Development of halal nutrition framework

The preservation of future generation and the protection of consumer welfare, as contained in the “Maqasid Shariah”, is a priority in view of the incremental negative behaviours existing in today’s societies at large. This qualitative research on halal nutrition focused on halal food consumed by the Prophet Muhammad SAW and his eating practices which will affect any individual in the areas of mind, spirit, intellect, physiology and health. Some foods mentioned in the Quran and Hadith were studied to associate the relationship of halal food, human development and health. The research attempted to develop the framework of Halal Nutrition to provide proper nutrition guidelines for quality and better consumption of halal food for the future generation

Market Efficiency, Market Anomalies, Causes, Evidences, and Some Behavioral Aspects of Market Anomalies

Market efficiency hypothesis suggests that markets are rational and their prices fully reflect all available information. Due to the timely actions of investors prices of stocks quickly adjust to the new information, and reflect all the available information. So no investor can beat the market by generating abnormal returns. But it is found in many stock exchanges of the world that these markets are not following the rules of EMH. The functioning of these stock markets deviate from the rules of EMH. These deviations are called anomalies. Anomalies could occur once and disappear, or could occur repeatedly. This literature survey is of its own type that discusses the occurrence of different type of calendar anomalies, technical anomalies and fundamental anomalies with their evidences in different stock markets around the world. The paper also discusses the opinion of different researchers about the possible causes of anomalies, how anomalies should be dealt, and what ere the behavioral aspects of anomalies. This issue is still a grey area for research. Key Words: EMH, CAPM, Calender Anomalies, Technical Anomalies, Fundamental Anomalies

Effect of moringa (Moringa oleifera) leaf powder, neem (Azadirachta indica) leaf powder, and camphor on weevil (Callosobruchus maculatus F.) in stored cowpea (Vigna unguiculata (L.) Walp) seeds

Cowpea (Vigna unguiculata (L.) Walp.), one of the most important leguminous crops, is widely cultivated throughout the tropics, especially in the savanna regions of the world. However, its seed is attacked by several insect pests both in the field and in storage, especially the cowpea weevil. To control weevils, most farmers have adopted the use of chemical insecticides, but these insecticides come with health and environmental problems, and as a result, there is advocacy for the use of bio-pesticides in the form of tree botanicals. This study was conducted to assess the effects of neem leaf powder (NLP), moringa leaf powder (MLP), and camphor against the cowpea weevils (Callosobruchus maculatus) in a completely randomized design. Six treatments were used and allocated as T1 (control), T2 (4g of camphor), T3 (25g of NLP only), T4 (25g of MLP only) T5 (50g of NLP only) and T6 (50g of MLP). The treatments were replicated three times. The parameters studied were the numbers of damaged and undamaged seeds, the numbers of dead and live weevils, and the taste of cowpea seeds. The treatments effectively protected the cowpea seeds during the storage period of eight weeks. The preservation of cowpea seeds given by camphor was significantly different from the other treatments. However, there was no significant difference (p >0.05) between the neem and moringa leaf powders treatments. The use of moringa and neem leaf powders might be adopted by cowpea farmers in sub-Saharan Africa as alternative, cheap, and available sources of biopesticides to use as chemical insecticides. If cowpea seeds are to be stored for consumption purposes, moringa leaf powder should be used since most respondents preferred the taste of cowpea seeds treated with moringa. Additionally, the storage duration of eight weeks was too short for the experiment, so further studies can be carried out for an extended period of more than eight weeks

EFFECT OF MORINGA (MORINGA OLEIFERA) LEAF POWDER, NEEM (AZADIRACHTA INDICA) LEAF POWDER, AND CAMPHOR ON WEEVIL (CALLOSOBRUCHUS MACULATUS F.) IN STORED COWPEA (VIGNA UNGUICULATA (L.) WALP) SEEDS

Cowpea (Vigna unguiculata (L.) Walp.), one of the most important leguminous crops, is widely cultivated throughout the tropics, especially in the savanna regions of the world. However, its seed is attacked by several insect pests both in the field and in storage, especially the cowpea weevil. To control weevils, most farmers have adopted the use of chemical insecticides, but these insecticides come with health and environmental problems, and as a result, there is advocacy for the use of bio-pesticides in the form of tree botanicals. This study was conducted to assess the effects of neem leaf powder (NLP), moringa leaf powder (MLP), and camphor against the cowpea weevils (Callosobruchus maculatus) in a completely randomized design. Six treatments were used and allocated as T1 (control), T2 (4g of camphor), T3 (25g of NLP only), T4 (25g of MLP only) T5 (50g of NLP only) and T6 (50g of MLP). The treatments were replicated three times. The parameters studied were the numbers of damaged and undamaged seeds, the numbers of dead and live weevils, and the taste of cowpea seeds. The treatments effectively protected the cowpea seeds during the storage period of eight weeks. The preservation of cowpea seeds given by camphor was significantly different from the other treatments. However, there was no significant difference (p >0.05) between the neem and moringa leaf powders treatments. The use of moringa and neem leaf powders might be adopted by cowpea farmers in sub-Saharan Africa as alternative, cheap, and available sources of biopesticides to use as chemical insecticides. If cowpea seeds are to be stored for consumption purposes, moringa leaf powder should be used since most respondents preferred the taste of cowpea seeds treated with moringa. Additionally, the storage duration of eight weeks was too short for the experiment, so further studies can be carried out for an extended period of more than eight weeks

Developing the Halal Nutrition Model

Protecting the future population and the people’s welfare, as mentioned in the “Maqasid Shariah” or the aims of Islamic Law, is very important in view of the increasing negative behaviours existing in today’s societies at large. This research is aimed at studying on halal halal food consumed by the Prophet Muhammad s.a.w. and his eating practices which will impact any person’s health. Some foods mentioned in the Quran and Hadith were studied to associate the relationship of halal food and health. The method used is reviewing journals, the Qur’an and Hadith and conduct cross referencing. It is concluded that the Halal Nutrition Model is in line with the Malaysian Healthy Plate whereby it is actually suitable and befitting the halal nutrition but the whole model has to be without the haram elements which are blood, pork, carrion and liquor to provide proper nutrition guidelines for quality and better consumption of halal food for the future population

Knowledge and attitude on sunnah food and Islamic eating practices among students Universiti Malaysia Sabah

The preservation of future generation and the protection of consumer welfare is a priority in view of the progressive negative behaviours existing in today’s societies at large. This study aims to evaluate the level of knowledge and attitude on sunnah food and Islamic eating practices, and to determine the relationship between knowledge, attitude and practices among students from Universiti Malaysia Sabah (UMS). The study involved around 414 respondents through convenience sampling by using questionnaires as the research instrumentation. The data was analysed by using SPSS version 25. This study highlighted that family is the main reference for source of information on halal food products followed by the internet and lecturer. Most members of the faculties at UMS has high level of knowledge on the concept of halal and haram in halal food, followed by the Islamic law (Sharia’) on halal food and beverages. This is due to courses on halal and haram foods being offered at various faculties in UMS. Although the majority of respondents has high level of knowledge on sunnah food, but the practices of respondents consuming the sunnah food is low. This happens because the fruits such as dates, pomegranates and figs are quite expensive and not easily accessible in the city of Kota Kinabalu. The study found that the Muslim respondents have positive attitude (i.e. proven by satisfactory level) towards sunnah food and eating practices: (1) they always choose sunnah and tayyib food whenever they want to eat; (2) they eat in congregation (with friends or family) when they want to eat; (3) washing hands before and after eating; (4) saying “Bismillah” before eating ; (5) sharing food with friends. However, some of the eating practices are not encouraged by Islam, but because it has become a custom or a part of their daily eating practices. This happens because the Malaysian public is not familiar with eating food from the Arab countries, where it was a way of life for the Prophet SAW. Results also showed that the knowledge on Sunnah food was significantly correlated with attitude (r = 0.217; p < 0.05) and practices (r = 0.085; p < 0.05) of the UMS students showing positive linear correlations, which confirms that better knowledge can lead to positive attitude and subsequently in good practices

Development of halal nutrition framework

The preservation of life is one of the elements of “Maqasid Syariah” which should be given emphasis in view of the incremental negative behaviours existing in societies at large. It is important to go back to basics of life itself whereby every human needs food to survive and how does this affect his behaviour. The best model for halal nutrition is the diet of the Prophet Muhammad s.a.w. and his eating practices which will affect any individual in the areas of mind, spirit, intellect, physiology and health. Halal nutrition in itself is food as well as medicine for the whole body, spiritually and physically. Nutrition is a matter of life-long eating habits which become set with age. Dietary patterns also vary from one person to another according to the difference of cultural and geographic environment to another. To ensure a proper supply of the essential nutrients, we must combine food sources of these nutrients in the right amounts. Babies should be breastfed at birth until 6 months of age or to continue until two years of age. Milk, dates, honey, fruits and vegetables are very much encouraged to be consumed whilst meat should be sparingly eaten. This results in a healthy well-balanced diet. The research concluded by recognizing the Halal Nutrition framework is in parallel with the food pyramid whereby it is actually a moderate and a healthy balanced diet, relevant and befitting the halal nutrition but the whole regime has to be without the haram elements which are blood, pork, carrion and liquor to provide proper nutrition guidelines for quality and better consumption of halal food for the future generation. This is in line with the Maqasid Shariah

Knowledge and attitutde of Universiti Malaysia Sabah (UMS) Muslim students on their practices of choosing halal food products and premises

The objective of this study was to examine the knowledge and attitudes of Muslim students on their practices of choosing halal food. It was conducted on 367 Muslim students who are currently pursuing undergraduate studies in Universiti Malaysia Sabah (UMS). Random sampling method was used to recruit the respondents. The questionnaire used was a closed-ended and divided into four parts: A) The Practices of Choosing Halal Food, B) The Knowledge on Concept of Halal Food, C) The Attitudes on Choosing Halal Food, and D) Respondent’s Demographic. All data were analysed using Statistical Package for Social Science (SPSS) Version 16.0. This study showed the practices of choosing halal food among the respondents were satisfactory. The respondents’ knowledge on halal food concept was good. The respondents’ attitudes on choosing halal food were positive. The relationship between knowledge and practices of the respondents were not significant (r=0.04, p>0.05). However, the relationship between their attitudes and practices were found to be significant (r=0.73, p<0.05)