'Halalgoogling' - The Muslim Search Engine That Blocks Un-Islamic Content

A pro-Islamic search engine named Halalgoogling was launched recently to help Muslims look for online content the "Halal" way.

The search engine blocks un-Islamic content in cyberspace when "forbidden" keywords are entered. The website uses an "advanced special filtration system that blocks 'haram' content according to the law of Islam".

The engine fetches results from both Google and Bing for its searches. According to the website, the filtration system prohibits online content pertaining to "pornography, nudity, gay, lesbian, bisexual, gambling and anti-Islamic content".

However, a statement on the blog admits: "Despite our best efforts to make our service as secure as possible from haram content, there is still much work to be done. We still have several milestones to overcome, but with God willing (Insha'Allah) and your help we will make Halalgoogling suitable for every Muslim brother and sister and achieve our common goal."

The blog claims that Halalgoogling is an alternative to the existing search engines that do not satisfy the needs of Muslims. Halalgoogling is said to be designed to respect Muslim culture.
Apart from keywords, the search engine also blacklists websites and links to websites which are considered anti-Islamic.

Halalgoogling has sparked mixed reactions in the online world.

While scores of pro-Islamic users have welcomed the site, some have mocked the idea.

One commentator named Sherry tweeted: "So I just googled #halalgoogling to know more about it.. We Muslims really wanna prove it to the world how stupid we are!"

Another used hailed the initiative saying it is the Muslim world's best-used search engine.

IBTimes UK is yet to receive an official response from the search engine owners.