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Salamworld aims to draw Muslims from around the world to have a 'halal' space online. The Turkish startup has already received financial backing from investors in Russia and Kazakhstan.

Social networking is big business. Facebook, with its user base of over 800 million users, is expected to raise billions of dollars when it becomes a publicly-traded company later this spring. But Facebook's not the only game in town. In China, Sina Weibo reports 227 million user accounts, while Russia's Vkontakte says it has more than 100 million.

Enter a new Istanbul-based startup, Salamworld, which hopes to establish itself as the social networking giant of the Islamic world. The company says it will offer a halal-friendly space for Muslims to gather online.

Even though the site won't be open to the public until the Muslim holy month of Ramadan, set for late July in the Western calendar, that hasn't stopped buzz in the Turkish tech world from bringing Salamworld to the fore.

At a recent launch event at Istanbul's posh Ciragan palace, a promo video outlined the company's ambitious plans.

"By filtering out harmful content, and by making the content uphold and respect family values, we confirm to the requirements of Muslims throughout the world," the video trumpeted. "As Salamworld, our aim is to overcome all political, language and cultural barriers, to open the world to Muslims, and open Muslims to the world."

Salamworld is slated to launch in July 2012

Halal social networking

The company's goal is 50 million users in three years - a very ambitious target.

The launch gathered Islamic leaders from around the world, including those from across Europe and the Middle East. Many shared the feelings of Fouzan Akhmed Khan, an activist from Canada, who praised the effort by Muslims to engage with technology instead of cursing it as evil.

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Muslim social networking site set to launch