WikiIslam:Writing Style Guide

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Revision as of 02:44, 28 October 2013 by Sahab (talk | contribs) (→‎Examples)
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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 policies and guidelines concerning style, tone and content of its articles by providing a visual guide for editors.

Examples

The following tables provide examples of correct and incorrect style, tone and content. Most of these examples are genuine edits that were either reverted or amended. Note that there may be some overlap in examples, and a sentence having an issue corrected does not mean the remaining sentence is free from error (it may have multiple issues).

Style & Tone

Incorrect  
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Corrected File:Checkmark.svg Notes
Because of this double standard, countries such as France, Belgium, Italy, and the Netherlands have banned people concealing their identity in public completely. Because of this conflicting standard, [...] The term "double-standard" has been replaced with a more neutral word.
Aisha even started a war against her old enemy Ali, causing ten thousand Muslims to kill each other in one day. Aisha began a war against Ali that resulted in ten thousand fatalities in one day. Avoid writing in an emotional, dramatic style. State the facts and nothing else.

Content

Presentation of Facts

Incorrect  
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Time would show that Aisha was confident, spirited, strong-willed and highly intelligent – she had indeed “some of the qualities of Khadijah”. (avoid) This sentence draws conclusions from text that can be debated. There are no hadiths that mention explicitly that Aisha was 'intelligent', 'strong willed' and so on. Report facts and not opinions and deductions.
he must have been a good stepfather to Hala and Hind, for they remained unswervingly loyal to him. (avoid) This sentence is drawing conclusions that are not present in the original text.
Juwayriya was sweet-natured, charming and as alluringly beautiful as a fairy; men became infatuated with her at first sight. Juwayriya was described in some hadiths as "jinnya" which some dictionaries translate to "angel like". An editor's own conclusions or exaggerations are being replaced with facts.

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