Maktab Qur'an; Believers in the Nostalgia of Ummah; Case Study of Kurds in Iran

In recent decades, Maktab Qur'an(MQ),founded by Ahmad Muftizadeh (Iranian Sunni Kurdish scholar and political activist) in 1977,as the oldest Iranian Sunni Islamist group, has experienced different phases in its evolution, bothstructurally and discursively. In this study,using grounded theory,we have examined the social mechanisms affecting Iranian Sunni Kurds' tendency to Islamist movements (MQ as the case study, in the fourth phase of its structural evolution since1995). This study argues a major reason for Sunni Kurds’ orientation to Maktabis a tendency among people to live in a "community", and what makes this community ideal is a collective life that strengthenspersonal relationships and collective solidarity. Also, the dominant social relationships in society have moved toward a kind of "societal" relationshipcharacterized by impersonal relationships, alienation and increasing individualism. In this study it is argued that while the influence of societal world is increasing, some of its alienated inhabitants try to leave it and dwell in a new community. Therefore, currently, due to lack of other supportive structures in today's Iranian society, MQ, with its community-like characteristics, functions as a kind of haven for Iranian Sunni Kurds who feel alienated from the individualistic society.This is a new kind of "Hijra" in our modern era, which is not place-based but is rather characterized by transformations in Maktabi Muslims’ social ties and beliefs, which virtually provide them with a new Ummah–MaktabQur’an–to live in

Aqueous Chemistry of the Metallocene [Cp₂MoCl₂]BF₄: Evidence of Autocatalytic Molybdenum(V) Reduction in Water

The aqueous chemistry of the air-stable Mo­(V) metallocene [Cp₂MoCl₂]­BF₄ (<b>1</b>) yields an unexpected autocatalytic reduction when water is added to an acetonitrile solution of <b>1</b>. While <b>1</b> yields the expected stable Cp–Mo ligation and rapid chloride hydrolysis in water, a Mo­(V) → Mo­(IV) reduction to the metallocene Cp₂MoCl₂ (<b>2</b>) was evident. Under acidic conditions (pH ∼2) or trace amounts of water this reduction was slow enough to be monitored spectroscopically, and it is shown to be autocatalytic in aqueous <b>2</b>. No reaction occurs when <b>1</b> and <b>2</b> are in the dichloride form in acetonitrile (i.e., no water). It is hypothesized that the added water serves two roles. First it initially reduces a small population of <b>1</b> to <b>2</b>, and then as the aquated Mo­(IV) metallocene, it catalyzes the reduction of the remaining Mo­(V) in water. This is the first aqueous investigation of the Mo­(V) metallocene, and it shows a novel and unprecedented autocatalytic reduction that is mediated by water

Phosphonothioate Hydrolysis Turnover by Cp₂MoCl₂ and Silver Nanoparticles

The metallocene bis­(cyclopentadienyl)­molybdenum­(IV) dichloride (Cp₂MoCl₂; Cp = η⁵-C₅H₅) is the first organometallic compound to promote the hydrolysis of phosphonothioates with selective P–S scission in a stoichiometric fashion. This report shows that silver nanoparticles capped with borohydride ions promote turnover in this hydrolytic process, as indicated by ³¹P NMR studies on the reaction of <i>O</i>,<i>S</i>-diethyl phenylphosphonothioate (DEPP) with Cp₂MoCl₂ (pH 7). This is the first example of the joint use of nanoparticles and molybdenum metallocenes to promote phosphonothioate hydrolysis. Initial results indicate the turnover may be due to free Ag⁺(aq) ions present in the solution that arise either from the slow dissolution of the nanoparticles or from interactions with the Ag nanoparticle surface

Phosphonothioate Hydrolysis Turnover by Cp₂MoCl₂ and Silver Nanoparticles

The metallocene bis­(cyclopentadienyl)­molybdenum­(IV) dichloride (Cp₂MoCl₂; Cp = η⁵-C₅H₅) is the first organometallic compound to promote the hydrolysis of phosphonothioates with selective P–S scission in a stoichiometric fashion. This report shows that silver nanoparticles capped with borohydride ions promote turnover in this hydrolytic process, as indicated by ³¹P NMR studies on the reaction of <i>O</i>,<i>S</i>-diethyl phenylphosphonothioate (DEPP) with Cp₂MoCl₂ (pH 7). This is the first example of the joint use of nanoparticles and molybdenum metallocenes to promote phosphonothioate hydrolysis. Initial results indicate the turnover may be due to free Ag⁺(aq) ions present in the solution that arise either from the slow dissolution of the nanoparticles or from interactions with the Ag nanoparticle surface