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Islam FAQ (Part 2/15): Info on Islamic News Groups

( Part1 - Part2 - Part3 - Part4 - Part5 - Part6 - Part7 - Part8 - Part9 - Part10 - Part11 - Part12 - Part13 - Part14 - Part15 )
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Archive-name: islam-faq/part2
Posting-Frequency: monthly
Last-modified: 1995/3/27
Version: 3.3
Organization: Alumni Association, Caltech, Pasadena, California

See reader questions & answers on this topic! - Help others by sharing your knowledge
        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 #

User Contributions:

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Send corrections/additions to the FAQ Maintainer:
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Last Update March 27 2014 @ 02:11 PM