Sultan to as a sultanate ( "). The term is distinct from king ( "), despite both referring to a sovereign ruler. The use of "sultan" is restricted to Muslim countries, where the title carries religious significance, contrasting the more secular "king", which is used in both Muslim and non-Muslim countries. A feminine form of "sultan", used by Westerners, is Sultana or Sultanah and this title has been used legally for some (not all) Muslim women monarchs and sultan's mothers and chief consorts. However, Turkish and Ottoman Turkish also uses "sultan" for imperial lady, as Turkish grammar—which is influenced by Persian
Muslim Nesan Cittilevvai argued for educational reforms in the Muslim community and reproduced articles by Syed Ahmad Khan, a North Indian social reformer. The newspaper also carried an interview with the exiled Egyptian nationalist leader Ahmed Orabi, soon after his arrival in Ceylon. Cittilevvai also argued in "Muslim Nesan" that Muslims should adopt Arabic as their day-to-day language. Muslim Nesan Muslim Nesan (, , "The Muslim Friend") was an Arabic Tamil (Arwi) and English-language weekly newspaper, published from Colombo, Ceylon between 1882 and 1889. Mukammatu Kacim Cittilevvai (also transliterated as M.C. Siddi Lebbe) was the publisher, owner and editor of "Muslim Nesan".