WikiIslam:Policies and Guidelines

Shortcuts: WI:P WI:G

For Muslims

Dear Muslim, welcome to WikiIslam. So that you are not blocked please remember to not:

• remove or replace content from any page
• insert opposing viewpoint into an existing page

Failure to comply with these guidelines will result in a block and a suspension of editing privileges.

What you can do however is to write a rebuttal to the article (pro-Islamic content) and put a link at the bottom of the existing article; however you must create a new article if you wish to do this (i.e. do not edit or replace the original article content with your rebuttal). We already host articles contributed by Muslims here, and we welcome your contributions.

A new article can be written using the Create article box found on our Help page. If you need any help, feel free to ask on your talk page and we'll do our best to assist you. For discussions, please use the Forum page.

• Page Titles: Any article must be a response to an existing article which is critical of Islam. When you are responding to an article, choose page titles like this: Response: The Page being responded to. Examples: Response to Contradictions in the Qur'an, Responses to Hundreds of Questions to Ask a Muslim.
• Copy pastes not allowed: Please do not copy paste from Islamic websites. There are many Islamic websites online that people can find. Write an original article instead.
• Translations: Only the known recognized popular translations of Yusuf Ali, Pickthall and Shakir are allowed to be quoted. Altered/sugar-coated/moderate Qur'anic translations from unqualified or anonymous sources that often obscure the real meaning of the Qur'an are not allowed.
• References: Stating opinion as fact is not acceptable. Important statements have to be appropriately referenced to scholarly, not polemic, sources.
• Length and Style: WikiIslam is not a blog. Therefore we expect responses to be well-written, free from ad hominem and vulgarity, and more than a few lines in length.
• Muslim Perspective: Unless the article being responded to is discussing the beliefs of a minority sect or cult offshoot, all responses must be from an orthodox Sunni perspective. For example, it would be pointless for a member of the Nation of Islam to respond to an article discussing the Sahih Hadith literature.

If an article does not meet these guidelines you will be notified, and if the appropriate steps are not taken to fix the problems then it may get edited or be deleted.

Note: Talk pages are for constructive criticism in order to help improve articles, they are not for debates. If you are a Muslim and have no intention in helping improve the article, rather than debating the issue, consider spending some time on writing a response following the above guidelines. General criticism about WikiIslam or complaints about criticism of Islam and ad hominem will also be removed from talk pages and you will not get a response.

Our editors are busy and have no intention in wasting their time arguing. For debates and general discussions about Islam, please visit the FFI forum.

For non-Muslims

A word of caution before you begin; WikiIslam is not a hate or extremist site. We allow Muslims to express their point of view in their own articles, and any articles or statements of a hateful nature will be deleted.

That being said, welcome to WikiIslam!

A quick guide to acceptable contributions

In general, content on WikiIslam should:

• be based on facts, references and Islamic sources
• not support any kind of fringe theories unsupported by the majority of evidence found in recognized translations of the Qur'an, hadith and quotations from Islamic scholars
• related to criticism of Islam
• free from vulgar, offensive, or slang language. The only exceptions being the necessary translation of an Islamic word/phrase or possibly an article in the Humor category
• not be copied from other websites, unless something specific is being quoted and in that case it should be made clear that it's a quotation.
• be written in a professional scholarly manner and where possible, should refrain from using sensationalist and extremist expressions and labels for maximum impact on the reader. This is extremely important. If any critique of Islam is expected to be taken seriously, it must follow these principles. Although it is very tempting to use dramatic and sensationalist language, it is best to let the evidence speak for itself. The same principle applies to humor and jokes. If you would like to contribute such articles to the wiki, please keep them confined to the Humor category

In order to be a regular editor you must understand what the site is all about and the approach that is taken for criticism of Islam. Existing editors on the site will make every effort to initially guide you, but they do not have time to continually make corrections to your edits so if you are not able to take instructions and contribute to the site in an independent self-monitored way, it is best for you to not edit. However if you have suggestions of any kind or comments on an article, let us know on the Forum page.

Policies

Copyrights

When using text or images from another website, make sure that the material is not copyrighted. If it is, please ask permission from the original content owner(s) before using it.

Copyright holders may contact WikiIslam to have their concerns addressed.

Libel

The goal of WikiIslam is to create an encyclopedic information source critical of Islam with all information being referenced through the citation of reliable published sources, so as to maintain a standard of verifiability.

For this reason, all contributors should recognize that it is their responsibility to ensure that material posted on WikiIslam is not defamatory. Libel or defamation is defined as the communication of a statement that makes a false claim, expressly stated or implied to be factual, that may harm the reputation of an individual, business, product, group, government or nation.

It is WikiIslam policy to delete libellous material when it has been identified.

Subject guidelines

If you believe that you are the subject of a libellous statement on WikiIslam, please contact us at wikiislamgmail.com with details of the article and error.

Viewpoint

At WikiIslam, one isn't required to stick to a neutral viewpoint. However, we exhort you to use sources and attribute statements wherever possible. Questionable or controversial statements without a source may be removed in order to make our articles more reliable and worthwhile.

Standardization for Islamic references

See WikiIslam:Standardization for a guide on how to reference Islamic texts (Quran and hadith).

Discussions

The discussion pages for each article are for discussing concerns directly relating to the article, such as inaccuracies, formatting and suggestions for further improvement. They're not there for general debating on Islam or for personal attacks. If your comment on an article's talk page does not directly relate to the article, please use the FFI Forum (you'll have to create a separate account there if you dont have one already). General comments on topics that do not directly relate to the article will be removed. So for example if you're trying to prove that Muhammad was not a pedophile, that really belongs on the forum. The reason for this rule is not to create disruptions on article talk pages because debates can get lengthy and debating is not what this website is for.

Guidelines

Guidelines are less restrictive than policies. They serve as official advice to gear the WikiIslam project in the right direction.

Sources

There are three types of sources:

• Primary sources are those such as the Quran, hadiths, and in an article about a book it would be the book itself. In the case of a person, it would be the subject itself; if John Doe said something about himself, his statement would be a primary source.

In order to allow greater leeway in criticism of Islam, primary sources aren't limited and may be freely used in articles. In other words, an editor should not remove a primary-sourced statement by asserting that primary sources are to be avoided.

• Secondary sources are typically based primary sources. For example, a statement by a scholar about a certain battle in the history of Islam would be a secondary source. The news articles "Hamas Appears To Be Winning Civil War" and "Indonesia captures most-wanted Islamic militant" that report on a development or an incident are also secondary sources. One is encouraged to use secondary sources.

• Tertiary sources are sources that rely upon primary and secondary sources. The Columbia Encyclopedia would be an example. They may be used as well.

There are a variety of encyclopedias.

Wikipedia

Copies of articles from Wikipedia are not allowed for various reasons. Instead, you can link directly to Wikipedia by using the [[w:Target article|Text]] feature or {{wp|article name}}. Some exceptions to this rule are allowed; please contact an administrator if you wish to create a copy of a Wikipedia article. One exception where a copy paste is allowed is where a Wikipedia article is going to be deleted or has been deleted.

Images can usually be safely copied from Wikipedia if available. Before copying them please check there are no issues with their license tags. Also copy the license tag, or include in the summary that its a free image from Wikipedia. Templates can be copied if needed.

Creating content

Please dont recreate content which already exists in Wikipedia. This means if there's something that is better defined in Wikipedia, let it stay there. On the other hand, if you want to create a short summary of a topic, please do so. You should give primary importance to creating unique content which cannot exist in Wikipedia. This is what this website is for. Also, WikiIslam is not restricted to just being an encyclopedia of Islam. It is there for you to make use of in contributing and arranging information about Islam in any way you want. For examples of what kind of articles you can write, look at the links on the Main Page. Here are some ideas for good and bad articles:

Bad ideas

• Anything not directly related to criticism of Islam
• Anything that is better defined in Wikipedia or is more likely to remain updated in Wikipedia
• An exact copy of a Wikipedia article

Good ideas

• Practically anything that doesnt qualify for the bad ideas list. Just a few examples:
  • Analysis of Islamic texts (Quran, hadiths and scholars)
  • An essay or op-ed
  • Wikifying a good forum post

Edits on main page

Links on the Main Page should only be made for articles which have significant content.

Style Guidelines

An article should begin with a short introduction that summarizes the most important content of the article. It should also end with a conclusion that does the same. The conclusion can also repeat in short the most important references in the article.