An application of distributional semantics for the analysis of the Holy Quran

In this contribution we illustrate the methodology and the results of an experiment we conducted by applying Distributional Semantics Models to the analysis of the Holy Quran. Our aim was to gather information on the potential differences in meanings that the same words might take on when used in Modern Standard Arabic w.r.t. their usage in the Quran. To do so we used the Penn Arabic Treebank as a contrastive corpu

An Imaginary Trio: King Solomon, Jesus, and Aristotle

This book focuses on places and instances where Solomon’s legendary biography intersects with those of Jesus Christ and of Aristotle. Solomon is the axis around which this trio revolves, the thread that binds it together. It is based on the premise that there exists a correspondence, both overt and implied, between these three biographies, that has taken shape within a vast, multifaceted field of texts for more than two thousand years

Ta’awun (mutual cooperation) among community members in sustaining Infaq (perpetual charitable contribution) for community agriculture projects

Any dedicated community project requires ta’awun (mutual cooperation) and infaq (perpetual charitable contribution) to sustain the projects. Ta’awun (mutual cooperation) and infaq are spiritual driven with strong conviction, commitment, and passion from the community members. There must be a strong motivation to drive people to get into ta’awun (mutual cooperation) and to make infaq who love to achieve share common objectives and outcomes work together. When the community have decided to work on community agriculture projects for the sake of food security, ta’awun (mutual cooperation) and infaq are necessary to operate community agriculture projects on a sustainable basis. This research obtained the views of the five groups within Mukim Setapak Daerah Gombak community who have been involving in community agriculture projects through conversational interview with note-taking about the influence of ta’awun (mutual cooperation) in giving infaq for community agriculture projects. The research uses qualitative conversational interviews. The research applies thematic analysis for the analysis of the interview results. The informants argued that the motivation for the common and share objectives has driven them for ta’awun (mutual cooperation) and infaq creating, maintaining and sustaining the community agriculture projects. The participants gave full commitment in terms of efforts and funding for the community agriculture projects. Ta’awun has magical influence to get infaq and efforts. Future researchers may want to adopt a qualitative case study method involving several communities with vegetable garden projects to deeply explore the influence of cooperation for the infaq

‘Was her worth only in her womb?’ a feminist reading of revelation 12:1-6 in the context of women’s bodies as reproductive capital

Magister Theologiae - MThA heteronormative reading of certain biblical texts pertaining to procreation perpetuates the notion that femininity is closely related to reproduction. It was common practice for the patriarchal biblical tradition to mention women only in their capacity as “wife” or “mother” – her primary value residing in her ability to reproduce (preferably male) offspring. Christian women and their bodily hexis are, therefore, inscribed by patriarchal culture through heteronormative readings of biblical texts such as Revelation 12:1-6. This thesis offers a feminist Sociorhetorical Interpretation (SRI)1 of the text and utilizes the hermeneutical key of “body” as a crucial thinking technology. The thesis asserts that a feminist SRI of this text offers possibilities for alternative readings that go beyond limited views of women’s bodies as merely reproductive capita

Effects of the consumption of halal products on Muslim piety and transcendental wellbeing

While there has been substantial research done on the topic of halal consumption behavior from an economic perspective, there is no research available from a sociological perspective that studies the halal consumption behavior of Muslims who may perhaps conspicuously indulge in halal certified products. This thesis argues that consumers may need to demonstrate their association with their religion to some extent by their consumption choices. And, a product’s Islamic brand image helps consumers to display their Muslim piety in their groups or communities. As in today’s consumer society a halal logo is representative of an Islamic brand and Muslims may prefer a product with halal logo for its religious connotations or values. In the process of halalaisation,commodities transform to non-commodities as they are thereby linked to the religious domain. Our research seeks to examine the effects of the halalisation phenomenon on the person’s Muslim piety and their transcendental wellbeing by using online surveys and in-depth interviews with Australian Muslims with a mixed method approach. The inter-view data was transcribed into electronic format to combine and compare the responses and, analysed for themes that guided the proposed conceptual model which was underpinned by the renowned sociological theories (theory of conspicuous consumption, the rational choice theory of religion and the self-transcendence theory). The conceptual model hypothesized that consumer’s perceived public image of halal products will positively relate to their Muslim piety. And, the consumer’s Muslim piety will strengthen their preference for halal products which may positively correlate with consumer’s transcendental wellbeing. The quantitative data was prepared using the statistical software SPSS. Further, the data analysis was conducted following the two-step approach to Structural Equation Modelling (SEM). In this approach, the measurement scales of the constructs in the model were first subjected to Confirmatory Factor Analysis (CFA), and then the structure model was assessed to show hypothesized relationships among key constructs by using the statistical software AMOS. The result shows that the pro-posed hypotheses were accepted. That is, consumer’s perceived public image of halal products has a positive influence on the Muslim piety. Besides, the Muslim piety strongly related to their preference for halal products which contributes to consumer’s transcendental wellbeing. Over-all, the empirical evidence suggests that halalised products can be conspicuously consumed and more importantly, contributes towards Muslim piety and transcendental wellbeing. The limitation of the study is that the conceptual model developed to test the relationships between consumer’s perceived public image of halal products and its impact on their Muslim piety and transcendental wellbeing was only tested in a Muslim context with widely accepted scales used to measure all the variables of the model. This limits the findings to Muslims; otherwise the model could be employed to other religions to assess consumer preference for products with religious orientations and consumer’s transcendental wellbeing

An Imaginary Trio

This book focuses on places and instances where Solomon’s legendary biography intersects with those of Jesus Christ and of Aristotle. Solomon is the axis around which this trio revolves, the thread that binds it together. It is based on the premise that there exists a correspondence, both overt and implied, between these three biographies, that has taken shape within a vast, multifaceted field of texts for more than two thousand years

FAITH NEWS IN THE DIGITAL AGE: NEW MUSLIM AND NON-MUSLIM RESIDENTS SEEKING ISLAMIC INFORMATION IN DUBAI, UNITED ARAB EMIRATES

When non-Muslims become immersed in an Islamic way of life—a common occurrence in the UAE, a Muslim country where the overwhelming majority of the resident population is foreign-born—some become interested in learning more about the Islamic faith. This interest is also evident among new converts to Islam from other countries when they reside in the UAE. Little is known about how information about Islam is disseminated to non-Muslims and new Muslims in the UAE, how these expatriates search for the religious information they desire, and the challenges they encounter in their enquiries. This study applies the theory of the diffusion of innovations as a guiding framework to understand the target audience, explore the informational gaps in their knowledge, and propose an innovative media model. Survey responses were collected from 541 adult expatriates residing in the UAE and personal interviews were conducted with 19 expatriate residents and seven staff members of Islamic (Da’wah) centres within Dubai. The survey results indicate that almost half of these residents rely on word-of-mouth as a key source of Islamic information, with new Muslims making greater use of the Da-wah centres than non-Muslims for religious information. The demographic profile of survey participants is discussed and analyzed, especially in relation to media use. The researcher identifies a lack of organization in the methods of dissemination of Islamic information and limited access among foreign-born residents to reliable and accurate information. The dissertation considers a proposal for use of radio with digital media to disseminate information about Islam among specific expatriates in the UAE. Keywords: Islami

2020-2021 Catalog

This catalog lists available courses for the 2020-2021 academic year. The College Catalog is a document of record issued in September 2020. The Catalog contains current information regarding the College calendar, admissions, degree requirements, fees, regulations and course offerings. This catalog contains an important note regarding the on-going COVID-19 Pandemic.https://crossworks.holycross.edu/course_catalog/1124/thumbnail.jp