Theorizing the (Un)Sounded in Sikhī: Anhad, Sabad, and Kīrtan

Listening to sabad kīrtan (sung scriptural verse) is a core, everyday, widespread, and loved worship practice of Sikhs around the globe. Thus, it would be fair to state that sounding is central to Sikh worship. Indeed, the Sikh scripture considers kīrtan to be an eminent mode of devotion. Yet, the ultimate aim of this sonic practice is to sense the “unsounded” vibration—anhad—and thereby the divine and divine ethical virtues. Based on a close reading of Sikh sacred texts and ethnographic research, and drawing on the analytic of transduction, the paper explicates the embodied vibratory dimensions of the (unsounded) anhad and (sounded) sabad kīrtan. It argues that the central purpose of the Sikh (un)sounding perceptual practice is embodied ethical attunement for an unmediated experience of the divine and divine ethical virtues, and thereby the development of an ethical life. At the intersection of music, sound, religious, and philosophical studies, the analysis reveals the centrality of the body in worship and ethical development, and contributes to interdisciplinary conversations on sensory epistemologies in faith traditions.

The Manifestation of the Qur'an in the Ethical Narratives of Imam Muhammad Bāqir (AS)

The infallible imams of Shi'a have a special interest in human values ​​and have repeatedly advised people to adhere to moral virtues. In this study, a collection of ethical narratives of the fifth Imam of Shi'a, Imam Muhammad Bāqir (AS), has been presented, in which verse or verses of the Qur'an have been manifested. These narratives are then analyzed. The verses of the Qur’an have been expressed in the words of Imam Bāqir (AS) in various ways, including: adduce, citation, allusion, adaptation, or expression of instance. This research pursues several goals: First: Understanding how Imam Bāqir (AS) has used the Qur’an in his speech. Second: a detailed understanding of the subject of these narratives and the interpretation of the verses in which they are mentioned; Third: The relationship between the above verses and the narrative text. In the 14 hadiths of Imam Bāqir (AS), about 30 verses of the Qur'an have been manifested which have yielded important results from their analysis. Including: All the Imams in general and Imam Bāqir (AS) in particular, pay great attention to the Quran. And teach people to seek every true idea and belief from the verses of the Qur'an, to question the master and have a scientific debate and controversy, to bring their evidence from the Qur'an as the most important scientific and religious source, and to ignore the word that has no Qur'anic reason, and not to suffice the appearance of Qur'an and pay attention to its hidden meaning. Some of the ethical virtues that Imam Muhammad Bāqir (AS) has explained include: flexibility in accepting the right, believers' dignity, public relations, rationality in public relations, avoiding the vain and futile word, avoiding many questions, avoiding nonsense and slander toward people, avoiding illicit relationships and short-change.

Culture of Corruption in Nigeria

The work examines the culture of corruption in Nigeria: admonishing the citizens in the light of 2Peter 1:3-11. It sees corruption as improper and unlawful conduct intended to secure a benefit for oneself or another and a degradation of human life through the power of sin. It examines the notion that corruption has deeply soaked the fiber of Nigerian people, and as well threatens its nationhood in all ramifications even in religious circle. Apostle Peter in his second Epistle (2Peter 1:3-11) admonishes Christians in particular and the Nigerian citizens as a whole against the culture of corruption, and further recommends the utilisation of the divine resources and cultivation of the basic ethical virtues provided by God as the sure way of escape from corruption.

Les restes humains archéologiques en France : entre objets de science et sujets de droit

Over the past 40 years, the increase in the number of archaeological excavations of large funeral complexes in France has led to a considerable increase in the number of human remains in the State’s excavation sites. These remains are not strictly speaking part of the archaeological material but are instead considered “scientific documentation”. On the one hand, the requirements of science necessitate the mobilization of all available techniques in order to better understand the populations that have left us these traces. On the other hand, material and cultural limitations necessarily lead to sampling techniques being seen as an efficient archaeological system. On the other hand, the mission of general interest that is archaeological research requires particular care be taken with these remains, sparing them from an overly managerial and short-term vision. The ethical virtues of archaeological excellence must not be forgotten; archaeological knowledge must be based on the requirement of scientific rigour. This primary requirement is questioned in particular by the choices made in the management of human remains collections. A second ethical requirement leads to questions about the legal or moral limits of the first. Should scientific rigour be limited in certain cases, particularly when the research involves human remains? Should remains be subject to a specific legal or ethical status that would distinguish them from other elements of archaeological material? This article addresses these questions through the prism of the study of the case of the perfectly preserved body of Louise de Quengo, a 17th century Breton noble discovered in 2014 in Rennes (France).