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WikiIslam
WikiIslam's logo
OwnerEx-Muslims of North America
Founder(s)Ali Sina
EditorAlan Smith
URLwikiislam.net
Launched4 September 2006; 18 years ago (2006-09-04)
Current statusActive
Content license
CC-BY-NC 3.0
Part of a series on
Islamophobia
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Media
Opposition

WikiIslam is an Islamophobic[1][2][8] wiki focused on criticizing Islam.[4] The wiki was founded by Ali Sina in 2006[4] and acquired by the Ex-Muslims of North America in 2015.[9] As a "community-edited" website, registered users may modify and edit its content.[4]

Overview

The website was registered on October 27, 2005 and launched on September 4, 2006.[4]: 162  It was founded by Ali Sina, an Iranian-born Canadian ex-Muslim, and originally maintained by his organization, Faith Freedom International.[4]: 162 [a] The site described its purpose as "collect[ing] facts relating to the criticism of Islam from valid Islamic sources without the effect of censorship that is common in Wikipedia" due to "political correctness".[4]: 162 [11][1]: 57  As a "community-edited website", it can be edited and modified by (registered) netizens.[4]: 162 

As of 2018[b], a wealth of information on (alleged) internal contradictions in Quran, persecution of non-Muslims and ex-Muslims, follies of Muhammad etc. are held; a narrow focus was maintained on "violence, sexuality and gender conflicts".[1][4]: 162  A corpus of apostasy testimonies were featured too at this time too.[3] The site held a list of 101 "provocative" questions which were to be asked of any Muslim to prove that Islam is not a "true religion" — this ran in tune with the site's active encouragement to criticize Muslims and spread negative information.[1]: 59  Translations of content into multiple languages are available.[3]

In December 2015, Ex-Muslims of North America (EXMNA) took over ownership and operation of the site.[9] WikiIslam claims that the new management initiated an overhaul in late 2018 that subsequently purged the platform of much of its satirical and polemical content, alongside ex-Muslim testimonies and op-eds[13]; the website's about me page claims "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." The new, updated mission statement as of 2021 now reads "WikiIslam aims to provide accurate and accessible information from traditional and critical perspectives on the beliefs, practices, and development of Islam."[14]

Reception

Göran Larsson—Professor of Religious Studies at University of Gothenburg—argues WikiIslam to be an Islamophobic web portal;[c] in a 2014 survey of "anti-Muslim websites",[4]: 161  he profiled WikiIslam's apparent aim as "present[ing] Islamic history, theology, and practitioners in a way which leaves the reader with an exceedingly negative image of the faith, discouraging them from either taking up or continuing its practice".[4]: 162  Larsson and co-writer Enstedt wrote that the website has been "often perceived as being anti-Muslim, if not Islamophobic".[3]: 65 

Stories were selected only to show that Muslims are "ignorant, backward or even stupid".[1]: 59  To be "critical", as used on WikiIslam, meant holding preconceived negative opinions of Muslims and Islam.[1]: 57  Selection and presentation of Islamic topics remained "very one-dimensional" with "alternative interpretations [by Muslim theologians] seldom represented".[3]: 64–65 [4]: 162  The grand aim of the site was to build a defense against the "global threat of Islam".[3][d]

In 2019, a year after the claimed purge, Asma Uddin—advisor on religious liberty to OSCE and a fellow at the Aspen Institute[18]—reiterated WikiIslam to be a "rampantly anti-Muslim website".[5] The same year, Syaza Shukri—Professor of Political Sciences at International Islamic University Malaysia—deemed the lack of positive content on WikiIslam to demonstrate a "definite agenda": the promotion of a monolithic version of Islam - violent, oppressive, and unrepresentative of "how a majority of Muslims view their religion".[2]: 65 

Notes

  1. ^ Sina argues Islam to be "an unreformable, violent, militant political cult" that was founded by a "a rapist, a pedophile, [..] a mass murderer, [..] a terrorist, [and] a madman"; he deemed all Muslims to be synonymous with "stupid, barbarian, thug, arrogant, brain dead, zombie, hooligan, goon, shameless, savage and many other ignoble things".[10] He is a board member of Stop Islamization of America, classified as an anti-Muslim hate group by Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC). FFI mentions its aim to lie in "'unmask[ing] Islam and help Muslims leave [the faith]".
  2. ^ Larsson's latest publication on the site is from 2018 where he asks readers to consult his publications from 2007 and 2013 for scholarship on WikiIslam.[12]
  3. ^ Larsson's 2007 view was summarized by Ruth Tsuria, an expert on the intersection of digital media and religion[15]: "Larsson argues that WikiIslam takes a closed attitude in its understanding of Islam, and so should be seen as an Islamophobic web portal."[16] However, Larsson concedes that since WikiIslam contained a list of links to other websites—such as that of the Middle East Media Research Institute—, it was difficult to argue that all information posted on the site was Islamophobic.[1]: 63 
  4. ^ This conspiracy theory has been also propagated by Sina himself.[17][unreliable source?]

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h Larsson, Göran (1 June 2007). "Cyber-Islamophobia? The case of WikiIslam". Contemporary Islam. 1 (1): 53–67. doi:10.1007/s11562-007-0002-2. ISSN 1872-0226. S2CID 144896607.
  2. ^ a b Shukri, Syaza Farhana Mohamad (2019). "The Perception of Indonesian Youths toward Islamophobia: An Exploratory Study". Islamophobia Studies Journal. 5 (1): 61–75. doi:10.13169/islastudj.5.1.0061. ISSN 2325-8381. JSTOR 10.13169/islastudj.5.1.0061. S2CID 213425625. ...specifically the anti-Islam portal WikiIslam. Unlike Wikipedia, WikiIslam only produces content that are critical to Islam. While the owner does not consider the website to be a hate site, the fact that there is nothing positive about Islam on it proves that it has a definite agenda.... WikiIslam is of course promoting Islam as a monolithic religion that is violent and oppressive, and more importantly, does not represent how a majority of Muslims view their religion.
  3. ^ a b c d e f Enstedt, Daniel; Larsson, Göran (2013). "Telling the Truth about Islam? Apostasy Narratives and Representations of Islam on WikiIslam.net" (PDF). CyberOrient. 7 (1): 64–93. doi:10.1002/j.cyo2.20130701.0003. ISSN 1804-3194. Retrieved 12 July 2020.
  4. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l Larsson, Göran (2014). "Islamophobia or Legitimate Concern? Contrasting Official and Populist Understanding of Opposition to Muslims". In Mays, Christin; Deland, Mats; Minkenberg, Michael (eds.). In the Tracks of Breivik: Far Right Networks in Northern and Eastern Europe. Vienna: Lit Verlag. pp. 155–66. ISBN 9783643905420. OCLC 881140905.
  5. ^ a b Uddin, Asma T. (2019). When Islam Is Not a Religion: Inside America's Fight for Religious Freedom (First Pegasus Books hardcover ed.). New York. ISBN 978-1643131740. The rampantly anti-Muslim website, WikiIslam, connects Islam and pedophilia even more brazenly, 'Pedophilia is permitted in the Qur'an, was practiced by Prophet Muhammad and his companions, and some Muslims today continue to commit the crime, following their prophet's example.'{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
  6. ^ Khan, Nadia (Jan 2015). "American Muslims in the Age of New Media". In Smith, Jane; Haddad, Yvonne (eds.). The Oxford Handbook of American Islam. New York: Oxford University Press. doi:10.1093/oxfordhb/9780199862634.013.005. ISBN 9780199862634. American Muslim organizations use new media both to address issues internal to their community and to counter growing anti-Muslim sentiment. For example, in 2005, Wiki Islam debuted, claiming to provide a 'politically incorrect' alternative to Wikipedia.
  7. ^ Enstedt, Daniel (2018). "Understanding Religious Apostasy, Disaffiliation, and Islam in Contemporary Sweden". In van Nieuwkerk, Karin (ed.). Moving in and out of Islam (First ed.). Austin, TX: University of Texas Press. p. 74. ISBN 978-1-4773-1748-8. Anti-Muslim rhetoric on internet sites such as WikiIslam.net ... and faithfreedom.org ... reproduce[s] a negative image of religion that is associated with Islam.
  8. ^ [1][3][4][5][6][7]
  9. ^ a b "Ex-Muslims of North America takes ownership and operation of WikiIslam". Ex-Muslims of North America. 2015-12-03. Retrieved 2020-05-26.
  10. ^ O'Malley, Nick (2017-01-27). "One Nation, Australia's portal to Trump and the alt-right". The Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved 2021-12-25.
  11. ^ Gardell, Mattias (2012). Islamofobi (in Swedish). Stockholm: Leopard förlag. ISBN 9789173434027. WikiIslam – en 'islamkritisk encyklopedi' som skapades av antimuslimska cyberaktivister som slutit sig till att deras inlägg på Wikipedia 'censurerades' av politiskt korrekta redaktörer och motsades av muslimer som lade sig i samtalet om islam och muslimer – anser att 'termen islamofobi är avledande, uppeggande och ofta används för att förhindra mycket legitim kritik av islam'.
  12. ^ Larsson, Göran (2018-03-13). "Disputed, Sensitive and Indispensable Topics: The Study of Islam and Apostasy". Method & Theory in the Study of Religion. 30 (3): 201–226. doi:10.1163/15700682-12341435. ISSN 0943-3058.
  13. ^ "WikiIslam:Renovations - WikiIslam". WikiIslam. Retrieved 28 December 2021.
  14. ^ "WikiIslam - WikiIslam". WikiIslam. Retrieved 28 December 2021.
  15. ^ University, Seton Hall (2017-08-03). "Profile Ruth Tsuria". Seton Hall University. Retrieved 2021-12-26.
  16. ^ Tsuria, Ruth (2013-01-01). "The video Three Things About Islam: Islamophobia online or a religious dialogue". Scripta Instituti Donneriani Aboensis. 25: 225. doi:10.30674/scripta.67442. ISSN 2343-4937.
  17. ^ "The Politics Behind Misunderstanding Islam". CBS News.
  18. ^ Affairs, Berkley Center for Religion, Peace and World. "Asma Uddin". berkleycenter.georgetown.edu. Retrieved 2021-12-26.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
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