Talk:Ali ibn Yusuf

Name of dynasty
Almoravid is, overwhelmingly, the form used by English-language historians, and as such is the appropriate form to use in Wikipedia. A look at Google Books shows almost 1000 examples of Almoravid, while the alternative that keeps being substituted, Al-Murabitoon, appears twice, just twice, and both of them refer to the modern movement and not the medieval one. Thus that form is both an innovation with respect to the medieval dynasty, and it begs confusion with a completely distinct group. As such, there is simply no justification for its use. It doesn't matter if Al-Murabitoon is a more accurate transliteration of the original Arabic. This is not Arabic Wikipedia. We call Moscow Moscow, not Moskva. We don't call Switzerland Helvetia or Schwyz, and we don't call Greece Ellada. It is not about simple transcription, but the commonly used form in the English language, and there is a long history of calling them Almoravid(s). In editing an article, the goal is to reflect usage, not to improve usage. Agricolae (talk) 00:23, 26 November 2008 (UTC)