Kutib AI Style Guide

1. Authorities

The house orthography (§3) is the universal standard: every Arabic loanword is spelled by its rules. Alongside it, the following authorities each govern a distinct question:

• King Fahd Complex translation — determines which form a Qurʾānic proper noun takes (Ibrāhīm, Dhū al-Kifl, Sulaymān); the form is then spelled in the house orthography.
• The Chicago Manual of Style, 17th ed. — all mechanics not covered here.
• Merriam-Webster — determines whether a transliterated word counts as a dictionary-attested English word, which affects italics and glossing only (§7, §10).
• Quranic Arabic Corpus phonetic guide (corpus.quran.com) — transliteration reference, rendered in the house orthography.

2. Language and General Style

American English (toward, gray; generally -ical: theological). Chicago governs spelling, hyphenation, and usage. Serial comma: imam, hafiz, and educator. That for restrictive clauses, which for nonrestrictive.

3. Transliteration System

Digraphs for the fricatives — th, dh, sh, gh, kh — with underdots reserved for emphatic and pharyngeal consonants (ḥ, ṣ, ḍ, ṭ, ẓ), macrons for long vowels (ā, ī, ū), ʿ for ʿayn, ʾ for hamza.

• Short vowels: a, i, u; diphthongs: aw, ay.
• Shaddah is written as a doubled consonant (rabbanā).
• Tāʾ marbūṭah is written -ah everywhere, construct included (Khuṭbah al-Ḥājah, Sūrah al-Sharḥ — never Khuṭbat or Sūrat).
• The definite article al- is joined with a hyphen, without sun-letter assimilation (al-Ṣiddīq, not aṣ-Ṣiddīq).
• All pronouns are spelled out in full, whether standalone or affixed.

Word endings are written in pausal form:

• The short case vowels at the end of a word are not written (min nūr, not min nūrin; ḥamd, not ḥamdu).
• The only case ending written is the accusative -an, carried by its alif and adding no long vowel (ḥamdan, kathīran — never ḥamdān); on tāʾ marbūṭah the ending is -ah (raḥmah), never -atan.
• Vowels that belong to an attached pronoun are always kept (raḥimahu, ʿalayhi).
• Fixed devotional formulae keep their traditional full pointing (al-ḥamdu lillāh, Allāhu akbar, subḥān Allāh).

4. Arabic Script Orthography

Arabic-script passages follow these conventions:

• Ordinary speech in Arabic script is displayed with light vocalization. This follows prevailing Arabic subtitling practice — enough marking to read naturally, without the density of a fully vocalized text.
• Scripture and fixed devotional formulae are displayed fully vocalized where a canonical text is available. Quran text is never edited, abridged, or re-vocalized.
• Ḥadīth quotations follow the same conventions. Canonical Ḥadīth collections are consulted to verify accuracy, but the speaker's words are never altered or annotated to match them.
• Punctuation matches its script: Arabic passages take Arabic punctuation marks (، ؛ ؟); the surrounding English takes standard marks.

5. English vs. Foreign Words

Every Arabic loanword is spelled in the house orthography of §3 — including words familiar from English print (Allāh, Muḥammad, Qurʾān, Sunnah, ḥajj, ḥijāb). Familiarity affects only typography and glossing (§7, §10), never spelling.

Qurʾānic proper nouns take the form used by the King Fahd Complex translation, spelled in the house orthography (Ibrāhīm, Dhū al-Kifl, Sulaymān). All other foreign words are transliterated with full diacritics.

6. Names

Names not governed by §5: full diacritics, roman, capitalized — ʿAlī ibn Abī Ṭālib, Abū Bakr al-Ṣiddīq.

7. Italics and Roman

Whether a transliterated term is set in italics depends on its class:

• Roman always — never italic: dictionary-attested English words (Merriam-Webster) and names. Attested words are also never glossed.
• Roman always: titles of classic Islāmic texts (the Quran, the Ḥadīth literature, and specific works such as Ṣaḥīḥ Muslim), Sūrah names, prayer names, organizations, Islāmic months and holidays.
• Roman always: fixed devotional formulae (al-ḥamdu lillāh, subḥān Allāh, Allāhu akbar, in shāʾ Allāh).
• Every other transliterated term is italic on its first appearance in a document and roman on every later appearance, with a gloss at first use (§10).

8. Honorifics

Honorifics following sacred names are rendered as follows. Two glyphs render everywhere — they are universally stable:

Every other honorific is rendered in Arabic script, set within the surrounding English text:

So: When Allāh عزّ وجلّ Himself says …; Even before Ādam عليه السّلام was a living soul …

9. Capitalization

Transliterated words are lowercase unless grammar dictates otherwise.

God and the divine. Capitalize God and epithet-names for the monotheistic referent (the Almighty, the Creator, al-Raḥmān, Rabbanā, Ilāh, Mālik) and references to God (the Divine, the One, You); lowercase derivatives (godly) and generic or polytheistic uses (the gods of Quraysh, a sun god). Interjections keep the capital (thank God, oh my God). Within devotional formulae, attribute words are lowercase (subḥān Allāh, Allāhu akbar, al-ḥamdu lillāh).

Religious categories and titles. Capitalize religious categories (Muslim, Muʾmin, Mushrik, Kāfir, Ṣaḥābah, Tābiʿūn). Capitalize Prophet/Messenger as a title — standalone for Muḥammad ﷺ and directly before a name (the Prophet Mūsā; the Prophets Ibrāhīm and Ismāʿīl); lowercase in generic reference or following the name (the Qurʾānic prophets; Hārūn, the prophet).

Prayers. Capitalize prayer titles and parts of the service (Adhān, Ṣalāh, Salām); the five daily prayers are capitalized roman proper nouns (Fajr, Ẓuhr, ʿAṣr, Maghrib, ʿIshāʾ).

10. Definitions and First Instance

Define a foreign term at its first occurrence — ʿibādah (worship), or ʿibādah means "worship" — then use the bare transliteration, roman: ʿibādah. Dictionary-attested words and names need no gloss (§7). Endnotes only for definitions needing discussion, sparingly. Plurals: the English -s or the Arabic broken plural (aḥādīth) are both acceptable; use one form per term consistently within a document.

11. Numbers and Dates

Spell out one through one hundred and round numbers; numerals when any item in a like category exceeds one hundred; commas from 1,000. 40 percent; twenty-first century; thirteen-year-old child / thirteen years old. Dates: September 3, 1989; July 1897; mid-1840s; 70 CE; ca. 200 BCE. En-dash ranges (Sūrah al-Baqarah 2:8–9); elided page numbers (162–63).

12. Notes, Citations, Abbreviations, Cross-References

Endnotes, not footnotes; sparingly. Superscript in-text numbers. Full Chicago citation style: Islāmic texts by chapter and verse or folio, Sūrah titles capitalized roman in the house orthography — Sūrah al-Sharḥ 94:1, Sūrah al-Anbiyāʾ 21:87 (lowercase al-, macrons, tāʾ marbūṭah -ah; en-dash verse ranges); contemporary works with author, title, city, publisher, year, and page. Abbreviations only in parentheses, notes, and references, never opening a sentence; spell out chapters of the Quran, Sunnah; a.m., p.m., p., and e.g. take periods; PhD, BA, and acronyms do not. Cross-references lowercase (in chapter 7).