Rafed Network for Cultural Development

Infobox_Company | company_name = Rafed Network for Cultural Development
company_type = Public
company_slogan =
foundation = Qom, Iran
location_city = Qom
location_country = Iran
key_people = Institute of Ahl al-Bayt (as) for Restoration of Books
num_employees = ?
industry = Publications
revenue = ?
products = online publications, books, etc.
homepage = [http://rafed.net/ http://rafed.net] |

Rafed Network for Cultural Development is an Iran based organization that is behind Rafed.net (شبكة رافد), one of the most popular Shi'a websites.cite web |url= http://www.alexa.com/browse?&CategoryID=180817 |title= Most Popular In Shia |publisher=Alexa Internet] cite web |url= http://www.google.com/Top/Society/Religion_and_Spirituality/Islam/Shia/ | title = Google Directory - Society → Religion and Spirituality → Islam → Shia | publisher = Google]

Origins

The network is based in Qum, the Shi'a academic center of the world. [cite web |url=http://www.almujtaba.com/links/org.html |title=AlMujtaba Links Directory |publisher=AlMujtaba.com] It was established by "Institute of Ahl al-Bayt (as) for Restoration of Books" (Arabic: "Institute of āl al-bayt alayhumassalam li-ihya ul-turrāth", _ar. مؤسّسة آل البيت عليهم السلام لإحياء التراث), a large institute also based in Iran that was established in 1983 [Ar icon [http://rafed.net/about_us.html "about us"] on rafed.net] and has become one of the largest providers of documentation on Shia scholarship in the world, [Ar icon http://rafed.net/aalulbayt/m2a.html] [Ar icon http://rafed.net/aalulbayt/m4a.html] having branches in both Lebanon and Syria. [Ar icon http://rafed.net/aalulbayt/m8a.html]

Rafed.net

They are the owners of Rafed.net, a mainly Arabic site, as can be seen from its [http://rafed.net/ main page] , but it also has an [http://rafed.net/english/ English section] . The site is the most third most visited Shi'a site among Alexa Internet users, second only to Irna.com and al-shia.com.

The site has Qur'an translations [http://rafed.net/quran/quranindex.html in multiple languages] , including Spanish, French, Russian, English and the original Arabic.

The site is notable for spreading the scholarship of Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani, ["Oil in the Gulf: Obstacles to Democracy and Development" By Daniel Heradstveit, page 140, on Google Books [http://books.google.com/books?vid=ISBN0754639681&id=uOAkbzCwxvwC&pg=PA140&lpg=PA140&ots=yR7puZl9cK&dq=Rafed.net&sig=W_LAn1y2uc7RyLePcwExWQsbLmQ#PPA140,M1] ] and is among several Shi'a sites blocked in Saudi Arabia. [cite web | url = http://web.archive.org/web/20060428112814/http://www.shianews.com/hi/articles/politics/0000151.php | title = Religious Freedom in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia - Focus on Citizens | author = Saudi Institute | publisher = Shia News] Joshua Teitelbaum writes:

References

ee also

*Islamonline.net

External links

* [http://rafed.net Rafed.net]