IslamQA.info

IslamQA is a website providing information regarding Islam in accordance with the Salafi school of thought. It was founded by Muhammad Al-Munajjid and is the most popular Salafi website in the Arab-speaking world.
History.
The service was one of the first online "fatwa" services, if not the first. The launching of IslamQA.info in 1997 by Muhammad Al-Munajjid marked the beginning of an attempt to answer questions according to the Salafi school's interpretation of the Quran and Hadith. The website states that "All questions and answers on this site have been prepared, approved, revised, edited, amended or annotated by Shaykh Muhammad Saalih al-Munajjid, the supervisor of this site."
Popularity.
According to the website Similarweb, islamqa.info had 13.66 million visits in March 2021, an increase from about 10 million visits per month in October and November 2020. Similarweb ranked islamqa 6th in the world in the category of "Community and Society > Faith and Beliefs" websites (the highest ranking Islamic website), but only 6181st among websites overall.
Contents.
IslamQA is available in 16 languages, including English, Arabic, Urdu, Hindi, Turkish, German, Bangla, Chinese, Russian, French, and Spanish, the website provides fatawa covering basic tenets of faith, etiquette and morals, Islamic history, and Islamic politics.
The site describes itself in the following manner:
The site's vision is to be "an encyclopaedia about Islam". Its aims (as described on the website) are:
Methodology.
The site describes its methodology as such:
Fatwas in the media.
The "fatwas" on the website have been noted in Western English language news sources.
Homosexuality.
Al-Munajjid published a "fatwa" on homosexuality, which he called "one of the greatest crimes, the worst of sins and the most abhorrent of deeds".
Houri.
IslamQA has responded to a question, "Will men in Paradise have intercourse with al-hoor aliyn?" The IslamQA answer given, quoting Islamic hadiths and scholars, is "yes". This answer has been criticized by Agoravox which has said this could encourage those who, "think that if they die and go to heaven they will have superb apparently virgin women . . who will wait for them to live an eternity of happiness".
Slavery.
On the subject of men having sex with female slaves, IslamQA issued a fatwas stating that a Muslim wife "has no right to object to her husband owning female slaves or to his having intercourse with them [...] The scholars are unanimous in this assessment, and no one is permitted to view this act as forbidden, or to forbid it. Whoever does so is a sinner, and is acting against the consensus of the scholars." This was one of many similar "fatwas" published by Islamic scholars on the role of women in Islam. 
Women.
The fact-checking website Punditfact mentioned Al-Munajjid's justification for why women should not drive, as published on IslamQA.info, when deciding the factual accuracy of the claim that Saudi Arabia was the only Muslim-majority nation that did not allow women to drive.
The "fatwa" was quoted saying: "It is well known that (driving) leads to evil consequences which are well known to those who promote it, such as being alone with a non-mahram (marriageable) woman, unveiling, reckless mixing with men, and committing haraam (sinful) actions because of which these things were forbidden." The article has been removed from the website. The ban on driving in Saudi Arabia has been lifted.
Controversy in Saudi Arabia.
The website was banned in Saudi Arabia because it was issuing independent "fatwas". In Saudi Arabia, the kingdom's Council of Senior Scholars has sole responsibility for issuing "fatwas". The Council was granted this exclusive authority to issue "fatwas" by a royal edict issued in August 2010 (while restrictions had been in place since 2005, they were seldom enforced); this move was described by Christopher Boucek as "the latest example of how the state is working to assert its primacy over the country’s religious establishment."