Little is known about the background of atheism in Malaysia and how Muslims respond to the phenomenon, although provocations by Malaysian atheists often take place on social media. This study addressed the gap by exploring the atheism phenomenon in Malaysia’s ethnoreligious-oriented society. Data were collected from in-depth interviews and content analysis using the qualitative method. All data were analysed thematically using the software for qualitative analysis, ATLAS.ti. The resulting superordinate themes that emerged from the analysis include the phenomenon of Malaysian (...) atheism, the factors for becoming atheists and the theme of arguments. The study’s findings are three-fold. Firstly, atheism started in Malaysia after globalisation began. Secondly, most Malaysian atheists were influenced by internal factors based on emotional–psychological elements rather than being scientifically oriented. Last but not least, the main themes of Malaysian atheist arguments are ‘God’s justice’, ‘the problem of evil’ and ‘science rationalism’. As a response, Muslims counter the atheism phenomenon by providing an effective approach to preserving social cohesion and harmony in an ethnoreligious society.Contribution: This article suggests that although atheism is regarded as a challenge to society since Malaysia is an ethnoreligious-oriented society, atheism needs to be countered through proper education as early prevention, besides encouraging healthy discussions. (shrink)

The UK Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority was right to permit tissue typing preimplantation genetic diagnosisOn July 21 2004, the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority , Britain’s regulatory agency for reproductive technologies, revised its policy on preimplantation genetic diagnosis for tissue typing.1,2 The authority of the HFEA to enact such a policy was affirmed by the UK’s highest court, the House of Lords, on April 28 2005.3 Preimplantation genetic diagnosis combines in vitro fertilisation with genetic testing. In PGD, embryos generally (...) undergo biopsy prior to the eight cell stage, followed by genetic testing for a particular trait. Tissue typing PGD is done to identify an embryo that is tissue matched for a child suffering from a severe disease requiring bone marrow or cord blood stem cell transplantation and for whom no living donor exists. This procedure was first performed in 2000.4 Precise matching of tissue types is critical to successful tissue transplant, and the donors of such tissues are often referred to as “saviour siblings”.Where a tissue matched individual already exists, extracting bone marrow from that individual or collecting cord blood already in storage, rather than creating a match, presents the most immediate treatment alternative. Bone marrow donation from adults or other medically competent individuals is not generally ethically contested, and bone marrow donation from medically incompetent individuals is also permissible under certain conditions.5 Where no living tissue donor exists, however, intentionally creating a donor through tissue typing PGD is among a short list of possible treatment options.The July HFEA policy change makes PGD licensable in cases where tissue typing is the only purpose of testing. Previously, PGD was licensable in the UK only for disease testing, and tissue typing PGD was permissible only when …. (shrink)

Recently, various alternating multiple zeta values have been proposed and studied as variations of ordinary classical multiple zeta values and their general or modified forms. We consider alternating multiple zeta values as an application of alternating Stirling numbers based on our study of Stirling numbers. In this paper, we give the values of a certain kind of alternative $q$-multiple zeta functions at roots of unity.

We examine ethical considerations in access to facial transplantation (FT), with implications for promoting health equity. As a form of vascularised composite allotransplantation, FT is still considered innovative with a relatively low volume of procedures performed to date by a small number of active FT programmes worldwide. However, as numbers continue to increase and institutions look to establish new FT programmes, we anticipate that attention will shift from feasibility towards ensuring the benefits of FT are equitably available to those in (...) need. This manuscript assesses barriers to care and their ethical implications across a number of considerations, with the intent of mapping various factors relating to health equity and fair access to FT. Evidence is drawn from an evolving clinical experience as well as published scholarship addressing several dimensions of access to FT. We also explore novel concerns that have yet to be mentioned in the literature. (shrink)

In Canada, laws and policies consistently reject the commodification of human organs and tissues, and Canadian practice is consistent with international standards in this regard. Until the Assisted Human Reproduction Act of 2004, gamete donation in Canada was an exception: Canadians could pay and be paid open market rates for gametes for use in in vitro fertilization. As sections of the AHR Act forbidding payment for gametes and permitting only reimbursement of receipted expenses gradually came into effect in 2005, Canada (...) did away with this anomaly. Medical practice and legal prohibitions in assisted human reproduction are now consistent with other areas of medicine where tissues and organs are taken from one person to benefit others: Altruistic donation, rather than selling and buying, will be the norm. (shrink)

ÄsthetikÄsthetik im Verhältnis zur Technik eröffnet ein Spannungsfeld, das zum einen durch die Begründung der Ästhetik als einer eigenen Disziplin durch Baumgarten eingeleitet wird, zum anderen durch den historischen Prozess der Emanzipation der Künste. Im Zuge dieser Entwicklung wird das traditionelle Verständnis des Künstlers als technitēs abgelöst. Bezeichnet téchnetéchne die Kunstfertigkeit, die eine Meisterin ihres Fachs beherrschen muss, so galt dies traditionellerweise ebenso für den Handwerker oder den Arzt wie für die Dichterin, Bildhauerin oder Musikerin.

This article examines al-Ghazali’s (d. 505/1111) critique of terminological distortion in the Iḥyāʾ ʿUlūm al-Dīn (The Revival of the Religious Sciences) as a diagnosis of epistemological disorder within the Islamic sciences. It argues that al-Ghazali understood semantic contraction not merely as a linguistic shift or rhetorical concern, but as a process that reshaped the hierarchy of knowledge, scholarly prestige, and the spiritual telos of learning. Focusing on five interrelated terms – fiqh (jurisprudence), ʿilm (knowledge), tawḥīd (the Oneness of God), dhikr/tadhkīr (...) (remembrance/admonition), and ḥikmah (wisdom), the study traces a recurring pattern in which originally expansive concepts became narrowed through disciplinary capture, performative usage, or reduced doctrinal formulation. Methodologically, the article combines qualitative content analysis with close textual reading of the Kitāb al-ʿIlm (Book of Knowledge) and related passages in the Iḥyāʾ. It maintains interpretive discipline through repeated re-reading of chapters, cross-checking individual passages against the architecture of the Kitāb al-ʿIlm, and limiting claims to meanings explicitly supported by the text. The article concludes that al-Ghazali’s reflections on terminology are best understood as part of a wider sociology of the Islamic sciences, in which the governance of key terms helped order scholarly status, regulate authoritative knowledge, and shape the social life of learning in the Islamic Golden Age. (shrink)

The problem which seems to remain with the Advaitin's non-realist account is that in giving up both the robust realist use of existenthood and the strong idealist use of cognitive verification, he seems to have weakened the connection between what must be the case and what is experienced. In explaining the nature of cognition, the realist says that existenthood (objects ontologically independent of cognition)must be the case; the idealist says that existenthoodmust not be the case. But in saying that existenthood (...) and non-existenthood are both outside the purview of the explanation of cognition, and then further, in saying that there is only a weak connection — of coherent assumption or best justification through confirmation — between objects and cognition, in other words, refusing to say whatmust be the case, is the non-realist not making his ontology acutely contingent on the current features of cognition? Is his ontology not, in this sense, provisional upon current cognition? As any reader even glancingly acquainted with Advaita would see straightaway, that understanding of ontology as aprovisional state (samv $$\underset{\raise0.3em\hbox{$\smash{\scriptscriptstyle\cdot}$}}{r} $$ tti-sattā) is precisely what the Advaitin has striven to establish. We must leave the examination of the purpose of this effort for another occasion. (shrink)

Mai headings: I. Logik, Methodologie und Hermeneutik der Interkulturalitaet.- II. Erkennen und Handeln: gibt es eine Differenz der Geschlechter'.- III. Philosophie und interkulturelle Bildung. Frisian (R. Nigel Smith).

In a companion review1 we discussed the data supporting the conclusion that at least two subtypes of spectrin exist in mammalian brain. One form is found in the cell bodies, dendrites, and post‐synaptic terminals of neurons (brain spectrin(240/235E)) and the other subtype is located in the axons and presynaptic terminals (brain spectrin(240/235)). Our recent understanding of brain spectrin subtype localization suggests a possible explanation for a conundrum concerning brain 4.1 localization. Amelin, an immunoreactive analogue of red blood cell (rbc) cytoskeletal (...) protein 4.1, is localized in neuronal cell bodies and dendrites when brain sections are stained with antibody against rbc protein 4.1. However, it has recently been suggested that synapsin I, a neuron‐specific phosphoprotein associated with the cytoplasmic surface of small synaptic vesicles, is related to erythrocyte 4.1. In this review we hypothesize that there are at least two forms of brain 4.1: a cell body/dendritic form (amelin) which is detected with rbc protein 4.1 antibody, and a unique form found exclusively in the presynaptic terminal (synapsin I). The binding of synapsin I to brain spectrin(240/235), and its ability to stimulate the spectrin/F‐actin interaction in a phosphorylation‐dependent manner suggests a model for the regulation of synaptic transmission mediated by the neuronal cytoskeleton. (shrink)

Chakravarthi Ram-Prasad's delightful and challenging little book does not fit easily into the standard categories available for academic excursions into philosophy. It is, to simplify, a venture in constructive philosophical theology, centered on questions of being and selfhood, which takes the form of a reflection upon the Bhagavad-gītā commentaries written by two of India's leading philosopher/theologians, Śaṅkara (c. 8th century CE) and Rāmānuja (c. 11th century CE). While Ram-Prasad does try to argue for the best readings of Śaṅkara and Rāmānuja, (...) the book should not be misunderstood as a "merely" historical work. Ram-Prasad looks to the classical thinkers, and indeed the ancient text of the Bhagavad-gītā itself, for enduring insights into the nature of being. It speaks to a number of sub-disciplines within philosophy, including metaphysics, history of philosophy, Indian philosophy, philosophy of religion, and comparative philosophy/theology. (shrink)

This paper presents an English translation from the original Tamil of the canonical Saivite hagiographical work, the Tiruttoṇṭar Tiruvantāti of Nampi Āṇṭār Nampi. The date of this work is disputed, but it was probably composed at some point between 870 and 1118 CE. This classical Tamil poem gives in summary form the lives of the sixty three Saivite saints of the sixth to ninth centuries known as the Nāyaṉmār, or Tiruttoṇṭar (“holy servants”, sc. of the Lord Siva). The paper also (...) includes an Introduction, setting out the context of the poem and its place in the Saivite literary tradition from which the Saiva Siddhanta philosophy subsequently developed, and Notes which explain the mythological and other references which the poem contains. (shrink)

Study of Tēvāram and Nālāyirat tivviyap pirapantam, anthology of Śaivite and Vaishnavite hymns by Tamil Hindu saints.

The widespread application of Large Language Models (LLMs) extends to education and assessment, underscoring their broader scope and attention. In this context, pretrained LLMs are employed for generating voluminous questions on the basis of their vastly pretrained linguistic patterns. However, challenges remain in generating multihop questions automatically. Hallucinatory named entities or false positive phrases are observed during the automatic generation of multihop questions at scale, which is highly challenging. This challenge arises from the tendency of language models to capture co-occurrence (...) within a given context rather than accurately identifying the relationships between named entities, known as knowledge gaps. To address this challenge, techniques to foster named entity expansion are highly demanding. In this context, Retrieval Augmented Models (RAMs) supplement the requirement by incorporating standard knowledge models such as ontologies for named entity-based text expansion of the source text. However, the limited factual representation from each individual ontology is rarely adequate for text expansion, where Ontology Mapping (OM) needs attention. Here, two key objectives are focused on: 1. Extraction of overlapping entity mappings in the Basic Matching (BM) stage and 2. Ranking intersectional entity mappings in the Final Alignment (FA) stage. With this motivation, experiments are conducted on OM approaches and to integrate them with the RAM and transformer models for the multihop question generation process. Analysis using benchmark datasets and evaluation metrics demonstrates that the proposed hybrid LLM model, incorporating Ontology Mapping (OM), the RAG model (RAM), and a Large Language Model (LLM), achieves ROUGE-L scores ranging from 41% to 45% and BERTScore between 74% and 88%, indicating strong relevance to the entity context. Additionally, the study introduces new metric, RAG Assessment (RAGAS), and the results reveal that the proposed approach effectively balances ROUGE-L and RAGAS-Precision scores, which range from 39% to 43%, highlighting reduced hallucination in auto-generated multihop questions. (shrink)

Abstract“The Book of Secrets in the Results of Ideas”, usually called “The Book of Secrets” is a codex containing drawings and descriptions of thirty-one artifacts attributed to the engineer Alī Ibn Khalaf al-Murādī, who lived in Andalusia in southern Spain at the beginning of the 11th century. This manuscript is one of the first written testimonies that describe medieval mechanisms with complex precision. The aim of this work is to reconstruct and study from a historical and technological point of view (...) two of the ancient artifacts contained in the “Book of Secrets”, the “Fortress Demolisher” and the “Magic Well”. The “Fortress Demolisher” is a war machine designed to demolish the upper part of the walls or towers and consists of a battering ram mounted on a platform that can be raised several meters above the ground using a scissor mechanism. The “Magic Well” is a mechanism with several pulleys whose purpose is to raise water several meters from the bottom of a well by collecting a small portion of rope. To reconstruct the two artifacts, a digital model and a detailed study of the geometry and operation of the mechanisms, were first carried out. 3D printing, using the Fused Deposition Modelling technology, made the physical reproduction. The digitization and physical reproduction by 3D printing of the mechanisms represent an update of the traditional ways of transmitting knowledge. The use of these new technologies makes the knowledge more accessible, understandable and attractive. (shrink)

Celem artykułu jest ustalenie źródeł i ram interpretacyjnych, które ukształtowały sposób przedstawienia państwa moskiewskiego przez Tomasza Szpota Dunina, roli, jaką odgrywała Moskwa w Azji Środkowej, a szczególnie na Syberii, oraz jej relacji z Chinami na przełomie XVII i XVIII wieku. Poprzez analizę literatury, na której opierał się autor, bada się, czy jego narracja czerpała z wcześniejszych katolickich relacji opisujących próby dotarcia do państwa moskiewskiego i podróży przez jej terytorium, np. wzdłuż Wołgi na Kaukaz i do Persji, czy też opierała się (...) przede wszystkim na pismach jezuitów działających bezpośrednio w Chinach. Artykuł analizuje ponadto, w jakim stopniu Szpot Dunin wykorzystywał informacje i stereotypy krążące w Rzeczypospolitej Obojga Narodów oraz czy jego obraz państwa moskiewskiego pozostawał w zgodzie z interesami politycznymi Rzeczypospolitej po zawarciu traktatu grzymułtowskiego (1686). Wreszcie stawia pytania o wpływ takich celów zakonu jezuitów jak uzyskanie dostępu do państwa moskiewskiego czy otrzymanie pozwolenia na podróż lądową do Chin przez terytorium wielkiego księstwa narracyjne autora. Podjęcie tych zagadnień ma na celu głębsze zrozumienie treści i kontekstu powstania dzieła Tomasza Dunina Szpota oraz dodania jeszcze jednego przypadku do dyskusji na temat konfliktu lojalności względem państwa pochodzenia lub zakonu wśród jezuitów w epoce nowożytnej. (shrink)

Bu çalışmada küresel İkinci Soğuk Savaş koşulları, post-truth (hakikat-ötesi) kavramı ve gelişmekte olan ekonomi toplumlarının tereddütleri nedeniyle yeniden söz konusu olan özne felsefelerinin sorun çerçevesi ve işlevi ele alınmaktadır. Ram Roy Bhaskar ve Jean-François Lyotard’ın eleştirilerine dayanılarak öznenin ancak kendi ekosistemi ve ekolojisinde bir toplumsal gerçeklik, karşılılıklılık ve mantıksal doğrulama olanağına erişebileceği fikri geliştirilmektedir. Postmodernizm ve post-yapısalcı felsefenin büyük anlatıların veya meta-söylemlerin bittiği yolundaki bildirileri, öznenin ancak kendi kişisel yaşamı ve fiziksel olarak dokunabildiği toplumsal çevresinden hareketle konuşabileceği anlamında kabul edilmelidir. (...) Kuşatıcılık ve farklılıkları önemseyen küreselleşme ve bireyselleşmenin mantığı ticari işlemektedir. Burada insan öznesi hem ekonomik, psikolojik ve hukuki güvencelerinden emin değildir, hem de toplum içerisinde kendine bir rol seçmekte zorlanabilmektedir. Böylece felsefi öznenin kendi mevcudiyetinin dışında ve doğrudan deneyimleyemediği kavramlar hakkında konuşmasının işlevsel ve yararlı olmadığı ifade edilmektedir. Özne felsefelerinin 2024-2050 arasındaki çerçevesi büyük ölçüde her öznenin kendi ekosistemi ve ekolojisinde ve pek karmaşık olmayan sorunlar etrafında teşekkül edecektir. (shrink)

This article revisits the intellectual history of inequality in the thinking of Dr Bhimrao Ramji Ambedkar (1891–1956) and Dr Ram Manohar Lohia (1910–1967). Both were pivotal figures in the intellectual history of inequality in colonial and postcolonial India. Yet little work has been done to systematically juxtapose the two and their thinking on inequality. This article offers a first comparison, arguing that their ideas on inequality can be seen as the emergence of a unique, Indian version of what, in this (...) article, we term “organic intersectionality.” We build this argument on four claims. First, both were organic intellectuals whose thinking was molded in the marginalized groups from which they arose, but whose ideas developed in unique and organic ways. Second, both had a unique eye to the intersectional and holistic character of Indian inequality, cutting across caste, class, race, and gender. Third, their thinking grew from a deep engagement with religion, which they saw as both legitimizing and delegitimizing inequality. Fourth, both these figures exemplify postcolonial hybridity and thus stand in contrast both to a diffusionist approach whereby ideas are simply diffused from the West to the East, and to a nationalized, self-contained, or decolonial history of ideas. (shrink)

Interfaith dialogue is a vital tool for promoting understanding and cooperation between different religious communities. This article presents a comparative study of the Islamic and Buddhist perspectives on interfaith dialogue. Drawing on primary sources from both religions, this study explores the theological foundations of interfaith dialogue and the practical strategies employed by Muslims and Buddhists in promoting interfaith understanding. The similarities and differences between the two religions’ approaches to interfaith dialogue are analysed, examining how their respective beliefs, practices, and histories (...) shape their attitudes towards religious diversity. The research design is qualitative using library research by emphasizing content analysis on Islam and Buddhism scripture. The results show that Islamic paradigms of interreligious dialogue is da’wah (propagation, invitation or introducing Islam) that rooted from Tawḥīd, in contrast Buddhism, promotes on liberation from human suffering which rooted Bhavana and mindfulness. The study contributes to the principle of interfaith dialogue and provides insights into the potential of interfaith relation for sustaining harmony, peace, and mutual respect in diverse societies. Studies suggest the understanding of each fundamental to encourage Muslim and Buddhists scholars to produce comprehensive interreligious dialogue, theologically and philosophically. (shrink)

This paper offers preliminary notes on Buddhism in modern Muslim exegesis with an emphasis on Tafsir al-Qasimi by Muhammad Jamal al-Din al-Qasimi (1866–1914) and al-Mizan fi Tafsir al-Qurʾan by Muhammad Husayn Tabatabaʾi (1892-1981). The research adopts a qualitative design using content analysis to collect the data. In this paper two main questions regarding both exegetes will be explored. The first question concerns the sources of both scholars for their information about Buddhism by including the discussion in their exegesis. The second (...) question concerns the methodology they used to discuss Buddhism in the Qurʾan since this has not been done by any classical exegetes nor among the most modern exegetes. Studies have found that the approach of the two exegetes is different from both the classical and modern exegetes because their work also contains resources from the fields of comparative religion and the history of religion to make their work relevant in the current context and reliable to be referred to by any parties. The author concludes that both al-Qasimi and Tabatabaʾi used analysis (taḥlil) in discussing verses related to the position of the Buddha. (shrink)

This article offers an exploratory, mixed-methods account of how nonreligious orientations are articulated and managed by a specific subpopulation of university students in Malaysia's Klang Valley. Because open atheism and public nonreligious carry social and legal risks in Malaysia, the study relied on an anonymous online survey disseminated through a combination of purposive and snowball recruitment, complemented by narrative comments and a small number of follow‑up interviews. The resulting dataset (N = 397) is not a probabilistic or representative sample of (...) “Malaysian university students” and therefore does not support population‑level prevalence claims. Instead, it illuminates patterns of belief, doubt, and critique within a topic‑engaged and urban student network where nonreligious identities appear as an emergent subculture. Within this sample, theism remains common but often coexists with ambivalence and individualized questioning; explicit atheist self‑identification is uncommon, while nonreligious and selective skepticism toward religious authority and institutions are more visible. Interpreted in light of secularization and nonreligion studies, the findings suggest a context‑dependent and socially constrained form of secularizing change in higher‑education settings, best understood as uneven, strategic, and relational rather than a linear decline of religion. The article concludes with methodological implications for researching “hidden” nonreligious populations in Muslim‑majority societies. (shrink)

Relationship-oriented questions have always been at the crossroads of ethnoreligious identity, religious freedom, religious conversion, religious prejudice, and religious pluralism throughout Muslim-Buddhist co-existence in the sixth century within the Malay Archipelago. Other faiths could be freely practised except for propagation towards Muslim communities with Islam being the religion of the federation. This study aimed to explore Muslim-Buddhist relation types and the issues underpinning the following themes: history, identity, and concerns. Content and thematic analysis as well discourse analysis were utilised as (...) the study method for data collection and evaluation. Resultantly, the Muslim-Buddhist interaction pattern in Malaysia has occurred (culturally and religiously) from the early establishment of both religious communities. This relation, which has shifted in ethnoreligious orientation at every interaction level, opens more avenues and complexities requiring holistic management. (shrink)

Atheism is an ideology that rejects the existence of God and has gained increasing prominence in societies globally, including Malaysia. Atheism significantly challenges the religious orientation of Malaysian society. Specifically, atheism challenges spiritual and ethical foundations, unity, and cultural heritage linked to religious beliefs. Understanding these challenges is vital to formulate proactive measures, education, and informed dialogue to mitigate the negative impact of atheism on Malaysian society. This study explored the effects of atheism on Malaysian religious society via library research (...) analysis. Scholarly articles, books, and reputable online resources on religious and atheism underwent content analysis, which yielded five key findings. Firstly, atheism leads to the loss of spiritual guidance and morality. Secondly, atheism potentially erodes ethical values and societal norms, and subsequently reduces social trust and cohesion. Thirdly, atheism contributes to moral relativism and ethical ambiguity, which potentially undermines established moral frameworks and social norms. Fourthly, atheism can weaken community cohesion. Lastly, atheism threatens religious institutions and practices. Additionally, the absence of the role of God might undermine the cultural and heritage importance of religion. This study presented critical insights on the negative societal effects of atheism. By exploring the potential consequences of atheism on social cohesion, moral foundations, and existential perspectives, this study highlighted the need for religious education as part of atheism prevention and rehabilitation. (shrink)

Since the emergence of the global challenges of COVID-19 pandemic, its impact could be widely viewed in various human society aspects, such as education, business trading and also social interaction limit. Apart from many discussions on the pandemic from a wide range of such perspectives, scholarly attention is still rarely mainly in trying to elaborate the critical overview from an Islamic perspective following theological, historical, and sociological points of view. In this paper, the critical elaboration of the pandemic has been (...) widely discussed by analysing the contents of sacred scriptures and responses from an Islamic point of view. The literature was critically conducted from religious sources such as the Qur’an and Hadith, and also related contemporary works. The finding reveals that the pandemic has been given full attention as stated in the Qur’an and narrated in Hadith by taking a lesson from pandemics and strategically battling the pandemic. The following attentions were addressed in order to strengthen the Muslim community and society in order to support the health protocols arranged by the local and international health organizations. The value is that religion’s clear comprehension could give continued support to encourage the Muslim community especially and general society at large in the attempts to battle the spreading pandemic. -/- . (shrink)

A comprehensive understanding of the thoughts and sources referenced by dialogue partners is fundamental to effective interfaith dialogue. This article offers a scholarly analysis of Imam al-Ghazali's (d. 1111 CE) approach to interfaith dialogue, particularly his interactions with Christianity as outlined in his work, al-Raddu al-Jamīlu li Ilahiyyat ʿĪsā bi-Ṣarīḥi al-Injīli. Employing a content analysis methodology, this study examines al-Ghazali's principal writings on interreligious engagement, with a special emphasis on Christian-Muslim relations. The findings indicate that al-Ghazali adopts a triadic approach: (...) debate, theological comparison, and apologetics. He begins by identifying the primary theological divergence between Islam and Christianity—the divinity of Jesus. Subsequently, he employs theological comparison, reinterpreting contentious texts by referencing both the Gospel and the Qur'an. Additionally, al-Ghazali uses rational critique to highlight the perceived weaknesses in Christian doctrinal positions. This study suggests that al-Ghazali's method can be instrumental in contemporary theological discourse, promoting a nuanced and critical exploration of the areas of convergence and divergence among different religious traditions. -/- . (shrink)

Religious tolerance is a fundamental ethical principle in both Islam and Buddhism, shaping interfaith relations, governance models, and societal harmony. While both traditions emphasize compassion, patience, and mutual respect, their doctrinal foundations of tolerance differ significantly. Islamic tolerance (tasāmuḥ) is rooted in Islamic monotheism (tawḥīd), divine law (sharīʿah) and prophetic teachings (ḥadīth), where interfaith coexistence is structured within legal and ethical frameworks. The Qur’an (2:256) affirms that “there is no compulsion in religion,” and historical precedents such as the Constitution of (...) Medina institutionalized protections for religious minorities. Conversely, Buddhist tolerance (kṣānti) arises from a nontheistic spiritual path in which moral conduct is governed by karma rather than by divine commandments. Buddhism fosters patience and forbearance as essential virtues in the Bodhisattva ideal and meditative disciplines, emphasizing inner transformation rather than legal enforcement. By analyzing both primary religious texts and contemporary sources, this study highlights common values between Islam and Buddhism, advocating for deeper interfaith dialogue and academic research on universal principles of tolerance. Understanding Islamic and Buddhist tolerance offers valuable frameworks for fostering religious harmony and coexistence in a diverse world. -/- . (shrink)

This is the diary of an observant mathematician who documented the drama of the resolution of Fermat's Last Theorem as it unfolded around him from 1993 to 1995. Pierre Fermat claimed around 1637, in the most famous marginalia in the history of mathematics, to have a proof of the theorem that xn + yn = zn has no whole number solutions for n greater than 2. The other principal figure is the British mathematician Andrew Wiles, who emigrated to Princeton University (...) in the 1980s and who in 1993, at what for mathematicians is the relatively advanced age of forty, announced a proof of FLT. In the course of Wiles's initial exposition to mathematicians, before a full‐fledged proof could be published, a gap was discovered. This was too late to forestall announcements in the world press of an imminent proof. What had been an almost secretive devotion to the task by Wiles now became a rather more public and pressurized effort over the course of nearly a year. Wiles wondered at times if success could be achieved, but with the help of other mathematicians the gap was filled in and the full formal proof published in 1995.The statement of the theorem is likely to be the only part of the 1990s story that a nonspecialist can immediately appreciate, and the author has not especially addressed his book to the nonspecialist. Rather, this account is analogous to a well‐illustrated exhibition guidebook that serves as a memento and record to those who visited in person but that is not intended fully to inform those who did not experience it. For a broader account of the historical and mathematical background a reader can consult the three principal books published previously on the same topic by Amir Aczel, Simon Singh, and Alfred J. van der Poorten. The author knew many of the main players, attended most of the key talks, took notes, made recordings, and photographed. A major part of the book is a selection of sixty‐two photographs from the total of three thousand made by the author. He asked questions of Wiles and others and recorded both formal and informal reactions that he observed around him during the many public and nonpublic presentations that were made. Also, in keeping with the journal nature of his work, he has recorded his own reactions. Appendixes include an excerpt from Wiles's 1995 Annals of Mathematics publication and a synopsis by Ram Murty of the key results by Gerhard Frey, Jean‐Pierre Serre, and Kenneth Ribet that formed a basis for Wiles's work.It may interest historians and archivists to learn of the extent to which the primary sources for this story include e‐mail, web pages, photographs, and newspaper and television interviews. Though we recognize this reality of contemporary science, a diary account probably brings the issue home more directly than would studies by professional historians, who might feel obligated to do more of their own interviews, for example, rather than rely on the media. Mathematics has rarely had such a public spotlight turned on it—the proof of the four‐color theorem in 1976 is the only comparable event that comes to mind. Consequently, it has opened an unusual window into how mathematicians do mathematics. (shrink)

Recent public concern over Muslim–Buddhist relations in South and Southeast Asia has emerged because of massive violence against Muslim minority groups in the region’s Buddhist-majority states. The Buddhist have expressed fear that the rise in the Muslim population would force out the Buddhists, as has happened in several historical records. Thus, in this article, we provide a preliminary analysis of Buddhist-Muslim relations from past to present as it unfolds the various forms of relations, conflicts, and harmonies. This article also analyses (...) the driving factors that contribute to the relation of both religious societies in terms of politics, religion, and economics. This research is qualitative. The research method used is descriptive-analytical by emphasizing content analysis of data information from various books and articles covering the Muslim and Buddhism encounters. Despite certain polemics having occurred along the relationship, the study shows that Muslim-Buddhist encounter occurred in harmony, particularly when relation was rooted in tolerance. Studies affirm that disputed facts ought to be critically updated to establish the causes, which will also help address the misunderstanding between religious societies. (shrink)

The literature analysing Muslim perspective towards other religions is now quite extensive. However, when it comes to Muslim’s perspective towards Buddhism, the scholarship lags far behind. This article aimed to identify the Muslim views on Buddhism from a theological and philosophical framework. The Muslim views have a different category, on categorising Buddhism, the status of Buddha as a Prophet, and Buddhist as the People of the Book. Each view provides a different framework of Muslim perspective towards Buddhism. From the theological (...) view, one of the outlook is tolerance. Due to the rejection of Buddhist doctrine by most Muslim theologians, Muslims apply tolerance, which is subject to religious freedom stand on, ‘firm in principle, tolerant in attitude’. Tolerance encourages Muslims to adhere to the principles of truth, but does not erode the respect for other religion. While from a philosophical view, it considered Buddhism as a religion from God, as well as other religions. Thus, some Muslim inclusivists and pluralists recognise Buddhism. This research is qualitative. The method used in this research is descriptive-analytic, emphasising content analysis of the data from various books and articles covering Muslim view on Buddhism and the patterns of relations between Islam and Buddhism. Studies suggest the understanding of each framework to encourage Muslims to improve comprehensive interreligious dialogue with Buddhists.Contribution: Religious tolerance, inclusivism, and pluralism is a panacea to inordinate and incessant religious conflict, if given its proper place in Malaysia, it will breed harmony and peace in the society. This work would be of immense benefit to interfaith scholars and religious leaders across all strata of discipline. (shrink)

This study explores the dynamics of emotional expression of freshmen students at a public university in Indonesia, focussing on the role of gratitude in helping them overcome challenges and maintain academic vigour. Using qualitative methods with open-ended questionnaires and in-depth interviews, this study involved 20 freshmen from one public university. The results showed that the majority of students expressed gratitude to God as the main expression, while a minority also valued the role of social support and personal achievement. The findings (...) also revealed that despite uncertainties, fears and disappointments, gratitude remains a fundamental and culminating emotion. Gratitude not only helps students overcome challenges but also enhances their resilience and motivation. Spiritual Meaning Construction Theory serves as an analytical tool, highlighting that spiritual experiences and expressions of gratitude are strongly influenced by an individual’s social and cultural context. The theory emphasises that the experience of religion or spirituality has no universal truth, but rather varies according to each individual’s interpretative framework. The findings suggest that the expression of gratitude in freshmen not only reflects universally inculcated spiritual beliefs but is also a result of the meaning-making processes by individuals within their social and cultural context. Implications for higher education institutions include the importance of developing orientation, counselling and academic support programmes that support students’ expression of gratitude and resilience. Programmes that promote resilience and gratitude can help students overcome challenges and stay motivated throughout their academic journey.Contribution: This research contributes to a deeper understanding of the complexity of emotions experienced by freshmen as well as the important role gratitude plays in helping them overcome challenges and maintain enthusiasm in pursuing their academic goals. (shrink)

The deprivation of knowledge from the bond of true belief will destroy and ruin human life and nature. This has been demonstrated in the Western scientific and technological civilisations that dominate the world today. Western scientific civilisation today is the product of scientists who have no real faith in the Creator of the universe. Nevertheless, there are efforts among Western scientists who have awareness in this modern era, who began to take steps to restore the agenda of Science and Technology (...) within the framework of religious beliefs. This literature-based study discovers many negative effects resulting from the absence of true theology in understanding Science and Technology, which is based on a secular understanding. Apart from that, this article also reveals the nature and appearance of Science and Technology that are firmly embroidered with natural theology leading to universal well-being. -/- . (shrink)

The outburst of the fourth Industrial Revolution had a significant impact on many aspects of life. The discovery of new technologies in medicine has resulted in innovations: organ transplants. The introduction of three-dimensional (3D) organ printing technology promises improvements to the field. Organs such as the liver, kidneys, heart and others are printed to meet the needs of the actual organs. However, the production of prototype organs to replace the original organs is associated with the issue of changing the creation (...) of Allah. Accordingly, this study will analyse the issue of changing the creation of God in three-dimensional (3D) organ printing technology according to the perspective of Islamic law. Several appropriate methodologies in Islamic law (usul fiqh) are used such as legal reasoning through maqasid shariah perspective and analogical reasoning. The result shows that three-dimensional (3D) organ printing technology falls under the permissible category of changing the creation of Allah because it can save human lives. The production of organs through 3D printing involving changes included in the category of necessity (daruri) and need (hajiy) is permissible, but the category of desirable (tahsini) requires further specifications. (shrink)

Tidslogik är en gren av logiken som handlar om temporala begrepp, satser, argument och system. Inom denna gren av logiken undersöker man t.ex. uttryck såsom "Det kommer alltid vara fallet att", "Det kommer någon gång i framtiden vara fallet att", "Det har alltid varit fallet att", "Det var någon gång i det förflutna fallet att". Logiska relationer mellan satser som innehåller temporala begrepp studeras och giltigheten hos argument som består av sådana satser analyseras. I tidigare arbeten har jag diskuterat hur (...) tidslogiken kan betraktas som en form av multimodal logik. I den här uppsatsen visar jag hur tidslogiken kan beskrivas som en bimodal logik, ett slags modallogik som endast innehåller två typer av temporala operatorer. Den semantik jag använder är baserad på monotemporala ramar. En monotemporal ram är en relationell struktur som endast innehåller en primitiv tillgänglighetsrelation, nämligen relationen tidigare än / senare än. Jag utvecklar ett antal så kallade semantiska tablåsystem och bevisar att dessa är sunda och fullständiga i relation till deras semantik. (shrink)

In the area of machine learning, different techniques are used to train machines and perform different tasks like computer vision, data analysis, natural language processing, and speech recognition. Computer vision is one of the main branches where machine learning and deep learning techniques are being applied. Optical character recognition is the ability of a machine to recognize the character of a language. Pashto is one of the most ancient and historical languages of the world, spoken in Afghanistan and Pakistan. OCR (...) application has been developed for various cursive languages like Urdu, Chinese, and Japanese, but very little work is done for the recognition of the Pashto language. When it comes to handwritten character recognition, it becomes more difficult for OCR to recognize the characters as every handwritten character’s shape is influenced by the writer’s hand motion dynamics. The reason for the lack of research in Pashto handwritten character data as compared to other languages is because there is no benchmark dataset available for experimental purposes. This study focuses on the creation of such a dataset, and then for the evaluation purpose, a machine is trained to correctly recognize unseen Pashto handwritten characters. To achieve this objective, a dataset of 43000 images was created. Three Feed Forward Neural Network models with backpropagation algorithm using different Rectified Linear Unit layer configurations were trained and tested with this dataset. The simulation shows that Model 1 achieved accuracy up to 87.6% on unseen data while Model 2 achieved an accuracy of 81.60% and 3% accuracy, respectively. Similarly, loss was the lowest for Model 1 with 0.15 and 3.17 for training and testing, followed by Model 2 with 0.7 and 4.2 for training and testing, while Model 3 was the last with loss values of 6.4 and 3.69. The precision, recall, and f-measure values of Model 1 were better than those of both Model 2 and Model 3. Based on results, Model 1 is found to be the most efficient as compared to the other two models in terms of accuracy to recognize Pashto handwritten characters. (shrink)

This paper investigates the relationship between director independence and firm performance, as well as ownership of firms and firm performance in Malaysia. We find that independent outside directors and foreign directors have a significant positive effect on firm performance after controlling for the influence of other corporate governance variables such as firm ownership and board sizes. The study demonstrates that when a critical mass of outside directors' independence is achieved, this has a significant economic impact on the firm performance. The (...) results have implications for rethinking board composition requirements in the emerging markets. [PUBLICATION ABSTRACT]. (shrink)

Religion, especially Islam, plays a crucial role in Malaysia’s post-plural society and ethnic Malay identity. Atheism, as a conviction that challenges religious beliefs, is therefore highly controversial in Malaysia: it not only conflicts with the Rukun Negara (national principles) state ideology, which holds the belief in God as its first principle, but also challenges the notion of ethnic Malay identity, which is framed as Islamic and occupies a special place in Malaysian society. This article explores the potential of atheism to (...) challenge Malaysia’s religious pluralism by analysing cases of public atheism and responses to it. Rather than simply concluding that atheism is not acceptable to Malaysians, the article demonstrates the circumstances under which public atheism is possible. It also argues that atheism, although seldom discussed in public, represents a ‘social symptom’ for Malaysian society: atheists are regarded as ‘malfunctioning’ citizens, but they tell us much about how Malaysia’s post-plural religious society functions as it simultaneously rejects and tolerates atheism. This paradoxical social context, we argue, stabilises and challenges the idea of Malaysia’s religious society as the essence of the Malaysian people. (shrink)

"Kapitał społeczny ludzi starych na przykładzie mieszkańców miasta Białystok" to książka oparta na analizach teoretycznych i empirycznych, która przedstawia problem diagnozowania i używania kapitału społecznego ludzi starych w procesach rozwoju lokalnego i regionalnego. Kwestia ta jest istotna ze względu na zagrożenia i wyzwania związane z procesem szybkiego starzenia się społeczeństwa polskiego na początku XXI wieku. Opracowanie stanowi próbę sformułowania odpowiedzi na pytania: jaki jest stan kapitału społecznego ludzi starych mieszkających w Białymstoku, jakim ulega przemianom i jakie jest jego zróżnicowanie? Ludzie (...) starzy są tu postrzegani jako kategoria społeczna, czyli zbiór osób podobnych do siebie pod względem społecznie istotnych cech (takich jak wiek, posiadane role społeczne i świadomość korzystania ze świadczeń społecznych), którzy są świadomi tego podobieństwa i swojej odrębności od innych. Przyjmuje się ponadto, iż osoby takie przekroczyły 60. rok życia. Zakłada się też, że w zasobach ludzkich skumulowany jest kapitał ludzki, społeczny i kulturowy. Kapitał społeczny jest tu ujmowany szeroko jako potencjał współdziałania osadzony w powiązaniach międzyludzkich i normach społecznych, który może przynosić korzyści osobom, grupom i społeczeństwom. W części teoretycznej przedstawiono informacje o starości jako etapie w życiu jednostki, wyjaśniono pojęcie ludzi starych, omówiono społeczne teorie starzenia się, historyczne czynniki oddziaływające na położenie kategorii społecznej ludzi starych, zmiany ich miejsca w społeczeństwie polskim w trakcie transformacji ustrojowej i na początku XXI wieku, możliwe konsekwencje wzrostu długości życia w warunkach demokracji i kapitalizmu oraz charakterystykę problemu starzenia się ludności Białegostoku jako miasta pogranicza. Zaprezentowano też różnorodne koncepcje kapitału społecznego, sfery jego oddziaływania na rozwój społeczno-gospodarczy, jego stan w Polsce oraz wytyczne do strategicznego budowania jego zasobów. Przybliżono również wybrane informacje o aktywności ludzi starych w życiu publicznym, społecznym i gospodarczym jako kluczowych cechach ich kapitału społecznego. Porządkując różne stanowiska teoretyczne, wyniki badań i dane statystyczne, dążono do powiązania wielu rozproszonych źródeł w przekonaniu, iż jest to istotne w celu określenia i zagospodarowania zasobów kapitału społecznego seniorów, jak również niwelacji opóźnienia polskiej socjologii w zakresie badań nad ludźmi starymi. Pomimo, iż za podstawową perspektywę teoretyczną publikacji uznana została koncepcja kapitału P. Bourdieu, autor bierze również pod uwagę propozycje badawcze J.S. Colemana, R.D. Putnama, F. Fukuyamy, A. Giddensa, P. Sztompki i A. Sadowskiego. Drugi rozdział zawiera określenie ram metodologicznych badań przeprowadzonych na potrzeby tej publikacji. Omówiono przyjęte założenia badawcze oraz przybliżono sposób i przebieg realizacji badań. Przede wszystkim zdecydowano się na korzystanie z metody jakościowej i zastosowanie techniki wywiadu swobodnego ukierunkowanego. Uznano, iż podmiotowy kontakt z ludźmi starymi umożliwi dokładniejsze rozpoznanie kontekstu, w którym znajdują się zasoby ich kapitału społecznego. Jest to ważne, gdyż przenoszenie na rodzimy grunt opracowanych za granicą interpretacji działań ludzi starych i rozwiązań aktywizujących, może okazać się nieskuteczne lub wywołać negatywne efekty zewnętrzne. Ponadto w literaturze przedmiotu zwraca się uwagę na niedostatek badań gerontologicznych zgodnych z paradygmatem interpretatywnym. Badaniu poddano 26 respondentów w wieku od 60 do 89 lat żyjących w mieście Białystok związanych z jedną z dwóch różnych instytucji: Domem Pomocy Społecznej i Uniwersytetem Trzeciego Wieku. Poprzez porównywanie osób znajdujących się na dwóch biegunach aktywności społecznej możliwe było dostrzeżenie podobieństw i różnic w ich wyposażeniu kapitałowym, a zarazem w osiągniętych w ciągu życia pozycjach w strukturze klasowej i zasobach służących pomyślnej starości6. W trzecim rozdziale przedstawiona została część wyników analiz empirycznych. Przybliżono tu sposób, w jaki ludzie starzy myślą o podobnych sobie przodkach i osobach współczesnych, a także czynniki, w zależności od których zmienia się ich pozycja społeczna w mieście oraz problemy społeczne, jakie uznają za najważniejsze dla ludzi starych. Analizie poddano opinie o ich czasie wolnym, szansach i barierach aktywności ekonomicznej. Wyróżniono typy kapitału społecznego ludzi starych w zależności od instytucji, z którymi są związani oraz podejścia do postrzegania i wykorzystywania zróżnicowania wewnętrznego seniorów. Omówiono wizerunek seniorów w środkach masowego przekazu. Publikacja nie zawiera ścisłego zakończenia. W ostatnim rozdziale wskazano jedynie na główne wnioski płynące z badań oraz na potencjalne dalsze kierunki analiz. Uzupełnienie tego podejścia stanowią zamieszczone w aneksie zestawienia oddolnych technik budowania kapitału społecznego oraz podstawowych cech Miast Przyjaznych Starszemu Wiekowi. Z opracowania tego z pewnością będą mogli skorzystać nie tylko naukowcy zajmujący się tematyką ludzi starych, ale i pracownicy socjalni, politycy, pracodawcy, przedstawiciele mediów i organizacji pozarządowych oraz obywatele Białegostoku i innych miast. ** "Social Capital of Old People on the Example of Bialystok Residents" is a book based on theoretical and empirical study, which presents an issue of diagnosing and using of old people social capital in the local and regional development processes. This issue is significant because of the threats and challenges associated with process of rapid ageing of Polish society at the beginning of 21st century. Publication, in particular, is an attempt to give answers to the following questions: what is the state of old people social capital in Bialystok, what transformations it undergoes and how is it differentiated? In this study old people are viewed as a social category, which is a set of people similar to each other in terms of socially significant features (such as age, possessed social roles and awareness of received social benefits), who are aware of these similarities and differences between each other. Moreover, it is assumed, that such persons exceeded the 60 years of age. It is also assumed that human, social and cultural capital is accumulated in the human resources. Social capital is recognized here broadly as a potential for collaboration embedded in interpersonal relationships and social norms that may benefit individuals, groups and societies. The book consists of three chapters. The first, which is the theoretical part of work, includes information about: old age as a stage of individual life and explanation of the old people notion. It discusses social theories of ageing, historical factors affecting on the social position of old people category, changes in their place in Polish society during the system transformation and in the early 21st century. It describes the possible consequences of increased life expectancy for democracy and capitalism - including the concepts of society for all ages, silver economy. It also features ageing population issue, as well as social policy towards the elderly and old age in Bialystok as the borderland city. A variety of social capital concepts were presented; the spheres of its influence on socio-economic development, its status in Poland and guidelines for strategic building of its resources. Selected information on the activity of old people in public, social and economic life as key features of their social capital was brought closer. Putting various theoretical positions, results of research and statistical data in order was aimed to link many dispersed sources considering that it is relevant to identify and develop seniors' social capital resources, as well as leveling the delay of Polish sociology research on the elderly. Fundamental theoretical perspective of publication is the concept of capital according to P. Bourdieu. However, the proposals of J.S. Coleman, R.D. Putnam, F. Fukuyama, A. Giddens, P. Sztompka and A. Sadowski were also used. The second chapter contains a methodological framework for the purposes of study. Research assumptions, method and course of implementation of studies were discussed. The study is based on the qualitative method and the application of in-depth interview techniques. It was considered that the personal contact with old people will be more accurate than other research techniques to identify the context in which they social capital resources can be found. It is important because the transfer of developed abroad activating solutions and interpretations of old people actions may be ineffective or have negative external effects in the Polish context. Moreover, in the Polish science literature attention is paid to scarcity of gerontological research in accordance with the interpretive paradigm. Study involved 26 respondents aged 60 to 89 years living in Bialystok associated with one of two different institutions: nursing home for the elderly and University of the Third Age. By comparing the persons on two extremes of social activity it was possible to see similarities and differences in their capital equipment, and also in achievements of the life positions in the class structure and resources aimed at successful ageing. The third chapter presents the empirical analysis of the research results. This part outlines the way in which old people think about their ancestors and contemporary people. It also shows factors according to changes in their social position in the city, social issues which they consider most important for old people, their opinions about leisure time, opportunities and barriers of economic activity and types of old people social capital depending on the institution with which they are associated. Approach to the perception and use of internal disparities of seniors were also discussed. The analysis additionally contains the evaluation of senior citizens image in the polish mass media. This publication does not contain a strict ending. It only identifies the main conclusions of the research and potential directions of future analysis. Above all, older people could improve their position not by demanding increases in social benefits from which major parts are often taken away by their family members, but by highlighting their human, social and cultural capital. It is necessary to create favorable conditions for social and professional life of old people and their cooperation with members of local communities. Important role in this regard is played by institutions implementing three tasks: stimulating senior citizens' desire to satisfy previously unrealized needs; creating relationships between them so that they can solve their own problems and work for the others; and providing legal, social and vocational guidance. Stimulating cooperation between existing public, commercial and non-governmental sector organizations may serve to achieve these goals. The dissemination of bottom-up techniques of social capital building and checklist of essential features of Age-friendly Cities may also be important. -/- . (shrink)