From: khan@twg.com (Sharaz Khan)
Newsgroups: soc.religion.islam
Subject: MONITORS needed for NEWSGROUP MONITORING
Date: 18 Nov 1992 23:55:18 GMT
Organization: The Wollongong Group, Palo Alto, CA
Reply-To: khan@twg.com (Sharaz Khan)
NNTP-Posting-Host: spiff.gnu.ai.mit.edu
Originator: gwydion@spiff.gnu.ai.mit.edu

			Bismillah Hir Rahman ur Rahim

 	IN THE NAME OF ALLAH, THE MOST MERCIFUL, MOST COMPASSIONATE

	This posting is very important and needs the attention of 
	Muslims and Non-Muslims alike.  Due to the length of this
	posting, I would suggest to take your time or print this
	article for reading.

	More people are needed to participate in this effort.  It 
	is an effort that will definitely leave a positive 
	impression of Islam on the newsreaders around the 
	world.  It will, Insha Allah, clear many conceptions
	about Islam, and make it clear that Islam is not ready
	to be stepped over in this form of media.  We can not
	allow this to go on.  Also it may be a great means of
	Invitation to Islam and Jihaad.

	There are many newsgroups that need to be monitored,
	and I have received just a few responses so far.
	I, therefore, urge each one of you to participate.

	JazakAllah-u-Khairan 

	Sharaaz Khan (khan@twg.com)

 
REPOSTING:
---------
Due to the lack of responses, I am reposting an updated version of the 
article that I had put out earlier.


			Bismillah Hir Rahman ur Rahim

 	IN THE NAME OF ALLAH, THE MOST MERCIFUL, MOST COMPASSIONATE




There are times as a Muslim, one feels that he/she should do much for
Islam but time constraints, liabilities, and many other excuses always
find their way in our work towards reaching our goals.

We live far away from where the acts of Jihad are needed, but
at times one wonders how he/she can perform Jihad while away from all
the persecution and emotion.

Well, my suggestion is to perform Jihad with the pen, with all due respect
to the true meaning of Jihad.  For all the newsreaders of SRI and SCP, I am
putting forth a preposition.  I suggest that we be a bit more organized in
the defence of and invitation to Islam.

There are about 59 newsgroups that belong to the SOC.CULTURE.ALL series,
11 belonging to SOC.RELIGION.ALL, and 15 newsgroups to the
ALT.POLITICS.ALL.  Judging from the articles that have been posted to
the group, I find SRI to be one of the most clean, moderated and unbiased
group.  In addition to this, I have learnt to admire the writers for
their contributions to this newsgroup.  You all deserve much due, and
Insha Allah, Allah will reward you all for your unflinching efforts in
making SRI for what it is today.

Considering the number of groups that are available all together,
it is very difficult for one to follow each newsgroup to find articles
that may be false or offensive to Islam and Muslims.  It, therefore,
becomes our responsibilty to monitor other newsgroups that may post
articles on, or related to Islam.  Acknowleding the fact that
one or two persons are not enough to serve this purpose of defending
Islam (Jihad), it becomes necessary that we be more organized about it.

IMPORTANT:
---------
I suggest that we form a group (not a new newsgroup) that will carry out
the task of MONITORing the different newsgroups.  Each person may choose
one or more newsgroups according to his/her expertise, and MONITOR it time
to time.  If an article is found on Islam to be offensive, incorrect or,
on the other hand, praises Islam, it should be posted to SRI.  In this way
the article could get different responses from true sources about Islam,
that is the Muslims.  The header of the article posted to SRI, could be
something like "MONITOR:Soc.culture.greek" etc.  If one is unable to post
articles, he/she should send them directly to myself, and I will post them
to SRI for him/her.  Once the article is posted on SRI, all the readers 
should try and respond to the particular article in the particular newsgroup
where the article originated from.  In this way, we will not flood the 
moderators and SRI with responses.  If people have any more questions or 
seem to prolong things related to Islam, you would then refer them to 
SRI.

Once again, in order to facilitate the process, follow these steps:

1) Each day or so, read all/related articles in the assigned newsgroup(s)

2) If an article is offensive/misleading/incorrect/praises Islam, save it.

3) Post the saved article to soc.religion.islam with MONITOR:<newsgroup>
   as the header e.g., MONITOR:alt.athiesm (Is there a God...Islam....).  
   If you do not have access to posting articles, send them to myself, and 
   I will post them for you.

4) Now as the article is posted in SRI, Muslim Newsreaders will/should start
   answering or responding to the particular article on the concerned 
   newsgroup.  This will avoid the flooding on SRI

5) If you are overwhelmed in to a never-ending dicussion on the particular
   newsgroup, refer that person to soc.religion.islam for a further 
   perspective.

6) One newsgroup may be shared by more than one person

7) If you have any problems/questions, please contact me at khan@twg.com
   or (408)248-7972 in the evenings.  Leave a message if you please.

SUMMARY:
-------
I am willing to take on the responsibilty of coordinating this MONITOR
group, and newsreaders could either send the posting to me, or post it
themselves.  Prefereably, I would like the participating readers to send
the articles to me so that I can keep track of what is being posted, and
have an idea about the success of this effort - Insha Allah.

If we take the above simple steps towards organizing ourselves as a group
on the net to MONITOR issues on Islam, I think that we are close to taking
a giant step towards clarifying the misunderstangs flying around the
different media, about Islam.

I would like to make clear that this is not an attempt to form a new
newsgroup, but to enhance SRI.  By each of us taking on the responsibilty
of MONITORing different newsgroups, we can:

1) Defend Islam on the spot from those whom attack this beautifull faith,
   where ever it may occur, so that people realize that Muslims can not be
   walked all over

2) Clear misconceptions about Islam

3) Lead the people from misguided sources of information to SRI, so that
   they be directed towards truth rather than fall towards false
   error about Islam

4) Get more people to read and participate in the SRI group

5) Increase our reach towards those attracted towards Islam

6) Create the sense of brotherhood amongst Muslims

7) And the list goes on

NEWSGROUPS TO BE MONITORED:
--------------------------
Following are the newsgroups that are to be MONITORED, and distributed
amongst the different prospective participants.  If there are any other
groups that discuss Islam, or issues related to Islam, or any which
may need to be removed from the list, which I may have
missed, please send me a list of those newsgroups:

-----------------------------------------------------------------
CULTURE

soc.culture.african:		
soc.culture.african.american:	
soc.culture.arabic:		TAKEN BY: Rached Zantout 
soc.culture.asean:		TAKEN BY: Rosmadi Mustafa **ON HOLD**
soc.culture.asian.american:
soc.culture.australian:		TAKEN BY: Asim M Mughal
soc.culture.bangladesh:		TAKEN BY: Dr Habib Siddiqui
soc.culture.british:		
soc.culture.canada:		TAKEN BY: Rached Zantout
soc.culture.celtic:
soc.culture.china:
soc.culture.esperanto:
soc.culture.europe:		TAKEN BY: Ghiath Hussieni **ON HOLD**
soc.culture.filipino:
soc.culture.french:		
soc.culture.german:	        TAKEN BY: Katharine E. Barker **ON HOLD**
soc.culture.greek:		
soc.culture.hongkong:
soc.culture.indian:		TAKEN BY: Rukhsana Merchant **ON HOLD**
soc.culture.iranian:		TAKEN BY: Ghiath Hussieni **ON HOLD**
soc.culture.japan:
soc.culture.korean:
soc.culture.latin-america:
soc.culture.lebanon!		TAKEN BY: Rached Zantout
soc.culture.magyar:
soc.culture.misc:
soc.culture.nepal:
soc.culture.new-zealand:
soc.culture.nordic:
soc.culture.pakistan:		TAKEN BY: Rukhsana Merchant  **ON HOLD**
soc.culture.pakistan:		TAKEN BY: Dr Habib Siddiqui
soc.culture.pakistan:		TAKEN BY: Syed Zafar Kazmi **ON HOLD**
soc.culture.pakistan:		TAKEN BY: Irfan Hyder **ON HOLD**
soc.culture.polish:
soc.culture.soviet:		TAKEN BY: Ghiath Hussieni **ON HOLD**
soc.culture.sri-lanka:
soc.culture.taiwan:
soc.culture.turkish:
soc.culture.vietnamese:
soc.culture.yugoslavia:
alt.culture.electric-midget:
trial.soc.culture.italian:
soc.culture.spain!		
soc.culture.italian!
soc.culture.thai!
soc.culture.me:
soc.culture.portuguese:
soc.culture.usa:	
soc.culture.mexican:		**MULTIPLE**
soc.culture.india:
soc.culture.mexico:	
soc.culture.afghanistan:	TAKEN BY: Dr Habib Siddiqui
soc.culture.caribbean:
soc.culture.brazil:
soc.culture.bulgaria:
soc.culture.netherlands:
soc.culture.romanian:
soc.culture.indian.american!	
soc.culture.cis:
soc.culture.australia:		**MULTIPLE**    
alt.culture.tuva:
soc.culture.jewish:		TAKEN BY: Dr Habib Siddiqui

RELIGION

soc.religion.christian:		
soc.religion.eastern:		
soc.religion.islam:
alt.religion.computers:
clari.news.religion:
talk.religion.misc:		TAKEN BY: Dr Habib Siddiqui
talk.religion.newage:		
alt.religion.emacs:
alt.religion.adm3a:
alt.religion.kibology:
alt.religion.all-worlds:	


POLITICS

ba.politics:
ca.politics:
soc.politics:
soc.politics.arms-d:
trial.talk.politics.peace:
talk.politics.drugs:
talk.politics.guns:
talk.politics.mideast:		TAKEN BY: Dr Habib Siddiqui
talk.politics.misc:	
talk.politics.soviet:
talk.politics.theory:
bit.listserv.politics:
talk.politics:
alt.politics.correct!
talk.politics.cis:

WAR

alt.desert-storm:	
alt.desert-thekurds:		
alt.desert-shield!
alt.desert-storm.facts		TAKEN BY: Katharine E. Barker **ON HOLD**

OTHER

soc.men
soc.women		
alt.athiesm 			TAKEN BY: Beverly Beasley **ON HOLD**
alt.atheism			TAKEN BY: Dr Habib Siddiqui
alt.atheism			TAKEN BY: Syed Zafar Kazmi  **ON HOLD**
alt.atheism.moderated		TAKEN BY: Dr Habib Siddiqui
alt.native  			TAKEN BY: Sharaaz Khan
alt.news-media			TAKEN BY: Syed Zafar Kazmi **ON HOLD**
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

IN ORDER TO JOIN:
----------------

- You should be able to, at least, have access to a program on your
  system that will allow you to read news.  This should not be mistaken
  for 'email' or 'net-news groups'.  Read news programs are usually
  available to students/employees on a particular system.  The program
  allows people to subscribe to the different newsgroups specified above.
  In many cases, people may just have access to read news, but not access
  to respond or to post articles.  In that case, you will send your 
  monitored articles to myself through email.

- You don't have to be an exeptional scholar to participate, and all
  interested newsreaders could and should participate.  I would strongly
  encourage non-Mulims who are interested in Islam and have some knowledge
  about Islam to participate in this effort.  In order to ficilitate
  in the distribution of newsgroups amongst the participating
  candidates, kindly send me the following information immediately:




Name            : (optional)
Email address   : (required)
Telephone number: (optional)
Address         : (optional)
Languages       : (required)
Expertise       : (Hadith, Fiqh, Qur'an, or any other Islamic related)
Newsgroups      : (Current ones that you read, and those that you can read)
Mailing Groups	: (If any)
Comments	: (anything that you would like to add)






The structure in which the MONITORING EFFORT is shaping to be is as follows:

MONITOR COORDINATOR: 	Sharaaz Khan

FAQ MONITOR	   : 	Rached Zantout

Q/A MONITOR	   : 	Postions opened

MONITOR		   :    Postions opened (This POSTING is about these positions)

		 	Nicholas Jodar			Active: ON HOLD
			Irfan Hyder			Active: ON HOLD
			Rached Zantout			Active: YES
			A Alam				Active: NO	
			Sharaaz Khan			Active: YES
			Nabil Jamaleddin		Active: NO
			Ahmed Bouzid (from Algeria)	Active: NO
			Ghiath Housieni			Active: ON HOLD
			Rukhsana Merchant		ACTIVE: ON HOLD
			Asim M Mughal			ACTIVE: YES
			Shabbir R Hassanali		ACTIVE: NO
			Katharine (Katie) E. Barker	ACTIVE: ON HOLD
			Beverly Beasley			ACTIVE: ON HOLD
			Sajidah Kutty			ACTIVE: NO
			Amer N. Syed			ACTIVE: NO
			Rosmadi Mustafa			ACTIVE: ON HOLD
			Syed Zafar Kazmi		ACTIVE: ON HOLD
			(Dr.) Habib Siddiqui		ACTIVE: YES


So far this effort has been quite successfull except for a few problems 
here and there.  The effort can be divided into three parts:

Part 1
  The Part where postings are recognized (by participating monitors),   
  extracted from that newsgroup and posted to SRI (soc.religion.islam).
  
Part 2
  The part where these articles are kept under observation for statistics;
  where an FAQ is created by the FAQ MONITOR (Rached Zantout).     

Part 3
  The part where these articles are to be responded to by the readers of 
  this group (This will now be the position of Q/A MONITOR).

Part 1 has been successfull to a certain point only, as evident from the list
of MONITORs above.  It therefore becomes necessary to appoint new volunteers to the group who will participate in Part 1 energetically.  For that purpose,
this posting has been reposted.

Part 2, with the volunteer efforts of FAQ MONITOR (Br. Rached Zantout), has 
the fact that he is a MONITOR as well.  

Part 3 is now recruiting for Q/A monitors and I have posted an article on SRI
and SCP explaining this position.

The above positions are currently voluntary. If no one responds to this posting,
we would have no choice but to take on this responsibilty on ourselves.  This
beats the purpose of being a Brotherhood that serves each other in Islam and
serves Allah(SWT) first and foremost.

Please respond to the position gallantly, for when the call of Jihad is issued,
we all have to respond.  Although this is not the proper setting, but it is 
a practice of what is to come and a test of our faith and loyalty to Allah (SWT)

May Allah guide us on the straight path and protect us from the evil
acts and intensions of Shaitaan.  Ameen



Sharaaz Khan
khan@twg.com