The dominant approach to understanding Islamic Business Ethics has been based almost exclusively on either interpretations of the Qur’an and Sunna or influenced by Western understanding of Islam and ethics. However, there is a rich—largely ignored-tradition of ethical analysis conducted by Muslim philosophers which would broaden our understanding of Islamic ethics and hence IBE. We seek to correct this imbalance by examining works of Al-Ghazali, an early Muslim philosopher, scholar, and mystic. His approach to Sufism, combining an interpretation of revelation (...) with reason, can contribute to new developments in business ethics scholarship and practice especially in Muslim communities. His thought portrays a vibrant work ethic that, while based in Sufism, has important practical implications for business. We argue that including such historically and contextually recognized perspectives in our understanding of BE, both in theory and in practice, would work well with an audience that looks to Islam as a source of justice and proper moral conduct. (shrink)

Responsible Management in Theory and Practice in Muslim Societies delineates principles of responsible management from an Islamic perspective, exploring the concept of responsibility in Islamic religious texts, and how the understanding of responsibility evolved in Islamic jurisprudence. He explains aspects of individual and group responsibility in Islam and the dissonance between theoretical discourse and practical application. Yusuf M. Sidani focuses on the factors that have both facilitated and hampered the application of responsible management principles in practice in this unique (...) context. Themes explored across the book include Islamic texts and responsible leadership, responsibility in Islamic jurisprudence, individual and group responsibilities, and bridging the gap divide between theory and practice in Muslim societies. Sidani also poses proactive questions, including 'Who is a responsible manager?' and 'what does it take to reaffirm both individual and collective responsibilities', and 'whether things can be put back on track again in Muslim societies, and how?'. (shrink)

Mobility is becoming a defining feature of today’s globalising society. Individuals move for a variety of reasons, including finding employment or pursuing education. This paper focuses on the interrelationship between two different types of migrants who have all moved out of one specific country to another. It builds on the perceptions of Turkish graduates of German universities who moved cross-border recently to study in German universities, the self-styled ‘New Wave Turks’, to understand their place within the existing Turkish diaspora there. (...) Although the existing Turkish diaspora in Germany is well researched, as is how diasporas can facilitate further mobility, the interaction between these newcomers and the existing Turkish diaspora in Germany has received little scholarly attention. Through in-depth semi-structured interviews with recent Turkish graduates of German universities, we explored how the existing diaspora provides support but also challenges for the newcomers, complicating their experiences. We argue that international student mobility led to the emergence of a new form of ‘total diaspora’ in Germany, comprising both the existing Turkish diaspora and newly joined Turkish graduates of German universities. Social media was instrumental for these newcomers in setting themselves apart within the total diaspora, allowing them to create their own community identity. (shrink)

As in all languages, there are various structures in the syntax in Arabic. Some of these structures are about phonetic and some are about syntax. In this study, the subject of iṭba‘, which takes place in the syntax structure form in Arabic, is discussed. First of all, the phenomenon of iṭba‘, which consists of bringing a second word to reinforce the first word in terms of meter and rhyme, has been examined in terms of its use in Arabic. The expression (...) “Hasanun basanun” in Arabic can be given as an example of iṭba'. In this example, it can be said that the second word, basanun, was introduced to emphasize the word hasenun and also adds a phonetic form to the sentence. In this context, it is possible to say that the main benefit of iṭba‘ is decoration and reinforcement. This subject, which is discussed under the title of "reduplication" with various parts in Turkish, has not been mentioned in terms of Turkish language in the study. The classical period usages of iṭba‘ examples are mostly discussed. As a matter of fact, most of them are out of circulation in the modern period. However, it is possible to encounter this type of usage in literary texts. In Arabic, this subject has been handled with different titles such as iṭba‘, muhāzat, muzāwaja, izdiwāj. In this study, the subject was examined with the name iṭba‘. As a matter of fact, there are some differences between it and the others. For this reason, our study has been concluded by examining the semantic differences between the derivatives of iṭba‘ and determining the results. (shrink)

Kelâm tarihi göz önüne alındığında belli parametrelere göre farklı dönemlere ayrıldığı görülmektedir. Bunlardan en çok bilinen dönemlendirmeye göre Cüveynî ile başlayan kelâmın felsefileşme evresi Gazzâlî ile ivme kazanmış ve Fahreddîn er-Râzî ile kemale ermiştir. Felsefi dönem kelâm âlimlerinden birisi de Ebü’s-Senâ el-İsfahânî’dir. Kelâmın yönteminin kusursuzlaşması ve delillerinin kesinliğinin artması noktasında kaleme aldığı eserleriyle bu alana yaptığı katkı göz ardı edilemeyecek durumdadır. Kelâmın felsefileşmesiyle beraber içerik ve yöntem olarak değişen konulardan biri olan tenzîhî sıfatlar meselesinde İsfahânî’nin felsefi yöntemi kullandığı bariz bir (...) şekilde anlaşılmaktadır. Bu bağlamda o, tenzîhî sıfatları felsefi bir ifade olan “zorunlu varlık” kavramı üzerinden ispat etmeye çalışmaktadır. Ayrıca İbn Sînâcı gelenekten de haberdar olan İsfahânî, “Allah’ın zâtının aklî lezzetlerle vasıflanabileceği” şeklindeki görüşüyle bu hususta belli ölçüde de olsa kelâmcıların bakış açısını terk edip filozofların görüşünü benimsediği görülmektedir. Bu makalede İsfahânî’nin konu hakkındaki görüşleri ve Fahreddîn er-Râzî özelinde kelâmcılara itirazları değerlendirilecektir. (shrink)

We extended the Barut’s classical model of zitterbewegung from 3+1 dimensional spacetime into 2+1 and 1+1 dimensional spacetimes and discussed the symmetry and integrability properties of the model in 2+1, 1+1 and 3+1 dimensions. In these cases, the free particle current or the velocity of the particle can be decomposed as a constant convection current and polarization currents.In 2+1 dimensional spacetime, a velocity of the particle and spin tensor are dependent to each other and the chirality can not be introduced. (...) The free particle has 7 constants of motion: The momentum three vector, the charge, the energy in proper time, the scalar constant spin or magnetic polarization and the two components of total angular momentum. Two component electric polarizations oscillate with Zitterbewegung frequency.In 1+1 dimensional spacetime we have an independent velocity vector and a scalar spin tensor. The free particle has 5 integrals of motion: The momentum two vector, the charge, the energy in proper time, and the scalar total angular momentum. The normal component of the velocity or the scalar electric polarization oscillates with Zitterbewegung frequency.In 3+1 dimensional spacetime, the particle has an independent velocity vector, spin tensor and chirality. The free particle has 12 integrals of motion: The momentum four vector, the charge, the energy in proper time or mass, the three vector spin or magnetic polarizations and three components of total angular momentum. The parallel component of velocity into momentum and the normal components of the spin tensor or the spin three vector are constants of motion for the free particle. The chirality and electric polarizations oscillate with the Zitterbewegung frequency. The system is superintegrable in all dimensions. (shrink)

This article begins with the premise that market-oriented development strategies require more than the free movement of the factors of production from one use to another; they also require a positive work ethic and an energetic and committed workforce. However, the existing Arab work ethic does not seem conducive to␣development and change. This article assesses some antecedents that might have led to the emergence of the existing work ethic. First, we address the potential role of religion in developing a value (...) system that is not conducive to growth and development. We also tackle family dynamics in the Arab world and the impact of family structures on personal and group development. Then, we move our attention to the educational system in the Arab world trying to uncover any common patterns in the various educational approaches in the Arab world that could have had lasting impressions on power dynamics in␣Arab societies. We also address power and leadership relationships and focus our attention on how groups actually function in the Arab world. Thereafter, we tackle what has emerged out of these societal institutions and relationships, and offer some implications marking out paths for international managers. (shrink)

The Sufyānī narration, which is also referred in some studies carried out today, is mentioned in the early Shiite and Sunnī sources. The anticipated savior perception of the period has an important place in understanding the Sufyānī narrations in the emergence process of which political and sectarian events were effective. Narrations stating that the Mahdī named Muḥammad, one of the descendants of the Prophet Muḥammad (pbuh), would appear in the end of times and establish justice by bringing order to the (...) world where oppression, injustice and inequity have spread, were effective in the political and social life after the Prophet (pbuh). The emergence of the Sufyānī narrations, whose intellectual infrastructure was constituted by the expected Mahdī perception that is effective in the society, was the result of the political conflicts of the period. The death of Muʻāwiya ibn Yazīd (d. 64/684), the third Caliph of the Umayyad State, without leaving a crown behind caused a political crisis. The cousin of the Muʻāwiya II, Marwān bin al-Ḥakam, the experienced politician who turned this moment of crisis into an opportunity and who was from the same dynasty but from a different family, took over the administration and thus the sultanate continued. Although the reign continued from the sons of Umayyad, the administration passed from sons of Sufyān to the sons of Marwān, who were from the same dynasty. This situation caused discomfort in Sufyānīs. Thus, Muʻāwiya II's brother Khālid ibn Yazīd, whose right of administration was seized from him, with the intention of gaining his lost reputation in the society and turning the pessimism towards his family into hope and desire, has been claimed to spread the savior Sufyānī narrations expected from the sons of Sufyān, parallel to the Mahdī narrations expected from the sons of Alī, which was influential in the society. Thus, the Sufyānī came to be expected like the expected Mahdī, who was influential in society and exploited by the Shiite sects in their own belief systems. The rebellions carried out by the sons of Sufyān against the administration in the 2nd century hijrī and afterwards were conceived as the appearance of the Sufyānī expected by the society and the person who led the rebellion was described as Sufyānī. The most important of these rebellions is the revolt of ʻAlī ibn Abdullah ibn Khālid nicknamed Abū ʻAmayṭar, formed by the coalition of sons of ʻAlī and sons of Sufyān who descend from the sons of Umayya. Abū ʻAmayṭar, who is considered to be the Sufyānī and some sections of whose life constitute a source for many narrations on the Sufyānī, declared his caliphate during the period of Abbasī Caliph al-Amīn (d. 198/813) and called for allegiance to himself. The announcement of his caliphate was considered by his supporters as the expected savior. The period of Abū ʻAmayṭar and the sayings about him are extremely important in terms of presenting the expected savior perception in the society, the Sufyānī understanding and the date of his emergence. Sections from Abū ʻAmayṭar's life reflected in the narrations about the Sufyānī in many Shiite and Sunnī sources. In this article, it is tried to examine the emergence of the Sufyānī narrations, its development and particularly its transformation within the Shiite sect, in a detailed manner and especially based on political and sectarian events of the early period. (shrink)

This paper explores attitudes regarding tax evasion and the relationship between personal moral philosophy and such attitudes in a weak tax environment. The results confirm the multidimensionality of tax evasion attitudes. Idealism was negatively related to self-interest tax evasion attitudes while relativism was positively related to such attitudes. Idealism was also positively related to tax evasion attitudes stemming from concerns about the justice of the tax system. Idealists in a weak tax environment seemingly go through a cognitive reframing process where (...) they recognize that the tax system is unfair, and accordingly tax evasion is a way to serve a different moral absolute, that is of equity, rather than another different moral absolute, which is fulfilling obligations to governments. The results are also explained in light of the suggested low moral intensity of tax evasion among respondents. Policy implications are presented. (shrink)

RésuméCet article traite d’une solution au tristement célèbre paradoxe du menteur, généralement connu dans la littérature arabe sous le nom de Maġlaṭat al-ǧaḏr al-aṣamm. La solution est donnée dans un traité ottoman du XVe siècle attribué, entre autres, à Ḫaṭībzāde Muḥyiddīn Efendī. L’article la compare également à la solution du philosophe persan contemporain, Ǧalāl al-Dīn al-Dawānī. Le court traité consacré au paradoxe est l’un des rares ouvrages des Ottomans sur le sujet et il aborde de manière exhaustive le paradoxe sous (...) ses deux formes. En tant qu’analyse de la solution offerte par le traité au paradoxe, l’article fait connaître à l’érudition contemporaine les discussions ottomanes sur le menteur, et il contribue à combler le vide évident dans la littérature sur le paradoxe dans la pensée islamique. (shrink)

In the Taḥkīm case, when it was realized that two people would arbi-trate despite the call made to the Ḳurʼān, the Khāridjites started to argue that God's judgment was not applied. The Khāridjites, who demanded the implementation of the judgement from Ali due to their subordina-tion/obedience, subsequently broke away when they were unable to achieve their desired outcome and formed a separate group. The Khāridjites deemed it acceptible to eliminate those who held opposing beliefs on the path they set out (...) to make Allah's judgment. The Khāridji group called al-Azāriḳa, which was born in 64/683 as a result of a schism, designated their own territory as dār al-Islām and all other regions as dār al-ḥarb and slaughtered those in dār al-ḥarb regardless of their identity. The objective of this study is to examine the influence of the dār al-ḥarb on the actions of the Khāridjites against Muslims. The persistence of the mentality, which spread fear and terror among Muslims in the early period, has not disappeared and continues to the present day. This makes the studies on the subject signifi-cant. The present study is confined to the examples of Muḥakkima al-ūlā and al-Azāriḳa within the context of what isti‘rāḍ is, how it is applied, and its relationship with the dār al-ḥarb. The study concludes that the Khāridjites with a propensity to kill initially sought to ascertain whether individuals were opposed to the Taḥkīm. Those who did not express such opposition were subjected to death. After the establishment of al-Azāriḳa, they designated all territories apart from their own as dār al-ḥarb and were not hesitant to kill those who remained in these regions. (shrink)

Earlier investigations have indicated that work beliefs in organization are impacted by different national cultures. In addition, those investigations have sought to understand the meaning of work in such different cultures. This study explores the meaning of work in the Egyptian context through an assessment of work beliefs and work attitudes. The article starts with a presentation of what is meant by the meaning of work and why research into work beliefs is both needed and worthwhile. The article then presents (...) a review of the relevant literature that evaluated the meaning of work in different countries. The review also elucidates recent research efforts that have tried to shed some light on the meaning of work in Middle-Eastern contexts. Data were collected from 201 Egyptian white-collar workers. Work beliefs and some job attitudes were assessed. Results indicate the prevalence of the humanistic work-belief system. Job satisfaction was positively correlated with the humanistic work-belief system and negatively with the Marxist work-belief system. The implications of these and other findings for international managers are discussed and recommendations for future researchers are put forward. (shrink)

This is an era when the Islamic World is making a range of attempts to redefine itself and to grapple with the challenges of modernity. Many schools of thought have emerged which seek to position modern Islam within the context of a rapidly changing contemporary world. Exploring and defining the relationship between religion and knowledge, Ismail Rafi Al-Faruqi, a distinguished 20th century Arab-American scholar of Islam, formulated ideas which have made substantial contributions to the Islam-and-modernity discourse. His review of the (...) interaction between Islam and knowledge examines the philosophy behind this relationship, and the ways in which Islam can relate to our understanding of science, the arts, architecture, technology and other knowledge-based fields of enquiry. This book includes contributions from Seyyed Hossein Nasr, John Esposito, Charles Fletcher and others, and will prove an essential reference point for scholars of Islam and students of philosophy and comparative religion. (shrink)

Research exploring how students develop their perspectives on religious moderation through reading and understanding the Qur’an is underexplored. This study aims to investigate students’ religious literacy tenet as a process of constructing meaning about religious moderation from the verses of the Qur’an. The participants involved were three students with an excellent ability to read the Qur’an and who had a great interest in the study of the Qur’an. The data were collected through the process of reading the verses of the (...) Qur’an and its textual and contextual translation. The results of this study indicate that students with high translation amendments tend to have more ability to interpret the verses of the Qur’an widely as a form of verbalisation of thoughts.Contribution: This study provides clarification on student interactions, the interpretation process and the construction of the meaning of the verses of the Qur’an. Furthermore, the results of this study encourage lecturers to reconstruct the process of learning to read the Qur’an at the university level. (shrink)

In the Qur’an, human distinctiveness was first questioned by angels. These established denizens of the cosmos could not understand why God would create a seemingly pernicious human when immaculate devotees of God such as themselves existed. In other words, the angels asked the age-old question: what makes humans so special and different? Fast forward to our present age and this question is made relevant again in light of the encroaching arrival of an artificial superintelligence (ASI). Up to this point in (...) history, humans have exceeded other creatures in various respects; now a possibility has arisen that another entity, namely ASI, will exceed humans at least on the level of intelligence and power. In relation to the age of angels, pre-modern Sunni exegesis construed human distinctiveness along the axes of reproductive knowledge and stewardship. Both brittle, distinguishing markers will disappear in the age of the ASI. Conversely, a more resilient and creative Islamic response can be derived from Ibn al-ʿArabī’s (d. 1240) views on God and the imago Dei. Inspired by the Akbarian perspective, this paper construes human distinctiveness in relation to a capacity to expansively respond to God’s love to be recognized, a response that relies on (a) imitating divine virtues that operate in counterintuitive and illogical ways, and (b) exhibiting fragility and lack rather than exceptionalism. ASI, while responding already in part to God’s love, needs to make strides towards these traits before it can answer divine love as commensurately as humans can. (shrink)

This paper undertakes an in-depth examination of the intriguing argument for the existential import of negative propositions by the fifteenth-century Ottoman scholar Hatibzâde Mehmed (d. 1496) and the counterarguments by his disciple, Taşköprizâde Kâsım (d. 1513). It argues that this discussion is a significant example of Ottoman scholars engaging in long-standing disputes concerning the nature and ontological ground of negative propositions, which date back to Plato and Aristotle. It is also intended to underline the need for considering not only logic (...) texts but also works primarily associated with other disciplines in order to attain a comprehensive picture of logical discussions in the post-classical period of Islamic thought. (shrink)

In this article, the effects of Internet use on the perception of loneliness of university students are investigated. The research sample consists of 202 university students studying medicine at Abant Izzet Baysal University. Demographic questions, “UCLA loneliness scale” and “ Internet Cognitive Status Scale (IBSQ)” were used in the study. The results of the questionnaires were transferred to SPSS and Mann Whitney U, Kruskal Wallis H and Spearman correlation analysis were performed. As a result of the analysis, it was observed (...) that men had a sense of solitude more than girls. It has been determined that internet use and the time allocated to the internet is more in men. In addition, the time allocated to the internet, economic situation, age, according to the variables lived in the perception of loneliness and problem with the use of Internet has been seen to be significantly different. According to the scores of the UCLA scale and the IBSQ scale, 92,1% of students have a mild and moderate sense of solitude and 7,9% have a dense sense of Solitude. 88.1% of students use normal and 11,9% problem-free internet. When the scores obtained from the scales were examined, it was found that the scores obtained from the UCLA scale (35.76±7.84) and the scores obtained from the IBD scale (97.14±31.83) were determined. In the correlation analysis, where the impact of Internet use on loneliness perception of the students was measured, it was concluded that there was a weak correlation (R=0.327 and p=0.000) and therefore the problem of Internet use affected loneliness perception even at a low level. (shrink)

Each narration or text, as it informs about an event, situation or person in history, has a history that sheds light on both its formation and how it arrived to us. The illumination of this history is at least as important as the content analysis of the information. For this reason, it is necessary both to examine whether the source in which the information is given has survived to the present day as it was created by the author without being (...) exposed to any external intervention, and to analyze the narration in terms of reliability and indication within the integrity of the isnād-text. In that case, when the word “text criticism” is mentioned, an understanding of a specific criticism should come to mind, which includes both critical edition (scholarly editing) of the first source and the critique of the narration by making sound research in terms of isnād and literary criticism (naqd al-isnād wa-l-matn). Due to reasons such as the inability to follow a standard method, the limited number of the copies and/or the distance of the copies from the author in terms of history and commercial concerns, many classical works published with relative verification contain such errors require a re-examination. One of these works is Ibn Hibbān’s (d. 354/965) book al-Majrūhīn. In his work al-Majrūhīn, Ibn Hibbān divided the narrators into two groups according to their reliability and collected the ones that he determined as weak according to his opinion. In this work, he placed Abū Ḥanīfa (d. 150/767) at the top of the list. First, he denounced Abū Ḥanīfa with the following expressions: Sahib al-ra’y, child of slaves, bicker, hypocrite, had little knowledge of hadith, a Murji’ī propagandist, a narrator who was blamed by imams. Then he tried to justify these claims by about thirty narrations from various salaf scholars. These narratives are completely different from the largely intellecutal discussions and criticisms of scholars such as al-Awza'i (d. 157/774), Ibn Abī Laylā (d. 148/765) and Ibn Abī Shayba (d. 235/849) on Abu Ḥanīfa and his school. The narrations compiled by Ibn Hibbān are display insulting and polemical narrations against Abu Ḥanīfa’s personality and reliability. In terms of being a source for later periods, it is important to examine and criticize these narratives in terms of the narration techniques. The al-jarḥ wa-l-taʿdīl is important part of the hadith science. al-Mejrūhīn, one of the leading works of this science is remarkable in many respects. According to this narration Abū Ḥanīfa Nuʿmān b. S̱ābit b. Zūtā b. Māh’ın (öl. 150/767) said, "If a man worships this mule to get closer to Allah, I see no harm in it." According to our analysis, there are the following determinations about the narrators in the chain of this narrative. Ibn Abī Mushir is unknown (majhūl), the narrator who is written as “Mahfūz b. Abī Savba” but his correct name is “Tawba” is matrūk. Ahmad b. al-Walīd al-Mahramī al-Karkhī is weak, and Yahyā b. Hamza, source person, is qadari who narrates from people with munkar al-hadith; but is also considered as a thiḳa narrator. As for Sa‘īd b. Abd al-Azīz, he has nothing to do with the reception and transmission of the narrative. In addition, there is also a break in the chain. First of all, what is expected from a basic work such as al-Majrūhīn, whose subject and purpose is purely a narrator analysis, is that the report in it should be acceptable, at least in terms of isnād. When the narrative in question, which is also included in earlier sources such as al-Fesewī (d. 277/890), is evaluated in terms of both the isnād and the text, one realizes the transformation of an expression circulating in the form of gossip against Abu Ḥanīfa in Damascus around the subject of ʾirjāʾ. ʾIrjāʾ was at the forefront of the heated debates in the second half of the second century into semā form in terms of isnād and text, besides, the word النعل/clog is transformed into البغل/mule. Apart from the weak points of the chain, Sa‘īd b. Abd al-Azīz, who has nothing to do with the reception and transmission of the narrative, has also been turned into the narrator/source of the report with the samā expression. Regardless of the purpose and the criteria of the narration technically, during the conversation with Sa‘īd, Yahyā b. Hamza’s sincere friend and teacher, a special speech in which a common report attributed to Abu Ḥanīfa was expressed, was transformed into Yahyâ’s samā‘ in the form of jazm. As a result, the word “shoe” or “clog” has evolved into mule. It would be a reductionist and over optimistic approach to assume that all this may have resulted from tashīf and tahrīf of the copyists. The narration we discussed is a typical example in terms of showing the effect of the conflict of ideas between Ahl al-Hadīth and Ahl ar-Ra’y on the narrations. Of course, this shoud be not regarded as the only example. (shrink)

Deixis is the thing referred to by linguistic units outside the text or the discourse. The act of demonstrating or indicating the elements of a state through gestures or linguistic units is called deixis. Deictic is the name given to the linguistic elements such as pronouns, demonstrative nouns and adverbs which refer to the personal, spatial or temporal aspects of a speech act and which are, therefore, all directly related to the context surrounding its act of communication. Since the references (...) of the deixis expressions can only be identified within the context of actual communication, the subject is considered as a part of the pragmatics. This study aims to analyse the demonstrative nouns used in Qur’anic verses within the context of deixis and types of deixis, which are research areas of pragmatics, and to identify the types of deixis used in Qur’an. This study also aims to provide insight about how to present the references of demonstrative nouns especially in Qur’anic translations to be understood correctly by the readers. This is because the translations of Qur’an are presented in written form and the references of the deictic units are not expressed clearly in some of them. In this case, it is assumed that the reader might have difficulty understanding the meanings of the deixis such as “this, to this, these”. This study, firstly by studying deixis and types of deixis from the modern linguistics and pragmatics resources, aims to form a conceptual framework. After the first chapter, upon which the main problem of the study will be built, is completed, the demonstrative nouns are analysed in terms of their structural and referential aspects within balâg̲h̲a and tafsîr sources, classical Arabic language nahw sources being in the first place. After the obtained data is analysed, by associating the demonstrative nouns in Qur’anic verses to types of deixis, anaphora and cataphora, their references are determined. In this direction, firstly the demonstrative nouns in Qur’an will be identified and the type of deixis is tried to be explained by providing one example for each one of the demonstrative nouns in terms of their referential variety. For this purpose, this study highlights the demonstrative nouns which cannot be directly understood but only can be identified by checking the context. That is, the demonstrative nouns which take adjectives or which are adjectives themselves will not be included in the scope. The references of these nouns existing in the verses will be specifically analysed within the classical tafsîr works. This study is significant as it reveals the references of the demonstrative nouns by analysing the types of deixis in order to understand Qur’an more accurately. Though there are various studies regarding the demonstrative nouns, there are no studies found analysing the references of these nouns according to their types of deixis. With this study, it is understood that classical tafsîrs mention the deixis, types of deixis, and the references anaphora and cataphora for demonstrative nouns. As the demonstrative nouns, which are deictic elements, are used to point to all types of living and non-living creatures, they are considered as indefinite things. It is understood that for the other interpreters, the vagueness can only be eliminated by taking pragmatic factors such as the speaker, listener and the context of communication into consideration. 20 types of demonstrative nouns were used for a total of 1047 times in 89 different surahs. These demonstrative nouns are as following: “ذا، هذا، هذان، هاتين، هؤلاء، ذلك، ذانك، ذلكما، ذلكم، تلك، ذلكن، هذه، أولئك، أولئكم، أولاء، كذلك، كذلكم، هاهنا هنالك، ثم”. The fact that demonstrative nouns are used so often in Qur’an prove that these nouns are quite important in understanding the Qur’an. This study addresses the verses with demonstrative nouns in terms of types of deixis, as part of pragmatics, by referring to classical tafsîr and linguistic sources. It has been determined that demonstrative nouns in Qur’an make personal, spatial or temporal references, discourse deixis, anaphora and cataphora, however they do not perform as social deixis. It has been concluded that identifying the references of demonstrative nouns is quite important in understanding and interpreting Qur’an correctly. It is also understood that the methods to determine the references of demonstrative nouns by the sources used in the study have pragmatic characteristics. It is observed that the references of the demonstrative nouns are not presented in certain Qur’an translations. In this context, it has been concluded that stating the references of these nouns in written form for the translation of Qur’an into different languages is vital for these references to be understood correctly. It has also been concluded that it is a requirement in terms of pragmatics to take the references of the deictic elements mentioned especially in the primary sources into consideration. (shrink)

PurposeSelf-efficacy has been argued theoretically and shown empirically to be an essential construct for students’ improved learning outcomes. However, there is a dearth of studies on its causal effects on performance in mathematics among university students. Meanwhile, it will be erroneous to assume that results from other fields of studies generalize to mathematics learning due to the task-specificity of the construct. As such, attempts are made in the present study to provide evidence for a causal relationship between self-efficacy and performance (...) with a focus on engineering students following a mathematics course at a Norwegian university.MethodThe adopted research design in the present study is a survey type in which collected data from first-year university students are analyzed using structural equation modeling with weighted least square mean and variance adjusted estimator. Data were generated using mainly questionnaires, a test of prior mathematics knowledge, and the students’ final examination scores in the course. The causal effect of self-efficacy was discerned from disturbance effects on performance by using an innovative instrumental variable approach to structural equation modeling.ResultsThe findings confirmed a significant direct effect of the prior mathematics knowledge test on self-efficacy, a significant direct effect of self-efficacy on performance, and a substantial mediating effect of self-efficacy between a prior mathematics knowledge test and performance. Prior mathematics knowledge and self-efficacy explained 30% variance of the performance. These findings are interpreted to be substantial evidence for the causal effect of self-efficacy on students’ performance in an introductory mathematics course.ConclusionThe findings of the present study provide empirically supports for designing self-efficacy interventions as proxies to improve students’ performance in university mathematics. Further, the findings of the present study confirm some postulates of Bandura’s agentic social cognitive theory. (shrink)

İslâm teoloji/kelâm geleneğinin filizlenmeye başladığı dönem, yoğun siyasi gelişmelerin, iç savaşların, hilafet tartışmalarının yaşandığı bir evrenin yanısıra, kendisinden önce üretilen fizikî, felsefî ve dinsel anlamda yaşanan gelişmelerle paralel bir sülûk izlemiştir. Bu anlamda kelâm tartışmalarının siyasi olgu ve olaylar kadar, fikrî anlamda tarihsel bağlam etrafında incelenmesi gerekmektedir. Bu çalışmada, Müslüman kelâm geleneğinde Mu’tezile’nin; nasıl, hangi şartlarda ve nelere itiraz ederek ortaya çıktığı, teoloji anlayışlarında neleri slogan haline getirdiği incelenecektir. Buna istinaden Grek geleneğinde üretilen felsefî metinler bilhassa atomculuk tartışmaları, Hıristiyan ve (...) Zerdüşt teolojisi, Mu’tezile’nin tarihsel bağlamda nasıl tepkisini çekti ve apolojik anlamda ne tür karşı koyuşlara sebebiyet verdiği tafsilatlı olarak tartışılacaktır. Kelâm problemleri ya da tartışmaları sadece i’tikâd boyutunda ele alındığında gayet tabii eksik kalacaktır. Bu amaçla Mu’tezile’nin beş esasından biri sayılan tevhid anlayışının o dönemin bağlamında hangi tartışmalara karşı reddiye nitelikli olduğu, ayrıntılarıyla ve tarihsel süreçten kopmaksızın din ve düşüncelerin birbirleriyle olan ilişkisi nispetinde değerlendirilecektir. (shrink)

The word "meâl" in Arabic means "the destination or aim of something" however in terminology it means approximate translation of the Qur'an from the original text to the target language. For someone who doesn't know Arabic, the meaning of the Qur'an is the most significant and unique way to reach God's final revelation. Therefore, great responsibility has been placed on the shoulders of the translator of the Qur'an, plus the aim and duty of these translators must be to deliver God's (...) will correctly. A translator willing to take upon this much responsibility, in a subject of this importance and sensitivity, first must evaluate their competency within their inner world, and only if they decide that they are qualified enough in this profession they must try to do everything within their capability to provide everything that this responsibility requires, without growing tired of it. Regrettably expressed, that many translators of the Qur'an are not even aware of this responsibility. It is easy to understand that they are duplicates of each other. However, we must exclude some translators of the Qur'an such as Salih Akdemir. One of the most valuable works of Akdemir in his academic life is the meaning of the Qur'an in Turkish, "Son Çağrı Kur'an". His study is not well recognized in our country. Akdemir used the possibilities of the Turkish quite well in the meaning of the Qur'an. In this article, we will examine Salih Akdemir's translation of the Qur'an named "Son Çağrı Kur'an". (shrink)

One of the ways to address the effects of skilled worker emigration is to restrict the movement of skilled workers. However, even if skilled workers have responsibilities to assist their compatriots, what if other parties, such as affluent countries or source country governments, do not fulfil their fair share of responsibilities? This discussion raises an interesting problem about how to think of individual responsibilities under partial compliance where other agents (including affluent countries, developing states, or other individuals) do not fulfil (...) their fair share of responsibilities. What is fair to expect from them? Taking health worker emigration as a case in point, I discuss whether the individual health workers’ fair share of responsibilities to address basic health care needs decreases or increases when the other parties do not fulfil their share. First, I review the responsibilities that different stakeholders may hold. Second, I argue that there are strong reasons against increasing or decreasing health workers’ fair share of responsibilities in a situation of partial compliance. I also argue that it is unfair for non-complier states to enforce health workers to fulfil their fair share or take up the slack. (shrink)

This is an era when the Islamic World is making a range of attempts to redefine itself and to grapple with the challenges of modernity. Many schools of thought have emerged which seek to position modern Islam within the context of a rapidly changing contemporary world. Exploring and defining the relationship between religion and knowledge, Ismail Rafi Al-Faruqi, a distinguished 20th century Arab-American scholar of Islam, formulated ideas which have made substantial contributions to the Islam-and-modernity discourse. His review of the (...) interaction between Islam and knowledge examines the philosophy behind this relationship, and the ways in which Islam can relate to our understanding of science, the arts, architecture, technology and other knowledge-based fields of enquiry. This book includes contributions from Seyyed Hossein Nasr, John Esposito, Charles Fletcher and others, and will prove an essential reference point for scholars of Islam and students of philosophy and comparative religion. (shrink)

This paper explores a neglected category of propositions in Arabic logic, propositions with negative predicates (sālibat al-maḥmūl), by addressing two pivotal questions concerning this propositional form: first, whether it is possible to defend it as distinct from metathetic and simple negative propositions and second, whether affirmative instances of these propositions have existential import. The paper argues for the existence of two distinct and conflicting theories of existential import frequently implicit in the views of Arabic logicians: one centered on the copula (...) and the other on the predicate. (shrink)

This study is devoted to the ways and means to justify a ‘more’ cosmopolitan realization of certain policy implications, in the case of immigration. The raison d’être of this study is the idea that the contemporary debate over open borders suffers from indeterminate discussions on whether liberal states are entitled to restrict immigration. On the other hand, most of the liberal cosmopolitan accounts neglect the detrimental consequences of their open borders argument – which take it as a means to compensate (...) people in need –, such as brain drain and the effects of brain drain on the opportunity sets of members of sending countries. Therefore I offer a moral cosmopolitan account of immigration which takes the interests of would-be immigrants, the residents in receiving, along with the residents in sending countries in respect to their opportunity sets because of the way arbitrary border control represents the inequality of opportunity. I do not provide a well-formed immigration policy here, yet I believe the account provided here is more feasible in considering phenomena such as brain drain. (shrink)

Democracy gives people the same right to vote and to be voted in apolitical position. High citizen participation in leader election is utilized as anindicator of the quality of democracy. On the other hand, citizen participationin the election in some cases in some districts of Indonesia did not run smoothlyand peacefully but in the case of Medan city, the periodical election of regionalheads did not show the social upheaval of different options as wellas in the segmentation of ethnic groups as (...) supporters of candidates competingin it. This study is aimed at discovering the interest pattern of PASTI and JokoTingkir as ethnic groups and political compensation, which was gained by themin Pilkada of Medan city in 2015. This study employed qualitative research withcase study type. The research data were obtained through in-depth interviews,library study, documentation, and focus group discussion. It is found that thereis a similarity pattern of ethnic group involvement in constructing politicalcommunication with contestant but there is difference of orientation of postelectioncompensation expectation. (shrink)