toptermpaper.com

In 1981, as a result of a Synod of Bishops specially devoted to further awareness of the (then) current understanding of marriage and the Christian family in the modern world, Pope John Paul II promulgated an apostolic exhortation entitled FamiliarisConsortio (On the family).

The well-known biographer of John Paul II, George Weigel, claims that in private conversations held with the holy father he came to learn that the pope regarded Familiaris Consortio as one of his favorite letters he had ever written as pope to the family of God (Witness to Hope, 385). The document is a wide-ranging and broad one in terms of the sheer breadth of the content covered therein, and it is therefore hardly any wonder that a prominent Catholic encyclopedia should say of the apostolic exhortation that it is one of the most important sources for the theological meaning of the sacrament of Marriage (Stravinskas, Catholic Encyclopedia, 628).

Many writers who have taken this exhortation as their springingpoint to launch into various issues, which are ancillary to marriage per se,have nevertheless been able to employ specific portions of FamiliarisConsortio, owing to its vastness of content. What we will focus on in thefollowing pages is a kind of reception of the document by Catholics (whetherclergy or laypeople) and its teachings over the more than two decades since itspromulgation. There are certainly areas of overlap among those who havecommented on the document, and these ought to be paid attention to in coming toan understanding of an authentically Roman Catholic awareness of the variousaspects of married life among Christians.

Opening Observations Made in Familiaris Consortio

Sectionone of the document expressly opens up the contents and applications of thedocument to a broad audience. It is written for (1) those living in fidelity tothe Church’s extant teachings and practices in the area of matrimony, (2) thosewho have become bewildered by the contemporary challenges encroaching upon thefamily, and even to (3) those who live in unjust unawareness of the freedom andhuman rights guaranteed to them to have all the fullness that marriage mightoffer. In other words, the intended audience of the document is anintrinsically ecumenical one. It is not merely addressing Catholics in goodstanding with the Church, but the holy father reaches his hand out to assisteveryone struggling with the sundry difficulties in contemporary married life.This is significant, since most prior documents, whether Casti Connubiiof Pope Pius XI, Humanae Vitae of Pope Paul VI, or even documents of theSecond Vatican Council, the intended audience has been, if not exclusively,certainly mainly Catholics.

PopeJohn Paul II notes in section six of the exhortation that the situation ofmarriage and the family in contemporary life is an ironic one in the sense thatthere are both commendable advances being made in Western culture and enormoussetbacks. It is not so simple a situation as to claim that Western culture isdoing nothing other than attacking and hindering the family and married life.Some of the good understandings reached by the contemporary Western world arethe following: an appreciation of human freedom for both sexes, a promotion ofeducation and love for children, and a promotion of the dignity of women andresponsible procreation. However, some of the setbacks against the familyshould also be noted. They include the following: the respective freedom of thespouses has been carried to an extreme sense of autonomy, the misconstructionof authority and the handing on of values with respect to the relation ofparents to their children, and the ongoing scourges of abortion, growingdivorce rates, sterilization, and an overall contraceptive mentality. It is forthese reasons and many others besides that the Synod of Bishops met and wishedPope John Paul II to be the primary spokesperson for their conclusions reached.Everything is not well for the contemporary family, and Pope John Paul IIreasons that the family is not merely a part of an overall society(rather, it is the very foundation of all society, as we shall explore later),any attacks on its welfare must not go unanswered. Social injustices toward thefamily must be dealt with directly, and this is a primary reason for theappearance of Familiaris Consortio.

Building on Prior Teaching for Fundamental Precepts

Prior to the appearance of this apostolic exhortation, there hadappeared two very important documents on the nature of marriage and the family.They were the encyclical letter Humanae Vitae and an authoritativedocument coming out of the Vatican II Church Council called Lumen Gentium.Pope John Paul II, as all popes throughout history have done, takes the priorteaching on marriage and the family (especially that seen in the twentiethcentury) as his starting points on which to build. He references several timesthroughout his apostolic exhortation the encyclical Humanae Vitae (HV),especially when the content of his teaching has to do with the most explicitportions of HV on the conjugal act and contraception.

Freedom Versus Autonomy

There appears in this succinct encyclical Humanae Vitae a veryprofound line, which undoubtedly could be expounded upon. In section 21 of theencyclical, Pope Paul VI declares that selfishness is the enemy of true love. This recalls an earlier pointmade in our essay. John Paul II notes the dangerous tendency of contemporaryspouses to exemplify an isolationist and autonomous attitude in marriage (FC,6). In fact, for the problems listed above which are antithetical to marriageand family life, the Pope believes there is one problem most fundamentally thecause of the others. He writes, At the root of these negative phenomena therefrequently lies a corruption of the idea and the experience of freedom,conceived not as a capacity for realizing the truth of God’s plan for marriageand the family, but as an autonomous power of self-affirmation, often againstothers, for one’s own selfish well-being. And if selfishness is thought to bethe enemy of true love, then any spouse acting almost exclusively in his ownself-interest is destructive toward the very bond of his marriage to hisspouse, which bond is love itself.

There is an interesting irony involved in selfish individualismversus a flourishing and mutually reciprocating action of love toward anotheroutside of oneself. Whereas one would suppose that, as is often franklyadmitted, couples will tend to not want to marry because they simply want tocontinue enjoying the other person in the relationship without giving over to aserious commitment (Cf. Barbara Markey, Cohabitation: Response over Reaction).Or, further than this, some married couples will either put off childrenindefinitely or decide to not have them at all for the expressed purpose ofwishing to sexually enjoy the spouse in an uninhibited manner. The strangeconsequence though, as Pope Paul VI noted in Humanae Vitae, is that thiseventually leads to becoming overly self-centered sexually, which eventuates inman (or woman) coming to see the other as a mere instrument of selfishenjoyment and no longer as the desired companion for life (HV, 17).

Cardinal Alfonso Lopez Trujillo notes that the having of a family ina natural and ordered way (such as the Church teaches couple to do) does leadto the exact opposite of selfishness and isolationism in a marriagerelationship. And this is a necessary consequence (as in, it is intrinsic innature itself) of having children. Cardinal Trujillo offers some examples thatit is the nature of family to be other-centered in even the simplest ways. Henotes, Everyone has to help everyone else in thefamily, (FC and the Family, 3). It is simply a matter of beingpractically impossible to be rapped up in oneself in the context of a familywith numerous children. The older children will have to help the younger onesat times (e.g., to put on their shoes before they go outside), and the adultswill constantly have to help all of the children to grow into responsibleadults. It is simply intrinsic to the nature of having a family that one growsto be concerned with the well-being and interests of others around.

In these comments by Cardinal Trujillo there isan explication of the fundamental doctrines expressed in sections 42-43 of Familiaris.In these sections, Pope John Paul II notes that the daily life of a good familyis characterized by sharing and deep communion. The community of a family isthe very answer needed to thwart selfish isolationism. This type ofother-centered communion is seen in various aspects of which the Cardinal haselaborated. For example, the family is guided by an overriding principle offree giving, and this free giving takes the form ofheartfelt acceptance, encounter and dialogue, disinterested availability,generous service and deep solidarity (FC, 43). Children helping youngerchildren whenever there arises a need for such help is a ready example ofdisinterested availability. The older child helps the younger not because he isgaining something for it, but rather because when a child needs help,especially your own sibling, you simply help that child. This also fosters arecognition of the intrinsic value in each individual human being.

Love and Life the Very Foundation of Marriage and Family

In his recent speech Cardinal Alfonso Trujillo agreed with Pope JohnPaul II in seeing the family as that which forms societies. According tothe Pope, the family is society’s foundation, which continually bolsterssociety by being its continual giver of life (FC, 42). Cardinal Trujillonotes that this thinking is in opposition to current worldly sentiment mostreadily embodied by the United Nations in their recent conferences. The generalattitude expressed in these U.N. conferences has been to think that societiesare simply collections of individuals (Familiaris Consortio and theFamily, 3). But, nature seems to argue against this mistaken idea. Societiesare not the ones producing and nurturing and giving the individuals to thesociety. These duties are fulfilled by families, and the individuals producedusually repeat this fundamental cycle of nature by creating their own familiesand producing and nurturing their own offspring.

Underlying the teaching of the family as the ultimate antidote toisolationism, are the two most fundamental realities of marriage: love andlife. The two are hardly mutually exclusive, reasons John Paul II. On thecontrary, conjugal love expressed as it out to be expressed according to thenature of man tends toward the creation of life. Procreation is a naturalfruit of the conjugal act, according to Humanae Vitae. Many thinkerssince have latched on to this fundamental Catholic point, including John PaulII in this exhortation. According to Catholic teaching, man is a hylomorphicunity. That is, he is composed of matter and form, which for man correspond tothe body and soul, which are fundamentally united. That is, what it is to bea human is to be a soul-body unity (FC, 11). But, man is also created inthe image and likeness of God, who is love. It follows that Love is thereforethe fundamental and innate vocation of every human being, (11). In marriage,the love that man longs to express is done so most fundamentally in conjugallove, the mutual and complete self-giving of a man and a woman. So sexualitycould never be seen, on this understanding as something purely physical, norpurely psychological either. It is the whole human who engages in the sexualact, so the act itself is intrinsically physical and spiritual. This is how onecommunicates his or her love for another, by the mutual self-giving in theconjugal act.

However, love is not the only principle intrinsic to conjugal acts.This fact is easily demonstrable by noting that birth control contraceptionamounts to little more than artificial means of birth prevention. But since itis ever thought that this or that birth is needing to be prevented, it must bethe case that there is a natural product of conjugal love. So, Donald Ascireasons, this is the other aspect of Pope John Paul II’s theology of theconjugal act. The body by its very nature in sexuality is fecund – it is opento fertility (The Conjugal Act as a Personal Act, 138). Totalunion occurs with the giving of one’s body and all of its finalities. In maleclimax, a finality is the releasing of semen, in which is contained thepossibility of forming a new human life (if united with the gift of thewoman-the ovum). There is a principle of totality inherent in this reasoning -the giving of one’s total self – his spiritual, physical and (innatelycontained within the physical) his fecundity.

But, if by some various means the conjugal act is not completedaccording to its intrinsic order something like a contradiction takes place,according to Christopher West who cites section 32 of Familiaris Consortio.West argues that one cannot possibly hold that he gives his entire self to theother if at the most important (i.e., climactic) moment of intercourse – thevery moment when the unity between the two ought to be felt most of all – onewithdraws him or herself from the union. Fecund is what adults are bynature. Therefore, when one does such a thing as what West describes, he isengaging in a type of lie – a serious contradictory statement which says, Igive you all of myself except my fertility. I receive all that you are exceptyour fertility, (Good News about Sex and Marriage, 108). Thus, as JohnPaul II reasons in this section of FC cited by West, the innatelanguage of the total and mutual self-giving inherent in the conjugal actbecomes overlaid with a contradictory idea when man acting as the ultimatearbiter of his own being and sexuality decides in a moment to nottotally give of his self (since his whole self includes, as Asci has shownabove, his fecundity as well).

The Essential Tension of Becoming What You Are

The discussion thus far leads naturally to what many later came tosee as a profound and highly important teaching of Familiaris Consortio:Families, you are to become what you are! This passage so often quoted runsthus,

The family findsin the plan of God the Creator and Redeemer not only its identity, what it is,but also its mission, what it can and should do. The role that God calls thefamily to perform in history derives from what the family is: its rolerepresents the dynamic and existential development of what it is. Each familyfinds within itself a summons that cannot be ignored and that specifies bothits dignity and responsibility: family, become what you are” (FamiliarisConsortio, 17).

Of course, such anexhortation is paradoxical at first blush. As David Michael Thomas remarksconcerning this papal principle, This pope is a complex blend of realism andidealism. The tension between the two is not relaxed for a minute (Pope JohnPaul II’s Advice for Families, 7). And Cardinal Trujillo asks, how cansomething become what it is? (7) More specifically, how does a family becomewhat it already is?

Donald Asci has some insight to share on this front. It isessentially a cart-and-horse dilemma. It is not always easy, in terms ofaction, to identify which is the horse that is pulling the cart. The family hasa nature, and it is given this by God. However, it also has a mission, which isalso given by God. These are two dimensions of the same reality: namely, the family(Asci, 126). The family has a static nature, but it also has a dynamic mission,which is to be realized. But the mission is never realized without an alreadyextant family, which has the necessary nature to realize the mission. Nofamily; no mission. However, part of the mission is the having, nurturing, andpromulgating of good families. No fulfillment of mission; no families. It is ascenario of interrelation and reciprocation. Each gives rise to the other.

Ecclesia Domestica

A phrase that first appeared in recent times in the Second VaticanCouncil document Lumen Gentium with reference to the nature of thefamily was that of ecclesia domestica (the domestic church). As DavidMichael Thomas notes, the Council got this phrase from the writings of theChurch fathers, and rightly so since from the very beginnings of the Church ithas always been comprised of those who wished to convert together with all[their] household, as the official Catechism of the Catholic Church states onthis matter (413). The metaphor to describe this in the Catechism is that thefamilies of converts were as little islands of Christianity lived out in apagan world. Leon Suprenant offers the biblical metaphor of the body of Christ(which is the Church, according to St. Paul) being comprised of the littlecells of families. Furthermore, for those Catholics living in fidelity to theteachings of the Church and having children as the natural result of conjugallove, they have as their primary responsibility the education and formation ofthese children according to the Gospel of Christ (The ‘Real Presence’ of theMarriage Bond, 253). Surely, individual parishes in union with the Holy See ofthe Catholic Church contribute to the education and formation of children, butthis is primarily to be done in the home – which is one of the qualities thatmake it the domestic church.

In continuity with all this, Pope John Paul II in FamiliarisConsortio employs the phrase with some frequency and further elaboration. Itis a result of parents begetting in love and for love that they procreate newoffspring, for which they in turn take the responsibility of educating thesenew beings who stand in potential of great growth and development (FC,36). It is their duty, but more to the point of love, it is their solemnprivilege to be able to take the sacred product (i.e., their own child) oftheir mutual love for each other and see its development through to completion.In this way, the parents fulfill their own duty and honor to be the firstevangelizers of their own children in teaching them of the love of Christ.

Concluding Thoughts

As wasstated at the outset of this brief essay, the apostolic exhortation FamiliarisConsortio is a document rich in depth and broad in the topics to which itextends its teaching. However, we have only tried here to give what seem to besome of the most important and widely commented on portions of the text. Itcertainly seems to have had a welcome reception by many of the most well-knowncontemporary Catholic writers on marriage and the family. It also appears tohave filled a void that existed to some extent in the wake of Catholic teachingon conjugal love and marriage prior to the pontificate of Pope John Paul II.One can reasonably expect that future pontificates will continue to focus onthe theology of the body so ably developed by Pope John Paul II in FamiliarisConsortio.

Bibliography

Asci, Donald P. The Conjugal Act as aPersonal Act: A Study of the Catholic Concept of

the ConjugalAct in the Light of Christian Anthropology. SanFrancisco: Ignatius Press, 2002.

Catechism of the Catholic Church, 2d ed. Vatican City: Libreria Editrice Vaticana, 1997.

John Paul II, Pope. The Theology of theBody: Human Love in the Divine Plan. Boston,

Pauline Booksand Media, 1997.

Familiaris Consortio.Vatican Translation. Boston: St. Paul Books, 1982.

Markey, Barbara. Cohabitation: Responseover Reaction. The Priest, November, 2000,

19-24. Availableonline from Catholic Culture.

Thisencyclical in its entirety is contained within a work listed in ourbibliography. The Theology of the Body, which is a compilation ofvarious teachings of Pope John Paul II on marriage and conjugal love, has HumanaeVitae as its first appendix. The reader may freely find the encyclical hereand many places elsewhere (including the Vatican’s official website).

Lanoh is one of the ethnics of Orang Asli original people from Malaysia. Previously, Lanoh used to be nomads but now many of them stay permanently in Hulu Perak,a district of Perak. Lanoh people are officially classified under the Negrito subgroup but in term of the language they use the Temiar language. Most Lanoh are dark-skinned and have frizzy hair. Their features resemble the Papua New Guinean or east African people.

Location

Lanoh as well as other Semang people remained in low-land areas, Near Malay’s settlement. They prefer to live near river valleys, which is the most foot-hills, The low population density of Lanoh people in pre-resettlement time has caused them to spread between a few principle villages and campsites (basically in Perak area. Among their villages are Air Bah, Tawai, and Cenawi village. Last time, the Lanoh villages and camp[s were small, with a population rarely exceeding thirty or thirty-five people. Last time, they were also had a mobile lifestyle but it ended after Malaysia’s independence (1957). On 1993, Air Bah’s status as resettlement village was finalized when a two-storey mosque was elevated to house Muslim proselytizers during their intermittent to the village.

Within the plan of Malay nation state, the Lanoh way of life , like that of Orang Asli , had undergone remarkable changes , many due to land loss, logging, deforestation, new forms of subsistence and commercial activities. Since 1980’s , the Lanoh people were regrouped and permanently resettled ,primarily in the village of Air Bah. They have been struggling to reconcile these changes with their cultural values and customary of life. Their house has Temiar-style structure which is more stable than their Lanoh-style lean-to-shelters . They prefer to stay in those houses compared to the large government-supplied plank houses. The size of the houses does not necessarily reflect people’s status or ethnic affiliation. In term of life style, people in Air Bah prefer to spend time with whom they feel close , not necessarily their conjugal family members.

Beliefs .

Most Lanoh people practice ethnic religion (66%), 33% of them are Muslims and 1% of them are Christians http://www.joshuaproject.net/people-profile.php?peo3=12987&rog3=MY .They have a belief of naturalism:

Plants and animals energize the own spiritually bestowing upon humans

a humbling experience of bondage and love for nature.

They also practice an unwritten law that all of the animals caught in the forest should suffer no pain in captivity. According to people in Air Bah, a ‘shaman’ is a person who can teach the young people stories and good things about Lanoh. Previously, Lanoh shamans also believed to posses invaluable powers such as they could talk to elephants, the guardian father of the Lanoh, and as guide people in spiritual roads.

Marriage and family

For Lanoh people, they don’t restrict marriage between ethnics or subgroups and they are more linear. They get to choose their own partner and their parents will not interfere in their relationship. If a couple are living together, they are consider married. There is no wedding celebration, but the bride will just have to give some presents to the bride groom and his in laws. Only young couples get divorce and usually, the Lanoh people do not get divorce if they already have a child. They belief that after labor, a woman cannot touch the ground for two weeks and salt cannot be added into their food for two to three months after labor. They also cannot consume oily food.

Death

When someone died, the chief of the village and nearest family members will be told about the news. After the dead body is cleaned, for women, they will put on their jewelries such as ring, necklace and bracelets. Then the dead body will be wrapped in a clean new cloth and then wrapped in a mat. The same procedure applies to a man’s body except they are wrapped without jewelries. At the cemetery, a 2 meters hole will be digged and the dead body will be buried with their belongings. Then two sticks will be placed on their grave to represent where is the head and where is the legs. At the head part, relatives will light a fire so that wild animals wont come near the grave. If the husband died, the wife cannot wears make up for 7 days.

KENSUI TRIBE

At the edge of the Baling district area, there is an indigenous settlement known as the Perkampungan Orang Asli Lubok Legong. It is located at the Mukim Siong, 13 km from Pekan Baling and 188 km from Bandaraya Alor Setar. This settlement is own by the indigenous people of the Kensiu tribe. Based on the Jabatan Hal Ehwal Orang Asli (2003) information, this settlement is the only one available for the indigenous people of the Kensui tribe, this is the sole Negrito exist in Kedah and generally the peninsular of Malaysia. Due to their resemblance to the Negro in Africa, they are classified as the Negrito.

History

Based on the research done by Dr. Iskandar Carey (1970), from his visit to the Perkampungan Orang Asli in Kampung Lalang around 1968 and 1969, the Kensui tribe has their own settlement. Even though the early history had stated that they lived in norm. This tribe was said to have the smallest number of people compared to the other orang asli tribes in Malaysia. There were also said to be the oldest tribe.Basically the Kensui tribe was said to have family relations at Kampung Rai, Yala, Thailand.While based on the facts, the Kensui people orinigated from Kuala Kedau and Ulu Legong. During the Japanese invasion to Tanah Melayu between 1941 and 1942, the Kensui tribe had escaped all around the Baling district mostly to the Parit Panjang, Kampung Bendang Man di Sik, Kampung Sg. Celak and Kampung Tiak di Kupang, Baling. Nowadays, settlements have been build by the government which is the Perkampungan Orang Asli Kampung Lubuk Legong. The Kensui tribe has been residencing there since 1957 at the No 3623 lot which was offered in the year 1958 as the Rezab Orang Asli with an area of 428 acres.

According to M.W. Tweedie, a historian had stated in his book “Pre-History”, those who live in the peninsular which are known as the Negrito had existed since 8000 BC living in caves and hunting animals. During the Palaeolithic and Mesolithic period around 5000 BC, Kedah was used to be inhabited by the Austronesia which became the ancestors of the Negrito, Sakai and the other tribes. It’s hard to describe the physical characteristics of the Negrito due to their division into 4 subgroups of the Kensui tribe known as Mos, Nakil (atau Dalem), Hetot and Tanjen. Overall they have fine-small curly hairs, dark in colour skin and average height of 5 feet below, they have wide iris similar to the West African and most of them are similar to the New Guinea indigenous, Papuans.

The identity of the Kensui tribe can solely be described by their culture, material and their life style. They show little to none agricultural practise. This may be due to their origin as one of the fully nomadic indigenous people. Their culture includes the practice of nose piercing and residence build for temporary shelter from the weather and wind. The Kensui tribe moves from one place to another for hunting and scavenging food as well as forest materials. They would move to another place if they found that the area is no longer productive.

Work arrangements

For the adults of the Kensui tribe, rubber tapping is one of their daily routine. The Projek Getah Mini Estet Fasa 1 dan 2 conducted through RISDA was a success for them. The society gained interest of RM200.00 per month for each family. But there are still among them that are unable to perform the work. Besides that, The Kensui tribe are still practice scavenging forest material to be sold to the outside society and for their own usage. They also have skills producing various handcrafts form the forest materials. Some of the people also work as labour in farms.

The society of the indigenous people from the Kampung Lubuk Legong are under the supervision of the pentadbiran Jabatan Hal Ehwal Orang Asli (JHEOA) Perak dan Kedah operating in Ipoh, Perak. While at district level, it is under the pentadbiran Pejabat Hal Ehwal Orang Asli Daerah Hulu Perak dan Baling operating in Grik, Perak. In every village, a leader was appointed as the ‘penghulu’ among themselves to hold the responsibility of governing the village and a Jawatankuasa Kemajuan Kampung (JKKK) was established to help the government. For now, the title ‘penghulu’ is hold by Encik Rosman Bin Isa. He is the fourth appointed ‘penghulu’.

Education level

The education levels among the Kensui tribe are extremely low compared to the other indigenous tribes. The numbers of educated people are too little. According to the ‘penghulu’ of the tribe, the year 2005 has been a history to them for one of them had successfully graduated from a form 1 level education which was the highest level of education until now.

Marriage customs and family institutions

The life concept which prioritised equality and similarity reflects from the whole life style of the society. Most of the Kensui societies in the settlement have a close relation with each other. There are only two people that had married a Malay woman from the ‘Kampung Baru’ and one had married an Indonesian. Those who are Islam in the Kensui tribe gets married based on the ‘syariat’ and the law of the Islamic family.

Their marriages were conducted by the religion officer from the Jabatan Agama Islam Negeri Kedah. While for those who are practising animism, their marriages are based on their believes. There are no ceremonies held for the marriage. When a man reaches a time of age where he would like to be married, he just need to get the approval of the women he wants to marry without needing the blessing of both of her parents. If the woman agrees, the man would send her materials in the form of cloth, knife and tobacco to the woman’s father as a sign that the marriage was on. Later on they would live together as a sign they have married. In the family system of the Kensui society, the family relations are bilateral meaning that it is based on the decent of both parents based on the men’s generation

There are still abstinence ban practices until now in the family institution of the Kensui society, such as bride is not allowed to interact with the groom and vice versa. The groom is also forbid to interact with the mother-in-law, while the male and the female relatives which are not married are forbidden to interact with their sister and brother-in-laws, nor to speak of their names. They would use an intermediate for any interactions required with the father and the in-laws. Marriages between people of the same tribe are normal but there are some that had married with the Temiar tribe from Perak. Most of the Kensui people are Muslim, 163 of them had convert to Islam while 80 of them remains with animism. They have their own tradisional cultural performance know as the ‘Sewang’ dance. During the performance, they would wear clothing made out of plants a head ornament made out of coconut leaves.

Social organisation

The traditional life of the Kensui combines five to six families forming a group. In most cases, all of the family members in a settlement or a camp have close family relations or cognate tribe. Each of the group is led by the oldest member, but he does not have any specific title, one of the leaders will be chosen based on the age, experience and knowledge in faith healing care and mysticism factor. The chief will have the power to make decision such as where so set camp and the time to move but it is still subject based on the view and advice from the member that he is leading.

Generally the concept of having a leader is less stressed in the society at group level, they are more concentrate on egalitarian and solidarity. The important element in a social organisation is the family nucleus consisting of husband, wife and child. The settlements for the Negrito are called the “kumpulan tabir angin” where the society would live under a roof as a momentary shelter. They babies would be would cradle in turns during the moving, with every group consisting a husband, wife and child but only the little ones can stay with them. For boys who are older than 7 years old will have a separate shelter not far from their parents, as for the girls will live in the same shelter with their parents but separated by a bond fire between their beds. All of the decision which are made falls under the father’s decision for he is the head of the family

The social organisation of the Kensui tribe in Baling has changed a lot. They have live in kampung Lubuk Lenggong for a long time that the nomad life style has been less practised nowadays. This is due to the existence of a permanent settlement build by JHEOA and supervised by the entire agency. The organisation has also changed, replaced by a settlement unit under the leadership of a ‘penghulu’. The ‘penghulu’ still has his authority to maintain their traditions, but the mode of his appointment has changed based on 2 categories which are descendent and election

The basic requirement for a ‘penghulu’ is that he should be able to read and write the allowance given to the ‘penghulu’ is based on categories which are A, B and C. these categories are based on the development of the members in the academic and so on.

Beliefs

The Kensui people believe are the same as the other Negritos, a large number of them still holds on to their traditional believes. This believes promotes the importance of ‘Tok Batin’, ‘Karei’ and ‘Menoi’ as beings with a ultimate power. The symbol of this power has an eternal nature and it is also regarded as the existence of a supernatural power or a living soul known as the “orang hidup” or the human that lives forever. The symbol of power and the depletion of power between human and those that live forever are called Cenoi. Cenoi tapn has been regarded as the same level with god or sultan. Cenoi Tapn has the characteristics of a mawas (tawo). The top part of his body is young while the bottom part is old. Cenoi Tapn was said to control the life of the Kensui society and that his anger would be conveyed through thunder and lightning (Kaei). This system was preserved and controlled by the authority known as the Halak, which plays a part as the intermediate between the Kensui people with the one that holds the ultimate power in their believes.

Halak also plays a role in the traditional medicine practice. Both system of medicine and religion consist of ceremony known as the panoh, which involves dancing and singing. Another ritual conducted for the same purpose is called sawan, which also combines singing and dancing in the process. The obedience to both of the system is also reflected through the respect, taboos, values and norms of society. The Halak also known as the ‘Tok pawang’ are believed to be able to enter the spirit world by making themselves high. ‘Tok pawang’ was believed to be able to connect with the ‘Chinoi’ and sometimes becomes the intermediate for help in their agriculture. But nowadays, almost half of the Kensui society has convert to Islam.

Language

The Kensui have their own language to communicate. But nowadays Malaysian language has been the language used among them. Almost all of the Kensui people are able to speak in Bahasa Malaysia. Even though the old folks are still rusty in speaking in Malaysian language they do understand the language. There are also small children that are unable to speak in their original language due to the mix marriage and the interaction with the outsiders. Some of them can also speak in Thai language. For those that ave relationship with the Temiar tribe they can also speak their language. Burenhult (2001) states that the commonly inherited words of Kensiu would include basic semantic categories including body parts, certain animal and plant terms, natural phenomena like ‘fire’, ‘stone’, ‘water’, basic activities and states like ‘die’, ‘eat’, ‘stand’, ‘walk’, basic qualities such as ‘big’, ‘small’ , personal pronouns such as ‘I’ and ‘you’ etc. Some of the native Kensiu words for jungle, hill, water tree, leaf and fruits are ‘kaheb’, ‘laheb’, ‘betiu’, ‘tom ihuk’, ‘helik’ and ‘kebek’ respectively. The Kensiu also have rich and diverse lexical items associated with their natural environment particularly, the flora and the fauna. Some of them include ‘awei’ (rattan), ‘ihuk peng’ (gaharu), ‘sieh’ (betel leaves), ‘peyang’ (tapioca), ’emet’ (tiger), ‘pelik’ (bats), ‘ikop’ (snake), ‘kensen’ (fox), ‘jelong’ (flies), ‘nguak’ (butterflies) and ‘awai’ (tortoise), just to name a few. Among the exotic animals caught by the Kensius include the protected species, the Malayan Pengolin, Kensiu term, ‘mantei’. They are normally exchanged for cash to the local Chinese in the nearby town. Known for their aphrodisiac property, they usually fetch a good price.

Malay loan words

Beside those commonly inherited words of flora and fauna, there is also evidence to suggest substantial borrowing of words from Malay language. The findings of this study show that Kensiu language has a high number of lexical items that have been borrowed from Malay. Out of 255 lexical items given to the respondents in the study, 149 (58.4%) of the elicited lexical items were Malay loan words. In addition to this, there are also extensive Kensiu words which are code mixed with Malay words e.g. ‘kutip kebek’ (kutip buah), ‘kumpul awei’ (kumpul rotan), ‘tom bungak’ (pokok bunga), ‘bilik betew’ (bilik air).

The findings of the study also reveal that lexical items that are associated with modern living and technologies are all Malay borrowings. They include ‘pensil’ (pencil), ‘radio’ (radio), ‘telefon bimbit’ (hand phone), ‘bas’ (bas), ‘doktor’ (doctor). This extensive Malay borrowing suggests their ongoing interaction with Malay speakers. It should be mentioned here that the Kensiu community in this study are in constant interaction with the Malays as their settlement area in Lubuk Legong is in close proximity with the Malay villages.

SEMAI TRIBE
Background

The Malay Island had been inhabited by human that were known as Austronesian or Malay-Polynesia around 5000 years ago according to the historical researchers. They were said to have originated from South of China and Taiwan. Their migration to south was done starting from the Philippines heading towards the Indonesian Islanad until the edge of the mainland Asia, Pacificislands and Madagascar.

The Semai are a semi sedentary people living in the center of the Malay Peninsula in Southeast Asia , known especially for their nonviolence. The Semai is one of the tribes that belong to the Senoi ethnic group. It is thought that the Semai are the remnants of the original, ancient and widespread population of Southeast Asia. According to Keene State College’s Orang Asli Archive, in 1991 there were 26,627 Semai living on the Malay Peninsula. Northwest Pahang and south Perak, Selangor, Negri Sembilan, central mountain area. This number has increased in recent years with the advent of better nutrition as well as improved sanitation and healthcare practices. These numbers, however, does not include other peoples of Semai or mixed descent, most of whom have assimilated into other cultures and have abandoned their ancestral tribal lands in order to seek better employment and education opportunities, especially in the larger cities.

Language

The Semai people speak Semai language, an Austro-Asiatic language belonging to the Mon-Khmer language family. But most of Semai people in Malaysia have knowledge of Malay language and they can speak well in Malay. Semai people are very tolerant person and they did not force other people to do things that they do not like it. For example, the word ‘Bood’ has a very interesting meaning. It means “not feeling like doing something, for any reason, for example, sickness, shyness or laziness”. If it is translated into today’s language, it is simply one of our fundamental rights, ‘the right to say no!’. The children of Semai are taught the concept of ‘bood’ from an early age. If a parent asks a child to do something and the child replies “I bood”, in other words, “I don’t feel like doing”, the matter is closed. The parents would not force their children to do something that they do not want to do.

The Semai’s children

Spirituality and beliefs

Most of Semai people are animist but but a large minority profess Christianity. They are still gripped by their old beliefs. The Semai’s main festival is the Genggulang. It is a festive ritual to appease land spirits for a good harvest where the people worship the rice spirit. In this ritual, the spirit is offered with sacrificial chickens, flowers, and unhusked rice. Nowadays, the festival has lost much of its religious meaning, as it has become more of a cultural event similar to the way Chinese celebrate Lunar New Year or Westerners celebrate Christmas.

Besides that, Chuntah is another festive ritual that is performed to make the evil spirits leave.

Chuntah is performed in the middle of a storm where a man collects rain in a bamboo container until it is full, he then gashes his skin and lets the blood run into the container. The Semai usually have restrictions on eating animals that straddle two groups. Snakes are usually not eaten because moving menhar (animals that lives on the or in the trees) have legs, but snakes live on land, so the Semai consider this “unnatural”.

CULTURE
Marriage

The day of their marriage, there are several things that the bride and the grooms need to do, which are :

-both of them need to ‘berinai’ at their own houses.

-the grooms needs to cut their hair

-both of them needs to take a bath with a water that contains a few slices of lemon that have been spell for a good reason.

After that the bride and the groom will wear their beautiful wedding dress in their respective houses. The bride will be wearing the wedding dress that have been given by the groom which are called ‘salin tiga’ dress.

Because they have been bath with spiritual lemon water, there are a few orders that mst be followed by both of them ,

-in a duration of 3 days they are not allowed to leave their village because they might be disturbed by the evil spirits.

-in a duration of 7 days also they are not allowed to leave their village for the same reason.

C:UsersfarhanDocumentsstudysem 2H.Eru_01.2.jpg

The bride

Birth

When the wife is pregnant, there are a few things that both of the parents must not do to protect the baby and to get a healthy babies.

-They can’t get close to animals that they believe can harm the baby such as tortoise, monkeys, and snakes.

-The father’s family members are not allowed to installing or nailing any part in the house.

-They are not allowed to be near to death people.

-Not allowed to eat venison, pork and partridge meat.

To determine the date of the baby will be born and the health of the baby, the mother will meet the village midwife. The midwife will be the responsible person to stay with the mother until the baby are born. After the baby had born, the mother will abstain for a month. In confinement, the mother are not allowed to eat vegetables, fish without scales , fish that are venomous, chillies, cooking oil, coconut cold water except coffee and warm water. The mothers are only being served or only eat rice with grilled fish or fish that are cooked without oil. They are also not allowed to take a bath with cold water. They can only bath in river after the confinement but need to have a talisman. The ingredients needed for the talisman are a few of small stones, flour and turmeric. The half of the turmeric need to be chew by the mother and spit in the river while the small stones will be seeding in upstream and downstream of the river. Then the mother can take a bath in the river.

Death

When there is a death in the village, all the members of the village will gather around the house of the person who had died and stop their other work because they are afraid that the spirit of the person will get angry. The body will be buried the next day, so at night all the villagers will stand guard at the house of the person who died until morning to make sure that the bad spirit will not bother the dead person. Flame will be lit around the house to chase away bad spirit that cause the dead of the person. The children will be given talisman by smudging charcoal on both of their eyebrows or on both of their sole.

Before the body was buried, it will be wash and wrapped with a new cloth or white cloth then with a mats and it will be buried into a grave of one meter deep. Before overlain, 3 clod of soil that have mix with charcoal will be placed on both of the ears and at the chest of the dead man. It is to cut off the ties between the dead man and his family. If it is not done, they believe that the family of the dead man will fall sick and eventually die. After being buried, a crafted wooden block is placed on the grave as marker then food, water and cigarettes that have been light up are paced on the grave for 6 days. On the sixth day, the crafted wood that were place on the grave is burnt to show that the spirit of the death person has gone to another world. It is then replace by tombstone and one of the family members will hold the tombstone and speak out the death person name to wake up his spirit to fete the food and drinks that have been placed on the grave.

Home and taboos

There are 4 different kinds of houses that the Semai people have in one village, which are :

Yeau Home (Deg Yeau)

Ran Home (Deg Ran)

Bunch of Banana Home (Deg Pisang Sesikat)

Ordinary Home

Furthermore, for Semai people there are a few taboos that they should follow to make sure that they are not being harm by the bad spirits or the Nyanik (demons) and to have a peaceful life.

MAH MERI TRIBE

The Mah Meri is one of the 18 groups named by the Malaysian government “Orang Asli”

living in West Malaysia. They are of the Senoi subgroup. Most of the members of the Mah Meri tribe live along the coast of South Selangor from Sungei Pelek up to Pulau Carey, although there is at least one Mah Meri Community on the other side of the Klang River. According to the Orang Asli Office of the Malaysian government, they numbered around 2200 in 2005.Most of the Mah Meri live in small villages (kampungs) on the fringes of other cities and on Pulau Carey, which has five separate villages of Mah Meri. There is no information on their origin, but the Mah Meri tribe claims to have walked the earth for as long as one can remember. They live in the states of Selangor, Negeri Sembilan, Malacca, and Johor. The Mah Meri language, sometimes also called Besisi is one of the Mon-Khmer language groups but has also borrowed from Malay.

Mah Meri Villages

Name of Villages

The Nearest Town

Kampung Orang Asli Bukit Bangkong

Sungei Pelek

Kampung Orang Asli Tg Sepat

Kampung Orang Asli Sungei Kurau

Pulau Carey

Kampung Orang Asli Sungei Judah

Pulau Carey

Kampung Orang Asli Sungei Bumbun

Pulau Carey

C:UsersFaizDesktopmah meriimages (2).jpgC:UsersFaizDesktopmah meriZA (34).jpgC:UsersFaizDesktopmah meriimages (1).jpg

Lifestyle

Living in small wooden houses set in harmony with the surrounding forces of nature, the Mah Meri prefer to remain “forest people.” Hence in their villages, life seems relatively untouched by modern progress. They are known for their woodcarving skills, yet their economic activity remains rooted in agriculture and fishing. They resist employment outside of their community.

The Mah Meri are soft-spoken and trusting with a propensity to laugh in the face of adversity. While the adults carry out their daily economic activities, the children often ride their father’s bicycles and play their favorite games with sticks, seeds, and other objects. Surprisingly, the Mah Meri community has managed to preserve a tradition of spiritual woodcarving that is truly world class in terms of quality of its craft and artistry. The art, which has rich mythological meanings behind the images and symbols, is handed down from father to son. As not many people seem interested in such animistic carvings, the young Mah Meri do not see it as a profitable trade.

C:UsersFaizDesktopmah meriimages.jpg
Religion

Primary religion : Ethnic religion

Major Religions: C:UsersFaizDesktopmah meriimages (3).jpg

Buddhism

0.00 %

Christianity

0.00 %

(Evangelical: 0.00 %)

Ethnic Religions

67.00 %

Hinduism

0.00 %

Islam

33.00 %

Non-Religious

0.00 %

Other / Small

0.00 %

Marriage

Mah Meri also inquire charity ceremony, engagement and wedding as the Malay community. The difference is only maintained their customary ceremonial demon exorcisms in its own way, as well as ritual held to inform the ancestors that their grandchildren will hold their wedding ceremony. The event was considered important to ensure that the marriage ceremony is safe, secure, blessed and happy until the children and grandchildren.

In the suit, ‘Tok Batin’ will see the groom preparations to carry to the proposal such as gold rings, cosmetics, kidney stone bowl and requirements such as mortar and other ceremonial. The bride undergoes sharpening teeth. Sharpen the teeth is considered an important custom made. Use of black cloth as a marker placed on the tooth to be sharpened tooth spacing. Ring will be used to sharpen teeth flat and then smoked. This aims to make the prospective bride is always radiant and prevent tetanus during the wedding ceremony.

Mah Meri play traditional Aboriginal musical instrument to celebrate the bride on marriage. However, the desire of the men would like to have a girl of his choice will be disqualified even if the proposal and the wedding day is set, if the expenses for the purpose of the event is not sufficient. If only in the past three months, the men failed to provide a tight, self agreement is considered void and the groom are doing fraud against ‘Tok Batin’.

As with any other kind of ethnic wedding, they are also making preparations to provide the dais. They will decorate the dais cooperate by putting various patterns woven palm leaves and brightly colored flowers in every corner stage. Touch use palm leaves used by indigenous peoples Mah Meri quarter of uniqueness and difference is displayed with other indigenous tribes in the country. At the ceremony, the wedding ceremony begins with the groom shaman leads a group of girls together turn circles around the bride and smoked nets covered with incense. Ceremony was to cast out demons and avoid bad things. Rotation seven times and on the last lap, the groom should get the bride and flower turns.

When the wedding ceremony, a ritual performed as a symbolic coin toss to determine the direction of freedom bride living in the household. During ‘makan beradab’, monitoring will ensure the bride eat and ended simultaneously so that they live a happy and long lasting household coped. If one of the bride in advance of their meal, it is believed that the commission will invite accidents in the household in the f

This term paper was titled Ethics from Islamic Perspective which is including a morale and akhlaq. This paper was conducted because to give awareness about the important of ethics in Islamic perspective. Suitable with the papers aim’s whereas to give some of information and knowledge from an Islamic perspective about the ethics which is in moral and akhlaq aspect. The paper is sufficient to give the reader a feel for its potential to encourage further research in the area of resolving ethical issues, specifically for those who are calling for universal ethical theories to avoid moral imperialism. The Islamic perspective of the ethics concept should be refers based on the Holy Qur’an from the God and Ahadith of Prophet Muhammad. The ethics concept it must be generally and not too bias for others. The findings of this paper, it can be as a discussion, it is because the Islamic Work Ethics has economic as well as moral and akhlaq dimensions.

Keyword: Islamic perspective, ethics, Islamic Work Ethics, moral and akhlaq

INTRODUCTION

This paper was discuss about the ethics concept from the Islamic perspective, so it should be construct an axiom system that faithfully reflects the Islamic view of ethics. The axiom system here is means by a proposition that either not proved or demonstrated but considered undeniable, or subject to a decision, so, the truth is assumed and became the starting point for concluded to the truth to another.This is an essential first step in determining the rules of economic behaviour in an Islamic society. The Islamic view of life processes is uniquenot only for its predominant emphasis on ethical norms, but also because of its being “complete”. However, to turn it into an operational tool of scientific analysis, an ethical philosophy must be reduced to a set of axioms, which is respect to Islamically valid rules of social and economic behaviour.

1.1 The Concept of Ethics, Moral and Akhlaq

The concept of ethics, moral and akhlaq it can be in various point of view from many resources of our readings. Ethical behavior is an order based on a value system of a particular society. More ethics associated with science or philosophy, because it is the standard of good and bad it is human intellect. When compared with the morals, the ethics more theoretical while the moral is the practical. Moral more local or special nature and the ethical is more to general.

There is many term that use by philosophers in order to give a meaning of akhlaq. But, we can conclude it, akhlaq is much related with the moral and ethics so much so have a opinion that stated akhlak is mean by moral and ethics. Put simply on that, Akhlaq is refers to the nature habits that owned on each individuals. It is includes behavior or nature owned by natural as feeling irritable, quick to laugh, irritability and so on. Also includes in this definition, a person belonging habits through training, education, discipline and fitness to be a flesh and blood character and good familiarity to someone. In addition, akhlaq is more refers to our natural habits.

A while ago, in the western tradition, morals studies has long been exists and spread out before the birth of Islam and it known as ‘ethics’ or ‘moral’ knowledge. In aspect of etymology, the term of ‘ethics’ and ‘moral’ have a same meaning and also refers to the same field of study.

In briefly, ‘moral’ is derived from the Latin word, meanwhile the word ‘ethics’ is derived from the Greek word. The both of term are related with the practical activities relating to behavior, customs, lifestyles, ways of thinking, freedom and the tendency of a person in engaging in an activity. On the other hand, the term of akhlaq was presented by the Muslim that based on the al-Quran and al-Sunah. On Islamic perspective, the ethics and moral was different from the point of conception, objectives and resources, it is called as Akhlaq.

1.2 Current related issues

Ethics is usually defined by a written code of ethics. In the Middle East not many organizations and professions have written codes of ethics (Mudawanat Alsuluk) and violation is the norm rather than exception (AMAN, 2006). Behaviors that conform to those written codes of ethics are considered ethical and whatever violates the written standards is considered unethical.

From that situation, it can be simply, people are not too concern about all this matter, when they talk about ethics, they usually do not remind about the moral and akhlaq. This is because, they are set their mind, the term of ethics just use in the business or information technology such as computer accessibility. As a Muslim, they should also think about that moral and akhlaq.

In addition, the new code ethics was create, which is the Islamic Work Ethics (IWE). This philosophy was create to orientation that shapes and influences the involvement and participation of believers in the workplace. It implies that work is a virtue in light of a person’s needs, and is a necessity for establishing equilibrium in one’s individual and social life (Nasr, 1984). IWE views work as a means to further self-interest economically, socially and psychologically, to sustain social prestige, to advance societal welfare and reaffirm faith. The concept has its origin in the Quran and the sayings and practice of the Prophet Mohammed.

METHODOLOGY

In completing this term paper, the secondary literatures are used to enable in depth understanding of ethics from the Islamic perspective with the moral and akhlaq concept. The secondary resources which is from readings on a book and the web pages, so the major instrument that has been used is literature review. Based on the reading, this topic has many references in a Malay writing, but there is no problem on that, after read in Malay and understand the content, the term paper writing has been continued.

By reviewing the literature, all the information will be paraphrased based on the understanding. The reference to literature review that has been used is article journal about the Islamic ethics that can be obtained from the online journal databases access.

Another method applied for finishing this term paper is data collection from the web page and it is just for back up information if there any lack of data collection. Approach that had been used in completing this term paper is understands from the readings and reviewing from the materials obtained and understand it.

DEFINITIONS AND CONCEPTS OF ETHICS FROM ISLAMIC PERSPECTIVE: MORAL AND AKHLAQ

There are various definitions of ethics, moral and akhlaq. The various definitions are produced from various reading materials, such as book and article journal, so there is many opinions from the philosophers. Ethich from Islamic perspective are more concern to the religion behavior, code and ethics.

Islam is supposed to be a complete way of life. A Muslim is bound by Islamic rules and hence is obliged to follow the instructions as prescribed in the Quran and Hadiths. Islam is a religion based upon the surrender to God (Allah). The very name of the religion, al-Islam in Arabic, means submission and peace, for it is in submitting to God’s will that human beings gain peace in their lives in this world and in the hereafter. Islam is considered to be a comprehensive religion and its ethical system is considered to be one of the major ethical systems. Realize about the importance of establishing an ethical system in the all fields, especially at our present time which is witnessing an ever increasing ethical problems, several specialist organizations have prepared codes of ethics to be complied with by members of those organizations.

By generally, in Islam, ethics have two dimensions; first ethics toward Allah, the creator. A Muslim has to believe in Allah and has to worship Him. The second is ethics toward others; a Muslim business person has to deal ethically with others by maintaining good treatment and good relationship. This paper is of vital importance because people do not know sometimes what is ethical unless they study ethics. Ethics provide an essential foundation for business transactions (Cherrington and Cherrington, 1995, p. 1). They are essential for organizational effectiveness and are necessary for interpersonal relations.

3.1 Definition and Concept of Ethics

Ethics is defined as a branch of philosophy that deals withmoral behavior. Morality refers to whether something is right or wrong, good or bad. Although morality is a complex concept, it can be defined in terms of both means and ends. Means is the process which occurs, while Ends refers to the consequences (Cherrington and Cherrington, 1995, p. 2). Ethics may also be defined as:

[. . .] a systematic inquiry into the beliefs we have and the management we make about what is morally right or wrong and morally good or evil. It is an inquiry that attempts to answer the following questions: What kinds of conduct are morally right or wrong? And what things are good and what things are evil?

(Cherrington and Cherrington, 1995, p. 2)

Ethics is also defined as the code of moral principles that sets standards of good or bad, or right or wrong behavior (Schemerhorn, 2008, p. 32). Ethical behavior is what is accepted as good and right as opposed to “bad” or wrong in the context of the governing moral code.

Islamic ethics is defined as the code of moral principles that are prescribed by the Quran and Sunnah (Hadith or sayings of Prophet Mohammad). Islamic ethics is based on rational methods as well as revelation. Revelation provides the truth which rational methods lead to understanding and appreciation of truth. Hence, Islamic ethics is based on tawheed, or unity principle, which determines the unique relationship between God and man; man and man; and man and his environment (Alhabshi, 1993, p. 83). Within the Islamic culture, the term that is mostly associated with ethics is referred to in the Holy Qur’an as Khouloq (Beekun, 2004, p. 2). Allah in the Quran has described Prophet Mohammad as a Prophet of good ethics.

3.2 Definition and Concept of Moral

According to Peter Baelz (1977), morals and ethics often have the same meaning. However, is very useful if we could distinguish between the both of them, even though we often failed to make such a difference. While the N. Capaldi, E. Kelly and L.E. Navia (1981) stated that. In form of etymology, the English words ‘ethical’ and ‘moral’ is exactly same. Because of that, the study of ethics and moral actually just one and it is a same.

The moral issues are practical issues, but not all belong to the practical issues in the field of ethics. It is because, moral more specifically examine the good and bad, right wrong and how individual should act in a particular situation. Therefore, moral was refers to disciplines knowledge that investigate the various about the human behavioral. Such as the opinion that written by J.L. Mackie (1971):

aˆ¦moral and ethics can analyze the once action whether that is right or wrong; it is can provide a clear line of distinction about acts and of an internal disposition, whether good or bad; or at least, be able to develop a knowledge of ethics guidelines that can be adopted to make various moral of judgments.

3.2 Definition and Concept of Akhlaq

According to Mohd. Nasir Omar, (2010) on his book, Akhlaq is refers to the nature, habits, customs, familiarity, values aˆ‹aˆ‹and lifestyle of the individual or group of individuals. In fact, belief system or religion by a person also often included under the definition of akhlaq by many researchers. It is because of religion greatly influenced the thinking and lifestyle of the individual (Ibn Manzur t.t II: 1244-1248 and Jamil Saliba 1971, I: 49).

While according to Ibn Miskawayh (1966), akhlaq is refers to the situation that forms in a human and it is function as a executive power that was directed that individuals by doing all his habits. Many philosopher was agreed with that statement that akhlaq related with the disposition that create in a person (al-nafs/soul) of a human. Spiritual dimension of the situation is very important because it is the cause of all acts done by humans.

Therefore, akhlaq is does not refer to the act of good or bad done by a person, but to someone spiritual dimension pressing to do an act, whether good or bad. Akhlaq is located in the interior of human’s soul and in the meanwhile, the act are refers to the exterior is made aˆ‹aˆ‹from morality. Hence, a good moral will of course realize that good deeds and vice versa.

PRINCIPLES OF ISLAMIC BUSINESS ETHICS

According to Hanafy and Salam (1995), classified ethical principles of Islam into six categories, which is: truthfulness, trust, sincerity, brotherhood, science and knowledge and justice.

Principles of Islamic Business Ethics
Justice
Science and knowledge
Brotherhood
Sincerity
Trust
Truthfulness

In order to get a pleasure from the Almighty, as a Muslim, it is should be followed this six principle of Islamic ethics by doing all the business or activities in their daily life.

TRUTHFULNESS: Truthfulness is a basic ethical value of Islam and the meaning of Islam itself is, in a way, the other name of truth. There is no scope for cheating, telling lies, swearing too much, and providing false advertising in the Islamic framework of business.

TRUST: Trust is another fundamental ethical principle of Islam and the essence of the trust is the sense of acountability, which is the sense of having to appear before Allah S.W.T and to account for one’s action. All the activities were conducted well in no case harm or damage the society or the environment.

SINCERITY: Islam attaches great importance to the sincerity of intentions and actions in every walk of life. For example such as ethical code results in more efficiency as well as a high rate of productivity. Sincerity also discourages manipulation or exploitation of others for personal reasons.

BROTHERHOOD: Islam declares all human beings are brothers to each other wihout the distinctions of race, colour, tribe, caste and language of an individual or group. Everyone is entitled to an ethically right behavior irrespective of distinctions of caste, creed, race, or territory.

SCIENCE AND KNOWLEDGE: Islam makes it obligatory for Muslims to seek knowledge and obtain excellence in performance. Research and development is highly encouraged in Islam. It such concern about science and knowledge in the Islamic code of ethics has been highly fruitful for Islamic civilisation in the past.

JUSTICE: Justice is undoubtedly a prerequisite of business and trade as it encompasses the entire whole series of human life. The whole universe is based on the concept of justice and balance.justice here means that every one should be treated as he or she deserves, without any undue pressure or discrimination.

CHALLENGES IN ENCOURAGING ISLAMIC ETHICAL BEHAVIORS AMONG INFORMATION / INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY PERSONNEL

Muslims’ unethical behavior is influenced by several factors, such as stage of formal development, personal values and personality, family influence, peer influenceand so on.

The challenges in Encouraging Islamic Ethical Behaviors Among Information / Information Technology Personnel
CHALLENGES
EXPLANATION

Stage of moral development

The lunatic, the sleeper and the child before puberty not responsible for their behavior.

Personal value and personality

One who stresses honesty will behave differently from those who do not respect others’ rights. The locus of control also affects individual ethical behavior (Robbins and Coulter, 2005, p. 112).

Family influence

The home is the place to start being a good Muslim. Children are likely to be ethical if they see their parents and other members of the family consistently adhere to high standards. In Islam, it is easier for a parent to teach his kids what is right (halal ) and what is wrong (haram) than to teach them rules and principles of good conduct and behavior.

Peer influence

Children are influenced by actions of their peers with whom they interact. Islam urges people to be very selective of peers as they have very big influence on companions. This coincides with the Arabic proverb “Birds of a feather flock together” or “A person is known by the company he keeps”.

Life influence

Key events like taking part in Alhajj (pilgrimage to Mecca) for example has a positive impact on Individual behavior. As the Qur’an states: “Whoever goes to Hajj comes back from his journey innocent and pure and white as of the day of birth”.

Situational challenges

It is the situation that sometimes makes one behave unethically, as the only way out. For example, a secretary may lie when answering a phone as the only way to turn away a client. She may simply lie by saying that the manager is not in the office while he is in fact in. On many occasions, the researcher has observed many Muslim secretaries quit their jobs simply to avoid being forced to tell such lies. However, lying is acceptable in Islam under three conditions: first, in wars; second, to solve conflicts between people; third, husband lying to his wife or vice versa for the sake of getting closer to each other and saving the marriage, e.g. saying “I love you” while it is the opposite (Hadith), or “you are the most beautiful woman in the world”. All this is meant to strengthen the ties between couples.

Societal challenges

People try to conceal unethical behavior and always justify their actions as being ethical in order to please members of society. In Muslim cultures, society places a heavy pressure on individuals to practice wasta, so a manager may have to deviate from the rules and regulations of the business in order to please a cousin, a friend or a neighbor. On one hand, wasta is considered as ethical and legal, e.g. in solving conflicts, while on the other hand, it can be viewed as illegal and unacceptable when it is used to override established laws and traditions, e.g. in obtaining favors like jobs.

In Muslim cultures, a business person is more concerned about what others might think of his decision than what he thinks himself.

Table 1: The challenges in Encouraging Islamic Ethical Behaviors Among Information / Information Technology Personnel

(Source: Abuznaid, 1990)

GUIDELINES TO ADDRESS THE CHALLENGES IN ENCOURAGING ISLAMIC ETHICAL BEHAVIORS AMONG INFORMATION / INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY PERSONNEL

In Islam, Allah emphasizes the following ethical guidelines as being outlined in the Holy Qur’an. These guidelines govern the Islamic code of ethics relating to a person’s daily life and business dealings. Muslims are required at all times to behave islamically because Allah himself is watching their practices. In response to these challenges, several guidelines are proposed as follows:

Be patient. Islamic business people should not get angry and should not be irritated (Holy Quran, XXV:63) and (Holy Qur’an, III:134).

Be fair and just. A Muslim business person has to be fair and just in all his dealings. He has to be fair with his employees; he has to give fair wages and has to be fair and kind with animals when slaughtering them (Holy Quran, II:278-279).

Be humble. Being humble is the opposite of being arrogant. Being humble is a great characteristic of Muslims. Business people should be humble and down to earth (Holy Qur’an, XXVI:215).

Be complacent. Being complacent is another characteristic of a Muslim. Muslim business people should be satisfied with what Allah has allocated them. To Muslims complacency is not the enemy of progress as the West views it.

Be generous. Being generous is the opposite of being stingy. Alkareem is in fact one of Allah’s magnificent names meaning being generous. Alkaram (generosity) is another characteristic of the Muslim business people. They should be generous in giving money and goods to the needy. Islam urges people to give legal alms or obligatory charity (Az-Zakat). Az-Zakat is an ordinance prescribed by Islamic law. Social responsibility is another important principle in management practices. Sadaqat (donations), not obligatory, are very much urged in the Holy Qur’an (Holy Qur’an, LVI:77) and (Holy Qur’an, XLIV:17,26).

Be dignified. A business person in Islam should not indulge in investments that are not Halal. Halal is the opposite of Haram. Halal is ethical while haram is unethical. Examples of haram earnings for a Muslim include trading in alcohol,

Be trustful (Al Amaneh). Being trustful means giving rights to others. For example, if you borrow some money from someone, you are supposed to return it at the agreed time at no interest. A good loan with no interest is an example of Islamic financial dealings (Alkird Al hasan) (Holy Qur’an, XL32) and (Holy Qur’an, IV:58).

Be friendly. Muslims should be friendly and united at all times. No discrimination exists among Muslims, regardless of nationality, gender or color. The only difference between Muslims should be on the basis of piety (Holy Qur’an, XLIX: 10, 13).

Be equitable. Equity is the opposite of injustice. A Muslim manager should be equitable. In Islam people should be treated fairly and with equity.

Do not be involved in fraud. A Muslim business person should treat others the same way he himself would like to be treated (Holy Qur’an, XVI: 90, IV: 58).

Do not bribe. The practice of all kinds of bribes is forbidden in Islam (Holy Qur’an, II: 188). However, there should be differentiation between sadakat (donations), gifts, and bribes. Gifts are encouraged in Islam because they help gain friendship. The prophet encourages the use of gifts saying “Give more gifts so you be better liked” (Hadith). Bribes on the other hand are unethical. Bribes are used to influence decisions. There are two kinds of bribes: the “lubrication” bribe and the “white mail” bribe. The white mail bribe generally involves an elaborate system for concealing the use of large sums of corporate cash. This type of bribe is used to buy influence in high places (Abuznaid, 1990, p. 319).

From these key guidelines principles of ethics, we can conclude that Islam is a religion of high-moral standards. Muslim business people are urged in Al Qur’an and Al Sunnah to follow certain principles and guidelines.

(Source: Abuznaid, 2009)

CONCLUSION

As stated above, the main purpose of this term paper is to discuss the meaning of ethics from an Islamic perspective. The research has defined Islamic management ethics as those guidelines and principles that are prescribed by the Holy Qur’an and sunnah (hadith). The paper has give explanation on the major determinants of individual ethical behavior in Islam and pinpointed based on the moral and akhlaq. Besides that, the paper has outlined some of the ethical principles which is the principles of Islamic business ethics. This paper has also discussed the challenges in encouraging Islamic ethical behaviors among information / information technology personnel. It further helps non-Muslim people become more aware of management ethics in an Islamic environment by giving them a better understanding of the subject, thus making it easier for them to carry out all the activities in an Islamic culture. However, it must be stated that there is not one united form of applied Islamic teachings among different Muslim countries. It is widely known that Middle Eastern countries have become more active in the global market place by applied their ethics. Moreover, this paper has outlined major commonalities between Islam and other religions on the subject of ethics from the Islamic perspective. Although this paper has presented the concept of ethics from Islamic perspective, hope all the Muslim are together applied all the ethics that are based on the al-Quran and al-Sunah to be an excellent humans. Therefore, it is the duty of all researchers interested in this issue to develop this knowledge. May Allah gives guidance in this new endeavour.

REFERENCES
8.1 Book

Dr Muhammad Sharif Chaundry. (2006). Social and Moral Code of Islam. Batu Caves, Selangor: Masterpiece Publication Sdn. Bhd.

Khaliq Ahmad. (2007). Management from Islamic Perspective: Principles and Practices. Kuala Lumpur: International Islamic University Malaysia Press.

Mohd Nasir Omar. (2010). Falsafah Akhlak. Bangi, Selangor: Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia.

Syed Nawab Haider Naqvi. (1990). Etika dan Ekonomi: Satu Sintesis Islam. Kuala Lumpur: Berita Publishing Sdn. Bhd.

8.2 Article Journal

Muhammad Arham. (2010). Islamic Perspective on Marketing. The Journal of Islamic Marketing, Vol. 1 Iss: 2 pp, 149-164.

Salam Abdallah. (2010). Islamic Ethics: An Exposotion for Resolving ICT Ethical Dilemmas. The Journal of Information, Communication & Ethics in Society, Vol. 8 Iss: 3 pp, 289-301.

Samir Ahmad Abuznaid. (2009). Business Ethics in Islam: The Glaring Gap in Practice. The International Journal of Islamic and Middle Eastern Finance and Management, Vol. 2 Iss: 4 pp, 278-288.

ENZYME IMMUNOASSAYS (EIA)Enzyme immunoassay (EIA)
INTRODUCTION

Enzyme immunoassay (EIA) or enzyme linked immunosorbant assay (ELISA) is a powerful technique used for detecting and quantifying antigens and antibodies in clinical samples. It is widely used in clinical laboratories for diagnoses, prognoses and for monitoring immune responses.

The aim of this essay is to summarise the principle of this technique and to outline the main types of enzyme linked immunosorbant assay (ELISA) and its application in clinical laboratories. Subsequently, it will discuss the application of this system in the haematology field.

PRINCIPLES

The general principle of this technique is based on the binding of conjugated enzyme molecule with specific antibodies to detect and quantify the presence of either antigens or antibodies in the test sample. This is followed by adding appropriate colourless substrate which catalyses the interaction complex to produce a visible coloured product. There are many chromogenic substrates used in ELISA technique but the most common are alkaline phosphatase (AP) and horseradish peroxidase (HRP). The end product can be determined by using spectrophotometer and the intensity of colour is directly proportional to the presence of either antigens or antibodies in the test samples.

TYPES

There are several types of ELISA which include: indirect, sandwich, competitive, chemiluminescence and elispot assay. Indirect ELISA can be used to detect the antibodies that are present in patient’s serum. With this method, patient’s serum containing antibodies is added to the microtitre wells which are coated with the antigen and the intensity of the end colour product is directly proportional to the amount of antibodies that are present in the patient’s sample. (KUBY) Figure1. Illustrate the different types of ELISA to detect either antigen or antibody.

The second type of enzyme linked immunosorbant assay is called sandwich ELISA, in which the target antigen that is to be detected must be located between two antibodies. The antigen of interest that is present in the clinical sample is added to a microtitre wells which is coated with the antibody and the end product is determined by spectrophotometer to measure the amount of antigen in the clinical sample.(DIAGNOSTIC MICRO. BOOK) Figure1.

The development of biotechnology has become widespread and one example of its progress is the modification of ELISA by using chemiluminescence substrate rather than chromogenic substrate to increase the sensitivity of the reaction. With this method, chemilumescence (CL) substrate and some enhancing agents, which have the ability to bind an antibody or antigen in the reaction, are used to create light emissions which can be measured by specific spectrometry. This approach has been used to diagnose several types of tumour disease, and quantify numerous compounds at low concentration (Baeyens et al. 1998).

Another example of ELISA modification is enzyme linked immunospot (ELISPOT) assay. It is a quantitative technique often used to detect cytokines that are secreted from single cell in response to the antigen. During the incubation period, the cytokines of interest is released and captured by immobilised anti-cytokines on the microtitre plate. After washing them and adding labelled anti-cytokines antibody and substrate, the end colour product displays as a “footprint” around each of the secreting cells, which can be estimated. This technique has great potential for monitoring immune responses (Cox, Ferrari and Janetzki 2006). In addition, sensitive ELISPOT assay has the ability to detect low level of secreted IFN-? compared with other IFN-? assays (Lion et al. 2009).

APPLICATION

There are many applications of enzyme immunoassays in clinical laboratories and the largest application is related to the detections of viruses. For example, the screening and diagnosis of hepatitis virus is routinely used in the lab. These include the detection of HBsAg and HBeAg by direct ELISA, anti-HBc antibody and anti-HBe antibody by competitive ELISA and anti-HBs antibody by indirect ELISA (Tsitsilonis et al. 2004).What is more, ELISA can detect HCV antibodies in serum samples as screening tests and the positive samples are conformed by molecular HCV RNA (Erensoy 2001).

The beneficial effect of using an enzyme immunoassay in clinical hematology is that it has the ability to identify alloantibodies in patients who frequently receive platelet transfusions for therapeutic purposes. It has been demonstrated that ELISA is more sensitive to the detection of alloantibodies than other immunoassays, such as lymphocytotoxic test (LCT) and the platelet immunofluorescence test (PIFT), and it is performed in a short period of time (Levin et al. 2003). Furthermore, enzyme immunoassays are able to detect anti-platelet antibodies, platelet associated IgG (PAIgG) , HLA and circulating antibodies in patients with Idiopathic thrombocytopenic purpura (ITP) (Schiffer and Young 1983).

There are several pieces of evidence which suggest that a ubiquitous herpes virus, in particular Epstein-Barr virus (EBV), is implicated in many types of lymphoma such as Hodgkin’s disease and Burkitt’s lymphoma, so the early detection of EBV antigen specific T cells is essential and therefore ELISPOT assay can be used to analyse T cell responses (Yang et al. 2000).

Another of its feature is related to acquired von Willebrand syndrome, which is caused by autoantibodies against von Willebrand factor (vWF). This plays an essential role in hemostasis and is characterised by prolonged bleeding due to the defect in vWF activity. Detection of anti-vWF antibody can be performed by ELISA (Mohri 2003), and (Stewart et al. 1997) mention that competitive ELISA is a useful technique in the detection of anti-vWFA antibodies in a clinical samples.

Despite the benefits of ELISA in the detection of HLA class I specific antibodies, it is less sensitive than flow cytometry, so before platelet transplantation, flow cytometry must be used (Worthington et al. 2001). Although chemiluminescence immunoassay has great sensitivity in detecting HBsAg in blood donor samples, it has less sensitivity than the polymerase chain reaction (PCR)(Sato et al. 2001), so to increase the safety of blood from HIV-1 , HCV, and HBV, the nucleic acid amplification technique (NAT) has been applied for the screening of blood donor samples (Weber, Muhlbacher and Melchior 2005).

CONCLUSION

Enzyme Immunoassay is one of the most significant techniques to have been used in clinical laboratories to analyse the antigen-antibody reaction in a short period of time. It is sensitive to screening a large number of clinical samples and therefore has been applied in many clinical laboratories for diagnoses, prognoses and for monitoring immune responses.

REFRENCES

BAEYENS, W. R. G., et al. (1998). Chemiluminescence-based detection: Principles and analytical applications in flowing streams and in immunoassays. Journal of pharmaceutical and biomedical analysis, 17 (6-7), 941-953.

COX, Josephine H., FERRARI, Guido and JANETZKI, Sylvia (2006). Measurement of cytokine release at the single cell level using the ELISPOT assay. Methods, 38 (4), 274-282.

ERENSOY, Selda (2001). Diagnosis of hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection and laboratory monitoring of its therapy. Journal of clinical virology, 21 (3), 271-281.

LEVIN, M. D., et al. (2003). Screening for alloantibodies in the serum of patients receiving platelet transfusions: A comparison of the ELISA, lymphocytotoxicity, and the indirect immunofluorescence method. Transfusion, 43 (1), 72-77.

LION, E., et al. (2009). Quantification of IFN-? produced by human purified NK cells following tumor cell stimulation: Comparison of three IFN-? assays. Journal of immunological methods, 350 (1-2), 89-96.

MOHRI, H. (2003). Acquired von willebrand syndrome: Its pathophysiology, laboratory features and management. [online]. Journal of thrombosis and thrombolysis, 15 (3), 141-149.

SATO, S., et al. (2001). Comparison of the sensitivity of NAT using pooled donor samples for HBV and that of a serologic HBsAg assay. Transfusion, 41 (9), 1107-1113.

SCHIFFER, CA and YOUNG, V. (1983). Detection of platelet antibodies using a micro-enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA). [online]. Blood, 61 (2), 311.

STEWART, M. W., et al. (1997). vWf inhibitor detection by competitive ELISA. Journal of immunological methods, 200 (1-2), 113-119.

TSITSILONIS, Ourania E., et al. (2004). Serological detection of hepatitis B viral infection by a panel of solid-phase enzyme-linked immunosorbent assays (ELISA). Journal of pharmaceutical and biomedical analysis, 34 (4), 811-822.

WEBER, Bernard, MUHLBACHER, Annelies and MELCHIOR, Walter (2005). Detection of an acute asymptomatic HBsAg negative hepatitis B virus infection in a blood donor by HBV DNA testing. Journal of clinical virology, 32 (1), 67-70.

WORTHINGTON, J. E., et al. (2001). A comparison of enzyme-linked immunoabsorbent assays and flow cytometry techniques for the detection of HLA specific antibodies. Human immunology, 62 (10), 1178-1184.

YANG, J., et al. (2000). Application of the ELISPOT assay to the characterization of CD8(+) responses to epstein-barr virus antigens. Blood, 95 (1), 241-248.

Here is the good news for today from today’s gospel A word of great encouragement and hope. Hope is the unique signature of the Christian gospel. What makes a Christian a Christian is this inability to quit hoping. A new gift from God is at work on our behalf, at all times in all circumstances.

The crowds had pressed Jesus right up to the edge of the water at the Sea of Galilee to hear the Word of God. There he came upon three defeated men. They had fished all night and had only an empty boat to show for their efforts. They had worked hard but had failed. It was a terrible, horrible, a very bad day.

There is a short story called about a young man who had just signed for his favourite football club, at his first football game, he beats three men before scoring from 25 yards. His teammates looked at him with awe. His coach said, “You’re going to have quite a future around here.” His girlfriend awarded him with a kiss after the game. This young man Shaw has the feeling that life is completely satisfying and rewarding.

But nothing in the rest of his life ever lives up to that day again. His football experience is equally disappointing. His marriage sours. The pain of failure is even greater because he remembers thinking on a perfect day many years before that life would always be that pleasant, satisfying and rewarding.

Life does not stand still. There isn’t a once-for-all experience. It was Winston Churchill who said, “Success is never final. Failure is never fatal. It is courage that counts.”

There are going to be bad days. Sometimes we are going to fall on our respective faces. These failures don’t have to be endings. They can be the avenue to experience God’s grace more widely and more deeply.

Jesus of Nazareth gets into the boat with the three defeated men. He sat down and taught the people from the boat. When he had ceased teaching, he said to Simon, “Put out into the deep and let down your nets for a catch.” Put out into the deep our lives are often fenced in by low expectations. The worst sin is to aim too low.

We have to learn to make room for God.” We calculate and estimate, and say that this and that will happen, and we forget to make room for God to come as he chooses Expect him to come, but do not expect him only in a certain way. At any moment he may break in Always be in a state of expectancy, and leave room for God to come as he likes.

Life is anything but predictable! Human nature is not fixed and settled. We live under hope. That hope is rested in God, not the situation.

At the outset Simon is reluctant — “We toiled all night and took nothing!” The words of a person who has already made the effort and failed. Why should he want to put himself in the position of failing again? How useless this all seemed.

Many times quitting is the easiest thing to do once the challenge has lost its glamour in tedious endurance. But to his credit, Simon was willing to take the risk. “at your word I will let down the nets,” he replied.

To their utter amazement, there was churning of the waters as the nets were drawn up, with all the silver bellies flip-flopping in the air and spraying foam everywhere. There was such a catch that they had to signal the men in the other boat to come and help them. Now both boats were loaded with fish.

No matter how many times a person has failed there is always the chance that the next attempt will succeed. “Victory belongs to the most persevering,” said Napoleon.

I can’t explain it but I know there are powerful kinds of good that can come into a life of a person who continues to trust, and love, and holds on.

Simon Peter saw beyond the miracle. He realizes the holiness of the One in his boat. He gets a glimpse of the power and knowledge of Christ. He falls before Jesus saying, “Depart from me, for I am a sinful man, 0 Lord.”

Now, we come to the real meaning of the story. There’s more to life than “full nets.” One can have full nets and still have an empty life.

Jesus said to Simon, “Do not be afraid; henceforth you will be catching men.” When they brought their boats to the land, they left everything and followed Jesus.

You and I have been put on this earth for a more important purpose

In Jesus Christ, God loves more than we can mess up. He wants us to return that love. The same power that caused Simon to fall at Jesus’ feet lifts him into God’s service. What a lesson!

Three defeated men moved from empty nets to a full life by the power of Jesus Christ. Jesus invites you to follow him. When you say yes to that invitation, you, too, will discover how much he has to offer. Launch out into the deep and let down your nets and follow me. You’ll be amazed at what God will do.

Eid Ul Adha is a Muslim festival that basically marks the end of Hajj or Pilgrimage to Makkah. This Eid is also known as the Eid of sacrifice, and it basically commemorates the faith of Abraham and devotion to Allah. According to the Belief of the Muslims, Allah asked Abraham to sacrifice his son for Allah’s sake, and even though he was a good man and loved his son very much, his devotion and faith to God was so strong that he did not hesitate to take this bold step and agreed to sacrifice his son (Huda, 2011). The willingness of Abraham to sacrifice his son for the sake of Allah caused Allah to spare his son’s life, and therefore a lamb was sacrificed in his place. This was a miracle of Allah and it proved that he has command over all things and the known and the unknown. It is because of this holy incident in the History of Islam that the Muslims now celebrate Eid ul Adha every year to earn Allah’s blessings and forgiveness.

Eid ul Adha is a sacred Muslim event that is celebrated every year around the world with sacrifice, prayer and food. Eid Ul Adha is also known as the greater Eid and it is the second most important festival in Islam. Eid ul Adha takes place in the month of hajj on the 10th of Zil hajj after all the pilgrims to Makkah have performed the obligatory events.

In the United States and Canada many Muslims gather and offer the morning prayers at a mosque or in an open environment instead of eating breakfast. After the morning prayers people gather with their family and friends and they enjoy being together. In Egypt EId-ul-Adha is celebrated by offering morning prayers and enjoying the feast. The morning prayers and the sermon are an important element and Muslim tradition around during this Eid holiday. The people meet with each other like that in USA in order to celebrate socialize and enjoy this historic day in Egypt. The people also offer sacrifices in the form of Goat, Lamb, Camel and Cow. The meet from the sacrifice is then distributed among the poor people in the form of charity.

Eid Ul Adha is celebrated as a four day event in Pakistan. All the stores are closed on the day of Eid and like that in other countries Muslims gather for the prayers and listen to the sermon in the mosque. And it is celebrated in the same fashion in the countries like Morocco and Bangladesh. All these countries are Muslim dominated societies. For the Non-Muslim countries there are no national holidays and the Eid Al adha is celebrated with some limitations. However it is a fundamental festival of Islam and a time of happiness for all the Muslims around the world.

The Prophet (PBUH) said, “For every people there is a feast and this is our feast.” [Sahih Bukhari]
Why do Muslims sacrifice an animal on this day?

During the celebrations of Eid Ul Adha the Muslims as discussed earlier remember the trials and hardships faced by the prophet Abraham. The slaughtering of animals in the remembrance of this holy event has been a very misunderstood concept around the world outside the faith of Islam (Rabbani, 2010). Allah has given us power and has permitted us to eat meat, but only in if we slaughter them in the name of Allah. Muslims slaughter the animals in the same way throughout the year. By calling the name of Allah in the time of slaughter reminds us that the life that we are taking is sacred.

The meat from the sacrifice is mostly given away to others. Normally one-third of the meat from sacrifice is eaten by the immediate family members and relatives, one third is usually kept for friends and the rest is donated to the poor. Some people have been known to donate a lot of money to the poor in the name of Allah to earn Allah’s blessings. The act also portrays a clear example in which we just give up things that are dear to us in the way of Allah just to follow his command. This act also promotes brotherhood in the Muslim society. This act also refreshes our faith in Allah and we recognize that all the blessings come from Allah Alone.

It is very important to understand that sacrifice offered by the Muslims on the day of Eid has nothing to do with washing ourselves from sins. This is basically a misunderstanding created by those of previous generations. The stance of Allah is very clear, and it is said in the Book of Quran

“It is neither their meat nor their blood that reaches Allah; it is your piety that reaches Him.” (Qur’an 22:37)

http://t0.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcTtjdCJvm_9M3HdBafKarJaMV2mn5lcOOOd7RNasNT5iKPm3mtHeg

This depicts that Allah has nothing to do with the meat and blood of animals that we sacrifice on the day of Eid. It is just the piety of the Muslims offering the sacrifice that is observed by Allah. The symbolism lies in the attitude. Sacrifice basically infers a willingness to make sacrifices in our lives in order to stay on the true and straight path. A true Muslim which has a firm belief in Allah tries to follow all his commands sincerely and obediently. It is the purity of faith, the strength of heart, and a willing obedience that our lord requires from us.

The lessons learned of the way of Prophet Abraham where he was about to slaughter his son in utter submission, until at the last moment when Allah sent a Goat instead of his son are various.

Complete submission to the command of Allah, out of thankfulness, slave hood and love. On this holy day Muslims slaughter an animal whose meat is distributed among the family, friends, and the poor and needy, and prayers are performed by going early.

Realizing one’s blessings and thanking Allah for them. Muslims are also encouraged to wear their best cloths, distribute gifts among family and friends and celebrate Eid with family, friends and the neighbors with love.

Remembering the Plight of poor and giving charity. On this Holy day it is mostly encouraged to provide charity as it promotes brotherhood and provides an opportunity to for earning the blessings of Allah.

THE PRAYER FOR EID AL ADHA

The prayer for Eid Al adha is wajib and consists of two rakats with additional takbirs (Muslimah, 2011). The logic behind these Eid prayers is to thank Allah for his infinite blessings.

Prior to the Eid prayer there is a Khutba, and it is necessary to listen to the khutba.

In the first rakat of the Eid prayer, one performs 3 additional takbirs after the opening takbir and before reciting the fatiha. One should raise his hands for each takbir like the opening takbir.

In the second rakat again 3 additional takbirs are offered after reciting the Fatiha and the surah. All the takbirs are like the first rakat except the third takbir, after which one goes into a normal takbir for going into ruku.

In this way the Prayer for the Eid al Adha is completed and people greet each and every one with the blessings of this Holy day. Praying this prayer is not compulsory but is an essential part of this blessed day. One gets a lot of blessings from Allah after performing these additional prayers.

http://www.huda.tv/images/stories/adha2.gif

THE SUNNAS OF THE DAY OF EID

The Sunnahs of the day of Eid include:

To adorn oneself according to the shariah law by:

Performing Ghusl.

Brushing one’s teeth, using a miswak if possible

Applying perfume

Wearing the best clothes that one possesses and white colored cloths are preferred.

To wake up early for preparing for the sunnahs to be performed on this day

To reach the place of prayer early

To delay eating until after the prayer of Eid al Adha

To walk when reasonably possible without any kind of hardship.

To give the takbirs of Eid.

To return from Eid prayer taking a different route from the one that a person takes while reaching the place of prayer as established by the prophet’s practice (PBUH)

CONCLUSION

From the discussion above it can be inferred that the Eid Al adha prayer is an obligatory act in the faith of Islam and is one of the most important event in the religion of Islam. The sole purpose of this event is to earn countless blessings of Allah by sacrificing animals in the way of Allah, completing the rituals of Hajj and offering the Eid al Adha prayer (Rabbani, 2010). This Eid reminds us of the sacrifice that Prophet Abraham was willing to make for the sake of Allah. This also provides us an idea of the quality of faith that we should have in our one and only God. Distributing the meat from the sacrifice helps us to realize how we can share things and possessions that are very important for us. Distributing the meat from sacrifice promotes love and brotherhood, and allows the people to realize that they should be thankful to Allah for all the bounties that have been provided.

From ancient times different societies have worshiped gods, believing in their power and being afraid of their fury. People have prayed and made sacrifices in order to achieve the gods’ mercy and generosity. They believed that, if the gods are in good mood, they will provide people with good weather conditions for growing crops [1] . Moreover, people needed explanations for different natural phenomena, such as rain, drought, lightning, thunder and earthquake. So, ancient people believed that these natural phenomena are caused by the gods [2] . A good example of such societies could be ancient Greeks and Romans. Ancient Greeks and Romans existed in the middle ages. This essay will describe main gods and goddesses of ancient Greek and Roman societies. It will also look at main similarities and differences between the gods and goddesses of theses societies.

Investigation

To begin with, there are a lot of similarities between Greek and Roman gods, because Roman religion was based on Greek religion. The Greek mythology was founded about a millennium before the Roman. Romans founded their religion on the basis of the Greek religion. [3] So, Greek and Roman religions are similar, because both of them are polytheistic religions. [4] ‘Polytheism is belief in, or worship of, multiple gods or divinities’. [5] There were more than thirty gods in each of these cultures.

Furthermore, Greeks and Romans had almost the same gods, despite differences in their names. As an example, both cultures had the god of sea, the goddess of love, the god of war, the god of wine and the goddess of wisdom. [6] Importantly, there was a chief god, who was the king of all gods, in both Greek and Roman societies. In Greek mythology the king of gods is known as Zeus, whereas Romans call the king of gods Jupiter. [7] There is also a queen of gods in Greek and Roman mythologies. Greeks call the queen Hera, whereas Romans’ queen of gods is Juno. [8]

Finally, both ancient societies have twelve main gods and goddesses. In Greek mythology they are known as the Twelve Olympians. [9] They are Zeus, Poseidon, Aid, Ares, Apollo, Hermes, Hephaestus, Hera, Athena, Aphrodite, Artemis, and Dionysus. Greeks call these twelve main gods and goddesses as follows: Jupiter, Neptune, Pluton, Mars, Feb, Mercury, Volcano, Juno, Minerva, Venus, Diana, and Bacchus. [10] Actually, they are the same gods and goddesses with same powers, but with different names.

Even though the Roman religion is based on the Greek religion, there are number of differences between gods of these societies. Romans have not just adopted their religion from Greeks. They have also changed their religion according to their culture. [11] So, if you read about Rome and Greek gods and goddesses, you will see differences in their names. Romans gave their gods names that are different from names of Greek gods. Thus, there are only few Greek and Roman gods and goddesses that have similar names. Usually Roman gods and goddesses have names of planets of the sun system, such as Jupiter, Mercury, Neptune and Mars. In contrast, Greek gods and goddesses have their own names, such as Zeus, Hermes, Ares and Hera. [12] For example, the goddess of love is Venus in Roman mythology and Aphrodite in Greek mythology. Romans call the god of war Mars, while Greeks call Ares. The god of sea is called Neptune in Roman mythology and Poseidon in Greek mythology. [13]

Furthermore, if you read about Roman and Greek gods, you will notice differences in characters of gods and goddesses. Gods and goddesses usually have characters similar to people that believe and pray to them, because people think up their gods themselves. [14] Ancient Greeks were polite and creative. ‘They held creativity above physical works in the mortal and mythical world’. [15] Greeks were also interested in poetry. In contrast, Romans were more focused on actions rather than on words. They valued bravery and courage. [16] So, Roman gods and goddesses are more military and aggressive, whereas Greek gods and goddesses are more cultural and polite.

Finally, when you look at pictures of Greek and Roman gods or goddesses, you will see differences in their clothes and physical appearance. Ancient Greeks highly valued creativity and beauty. So, Greek gods and goddesses were usually given a beautiful and perfect physical appearance. [17] They were dressed into white and light cloth. By contrast, Romans were more focused on warfare and valued bravery. So, Rome gods and goddesses had military clothes. Romans did not pay much attention on physical appearance of gods and goddess. [18]

Conclusion

In conclusion, by comparing Greek and Roman gods, you can see both similarities and differences between gods of the two ancient societies. Greek and Roman religions are similar, because the Roman mythology was founded based on the Greek. Religions of both ancient societies are polytheistic religions. Moreover, both cultures have almost the same gods with the same powers. Finally, there are twelve main gods, known as the Twelve Olympians, in both cultures. However, Greek and Roman gods also differ from each other, because Romans have changed their religion according to their own culture. So, Roman and Greek gods had different names. Furthermore, there is a difference in characters of Greek and Roman Gods. And finally, Greek and Roman gods had different physical appearances and wore different clothes. Therefore, Greek and Roman gods have similarities as well as having some differences.

Peter Bertocci has explained the human experience of sex and explains the value of sex as part of the meaning of life. Regarding sex an end in itself Peter argues that more profound satisfaction is felt when the normal experience of sex lust is not primarily an end in itself but a symbolic expression of other values. Bertocci further explains the challenge in love which he explains through his progression of love in which marriage and its values are highlighted as an essentiality to protect sex and love. He argues that sex, love, marriage, family, and social responsibility are the key factors that bring stability in the society and nourish the values morality. He considers love as a an essential element to live, otherwise it will be a mere existence not living joyously. He argues for the place of marriage in society and emphasizes on the self regeneration of the partners through this novel relationship.

In my opinion he really draws on personal experience and has a closed minded view. I disagree and will give reasons and arguments in my essay as to why I think that Bertocci narrates a story of an ideal situation.

Difference between Love and Sex:

Psychoanalysis asserts that love and sex can never be of same origin and character due to differences of decisive nature. Love and sex must be analyzed in their own purview and in their purest forms. Sex is related to biology related to some organism; love gives an emotional touch and a sign of individual’s thoughts. Sex is used to eliminate the tense attitude; love can be used as an escape goat from one’s own failure. Sex satisfies a person physically; love gives happiness. Sex has a broader meaning; special meaning is shown through love. Nature’s call can be answered through sex; culture is satisfied through love. Sex is known to millions; millions have not even heard of romance or love. Sex is arbitrary; love is always directed to someone. Sex gives relaxation; love grooms the personality. The taste and pleasure of sex cannot be called later while love can be recalled anytime even in thoughts if the lover is not physically present. Sex is an act; love is spiritual. Sex eagerness is for a short time whereas love is continuous warmth. (Reik, New York: Grove Press. 1945)[1].

Can Love and Lust be combined?

(Reik, p. 19), observes that if love and sex are combined, it is very difficult to assess that which has the most part or share, to be precise, during a sexual intercourse. I believe that it is purely dependant on our perception. It is our own mind and body that drives us to a particular point where we need to think that what should be combined and what should be separated. I believe that there are ways in which sex without love can be as joyous, fruitful and soothing as sex with love. So, the question as to the combination of lust and love, one cannot say that which is more dominating but one can say is that crude form of sex is generated after divorcing love from sex.

Sex with Love:

What Bertocci has explained about love is that through sex with love one gives in everything but Rollo May s Love and Will (New York: Dell Publishing Co.. 1969), says that one will always hold something back until the act is personal, and if we use this word personal instead of love, the context of sex is broadened and sex can be joyful even the partners are not lovers. May further argues that holding off something does not mean that sex will not be a pure sex. According to May (p. 311), relationship and intimacy are much more important factors than merely having sex with a person because of the impersonal society and it is unknown that the act of sex will satisfy the required needs of relationship and intimacy. But what one can say according to May’s stance that through love one is absorbed in another and isolation can be overcome through this. The irony of love is that one is at the same time losing oneself and absorbing the other in him. Mays writings show a lack of understanding of how gratification can be achieved through sex without love.

Analysis of Sex with Love:

Like May many people in this world are unaware of the possibility of sex being a loving act even without being lovers to each other. As I mentioned earlier this is a traditional or closed mind view that sex without love is not as fruitful as sex with love. I reiterate my view that Sex without love allows the partners to have a more relaxing feeling. Contrasting to what bertocci, I would say that sex with love leading to a more chaining relationship which leads to taking each other’s pain, then placing your life in the basket of marriage which will land your life in the rearing of children. Bertocci further asks you to nourish the society through all these preceding acts of yours. Sadly, a true and a happy relationship of sex have been destroyed by the clogging views of writers such as May and Bertocci. Sex should be as free and motivating as a clear sky is available to the bird that goes high in strength and spirits to have a broader overview of the intricacies of this world. This feeling takes me higher and regenerates the true spirit of life and makes me see what the believers of sex with love cannot see or visualize in their thoughts.

Sex without Love:

(Russell Vannoy, Buffalo: Prometheus, 1980) gives some of the examples from the papers of his students. I would like to mention a few; pleasuring my lover leaves me pleasure less as the mind is devoted to his satisfaction, thus disturbing the whole concept of sex. The deeper you get involve in other person and as the other is absorbed in you, the more a person is ceased to be a separate person, which is absolutely not encouraging and equally not satisfactory. The lovers gets cocksure and sometimes the girl does not feel horny, then if the lover pushes her and she refuses, is she getting selfish. I would say no because this might not have been the case with a stranger whom she did not love, a stranger cannot push you for something and one is at liberty to say no to stranger without worrying to dishearten him. Once a lover knows what you are capable of in the bed, he wants repetition whereas a new person will be attracted to the same demonstration. Self-sacrifice is common among lovers whereas no such sacrifice is required to be done during sex without non-lovers.

(Casler, New York: Behavioural Publications, 1973), has argued that love is needed to satisfy the needs of personal insecurity. These needs are dictated to by the societal pressure and those without it are not considered an active part of this so called moral society. Casler’s view shows that people getting loved or love someone are just trying to gain self-worth. With this attitude in mind the sex is most unfulfilling. Considering the older ages when women were not respected, how can males give respect to them in the shape of love? This has aroused women to write the most criticism on love.

(Robert Solomon, Buffalo, NY: Prometheus Books, 1976), writes that sexual encounters with strangers are the most satisfying ass there is fear, guilt and anticipation. Conversely sex with those we know and love is much less satisfying as the habits and reactions are known to each other which, nullifies the uniqueness among the partners. Moralists paints the picture of sex with a non-lover as crude and animalistic. They still have their view of having successful sex with only the ones you love and the other sex is never pure.

Giving justification to love is just as hypocrite as actually doing hypocrisy during crude sex in love; one says that if I don’t love her I am exploiting her, so he loves to make his sex justified is just another form of hypocrisy. The advocates of sex with love has not allowed the people to think to stop being selfishly loving others to justify the society’s value system. Once this selfish behavior is outsmarted, only then a true loving act of sex could emerge without romantically being involved in the other partner. Many husbands perform crude sex and wives are left unfulfilled. The reason is that wives want a sensuous sex while men want manly, lusty sex which cannot be achieved as they get involved in each other and cannot push for the demands and now when married cannot change husbands. This situation leaves both thirsty for real experience in sex.

Social Approval:

Society’s approval is considered necessary and the sex must be given the assent of the pure spirit of love. Otherwise the sex would animalistic and dirty. If this option is considered then, even in sex with love the partners remain unfulfilled and they are not spontaneous and guilt free. I believe that society’s concept must not be involved in sex relationships, as it is only to strengthen the institution of marriage. Marriage will certainly make the experience of sex laborious although the society gives the assent of piety but will ultimately make the people who make the society unfulfilled with regards to their sexual satisfaction.

Analysis of Sex without Love:

I strongly believe that sex without love is much more fruitful and joyous than the sex with love. The reality is still that sex opens the doors for the people to happiness and gratification but when love comes and knocks the door and hugs sex, it suddenly engulfs sex and convinces to move to the next stage of sex with love. I reject this and say that this encompassing is just like going into a war which one choose for its own self without any reason.

Conclusion

The sex without love is the superior, mature and natural attitude which one must follow. The society’s regeneration is indeed laid in the foundations of liberty and freedom of choice which can only be exercised when one has no restriction to follow a particular schedule or guidelines while having sex. I strongly believe in having sex without love for which I have argued in my paper after taking a view of the various aspects of what people want and what people face after taking a wrong decision of landing at a lover’s corner.

“Like never before, global challenges have local impacts. Local events can have global impacts. This compels us to strengthen cooperation – expand the space for dialogue – and replace barriers of distrust with bridges of understanding.” (Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon)

The word dialogue is a combination of the two Greek words: dia, meaning “through,” and logos, interpreted as “word or meaning.” To engage in dialogue is therefore to engage in making meaning through the spoken/written word.

The societies cultural environment is changing quickly and becoming more and more diversified. Cultural diversity is an essential condition of human society, brought about by cross-border migration, the claim of national and other minorities to a distinct cultural identity, the cultural effects of globalisation, the growing interdependence between all world regions and the advances of information and communication media. More and more individuals are living in a “multicultural” normality and have to manage their own multiple cultural affiliations.

Cultural diversity is also an economic, social and political plus, which needs to be developed and adequately managed. On the other hand, increasing cultural diversity brings about new social and political challenges. Cultural diversity often triggers fear and rejection. Stereotyping, racism, xenophobia, intolerance, discrimination and violence can threaten peace and the very essence of local and national communities.

Dialogue between cultures, the oldest and most fundamental mode of democratic conversation, is an antidote to rejection and violence. Its objective is to enable people to live together peacefully and constructively in a multicultural world and to develop a sense of community and belonging.

2.1.1. Definition

In political parlance, the term “intercultural dialogue” is still only loosely defined. There is no accepted definition for Intercultural Dialogue. The term is an adaptation from other terms, all of which remain current, such as multiculturalism, social cohesion and assimilation.

One of best formulation at the moment is perhaps the terminology used by the Council of Europe in its White Paper on Intercultural Dialogue, which states:

“Intercultural Dialogue is understood as an open and respectful exchange of views between individuals and groups with different ethnic, cultural, religious and linguistic backgrounds and heritage [aˆ¦] that leads to a deeper understanding of the other’s global perception”

In this definition, “open and respectful” means “based on the equal value of the partners”; “exchange of views” stands for every type of interaction that reveals cultural characteristics; “groups” stands for every type of collective that can act through its representatives (family, community, associations, peoples); “culture” includes everything relating to ways of life, customs, beliefs and other things that have been passed on to us for generations, as well as the various forms of artistic creation; “world perception” stands for values and ways of thinking.

In a general sense, the objective of intercultural dialogue is to learn to live together peacefully and constructively in a multicultural world and to develop a sense of community and belonging. Intercultural dialogue can also be a tool for the prevention and resolution of conflicts by enhancing the respect for human rights, democracy and the rule of law. More specifically, the following goals have been outlined by the Council of Europe:

To share visions of the world, perceptions of the world, to understand and learn from those that do not see the world with the same perspective;

To identify similarities and differences between different cultural traditions and perceptions;

To achieve a consensus that disputes should not be resolved by violence;

To help manage cultural diversity in a democratic manner, by making the necessary adjustments to all types of existing social and political arrangements;

To bridge the divide between those who perceive diversity as a threat and those who view it as an enrichment;

To share best practices particularly in the areas of intercultural dialogue, the democratic management of social diversity and the promotion of social cohesion;

To develop jointly new projects, new pratices, new concepts, new filosofies;

Easier than a definition is a description of the conditions, the “enabling factors” that characterize a true, meaningful intercultural dialogue. Based on existing experience, the Council of Europe propose at least six crucial conditions that must be fulfilled from the very outset, or achieved during the process:

Equal dignity of all participants;

Voluntary engagement in dialogue;

A mindset, on all sides, characterised by openness, curiosity and commitment, and the absence of a desire to “win” the dialogue;

A readiness to look at both cultural similarities and differences;

A minimum degree of knowledge about the distinguishing features of one’s own and the “other” culture;

The ability to find a common language for understanding and respecting cultural differences.

But It should be remembered which is in the root of the concept of intercultural dialogue, it is based on human dignity, thinking and democracy. It privileges human beings and considers humanity at a central point. It enhances the role of each individual in the structure of the world, despite their differences in, among many things, language, race, color, tribe, religion, and nationality, they enjoy a variety of potential capabilities and talents that complement each other. [1]

Today’s society has a new dynamic in itself. It is characterized by cultural diversity and proximity between cultures. There is no more cultural isolation, every culture is near each other, they interact with each other, they share ideas and thoughts, and is through that, though the contact with the other that the self can describe himself.

The encounter is inevitable, and in every encounter there is communication, expression of the inner world, of the attitude towards the other. And it is not limited to the verbalization, but all the different and unique languagues that people use to contact to each other in every encounter: with the face, the reaction, the gesture, the way we look. Before the first word is said, a inner world is been exteriorised, transmitted to the other. (Banus, Enrique)

The world is much closer right now. Every moment of life, every daily-life situation can be transformed, or not, in intercultural dialogue. In a certain sense, every contact is an intercultural contact – because culture is essentially linked to the human being (Banus, Enrique). Culture is preserved by articule 22 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights [2] , but not only that, it is a natural element of human life: is the way people express themselves, the way they think, they love, they hate – it’s in every aspect of the human existence. It’s “the «cultural world» of everyone, a «cultural world» made by a very complex – a very rich – mixture of elements, coming from different traditions and from our own way of life, our own biography. The «cultural world» is a very personal one.” (Banus, Enrique)

The comunication is a the base of human behaviour, the social space, is the space of communication, the space of normal social life, which is made by the net of messages we are sending and receiving, we are coding and decoding. And because we are carrying our «cultural world» with us, all these messages are cultural messages, and all the dialogues are intercultural dialogues. (Banus, Enrique)

The contact with other human beings is a integral part of the everyday life, and in that contacts, our «cultural world» is meeting other «cultural worlds». And there a fullness of communications is established: greetings, looks, conversations. These contacts are sometimes more cordial, sometimes cool, according to the part of the space everyone shares with this concrete «other». (Banus, Enrique)

“Intercultural dialogue is maybe not only an art, but also a change of paradigm, because it means to overcome the normal procedures, the normal strategies for mental survival in a complex world.” (Banus, Enrique)

And, by the necessity of contact, of communication, prejudices and stereotypes are built naturally, by experiencing/confirming «our» – collective – identity in antagonism to «the other». This is a very common procedure to experience collective identity.(Banus, Enrique)

Intercultural dialogue is in this sense a change of paradigm, the recognition that «the other» is not only a threatening antagonist, but a necessary complement; in the dialogue the identity is experienced, precisely in the capacity to establish a dialogue everyone is realising his or her «being himself or herself» – and, of course, he or she is clarifying his or her thoughts when expressing them to «the other»(Banus, Enrique).

All the mentioned tendencies of seeing antagonisms between «identity» and «alterity» are paradoxically reinforced in societies, like nowadays, in which the dominant presence of the state is crumbling away15, with (partially strong) regional/national movements within the states and with a globalisation and interrelation which also diminish the state’s power. (Banus, Enrique) Moreover, the societies are also becoming diverse in themselves, in their inner structure:

squares and places are not only «ours», but reflect the world plurality. The local level is approaching the global level. This can create uncertainty, and new forms of collective identity have become popular – so that aforementioned «cultural identity», which seems to forget that «culture» is at first a personal right and a personal quality, and sometimes gives priority to the constituency of the group and not to the personal realisation of a human being. (Banus, Enrique)

Intercultural dialogue seems to suggest that culture is always and every time a positive manifestation of the human spirit. After the 20th century with its Auschwitzs and Gulags a naive exaltation of culture and also of dialogue is no more possible. The culture includes the best and the worst made by the human being – and all that what lies between the best and the worst.(Banus, Enrique)

So, talk about intercultural dialogue include discussing the transmission of the necessary critical sense to avoid cultural relativism and to combine tolerance and intolerance, to reinforce the capacity to overcome distances and build bridges.

History

On the stage of international politics, intercultural dialogue first made appearance in explicit reaction to Huntington’s theory, Clash of Civilization. It was by the then President of Iran, Mohammad Khatami, who used the term of “dialogue among civilisations” [3] in a speech to the General Assembly of The United Nations On the 4th November 1998, the General Assembly unanimously adopted a resolution that designated 2001 as the Year of the ‘Dialogue among Civilizations’. In the same year, on 11 September, with the attacks to the United States, leaving forgotten the “Year of the Dialogue among Civilizations”, on the contrary, it gave more visibility to the future wrote by Huntington, what rest of that year was an atmosphere of fear, mistrust and war.

Several years later, on 2004, a new UN initiative was launched under the title “Alliance of Civilizations”, composed of mostly states, and also several international organizations, was established to support an initiative in fostering global cooperation on cross-cultural issues and to promote initiatives aimed at encouraging dialogue and building bridges among societies and communities.

In the meanwhile, the question has become a major focal point for the activities of UNESCO. UNESCO see’s the cultural diversity and intercultural dialogue is one of the main pillars of UNESCO’s action.

‘Safeguarding and promoting cultural heritage as a shared resource for dialogue and sustainable development, fostering creative diversity, countering ignorance and intolerance, strengthening intercultural competences: all play a determinant role for intercultural dialogue. Within this larger framework, which also encompasses interreligious dialogue, special focus is placed to encourage cultural pluralism at the local, regional and national level as well as regional and sub-regional initiatives, highlighting the importance of transfers and exchanges between cultures.’ [4]

And by reaffirming the importance of culture, UNESCO adopted ‘The Universal Declaration on Cultural Diversity’ at the UNESCO General Conference in November 2001(UNESCO, 2002) and reaffirmed more recently by the Convention on the Protection and Promotion of the Diversity of Cultural Expressions (UNESCO, 2005). It views cultural diversity as the common heritage which unites humanity, a source of individual but also collective wealth. It is “as necessary for humankind as biodiversity is for nature”, is part of the democratic framework of society, and one of the roots of economic as well as personal development (UNESCO, 2002, Articles 1, 2 & 3). All people have the right to cultural expression in their language of choice, and have the right to access the means of expression and dissemination of their culture (Articles 5 & 6). Importantly, cultural rights are seen as an “ethical imperative” implying “acommitment to human rights and fundamental freedoms, in particular the rights of persons belonging to minorities and those of indigenous peoples” (Article 4).

Cultural exchange is fundamental to the Universal Declaration on Cultural Diversity. Produced in the aftermath of the September 11th terrorist attack on the WorldTrade Centre, the Declaration represents a rejection of ethnic hatred and an affirmation of intercultural dialogue as a guarantee of peace (Matsuura, forward to UNESCO,2002). Moreover, intercultural dialogue is seen as necessary for creativity which, though having its roots in cultural tradition, also “flourishes in contact with other cultures” (Article 7).

The United States has often been characterised as the world’s melting pot, but the terms of the debate in Europe are somewhat different. [5]

Historically, the European experience has been of rich learning culture process in the objective to coexist together, regardless of the political, religious, linguistic and cultural differences. Some of the most aggressive and violent events in the world happened between the countries of the EU, and after the second world war a peacefull coexistence was not just a hope, but a immediate need.

Europe, beside all of their problems, can be caraterized now as a peaceful, economically successful and increasingly politically integrated environment. But the challenge of ‘the other’ has not gone away however. If anything, with each passing enlargement, with each political crises, with each economic situation, the challenges that face Europe grow.

“Intercultural Dialogue can be seen as one of the ways to promote mutual understanding, to a better living together and a strong active sense of European citizenship and belonging.”

By comparison with other international organisations, the European Union has not given broad public attention to intercultural dialogue than until recently, with the exception of Commission President Jacques Delors’s initiative ‘A Soul for Europe’ in 1992 [6] , which believed on the Europe’ construction of a something above economics and legal interchanged system, his aim was to build a spiritual and ethical dimension to the EU.

The Council of Europe can be described as a organization that has great influence in the intercultural dialogue, giving it hight political importance. It contributes to the core of the Council of Europe, namely preserving and promoting human rights, democracy and the rule of law.

The First Summit of Heads of State and Government of member states on 1993, which affirmed that cultural diversity characterised Europe’s rich heritage and that tolerance was the guarantee of an open society, led to the Framework Convention for the Protection of National Minorities on 1995, the establishment of the European Commission against Racism and Intolerance and the launching of the European Youth Campaign against racism, anti-Semitism, xenophobia and intolerance, “All Different – All Equal”. [7]

The Third Summit of the Heads of State and Government on 2005 identified intercultural dialogue as a means of promoting awareness, understanding, reconciliation and tolerance, as well as preventing conflicts and ensuring integration and the cohesion of society.

It was also the Council of Europe on 2008, that put forward “the religious dimension of intercultural dialogue”; whereby religion is considered to constitute one possible difference in identity, alongside “ethnic, cultural, or linguistic backgrounds”. [8] Even so, by this definition, intercultural dialogue is vaguely defined as an exchange of views between different individuals or groups at different levels:

“within societies, between the societies of Europe and between Europe and the wider world” (Council of Europe 2008).

On EU dynamic, one important document that relates to the importance of the intercultural dialogue is the White Paper [9] . His objective is to formulate a coherent and long-term policy for the promotion of intercultural dialogue within Europe and between Europe and its neighbouring regions, the Council of Europe is preparing a “White Paper on Intercultural Dialogue”. [10]

“White Paper on Intercultural Dialogue”, emphatically argues, in the name of the governments of the 47 member states of the Council of Europe, that the common future of EU depends on the ability to safeguard and develop human rights, as enshrined in the European Convention on Human Rights, democracy and the rule of law and to promote mutual understanding. It reasons that the intercultural approach offers a forward-looking model for managing cultural diversity. It proposes a conception based on individual human dignity, embracing their common humanity and common destiny. It affirms that if there is a European identity to be realised, it will be based on shared fundamental values, respect for common heritage and cultural diversity as well as respect for the equal dignity of every individual. [11]

The White Paper is addressed to policy makers and practitioners at national, regional and local levels, to whom it will provide guidelines and analytical and methodological tools for the promotion of intercultural dialogue.

The White Paper on Intercultural Dialogue of the Council of Europe will formulate the political orientations of the Organisation in this area. It will also serve as a reference document for action at national, regional and local levels.

The White Paper will evaluate the results of recent activities of the Council of Europe, of examples of good practice and recent scientific studies on intercultural dialogue, and will formulate the conclusions to be drawn for their implementation.

The White Paper will formulate a long-term vision of what is to be expected from a policy promoting intercultural dialogue within European societies, across national borders and between Europe and neighbouring regions.

The White Paper will suggest policies and initiatives that the various stakeholders may consider implementing in different contexts, in order to support intercultural dialogue and to maximize its benefits.

The White Paper will identify, more specifically, how the Council of Europe – through model actions and follow-up programmes – can help create better conditions for the promotion of intercultural dialogue, how it can support dialogue and how it can pursue its policy of dialogue with neighbouring regions.

The White Paper will provide standards and tools, in particular examples of good practice.

The discussion on Intercultural dialogue in Europe reached its apex with the instauration of the ‘European Year of Intercultural Dialogue’ in 2008, by the european parliament and of the council. [12]

This Year aimed to promote Intercultural Dialogue and raise general awareness on the importance of developing an ‘active European citizenship’. The key messages were targeted at young people but also the disadvantaged. Civil Society was in general encouraged to mobilise and get involved. Each country had a national coordinating body, and the civil society sector was coordinated through the Rainbow Platform [13] – now the Platform for Intercultural Europe. The budget for the year was 10 million, which focused on 7 flagship projects, the co-financing of a number of national projects, an information and awareness raising campaign and finally evaluation.

The EU has drawn on the experience of other international organisations when it set up to the declaration of the European ‘Year of Intercultural Dialogue’ in 2006. the main emphasis of the EU’s approach to the ‘Year of Intercultural Dialogue’ focused on questions of social cohesion and the emergence of a common identity inside the European polity.

Unlike the approach of the UN, questions of violent conflict and possible clashes of collective identity did not figure at all in the Commission’s proposal, it can be seen by the lack of discussion in areas such as conflict, peace or war.

Its very first sentence states instead, in almost tautological manner, that “intercultural dialogue is intimately linked to the fundamental ambition underlying the construction of Europe, namely to bring together the peoples of Europe”.(Bokern et all)

In the further text, explicit reference is made to the Strategy of Lisbon, intending to make the EU the most competitive economic space in the world, but no mention is made at all of possible lines of conflict. This focus does not correspond to the original initiative for the ‘Year of Intercultural Dialogue’: as it was drawn from the Commission’s first conference under the title “Peace, Security and Stability: Intercultural Dialogue” in March 2002, at the invitation of the then President Romano Prodi, interreligious dialogue and peacebuilding were a principal point of concern.

The concept of intercultural dialogue underlying the ‘Year of Intercultural Dialogue’ is not clear. It main focus was upon education – arts and heritage-, youth, culture and sports. Further emphasis was placed on building citizenship as one major purpose of the ‘Year of Intercultural Dialogue’; religion was only mentioned at the sidelines.

It is no coincidence, then, that the seven flagship projects of the ‘Year of Intercultural Dialogue’ were mainly situated in the artistic sector, putting much emphasis on multilingualism, youth and urban culture. Some of the subsidised groups were already beneficiaries of the previous “European Year of Equal Opportunities for All” in 2007.

It is clear to conclude that the EU’s ‘Year of Intercultural Dialogue’ had a very different approach from the other international organizations or European politics regarding intercultural dialogue.

intercultural dialogue approaches

“The starting assumption is that intercultural dialogue, to be fruitful, must be developed from a basic code of values, that aside from being universal in character and therefore possible to share, must also be a trans-cultural facilitator.” (Mascia, Marco p.448)

There is still relatively little information on mechanisms for implementing dialogue as well as on ways how to ensure effective policies in this field. But it is possible to reduce the possibilities to two approaches, the short-term and the long-term approach, realizing that dialogue is the end but also the means to achive these goals.

Inside of the European Union Year of Intercultural dialogue, different areas were worked on. Such projects, have short period of time, but were made to have impact in a long term range. These projects were: Intercultural dialogue through musical and cultural education [14] , Capacity building for initiatives supporting intercultural dialogue [15] and National action plans for intercultural dialogue [16] .

But in this secssion, will be discussed the approaches to mediation, gender, ICT and religion and their conection to intercultural dialogue.

Itl will be shown their importance, influence and challenges that it represents inside a intercultural dialogue perception. And maybe it will present new perspectives in dealing with each other.

Intercultural Mediation

As social or cultural tensions are incresed by the international problems, such as minorities or imigration, the public perception on intercultural mediation has grow. It doesen’t matter the field, it can be seen nowadays being applied to informal and formal education, in social work, in international affairs or in the research field. And as response to this, training programmes, special networks and university studies were installed, frequently following the theories of known specialists such as John Paul Lederach on 1995 [17] or Johan Galtung, on 2000 [18] (Fischer and Wiesand). Galtung, on his “conflict theory”, points to conflict “both as Destroyer or Creator, as potentially dangerousaˆ¦ because of violence and as a golden opportunity to create something new”.

Generally speaking, ICM or Intercultural mediation is being considered or installed, whenever relationships between groups and individuals with different cultural backgrounds have been cut, are misbalanced or become tense or hostile, which, in its turn, strongly affects the basic life of specific groups in the population or threatens security. In that case, mediators can facilitate non-violent and culture sensitive resolution practices (Fischer and Wiesand). Designed mainly to address the needs of individuals or smaller groups or to de-escalate business conflicts, the following definition of Intercultural Mediation of Bernd Mueller-Jaquier shows a strong affinity to some approaches towards intercultural dialogue:

“Intercultural mediation is a special, usually voluntary, discussion and consensual decision-making process in which one or more impartial persons – the mediator(s) – assist people, organizations, and communities in conflict to work toward a variety of goals. Parties in the mediation process are encouraged to:

improve communication processes, understanding culture specific interaction rules, values, conflict resolution strategies and symbols;

improve relationships and empathy;

use mediation rules to minimize, avoid or enhance involvement in the legal/judicial system;

work toward mutual understanding to resolve a problem or dispute in order to finally

reach their own decisions, resolve underlying conflicts, and prevent problems from recurring.”

(Bernd Mueller-Jaquier ,2002) [19]

Until recently, however, most of Intercultural mediation activities took place in world regions outside of the EU territory that suffered from wars and violent conflicts. On Europe, intergovernmental organisations and European member states assumed an important responsibility by providing help and assistance in fostering conflict transformation by peaceful means, be it as part of their foreign policies or of their development cooperation activities – e.g. in South Africa, Rwanda, Palestine, Sri Lanka, South East Europe. In addition to a provision of personal mediation services, training programmes to teach Intercultural mediation techniques to future mediators on the ground have been installed with the help of experienced mediators. (Fischer and Wiesand)

A great exemple of the role of intercultural mediation is in the case of Yugoslav wars, from 1991 to 2001, which can be considered as one of the deepest political and humanitarian crises Europe has experienced during the last 60 years, but also because of unresolved frictions between traditional minorities and majorities in that multi-ethnic region, attention for realistic methods of conflict resolution has been particularly high in the region. As pointed out by specialists Sanjin DragojeviA‡ and Milena DragiA‡eviA‡ A eA?iA‡ in their publication about “Intercultural Mediation”, they afirm it was a basic element of many activities in that region, since also the new states knew more or less segregated societies, which hindered a fruitful development.

“The absence of a process of dialogue and communication between ethnic groups of this country could be seen as a fundamental social obstacle, as well as, an obstacle for overall development. A lot of time has passed since the war ended, yet it can be asserted that the problem is not only lacking resolution but has also gained in importance and strength. This is why UNESCO began an intercultural education project with the aim of connecting, informing, and stimulating the youngest generation of local cultural activists across Bosnia and Herzegovina. The aim being that they would become the creators of cultural mediation projects in their surroundings, surpassing the borders of ethnic communities and national countries. Thus, the regional component seemed like a relevant framework for both reflection and potential implementation of basic efforts and projects in this area.” (Milena DragiA‡eviA‡ A eA?iA‡ and Sanjin DragojeviA‡)

Mediation efforts took place on different levels and at different stages prior, during and after the conflicts [

When we found our first evidence of Abraham in the Bible Genesis 12, there he doesn?t seem to me like the great person with the outstanding faith he is famous for. When we read through the bible he is one of the most known personalities of the whole scripture. It seems that his name tends to appear all the time even in the NT. This fact shows us that his faith had to undergo a process of huge growth. But what is the particular reason for this development? What happened that his trust in God was even bigger than the trust in himself? In the following paper I will try to explain and to deal with those questions properly.

When describing the Abrahamic Covenant the people tend to use mainly Genesis 12:1-3. And there is nothing wrong about that but I think to be able to show God?s progressive revelation we have to look at more than only those few spots in the bible. This principle of progressive revelation is obvious in Genesis. It?s true that the covenant is introduced in Genesis 12:1-3, but it seems that only in very basic terms. [1] It is more like a general introduction of a promise from both sides. This will remain like that until the covenant will be ratified by the offered sacrifice in Genesis 15. But it was only after that offering when Abraham received the sign of circumcision in chapter 17.

God progressively reveals himself and his intentions to Abraham. For example God told Abraham that he will have many descendants in Gen 12. When this prophecy comes true Abraham is already a really old man with the respective age of 100 and his wife Sarah is 90 years old. To be able to give birth to a child within such an age is a true miracle. That is also the reason why Abraham assumed that the seed promised to him will be an adopted son from one of his servants. [2] In Gen 15:4 God tells Abraham that the seed he promised will come from his beloved wife which is has already the respected age of ninety. God tells him that after the birth of Ishmael. [3] This shows us again that God doesn?t tell all his intentions to Abraham at once but reveals them to him progressively. That is why we should expect that the details of the mentioned covenant to be revealed progressively, over a particular period of time.

As I mentioned in the beginning Abraham didn?t seem to me like the great man in faith we are used to know him. We can see the way God led Abraham to his outstanding faith very clearly. Let?s look at chapter 12 trough 17. In Gen 12:7 God assures him the land what he will give to his descendants and to him. He wandered through Canaan by worshipping God and building altars. When he reached the south of Canaan he has to endure with his folk a period of great hunger, that is why he is forced to leave the land which was promised to him. [4] I don?t think that he went to Egypt because of faith it seems to me that he was forced to. After all of that happening he still had a great faith in God.

In Genesis 12:2 God promised to Abraham to make his name great and to bless him. His name will only become great when he will have many descendants.

Genesis 15 starts with the words: Fear not. This indicates that Abraham was fearing something. We know that Abraham defeated many kings for example the king of Syria (Hadad). God told Israel that this king will seek for revenge. But I don?t think that his biggest fear came from one of his enemies. I think one thing that he was fearing the most was the fact that he hasn?t yet begotten the son which God promised to him. His heir was still only the son of Elizier of Damascus Gen 15:2. God encouraged him by telling him that his descendants will be more numerous than the stars of the heaven. In Genesis 15:6 we can see that he had faith in God. To make this covenant official God told Abraham to kill certain animals by cutting them in half. [5] With this ritual Abraham entered in the covenant with God. I think this should show us the symbolic mean that a covenant is binding when both parties stick to their commitments.

In this particular case only God was the one who passed between halves of the animals, that show us that this was an covenant which was unconditioned because it was only dependant on his faithfulness. After the ritual God shows to Abraham the future for his folk. He shows him that the way they have to go won?t be easy and it will take some time till they would own the promised land. They will have to endure slavery in a foreign land for four hundred years. God also tells him that he won?t be able to experience the fulfillment of the Promised Land because it will take such a long time. Even after realizing all that Abraham is still very strong in his faith. The flaming torch and the smoking firepot signalized that the official ceremony was over. I think Genesis 12:1-3 should be called a promise and this one a covenant which was formal. Now God informs Noah exactly which land and which people he will give him. Those were described in 13:14 trough 18. I think by letting Abraham know that it will take such a long time to fulfill his promises regarding the promised land and even with the promised on child he shows him that he the God which is eternal never has to hurry up because he can take as much time as he wants.

In Genesis 17 we can see clearly Abraham?s faith. He was 86 when Ishmael was born. [6] It were thirteen years between that date and the birth of his true seed Isaac. I think that he had big doubts over all those years that Ishmael should be the promised seed, that he should be the person which will have the promised countless descendants. Now Abraham is ninety nine years old and the hope of an own son is nearly gone. In that moment God appeared to him to renew the covenant. [7]

Abraham is commanded by God to be “blameless” and to “walk before” him. In this “discussion” God progressed in his revelation to Abraham. He communicated so directly with God, this is the great privilege of only a few people will have over time. A special thing that should be mentioned is that the covenant between God and Abraham is ever lasting, because it is also established with his descendants his inheritance. Those people will possess the Promised Land mentioned in Gen 15.

The sign of the covenant between those two was the circumcision. Abraham was passing that to his descendants because it was an everlasting covenant. [8]

As a conclusion I can say that he was not great in faith from the beginning. His faith needed to be evolved over time. Abraham didn?t obey immediately God?s command for example when God wanted him to leave Ur. In his first years he was not great in faith he had a lot of fear and doubts. His faith had really a lot of potential in his growth. I don?t think it was because of the great faith of Abraham that so many good things happened in his life, I think it is more the result of God?s faithfulness towards his covenant. There are no people without mistakes in our bible besides our lord himself Jesus Christ. All the other actors were humans with their passions and their mistakes. For example it took a long time and a lot of trouble that Abraham become the person God wanted him to be. It always takes time to shape people the right way. God doesn?t do it in an other way thought he would be able to do it. He wants to teach us human compared like a father wants to teach his children. And that is step by step.

There is an important message for us regarding the way of true blessing. As we can see from the Garden of Eden, man always tend to seek for their own good in their own way. But we can only get the blessing by trusting and obeying God and his commands. Abraham didn?t listen to God?s commands and was looking for security and safety in Egypt. Only because of God?s faith in Abraham he intervened to safe his life. Abraham?s mistake was to make was his wife said even when it wasn?t the same what God wanted him doing. His painful consequence was having a son by Hagar instead of his wife.

This paper also makes clear that God has no hurry in achieving his purpose. Abraham didn?t get the promised land at once, but it will be a possession the descendants. But first they will have to undergo four hundred years of slavery. Abraham didn?t get his promised seed immediately. God waited until it would be a miracle. So that the true seed would be seen as God?s gift. As already mentioned he also didn?t give Abraham a fully developed faith from the beginning. After he called him Abraham had to undergo various tribulations and trials. That made is faith grow over the time. Through the fact that God never is in a hurry we have to learn how to wait for God fulfilling his promises. Abraham really learned a lot in terms of endurance and patience. I think that what faith is really about. That is why Abraham is able to teach us a lot about humility. For example he did not put his interest above the ones of a lot.

Finally we can say that this paper shows an outstanding example of God?s progressive revelation. He was spreading the revelation over several years, adding content and details to it bit by bit.