Our Methodology

Deen Over Dunya is run by Muslims, and we say so openly: we believe Islam is the truth. The Misconception Clarifier exists because many claims about Islam rest on misquotation, missing context or a single reading presented as the only one. We clarify them by showing the original texts, their context and what scholars have actually said.

Believing Islam is true is exactly why we hold ourselves to honest evidence. When a claim gets something right, we say so in every entry under "What the claim gets right". When the evidence is uncertain, we say that too. An answer that hides a difficulty would not serve anyone, Muslim or not.

Our default is the Sunni mainstream, and we define "mainstream" as the documented historical majority position of the four Sunni schools of law (Hanafi, Maliki, Shafi'i and Hanbali). Where the schools differ, we show the difference instead of choosing for you.

• Every interpretation is attributed to a named scholar, school or work. We write "the Hanafi school holds", never "Islam says", where that is the accurate statement.
• We call something consensus (ijma') only when we can cite a source that claims it, and we note anyone who disputes that claim.
• Minority positions, including those of Shia scholars and of modern academic researchers, are named and attributed where they matter to a question, in proportion to how widely they are held.
• If our scope leaves out a view that matters to a question, the entry says so rather than leaving it out silently.
• We do not use insulting labels for any Muslim group or for critics of Islam.

• Not a fatwa service. We explain what scholars have said; we don't tell you what you personally should do. For that, please ask a qualified scholar or your local imam, who can take your circumstances into account.
• Not a replacement for a teacher. These pages are a starting point for study, not the end of it.
• Not a debate-winning tool. We don't rank critics or write rebuttal scripts.
• Not an arbiter between Muslim groups. We describe positions; we don't declare one group correct.

• The Quran is quoted with its reference so you can read the passage around it. Our English quotations currently use Marmaduke Pickthall's The Meaning of the Glorious Koran (1930), which is in the public domain. Its English is old-fashioned and, like every translation, it makes choices; where the choice of translation changes what a verse appears to say, the entry discusses it. We will add modern translations once we have permission in writing to use them.
• Hadith are cited by collection and number (sunnah.com numbering, with a link to check) and every grading names who graded it and where. Narrations we rely on as evidence are graded sahih or hasan by at least one named grader. A weak or fabricated narration appears only when a claim relies on it, labelled as such, with its grading.
• Scholarship, classical and modern, Muslim and academic, is cited by author and work.
• Each source in an entry is checked against the original by a reviewer, who is named on it.

A single label hides too much: a real quotation can be used to support a false conclusion. So every claim is assessed on four separate questions, each with a written reason:

Every entry also says what the claim gets right (sometimes "nothing material", but always considered), and gives an evidence confidence of high, moderate or low with the reasons.

The short label at the top of an entry is worked out from those answers by fixed rules, never chosen by hand:

• Quote or reference not found, or fabricated → Fabricated or not found
• The conclusion follows from the evidence → Accurate
• The conclusion partly follows → Partly accurate
• The conclusion doesn't follow, and the text was quoted out of context or mistranslated → Misleading without context
• The conclusion doesn't follow otherwise → Does not follow from the evidence

We never give a verdict because a claim is critical of Islam or favourable to it, and we use no percentage scores or "truth meters".

Nothing is published until qualified reviewers have checked every source and approved the entry. How much review an entry needs depends on how sensitive it is:

• Tier 1 · Low: needs an editor and a citation check.
• Tier 2 · Moderate: needs an editor and a qualified reviewer.
• Tier 3 · High: needs reviewers from two different schools and the owner's sign-off.
• Tier 4 · Restricted: personal rulings and allegations about living people are not published as clarifications at all.

High-risk topics include apostasy, blasphemy, criminal punishments, women's legal status, slavery, jihad, the Prophet's ﷺ character and disputes between Muslim groups. Reviewers who consent are named on the sources they verify. When reviewers disagree, the entry shows both positions with attribution.

• Publishing an entry freezes it as a numbered version. Each version keeps its own permanent link, so a citation always shows the text that was cited.
• A correction is published as a new version with a note saying what changed. Substantive corrections are listed in our public corrections log.
• Anyone can report a problem from the bottom of an entry, without an account. We acknowledge reports within 3 working days and resolve them, or explain why not, within 30 days. We judge reports on their substance, not on how many arrive.
• We never delete a published entry silently. If one is withdrawn, its page explains why and its earlier versions stay available.

What someone reads about Islam can reveal their beliefs, doubts or a change of faith, which in some places is dangerous. So you never need an account to read or report a problem, and our analytics record which pages are read, never who read them: no account, IP address or browser details are stored. Correction reports are anonymous.

Deen Over Dunya is currently funded personally by its founder. No donor, institution or organisation has any say over what we publish. If that ever changes, we will name any funder here, and the rule that funders have no editorial say will not change.

Every entry is written and reviewed by people. Our planned Research Assistant, which would answer questions only from the sources in this library, stays switched off until it passes accuracy checks, including never inventing a citation. It will never issue rulings or present its answers as a scholar's judgment.