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Assalamu 'alaikum wa rahmatu Allah wa barakatuh.

I think it's a must that we make a decision on this.

When an answer is posted, should we always declare the Sect in which's view the answer is posted?

As the site is about Islam, an answer is expected to have a default sect if the sect is not mentioned, it's not a good idea to put a rule that the sect must be specified in every single answer, nor can we really as new users will not know that, it'll be tiring to have a new kind of comment-on-each-new-post that tells that. There must be a "default".

As the Wikipedia Article mentions, the vast majority of Muslims are Sunni Muslims, so a new reader will expect the default answer to be according to the Sunni sect, doesn't he? further more, it's more likely that when a user posts a new answer, he/she will not mention the sect if he knows it's the view of the majority, on the other hand he/she will try to make it clear that it's a "special" view.

I suggest that we make a voting, whether there should be a "default" sect for answers or not.

I'll post two answers below, vote for the one you agree to.

Voting will be closed after 7 days after the question is posted.

P.S 1: I hope you don't take it sectarianism, I'm not trying to promote one sect over the others, I'm trying to make a convention that fits the real world.

P.S 2: Of course, answers to questions that mention a preffered sect in the answer shouldn't mention the sect if it was the same as the preferred one, and should mention it if it is another sect even if it was the sect of the majority.

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  • There are significant differences of opinion even in Sunni Islam, which would still necessitate declaring which school's view is being presented. "Default school of answers" would make much more sense for the site, but individual schools don't have near so clear a majority as one sees in the sectarian divide.
    – goldPseudo Mod
    Nov 3, 2012 at 18:41
  • I touched on the same issue (from a completely different angle) here: meta.islam.stackexchange.com/questions/298/…
    – goldPseudo Mod
    Nov 4, 2012 at 18:52
  • 1
    in this case it should be clearly announced in this site that this site is a sunni site by default to respect to freedom readers i learning and choosing beliefs of sects. also respecting to minorities.
    – Battle of Karbala
    Nov 5, 2012 at 5:53

3 Answers 3

Reset to default
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Such answers should be judged on a case-by-case basis, with mentioning of sect/school (or acknowledgement of other sects/schools) only mandatory in cases where a known difference of opinion affects the validity of the answer.

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  • Throwing this in as a third option because I wasn't entirely comfortable with the other two. You can assume a +1 from me here.
    – goldPseudo Mod
    Nov 3, 2012 at 20:17
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Yes, I agree that the default sect for answers is the Sunni sect because it's the majority (over 80% according to Wikipedia), and readers will expect it to be so, and if an answer is according to the Sunni sect, that doesn't have to be noted.

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  • Please consider adding extra vote on this choice, as I can't vote my own answer.
    – Tamer Shlash
    Nov 3, 2012 at 17:47
  • 3
    I can't agree with this: I feel that enforcing any form of "default Sunni" would only serve to make all non-Sunni (not just Shi'a) feel like second-class citizens.
    – goldPseudo Mod
    Nov 3, 2012 at 18:15
  • @goldPseudo: Why would it mean so? I tried to mention the reasons for such a voting very well, it doesn't look like what you feel.
    – Tamer Shlash
    Nov 3, 2012 at 18:28
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    @goldPseudo: Also if you don't agree then vote to the other answer, don't downvote this one :)
    – Tamer Shlash
    Nov 3, 2012 at 18:28
  • I don't agree with the other answer either; I'm trying to get my thoughts together and may post a third option.
    – goldPseudo Mod
    Nov 3, 2012 at 18:30
  • I don't agree. That something has statistical and demographic advantage doesn't necessarily mean that it's correct.
    – System Down
    Nov 8, 2012 at 17:51
1

No, I don't agree to that the default, the sect of an answer should be mentioned regardless of the majority and the expectations of readers.

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  • I don't agree. The OP shouldn't have to do anything. If they leaves the question open, then all sects are welcomed to answer.
    – System Down
    Nov 8, 2012 at 17:52
  • Defining a default something will also bring a specific meaning beyond the easiness of questioning for the questioners and reading for the readers, default somewhat implicitly implies preferred and this will be unfair, to my opinion, we are to answer the questions based on reasons and references, and leave conclusion to the reader, so that defining a default sect/school will contradict this spirit. Anyway, writing the name of the sect/school is not very difficult or time consuming, is it?
    – owari
    Nov 14, 2012 at 22:06

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