DOHA, February 26, 2006 (IslamOnline.net) – Al-Balagh Cultural Society, which owns IslamOnline.net, has launched a fund-raising campaign for its new affiliate Web site on Prophet Muhammad (peace and blessings be upon him), which will be launched on March 10 in response to Danish cartoons that lampooned the prophet of Islam.

"I urge Muslims worldwide to translate their love for the prophet into contributions to the 'Muhammad: A Mercy for All' Web site,'" Al-Balagh Board Chairman Sheikh Yusuf Al-Qaradawi said at a press conference in Doha on Saturday, February 25.

"One has to translate his/her respect and love for the Prophet through concrete steps and this project is a token of our love."

Qaradawi, who heads the Dublin-based International Union of Muslim Scholars (IUMS), said that Muslims should be "positive" in defending theProphet "by acquainting the other with his life history, merits and characteristics."

"Muslims have really proved their mettle in the wake of the publication of the cartoons, but have not yet tried their best in removing stereotypes about their Prophet," Qaradawi added, referring to the massive boycott of Danish products in the Muslim world.

The cartoons, one of them showing the Prophet with a bomb-shaped turban, were first published last September in a Danish newspaper and since reprinted in several European papers.

Any image of the Prophet -- let alone biting caricatures -- is considered blasphemous under Islam.

Ibrahim Al-Ansari, the supervisor of the fund-raising campaign, said the launch of a Web site on Prophet Muhammad is a "mammoth task."

"We need $10 million to support the Web site, which will be initially launched in English, then French and German; in other words, we need three million dollars for each section," he said.

"This budget, however, can keep the Web site functioning for three years," he said, adding that Spanish and Italian sections would be launched later.

"We have already enough English materials and will put the French and German pages online once we get the necessary cash."

Al-Balagh's Vice Chairman Ali Muhyealdin Al-Quradaghi said 282 English materials are being prepared for the online publication.

"We decided to take the initiative and launch this Web site," he said.

IOL's Director General Tawfiq Ghanem said the new portal will serve as an all-inclusive reference on the Prophet.

"We are using the IT language to introduce Islam," he said.

The publication of the anti-Prophet cartoons have prompted Muslims in many countries to champion local campaigns to raise awareness of the merits and characteristics of the Prophet in the West.

Denmark has welcomed an initiative by Muslim preacher Amr Khaled to visit the Scandinavian country with a host of Muslim youths to engage in a dialogue with Danish youths and intellectuals.