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Islam.SE has just hit Public Beta, and soon it will be time to get our first batch of moderators, as explained in the Moderators Pro Tempore blog post:

That’s why I am in the process of identifying and organizing a team of provisional Moderators from within each community (about three per site, starting about seven days into the public Beta). This is a temporary, short-term appointment. Moderators Pro Tem focus and expedite the essential needs of each new site. By the end of Beta, the community will be better suited to hold their own elections.

Moderators in Stack Exchange have an interesting challenge. Beside the normal activities of a Moderator, part of their function is to act as liaison — a role which links the Stack Exchange team with the individual communities.

Although during beta, diamond moderators will be selected by Stack Exchange, the purpose of this post is to seek out and propose candidates:

  • Each nomination should be posted as an answer and it should include (at minimum) a link to the user's main and meta profile so we can check out their activity.
  • Self nominations are encouraged, step up if you feel you can help.
  • If you are nominated by someone else you should edit the answer and let us know if you accept or decline (explanation optional). If a nominee declines we will not delete the answer, as to not have someone else nominate them again.
  • The nominations are not binding to Stack Exchange or the nominees.

Before nominating someone or accept / decline a nomination, you should read "A Theory of Moderation" thoroughly to find out what's generally expected from moderators.

If you would like to learn more about the role, our main chat room is filled with people who would love to help you.

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  • 1
    Do you nominate yourself by just posting an answer to this question.
    – defau1t
    Jun 26, 2012 at 19:02
  • @refhat Yes, that's it.
    – Dynamic
    Jun 26, 2012 at 19:02
  • 1
    Is this just the nomination phase?
    – System Down
    Jun 26, 2012 at 19:04
  • 1
    @SystemDown, there is no election for pro-term moderators, SE team selects them. These will be just suggestions that they will take into consideration, nothing else. The real election will be after the site is ready to exit the public beta.
    – Kaveh
    Jun 26, 2012 at 19:06
  • @Kaveh - Ok got ya! :)
    – System Down
    Jun 26, 2012 at 19:06
  • 1
    Quoting an SE post: "Here are the criteria for being a moderator: Community moderators are accorded the highest level of privilege and trust on our community, and should themselves be exemplars of positive behavior within the community. Our general criteria for moderators is as follows: patient and fair, leads by example, shows respect for their fellow community members in their actions and words, open to some light but firm moderation to keep the community on track and resolve (hopefully) uncommon disputes and exceptions"
    – Kaveh
    Jun 26, 2012 at 19:07
  • One more thing to keep in mind (which based on the previous discussions on the meta I feel is important to make clear): moderators should not use their moderation power to impose their own personal views about the site on the rest of the community. The site is run by the community together, not by moderators. "Moderators are human exception handlers, there to deal with those (hopefully rare) exceptional conditions that should not normally happen, but when they do, they can bring your entire community to a screaming halt — if you don’t have human exception handling in place."
    – Kaveh
    Jun 26, 2012 at 19:22
  • @Kaveh Thanks for the extra info.
    – Dynamic
    Jun 26, 2012 at 19:27
  • @Dynamic, you are welcome. We have 4 nominations already! It is nice to see enthusiastic people who deeply care about the site and want it to succeed. :)
    – Kaveh
    Jun 26, 2012 at 19:30
  • 1
    @Ansari, I agree with Dynamic. The point is everyone has one vote. If people start down-voting it can become a mess and also can be bad for the spirit. I would suggest up-voting the ones you prefer and use comments to express and share your concerns with others (in a polite and respectful manner).
    – Kaveh
    Jun 26, 2012 at 19:58
  • 10
    Not to be overly pedantic, but I don't agree with your "no down-votes" sentiment. If someone felt that a nominee was a bad choice, I'd certainly want to know about it. A lackluster smattering of up-votes doesn't really indicate that there is (potentially) a problem with the choice. Pro Tems are appointed, not elected, so we have to be much more conservative about our choices. It's better to know there is some controversy behind the voting than to have a lack of any information at all.
    – Robert Cartaino
    Jun 26, 2012 at 22:12
  • 6
    Seconding Robert's comment - down-votes can actually be extremely helpful if you honestly feel someone would not make a good moderator. If you get hung up on being "rude" now, what about a month from now when you need to bring up a moderator action you disagree with? Being nice doesn't include censoring important feedback - you can be critical in a constructive fashion.
    – Shog9
    Jun 26, 2012 at 22:23
  • 5
    @Dynamic I'm sorry, but I had to edit out your "no down-vote" guidance. It was felt that this would actively hamper the process, and users should feel free to vote as they see fit.
    – Robert Cartaino
    Jun 26, 2012 at 22:26
  • 1
    It's approximately... "About a week into the public beta, we will seek out members who are deeply engaged in the community’s development" blog.stackoverflow.com/2010/07/moderator-pro-tempore
    – Robert Cartaino
    Jun 27, 2012 at 18:34
  • 1
    @Dynamic The process/search starts in about a week. The time-to-appointment varies based on workload and how smoothly the search (and wait for the responses and followup) go.
    – Robert Cartaino
    Jun 27, 2012 at 18:58

8 Answers 8

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goldPseudo

profile for goldPseudo at Islam, Q&A for muslims, experts in Islam, and those interested in learning more about Islam profile for goldPseudo at Islam, Q&A for muslims, experts in Islam, and those interested in learning more about Islam profile for goldPseudo on Stack Exchange, a network of free, community-driven Q&A sites http://stackexchange.com/users/flair/25286.png

I'd like to nominate goldPseudo. He has been very active in the community from day one, helping hammering out guidelines in Meta, editing, and chatting. His views seem moderate and accepting of other beliefs, which is something we should look for in a moderator of something as potentially volatile as Islam.SE.

goldPseudo has accepted the nomination

Everyone else seems to be doing it, so I guess I'll introduce myself. I am goldPseudo (real name Johnathan), if you've been to the chat you probably know who I am already, or you may have seen me posting around here on occasion. I've been on the StackExchange network in one form or another since Feburary of 2009 (back when it was still just "StackOverflow", and "The StackExchange Network" was barely even a twinkle in Joel and Jeff's eyes.)

I may not post very frequently, but I have a solid grasp on what makes a StackExchange site tick. As regulars on the chat know, I'm willing to assist anyone who needs help on here, be it in understanding how the site works, writing posts, or breaking down a post to explain why it's good or bad. I firmly believe that without a strong community, a site like this will just flounder; if I can make the community stronger just by teaching others what they need to know, I intend to do so.

I also take a very hard line against anything that will disrupt the site. I've not been a moderator on any of the StackExchange network of sites, but I have moderated the islam.com site while this one was still in commitment. I have dealt with trolls, spammers, and (worst of all) debaters; I have also seen what happens when these problems are left unchecked. I know when to be lenient, when to warn, and when to be patient, but I also know when decisive action is necessary to keep the site running smoothly.

If elected appointed, I will treat my responsibilities seriously, and give every flag I deal with the consideration it deserves.

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  • 5
    BTW, @goldPseudo, now's the time to put something 'fascinating' in your about box. ;)
    – Mateen Ulhaq
    Jun 26, 2012 at 22:53
  • 1
    Sorry @goldPseudo I can't cast more than one vote for you :-(
    – Tachyons
    Jul 4, 2012 at 14:15
  • 1
    he is not a suitable moderator at all.
    – Farhan
    Jul 5, 2014 at 20:32
12

Ansari

profile for Ansari at Islam, Q&A for muslims, experts in Islam, and those interested in learning more about Islam profile for Ansari at Islam, Q&A for muslims, experts in Islam, and those interested in learning more about Islam profile for Ansari at Stack Overflow http://stackexchange.com/users/flair/423006.png

He is one of the high reputation users of the site and has been active on other SE sites like SO for a considerable time and is familiar with the system.

EDIT:
Since we're all posting little intros, my name is Ansari. I'm Muslim and I try to learn as much as I can about my Creator and the deen He has chosen for us. I've been active here since the Commitment phase and throughout the beta so far, both in trying to answer questions to the best of my ability and in editing and generally keeping an eye on the site. Whether or not appointed moderator, I hope to continue down that path and try to keep things professional and civil around here. My vision is to see this develop into an authentic repository of information on Islam, with authenticity being measured largely by references and citations to primary and secondary texts on Islam. While I do follow certain ways of doing things personally, my only criteria for moderating on this website will be the accuracy of the material.

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  • Apart from your remark directed at me, everything else was fine by far or so it seems! (whistles)
    – Gigili
    Jun 26, 2012 at 22:23
  • 2
    @Gigili - nothing personal, like I said in our very first interaction. Just want to see things remain civil here and keep emotions out of the way.
    – Ansari
    Jun 26, 2012 at 22:42
  • @Ansari Did you accept or decline?
    – Dynamic
    Jun 27, 2012 at 1:15
  • 2
    @Dynamic - I think I'll accept. If the SE folk choose me as mod I won't decline.
    – Ansari
    Jun 27, 2012 at 1:44
  • @Kaveh - just nominated you as well. Please consider it.
    – Ansari
    Jun 27, 2012 at 5:08
11

Ershad (declined)

profile for Ershad at Islam, Q&A for muslims, experts in Islam, and those interested in learning more about Islam profile for Ershad at Islam, Q&A for muslims, experts in Islam, and those interested in learning more about Islam

I nominate Ershad.

Although he is a fairly new member to the SE network, his contributions to this site have been very thorough and thoughtful. And his reputation pays homage to his regular participation here on Islam.SE.

EDIT: I am deeply moved to be nominated as a candidate for moderator post. Thank you so much for recognizing my contributions Flimzy (and other 5 people who up voted!). However, I would have to decline. After carefully reading The Theory of Moderation at SE and some thought process about my purpose of joining SE, I decided to decline. I feel that I can benefit this website more if I give my time and effort to answering questions (and of course asking questions!) only. I have been sneaking around SE for a long time to read answers of previously asked programming/physics questions which were very useful to me. I recently signed up at SE for Islam.SE and couple more which is still at proposal stage. I find the SE idea very inspiring and useful to broaden my knowledge. So, I think learning new stuff and sharing what I know will leave very little time to dedicate for moderation at Islam.SE. Apart from that, I feel that users like Dynamic and goldPseudo who have been in SE for a while and know how the system works are more deserving to be moderators. I will continue to post answers and learn (as that is what I enjoy doing). Thank you, guys and Thank you again, Flimzy!

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  • 4
    I see @Ershad as the most appropriate person for this task.
    – user37
    Jun 27, 2012 at 0:39
  • @Ershad Thanks for the compliment :-).
    – Dynamic
    Jun 27, 2012 at 19:02
9

Dynamic

profile for Dynamic at Islam, Q&A for muslims, experts in Islam, and those interested in learning more about Islam profile for Dynamic at Islam, Q&A for muslims, experts in Islam, and those interested in learning more about Islam profile for Dynamic on Stack Exchange, a network of free, community-driven Q&A sites http://stackexchange.com/users/flair/468847.png

I'd like to nominate myself a Pro Temp Moderator.

I've been extremely active on the site since the first day of Private Beta. As a result, I have been answering and asking questions, have been editing like crazy, have been extremely active in chat, and I've been very active in Meta. I also have fair knowledge of Islam. My goal is to have this site strive, while keeping in mind the needs and wants of the community, while working with my fellow moderators. I will use my powers to fulfill the needs of the community, and not my own views, unless they are greatly supported by the community.

In addition to my work on this site, I have great experience with Stack Exchange in general. I have been active in 3 different Private Betas, have helped organize a contest, and am actively participating in the Programmers.SE blog.

A few notes:

  • I am very even tempered, and can deal with tough situations.
  • I am Muslim.
  • I'm very active on several SE sites, including Programmers, The Workplace, Sports, and Islam :-)
  • I am active in network wide issues, as well as Meta Stack Overflow.
  • I am ready for all janitorial work and moderation that I will come by.
  • I will strive to go above and beyond the activity of the average moderator.
  • Active for at least 4 hours a day, usually more.
  • I am ready to learn from other moderators how I can do the best job possible.
  • I can communicate in English and Arabic which can help since Arabic is the language of the Quran.

Finally, I would love to be an Islam.SE moderator. Please take me into consideration.

9

ashes999

profile for ashes999 at Islam, Q&A for muslims, experts in Islam, and those interested in learning more about Islam profile for ashes999 at Islam, Q&A for muslims, experts in Islam, and those interested in learning more about Islam profile for ashes999 on Stack Exchange, a network of free, community-driven Q&A sites http://stackexchange.com/users/flair/73135.png

I would like to nominate ashes999. From what I've seen, he is reasonable, knowledgeable in Islam, and tolerant of differing opinions. This I feel, combined with his obvious experience on other StackExchange sites, qualifies him for the role of moderator in this difficult time.

ashes999 currently has the second highest reputation, writes very good answers, and has actively participated in the meta discussions.

Edit: I am a bit surprised to be nominated. I accept your nomination. A bit about me: I'm a seeker of knowledge, semi-actively studying Islam, which is something I've done alhamdulillah for many years now. If elected, I plan to use my diamond-mod super powers to hold back the waves of trolls (which I hope never show up) and promote peace and tolerance and anti-sectarianism on Islam.SE. (See my meta questions, I'm already doing this.)

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  • 2
    +1 I hope you accept. I would like to add that besides his great answers, he doesn't dismiss a question only because other users find it offensive. Instead he researches it and answers it in the best way possible.
    – Badger Cat
    Jun 27, 2012 at 9:12
  • 1
    +1 as well. He is a good candidate for this role. I find him mature enough to handle problems.
    – Abdullah
    Jun 27, 2012 at 10:50
  • 1
    @ashes999 Did you accept?
    – Dynamic
    Jun 27, 2012 at 16:30
  • I would like to hear from the three down-voters where they think I should improve, or where I am unsuitable for this position.
    – ashes999
    Jun 28, 2012 at 18:54
  • 3
    @ashes999 I Down voted. I think you judge people and question quickly. I have seen you use the word 'trolls' many times as if there is nothing but trolls. Muslims should think positively in general.You also requested people to downvote beginners questions in your meta post which is in my opinion not a good thing. Not all people have the same knowledge you have and what seems a beginner question to you might be very important to the one who ask and might save him/her from a sin. Please accept my comments.
    – user37
    Jun 29, 2012 at 12:22
  • 1
    Sure, no worries @HaLaBi. FYI, that was an early meta post, and I haven't down-voted questions in a couple of weeks. The quality improved significantly, probably in part because of that meta-post.
    – ashes999
    Jun 29, 2012 at 14:13
  • 1
    @HaLaBi -I want to point out that there's a major difference between beginner questions that show research and questions asked out of laziness. ashes999 was targeting the latter in his meta post. We really don't want questions asked that someone can just Google the answer for. That's a waste of everyone's time, doesn't make the Internet better, and doesn't make Islam Stack Exchange a great resource... I believe beginner questions, where someone doesn't understand something he/she has researched, should be embraced. Many other SE sites have dealt with this same issue and lost
    – user245
    Jul 4, 2012 at 4:29
  • Thanks @jmort253, but that's not the way I get it. I am pretty sure he means all kinds of beginners. First impressions are hard to change.. I wish him and you the best of luck.
    – user37
    Jul 4, 2012 at 10:23
  • @HaLaBi - From Ashes: By "beginner" questions, I mean questions that, if you spent less than five minutes searching even Google, you would find the answer. Seriously. This is what ashes originally wrote. He also wrote: Not your common day-to-day stuff that you can find out with, seriously a little googling.. My first impression is that he means to eliminate questions that waste your time.... Let me put it like this: I know very little of Islam. If I can answer a question someone asks just by Googling it, do you really want that on your site?
    – user245
    Jul 4, 2012 at 18:20
  • 1
    @jmort253 thanks for clearing that.
    – user37
    Jul 4, 2012 at 19:04
  • @jmort253 wow, it's you. Welcome to Islam.SE. There's a difference of opinion of sorts about this. Some would answer your question with "well do I really trust Google to give me the right answer?" Beginner questions sometimes still need to be answered by experts. So I stopped DVing and pestering people; if they want a beginnerish site, they most certainly shall have it. I wanted an expert site, personally.
    – ashes999
    Jul 5, 2012 at 13:22
  • @ashes999 - There's still a judgement call involved. If it's obvious the asker didn't try a search, that's one thing, but if you're able to find it on Google simply because you're an expert and know what to type in the search box, or that there isn't already good info on the Internet, that's another. If you truly believe in culling low quality material, my suggestion is to highlight specific examples in meta that you can use as a focal point for discussion. This will get everyone on the same page so the definition of "beginner" is similar for everyone. Hope this helps! :)
    – user245
    Jul 6, 2012 at 6:27
  • @jmort253 I'm okay with different people using the site in different ways. There's no problem here; that's why I'm not pushing this anymore.
    – ashes999
    Jul 6, 2012 at 13:05
4

AlUmmat

profile for Al Ummat at Islam Stackexchange, Q&A for the Stack Exchange engine powering these sites profile for Al Ummat at Meta Islam Stackexchange, Q&A for the Stack Exchange engine powering these sites

I nominate Al Ummat (meta). He seems to have moderating experience on other Q&A websites, has been active on meta and chat and seems to be fair.

Edit:

I Accept

I will talk a little about myself. My name is Mujahid. I am not an expert in Islam and I do not consider myself one. I am familiar with the Maliki, Hanafi, and Shafi schools. I am currently studying in depth the Maliki school. I am not part of any school of thought, I just consider myself a Muslim. I am currently living in the US, my time zone is Eastern Time. I am am online now and than, I can moderate when I am online, I am online almost 60/70 percent of the day so during the day I would be able to moderate. I am not the one to say that I have demonstrated moderator expertise according to the post.

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  • Each nomination should be posted as an answer and it should include (at minimum) a link to the user's main and meta profile so we can check out their activity.
    – Dynamic
    Jun 26, 2012 at 18:31
  • It is usual that moderators use real names or make them publicly known since other users need to be able to trust them (e.g. about their personal information in their profiles).
    – Kaveh
    Jun 26, 2012 at 18:55
  • The nominations should also include some information about the person and why the person is suitable for being a pro-term moderator on this Q&A site. For example, is he an expert in Islam? How he got that expertise? Which areas of Islam he is more knowledge about? Which school he belongs to? Also other information relevant to moderation like: Which time zone he is in? Which hours he can do the moderation? Has he demonstrated he will be a good moderator according to the criteria mentioned in the election posts?
    – Kaveh
    Jun 26, 2012 at 18:56
  • 3
    Are you sure Al Ummat is ready for this role.
    – defau1t
    Jun 26, 2012 at 19:02
  • 1
    @refhat Stack Exchange will decide that.
    – Dynamic
    Jun 26, 2012 at 19:28
  • @refhat, I think AlUmmat can be a good moderator. He seems to be quite knowledgeable about Islam and enthusiastic about the site since the proposal and I personally don't remember seeing any action that would indicate inability to be a good moderator. If your concern is caused by my comments, they are general, I wrote them here because this was the first nomination. :)
    – Kaveh
    Jun 26, 2012 at 19:28
  • @Kaveh The only issue would be he is very new to the SE network.
    – Dynamic
    Jun 26, 2012 at 19:40
  • @Dynamic, that can be an issue but hopefully not a very serious one as it can improve by reading the relevant meta.SO and blog.SO posts.
    – Kaveh
    Jun 26, 2012 at 19:45
  • 2
    @Kaveh Not really. You still have to have experience. Not saying he wouldn't be a good mod, just that he needs to get a lot more accustomed to the network.
    – Dynamic
    Jun 26, 2012 at 19:47
  • @Dynamic I have been on SE for awhile to know how things work
    – مجاهد
    Jun 26, 2012 at 20:21
  • 1
    @AlUmmat Of course you have! An you have learned rapidly. But you still have much to learn as far as the details of the network.
    – Dynamic
    Jun 26, 2012 at 20:41
  • 4
    It's not uncommon for some beta moderators to be new to the network.
    – Adam Lear StaffMod
    Jun 28, 2012 at 18:05
  • 1
    Why -5? Why no love?
    – ashes999
    Jun 30, 2012 at 9:21
  • 2
    I had only been on Stack Exchange for about six or seven weeks when I was selected as a pro tem mod. Be sure to consider your nominees based on all of their merits and their potential to learn and grow.
    – user245
    Jul 4, 2012 at 4:34
4

Kaveh (declined)

Just throwing this out there in case he's interested at all in moderating. I'm impressed by his activity on other sites and so far on this forum Q&A site he's been exceedingly professional and polite in his conduct. Additionally, he seems to know the SE system very well, being active on a number of sites and moderating on CS Theory.

1
  • 1
    Thanks but I prefer to participate as an ordinary user. (I feel more free in expressing my opinion this way.) :)
    – Kaveh
    Jun 27, 2012 at 5:53
0

Gigili

profile for Gigili at Islam, Q&A for muslims, experts in Islam, and those interested in learning more about Islam profile for Meysam at Islam Meta, Q&A about the site for muslims, experts in Islam, and those interested in learning more about Islam profile for Meysam on Stack Exchange, a network of free, community-driven Q&A sites http://stackexchange.com/users/flair/382048.png

I would like to nominate Gigili for this role. I have known this person for more than a year now and seen him spending a lot of time actively on different SE sites including Mathematics, English Language & Usage, Computer Science and many more. He has also been active on this site from the very first day and from his answers I can see that he has a very good knowledge and understanding of Islam. He can fluently communicate in English, German and Persian and knows some Arabic, the core language of Qur'an, which is a plus.
I would also want to point out that while the majority of Muslims community (nearly 85%) and therefore many of the current nominees are Sunni, this person is Shi'ite. In my opinion, there should be at least one Shi'ite moderator to prevent future moderations from being biased toward a single dominant branch of Islam.

Accepted. I'm a computer science graduate and spend my time on learning mathematics and solving problems. I'll probably start master of computer science next month. I'll try to help others to make Islam.SE a place where you enjoy spending time and learning new and interesting things while sharing your knowledge with others.

2
  • Have you accepted your nomination?
    – Dynamic
    Jun 28, 2012 at 11:21
  • 7
    There were a couple of questions/answers where Gigili made statements against hadith, and statements about shi'a proofs, without mentioning that "this is the Shi'a Islam view." This is surprising, after we agreed that qualifying proofs is important For Islam.SE. I personally feel that this quality would not make her a good mod, so no upvote.
    – ashes999
    Jun 28, 2012 at 16:19

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