WikiIslam:Renovations: Difference between revisions

The [[WikiIslam:Scope and Article Relevance|scope of the wiki]] has been changed in a number of important ways. Whereas the ‎wiki once stretched to comprise anything having to do with Muslims, Muslim-majority ‎nations, and Islam throughout history, the scope is now more narrowly confined to ‎topics related particularly to the ''“beliefs, practices, and development of Islam”''. On the ‎other hand, whereas the wiki once limited itself to referencing primary Islamic sources, ‎the wiki now aims to complement these primary sources with the growing body of ‎modern, historical-critical scholarship on the origins of Islam. Finally, implicit in this ‎second major transition is a broadening of the wiki’s focus from merely the ''criticism of ‎Islam'' to ''Islam in general'' – that is, whereas WikiIslam may once have been concerned ‎only with [[Aisha's Age|''Aisha’s age'']], it is now interested in ''Aisha herself''.‎

WikiIslam no longer tolerates any amount of hateful, misleading, unencyclopedic, or ‎polemical content. Whereas there were once a great deal of such unhelpful and even ‎hurtful articles and language on the wiki, these are no longer acceptable. And whereas the wiki once ‎actively participated in and contributed to everlasting online religious polemics, the wiki ‎now limits itself to a documentary role in simply observing and addressing those ‎polemical and apologetic currents which have risen to comprise mainstream Islamic ‎discourse. Likewise, given WikiIslam's newly encyclopedic spirit, articles are no longer permitted to maintain ‎any point of view, be it political or religious – facts, straightforwardly described, are for ‎the reader alone to judge.‎

In a major stride towards realizing the wiki’s renewed standards and objectives, several ‎hundred articles on the wiki have been reviewed, renovated, or removed. Salvageable ‎articles have seen their very worst infractions expunged, sometimes being transformed ‎in the process, while those articles deemed irrelevant or irredeemable have been exiled ‎to the [https://archive.wikiislam.net/wiki/Main_Page WikiIslam archive]. And while a number of these purely polemical, testimonial, and ‎statistical articles may, in the future, be hosted elsewhere, they do not belong on ‎WikiIslam.‎

'''An open invitation to sober and serious contributors, Muslim, non-Muslim, or ‎otherwise'''

WikiIslam is once again accepting [[WikiIslam:Join the Team|editors]] and [[WikiIslam:Translation|translators]]. While IP edits have been ‎indefinitely disabled due to the persistent and futile efforts of pitiful vandals, sober and ‎serious contributors who request an account will be readily provided one. Due to the ‎new, adamantly neutral demeanor of the wiki, contributors’ background and religious ‎persuasion are utterly irrelevant. Indeed, the devout Muslim moved to write about the ‎intelligent piety of Abu Bakr, the scholar hoping to outline potential Aramaic readings of the ‎Qur’an, and the atheist roused to documenting some seemingly-absurd injunctions of [[Islamic Law|Islamic law]] are all equally ‎welcome, encouraged, and competent to [[WikiIslam:Join the Team|join the WikiIslam team]].‎