Following on the success of the first live fatwa session held inside the virtual Ramadan tent inside Second Life (SL), IslamOnline.net (IOL) held the second session with most of the questions focusing on lifestyle problems that Muslims face in the West.

Sami Mohammed, a senior researcher from IOL's Shari`ah Department, met with visitors of the tent on October 4, 2007, to answer their questions. The session lasted for more than 90 minutes with questions coming from residents from all over the world.

Over 20 people attended the session after the success of the first live fatwa session held one week earlier.

"It's a wonderful experience," said Mohammed. "I look forward to more involvement from the Shari`ah Department inside SL because I think it's an excellent tool to reach out to Muslims and help them."

The questions ranged from whether Muslims can pray with their shoes on to whether they can eat non-halal meat in the West.

There were also non-Muslims attending and asking questions about certain rulings in Islam. "I've made many friends here and it's interesting to learn about Islam in a safe area like SL. There were many things that I didn't understand," said Eng Anderson, a Christian visitor to the tent.

"This is a truly unique opportunity to discuss Shari`ah issues with people on a personal level and transfer personal experiences," said Mohammed after the session. "The level of interactivity that our tent in SL offers is higher than anything we have tried on the website [IOL]."