Training nurses on spiritual principles and values helps to stimulate moral imagery and a deep understanding of moral problems in them. However, spirituality issue was not included in ethical educa...

In 23/644, Caliph Omar was assassinated and martyred during the morning prayer by Fīrūz al-Nahāwandī, the Persian slave of al-Mughīrah b. Shuʻba, also called Abū al-Luʼluʼ. The reasons of the incident and the way it took place are described in detail in early Islamic historical sources. Accordingly, Caliph Umar had banned non-Muslim non-Arabs from residing in Medina. However, Abu Lu’lu’, who was a master in three crafts, was able to obtain special permission to reside in Medina thanks to his professional (...) skills. Fīrūz, thinking that al-Mughīrah had received a large amount of tribute from him, took the matter to Caliph Omar, but made plans to kill him, claiming that the Caliph was indifferent to his problem. Abū al-Luʼluʼ, who assassinated Caliph Omar during the morning prayers, committed suicide and took his own life when he was captured by the Muslims. Classical sources attribute Abū al-Luʼluʼ to Nahāwand, Kashan, and Abyssinia. However, reliable sources generally state that he was of Nahāwand origin. Although it is stated in the sources that Fīrūz was a Majusi, Christian or infidel (‘ilc) and not a Muslim, in some sources of al-Shīʻah, Fīrūz is presented as a Muslim who is a supporter of Caliph Ali. The rumors that Hurmuzān, Cufayne and Fīrūz were seen with the knife used in the incident the day before the assassination gave rise to the possibility that the assassination was an organized political conspiracy. At the first stage of this article, based on the classical Islamic historical sources, the manner in which this event occurred, the possible reasons for the assassination, the identity and fate of the murderer have been revealed in a scientific way. In the second phase, by comparing the information given about Abū al-Luʼluʼ by some Shiite history and hadith sources compiled in the following centuries with the early Islamic history sources, the mythological information that the Shiites have built around Abū al-Luʼluʼ is put forward and the distorted historical information is presented, and perceptions are corrected. Likewise, the reflection of Abū al-Luʼluʼ perception on today's Sunni and Shiite world is briefly mentioned. In the study, comparison between sources, criticism, analysis and description methods have been used. (shrink)

In this paper, the similarities between the Gnostic and Islamic mystic beliefs about “Knowledge” will be considered. The aim is to answer the question of whether they share a common view of divine knowledge. For this purpose, first Gnosticism and its ideas will be clarified. Second, a brief history of Islamic Mysticism will be presented. Then, in light of the evolution path of such beliefs, the main principles of both cults about the Gnosis and Mysticism will be reconsidered. The methodology (...) of this study is based on a comparative study, by analyzing Islamic mystical books and Gnostic texts. Through the study of mystical books, the traditions and beliefs of the early mystics, in this case, are stated, and some examples from the Gnostic books about the Gnosis and mystical knowledge are mentioned. The comparative study of these two religions revealed that they have many similarities in points of view to “knowledge”. Similarities between Islamic mysticism and Gnosticism are so much that some believe that the theory of divine knowledge in the minds of Muslim Sufis originates from Gnostic ideas. But this claim cannot be completely true and the Gnostic beliefs have only had influences on it. (shrink)

We explore the relationship between chief executive officer (CEO) personality traits and corporate social responsibility (CSR) reporting. Upper echelons theory indicates that the values, experiences, and personalities of top organizational managers influence their organization's strategic decisions and effectiveness. We utilize IBM Watson Personality Insights software to infer CEOs’ personality traits based on their responses to questions raised by analysts during year‐end conference calls; we obtain CEOs’ Big Five personality traits—openness, conscientiousness, extraversion, agreeableness, and neuroticism—from which we compute a measure of (...) their risk tolerance. Using a longitudinal dataset of Standard and Poor's 500 firms for 2008–2015, we document that high CEO risk tolerance is related to lower CSR report readability and smaller CSR disclosure volume. This finding indicates that executives who are comfortable with greater risk are more willing to supply stakeholders with reports that are shorter and require greater effort to understand. Exploration of the association between CEO Big Five personality traits and CSR report readability and disclosure volume allows key stakeholders to better comprehend CSR disclosures and connotations thereof. Overall, our results contribute to the debate on how CEO personality traits affect organizations’ CSR disclosure reporting strategies, and support upper echelons theory in the CSR setting. (shrink)

The concept of sustainability was developed in response to stakeholder demands. One of the key mechanisms for engaging stakeholders is sustainability disclosure, often in the form of a report. Yet, how reporting is used to engage stakeholders is understudied. Using resource dependence and stakeholder theories, we investigate how companies within the same industry address different dependencies on stakeholders for economic, natural environment, and social resources and thus engage stakeholders accordingly. To achieve this objective, we conducted our research using qualitative research (...) methods. Our findings suggest that the resource dependencies on different stakeholders lead to development of different stakeholder relationships and thus appropriate resources within the company to execute engagement strategies that are informing, responding, or involving. Our research explains why diversity exists in sustainability disclosure by studying how it is used to engage stakeholders. We find that five sustainability reporting characteristics are associated with the company’s stakeholder engagement strategy: directness of communication, clarity of stakeholder identity, deliberateness of collecting feedback, broadness of stakeholder inclusiveness, and utilization of stakeholder engagement for learning. Our study develops the literature by providing insight into companies’ choices of stakeholder engagement strategy thus explaining diversity in sustainability reporting based on the characteristics and relationships with specific stakeholders. (shrink)

Background: In disaster situations, nurses may face new and unfamiliar ethical and legal challenges not common in their everyday practice. Research question/objectives/hypothesis: The aim of this study was to explore Iranian nurses’ experience of disaster response and their perception of the competencies required by nurses in this environment. Research design: This article discusses the findings of a descriptive study conducted in Iran in 2012. Participants and research context: This research was conducted in Iran in 2012. Participants included 35 nurses who (...) had experience in healthcare delivery following a disaster event in the past 10 years, either in a hospital or out-of-hospital context. Ethical considerations: This research study was approved by the Ethics Committee of the Isfahan University of Medical Sciences. Findings: From this study, five themes emerged as areas that nurses require competence in to work effectively in the disaster setting. This article focusses on one theme, the ethical and legal issues that arise during disaster response. Within the theme of ethical and legal issues, two sub-themes emerged. (1) Professional ethics explores professional responsibility of nurses as well as sense of ethical obligation. (2) Adherence to law refers to nurses’ familiarity with and observation of legal requirements. Discussion: This article adds to a growing pool of literature which explores the role of nurses in disasters. The findings of this study emphasize the need for nurses working in the disaster setting to be aware of professional responsibilities and familiar with legal requirements and the challenges related to observing ethical responsibilities. Conclusion: In highlighting these issues, this article may provide a useful starting point for the development of an educational framework for preparing nurses and other health professionals to work in the disaster setting. (shrink)

The purpose of this study was to explain differences between employees who feel a sense of belonging and those who feel a sense of otherness in terms of their opinions about diversity works in their organizations. We conducted an empirical study to examine the perceptual differences between two independent groups of the study “who feel a sense of belonging” and “who feel a sense of otherness.” We collected data from 792 employees working for organizations in different sizes, industries, and capital (...) structures, which enriched the representativeness of the sample. The findings show that out-group members remain less satisfied with diversity works in their organizations based on four main issues such as “competence of diversity actors,” “embeddedness of diversity works in organizational policies/practices,” “diversity awareness in the HRM functions,” and “diversity-related employee satisfaction.” This paper makes two contributions. First, it contributes to the extant literature an understanding of the differences between those who remain indifferent to diversity works and those who care to see, speak, and hear about them. Second, with a few exceptions, extant studies on diversity works have been dominated by Western-centered research. Research is needed on countries with different macro-contextual conditions, such as different legal regulations, socio-political status, and history. For this study, survey data were collected from people who work in Turkey, a country which has limited legal measures and underdeveloped discourses for equality, diversity, and inclusion. The paper provides significant insights into leading diversity works in national settings with less developed supportive mechanisms for diversity. (shrink)

ObjectivesThe breast cancer stigma affects Health-related quality of life, while general resilience resources, namely, sense of coherence, social support, and coping skills, are thought to alleviate this effect. The study aimed to explore the mediating/moderation role of GRRs in the relationship between stigma and HRQoL and its dimensions in Iranian patients with breast cancer.MethodsIn this cross-sectional study, Stigma Scale for Chronic Illness 8-item version, SOC-13, Medical Outcome Survey- Social Support Scale, Brief COPE, and Functional Assessment of Cancer Therapy-Breast were investigated (...) in a convenience sample of Iranian women with confirmed non-metastatic breast cancer. Following the establishment of correlations using Pearson’s correlation, single and parallel mediation analysis and moderation analysis were conducted to determine the extent to which each GRR might be impacted by stigma or decrease the adverse impact of stigma on HRQoL.ResultsAn analysis of 221 women with the mean age of 47.14 showed that stigma was negatively correlated to all HRQoL’s dimensions, SOC, social support, and the bulk of coping skills. In the single mediation analysis, stigma affected all facets of SOC, all subscales of social support, and positive reframing, which partially reduced breast cancer HRQoL. Stigma affects general HRQoL through damaging meaningfulness, social support, and positive reframing. Meaningfulness was marked as the most impacted GRR in terms of all domains of HRQoL. In parallel mediation, reduced meaningfulness, total social support, and positive reframing were highlighted as the pathways of diminished breast cancer HRQoL. Moderation analysis indicated the higher levels of humor, behavioral disengagement, and use of instrumental support behaviors to be functional in protecting different dimensions of HRQoL, while the results were mixed for venting, especially in patients with mastectomy surgery.ConclusionWhile GRRs may be impacted by stigma, they exert a relatively small protective effect against the impact of stigma on HRQoL. This study provides some novel findings, but longitudinal studies are needed to further verify these before any causal conclusion or recommendations for health policy can be drawn. (shrink)