Little has been said in the media, however, in regards to how Muslims on Second Life feel about sharing their virtual space with a bunch of right-wing hooligans. Not surprisingly, the main mosque soon found itself the object of virtual bovver-boy attention, with one muscular FN avatar making himself an unwelcome albeit regular visitor, often proudly sporting his ‘Le Pen’ T-shirt. Repeated requests to leave and reports of harassment to Lindens Labs, the owners of Second Life, came to little and eventually the owner of the mosque land electronically banned the most persistent FN visitor from the mosque parcel. It was a decision not without apparent consequences.

Thirty minutes after the ban, every avatar belonging to the two anti-Nazi groups on SL was electronically excluded from Front National land. The next day, on Muslim New Year, the mosque suffered multiple attacks, the first by two unknown avatars spouting anti-Semitic slogans and sitting on the Qur’an. An illegal script was then set off, which caused everyone inside the mosque to crash out of Second Life. The owner of the mosque, a professional artist in real life, had already decided enough was enough. On Sunday, he made the mosque accessible via a members only group. Everyone on Second Life who has visited the mosque recognises this as a tragedy. Like the synagogue, also produced by a real life professional artist, the mosque is one of those creations that helps define Second Life as an aesthetic medium, rather than simply a gaming one. Nazis, as we all know, are not just Islamophobes; they are philistines.

Sadly, there is insufficient evidence to link these latest attacks to Front National, or to prove that they were planned and organised by them. On Second Life, is it easy to create a ‘fake’ avatar using a different email address and anti-FN groups believe that this ploy is already in use by FN. In the last few weeks, there have been reports of traditional Nazi targets – blacks, gays, Jews - finding themselves the victims of ‘griefers’. As yet, no one can link all these attacks to FN, but the group remain the object of intense suspicion and indeed hostility from many people on Second Life. As an Officer for the new mosque group, I have found myself recruiting informers who frequent Nazi hangouts to make sure our group is not infiltrated by trouble makers. It sounds like a joke, but some Muslims view the Second Life mosque as a sacred space.

My own view is that Second Life is no different from a chat room or website or indeed a blogging forum like eteraz. Both of these mediums provide the opportunity to build lively, intelligent communities, but they also provide a chance for trouble makers and hatemongers to sow discord and create strife. Second Life is scattered with temples, churches, Buddhist pagodas and gardens, shrines and even an ashram – which floats 500 virtual metres above the ground, built by people who are often knowledgeable and passionate about their religion or philosophy. Yesterday, I was sat with my virtual Shi’a friend, a convert and well known Muslim blogger, discussing ancient Near Eastern religions at an ancient Sumerian sim (simulation) with an avatar whom clearly had a serious long-standing interest in the subject in real life. Although sex, gambling, shopping and role play are prevalent on Second Life, there are enough places and people like this – as per real life – to make it worth fighting for.

POSTSCRIPT: In the process of setting up the new group to protect the mosque from griefers, the mosque building was inadvertantly damaged. Combined with the restricted access, the result is that Second Life's emerging Muslim community has been effectively shattered. This was an international community which includes Sunni, Shi'a and even Alawis.