Social Transformations in India, Myanmar, and Thailand: Volume II: Identity and Grassroots for Democratic: Progress

This book explores the multifaceted obstacles to social change that India, Myanmar and Thailand face, and ways to overcome them. With a collection of essays that identify common challenges and salient features affecting diverse communities, this volume examines topics from subnational and local perspectives across the peripheries. The book argues that identity-based divisions have created a system of oppression and political contention that have led to conflicts of different kinds, and hence serving as the common cause of different social issues. At the same time, such issues have created space for marginalized groups around the world to call for change. The volume recognizes that social transformation comes into being through an active process of deconstructing and reconstructing shared norms and ideas. The contents in this book are thus centered around two focuses: The impacts of identities and grassroots. Both of these aspects are at the heart of each country's transformations towards democracy, peace, justice, and freedom. Under this framework, the chapters cover a diverse range of common issues, such as, minority grievances, gender inequality, ethnic identity, grassroots power in alliance-making towards community peace, recovery and resilience, digital freedom, democracy assistance and communication, and bridging multiple divides. As identity-based cleavages are daily lived experiences for individuals and communities, it requires grassroots initiatives and alliances as well as democratic communication to tackle obstacles at the root. Ultimately, the book convinces readers that social transformations must begin at the individual to communal level and local to national level. © The Editor(s) (if applicable) and The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Singapore Pte Ltd. 2022.

Celebrating the Sickle Cell Disease World Day on June 19th after Two Years of Pandemic: My Life with Scd, Patients' Perspective

Background: After two years of COVID in which activities were reduced due to the pandemic and each one's life was affected by restrictions and limitations, the Sickle Cell Disease (SCD) Association in Padova teamed up with the Sickle Cell Group at the Pediatric Hematology Oncology and Bone Marrow Transplant Unit to celebrate the Sickle Cell Disease world day by organizing an online meeting with children/youths and their families. Theme of the meeting was: "My Life with SCD: poems, pictures and writings express our view on disease and care". Aim(s): One of the goals of this meeting was to create an opportunity for individuals with SCD to meet and have a constructive discussion with each other about the disease and express their feelings after two years of pandemic. Method(s): One month before the meeting children, teenager and parents were asked to sharer with the organizing team any drawing, painting, poem, writing, that they felt could express their feelings or experience of the disease itself or how it affected their life, or their experience in the hospital. The materials received were organized in a power point presentation and At the meeting, families were able to see a PowerPoint presentation with the poems, drawings, writings. Each author had the choice to personally share their production or have it read out loud by a member of the team. Free time to comment or share experiences was given. Result(s): 20 children, teenagers and parents participated. Countries of origin (Nigeria, Ghana, Congo, Albania, Italy), religious background (catholic, muslim, no religion, other) were different as well as disease genotype (HbSS, HbSC, HbSBdegree), severity or treatment received (Hydroxyurea, transfusion, Hematopoietic stem cell transplantation -HSCT, none). Drawings and writings regarded experience with the disease (mechanism of action, admissions), feelings experienced (fear, hope, light at the end of the tunnel), aspirations (sports) and gratitude (to the social and medical team, to parents) (Figure 1). Surprisingly, families who had a child having undergone HSCT, reported on the need and importance to talk about this experience for years after the event and made a request of a support goup. Finally, all families underlined the need to meet again soon to discuss together issues related to personal experience with SCD, even via web. of discussion with each other and with the drepanocytosis group;and that throug the online telematics platform it is still possible to involve all families, listening and trying to comfort them on doubts and perplexities about the disease, In conclusion, it can be said that after two years of pandemic, in our setting, online meeting can help patients and families reconnect with each other and activities can be planned to aid experiences and feelings. Patients' associations and Health Care Teams can collaborate in this area.

Muslim preachers' pandemics related discourses within social media: A corpus-based critical discourse analysis

Pandemics have been extensively represented in different discourse genres including journalistic discourse, media discourse, medical discourse, social media discourse, and academic discourse. This study explores the representation of COVID-19, Swine flu, and Monkey pox in the Arab Muslim preachers' discourses on Twitter and Facebook. The Muslim preachers' discourses remain one of the influential discourses that informs the ideology of its believers, as it is largely based on the Islamic authoritative discourses of the Quran and the Hadiths of Prophet Muhammad. The data set of 538 postings was generated through an extended observation of purposively recruited Arab Muslim non-mainstream scholars' postings on Facebook and Twitter from March 2019 to August 2022. The data were analyzed using corpus-based critical discourse analysis. The twofold analytical lens involving CL and CDA revealed that Muslim preachers frequently used ideological semantic patterns in communicating to the Muslim society at large regarding the pandemics. The utilized semantic patterns emerged as embedded in certain ideological frames established in the Islamic authoritative discourses of the Quran and the Hadiths of Prophet Muhammad. In their ideological representation of the pandemics, Muslim preachers framed the entire three pandemics mostly as the wrath of God. Religious scholars' postings cannot be considered an account of teaching and preaching;rather, they merely consume and produce Islamic ideology in a way to manipulate and influence Muslims' knowledge of existing reality by adding new meanings in line with the chosen ideological frames.

Problem Identification of Islamic Law Implementation in COVID-19 Mortuary Practice in Indonesia from the Perspective of Forensic Pathologists

Indonesia consists of many different ethnic groups and religions. Islam is the major religion in Indonesia, thus also rendering Islamic tradition as being significant in Indonesia. This is also the case with Islamic law. In March 11, 2020, COVID-19 was declared as pandemic by WHO. Since then, there were reported cases of forceful seizure of deceased bodies by the deceased's family in Indonesia. The aim of this research is to understand the problems related with Islamic law implementation in COVID-19 mortuary practice in Indonesia from the perspective of forensic pathologists. This study also aims to analyze whether the solutions given are in accordance with Islamic law. The sampling method used was convenience sampling. The respondents were forensic pathologists from different areas in Indonesia. 19 out of 20 respondents reported problems and solutions. The solutions were in accordance to Islamic law. Problem that is present in mortuary practice in the context of muslim COVID-19 patients are related to the bathing and shrouding process. There is distrust on whether proper care had been carried out. The situation happened due to the community's lack of comprehensive understanding of proper Islamic mortuary practice in COVID-19 pandemic context.Copyright © 2023, Institute of Medico-legal Publication. All rights reserved.

Thinking Resistance, "Emergency,” and Kismet: A Response to Dylan Rodríguez's Presidential Address

The battles over masking only amplified preexisting culture and race wars in which entrenched libertarianism and neoliberal individualism evaded the economic and existential precarity caused by degraded social welfare and state health care. Counterterrorism projects such as Countering Violent Extremism (CVE) introduced by Barack Obama have relied on recruitment of community members, social service providers, and educators for self-surveillance and self-regulation of political expression and community organizing: a liberal counterterrorism approach for "reformist reform.” 5 Nabeel Abraham and Will Youmans provide important analyses of the "Containment System” in response to the War on Terror, based on "entrepreneurial opportunism” (Rodríguez) by Arab and Muslim American educators, professionals, and community leaders (including in the nonprofit industrial complex), some of whom collaborated with federal and state agencies.6 Academic Containment Reckoning with these critiques from critical Arab American or Southwest Asian and North African (SWANA) studies requires grappling with the long history of anti-Arab/Muslim state policies of surveillance, policing, and mass incarceration that preceded 2001. The Zionist lobby and anti-Palestinian organizations such as the Anti-Defamation League have increasingly deployed the language of tolerance and civility to tar critics of Israel with charges of anti-Semitism.7 These liberal strategies, illustrating Rodríguez's argument, can be more damaging than frontal attacks on the Palestine justice movement because the language of racism is harder to challenge

The Techniques of Non-Muslim Students? in Learning Arabic Speaking Skills Online

The learning of Arabic in Malaysia, which was once exclusive for Muslim students, is now gaining popularity among local non-Muslims. Learning Arabic, even at the beginner's level, is not easy for non-Muslim students. The situation is even more challenging during the COVID-19 pandemic which witnessed a total shift to the online teaching and learning mode. The aim of this study is to identify the learning techniques employed by non-Muslim students to learn Arabic speaking skills online. This qualitative study interviewed six non-Muslim undergraduate students from Universiti Malaysia Sabah (UMS) who were taking a level 2 Arabic course. The results of shows that non -Muslim students were able to follow the process of learning speaking skills online, even though they had some difficulties at the beginning due to the lack of basics in Arabic. Their ability to follow the learning process were mainly the result of mastering the basic skills of reading Arabic texts and writing Arabic letters. Equipped with these two skills, the students demonstrated 22 learning techniques which can be divided into three categories according to their intended use, namely Malay-Arabic translation, reading Arabic texts without diacritical marks, and Arabic speech improvement. This study also suggests that fiurther research should be carried out to explore the potential of Asynchronous Multimedia-based Oral Communication (AMOC) in Arabic language learning for beginners.

Suicide Response in American Muslim Communities: A Community Case Study

This community case study describes the experiences of two neighboring Muslim communities in the United States, following respective incidents of suicide. Case summaries are first presented to contextualize the community response to the suicides. Subsequently, the discussion highlights relevant cultural and religious factors that impacted the responses of mosque leadership, mental health professionals, and the communities at large. Concerns related to the deceased's afterlife, community connectedness, privacy, shame, and communication barriers were prominent in each case and shaped the courses of response. The COVID-19 pandemic and divergent responses to external support played significant roles in creating disparate outcomes in these communities. The discussion emphasizes the need for dissemination of evidence -based, religiously grounded, and culturally competent curricula for implementing mental health awareness programming and long-term suicide prevention efforts. Insights about cultural and religious factors influencing community responses were derived from the described cases in this paper and informed the development of a comprehensive suicide prevention, intervention, and postvention manual and training program tailored for Muslim communities.

Blended Learning vs. E-learning: Determining the Best Mode of Education from the Perspective of the Learners

The study aims to determine students' perceptions regarding the blended mode of learning in the Post-COVID era of Aligarh Muslim University. An online questionnaire was designed (Google form) with the help of previous studies and forwarded the web link through text messaging, email, WhatsApp, and Facebook. In total, 291 participants (undergraduates, postgraduates, and research scholars) filled out the online questionnaire. The result shows that the blended mode of learning is well accepted by the students, but when it comes to practical classes, this mode surely does not suffice. When it comes to the attitude of the students towards the blended mode of learning, the results suggest that most of the students are comfortable. Further, the blended mode comes with the complexities of e-learning and technical issues like poor internet connectivity, technical problems, limited internet packs, unstructured reading materials, etc., causing many difficulties in the overall learning process. This is the first study that assesses the students' perceptions towards the blended mode of learning in Aligarh Muslim University. The findings may be useful in developing new strategies for improving the learning environment in any academic institution. © 2023, DESIDOC.

A study on assess the knowledge towards warning signs of breast cancer and prevention among the 4th year b.sc nursing student from SBCN

The most life-threatening illness that is the primary cause of female morality is Breast cancer. Breast cancer research has led to extraordinary breakthroughs in our understanding of the illness over the last two decades, leading in more effective medicines. Now days, In most Of all malignant diseases, one of the most deadly occurring cancer are those cancers occurring in the breast, accounting for 23 percent of all cancer fatalities. It is now a global issue, yet it is still detected in its advanced stages due to women's neglect in self-inspection. The greater parts of people learn from their disease is thorough practice of screening procedures. Others may come with a breast lump that was discovered by accident, a change in breast shape or size, or nipple discharge, although mastalgia is not unusual. To diagnose breast cancer, a physical examination, imaging, particularly mammography, and tissue biopsy are required. Early detection increases the chances of survival.Copyright © 2022 Novyi Russkii Universitet. All rights reserved.

Science, Medicine, and Cytology: A Pilot Program of the ASC Diversity Equity and Inclusion (DEI) Committee

Introduction: The percentage of pathology trainees who are underrepresented minorities is low. The DEI committee established a Science, Medicine, and Cytology summer pilot program to improve exposure to cytopathology focusing on DEI. Material(s) and Method(s): An online course was developed during the Covid-19 pandemic targeting underrepresented minorities at the high school and college level, and consisted of several didactic sessions, presenting the most common procedures involving cytologists, including fine-needle aspiration, rapid onsite evaluation, and smearing techniques. Interviews of cytopathologists were also included. Participants were surveyed for their demographic information and for an evaluation of the course. Result(s): 23 participants completed the survey (Table 1). The highest level of education was high school 16 (70%), college 6 (26%), and other 1 (4%). Self-identified demographics included 2 (9%) Hispanic, 9 (36%) Asian/Asian American, 2 (8%) Black / Black American, 6 (24%) White/Caucasian, 2 (8%) African, 1 (4%) Muslim American and 1 (4%) Sudanese. Household highest level of education was high school 2 (9%), some college 1 (4%), completed college 9 (39%), completed graduate program 9 (39%), 2 (9%) preferred not to answer. 14 (61%) participants have a family member in healthcare. The program met expectations for 20 (87%). The program format was effective and appropriate for their level of education for 23 (100%). The content helpful for 22 (96%). 13 (57%) considered healthcare as a potential career. 5 (22%) considered cytology as a career (Table 2). Conclusion(s): Evaluations were excellent, generating awareness of medicine and cytopathology. Individuals with families in healthcare were overrepresented, as there were barriers in reaching underrepresented minorities. The population that signed up was influenced by our ability offer the course online. Expansion to a wider audience would increase the number of attendees. (Table Presented).

Online extremism and Islamophobic language and sentiment when discussing the COVID-19 pandemic and misinformation on Twitter

This paper looks at the profiles of those who engaged in Islamophobic language/extremist behaviour on Twitter during the COVID-19 pandemic. This two-part analysis takes into account factors such as anonymity, membership length and postage frequency on language use, and the differences in sentiment expressed between pro-social and anti-social tweets. Analysis includes comparisons between low, moderate and high levels of anonymity, postage frequency and membership length, allowing for differences in keyword use to be explored. Our findings suggest that increased anonymity is not associated with an increase in Islamophobic language and misinformation. The sentiment analysis indicated that emotions such as anger, disgust, fear, sadness and trust were significantly more associated with pro-social Twitter users whereas sentiments such as anticipation, joy and surprise were significantly more associated with anti-social Twitter users. In some cases, evidence for joy in the suffering of others as a result of the pandemic was expressed.

Programmatic advantage of cost-effective and highly sensitive rapid COVID-19 diagnostic with two-step screening strategy for airport quarantine in Bangladesh

Introduction: In the current pandemic, many unprecedented challenges have been observed at the resource poor settings such as inadequate airport quarantine facilities and lack of highly sensitive but rapid and cost-effective testing of COVID-19. Objective(s): To present a cost-effective and timely alternative diagnostic and quarantine facility for the incoming travelers in Bangladesh. Method(s): The cross-sectional serosurvey data has been collected from impoverished inbound travelers from different countries who were quarantined in Hajj camp (a government facility near the airport reserved for muslim pilgrims) with full coverage of food and lodging at subsidized cost and free testing by GeneXpert, which is capable of Nucleic Acid Amplification Test (NAAT) for both COVID-19 and TB. Result(s): Most of our study participants were male (74.32%) and the predominant age group was 20-40 years. Total SARS-COV-2 positive patients were 106 (7.98%) among 1328 participants out of which 72 were male. The highest infection rate was observed in travelers from Singapore (n=16/71, 22.53%) followed by USA and Malaysia. The result processing time was only 1 hour for the NAAT and 1222 participants (92%) were able to travel to their destinations on the same day. The positive cases were kept in quarantine for further assessment. Conclusion(s): Our study findings support the equitable access to COVID-19 diagnostics like NAAT for disadvantaged group and optimum use of health system resources. It also shows the potential to equip hard to reach laboratory facilities by GeneXpert for both TB and COVID-19 diagnostics specially where the double burden exists.

Post Vaccination Adherence to Covid Appropriate Behavior: A Cross Sectional Study

Introduction: COVID-appropriate behavior refers to the development of those habits that may serve to limit the disease's spread and, thus, reduce the number of individuals affected. Vaccinated individuals may be less willing to comply with COVID-appropriate conduct due to their perception of a diminished health risk. Consequently, the present study was conducted to assess public's attitude regarding COVID preventive measures following vaccination.. Methodology: This cross sectional study was conducted among adults aged 18 and above. 200 individuals who had received either both doses of COVID-19 or at least one dosage of either COVID-19 participated in this survey, which was performed online and involved the distribution of a self-administered questionnaire via social media. Result(s): Covishield was the most commonly administered vaccination (70%), followed by Covaxin (23%). The majority of respondents adhered to mask use after vaccination (82,5%), but 15% of respondents adhered to mask use less after vaccination than before. 2.5% of respondents reported an increase in mask use. Physical distancing was shown to be less after vaccination among (65.5%) than before vaccination. 19% of study participants reported that their frequency of hand washing with soap and water decreased following vaccination. 31% of respondents said that their usage of hand sanitizer dropped following vaccination. Conclusion(s): It should be stressed to the public that getting vaccination does not make them invincible foe the various new strains in circulation of the virus. Strict policy making should be emphasized to make people follow COVID appropriate behavior at all times.Copyright © 2023, Institute of Medico-legal Publication. All rights reserved.

Paradox of Protective Behaviors Among Muslim Men During the Early Stage of the COVID-19 Pandemic in Aceh, Indonesia.

OBJECTIVE: The imposition of protective health protocols in public spaces to curb the spread of coronavirus disease (COVID-19) has confronted the ritual of congregational prayers in mosques for Muslims. This study examines the adoption of protective behaviors in the early stage of the COVID-19 outbreak and the influence of religion on risk perception by comparing precautionary behaviors in public and in mosques. METHODS: Data were collected through an online survey of 327 Muslim men across the Aceh Province, Indonesia, from April 21, 2020, to May 2, 2020. The Wilcoxon signed-rank test and the paired t-test were employed to compare the uptake of protective behaviors in public and mosques. RESULTS: The adoption of protective behaviors was higher in public rather than in mosques. It further revealed that the understanding of Islamic teachings during the pandemic has influenced perceived risk and the way Muslim men comply with the protective guidelines. Those who have complete, incomplete, or no compliance of precautionary behaviors have their own interpretation of Islamic teachings that inform their individual actions to manage the risk. CONCLUSION: This study suggests the significance of religious views for developing public health preparedness during the current and future pandemics in Aceh and other Muslim majority regions.

"You Are All Soldiers in the Battle against the Corona Virus and Your Commander Is the Prophet Muhammad": The Fatwas of Sheikh RaMODIFIER LETTER RIGHT HALF RINGid Badir Regarding COVID-19

This article deals with the rulings of Sheikh RaMODIFIER LETTER RIGHT HALF RINGid Badir, who served as a mediator between the Israeli government and the Muslim community over the course of the pandemic. As a senior leader and scholar of the southern branch of the Islamic Movement in Israel, Sheikh RaMODIFIER LETTER RIGHT HALF RINGid Badir's fatwas have historically addressed the unique circumstances and situational difficulties faced by Muslims living in Israel.

Intention to consume halal pharmaceutical products: evidence from Indonesia

PurposeDespite the importance of pharmaceutical products in everyday life, particularly after the coronavirus outbreak in early 2020, only a few studies have attempted to analyse consumer behaviour with regard to halal pharmaceutical products. Therefore, this study aims to investigate the factors influencing purchase intention for halal pharmaceutical products among Indonesian Muslims.Design/methodology/approachThis study uses a theory of planned behaviour approach, in which religiosity and knowledge of halal product variables are added to attitude, subjective norms and perceived behavioural control variables. Primary data were collected from 225 Indonesian Muslims in Jakarta, the capital city of Indonesia and analysed using structural equation modelling.FindingsThe study found that the intention to purchase halal pharmaceutical products is positively affected by attitude, religiosity, knowledge of halal products and perceived behavioural control. However, the influence of the subjective norm variable was found to be insignificant in this study.Research limitations/implicationsIt is possible to improve the empirical model by including more explanatory variables and investigating the mediating effect of the variables. The study could also be scaled up to reach more respondents in different regions and countries. These additional aspects would provide better insights into the behaviour of consumers when considering halal pharmaceutical products.Practical implicationsThe findings suggest the importance of designing and implementing appropriate strategies and campaigns to enhance knowledge of halal products, of positive attitudes and of better resources/opportunities to consume halal pharmaceutical products. The industry needs to highlight its products' halal and tayyib aspects through proper branding and promotion strategies. The government and other stakeholders could also implement education campaigns to increase halal products and halal literacy knowledge. These are ultimately expected to enhance the effectiveness of halal regulations and meet Muslim consumer expectations in the country.Originality/valueDespite the importance of halal pharmaceutical products, this area has received limited attention in the academic literature. Thus, this study attempts to elaborate on consumer behaviour in this niche area.

DOES GLOBALIZATION AFFECT HUMAN WELL-BEING? AN EXAMINATION ON THE SAMPLE OF TURKEY AS A MUSLIM COUNTRY

The phenomenon of well-being, which has been an important part of sustainable development plans in recent years, has been on the agenda of both individuals and societies, especially with the outbreak of the coronavirus pandemic. The relationship between globalization and well-being has started to gain more importance in this process. On the other hand, despite globalization's positive effects, it has encountered a very reactive attitude in Muslim societies due to the effect of cultural change in its essence. In this context, the effect of globalization on the level of human well-being in Turkey, as an example of a Muslim country, will be emphasized. The study covered the years 1990-to 2018 and the time series technique, one of the econometric methods, is applied. To examine the long-run relationship between the series, Johansen co-integration analysis is employed. To obtain long-run coefficient Fully Modified Ordinary Least Square and Dynamic Ordinary Least Square Techniques are used. We use Granger causality analysis to reveal short-term relationship between the series. Although globalization contains the possibility of cultural and value homogenization, as a result of the empirical analysis, it is found that there is a long-term relationship between globalization and human well-being. In addition, in the long-term analysis, it is concluded that globalization has a positive and statistically significant effect on human well-being. The outcome of causality analysis confirms that there is not any causality relationship between human well-being and globalization. The study is important in the context of researching the relationship between globalization and well-being in the Turkish sample for the first time in the literature. (English) [ FROM AUTHOR]

Muslim charity in the United Kingdom: Between counter-terror and social integration

Writing ahead of the next ‘Independent Review' of the United Kingdom's counter-terror strategy, this article presents two inter-related arguments. First, that the current counter-terror legislation is counter-productive, according to its own logic, in achieving social integration. Second, that Islamic practices and conceptualisations associated with charitable giving hold potentials to offer a more inclusive understanding of social integration than that currently utilised in the United Kingdom. The actions of Muslim charities and practitioners within Britain (exemplified by service provisions during Covid restrictions) serve as an important tool for social integration. Thus, by exploring the potentials of Muslim charitable giving, an alternative solution to social integration in the United Kingdom is presented. Drawing from participant interviews with a range of Muslim charitable practitioners, this article argues that supporting British Muslim charities would assist social integration and the construction of ‘shared values' assumed by UK counter-terror strategies to be a tool in combating ‘extremist' narratives. [ FROM AUTHOR]

The Islamic Perspective on the Effect of Religiosity, Anxiety and Belief regarding COVID-19 on Undisclosed Status of COVID-19 in the Muslim Youth

Many people who suffered from COVID-19 symptoms have been diagnosed as positive for COVID-19. However, most of them did not want to reveal their COVID-19 status. The purpose of this study is to investigate the effect of religiosity, anxiety, and COVID-19 belief on the undeclared status of COVID-19 in Muslim youth. This study uses a cross-sectional design;researchers will conduct research on Muslim youth in North Sumatra Province, with the main criteria suspecting COVID-19. Researchers will provide informed consent to Muslim youth parents (in case there are Muslim youths aged 16-17 years) for seeking formal permission to participate in this research process. In this study, data was analyzed using chi-square and logistic regression with 95% confidence intervals. This research was conducted on 826 Muslim youth who are willing to be respondents and suspect COVID-19 with symptom or had a contact with the closest family member who is diagnosed positive for COVID-19. There was no influence between social economics in COVID-19 (p=0.709;95% CI), religiosity (p=0.88;95% CI), anxiety (p=0.147;95% CI) on undisclosed status of COVID-19. The results of this study indicate that youth who do not believe in COVID-19 have 2,351 risk (1.27-432;95% CI) on undisclosed status of COVID-19 compared to youth who believe in COVID-19 experience on undisclosed status of COVID-19. To reduce the risk of COVID-19 transmission caused by Undisclosed Status COVID-19, the Indonesian government must increase Muslim youth confidence in COVID-19. © The Authors.