WikiIslam:Writing Style Guide: Difference between revisions

It is often difficult for new editors at [[WikiIslam]] to understand what is or is not appropriate within articles. This page expands on the site's [[WikiIslam:Policies and Guidelines|policies and guidelines]] concerning style, tone and content of its articles by providing a visual guide for editors.

|'''Quran'''

|'''Jahanam'''

|'''Kaaba'''

|'''Najis'''

|'''Sharia'''

|'''Dawah'''

WikiIslam should strive to be an objective source for knowledge about Islamic matters. To do so we must remain objective in language. Unsourced claims and assertions degrade the quality of the site. In your own writing, summarize the main and relevant information of the source cited; be sure to avoid phrases of certainty (of course, surely etc...). Do ''not'' include conclusions at any point of the text.  Readers should be able to come to their own conclusions given the resources. We want to maintain a trustworthy and neutral reputation that encourages readers to do further research.

 

Do not make generalizing, political or hateful statements against any group of people (including Muslims); this could result in a ban.

All and any analysis should not be labeled as an analysis and there should be no sections dedicated to or labeled as analysis—the whole article should be a comprehensive summary and analysis of scripture and scholarly sources. Thus, analysis will present itself throughout the article.

Includes that which brings together scholarly stances and/or direct scriptural references on a position and makes objective observations. The idea is to summarize the sources and allow the reader to determine how they support or conflict with one another. All positions mentioned should stay relevant to the subject of the article.

Includes any analysis that includes the editor’s own judgement, conclusions, impressions, evaluations, or ethics. It is also unacceptable for editors to judge intentions or character of any author, source, or person—real or fictional.  

We do not want to lose valuable ideas present in the Wiki. While editing, do not to delete good analyses that are poorly written. Instead try to clean any biases and opinions from the old editor and leave any of the objective valuable or citable material.

Be sure to investigate counter arguments and check key translated words in the original Arabic before adding a point.  

|''Shahid (شَهيد , plural: شُهَداء šuhadā) is an Islamic term for a martyr. As with adultery and justice, the term martyr in Islam differs from the commonly agreed upon definitions of the word.''

|Commentary on other religious traditions should be avoided. In this case it s an unnecessary distinction. Unless the article is comparing religious parallels as the main subject.

|''The spherical nature of the Earth has been understood for thousands of years. Literature of this can be traced back to the Ancient Greeks, Pythagoras (570 - 495 BC), Aristotle (384 - 322 BC) and Hipparchus (190 - 120 BC) as well as Indian astronomer and mathematician, Aryabhata (476 - 550 AD).''

|Positive and definitive claims about what other religious texts (Bible, Rigveda, etc.) say should be avoided because such texts are open to interpretation and our aim is to remain neutral towards them. The examples given are sufficient and already cover India, so mentioning the Rigveda is unnecessary.

The Lead Text should define and explain only essential information about the subject and its impacts/contributions. The Lead Text text comes before the table of contents and does not have a section title. It is composed of one to four paragraphs and should be written simply and concisely to allow for easy digestion of information. This will also help Google create snippets for their search engine and therefore boosts the article’s visibility.

The lead text is the most important text in the article and should reflect the objective standard we are trying to achieve.

Where a source is open to interpretation or is disputed, editors should not assume a particular meaning. Interpretations can be discussed by reference to scholars. The editor should only seek to summarize and collect sources that accurately reflect the positions and dialogue concerning the article’s subject.  Articles should ''never'' end with an evaluation of the editor’s impression. In fact, the article should not have ending remarks at all, as they give a sense of finality and closure that discourages the reader from further research. The WikiIslam articles should aim only to provide the reader with the information they need to draw their own conclusions.

For titles of transliterated words use the standardized transliteration as the title with the English translation in brackets next to it. Example: Jannah (Heaven)

WikiIslam aims to be an objective platform, therefore additional religious honorifics such as "Muhammad (saw)" or "Allah (swt)" are not permitted in articles. The same applies to using an uppercase "H" in words such as "he", "him" or "her" in reference to deities of any religion. An exception to this rule would be the talk pages where users are free to use whatever form they feel comfortable with.