Cryptocurrency according to the principles of usul al-fiqh: a critical analysis by Mohd Daud Bakar

There are various views concerning the cryptocurrency issue. The majority of scholars and world Islamic bodies, such as Dar al-Iftā ‘al-Miṣriyyah (Egypt), Dar al-Iftā’ al-Falasteeniyya (Palestine) and the Turkish Directorate of Religious Affairs, do not permit cryptocurrency for various reasons, including the existence of uncertainty (gharar), risk (khatar) and the fact that it facilitates (wasilah) the crime of fraud and money laundering. However, some Islamic financial and religious scholars do permit it. One scholar who views cryptocurrency positively and believes that it should be permitted is Mohd Daud Bakar, who is the Chairperson of the Shariah Advisory Council of Securities Commission Malaysia (SC) and former Chairperson of the Shariah Advisory Council for Bank Negara Malaysia (BNM). He is also former President of the International Islamic University (IIUM) and the chairperson or international Shariah advisor at various financial institutions around the world, including the S&P Islamic Index and Dow Jones Islamic Market Index (New York). His extensive experience of more than 25 years in this dynamic field has made him a leading and important reference expert. In 2015, in a report released by the Global Islamic Finance Report (GIFR), he ranked sixth among the world’s 10 Islamic finance experts. This success has made him an expert, not only in the field of Usul al-Fiqh which is the core knowledge base of Islam, but also beyond the field of Islamic finance and law. This paper analyses the validity of Mohd Daud Bakar’s views on cryptocurrencies within the scope of Usul al-Fiqh according to the ‘illah, ‘urf, sad zarai’ and fatḥ zarāi’ methods. This qualitative study had obtained data from Facebook Live video recordings, reports and articles, which were then analysed using the descriptive content analysis method. It can be concluded from an ‘illah (legal operative cause) aspect that there is no acceptable ‘illah for banning this currency. From the point of view of al-’urf, cryptocurrencies are acceptable and do not contradict the principles of Shariah. Whereas from the point of view of sad zarāi’, this study found no solid evidence that it could lead to deleterious circumstances other than mere conjecture and assumption, hence, the introduction of cryptocurrencies should be permitted or made accessible. He also suggested the use of the fath zarāi’ method, which is better suited for creating opportunities for innovation and creativity of financial products based on financial technology (fintech). Finally, he mentioned about the permissibility of cryptocurrency as a medium of exchange even if it does not become the legal currency of a country

Performance analysis of Ultra-wideband RF switch using discrete PIN diode in SC-79 package for medical application of microwave imaging

Microwave imaging is an emerging technology in the medical application which have similar functions as X-ray, Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI), and Computed Tomography scan (CT scan). In designing a microwave imaging system for medical application, it can use a monostatic radar approach by transmitting a Gaussian pulse (with an ultra-wideband (UWB) frequency). In this system, eight antennas are required with the support of RF switches. Thus, it is important to get the best performance of UWB RF switch in this application. Therefore, this paper presents the performance analysis of four different RF switch topologies (Design 1, 2, 3 and 4) using discrete PIN diode in SC-79 package. The design was based on single pole double throw (SPDT) switch. As result, Design 2 is the best topology after considering the tradeoff between isolation and return loss performances. Based on the three cascaded SPDT switches of Design 2, the insertion loss was less than -2 dB and return loss was more than -10 dB. Meanwhile, the isolation bandwidth (at the minimum isolation of -20 dB) was from 0.5 to 3.7 GHz (with 3.2 GHz bandwidth), hence, it could be used in the UWB frequency for medical application of microwave imaging

Mohd Daud Bakar : tokoh keusahawanan syariah

Kajian ini berkaitan Mohd Daud Bakar yang menduduki tempat keenam dalam kalangan 10 orang cendekiawan kewangan Islam dunia menurut Global Islamic Finance Report 2015. Beliau juga merupakan penerima Anugerah Diraja Kewangan Islam bagi tahun 2022. Kajian ini dilakukan bagi menelusuri latar kehidupan tokoh kewangan Islam dan penasihatan syariah terkemuka. Beliau pernah dikritik kerana memberikan pandangan yang bertentangan dengan pendirian penasihat syariah lain di peringkat nasional mahupun antarabangsa terutamanya Timur Tengah berkaitan mata wang kripto. Tokoh ini bukan sahaja pakar dalam bidang Usul Fiqh tetapi memindahkan kepakaran itu dalam bidang keusahawanan yang baharu iaitu keusahawanan syariah yang merupakan satu inovasi dalam keusahawanan Islam. Metodologi kajian ini adalah kualitatif dengan pengumpulan data menggunakan temu bual dan analisis kandungan. Data dianalisis secara naratif. Dapatan kajian menunjukkan bahawa Mohd Daud Bakar adalah seorang tokoh dalam kalangan cendekiawan syariah yang telah mentransformasikan bidang penasihatan syariah dalam kewangan Islam daripada hanya kerjaya separuh masa kepada satu bentuk keusahawanan Islam iaitu Keusahawanan Syariah

Design Of Compact Ultra Wideband Antenna For Microwave Medical Imaging Application

A compact ultra wideband (UWB) antenna for operation at 6 GHz intended for microwave medical imaging (MMI) application is proposed. The microstrip patch antenna (MPA) was design in hexagon shape which is contain H-slot at the centre top of the patch and a slot at the ground. Those slots method is utilised to enhance the operating bandwidth as well as minimising the antenna’s impedance mismatch caused by its proximity to material. Results shows that, the implementation of slot on the patch has profoundly enhance the bandwidth (BW) of the antenna to 503.54 MHz. Measurement of fabricated antenna produce significant result in term of producing wide bandwidth of 520 MHz, with slightly shifting on operating frequency. Therefore, it has been proved that the required performance of UWB antenna has been achieved successfully. © 2019 Institute of Advanced Engineering and Science. All rights reserved

Conceptualizing Muslim Consumer Ethical Behaviour and its Antecedents

Businesses are gradually realizing the importance of corporate social responsibility in securing greater returns in their operations. This approach is intended to create good image for the company subsequently to attract consumers to purchase products or services from that company. The issue now is whether the consumers are ethical or not in their decision to purchase products or services from the company. Ethical consumers will think twice before making their decision to purchase. Within the western world, pertinent issues like human rights, environmental concern, sustainability, intellectual property rights and others are recognized as the major concern for the consumers before making purchase decision. In other parts of the world especially in developing countries, Muslim community is a steadily growing consumer group that should not be rightfully ignored. Studies in the areas of Muslim consumer ethics and purchasing behaviour have still remained relatively unexplored, thus, calling for this research to lessen the gap. The objective of this study is to conceptualize, develop and validate a Muslim consumer ethical model. The expected result of the study is the development of the Muslim consumer ethical model that can be used to identify the determinants of this behaviour. The results will provide deep insights on the right strategies that could be devised by companies based on the model

PROPAGATION CHARACTERIZATION OF IMPLANTABLE ANTENNA AT UWB FREQUENCY – A REVIEW

A technology of wireless body area network (WBAN) was invented in order to enhance the quality of healthcare management as well as to determine faster disease prevention. However, to obtain the real-time data of images and videos from inside the human body, an implantable device is required. Currently, the Medical Implant Communication System (MICS) is used, but, this system has limited data rate which is a narrow-band of 402 – 405 MHz. Thus, this study on Ultra Wideband (UWB) for implanted device is conducted as UWB offers a wide transmission bandwidth as well as high data rate. Knowledge of radio wave propagation behaviour inside human body is needed to perform the implantation. Past researches related to this topic are limited and those conducted focused only on the human torso. This paper aims to provide a better understanding on the characteristics of radio wave propagation inside the human body by using an implantable device at UWB frequency. It is also hoped that this study could be used as reference for future research on this subject

A systematic review on peripheral blood-derived mesenchymal stem cells as a therapy for cartilage repair

Comprehensive analysis showed that the popularity of research peripheral blood-derived mesenchymal stem cells for knee cartilage repair is still lacking, as they peripherally exist at a very low level. Despite its small cell number, peripheral blood is yet one of the most convenient sources of mesenchymal stem cells due to its less invasive method to harvest. This study aimed to systematically review the current evidence of peripheral blood-derived mesenchymal stem cells towards the repair of articular cartilage defect. A comprehensive literature search was performed to identify all in vivo studies reporting the structural outcome of articular cartilage repair in the knee following electronic databases: PubMed, WOS and SCOPUS. The in vitro characterizations of peripheral blood-derived mesenchymal stem cells were evaluated to enable quality assessment. Literature from 1934 to 2019 showed 4822 of total articles with only three findings related to pre-clinical studies were included in the analysis. The selection of animal model, type of transplantation, mobilization of the peripheral blood, in vitro culture condition, type of scaffold, assessments on the cartilage defect, and the outcome measures were heterogeneous. Evidence showed that mobilized peripheral blood-derived mesenchymal stem cells were more superior in repairing articular cartilage compared to those that were non-mobilized. These cells also showed a comparable capability in repairing articular cartilage than the commonly used bone marrow mesenchymal stem cells. Overall, more progress is needed to expand the usage of peripheral blood-derived mesenchymal stem cells from basic biological science to the translational studies in clinical practice

Compact Ultra-Wideband Antenna Using Coplanar Stripline (CPS)-Fed

Today’s wireless communication systems should be capable to fulfill various insatiable demands for higher data rate and resolutions requirement. In order to satisfy those requirements in UWB system, a lot of antennas that can provide wide bandwidth have been proposed. In this paper, a coplanar stripline (CPS)-fed antenna for ultra-wideband (UWB) application was proposed. This antenna was designed using FR4 board with dielectric constant, r = 4.4, tangent loss, tan = 0.02 and substrate’s thickness, h = 1.6mm. The simulation was done using Computer Technology (CST) software. The simulation result shows that the modified coplanar stripline (CPS)-fed antenna significantly improved the fractional bandwidth by 200 % at frequency range 3.386 GHz -12.943 GHz. The optimal results of this coplanar ultra-wideband antenna were 5.100 GHz, 9.836 GHz and 12.155 GHz with a gain of 2.598 dB, 4.452 dB and 5.383 dB and the return loss of – 46.845 dB, - 23.428 dB and – 13.595 dB

Development Of Aquaponic System Using Solar Powered Control Pump

This paper describes the development of an aquaponic system using solar panel to control the water pump and air pump based on Peripheral Interface Controller (PIC) technology. Solar power is ideally can be used in Malaysia due to location factor and also give the benefit to the environment as renewable energy. It involves a combination of electrical, electronics and agriculture into one sustainable system which consists of a solar panel, inverter, water pump and air pump. The solar panel is the most cleanest ways to produce electricity. With the average output voltage is 12V while the maximum output voltage produce by the solar panel is 18 V. The voltage depends on light capture by solar panel. Weather can minimize the light capture by solar panel thus affect the overall performance. This project requires a substitution power grid with green energy from solar panel which an inverter is used to convert Direct Current (DC) to Alternate Current (AC) and to step up 12V to 110V or 240V. A microcontroller is used to control the operation of an aquaponic system for switching water pump, air pump, battery charge and discharge state. Based on observation, the output power from inverter has produced 65.55% efficiency and the average output voltage of the solar panel is 16.16 V

Potential of data minimization techniques approach in improving DNA sequences alignment and comparison / Syed Abdul Mutalib Al Junid … [et al.]

Nowadays, the demand for advanced and high performance computational method for comparing and searching biological sequences have increased according to exponential growth rate of biological sequences database. Besides this demand, the requirement for high performance and sensitive comparison and alignment tools have also increased after the advantage of the system for defining the solution relates to Deoxyribonucleic Acid (DNA), human genomes and molecular biology figured out through bioinformatics study. Thereby, this research is an attempt to study and investigate the potential of data minimization technique approach in improving the process of aligning and comparing DNA sequences for determine the region of similarity between two or more DNA sequences. Specifically, the research objectives are i) to study various DNA sequences alignment algorithms characteristics, architectures and techniques such as scoring functions, optimal alignment and gap; and ii) to investigate the potential of data minimization approach in minimizing the size of data towards discovering the region of similarity in DNA sequences alignment and comparison and iii) to analyze the optimal sequences alignment properties for molecular biology and bioinformatics application. This study will initially involve algorithm modification, mathematical formulation, logic design and simulation for data minimization and existing DNA sequences alignment algorithm. At the end of the study, it is expecting that we will discover the potential of data minimization technique in minimizing the size of data towards aligning DNA sequences using basic dynamic programming concept