View source for Wikipedia:Manual of Style/Islam-related articles

{{Short description|Guidelines for editing Islam-related articles}}
{{style-guideline|MOS:ISLAM|WP:MOSISLAM}}

The purpose of this supplementary manual is to create guidelines for editing [[Islam]]-related articles to conform to a neutral encyclopedic style, as well as to make articles easy to read by following a consistent format. The following rules do not claim to be the last word. One way is often as good as another, but if everyone does it the same way, Wikipedia will be easier to read and use, not to mention easier to write and edit. This manual is open to all proposals, discussion, and editing.

There is considerable disagreement among the editors of Islam-related articles about which sources are reliable. The most important thing to remember is that all sources and articles must conform to Wikipedia policies such as [[WP:NOR]], [[WP:V]]. and [[WP:NPOV]].

{{style}}

==General form of articles==
Islam-related articles should generally satisfy the following:

* In general, the first sentence of each article should have the article title in bold and then define the article title.<ref>Exceptions are made for descriptive titles that are self explanatory.</ref>
* Each article should proceed with general remarks near the start and specific ones later. In lengthy articles, separate pages for detailed discussions of a topic should be used with a main article link (or links).
* At the end of each article, there should be the sections 'See also' (for closely related articles), 'References' (for reliability of article content), and 'External links' (for links to relevant web pages), in that order.
* Each article should be in at least one Islam category.

== Grammatical standardization ==
{{Seealso|Wikipedia:Manual of Style/Arabic}}
===Arabic transliteration===
As a general rule, [[diacritic|diacritical marks]] over and under the letters should not be used in article titles or text (only in the etymology section and sometimes the first sentence of the lead section). If a non-standard form of transliteration is to be used, it must be the [[Wikipedia:Manual of Style/Arabic#Common transcription|common transcription]], based on references or self-identification. For example, ''[[Mecca]]'' rather than ''[[Makkah]]'', ''[[mosque]]'' rather than ''[[masjid]]'' etc. Otherwise, a [[Wikipedia:Manual of Style/Arabic#Basic transcription|basic transcription]] should be used. The characters representing the [[ayin]] ({{lang|ar|ع}}) and the [[hamza]] ({{lang|ar|ء}}) are not omitted (except when at the start of a word) in the basic form, both represented by the straight [[apostrophe]] (').

Words of Arabic origin should be written out in lower case, except at the beginning of a sentence, and italicized, except when the word has passed into common English vocabulary (see [[Wikipedia:Manual of Style#Foreign terms]]). For example, ''[[fiqh]]'', ''[[kharaj]]'', and ''[[wudu]]'' should usually be italicized; [[jihad]] and [[hadith]] should not. Proper names are exempt from these rules: they should always be capitalized but never italicized.

Articles should include the original Arabic and its [[WP:MOSAR#Strict transliteration|strict transliteration]] on the first line. If you do not know the Arabic, place {{tl|Arabic script needed}} at the top of the talk page to mark the article for attention from someone who does.

===Translation===
Arabic terms should be translated into standard English wherever possible without compromising the meaning of the text. For example, "Allah" should be translated as "God". However, there are cases when translation is discouraged when it would risk obscuring the special meaning of this term as used in Islamic literature. For instance, a literal translation of "Deen" as "path" would be suboptimal; "way of life" might be a better option.

==Templates==
Various templates useful when editing Islam-related articles can be found at [[Wikipedia:Manual of Style/Islam-related articles/Templates]]; for other templates please see [[Wikipedia:Template messages]].

== Islamic honorifics ==
{{shortcut|MOS:ISLAMHON}}
In keeping with the [[Wikipedia:Neutral point of view|neutral]] nature of Wikipedia, Islamic honorifics should generally be omitted from articles (whether Arabic or English), except where they are part of quotations.

===Allah===
{{shortcut|MOS:ALLAH|MOS:SWT}}
"Allah" should be replaced with its translation, "God", unless used as part of an English-language quote. The first occurrence of "God" in the article should be something to the effect of the following: {{code|<nowiki>[[God in Islam|God]]</nowiki>}}.

When referencing a deity by a personal pronoun (e.g. "he" or "his"), the pronoun should not be [[Capitalization|capitalized]] except as demanded by [[Capitalization in English|standard grammar]] (i.e. at the beginning of a sentence, but not in the middle of one). Refer to [[Wikipedia:Manual of Style/Capital letters#Religion|the Manual of Style's section on capital letters]].

''Allah'' has many honorifics, the most common one being 

*'''SWT''' or the fuller ''{{transl|ar|Subhanahu wa ta'ala}}'', meaning "praised and exalted is He (Allah)" — '''''recommended action is to remove'''''.

===Quran===
* '''Holy Quran''' (or '''Holy Qur'an''', '''Holy Koran''', etc.) — '''''recommended action is to NPOV to "Quran"'''''. Reason: Calling a book "Holy" is making a value judgment that is inappropriate to Wikipedia. An exception is where referring to a translation that has a value judgment in its title.

===Muhammad===
{{shortcut|MOS:PBUH|MOS:SAWW|MOS:MUHAMMAD}}
Honorifics for [[Muhammad]] should generally not be used in articles. The [[Durood]] article discusses these honorifics in more detail, the most common ones being:
*'''The Prophet''' or '''(The) Holy Prophet''' (including with a lowercase 'h') in place of, or preceding, "[[Muhammad]]"; or just '''Prophet''' preceding "Muhammad" — '''''recommended action is to simplify and NPOV to just "Muhammad"''''' except when it is the first reference in an article, or the first reference in the lead, in which case it may be rendered as "the [[Islamic prophet]] [[Muhammad]]" if necessary.
*'''PBUH''', or the fuller "[[peace be upon him]]" (and the Arabic equivalents), after Muhammad or other Islamic prophets — '''''recommended action is to remove'''''.
*'''SAW''', '''SAWW''', '''saws''', '''SM''' or the fuller version '''ṣallā 'llahu ʿalayhi (wa-ʾālihi) wa-sallam''', variants of PBUH, sometimes used after "Muhammad" — '''''recommended action is to remove'''''.

===Angels and prophets===
An angel or a prophet has the honorific:

* '''AS''' or the fuller '''Alai-hi-as-salam''', for example, Jesus (AS) – '''''recommended action is to remove'''''.

===Companions===
Capitalization of "Companions of Muhammad" when referring to those who knew Muhammad (the ''[[Sahaba]]'') — corrective action is to write in lowercase in keeping with [[Wikipedia:Manual of Style#Capital letters]].

There are also other honorifics for companions all of which can be abbreviated to:

* '''RA''' or the fuller versions '''Radiya-allahu ta'ala''' ('''an-hu/an-ha/an-hum/an-huma''') – for a ''sahabi'', a ''sahabiyyah'', or plural ''sahaba'' – '''''recommended action is to remove'''''.

===Other persons===
Honorifics may also include:

* '''RU''' or the fuller version '''Rahmatullah alaih''' – for ''highly recognized Islamic scholars'' – '''''recommended action is to remove'''''.
* '''[[Hadrat]]''', '''Hadhrat''', '''Hazret''', or '''Hazrat''', similar to the English "His Honor" or "His Majesty" – '''''recommended action is to remove'''''.
* '''Hazretleri''', an honorific sometimes appearing after the names of respected Muslim personalities, such as imams – '''''recommended action is to remove'''''.

== Words to watch ==
The use of the word ''[[terrorism]]'' can be contentious; see [[Wikipedia:TERRORIST|words that may introduce bias]]. Its use should be decided on a case-by-case basis.

==Categorisation==
Due to the huge number of Islam articles present, as well as to address the problem of 'dumping' new Islam articles in [[:Category:Islam]] (and similarly for other subcategories), appropriate placement of articles in categories is required. This has been done to some extent, but quite often new editors are unaware of more technical categories (e.g. [[:Category:Quranic exegesis]]). Of course an article may be (and usually is) placed in more than one category, but to avoid cluttering categories the number of categories any given article is placed into should be kept to a minimum.

===Islam category===
With respect to the 'dumping' problem mentioned above, it is requested that editors check [[:Category:Islam]] frequently, as this is the place where many new Islam articles are placed, but where the articles could (sometimes clearly) be better placed in at least one subcategory of [[:Category:Islam]]. Currently, there are a handful of articles on the Islam category page.

Criteria that should be satisfied for inclusion of an Islam-related article in the Islam category are:

* Articles that are clearly representative of a major and well known aspect of Islam, such as [[Allah]], [[Quran]] and [[Muhammad]].
* Articles that don't satisfy the above criterion and cannot at present be satisfactorily placed in a subcategory of the Islam category (sort of like a 'holding area').

===Divisions of Islam===
There is a [[:Category:Islamic branches]] for placing articles on various sects in Islam.

====Sunni, Shi'a, Sufi, and Ahmadiyya Islam====
These four sects have their own categories, in fact they are subcategories of [[:Category:Islamic branches]], which is a subcategory of [[:Category:Islam]].

===People===
There are many Islam articles that are about Muslims. These articles should be placed in the appropriate category such as [[:Category:Muslims]] or a subcategory thereof such as, [[:Category:Caliphs]], [[:Category:Imams]] and [[:Category:Muslims by nationality]]. Only the most notable or famous Muslims should be placed in [[:Category:Muslims]].

===Stubs===
There is currently one stub category with 6 subcategories: 

*[[:Category:Islam stubs]] – add {{tl|Islam-stub}} near the end of an article to add it to this category.
** [[:Category:Islamic biography stubs]] – add {{tl|Islam-bio-stub}} near the end of an article to add it to this subcategory.
** [[:Category:Islamic studies book stubs]]
** [[:Category:Mosque stubs]]
** [[:Category:Islamic organization stubs]]
** [[:Category:Quran stubs]]
** [[:Category:Islam by country stubs]]

==Hadith==
{{See|Hadith studies|Hadith terminology}}
Articles on [[hadith]] should make clear the level of reliability of the hadith. The four general types of hadith reliability are:

*''[[Sahih]]'' (authentic).
*''[[Hasan (hadith)|Hasan]]'' (fair/good).
*''[[Da'if]]'' (weak).
*''[[Maudu']]'' (fabricated).

==References==
{{main|Wikipedia:Citing sources}}

As with any good encyclopedia, reliable sources should be given in each article. References to sources are of two types: those within the main text of an article (for example, a Quranic quote) and those at the end of an article. To maintain some type of standard in citing reliable sources, the following are suggestions towards this end.

===Articles lacking references===
Articles that have no references at the end of an article should have the {{Tl|Unreferenced}} tag at the top of the article. 

Even with references at the end, certain statements in the main text of the article may still be unsubstantiated, in which case the {{Tl|Citation needed}} tag should be placed immediately after the claim.

===References within main text===
{{main|Wikipedia:Parenthetical referencing}}

Apart from the parenthetical referencing convention of writing the author's name and year of publication of source in brackets after the end of a sentence or paragraph, more specific citations for [[Wikipedia:WikiProject Islam|WikiProject Islam]] include the following:

====Quran translations====
{{main|List of translations of the Quran}}

There is no general consensus on which translation is to be used for Islam articles at Wikipedia. However, in any given article, any translation(s) from the [[Quran]] should quote the same translation source (e.g. Yusuf Ali) in that article (but not necessarily this same source in another article), unless comparing different translations or giving evidence for the meaning of a certain verse. 

It is recommended that the template {{Tlx|Cite Quran}} be used to quote verses from the Quran, which will provide an inline-superscripted link to the [[USC-MSA Compendium of Muslim Texts|USC-MSA]] online translations of [[Abdullah Yusuf Ali|Yusuf Ali]], [[Marmaduke Pickthall|Pickthall]] and [[Mohammed Habib Shakir|Shakir]]. Other translators can also be referenced using the template.

====Quran and Hadith====
{{shortcut|MOS:ISLAMOR}}
The [[Quran]] and the [[Hadith]] are considered to be primary sources, as defined in [[WP:PRIMARY]]. Therefore, they should not be quoted to make an argument or imply a particular interpretation unless one can also cite a reliable secondary source that supports that usage. Primary sources may only be used on Wikipedia to make straightforward, descriptive statements of facts that can be verified by any educated person with access to the source but without further, specialized knowledge. But it's a good idea to quote the Quran and Hadith to explain a topic, if they are cited in reliable secondary sources. For articles and sections where only Quran and Hadith are cited without secondary sources, use the templates {{tl|Primary sources}} or {{tl|Religious text primary}}, or inline tag {{tl|primary source-inline}}.

====Religious sources====
{{seealso|Wikipedia:Reliable source examples#Religious sources}}
In Islamic branches with organized academies or recognized theological experts in religious doctrine and scholarship, the proceedings of official religious bodies and the journals or publications of recognized and well-regarded religious academies and experts can be considered reliable sources for religious doctrine and views where such views represent significant viewpoints on an article subject. Ordination alone does not generally ensure religious expertise or reliability. Absent evidence of stature or a reputation for expertise in a leading, important religious denomination or community, the view of an individual minister or theologian is ordinarily not reliable for representing religious views.

Secondary sources are not necessarily from recent years – or even centuries. The sacred or original text(s) of the religion will always be primary sources, but any other acceptable source may be a secondary source in some articles. For example, the works of [[Al-Ghazali]] are secondary sources for an [[Asharite]] perspective on many topics, but are primary sources for the [[Al-Ghazali]] article.

===References at end of article===
{{main|Wikipedia:Citation templates}}

References at the end include books, journals and many other types of sources. The citation templates for these are suggested for use.

==Media==
{{main|Wikipedia:Media}}

===Images===

See also [[Talk:Muhammad/images]]

{{main|Wikipedia:Images|Wikipedia:Uploading images|Wikipedia:Image copyright tags}}
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==See also==
*[[Wikipedia:Manual of style]]
*[[Wikipedia:WikiProject Islam]]
*[[:Category:Islam|Islam related articles]]

== References ==
<references/>
[[Category:Wikipedia Manual of Style (religion)]]