WikiIslam

WikiIslam

WikiIslam

Wiki covering selective topics on Islam and owned by Ex-Muslims of North America

WikiIslam is an anti-Muslim[7] and anti-Islam[9] wiki.[3] The website was founded by Ali Sina in 2006.[3] Registered users may modify and edit its content;[3] in 2015, the website was acquired by the Ex-Muslims of North America[10] and underwent a major revision in 2020.[11]

Quick Facts Owner, Founder(s) ...

Overview

The website was registered on October 27, 2005 and launched on September 4, 2006.[3]: 162  It was founded by Ali Sina, an Iranian-born Canadian ex-Muslim, and originally maintained by his organization, Faith Freedom International,[3]: 162 [lower-alpha 1] part of the counter-jihad network.[12]: 47  As of 2013, among the site's aim was to act in defence against a perceived "global threat" of Muslims and Islam;[2]: 65  the site described its purpose as "collect[ing] facts relating to the criticism[lower-alpha 2] of Islam from valid Islamic sources" without the effect of "[politically correct] censorship" that is common in Wikipedia.[3]: 162 [13][1]: 57  It rejected concerns of Islamophobia by arguing that Islam has been proved to be a "dangerous ideology".[13]

As a "community-edited website", the wiki was set to be edited and modified by (registered) approved netizens.[3]: 162  As of 2018,[lower-alpha 3] information on (alleged) internal contradictions in the Quran, persecution of non-Muslims and ex-Muslims, follies of Muhammad etc. were held; a narrow focus is maintained on "violence, sexuality and gender conflicts".[1][3]: 162  Also as of 2018,[lower-alpha 3] apostasy testimonies were featured too[2] and the site held a list of 101 provocative questions which are to be asked of any Muslim to prove that Islam is not a "true religion," running in tune with the site's active encouragement to criticize Muslims.[1]: 59  The same year, WikiIslam was noted to feature slurs about Muhammad.[15] Translations of content into multiple languages are available.[2] In December 2015, the Ex-Muslims of North America (EXMNA), a secularist organization, took ownership and operation of the site.[10]

Around 2020, a major revision to WikiIslam took place with a stated aim to "provide accurate and accessible information from traditional and critical perspectives” on Islam, and stressing a "zero-tolerance policy on hateful, misleading, unencyclopedic, and polemical content."[11]: 2  As of 2022, to an extent content was in line with the new vision.[11]: 9–10, 16  Articles generally presented how Muslim scholars have addressed specific "questions or episodes in the history of Islam"; internal variations and differences among Muslim scholars are also "often presented."[11]: 10  However, there is "seldom (if ever)" content that includes modern discussions or "progressive interpretations."[11]: 10  In addition, there was a bias in the selection of topics covered on the website, some of which explicitly or implicitly linked Muslims with a non-rational worldview that is incompatible with a scientific outlook, and often tended to cast them or Islam in a negative light when voices of contemporary scholars or contextualisation of debates were lacking.[11]: 11, 3 

Reception

In 2007, Göran Larsson, Professor of Religious Studies at University of Gothenburg, argued that WikiIslam is an Islamophobic web portal[lower-alpha 4] and that the stories on WikiIslam were selected only to show that Muslims are "ignorant, backward or even stupid".[1]: 59  In a 2014 survey of "anti-Muslim websites",[3]: 161  Larsson 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".[3]: 162  He repeated his position in 2018, citing WikiIslam as an example of an "anti-Muslim webpage."[14]

In 2013, Daniel Enstedt and Larsson wrote that the website has been "often perceived as being anti-Muslim, if not Islamophobic,"[2]: 65  describing the then-present content on WikiIslam as part of a "negative and biased"[2]: 64  representation of Islam that could "easily be turned into an important weapon in the hands of those who want to express anti-Muslim feelings"; the site propagated "an Islamophobic world view that present[ed] Islam and Muslims as diametrically opposite to all others."[2]: 88  Both Enstedt and Larrson have contended WikiIslam's selection and presentation of Islamic topics to be "very one-dimensional" with "alternative interpretations [by Muslim theologians] seldom represented".[2]: 64–65 [3]: 162 

In 2019, Asma Uddin, an advisor on religious liberty to the OSCE and a fellow at the Aspen Institute,[18] reiterated WikiIslam to be a "rampantly anti-Muslim website".[4] 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".[8]: 65  Rabia Kamal, a cultural anthropologist based at University of San Francisco, finds WikiIslam to be of the many Islamophobic websites dedicated to "surveillance" of Islam and Muslims.[19]

In 2023, a content analysis of WikiIslam by Edin Kozaric of Oslo Metropolitan University and Torkel Brekke, Research Professor at the Peace Research Institute Oslo, was published following what the researchers described as "a serious effort to reinvent itself as a scientific, neutral, and unbiased website in several ways."[11]: 2  Analysing how external websites had cited WikiIslam over many years, the researchers concluded that its articles had been "used to give legitimacy to arguments made on other websites, many of which contain Islamophobic messaging." Their analysis of the most widely disseminated WikiIslam articles found them "largely selective when it comes to topics covered, and to some extent selective in the choice of references." Some of the articles "could be said to espouse attitudes that are Islamophobic", though they noted "at the same time it is also important to underline that the articles often present alternative and conflicting opinions about the topics that are discussed." Kozaric and Brekke's overall impression of WikiIslam was that the information presented about Islam was "far from neutral"; their main concern was that "WikiIslam presents itself as an encyclopedic and scientific site without a political agenda and that it does not critically reflect upon how it can be used for serving other interests."[11]: 16 

Notes

  1. FFI has stated that its aim is to "unmask Islam and help Muslims leave [the faith]".[3]
  2. As used on WikiIslam, to be "critical" has meant holding preconceived negative opinions of Muslims and Islam.[1]: 57 
  3. 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.[14]
  4. Larsson's 2007 view was summarized by Ruth Tsuria, an expert on the intersection of digital media and religion:[16] "Larsson argues that WikiIslam takes a closed attitude in its understanding of Islam, and so should be seen as an Islamophobic web portal."[17] However, Larsson conceded 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 

References

  1. [1]
    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. [2]
    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.
  3. [3]
    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.
  4. [4]
    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)
  5. [5]
    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.
  6. [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. [7]
    [1][2][3][4][5][6]
  8. [8]
    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. Larsson (2007) did a research on Islamophobia on the Internet, 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.
  9. [9]
    [1][8]
  10. [10]
    "Ex-Muslims of North America takes ownership and operation of WikiIslam". Ex-Muslims of North America. 2015-12-03. Retrieved 2020-05-26.
  11. [11]
    Kozaric, Edin; Brekke, Torkel (2023). "The case of WikiIslam: scientification of Islamophobia or legitimate critique of Islam?". Ethnic and Racial Studies: 1–19. doi:10.1080/01419870.2023.2268154. hdl:10852/109661. S2CID 264331620.
  12. [12]
    Busher, Joel (2016). The Making of Anti-Muslim Protest: Grassroots Activism in the English Defence League. London: Routledge. ISBN 9781315661377.
  13. [13]
    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'.
  14. [14]
    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. For example, the anti-Muslim webpage WikiIslam (on this homepage, see Larsson 2007; Enstedt and Larsson 2013) simply concludes: 'The punishment for apostasy in the Islamic faith is death.'
  15. [15]
    O'Brian, Peter (2018). "Islamophobia & Europhobia: Expanding Rhetorics of Exclusion". Bulletin of the Transilvania University of Braşov, Series IV: Philology & Cultural Studies. 11 (1): 16. ISSN 2066-768X.
  16. [16]
    "Profile Ruth Tsuria". Seton Hall University. 2017-08-03. Retrieved 2021-12-26.
  17. [17]
    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.
  18. [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)
  19. [19]
    Kamal, Rabia (18 July 2022). "Muslims and Social Media in North America". Oxford Research Encyclopedia of Religion. doi:10.1093/acrefore/9780199340378.013.899. ISBN 978-0-19-934037-8. In fact, many Islamophobic websites have taken on the responsibility of nongovernmental surveillance as an element of their agenda. Internet hubs such as WikiIslam and websites such as Campus Watch, Jihad Watch, and thereligionofpeace.com are just a few of the digital platforms explicitly dedicated to the surveillance of Muslims and Islam both on- and offline.
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