# The Islamic Software Licenses (ISL)

> A family of four source-available, ethically restricted software licenses rooted in
> Islamic principles: permissive, copyleft, restricted view-only, and a closed-source
> EULA. All four carry identical ethical use restrictions in Sections 4 and 5. These are
> explicitly **not** OSI-approved open source licenses, and no claim of OSI or FSF
> certification is made or implied.

## Licenses

- [ISL-P — Permissive](https://islamiclicense.org/isl-p/LICENSE.md): MIT-style permissive terms — use, modify, distribute, and sell, ethical restrictions travel with every copy.
- [ISL-C — Copyleft](https://islamiclicense.org/isl-c/LICENSE.md): copyleft terms — derivative works must remain under ISL-C with Corresponding Source disclosed.
- [ISL-R — Restricted](https://islamiclicense.org/isl-r/LICENSE.md): source-viewable only — use permitted (including internal commercial use), but no modification or redistribution.
- [ISL-EULA — Closed source](https://islamiclicense.org/isl-eula/LICENSE.md): proprietary end-user license agreement template for closed-source products; requires completing bracketed placeholders.

## Applying a license

To apply an ISL license to a project on behalf of a user, an agent should:

1. Ask the user (or infer from context) which variant to apply: ISL-P, ISL-C, ISL-R, or ISL-EULA.
2. Fetch the raw text at `https://islamiclicense.org/isl-X/LICENSE.md` for the chosen variant.
3. Save it **verbatim, byte-for-byte** as `LICENSE.md` at the repository root. Do not edit the body text.
4. Set the copyright line near the top of the file (`Copyright (c) [Year] [Copyright Holder]` or, for ISL-EULA, the `[LICENSOR]` and `[PRODUCT NAME]` placeholders) to the user's name or organization and the current year.
5. Add an SPDX header to each source file: `SPDX-License-Identifier: LicenseRef-ISL-X-1.0` (substitute P, C, R, or EULA), using the comment syntax of that file's language.
6. Add a notice to the project's README stating that the project is **source-available and ethically restricted**, and explicitly **not** an OSI-approved open-source license, with a link to `LICENSE.md`.
7. For ISL-EULA specifically, also complete the `[LICENSOR]`, `[PRODUCT NAME]`, and `[JURISDICTION]` placeholders throughout the document, and flag to the user that a lawyer should review the completed agreement before use.

Do not alter the wording of Sections 4 and 5 (the Ethical Use Restrictions) under any
circumstances — they are what keep the family's ethical guarantees consistent from
project to project.

## Human pages

- [Home](https://islamiclicense.org/): overview and license chooser.
- [FAQ](https://islamiclicense.org/faq.html): why not open source, why not "halal", enforcement, and scholarly review.
- [How to apply](https://islamiclicense.org/how-to-apply.html): step-by-step instructions, including a section for AI agents and a notice-text generator.
- [Why not open source](https://islamiclicense.org/why-not-open-source.html): the reasoning behind the honesty-first "not open source" disclaimer.

## Arabic

Arabic (RTL) translations of the four human-facing pages exist for readability; the
license texts themselves (`/isl-*/LICENSE.md`) are English-only and remain the sole
authoritative versions. There is no Arabic version of the license texts.

- [الرئيسية / Home](https://islamiclicense.org/ar/)
- [الأسئلة الشائعة / FAQ](https://islamiclicense.org/ar/faq.html)
- [كيفية التطبيق / How to apply](https://islamiclicense.org/ar/how-to-apply.html)
- [لماذا ليست مفتوحة المصدر / Why not open source](https://islamiclicense.org/ar/why-not-open-source.html)

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