Islam

“Islam - a 1,400-year-old religion practiced by more than a billion people worldwide - has a diverse following and is a faith that teaches justice, peace and tolerance.”

CAIR's journalist guide opens by countering the misunderstanding it sees as most common: Islam — an Arabic word meaning submission to God's will — is a 1,400-year-old faith with more than a billion diverse adherents, and its teachings center justice, peace, and tolerance.

“Islam: Youngest of the world's three major monotheistic religions. … Although Arabic is the language of the Koran, not all Arabs are Muslim and not all Muslims are Arabs.”

"Youngest of the three" places Islam relative to Judaism and Christianity rather than describing it on its own. NABJ is one of two independent legs on the page that correct the Arab/Muslim conflation outright — the error this entry exists to flag, and the one the audience notes single out as most common in progressive copy.

“Religion founded in seventh-century Mecca by the Prophet Muhammad … Followers of Islam are called Muslims. … Because the Quran is in Arabic, it is a common misconception that all Arabs are Muslim and all Muslims are Arab …”

The Diversity Style Guide defines Islam as the religion founded in seventh-century Mecca whose followers are called Muslims, and closes the entry by correcting the common misconception that all Arabs are Muslim and all Muslims are Arab. Its definitional text follows the Religion Stylebook's.

“Follow AP style, which defines the term as an "advocate or supporter of a political movement that favors reordering government and society in accordance with laws prescribed by Islam" … "Do not use as a synonym for Islamic fighters, militants, extremists or radicals, who may or may not be Islamists."”

This is the page's "don't fuse the religion with a political movement" leg. The AP definition is deliberately narrow — a political program, not a faith — and the caution exists because "Islamist" gets routinely swapped in as a militancy synonym; the guide's point is that an Islamist may be neither violent nor an extremist, so the two words are not interchangeable.

“Fairness and accuracy mean attributing political actions to the group, government or party responsible, and not just to the religion, which may have millions of followers with different beliefs. Avoid constructions like Muslim bomb.”

On "Islamic fundamentalist," the Diversity Style Guide warns against treating religion as the sole basis for political action, urging that actions be attributed to the responsible group or party rather than to a faith with millions of differing adherents. It explicitly flags constructions like "Muslim bomb" to avoid.

“Religion founded in seventh-century Mecca by the Prophet Muhammad, who said Allah (God), through the Angel Gabriel, revealed the Quran to him between 610 and 632, the year of his death. Followers of Islam are called Muslims …”

The Religion Stylebook's baseline entry: Islam is the religion founded in seventh-century Mecca by the Prophet Muhammad; its followers are called Muslims, it is the world's second-largest religion, and it divides principally into Sunni and Shiite branches.