In the right hands, Facebook can be a powerful social networking hub to keep tabs on far-flung friends, find a job or push a cause. In the wrong hands, it can reveal a treasure trove of dark secrets--photos of drunken coworkers, confessions of stoned preteens, and clues to an unfaithful spouse.

Some Muslims worry it runs afoul of Muslims standards of modesty. Others see it as a home to offensive images like depictions of the Prophet Muhammad, and have personalized Facebook to fit their Islamic beliefs.

"There's such a thing as virtual modesty," said Shahed Amanullah, editor-in-chief of altmuslim.com, a popular online magazine. "If you're modest in the real world, you can be modest in the virtual world."

While Amanullah says only a minority of Muslims would go as far as Elamawy and remove photos from websites, he said "the best way to gauge how Muslims interact in social networks is to look at Muslim responses to Facebook."

Online debates ask if Facebook is haram, or forbidden. Facebook has deleted numerous anti-Islam groups; most recently, Facebook was banned in Pakistan and Bangladesh when a group promoted prohibited depictions of Muhammad.

A Pakistan-based website, MillatFacebook.com, cropped up in May as a possible Islam-friendly alternative. Yet despite the controversy, Amanullah said Facebook continues to be the social network of choice in Muslim countries like Egypt and Pakistan, and in the wider Muslim community. He pointed out that some imams even break the 5,000-friend limit and have to switch to fan pages.