Al-Albani and the Center of the Universe — On Scholarship, Specialization, and Selective Trust — A University of Chicago scholar defends the hadith expertise of Muhammad Nasir al-Din al-Albani — who had been criticized for believing the earth is at the center of the universe — by drawing an analogy between religious scholars and other specialists: a great doctor may be wrong about your car, but that doesn't make him a bad doctor. Includes a frank admission of where Albani does overstep his bounds, and a plea not to discard centuries of Islamic scholarship wholesale. Posted to soc.religion.islam, April 1991.
Al-Ghazali on Training the Soul — A Presentation in Six Parts — A complete six-part Usenet series by Ayman Hossam Fadel presenting key chapters from al-Ghazali's Ihya Ulum al-Din on moral character, soul-training, and the diseases of the heart. Posted to soc.religion.islam in April–May 1991.
For Those Who Have Hearts — A Witness from Occupied Palestine — Firsthand account by a Canadian Muslim of a visit to Occupied Palestine in 1990, woven with Quranic verses. A spiritual testimony of faith under occupation, from the early soc.religion.islam community.
Four Suras — Arabic Transliteration and English Translation — Arabic transliteration and English translation of four short Meccan suras: Al-Asr (103, The Declining Day), Al-Humazah (104, The Traducer), Al-Fil (105, The Elephant), and Al-Ma'un (107, Small Kindness). Posted to soc.religion.islam in June 1991.
Fundamentals of the Islamic Religion — A classical Islamic catechism in question-and-answer form, presenting the foundations of Tawheed (monotheism), the pillars of faith, and the nature of prophetic revelation. Composed by Sheikh Mohammad bin Sulaiman at-Tamimi, arranged by Sheikh Mohammad at-Tayeb al-Ansari al-Madani, translated by Fadi N. Sibai and posted to soc.religion.islam in 1991.
Introduction to soc.religion.islam — A scholarly introduction to soc.religion.islam, an early Usenet newsgroup active from the late 1980s through the mid-1990s, notable for its substantive educational content and the quality of its community of Muslim students and researchers at American universities.
Islamic Contributions to Science — A student research paper from 1990 tracing the contributions of Islamic scholars to mathematics, astronomy, medicine, and philosophy — from al-Khwarizmi and algebra to Avicenna and Ibn al-Nafis.
Kindness and Enmity — The Islamic Teaching on Relations with Non-Muslims — A 1991 Quranic exegesis on how Muslims should relate to non-Muslims, arguing from Sura 60:8-9 that the prohibitions on friendship concern hostile adversaries, not peaceful non-Muslims — and that Islam commands kindness to all who do not make war on it.
Letter from Tashkent — Islam in the Soviet Republics — The Chairman of the Muslim Religious Board for Central Asia and Kazakhstan describes Islamic religious life across five Soviet republics during the glasnost era: mosques, madrassas, international diplomacy, publications, and the aspirations of a religious community navigating Soviet rule. Posted to soc.religion.islam in April 1991.
Questions Without Vague Answers — On Atheism, Women, Fear, and Social Evolution in Islam — A practitioner's direct responses to four common challenges to Islam — on how Muslims relate to atheists, the role of women, fear-based worship, and the socio-evolutionary critique of religion. Posted to soc.religion.islam in May 1991 by a Duke University graduate student.
Qur'anic Prayer Times — A Survey of References to Daily Prayer in the Qur'an — A 1991 Usenet post presenting a systematic cross-reference of all Qur'anic verses relating to prayer times, with Arabic transliterations, and arguing that the afternoon 'asr prayer has no explicit Qur'anic basis — only the broader tradition of five daily prayers found in hadith.
Qurbani — The Spirit and Practice of Islamic Sacrifice — A theological explanation of Qurbani (Islamic animal sacrifice for Eid al-Adha), covering its three Quranic objectives, the inner spirit that Allah actually receives, and the full Arabic supplication with English translation.
Seclusion of Women versus Modest Dress — On Hijab and Satr in Islamic Jurisprudence — A 1991 Usenet post by a Caltech student summarizing Ayatollah Mutahhari's philological argument that 'hijab' historically meant curtain rather than women's dress, and that women's seclusion was not Islamic in origin but entered Muslim practice from ancient Iranian custom.
Signs of the Approach of the Apocalypse — On Islamic Eschatology and the End of Time — A 1991 scholarly meditation on Islamic eschatology by a University of Chicago scholar — the two categories of signs, the problem of fabricated hadiths, and a vivid five-frame narrative of the end times: Dajjal, the Mahdi, the descent of Jesus, and the coming of Gog and Magog.
Suspicion, Spying, and Backbiting — Quranic Ethics of Social Conduct — A Duke University scholar draws out the Quranic ethics of social trust — four interlocked behaviors (idle curiosity, unsubstantiated suspicion, spying, backbiting) that form a causal chain from private thought to communal harm. With taxonomies of each, six permitted exceptions to backbiting from Mawdudi, and a closing dua. Posted to soc.religion.islam, May 1991.
Taqiyya — Dissimulation in Sunni and Shia Islam — Scholarly analysis of the Islamic doctrine of taqiyya (religiously-sanctioned dissimulation), drawing on Sahih Muslim, Allamah Tabatabayi, Moojan Momen, and Imam Khomeini to show the doctrine is shared across Sunni and Shia tradition with smaller differences than sectarians claim.
The Farewell Sermon — The Prophet Muhammad's final public address, delivered at the plain of Arafat during the Farewell Pilgrimage (632 CE), preserved from a 1991 posting to soc.religion.islam.
The Masjid and Its Children — On the Sacred Duty to Welcome the Young — A theological essay from soc.religion.islam arguing from prophetic precedent that children belong in the mosque — and that excluding them contradicts Islamic teaching. Includes the account of the Prophet shortening his prayer because he heard a child crying, and the Syrian school trip anecdote. Posted May 1991.
What Is Hadith — An Introduction to the Science of Prophetic Tradition — A scholarly primer on hadith — the recorded sayings and actions of the Prophet Muhammad — covering its epistemological foundations, chain-of-narration methodology, and the major canonical collections. Posted to soc.religion.islam in May 1991 by a University of Chicago scholar.