Path: senator-bedfellow.mit.edu!dreaderd!not-for-mail Message-ID: Supersedes: Expires: 31 May 2004 11:22:46 GMT References: X-Last-Updated: 1995/03/27 Organization: none From: mughal@alumni.caltech.edu (Asim Mughal) Newsgroups: alt.religion.islam,bit.listserv.muslims,alt.answers,news.answers Subject: Islam FAQ (Part 2/15): Info on Islamic News Groups Followup-To: poster Approved: news-answers-request@MIT.Edu Summary: This posting contains Frequently Asked Questions for Islam. Part 2 of 15. Originator: faqserv@penguin-lust.MIT.EDU Date: 17 Apr 2004 11:24:07 GMT Lines: 735 NNTP-Posting-Host: penguin-lust.mit.edu X-Trace: 1082201047 senator-bedfellow.mit.edu 576 18.181.0.29 Xref: senator-bedfellow.mit.edu alt.religion.islam:796464 bit.listserv.muslims:1934 alt.answers:72447 news.answers:269657 Archive-name: islam-faq/part2 Posting-Frequency: monthly Last-modified: 1995/3/27 Version: 3.3 Organization: Alumni Association, Caltech, Pasadena, California Copyright 1993,1994,1995 Asim Mughal (mughal@caltech.edu) Redistribution for profit, or in altered content/format prohibited without explicit written permission of the author. Any other redistribution must include this copyright notice and attribution. Frequently Asked Questions: Part 2 __________________________________ This message is automatically posted to Islamic News Groups every month and when updated. This lists answers to most commonly asked questions on the forum. Contributions & changes are requested and should be directed to: mughal@caltech.edu OVERVIEW: The Frequently Asked Questions document for Islam has been divided in parts. Below is the index. Part 1 - Welcome & Index Part 2 - Info on Islamic News Groups Part 3 - Introduction to Islam Part 4 - God & Worship Part 5 - Islam, Quran & Muhammad (PBUH) Part 6 - Marriage Laws in Islam Part 7 - Women In Islam Part 8 - Life after Death, Moral System & Human rights in Islam Part 9 - Islam: Prophethood, Jesus & Trinity Part 10 - Islam: Farrakhism & Malcom X Part 11 - Islamic Internet Guide: Islamic Resources on Internet Part 12 - Other Islamic Resource Guides on Internet Part 13 - Islamic Literature: Books & Video Part 14 - Islamic Calendar & Prayer Time Table for 1994 Part 15 - Misc: List of Halal Foods ________________________________________________________ PART 2: Info on Islamic News Groups This part lists the detailed info on Islamic News Groups on USENET. PART A: Info on bit.listserv.muslims - Will be added in the next revision - PART B: Info on alt.religion.islam - Will be added in the next revision - PART C: Info on soc.religion.islam Contents --Articles-- 1. Guidelines for Posting .................................................... 2. Email Addresses for S.R.I. ................................................ 3. List of Moderators & History .............................................. 4. Moderator Selection Procedure ............................................. 5. Guidelines & Rules for Moderators ......................................... 6. Direct Submissions, Resubmissions & Format ................................ 7. Acknowledgment Process .................................................... 8. Grievance Process ......................................................... 9. E-mail Submissions ........................................................ 10. Proper USENET format ...................................................... 11. Test Messages ............................................................. 12. Anonymous Submissions ..................................................... --Announcements-- 13. Archive Info .............................................................. 14. Credits ................................................................... Articles ..................................................................... 1. Guidelines for Posting .................................................... This forum is for discussions on Islam as a religion. The submissions to this forum must: 1. Discuss Islam: directly related. Includes theology, comparative studies with other religions, announcements of Islamic conferences & sources of information for muslims, Ramadan,Eid etc. 2. Academic language must be used. No verbal abuse, personal attacks, flames, profanity or insults. Rejected items will be returned back to the sender with a note from the reviewing moderator. 2. Email Addresses for S.R.I. ................................................ Although one may post to Soc.Religion.Islam Forum using News Software, it is possible to send submissions as an email message. Please use any of the following email addresses: 1. sri@gnu.ai.mit.edu 2. religion-islam@ncar.ucar.edu 3. soc.religion.islam-news@newsbase.cs.yale.edu 4. soc-religion-islam@cs.utexas.edu 3. List of Moderators & History .............................................. ACTIVE MODERATORS: mysorenk@gnu.ai.mit.edu Nauman Mysorewala csulaima@gnu.ai.mit.edu Cynthia Sulaiman HISTORY: 1989 : Soc.Religion.Islam established. FOUNDER: gwydion@gnu.ai.mit.edu Basalat Ali Raja Moderators voted in Fall 1989: ------------------------------ bes@cco.caltech.edu Behnam Sadeghi Fall '89 - 11.15.91 naim@eecs.nwu.edu Naim Abdullah Fall '89 - 11.15.91 shari@wpi.WPI.EDU Shari Deiana VanderSpeck Fall '89 - 11.15.91 Moderators Selected in 1991: --------------------------- mughal@iago.caltech.edu Asim Mughal 11.15.91 - csulaima@copper.Denver.Colorado.EDU Cynthia Sulaiman 11.15.91 - 4.02.92 hanan@mcs213k.cs.umr.edu Hanan Lutfiyya 11.15.91 - 11.19.92 azhar@duke.cs.duke.edu Salman Azhar 11.15.91 - 9.15.93 jodar%girtab.usc.edu@usc.edu Nick Jodar 11.15.91 - 2.12.92 Moderators Selected in 1992: --------------------------- gwydion@gnu.ai.mit.edu Basalat Ali Raja 4.02.92 - 2.20.94 majeed@math.utexas.edu Zartaj Majeed 4.02.92 - 6.05.92 sadeka@binkley.cs.mcgill.ca Sadeka Hedaraly 12.04.92 - 2.14.93 zeeshan@occs.cs.oberlin.edu Zeeshan Hasan 12.04.92 - 9.08.93 Moderators Selected in 1993: --------------------------- dina@mentor.cc.purdue.edu Dina Wooten 5.04.93 - 6.08.93 ahmad@cs.umb.edu Ahmad Hashem 5.04.93 - 2.05.94 iraj@gnu.ai.mit.edu Iraj Mughal 12.25.93 - csulaima@student.umass.edu Cynthia Sulaiman 12.25.93 - 1.20.94 Moderators Selected in 1994: --------------------------- mysorenk@ucunix.san.uc.edu Nauman Mysorewala 3.01.94 - Current cynthia@gnu.ai.mit.edu Cynthia Sulaiman 3.01.94 - Current Coordinator Selected on MAY 22, 1992: ------------------------------------ mughal@alumni.caltech.edu Asim Mughal 4. Moderator Selection Procedure ............................................. The current moderators post an announcement for new moderators on S.R.I. All interested applicants are sent a copy of guidelines and a list of questions. References from others are appreciated. Each new moderator has unanimous vote of current moderators. The new moderators must: 1. Have some understanding of Islam (not necessarily a Muslim). 2. Agree with guidelines of Soc.Religion.Islam. 3. Be able to recognize flames/insults. 4. Have experience with USENET, preferrably a reader of SRI and have taken some participation in discussions. 5. Be willing to volunteer at least 2-4 hrs of time for S.R.I. per week. 6. Secure unanimous vote from all current moderators. As an additional step, the incoming moderators will be requested to sign an affidavit, declaring their intent to abide by the guidelines of Soc.Religion.Islam, Guidelines & Rules for the SRI moderators & acceptance to a unanimous no-confidence motion. 5. Guidelines & Rules for Moderators ......................................... IMPORTANT NOTE: The following guidelines are the lastest ones available. At the time of selection,the current moderators pledged to uphold & consider the following guidelines binding on them. Appended is also the 'affidavit-b' which the current moderators signed. Any changes in the guidelines will be done at the request of the moderators. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ By: Asim Mughal Dated: 1/11/94 SRI MODERATOR RULES: This does not cover all the established rules for moderators of SRI but gives a clear picture of need for such rules. These rules have developed over time & voted by the moderators. A. CONFIDENTIALITY: 1. Internal discussion among the moderators must not be revealed to a third party. All votings will be confidential as well. B. BEHAVIOR: Professional language & behavior is expected when addressing the readers & moderator colleagues. C. SUBMISSIONS: i. To: religion-Islam-request: Any articles sent to religion-islam-request@ncar.ucar.edu reaches all moderators. Such articles will be reviewed by the coordinator only, to avoid duplications. ii. Directly Sent to a Moderator: It will not be regarded as an official submission to SRI. D. COORDINATOR: One of the moderators will be fully dedicated for for this positions. The responsibilities include: i. Take care of duplications ii. Review cases of 'lost articles' iii. Handle grievances from readers iv. Write, update & maintain FAQ. v. Represent SRI moderator panel vi. Log activities of SRI, moderators, violations etc vii. Communicate with third parties, e.g USENET, NCAR viii. Call for votes on the issues at request of moderators. ix. Conduct survey/poll of readers x. Conduct interviews for new moderators. E. SUBMISSIONS: i. Review of submissions be held within 48 hrs (weekdays) and 72 hrs for holidays or weekends. ii. Acknowledgment must be made at the time of receipt and at the time of posting of an article. iii. Not sure: If not sure on making a decision, get a vote/opinion from other colleagues. iv. Common Questions: can be resolved consulting 'reference guide.' v. Rejection Notices: All rejection notices will be Bcc' or CC'd to the rest of the moderators, along with a rational of rejection. vi. Approval Notices: All approved articles when posted will be sent to the author with a cc the coordinator. F. GUIDELINES: i. Submitted articles must be: - Directly or indirectly related to Islam - No flames/personal attacks or insults ii. Assumptions: - Proper USENET format (79 column in width,less quoted text) - Not a 'test message' or a blank message G.PROBLEMS: i. Lost Articles: or 'Second Attempts' will be forwarded to the coordinator. ii. Administrative: queries on SRI, asking for status on the article submitted will be forwarded to the coordinator. iii. Rejections: If a reader differs with a moderator. The moderator must give it a second review. If the differences persist,forward the case to the coordinator to a peer review. H.VOTING: i. Issues:For status of an article and for SRI related issues, a majority voting decides the outcome. ii. Change of Status: of a moderator. For a no-confidence vote, or for new moderators, unanimous vote is a must. iii.Voting will be initiated by the coordinator. All votes will be send to him within 48 hrs (72 hrs weekends/holidays) or 'Abstain' will be recorded. Votes will be tallied and results will be announced by the coordinator. iv. Binding: All majority voting decisions are binding on the moderators strictly. I.NEW MODERATORS: i. Initiate: Coordinator may initiate the selection procedure by making a solicitation on SRI or as a result of a request for a reader. ii. Criteria: Some knowledge of Islam, fairness, honest, willing to work with a team, spare time, working knowledge of USENET,willing to work in accordance to the parameters of the forum. iii.Questionnaire:A questionnaire is sent to all the applicants with some basic questions based upon above criteria iv. Affidavit: An affidavit is obtained to ensure in writing the intentions to abide by the guidelines and agree to be accept a unanimous vote against him/her. v. Final voting: is conducted among the moderators. Unanimous voting is required in favor of the applicant. vi.There will be probationary period of upto 3 months, during which a majority voting can remove the new moderator. J:EMERGENCIES: i. If coordinator can not be on-line for more than 48 hrs due to an emergency situation. One of the predesignated moderator,will temporarily assume the role of the coordinator. If predesignated moderator is also not available, any other moderator may take up the role of a coordinator. K:LEAVE RULES: i. After a leave of 3 months, a moderator must be reconfirmed for the position. ii. One may take upto three weeks (cumulative) of leave every six months. iii. Other moderators must be notified in advance. * AFFIDAVIT * AFFIDAVIT which all moderators of SRI agree to sign. ___ Affidavit -B _________________________________________________________ I agree that I will abide by the guidelines of the SRI newsgroup while I am a moderator for the newsgroup. These guidelines can be voted upon further by the moderators and after they have passed these will also be obeyed by all current moderators. Repeated violations of the guidelines may result is removal from the moderator position if voted so uanimously by the moderators of SRI. If a no-confidence vote is passed against me, at any time, it shall be final, acceptable & binding for me. I agree to step down from the position of moderator SRI if requested after such a no-confidence vote. I hereby, give up the right to contest such a decision in front of any third party, in public or private. Signed, Dated: =========================================================== 6. Direct Submissions, Resubmissions & Format ................................ Please be reminded, in order to make this group efficient and to fairly distribute the load on the moderators your cooperation is needed. We would like to request the following. 1. Please do NOT send direct submissions to the moderators' accounts. [Routing software distributes more or less equal number of articles to each of the moderator.Sending direct upsets this balance unfairly] 2. Please do not re-submit articles again and again. Just ONCE is sufficient. [This leads to duplication and waste of time & energy] 3. Please keep your column length less than 80. 4. Please 'Spell-check' your articles. [Moderators are for reviewing the contents of the submission, NOT to format it or spell check it] 5. Please Keep them within the guidelines 1) Relevance to Islam 2) Academic/prof. language 7. Acknowledgment Process .................................................... It has always been our best effort to make this newsgroup run smoothly & efficiently. In spite of it, there have been cases where readers feel their articles were lost or never posted. Effective *immediately* we have decided to send acknowledgment to each & every message we receive in our mailboxes. We ask for your cooperation in implementing the logistics. Once your message is received by the moderator of SRI, you will be sent a copy of your message back with the statement. "Your posting for Soc.Religion.Islam appended below has been received in the mailbox of moderator ____ ______" o This will let you know 1. Your posting has been received. 2. Which moderator is reviewing it. o If you don't get an acknowledgment back within 48 hrs. Please send it again with a header "Second Attempt." Acknowledgment of "Second Attempt" will be circulated to co-moderators as well. o In an unfortunate case of "Third Attempt." It should be sent directly to the email address of Coordinator SRI* o Your article will be posted on Soc.Religion.Islam from anywhere between 1 hrs to 48 hrs. o If you don't see your posting on Soc.Religion.Islam within 72 hrs of receiving a return receipt - send a copy of your article with time stamped headers to the Coordinator SRI. WE REQUEST YOU TO COOPERATE BY: o Not posting to Soc.Religion.Islam's email address unless you have absolutely no way of posting thru USENET. o Not posting your same article again & again. Just ONCE is enough. o Not inquiring every day about your articles or your friends'. Lets try to make this new system a success. P.S. The present guidelines do not require the moderators of SRI to send acknowledgments or handle the cases of lost articles. 8. Grievance Process ......................................................... This is an effort to establish a procedure for handling grievances. The purpose is to make sure due attention is paid to concerns, objections & criticism from the readers while at the same time it prevents unncessary hassling of moderator(s). The final decision rests on majority voting among the moderators. SUMMARY o If your article is rejected, you may ask the same moderator for a review. o If still unsatisfied, request a peer review. o The moderator in question must decide whether to hold a peer review. o Majority voting among moderators decides the outcome. 9. E-mail Submissions ........................................................ Please post your articles to USENET group soc.religion.islam. The address : religion-islam-request@ncar.ucar.edu is only to be used in extreme case. Any email sent to this address goes to ALL moderators. This may lead to: 1. No moderator posting the article (thinking others may be doing so) 2. All moderators posting the article. The usual case is (2) which causes duplication and waste of time translating into one less article from other readers posted on S.R.I. Hence, we discourge sending articles to this address. 10. Proper USENET format ...................................................... C O L U M N W I D T H: The submissions must be trimmed to 79 characters in width. Without it, the posting software does NOT post the article. <------------- This makes 79 characters in width -----------------------------> 1234567890123456789012345678901234567890123456789012345678901234567890123456789 Additional time it takes to format postings translates into unfair advantage against other readers, whose article face delays. Q U O T E D T E X T: The current NetNews software will not post an article if the quoted text is more than the response. Please trim the quoted text from your submissions for Soc.Religion.Islam. Again, please submit your articles in proper USENET format. Thanks. 11. Test Messages ............................................................. o "Test Message" will be acknowledged but not posted. This will ensure the sender knows his/her article made it to the moderators. It is assumed their article or submission will follow. o Repeated Test Messages: Will be acknowledged only once. - Please don't abuse the system - 12. Anonymous Submissions ..................................................... o Submission from anonymous servers and personal requests from readers to remain anonymous are acceptable. o The guidelines apply to anonymous submissions, with regards, to submission & contents. o Anonymous postings may not be acknowledged. Announcements ................................................................ 13. Archive Info .............................................................. This FAQ is archived at several sites and is available for public retrieval thru anonymous FTP, E-MAIL, Gopher & World Wide Web. -- Anonymous FTP -- Login: anonymous Password: Your e-mail address Site: rtfm.mit.edu Dir: /pub/usenet/news.answers/islam-faq/ Site: ftp.uu.net Dir: /pub/usenet/news.answers/islam-faq/ Site: ftp.cco.caltech.edu Dir: /pub/calmsa/islam-faq/ -- E-MAIL -- Send E-mail to: mail-server@rtfm.mit.edu Text of E-mail Message: send usenet/news.answers/islam-faq/part2 quit -- GOPHER -- Site: gopher.caltech.edu 70 Path: Computing Information/ CCO anonymous ftp archive/ pub/ calmsa/ islam-faq/ Site: latif.com 70 Path: Resources relating to Islam/ Soc.Religion.Islam -- World-Wide-Web (WWW) -- One recommended interface is 'mosaic,' below are mosaic 'home pages.' URL at USENET Archive site: http://www.cis.ohio-state.edu/hypertext/faq/usenet/islam-faq/faq.html URL at Caltech MSA site: http://www.cco.caltech.edu/~calmsa/links.html 14. Credits ................................................................... The author wishes to thank all those who contributed in any capacity for the original one part FAQ or this multi-part FAQ. -- SOURCES -- The basic introduction and literature presented in the FAQ is from brochures on Islam distributed by Institute of Islamic Information & Education (III&E). These brochures were typed in electronic form by Ms.M.Ahmed. The information on soc.religion.islam forum (in Part 2) has been compiled from USENET archives and administrative logs of Soc.Religion.Islam moderator panel. What is III&E? III&E is an acronym for the Institute of Islamic Information & Education which was established in Chicago, Illinois in 1985. The III&E is registered in the State of Illinois and recognized by the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) as a not-for-profit religious organization. More information can be obtained by contacting Dr. M. Amir, III&E, P.O. Box 41129, Chicago, IL 60641-0129, U.S.A.; Fax: (312) 777-7199; or Tel: (312) 777-7443. -- FORMAT -- The format of the FAQ series has been done by utilizing resources of Islamic Information & News Network (IINN). A custom program, Nebula, written by editors of IINN for generating newsletters has been used. What is IINN? Islamic Information & News Network is a forum dedicated to educate the network community on issues relating to Islam and Muslims in an academic & non-political environment. Weekly digest is available on internet by subscribing to MUSLIMS@ASUACAD.BITnet (A Bitnet listserv list) and on USENET: bit.listserv.muslims. -- Permissions -- Permission to post this multi-part FAQ has been obtained by the following: o Institute of Islamic Information & Education (III&E) o Islamic Information & News Network (Muslims@PSUVM.bitnet) o Moderator(s) of Soc.Religion.Islam (Br.Nauman Mysorewala) o Moderator(s) of News.Answers (Thomas Khoenig & P.Huang) o Moderator(s) of Soc.Answers (Thomas Khoenig & P.Huang) # End of Islam FAQ Part 2 #