A product whose entire premise is "show your chain of evidence" cannot operate on opaque economics. Every quarter, Isnad publishes the line-items: every infrastructure cost, every reviewer's honorarium (with consent on naming), every supporter and patron contribution, and where any surplus went. The work is paid for by the people who benefit from it; the rest is plumbing.
Auth at 12K MAU (under free cap) · payment processing 2.9%+30¢ · domains
4%
$329
Total quarter
$2,615 surplus carried forward to waqf endowment
$21,803
Whose names made every page possible
Reviewers, compensated
Honoraria are aggregated per quarter. Scholars consent to public naming individually. Three reviewers asked to remain anonymous and are listed at the bottom; their honoraria are paid identically.
إ
Sh. Idris al-Ḥasanī
Mālikī · Casablanca · ijāzah via Ghumārī
12
pages
ح
Sh. Hāmid al-Bākistānī
Ḥanafī · Karachi → Houston · Dār al-ʿUlūm
15
pages
ف
Dr. Fāṭimah al-Najjār
Shāfiʿī · al-Azhar Sharīʿah · PhD usūl
9
pages
ع
Sh. ʿUmar al-Tāzī
Ḥanbalī · Riyāḍ · former Permanent Cmte. fellow
6
pages
Three additional reviewers (Twelver Shīʿī scope · Ibāḍī scope · sensitive-topic specialist) requested anonymity. They were paid at the same rate and reviewed 7 pages between them this quarter. Their work appears under "Anonymous reviewer #N" in the wiki frontmatter.
Where the work is held up
Institutional patrons
$500/mo or $5,000/yr. Named on the homepage with their permission. Quarterly review focus on pages relevant to their community.
al-Madīnah Centre
London · UK
$5,000/yr · since 2026-Q1
Masjid al-Falāḥ
Detroit · USA
$500/mo · since 2026-Q2
Cambridge Muslim College
Cambridge · UK
$5,000/yr · since 2026-Q2
Zaytuna College
Berkeley · USA
$5,000/yr · since 2026-Q3
Dār al-Uloom Birmingham
Birmingham · UK
$500/mo · since 2026-Q3
+ 9 institutions
Various · names withheld at request
$6,800/qtr · aggregate
If the work helps you
Continue the chain.
The Prophet ﷺ taught that three things benefit a person after they die: ṣadaqah jāriyah, ʿilm yuntafaʿ bihi, and a righteous child praying for them [Muslim 1631]. Supporting Isnad is both — ongoing ṣadaqah directed at beneficial knowledge.
Individual · monthly
$3/mo
~13% lost to processing fees. Suits regular givers.
recommended
Individual · annual
$30/yr
Only ~4% lost to fees. The same Muslim costs ~$0.62/mo to serve; this covers the year.
For larger one-time gifts. Principal preserved indefinitely; only investment returns are spent. The classical mechanism that funded al-Qarawiyyīn and al-Azhar through centuries of political turmoil. A modest $250,000 endowment at conservative returns covers ~30% of annual operating costs.