View source for User:IFaqeer

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Why I believe in the Wikipedia:
:'''''"...as for taking Britannica or the OED's word for it; well, if we are to just take the OED's or any other mainstream, establishment encyclopedia's word on things ... why are we wasting our time working on the Wikipedia? ... the main reason I associate myself with the Wikipedia is that I consider it a chance to receive and present a more complete picture of the world than I grew up having to read."'''''
And this is what makes me both what I have come to learn is called an [[inclusionist]] and what is called an [[incrementalist]]. More below at [[#Thoughts on Wiki-tude|Thoughts on Wiki-tude…]] 
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<center>'''[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:EmailUser/IFaqeer Feel free to send me e-mail.]'''</center>
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{{inclusionist}}

{{#Babel:en|ur|ha-N|de-1|fa-1|en-B-N|}}
{| style="border:5px; background: #ffffff; margin-bottom: 0.4em;"
| colspan="3" style="font-size: 16pt; font-weight: bold; padding: 12px 0px 6px 0px;" |
|-
|{{User Wikipedian For|year=2004|month=08|day=24}} ||{{User unified login/userbox}}||{{User Wikimedia Commons}} 
|-
|{{user incl}} ||{{user increm}} ||{{User WikiProject Screencast}}
|- colspan="3"
| <center>'''Community Affiliations'''</center>
|-
|{{User:1ne/Userboxes/User world}}
|{{User PAK Wiki}}
|{{User WikiProject Pakistan}}
|-
|{{Template:User in Nigeria|54}}
|{{Template:User in Nigeria|37}}
|{{Template:User WP Nigeria}}
|}
__TOC__

==Current: Working on==
:'''If you need me to chime in or help on any of the topics I mention here, or related ones, please [[Special:EmailUser/IFaqeer|drop me a line]].'''
* Tactical fixes where I can help. See [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:Contributions/IFaqeer my contributions].
* Contributions to the WikiCommons of graphics and pictures of South Asian personalities in particular.  You can see my [http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/User:IFaqeer Wiki|Commons page here].

===Articles of Concern: Watching===
* Main list: [[/Vandalism Watch|My Vandalism Watch]]
'''''1/05/22'''''
* [[Asma Shirazi]]
* [[Hamid Mir]]

'''''Previously'''''
* [[Nadeem F. Paracha]]
* [[Adil Najam]]
* [[All India Muhammadan Educational Conference]]

==To Do List==
:'''If you need me to chime in or help on any of these topics or related ones, please drop me a line.'''
* [[Sections 295-298]] of the British Colonial Penal Code. This needs to be an article like [[Section 377]]
* Wider project on Pakistan.
* [[Captain Paul Watson Foundation]]

==Protest: Pages I think need to be restored==
The following pages, I believe, should be restored, not just because they deserve it, but because if the Wikipedia is going to be live up to its promise of much less institutional bias towards Western issues and topics (which is why I choose to engage with and believe in this encyclopedia), it needs to help people learn about topics that help them understand the world they live in. 
* [[Kafeel Bhai of Ghotki]]<br>References:
** http://letusbuildpakistan.blogspot.com/2008/10/kafeel-bhai-ko-salaammashoor-e-zamana.html
** http://www.dawn.com/news/1103515
** [[Kafeel]]
** "ART FACTS: Exploring creativity." Business Recorder, March 19, 2011. Gale General OneFile (accessed December 12, 2022).
** "Jingle trucks - our cultural heritage." Daily Times <nowiki>[Lahore, Pakistan]</nowiki>, July 31, 2019. Gale OneFile: News (accessed December 12, 2022).
**  "Truck muse." The Nation (Karachi, Pakistan). July 19, 2012. Gale OneFile: News (accessed December 12, 2022).
* [[Mustafa Kamil (academic)]]
* [[Yasser Lateef Hamdani]]. Since restored at [[Yasser Latif Hamdani]] and [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Articles_for_deletion/Yasser_Latif_Hamdani_(2nd_nomination) removed again].
* [[Zelin Coffee House]]

==Material I disagree should have been removed/changed==
* http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Sabu_Dastagir&oldid=191256012#cite_note-Portrait_of_a_Giving_Community-1

==Thoughts on Wiki-tude==
: '''''I am working on organizing my thoughts on Wiki(pedia) policy. The link below gives you and idea of where I am headed.'''''
* http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Talk:Sharif&diff=260638377&oldid=92063815

Most importantly, as I said above:

:'''''"...as for taking the OED's word for it; well, if we are to just take the OED's or any other mainstream, establishment encyclopedia's word on things ... why are we wasting our time working on the Wikipedia? ... the main reason I associate myself with the Wikipedia is that I consider it a chance to receive and present a more complete picture of the world than I grew up having to read."'''''

And, in the discussion on the deletion request for [[Yasser Latif Hamdani]]:

:''The job of an encyclopedia is to provide the context and background on topics that people might, conceivably want to know about.  At a time when [[Pakistan]] and what's happening in it is regularly headline news everywhere in the world, we need to document the people, the voices, and events related to it properly. Rather than arguing what NOT to document, we should we trying to cover the Pakistani experience better. Does it make any sense that there is no Wikipedia article on [[Beena Sarwar]], that the article on [[Ardeshir Cowasjee]] is rudimentary?'' [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Articles_for_deletion/Yasser_Latif_Hamdani]

The same applies to [[Nigeria]] and other issues.

==Me, I, ... er ...==

My current self-description—the one I use on social media—runs as follows:

:Communicator—Citizen—Fakir // Pakistani-American. Californian. Karachiite. Awadhi by culture. Nigerian by birth. // [https://twitter.com/BayContent @BayContent] for technical/business enquiries

Starting out on the journey of self-discovery, (when I was young, and, well, cornier--cornier than '''''this''''', you might ask ;)), I came up with the following characterization for myself:

:''I am a 2nd generation [[:Category:Pakistani people|Pakistani]] of [[Arab]] extraction, [[India]]n origin, and [[Nigeria]]n birth.''

:or maybe I should say

:''I am a 2nd generation [[Wikipedia:Wikipedians/Pakistan|Pakistani]] of [[Arab]] extraction, [[Wikipedia:Wikipedians/India|Indian]] origin, and [[Wikipedia:Wikipedians/Nigeria|Nigerian]] birth.''

That might give you an idea of how it is that I butt in on the [[#WikiWikiMe|things]] that I do.

A [[writer]] whose day job is as a [[:Category:Technical communication|technical writer]] in the [[Silicon Valley]]/[[San Francisco Bay Area|San Francisco Bay]] Area, I blog at [http://iFaqeer.blogspot.com iFaqeer] and [http://wadiwallah.com/blog WadiWallah] and a few other places (see http://www.iFaqeer.com). I have recently also started paying attention to a blog I started a while back: [http://rickshaw.blogspot.com Rickshaw!], which captures the inscriptions on the back of [[Rickshaw]]s ([[Rickshaw|jinrickshaws]], [[Velotaxi|cycle rickshaws]] and  [[Auto Rickshaw|auto rickshaws]]). It's part of what drew me into the Wikipedia; looking for places with information on rickshaws.

I recently had reason to say the following in a discussion on an article:

:''...the main reason I associate myself with the Wikipedia is that I consider it a chance to receive and present a more complete picture of the world than I grew up having to read.'' ([[Talk:Muhammad/archive 1#A_more_scholarly_article.3F|Source; for the curious.]])

...and in another discussion:

:''Let me say the following up front by way of disclaimer: I am a Muslim and sympathise with Islam. And I also am not sympathetic to inflexible and/or extreme rationalist "devotees" of any ideology—be it Islam, Christianity, Hinduism, Communism, Capitalism, Progressive philosophies or any other.

:''And I am also a strong believer in the importance of strict NPOV policies for an encyclopedia to really live up to its name. See, for example, what I am trying to do at [[Template talk:Timeline of Islamist militancy]].''

Which is why I spend time on Wikipedia.

==Updates==

===[[Wikicities:c:Pakistan|Wiki Pakistan!]]===
6/18/05<br />
See: [[#Pakistan]]

===Urdu Language Users===
5/15/05
We are actually breaking some very interesting ground here on the Internet as the [[Urdu]] language starts to mature in its use on this medium. And Wikipedia is on the cutting edge. See:
http://urdu-ke-naam.blogspot.com/2005/05/urdu-speaking-wikipedia-users.html
and
http://urdu-ke-naam.blogspot.com/2005/05/on-being-saahib-e-zubaan.html

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I have just finally got to publishing my thoughts and translations on Urdu poetry, Sufism and related topics. For now, it will be mainly on the following page:

:http://urdu-ke-naam.blogspot.com

See [[#Net sites I own/contribute to]] below for more details.
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Just posted the following at [[Wikipedia talk:WikiProject Countering systemic bias#Can_we_measure_Wikipedian.27s_Bias.3F]]

:''My personal bias (excuse the pun) is that bias is something that exists in every person—it's basically a function of our being human and being shaped by our own experiences and background. The High Road, IMHO, is to understand what one's own bias is and work from there—identify opinion as opinion and try to work with others to achieve objectivity and completeness is a priority, as it is for projects like Wikipedia. (And yes, I have worked as a journalist and do [http://iFaqeer.blogspot.com have a blog].) The way I do this on Wikipedia is to place an honest statement of my background and an attempt at describing my own bias on my [[User:IFaqeer|user page]]. I know this will make me an easy target for people that want to discredit me or my contributions based on their perception of "people like me". So be it; it is the price of honesty.''
[[User:IFaqeer|<nowiki></nowiki>]]—[[User:IFaqeer|iFaqeer]] [[User talk:IFaqeer|(Talk to me!)]] 20:53, Dec 17, 2004 (UTC)
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Starting to take interest in [[Wikipedia:WikiProject Countering systemic bias]].[[User:IFaqeer|<nowiki></nowiki>]]—[[User:IFaqeer|iFaqeer]] [[User talk:IFaqeer|(Talk to me!)]] 20:55, Dec 16, 2004 (UTC)
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Just discovered something while reading [[User:DigiBullet]]). As that user puts it, "Im among the Top 1000 users of Wikipedia by edits or something, despite me reducing my usage of the site.  I dont know if this is an honor or an indicator of something else.  [[Wikipedia:List of Wikipedians by number of edits|The List]]".[[User:IFaqeer|<nowiki></nowiki>]]—[[User:IFaqeer|iFaqeer]] [[User talk:IFaqeer|(Talk to me!)]] 02:21, Dec 16, 2004 (UTC)
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Just started engaging with the [[Wiktionary:Special:Contributions&target=IFaqeer|Wiktionary Project, too]]--[[User:IFaqeer|iFaqeer]] 08:47, Sep 15, 2004 (UTC)
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<div class="noprint MainPageBG" align="center" style="border: 1px solid #f85101; padding: .1em .2em .1em .2em; font-size: 100%; color: #000000; background-color: #ffc166">''[[September 20]], [[2004]]'': Wikipedia passed [[m:Wikimedia press releases/One million Wikipedia articles (US)/Print|1 million articles]] in over '''100''' languages.</div>

::::::::::::Articles I created on September 20, 2004:
::::::::::::*[[NED University]] (my alma mater)
::::::::::::*[[Razia Sultan]]
::::::::::::*[[Sahabzada Yaqub Khan]]

==WikiWikiMe==
''The very nature of the medium makes it difficult to list things like '''pages I have made a significant contribution to'''. And of course, on Wikipedia and in the wider Wikiworld, there is no such thing as '''owning''' a page, let alone a whole Wiki. Even pages one starts are communal property and contributed to by others, often extensively. And often that's the desired result. And things happen fast. The lists below are provided only to give you a small sampling and an idea of what I am interested and engaged in. They are, by definition, rather sketchy and out-of-date. You can check a list of my contributions to see what I have been up to lately.''

===Wikis===
====[[Wikia:c:Genealogy|Genealogy]]====
The Wikipedia re-ignited the hope in my heart and mind to try and work on a dream project of mine; to collect and overlay genealogies, sufi initiation chains and other information, starting in South Asia and work outwards to document people and other topics around the world. After discussions on [[Wikipedia:Help]], I was able to make a case for its being hosted at [[Wikia]], then WikiCities. Of course, like all Wikia projects and all true Wikis, it is a community resource that I just have the honour being the founder of:

http://genealogy.wikia.com
<!--''I am toying with the idea of starting a Wiki that would collect genealogies, sufi initiation chains and other information and thus start out in South Asia and work outwards to document people and other topics around the world. See [[Wikipedia:Help_desk/Archive_7#Large_Infobase|my query at the Help Desk]] in this regard.

''I am playing around with a [http://iFaqeer.swiki.net Wiki hosted at Swiki] as I think this through. I am hoping one day it will become a larger project--maybe under the MediaWiki rubric.''

''Any help, comments, feedback, etc. are welcome.''-->

====[[Wikicities:c:Pakistan|Pakistan]]====
I have the honor of being the founder of '''''Wiki Pakistan'''''! Or "The Pakistan Wiki", PakWiki, or WikiPak, call it what you will.(You may want to avoid "Paki Wiki", since in some parts of the world, that first word is seldom used in affection.) It is at:

http://pakistan.wikia.com/

The basic idea is a national project. A "Pakistan Information" database to which everybody can and does contribute...You can read more at [[Wikia:c:Pakistan:Pakistan:About|that wiki's About page]].

===WikiProjects and Boards===
====Those I started====
* [[Wikipedia:Africa-related regional notice board|Africa-related regional notice board]]

====Those I am subscribed to====
* Boards and lists of Wikipedia users related to Pakistan, (West) Africa, Urdu, etc.

===Categories===
*[[:Category:Chiefs of Army Staff, Pakistan]] (and pages on [[Jehangir Karamat]] and [[Mirza Aslam Beg]])

===Pages I Started===
====Entries====
*[[Ashraaf]]
*[[Asma Jahangir]]
*[[NED University]] (my alma mater--on ''[[September 20]], [[2004]]'', see top of this page)

*[[Lists of Maraji]], which I started when mention of [[Ayatollah Sistani]] started to make it to mainstream media after the [[2nd Gulf War]] and I realized that even non-[[Shia]] [[Muslim]]s could name only one, maybe two. It is now broken into two separate pages, one for living and one for deceased [[Marja'|Maraji]] with the original one just listing the other two.
*[[Razia Sultan]] (on ''[[September 20]], [[2004]]'', see top of this page)
*[[Sahabzada Yaqub Khan]] (on ''[[September 20]], [[2004]]'', see top of this page)
*[[Turuq]]

====Redirects====
:''The (usually pre-existing) articles are in brackets. I have just added another way of people might be looking for the same information.''
*[[Aurangzeb Alamgir]] ([[Aurangzeb]])
*[[Chagatai Turks]] ([[Chagatai Khan#Chagatai Turks]])
*[[Chagatai Turk]] ([[Chagatai Khan#Chagatai Turks]])
*[[Chughtai]] ([[Chagatai Khan#Chughtai]] -- including the content for that section)
*[[House of Taimur]] ([[List of Mughal emperors]])
*[[Lord Lugard]] ([[Frederick Lugard]])

====Projects, Notice Boards, etc.====
* [[Wikipedia:Africa-related regional notice board]]

===Pages I have Butted In To===
====Entries====
* [[Adil Najam]]
*[[Afghan Wars]]
*[[Ashraf Jehangir Qazi]]
*[[Aurangzeb]]
*[[Baisakhi]]
*[[Babur]]
*[[Bahadur Shah II]] (moved/changed title from ''Bahadur Shah Zafar II'' and pointed [[Bahadur Shah Zafar]] to it)
*[[Barbary pirates]]
*[[Bey]]
*[[Chagatai Khan]] (including adding [[Chagatai Khan#Chughtai]] and [[Chagatai Khan#Chagatai Turks]])
*[[Hina Jilani]]
*[[List of Mughal emperors]] (I am trying to add full names, not just short, common monikers)
*[[Mughal Empire]]
*[[Partition of India]]
*[[Tariqa]]
*[[Women as imams]] (including obtaining consensus and renaming the page)

===Pages I have Edited A Wee===
====Entries====
*[[Frederick Lugard]]
*[[Rajpath]]
*[[Sokoto]]
*[[Usman Dan Fodio]]

==WikiPedia Content I Recommend Highly==
:''The usual reason a page is listed here is that reading it will provides an insight that, in my humble opinion, is important in helping us all better understand (and be more understanding of) the universe around us.''
===Entries===
*[[Urdu poetry]]
*[[Hindi–Urdu controversy]] -- One of the best expositions I have seen of the issue.
* This image is very interesting:
:[[Image:Christianity major branches.svg|thumb|500 px|center|Christian Denominations and their "lineage"]]
:Just like the charts available off:
:http://philtar.ucsm.ac.uk/encyclopedia/index.html

===WikiHumor?===
* See [[Talk:Jean-Bédel Bokassa/Archive 1#Humor?]]

==WikiContent I like to browse==
*[[:Category:New religious movements]]

== To Do list ==
:''Please free to help—and [[User talk:IFaqeer#Working On A Project|let me know]] if you want to/are working on one.''
* Compile [[List of Caliphs]] either as part of [[Caliph]] or separately. Also [[:Category:Caliph]]s. <b><i>'''Update:''' Seems to be done</b></i>
* Compile [[List of Shia Imams]] either as part of [[Shia Imam]] or separately. Also [[:Category:Shia Imam]]s. Current template stashed at [[Talk:Shia Imam]]. See also work being done at [[Caliph]]
* Compile [[List of Sufi Masters|List of Sufi Masters/''Murshid''s/''Peers'']] either as part of [[Tarika]] or separately. Also [[:Category:Sufi Masters]]s. Current template stashed at [[Talk:Tarika]]. See also work being done at [[Caliph]]
* Add [[Hejaz]] to list of places whose names starts with "The".
* Merge [[Urdu#Urdu - Hindi - Hindustani]] and [[Hindustani]]--the former has more/better info. <b><i>'''Update:''' Seems to be done, as one article at [[Hindi–Urdu controversy]]</b></i>
* Merge Note on Pen Names under [[List of Urdu poets]] with entry on [[Urdu poetry#Pen names (Takhallus)]] <b><i>'''Update:''' Seems to be done, as one article at [[Hindi–Urdu controversy]]</b></i>
* I have preserved version http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Mohammad_Ali_Jinnah&oldid=18174021 of [[Jinnah]], because I am on WikiVacation and can't engage fully right now.

==External links==
===Net sites I own/contribute to===
* '''''http://www.iFaqeer.com''''', my website
* '''https://iFaqeer.Medium.com/'''''Italic text''; my current blog.
*http://blog.iFaqeer.com; my original blog, with important archival posts. I blog, therefore I am.
*'''''[http://rickshaw.blogspot.com Rickshaw!]''''' a blog that captured the inscriptions on the back of [[Rickshaw]]s ([[Rickshaw|jinrickshaws]], [[Velotaxi|cycle rickshaws]] and  [[Auto Rickshaw|auto rickshaws]])
* I published my thoughts and translations on Urdu poetry, Sufism and related topics on the following page for a while:
:'''''http://urdu-ke-naam.blogspot.com'''''
:The blog is not really "mine", but a collaboration with some folks (among them {{User|Manzoorkhan}}) who are mainly in Hyderabad (Deccan) (see [[Hyderabad, India]] and [[Hyderabad state]]), one of the homes of [[Urdu]].

===Other places you can catch up with me===

===Links of interest===

==Stash==
<pre><nowiki>
< nowiki >< /nowiki >]]—[[User:IFaqeer|iFaqeer]] [[User talk:IFaqeer|(Talk to me!)
</nowiki></pre>

==Awards==
{| align="center"
|-
| [[Image:Original_Barnstar.png|Barnstar]]
|}
''I present this Barnstar to you for your excellent contributions to articles related to [[South Asia]].'' -- [[User:Utcursch|utcursch]] | [[User talk:Utcursch|talk]] 08:04, May 17, 2005 (UTC)

[[Category:Muslim Wikipedians|IFaqeer]]
{{WikiProjectCSBTasks}}