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This paper aims to examine the current practice in Singapore regarding an inheritance issue: disposal of the residual net estate to the bayt al-māl, which is identified as the Islamic Religious Council of Singapore (Majlis Ugama Islam Singapura, MUIS). The issue arises when the deceased leaves farḍ (fixed-share) heir(s) and/or dhawū al-arḥām (outer family members) but there is no ʿaṣabah (agnatic residuary heir by blood). Farḍ legal heirs are those beneficiaries for whom the Qurʾān prescribes inheritance of a pre-determined share. Disposal of the residual net estate to the bayt al-māl results in a reduction in the share due to the farḍ legal heir or worse, a total loss to the dhawū al-arḥām legal heirs.

A qualitative approach based on library and case study research has been adopted to elaborate practices that fall under the purview of the Administration of Muslim Law Acts (AMLA), Chapter 3.

The current practice seems biased against, especially, women and spouses. It creates high dissatisfaction in the community, especially those affected by such practices. This paper elaborates on the practice of residual net estate distribution in Singapore and the contemporary practices of the four Sunni madh-habs – the Ḥanafī, Mālikī, Shāfiʿī and Ḥanbalī jurisprudential schools – in other countries.

In Singapore, Muslim law is defined and implemented by the civil court, not the Syariah Court or MUIS. The recommendation to change from the current classical practice by the Syariah Court and MUIS to the contemporary practice that is relevant to today’s context lies with the civil court and Government of Singapore. The choice for the Syariah Court and MUIS to adopt the contemporary practice as per Ḥanafī School by rule of the court or the government is beyond this research. Zayd ibn Thābit, Caliph Abū Bakr and a small number of companions held the view that the residue net estate asset must go to the bayt al-māl, the current classical practice. The contemporary practice adopted by Sayyidina ʿUthmān ibn ʿAffān, Jābir ibn Zayd and majority of the companions’ view, is not in favour of the residue net estate asset to go to the bayt al-māl; rather they view that it must be returned to the legal heirs.

Awareness in the community in the current controversial practice in Singapore when the residue net estate through the farāʾiḍ law was giving to bayt al-māl instead of returning to farḍ or dhawū al-arḥām in the absence of the ʿaṣabah legal heir as stated in the Inheritance Certificate issued by Syariah Court.

To understand the contemporary Muslim law and the practical and just application in today’s Singapore context as supported by the AMLA, Chapter 3.

This is the first study that challenges the current practice by the Syariah Court and MUIS in Singapore, thereby endeavouring to restore justice to the community.

This study attempts to identify and analyze the pragmatic functions of religious expressions, that is, invocations that include the name of Allah (God), in naturally occurring social interactions in Najdi Arabic, which is spoken in Central Saudi Arabia.

Drawing on the speech act theory and politeness model, an analysis of the data illustrates that religious expressions, in addition to their prototypical religious meanings and uses in everyday interactions, are employed to communicate a wide range of pragmatic functions.

These include signaling the end of a conversation, persuading, mitigating and hedging, showing agreement and approval, reinforcing emphasis, expressing emotions, seeking protection from the evil eye, conveying skepticism and ambiguity, expressing humor and sarcasm, and showing respect and honor. The embedded multifunctional dimension of religious expressions in the present data is interpreted as serving as a politeness marker with which speakers promote both positive politeness (by showing solidarity, claiming common grounds, and building rapport) and negative politeness (by reducing imposition and emphasizing personal autonomy).

This study further highlights the interplay between religion, culture, and language use in Najdi Arabic.

The purpose of this paper is to draw a map of the general features of epistemological and critical concerns in contemporary Islamic philosophy. This study will not be confined to the domain of academic philosophy or to those who are professionals in the field of philosophy.

The paper adopted the critical rational approach in dealing with contemporary Islamic philosophy in the Arab world. The scope will include scholars from different fields of epistemology who tried to present a “vision” of the attitude that should be adopted in facing the challenges of the age and the problems of the nation on the epistemological level or the political, economic and social levels.

There is a need for a philosophy of action and progress rather than a philosophy that is based on abstract ideas and theories and of words/rhetoric. The ethics required to accomplish this ought to identify the attributes of the citizen who can reach self-actualization through legitimate means based on a progress agenda with theoretical and philosophical foundations.

Because a critical rational approach can be dealt with from different perspectives, this paper will adopt the classification of the principal intellectual trends: the reformist, secular and liberal.

This paper covers a long time span to determine whether the philosophical projects have been effective.

This paper, which criticizes the philosophic projects that are theoretically unsound and that do not address real social problems (like poverty), argues the need for a philosophy of progress and action. This will lead to devising an agenda that addresses the challenges the society is facing and to finding alternative and creative solutions resulting in development.

The mass exodus of the professional healthcare workforce has become a cankerworm for a developing nation like Nigeria, and this worsens the already depleted healthcare systems in underdeveloped nation. This study investigated the rationale behind medical workers' brain-drain syndrome and the quality healthcare delivery in the Nigerian public healthcare sector.

To stimulate an understanding of the effect of the phenomenon called brain drain, the study adopted a diagnostic research design to survey the public healthcare personnel in government hospitals. The study administered a battery of adapted research scales of different measures to confirm the variables of interest of this study on a probability sampling strategy. The study surveyed 450 public healthcare sector employees from four government hospitals to gather pertinent data. The study used a structural equation model (SEM) and artificial neural networks (ANNs) to analyse the collected data from the medical personnel of government hospitals.

The findings of this study are significant as postulated. The study discovered that poor quality worklife experienced by Nigerian medical personnel was attributed to the brain-drain effect and poor healthcare delivery. The study further demonstrated that job dissatisfaction suffered among the public healthcare workforce forced the workforce to migrate to the international labour market, and this same factor is a reason for poor healthcare delivery. Lastly, the study discovered that inadequate remuneration and pay discouraged Nigerian professionals and allied healthcare workers from being productive and ultimately pushed them to the global market.

Practically, this study has shown three major elements that caused the mass movement of Nigerian healthcare personnel to other countries of the world and that seems novel given the peculiarity of the Nigerian labour market. The study is original and novel as much study has not been put forward in the public healthcare sector in Nigeria concerning this phenomenon.

The purpose of the study is twofold: first, it is to develop each aspect of maṣlaḥah ḍarūriyah (essential needs), i.e. dīn (faith/religion), nafs (soul), ʿaql (intellect), naṣl (descendants) and mal (wealth), into various aspects of organisational essential needs; second, it is to formulate maṣlaḥah-based performance measurement.

The research is an exploratory study that uses a two-stage design: defining the research question and developing the research design. The research question is how each element of maṣlaḥah ḍarūriyah can become an element of organisational essential needs. The research design developed is to formulate maṣlaḥah-based performance measurement.

The study concludes that maṣlaḥah ḍarūriyah could be developed as a basis for identifying organisational essential needs. The five elements of maṣlaḥah ḍarūriyah are developed into the following organisational essential needs: worship orientation, internal process orientation, talent orientation, learning orientation, customer orientation and wealth orientation. Maṣlaḥah-based performance measurement uses five variables: strategic objective, measure, formula, target and strategic initiatives and applies the modified plan – do – check – action cycle: performance planning, performance implementation, performance evaluation and performance action.

Organisational essential needs can be developed by Islamic financial institutions (IFIs) into performance measurement. IFIs have six essential needs that can be developed into performance variables. Key performance indicators that can be developed for each need are worship orientation (social responsibility, regulatory compliance and Sharīʿah compliance); internal process orientation (innovation process, digital adaptation and employee satisfaction); talent orientation (career development, talent pool, compensation and benefits); learning orientation (training programme, training evaluation and return on training investment); customer orientation (customer engagement, customer satisfaction, customer survey and promotion programme); wealth orientation (profitability, cost-cutting, share prices, dividends, cost efficiency and financial sustainability).

This paper contributes to new knowledge. The study attempts to discuss the organisational essential needs based on the maṣlaḥah ḍarūriyah concept, while previous studies discussed organisational needs based on Maslow’s hierarchy of needs. In developing performance measurement, organisational performance is measured in a balanced manner. According to the concept of maṣlaḥah, not only financial factors but also worship, internal processes, talents, learning and customers define organisational needs. Thus, organisational needs are considered not only in terms of material factors but also in terms of spiritual (worship) factors.

The study aims to explore how selected factors influence customer’s satisfaction in a business-to-consumer context. Furthermore, it also investigates the mediating role of affective and calculative commitment on the satisfaction–loyalty link.

Using quota sampling methods, data was collected from 300 retail banking customers in an emergent market setting through self-administered questionnaires. In addition, the measurement and structural models were assessed.

The study established that satisfaction (through selective precursors) has a positive and significant influence on the future loyalty intentions of retail banking customers in an emerging market. Also, both affective and calculative commitment was found to partially mediate the satisfaction–loyalty relationship in a retail banking setting.

The tested model validates the hypothesized relationships between employee attitude and service performance, employee personality traits, perceived value and satisfaction of retail banking customers in South Africa as an emergent market. It also confirms the positive influence of satisfaction on loyalty and the partial mediation of affective and calculative commitment on the satisfaction–loyalty link.

The findings of the study can guide retail banks in developing enhanced knowledge of how employee attitude and service performance, employee personality traits and perceived value can nurture satisfaction, ultimately strengthening the future loyalty intention of customers. It furthermore informs the management of retail banks of the directional importance of affective commitment and calculative commitment in strengthening the satisfaction–loyalty link.

Limited studies have investigated the relationship between satisfaction, its precursors and outcomes in a developing African market context, such as South Africa. Also, few studies have examined how commitment (affective and calculative) impacts the satisfaction–loyalty link from an emerging market perspective in Africa.

The ketogenic diet (KD) has gained popularity due to its ability to improve type 2 diabetes, weight loss, antioxidant and anti-inflammatory activity. However, long-term use of the KD might not be safe due to its adverse effects. This study examined the effects of the KD alone or in combination with Zamzam water (holy water for Muslims) on glucose homeostasis, lipid parameters and oxidant-antioxidant variables in rats.

Based on the diet given for ten weeks, three groups of adult male Wistar rats were made (12 rats/group): (1) rats which fed on a chow diet and ordinary water, (2) rats which fed on KD and ordinary water and (3) rats which were given KD along with Zamzam. Fasting blood glucose (FBG), serum insulin, insulin resistance (HOMA-IR), LDL cholesterol, HDL cholesterol, superoxide dismutase and malondialdehyde were compared by one-way ANOVA followed by post-hoc Tukey’s HSD test among groups.

Rats which fed on KD and Zamzam water had significantly reduced FBG and LDL cholesterol compared to the rats which fed on a chow diet and ordinary water (p-values 0.001), and KD and ordinary water (p-value 0.004 and 0.006, respectively). Serum insulin, insulin resistance, HDL cholesterol, superoxide dismutase and malondialdehyde did not differ significantly.

Consumption of KD along with Zamzam for ten weeks significantly reduces FBG and LDL cholesterol. KD alone does not decrease these parameters in ten weeks duration.

This paper is determined to examine the role of body image and materialism in predicting the identity exploration of university students when conspicuous consumption is a mediator variable.

The study used a quantitative method. Data were collected from students of three federal universities in Nigeria. The sample size was 331. A self-report questionnaire was used to collect data and analysis was performed using the partial least squares structural equation modelling.

Findings reveal that materialism has a negative association in predicting the identity exploration of students. At the same time, there was a significant full and partial mediating effect of conspicuous consumption on the relationship between body image and materialism on identity exploration, respectively.

The study provides valuable information for parents in understanding how conspicuous consumption may influence their children’s identity formation. The findings can also be helpful for educators in the design of discussions and interventions for students on the social-psychological antecedents of conspicuous consumption and identity exploration. Government and regulatory agencies can use the study’s findings to shape student financial literacy and consumer protection policies.

This study makes both theoretical and methodological contributions to the existing literature. It provided concrete empirical evidence establishing a subtle connection between the symbolic self-completion theory and the identity status paradigm. It is also amongst the first single research conducted within the scope of these two theories in the Nigerian higher education context.

The purpose of this paper is to seek to establish an effective governance framework for waqf (Islamic endowment) in the Republic of Guinea that would assist in enhancing socio-economic activities and eradicating poverty in the country.

It examines key governing features within the said country’s waqf legal framework and undertakes a comparison with other countries’ legal frameworks. This paper also examines waqf-related legal references of Guinea and other countries and analyses relevant online sources such as journal articles, research papers, webpages as well as informal discussions with persons informed on the subject matter within and outside the Republic of Guinea.

This paper identifies a number of prevailing issues affecting the development of the institution of waqf in the Republic of Guinea and, thereafter, proposes key reformatory measures. These include the passing of general codified legislation that comprehensively governs waqf affairs in the country and the setting up of a dedicated supervisory entity and competent managerial bodies to ensure the smooth and effective operation of the institution in the country.

This research proposes an innovative and befitting governance framework for waqf operations in the Republic of Guinea. These recommendations, if correctly adopted, would ensure the viability and efficacy of the institution of waqf in the Republic of Guinea and would lead to socio-economic development, as has been the case in other nations. Moreover, other countries with underdeveloped waqf governance systems could also model their waqf operations based on these recommendations, as they are most likely already encountering or going to encounter identical issues in this particular field.

The purpose of this study is to investigate possible drivers of loyalty amongst Islamic banking customers in Gauteng, South Africa. We ponder the relationships of service fairness (a secondorder reflective construct) with perceived value, satisfaction, and loyalty.

Data were obtained from Islamic banking customers in South Africa using interview-administered questionnaires. A total of 350 responses were perceived as being suitable for data analysis. The measurement and structural models were measured through structural equation modelling.

Service fairness and perceived value were found to be important drivers of loyalty within this context.

This study demonstrates that service fairness and perceived value are precursors to the future loyalty intentions of Islamic banking customers. As such, they should be nurtured as key elements of the relationship building process.

The study guides South African Islamic banks and South African banks with Islamic windows to better understand how service fairness (interactional, procedural and distributive) fosters satisfaction, perceived value and loyalty (attitudinal and behavioural).

Enhancing comprehension of the relationship between service fairness and customer loyalty, with satisfaction and perceived value playing intermediary roles, represents an unexplored avenue in academic research within the context of Islamic banking in an emerging African market.