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{{Infobox company |
name = Rafed Network for Cultural Development |
type = [[Public company|Public]] |
company_slogan = |
foundation = [[London]], [[UK]]|
location_city = London|
location_country = UK|
key_people = Institute of Ahl al-Bayt (as) for Restoration of Books|
num_employees = ?|
industry = Publications|
revenue = ?|
products = online publications, books, etc.|
homepage = [http://rafed.net/ http://rafed.com]|}}

'''Rafed Network for Cultural Development''' is behind '''Rafed.net''' & '''Rafed.com''' (شبكة رافد للتنمية الثقافية), one of the most popular [[Shi'a]] websites.<ref name=Alexa>{{cite web |url= http://www.alexa.com/browse?&CategoryID=180817 |title= Most Popular In Shia |publisher=[[Alexa Internet]]}}</ref>

==Origins==
The rafed network is based in Shi'a academic center of the world.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.almujtaba.com/links/org.html |title=AlMujtaba Links Directory |publisher=AlMujtaba.com}}</ref> It was established by ''Institute of Ahl al-Bayt (as) for Restoration of Books'' (Arabic: ''Institute of āl al-bayt alayhumassalam li-ihya ul-turrāth'', {{lang|ar|مؤسّسة آل البيت عليهم السلام لإحياء التراث}}), a large institute that was established in 1983<ref>{{in lang|ar}} [http://rafed.com/about_us.html "about us"] on rafed.net</ref> and has become one of the largest providers of documentation on [[Shia]] scholarship in the world,<ref>{{in lang|ar}} https://www.rafed.com/ar/aal-ul-bayt
</ref> having branches in [http://en.alulbayt.com/ UK], [http://www.alulbait.de/ Germany], [http://www.alulbeyt.com.tr/ Turkey] [[Lebanon]] and [[Syria]].

==Rafed.net & Rafed.com==
They are the owners of Rafed.net, a mainly Arabic site, as can be seen from its main page, but it also has an English section. The site is the most third most visited Shi'a site among [[Alexa Internet]] users, second only to [[Islamic Republic News Agency|Irna.com]] and [[al-shia.com]].<ref name=Alexa/>

The site has [[Qur'an]] translations in multiple languages, including [[Spanish language|Spanish]], [[French language|French]], [[Russian language|Russian]], [[English language|English]] and the original [[Arabic language|Arabic]].

The site is notable for spreading the scholarship of [[Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani]],<ref>"Oil in the Gulf: Obstacles to Democracy and Development" By Daniel Heradstveit, page 140, on [[Google Books]] [https://books.google.com/books?id=uOAkbzCwxvwC&dq=Rafed.net&pg=PA140]</ref> and is among several Shi'a sites blocked in [[Saudi Arabia]].<ref>{{cite web | url = http://www.shianews.com/hi/articles/politics/0000151.php | title = Religious Freedom in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia - Focus on Citizens | author = Saudi Institute | publisher = Shia News |archiveurl = https://web.archive.org/web/20060428112814/http://www.shianews.com/hi/articles/politics/0000151.php |archivedate = 2006-04-28}}</ref> Joshua Teitelbaum writes:
{{quote|Many in Saudi Arabia’s minority (about 12%) Shi‘i population seem to spend much of their Internet time at Arabic-language Shi‘i sites. Rafed.net, and other such sites, report that 45% of their traffic comes from the Kingdom. These sites are apparently banned, but the owners switch domain names often and users have developed techniques to get around the Saudi censor.<ref>Joshua Teitelbaum, a Senior Research Fellow at the [[Moshe Dayan Center for Middle Eastern and African Studies]] at [[Tel Aviv University]], referencing Joseph Braude, “Iran: A Growing Internet Market Weathers a Temporal Storm,” Pyramid Research Advisory Service, May 18, 2001. {{cite web |url=http://www.tau.ac.il/dayancenter/Teitelbaum.pdf |title=Archived copy |accessdate=2006-12-30 |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20041227054359/http://www.tau.ac.il/dayancenter/Teitelbaum.pdf |archivedate=2004-12-27 }}</ref>}}

==See also==

* [[The Ahlulbayt (a.s.) Global Information Center]]
* [[Ahlul Bayt Digital Islamic Library Project]]

==References==
{{reflist}}

==External links==
*[http://rafed.net Rafed.net]
*[http://rafed.com Rafed.com]

[[Category:Shia Islamic websites]]
[[Category:Shia organizations]]

Rafed Network for Cultural Development - Revision history

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