus on what matters most,” it said.
