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WikiIslam

Owner	Ex-Muslims of North America
Founder(s)	Ali Sina
URL	wikiislam.net
Launched	4 September 2006; 18 years ago (2006-09-04)
Current status	Active
Content license	CC-BY-NC 3.0

WikiIslam strives to be the most comprehensive and accurate source of information on Islam freely and accessibly available online, drawing from both Islam's primary sources (the Qur'an, hadith and Islamic scholars) as well as from the historical-critical (sometimes called revisionist) analysis of these primary sources by modern historians. Currently, WikiIslam hosts 964 articles.

As a non-political and non-religious wiki, the site remains neutral towards religions, world views, and issues of a political nature and likewise stays away from extremist, sensationalist or emotional commentary.

WikiIslam is an international site with contributors and readers from all over the world, and the site's policies and content reflect this.

The articles on WikiIslam are produced by an open community of editors from various political, religious, and ethnic backgrounds. The only thing contributors are required to have in common is a commitment to providing unbiased and objective information on Islam. If you think you fit this description and would like to contribute, contact us, and you will readily be provided with a login.

Overview

WikiIslam aims to provide accurate and accessible information from traditional and critical perspectives on the beliefs, practices, and development of Islam. WikiIslam is a non-partisan website focused exclusively on Islamic beliefs and practices. All content is therefore focused purely on Islam and how it is practiced, not on its promotion, condemnation, or topics that are sociopolitical in nature or are with regard to other faith traditions.

All content on WikiIslam is required to reference either primary, historical sources (such as the earliest qur'anic codices, hadiths, siras, and tafsirs) or scholarly secondary sources published by reliable academic journals and presses (e.g. Fred Donner's Muhammad and the Believers: At the Origins of Islam, published by Harvard University Press). While the claims of latter-day Islamic scholars (e.g. Ibn Kathir or al-Suyuti) provide useful reference for the continuously developing positions of the various Islamic orthodoxies, they do not suffice as historical evidence for the claims they present.

WikiIslam requires written content to be at once accessibly and professional. Articles are required to be clear and detailed without assuming anything other than most basic background knowledge on the part of the audience. Skewed perspectives and modes of writing of any sort, be they provincial, parochial, or patriarchal, have no place on WikiIslam.

Any site content that falls beyond the bounds set by WikiIslam is removed or renovated by editors upon being brought to their attention.

Reception

Main page: WikiIslam:Policies and Guidelines

Over the course of many years, WikiIslam has developed a comprehensive and ever evolving set collection of policies and guidelines to help administer, guide, and set expectations for the work of its editors. These policies and guidelines define everything from the specific sort of content considered appropriate to the wiki (its scope), writing style, citation format and standards, article structure, source-editing practices (Wikitext), guidelines for talk pages, pending changes protection practices, good faith practices, and the wiki's legal disclaimers.

WikiIslam's admins enforce the above policies, and editors and visitors are encouraged to either report deviations from these standards to those better situated to correct them or to correct the error or violation themselves (by requesting an account if needed).

Policies and Guidelines

Content

Scope and article relevance

Main page: WikiIslam:Scope and Article Relevance

This article defines the scope of WikiIslam, to assist editors and volunteers in understanding the nature and limits of WikiIslam. The article relevance section of this article and the flowchart included therein give more detailed guidance as to how one can determine whether or not an article or a body of content have a home on WikiIslam.

How to Edit

Main page: WikiIslam:How to Edit

This article is a quick, easy introduction to the main tools used in creating end editing WikiIslam articles.

Source editing

Main page: WikiIslam:Source Editing

Formatting a WikiIslam article differs from when writing on a standard word processor. Wikis use text codes to create particular elements of the page (e.g., headings). This markup language is known as wikitext (or wiki-markup) and is designed for ease of editing.

The Source Editing page will teach editors how to edit from the articles source. It also teaches how to use types of quoting, linking, and important templates for all editors. Learning the WikiIslam source language will make editing much easier and intuitive.

Editors who are wondering how to create specific parts of an article should go here.

Article guidelines

Naming Conventions

Main page: WikiIslam:Article Naming

Names of article on WikiIslam need to allow them to be accurately and efficiently found in Google searches, while accurately describing the article and also not causing broken links on WikiIslam or elsewhere.

Writing style

Main page: WikiIslam:Writing Style Guide

WikiIslam is an international site with administrators, editors and contributors from all over the world. Readership is vast and not saturated by any demographic of visitors, so the content should reflect this. Material should be tailored to accommodate, as best as possible, a universal audience.

WikiIslam is not a political site. The site does not have a left or right-wing political agenda, nor is it a counter-jihad site. Articles concerning immigration, culture wars, the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, and other related issues are strictly prohibited. Articles should always remain neutral towards all religions and world views, neither promoting nor criticizing them.

Editors are expected to take a scholarly and rational approach in their conduct and criticisms. Editors should stay away from extremist, sensationalist, sarcastic or emotional commentary by letting the facts speak for themselves. Articles should also be free from vulgar, offensive, or slang language. In short, articles should include no personal opinions or deductions, only referenced facts.

Any analysis of Islam should be based on its own mainstream rules and religious sources, meaning articles should never endorse (but may simply document or challenge) fringe theories unsupported by the majority of evidence. There should be no personal opinions or abstract deductions, and every statement of fact must be supported by reliable, published sources. Use of secondary sources to present a historical-critical perspective is also encouraged. Content of this sort should derive from content published by reliable academic journal and presses (e.g. Fred Donner's Muhammad and the Believers: At the Origins of Islam, published by Harvard University Press).

Copying and pasting articles from other sites is not allowed. Nor is, for various reasons, copying and pasting articles from Misplaced Pages. However, there are some exceptions to this rule e.g. where a suitable Misplaced Pages article is going to be deleted or has been deleted. If something specific is being quoted from another site, it should be made clear that it is a quotation.

Citing, linking, quoting, plagiarism

Main page: WikiIslam:Citing, Linking, and Quoting

All statements of facts, especially those that are likely to be challenged, must be referenced using inline citations. Naked URLs are not sufficient. What is being referenced should be easily identifiable without having to leave the page through an external link. Minimal information (if available) should include the URL, page title, author, publisher and the date of publication. Each link must also be archived to avoid link rot. When quoting from these sources, bold or italic emphasis may be added, but underlining and all-capitals should be avoided.

Although WikiIslam does not host original research, and is built upon citations of established works of scholarship and primary sources, it does consist of original content. As such, WikiIslam maintains a zero-tolerance policy towards the wholesale copying and pasting of content from other websites, whether they be Misplaced Pages or any other source in print or on the web. As such any editor who engages in this type of plagiarism will be subject to an immediate ban.

Article structure

Main page: WikiIslam:Structure

The Structure of an article concerns the organization of sections and media. Better structure allows the reader to navigate the page easier and feels more intuitive. The structure should also seek to give maintain cohesiveness throughout the wiki. This aims to give the reader a better experience by using a predictable layout. WikiIslam employs an encyclopedic format for all articles. (e.g. 72 Virgins, The Qur'an). All articles can be adjusted to keep the flow and intuitive feel of the article but must be encyclopedic in nature.

Article deletion

Main page: WikiIslam:Articles or Categories for Deletion

Articles which meet the following criteria are subject to speedy deletion:

• Broken redirects to non-existent pages
• Libelous articles without any 3rd party references
• Articles copied entirely from another source such as Misplaced Pages, word-for-word and without substantial reworking or rewording

In addition, any article which fails to meet the criteria of our

Main page: WikiIslam:Scope and Article Relevance

document is subject to deletion.

Reliable sources

Main page: WikiIslam:Reliable Sources

WikiIslam articles should be based on reliable, published sources. References that are cited must explicitly support any claims being made. There are three types of sources:

Primary sources

Primary sources are original materials, an artifact, a document, a recording, or other source of information that was created at the time under study. In an article about a book it would be the book itself. In the case of a person, it would be the subject themselves. WikiIslam's analysis of Islam is based on its own sources (the Qur'an, hadith and Islamic scholars) as well as secondary scholarly sources (e.g. Shahab Ahmed's Before Orthodoxy, published by Harvard University Press).

Use of primary sources is not limited and they should be freely used in articles. However, only published and recognized translations of primary sources are to be used, and they must be quoted exactly as they appear in the cited reference.

Secondary sources

Secondary sources are documents or recordings that relate or discuss information originally presented elsewhere. For example, a statement by a scholar about a certain battle in the history of Islam would be a secondary source. News articles that report on a development or an incident are also secondary sources. Statements of fact concerning Islam from polemic sources such as books, articles or commentaries by individuals such as Robert Spencer, Pamela Gellar, Mark A. Gabriel etc. are not to be used under any circumstances as references on WikiIslam. If editors come across any such statements, they must remove them immediately.

Secondary sources referenced on WikiIslam should be published by reliable academic presses and journals.

Tertiary sources

Tertiary sources are sources that rely upon primary and secondary sources. Unlike secondary sources, they attempt to provide a broad introductory overview of a topic. The New Encyclopedia of Islam would be an example. They may be used as well. There are a variety of encyclopedias.

Interactions

User names/pages

Main page: WikiIslam:User Names and Pages

Usernames should be chosen appropriately and should not be promotional, misleading, disruptive or offensive towards a race, religion or social group in any way. Usernames that fall under any of these categories will be renamed by an administrator.

Userpages should not be used as placeholders or homes for articles and essays. Personal email addresses should also not be displayed. Active editors with over 50 constructive edits are permitted to post links. However, these should also be chosen appropriately and they should try to keep the number of links within 10.

Talk pages

Main page: WikiIslam:Talk Pages

The purpose of a talk page is to provide space for editors to discuss changes directly relating to its associated article or project page. Acceptable topics for discussion include concerns directly relating to the page, such as inaccuracies, formatting, renaming, merging and suggestions for further improvement. They are not there for irrelevant debates or for general attacks on the site or its editors.

Talk pages should not be blanked, and other users' messages should not be removed or altered unless a valid reason is provided (such as violating the above rules). All new discussion topics should be given a relevant heading and created at the bottom of the page, below all previous discussions, and all messages should be signed and follow the rules concerning indentation. Users should avoid excessive emphasis and be concise; capital letters are considered shouting, and long, rambling messages or SMS language may be difficult to understand and will be ignored. For continuity of discussion, comments should be kept on the same talk page where they were initiated.

Indentation

Good indentation makes prolonged discussions on talk pages easier to read and understand. Replies should always be indented and placed beneath the last comment. Indents are achieved by typing one or more leading colon ":" characters at the very left margin, just before the new text about to be added. With every new comment added, the number of colons must be increased by one.

A long discussion will cause indentation to become too deep, which can make it difficult to read in narrower browser windows. When this occurs, editors should consider resetting the level of indentation by outdenting their next comment. Outdenting must be performed by using the "Outdent" template.

Signatures

Signing comments on talk pages, both for the article and non-article namespaces, facilitates discussion by helping identify the author of a particular comment. Occasional forgetfulness is understandable but if certain editors continually ignore requests to sign their comments, any new comments by them should be reverted and a discussion should be initiated on their user talk page.

Customized signatures, like usernames, should be chosen appropriately and not be promotional, misleading, disruptive or offensive. They must include at least one direct internal link to the editor's user page, user talk page, or contributions page, allowing other editors easy access to their talk page and contributions log. Images or templates should not be used in signatures as this may cause unnecessary server load.

Contributions

Pending changes

Main page: WikiIslam:Pending Changes Protection

Pending changes protection has been implemented to help maintain the quality of the sites content and to minimize vandalism. This means changes from new editors are reviewed by other editors (usually within 24 hours) before they appear on the website. Once a new user demonstrates that their edits are properly referenced, properly formatted and comply with guidelines, they will receive the 'Editor' user right which means their own edits will be approved automatically.

Corrections

It is the responsibility of each individual editor to make sure that their own edits are of a high standard. Edits should not be made with the expectation that someone else will fix the problems those edits may have caused (e.g. spelling, punctuation, formatting, broken links/redirects etc.).

When a user makes contributions that need corrections or cleanup by another editor, these issues should be explained to them on their talk page. If their contributions continue to suffer from the same issues after being corrected two or three times and having the matter explained to them, editors should then revert their future edits, ask them to see their talk page (in the edit summary) and consult with other editors and administrators.

Good faith

Main page: WikiIslam:Assume Good Faith

Assuming good faith is the assumption that a user's edits and comments are made in good faith. This guideline does not prohibit discussion and criticism. Rather, editors should not attribute the actions being criticized to malice unless there is specific evidence of malice or obvious vandalism. If an editor wishes to express doubts about the conduct of another user, they should substantiate those doubts with specific diffs and other relevant evidence, so that people can understand the basis for their concerns. WikiIslam administrators and other experienced editors involved in dispute resolution will usually be glad to help, and are very capable of identifying policy-breaching conduct if their attention is drawn to clear and specific evidence.

Blocking policy

Main page: WikiIslam:Blocking_Policy

Blocking is a tool to be used to protect the integrity of WikiIslam and the harmony of the community of its editors. Blocks are not to be used to settle score, punish lack of knowledge, or exclude certain points of view. Rather they are to be used to keep the Wiki free of bots, vandals, griefers, trolls, and other bad faith actors. The main criterion for a block is the question: can this user make a positive contribution to the site in the future? If the answer is no then a block is warranted. Different types of infractions warrant different types of blocks for different amounts of time, depending on the severity of the infraction.

Legal

Main page: WikiIslam:General disclaimer

The community working here is a voluntary association of individuals and groups who are developing an online open-content collaborative encyclopedia. The structure of this site, which is a wiki, allows anyone with an Internet connection and World Wide Web browser to alter the content found here. Therefore, please be advised that nothing found here has necessarily been reviewed by professionals with the expertise necessary to provide you with complete, accurate or reliable information.

That is not to say that you will not find valuable and accurate information in WikiIslam; much of the time you will. However, WikiIslam cannot guarantee the validity of the information found here. The content of any given article may recently have been changed, vandalized or altered by someone whose opinion does not correspond with the state of knowledge in the relevant fields.

History

As of late 2018, Ex-Muslims of North America initiated an overhaul of WikiIslam, with the stated goal of setting a high criteria of objectivity, neutrality, and professionalism. The mission statement and new policy and writing guidelines were added, while many articles on the site were removed, including satirical and polemical content, ex-Muslim testimonies, as well as op-eds and personal essays. Article templates, hubs, the main website categorization system, and the front page were also heavily modified.

WikiIslam was created on October 27, 2005 by various online activists led by the user Axius and was hosted on server space provided by Faith Freedom International. Starting in August 2008, the site separated from FFI, hosted its own servers, and began operating as an independent site run by its contributors. In 2015, following excessive amounts of vandalism, the site came under the management of the Ex-Muslims of North America.

Audience

On average, it currently receives over 250,000 visitors a month generating about 500,000 page views. As of September 2014, Alexa.com places it within the top 70,000 most visited websites.

WikiIslam's audience is not "Eurocentric". A large percentage of its readers are from Eastern or Muslim-majority nations such as Pakistan, Bangladesh, India, Malaysia, Egypt, United Arab Emirates, and Singapore (often accessed through WikiIslam's alternative domains, especially where WikiIslam has been banned). Likewise, many of the site's administrators and editors are from a Muslim background or are skeptics from Muslim majority nations.

The site is always looking for editors to translate English articles into Indonesian, Urdu, Bengali, Arabic, and other languages. There are translations from English already available at the site in several languages, including Azerbaijani, French, Turkish and Uzbek. A Russian sub-domain was started in early 2013 and a Bulgarian sub-domain was created in April, 2015.

WikiIslam vs. Misplaced Pages

WikiIslam's primary focus is on the religion of Islam while Misplaced Pages is a compendium of general knowledge. These differing goals have led to different policies and guidelines.

Misplaced Pages discourages the use of primary and what they term as "non-notable/reliable" sources. WikiIslam, on the other hand, (in addition to secondary scholarly sources) encourages the use of authentic primary religious text and the rulings of authoritative Muslim scholars who may not be notable to people outside of the Muslim world but who are giants from within.

Misplaced Pages focuses on "verifiability, not truth". In regards to Islam, it has meant they accept what "notable/reliable" western commentators say about Islam's religious texts over what the religious text and Muslim authorities actually say themselves. Conversely, WikiIslam accepts what the religious texts and Muslim authorities say over the opinions and interpretations of third-party western commentators.

Official Website

References

References

1. ↑ "Wikiislam.net", Alexa.com, accessed October 19, 2013.
2. ↑ "Wikiislam.net/ Audience", Alexa.com, accessed November 28, 2011.
3. ↑ "Verifiability, not truth", Misplaced Pages, accessed February 10, 2012.

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