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| It is an international site with editors and contributors from all over the world, and the site's policies and content reflect this. | | It is an international site with editors and contributors from all over the world, and the site's policies and content reflect this. |
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| ==History==
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| WikiIslam was created on October 27, 2005, in collaboration with various individuals from Faith Freedom International who provided the site with server space, technical help and exposure. The site remained in a testing phase for about a year and on September 4, 2006, it was opened to the public.
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| In September 2007, the server that hosted the site was hacked, and due to other server problems, editing was disabled at WikiIslam for almost a year.
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| In August 2008, the site was moved to a new server and since then it has been operating independently, remaining unaffiliated with or owned by any organization.
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| In December 2015, the ownership of the website was transferred to [https://exmuslims.org/ Ex-Muslims of North America].<ref>{{cite web|url= http://www.exmna.org/ex-muslims-north-america-takes-ownership-operation-wikiislam/|title= Ex-Muslims of North America takes ownership and operation of WikiIslam|publisher= |author= |date= Dec 3, 2015|archiveurl= |deadurl=no}}</ref>
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| ==Reception==
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| ===Academia===
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| In December 2006, Göran Larsson presented a paper on WikiIslam at a conference in Sweden. At that point in time, the site was barely out of its infancy, only having been open to the public for three months, and Larsson was very critical. Today, with its new policies, new guidelines, thousands of more pages, WikiIslam remains the same only in name. Nonetheless, even in its primitive form, Larsson admitted that he could not label all the site "Islamophobic" in nature.<ref>Göran Larsson, [http://www.springerlink.com/content/p02g0g86387j4t62/ "Cyber-Islamophobia? The case of WikiIslam"], Contemporary Islam: Volume 1, Number 1, 53-67, DOI: 10.1007/s11562-007-0002-2</ref>
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| WikiIslam's non-partisan approach to Islam has led to the site being linked to or referenced by various notable sites such as ''RichardDawkins.net''<ref>[{{Reference archive|1=http://richarddawkins.net/links?page=5|2=2012-02-07}} "About/ Links"], RichardDawkins.net, accessed February 7, 2012.</ref> and ''GreenProphet.com''.<ref>{{cite web|url= http://www.greenprophet.com/2011/12/rain-prayers-sunny-friday/|title= Muslim President Calls for Rain Prayers on Sunny Friday|publisher= Green Prophet|author= Tafline Laylin|date= December 28, 2011|archiveurl= http://www.webcitation.org/query?url=http://www.greenprophet.com/2011/12/rain-prayers-sunny-friday/&date=2012-02-07|deadurl=no}}</ref> It has also been cited by Prof. Dr. G. Hussein Rassool in his book, ''Cultural Competence in Caring for Muslim Patients'',<ref>{{cite web|url= http://books.google.com/books?id=r5nJAwAAQBAJ&pg=PT141&lpg=PT141&dq=Cultural+Competence+in+Caring+for+Muslim+Patients+wikiislam&source=bl&ots=oFOauH3oPg&sig=5Vtne1TY1qwgdldumOa-T9K6atU&hl=en&sa=X&ei=UHENVIfmLY_lauWagZAO&redir_esc=y#v=onepage&q=Cultural%20Competence%20in%20Caring%20for%20Muslim%20Patients%20wikiislam&f=false|title= Cultural Competence in Caring for Muslim Patients|publisher= Palgrave Macmillan|author= G. Hussein Rassool (Ed.)|date= April 25, 2014|isbn= 9781137358424|archiveurl= https://archive.today/AR6Nr|deadurl=no}}</ref> Dr. Heather Deegan in her book, ''Africa Today: Culture, Economics, Religion, Security'',<ref>{{cite web|url= http://www.amazon.com/Africa-Today-Economics-Religion-Security/dp/0415418844/|title= Africa Today: Culture, Economics, Religion, Security|publisher= Routledge|author= Heather Deegan|date=December 26, 2008 |page= 100|isbn= 978-0415418843|archiveurl= http://www.webcitation.org/query?url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.amazon.com%2FAfrica-Today-Economics-Religion-Security%2Fdp%2F0415418844%2F&date=2013-07-20|deadurl=no}}</ref> Prof. Carlos Brebbia in his book, ''Disaster Management and Human Health Risk III: Reducing Risk, Improving Outcomes'',<ref>{{cite web|url= http://www.amazon.com/Disaster-Management-Human-Health-Risk/dp/1845647386|title= Disaster Management and Human Health Risk III: Reducing Risk, Improving Outcomes|publisher= Wit Pr/Computational Mechanics|author= C. A. Brebbia|date= July 9, 2013|page= 366|isbn= 978-1845647384|archiveurl= http://www.webcitation.org/query?url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.amazon.com%2FDisaster-Management-Human-Health-Risk%2Fdp%2F1845647386&date=2013-07-25|deadurl=no}}</ref> and Dr. Stefan Kirchner in his paper published in the ''Baltic Journal of Law & Politics''.<ref>[{{Reference archive|1=http://www.degruyter.com/view/j/bjlp.2011.4.issue-1/v10076-011-0003-6/v10076-011-0003-6.xml|2=2013-07-20}} "Faith, Ethics and Religious Norms in a Globalized Environment: Freedom of Religion as a Challenge to the Regulation of Islamic Finance in Europe"]. Baltic Journal of Law & Politics. Volume 4, Issue 1, Pages 52–82, ISSN (Online) 2029-0454, ISSN (Print) , DOI: 10.2478/v10076-011-0003-6, August 2011.</ref>
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| ===Muslim-majority countries, criminals, and polemicists===
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| Due to the focus of the site, the most noticeable reactions from Muslim-majority countries has been negative. Beyond open calls to hack and take down the site<ref>{{cite web|url= http://www.ummah.com/forum/showthread.php?398571|title= Muslims should DDOS anti muslim websites|publisher= Ummah Forum|author= |date= April 19, 2014|archiveurl= http://www.webcitation.org/query?url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.ummah.com%2Fforum%2Fshowthread.php%3F398571&date=2014-04-24|deadurl=no}}</ref><ref>''"Someone needs to shut it down. any hackers out here?"'' - [{{Reference archive|1=http://www.ummah.com/forum/showthread.php?365182-Solving-the-Wiki-islam-problem|2=2013-05-24}} Solving the Wiki-islam problem], DamirK, Ummah Forum, May 24, 2013.</ref><ref>''"Its sad, Saudi have hackers who can hack and take down a lot of crap stuff on the internet but they never seem to notice what should be taken care of."'' - [http://lostinriyadh.blogspot.com/2012/03/for-my-readers-in-saudi-infact-for.html For my readers in Saudi, infact for anyone], LostInRiyadh.blogspot.com (comment by Dentographer, March 4, 2012)</ref>, WikiIslam has been banned in Saudi Arabia, Pakistan, and many other countries with [[Sharia]]-inspired policies.<ref>A screenshot can be viewed [[:File:Wikiislam com-aug-2011-ksa.png|here]]</ref>
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| Constant vandalism, death-threats, and non-compliance with guidelines by Muslim editors lead first to WikiIslam, like the German Wikipedia, implementing “pending-changes protection”, meaning that while editing remained open to all, including IP users, changes had to be approved before becoming visible to readers. Today, to further secure the non-polemical standing of WikiIslam, persons wishing to edit the site are required to [[WikiIslam:Contact Us|request an account]] from site admins, who will readily provide such access.
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| Due to WikiIslam's extensive use of authoritative primary and secondary sources, the site has also received praise from Islamic sources (e.g. its [[Sex Segregation in Islam]]<ref>"''I usually wouldn't endorse a site like this, but in this case all of the sources were referenced in great detail.''" - [http://www.facebook.com/notes/abdul-malik-merchant/women-traveling-and-free-mixing-in-islam-/216934245018326 Women: Traveling and free-mixing in Islam …], Abdul-Malik Merchant, Student at Umm al-Qura University, Mecca, Saudi Arabia, July 13, 2011.</ref> and [[List of Killings Ordered or Supported by Muhammad]]<ref>"''In fact mockery is the main cause of executions ordered by our prophet (Sm)...i already told it to @RiasatKhan .. here is the link though its an anti islam site... but the historical facts / causes of execution mentioned there are reliable..look 4 Yellow colors, they were executed for mockery. Is this Musa Ibrahim scholar of Islam?? List of Killings Ordered or Supported by Muhammad - WikiIslam. Sorry for the anti islam site... i couldnt find any other site written in such short and organized way.''" - [{{Reference archive|1=http://www.defence.pk/forums/bangladesh-defence/233660-shahbagh-square-new-rise-65.html|2=2013-02-17}} SHAHBAGH SQUARE-A NEW RISE], Kobiraaz (an established Muslim member who joined in Oct 2010, and has been thanked 7867 times for 7,237 post), Pakistan Defence forum, February 17, 2013</ref> articles, and pages such as [[List of Fabricated Hadith]]<ref>[{{Reference archive|1=http://shehbaazmind.blogspot.com/2011/08/some-links-where-you-can-find-some-weak.html|2=2012-09-10}} "Some Links Where You Can Find Some Weak And Fabricated Hadeeths Exposed"], ShehbaazMind, August 17, 2011.</ref><ref>[{{Reference archive|1=http://beliefinunseen.blogspot.com/2012/09/weak-and-fabricated-hadith.html|2=2012-09-10}} "Weak and fabricated hadith"], Belief In The Unseen, September 7, 2012.</ref> and [[Chronological Order of the Qur'an]]<ref>Dawud Israel, [{{Reference archive|1=http://www.sunniforum.com/forum/showthread.php?107518-NOTES-from-Tafsir-Maariful-Qur-an-of-Mufti-Taqi-Shafi-Usmani|2=2013-06-01}} "NOTES from Tafsir Maariful Qur'an of Mufti Taqi/Shafi Usmani"], Sunni Forum, June 1, 2013.</ref> have been used by Islamic websites as a resource).
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WikiIslam aims to provide accurate and accessible information from traditional and critical perspectives on the beliefs, practices, and development of Islam.
About
WikiIslam's goal is to become 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.
The site aims to remain neutral towards other religions, world views, and issues of a political nature, such as immigration, multiculturalism, and the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, and also to stay away from extremist, sensationalist or emotional commentary.
It is an international site with editors and contributors from all over the world, and the site's policies and content reflect this.
Audience
WikiIslam hosts 977 articles. 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.[1]
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).[2] 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 and Arabic. 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. Wikipedia
WikiIslam's primary focus is on the religion of Islam while Wikipedia is a compendium of general knowledge. These differing goals have led to different policies and guidelines.
Wikipedia 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.
Wikipedia focuses on "verifiability, not truth".[3] 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.
See Also
Contact Information
To contact WikiIslam with general ideas and suggestions, a message can be left on the relevant Discussions page. For copyright issues, click here. And for other important issues or to request an account, click here.
References
- ↑ "Wikiislam.net", Alexa.com, accessed October 19, 2013, http://www.webcitation.org/query?url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.alexa.com%2Fsiteinfo%2Fwww.wikiislam.net&date=2014-09-03.
- ↑ "Wikiislam.net/ Audience", Alexa.com, accessed November 28, 2011.
- ↑ "Verifiability, not truth", Wikipedia, accessed February 10, 2012.
