“Islamic State” and the Great Powers’ Game in Syria

Since 2014,the organization of the“Islamic State”(IS)has expanded in the Middle East and even around the world.Its goal is not only to establish a Caliphate regime in Iraq and Syria,but also to challenge the current international system and international institutions.Moreover,IS launched competition with Al Qaeda,and the international community has condemned its terrorist atrocities.The rise of IS has both historical origins and realistic reasons.The neglect of the Islamic world,the chaos in Iraq and Syria,and the great powers game has boosted the rise of IS.The European countries suffering from terrorist attacks started to play a role in influencing US policies.The collapse of IS has prompted Russia and the United States to work together to promote reconciliation of the two factions in Syria,to reach agreement on starting the peace process in Syria,and the“tripartite confrontation”between the Syrian authorities,the opposition and IS began to fade away.China adheres to the principle of an impartial foreign policy.At present,the decline of IS in Syria provides an opportunity for Beijing to improve its strategic environment of the“Belt and Road”Initiative and to facilitate multilateral cooperation between China and the world as well as with regional powers.

“Islamic State”and the Transformation of Islamic Discourse in the Middle East

The purpose of this paper is to highlight the origin and evolution of the“Islamic State”(IS)with special focus on the root causes that helped construct its Islamic narrative,such as the idea of the Islamic caliphate.It argues that IS has not concealed all other jihadist groups,and it is just a new face of the same idea associated with political Islam:Salafi-Jihadism.This paper also tries to analyze the changing face of global jihadism through a comparative approach of Al-Qaeda and IS.It has been shown that while both groups have common ideological beliefs,they are in many ways different.By studying and analyzing the Islamic discourse of many Jihadist groups in the Middle East,the paper has showed a case of acute obscurantism which is reflected on the statements and behavior of these groups.However,they are open to communicate between their organizations.For the counter extremism initiatives,the threat of IS and its affiliated groups is not decreasing,but it is changing.What is needed in the region in order to fight this monster is a moment of reflection and reckoning by all Muslims.It requires a revolution in the dominant religious discourse.

A Preliminary Study on the“Islamic State”Thought in Modern Islamism

As a significant idea in the ideology of modern Islamism,the terminology of“Islamic State”has strict political meanings beyond its cultural meanings.The formation and development of the“Islamic State”thought are closely linked to the reality of the environment and situation changes in the Muslim world,which gives it the characteristics of stability and change.As an important political role in the Middle East,modern Islamist forces‟ambition and efforts to establish an“Islamic State”has a major effect on regional and even global situations over a long period of time.Thus,understanding the“Islamic State”thought and its theoretical and realistic dilemmas will be an indispensable step to understand conditions in the Middle East.

The Islamic Studies in China:Research in the Field of History

A history of the Islamic studies in China,not only includes studies on world Islam,it also includes research on Islam and Muslims in China.Before the Reform and Opening Up,China did not achieve much in this field,since then,the research field of Islam and Muslim in China has been expanding and the results have been published,forming a new trend.In this field,scholars such as Jin Yijiu,Li Xinghua,Qin Huibin,Zhou Guoli,Sha Qiuzhen,Zhou Xiefan,Wu Yungui,and Yang Huaizhong have made the most outstanding achievements.Especially in the collation of reference books and historical materials,in the past 20 years,The Encyclopedia of the history of Islam,The Chinese Encyclopedia of Islam have emerged,and the Chinese and World Encyclopedia of Islamic Law and other important historical books have been published.This paper focuses on the field of historical research and divided into academic research history at home and abroad,which is discussed from several fields such as general history,special history,national history,and regional history.

The Islamic Religion in Course Curriculums of High School History Textbooks in the Republic of Macedonia

History textbooks can and primarily should contribute to the strengthening of students’awareness of universal human values.However,history textbooks can also deepen the divisions,prejudices,and uncritical attitudes,contrary to the goals of education.The youth population,which is still building and creating their point of view towards the world is the main group in the education process.The learning period,in the elementary,as well as in the secondary education is of utmost importance for the development of every human.To that end,history,through the contents of the past largely shapes our perceptions of every individual,ourselves,and the others.Since we are living in a multiethnic and multi-confessional society,I have decided to conduct an analysis of the teaching contents of high school textbooks related to religion.Another reason for the analysis is the role of religion in the formation of Balkan nations,which have made it one of the key elements of their national identities.It is often given the role of raising and strengthening the national awareness,patriotism,as well as the country homogeneity,which most often leads to forming prejudices,divisions,and discrimination towards people of minority religions.The large volume of content related to the religion,and also the mere fact that Muslims are the second largest religion group in the population,I have decided to analyze the contents which are related only to the Islamic religion.The goal is to look for both the positive and negative sides of those contents in history textbooks in secondary schools,which are backed by state institutions that are supposed to take care of the development of competitive,creative,progressive,and ethically formed human potential.The critical review will give an additional impulse to the efforts of eliminating those parts of the teaching contents that create divisions and prejudices,especially in history textbooks,so that its studying can become the key factor in the building of trust between people of different religions.

Factors Influencing Information Disclosure by Malaysian State Islamic Religious Councils: Evidence from Interviews

This paper aims to identify factors that influence the expectations of a wide range of stakeholders on the information disclosure in the Malaysian State Islamic Religious Councils(SIRC)annual reports,employing semi-structured interviews.The majority of interviewees perceived accounting standards as the main factor contributing to their expectations and further influenced the reporting practices among accountants in SIRC.Others are state fatwa(Islamic rulings),audit expectations,and individual perceptions.The result of the interviews revealed that on the top of accounting standards and government guidelines on the reporting for all government agencies,SIRC should take into account their greater accountability,which should be reflected in their reporting practices.Therefore,Islamic accountability through fatwa,audit expectations,and public demands could be considered.Such awareness is important in SIRC,to differentiate them from other government agencies.The existence of governance is similar to the board of members in a company,in SIRC through the fatwa committee.Therefore,this study suggests that the extent and quality of disclosure depends on the demand from the regulators,auditors,and funders.The findings suggest that SIRC should have an incentive to provide more information to satisfy various stakeholders’needs.Future studies can be carried out to suggest a set of disclosure items that should be disclosed in the SIRC annual reports in order to increase the level of disclosure,discharging their accountability.

Commentary on“Islamic State”Thoughts of Islamism

In the theories of modern Islamism,the terminology of“Islamic state”has special political meanings that include:objecting to modern nation state based on national sovereignty,reestablishing the Islamic state which carries out Islamic law and Allah’s sovereignty.This article probes the theories of modern Islamism thorough analyzing the thoughts of Islamism theorists,such as Muhammad Rashid Rida,Maududi,Hassan al-Banna,Sayyid Qutb,Khomeini,and Husan al-Turabi.The common characteristics of their theories on the“Islamic state”include:they objected to national identity and advocated religious identity;they refused the secular national sovereignty and advocated Allah’s sovereignty;they opposed the separation of politics and religion and claimed to establish the Islamic state;they rejected tyranny and despotism and advocated Islamic democracy based on the principle of“consultation”.

Reasons and Aims Behind the Islamic State Destruction of Ancient Mesopotamian Cultural Heritage Sites

This paper deals with the problem of devastation of cultural heritage by the Islamic State.The great emphasis is put on distinguishing reasons and aims of such behaviours and devastation performed on the ancient Mesopotamian artefacts,monuments,and artistic relics of the past civilization.The focus was put on Akkadian,Assyrian,and Sumerian heirloom due to its immense impact on the consecutive cultures of the region,neighbouring lands,and several distant societies.Problem of destruction is presented alongside with the short history of the Islamic State group emergence and its characteristics.Furthermore,this paper recalls the UNESCO definition of the term“cultural heritage”.

Neuroscientific Evidence in the Strategic Exploit of the Disabled as a Fighter in the Islamic State

In this paper we aim to address,through an innovative neuroscientific view,a significant recruitment strategy implemented by ISIS targeting individuals with disabilities.The use of strategies that reinforce empathy and the encouragement of the belief that one is capable of achieving a given goal,are strategically effective messages in terms of recruitment.Self-efficacy,which is the set of beliefs the individual holds about his or her own abilities,is another tool used to effectively recruit someone with a disability.The use of media messages also reinforces the“know how”and the feeling of“being”,that is,recognizing oneself in rewarding values.In analyzing the Entertainment-Education method,we identified some elements of persuasive storytelling that even in people with disabilities has led to success in terms of recruitment.An innovative multidisciplinary contrast activity with the contribution of neuroscience may therefore be effective in identifying behaviors and recruitment strategies that are effective with people with disabilities.

Islamic Finance in Theory and Practice

Perspectives of the early scholars of Islamic management of an account concurred that the arrangement of organization partnership in general and Murabah （benefit sharing） specifically is the fundamental technique on which Islamic banks must depend on contributing their money to related assets. Also, the research has found that financing under the Islamic management of an account has decreased intensely from the methodology created by the early scholars. In reality, these banks have received obligation based on financing techniques and underestimated the routines for financing taking into account benefit and loss sharing. This adjustment in financing technique has perversely influenced the bad name and the desire tied with the monetary part of these banks. The study focused on the reason behind the gap between theory and practice in Islamic finance. So, the study was divided in two parts： the first theoretical part of Islamic economy and Islamic banking system, the second practical part by analysing and evaluating the relative distribution of Islamic financing methods in four famous Islamic banks. The study selected a group of Asian Islamic banks as a model for analysis and evaluation through the period from 2012 to 2014. The study concluded that the gaps result from the misuse of the roles and norms of Maqasid Al-Shariah along with the diversion in the relatively allocation of the financing methods toward debt instruments rather than equity instnunents.

School health promotion:A cross-sectional study on Clean and Healthy Living Program Behavior(CHLB)among Islamic Boarding Schools in Indonesia

Objective:This study aims to identify the knowledge,attitude,and behavior of students using eight indicators of Clean and Healthy Living Behavior(CHLB)in relation to the health education and grade levels in Islamic Boarding Schools(IBS)in Jember regency,East Java Province,Indonesia.Methods:A cross-sectional school-based survey design was used.About 114 students(mean age of 13.17 years old)selected through a multi-stage random sampling completed a selfadministered questionnaire to measure the eight indicators of CHLB,such as washing hands with running water and soap,eating healthy snacks,using clean and healthy latrines,exercising regularly and measurably,eradicating mosquito larvae,not smoking at school,weighing and height measurement every 6 months,and disposing garbage properly.The data analyses included descriptive and comparative analyses of the difference in knowledge,attitude,and behavior toward CHLB by health education and grade level.Results:About 66.7% students received health education.Significant knowledge in CHLB in relation to health education and grade was observed(P<.05),including in-depth knowledge of exercises,measurable weight and height,smoking,and healthy latrines.Meanwhile,no significant difference was observed between the attitude toward CHLB and health education in different grade levels.Furthermore,CHLB was associated with health education,including habitual exercise and using of clean and healthy latrines.

Islamic Banks Impaired Financing： Relationship Between Shariah Committee Meetings Frequency and Shariah Risks Compliance on Assets Quality

This study made a pioneering attempt to econometrically examine what factors determining impaired financing using shariah committee meetings frequency from data on Islamic banks in Malaysia and how does it affects on the quality of assets. The objective of the study is to improve assessment of their assets quality so as to increase the reliability of the financial statements. The European Central Bank may find the findings from this study useful in their exercise to assess risks and assets quality of their commercial banks, a move to tackle the ailing banks in centralizing oversight supervision in late 2014. The major components of the Islamic banks＇ assets quality are impaired financing and provisions for financing impairment. In the Islamic banks, shariah committee principally manages the shariah risks non-compliance with other risks; however because their management is not straightforward, the study uses the shariah committee meetings frequency as an indicator of the assets quality. The study found the less-than-full frequency of shariah committee meetings resulted in less guidance and conformation of shariah principles, and consequentially the quality of the assets.

Influence of Social Life on Islamic City＇s Planning and Arabic House＇s Design

The originating point of this study on the social life of the Arab world and its influence on architecture and city planning lays in the simple observation of true facts of daily life which are characteristic to the Arabic Society. So the author analyses

The Evolution of Botanical and Herbal Medicine in Islamic Civilization

Botanical science and medicinal plants are shaped by the translation movement in Islamic civilization and in the fifth century (AH), through the development of specialized media and the commencement of scientific and research trips, its foundations are strengthened. In the sixth and seventh centuries (AH), the development of the first botanical encyclopedias, the introduction of objective observations and practical experiences on theoretical issues, the prosperity of this science was provided by writing comprehensive books on medicinal plants and in the eighth century (AH). Like other intellectual and transcendental sciences, the loss of the past lost due to the decline of the writings and led to a recession. The Muslims played a role in preserving and building the body of knowledge of the Greek, Roman times. In fact, they gained this science from the distant paths. In the history of medicine, Islamic medicine is the science of medicine developed in the Islamic Golden Age, and written in Arabic, the lingua franca of Islamic civilization. In this article, we try to investigate the effect of Islamic scholars on the dynamics of medicinal herbs and the continuation of Muslim researches and innovations in the field of botany and medicinal herbs.

Student capacity building of dengue prevention and control: A study of an Islamic school, Southern Thailand

Dengue has been a critical problem for an Islamic School, Nakhon Si Thammarat province, Southern Thailand. Objectives: 1) to build student capacity;and 2) to evaluate the results of student capacity building. Method: Participatory Action Research: PAR was applied in three phases: 1) the school-based preparation phase;2) the process of building student capacity phase, and 3) evaluation of the results of the student capacity building. Independent T-Test statistical method was used to analyze student capacity both before and after the intervention. Larval Indices were determined through ratio analysis. Results: Prior to the intervention, there was no clear strategy for combating dengue. In this study, three groups were formed to build student capacity: a leader group, a non-leader group, and a support group. The leader group (48 student leaders), critical to the study, was set as a dengue club named “Eliminate Ades Aegypti, the culprit of dengue” which focused on eight sets of activities: “Dengue or Death”, “Seniors educating juniors”, “Reward for good answers”, “Dengue monitoring team”, “Youth to expel mosquetoes”, “Mosquito or busy”, “Garbage elimination of Pondok”, and “Essential doctors”. The level of student capacity for the prevention and control of dengue of a sampling of 308 student representatives of the Pondok (Islamic school) showed an increase after intervention ( (SD);56.78 (17.06);65.33(15.36) and different statistic significant (P < 0.001). The Larval indices ratio levels had decreased from the original levels (BI = 244, HI = 45, and CI = 26) after intervention (BI = 137, HI = 39, and CI = 19). Dengue morbidity and mortality rates were not found during the study. Discussion: Although there had been an increase in student capacity, a decrease in the larval indices ratio, and the absence of a dengue epidemiology index, the high risk of a dengue epidemic might still be found in the school because the ratio of larval indices were higher than the standard index. Then, the committed participation of students, school, and communities around the school vicinity is needed in building student capacity of dengue prevention and control.

“Kutadgu Bilig”, Philosophical-Legal Political Treatise (Book of Government) of the History of Turkish-Islamic Culture of the 11th Century

Kutadgu Bilig(Gracious Knowledge),a common cultural monument of modern Turkic peoples,is a valuable historical,theoretical,and methodological source that reveals the artistic and political thinking of the 11th century,shapes the life and spiritual culture of society,and explains the prospects for governing the state.In this work,which is a philosophical and legal political treatise(Book of Government)of the history of Turkish-Islamic culture of the 11th century,the general terms of the government strategy,which forms the basis of public administration,are widely interpreted from different aspects.Kutadgu Bilig,which reveals the unique artistic treasures of the Turkish language and Turkish artistic and political thinking,shows that the proper regulation of relations between the people and the government is the most important factor in public administration.Kutadgu Bilig,a philosophical and legal political treatise of the Turkish-Islamic cultural history of the 11th century,which contains very important theoretical and practical knowledge in the field of state building and administration,has not lost its actuality since it reflects the theoretical and methodological principles of public administration.

Confrontation Between America and the Islamic Republic of Iran

For decades,Iran was a strategic ally of the United States and had been playing a significant role in US strategy in the Middle East region.Yet,the relations between Washington and Tehran have been facing a difficult situation since 1979.For about 40 years,many events have taken place,which are basically rooted in their ideology,strategy,and interests,and have damaged the interaction between the two countries.The new tensions between the two nations have started since May 2019 which have raised many questions and discussions.This paper aims to address whether the tensions between the two countries led to a war.The paper argues that the tensions between America and the Islamic Republic of Iran might be increased but a war would never happen and a peace would never occur,too.In other words,the escalation conflict between Washington and Tehran will not lead the two countries toward a war.

Fight Against Poverty From the Islamic Point of View： The Wealth Distribution and Share

Today, poverty is one of the most important problems in the world. This is not only the problem of poor people living in specific regions but also the problem of all people in general. Poverty is expected to decrease as the welfare level increases. The World Bank predicts that extreme poverty will disappear until 2030 but mentions significant hesitations in achieving this objective. Even though extreme poverty will have actually disappeared in 2030, the deep gap between the richest 20% and the poorest 20% will continue to maintain its presence. There are many reasons for poverty arising from individuals such as illiteracy, inexperience, and laziness. However, there are many reasons for poverty beyond the individual such as the management of the capital by a small group of people. While the capital continuously increases under the control of a narrow group, poor community deprived of increasing welfare benefits from it slightly and too late. In this case, the solutions that individuals striving to live below the poverty line can find on their own in order to keep alive remain quite limited. Islam has a shorter term solution for welfare share： Transferring a small amount of high-income group’s wealth to the low-income group. Through this worship called zakat, it is aimed to rid poor people of desperation. It is not theoretically impossible todevelop a method to reduce income inequality by taking the worship of zakat as a model.

Islamic Financing of the Small Projects Palestinian Case

This study aims to expose the available finance by both traditional and Islamic banks in Palestine, determine and identify the most used Islamic tools of finance for the Palestinian economy through small enterprises, in addition, the study aims to assess if there is any contribution of the Islamic banks to the Palestinian economy. In order to reach these goals the researcher used the descriptive analysis method in order to illustrate credit facilities through the Palestinian Banking system, then, enclosing the Islamic banks in Palestine and its credit facilities and used tools. The study identified through the recent experiences of Palestinian Islamic financing and Islamic financing mechanisms practiced in Palestinian Islamic banks, murabaha, ijarah, Musharaka, and mudaraba occupied the same important level as in the neighboring countries. The study found that frequent constraints, Israeli hindrances, and heavy restrictions on goods movement, services and people through internal and international crossings increase the suffering of the small projects, as well as other productive economic sectors at all levels, administrative, financial, and technical, with no Palestinian strategy to enhance the contributing share of small projects to the Palestinian national economy. In addition, the study concluded that the inability of traditional banks to provide the required finance to the Palestinian productive sectors led to Islamic banks entering into the financing market in Palestine to open new funding sources for Palestinian small projects, so the small projects could raise their contribution to GDP. The new Palestinian Islamic financing experience is unable to create financing mechanisms suitable to the Palestinian situation, which has sign for Islamic banks to deal with cases similar to the traditional finance, this comes in the absence of a strategy by Islamic banking or monetary authority or the Palestinian government to activate the role of Islamic banks in financing small projects. For these problems, there must be a strategy to support the activities of these projects and provide appropriate funding for small projects to transcend all these constraints, to support small-sized enterprises in Palestine financially and technically. In this study, the researchers expose the available funding and financing by both Islamic and traditional banks. The study recommends that a comprehensive strategy needs to bring together all financing bodies to have joined efforts towards the formulation of a funding strategy for small projects. Both conventional and Islamic banks are required to provide various types of supports specifically financing for small projects, to enable small projects to play their role in enhancing the national economy. The study also urged the need of Islamic banking to broaden the base of Islamic banking to create a financing base appropriate with the nature of the projects.

Systemic Risk of Conventional and Islamic Banks: Comparison with Graphical Network Models

The main aim of this paper is to compare the stability, in terms of systemic risk, of conventional and Islamic banking systems. To this aim, we propose correlation network models for stock market returns based on graphical Gaussian distributions, which allows us to capture the contagion effects that move along countries. We also consider Bayesian graphical models, to account for model uncertainty in the measurement of financial systems interconnectedness. Our proposed model is applied to the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region banking sector, characterized by the presence of both conventional and Islamic banks, for the period from 2007 to the beginning of 2014. Our empirical findings show that there are differences in the systemic risk and stability of the two banking systems during crisis times. In addition, the differences are subject to country specific effects that are amplified during crisis period.