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WikiIslam:Writing Style Guide: Difference between revisions
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[[WikiIslam]]'s aim is to be the internet's most definitive, scholarly and neutral source for information of the religion of Islam. As such 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. It's goal is both to provide practical guides to the editor on questions such as orthography as well as to facilitate the creation of articles which are neutral and encyclopedic in nature. | |||
==Standardized Spellings== | ==Standardized Spellings== | ||
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|The use of first or second person in writing ("we" and addressing the reader) should be avoided. Either reword or remove these sections. | |The use of first or second person in writing ("we" and addressing the reader) should be avoided. Either reword or remove these sections. | ||
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Overall, the tone should be encyclopedic and neutral. The facts should be presented as is with only as much commentary is needed to elucidate any given point, and the tone of the writing should be that of an encyclopedia entry describing a fact about the world we live in, not a polemic trying to convince the reader of a given point or a conversation with a friend. Speaking directly to the reader should be avoided if at all possible, and the use of the 1st person "we" should likewise be avoided if at all possible. Although the wiki covers some controversial topics the goal of its language should be to keep anyone reading as long as possible without causing any offense. This does NOT mean that the content of the article should "pull punches" or avoid controversial topics that might hurt the feelings of Muslims or any other group of people, however the word choice should not be such that a person from any given group would give up reading the article based on the word choice alone. | |||
==Analysis== | ==Analysis== | ||
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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. | 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. | Be sure to investigate counter arguments and check key translated words in the original Arabic or other language before adding a point. | ||
===Examples=== | ===Examples=== | ||
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|{{center|11}} | |{{center|11}} | ||
|''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 secular and Biblical definitions of the word.'' | |''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 secular and Biblical definitions of the word.'' | ||
|''Shahid (شَهيد , plural: شُهَداء šuhadā) is an Islamic term for a martyr. | |''Shahid (شَهيد , plural: شُهَداء šuhadā) is an Islamic term for a martyr. Its usage in Islamic literature and rhetoric differs from its use in the West and the Christian milieu.'' | ||
|Commentary on other religious traditions should be avoided. In this case it | |Commentary on other religious traditions should be avoided. In this case it is an unnecessary distinction. Unless the article is comparing religious parallels as the main subject. | ||
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|{{center|12}} | |{{center|12}} | ||
|''The fact that the earth is not flat has been known for thousands of years. The Rigveda of Hindus (1700 BC or older), The Ancient Greeks Pythagoras (570 - 495 BC), Aristotle (384 - 322 BC) and Hipparchus (190 - 120 BC) all knew this. The Indian astronomer and mathematician, Aryabhata (476 - 550 AD) knew this.'' | |''The fact that the earth is not flat has been known for thousands of years. The Rigveda of Hindus (1700 BC or older), The Ancient Greeks Pythagoras (570 - 495 BC), Aristotle (384 - 322 BC) and Hipparchus (190 - 120 BC) all knew this. The Indian astronomer and mathematician, Aryabhata (476 - 550 AD) knew this.'' | ||
|''The spherical nature of the Earth has been understood for thousands of years. | |''The spherical nature of the Earth has been understood for thousands of years. Pythagoras (570 - 495 BC), Aristotle (384 - 322 BC) and Hipparchus (190 - 120 BC) as well as Indian astronomer and mathematician, Aryabhata (476 - 550 AD) evince knowledge of the shape of the earth in their writings.'' | ||
|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. | |Positive and definitive claims about what other religious texts (Bible, Rigveda, etc.) say should be avoided if at all possible 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 tone should be encyclopedic. | ||
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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 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. | The lead text is the most important text in the article and should reflect the objective standard we are trying to achieve. | ||
The lead should also give a reasonable facsimile of the information in the article. As WikiIslam is an encyclopedia this should not be an argument but should be long enough to give the reader an idea of what they will be reading. | |||
===Body=== | ===Body=== | ||
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Due to similar reasons, at least the first mention in an article should include the individual's religious title. For example, "Imam Bukhari" or "Shaykh Qaradawi". This is no different than referring to a saint or doctor as "Saint Patrick" or "Dr. Phil". | Due to similar reasons, at least the first mention in an article should include the individual's religious title. For example, "Imam Bukhari" or "Shaykh Qaradawi". This is no different than referring to a saint or doctor as "Saint Patrick" or "Dr. Phil". | ||
===SAW, SWT, He, Him or Her=== | ===SAW, SWT, He, Him or Her=== | ||
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. | WikiIslam aims to be an objective platform, therefore additional religious honorifics such as "Muhammad (saw)" or "Allah (swt)" are not permitted in articles, unless quoting from a text which has them. 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. | ||
==See Also== | ==See Also== | ||