The Qur'an Project

I just came across The Qur'an Project, a website which provides a number of free downloads that are sure to come in handy when writing on Islamic topics. First, there is the Saheeh International translation of the Qur'an, which is the preferred translation to use when writing articles for Al Jumuah Magazine. There are also a number of books, including Fiqh As-Sunnah, The Sealed Nectar, Great Women of Islam and other useful titles.

The Qur'an Project is a registered charity in the UK that also provides free English-language translations of the Qur'an to interested non-Muslims.

5 Free Tools I Find Useful

If you work with international clients, it's only a matter of time before someone wants to pay you in dirhams, pounds or euros. When they do, hop on over to XE's Universal Currency Converter to see if the rate is one you can live with.

Here are some other free tools I regularly use:

IslamiCity's Quran Search - Great for when I need to paste a verse from the Qur'an into an article.

WordWeb's Dictionary and Thesaurus - This program allows you to click on any word in a text to instantly access its definition.

FaxZero - I don't send faxes very often, but this service comes in really handy when needed. You can send two free faxes per day.

OnlineConversion.com - Until the United States, Myanmar and Liberia join the rest of the world in adopting the metric system, visit this website to calculate weights, distances, temperatures and other measurements for your internationally published articles. Your clients will thank you.

Countries that use the metric system are displayed in green.

What are some of your favorite tools? Share in the comments section below.

The Muslim Blogger

The Muslim Blogger is an informative blog that is devoted to Muslim blogging topics, such as:

Why (More) Muslims Should Blog

How to Keep Your AdSense Ads Halal

21 Practical Solutions to Overcoming Writer’s Block

If you are interested in Muslim blogging, you might want to check out the Brass Crescent Awards, too, and vote for your favorite blogs before Dec. 19th.

Webinars for Muslim Writers

A while back, a blog reader contacted me asking if I know of any writing conferences for Muslims, especially on-line.

An-Najm Publishers is currently doing a series of webinars on book publishing for Muslims that you may find useful. I could not find the recordings on the website, so you may have to contact An-Najm directly for more info. if you are interested.

Calculate your Hourly Rate

Here is a handy tool that can help you calculate a reasonable hourly rate for your freelance work (calculator is courtesy of Freelance Switch).

The Avid Writer

Here is another Muslim-authored writing blog to add to your list of favorites: The Avid Writer.

According to the blog description, the Avid Writer "shares her personal experiences as she works to build a thriving freelance writing business from the ground up." This is an excellent resource for professional freelancers of all backgrounds.

Ramadan Journal and other Activities for Children

Ramadan is expected to start this year on either September 1st or 2nd. If you have kids, you may wish to check out the TJ Ramadan site, which has numerous quality activities and printouts with Ramadan themes, including a Ramadan Journal for young writers.

Resource: Religion Newswriters Association

According to this page on the Religion Newswriters Association website, Ebru TV is seeking a part-time host for Perspectives of Faith, a one-hour interview program on Islam, religion and interfaith dialogue. The listing is from May, so it may be that the position has since been filled.

Incidentally, the Religion Newswriters Association (whose aim is to help journalists cover religion with "balance, accuracy and insight") is a great resource for people writing about Islam.
On September 17th, for example, a conference called Covering Islam will be held in Washington, D.C. Topics of discussion will include the basics of the faith, the leadership role of women, and the rise in civic participation among American Muslims.

Also check out the following RNA Source Guides:

Covering Islam 101
Lots of resources, including demographic information on Muslims and surveys about Islam.

Covering Islam and Politics
A listing that includes research centers, organizations and scholars with expertise on the growing role of Muslims’ interactions with government and politics.

Islam: A Guide to U.S. Experts and Organizations
Lists more than 100 experts who specialize in such areas as civil rights, politics, foreign affairs, art, culture, history, law, family issues and more. It also includes Muslim advocacy organizations, research centers and think tanks.

Among other things, there are also scholarships and contests to benefit from. And, if you write for secular media, you'll definitely want to check out the Religion Newswriters’ Religion Stylebook for preferred spelling of religious terms, such as Koran/Quran, Muhammad (PBUH), Mecca/Makkah, etc.

Muslim Women Writers' Workshop - International

The Muslim Women Writers' Workshop International (MWWWI) is "an international organization for Muslim women involved in the literary arts. It was established to provide a voice for those previously voiceless; - a forum to nurture and develop published writers, aspiring writers, and supporters of the above. We believe that all power is from Allah (SWT) and through the application of the Qur’an and Sunnah we become empowered in our lives and writing.

"We are a new and growing multicultural Muslim organization and welcome Muslim women of all ages, occupations and ethnicities to join us in the sisterhood of writing. MWWWI was established for all writers, professional and those aspiring to become accomplished in the field."

Meetings for members of the organization take place each month in Sharjah, UAE. Visit the website for more details.

The International League of Islamic Literature

If you are interested in Islamic literature, you may wish to learn more about the International League of Islamic Literature.

The objectives of this organization are:

1. Enhancement and highlighting old and present features of Islamic literature,

2. Establishment of the rules of Islamic literary criticism,

3. Formulation of a complete theory of Islamic literature,

4. Development of Islamic methodologies for modern literary arts,

5. Re-writing the history of Islamic literature pertaining to Muslim people literatures,

6. Collection of distinguished Islamic literary works and translating them into the languages of Muslim people and other international languages,

7. Giving due care to children literature,

8. Criticizing and shedding light on the negative aspects of deviating literary schools,

9. Reinforcement of the international aspect of Islamic literature,

10. Fostering relations and cooperation among Muslim men of letters and combining their efforts in accordance with a wise and moderate methodology,

11. Contributing in the upbringing of Muslim generations and formulating the Muslim personality dignified with their straightforward religion and great heritage,

12. Facilitating means of publication for the members of the League,

13. Defending the literary rights of the League and its members.

From the website: "Faith is the essential link among all members of the League fostered by literary relationships. It is considered a special link that keeps Muslim men of letters tied to one another and presents unity of principles and objectives they are committed to."

Scholarships for Muslim Students

I've started a new blog listing scholarship opportunities for Muslim students. I hope you find it useful, insha'Allah.

Visit the blog here, and remember to share with others who may benefit from the information.

Also: If you know of a scholarship opportunity that should be added to the blog, share it below by leaving a comment.

Islamic SciFi

Here is an interesting website dedicated to Islam and Science Fiction:

Islam & Science Fiction

The creator of this site has gone through some lengths to identify Muslim science fiction authors and mentions of Islam in secular science fiction (literature, movies, etc.). It seems like this would be an excellent resource for anyone interested in this topic.

IslamicFictionBooks.Com Launched

Linda D. Delgado (Sis Widad) has started another exciting project for Muslim authors. This time it is a website dedicated to Muslim fiction: IslamicFictionBooks.com. On the site, Widad lists a number of books in the genre of Muslim fiction and includes the bios of authors who write Muslim fiction. She defines "Islamic fiction" and shows how it is different from fiction simply authored by Muslims. She also provides a set of emblems that she encourages authors, retailers, and publishers to use on their books, websites, and promotional materials. If you are an author of Muslim fiction, make sure you contact Sis Widad so she can add you to the database.

Resource: MESA (Middle East Studies Association)

MESA (Middle East Studies Association) is a wonderful source of writing opportunities related to Islam and Muslim issues. This page (which contains a regularly updated list of calls for submissions) currently has several items worth looking into, such as a need for articles on contemporary Muslim life, contributions to a book on Muslim "voices" in school, scholarly research on the life of Ibn Qayyim al-Jawziyya, and others.

A Muslim’s Guide to Publishing and Marketing

I have mentioned A Muslim’s Guide to Publishing and Marketing on this blog before. The author, Linda D. Delgado (known to many as Sis. Widad), is an expert on the Muslim book industry as well as kind and helpful. She has personally answered many of my own questions on publishing and been a great source of support and guidance for members of the Islamic Writers Alliance, which she founded in 2004.

Sis. Widad wrote this book to help Muslim writers sort out the maze of information out there on getting a book published. In detail, she outlines the options available to writers and further explains the inner-workings of the Muslim publishing industry, which operates by different rules than you will find in the world of secular publishing.

Since I am currently reading Widad’s book myself, I will, over the next several months, be sharing some gems of wisdom from its pages. I hope you’ll join me by purchasing your own copy of the book (click on the Amazon link above) and contributing to the discussions after each post in the blog.

Ulfah Arts

Ulfah Arts is an "emerging arts organization" in the UK whose vision is to "raise the understanding and appreciation of the arts, by giving access to people (particularly women) who - due to their religious/cultural beliefs - would not otherwise have the opportunity to engage with the arts, either as an audience member or an artist/performer."

Click on Art Opportunities to the left to learn about different projects for artists and writers.

Use of Arabic Terms in English

Working as a copy editor for Muslim publications, one of the most challenging tasks has been creating and maintaining standards for Arabic terminology in English. Here are some things to keep in mind:

1. Always assume you are writing for a mixed audience of Muslims and non-Muslims. People who are unfamiliar with Islam should be able to read your articles and understand them without consulting a dictionary or going on-line to find the meanings of Arabic words and phrases.

2. This means that you must either define your words or use their English equivalents. For example, if you say something is haram, define it in parentheses:

Drinking wine is haram (prohibited).

Before defining the word, however, ask yourself if it would not be easier simply to write in English:

Drinking wine is prohibited in Islam.

3. When you must use an Arabic word or phrase, use the same spelling for it throughout your article. Ideally, the publication you are writing for should have guidelines for this, but not all publications do. So, if you start with the spelling Muhammed, don't suddenly change it to Mohammed, Muhammad or another spelling later in your article. It is important to be consistent.

4. Keep the spellings as simple and logical as possible. There has been a trend among some Muslims to lengthen certain vowels, writing Allaah or Islaam (for example) instead of the more common (accepted) forms: Allah and Islam.

Recently, I read an interesting article on this topic:

Can there be Muslim English?

I don't agree with every point in the article, but I can certainly agree with the following:

1. There is a need to standardize the way we write Arabic in English.

2. Using too much Arabic may confuse readers who are unfamiliar with the terminology.

A Muslim's Guide to Publishing & Marketing

There are many books to help new authors, but I have only seen one written exclusively for Muslims. Not only does Linda D. Delgado (a retired police officer who embraced Islam and formed the Islamic Writers Alliance and Muslim Writers Publishing) explain the differences between traditional, self and subsidy publishing, she also gives us insight into the world of Muslim publishing and compares the methods used in the Muslim and non-Muslim book publishing industries.

Do you have a marketing plan? Do you understand the ins and outs of printing, fulfillment and distribution?

Read this book before sending your manuscript out to publishers. Learn more about the book and view sample pages here:

A Muslim's Guide to Publishing and Marketing