Yesterday, I had the pleasure of attending the event "Understanding Islam through Virtual Worlds" at the Carnegie Council for Ethics in International Affairs with about 50 other people. The gathering featured Rita King and Joshua Fouts discussing their project to research how Muslims have been using virtual worlds, particularly Second Life, as a medium to express their faith, find community with each other, and connect with people of different faiths. It was a really insightful discussion about how technology can facilitate intercultural and interreligious understanding and collaboration.
Rita and Joshua are interested in a variety of media to present their findings, including a short machinima presentation produced by Ill Clan, a comic book, as well as a written report. Thus it made perfect sense for them to invite Iranian hip-hop artist Yas (the "Persian Tupac") to drop some Farsi rhymes on us in the middle of their presentation. I don't understand a word, but he sounds pretty dope.
As a virtual world enthusiast, a person of faith, and a global citizen, I look forward to reading more about their findings.