bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
How well are we able to close the water budget at the global scale?
Authors: Lehmann Fanny , Vishwakarma Bramha Dutt , Bamber Jonathan
Published: January 2022

Abstract. The water budget equation describes the exchange of water between the land, ocean, and atmosphere. Being able to adequately close the water budget gives confidence in our ability to model and/or observe the spatio-temporal variations in the water cycle and its components. Due to advances in observation techniques, satellite sensors, and modelling, a number of data products are available that represent the components of water budget in both space and time. Despite these advances, closure of the water budget at the global scale has been elusive. In this study, we attempt to close the global water budget using precipitation, evapotranspiration, and runoff data at the catchment scale. The large number of recent state-of-the-art datasets provides a new evaluation of well-used datasets. These estimates are compared to terrestrial water storage (TWS) changes as measured by the Gravity Recovery And Climate Experiment (GRACE) satellite mission. We investigated 189 river basins covering more than 90 % of the continental land area. TWS changes derived from the water balance equation were compared against GRACE data using two metrics: the Nash–Sutcliffe efficiency (NSE) and the cyclostationary NSE. These metrics were used to assess the performance of more than 1600 combinations of the various datasets considered. We found a positive NSE and cyclostationary NSE in 99 % and 62 % of the basins examined respectively. This means that TWS changes reconstructed from the water balance equation were more accurate than the long-term (NSE) and monthly (cyclostationary NSE) mean of GRACE time series in the corresponding basins. By analysing different combinations of the datasets that make up the water balance, we identified data products that performed well in certain regions based on, for example, climatic zone. We identified that some of the good results were obtained due to the cancellation of errors in poor estimates of water budget components. Therefore, we used coefficients of variation to determine the relative quality of a data product, which helped us to identify bad combinations giving us good results. In general, water budget components from ERA5-Land and the Catchment Land Surface Model (CLSM) performed better than other products for most climatic zones. Conversely, the latest version of CLSM, v2.2, performed poorly for evapotranspiration in snow-dominated catchments compared, for example, with its predecessor and other datasets available. Thus, the nature of the catchment dynamics and balance between components affects the optimum combination of datasets. For regional studies, the combination of datasets that provides the most realistic TWS for a basin will depend on its climatic conditions and factors that cannot be determined a priori. We believe that the results of this study provide a road map for studying the water budget at catchment scale.
Localising individual atoms of tryptophan side chains in the metallo-β-lactamase IMP-1 by pseudocontact shifts from paramagnetic lanthanoid tags at multiple sites
Authors: Orton Henry W. , Herath Iresha D. , Maleckis Ansis , Jabar Shereen , Szabo Monika , Graham Bim , Breen Colum , Topping Lydia , Butler Stephen J. , Otting Gottfried
Published: January 2022

Abstract. The metallo-β-lactamase IMP-1 features a flexible loop near the active site that assumes different conformations in single crystal
structures, which may assist in substrate binding and enzymatic activity. To
probe the position of this loop, we labelled the tryptophan residues of
IMP-1 with 7-13C-indole and the protein with lanthanoid tags at three
different sites. The magnetic susceptibility anisotropy (Δχ)
tensors were determined by measuring pseudocontact shifts (PCSs) of backbone amide protons. The Δχ tensors were subsequently used to
identify the atomic coordinates of the tryptophan side chains in the
protein. The PCSs were sufficient to determine the location of Trp28, which
is in the active site loop targeted by our experiments, with high accuracy. Its average atomic coordinates showed barely significant changes in response to the inhibitor captopril. It was found that localisation spaces could be defined with better accuracy by including only the PCSs of a single paramagnetic lanthanoid ion for each tag and tagging site. The effect
was attributed to the shallow angle with which PCS isosurfaces tend to
intersect if generated by tags and tagging sites that are identical except
for the paramagnetic lanthanoid ion.
The role of heat wave events on the occurrence and persistence of thermal stratification in the southern North Sea
Authors: Chen Wei , Staneva Joanna , Grayek Sebastian , Schulz-Stellenfleth Johannes , Greinert Jens
Published: January 2022

Abstract. Extremes in temperatures not only directly affect the marine environment and ecosystems but also have indirect impacts on hydrodynamics and marine life. The role of heat wave events responsible for the occurrence and persistence of thermal stratification was analysed using a fully coupled hydrodynamic and wave model within the framework of the Geesthacht Coupled cOAstal model SysTem (GCOAST) for the North Sea. The model results were assessed against satellite reprocessed data and in situ observations from field campaigns and fixed MARNET stations. To quantify the degree of stratification, a potential energy anomaly over the water column was calculated. A linear correlation existed between the air temperatures and the potential energy anomaly in the North Sea excluding the Norwegian Trench and the area south of 54° N latitude. Contrary to the northern part of the North Sea, where the water column is stratified in the warming season each year, the southern North Sea is seasonally stratified in years when a heatwave occurs. The influences of heatwaves on the occurrence of summer stratifications in the southern North Sea are mainly in the form of two aspects, i.e., a rapid rise in sea surface temperature at the early stage of the heatwave period and a relatively higher water temperature during summer than the multiyear mean. Another factor that enhances the thermal stratification in summer is the memory of the water column to cold spells earlier in the year. Differences between the seasonally stratified northern North Sea and the heatwave-induced stratified southern North Sea were attributed to changes in water depth.
Pseudo-prospective testing of 5-year earthquake forecasts for California using inlabru
Authors: Bayliss Kirsty , Naylor Mark , Kamranzad Farnaz , Main Ian
Published: January 2022

Abstract. Probabilistic earthquake forecasts estimate the likelihood of future earthquakes within a specified time-space-magnitude window and are important because they inform planning of hazard mitigation activities on different timescales. The spatial component of such forecasts, expressed as seismicity models, generally rely upon some combination of past event locations and underlying factors which might affect spatial intensity, such as strain rate, fault location and slip rate or past seismicity. For the first time, we extend previously reported spatial seismicity models, generated using the open source inlabru package, to time-independent earthquake forecasts using California as a case study. The inlabru approach allows the rapid evaluation of point process models which integrate different spatial datasets. We explore how well various candidate forecasts perform compared to observed activity over three contiguous five year time periods using the same training window for the seismicity data. In each case we compare models constructed from both full and declustered earthquake catalogues. In doing this, we compare the use of synthetic catalogue forecasts to the more widely-used grid-based approach of previous forecast testing experiments. The simulated-catalogue approach uses the full model posteriors to create Bayesian earthquake forecasts. We show that simulated-catalogue based forecasts perform better than the grid-based equivalents due to (a) their ability to capture more uncertainty in the model components and (b) the associated relaxation of the Poisson assumption in testing. We demonstrate that the inlabru models perform well overall over various time periods, and hence that independent data such as fault slip rates can improve forecasting power on the time scales examined. Together, these findings represent a significant improvement in earthquake forecasting is possible, though this has yet to be tested and proven in true prospective mode.
The influence of infragravity waves on the safety of coastal defences: a case study of the Dutch Wadden Sea
Authors: Lashley Christopher H. , Jonkman Sebastiaan N. , van der Meer Jentsje , Bricker Jeremy D. , Vuik Vincent
Published: January 2022

Abstract. Many coastlines around the world are protected by dikes with shallow foreshores (e.g. salt marshes and mudflats) that attenuate storm waves and are expected to reduce the likelihood and volume of waves overtopping the dikes behind them. However, most of the studies to date that assessed their effectiveness have excluded the influence of infragravity (IG) waves, which often dominate in shallow water. Here, we propose a modular and adaptable framework to estimate the probability of coastal dike failure by overtopping waves (Pf). The influence of IG waves on overtopping is included using an empirical approach, which is first
validated against observations made during two recent storms (2015 and 2017). The framework is then applied to compare the Pf values of the dikes along the Dutch Wadden Sea coast with and without the influence of IG waves. Findings show that including IG waves results in 1.1 to 1.6 times higher Pf values, suggesting that safety is overestimated when they are neglected. This increase is attributed to the influence of the IG waves on the design wave period and, to a lesser extent, the wave height at the dike toe. The spatial variation in this effect, observed for the case considered, highlights its dependence on local conditions – with IG waves showing greater influence at locations with larger offshore waves, such as those behind tidal inlets, and shallower water depths. Finally, the change in Pf due to the IG waves varied significantly depending on the empirical wave overtopping model selected, emphasizing the importance of tools developed specifically for shallow foreshore environments.
Quasi-steady circulation regimes in the Baltic Sea
Authors: Liblik Taavi , Väli Germo , Salm Kai , Laanemets Jaan , Lilover Madis-Jaak , Lips Urmas
Published: January 2022

Abstract. Circulation plays an essential role in the creation of physical and biogeochemical fluxes in the Baltic Sea. The main aim of the work was to study the quasi-steady circulation patterns under prevailing forcing conditions. Six months of continuous vertical profiling and fixed-point measurements of currents, two monthly underwater glider surveys, and numerical modelling were applied in the central Baltic Sea. The vertical structure of currents was strongly linked to the location of the two pycnoclines: the seasonal thermocline and the halocline. The vertical movements of pycnoclines and velocity shear maxima were synchronous. The quasi-steady circulation patterns were in geostrophic balance and high-persistent. The persistent patterns included circulation features such as upwelling, downwelling, boundary current, and sub-halocline gravity current. The patterns had a prevailing zonal scale of 5–60 km and considerably higher magnitude and different direction than the long-term mean circulation pattern. Northward (southward) geostrophic boundary current in the upper layer was observed along the eastern coast of the central Baltic in the case of southwesterly (northerly) wind. The geostrophic current at the boundary was often a consequence of wind-driven, across-shore advection. The sub-halocline quasi-permanent gravity current with a width of 10–30 km from the Gotland Deep to the north over the narrow sill separating the Farö Deep and Northern Deep was detected in the simulation, and it was confirmed by an Argo float trajectory. According to the simulation, a strong flow, mostly to the north, with a zonal scale of 5 km occurred at the sill. This current is an important deeper limb of the overturning circulation of the Baltic Sea. The current is stronger with northerly winds and restricted by the southwesterly winds. The circulation regime has an annual cycle due to seasonality in the forcing. Boundary currents are stronger and more frequently northward during the winter period. The sub-halocline current towards the north is strongest in March–May and weakest in November–December.
Antarctic sea ice types from active and passive microwave remote sensing
Authors: Melsheimer Christian , Spreen Gunnar , Ye Yufang , Shokr Mohammed
Published: January 2022

Abstract. Polar sea ice is one of the Earth’s climate components that has been significantly affected by the recent trend of global warming. While the sea ice area in the Arctic has been decreasing at a rate of about 4 % per decade, the multi-year ice (MYI), also called perennial ice, is decreasing at a faster rate of 10 %–15 % per decade. On the other hand, the sea ice area in the Antarctic region was slowly increasing at a rate of about 1.5 % per decade until 2014 and since then it has fluctuated without a clear trend. However, no data about ice type areas are available from that region, particularly of MYI. Due to differences in physical and crystalline structural properties of sea ice and snow between the two polar regions, it has become difficult to identify ice types in the Antarctic. Until recently, no method has existed to monitor the distribution and temporal development of Antarctic ice types, particularly MYI throughout the freezing season and on decadal time scales. In this study, we have adapted a method for retrieving Arctic sea ice types and partial concentrations using microwave satellite observations to fit the Antarctic sea ice conditions. The first circumpolar, long-term time series of Antarctic sea ice types; MYI, first-year ice and young ice is being established, so far covering years 2013–2019. Qualitative comparison with synthetic aperture radar data, with charts of the development stage of the sea ice, and with Antarctic polynya distribution data show that the retrieved ice types, in particular the MYI, are reasonable. Although there are still some shortcomings, the new retrieval for the first time allows insight into the evolution and dynamics of Antarctic sea ice types. The current time series can in principle be extended backwards to start in the year 2002 and can be continued with current and future sensors.
Network connectivity between the winter Arctic Oscillation and summer sea ice in CMIP6 models and observations
Authors: Gregory William , Stroeve Julienne , Tsamados Michel
Published: January 2022

Abstract. The indirect effect of winter Arctic Oscillation (AO) events on the proceeding summer Arctic sea ice extent suggests an inherent winter-to-summer mechanism for sea ice predictability. On the other hand, operational regional summer sea ice forecasts in a large number of coupled climate models show a considerable drop in predictive skill for forecasts initialised prior to the date of melt onset in spring, suggesting that some drivers of sea ice variability on longer time scales may not be well represented in these models. To this end, we introduce an unsupervised learning approach based on cluster analysis and complex networks to establish how well the latest generation of coupled climate models participating in phase 6 of the World Climate Research Programme Coupled Model Intercomparison Project (CMIP6) are able to reflect the spatio-temporal patterns of variability in northern-hemisphere winter sea-level pressure and Arctic summer sea ice concentration over the period 1979–2020, relative to ERA5 atmospheric reanalysis and satellite-derived sea ice observations respectively. Two specific global metrics are introduced as ways to compare patterns of variability between models and observations/reanalysis: the Adjusted Rand Index – a method for comparing spatial patterns of variability, and a network distance metric – a method for comparing the degree of connectivity between two geographic regions. We find that CMIP6 models generally reflect the spatial pattern of variability of the AO relatively well, although over-estimate the magnitude of sea-level pressure variability over the north-western Pacific Ocean, and under-estimate the variability over the north Africa and southern Europe. They also under-estimate the importance of regions such as the Beaufort, East Siberian and Laptev seas in explaining pan-Arctic summer sea ice area variability, which we hypothesise is due to regional biases in sea ice thickness. Finally, observations show that historically, winter AO events (negatively) covary strongly with summer sea ice concentration in the eastern Pacific sector of the Arctic, although now under a thinning ice regime, both the eastern and western Pacific sectors exhibit similar behaviour. CMIP6 models however do not show this transition on average, which may hinder their ability to make skilful seasonal to inter-annual predictions of summer sea ice.
The intensification of dehydration process of pectin-containing raw materials
Authors: Palamarchuk Igor , Zozulyak Oksana , Mushtruk Mikhailo , Petrychenko Ievgenii , Slobodyanyuk Nataliia , Domin Оlexander , Udodov Sergiy , Semenova Olena , Karpovych Inna , Blishch Roksolana
Published: January 2022

The process of intensifying dehydration of pectin-containing raw materials by using centrifugation with simultaneous application of low-frequency oscillations to the working container creates an electroosmotic effect in unilateral diffusion to improve the filtration process. It is established that to reduce the technological resistance in the presented methods; it is necessary to create a fluidized bed of products due to the oscillating motion of the working capacity. An experimental vibration unit has been developed to determine the rational parameters of the vibrocentric moisture removal process using the electroosmotic effect. It is proved that the complex of the designed equipment provides consecutive carrying out of three-stage vibration filtration-convective drying of high-moisture production by an alternation of action of a stream of the heat carrier, an electromagnetic field, low-frequency fluctuations. According to the research results, the dependences of the kinetics of the moisture diffusion process on the electric field strength are obtained; frequency of electric current and duty cycle of pulses, which allowed to optimize the process parameters according to the criteria of minimizing energy consumption. It was found that the processing time to achieve the desired humidity with the application of vibration, filtration, and electroosmotic effect was twice less than for filtration drying in a fixed bed. In combination with the noted physical and mechanical factors, the proposed technology improves the technical and economic parameters of the studied process.
Islamic Banking and Finance in the 21st Century: Selected Issues in Human Capital Development
Authors: Haneef Mohamed Aslam
Published: January 2022

Islamic Banking and Finance (IBF), both in theory and practice, has made great strides over the last 40 years. However, it is not spared from criticism, much of it relating to issues of ‘Islamicity’ and ‘originality’ of mainly IBF practice. One major reason underlying these issues relates to the quality of human resources related to IBF. This article first presents some of the tensions that exist in contemporary IBF. These tensions include debates within the theoretical discourse regarding preferred instruments in IBF. The article also highlights some problems that occur due to the divergence between the theory of IBF and with its practice, leading to a general perception that IBF merely duplicates conventional finance rather than offering any true alternative. The article argues that to resolve these tensions, greater emphasis must be placed on creating qualified human capital at all levels of the IBF discipline and industry. In addition, IBF would be better served if Islam and its shari’ah were viewed as a civilisational framework, rather than a narrow fiqh/law focus. Having a civilisational understanding of Islam, its shari’ah and the Islamic heritage on the one hand, as well as a genuine understanding of modern economics and finance on the other, are necessary pre-requisites to enable IBF to play its role in serving the ummah more effectively in the twenty-first century. Genuine Islamisation of knowledge would produce the human capital desired.
David Levering Lewis - God’s Crucible: Islam and the Making of Europe, 570-1215
Authors: Crow Karim Douglas
Published: January 2022

God’s Crucible marks Lewis’ historical engagement with the major theme of the impact of Islamic civilisation upon the formation of Europe. Through his synthesis of secondary historical studies in English, French and Spanish Lewis paints a broad historical canvas portraying the rise and spread of Islam in South West Asia, its dramatic extension across North Africa into the Iberian peninsula and beyond under the Umayyad Caliphs, and the complex interaction and vicissitudes of Christian and Muslim powers in Hispania/ Andalusia. He ends his narrative with the start of the reconquista at the fateful Battle of Las Navas de Tolosa in 1212, which was fought not far from Toledo in central Spain and which ended with the total victory of the combined forces of three Christian kings of Castile, Aragon, and Navarra over the Almohad caliph Muhammad III (r. 1199-1213): “the first war fought by Christians and Muslims exclusively as Muslims and as Christians - a war between civilizations” (p. 378). Lewis clearly has the contemporary ‘clash’ in mind when exploiting this much abused phrase.
The World System in Civilisational Crisis
Authors: Crow Karim Douglas
Published: January 2022

Neoliberal financial-market capitalism has dragged the world into a crisis which threatens human civilisation as such. It is characterised by an extreme form of the combination of the expansion of production, transport and life-style, with on the other hand the destruction of its own foundations, and suffers from a crisis of social reproduction, societal integration, democratic identification and security. Climate destruction, resource wars, terror, the transformation of democracy into oligarchy, class divides, a new racism and fundamentalism are unavoidable. It therefore leads to a crisis of civilisation, and produces ever stronger elements of barbarism and authoritarian power, which can only be contained at ever greater expense.
Economics as Science: Insights from Classical Muslim Classifications of the Sciences
Authors: Bakar Osman
Published: January 2022

This article seeks to emphasise the need to re-examine the foundational assumptions of modern economics, especially in light of the traditional Islamic idea of economic wisdom and Islamic conception of the science of economics as conceived by Muslim political philosophers. As argued by the philosophers and more generally the epistemologists every academic discipline or every science, including economics is structured on the foundation of four epistemic elements, namely, its subject matter, its premises, its methodology, and its objectives. Any attempt to rethink this science in Islamic terms needs to address in particular the issue of its foundational assumptions. These premises include beliefs about the modern homo economicus, what his needs are, and the kind of society best suited to help deliver these needs both at the individual and collective levels. This article will discuss these premises and the classical subject matter of economics by explaining the meanings of the two classical terms for economics, namely, tadbir al-manzil (lit. ‘household governance’) and iqtisad (thrift, providence, and moderation). It concludes with the assertion that the progress of modern Islamic economics as a true science depends as much on the clarity and solidification of its foundational assumptions as on the building of its necessary institutions.
Muhammad Mumtaz Ali - Critical Thinking: An Islamic Perspective
Authors: Abdullah (Leslie Terebessy) Abdul Karim
Published: January 2022

This book explores ‘critical thinking’ within the context of the Islamic revivalist movement. At 169 pages, the book consists of an Introduction and five chapters. Upon closer inspection, however, the book turns out to be more of a critique of ‘modernist’, ‘moderate’, and ‘liberalist’ Muslims than an inquiry into the meaning of critical thinking from a purely Islamic perspective.

It appears that - to Ali - Islam and modernity are simply incompatible. Modernisation and Westernisation to him are two sides of the same coin. The fact that large numbers of Muslims have successfully integrated in Western societies seems to have little significance to him.
The Ship and the Stranger: A Metaphorical Approach to Governance and Islam
Authors: Satha-Anand Chaiwat
Published: January 2022

Relying on a metaphorical approach aiming to produce effects which could change the ways the world is seen and conducive to freeing the Muslims from restrictive and conventional religious understanding, this article chooses to discuss the issues of governance and Islam by using the metaphors of ‘the ship’ and ‘the stranger’. It argues that both help illuminate the idea of ‘soft governance’ in Islam, understood as an attempt to meaningfully connect a multiplicity of actors from different terrains with complex relationships among them in the process of governing with a much more pluralistic conceptualisation of power.
Filipino Muslims and Issues of Governance in the Philippines: Some Thoughts by a Local Practitioner
Authors: Mastura Datu Michael O.
Published: January 2022

This article adopts the general theme of governance to provide an institutional framework for law reform and constitutional regime. To look into the political culture and religion of Filipinos is to ask why there is much reliance on law with an internal dynamics of hostility to all things religious in public life. The author employs the democracy argument to raise asymmetrical issues in a constitutional regime within the context of ‘the national state’ rather than problematise it as a majority versus minority relation. This makes it possible, for instance, to consider the Bangsamoro in the Philippines as a ‘people’ in legal terms and in reference to ‘state-nations’ instead of ‘nation-states’. The author also treats the dimension of international law regarding the right to self-determination with respect to the current peace negotiations between the government of the Philippines and armed non-state actors (MILF and MNLF). One might not necessarily agree with all that is stated in this contribution, which is intended to be an essay rather than a scholarly paper, but, nevertheless, it grants some insights into the mindset of contemporary Muslims in the Philippines.
Johan Fischer - Proper Islamic Consumption: Shopping Among the Malays in Modern Malaysia
Authors: Crow Karim Douglas
Published: January 2022

This is an excellent study both in substance and in conceptual refinement, opening up important perspectives on the particular mode of ‘Islamic modernity’ being achieved in Malaysia, and the dynamics of implanting globalised capitalist values within a major Muslim society. From 2001, Fischer did anthropological fieldwork into consumption patterns among Malay middle-class families at Taman Tun Dr Ismail (popularly known as ‘TTDI’), a major township in the western part of Kuala Lumpur. The book gives a refined presentation of research on consumption concerning issues of class, market relations and Islamic practice and identity, relating these to Islam-State relations in contemporary Malaysia. It could produce discomfort among many Muslims who might not appreciate or comprehend the portrait of Malaysian society reflected in the mirror of academic anthropology. Others with greater perception may experience the peculiar shock of self-recognition - similar to the experience of hearing one’s own recorded voice for the very first time - when they read of “middle-class Malays shopping for the state”.
Margeret j. Wheatly - Leadership and the New Science: Discovering Order in a Chaotic World
Authors: Winkel Eric
Published: January 2022

Writing from wide experience working with organisations as a management consultant, Margaret Wheatley has seen the necessity for integrating the new science with organisational management. The new science of quantum physics, fractals, and chaos theory creates a new nonlinear world view. The old, linear view is suited only for the factory model, where outputs increase in a linear fashion according to the inputs. But the real world is nonlinear: think about learning. We study and study and suddenly, we understand. Wheatley describes the conventional command-and-control management style, where we think the company is a black box with inputs on the left and outputs on the right. She talks about laboriously crafted organisational charts, when the real communication of the company takes place around the water cooler. She shows us how organisations flounder and stagnate when they are seen as machines in a Newtonian world, the old mechanistic view.
Jonas Adelin Jorgensen, Jesus Imandars and Christ Bhaktas: Two Case Studies of Interreligious Hermeneutics and Identity in Global Christianity. Studies in the Intercultural History of Christianity 146
Authors: Vahakangas Mika
Published: January 2022

The end of colonialism, the previously unparalleled level of religious plurality due to both migration and internal diversification of various societies, and lastly the shift of the centre of gravity to the global South in terms of the membership of Christian churches are changes with which Western academic Christian theology has to come to grips with. The high tide of colonialism, and its theological equivalent - ethnocentric religious arrogance - was followed by the end of colonial era, reflected also in theology. When one combined the suddenly grown religious pluralism in the West and the remorse for the colonial past an outcome was a number of liberal (or, at times, seemingly liberal) pluralistic or relativistic theologies of religion. That could be called ‘post-colonial’ in the sense of being epi-colonial.
Balance, Moderation, and the 'Middle Path': Toward Trust between Muslims and Theravada Buddhists in Southern Thailand
Authors: Marcinkowski Christoph
Published: January 2022

When looking at strategies leading toward conflict-resolution in the troubled Muslim-dominated deep South of Thailand one should also take into account existing touching-points between Islam - understood by many of its followers as an all-encompassing approach toward life that is, nevertheless, grounded in spirituality - and Theravada Buddhism which is practised by the overwhelming rest of the Thai citizens. Theravada (Pali for ‘Teaching of the Elders’ or ‘Ancient Teaching’) is the oldest surviving Buddhist school. It is relatively conservative and generally closest to early Buddhism. Elsewhere this writer has argued that the currently ongoing conflict in southern Thailand is mainly not a religious one, but rather the result of mutual deep distrust between a far-away central administration in Bangkok and the local Malay Muslims in the South. However, this writer would like to argue that a meaningful dialogue between truly religious people on both sides of the fence could help to dissolve tensions and misconceptions.
Charles Tripp, A History of Iraq
Authors: Marcinkowski Christoph
Published: January 2022

Charles Tripp’s A History of Iraq is now in its third edition. Since 2000, when the first edition appeared, it has become a classic in Middle Eastern studies. The current edition has been updated to include the 2003 Anglo-American invasion, the fall and capture of Saddam Husayn, and the subsequent insurgency. Its author is Professor of Politics at the School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS) in the University of London.
Ibrahim Ahmad Aliyu, Protection of Women's Rights Under the Shari'ah
Authors: Crow Karim Douglas
Published: January 2022

This relatively brief work of 135 pages is the translation of a revision of the author’s book published in 2007, apparently written at the Centre for Islamic Legal Studies at Ahmadu Bello University (Zaria, Nigeria). Aliyu had completed his doctoral dissertation, entitled “Termination of Marriage and Its Legal Consequences under Islamic Law”, at this Centre in 1996.
Tourism and the Halal Industry: A Global Shari'ah Perspective
Authors: Kamali Mohammad Hashim
Published: January 2022

Upon first glance, Islamic tourism seems only to cater for the needs of millions of Muslims around the globe who are performing hajj or umrah, visiting Mecca and Medina, or the shrines of Najaf and Karbala in Iraq. Yet in many ways Islamic tourism is lagging behind more conventional forms of international tourism and has yet to realise its fuller potentials. This article addresses the shariah concepts of halal and haram and their manifestations in the halal industry and tourism in two main areas: market developments of interest to halal tourism internationally and those that have taken place in Malaysia. Other topics discussed are halal certification procedures, the role of fatwas in the determination of halal, and more generally the return of Islamic values to the market place. The final segment of this article addresses the role of custom, culture, and religion as they are manifested in the behaviour of Muslim travellers and tourists.
Rudiger Lohkler (ed.), New Approaches to the Analysis of Jihadis: Online and Offline (Studying Jihadism 1)
Authors: Marcinkowski Christoph
Published: January 2022

Jihadism has been an important issue in public discussions since 9/11. Internet media have been used as means of communication, propaganda, recruitment, and even training purposes. In this volume, the processes of interaction on Jihadi internet sides are analysed. Particular attention is paid to the mechanisms of the spread of propaganda via the internet by diverse technical means. The process of transformation of ‘Islamic knowledge’ into ‘Jihadi knowledge’, the rhetorics of videos, the development of South Asian Jihadi organisations and some conceptual issues are discussed.
Asset-based vs Asset-backed Sukuk
Authors: Abdullah (Leslie Terebessy) Abdul Karim
Published: January 2022

Sukuk are Islamic certificates of investment. They signify co-ownership of productive resources, known as the underlying assets. Because income to sukuk holders is generated by trading or real investment rather than mere lending, sukuk holders earn profit rather than interest. As co-owners of productive assets, sukuk holders face the risks of ownership. In particular, they face the risk that their assets may not generate profits or may even incur losses. They also face the risk that the assets may be damaged or destroyed completely.
Why Pursue Negotiations with the Taliban?
Authors: Mohmand Abdul-Qayum
Published: January 2022

Despite the unprecedented international financial aid and military support to the government of Afghanistan, the scaled-up military presence of the United States and the variety of US and ISAF (International Security Assistance Force) tactics used in the ongoing effort to defeat the resistance and establish peace, security and the rule of law, the situation in Afghanistan has deteriorated. The resistance has grown, war and insurgency in Afghanistan have intensified, and the Taliban have expanded their activities, becoming a countrywide movement with territory gained in the north and west. Conversely, the United States is facing great economic challenges both at home and abroad, and there is pressure from Congress and the American public on President Barak Obama to bring American men and women deployed in Afghanistan back home.
Shariah-Compliant Screening Practices in Malaysia
Authors: Mohamed Adil Mohamed Azam , Ho Catherine S .F. , Md. Isa Mansor , Khalid Mohammad Mahyuddin
Published: January 2022

This study reviews twenty-eight users of Islamic equity screening in Malaysia based on the most recent information collected in 2012. Except for the Securities Commission and two index providers, the rest of the users are mutual fund companies. Our review indicates that, with few exceptions, the majority of the local screening users are following the benchmarks set by the Securities Commission of Malaysia, in which only industry screening is applied to separate Shariah compliant from non-compliant companies. A few users, however, employ a two-tier quantitative approach in addition to the qualitative screening. The qualitative screening removes companies whose main businesses are Shariah non-compliant. Companies with mixed activities are then subject to quantitative screenings in which non-compliant contributions are measured against applicable benchmarks. The Securities Commission is scheduled to have in place a two-tier quantitative screening method which is more in line with international practices by the end of 2013.
Conceptions of the Political in Islamic Thought: Reconciling Legal and Philosophic Approaches to Siyasah
Authors: Hazri Tengku Ahmad
Published: January 2022

Political societies and states may undergo constitutional transformations. However, if Islamic constitutional jurisprudence is to address adequately the problem of constitutional shifts then both classical and modern reformist juridical approaches to siyasah must be reconciled with the approach of the Muslim philosophers, in order to secure the former’s conceptual coherence when analysing shifts in constitutional structures.
Islamic Money Market: An Instrument for Managing Liquidity Risk in Islamic Banks
Authors: Muttalib Sekono Abiola
Published: January 2022

The general consensus of financial experts is that liquidity is the lifeblood of any organisation, which is inclusive of Islamic banks. Hence, effective liquidity management is essential for the efficiency of banking institutions and the economy as a whole. The major provider of liquidity is the short-term money market instruments.  Islamic financial institutions just like their conventional counterparts use short-term mobilised deposit funds to finance long-term loans and projects which expose them to asset liability mismatches and thus, are vulnerable to liquidity problems. Addressing the potential liquidity risk due to the cash-flow mismatches requires an efficient and vibrant Islamic money market as it is an essential and integral part of Islamic financial system. It therefore raises the need for developing an Islamic money market where Shari’ah-compliant financial instruments are to be traded and operated based on Shari’ah principles. Although it is considered the surest approach to sound liquidity risk management in Islamic banks, the dilemma that Islamic money markets are facing now is acute shortage of Shari’ah-compliant financial instruments and the controversies surrounding the few available instruments. A successful liquidity risk management therefore requires ensuring well functioning Islamic money markets with some if not all controversies/addressed through embarking on development of new products or promoting innovation in order to enable Islamic banks to compete effectively with their conventional counterparts. Hence, this study attempts to present a better understanding of various Islamic money market instruments, their roles in managing liquidity and their relationship with liquidity risk management.
Issues in Human Rights: The Plight of Muslim Minorities and the Lessons Therein for Muslim Majorities
Authors: Babu Sahib Himatullah , Yaacob Asiah
Published: January 2022

The plight of non-Muslims or other minority communities within a Muslim majority country has been much debated under the broad topic of human rights. Yet problems relating to Muslim minorities in non-Muslim polities have yet to be adequately addressed. More should be done to educate the large Muslim world on the plight of these minority Muslim communities. The lack of focus on the fate of such minorities had resulted in their being subjected to unfair treatment or oppression, painful misery, and unfriendly policies of containment or integration. The authors export other more subtle forms of subjugation more serious than overt oppression and violence. Muslims in adverse minority settings have always struggled to maintain a proper balance between sustaining their religious identity and obligations and maintaining loyalty towards their country. We examine several issues in the light of established human rights principles and identify practical challenges faced in translating these ideals into reality.
Toward Common Values in Journalistic Ethics: Slander vs. Truthfulness from an Islamic Perspective
Authors: Marcinkowski Christoph
Published: January 2022

Instances of blasphemy against Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) are perhaps the most dramatic exposures of recent date of the discrepancies between ‘freedom of expression’ and ‘freedom of press’ on the one hand, and ‘journalistic ethics’ on the other. Such episodes expose the dilemma in journalistic ethics between a particularly Western understanding of ‘journalistic freedom’ and the more universal right of protection of the public and individual persons alive or dead against slander and misinformation. In what follows, the author shows how such dilemma and ambivalence can be overcome by recourse to the teachings of Islam, with its firm prohibition against slander, as well as the primacy of ethics linked with spirituality seen in the love of Muslims for the Prophet (p.b.u.h), which can then form the basis towards common values and understanding between Islamic and Western civilisations.
Contentment (Qana'ah) and its Role in Curbing Social and Environmental Problems
Authors: Ali Mohammed Farid
Published: January 2022

Contentment is an important dimension of virtuous human character (akhlaq) in the context of our attitude towards material provision and worldly sustenance, and our attitude towards sharing our sustenance with others. We first explore the position which the discipline of cultivating human character holds in Islam. It discloses the direct relationship of human character with our society and the environment. These relations are the foundation on which the treatment of contentment (qana’ah) is based. After defining the term qana’ah, we discuss the “good wholesome life (hayatan tayyibah)” mentioned in the Qur’an (al-Nahl 16:97) which denotes ‘self-contentment’. The term provides the premise that a virtuous and pure life in this world is based on human self-control towards his means of provision, his society, and the environment. With a disciplined human attitude towards material means, material abundance or scarcity of worldly things will not disrupt one’s conviction and self-sufficiency. We then discuss the by-products of non-contentment and greed such as wasting of food and other natural resources. This leads us to the topic of self-discipline in terms of dealing with the material world and our fellows. Finally we discuss the importance of self-discipline through frugal- moderation for individual and civilisational renewal.
Whether to Say Salam: Muslim Courtesy Toward Non-Muslims
Authors: Hamamoto Kazunori
Published: January 2022

This article addresses the question of whether or not Muslims should say salam to non-Muslims. While various opinions on it have been presented since the first century of Islam, most medieval scholars did not approve of saying salam to non-Muslims. However, the traditional mainstream position hasbeen reconsidered by modern reformers, and the increase of Muslim population in the West has rendered this issue more important and controversial. This article does not intend to give a definitive answer to this controversy but to explore its long history from an objective point of view, paying attention to what Qur’anic verses and hadiths are related to the issue and how they can be interpreted without contradiction. Besides, the similarity as well as the difference between Ibn al-Qayyim’s view and Rashid Rida’s is one of the important points of this article.
The Good-Wholesome Life (Hayatan Tayyibah) as an Islamic Lifestyle Standard
Authors: Ali Mohammed Farid
Published: January 2022

In one respect the contemporary lifestyle of Muslims is essentially no different from the lifestyle of other individuals. For both Muslims and non-Muslims, the optimum standards of the good life require a sufficient amount of material means for possession and use. It is natural and necessary to possess sufficient material means in order to fulfil our human needs. This only becomes problematic when material possessions begin to stimulate appetites and incite a never ending thirst for more possessions beyond what is sufficient. This material based standard can replace human values by material ones. Human values then become measured according to price-tags and brand-names reflecting wordly criteria of fulfilment. When such standards are taken for granted, materials are acquired not merely to fulfil necessary human needs, but for servicing appetites beyond the healthy bounds of moderation and a balanced existence. How may we assess what is natural and necessary for proper human standards? The idea of the ‘good-wholesome life (Hayatan Tayyibah)’ stated in the Qur’an (al-Nahl 16:97) offers an altogether different standard. This viewpoint explores the meaning of this phrase in various tafsir works and seeks to establish the Qur’anic basis for an Islamic standard of an ideal human lifestyle.
Trends in incidence, molecular diagnostics, and treatment of patients with breast cancer in Kazakhstan, 2014-2019
Authors: Shatkovskaya O. , Kaidarova D. , Dushimova Z. , Sagi M. , Abdrakhmanov R.
Published: January 2022

Relevance: Globocan reported 4,390 new breast cancer cases and 1,654 deaths from breast cancer in the Republic of Kazakhstan (RK) in
2020. Molecular diagnostics of breast cancer includes the determination of Hormone Receptor (HR), HER2, and Ki-67 status to detect patients
with HR-positive tumors and administer effective treatment.
Methods: This observational study included a retrospective analysis of incidence, molecular diagnostics, and treatment regimens in
women with a confirmed breast cancer diagnosis aged 18 years old and older, registered in the RK Electronic Registry of Cancer Patients
(ERCP) from 1 January 2014 till 31 December 2019.
Results: In the study period (2014 to 2019), the number of breast cancer cases registered annually has doubled. The incidence increased
by 46.9%. The share of locally advanced and advanced forms of breast cancer has decreased. The proportion of Luminal type A (HR+/HER2-)
among newly diagnosed patients ranged from 17.9% to 30%. Chemotherapy and endocrine therapy with goserelin, buserelin, leuprorelin,
and fulvestrant are standard first- and second-line treatments for HR+ breast cancer. Since fulvestrant indications have been expanded, more
than 50% of patients with HR-positive advanced breast cancer receive fulvestrant as the first-line therapy.
Conclusion: Breast cancer incidence growth and a decrease in the share of locally advanced and advanced breast cancer cases in the RK
could be attributed to increased coverage of eligible women aged 40 to 70 with breast cancer mammographic screening. Although international guidelines support the administration of hormone therapy with or without targeted therapy in women with HR-positive, HER2-metastatic breast cancer, upfront use of chemotherapy remains common in the RK even in the absence of visceral crisis. The use of CDK4/6 inhibitor
palbociclib in combination with hormone therapy has become routinely available since 2019.