scholarly journals Arab Christian Confederations and Muhammad’s Believers: On the Origins of Jihad

Religions ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 12 (9) ◽  
pp. 710
Author(s):  
Marco Demichelis

The meaning and elaboration of Jihad (just-sacred war) hold an important place in Islamic history and thought. On the far side of its spiritual meanings, the term has been historically and previously associated with the Arab Believers’ conquest of the 7th–8th centuries CE. However, the main idea of this contribution is to develop the “sacralization of war” as a relevant facet that was previously elaborated by the Arab Christian (pro-Byzantine) clans of the north of the Arabian Peninsula and the Levant and secondarily by the Arab confederation of Muhammad’s believers. From the beginning of Muhammad’s hijra (622), the interconnection between the Medinan clans that supported the Prophet with those settled in the northwest of the Hijaz is particularly interesting in relation to a couple of aspects: their trade collaboration and the impact of the belligerent attitude of the pro-Byzantine Arab Christian forces in the framing of the early concept of a Jihad. This analysis aimed to clarify the possibility that the early “sacralization of war” in proto-Islamic narrative had a Christian Arab origin related to a previous refinement in the Christian milieu.

2000 ◽  
Vol 151 (12) ◽  
pp. 502-507
Author(s):  
Christian Küchli

Are there any common patterns in the transition processes from traditional and more or less sustainable forest management to exploitative use, which can regularly be observed both in central Europe and in the countries of the South (e.g. India or Indonesia)? Attempts were made with a time-space-model to typify those force fields, in which traditional sustainable forest management is undermined and is then transformed into a modern type of sustainable forest management. Although it is unlikely that the history of the North will become the future of the South, the glimpse into the northern past offers a useful starting point for the understanding of the current situation in the South, which in turn could stimulate the debate on development. For instance, the patterns which stand behind the conflicts on forest use in the Himalayas are very similar to the conflicts in the Alps. In the same way, the impact of socio-economic changes on the environment – key word ‹globalisation› – is often much the same. To recognize comparable patterns can be very valuable because it can act as a stimulant for the search of political, legal and technical solutions adapted to a specific situation. For the global community the realization of the way political-economic alliances work at the head of the ‹globalisationwave›can only signify to carry on trying to find a common language and understanding at the negotiation tables. On the lee side of the destructive breaker it is necessary to conserve and care for what survived. As it was the case in Switzerland these forest islands could once become the germination points for the genesis of a cultural landscape, where close-to-nature managed forests will constitute an essential element.


2019 ◽  
pp. 3-20
Author(s):  
V.N. Leksin

The impact on healthcare organization on the territory of Russian Arctic of unique natural and climatic, demographic, ethnic, settlement and professional factors of influencing the health of population, constantly or temporarily living on this territory is studied. The necessity is substantiated of various forms and resource provision with healthcare services such real and potential patients of Arctic medical institutions, as representatives of indigenous small peoples of the North, workers of mining and metallurgical industry, military personnel, sailors and shift workers. In this connection a correction of a number of All-Russian normative acts is proposed.


2018 ◽  
Vol 68 (suppl 1) ◽  
pp. bjgp18X696929
Author(s):  
Jill Mitchell

BackgroundThere is an emerging debate that general practice in its current format is out-dated and there is a requirement to move to a federated model of provision where groups of Practices come together. The emergence of federations has developed over the past 5 years but the factors that influence how federations develop and the impact of this new model is an under researched area.AimThe study explored the rationale around why a group of independent GP practices opted to pursue an alternative business venture and the benefits that this strategy offered.MethodA single organisational case study of a federation in the North of England was conducted between 2011–2016. Mixed methods data collection included individual and group semi-structured interviews and quantitative surveys.ResultsFederations promote collaborative working, relying on strategic coherence of multiple individual GP practices through a shared vision and common purpose. Findings revealed many complexities in implementing a common strategy across multiple independent businesses. The ability of the federation to gain legitimacy was two dimensional – externally and internally. The venture had mixed successes, but their approach to quality improvement proved innovative and demonstrated outcomes on a population basis. The study identified significant pressures that practices were experiencing and the need to seek alternative ways of working but there was no shared vision or inclination to relinquish individual practice autonomy.ConclusionOrganisational development support is critical to reform General Practice. Whether central funding through the GP Five Year Forward View will achieve the scale of change required is yet to be evidenced.


2019 ◽  
pp. 4-15
Author(s):  
I. A. Korgun ◽  
G. D. Toloraya

The presented study analyzes the opportunities for North Korea to capitalize on its competitive advantages in foreign trade in the context of sanctions.Aim. The study aims to identify mechanisms that allow North Korea to engage in foreign trade in circumvention of UN sanctions and to analyze their impact on the national economy.Tasks. The authors analyze the structure of North Korea’s national economy, its initial competitive advantage, identify the specific features of North Korea’s foreign trade in the context of sanctions, and determine the consequences of illicit trade in circumvention of sanctions for the national economy.Methods. This study uses an interdisciplinary approach that combines the classical theory of competitive advantage with the concept of rent seeking, with the concept of rent seeking and analysis of trade flows.Results. The study shows that, despite the restrictions imposed by sanctions, North Korea strives to make the most of its advantages, such as resource availability and cheap labor, in global trade. The country builds its own export-import chains in circumvention of sanctions. These chains are rather mobile, flexible, and controlled by the elite. As a result, benefits from trade that could be evenly distributed among the population are concentrated in the hands of a narrow segment of society. ‘Rent seeking’ makes it possible to formulate the negative consequences of these processes for the North Korean economy and the international community.Conclusions. Solving the North Korean issue requires an economic transformation in the country through the replacement of restrictive sanctions with more constructive ones. The exclusion of North Korea from open global trade leads to the country’s marginalization and impairs the transparency of international commodity flows.


1995 ◽  
Vol 31 (10) ◽  
pp. 61-71 ◽  
Author(s):  
M. Enell

During the last 20 years there has been an interesting development of the Nordic fish farming, with regard to the feeding and farming technology and to the increase in production quantities. During the period 1974-1994 the production increased from 15,800 to about 250,000 tonnes/year. In 1974 the major part of the production was in Denmark, and in 1994 the major part was in Norway. The nutrient impact of fish farming on surrounding sea areas is mainly a function of the feed coefficient, the feed composition and metabolic processes in the fish. The comprehensive development of the feed composition and the feeding technology has resulted in reduced load of unmetabolized nutrients from fish farms, calculated per tonne fish produced. In 1974 the mean Nordic feed coefficient was 2.08 and in 1994 the coefficient was 1.25. Feed coefficients of 1.0-1.1 are now reported for Danish and Norwegian freshwater and marine fish farms. The nitrogen (N) and phosphorus (P) content of the feed has decreased, in addition the quality of the nutrient substances in the feed has changed, especially for N. The N content has decreased from 7.8 to 6.8% during the period 1974-1994 and the content of P has decreased from 1.7 to 0.7% during the same period. This development of the feed coefficient and the feed composition has resulted in a present load from a typical Nordic fish farm of 55 kg N and 4.8 kg P/t fish produced. The figures for 1974 were 132 kg N and 31 kg P/t fish produced. The Nordic fish farming production in 1994 resulted in a load of about 13,750 t N and about 1,200 t P on the actual recipients. The load from the Swedish, Finnish and Danish fish farming operations, with the Baltic Sea and the Skagerrak as the recipients, is negligible in comparison with other pollution sources. The quantities of N and P from the fish farming are equal to 0.5% of the atmospheric deposition on the sea surface and 3% of the atmospheric P load. Norwegian, Icelandic and the Faroe Islands fish farming operations are using the North Sea and the Norwegian Sea as the recipients. However, the nutrient load from single fish farms in certain coastal and inland water bodies can be significant and must be considered in the impact assessment together with other sources.


Author(s):  
Robert H. Ellison

Prompted by the convulsions of the late eighteenth century and inspired by the expansion of evangelicalism across the North Atlantic world, Protestant Dissenters from the 1790s eagerly subscribed to a millennial vision of a world transformed through missionary activism and religious revival. Voluntary societies proliferated in the early nineteenth century to spread the gospel and transform society at home and overseas. In doing so, they engaged many thousands of converts who felt the call to share their experience of personal conversion with others. Though social respectability and business methods became a notable feature of Victorian Nonconformity, the religious populism of the earlier period did not disappear and religious revival remained a key component of Dissenting experience. The impact of this revitalization was mixed. On the one hand, growth was not sustained in the long term and, to some extent, involvement in interdenominational activity undermined denominational identity; on the other hand, Nonconformists gained a social and political prominence they had not enjoyed since the middle of the seventeenth century and their efforts laid the basis for the twentieth-century explosion of evangelicalism in Africa, Asia, and South America.


2020 ◽  
Vol 8 (4_suppl3) ◽  
pp. 2325967120S0018
Author(s):  
Aaron J. Zynda ◽  
Mathew A. Stokes ◽  
Jane S. Chung ◽  
C. Munro Cullum ◽  
Shane M. Miller

Background: There is limited evidence examining the impact of learning disorders on testing and screening scores used in evaluation following concussion in adolescents. Purpose: To examine differences in clinical measures between adolescents with a history of dyslexia or ADD/ADHD and those without a history of learning disorder (LD) following concussion. Methods: Data were collected from participants enrolled in the North Texas Concussion Network Prospective Registry (ConTex). Participants ages 10-18 who had been diagnosed with a concussion sustained within 30 days of enrollment were included. Participants were separated into three groups based on self-reported prior diagnosis: dyslexia, ADD/ADHD, and no history of LD. Clinical measures from initial presentation were examined, including ImPACT®, King-Devick (KD), SCAT-5 symptom log, Patient Health Questionnaire (PHQ-8), and Generalized Anxiety Disorder (GAD-7) scale. Independent t-test analysis was performed to compare scores between groups. Results: A total of 993 participants were included; 68 with dyslexia, 141 with ADD/ADHD, and 784 with no history of LD. There was no difference in age, sex, time since injury, or history of concussion between the dyslexia group and no LD group. In the ADD/ADHD group, there were significantly more male participants (64.5% and 50.3% respectively, p=0.002). Participants with a history of dyslexia had a significant increase in KD time (63.7 sec vs 56.5 sec, p=0.019). Additionally, ImPACT® testing showed a decrease in visual motor speed (28.87 vs 32.99, p= 0.010). Total symptom score was higher in this group as well (36.22 vs 28.27, p=0.013). In those with a history of ADD/ADHD, multiple domains were found to be significantly different on ImPACT® testing including visual motor speed (30.05), reaction time (0.75), and cognitive efficiency (0.23) when compared to those with no LD (32.99, 0.71, and 0.27 respectively, p=0.004, 0.047, 0.027). KD time was also significantly higher in this group (62.1 sec vs 56.5 sec, p=0.008), as was the total symptom score (32.99 vs 28.27, p=0.043). PHQ-8 and GAD-7 were both significantly higher in the group with ADD/ADHD (5.79 and 5.06 respectively, p=0.001) than those with no LD (4.32 and 3.56, p=0.001). Conclusion: Differences were seen in participants with a history of dyslexia and ADD/ADHD on clinical concussion measures, including ImPACT® and KD testing, SCAT-5 symptom log, and screenings for depression and anxiety. A better understanding of the unique profiles seen in these patients will aid providers in their evaluation and assist as they counsel families regarding their child’s injury.


2019 ◽  
Vol 58 (2) ◽  
pp. 315-337 ◽  
Author(s):  
Thomas Cogswell

AbstractHistorians have not paid close attention to the activities of freebooters operating out of Dunkirk in the late 1620s. This essay corrects that omission by first studying the threat from Dunkirk to England's east coast and then addressing how the central government, counties, and coastal towns responded. A surprisingly rich vein of manuscript material from Great Yarmouth and particularly from the Suffolk fishing community of Aldeburgh informs this case study of the impact of this conflict around the North Sea.


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