Publish date15 Jan 2011 - 11:45
Story Code : 36788

First Muslim paper launched in Holland

An enthusiastic, young Dutch Muslim salesman of advertisemennt products has given up his job to devote his time and energy to Muslim media in order to correct the false and misrepresented image of Muslims in his country.
Mevlana Mosque in Rotterdam, Netherlands, built in 2001
Mevlana Mosque in Rotterdam, Netherlands, built in 2001
An enthusiastic, young Dutch Muslim salesman of advertisement products has given up his job to devote his time and energy to Muslim media in order to correct the false and misrepresented image of Muslims in his country.

Josef Stevens who converted to Islam 15 years ago established the company called Muslimmedia a year ago and last October the first newspaper Moslim Vandaaag in Dutch (Muslim today) was launched reported Taqrib News Agency (TNA).

He explained that an Islamic paper has been a dream of all Dutch Muslims.

"They watch the TV and read newspapers which talk about Muslims but Muslims feel disappointed and misunderstood because they are attacking Islam and our Prophet," he said.

"We want to give a response so I think it is in the back of the Muslims that it will be very nice to have a Muslim media but what stands in the way is that people believe it's not possible. So I decided to quit my job and do it," said Stevens who was in Belgium to attend an Islamic conference.

The second edition of the 16-page monthly paper was published recently and Stevens said he is also planning to create a Muslim news agency.

Moslim Vandaag is being distributed free as it receives advertisements and support from Muslim business and commercial houses in the Netherlands.

Up to 25,000 copies of the newspaper are being printed every month and for the moment it is mainly distributed in Amsterdam.

Stevens said when they succeed in stabilising in the market in Amsterdam they will start distributing the paper in other Dutch cities.

Asked what made him convert to Islam, Stevens said he had a lot of friends from Muslim countries but he was not interested in Islam as he thought it was all about violence and repression.

But when he started reading the Quran and the life of the Prophet and Islamic books it cleared his mind and removed the misunderstandings about Islam.

The number of Muslims in the Netherlands is roughly estimated to be around 2.500,000 people with the number of mosques increased from 8 in 1970 to 450 in the present time.



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