Article Presentation

In the Name of Allâh, the Most Beneficent, the Most Merciful

Article Presentation

By Br. Imran Ayub (IOU Facilitator)

 

Assalamu alaykum warahmatullahi wabarakaatuhu

Masha’Allah, you have all presented some excellent assignments recently and I would like to congratulate you on your efforts and make Dua that Allah increase us all in knowledge and makes us of the Muttaqûn.

I have already posted Writing tips early and wish to Focus on one of the points I made, the Structure of your essays.

Here are some points to keep in mind:

1. The Presentation of your assignments is very important. A well organised assignment reflects your understanding and ability to structure an argument

2. All texts should be the same font size, except Headings and subheadings. Use fonts such as ‘Times New Roman’, ‘Arial’, etc and use fonts of about size 12.

3. When using points, make sure you use points of bullet points

4. Always justify you text

Right Justifyied is:

In the Name of Allâh, the Most Beneficent, the Most Merciful. All the praises and thanks be to Allâh

Centre Justified is

In the Name of Allâh, the Most Beneficent, the Most Merciful. All the praises and thanks be to Allâh

Left Justified is

In the Name of Allâh, the Most Beneficent, the Most Merciful. All the praises and thanks be to Allâh

Justified is [the best one]

In the Name of Allâh, the Most Beneficent, the Most Merciful. All the praises and thanks be to Allâh

5. Always start your work with Bismillah and Alhamdulilah. It is good practise to do so.

For example:

“Praise be to Allaah, we seek His help and His forgiveness. We seek refuge with Allaah from the evil of our own souls and from our bad deeds. Whomsoever Allaah guides will never be led astray, and whomsoever Allaah leaves astray, no one can guide. I bear witness that there is no god but Allaah, and I bear witness that Muhammad is His slave and Messenger.” [This is part of ‘Khutbah al-Haajah’, as quoted in http://www.islam-qa.com/index.php?ref=2066&ln=eng]

6. Reference all your work.

For example:

a. Shaykh al-Islam said, discussing the state of the person who has gotten used to listening to singing: “Hence you find that those who have gotten used to it and for whom it is like food and drink will never have the desire to listen to the Qur’aan or feel joy when they hear it, and they never find in listening to its verses the same feeling that they find when listening to poetry. Indeed, if they hear the Qur’aan, they hear it with an inattentive heart and talk whilst it is being recited, but if they hear whistling and clapping of hands, they lower their voices and keep still, and pay attention.” [Majmoo’ al-Fataawa, 11/557 ff; as quoted in http://www.islam-qa.com/index.php?ref=5000&ln=eng]

b. The definition of Propaganda is: “Misleading publicity: deceptive or distorted information that is systematically spread.” [http://encarta.msn.com/dictionary_1861736531/propaganda.html]

7. If your references are too big, then try using footnotes or endnotes. These make the work very neat

8. It is encourage quoting full Ayats and ahadeeth. If possible, also add the Arabic.

Here is good Arabic software for Qur’anic Ayats

http://myquran.org/msword/

Please Note: The Dr. Muhsin Khan and Dr. Muhammad al-Hillaali Translation is actually an interpretation (similar to a small Tafseer + translation) and is copyright. So one may use the Arabic, but if you use the English translation, please refer to a copy of the book you have and reference the page, etc.

9. Differentiate between Ayats, Ahadeeth, quotes from scholars and quotes from scholars. Try using colours for this. I normally do it as show below:

Qur’anic Ayat:

“And fight in the way of Allaah and know that Allaah is All – Hearer, All – Knower.” [Interpretation Of The Meaning of The Noble Qur’aan, Part 2, Soorah 2 al – Baqarah, Verse 244; p. 62, 23^rd edition, Small HB, Darussalam publishers, 1998]

Ahadeeth:

Safeeyah reported from Hafsah (may Allah be pleased with her) that the Prophet (peace be upon him) said, “The Salaah of whoever approaches a fortune-teller and asks him about anything will no be accepted for 40 days.” [Saheeh Muslim, Vol. 4, p. 1211, Number 5540; as quoted in ‘The Clash of the Civilisations – An Islamic View’, by Dr. Aboo Ameenah Bilal Philips, p. 116, al-Hidaayah publishing and distribution, 2007]

Scholarly Quote:

Dr. Muhammad al – Jibaly said, “The angles travel very fast. They travel between the heavens and earth in a short time, bringing down Allaah’s orders, taking up recrds of our deeds, and so on.” [‘Knowing the Angels’, p. 23, 2^nd edition, al – Kitaab and as – Sunnah Publishing, 2007]

You may do it any other way, but you can see how when the differention is clear, it’s easier to read.

10. Always keep it within the word count and add a word count at the end if you can

Jazakumullahu khayrn

W’salamu alaikum warahmatullahi wabarakaatuhu

http://www.islamiconlineuniversity.com/opencampus/mod/forum/discuss.php?d=156