Guidelines - IOU Blog

Style Guidelines for the “IOU Blog”

As-salamu aleikum wa rahmatullah wa barakatuhu

This document has 2 parts:

Format guidelines
Article preparation on IOU blog site

Please review them both very carefully.

Format Guidelines

Format of the article:

The font size and style for the entire article should be 12 points Times New Roman;
The body of the article should appear as justified

All writers are required to insert following calligraphy, please do NOT place the calligraphy in brackets:

“swt” after Allah
“A.S” as the title for all prophets
“S.A.W” after Prophet Muhammad’s name
“R.T.A” after the companions’ names
For male companion
For more companions
For female companion

Please follow this instructions on how to insert the calligraphy and adjust its size:

1) Open your article in your Admin IOU blog page

2) Place your mouse where you will be inserting the calligraphy.

3) Click on ADD MEDIA

4) Choose the calligraphy

5) Insert (copy-paste same image where needed)

Citations from the Qur’an

Only the Sahih International should be used for all the Qur’anic texts: http://quran.com/. No other translation of the meaning of the Qur’an will be accepted.

The IOU does not support or promote the title of ‘Holy’ Qur’an as it is an imitation of the Christians calling their Bible ‘Holy’. Hence, do not use such title. If you wish to use any title for the Qur’an, you can call it Noble or Magnificent.

Referencing the Qur’an verses should be in the following format – (surah name, number:verse number)

Example:

“Except for those who repent thereafter and reform, for indeed, Allah is Forgiving and Merciful.” (An Nur, 24:5)

Note:

Qur’anic translation is enclosed within quotation marks (inverted commas).
Round brackets are used within the translation.

Tafsir

Please use only tafsir Ibn Kathir available at: www.qtafsir.com

Quoting ahadeeth

The source of the hadeeth must be mentioned. Authenticity if known should also be mentioned. You must refer to www.sunnah.com while referencing your ahadith.

Example:
The Prophet said, “When the Prophet felt the need of relieving himself, he went far off where no one could see him.” (Saheeh, Abu Dawood)

Note:

The text of the hadeeth is enclosed within quotation marks.
The reference is shortened and presented in round brackets after the hadeeth ends as indicated in the example above.

Punctuation, Grammar and Dates

IOU uses American spelling. For instance, “honor” instead of “honour.” Period is inside the quotation marks.
IOU does not use such abbreviation symbols as &, #, etc.
Dates are in American format: January 1, 2014.

Spelling and Non-English Terms

The first letter of Arabic terms and other non-English words should not be capitalized unless it is a proper name.
Commonly used Arabic terms shall appear as: subhan Allah / jazak Allah khair / alhamdulillah / masha’Allah / insha’Allah / hadeeth / ahadeeth (pl. hadeeth) / Qur’an / Makkah / Madinah / shariah / salah / zakah / saum / hajj / sadaqa / baraka /surah/ ayah / qadar / ameen / saheeh.
This will be the spelling for Prophet Muhammad’s name.
Spelling for ahadeeth collections: Bukharee / Muslim / Abu Dawood / Tirmidhee / Malik / Ibn Majah / Hadeeth Qudsi / An-Nasa’ee / Riyad as-Saliheen / Bulugh al-Maram / Fiqh-us-Sunnah
Spelling for commonly used Arabic names: Abu Bakr / ‘Umar / ‘Uthman / ‘Alee / Fatima / ‘A’isha / Zaynab / Maryam / Moosa / ‘Isa / Yaqoob / Yunus / Yusuf / Dawood / Sulayman / Nooh / Zakariyah / Haroon / Dhul Qarnayn / Mu’adh / Sa’d / Abu Dhar / ‘Amr.

Islamic Months (In Order)

Muharram
Safar
Rabi-ul-Awwal
Rabi-ath-Thani
Jumada-ul-Awwal
Jumada-ath-Thani
Rajab
Shaban
Ramadan
Shawwal
Dhul-Qadah
Dhul-Hijjah

Names of surahs

Please use the names of the surahs as mentioned on the following page: http://quran.com/

Word Limit

600-1200 words. If the article is longer, it may be broken into parts for easier readability.

Article preparation on IOU blog site

Fields to be completed

Categories – Choose from the list, right side

Tags – Right side, under Categories

Title – Enter the title of your article.

Description – Needs to be written by the author. Try to keep it within the search engines limit; maximum 350 characters. Please make sure your description is short (about 4-5 lines) and talks about what your article is about and why the reader needs to read your article. Please make it short and interesting so the reader clicks the link the moment he/she reads the short description. This description will be put up on our Facebook pages along with the link of your article, so make it interesting and exciting!