E-Discussion

NABIC-L:
An open discussion forum of 
North American Bangladeshi Islamic Community (NABIC)

NABIC-L is a, moderated, electronic discussion forum of NABIC that was developed for sharing ideas and information about Islam and the Muslim world, with special focus on Bangladesh and Bangladeshi Muslims in North America. Anyone who has an interest in this forum can subscribe. Membership of NABIC or being a Bangladeshi is not required, as long as it is understood by the participants that the forum is essentially for an internal dialog among Bangladeshi Muslims. This forum values diversity of opinions that are geared toward mutual enrichment, not discord. Thus, it represents a bridge-building approach by seeking common grounds among Muslims on one hand, and among Muslims and non-Muslims on the other hand. To subscribe to NABIC-L, please read the following NABIC-L Policy Statements and Participation Guidelines and follow the instruction at the bottom of the page.

NABIC-L Policy Statements and Participation Guidelines

Your participation is most valuable. To assist you to maximize your participation in NABIC-L and to promote a meaningful contribution to the list, the following policy statement and participation guideline have been adopted by NABIC. Please make sure that you have read and understood the following paragraphs before subscribing to NABIC-L or posting any message to NABIC-L.

1. Relevance: NABIC-L is solely for the purposes of sharing any ideas and information that have relevance to Islam, Muslim world, Bangladesh, Bangladeshi community, NABIC and NABIC-L subscribers. Ideas that pertain to global issues and humanity would also be considered so long as their relevance is substantiated. The primary focus of this forum is to facilitate discussions of issues/ideas relevant to Bangladesh and Bangladeshi Muslims around the world. Global issues related to Islam and the Muslim Ummah may also be discussed so long as their contextual relevance is clearly established.

Even though the participation in this forum is expected primarily from Muslims, the contributors should  be conscious of potential non-Muslim readers and thus articulations should reflect an inclusive attitude, perspective and approach.

2. Etiquette: NABIC-L, as per Islamic guidance, values and emphasizes not only the substance of discussion, but the etiquette and style of communication as well. Let us all adhere to Islamic code of conduct on cyberspace. Subscribers should:

·         be polite and civil in their communication;

·         whenever possible, be brief;

·         not jump to conclusions without seeking clarification from the respective person;

·         speak their mind FREELY, but with humility and equip themselves with more knowledge and information;

·         try to know each other personally, if possible;

·         try to encourage others to participate;

·         share their ideas to better utilize this discussion forum.

Adhering to such etiquettes does not imply that people should not speak their mind. On the contrary, Muslims must value freedom of expression and, whenever appropriate, be vigorous in their communication. Of course, freedom of expression should also be seasoned with a measured application of a sense of civil responsibility.

3. Articles that might not be accepted:

  1. Abusive articles or words will not be permitted. Such might be any one or combination of the following:
    • Article containing word that is commonly regarded or viewed as abusive
    • Any message containing personal attacks or derogatory comments about individuals
    • Article that target or question an individual's character, identity, background etc. without a supporting reason.
    • Articles projecting racial prejudice or attack toward a community or an ethnic group, if only to support stereotypes.
    • Articles containing socially destabilizing elements or ideas
  1. Any article that might be considered too long for the readers. Generally, messages should not exceed 2000 words (2-3 pages of text using font sizes 10-12). Longer messages should be divided into several parts for easier readability. While this forum intends to follow these rules strictly, it would, however, accord due consideration to the conceptual buildup of logic of an article. If a particular message merits exception to keep the quality or completeness of the article intact, the moderation team will evaluate it case by case. Shorter postings, no more than three lines, may be combined into a compiled message.
  2. Articles with unacceptable or no formatting will be returned with pertinent suggestions for modifications
  3. Articles without a subject header
  4. Articles that do not meet the quality criteria as defined by the management team, specially those that are non-contextual.
  5. Articles that contain attachments. Please send your article in text format. Attachments often contain virus beyond the knowledge of the subscriber that can be detrimental for fellow subscribers’ computers. Our system is configured generally not to allow attachments. Exceptions can be made in extraordinary cases, if prior arrangements have been made.
  6. Articles that contain advertisement, unless such advertisement is expected to particularly benefit the Bangladeshi community or for humanitarian cause.
  7. Articles with any vulgar or obscene words. Use of such word(s) in an appropriate context may be permitted. It is the responsibility of the writers to avoid any commonly used vulgar words. Repeated violation of this policy, where use of vulgar words may have escaped the attention of the moderation process, may lead to revocation of subscriber's posting privileges.

4. Approval time: On average 4-6 messages would be released per day. All messages, unless rejected for any of the above-mentioned reasons and the author is notified as such, will be distributed. The approval process may take 3-4 days. In case of news-related postings on the same subject, the first submission(s) would be given preference.

5. Scope: Based on previous experience with NABIC-L, any discussion related to the following areas would be deemed outside the scope of this forum:

·         Sectarian discussion (for example, Shia-Sunni issues), except for enhancing mutual understanding. NABIC believes in the unity of the Muslim Ummah. If someone has problem with Sunni beliefs and understanding or with Shia beliefs and understanding, he/she can carry out such relevant discussion OFF THIS LIST.

·         Attacks on, disparaging remarks about, Allah, the Qur'an or the Prophets. Any pertinent discussion with the spirit of learning and understanding as well as with the goal of evaluating and dealing with such attacks, of course, is always welcome.

·         Attacks on, disparaging remarks about, or fault-finding of the companions of the Prophet. Companions of the Prophet (s) are not free from sin or error, and no one is above scrutiny. However, scrutiny with the spirit of learning and improving ourselves is different than disparaging or vilifying anyone. According to the teachings of the Prophet (s), we are expected to learn from their lives - their exemplary conduct as well as errors - to improve ourselves.

·         Comments/posting that might have adverse legal consequences (for example, statements that might be construed as racist or be subject to hate-related laws in the United States).

6. Forwarded material: Material, including news items of interest to this forum's readership, is welcome. However, each news item must be prefaced with some introductory header comments of reasonable length.

7. Participation under real identity: While anyone can subscribe under any ID, contributions would be accommodated from only those who participate under their real identity. Every contributor must introduce himself/herself, including with affiliation if applicable, in the first message. If anyone wants to participate under an alias, the real identity still must be disclosed to the Moderation Team. The Team will keep the real identity confidential. The Team reserves the right to decide whether such exceptions would be allowed or not.

8. Forum-related communications: Any response to the Moderation Team's alert/notice/message must be directed to the Team, not to the forum itself. Subscribers are encouraged to share any opinion or suggestions regarding the moderation by writing directly to the Moderation Team. Please direct your comments to nabic-l-admin@globalfront.com.

Subscribers not adhering to the guidelines/policies of this forum will be individually alerted by the Moderation Team. If the respective subscriber persists, he/she will be removed from the list and notified by the Team.

NABIC-L Moderation Team will operate on the basis of authority given to it by the NABIC Board. If someone has questions pertaining to the Team's action or is simply dissatisfied with the Team, and if after contacting the Team DIRECTLY for response, the person is still dissatisfied, he/she should then approach the NABIC Board with a request so that the Board either evaluates the situation, appoints a new Team, or takes action as it deems appropriate. To contact NABIC Board, send an e-mail to the attention of NABIC Board at nabic-info@globalfront.com.

9. Reference to Scriptures: Whenever a posting includes any part of the Qur'an or Hadith, please include the full reference. You may follow the following format: for the Qur'an (surah#/surah name/verse#); for Hadith (name of the hadith collection/volume/hadith number/Arabic or English version, etc.). Alternative format is alright as long as anyone who wants to check up the reference can easily do so. Hadith reference should be based on original sources, not secondary ones, unless full citation is given in the secondary source. Such requirement applies to other scriptures as well.

10. Modifications to the Policies: NABIC reserves the right to make any changes to NABIC-L subscription policy at any time without prior notice. Of course, the subscribers will be notified as expeditiously as possible.

11. Moderators' participation: Moderators would have full privilege to participate in the discussions in their individual capacity. However, they must follow the procedure set up for all other subscribers, i.e., a moderator would not be allowed to approve/post his/her own submissions. On similar messages posted by both a subscriber and a moderator, subscriber's message would be given preference. Moderators' individual messages, submitted under their own names, may not necessarily represent the views or positions of NABIC-L Management.

12. Consideration for NABIC Newsletter: Please understand that any posting on NABIC-L may be automatically considered for publication in NABIC's quarterly newsletter.

13. Disclaimer: Opinions expressed in NABIC-L may not necessarily be the opinions of NABIC or NABIC officials. Accordingly, NABIC or NABIC officials cannot be held accountable in any way for expressions/opinions of individual subscribers on NABIC-L.

May Allah help us all to become better human beings and may He bless this forum so that it can make a genuine contribution to our Islamic growth and upliftment to serve the humanity.

Subscription and Unsubscription

Subscription to NABIC-L is FREE. To subscribe to NABIC-L, please read "NABIC-L Policy Statements and Participation Guidelines", as posted above, thoroughly and acknowledge your acceptance by sending an e-mail to nabic-l-subscribe@eGroups.com from your email account that you would like to use for this subscription. The subject and body of the message can remain blank. You will receive an automated message requesting that you confirm your subscription to the list. The message will also provide you with more information about the forum, including ways of unsubscribing from the list. As a subscriber to the list, you will receive messages from NABIC and other participants in the forum. Your address will never be sold to any party outside NABIC. Your address will also never be shared with any outside party, except if required for legal proceedings for violation of NABIC-L policies.

If you are already subscribed to NABIC-L and would like to unsubscribe from the list, please send a blank email to nabic-l-unsubscribe@eGroups.com. Please allow at least 24 hours for processing your request.

For questions about or comments on NABIC-L or any help with subscribing or unsubscribing, please send an email to nabic-l-owner@eGroups.comm. Thanks.