Purpose of the article Exploring the nature of tourism behavior has traditionally been very complex. Adding to it the fast pace changing environment, the study becomes even more complicated. The purpose of this research is to shed light on the relationship between factors affecting tourist behavior and tourism demand in Albania. Methodology/methods Tourism demand has generally been measured in terms of ‘number of people entering and exiting the borders of a country’. In order to ensure the feasibility of this study, (...) ‘tourism demand’ is measured in terms of ‘frequency of travels’. To accomplish these objective, an online survey questionnaire was developed and administered across the population of Tirana and Durres, the largest cities in Albania, which also represented the population upon which the sample size was drawn. Scientific aim Scientifically, the research aims at testing the relationship between the sample’s monthly income levels, denoted as the independent variable and ‘frequency of travel’, denoted as the dependent variable. Findings The results of the research show that there is a significant association between these two constructs. That is, with x2 = 102,581, p=.000 < 0.01, the Null Hypothesis is rejected, and the Alternative Hypothesis is accepted. Conclusions From the study it is concluded that the higher the Monthly Income levels of the Albanian tourists, the higher the frequency of travels. Nevertheless, like in every other study there are also limitations involved with this particular study, as well. The lack of reliable quantitative data concerning the Albanian domestic tourism is one among the most crucial ones. (shrink)

Purpose of the article There is relatively a big number of brands in the market of laptops nowadays in Albania. It appears that the number of brands offered in this market could easily be compared to the number of brands in Europe and even broader. The purpose of this study is to help Albanian vendors understand the criteria that consumers take into consideration when they make the decision to purchase a laptop. Methodology/methods The research is based on the collection and (...) the analyses of the primary data collected through interviews to people like managers or employees who work in the sector of trading laptops or in businesses like education where laptops are broadly used recently; then a survey is done through a questionnaire delivered to customers who already own and use a laptop and customers who are potential buyers of laptops. Scientific aim The aim of the research is to identify if there are any relationships between the demographics of the consumers and the criteria of buying a laptop; on the other hand, to find out how is the relationship between the demographics and the features of different brands. Findings The study found out that Albanian consumers have good knowledge of laptops and their brands, and they use different sources of information for making their decisions in buying a laptop; it is found that there are relationships between some demographics like age or gender and the appraisal for some attributes of the laptops like price, design and high graphics card; it is also found that some technical features and other attributes of using laptops are some of the determinants that influence the laptops’ purchases. Conclusions It is realized that one of the most important demographics of the consumers is their age. Some core features like RAM, ROM, battery life, processor quality, light weight or attributes that are connected to the purposes of using the laptop computers like practicality and mobility in using them, work and studying processes, quick access to the internet are determinant factors which influence the decision making process of purchasing a laptop. I would recommend that future researches be focused also on the relationship between the customers’ income and their preferred brand or ranking brands according to the customers’ preferences. Such studies should also extend outside the city of Tirana. (shrink)

Purpose of the article The purpose of this article is to determine whether Sport Sponsorship was utilized by some Albanian companies as a promotional tool in their marketing efforts. Since the world included low population with limited goods and products in the past, the marketing and selling of the products were very simple. As the population grew and economies started thriving more diverse products and attractive products and goods were represented with a higher quantity in the global markets. Albania was (...) not an exception to this fact, especially in the fields of business to business marketing. The competition occurred between companies in an attempt to attract more customers for buying goods and services. Strategically located in Europe, an important part of business of sports “sport sponsorship” has become as important part of marketing communication mix for many companies in Albania today. Therefore, the main aim of this paper is to provide better understanding of the use of a sport sponsorship as a communication tool in Albania and the objectives linked with this kind of sponsorship. Methodology/methods This is a qualitative study, although a quantitative method is used. Four companies were analyzed, from different industries, and two of them are supporting local football team, whereas two are/were sponsoring national ones. Initially surveys were distributed to four well-known companies in Albanian market; it was somehow difficult to gather the results of the surveys in terms of “locating the person to communicate with on behalf of the company”. However, this was easily overcome by contacting in advance.Conclusions In conclusion, the overall conclusion of this paper was that, in Albania companies sponsor because of the team’s media appearance and the objectives from a sport sponsorship are to increase sales and make people more aware of their brand and become accustomed to it. (shrink)

Two Methods Of Creative Marketing Research Neuromarketing And In-Depth Interview Creativity is one of the most important concepts nowadays' business environment. The purpose of this article is to determine whether neuromarketing and in-depth interviews complete each other in terms of allowing marketers to to create more creative marketing strategies on how customers really feel.Raising global competition pressure does not allow marketers to ignore it. Marketing is a field that is most sensitive to such influences. New point of view most times (...) gives an advantage in the marketing field. It helps to develop creative strategies.Two methods of creative marketing research: neuromarketing and in-depth interview were analyzed. Creativity is a potential which must be developed as a source of further development. It is a source natural to all people, a source that has a motivational effect. Creativity may be developed. Constant education is required. It is necessary to remove barriers and establish opportunities for creative thinking, reduce habitual stereotypes, release space for searching and find further alternatives. Significance of marketing in nowadays business environment is out of any doubts. Companies world wide spend trillions of dollars each year on Advertising, Marketing, and Research and Develoment. For decades, advertisers, marketers, and product developers are making an effort to apply social psychology to discover the tools to tap into the consumer's brain. Some marketers believe that most of biases occur because of responses changed by the customer's conscious mind. Development of technology gives a wide range of opportunities for the new generation marketing research. In conclusion, it is clear, that neuromarketing and in-depth interviews may complete each other and draw together more accurate picture of what the customers really feel, that allows marketers to create more competitive creative marketing strategies. (shrink)

Bu çalışma Türkiye’de kadavradan organ nakline/bağışına bakış ile toplumsal anlamlandırma ve yorumlama süreçleri arasındaki ilişkiyi gazete haberlerine yansıyan boyutları üzerinden betimleme amacındadır. Söz konusu amacı gerçekleştirme yolunda etkileşimci bir bakış açısı referans alınmış, tematik gazete haberlerinin içeriği analize tabi tutulmuştur. Bu analiz bize Türk toplumunda beden ve organlara, ölüme, ölü bedene yüklenen toplumsal, dini anlamların hem kadavradan organ nakli ve bağışına ilişkin düşünceleri hem bu konudaki direnci hem de motivasyonu şekillendirici bir düzlemde söylemlere yansıdığını göstermiştir.

Bu çalışma, Türkiye’de İslamcı popüler kültürün romantik İslam’dan İslami romantizme doğru değişen panoramasına dair bir gözlemden mülhemdir ve nitel karşılaştırmalı durum analizi yöntemi ile bu değişimin panoramik bir sosyolojisini yapma amacındadır. Çalışmanın birinci aşamasında teorik düzeyde romantik İslam’ın ikinci aşamada ise İslami romantizmin hem sosyal medyadaki hem de örneklem olarak seçilen İlahiyat Fakültesi öğrencilerinin dünyasındaki karşılığını keşfetmeye yönelik bir (n)etnografik incelemeden elde edilmiş, yatay/yan yana gelen görünümlerini birleştirmeye yöneldik. Daha sonra romantik İslam ile İslami romantizmin dikey/üst üste gelen görünümlerini birleştirmeye (...) ve karşılaştırmaya çalıştık. Bu değerlendirmeden elde edilen en genel sonuç, her iki fenomenin hem dikey/üst üste gelen hem de yatay yan yana gelen görünümlerinde belirgin ortak temanın aşk olduğudur. Romantik İslam’da başlangıçta modernite karşısında yaşanan ikiliği aşmanın metaforik imleyeni olarak anlam kazanmış aşk, 1990’lı yıllara gelince artık Müslüman bireyin özneleşmesinin, bireyselleşmesinin aracına dönüşmüştür. İslami romantizmde ise aşk, helal damgası vurularak İslamileştirilmiş ve bu ölçüde İslamcı popüler gerçekliği ipotek altına almıştır. (shrink)

Bu çalışmada İmam Mâlik’in/Mâlikîlerin necasetler ve kadınların özel halleriyle ilgili üç sünni mezhep başta olmak üzere cumhura muhalefet ettiği ve bu mezhebin karakteristiği haline gelen bazı temel meselelerden yola çıkılarak onların Hicaz bölgesi kaynaklı bir mezhep olarak eser çizgisinde mi rey çizgisinde mi yahut bu iki arasında olup esere mi daha yakın olduğu ihtimallerini ortaya koymak amaçlanmıştır. Bu noktada Mâlikîlerin ve diğer mezheplerin muteber klasik kaynakları ile “ihtilâfu’l-fukahâ” türünden eserlere müracaat edilmiştir. Ele alınan örneklerde Mâlikîlerin görüşleri şöyledir: Suların pislenmesi konusunda (...) Mâlikîler suyun azlık ya da çokluk ölçüsünü değil suyun rengi, tadı ve kokusu gibi temel vasıflarından birinin değişip değişmediğini esas alarak hüküm vermişlerdir. Eti yenen hayvanların idrar ve dışkıları konusunda eti yenen hayvan necis bir şeyler yeyip içmemişse bunların hem idrarları hem de dışkılarının temiz olup, namaza engel olmadığı görüşünü benimsemişlerdir. Köpeğin kendisinin ve yaladığı kabın temiz olup olmadığı konusunda Mâlikîler köpek ve domuz dahil canlı olan her hayvan -necis bir şey yemiş olsa bile- temiz olduğu görüşünü savunmuşlardır. Hayzın herhangi bir alt sınırının olup-olmadığı noktasında bunun alt bir sınırının olmadığı ve bir defalık kanama yani kısa bir müddet kanın gelmesinin âdetin sübutu için yeterli olduğunu görüşünü benimsemişlerdir. Âdetli kadının Kur’an okuması meselesinde ise bu durumda olan kadının Kur’an’a dokunmasının yasak olduğu, fakat onu dokunmadan okuyabileceği görüşünde olmuşlardır. Hatta öğretici veya öğrenci olanlar zaruret miktarınca eğitim amacıyla ruhsat hükümden faydalanarak Kur’ân’a hem dokunabilir hem de onu okuyabilir. Elde edilen bulgular neticesinde İmam Mâlik’in/Mâlikîlerin maslahat ve istihsanı kullanmada öne çıkan bir mezhep olarak reyi kullanmakla birlikte, genel olarak nasların umumundan veya mutlaklığından hareket ettikleri, görüşlerine aykırı özel nasları mutlaka usule ait bir yöntemle te’vil ettikleri yahut cerh ve ta’dil yoluna başvurdukları veya meşru gerekçeleri olan istihsan yoluyla terk ettikleri, dolayısıyla esere daha yakın oldukları ve Hicaz fıkhını temsil ettikleri sonucuna ulaşılmıştır. (shrink)

Arapçanın genel kaidelerini tespit etme çabaları uzun bir tarihi sürece yayılmıştır. İlk dönem nahiv âlimlerinin yanı sıra müteahhir dil bilginleri de Arap dilinin kendilerine sunmuş olduğu materyalleri kullanarak bu çalışmalarda etkin bir şekilde rol almışlardır. Fakat dil bilginleri dilsel malzemenin kabulü hususunda farklı yöntemler izlemişlerdir. Bu durum ise nahivciler arasında bazen sert tartışmalara neden olmuştur. Bu münakaşalar ya dilsel verinin hangi döneme ait olduğu, fasih Arapça konuşanlardan alınıp alınmadığı, herhangi bir kabileye özgü olup olmadığı veya eldeki fasih malzemenin sahih bir (...) senetle gelip gelmediği gibi Araplara nispetinin doğruluğunu tespitte yaşanmış ya da delil olarak ileri sürülen dilsel materyalin içeriği sebebiyle meydana gelmiştir. Böylece dilsel verinin kabulü için bazı şartları haiz olması gerektiği fikri ortaya çıkmıştır. Özellikle nahiv âliminin ele aldığı dilsel materyalde şâhid olarak sunacağı ifadenin konuya dair verilen duruma uygun olması gerektiği düşüncesi dilsel verinin metin tenkidinden geçtiğini göstermektedir. İşte bu makale, şâhid olarak sunulan dilsel malzemede yer alan bir ifadenin farklı yorumlanabilmesine kapı açan ve bir nevi metin tenkidi sayılan ihtimâl kavramını ele almaktadır. İhtimâl, birçok nahiv âlimi tarafından ihticâca engel bir kusur telakki edilmiştir. Buna rağmen böylesi dilsel malzemenin istişhâd faaliyetinde kullanıldığı da görülmektedir. Bu yüzden Ebû Hayyân gibi bazı nahivciler bu tür delillerin dikkate alınmaması gerektiğini dile getirmişlerdir. Lakin herhangi bir dilsel metinde ihtimâlin olup olmadığına yönelik nahivcilerin farklı yorumları, ihtimâl kavramının objektif bir şekilde kullanılıp kullanılmadığı problemini gündeme getirmektedir. Amacımız “Dilsel delillerde ihtimâlin olması onunla istişhâdı engeller.” şeklinde ifade edilen ve dilsel verinin istişhâda uygunluğunu ihtimâl kavramı üzerinden değerlendiren bakış açısının nesnel değerini ortaya koymaktır. İhtimâlin istişhâd faaliyetini etkileyen bir durum kabul edilmesi sebebiyle konu önem arz etmektedir. Literatür taraması yöntemi kullanılan ve mevcut akademik çalışmalardan farklı olduğu düşünülen bu makalede ihtimâl kavramının tarihi sürecine temas edildikten sonra farklı başlıklar altında bu kavram irdelenmiş, delilin reddini gerektirecek ihtimâlin güçlü olması ve uzak ihtimâllerin dikkate alınmaması gerektiğine dair söylemler olmasına rağmen bu konuda objektif kriterler belirlenemediğinden delilin ihtimâl ifade edip etmediğine yönelik dilciler arasındaki tartışmalar örneklerle izah edilmiştir. İstişhâda engel farklı durumlar arasından sadece ihtimâli esas alan bu makalede söz konusu kuralın nahiv âlimleri tarafından kullanıldığı fakat objektif kriterlere bağlanamadığı sonucuna ulaşılmıştır. Zira nahiv usulü eserlerinde konuya dair verilen örnekte bile ihtimâlin varlığı tartışma konusu yapılmıştır. (shrink)

Sosyo-politik gelişmişlik; toplumsal, ekonomik ve meka nsal o zellikler açısından; eg itim, sag lık, altyapı, iletişim, ulaşım, konut, çevre gibi temel hizmetlerin sunulma du zeyinin, asgari standartların u stu nde olması olarak tanımlanmaktadır. Sosyo-politik gelişmişlig e ilişkin deg erlendirmeleri o znel ve nesnel olarak iki grupta kategorize edebiliriz. Kişisel deg erlendirmeler temel alınarak gerçekleştirilen yaklaşımlar o znel yaklaşım, bilimsel açıdan o lçu lebilen veriler temel alınarak gerçekleştirilen yaklaşımlar nesnel yaklaşım olarak tanımlanmaktadır. Gelişmişlig in o lçu lmesine yo nelik gerçekleştirilen çalışmalarda (...) farklı sonuçlar elde edilse de o znel go stergelerin de gereklilig inin nesnel go stergelerden daha az olmaması yo nu nde go ru ş birlig i bulunmaktadır. Bu dog rultuda çalışmada uluslararası kuruluşlar, uluslararası şirketler ve ulusal kuruluşların sosyopolitik gelişmişlik o lçu mlerinde kullandıkları endeksler tanıtılmıştır. Endekslerin belirlenmesinde literatu r taraması yo ntemi kullanılmıştır. Sosyo-politik gelişmişlik kavramı altında deg erlendirilen çevre go stergeleri bu tu nleşik sosyal politika kapsamında incelenmiştir. (shrink)

Displaying the stages of my expedition in logic, the purpose of this essay is to admit how I have been involved in the field of logic from time to time –and how, sometimes, I have not. Therefore, starting from my undergraduate years, I shared my first acquaintance with logic and the following processes. My interest in logic has continued after my graduation and throughout my teaching life, and has never decreased. My education in logic started at the Faculty of Languages, (...) History and Geography, and continued at the Middle East Technical University and then at the University of Pittsburgh. I have contributed to the field of logic with the courses that I instructed after finishing my PhD, and along with my studies on logic, yet my competence in this field has not always satisfied me. That is why I have always asked myself: To what degree I am a logician? This essay, which is a kind of short autobiography, also allows me to respectfully acknowledge the logicians who contributed to me. This essay, which also sheds light on the past 40 years of the logic studies in our country, demonstrates the current level of logic studies. The continuation of the studies under the umbrella of the Logic Association would provide a positive impact on the logic studies in our country. (shrink)

In the Qur’an, it is declared with the instructions given to the prophet, who is the messenger of religion, that a very wide area of freedom has been opened to people in terms of freedom of religion and belief, and it is guaranteed that everyone can believe as they want, and it is emphasized that not believing is a human right as much as believing. However, in the following stages, a perception emerged that the verses related to war, which were (...) revealed for defense purposes against the aggressive attitudes of non-Muslims, overshadowed the principles of the Qur’an regarding freedom of religion and belief, with the influence of the opinions formed over time by Muslims. The number of people who came to the conclusion that Islam is a religion that disregards the freedom of religion and belief has increased day by day when the killing of those who apostatize is added to this. In this article, the connection between the verses of the Qur’an that prioritize peace and reconciliation and the verses that command war will be tried to be determined, and in this context, the relationship between religious freedom and religious freedom will be tried to be determined. (shrink)

Abū Ḥayyān al-Andalusī’s work, Kitāb al-idrāk li-lisān al-Atrāk, is considered one of the oldest lexicographical and grammatical studies related to the Turkish language. Considering the author’s claim that he wrote his work by interviewing people whom he considered to be authoritative, it can be said that the work possesses an original structure. At the same time, this work, which was authored with the aim of teaching Turkish to Arabs, is significant as it indicates that Turkish was one of the dominant (...) languages in regions where the Arab population is in the majority. The last part of this threepart work comprises syntax. In this section, Abū Ḥayyān aims to compile Turkish grammar rules by identifying the equivalents of Arabic grammatic rules in Turkish. Therefore, the aforementioned work can also be seen as a comparative grammar study. The aim of this article is to highlight some grammatical differences that Abū Ḥayyān deemed significant and explicitly or implicitly pointed out between the two languages. In this article, which we limited to the third chapter of Kitāb al-idrāk and made use of the literature review method, it was observed that an attempt was made to establish Turkish grammatical rules based on the general principles of Arabic, but it was concluded that some of the issues that are seen as differences between the two languages actually stem from this method. (shrink)

Unlike Hanafī jurists, most of the jurists maintain that qiyās is permissible (jāʿiz) for the origins (aṣl) in which the qiyās rule is invalid, including ruhsat (permission); kaffarah (expiation) and ḥadd (penalties). Shāfiʿī jurists, Imam al-Shāfiʿī and his followers like al-Juwaynī, argue that Hanafī jurists are contradictory since they apply qiyās in many cases despite their judgment that qiyās is invalid, and on the contrary they defend that these are derived from the literal interpretation techniques out of qiyās format. Nevertheless, (...) Shāfiʿī jurists persist that they rule on the qiyās applications through Islamic jurisprudence inference methods (istinbāt) such as Islamic juristic preference (istiḥsān), even beyond qiyās. In his sense of search effective cause: ʿilla (taʿlil), al-Juwaynī focuses on the proper meaning/suitability (munāsaba). He runs the mechanism of taʿlil even in the presence of the deepest proper meaning. He customizes the formulation of the suitability (munāsaba)/proper meaning for the origins in which the qiyās’ rule is invalid. Kaffarah and ḥadd consequently expand the validity area and minimize the restricted area for qiyās. Al-Juwaynī’s approach agrees to his rational personality as well as the value that he appreciates for qiyās. In this paper, the aim of study is to identify the borders and limitations of qiyās in al-Juwaynī’s thought with discussions about the disagreements between the jurists in the specified areas.Summary: As a general principle, devoting (taʿabbud) is the foundation for jurisprudence for al-Imām al-Shāfiʿī and reasoning (taʿaqqul/taʿlīl) for Abu Hanīfa. Despite this, Abu Hanīfa and Hanafī jurists consider non-qiyās foundations (ma’dul bih ‘anil-qiyās) including the quantified ordinances (muqaddarāt/taqdīrat) and ruhsat (permission) as well as kaffarah (expiation) and ḥadd (penalty) as the banned areas for the analogy (qiyās) and profess that qiyās cannot be applied in these areas. It may be contradictory that they state in one hand that the foundation of rulings is taʿaqqul, and on the other hand, bars the above-mentioned areas for qiyās. On the contrary to their general approach, Shāfiʿī jurists, in particular, argue that it is untrue to absolutely exclude use of analogy in those areas, which are rather open to qiyās. Al-Imām al-Shāfiʿī and one of his followers, al-Juwaynī, describe that Hanafī jurists’ applications do not jibe with their principles so that they do refer the inference methods (istinbāt) (e.g. juristic preference: istiḥsān), furthering qiyās although they take qiyās as illicit in kaffarah and ḥadd. However, Hanafī jurists defend that they are not in a contradiction, and indeed they do not apply qiyās in kaffarah and ḥadd and derive their illations mostly from textual implications (dalālah) that are mostly out of qiyās format such as tanqīh al-maʿnā (isolating ʿilla), istidlāl, and dalālah al-naṣṣ (inferred meaning). As understood from the relevant arguments, applying qiyās in these areas is directly associated with the issue of potentiality for “the analogy in reason.” The type of qiyās that Hanafī jurists consider illicit in kaffarah and ḥadd is the analogical actions made for the reasons. One of the most rationalist representatives of Shāfiʿī uṣūl, al-Juwaynī pronounces that the method to determine ʿilla (cause) is fundamentally the suitability (munāsaba) that can be defined as “rational compatibility.” In his opinion, the ratiocination (taʿlīl) is based on this suitability. According to him, the indications of qiyās will be clear or it becomes practicable even in the presence of low-level, implicit suitability. Al-Juwaynī considers that it is licit to apply the analogy for the kaffarah and ḥadd as well as the non-qiyās foundations, including ruhsat and muqaddarāt or taqdīrat, whether direct or explicit (i.e. the meaning of analogy: qiyās al-maʿnā) or indirect or implicit (i.e. the commonality of analogy: qiyās al-shabah). In this context, one of Juwayni’s concern is “the matter of inherence in textual sources such as naṣṣ or the Qur’ān and the Sunna),” corresponding to the area where the judgment is based on a specific reason by naṣṣ. For him, a number of reasonable meanings can be inferred in these areas when it is critiqued independent of the uttered words. But the inherence mentioned in the texts of naṣṣ, indicates to avoid the use of analogy for making a judgment. Al-Juwaynī asserts that some fractional elaborate or detailed meanings cannot be obtained for physical prayers and only a set of universal meanings can be imagined. He defines that it is permissible to compare the reasons of physical worshipping with each other when any suitable meaning is present. He considers that for the permissibility of qiyās in ruhsat, it is adequate to find a meaning suitable for the judgment, and besides, the commonality of analogy (qiyās al-shabah) is applicable in the area of muqaddarāt or taqdīrat. Nevertheless, a patient’s condition is similar to that of a traveller in terms of ruhsat for not fasting (ṣavm). In al-Juwaynī’s way of thinking, patients should act like travellers for ruhsat to shorten (qaṣr) the prayers (ṣalāh) due to “requiring” as a proper meaning. However, as mentioned by al-Juwaynī, there is a consensus (ʿijmā or ittifāq) on the fact that a patient cannot shorten his or her prayers. Due to this impediment, it is understood that the rule of shortening their prayers (ṣalāh) is permissible for travellers but not for patients (manʿ al-ʿijmā’).In criminal cases, the right of oath before the court is belonging to the defendant, whereas to the claimant in kasāme, an oath method in unidentified murders. Taking an oath from the claimant is merely inherent to the kasāme application. Al-Juwaynī states that this inherence is known by the principle of being inherent to each circumstance (iḥtisās bi-l hāl), and with this aspect, kasāme is a closed area for qiyās. According to al-Juwaynī, contracts are suitable for qiyās because they have conditions such as offers and agreements explicitly stating the quality and quantity, and mutual assent. He describes that these are the reasons unavailable for qiyās with respect to their characteristics. With this, the contracts are among the reasonable sources in one respect and the unreasonable in another respect. Consequently, al-Juwaynī suggests that the analogy loses its functionality or validity in a limited number of the closed areas for qiyās, which are the static devotional judgments (taʿabbud) having no proper meaning, direct or indirect, or explicit or implicit; the areas where the judgment is made inherent to a specific reason by the naṣṣ (ihtisās bi-l-nass) (as in the example that sacrificing a female goat at the age of less than one year is a specific judgment for Burde b. Niyār). The point leads to the judgment is made inherent to a specific reason by the principle of ihtisās bi-hāl; and banned ʿijmā issues (as in the example of ʿijmā that it is agreed on the fact that patients cannot shorten (qaṣr) their prayers (ṣalāh), unlike travellers. Al-Juwaynī sees the application of qiyās as licit based on the availability of suitable meaning in all areas except for the above-mentioned issues. That he minimizes the closed areas for qiyās and widely expands the functionality of analogy is the reflections of the value that he gives to qiyās. (shrink)

Student authentication and authorship checking systems are intended to help teachers address cheating and plagiarism. This study set out to investigate higher education teachers’ perceptions of the prevalence and types of cheating in their courses with a focus on the possible changes that might come about as a result of an increased use of e-assessment, ways of addressing cheating, and how the use of student authentication and authorship checking systems might impact on assessment practice. This study was carried out within (...) the context of the project TeSLA (an Adaptive Trust-based e-assessment System for Learning) which is developing a system intended for integration within an institution’s Virtual Learning Environment (VLE) offering a variety of instruments to assure student authentication and authorship checking. Data was collected at two universities that were trialling the TeSLA system, one in Turkey, where the main modes of teaching are face-to-face teaching and distance education, and one in Bulgaria, where the main modes of teaching are face-to-face teaching and blended learning. The study used questionnaires and interviews, building on existing TeSLA project evaluation activities and extending these to explore the specific areas we wished to examine in more depth.In three of the four contexts cheating was seen by teachers as a serious and growing problem, the exception was the distance education context where the teachers believed that the existing procedures were effective in controlling cheating. Most teachers in all four contexts expected cheating to become a greater problem with increased use of e-assessment. Student authentication was not seen as a major problem in any of the contexts, as this was felt to be well controlled through face-to-face proctored assessments, though the problem of assuring effective authentication was seen by many teachers as a barrier to increased use of e-assessment. Authorship checking was seen as a major issue in all contexts, as copying and pasting from the web, ghost writing and plagiarism were all reported as widely prevalent, and authorship checking was seen as becoming even more important with increased use of e-assessment. Teachers identified a third category of cheating behaviours, which was the accessing of information from other students, from written materials, and from the internet during assessments.Teachers identified a number of approaches to addressing the problem of cheating: education, technology, assessment design, sanctions, policy, and surveillance. Whilst technology was not seen as the most important approach to prevention, student authentication and authorship checking systems were seen as relevant in terms of reducing reliance on face-to-face proctored examinations, and in improving the quality of assessment through supporting the employment of a wider range of assessment methods. The development of authorship checking based on computational linguistic approaches was an area of particular interest. Student authentication and authorship checking systems were not seen as being able to address the third category of cheating behaviours that the study identified. (shrink)

Mezar yapımı insanlık tarihi kadar eskidir. İlk insandan beri var olan bu yapı, her toplumun kendi gelenek ve inançları doğrultusunda farklı şekillerde tezâhür etmiştir. Bu çalışma Türklerin tarih boyunca insana vermiş oldukları değerin bir göstergesi olarak mezar taşı kültürünün son dönem uygulamaları hakkında bilgi vermeyi amaçlamaktadır. Dolayısıyla 19. yüzyıl ve sonrası Osmanlılarda mezar taşlarının almış olduğu şekilsel değişimler ve hüsn-i hattın uygulama biçimleri örnekler üzerinden verilmiştir. Ayrıca araştırmaya konu olan yüzyılı temsilen iki mezar taşı yazısı detaylı bir incelemeye tâbi tutulmuştur. (...) Çalışmanın amacı öncelikle mezar taşlarında yazının ne zamandan beri kullanılmaya başlandığını ve geçirmiş olduğu aşamalar neticesinde istifli yazıların nasıl ortaya çıktığını tespit etmektir. Daha sonra hangi hat çeşidinin mezar taşı yazılarında kullanılmaya daha elverişli olduğunu ve bu yazıların hangi metotlarla mezar taşına tatbik edildiğini incelemektir. Bir diğer amaç ise istifli yazıların mezar taşlarında neden kullanıldığını, bununla birlikte kullanılan bu yazıların mezarın hangi kısmında yoğunlaştığını ve bu uygulamaların zirve dönemlerini tespit etmektir. Bu bağlamda araştırmamızda mezar taşlarında yazının hangi dönemde kullanılmaya başlandığı ve özellikle Anadolu coğrafyasındaki uygulamaları hakkında bilgi verilmiştir. Yazının mezar taşına tatbîkînin arka planı ifade edildikten sonra hüsn-i hattın mezar taşına geçirilmesi ile ilgili usuller aktarılmıştır. Daha sonra mezar taşlarına istifli yazıların yoğun olarak kullanıldığı yerler önemli ve çarpıcı bazı örnekler üzerinden gösterilmiştir. Örnek görsellerin altına okunuşları, yazıldıkları tarih ve yazı çeşidi de yazılmıştır. Bu örnekler üzerinden mezar taşı kitâbetine müsâit olan yazılar verilmek sûretiyle mezar taşında kullanılan yazı çeşitleri de ifade edilmiş olmaktadır. Çalışmamızda nitel araştırma yöntemlerinden kaynak tarama, örnekleme, karşılaştırma, kaynak göstermeye başvurulmuştur. Bu çerçevede dönemin sanat anlayışını ifade edecek düzeydeki örnek mezar taşları, kaynak taraması neticesinde elde edilmiş ve kullanılmıştır. Çalışma, yazının mezar taşına iptidâî şekildeki ilk uygulamalarından başlayarak sanat değeri yüksek estetik yazıların elde edilmesine kadar geçen aşamaları göstermesi açısından önemlidir. Çalışmayı önemli kılan bir diğer husus da hat sanatının en güzel uygulama alanlarından biri olan mezar taşı kitâbetindeki yerinin görülmesidir. Bununla birlikte verilen örnekler neticesinde hat sanatının zirve dönemini, mezar taşına hâkk edilen hüsn-i hat yazılarının güzelliğinden anlamak mümkündür. Türkler İslâmiyet’i seçmelerinden sonra kadim kültürlerini İslâm ile yoğurdukları pek çok uygulama alanı bulmuşlardır. Türklerin İslâm’ın ruhuna uygun olarak devam ettirdikleri bu uygulamalardan biri de mezar taşlarıdır. Çalışma Türklerin bu alana yapmış oldukları katkıları göstermesi açısından önemlidir. Zira Türklerin bu konudaki gayreti olmasaydı bugün herhangi bir mezar taşı kültüründen bahsetmemiz mümkün olmayacaktı. (shrink)

After the death of Prophet Muhammad (p.b.u.h), one of the most significant debated topics of Muslims was the institution of caliphate. This institution caused crucial argumentations through the ages from Abu Bakr to Abd-al-Majid who was the hundreth khalifa. Some prominent issues in that regard as follows: How khalifa comes to power, who becomes khalifa, whether he is descended from Quraysh or not, which kind of traits khalifa should have, and how khalifa should behave in certain circumstances. While these arguments (...) were going on, caliphate was maintained based on the reign under some certain dynasties’ responsibilities after the Rashidun (rightly guided) Caliphs. Umayyads, Abbasids and Ottoman Dynasties were the most well-known ones of these dynasties. Throughout history, even though caliphate passed in one another’s hands among aforementioned dynasties, none of them did attempt to abolish this position. However, Turkish Muslims who became defeated with European occupation of non-western territories decided to abolish caliphate for the sake of modernization activities within the period of transition from imperialism to nation state. This decision brought about a trauma, which was much more critical than former argumentation around the position in Muslim world. Many congresses were organized in Islamic world in order to recover from this trauma. While this kind of quests were continuing, Muhammad Hamīdullah proposed “High Caliphate Council” in relation to rearrangement of caliphate in accordance with the conditions of Islamic countries. This proposal offers an applicable model to today’s modern nation states by establishing unity among them and leaving aside their conflicts and differences. This proposal offers a resolution of much-discussed matters of the position within the limits of principals. It also draws attention by showing a possibility of Islamic union in contemporary Islamic thought. Summary: The matters of who undertakes the management of societies, how rulers come to power and in what manners the rulers maintain the management have been discussed throughout history. It is seen that rulers adopted kingdom as regime before the period of the Prophet Muhammad (p.b.u.h). There was also two-person management. The discussions about this matter were also seen around khalifas who were the rulers of Muslims after the death of Prophet Muhammad (p.b.u.h). Some debated issues in that regards as follows: Who becomes khalifa, how he is elected, which traits he should possess, and so on. Caliphate continued its existence despite the discussions until the first quarter of the 14th Hijra era. Abolition of caliphate was a trauma for Muslims undoubtedly. From Anatolia to Egypt and from India to the Balkans, many attempts were carried out to recover from this trauma. However, this matter was oversimplified in the conditions of that period since it became a topic which was hushed over in just congresses and conventions. One of the people who wrote on this topic, which maintains its vitality even today was Muhammad Hamīdullah. He was an important Islamic scholar, a lawyer and a historian in Indian geography. Hamīdullah did deal caliphate by indicating its history broadly. The distinctive feature of Hamīdullah from others who wrote on this topic is that he also presented a considerable offer to solve the matter. In this sense, Hamīdullah experienced the trauma in his own life as all muslims did it with the abolition of caliphate. Hence he mentioned this matter in his writings in the mood of care and dignity of a scientist and also in feeling of a heartbroken muslim. Hamīdullah made clear that the method of election of the ruler differed throughout history. Indeed, the verses of Holy Qur’ān, the applications of the Prophet Muhammad (p.b.u.h) and the differences of Four Great Chaliphs on coming to power testified this claim. According to Hamīdullah, it is quite normal that the method of regime can vary according to the conditions of societies. He recommended acting based on timeless rules rather than the changes that vary according to conditions and places. He also stated that the regime which Islam approves is a combination of kingdom and democracy in his lines dealing with methods of regime. To him, kingdom is the method of regime of empire. Empire is the regime in which various nationalities live together with all their differences and interact with one another intensely and in which the rulers rule over wide borders. On the other hand, Islamic world lost its edges of empire, changed its regime and divided to nation states after the decline of the Ottoman Empire and Mughal Empire which were established by Muslims. On the contrary, westerners attempted to establish a head empire several times after building nation states in Europe. Some of them are UN, NATO, EU, to name but a few. In our opinion, in the transition process of Muslim rulers from empire to nation state, Hamīdullah made an offer to accomodate Islamic law in state law, Islamic politic and administrative principles in politics and administration practices, Islamic education system in education system, and principles of Islamic economics in economic decisions of government using the Prophet Muhammed’s life as a base. He also explained to Muslims that the method of regime can be changed and the essential matter is to apply Islamic management principles in such a new situation. He played a role in clearing the way for Muslims by indicating that the method of Islamic regime can be changed according to conditions but the principles of Islam are unalterable. To the writer of these lines, Hamīdullah intimates that it is not so true to stick to the form of the process in Muslim territories in which a compulsory transition from the empires or multinational social structures to the nation state structures have been experienced for the last two ages. However, the first matter to dwell on should be whether the ruler of the government behaves in accoradance with the principles of Islam or not. To Hamīdullah, the second matter is that even though Muslim countries had to enter in the process of becoming nation states, Muslims should make an effort to establish supra-state associations as required by Islam. In this respect, Hamīdullah’s proposal is “High Caliphate Council”. This council is a considerable offer presented to Muslim countries in the age when a universal caliphate is not possible and Muslims head towards a unified state form all over the world. Today, this offer recommends countries of which great majority is Muslims and in which Muslims are minority to meet on a common ground rather than conflict because of differences among them. The High Caliphate Council is an institute consists of presidents or hereditary administrators as leading and regular members and so it avoids regional competition. It is established by Muslim presidents who shares the chair alternately. Based on this, all Muslim presidents play a role altogether in this council without need to be Sunni, Shia, or from Quraysh. The High Caliphate Council is a reflection of a dream, which started a century and half a century ago but is required more today. It is also a reflection of the discourse of “Islamic Union” in Contemporary Islamic Thought. The Caliphate Council and International Islamic Legists’ Association, which is the first practical step of the council can be seen as the theory of a new world order based on the unity principle of Islam. Hamīdullah does not consider this order not only in the range of belief but also with the aim of institutionalizing ‘ijmā (consensus of Islamic legists) and qiyās(legal analogy). He stated that International Islamic Legists’ Association, which is a scientific institution could not be established beforetime by Muslims spread on three continents due to lacking of communication among them. However, thanks to today’s possibilities, the establishment of such association is easier today. Hamīdullah found dynamic solutions such these two institutions for the realization of caliphate, which is a religious necessity. He marked an era for Muslims in the period of time when they are on a quest. (shrink)

This paper investigates the short-term effects on the price of the ethically screened stocks of the Dow Jones Islamic Market World Index quarterly revisions. Using a sample of 8250 stocks from May 1999 through June 2012, we find a significant price reaction of the ethically screened stocks following additions and deletions. The results show that additions from emerging stock markets tend to experience a greater and significantly positive price response than additions from the developed markets. Further tests reveal that the (...) price reactions following DJIMWI revisions are likely to be driven by shifts in investor sentiment rather than changes in firm fundamentals. (shrink)

This article is devoted to the consideration of the problem of loneliness as a phenomenon of the modern world. The individual and his inner world are losing their primacy in the sphere of global political and economic changes in the modern world. The relevance of this study lies in the fact that loneliness is one of the most acute and pressing problems of society today, this problem determines the need for a theoretical basis and a modern concept of the phenomenon (...) of loneliness. This is not only a phenomenon in the life of a person, but also a crucial social phenomenon that requires deep and comprehensive social and philosophical understanding. The aim of this study is to provide theoretical justification for the phenomenon of loneliness as a phenomenon in modern society. The methodological basis of the research on the topic of study was the actual works of domestic and foreign scientists, who consider in their works such a phenomenon as loneliness. In order to achieve the stated goal of research and solve all the tasks, the following research methods were used: analysis, synthesis and generalization of scientific journalism, as well as classification. The circumstances and factors that determine the prevalence and level of loneliness in modern society of the Republic of Kazakhstan are considered. The theoretical meaning of the concept of “loneliness,” its social conditions, as well as the factors of the emergence and spread of the phenomenon of loneliness has been analyzed. This article analyses several current classifications of loneliness in the modern world, developed by domestic and foreign researchers. The emphasis is on causes, symptoms of loneliness as a phenomenon. The study showed that loneliness is an integral part of every person’s life, as well as having its advantages and disadvantages. The practical value of the study lies in the fact that the material considered in the scientific article can be used by psychologists and sociologists of the Republic of Kazakhstan to analyze this phenomenon when working with the population in the state. (shrink)

A new edge detection technique based on the texture feature coding method is proposed. The TFCM is a texture analysis scheme that is generally used in texture-based image segmentation and classification applications. The TFCM transforms an input image into a texture feature image whose pixel values represent the texture information of the pixel in the original image. Then, on the basis of the transformed image, several features are calculated as texture descriptors. In this article, the TFCM is employed differently to (...) construct an edge detector. In particular, the texture feature number of the TFCM is considered. In other words, the TFN image is used for subsequent processes. After obtaining the TFN image, a simple thresholding scheme is employed for obtaining the coarse edge image. Finally, an edge-thinning procedure is used to obtain the tuned edges. We conducted several experiments on a variety of images and compared the results with the popular existing methods such as the Sobel, Prewitt, Canny, and Canny–Deriche edge detectors. The obtained results were evaluated quantitatively with the Figure of Merit criterion. The experimental results demonstrated that our proposed method improved the edge detection performance greatly. We further implemented the proposed edge detector with a hardware system. To this end, a field programmable gate array chip was used. The related simulations were carried out with the MATLAB Simulink tool. Both software and hardware implementations demonstrated the efficiency of the proposed edge detector. (shrink)

Extreme learning machine is a recent scheme for single hidden layer feed forward networks. It has attracted much interest in the machine intelligence and pattern recognition fields with numerous real-world applications. The ELM structure has several advantages, such as its adaptability to various problems with a rapid learning rate and low computational cost. However, it has shortcomings in the following aspects. First, it suffers from the irrelevant variables in the input data set. Second, choosing the optimal number of neurons in (...) the hidden layer is not well defined. In case the hidden nodes are greater than the training data, the ELM may encounter the singularity problem, and its solution may become unstable. To overcome these limitations, several methods have been proposed within the regularization framework. In this article, we considered a greedy method for sparse approximation of the output weight vector of the ELM network. More specifically, the orthogonal matching pursuit algorithm is embedded to the ELM. This new technique is named OMP-ELM. OMP-ELM has several advantages over regularized ELM methods, such as lower complexity and immunity to the singularity problem. Experimental works on nine commonly used regression problems indicate that the investigated OMP-ELM method confirms these advantages. Moreover, OMP-ELM is compared with the ELM method, the regularized ELM scheme, and artificial neural networks. (shrink)