scholarly journals Piety, Authority and “Popular Ijtihad” in the Online Space of Russian Muslims during the Pandemic

2021 ◽  
Vol 39 (1) ◽  
pp. 76-100
Author(s):  
Sofya Ragozina ◽  
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This article examines the first reactions of the Russian Muslim com‑ munity in the social networks to the spread of the coronavirus (mostly February‑May 2020). We turn to the concepts of authority and legitimacy; the ideas of Brian Turner on the performative role of in‑ formation technology for the institution of religious authority; Gary Bunt’s discussion of the democratization of Islamic knowledge in the online environment; Olivier Roy’s concept of individualization of Islam; and Peter Mandaville’s idea of decentralization of power in the Islamic tradition. This study seeks to answer two interrelated questions: who and how reinterprets the category of Islamic piety in the context of the pandemic and to what extent the online environment transforms the Islamic tradition as a whole. Based on textual analysis of individual publications on social networks and interviews with editors of public websites, the common narratives of Russian Muslim discourse on the pandemic were identified as follows: a retaliation against China for the oppression of Muslim Uighurs; the search for the signs of the coming doomsday; various approaches to the reinterpretation of religious piety. We suggest the term “popular” or “spontaneous” ijtihad to describe the variety of individualized strategies stimulated by the crisis. The construction of these strategies would not have been possible without the virtual environment, characterized by the polyarchic community of “online ulema” and the digitalization of religious practices.

Author(s):  
Khagendra Nath Gangai ◽  
Rachna Agrawal

Consumer behavior is a complex phenomenon which is evolving according to the time, situations, demographic characteristics of individuals, personality traits, cultural influences etc. The personality of individuals is a unique dynamic organization of the characteristics of a particular person, physical and psychological, which influence behavior and responses to the social and physical environment. It gives the impression that consumer buying is always influenced by their personality. Therefore, many marketers make use of personality traits in the advertisement of products and at the same time they enhance their marketing strategy. The marketers always designed different products and target specific market segments which commonly addressed on individuals personality traits. The individuals few personality traits influence consumer for impulsive buying behavior. The aim of present research is to study the personality traits influence on consumer impulsive buying behavior as it will help to create opportunities of doing business and dealing with customers. The objectives of this research are: (1) to investigate the influence of personality traits on consumer impulsive buying behavior, and (2) to identify the role of gender and their personality traits influence on consumer impulsive buying behavior. To fulfill the purpose of the study, the researchers randomly collected sample and divided them on the basis of gender, 60 males and 60 females. Data were collected from Delhi and NCR region. The data were analyzed using statistical applications such as correlation and t Test. The result was revealed that the common personality traits have a significant relationship with impulsive buying behavior that is psychoticism in the case of male and female. The role of gender has significant differences in impulsive buying behavior. The man showed more impulsive buying behavior compare to women.


2021 ◽  
pp. 026858092199450
Author(s):  
Nicola Maggini ◽  
Tom Montgomery ◽  
Simone Baglioni

Against the background of crisis and cuts, citizens can express solidarity with groups in various ways. Using novel survey data this article explores the attitudes and behaviours of citizens in their expressions of solidarity with disabled people and in doing so illuminates the differences and similarities across two European contexts: Italy and the UK. The findings reveal pools of solidarity with disabled people across both countries that have on the one hand similar foundations such as the social embeddedness and social trust of citizens, while on the other hand contain some differences, such as the more direct and active nature of solidarity in Italy compared to the UK and the role of religiosity as an important determinant, particularly in Italy. Across both countries the role of ‘deservingness’ was key to understanding solidarity, and the study’s conclusions raise questions about a solidarity embedded by a degree of paternalism and even religious piety.


2015 ◽  
Vol 8 (12) ◽  
pp. 94 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ahmed Abdulrahman Al-Haramlah ◽  
Fawziah Al-Bakr ◽  
Haniah Merza

<p class="apa">This study aimed to detect the common diseases among Saudi women and their relationship with the level of physical activity and some variables. This study was applied to 1233 Saudi woman in different regions of the Kingdom, and adopted to explore the common diseases: obesity, hypertension, diabetes, cholesterol and asthma.</p><p class="apa">The study results showed the existence of a statistically significant relationship between the common diseases among Saudi women and the variables of educational level, the nature of the profession, the social status, the justification of the practice of physical activity, the rate of participation in physical activity per week, the practice of physical activity in relation to asthma and the number of children with regard to obesity.</p><p class="apa">The study provided a number of recommendations including: the need to strengthen the role of culture in promoting physical activity by women, through health education via the health centers in the Kingdom.</p>


Litera ◽  
2021 ◽  
pp. 38-55
Author(s):  
Rivaa Mukhammad Salem Alsalibi

The subject of this research is the specifics, forms and functions of interaction in social media groups between the representatives of ethnic communities. The goal consists in determination of the role of social networks in adaptation of ethnocultural communities of St. Petersburg. The research is based on the polling technique for acquisition of information on the cognitive, emotional, and behavioral state of a person. The survey was conducted via distribution of questionnaires among the representatives of ethnic groups. The article also employs the method of systematic scientific observation over the social media groups, topic raised therein, as well as reading and analysis of the comments. The scientific novelty of this work consists in outlining of the nature, trends and development prospects of cross-cultural communications as the channel for ethnocultural interaction. &nbsp;The main conclusions, which touch upon users from various ethnic communities who do not have enough experience in organization of activity of social media groups, demonstrate that it causes the loss of the sense of security, accumulation of prejudices and escalation of interethnic conflicts, as well as preference of the with restricted access, which contributes to lock down of the group and impedes adaptation in the accepting society. Stabilization of situation can be achieved by improvement of the quality of content posted in the social media, as well as level of their administration.


Author(s):  
William Loader

After a brief overview of the social context and role of marriage and sexuality in Jewish and Greco-Roman cultures, the chapter traces the impact of the Genesis creation narratives, positively and negatively, on how marriage and sexuality were seen both in the present and in depictions of hope for the future. Discussion of pre-marital sex, incest, intermarriage, polygyny, divorce, adultery, and passions follows. It then turns to Jesus’ reported response to divorce, arguing that the prohibition sayings should be read as assuming that sexual intercourse both effects permanent union and severs previous unions, thus making divorce after adultery mandatory, the common understanding and legal requirement in both Jewish and Greco-Roman society of the time. It concludes by noting both the positive appreciation of sex and marriage, grounded in belief that they are God’s creation, and the many dire warnings against sexual wrongdoing, including adulterous attitudes and uncontrolled passions.


Author(s):  
Khalid Abdulkareem Al-Enezi ◽  
Imad Fakhri Taha Al Shaikhli ◽  
Sufyan Salim Mahmood AlDabbagh

<span>This research aims to measure the role of social networks in influencing purchasing decisions among consumers in Kuwait; the research used the quantitative methods, and analytical the technique to get the results, and the research developed a measure to study the relationship between the variables to the study and selection of a sample of consumers of (100). The results indicated that the social networking variables (exchange of information, evaluation of product) possess influence on purchasing decisions. Furthermore, the results indicate that majority of respondents do their digital scanning more often before intend to go to the store. The unexpected results came from the question “traditional advertising (TV, Newspaper, Magazine, Billboards) are more effective than the social networking; 23% agreed, 36% said no, and 41% said sometimes. In light of these findings, the study made a series of recommendations; the most important are; The executives and sales representatives need to understand the benefits offered by social networks, and understand the advantages and functions and tools of social communication, and knowing how to apply them effectively and efficiently, and then use the appropriate social networking tool.</span>


2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (11) ◽  
pp. 1483
Author(s):  
Eyal Levi ◽  
Susanne Fischer ◽  
Hadar Fisher ◽  
Roee Admon ◽  
Sigal Zilcha-Mano

The importance of the role of affect in psychotherapy for major depressive disorder (MDD) is well established, but the common use of self-reported measures may limit our understanding of its underlying mechanisms. A promising predictor of patient affect is the stress hormone cortisol. To date, no studies have studied in-session changes in cortisol in psychotherapy for MDD. We investigated whether an increase in patient cortisol over the course of a session correlated with higher negative and lower positive affect. Given previous findings on healthy individuals on the contagious nature of stress, an additional aim was to examine whether these relationships are moderated by therapist cortisol. To this end, 40 dyads (including 6 therapists) provided saliva samples before and after four pre-specified sessions (616 samples). After each session, the patients provided retrospective reports of in-session affect. We found no association between patient cortisol and affect. However, increases in patient cortisol predicted negative affect when the therapists exhibited decreases in cortisol, and increases in patient cortisol predicted positive affect when the therapists showed increases. Our study provides initial evidence for the importance of the social context in the cortisol–affect relationship in MDD.


2020 ◽  
Vol 20 (2) ◽  
pp. 82-94
Author(s):  
Reza Abedi ◽  
Fatemeh Daneshvar Muhammadzadegan ◽  
Roqayyeh Sadat Hosseini Kerman ◽  
Fatemeh Miri Kolah Kaj

With an ever-increasing development of internet communications, human reactions have interred a new phase. The results of these communications are a most significant matter considered by the sociologists. Using the internet is developing and forms a significant part of individuals` lives. The advantages and disadvantages of this easiness in communicating and traveling through boundaries should be considered. Breaking the norms happened in the light of these reactions should be discussed, also increasing in awareness and availability to information, joining to global information networks and communication is another face of this placeless and timelessness. This contrasting face challenges the position of cyber space in the social communications, a challenge of which there is no escape by the society. In this research it is an attempt to criticize this challenge through criticizing the position of internet and to consider the role of social networks. We suppose that it is not possible to neglect the advantages of virtual space in developing a new level of human occasions but via this method lack of proper awareness in principle using of it results in some problems which should be covered by a proper training and comprehensive informing. Online spaces penetrate in human`s life in an extended way and it is a good opportunity to have good use from social networks as the basic condition. The results of this presence form reaction in individuals which will be considered in the present study.


2018 ◽  
Vol 14 (1) ◽  
pp. 99-109
Author(s):  
Piotr Urbanowicz

Summary In this text, I argue that there are numerous affinities between 19th century messianism and testimonies of UFO sightings, both of which I regarded as forms of secular millennialism. The common denominator for the comparison was Max Weber’s concept of “disenchantment of the world” in the wake of the Industrial Revolution which initiated the era of the dominance of rational thinking and technological progress. However, the period’s counterfactual narratives of enchantment did not repudiate technology as the source of all social and political evil—on the contrary, they variously redefined its function, imagining a possibility of a new world order. In this context, I analysed the social projects put forward by Polish Romantics in the first half of the 19th century, with emphasis on the role of technology as an agent of social change. Similarly, the imaginary technology described by UFO contactees often has a redemptive function and is supposed to bring solution to humanity’s most dangerous problems.


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