Emel (magazine)

emel Logo

Emel is a British lifestyle magazine that reports on contemporary British Muslim culture. The magazine's name comes from the letters "M" and "L", which stand for "Muslim Life", and also resembles the Arabic word for "hope". Sarah Joseph, a Muslim convert, is the founder and current editor. Joseph married Mahmud Al-Rashid a man of Muslim Bangladeshi heritage, who is also involved in editing the Emel magazine.

Joseph and her husband launched Emel in 2003. It had previously only been available in specialist Muslim bookshops and relied mainly on word of mouth to attract new readers and subscribers. It has since become the most widely read British Muslim magazine. It was the first mainstream Muslim magazine in the UK to experience cross-over interest from non-Muslim readers and its circulation now covers 30 countries.[1] Noted for being politically unaligned, Emel asserts an ethos based on the belief that Islam informs every aspect of life, including fashion, consumerism, and politics. "For emel, lifestyle has the potential to situate modern Muslim practices as part of contemporary consumer culture while simultaneously celebrating Islam's historical heritage."[2]

Lloyds TSB partnered with Emel to launch what it claimed is the first user-generated content driven community website targeting British Muslims, as part of a campaign to promote the national rollout of its sharia-friendly banking services. The new community website, called Emel Postcard,[3] allows members to upload pictures and comments via downloadable "postcards".[4]

References

  1. ↑ Ciar Byrne Muslim Lifestyle Magazine Goes Mainstream The Independent 29 September 2005
  2. ↑ Reina Lewis Marketing Muslim Lifestyle: A New Media Genre "Journal of Middle Eastern Women's Studies" Fall 2010, Volume 6, Number 3, pp. 58–90
  3. ↑ http://www.emelpostcards.com/index.php
  4. ↑ Mark Sweney (23 June 2006). "Lloyds TSB launches Muslim community website | Media | MediaGuardian". London: Guardian. Retrieved 2011-09-30.

External links