In recent years, the genetic testing and selection of IVF embryos, known as preimplantation genetic testing (PGT), has gained much traction in clinical assisted reproduction for preventing transmission of genetic defects. However, a more recent ethically and morally controversial development in PGT is its possible use in selecting IVF embryos for optimal intelligence quotient (IQ) and other non–disease-related socially desirable traits, such as tallness, fair complexion, athletic ability, and eye and hair colour, based on polygenic risk scores (PRS), in what (...) is referred to as PGT-P. Artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning–based analysis of big data sets collated from genome sequencing of specific human ethnic populations can be used to estimate an individual embryo’s likelihood of developing such multifactorial traits by analysing the combination of specific genetic variants within its genome. Superficially, this technique appears compliant with Islamic principles and ethics. Because there is no modification of the human genome, there is no tampering with Allah’s creation (_taghyīr khalq Allah_). Nevertheless, a more critical analysis based on the five maxims of Islamic jurisprudence (_qawa'id fiqhiyyah_) that are often utilized in discourses on Islamic bioethics, namely _qaṣd_ (intention), _yaqın̄_ (certainty), _ḍarar_ (injury), _ḍarūra_ (necessity), and _`urf_ (custom), would instead reveal some major ethical and moral flaws of this new medical technology in the selection of non–disease-related socially desirable traits, and its non-compliance with the spirit and essence of Islamic law (shariah). Muslim scholars, jurists, doctors, and biomedical scientists should debate this further and issue a fatwa on this new medical technology platform. (shrink)

Background and AimPsycho-oncology is a cross-disciplinary and collaborative sub-specialty of oncology that focuses on the psychological, behavioral, ethical, and social aspects of cancer in clinical settings. The aim of this bibliometric study was to analyze and characterize the research productivity and trends in psycho-oncology between 1980 and 2021.MethodologyIn May 2022, the Scopus® database was searched for psycho-oncology-related publications using predetermined search keywords with specific restrictions. Lotka’s law was applied to check the authors’ productivity, while Bradford’s law was used to assess (...) the core journals in this field. The data was analyzed for different bibliometric indicators in the Biblioshiny package, an RStudio tool for bibliometric analysis.ResultsThe initial search resulted in a total of 2,906 publications. Of which, 1,832 publications were included in the final analysis, published between 1980 and 2021. The analyzed publications were written by 7,363 authors from 74 countries and published in 490 journals. There has been a significant increase in psycho-oncology-related publications after 2010. The most productive year was 2021. The annual scientific growth rate was found to be 13.9%. The most relevant leading author in terms of publications was Luigi Grassi from the University of Ferrara, Italy. Lotka’s law found that the number of authors declined as the number of papers written increased. The core journals were Psycho-Oncology, Supportive Care in Cancer, and Journal of Psychosocial Oncology. The most frequently used author’s keywords other than searching keywords were cancer, oncology, quality of life, depression, and anxiety. Recent psycho-oncology-related topics included mental health, COVID-19 infection in humans, people, pandemic, and tumor. The University of Sydney was the top-ranked institution. The leading country in terms of publications, citations, corresponding author country, and international collaboration was the United States of America. The United States had the strongest collaboration with Australia and Canada.ConclusionThe research hotspots include mental health conditions and interventions in cancer patients. We identified international collaboration and research expenditure to be strongly associated with psycho-oncology research productivity. Researchers’ collaboration, which is visible among developed countries, should be extended to low-income countries in order to expand psycho-oncology-related research and understanding. (shrink)

A critical edition of "Tahdhīb Al-Akhlāq", a treatise ascribed to the Jacobite theologian, logician, and translator in Abbasid period, Yahya ibn Adi.

Bu çalışma hicrî birinci asrın ikinci yarısında Basra’da hadis ve fıkıh sahasındaki ilmî hareketliliği konu edinir. İlgili dönemde, orada yaşayan sahâbenin en meşhuru ve Hz. Peygamber’le en uzun süre birlikteliğe sahip olması hasebiyle, Enes b. Mâlik’in Basra’daki etkisi özel olarak ele alınır. Bu amaçla Enes b. Mâlik’le ilgili birçok rivayet tahlil edilir ve onun hem Basra’da hem de diğer şehirlerde yaşayan sahâbe ve tâbiûnla arasındaki ilmî ilişkileri üzerinde durulur. Çalışma mezkûr zaman diliminde Basra’da hadis faaliyetlerinin fazla, fıkıh faaliyetlerinin ise az (...) olduğunun tezahürlerini gösterir. Enes’in öğrencileri üzerindeki etkisi; öğrencilerinin fakih mi yoksa muhaddis mi olduğu araştırılır. Enes’in tabiûnla ilişkileri, kendisine yapılan rihleler, başka şehirlerde yaşayan fakih tabiûnun ondan rivayeti, İbn Ebî Şeybe’nin Musannef’i çerçevesinde onun fıkhî şahsiyeti ve başka meseleler incelenir. Böylece onun fıkhî melekesinin İbn Abbas ve İbn Ömer’le aynı derecede olmadığı ve benzer şekilde Basra’nın sahabenin fakihlerinden tabiûnun fakihlerine nakledilen “amel-i mütevâres”e önem veren Medine ve Kufe gibi bir fıkıh şehri olmadığı sonucuna ulaşılır. Basra, müksirûndan olan sahabî Enes b. Malik sayesinde hadislerin rivayetine, yayılmasına ve onlarla amel edilmesine önem verilen bir şehirdi. Ancak bu hadislerin yayılması aynı dönemde Mekke’de İbn Abbas’ın faaliyetleri ile kıyaslanabilecek bir fıkhî faaliyeti de beraberinde getirmedi. Dolayısıyla Basra sahabe döneminde fıkıh ilmî açısından geri kalırken hadis sahasında hareketliydi. Bu nedenle ona fıkıh ve “amel-i mütevâres” değil rivayet şehri denilmesini hak etmektedir. (shrink)

En este artículo se lleva a cabo una descripción detallada del ms. 80 de la Zāwiya Ḥamzawīya. Es un maŷmū‛ recopilado, en su mayor parte, por un mismo copista del que desconocemos su nombre completo, aunque no el de su padre: ‛Umar b. Aḥmad b. Abī-l-Qāsim al-Šarīf. El maŷmu‛ contiene 427 folios con textos de variado contenido, predominando los de carácter astronómico. Entre otras obras, incluye una copia del Kitāb fī-l-‛amal bi-l-asturlāb de Abū-l-Ṣalt de Denia; el Kitāb min ‛ilm al-awqāt (...) bi-l-ḥisāb de Ibn al-Bannā de Marrākuš; el Tanbīh al-anām ‛alà mā yaḥduṯu fī ayyām al-‛ām de al-Ŷādīrī, así como su Urŷuza Rawḍat al-Azhār; y la única copia del Kitāb al-nuŷūm de ‛Abd. al-Mālik b. Ḥabīb. (shrink)

This paper centers its analysis around the remarkable work of the transdisciplinary commentary al-Minaḥ al-quddūsiyya, written by the Algerian scholar Aḥmad al-ʿAlawī (d. 1934). Although they are incredibly rare in the Islamic textual tradi­tion, transdisciplinary commentaries are commentaries that are written in a discipline different from that of the base texts upon which they build. In the case of the Minaḥ, al-ʿAlawī wrote his text as an entirely Sufi commentary upon Ibn ʿĀshir’s (d. 1040/1631) al-Murshid al-muʿīn, a didactic poem that (...) is often categorized as a work of Mālikī fiqh. Through an examination of the text of the Minaḥ and the biography of its author, this paper aims to uncover why al-ʿAlawī wrote his commentary and what his ideological assumptions were that allowed him to approach Ibn ʿĀshir’s Murshid in such a novel manner. (shrink)

Aims To examine the understanding of the ethical dilemmas associated with Big Data and artificial intelligence (AI) among Jordanian medical students, physicians in training, and senior practitioners. Methods We implemented a literature-validated questionnaire to examine the knowledge, attitudes, and practices of the target population during the period between April and August 2023. Themes of ethical debate included privacy breaches, consent, ownership, augmented biases, epistemology, and accountability. Participants’ responses were showcased using descriptive statistics and compared between groups using t-test or ANOVA. (...) Results We included 466 participants. The greater majority of respondents were interns and residents (50.2%), followed by medical students (38.0%). Most participants were affiliated with university institutions (62.4%). In terms of privacy, participants acknowledged that Big Data and AI were susceptible to privacy breaches (39.3%); however, 59.0% found such breaches justifiable under certain conditions. For ethical debacles involving informed consent, 41.6% and 44.6% were aware that obtaining informed consent posed an ethical limitation in Big Data and AI applications and denounced the concept of “broad consent”, respectively. In terms of ownership, 49.6% acknowledged that data cannot be owned yet accepted that institutions could hold a quasi-control of such data (59.0%). Less than 50% of participants were aware of Big Data and AI’s abilities to augment or create new biases in healthcare. Furthermore, participants agreed that researchers, institutions, and legislative bodies were responsible for ensuring the ethical implementation of Big Data and AI. Finally, while demonstrating limited experience with using such technology, participants generally had positive views of the role of Big Data and AI in complementing healthcare. Conclusion Jordanian medical students, physicians in training and senior practitioners have limited awareness of the ethical risks associated with Big Data and AI. Institutions are responsible for raising awareness, especially with the upsurge of such technology. (shrink)

Lifestyle refers to a set of personal and group behaviours related to normative and semantic aspects of social life. Any coherent set of behavioural patterns derived from religious teachings that exist in life can be considered a religious lifestyle. Considering that the dominant religion in Jordan is Islam, the present study focused on the Islamic lifestyle. In addition, given that the correct relationship between couples has been compared to life-giving blood in marriage, and since the quality of marital role plays (...) a determining role, the existence of communication skills in any of the couples can generate satisfaction and compatibility, whereas lack of awareness of these skills could cause misunderstandings and tension. Therefore, the current study aims to study the role of the Islamic lifestyle in communication skills of 250 Muslim couples of Jordan (Amman, Zarqa and Irbid) in 2022. Data were collected using questionnaires during four months, and the validity and reliability was confirmed. In addition, data analysis was performed in Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) and Linear Structural Relations (LISREL) using mean tests and structural equation modelling. According to the results, Islamic lifestyle had a positive, significant effect on the improvement of communication skills in Muslim couples in Jordan (P-value: 0.76; T-value: 7.92). Therefore, it is recommended that more attention should be paid to this issue by families, researchers and cultural authorities in the country.Contribution: Our findings revealed that Islamic lifestyle improved communication skills in Muslim couples, which demands special attention. By adhering to the Islamic lifestyle, couples can influence each other’s knowledge, emotions, education and growth, and try to have a realistic understanding of each other’s desires, needs, living environment and perceptions that each has in life issues. Furthermore, they can organise their role in the common life in appropriate ways to prevent problems and solve them in the event of problems. (shrink)

Rockburst phenomenon is the primary cause of many fatalities and accidents during deep underground projects constructions. As a result, its prediction at the early design stages plays a significant role in improving safety. The article describes a newly developed model to predict rockburst intensity grade using Adaptive Boosting classifier. A database including 165 rockburst case histories was collected from across the world to achieve a comprehensive representation, in which four key influencing factors such as maximum tangential stress of the excavation (...) boundary, uniaxial compressive strength of rock, tensile rock strength, and elastic energy index were selected as the input variables, and the rockburst intensity grade was selected as the output. The output of the AdaBoost model is evaluated using statistical parameters including accuracy and Cohen's kappa index. The applications for the aforementioned approach for predicting the rockburst intensity grade are compared and discussed. Finally, two real-world applications are used to verify the proposed AdaBoost model. It is found that the prediction results are consistent with the actual conditions of the subsequent construction. (shrink)

Abū al-Ḥusayn Aḥmad b. Yaḥyā Ibn al-Rāwandī(815–860 or 910), perhaps one of the most controversial figures in early Islamic history, is frequently called the “arch-heretic” (zindīq or mulḥid) of Islam. He was born in Khurasan around 815 CE. but flourished among intellectuals in ninth century in Baghdad. Around the year 854, he left Baghdad to escape political persecution and died either in 860 or in 910, according to some sources. The details of his early life are unknown, and documentation of (...) Ibn al-Rāwandī began to surface once he became an intellectual enemy of his fellow Muʿtazilites, the rationalist thinkers of Islamic thought at the time. Information on Ibn al-Rāwandī is gathered mostly from the writings of his opponents. From these sources, we learn that both Muslims and non-Muslims (especially Jews) wrote polemics against Ibn al-Rāwandī in which they acknowledged the serious threat his work posed not only to Islam, but also to Judaism and all Abrahamic religions. (shrink)

Law (Philosophical concept); methodology.

RésuméAvant celle de Ṯābit b. Qurra, l’Introduction arithmétique de Nicomaque de Gérase fit l'objet d'une première traduction fautive révisée par un élève d'al-Kindī. Grâce à la partie éditée et traduite par Freudenthal et Lévy, nous pouvons désormais identifier ce réviseur comme étant Aḥmad b. al-Ṭayyib al-Saraḫsī, que nous avons par ailleurs reconnu comme auteur des Rasā᾿il Iḫwān al-Ṣafā᾿. La comparaison des gloses de ce réviseur d'une part avec un fragment inédit d'al-Saraḫsī et d'autre part avec les « Épîtres des Frères (...) en Pureté » corrobore l'attribution des épîtres à al-Saraḫsī. En outre, l’étude des contresens de cette version kindisée du texte de Nicomaque nous renseigne mieux tant sur la tentative kindienne d'unifier la philosophie que sur la spécificité de l'ontologie des Frères en Pureté. (shrink)

Ahmed b. Hanbel, vefatıyla neticelenen hastalığı esnasında oğlu Abdullah’tan, şu hadisin el-Müsned’inden çıkartılmasını istemiştir: “Allah Rasûlü ‘Ümmetimi Kureyş’ten şu grup helâk edecek’ buyurunca oradakiler ‘(bu durumda) bize neyi emredersin?’ diye sordular. O da ‘İnsanlar onlardan uzak durup ayrılsalar!’ cevabını verdi”. Ahmed b. Hanbel bu hadisin, diğer rivayetlerle çeliştiğini düşünmektedir. Oğlu Abdullah’a göre bu hadisin çeliştiği rivayetler, Hz. Peygamber’in idarecilere itaat etmeyi ve onlardan kaynaklanan yanlışlara karşı sabırlı olmayı emrettiği haberlerdir. Ahmed b. Hanbel’in tavrı ve bunun sebebi esasen açık ve net (...) gibi görünmektedir. Buna rağmen daha sonra gelen ilim adamları, onun bu tavrı ile ilgili farklı değerlendirmeler yapmışlardır. Bu değerlendirmelerden birine göre İmam’ın tavrı, kendi açıklamasında da dikkat çektiği üzere hadisin şaz olması yani halkın idarecilerle ilişkilerini düzenleyen diğer rivayetlerle çelişmesidir. Bu bakış açısı, İmam’ın açıklamasıyla uyum içinde olmasına ilaveten aynı hadisin Buharî ve Müslim gibi meşhur muhaddisler tarafından nakledilmesi açısından da önemlidir. Zira bu yorumun ulaştığı sonuca göre Buharî ve Müslim’in sadece sahih olan hadisler ihtiva ettikleri iddiasıyla takdim ettiği el-Câmi‘u’s-sahîh isimli eserlerinde, bu şarta uymayan rivayetler de bulunabilmektedir. Bununla birlikte söz konusu hadisin hem sened hem de metni üzerinde yapılan incelemeler şaz iddiasının doğru olamayacağını göstermektedir. Nitekim hadisi nakleden dört ravinin tamamı, içinde Ahmed b. Hanbel’in de bulunduğu münekkitler tarafından güvenilir bulunmuştur. Nitekim İmam, el-Müsned’inde bu ravilerin çok miktarda hadisine yer vermektedir. Hadisin metin açısından da şaz olmadığını söylemek mümkündür. Zira metnin birinci cümlesi olan “Ümmetimin helâki Kureyş’in elinden olacak” şeklindeki tespiti, farklı onlarca hadiste görebilmek mümkündür. Bu hadislerden pek çoğu el-Müsned’de bizzat Ahmed b. Hanbel tarafından da nakledilmiştir. Şaz addedilen kısmın “İnsanlar onlardan uzak dursalar” şeklindeki ikinci cümle olması da pek muhtemel görünmemektedir. Zira zalim idarecilere karşı bundan çok daha şiddetli tepkileri emreden hadislerden onlarcası yine bizzat Ahmed b. Hanbel tarafından nakledilmiş durumdadır. Ahmed b. Hanbel’in, bu hadisi kitabından çıkarmak istemesinin sebebi bağlamında ortaya atılan ikinci iddiaya göre İmam, dönemin yönetimiyle iyi geçinmek amacıyla böyle bir talepte bulunmuştur. Zira bu dönemde Abbasî iktidarı, hadisçileri büyük bir sıkıntıya sokan Mihne sürecine son vermiş, ulemaya karşı yumuşama politikası gütmeye başlamıştır. Ahmed b. Hanbel de yönetimin bu uzlaşma arzusuna olumlu cevap vermiş ve bu çerçevede idareciye karşı sergilenecek sert tutuma işaret eden hadisleri kitabından çıkarmak istemiştir. Fakat bu iddia da yaşadığı dönemde iktidara karşı takındığı tavır sayesinde toplum önderi haline gelmiş Ahmed b. Hanbel gibi bir şahsiyetle uyuşmaz. Zira o idareci ve toplum arasındaki ilişkilerin keyfiyeti ve sıhhati konusunda gerek tavsiyeleri gerekse fiilî tatbikatı ile örnek ve simge haline gelmiştir. Hayatını Hz. Peygamber’in mirası olan hadisleri nakletmeye ve doğru anlaşılmasına hasreden böyle bir şahsiyetin, sırf iktidarla iyi geçinmek adına, sened ve metin itibariyle usûl problemi olmayan rivayetleri el-Müsned’den çıkartılması emrini vermesi çok da doğru görünmemektedir. Bu konuda yapılan üçüncü yoruma göre Ahmed b. Hanbel’in bu hadise yönelik tavrı, manasının istismara müsait olmasıdır. Nitekim İmam’ın bizzat kendisi, ehl-i bid‘attan bazılarının bu hadisi delil getirip iktidara karşı toplumda ayrımcılık yaratacak davranışlara yöneldiğini söylemiştir. Elimizde bu son yorumu güçlendiren başka veriler de vardır. Nitekim o aynı tavrı, iktidara karşı silahlı mücadeleyi emreden başka hadisler hakkında da göstermiş; bunların kitabından çıkartılmasını istemiştir. Bu tavrından anlaşıldığına göre Ahmed b. Hanbel, zalim idareciye karşı, toplumda kargaşa ve fesada sebep olacak fiilî ve silahlı mücadeleye kalkışılmasını istememektedir. Öyleyse denilebilir ki İmam’ın söz konusu hadisle ilgili tavrı, hadisin özellikle “insanların böyle idarecilerden uzak durması” yönündeki ikinci cümle ile ilgilidir. Zira İmam’ın yaşadığı dönemde Mutezile ve Haricîler gibi bazı gruplar böyle hadisleri delil getirerek toplumda tefrikaya sebebiyet vermişlerdir. Bunu bilen ve bizzat gören İmam, böyle grupların toplumsal birlik karşıtı amaçlarına alet edilebilir düşüncesiyle idarecilere karşı “uzak durmaya çalışmak” gibi basit gibi görünen tepkilere yer veren hadislerin bile kitabından çıkarılmasını istemiştir. Sonuç olarak ifade etmek gerekirse onun bu hadis hakkındaki “diğer rivayetlerle çelişiyor” şeklindeki tavrını, “Müsned’imde oluşturmaya çalıştığım ideal idareci-toplum ilişkisi ile çelişiyor” şeklinde anlamak gerekecektir. (shrink)

Esta investigación intenta identificar al "muftí de Orán," bosquejando su vida y carrera a través de un análisis de los datos disponibles en las fuentes oorteafricanaa. Quisiera plantear que, ya en las fuentes biográficas del siglo XVI, se bao coofundido las biografias de dos emditoa, la del muftí, Abti l-'Abbáa Alimad b. Ahí (~um'a (m. 917/1511), y la de su hijo, Abti 'Abd Alláb Mul~ammad ~aqrtin (m. 929/1523-24). Mi investigación propone resolver esta confusión. Originario de Orán, Al~mad estudió en Tremecéo (...) y acabó por establecerse en Fez, donde cooaiguió un puesto como profesor de ley islámica. Ea probable que haya emitido su famoaafarwó de 910/1504 a los moriscos desde allá, como uno de los juristas prominentes de la ciudad, con la intención de oponerse a la opinión de su contemporáneo AlJmad b. YalJyá alWaniariai (m. 914/1508). (shrink)

Enlightenment; modernism; Arab countries.

In this volume, Angelika Brodersen examines how elements of Māturīdite tradition and processes of transformation occur in Nūr al-Dīn al-Ṣābūnī’s _Kitāb al-Kifāya fī l-hidāya fī uṣūl ad-dīn_, which contributed to the consolidation of the Māturīdiyya as a Sunni school. Im vorliegenden Band untersucht Angelika Brodersen, wie sich im _Kitāb al-Kifāya fī l-hidāya fī uṣūl ad-dīn_, des māturīditischen Gelehrten Nūr ad-Dīn aṣ-Ṣābūnī sowohl Elemente māturīditischer Tradition als auch Transformationsprozesse verfolgen lassen, die zur Konsolidierung der Māturīdiyya als sunnitische Schulrichtung beitrugen.

One of the important domestic developments during the Umayyad period is the rebellions carried out by members of the Ahl al-bayt. After the rebellion of Zayd b. ʿAlī in Kufa, his father, Yaḥyā was intensely prosecuted by the governor of Iraq Yūsuf b. ʿUmar, so he moved to Khurāsān, where he would feel more secure and his supporters were located. In fact, ʿAbbāsids, Kaysānī and Zayd b. ʿAlī’s supporters were active in Khurāsān. Under these circumtances, Yaḥyā left Iraq and followed (...) the road Nineveh, Madāʾin, Ray, Nīshāpūr towards the east and came to Sarakhs and resided here about six months. Here, a group from the Khārijites came and made a revolt proposal, but this proposal was rejected by those with Yahya. After this, Yaḥyā continued on his way to the east and came to Balkh and he stayed until the death of the caliph Hishām b. ʿAbd al-Malik. The general purpose of Yaḥyā’s journey from Iraq to Balkh is probably to get rid of the prosecution of Iraqi governor Yūsuf, and to establish the appropriate political atmosphere for the rebellion by contacting the Ahl al-bayt supporters in Khurāsān. The governor of Iraq Yūsuf b. ʿUmar determined the location of Yaḥyā in Balhk, and he ordered the governor of Khurāsān Naṣr b. Sayyār that he ensured Yaḥyā was imprisoned in Marw. However, as his imprisonment was reported to the caliph al-Walīd b. Yazīd, he ordered him to be released. Governor Naṣr advised Yaḥyā to go directly to the caliph and avoid situations that could cause sedition. In this case, Yaḥyā first came to Sarakhs, and then reached Nīshāpūr via Ṭūs. Meanwhile, the Khurāsān governor Naṣr wrote a letter to the governors on the route and ordered them to follow the movements of Yaḥyā and to not allow him to stay in the cities for a long time. Yaḥyā did not advance further west from the city of Bayhaq because he was afraid he might be killed by the Iraqi governor. Therefore, he returned from Bayhaq and came to Nīshāpūr. Here, they confiscated the mounts of a caravan they encountered on the way along with seventy other people, but they also paid their fees. Due to this incident, the governor of Nīshāpūr sent soldiers to Yaḥyā and his entourage, but in the clash that broke out, the supporters of Yaḥyā were successful against the soldiers, who were more than them. Yaḥyā and his followers continued their movements towards Balkh in the east after that. Even though the sources do not fully state the reason for Yaḥyā 's movement to Balkh, the geographical distance and the possible Shīʿī potential in the region may have guided him. However, this time Yaḥyā aimed to reach Balkh via Herat and Jūzjān by traveling in the southeast direction, not via Marw. Upon the news that Yaḥyā reached Jūzjān, the governor Naṣr sent an army of eight thousand men on him. Yaḥyā had to fight against the Umayyad army with his small number of supporters, consisting of seventy or one hundred and twenty people. As a result, he and his supporters were killed. Yaḥyā's head was cut off from his body and sent to the caliph, and his body was hung over the entrance gate of the city of Jūzjān. There are some reasons why the revolt of Yaḥyā failed. First of all, Yaḥyā did not prepare a road map to follow in advance for the rebellion movement, and he could not communicate with a large mass of people and did not set his goal. Secondly, Yaḥyā did not have enough support to resist the Umayyad armies in the rebellion. As a result, we can conclude that Yaḥyā was hidden during the three-year period he spent in Khurāsān because he was under prosecution and therefore could not operate openly. In addition, he could not get enough support from the Shīʿī communities in the region. Although Yaḥyā's rebellion was unsuccessful, it had some effects on the peoples of the region in the following process. Especially the murder of Yaḥyā in Khurāsān helped to create a suitable ground for the ʿAbbāsid revolution. In addition, it ensured that all Shīʿī groups were gathered under the invitation of the ʿAbbāsid "Āl-i Muḥammad”. (shrink)

BackgroundA different ethos with respect to the perception of medical ethics prevails in societies in transition such as those in the Arabian Peninsula, which makes it difficult to apply international principles of bioethics in medical practice. This study aimed to develop and psychometrically test an instrument that measures physicians’ awareness of bioethics and medical law and their attitudes towards the practice of medical ethics. Additionally, it examined physician correlates influencing the awareness of bioethics.MethodsFollowing a rigorous review of relevant literature by (...) a panel of experts, a 13-item instrument, the Omani physicians’ bioethics and medical law awareness (OBMLA) questionnaire was developed with the aim of assessing physicians’ awareness of bioethics and medical law. The study tool’s construct validity and internal consistency reliability were examined by exploratory factor analysis (EFA) and Cronbach’s alpha. In a cross-sectional study, the questionnaire was distributed among a random sample of 200 physicians at a tertiary hospital in Muscat, Oman. Participant characteristics that may influence awareness of bioethics and medical law were explored.ResultsThe EFA of the OBMLA questionnaire resulted in three well-loading factors: (1) Physicians’ bioethics practice subscale (2) incentive related bioethics subscale and (3) medical law awareness subscale. Internal consistency reliability ranged between Cronbach’s α: 0.73–0.8. Of the total 200 participants, 52% reported that teaching medical ethics during medical school was inadequate. The overall mean (standard deviation, SD) of the bioethics awareness score and Omani medical law awareness were 27.6 (3.5) and 10.1 (2.1) respectively. The majority of physicians (73%) reported that they frequently encountered ethical dilemmas in their practice and 24.5% endorsed the view that unethical decisions tended to occur in their practice.ConclusionThe study provides an insight into the practice of bioethics, and the awareness of bioethics and medical law among physicians in a teaching hospital in Oman. The OBMLA questionnaire appears to be a valid and reliable tool to assess a physician’s awareness of bioethics and medical law. In this preliminary study, it appears that participants have suboptimal scores on the indices which measure practice and awareness of bioethics and medical law. (shrink)

Selected aphorisms -- Enumeration of the sciences, chapter 5 -- Book of religion -- The harmonization of the two opinions of the two sages: Plato the Divine and Aristotle.

Service workers are more prone to experience customer mistreatment because of their frequent interactions with them. Hence, it compels them to the level where their performance is compromised. Employees who face customer mistreatment feel ill-treated and develop the desire for revenge. Based on the social exchange and displaced revenge perspective, this study examined the relationship between customer mistreatment and coworker undermining, and individual-level resource-based moderator service rule commitment for this relationship. An analysis of time-lagged, dyadic data from the Chinese service (...) industry confirmed that customer mistreatment significantly predicted coworker undermining. In addition, in support of the resource perspective, employees’ SRC effectively restricts an effect of customer mistreatment on coworker undermining. Finally, this study contributes to the customer mistreatment and coworker undermining literature by highlighting their relationship. This study also shows the importance of SRC in restraining the adverse effects of customer mistreatment. (shrink)

Acts of violence arising from hatred, racism, and bigotry have no place in a world of civility. The brutal attacks on Muslim worshippers at two mosques in Christchurch, New Zealand, leaving 51 dead and 49 injured, can never be justified. Through adopting Van Dijk's ideological square of 'Us. vs. Them' [3], the present study uncovers the impact statements of the attacks' survivors and victims' families, denouncing the severity of the event and expressing the shattering effects of the attacks on self, (...) society, and humanity at large. Over a period of three days, about 90 people delivered their statements in the High Court in Christchurch. The data were compiled through YouTube videos and news articles that reported the testimonies. The findings showed that the overall discursive strategy used in the impact statements is that of positive self-presentation and negative other-presentation. Such presentations are realized by focusing on the positive aspects of the ingroup members represented by the attacks' survivors, victims' families, and people of New Zealand on the one hand, and the negative characteristics of the out-group members represented by the terrorist, on the other. As the paper sends a strong message for accepting 'otherness' and rejecting antagonism, it is of significance to readers and researchers in inter-faith dialogue, human rights, equality, freedom, and justice. (shrink)