Introducing OnIslam.net

It has been a while since I posted anything about the crisis at IslamOnline.net (IOL). Nearly seven months after IOL was suddenly taken over by a new Qatar-based administration bent on changing the site's mission and vision, the English-language portion of the site no longer exists.

Let that sink in for a moment.

Anyone familiar with IOL knows what a huge resource IOL was to English-speaking Muslims around the world. The site contained thousands of pages of content on every conceivable topic and was a great source for news, scholarly opinions and inspiration. It was one of the few Islamic websites to do real reporting in the fields of health and science and cover important topics like Gaza that were being ignored by major media outlets. It was also a reliable source of information for non-Muslims wanting to learn more about Islam. IOL employed more than 250 people and worked with freelancers everywhere. Losing IOL has been a bit like losing a very good friend.

There is some good news to report, however. The whole time this crisis has been going on, the editorial team that founded IOL ten years ago has been working hard behind the scenes to create a new site that is very similar to the old one.

OnIslam.net was officially launched on October 9, 2010 and looks like it is off to a very good start. This time around, the editorial work will be separate from the funding, allowing the site to flourish as intended.

Many of IOL's old articles (no longer available at the old site) can be found at OnIslam.

As of now, I do not know if OnIslam is a paying market and how the rates will compare to those previously offered by IOL. Let's pray that the site receives the funding and support needed to continue this beneficial project.

IOL - More Analysis

Here are some recent articles on the crisis at IslamOnline.net (IOL): 

Thoughts on the IslamOnline Tragedy and the Removal of Dr. Qaradawi, by Suhaib Webb 

Trying to Understand IslamOnline's Crisis, by Nadia El-Awady 

Egypt needs an Islam Online (via Al-Masry Al-Youm) 

Also See: 

MWA Joins International Federation of Journalists Supporting IslamOnline Strikers in Cairo, Egypt 

More on the crisis at IOL

Situation at IOL Still Unclear

Despite this statement from IOL workers, the situation at IslamOnline.net remains unclear. Reports published yesterday indicated that Qatar's Minister of Social Affairs had ousted Sheikh Youssef el-Qaradawi from his position as head of the Qatari Al-Balagh Soceity, which owns the website, and that the Cairo office is already making plans for a new site.

Meanwhile, Nadia El-Awady, who used to work with IOL as a journalist and editor, invited journalists throughout Egypt to show solidarity with IOL strikers by visiting IOL's office on Thursday afternoon in 6th of October City.

More on the crisis at IOL

IslamOnline - What's Happening Online

This article highlights some of the effects the IOL takeover has had on the website itself:

• Many old reports have been re-published, while newer reports have disappeared. 
• Entire sections and links have been removed from the Arabic-language portal including the "News and Analysis" section and the "Islamyioun" website link. A special page on Al-Quds (Jerusalem) has also disappeared. 
• No articles have been published in English since the crisis erupted last week. 
• In addition, all the English-language content Cairo editors published during the first two weeks of March has disappeared.
• "Gaza Holocaust," a special page dedicated to revealing the Israeli army’s crimes in the Gaza war, has also vanished. 
• Pageviews are estimated at 60 percent down, from 200,000 pageviews per day to just 86,000.

More on the crisis at IOL

IOL: The Waiting Game

Things are still uncertain at IslamOnline.net (IOL), with two possible outcomes:

1. A severance agreement that results in almost all employees of the site’s Cairo newsroom resigning and the 10-year-old website starting over, or:

2. The issues between Qatar and Cairo are resolved, and the site returns to normal.

According to Al-Masry Al-Youm, Sheikh Youssef el-Qaradawi, who helped found the site, "recently broke a week-long silence on the issue, seemingly siding with the employees. On a Sunday broadcast of his Al Jazeera Channel show Sharia and Life, Qarawai said, the site may be temporarily 'kidnapped,' but ultimately, 'the site must return to its family.'"

An IOL editor whom I occasionally work with says that the mood is still hopeful, and that patience from the site's freelancers is appreciated while the situation is resolved.

More on the crisis at IOL

The Latest on IOL

While an article published on March 17 by Al-Masry Al-Youm contained hopeful news about the crisis at IslamOnline.net (IOL), a new article published yesterday indicated that striking workers were still in limbo.

It seems that two board members in Qatar have been suspended for their role in shutting down the Cairo office but are refusing to relinquish the passwords needed to access the website's servers.

More on the crisis at IOL

Bibi-Aisha Speaks Out

More from Bibi-Aisha Wadvalla (head of IOL Radio):

Why We're on Strike at IslamOnline

More on the crisis at IOL 

IOL: More Articles and a Video

More coverage of the crisis at IOL:

Islamonline Employees Protest Move to Qatar

Islam Online dilemma getting ugly as board takes over website

According to the second article:

According to the some 350 workers continuing to demand their rights as legal employees be heard, the new board is removing the archives from the website and has changed passwords so the Cairo-based staff is unable to access the site.

Earlier in the day, Sheikh Yusuf al-Qaradawi – the prominent Gulf-based Islamic leader who started Islam Online – attempted to freeze the actions of at least two new board members, but the board has refused to abide by the decision and is apparently moving forward on their plans to dismantle the Cairo office and move the company completely to Qatar.

Also see this video produced by Al-Jazeera English:

"Editorial Interference" prompts IslamOnline Strike

More on the crisis at IOL

More Information Emerging on IOL

Bibi-Aisha Wadvalla, head of IOL Radio, provides more insight into the IOL crisis in this article published in yesterday's edition of Zawya.com. 

Also see: IslamOnline.net calls for support 

And: Islam Online - status update

More on the crisis at IOL

More on IOL

Here is a personal view on the situation at IslamOnline.net (IOL), written by Deena Khalil, an employee who was hired four months ago:

IslamOnline was more than a job

Also see this article from Al-Masry Al-Youm, which indicates that the Arabic portion of the website has been updated with new material from IOL's office in Qatar.

More on the crisis at IOL

The Full Story?

A former editor for IslamOnline.net (IOL) mentioned today that numerous rumors are circulating right now about the real reasons behind the crisis at IOL. Although I have posted several links to news stories indicating that it is a case of conservatives wanting to silence IOL's moderate voice, there is no way to know if this is actually true. It is really important to wait and not make assumptions about what is happening. I expect it will be several days (or longer) before more details come to light.

More on the crisis at IOL

More on the IOL Crisis

Things are not looking good for IslamOnline.net (IOL) at the moment. "By Sunday, there probably won’t be an Islam Online. It will be an empty building," said one employee.

"Even if you fund the organisation you don’t have the right to just change the editorial policy without first talking to us," said another.

It is really shocking how quickly all of this has happened.

More on the crisis at IOL

Major Shake-up at IOL

According to several news reports, there is a major crisis taking place at IslamOnline.net (IOL), where it is expected that more than 250 journalists will be let go at the end of March. These reports say that IOL's servers have been taken over by a new administration, which seeks to change the editorial focus of the website. Protests began on March 15 and continued yesterday. As of now (Wednesday morning), I am still waiting to hear an update on the situation. In the meantime, here are some articles explaining more about the conflict:

Islam Online in crisis as administration threatens to fire journalists

Islam Online goes offline

Islam On-Strike

For those who are unfamiliar with IOL, it is a major Islamic website that has grown tremendously over the past decade and which is quite unique as far as the type of content it publishes. 

According to the website, its goals are:

• To work for the good of humanity, as Islam teaches us.
• To work to uplift the Islamic nation specifically and humanity in general.
• To support the principles of freedom, justice, democracy, and human rights.
• To reinforce values and morals at the individual, family, and community levels.
• To expand the circle of introducing Islam; present its comprehensiveness and the way its system and laws complement each other; to affirm its balance, fairness and applicability in all places and times; and present the tolerance and the humanity of its laws.
• To strengthen the ties of unity and affiliation between the members of the Islamic community and support informational and cultural exchange.
• To expand awareness of important events in the Arab, Islamic and larger worlds.
• To build confidence and a spirit of hope among Muslims.

Target Audience: All people, Muslim and non-Muslim, regardless of geographic boundaries, race, religion, language, background, culture or gender

You might be interested to know that: 

IOL began as a project of IT specialist Maryam al-Hajari during her final year at university. She attended a course on zakat taught by Qaradawi at the Shari^'a faculty in 1996. Al-Hajari says it was then she was exposed to a meaning of zakat that ran deeper than the standard notion of paying a portion of one’s income: "How you suppose to dispose your knowledge. That was a new concept to me. Before I thought zakat was only for money. So, I thought, I have got a lot of knowledge, I was a top student, so, what am I going to do with it ....I thought about it a long time."

Take a look at this fascinating in-depth report on IOL's history here.

IOL publishes a huge amount of content each day and is a paying market that employs many writers from around the world. Right now, there is a lot of speculation about the nature of the conflict and the future of the site, but let's hope that this conflict is temporary and will be resolved soon.

More on the crisis at IOL