Islamic Values in Environmental Communication within the Malaysian Media: A Case Study of Utusan Malaysia and Berita Harian

We argue that environmental communication within the Malaysian media landscape is influenced by Islamic beliefs and teachings. Although Islam has a great influence on environmental communication in Malaysia, it is an area underexplored by past studies. We conducted a content analysis on two mainstream Malay media outlets, namely Utusan Malaysia and Berita Harian, for a six-year period (2012-2017) in order to investigate the types of Islamic values which were represented in the environmental articles published by both newspapers. We also conducted interviews with 11 journalists from both newspapers to determine the purpose of using Islamic values in environmental articles. The result of content analysis discovered that tawhid (unity of God) is the most common Islamic value used in Utusan Malaysia’s environmental articles, while in Berita Harian, iman (faith) is the value which most commonly appears. In the interviews, journalists from Utusan Malaysia described that the value of tawhid is used the most in the environmental articles as it is one of the core values in Islam, while the journalists from Berita Harian explained that iman has been used the most as this value is an intrinsic part of the readers’ lives. However, most of the interviewees stated that the main challenge for them came from the need of the journalists themselves to have a great understanding of both Islam and environment. It is hoped that the findings of this study could serve as a reference for future research in the area of Islamic environmental communication. Keywords: Environmental communication, Islam, media, value, Malaysia.

Panini’s Astadhyayi in the Eyes of Plant Invasion on Indian Subcontinent

Indigenous plantlore is a manifestation in a given community, based on adaptation and wisdom of local people and environment. It develops over times and continues so also. This treasure of traditional knowledge is used to sustain the community and its bioculture. In long past, people of great understanding, christalized their wisdom in some treatises such as the Panini’s Astadhyayi. This treatise is understood and well known for the genesis and development of Sanskrit knowledge. Ancient Sanskrit scripts usually contain information concerning culture and sustenance based on plant world. The present author analysed it in view of plant invasion on Indian landmass in Panini’s time. Total 45 exotic plant species belonging to 44 genera and 29 angiospermic families are divulged from it. These belong to nearly all corners of the Old and New Worlds. Majority of them (28 species) are cultigens and still continue even in modern period in India. Of course, rest of them are wild, naturalised and presently constitute integral part of Indian biodiversity. The importance of such ancient treatises is dilated in this communication.

Heavy Metals Accumulation and Health Risk Consumption in Some Vegetables, Isfahan, Iran

: Heavy metals (HM) can enter the human body via food chains or contaminate groundwater resources. The current study aimed to investigate HM contamination in vegetables and its associated health index risk (HIR) in Isfahan, Iran. The lowest amount of HM was observed for Cd and Pb in all vegetables. The highest level of Cadmium content was found in potato (1.153 mg kg-1 dry matter (DM)) and spinach (1.180 mg kg-1 DM). The highest levels of As and Cu were observed in lettuce, while the lowest content of Cu was in the carrot. Moreover, the highest content of N (344.00 mg kg-1 DM) was obtained in spinach. The As and P were higher than standard amounts, and HIR was higher than 1 for these two elements. Heavy metal's HIR through ingestion vegetables were a great concern, and there has been particularly increased attention to As. A great understanding of the ecological effects of HM on soils and vegetables is needed to develop management options.

Chomskyan Theory and Cognition Study Linguistic Cognitive Interdisciplinary approach: نظرية تشومسكي وتفسير القضايا الإدراكية الذهنية: دراسة لسانية إدراكية بينية

Underpinned by contemporary epistemology in conjunction with cognitive science, cognitive psychology and cognitive neuroscience, this interdisciplinary linguistic study titled “Chomskyan Theory and Cognition Study” aims to examine and explain how can Chomskyan Linguistics contributes to understanding of epistemological issues (cognition/mental process) in accordance with his hypothesis’s question: What contribution can the study of language make to our understanding of human nature? To investigate the achievability of Chomsky theory in tackling such issues, this study utilizes essentially the interdisciplinary analytical linguistic method in cooperation with other methods. Eventually, the study has come to multiple findings, most significantly that study of language according to CL not only contributes to understanding of human intelligence and nature; but it is utterly intrinsic in this matter and it provides a great understanding of how we can decode the puzzle of consciousness and its phenomena via explaining the universal principles of human language.

Agostino Agazzari (1578-After 1640): The Theoretical Writings

For Agostino Agazzari, a Sienese noble, to be praised as his merit requires one would need the eloquence of the most famous writers of this century, because in truth his skill in the field of music is as much as [that of] any other [person] described [in this volume]. First in Siena he showed while he was young that the city had nothing to envy elsewhere, [for there was] no performer, no composer more excellent that he, because in playing the organ he was most imaginative and delicate, and in [his] compositions harmonious and lively. Therefore he was rewarded with a place in the Accademia degli Intronati. He then visited Germany, where he became known at the court of the Emperor Matthias, who having discovered his great learning wished to keep him in his service. But desirous of liberty, he did not wish to bind himself with that chain of gold, and returned to Italy, carrying with him a musical instrument never before seen or heard called the pandora, which he played sweetly. He went to Rome, where he was not only maestro of the famous cappella of S Apollinare, but [was] also called one of the first to introduce the concerto style, which he learnt from brief contact with Father Viadana. With regard to his compositions, he left, in addition to numerous manuscripts, twenty-four to twenty-six works printed at various times and in various places, including canzonette, madrigals, motets, masses, psalms in which he showed great [understanding of] counterpoint and harmony. On returning to Siena he was made director of the cappella of the Cathedral, in which post he died recently to the universal sorrow of virtuous men.

Introductory Address

Four years ago, in 1975, we met in Cambridge, England for our first IAU Symposium devoted entirely to binary stars. Most of the talks given there were theoretical, and at the end some of us felt that it would be appropriate to organize yet another Symposium soon, this time oriented more towards observations and their immediate interpretation. This is why we have come together here in Toronto. Four years is not a long interval of time, and few disciplines of astronomy repeat their Symposia on such a short time scale. While the need for another Symposium was clear to the binary stars investigators, it is not so obvious to other colleagues. We must therefore be very grateful to the Executive Committee of the International Astronomical Union for their great understanding of our needs. This understanding went far beyond approving and sponsoring this meeting: We have received a substantial financial assistance, which all went to the support of the travel expenses of some of the participants. Many more travel grants were possible thanks to a most generous support by the University of Toronto. I would like to thank both institutions.

The Mystical Experience: with an Emphasis on Wittgenstein and Zen

Mysticism and the mystical experience seemingly play little or no part in our Western tradition. Certainly there is no mystical tradition in the West such as Zen Buddhism, nor is there any great understanding of or influence from the writings of Heraclitus, Spinoza, or the mystical passages in the early work of Wittgenstein. Mysticism has been generally misunderstood in the West, and it has even evoked the attacks of philosophers and theologians.1 Mysticism to many conjures up images of monks meditating in caves; it is generally pictured as esoteric, otherworldly, irrational, and at best irrelevant to the daily lives of human beings. If what we say below is correct, it will be seen that mysticism is none of these but is rather a singular human experience that lies at the foundations of civilization.