1,721,193 research outputs found
The application of Shari’ah and international human rights law in Saudi Arabia
Get PDFThis thesis was submitted for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy and was awarded by Brunel UniversityThe present dissertation provides an analytical and comparative study of the application of Islamic law (Shari’ah) and international human rights law in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. It provides an analysis of the sources of Islamic law as well as the sources of international law to set the background for analysis and defines the nature of both laws. It also tackles the subject of the domestic application of international human treaties in Saudi Arabia.
In addition, it examines some reservations Saudi Arabia has entered to some of the international human rights treaties it has ratified, specifically the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW) and the Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC). It also sheds some light on the political, cultural and religious obstacles to the realisation of norms protected by international human rights treaties in the country, and in other countries for that matter, clearly stating the impossibility of implementing the provisions of the international human rights treaties in their entirety. This is due to the various political and legal developments towards the internationalization of the concept of human rights. It observes that despite the existence of the international human rights treaties, which aim at reinforcing a universal realisation of international human rights, these rights cannot be possibly realised by all countries.
To stress the importance Saudi Arabia attaches to the issue of human rights, the dissertation discusses some rights of women before Saudi courts in family matters, an issue which has been criticised by some international human rights treaties, and examines to what extent the country has managed to tackle the issue of domestic violence, particularly violence against women. It provides an overview of the major causes of domestic violence against women in Saudi Arabia, presents some cases of domestic violence before Saudi courts and sheds some light on the measures taken by the Saudi government to combat domestic violence against women. It also tackles this issue both in the international and domestic legal frameworks, clearly stating the Islamic standpoint on the issue, namely that Islamic law, and Saudi Arabia for that matter, whose laws are essentially derived from the two main sources of Shari’ah. It also discusses the common forms of violence against women in Saudi Arabia and suggests a number of recommendations towards more effective protection of women against violence in the country.
The dissertation concludes by presenting a number of obstacles in the way of executing judicial decisions in the Kingdom as well as the obstacles which negatively affect the performance of the new code of law practice. It also presents some recommendations concerning personal status law obstacles and hindrances to progress and attempts to answer the research questions it has posed
In vitro bioactivities of Tabernaemontana divaricata andTabernaemontana divaricata ‘Flore Pleno’ variant / Muhammad Nazzim Muaz Abdul Halim
No full textTwo Tabernaemontana species, Tabernaemontana divaricata (TD) and Tabernaemontana divaricata ‘Flore Pleno’ variant (TDF) were chosen to be studied for their bioactivities in relation to wound healing properties. Methanol (M) and aqueous (A) extracts of these Tabernaemontana species were used in this study for wound healing potential assessment on adult normal human dermal fibroblasts (HDFa) cells, total phenolic contents (TPC), antioxidant potential, protective effects against hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) and anti-inflammatory properties by means of nitric oxide (NO) production from RAW264.7 murine macrophage cells. TD-A extract reported the highest wound closure (58.50%) followed by TDF-A extract (53.54%) with the highest total phenolic content (31.96 mg GAE/g). The free radical scavenging activities carried out by ABTS and DPPH assay showed that TDF-A extract was able to exhibit the highest antioxidant values at IC50 = 1.11 μg/ml and IC50 = 2.44 μg/ml respectively compared to the other extracts. Reducing activity on TDF-A extract assessed by FRAP assay also reported high value of [18.07 mM Fe (II)/g] with other extracts. Pre-treatment and post-treatment assessment showed at 25 μg/ml of TDF-M extract concentration were able to provide protectivity towards HDFa cells against H2O2 with cell viability at 93.92% and 89.69% respectively. At 500 μg/ml of TD-A and TDF-A extract concentration, the extracts were able to inhibit NO production by RAW264.7 murine macrophage cells at 5.22 μM and 5.11 μM respectively. Based on these findings, it is shown the two Tabernaemontana species studied exhibit multiple bioactivities that may contribute to the wound healing process in general. Keywords
Modern Arabic literary biography : a study of character portrayal in the works of Egyptian biographers of the first half of the twentieth century, with special reference to literary biography
Get PDFIn Chapter one, I presented a comparative definition of the meaning of Sirah (PI.Siyar), Tarjamah (Pl. Tarajim), Manaqib, Tabaqat and Maghazi as they were understood in antiquity. I also showed how the meaning of Sirah in modern times has only narrowly developed. Although the method of biographical writing continuously developed in Europe, it hardly progressed in Modem Arabic Literature. The only exception was seen in the writings by the pioneers of enlightenment in Egypt at the beginning of the twentieth century. This change of direction relied on borrowing European methodology in biographical writing.
In chapter two, I reviewed the early attempts at writing biographies in the nineteenth century by Abd al Rahman al- Jabarti and Ali Mubarak. Although both were the first
pioneers in this respect, yet they followed the footpath of classical approach above all that of al-Maqarizi from whom -Ali Mubarak derived inspiration in his book Al-Khitat al-Tawfiqiyyah.
In chapter three, I studied the twentieth century, starting with traditional biography writers who could not employ European methodologies and whose writings oscillated between biographical notes and biographical sketches; or whose texts were more of a literary study than a biography proper.
In chapters four to nine, I selected the most renowned, productive writers who best represented methodologies of biography writing. Perhaps certain writers have not
been mentioned in this period of study. This is not out of negligence but simply because their texts were totally out of reach, or their writings did not exhibit the
required literary criteria.
All methodologies representing the theory of biography writing in Egypt have been analysed in these chapters. All, in fact, form a digestion or assimilation of French,English and German schools. In Egypt, Taha Husayn is considered the chairman of the French school, al-Mazini and al-Aqqad of the English/German schools, al-Nuwaihi of the psychoanalytical/anatomical school and Sidqi who employed both. By contrast, al Iryan was the trailblazer of the distinguished biographical novel.
In these chapters, I tried to lay out the general outlines these writers have produced in the production of biographical texts, and how these attempts were a successful step on the road of presenting literary biographies characterized by high world standards.
Chapter ten may well seem traditional, but it is important to give a comparative outlook on the views of biography writers themselves when they study and analyse
the same character.
Among the characters studied ,I selected Bashsliar, Abu Nuwas, Ibn al-Run-i, al-Mutanabbi and al-Maarri. These are outstanding landmarks in the history of Arab verse and the subject of a multitude of studies as well. Modern biographers took these figures as a test field for the deployment and employment of biographical methodologies. I selected these examples to provide comparisons and explain how far these biographies were successful in producing a biography or a profile of those classical poets.
The conclusion and the bibliographical list arrived at the end of research.
I wish, however, to clarify one important point here. It seems that I could not fix the year 1950 as the temporal parameter of my research but took some textswhich were
published shortly beyond that point. The reason for this obvious extension was either to give additional useful details or simply because chapters of such texts had already
been published prior to that year and were known to the readership.
At times I would satisfy myself with analysing the part rather than the whole. This again was meant to eschew repetition or was due to the fact that the book in question
was not available
Exploration of machine learning forecasting methods in M4 competition / Muhammad Halim Hamdan and Shuzlina Abdul-Rahman
Get PDFThere are so many forecasting algorithms and techniques available. The abilities of Data Mining to obtain and gather data from multiple sources is very useful to researcher, practitioner, business and more. From a long list of forecasting algorithms that have been built throughout the years, it will be exhaustive for someone to go through the list one by one to choose which algorithm to use. With M competition established, there are many more new techniques being innovated each time it is organized. This research aims to compare and contrast the machine learning forecasting techniques that are used in M4 Competition, to get better understanding on each technique and to identify the best technique. Three machine learning techniques from M4 Competition were chosen to be compared in this research. Each technique was replicated, trained and tested accordingly. M4 competition dataset was used in this research, with 100,000 time series data and multiple data frequency, which is enough to replicate the real-world situation. The results indicate that the three techniques have their strength, with RNN+ES technique on top of it. RNN+ES and CNN-TS performed well in relative to Naive2 benchmark, while k-NS model performed the worst. Further research on the datasets and investigation of each model to further improve its capabilities are needed to improve the performance of the model
[Fiqh Issues in Tafsir Al-Qur’an Al-Karim by Al-Ustaz H. A. Halim Hasan, H. Zainal Arifin Abbas and Abdul Rahim Haitami] Isu-Isu Fiqh dalam Tafsir Al-Qur’an Al-Karim Karangan Al-Ustaz H. A. Halim Hasan, H. Zainal Arifin Abbas dan Abdul Rahim Haitami
Get PDFThis paper discusses issues of Islamic jurisprudence (fiqh) in kitab Tafsir al-Qur’an al-Karim penned by al-Ustaz H. A. Halim Hasan, H. Zainal Arifin Abbas dan Abdur Rahim Haitami. Kitab Tafsir al-Qur’an al-Karim by these trio scholars was among the pre-eminent works of contemporary tafsir in Indonesia acclaimed for its balanced method of commentary using transmitted narrative (al-naql) and rational judgement (al-‘aql) in commentary. The work was based on major classical works of Shafi‘ites school of jurisprudence that dominated the discussion and exponentially derived its rules from its major jurists and exegetes, such as Sayid Muhammad Rashid Rida and Syaikh Muhammad Abduh, Tantawi Jawhari, al-Tabari, al-Qurtubi and Ibn Kathir. The research was mainly descriptive and analytical in its framework. It uses content analysis, and library research to investigate and analyze approaches and juristic views expounded by the exegetes. The finding concludes that the exegetes developed dynamic and moderate and inclusive approach to analyze the issues of Islamic jurisprudence that addressed the plural and diverse society in Indonesia and realized the juristic ideas of maqasid (the higher objectives of Islamic law) in the development and reform of Islam in modern times.Key words: Tafsir al-Qur’an al-Karim, H. A. Halim Hasan, issue, Islamic jurisprudence
Kertas ini menganalisis secara ringkas tentang corak pentafsiran fiqh dalam Tafsir al-Qur’an al-Karim, yang dikerjakan oleh tiga orang ulama tafsir dari Sumatera Utara; Abdul Halim Hassan, Zainal Arifin Abbas dan Abdul Rahim Haitami. Usaha pentafsiran dan penulisannya dilatarbelakangi oleh kekuatan pengaruh mazhab Syafi‘i yang tersebar dan dipegang oleh masyarakat Islam di Nusantara. Ia banyak mengambil fatwa-fatwa ulama dan ijma‘fuqaha dalam pentafsiran ayat-ayat al-Qur’an. Pentafsirannya menampakkan aliran hukum dan corak fiqh yang ketara dalam perbahasan dan pentarjihan fiqh dan perumusan hukum syar‘i. Pandangan-pandangan fiqh yang muktabar diangkat dari karya-karya tafsir klasik dan moden seperti Tafsir al-Manar oleh Sayid Muhammad Rashid Rida dan Syaikh Muhammad Abduh, Tafsir al-Jawahir oleh Tantawi Jawhari, Tafsir al-Tabari, al-Qurtubi dan Ibn Kathir. Reka bentuk kajian adalah berasaskan kajian kepustakaan menggunakan analisis kandungan. Metode kajian bersifat deskriptif dan analitis dengan memaparkan pandangan dan manhaj hukum yang dibentangkan dalam tafsir ini. Hasil kajian mendapati para pentafsir kitab berusaha membawakan tafsiran mazhab yang seimbang, dan merumuskan pandangan fiqh yang moderate dan inklusif yang meraikan konteks masyarakat Islam yang rencam dan plural di Nusantara.
Kata kunci: Tafsir al-Qur’an al-Karim, H. A. Halim Hasan, isu, fiq
The 'Ulama' of Iran in the 19th century hagiographical literature
Get PDFThis study is concerned with the biographies of the Shi'i 'ulama'in Iran during the 19th century, who played a major role in the emergence of the Shi'i hierocracy as religious executors of state affairs. Chapter I: provides an overview of the relations between state and 'Ulamd' in the Safavid period and traces the development of usuli doctrine as the dominant school of ShT'i fiqh (jurisprudence). Chapters II, III and IV: focus on the lives and works of three groups of the mujtahids divided according to their generation. The first generation comprises the students of Bihbihani, who were concerned primarly with the consolidation of the Usuli school. The second generation was responsible for the formulation of the concept of wildyat al-faqih. Finally the third generation emphasised the concept of the role of the marja' al taqlid, thus paving the way for the mujtahids to intervene in affairs of state
Al-Sharif Al-Radi: His Life and Poetry
Get PDFThe aim of this work is to study al-Sharif al-Radl, his life and poetry. The first part deals with the poet’s environment and life; the second with his poetry. Chapter I deals with the political conditions under which the poet lived. The purpose of the second chapter is to portray Al-Radl's social environment and its reflection in contemporary poetry. The third chapter describes the literary environment of Al-Radl's age at some length. The fourth chapter aims to study Al-Radl's life in detail. The factors which influenced his outlook and personality are discussed. An attempt is made to discern how far these factors affected his poetry. The second part of this work deals with Al-Radl's poetry itself. In Chapter V historical observations are made on Al-Radl's Diwan o in both manuscript and published forms. Chapter VI deals with his panegyrics. General remarks are made on eulogy in Arabic poetry. The content, form and development of Al-Radl's panegyrical odes are analysed. His Ikhwaniyyat receive special attention. Chapter VII deals with Al-Radl's self-praise its content and form. An endeavour is made to explore the Utopian world which the poet tried to portray, Al-Radl's elegies (Ch. VIII). their content, form and characteristics are reviewed. In addition, his dirges on women receive attention. Shi ism in Al-Radl’s poetry is discussed in Chapter IX, Al-Radl’s love-poetry (Ch. X) is discussed. His Hijaziyyat receive particular attention. It is claimed that Al-Radl’s produced in his Hijaaiyyat a poetical amalgam which contains some aspects of ‘Udhrite and ’Umarite poetry. Chapter II deals with Al-Radl's poetical technique. His theories of poetical composition and his comments on other poets are examined. A comparison is made between Al-Radl and other poets both previous and contemporary. Special attention is paid to al-Mutanabbi's influence. In Chapter XII there is a broad re-assessment of Al-Radl’s place in the history of Arabic poetry
Silicon seed inoculation enhances antioxidants, physiology and yield of hybrid maize under heat stress
No full textAbstract Background Heat stress, next to drought, is one of the major constraints to maize crop growth, development and sustainable yield in the tropics and sub-tropics, particularly in arid and semi-arid climatic regions. Hence, there is a dire need to explore strategies that alleviate adverse effects of heat stress. In this regard, silicon (Si) is an important plant nutrient which may support crop in alleviating heat stress-induced damages by modulating plant defense mechanisms. The aim of the study was to explore the potential role of Si for inducing heat tolerance in hybrid maize. Yet, to date, limited knowledge is available on how Si modulates plant defense mechanisms to induce heat tolerance in maize crop. Methods Two maize hybrids were adopted for field experiment (heat tolerant and sensitive selected from a pot experiment study) on the basis of traits performance through screening in the glasshouse. Six maize hybrids were tested at different heat stress levels (T1 = control; T2 = 40 °C ± 3 and T3 = 45 °C ± 3 for a period of 6 h per day) at six leaf growth stage (V6) in the glasshouse. Secondly, a field experiment was conducted to evaluate the effect of Si seed inoculation [Si0 = 0.0 mM (control); Si1 = 3.0 mM (recommended); Si2 = 6.0 mM] on physiology, growth, antioxidants activity and yield traits of two selected maize hybrids; H1 = AA-9633 (heat sensitive); H2 = YH-5427 (heat tolerant) under heat stress conditions (HS0 = control (without heat stress); HS1 = heat stress at pollination stage- 65 days after sowing for a period of 8 consecutive days). Results The field study results showed that maize hybrid “YH-5427”, a prior rated as heat tolerant, produced higher cob length, number of grains per cob, thousand grain weight and grain yield through improved photosynthetic rate, stomatal conductance, water use efficiency, activity of superoxide dismutase, peroxidase and catalase with the seed inoculation of Si (6.0 mM) under heat stress conditions. However, heat sensitive hybrid (AA-9633) produced reduced grain yield (9.26%) and yield components as attained by YH-5427 with the seed inoculation of Si (6.0 mM) under heat stress conditions. Conclusion Maize hybrid YH-5427 with Si seed inoculation (6 mM) is a promising option to maintain relatively high maize grain yield (t ha− 1) under heat stress conditions.Open-Access-Publikationsfonds 202
Adapting authoritarianism: institutions and co-optation in Egypt and Syria
No full textThis PhD thesis compares Egypt and Syria’s authoritarian political systems. While the tendency in social science political research treats Egypt and Syria as similarly authoritarian, this research emphasizes differences between the two systems with special reference to institutions and co-optation. Rather than reducibly understanding Egypt and Syria as sharing similar histories, institutional arrangements, or ascribing to the oft-repeated convention that “Syria is Egypt but 10 years behind,” this thesis focuses on how events and individual histories shaped each states current institutional strengthens and weaknesses. Specifically, it explains the how varying institutional politicization or de-politicization affects each state’s capabilities for co-opting elite and non-elite individuals.
Beginning with a theoretical framework that considers the limited utility of democratization and transition theoretical approaches, the work underscores the persistence and durability of authoritarianism. Chapter two details the politicized institutional divergence between Egypt and Syria that began in the 1970s. Chapter three and four examines how institutional politicization or de-politicization affects elite and non-elite individual co-optation in Egypt and Syria. Chapter five discusses the study’s general conclusions and theoretical implications.
This thesis’s argument is that Egypt and Syria co-opt elites and non-elites differently because of the varying degrees of institutional politicization in each governance system. Rather than view one country as more politically developed than the other, this work argues that Syria’s political institutions are more politicized than their Egyptian counterparts. Syria’s political arena is, thus, described as politicized-patrimonialism. Syria’s politicized-patrimonial arena produces uneven co-optation of elites and non-elites as they are diffused through competing institutions. Conversely, the Egyptian political arena remains highly personalized as weak institutions and individuals are manipulated and molded according to the president’s ruling clique. This is referred to as personalized-patrimonialism. As a consequence, Egypt’s political establishment demonstrates more flexibility in ad hoc altering and adapting its arena depending on the emergence of crises.
This study’s theoretical implications suggest that, contrary to modernization and democratization theory’s adage that institutions lead to a political development, politicized institutions within a patrimonial order actually hinder regime adaptation because consensus is harder to achieve and maintain. It is within this context that Egypt’s de-politicized institutional framework advantages its top political elite. In this reading of Egyptian and Syrian politics, Egypt’s personalized political arena is more adaptable than Syria’s. These conclusions do not indicate that political reform is a process underway in either state
Astrology in literature: how the prohibited became permissible in the Arabic poetry of the mediaeval period
Get PDFThis thesis is concerned to position the art of astrology within the context of classical Arabic poetry, primarily by investigating and elucidating attitudes to the notion of
qadar (fate) and the ideology in which it was embedded. These attitudes were revelatory of the broader world view of the Arabs of those periods, and their shifts from those held in the pre-Islamic and early Islamic eras tell us a good deal about the importance given to the nature and role of fate and about the various understandings of its influence. The pre-Islamic Arab's notion of qadar was in some ways similar to that of the early Muslims: both emphasised predetermination and the irresistible power of fate. But while the jahilf (Pre-Islamic) Arabs identified fate with the malign power of dahr (Time), the Muslims believed the power of fate lies in the hands of God the
Omnipotent, who alone is responsible for the fate of the whole universe. Thus the astrology of the pre-Islamic era was one aspect of divination (kihana) and claimed to be
able to reveal in advance an individual's destiny, which could be avoided by taking certain precautions. These precautions, however, were considered effective only in
relatively trivial cases; they were useless in the areas of major impact: a person's happiness or misery (shaqiiwa aw sa ada), sustenance (rizq) and one's term (ajal), the
three inevitable and irresistible manifestations of fate. In the Islamic period not only these major aspects of life are governed and controlled by the Omnipotent; the destiny
of the universe, in even its most minute details, is determined and controlled by God alone. Astrology was considered to be of no value whatsoever, and its practitioners were subject to the death penalty. These two irreconcilable views are evident in early Islamic poetry, which reflected clearly the response of poets, and society, to astrology from the perspective of qadar.
When the orthodox caliphate was replaced by dynastic rule the status of astrology was changed dramatically. The idea that the stars, as indicators, play a role in the life of
human beings found popowerful supporters in some governors of the Islamic world, who allowed astrology to fulfil a public function regardless of the hostility of the official
religion of that society. This social phenomenon generated rich material of a controversial character in the realm of literature. Investigating the factors, motivations
and impact of mediaeval political, theological and philosophical attitudes to astrology, in relation to the notions of free will and predestination, is the concern of this study
- …
