Welcome to IslamiCity Discussion Boards!

For a smooth running of the discussions, the board members are requested to abide by the following guidelines of conduct in the discussion room.

1. We manage here an Islamic discussion board, thus all members are requested to maintain the decorum, as per the standards of an Islamic cultural society. Any joke or casual statement which the moderators find insensitive may result in editing or deletion. Since this is an Islamic site, utmost importance and respect is to be given to the teachings of Islam, which include the Quran and Hadith.

2. Please also read the warnings that are posted in various Sections on the board so that you will not be held accountable for breaking any rules.

3. A generally pleasant demeanor and cordiality in language is requested during discussions.  

4. When discussing issues dealing with Islam, please support your comments with the Quran or Sunnah. Mocking any Quranic reference, Hadith, scholar, or member will not be tolerated. If you are stating something about a religion, please list your source. If it is an opinion, please state this fact.

5. When starting a new thread, we request that you choose a topic that is indicative of the thread. Please take care that it is not obscene, provocative, or insolent. Please post in the right section. The description of sections can be found in  the“Guidelines for Discussion” section."

6. The subject of your message should be in accordance with the theme of the forum. (If the text is found irrelevant to the theme, it may be deleted). We also request that you avoid straying from the 'topic' of discussion.

7. Please stay within the thread while answering any former response in the existing threads. Creating new threads to address someone on a topic which is already being discussed in a pre-existing thread rolls the screen unnecessarily and pushes the older ongoing discussions down the list and below the display window.

8. Use of upper case and bold/large (font) is not permissible for the whole of the message body. However, these may be used to add emphasis to words or phrases contained within your message.

9. Use of any profanity or obscenities of any kind within a post, even disguised with *asterisks, dashes, etc., will either lead to editing or deletion of the entire message. Any joke or casual statement which the moderators find insensitive may result in editing of, or deletion, of the statement.

10. Discussions that go around in circles will be closed.

11. Once a topic is closed, another thread with the same topic should not be opened. Any member doing so will be banned. If any post is deleted because it was found offensive to any religion or member/moderator, reposting of that message or similar messages will result in banning of that member.

12.  Spamming of any kind is not allowed. Any response to spammers will be deleted along with the spam. This includes multiple copies (2 or more) of one message in one and/or many forums. (If this behavior is spotted several times, by the same User we may remove ALL the copies of that message, including all the responses below them.) Spamming of questions or overly large posts will also not be allowed.

13. Posting several messages at random and not responding to the generated questions or dialogue following the original posts may also be considered as spamming. Answer questions posed to you and do not avoid it by changing the topic, as long as that question does not break any of the Guidelines. If you do not know the answer, simply acknowledge this, then move forward.

14. The "Comments and Complaints" section is not a discussion forum where all Users may take part. Only the concerned User, with the original complaint (topic starter), and IC Moderators/Administrators should take part in conversations so that the complaint can be appropriately resolved. Besides, if a complaint is also shared by many others, dealing with it would automatically help others as well. For example: If 50 people have the same complaint, responding to the original post of User (topic starter) would obviously address all concerned Users. Moderators should be addressed respectfully and complaints should be made politely.

15. We will not tolerate personal attacks on participants from ANY Community (personal attacks are defined as comments that reflect upon the person instead of their opinion). Furthermore, any insults intended to ANY religion, ANY prophet of God, or ANY holy scripture shall be removed.

16. Slanderous, defamatory, obscene, indecent, lewd, pornographic, violent, abusive, insulting, threatening, or harassing comments are not tolerated. ALL comments by the person who adopts such a manner may be removed and the person will lose the privilege of participating in the forums in future. We will try to block attempts from the same person to sign up with a different User name as well.

17.  Materials that are explicit in nature or pertaining to sexuality will not be tolerated - even when the purpose is genuine. 

18.  We request you not to post URLs of sites the sole existence of which is to slander a religion or spread lies about it. Even if the intention is good. Doing so means promoting the site for free.

19. Graphic materials will not be entertained. Members can post URLs to such texts, however, all such texts must contain a warning for the readers about the nature of the material. URLs posted without warning shall be removed.

20. Participating in discussions with multiple user names to make it appear as if there are different individuals and not one(and the same) person, will be regarded as deceit and such User names will be blocked permanently.

21. We don't allow impersonation of other participants and such accounts will be removed.

22. Screen names that are obscene or slanderous shall be denied access permanently.

23. If any board member is found inadequate in observing any of the above rules, he/she may be prompted once, twice, or thrice by the moderators before denying him/her all access to discussion boards in the future.

24. Removing (Deleting) a User's ID and Posts: In general, we the Moderators/Administrators, do not want to remove/delete User-id's.  Administrators and moderators will not "help" to remove your posts. So you can assume your posts and ID will be PERMANENT. Please keep this in mind and post wisely, so you won't be haunted by your own posts later on. Administrators and moderators also will not "help" to remove your watch list subscriptions.

We wish everybody a pleasant stay and an enriching experience on these forums.

What Our Scholars Said About Debate

"A debate is only justified to unveil truth, so that the more knowledgeable should impart knowledge to the less knowledgeable, and to stimulate a weaker intellect." - adh-Dhahabi

"I never talked with someone but sincerely wished that Allah guard him, protect him from sin and misdeed, and guide him; and I never debated with someone but sincerely wished that we would come upon truth, regardless of whether he or I should be the one to think of it first." - Imam al-Shafi`i

"Cooperation in seeking truth is inherent to religion, but sincerity in the pursuit of truth can be distinguished y certain conditions and signs. A diligent seeker of truth may be compared to one who is looking for his lost camel. It would be immaterial for him if he or another person should be the one to find it. Likewise, a sincere truth-seeker would perceive his partner as a helper rather than an adversary, and would be grateful to him if he should guide him to truth." - Al-Ghazali

If quoting, maintain accuracy; if claiming, provide proof. [An aphorism of Muslim scholars]

"Some scholars used to excuse anyone who disagrees with them in debatable matters, and did not insist that he should accept their view." - Ibn Qudama [Al-Mughni]

"My viewpoint is right, but can be wrong; and my adversary's viewpoint is wrong, but can be right." [An aphorism of Muslim scholars]

"I have never debated with a knowledgeable person but beaten him, and I have never debated with an ignorant person but been beaten by him." - Imam al-Shafi`i

"Let each one of the debaters accept statements of the other party supported with proof. By doing that, he would demonstrate a nobility and self-respect, and he would prove himself to be an acceptor of truth." - Ibn Akeel

"Over-enthusiasm is a mark of corrupted scholars, even when the case they are defending is true. By showing excessive enthusiasm for truth and their contempt of their opponents, the latter would be stimulated to retaliate and react in the same manner. They would be driven to stand for falsehood and to be true to the label attributed to them…If the champions of truth had spoken kindly to them avoiding publicity and humiliation they would have succeeded in winning them over. But as it is, a person who enjoys a place of prestige is strongly inclined to preserve his position by attracting followers, and the only way to that is to boast and to attack or curse adversaries." - Al-Ghazali

"I never debate with someone and he accepts my proof except that I hold him in high esteem, and I never debate with someone and he refuses my proof except that I lose all esteem for him." - Imam al-Shafi`i

"If you sit with scholars, my son, be more interested in listening than in speaking. Learn good listening just as you learn good speaking. Never interrupt a speaker, even if he takes long, until he comes to an end." -Advice of Al-Hasan ibn Ali (radhiallahu `anhu) to his son.

"Learn good listening just as you learn good speaking. To be a good listener, you should give a speaker time until he concludes, not seeming anxious to reply. Have your face and look in the direction of the speaker and try to understand what he says." - Ibn al-Muqaffa`