Federal Government of the United States Essay

Introduction In the American political system Federalism is a basic Structural feature that has mostly generated a great deal of conflict throughout political history America. It involves the governments multiple layers with shared powers amongst them and the unique powers to varieties of the levels of the government (Wood Gordon, 1995). The most three important levels of American federalism are the federal or national government, the states, and the local governments (cities, counties, townships). In the world most of the political systems are unitary systems, but in the system of American it is system of divided government (Wood Gordon, 1995). In the history American Federalism it has evolved over the course. In the time at different points, the boundaries and balance between the state and national government have changed substantially. In the recent time, the main role of the national government dramatically expanded, and it always to expand in the twenty-first century. Provide three (3) examples of how federalism has evolved from its origins to the American political system in place today. In the American political system three examples of federalism that has evolved from its origins are federalism, unitary, and confederate. Federalism almost is a way of nations organizing so that two or more government levels will have formal authority over the people and same area.  In the Unitary system all the power resides in the central government in which most of the governments are today and confederate, most of the power is in the hands of it components and the national government is weak (Wood Gordon, 1995). Over the two centuries the federal system has changed and it’s why the American federalism system is at the center of important battles over the policy (John E. Finn, 2007). Mostly Federalism decentralizes our policies and politics. The powers of overlapping between the two levels government demonstrate the tension with national and states government over who should control the policy and power. Most of the American states are also policy innovators being responsible for new ideas, many reforms, and new policies that are why we stand by till today (John E. Finn, 2007). Examine three to five (3-5) factors that have allowed the concept of federalism to shape American political behavior. In federalism the political system respect to bureaucracy, based upon promoted enculturation of honor, democracy in government within the citizens, the political leaders, and the American society. By the awareness of the people the process increased and regularized by the liberty and civil rights. American citizens seek free will from the governments and Constitutional security of justice. In the American federal system the political parties free to have support conflicting political agenda, free will to voice out, ideas, and ideologies. While the liberals go with the democrats the group of conservative support the Republicans. The Democrats and Republicans represent the main political parties of American along with minor independent parties. The American governments cultivate federalism, by demanding of reforms the citizens of America also contribute in shaping up political changes. Although legislators look upon amendment of Constitution and creation of laws, the citizens have their voices heard and participate. In the whole time, the voting attitude of Americans demonstrated changes. For example, Solid South in the part of Southern states used to be solid supports of Democrats but it was politically divided over time (Maier, Pauline, 2010).In the maintain of consistency the Constitution of US obligate the state and federal governments. With the ruling of democratic, the American federal government also allows amendments of the Constitution as called by the political changes and condition. In the system of US  Constitution the State governments have powers to create and maintain policies but the federal government oversees any policy to ensure agreement. Some time the power conflicts of authority become foreseeable due to nationwide applicability of the Constitution of US. (Maier, Pauline, 2010). Discuss at least two (2) factors that illustrate how the relationship between the states and the U.S. federal government influences the creation of American policies overall. In making of policies of America, constitution amendments through popular vote of the people or state governments may seek ratification of the policy. Through congress the federal government may conclude if votes of American states will be needed on proposed amendments. Like the groups of special interest, state legislatures can also lobby the federal legislatures (Maier, Pauline, 2010). Federalism reflected in state judiciary systems and also reflected in national judiciary system. For example, the laws of state enforce driving safety and speed rules in conformity to policies of federal government to ensure not to lose the highway federal budget privileges (Maier, Pauline, 2010). The power of the State government are mainly geared on the dealings and working of the state but on the other side the power of federal government are mainly after the dealings of the nation in general so that that it may cover some states affairs. In the system of Constitution of US, the State governments have their own constitution but also it abide and obliged with the Constitution of US. Under the valuable concept of federalism system the state and federal governments work hand in hand for the USA (Maier, Pauline, 2010). References: 1. Wood, Gordon, (1995). The Republic of America, 1775-1786. Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press. 2. John E. Finn (2007). â€Å"Bill of Rights and Civil Liberties Part II: Lecture 5: The Constitutional and Court Interpretation†. The Teaching Company. pp. 51–60 3. Maier, Pauline (2010). Ratification : the Constitutional debate by the people 1787–1788. New York: Simon & Schuster. ISBN 977-0-654-88844-76 p.22.

A Comparison of Two Leaders

His upbeat personality and gentle style has made him one of the great leaders of the NFG. Although Ben Franklin lived a very long time ago, people still speak highly of the man and his accomplishments. English historian Lewis Simpson stated about Franklin that he was â€Å"always terse, luminous, simple, pregnant with meaning, [and] eminently persuasive† (Stout 613). Eugene Weber describes Franklin as â€Å"urbane, tactful, [and] dedicated† (Weber 19). Franklins good humor and outgoing personality helped him to be elected and selected for many different public offices during his life.Franklin was a man of few failings, but the ones he had caused him some serious trouble. While serving as the envoy to England, he would not listen to public opinions about America that did not fit with his views (Weber 19). This got him into trouble with the English and he left the country bitter towards Its citizens. Franklin also spent many years from home and away from his family. HIS r elationship with his son deteriorated until his son joined the British to fight against America and his father. Although I could not find anyone who had anything bad to say about Tony Dungy, he, eke Franklin, spent a lot of time away from home.NFG coaches spend many long hours at the office and many days away from home. This time away caused strains in his family relationships and may have been a contributing factor in the suicide death of his son Jamie In 2005 (Morning 34). When it comes to leadership styles both men continue to have a lot in common. Tony Dung's leadership style is a blend of both consideration and initiating structure styles. Tony likes to work with his followers leading them in the correct direction, but he also gives them lee way to make their own decisions.When off the field he uses a lolling approach to maintain order and keep his players in line. Jim Caldwell, Tony's Mentor Leader†. In the example Jim recalls Tony telling players to be good role models while showing clips of athletes that had run against the wrong side of the law (Dungy VII-VIII). While on the field he would use various styles from telling, to selling, and even a participating style allowing players to give input on what play to run next. It is this intense relational style that caused Jim Caldwell to declare that Tony Dungy leadership DNA perfectly fit the description off Level 5 leader (Dungy ‘X). WhileDung's leadership style was a blend, Franklin adjusted his leadership style to fit his role. While in public office Franklin displayed a directive style of leadership to get the job done. When working with the other leaders of the new America, Franklin took on an Advisory role (Lane 42). He used his wit and wisdom to guide and advise them through the new challenges that now faced them. He also used an advisory role while serving as envoy to England and France. In conclusion I would like to answer the question if they could have switched places in time. Even putting aside the vast difference in time and the fact that an AfricanAmerican would not have been accepted in Franklins position, I think the answer is no they could not have switched. Though both men exemplify what it is to be a leader, their roles in history and on those around them were very different. Franklin is an extrovert and enjoyed the public eye while Dungy is an introvert and would find it difficult to be around that many people all the time. Franklins fame is inexorably tied to his inventions as well, something Dungy could not have duplicated. Franklin, although fond of sports and the outdoors, I don't would have been happy in Just one career as a NFG coach.

The Importance of Maqasid Al-Shariah in Islamic Finance – a Short Essay by Nadifa Abdulhalim Mohamed

The Global University of Islamic Finance CERTIFIED ISLAMIC FINANCE PROFESSIONAL (CIFP) Part One SHARIAH ASPECTS OF BUSINESS AND FINANCE Assignment Topic The importance of Maqasid al-Shariah in Islamic Finance June 2012 Semester Lecturers: Dr. Yong Bao Wang Dr. Ahcene Lahsasna Student Name: Nadifa Abdulhalim Mohamed Student ID: 1200331 Abstract Maqasid Al-Shariah is one of the very important aspects in Islamic jurisprudence. Maqasid Al-Shariah is taking a crucial position in Ijtihad in order to process a valid examination of the text and provide intact interpretation to achieve the Islamic ruling.The aim behind that is to comprehend the Shariah in all aspects. The primary objective of Maqasid al-Shariah is the realization of benefit to the people, connecting their affairs both in this world and hereafter. It generally held that the Shariah in all of its parts aims at securing a benefit for the people or protecting them against corruption and evil. The aim of this paper is to elaborate the importance Maqasid al-Shariah in Islamic finance. The study found that Maqasid al-Shariah is the most important Shariah aspect in Islamic finance because protection of wealth is one of the five major elements of Maqasid l-Shariah. Objectives of the research: ____________________________________________ †¢ Definition of Maqasid Al-Shariah. †¢ Identification of the importance of Maqasid Al-Shariah in Islamic finance. †¢ Classification of Maqasid Al-Shariah Key terms of the research: 1. Qur’an 2. Sunnah 3. Maqasid Al-Shariah 4. Islamic finance 5. Islamic law 6. Fiqh 7. Usulfiqh TABLE OF CONTENTS TOPIC PAGE NUMBER [pic] 1. Abstract†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦. 1 2. Objectives of the research†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã ¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦.. 3. Introduction†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦4 1. 1 History and background†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦.. 4 2. Identification of Maqasid Al-Shariah†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦8 3. Definition of Maqasid Al-Shariah†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦11 4. Objectives of Maqasid Al-Shariah†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦ 13 5. Classi fication of Maqasid Shariah†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦.. 15 5. Essential (Al-daruriyat)†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦. 16 6. Complementary (Al-hajiyat)†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦.. †¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦19 7. Embellishments (Al-Tahsiniyat)†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦19 8.Maqasid Al-Shariah in Islamic Finance†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦19 9. Advantages of Shariah compliance†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦ †¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦.. 24 10. Conclusion†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦25 11. References†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦. 26 1. Introduction The linguistic meaning of the word Maqasid is as follows: Maqasid is the plural of the word Maqsad and comes from the verbal root qa-sa-da which has several meanings, some of which are: ‘to intend,’ ‘to take a middle course’ and ‘to walk towards. ’ From this root comes the noun, Qasd which means ‘a goal,’ ‘an aim,’ or ‘an aspiration. The second part of the title is the word Shari’ah, which is a noun meaning ‘a path to a water hole,â€℠¢ and in its more common usage, ‘the law of God as revealed to Muhammad. ’ Together, the term Maqasid al-Shari’ah carries the meaning, based on its constituent parts, of the ‘goals and objectives which are the reason for the legislation of the rules of Islam’ or more simply, ‘The Objectives of Islamic Law’ The Maqasid theory is based on an inductive reading of the Quran in order to identify the higher objectives, intent, and purpose of the divine laws, which are intended to preserve human interests in both this world and the next. This theory asserts that no commandment of God is intended to cause harm for its own sake, although some actions may require struggle and hardship. All legal rulings are intended to achieve ‘balance' and ‘moderation' by steering Muslims toward a middle course between various types of extremes. Also it gives consideration for outcomes or consequences. He explains that part of the objective-oriented approach is considering the outcomes of actions, in accordance with the Sunnah of the Prophet who would consider outcomes and consequences before passing judgment or taking action. 1. History and background As a theme of the  Shari’ah in  its own right, the  maqasid  did not receive much attention in the early stages of the development of Islamic legal thought and, as such, they represent rather a later addition to the juristic legacy of the  madhahib. Even to this day many a reputable textbook on Usul al-Fiqh  does not mention  maqasid al-Shari’ah  in their usual coverage of familiar topics. This is partly due perhaps to the nature of the subject, which is largely concerned with the philosophy of the law, its outlook and objective, rather than the specific formulations of its text.Although the maqasid  as a distinctive theme of the  Shari’ah  are obviously relevant to  ijtihad,  they have not been treated as such in the conventional expositions of the theory of ijtihad. Islamic legal thought is, broadly speaking, preoccupied with concerns over conformity to the letter of the divine text, and the legal theory of  Usul al-Fiqh  has advanced that purpose to a large extent. This literalist orientation of the juristic thought was generally more pronounced in the approach of the tendency – the traditionist – the  Ahl al-Hadith  Ã¢â‚¬â€œ than that of the Rationalists – the  Ahl al-Ray.The literalists thus tended to view the  Shari’ah  as a set of rules, commands and prohibit ions that were addressed to the competent individual  mukallaf  and all that the latter was expected to conform to its directives. The precedent of the leading Companions indicated, on the other hand, that they saw the  Shari’ah  both as a set of rules and a value system in which the specific rules were seen as tangible manifestations of the overriding values. The textualist tradition of the first three centuries did not take much interest in  maqasid al-Shari’ah  and it was not until the time of al-Ghazali (d. 05/1111) and then al-Shatibi (d. 790/1388) that significant developments were made in the formulation of the theory of  maqasid. The basic outlook that was advocated by the theory of the  maqasid  was not denied by the leading schools, yet the  maqasid  remained on the fringes of the mainstream juristic thought that was manifested in the various themes and doctrines of  Usul al-Fiqh. Except for the  Zahiris  who maintained that the  maqasid  are only known when they are identified and declared by the clear text, the majority of  Ã¢â‚¬Ëœulama’  did not confine the  maqasid  to the clear text alone.For they perceived and understood the  Shari’ah  to be rational, goal-oriented and its rules generally founded on identifiable causes. A mere conformity to rules that went against the purpose and outlook of the  Shari’ah  was. , therefore, generally considered unacceptable. A totally different approach to the  maqasid was  taken by the Batiniyyah who held, contrary to the Zahiris, that the essence and objective of the  nusus  were always to be found, not in the explicit words of the text, but in its hidden meaning (i. . batin),  hence their name, the Batiniyyah. There were also differences of orientation among the leading  madhahib  toward the  maqasid:  some were more open to it than others, but elaboration into the goals and objectives of the  Shari’a h  was generally not encouraged. This rather unspoken attitude contrasted with the fact that the Qur’an itself exhibits considerable awareness of the underlying purposes and objectives of its laws and often expounds the causes and rationale on which they are founded.The general reticence of the  Ã¢â‚¬Ëœulama’  in respect of the identification of the  maqasid  might have partly been due to the elements of projection and prognostication that such an exercise was likely to involve. Who can tell, for sure, for example, that this or that is the purpose and overriding objective of the Lawgiver, without engaging in a degree of speculation, unless of course, the text itself declared it so. But then to confine the scope of the  maqasid  only to the clear declaration of the texts was also not enough, as I shall presently elaborate. It was not until the early fourth century that the term  Ã¢â‚¬Ëœmaqasid’  was used in. he juristic writings of Abu ‘Ab d Allah al-Tirmidhi al-Hakim (d. 320/932) and recurrent references to it appeared in the works of lmam al-Haramayn al-Juwayni (d. 478/1085) who was probably the first to classify themaqasid al-Shari’ah  into the three categories of essential, complementary and desirable (daruriyyat, hajiyyat, tahsiniyyat)which has gained general acceptance ever since. Juwayni’s ideas were then developed further by his pupil, Abu Hamid al-Ghazali who wrote at length on public interest (maslahah)and ratiocination (ta’lil)in his works,  Shifa’ al-Ghalil  and  al-Mustasfa.Ghazali was generally critical of  maslahah  as a proof but validated it if it promoted the  maqasid of  the  Shari’ah. As  for the  maqasid  themselves, Ghazali wrote categorically that the  Shari’ah  pursued five objectives, namely those of faith, life, intellect, lineage and property which were to be protected as a matter of absolute priority. A number of prominen t writers continued to contribute to the  maqasid,  not all of them consistently perhaps, yet important to the development of ideas. Sayf al-Din al-Amidi (d. 31/1233) identified the  maqasid  as criteria of preference  al-tarjih  among conflicting analogies and elaborated on an internal order of priorities among the various classes  of maqasid. Amidi also confined the essential  maqasid  to only five. The Maliki jurist, Shihab al-Din al-Qarafi (d. 684/1285) added a sixth to the existing list, namely the protection of honour (al-‘ird)and this was endorsed by Taj al-Din ‘Abd al-Wahhab ibn al-Subki (d. 771/1370) and later by Muhammad ibn ‘Ali al-Shawkani (d. 1250/1834).The list of five essential values was evidently based on a reading of the relevant parts of the Qur’an and the  Sunnah  on the prescribed penalties (hudud). The value that each of these penalties sought to vindicate and defend was consequently identified as an essential valu e. The latest addition (i. e. al-‘ird) was initially thought to have been covered under lineage (al-nasl,  also  al-nasab),  but the proponents of this addition relied on the fact that the  Shari’ah  had enacted a separate  hadd punishment for slanderous accusation (al-qadhf),  which justified the addition. ‘Izz al-Din ‘Abd al-Salam al-Sulami’s (d. 60/1262) renowned work, Qawa’id al-Ahkam,  was in his own characterisation a work on  Ã¢â‚¬Ëœmaqasid al-ahkam’  and addressed the various aspects of the  maqasid  especially in relationship to  Ã¢â‚¬Ëœillah  (effective cause) and  maslahah  (public  interest) in greater detail. Thus he wrote at the outset of his work that â€Å"the greatest of all the objectives of the Qur’an is to facilitate benefits (masalih) and the means that secure them and that the realisation of benefit also included the prevention of evil. † Sulami added that all the obli gations of the  Shari’ah  (al-takalif) were predicated on securing benefits for the people in this world and the next.For God Most High is Himself in no need of benefit nor is He in need of the obedience of His servants. He is above all this and cannot be harmed by the disobedience of transgressors, nor benefit from the obedience of the righteous. The  Shari’ah is,  in other words, concerned, from the beginning to the end, with the benefits of God’s creatures. Taqi al-Din ibn Taymiyyah (d. 728/1328) was probably the first scholar to depart from the notion of confining the  maqasid  to a specific number and added, to the existing list of the  maqasid,  such things as fulfilment of contracts, preservation of the ties of kinship, honouring the rights of ne’s neighbour, in so far as the affairs of this world are concerned, and the love of God, sincerity, trustworthiness, and moral purity, in relationship to the hereafter. Ibn Taymiyyah thus re vised the scope of the  maqasid  from a designated and specified list into an open-ended list of values, and his approach is now generally accepted by contemporary commentators, including Ahmad al-Raysuni, Yusuf al-Qardawi and others. Qardawi has further extended the list of the  maqasid  to include social welfare and support (al-takaful),  freedom, human dignity and human fraternity, among the higher objectives and  Maqasid of the Shari’ah.These are undoubtedly upheld by both the detailed and the general weight of evidence in the Qur’an and the Sunnah. 2. Identification of Maqasid As already indicated the  Ã¢â‚¬Ëœulama’  have differed in their approach to the identification of the  maqasid. The first approach to be noted is the textualist approach, which confines the identification of the  maqasid  to the clear text, commands and prohibitions, which are the carriers of the  maqasid. The maqasid,  according to this view, have no separat e existence outside this framework.Provided that a command is explicit and normative it conveys the objective  maqsud  of the Lawgiver in the affirmative sense. Prohibitions are indicative of the  maqasid  in the negative sense in that the purpose of a prohibitive injunction is to suppress and avert the evil that the text in question has contemplated. This is generally accepted, but there are certain tendencies within this general framework. While the Zahiris tend to confine the  maqasid  to the obvious text, the majority of jurists takes into consideration both the text and the underlying  Ã¢â‚¬Ëœillah  and rationale of the text.The chief exponent of the  maqasid,  Shatibi, has spoken affirmatively of the need to observe and respect the explicit injunctions, but then he added that adherence to the obvious text should not be so rigid as to alienate the rationale and purpose of the text from its words and sentences. Rigidity of this kind, Shatibi added, was itself contrary to the objective (maqsud)of the Lawgiver, just as would be the case with regard to neglecting the clear tent itself.When the text, whether a command or a prohibition, is read in conjunction with its objective and rationale, this is a firm approach, one which bears greater harmony with the intention of the Lawgiver. Shatibi elaborated that the  maqasid  that are known from a comprehensive reading of the text are of two types, primary (asliyyah)and secondary (tab’iyyah). The former are the essential  maqasid  or  daruriyyat  which the  mukallaf  must observe and protect regardless of personal predilections, whereas the supplementary  maqasid -hajiyyat- are  those which leave the mukallaf with some flexibility and choiceA comprehensive reading of the textual injunctions of the  Shari’ah  has given rise to such questions as to whether the means to a  wajib  or  haram should also be seen as a part of the objective that is pursued by t hat injunction; whether the means to a command, in other words, is also an integral part of that command. Another question raised is whether avoiding the opposite of a command is integral to the goal and objective that is sought by that command.The general response given to these questions is that the supplementary aspects of commands and prohibitions are an integral part of their objectives, although disagreements have emerged over details. There is a general agreement that the opposite of a command amounts to a prohibition in the event where that opposite can be clearly identified. Most of the injunctions of the  Shari’ah  are easily understood, and their objectives as well as their opposites can be known and ascertained from the reading of the clear text. It is thus noted that whatever might be necessary for the carrying out of a command or a  wajib is  also a part of that  wajib.Shatibi has similarly concluded that whatever is complementary to the  maqasid   and in the service thereof is also a part of the  maqasid. The question then arises regarding the silence of the Lawgiver in respect of a certain conduct in situations especially where a general reading of the relevant evidence sheds light on the value of that conduct. The question may be put as follows: We know that the  maqasid  are known from clear injunctions, but can they also be known from a general reading of the  nusus  by way of induction?This is where Shatibi has given an original response. Induction (istiqra’) to Shatibi is one of the most important methods of identifying the  maqasid  of the  Shari’ah. There may be various textual references to a subject, none of which may be in the nature of a decisive injunction. Yet their collective weight is such that it leaves little doubt as to the meaning that is obtained from them. A decisive conclusion may, in other words, be arrived at from a plurality of speculative expressions. Shatibi illustrates this by saying that nowhere in the Qur’an is there a specific declaration to the effect that the  Shari’ah  has been enacted for the benefit of the people. Yet this is a definitive conclusion which is drawn from the collective reading of a variety of textual proclamations. Shatibi then adds that the benefits (masalih) are to be understood in their broadest sense which is inclusive of ail benefits pertaining to this world and the hereafter, those of the individual and the community, material, moral and spiritual, and those which pertain to the present as well as the interests of the future generations.This broad meaning of benefits also includes prevention and elimination of harm. These benefits cannot always be verified and ascertained by human reason alone without the aid and guidance of divine revelation. The typical classification of the  maqasid  into the three categories of essential,-complementary and desirable, and the conclusion that the Lawgiver has intended to protect these are based, once again, on induction-as there is no specific declaration on them in the textual sources.On a similar note, the ruling of the  Shari’ah  that the validity of an act of devotion (‘ibadah) can not be established by means of  ijtihad is  an inductive conclusion which is drawn from the detailed evidence on the subject, as there is no specific injunction in the sources to that effect. These conclusions are, in the meantime, of great overall importance; they are not open to doubt, nor is their credibility a matter of speculative reasoning.It is also the same inductive method which has led the  Ã¢â‚¬Ëœulama’  to the conclusion that the protection of the five values of faith, life, intellect, property and lineage is of primary importance to the  Shari’ah – there  being no textual ruling to specify any category or number of values in that order. Shatibi’s inductive method is not confined to the identification of objectives and values but also extends to commands and prohibitions, which may either be obtained from the clear text, or from a collective reading of a number of textual proclamations that may occur in a variety of contexts.Shatibi then goes a step further to say that the inductive conclusions and positions that are so established are the general premises and overriding objectives of the  Shari’ah  and thus have a higher order of importance than specific rules. It thus becomes evident that induction is the principal method of reasoning and proof to which Shatibi resorted in his theory of the  maqasid  and it is also in this regard that he has made an original contribution to this theme.Shatibi’s approach to induction is reminiscent of the knowledge that is acquired of the personality and character of an individual that is based on sustained association with that individual and observation of his conduct over a period of time. This kind of knowledge is broad and holistic, as it is enriched with insight, and likely to be more reliable when compared to the knowledge that might be based only on the observation of specific, isolated incidents in the daily activities of the individual concerned. 3. Definition of Maqasid al-ShariahThe term is a possessive construction, known in Arabic grammar as an Idafa, by which the meaning, â€Å"The Maqasid of the Shari’ah† is conveyed. We shall look at the first component in this construct first. The linguistic meaning of the word Maqasid is as follows: Maqasid is the plural of the word Maqsad and comes from the verbal root qa-sa-da which has several meanings, some of which are: ‘to intend,’ ‘to take a middle course’ and ‘to walk towards. ’ From this root comes the noun, Qasd which means ‘a goal,’ ‘an aim,’ or ‘an aspiration. The second part of the title is the word Shari’ah, which is a noun meaning ‘a path to a water hole,’ and in its more common usage, ‘the law of God as revealed to Muhammad. ’ Together, the term Maqasid al-Shari’ah carries the meaning, based on its constituent parts, of the ‘goals and objectives which are the reason for the legislation of the rules of Islam’ or more simply, ‘The Objectives of Islamic Law’. Technically, many definitions have been given, particularly, by contemporary scholars.Al Imam Al Shatibi who is the founder of Maqasid al-Shariah in Islamic jurisprudence did not provide a definition for this Islamic discipline. There are two other major definitions of Maqasid al-Shariah provided by two other scholars who came after Al Shatibi. They were behind the development of Maqasid al-Shariah in Islamic jurisprudence. These two definitions are provided by Ibn Ashur defined Maqasid al-Shariah base on two aspects: 1: The general aspect which is the purpose and wisdom behind th e enactment of all or most of the Shari’ah ruling.This definition is more related to the general objective of Shariah and those overall principles that guide the enactment of Islamic law in their totality. 2: The second definition of Maqasid al-Shariah is very specific. It is related to specific objective to those objectives that are designed to achieve specific benefits to people in their daily activities, such as the importance validation of contracts. Alal al-Fasi defined Maqasid Shariah as the end sought behind the enactment of each of the ruling of Shariah and the secret involved.This definition covers the public Maqasid (ama) and the private Maqasid (khasa). The definition focus on the end sought behind the enactment of each of the rulings of Islamic law, and the secret of these rulings. The secret of the Islamic rulings means the goals intended by Allah in the law. Maqasid al-Shariah aims to protect the interest of mankind and prevent the evil from them, and also reali ze the public benefit for the society and encourage virtues and avoid vices.Al-Raysuni (2006) stated that â€Å"al Maqasid are the purposes which the Law was established to fulfill for the benefit of humankind†. Therefore the Law is not an end in itself; it serves to attain an objective, a purpose which is the Maslahah (benefit). The word benefit in this context means the achievement of profit or the prevention of harm. Ibn Ashur (2006) maintained that: â€Å"This (the knowledge of Maqasid al-Shariah), in fact, ensures the continuity of the rules of the Islamic Shariah throughout the ages and generations following the age of Revelation until the end of the world. It is important to notice that, even though, Maqasid al-Shariah was not known as a discipline in the early generations of Muslims, the scholars were aware of the danger of neglecting the spirit of the law and only sticking to its literal form. The knowledge of the higher objectives of Shariah is to help preserve the essence of the Islamic law. Maqasid Al-Shari’ah is the objectives and the rationale of the Shari’ah .A comprehensive and careful examination of the Shari’ah rulings entails an understanding that Shari’ah aims at protecting and preserving public interests (Maslahah ) in all aspects of life. Many Shari’ah texts state clearly the reasoning behind certain Shari’ah rulings, suggesting that every ruling in Shari`ah comes with a purpose, which is to benefit the Mukallaf. In-depth comprehension of the objectives of Shari`ah is important for analogical deduction and other human reasoning and its methodology.Indeed, Maqasid al-Shari’ah allows flexibility, dynamism and creativity in social policy, According to Imam Al-Ghazali definition â€Å"The objective of the Shari’ah is to promote the well-being of all mankind, which lies â€Å"in safeguarding their faith (din) , their human self (nafs), their intellect (‘aql), their posteri ty (nasl) and their wealth (mal). Whatever ensures the safeguard of these five serves public interest and is desirable†. 4. Objectives of Shariah (Maqasid Al-Shariah) Maqasid al-Shariah is the objectives and the rationale of the Shariah.A comprehensive and careful examination of the Shariah rulings entails an understanding that Shariah aims at protecting and preserving public interests (maslahah) in all aspects and segments of life. Many Shariah texts state clearly the reasoning behind certain Shariah rulings, suggesting that every ruling in Shariah comes with a purpose, which is to benefit the mukallaf (accountable person), for example, when Quran prescribes Qisas (retaliation), it speaks of the rationale of it, that applying retaliation prevents further killing as Allaah says in Qoran â€Å"There is life for you in Qisas† Surah Baqarah Ayah No 179.Similarly when Quran prohibits wine it says that wine is the works of devil as it causes quarrel and instills hatred and e nmity among Muslims, Allaah said in Qoran â€Å"The devil only wants to excite enmity and hatred between you in intoxicants and gambling and hinder you from remembrance of Allah and from prayer†, Surah Ma’idah Ayah No. 91. In depth comprehension of the objectives of Shariah is important for analogical deduction and other human reasoning and its methodology (Kamali, 1999). Indeed, Maqasid al-Shar ’ah allows flexibility, dynamism and creativity in social policy.According to Imam Al-Ghazali â€Å"The objective of the Shariah is to promote the well-being of all mankind, which lies in safeguarding their faith (Din), their human self (Nafs), their intellect (‘Aql), their posterity (Nasl) and their wealth (mal). Whatever ensures the safeguard of these five serves public interest and is desirable. † Al-Shatibi approves al-Ghazali’s list and sequence, thereby indicating that they are the most preferable in terms of their harmony with the essence of Sh ariah.Generally, Shariah is predicated on benefits of the individual and that of the community, and its laws are designed so as to protect these benefits, and facilitate improvement and perfection of human lives’ conditions on earth. This perfection corresponds to the purposes of the Hereafter. In other words, each of the worldly purposes (preservation of faith, life, posterity, intellect and wealth) is meant to serve the single religious purpose of the Hereafter. The uppermost objectives of Shariah rest within the concept of compassion and guidance, that seeks to establish justice, eliminate prejudice and alleviate hardship.It promotes cooperation and mutual supports within the family and society at large. This is manifested in the realization of maslahah (public interest) which the Islamic scholars have generally considered to be the all-pervasive value and objective of the Shariah and is to all intents and purposes synonymous with compassion. Maslahah sometimes connotes th e same meaning as Maqasid and the scholars have used the two terms almost interchangeably. To further shed light on our discussion of the objectives f Shariah, especially with regard to their application in the preservation of public interest, the following section elaborates on the principles of Maslahah, serving as an important tool to uphold Shariah. 4. 1Maslahah Maslahah is one of the juristic devices that have always been used in Islamic legal theory to promote public benefit and prevent social evils or corruption. The plural of the Arabic word maslahah is ‘Masalih’ which means welfare, interest or benefit. Literally, Maslahah is defined as seeking the benefit and repelling harm. The words maslahah and manfa`ah are treated as synonyms.Manfa`ah (benefit or utility), however, is not technical meaning of maslahah. What Muslim jurists mean by maslahah is the seeking of benefit and the repelling of harm as directed by the Lawgiver or Shariah. 4. 2Other General Objective s of Shariah Through studies of the Qoran and Sunnah will reveal that apart from the above objectives of Shariah, there are several other general objectives of Shariah these objectives include: 4. 2. 1Educating the Individual (Tahdhib al-fard) One of the primary objectives of the Shariah is to educate the individuals.Shariah seeks to educate the individual and inspire them with faith and instill in them the qualities of being trustworthy and righteous, Islam aims to achieve its social goals through reforming the individual All the different aspects of IBADAH involve both mental and physical training, it leads to inner perfection. All punishments mentioned in the shariah was done because the main objective was not only to penalize the person as such, but it is to discipline the criminal and the whole of society to teach them and to prevent such crimes from being committed by others. This is the reason why Qoran has ordered that punishment for those ho commit some crimes must be execu ted in public so as to create awareness to the society of the implication in committing such crime. 4. 2. 2Upholding of Justice (AL-ADL) Upholding the principle of justice or ADL is another objective of Shariah. It is to establish a balance by the way of fulfilling rights and obligations and by eliminating excess and disparity in all spheres of life. Allah has sent scriptures and messengers in order to establish JUSTICE among people, the Qoranic message of justice is objective, and is not tainted by considering of racial, tribal, national, or religious sentiments.In dealing with friends of foes, Muslims and non-muslims, Islam orders all must be treated with justice. 5. Classification of Maqasid al-Shariah Two general categories of maqasid al-shariah were recognised: the Purposes of the Allaah the lawgiver, maqasid al-shari’ah, and the Purposes of the human, maqasid al mukallaf. In an ideal situation the purposes of the law-giver conform to the purposes of the human. Humans do not always know what is in their best interest because of personal whims, hiwa al nafs. The good may appear bad and vice versa. Humans may see immediate benefit while ignoring long-term harm.The Purposes of the Lawgiver are divided into two types: primary and secondary. The primary purposes of the lawgiver, maqasid al-sharia ibtidaa’an, are the most important and are a basis for the secondary purposes. The secondary purposes can be described in three types: the purpose of law as understanding, maqasid al-shariat li al ifhaam; law as injuctions and obligations, maqasid al-shariat li al-takliif; and the law as implementation, maqasid al-shariah li al-imtithaal. This classification shows that the law is not only commands but also has secondary rules that help understand and execute the commands of the primary rules.The primary purposes of Maqasid al-Shariah are divided in to three levels of priority according to its inner strength and all the Islamic legal ruling refers to real ize one of the categories namely:- 1) The necessities or essentials (Daruriyyat). 2) The needs (Hajiyyat). 3) The complementary (Tahsiniyyat). Each of the three have complements, mukammilaat. Each of these three can be divided into private and public purposes. Each of them can also be described in three categories: right of Allah, haqq al-llaah; rights of the human, haqq al-‘abd; rights of the community, and rights of the state, haqq al-sultan.Wants are not mentioned at all in this scheme because they are based on hiwa al-nafs. 5. 1The Essentials (Al-Daruriyyat) The essentials are the matters on which the religion and worldly affairs of the people depend upon, their neglect will lead disruption and disorder and also evil ending and must be protected whether by the individuals, or the government authorities, the essentials can be further divided into the protection of the five fundamental values (Al-Daruriyyat Al-Khamsah).These essential five values are:- ? Protection of Religi on (Al-Din) ? Protection of Life (Nafs) ? Protection of Dignity (Ird) ? Protection of Intellect/Mind (Al-Aql) ? Protection of Property (Al-Mal) 5. 1. 1Protection of Religion (AL-DIN) Al-Din is the most important value that must be protected by the Muslims, protection of al-din at a personal is achieved through the observance of the IBAADAAT, such as five praying, fasting, paying Zakah and performing hajj.Also the protection of Al-Din at wider scope involves defending Islamic faith particularly if it is attacked by the enemy of Islam. The process of protecting can be done through various means such as writings, in speeches and other practical means. If the situation demands waging of war with the enemy of Islam, then it should be done for the sake of protecting. Islam from being destroyed by others Allah S. W. T has enacted the law of JIHAD and commanded the Muslims to defend their faith. 5. 1. Protection of Life (AL-NAFS) Life is essential and valuable to everyone, and it must be pr otected in all circumstances and in this respect, between the life of the rich and poor, between the leader and subordinates, Muslims and non-muslims. Protecting everyone’s life is equally important and obligatory to each and every individual and society, the Shariah has enacted severe punishment for those who kill each other, the punishment for those who kill an innocent human being is the death penalty in Islam.In the punishment of the murderer, even though one life is killed because of the crime, this will lead to saving many more lives as the punishment will deter other from committing such crime, saving one’s life is required and it should be done at the expense of other lives, but if the saving of this live might lead to losing of another life then it should be done as the principle of Shariah states â€Å"a particular harm shall not be removed by inflicting another harm†. . 1. 3Protection of Dignity (AL-IRD) Islam is very concerned about the dignity of a person and emphasizes the importance of protecting dignity. Protection of dignity includes the protection of individual rights to privacy and not exposing or accusing others of misbehaviors. It means ensuring that the relationship between men and women is done in a respectful and responsible way; Islam has enacted a number of guidelines in order to protect the dignity of mankindIslam prohibits its followers committing adultery or other immoral behaviors; any accusation toward a crime, a proof must be confirmed. Otherwise the punishment will be imposed for false accusations. Islam also regulates the relationship between men and women in order to protect their dignity; also Islam disallows the manipulation of women or making women sexual objects and commercial objects by portraying them as an attraction for purchasing such commercial products.Islam tells followers to cover their â€Å"AURAH† and is one of the ways to protecting their dignity. 5. 1. 4Protection of the Intellect/ Mind (AL-AQL) Al-Aql or the intellect is a great gift from Allah S. W. T to mankind; it is one of the human capacities that differ from animals. Allah has ordered protecting this gift by utilizing the mind for the benefit of all and not for any kind of evil, on the other hand Islam gives freedom to express their views, and it must conform that views with the moral and ethical values provided in the Qoran and Sunnah.Protection of the mind requires safeguarding it from anything that might harm the ability and function of the brain, this includes consumption of liquor or similar substance that will disturb the function of the brain, a punishment will be imposed for those who consume liquor. These are made in order to prevent the spread of such habits that could damage the mind and the brain. 5. 1. 5The Protection of Property (AL-MAL) Acquiring property is one of the necessities of mankind. Islam encourages its followers to acquire wealth through Halal borders.Islam has ordered that no one should transgress and acquire the property of others without a legitimate reason and without proper contract, and there will be severe punishment in the Day of Judgment against those who acquire the properties of others unlawfully. Acquiring the property of others illegitimately can be done through, when engaging usury (Riba), cheating in transactions, breaking the trust in matters related to property, stealing the property of others and other similar means. . 2The Complementary (Al-Hajiyyat) There are many examples of Al-Hajiyyat such as the dispensations or legal excuses (Rukhsah), travelers are allowed to combine and shorten their five obligatory prayers and also break their fast in Ramadan month. A sick person is allowed to pray in a sitting or sleeping position and break his fast in Ramadan, also the basic permissibility regarding the enjoyment of victuals and hunting also fall under this category. 5. 3The Embellishments (Al-Tahsiniyyat)The embellishments refer to interests whose realization lead to the improvement and attainment of that which is desirable. The observance of cleanliness in personal appearance and in IBADAH, moral virtues, avoiding extravagance and measures that are designed to prevent proliferation of false claims of false claims in the courts, all these fall under this category. The disappearance of al-tahsiniyyat may not interrupt the normal life but it might lead to the lack of comfort in life. 6. Maqasid Al-Shariah in Islamic FinanceThe objectives of the Shariah in financial transactions refer to the overall goals and meaning that the Shariah aims at achieving from its rulings related to financial activities and transactions. Looking deeply and constantly into several texts of the divine book and the Sunnah of prophet Mohamed (PBUH) on financial activities. It can be stated that the Shariah has observed specific objectives in the enactment of financial laws and principles, these objectives include:- 1. The Objective of Continuity of the Circulation of WealthThis objective refers of preserving the transactional nature of the financial dealing so as to enable large sectors of population to become a part of the monetary cycle of wealth and to avoid the concentration of wealth in a few hands. It is underlined in several verses and Hadiths which call for giving Zakah, the generous donation and spending for the sake of Allah and to refrain from hoarding and monopolizing the wealth. This can be strengthened by several ruling and commands including those contractual transfers of money and other financial transactions like Mudarabah, Musharakah, Muzara’ah and e. . c. this will protect the entire society against crimes and greediness of opportunities, and also surely and definitely bring prosperity and happiness to the whole society. 6. 2The Objective of Continuity of the Investment of Wealth When societies develop, also economic activities and transactions develop. A society develops their finances to the bene fit and prosperity of their members, this is done when wealth must be invested and should be available in many hands for its investment and increment.In support of this objective, there are several verses in the Qoran and Hadiths of prophet (PBUH) which address the issue of necessity and obligation of the continuity of the investment of wealth as they call upon all Muslims to earn, strive and continue to extend themselves to the corners of the earth in search of the bounty of Allaah S. W. T. 6. 3The Objective of Achieving Comprehensive Communal Prosperity This objective is directed at fulfilling the basic material needs of all members of society by achieving personal satisfaction and social tranquility and security.The achievement of this objective will also rid society of negative social attributes such us stratification of the population into privileged and non-privileged classes. The verses and Hadith that call upon Muslims to pay Zakah and cooperate and also help each other in b usiness transactions, upholds all the objective of achievement of prosperity in society. 6. 4The Objective of Validation of Financial Ownership This objective aims the lawful authentication of the rights of lawful financial ownership.Numerous verses and Hadiths verify the right of lawful ownership and spending and they serve the purpose of safeguarding Islamic economic activity. Earlier objectives of Shariah discussions was based on reading and looking deeply into verses on trade, expenditure, investment and consumption, this objective is governed by permissiveness (Halal) of such activities like sales and purchases, cooperate business undertakings, farming activities, financial activities and other pertained activities like forgiving minor uncertainties and binding contracts by witnesses. . 5Protection of the wealth in Islamic Business Transactions Preservation of wealth in finance and business transactions is one of the primary Maqasids in Shariah. The verses from the Qoran and al so Sunnah have very strong statements indicating very clearly the importance of wealth whether for individuals or for the community and the society at large. The right to own and earn, Shariah gives the right to the Muslim community to own and earn, thus creating wealth, Muslims can acquire wealth through owning (Tamaluk) or earning (Takasub).Owning (Tamaluk) consists of possessing anything from which they can gain satisfy their needs, whether from their produce or their substitutes, on the other hand Earning (Takasub) consists of exerting one’s self to gain its own needs whether by physical labor or by mutual consent with others. 6. 6Transparency in Wealth and Finance Transparency is very objective in Shariah for business and finance, this objective seeks to rid Islamic finance from misuse and squander and to prevent disputes, arguments and grudges among the community on financial matters.Islamic law requires security in some business transactions, the main purpose of transp arency is to avoid dispute among people in daily business activities as much as possible. In this respect transparency in finance is applied, especially if it is related to the subject matter of the contract which must be known to both parties including specification, quality and quantity. Such business activities which clearly understood make the contracting parties more comfortable to conclude the deal and execute the business transactions with mutual consent and understanding. . 7Development and Investment of Wealth in Business Transactions The Shariah is very concerned about the development of economic and finance. In supporting this objective the Qoran and Sunnah urge Muslims to look at this aspect respectively. The development of wealth and investment in finance is an obligation not an option, because it contributes to the growth of wealth and protection of property of the society. Shariah considers money as a potential capital rather than a capital, meaning that money becomes capital only when it is invested in a business.Thus the investments and development of wealth will enhance the financial status of members of the society respectively. 6. 8Prevent Harm and Hardship in Wealth and Finance Maqasid al-Shariah tries to achieve command prosperity in the society as a whole, if this is achieved every member of society will be satisfied and safe, as a result from that, all harm and hardship will be either removed from the society or minimized in the finance and business transactions.It is understood that preventing harm in finance comes from putting in to practice most of the objectives of the Shariah in business finance, because those objectives are the key factors. 6. 9Ensure Justice in the Circulation of Wealth in Business Transactions Justice is a prime in human life in all aspects; it is also a vital objective due to its implication in the business community and social activities as well. However justice in terms of wealth starts from earning wealth an d possessing property by right, without any harm.In order to implement justice the Shariah has imposed some rules and regulations and has prohibited all elements that may lead to injustice in business such as bribery, fraud and deception, gambling, uncertainty, Riba and so on. To ensure the establishment of justice in all aspects of business and finance, meanwhile shariah encourages all types of business activities which create justice and benefits the business community and social life as well. 6. 10Objective of Individual Economic ActivitiesThe question of why to produce or why to get involved in economic activities in the first place, is that Shari'ah wants individuals to look after their welfare. Shatibi has used the maslahah (welfare-benefit) to describe this objective of Shari'ah. Human beings have been required by Shari'ah to seek maslahah. Economic activities of production, consumption and exchange that involve maslahah (welfare) as defined by Shari'ah have to be pursued as a religious duty to earn one's betterment not only in this world but in the world hereafter.Also all such activities that have maslahah for human beings are called needs. These needs have to be fulfilled. â€Å"Fulfilling needs† rather than â€Å"satisfying wants† is the objective of economic activities, and the pursuit of this objective is a religious duty. Man is, therefore, obligated to solve his economic problems. The approach that unlimited wants relative to scarce resources defines the economic problem of man may be explaining the economic behavior of a capitalistic society, but it certainly fails to explain the behavior of several traditional societies of the world.The members of traditional societies do not feel motivated to maximize the satisfaction of their wants with the resources available with them, because they find their needs adequately fulfilled and they do not feel obliged to look for the satisfaction of wants beyond their needs defined by themselves or by their environment. All development strategies thus fail to bring development in such societies because of the lack of motivation to earn more or to expand resources at one's disposal. Islamic economic theory, on the other hand, is on more sound footing.It defines economic problem in the light of the objective that Islam assigns to human activities. The fulfillment of this objective is made a religious duty. Islam, thus, becomes a force of economic development even for such traditional societies that are not motivated by the materialistic approach, to maximize the satisfaction of wants. The economic problem of human beings is, therefore, to â€Å"fulfill needs† with the available resources which most of the time may turn out to be scarce relative to needs.The inconsistency that was pointed out in the concept of â€Å"satisfying human wants† is not present in the concept of â€Å"fulfilling human needs†. If the resource constraint is relaxed, the human needs can be fulfilled as they are objectively defined. 7. Advantages of Shariah Compliance in Islamic Finance Current literature proclaims that Islamic financial system differs significantly from conventional system, not only in the ways it functions, but above all the values which guide its whole operation and outlook.The values which are prevailed within the ambit of Shariah, are expressed not only in the minutiae of its transactions but in the breadth of its role in realizing the Maqasid al-Shariah (objectives of Shariah). Indeed, Maqasid al-Shariah reflects the holistic view of Islam which has to be looked at as a whole not in parts as Islam is a complete and integrated code of life and its goal encompasses the whole life, individual and society; in this world and the hereafter (Dusuki ; Abozaid, 2007).Hence, a deep understanding of Maqasid al-Shariah entails intense commitment of every individuals and organizations to justice, brotherhood and social welfare. This will inevitably le ad to a society whereby every member will cooperate with each other and even compete constructively, as success in life is to obtain the ultimate happiness (falah). Thus mere maximization of profits cannot, therefore, be sufficient goal of a Muslim society.Maximization of output must be accompanied by efforts directed to ensure spiritual health at the inner core of human consciousness and justice and fair play at all levels of human interaction. Only development of this kind would be in conformity with the Maqasid al-Shariah. Despite progress in the improvements and introduction of an enabling Islamic capital market environment through various Shariah-compliant product innovations like sukuk, some structure which attempt to achieve the same economic outcome like conventional bond distort the Maqasid al-Shariah.This distortion stems from the restricted view of understanding Shariah, by only focusing on the legal forms of a contract rather than the substance especially when structurin g a financial product. The overemphasis on form over substance lead to potential abuse of Shariah principles in justifying certain contracts which in fact contradictory to the Shariah text and ultimately undermining the higher objectives of Shariah. Conclusion The methodology of interpreting the Quran integrates three approaches: Maqasid, contextualization, and social science research.The maqasid- oriented approach promotes a focus on the higher objectives intent, and purpose of the text. Contextualization offers insight as to the both the historical and contemporary circumstances relevant to the text, while social science research provides an understanding of the contemporary conditions and realities that enables the interpretation and application of the text to be directed towards achieving the higher objectives. The purposes of Islamic Law are not all equally evident. Some are clear to the general public, like basic ethical principles and the essential necessities of life.Others, however, require a trained jurists’ eye, because they are more subtle, and require deeper investigation to discern. This is where juristic reasoning really needs to be exercised. This is where the jurist qualified to engage in juristic reasoning – the mujtahid – comes into play, someone who can understand the sacred texts in conjunction with the broad purposes of Islamic Law and then apply this knowledge to the actual circumstances of the outside world in order to come up with an appropriate legal ruling.Our present need is all the more acute due to the paucity of understanding that Muslims have regarding what Islam wants for Muslim society and for the people – the protection of their liberties, the effective management of their affairs, the cultivation of virtue among them, the prohibition of vice, the development of their resources, the advancement of their capabilities, and the inculcation of the value of being a productive member of society.Todayâ₠¬â„¢s Muslims are in need of all of these things, people who often know a lot of Islamic legal rulings but know very little about the purposes behind them. I also propose to add economic development and strengthening of Research and Development in technology and science to the structure of  Maqasid al-Shariah as they are crucially important in determining the standing of the ummah in the world community. Lastly Maqasid al-Shariah remains open to further enhancement which will depend, to some extent, on the priorities of every age.We should understand that Maqasid Al-Shariah is an important discipline which can play a crucial role in economics, finance and business transactions nowadays. It is time to go forward with full implementation of Maqasid Al-Shariah in finance, business and economic activities to achieve the noble adjectives of the Shariah. These objectives give value to finance, banking, trade and all business transactions. We believe that the implementation of Maqasid Al -Shariah will enhance the performance of finance and trade, and establish justice in the business community and society at large.Furthermore, the achievement of Shariah objectives in business transactions creates happiness and satisfaction, and fulfills the needs of society in terms of wealth. Islam allows all financial activities and transactions leading to the actualization to its noble objectives. Furthermore, investment is considered as an obligation upon all Muslims. This means Muslims have to make use of the wealth in their hands in order to make it grow and gain more profit and benefits. Wealth which is not invested as hoarded.Although the underlined main principles are closely linked to the main objectives of the Shariah in financial activities and transactions, one cannot deny that there are other subsidiary principles, such as prohibition of making money from money, or prohibition of Najash and certain types of sales.References: 1. Dr. Ahcene Lahsasna (2011). Shariah Aspec ts of Business and Finance: INCEIF CIFP. Part 1, January Semester, 2012: Kuala Lumpur: International Centre for Education in Islamic Finance. . Dr. Ahcene Lahsasna (2011). Shariah Aspects of Business and Finance: INCEIF CIFP. Part 1, January Semester, 2012: Online Class Lectures. Kuala Lumpur: International Centre for Education in Islamic Finance. 3. Dr. Asyraf Wajdi Dusuki. â€Å"Challenges of realizing Maqasid Al-Shariah in Islamic Capital Market† 4. Dr. Mohammad Hashim Kamali. â€Å"Maqasid Al-Shariah: The objectives of Islamic law† ———————– The Global University of Islamic Finance

LJB Company Case Study Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words - 4

LJB Company - Case Study Example This discussion outlines that fulfilling these requirements in advance and formulating appropriate plan is the key to a winning entry into the market as public firm. Section 302 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act states that the management of the companies, which are made public recently, must deliver a report that evaluates the effectiveness of the firm’s internal control over financial reporting. An attestation report on the operating effectiveness of the measures is also in need to be submitted by the firm. As the paper highlights the manager should appoint independent counsel and advisors as stated necessary by the law to carry out the duties and to deal with concerns related to employees and organization. They are necessary to meet the issues regarding accounting, internal control, and auditing procedures. The LJB Company management should integrate the internal controls systems into the financial processes on time in order to adequately assort and asses the effectiveness of the implemented control measures. The LJB Company is seen functioning well with many of its activities. The company was doing right when it decided to start using pre-numbered invoices for the petty expenses. It would bring the transactions into the daylight from being tampered or manipulated. In the same way, the decision to use indelible ink machine to print their checks is considered to be a wise decision. There is less chances for clerical errors when using indelible ink machines. Furthermore, the system of paying the employees sounds well and suits well with the requirement of becoming a public company. On the payday, the accountant himself prepares the checks distributed at the office. In accordance with the company’s system, before closing fort he weekend, the accountant moves all the cash balance and checks into the safe in his office. This practice makes sure that no cash-at-hand is kept with the accountant without entering the accounts.  

European Union's Policy in Telecommunications Essay

European Union's Policy in Telecommunications - Essay Example Thus the EU telecom market has been undergone some revolutionary process, where new players have come to the market along with offering innovative new services, quality products and low prices. Mobile communications, online services, information through the super highway or the internet have revolutionized the continuous growth and use of telecommunication in almost every sphere of the EU region. Telecommunication companies in EU in particular have introduced not only new but also cheaper combined fixed and mobile service packages with alternative pricing formulas and new ways of paying methods (Noam, 1992). Thus these new developments in the telecommunication policy of EU will be crucial to become a part of the modern Information Society. In fact liberalization of telecommunication is the cornerstone of EU's transition, with lowering the price of communicating, encouraging innovation and investment in new services and networks and contributing to improved competitiveness and increased employment. Thus the Information and Communication Technology (ICT) acquired a significant dimension in the coordination efforts of EU in their both the regional and global operations. ICT i s increasingly becoming the world's most important determinant of integration related issues and actions. For instance EU's significance in the internal and external telecommunication strategy in its global operations can be seen with regard to the level of its applications in coordinating inter-country and intra-country operations. The changing telecommunication environment at overseas and operations has such a big impact on the ICT related decision making process in EU.Thus the transition from monopoly to liberalized telecommunication policy in the competitive world would be a very challengeable to the EU commission. In order to have concrete effects, detailed rules are necessary for the EU and also the application of those rules needs to be careful supervised. So the resources had to be focused on scrutinizing the implementation and practical application of the EU regulatory framework in the Member States. The National Regulatory Authorities (NRAs) for telecoms have been establis hed in member states of EU and range of tasks has set by the EU regulatory framework in order to grant number of telecom services including - to granting new mobile and fixed network licenses; to approving interconnection prices and agreements; policing prices charged to customers for changing operators, and dealing with the allocation of numbers to new market players. Thus the national competition authorities are also occupied with scrutinizing the new telecoms market. In the 1980's telecommunication policy in the EU was characterized by some public monopolies and run with postal services. Thus it has been revolutionized with the privatization and limited competition in some member countries in EU (Damro, 2000). The development of the telecommunication industry has basically been driven by the increasing application of modern information technology in the telecommunica

Education for the Future Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Education for the Future - Essay Example The pace of learning will increase, whereas the necessary attendance is likely to be reduced, as there will appear such feature as virtual attendance - human hologram will be able to perceive all information, including from sensual channels (see, hear, touch and so on). The concept of education is also likely to alter - from 'teaching' to 'education' in pure meaning, i.e. there will be more attention to individual assignments. Nevertheless, the role of teacher, or, more precisely, tutor, will remain intact, and in addition, the professor's authority and knowledge will become one of the main stimuli for secondary education. In fact, schools will be more adjusted to each person's needs, and classes will be formed according to each student's interests and aspirations for future. From earliest years, students will concentrate on the subjects or topics they find interesting or worth attention, whereas the so-called general disciplines, such as math, history, literature and physics will 's urvive'.

Market imperfections and failures Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

Market imperfections and failures - Assignment Example Imperfect competition in the market generates asymmetric information and dampens the level of welfare in the society. Discriminations made by the monopolists in the market not only hamper the social utility, but also engages in misallocation of resources. Efficient allocation of productive resources helps to the economy to reach a Pareto optimal stage. However, in the real world, corruption and strategic business initiatives of certain firms in the industry have reduced the level of competition in the economies of most of the nations (BIS, 2013). Public authorities of the countries are now taking active initiatives to augment the level of market competition in the economies (CIA, 2013). The Competition Law or Policy adopted by a country helps to promote the level of market competition by imposing special rules and regulations on the anti-competitive practices conducted by the contemporary corporate firms. This paper would focus on the Competition Policy of U.K and would show how the objectives of the policies are related to the microeconomic theories of market. The learnt from this paper would help to analyze the negative impacts on an economy due to the lack of proper market competition (Hubbard, 2008). ... to protect the interests of the consumers in the country (Mankiw and Mark, 2006). The two main factors that were checked by this law were: Abuse of Market Power Collusive Behaviour The first competitive policy instruments in U.K were introduced about fifty years ago. The Department of Trade and Industry, The Director General of Fair Trade and the Competition Commission of the country had introduced their first competitive policy instruments (Woodford, 2001). Over time, subject to the external changes in the market, the terms and conditions of the policy have largely changed in U.K. Finally, in 1988, the Competition Act was again modified and adopted as the approach of ‘prohibition’ to prevent dominance in the marketplaces of U.K (Manne, 2012). Objectives The primary objectives of the Competition Policy in U.K were: 1. The Policy was the basis for the concepts of the Fair Trade Act 1973. Thus, one of its objectives was to serve the interests of the public (Assael, 2005). 2. The Policy aimed at providing guidance and constraints to the discretionary power of the ‘decision makers’ in the market. 3. It aimed to promote and maintain the market competition. 4. To assure that consumers received quality products at a good price. 5. To augment innovation and productive efficiency in the market. 6. Assure balanced distribution of employment and industry in U.K. 7. To enhance the competitive powers of the domestic companies of U.K. in order to easily compete with the foreign companies (OECD, 2002). Objectives Relating to Microeconomic Theories This context of the paper would highlight that the goals or the objects of the Competition Policy introduced by U.K. are based on the theories of microeconomics, which

Case 1 Study Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words - 1

1 - Case Study Example In the current allocation, male athletes are allocated $36, 760, female athletes allocated $29, 084 thus making the difference to be $7, 676hence taking KSU away from complying with the Title IX because it does not relate well with the indirect costs used in the scenario. The total cost per male and female student athlete if football is eliminated will be 29, 101for male and29084 for women. The total cost per women did not change because they did not participate in football. However, the total cost per men reduced because the number of footballers was reduced. The current cost per athlete is almost average making it fair in terms of Title IX. 3. Additional of female’s hockey team will reduce the cost per female athlete from 29, 084 to 25,689 while the cost per athlete for male athletes will remain unchanged. This will be against Title IX because the difference in cost is higher per athlete thus implying that less cost is allocated per female compared to what is put for male athletes. The additional cost will reduce the direct cost while indirect cost will remain unchanged though the increase in number of female athletes will mean that indirect cost will be reduced. The institution should ensure that the total cost per athlete is equal regardless of gender as stated by Title IX. That is the only sure way they can comply with the act. 4. When the number of events is used as a basis of calculating indirect cost, the total indirect cost for male athletes will be 3.817,029 while that for female athletes will be 4,061,469. In that regard, the total cost per athlete will be 33, 6262 for males while that of females will be 34, 904. This is fairer as per the Title IX because the cost per athlete is slightly close implying that the organization allocates almost similar amount of cost to all the athletes regardless of their age. Female athletes have more events

Discuss the impact on British Society of the cultural revolution of Essay

Discuss the impact on British Society of the cultural revolution of the 1960s - Essay Example When social historians refer to "The Sixties", it is rare that they are talking about the decade in its entirety or that decade exclusively. For example, some claim that the sixties began, as a cultural phenomenon, in 1963. A convincing case can be made in support of this. Events such as the assassination of President Kennedy, Martin Luther Kings "Dream Speech", the debut albums of both The Beatles and Bob Dylan immediately appear as cultural turning points. 1963 appears to be the point at which civil rights, counter/youth culture and a new, somewhat alien mentality began to emerge into the mainstream consciousness. In spite of this, Marwick has argued that it is impossible to view the phenomenon in a "hermetically sealed" time frame, and that it truly began in the late fifties, and came to its conclusion in the early seventies. This is compatible with the idea that 1963 was important, indeed Marwick suggests it marks the beginning of the "High Sixties", but we must also acknowledge the gathering momentum of change in the years leading up to this point. Thus, the period of the Long Sixties I will be discussing here refers to 1958-1974. A far more difficult definition comes with the terms "cultural" and "revolution". To further complicate matters, when the two are used together, we can turn them into a proper noun, as with Mao Zedongs Cultural Revolution. Thus, it is important for us to differentiate between that Cultural Revolution, and Cultural Revolution in the far broader terms we are describing here. Was this a collective movement towards a universalistic revolution, or were individuals campaigning for their own singular interests? So what is a revolution, and, perhaps more pertinently, what is a culture? Revolution is a term which appears with startling regularity in world history, and has been applied to many different things. In this case, revolution refers to a paradigm shift

Would you expect cancer to arise more often in types of cells that Essay

Would you expect cancer to arise more often in types of cells that divide frequently (such as skin cells) or in types of cells that divide rarely or not at all (such as nerve cells) Explain your reasoning - Essay Example Therefore, cancer is result of errors in reproduction or failure to separate genetic materials properly at the time of mitosis. Skin cancer is closely linked with cell mitosis because it is the process through which cells replicate, and without it, cancerous cells would not be able to form. Cancer begins with single regular cell shifting into a cancerous cell; this may be because of a transmutation within the cells genetic material that influences its development. Once a cell has altered in this manner, it is likely to reproduce at a much quicker pace than normal, â€Å"and the bad cancerous cells proliferate and pile up. They go through uncontrolled abnormal mitosis. These renegade cells escape the normal controls of mitotic cell division† (Picorino, 2012). Cancer cells as well have an abnormal form as well as behavior. This sort of cell is more likely to separate it from surrounding ones and shift to other parts of the

The Simmons Hall Case Study Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

The Simmons Hall - Case Study Example The building stands 10 stories or 100 feet high, 385 feet long, and 53 feet deep. The building is wrapped almost entirely in a matrix of 2-foot-square windows, 5,538 of them to be exact (Ryan 2004). Huge gaps that double as terraces separate Simmons Hall's three aluminum towers. Volcano-shaped lounges push through the floors (Nasr 2007). The exoskeleton of the building is formed by a gridded shell, composed of precast concrete wall panels, called Perfcon ("Projects" 2003).The facades appear as flush blades of aluminium eaten into by several large cuts. In silhouette, it interacts with the sky behind. At a radically different scale, it is punctured by small, square and deep apertures that illuminate the interior without revealing each room's exact position or size. Where gable portions are eroded, upper sections of the building project forward dramatically (Ryan 2004). Internally, the building is as complex as its exterior. Wide corridors connect the dorm rooms and the building's amenities: dining, fitness center and a theater, among other facilities. Eight atria connect the floors vertically in a manner more flowing than rigid, contrasting the regimented exterior ("A Weekly Dose," Archidose.org 2007). The Simmons' Hall building uses a visual effect to look bigger t

Human Relations Essay Example for Free

Human Relations Essay Child development refers to an individual’s progress from birth to adulthood. There are several changes that occur in a normal person’s life span-physical, cognitive and psychosocial (Fitch, 1999, p. 9). The three form the domains of child development. Physical development refers to the changes that occur in the individual’s body, such as height, weight, sensory and motor abilities, as well as the hormonal changes (p. 9). On the other hand, cognitive development alludes to the intellectual changes that occur as children develop (p. 9). As children grow, they start to develop attitudes about themselves and their surroundings. As they continue to search for their identity, their psychosocial development also unfolds. There are different theories that tackle child development. Stage theories are theories that concentrate on developmental levels that are â€Å"quantitatively different† from other levels (p. 40). Quantitative, in this sense, means that each developmental level is a progression, an integration of previous behavior and information (p. 40). Furthermore, the progression from one stage to another is discontinuous, indicating that it follows a fixed sequence (pp. 40-41). Theorists who subscribe the stage theories of child development believe that all stages are universal (p. 41). There are three major theorists in child development: Sigmund Freud, Erik Erikson and Jean Piaget. Sigmund Freud is considered the â€Å"father of psychoanalysis† (Thornton, 2006). Psychoanalysis is a technique developed by Freud that is used to uncover the unconscious (Morris and Maisto, 2002, p. 15). A medical doctor by profession, Freud was particularly interested in the central nervous system (p. 14). In his life of work, he found that most diseases are psychological in nature, rather than physiological. Thus, he came to the conclusion that human behavior is driven by the unconscious instincts (p. 446). He believed that the unconscious instincts are vital in an individual’s survival. Moreover, he accentuated the importance of sexual instincts as the most important element in personality development. Personality, according to Freud, is developed around three structures: the id, the ego, and the superego (Fitch, 1999, p. 41). The id is guided by the pleasure principles, ego, the reality principle, and superego, the moral principle (p. 41). These structures are crucial in Freud’s theory of psychosexual development, or his perceptive on child development. There are five stages in Freud’s Psychosexual Theory, each stage involving some levels of sexual energy. According to Freud, as children go through each stage, their personality is being developed. However, when a child undergoes traumatic experiences, the sexual energy that should have been at that particular stage may be affected, resulting in what Freud termed as fixation (Larsen and Buss, 2005, p. 47). Fixation may later lead to immaturity and certain personality traits. In the oral stage (birth to 18 months), the infant‘s focus of gratification is the mouth (Morris and Maisto, 2002, p. 448). During this stage, the infant’s id is dominant, especially because the infant has yet to differentiate the self and the environment (Larsen and Buss, 2005, p. 47). The infant obtains oral pleasure by sucking, chewing and biting (Morris and, p. 448). Infants who receive too much pleasure will grow into optimistic adults; those who receive little will turn into hostile adults (p. 448). During the anal stage (18 months to 3 ? ears), the child’s primary source of sexual pleasure is the anus (Morris and Maisto, 2002, p. 448). In this stage, the child’s ego is starting to differentiate from his/ her id and the child starts to establish self-sufficiency (Larsen and Buss, 2005, p. 47). The child starts to learn elimination and he/ she derives sexual pleasure from holding in and expelling feces (p. 448). This is also the time when toilet training begins. Strict toilet training may result in children throwing tantrums, which according to Freud will lead them into self-destructive adults (p. 448). The third stage- phallic stage, occurs after the child reaches three years of age (Morris and Maisto, 2002, p. 448). In this stage, both boys and girls seek pleasure from manipulating their genitals (p. 448). Interestingly, children become sexually attracted to opposite-sex parent (Larsen and Buss, 2005, p. 48). Freud calls this the Oedipus and Electra complex (p. 448). The former refers to the Greek mythological character that kills his father and marries his mother (p. 448). The latter refers to the somewhat possessive love that girls display toward their father while feeling jealous of their mothers (p. 48). The child’s superego is also starting to take control, as the child starts to take notice of his/ her parents’ values as well as that of the society. Fixation in this stage may lead to vanity and egotism in later life. Or it may lead to the opposite, wherein the individual becomes withdrawn, shy and has low self-esteem (p. 448). When the child reaches 6 up until he/she reaches puberty, the child goes into a latency stage. During this period, sexual development is at a standstill (Larsen and Buss, 2002, p. 51). The child loses interest in sexual behavior and instead begins focusing on learning skills that will help him/her become responsible citizens in the society (p. 510. ). At puberty, the child reaches the genital stage. It is during this stage wherein sexual tension builds up. It is a period of sexual maturity. The genital stage is the final stage in sexual development and it is in this stage where adolescents and adults are able to actualize unfilled desires from infancy and childhood (Morris and Maisto, 2002, p. 448). It is the time when mature sexual relationships are established.

Regulating Iron Metabolism

Regulating Iron Metabolism Introduction Iron is an essential nutrient for many organisms as it aids in numerous cellular processes such as oxygen transport and DNA synthesis. In overload, iron generates free radicals that damage both proteins and lipids. On the other hand, a deficiency of iron undermines cell proliferation. Iron metabolism: an outline An adult manages to take up around 1-3mg of iron a day, in order to make up for any losses through sweat, urine and dying red cells. Non-heme iron is taken up by red cells through bivalent metal transporters, also heme iron is taken up by red cells though an undefined mechanism. Regulation of iron metabolism Keeping a constant cellular iron content is important and therefore the body has developed precise mechanisms for the regulation of uptake storage and export of iron. The Iron-Responsive Element (IRE)/ Iron Regulatory Protein (IRP) regulatory mechanism consists of a mechanism responsible for regulating post-transcriptional gene expression to maintain iron homeostasis. It involves two RNA binding proteins Iron-regulatory protein 12 (IRP 1, IRP 2) and a regulatory RNA elements known as Iron Responsive Elements. IRE/IRP interactions control the expression of mRNA sequences that encode for proteins responsible for iron acquisition (divalent metal transporter 1 and transferrin receptor 1), storage of iron (H-ferritin and L-ferritin) iron utilization (erythroid 5-aminolevulinic acid synthase), energy (mitochondrial aconitase), and iron export (ferroportin) (Muckhentaler, et al., 2008). The processes responsible from binding IRP1 and IRP2 to IRE are regulated mainly by iron levels, although other stimuli do exist, such as hypoxia and nitric oxide. In cells which have high iron levels, the IRP/IRE binding activity is low as IRP 1 2 are incapable of binding to IRE. In such conditions, IRP1 would set up an iron-sulphur cluster (Fe-S) which in turn transforms into cytosolic aconitase, whereas IRP2 would become degraded through the action of the proteosome. This means that only in iron-depleted cells would the IRP proteins bind to IRE. Both IRP 1 2 hinder translation initiation when bound to the 5’Untranslated Region of IRE, by inhibiting the binding of the small ribosomal sub-unit to the mRNA sequence (Muckenthaler, et al., 1998). In addition, when IRP1 is bound to a cap proximal IRE, and hence the cap binding complex (eIF4F) is produced. At this point the small ribosomal sub-unit does not incorporate in the presence of IRP1 which hinders any interactions needed between the cap binding complex and the small ribosomal sub-unit. The association of IRP 1 with the 3’IRE of transferrin receptor 1 reduces its turnover by hindering the cleavage of a restriction site and eventually its mRNA degradation (Binder, et al., 1994). The mechanism that stabilizes IRP mRNA has not yet been well investigated for other 3’IRE containing mRNA’s like CDC14A and DMT1, which contain one 3’IRE site and could require other factors in order to be regulated. Therefore, it can be said that the binding of IR P 1 2 ensures iron balance and no over expression of target mRNA molecules. The IRP/IRE system was primarily described as a non-complex post-transcriptional gene expression which regulates the formation of ferritins and transferrin receptor 1. The discovery of other mRNA sequences associated with this system has increased the complexity and has enhanced the role of IRP proteins to connect different pathways, which are regulated by iron metabolism. Assessment of Iron Status Iron studies are a group of tests that are performed in order to evaluate the status of the iron stores as well as the concentration of iron in serum. Tests that are performed when an Iron profile is ordered may include: Serum iron Total Iron-Binding Capacity (TIBC) and/or Unsaturated Iron-Binding Capacity (UIBC) Transferrin Ferritin Transferrin receptor Transferrin Saturation Serum iron is a measure of the amount of iron present in blood and usually does not diminish until iron stores are depleted. It is ordered normally as a follow-up when low levels of haemoglobin and haematocrit are observed on a complete blood count. An increased level of iron can be due to ingestion of iron (e.g. food or medication) or ineffective erythropoiesis. On the other hand low iron levels might be the result of: infection, menstruation, inflammation, malignancy or iron deficiency. Total Iron-Binding Capacity (TIBC) is also used to measure the status of iron in blood. It can be either measured or else calculated based on the level of transferrin in the blood. TIBC and serum iron can then be used to calculate percentage transferrin saturation, which is a much better index for iron status than serum iron or TIBC alone, using the flowing calculation: The 26.1 value is used as a constant to convert Transferrin to an equivalent TIBC concentration. UIBC is normally used as an alternative to TIBC. Percentage transferrin saturation (TSAT) is a measurement of the amount of iron which is effectively bound to transferrin, therefore indicting the amount of iron which is available to sustain erythropoiesis. A low TSAT may be indicative of infection, erythropoiesis, inflammation or iron deficiency. Whereas, an elevate value might mean haemochromatosis, liver disease, ineffective erythropoiesis or recent ingestion of dietary iron. Transferrin is the plasma protein responsible for the transport of iron inside the body. It is also habitual to test for transferrin (apart from TIBC or UIBC) as this is a better indicator of the patient’s nutritional status and to some extent an indicator of liver function, since transferrin is produced in the liver. Low levels of transferrin can be observed with liver disease, however transferrin may also drop in malignant tumors and if not enough dietary protein is taken up. On the other hand, high levels can be observed with iron deficiency and during pregnancy. Iron can be stored intracellularly in the form of ferritin. Ferritin is a protein which stores iron in a non-toxic form. It is a sizeable molecule with a core of ferric hydroxide phosphate. It is considered to be the best indicator of iron stores in the body. Low levels of ferritin are normally indicative of iron deficiency or a response to therapy involving erythropoietin, whereas high levels might be due to inflammation, malignancy or infection. Soluble transferrin receptor (sTFR) does not necessarily feature in an iron panel; however it is worth mentioning since it helps distinguishing between iron deficiency anemia and anemia of chronic disease. It is normally ordered in the case that an iron panel does not give enough information to reach a conclusive diagnosis. Usually to evaluate the status of iron stores ferritin is the preferred indicator. However, it is an acute phase reactant, meaning that it can give a falsely elevated value with inflammation or chronic disease. Seeing a, sTFR is not an acute phase reactant, it can be used as an alternative in case chronic disease is suspected.

A literature review on corporate social responsibility

A literature review on corporate social responsibility Corporate Social Responsibility has earned much salience over the last decades in academic literature. The literature offers various interpretations of the concept of corporate social responsiveness. The concept is understood as a process or set of processes on the way a firm approaches its environment. It is argued that business and society are interwoven: society has certain expectations regarding business and therefore the firm has responsibilities towards society. Hence, being a steward of the needs of society is deemed to be a socially responsible, appropriate, and natural act. The first book acknowledged on CSR is the Social Responsibilities of the Businessman by Howard R. Bowen in the mid 1950s. But, the term CSR came in widespread use in the early 1970s. In fact, it owes its origin due to the globalisation which took place after many multinational corporations were formed. In brief, globalisation means an increase in international transactions in markets for goods, services and factors of production and a growth in institutions that straddle international barriers. All these developments have brought in force the corporate governance mechanisms to ascertain fairness and transparency as well as social responsibility. Thus, this is how CSR was shaped and came into existence in the corporate world. 2.1.1 CSR across Countries CSR, also known as corporate responsibility, corporate citizenship, responsible business, sustainable responsible business (SRB), or corporate social performance, is all but a form of corporate self-regulation integrated into a business model where companies manage the business processes to produce an overall positive impact on society. CSR has been defined in various ways in different countries, of about being the capacity building for sustainable livelihoods from Ghana to about giving back to society from Philippines. Conventionally, in the United States, CSR has been presented in a philanthropic model whereby companies make profits and then they donate a certain share of the profits to charitable causes. It is seen as tainting the act for the company to receive any benefit from the giving. As such, according to Caroll (2003), The social responsibility of business encompasses the economic, legal, ethical and discretionary (philanthropic) expectations that society has of organisations at a given point in time. The European model is much more focused on operating the core business in a socially responsible way, complemented by investment in communities for solid business case reasons and voluntary interaction with the stakeholders. Ideally and broadly, the concept of CSR is a built-in, self-regulating mechanism whereby business would monitor and ensure its support to law, ethical standards, and international norms. 2.1.1 Views on CSR According to Hancock (2005), CSR can be viewed through 3 ways namely: Sceptic view According to this view, the notion of CSR is opposed to democracy and freedom, frustrating business focus on its purpose of wealth creation. Milton Friedman best defines this approach: Few trends would so thoroughly undermine the very foundations of free society as the acceptance by corporate officials of a social responsibility other than to make as much money for their stockholders as they possibly can. Utopian view A utopian view of CSR reflects the idea that companies have a prior duty to anyone touched by their activity, their stakeholders rather than their shareholders, and especially the vulnerable that may be exploited by the companys operation. This is based on the work of Evan and Freeman who are for the stakeholder theory where a corporation must recognise and respect the vital interests of each of its surrounding stakeholders. Realist view This view gathers the greatest following of an alliance model advocated by Patricia Werhane. It states that CSR is not simply about whatever funds and expertise companies choose to invest in communities to help resolve social problems. But, it is also about the integrity with which a company governs itself, fulfils its mission, lives by its values, engages with its stakeholders, measures its impacts and reports on its activities. 2.1.2 The Key Drivers CSR is seen by Porter and Van Der Linde (2000, p. 131) as a competitive driver that requires appropriate resources. CSR programmes, however, on their own, have certain main drivers which are as follow: Bottom Line Effect This is the most relevant driver of CSR programmes as it incorporates a socially responsible element into corporate practice. As John Elkington (1997) rightly underlined that many companies exhibit corporate citizenship through charity or philanthropy. Nevertheless, a new perspective evolved over time for some corporate stakeholders. Success of a corporation is now weighted and defined by evaluating businesses using a Triple Bottom Line comprised of its social, environmental and financial performance. Managing Risk An endeavour to adopt CSR programme has been the gain in market share, key personnel and investment which pioneering companies enjoy when they seriously address labour and green issues. In fact, corporations implement such a programme to manage risks and ensure legal compliance as denoted by Levine Michael A. (2008). They try to avoid investigation, litigation, prosecution, regulation or legislation. Influence of the Corporate Disasters There has been an increased perception of greed amidst senior business officials in the corporate world following corporate scandals affecting Enron, WorldCom and the like. CSR is important in counteracting allegations of corporate greed. As a result, as described by Hancock (2005) in his book, corporations are now shifting away from the philanthropic approach towards CSR and are moving towards the greater alignment of CSR with business strategy and corporate governance. Lower Equity Risk Premium Reputation Management Corporations can face economic damage when their corporate reputations and brands are assailed or sales are affected by consumer boycotts. As argued by some rating agencies, a comprehensive CSR programme will lower a companys equity risk premium. A direct correlation between reputation and financial outcome measures share price and credit rating (Hancock, 2005) has been illustrated through a model designed by the global public relations company Bell Pottinger. In fact, companies may face a variety of legal and reputational risks if they do not have adequate social compliance or corporate social responsibility/sustainability programs in place. Customer Loyalty In todays markets, companies have to focus on building and maintaining customer loyalty. As proposed by Zhou Y. (2009), this can be done through a CSR programme which builds loyalty with customers by offering a competitive advantage in a marketplace where consumers find ethically delivered or produced goods and services. Stakeholder Activism Investment Incentives As perceived by Visser, W. (2008), CSR is encouraged through the activism of stakeholder or pressure groups which often address the alleged failure of the market and government policy. The trend of socially responsible investment gives CSR an incentive where funds are screened on ethical, social and environmental criteria. Thus, this proactively encourages businesses to inform shareholders of potential risks and issues and it helps them to better understand their stakeholders, including shareholders. According to Hill Knowltown (2006), surveys have indicated that analysts place as much importance on corporate reputation as they do on financial performance. 2.2 Theoretical Review A theoretical framework can be constructed around the several theories that emerged to explain the reasons behind environmental reporting over the time. These are as follow: Operational Efficiency Theory Operational Efficiency occurs when the right combination of people, process, and technology to boost the productivity and value of any business operation, while reducing cost of routine operations to a desired level. In the context of CSR, operational efficiencies can be achieved through managing impending risks and liabilities more effectively and efficiently through CSR tools and perspectives by reducing costs; streaming information to stakeholders concerning the investment community for better transparency and by using corporate responsibility and sustainability approaches within business decision-making to result in new market opportunities, newly developed manufacturing processes that can be expanded to other plants, regions or markets. Social Contract Theory This theory dates from the classic period of history but it took its modern form between the sixteenth and eighteen centuries with the best known philosophers like Thomas Hobbes, John Locke and Jean Jacques Rousseau who talk on social contract. Rousseau, in fact, conceptualised the individual-society relationship as a symbiotic situation whereby the two parties mutually confer some right to the state in order to maintain social order which makes human life and cohabitation better and to gain benefits of community and safety. In parallel to the social contract, the corporate social theory, pertaining to a firms indirect social obligations, has been advanced as a theoretical basis to explain the practise of CSR by corporations. Accordingly, businesses are bound by the social contract whereby they consent to perform various socially desired actions in return for approval of their objectives and other rewards. This ultimately guarantees its continued existence. Legitimacy Theory The theory is close to the social contract theory. Here, the corporations constantly seek to ensure that they operate within the limits and norms of their respective societies and the outside parties perceive their activities as being legitimate. Society grants legitimacy and power to business. In the long run, those who do not use power in a manner which society considers responsible will tend to lose it. This principle developed by Daviss (1973) is commonly known as the Iron Law of Responsibility. It expresses legitimacy as a societal-level concept and describes the responsibility of business as a social institution that must avoid abusing its power. Thus, this principle expresses a prohibition rather than an affirmative duty, and it applies equally to all companies, regardless of their particular circumstances. According to A.K.H. Khor, the legitimacy theory is fundamentally a system-oriented theory where organisations are viewed as components of the larger social environment within which they exist. Stakeholder Theory A key feature of CSR involves the way that a company engages, involves, and collaborates with its stakeholders including shareholders, employees, debt-holders, suppliers, customers, communities, non-governmental organisations, and governments. Companies can use stakeholder engagement to internalise societys needs, hopes, circumstances into their corporate views and decision-making. While there are many questions about how far a companys responsibilities extend into communities relative to the roles of governments and individual citizens, there is a strong argument that CSR can effectively improve a companys relations with communities and thereby produce some key features that will improve business prospects for its future. Agency Theory This theory comes to explain the relationship that exists between the owners/shareholders and the management. As such the latter is the agent which appointed by the principal (owner/subsidiary) and problems such as the potential moral hazard and conflict of interest are likely to occur. CSR comes as a middle way so that both parties can maximise their gains. As such, when CFP is strong, managers may reduce social expenditures in order to maximise their own short term private gains whereas when CFP weakens, managers will try to offset their disappointing results by engaging in conspicuous social programs, hence increasing their own wealth and that of shareholders as well, pursuant to the managerial opportunism hypothesis by Preston OBannon (1997). 2.2.1 Corporate Social Performance (CSP) In todays competitive market environment, business is confronted with a new set of challenges that are not only economics-related. To survive and prosper, firms must bridge economic and social systems. Maximising shareholder wealth is a necessary but by no means sufficient condition for financial prosperity anymore. A new performance measure called corporate social performance (abbreviated as CSP) is used to capture the performance of a business in the social realm allowing us to be more precise in thinking about corporate social responsibility. CSP defined as a business organizations configuration of principles of social responsibility, processes of social responsiveness, and policies, programs, and observable outcomes as they relate to the firms societal relationships (Wood, 1991), clearly shows that social performance is not limited to corporations only, but also applies to any firm and organisation. 2.2.2 Corporate Financial Performance (CFP) Most of the businesses operate with a view of yielding profits. The financial performance of a company is reflected through its policies and operations in monetary terms. These results are reflected through its return on investment, return on assets, value added, return on sale and growth in sales. Managers work in the best interest of shareholders to maximise profits. Financial performance is the most common, however, it cannot be considered as the only indicator used to measure a firms wealth. A broader definition of financial performance is accompanied by additional indicators such as short-term profits, long-term profits, market value, and other forms of competitive advantage, as noted by Jensen (2001). In todays world, for a firm to achieve a good and high level of CSP, it has to go beyond the limits of its own corporate strategies and adopt views of other stakeholders who may be directly or indirectly related to the company. 2.2.3 Corporate Social Performance and Corporate Financial Performance Since over the three decades, the study of the correlation between corporate social performance (CSP) and corporate financial performance (CSF) has gained much salience. Many studies conducted in this effect have yielded positive correlation, while others produced contradictory results with negative or non-significant different causal directions being found. In effect, there are several competing theoretical models which are proposed to explain three varying findings on the CSP-CFP link. Owing to these differing relationships, I.Y. Maroam (2006) proposes a unified theory of the CSP-CFP link that explain the different relationships that may be observed between CSR and CFP, thus basing itself on the parallels between the business and CSR domains. The concept of CSR instils in corporations the moral responsibility towards society that go beyond the goal of simply making profits for their owners and shareholders (Berman et al., 1999). As Freeman (1984) rightly pointed out that corporations should be socially responsible for both moral and practical (instrumental) reasons, by reflecting a socially responsible posture, a corporation can enhance its own performance. Thus, CSR activities can, inter-alia, be rewarded with more satisfied customers, better employee, improved reputation, and improved access to financial markets, all pertaining to improving financial performance and sustain the business. However, social accomplishments may equally involve certain financial costs which can effectively reduce profits and comparative performance. Hence, Vance (1975) came up with the trade-off hypothesis to show negative linkage between CSP and CFP whereby corporations displaying strong social credentials experience declining stock prices r elative to the market average. 2.2.3.1 CSP as Business Strategic From the above, it is clear that CSP can be used as a business strategy which can contribute to the competitive advantage of firms. A study by N.A. Dentchey (2004) on the effects of CSP on the competitiveness of organisations reveals that CSP should not be thought of an innocent adventure for executives. It is rather a strategy for achieving corporate strategies, which if not carefully implemented, may harm the competitive advantage of the firm. Competitive advantage, as seen by Porter (1996), denotes the ability of a company to outperform others from successful differentiation from rivals actions. This strategic fit between the outside environment and companies internal resources and capabilities (Hoskissoon et al., 1999) results in superior financial results, as indicated by various measures of profitability. Hence, as per Burke and Logsdon (1996), a strategic implementation of social responsibility brings benefits for all since it results in strategic outcomes such as customer loyalty, future purchases, new products, new markets and productivity gains. Arguably, CSP can be a source of competitive disadvantage for firms which regard CSP as an additional cost. Business contributions to social prosperity (CSP) are seen by Keim (1978, p.33) as an investment in public good which is consumed or enjoyed by a number of individuals disregarding the cost sharing. Thus, investing in CSP is likely to bear negative effects for the fir ms which are incurring costs that might otherwise be avoided or that should be borne by others, for example, individuals or government (Aupperle et al., 1985). 2.2.4 CSP, CFP and the Stakeholder Theory Following the above arguments, a new perspective of CSP, based on the stakeholder analysis, emerges to argue furthermore that there exists a positive relationship between CSP and financial performance. As such, S.A. Waddock and S.B. Graves (1997) propose that a tension exists between the firms explicit costs (for instance, payments to bondholders) and its implicit costs to other stakeholders (for example, product quality costs, and environmental costs). Therefore, a firm which tries to outweigh its explicit costs by increasing its socially responsible actions incurs higher implicit costs, resulting in competitive advantage. Thus, high levels of CSP are seen as indicators of superior management by Alexander and Buchholz (1982) which lead to lower explicit costs and enhanced financial performance. The stakeholder theory accompanies the concept of CSR by shedding more light on the issue of social responsibility. This theory is spread over three aspects (Donaldson and Preston, 1995) namely, descriptive, instrumental and normative. While the descriptive aspect describes and explains the theory, the instrumental aspect discloses the cause-effect relationships between stakeholder management practices and improving corporate performance. The normative aspect, on the other hand, as perceived by I.Y. Maroam (2006) emphasizes on the moral imperatives for practising stakeholder management, rather than the business benefits it may provide. A parallelism between the core business domain and the CSR domain will maximise a firms profitability. The stakeholder theory provides a framework for investigating the relationship between CSP and CFP by examining how a change in CSP is related to a change in financial accounting measures. In fact, the two concepts of CSR and stakeholder share the proposition that social responsibility affects financial performance in some way or other. This subject area has been so vastly explored that this trend is now seen as a natural progression which goes associatively with developments in the industrial and business world. There is an increasing concern and emphasize on humanity, environmental preservation and enlightened social consciousness. Thus, a new area of research began to pave its way within the field of business and society where the relationship between corporate social conduct, both toward the corporations stakeholders and the wider society, and the corporations financial performance was and is still being investigated across several countries. Over environmental issues, research h as revealed that businesses which are eco-friendly and demonstrate good CSR practices enjoy increased consumer purchase preference (Gildea, 1994; Zaman, 1996) and good economic performance (Al-Tuwaijiri, et al., 2004). A stakeholder group, as identified and defined by Freeman (1984), is one that that can affect or is affected by achievement of the organisations objectives, that is, which can be harmed as well as can help it to achieve its goals. Therefore, there is a growing need for firms to address the needs and expectations of the stakeholders to avoid negative outcomes and produce positive outcomes for themselves (Donaldson and Preston, 1995; Freeman, 1984; Frooman, 1997). Pursuant to the stakeholder theory perspective, CSP can be assessed in terms of a company meeting the demands of multiple stakeholders, ranging from cost minimisation to societal maximisation. Building on the previous mentioned definition of CSP, Wood and Jones (1995) propose that stakeholder theory is the key to understanding the structure and dimensions of the firms societal relationships. This theory thereby assumes that firms are responsible for honouring all the implicit and explicit contracts they hold with their variou s constituents. Therefore, the stakeholder theory provides a system-based perspective of the organisation and its stakeholders where it acknowledges the dynamic and complex nature of the interplay between them. The various stakeholders of the firms, such as the employees, shareholders/ financers, environmentalists, government, communities, customers and even competitors should be convinced by the management that it is working harder to satisfy them. The more important the stakeholders to the firm, the more effort the firm needs to put to uphold its relationship with the former. According to Clarkson, Donaldson and Preston et al. (1995), the stakeholder theory must place shareholders as one of the multiple stakeholder groups which managers should consider in their decision-making process. However, like the shareholders, the other stakeholders may have a say upon the firm, bestowing societal legitimacy. Notably, Bernadette M. Ruf et al. (2001) asserted that firms must address these non-shareholder gro ups demands otherwise they might face negative confrontations which can ultimately result in diminished shareholder value, through boycotts, lawsuits, protests and so on. Hence, firms have a fiduciary duty relationship not only to the shareholders, but to all stakeholders (Hasnas, 1998, p.32). So far, recognising a companys contractual relationship with the various stakeholders has been instrumental in better comprehending the relationship that CSP and CFP share. Stakeholders have expectations from the organisation. Nevertheless, these expectations may conflict with the firms limited resources leading the firm to evaluate its costs and benefits tradeoffs. Firms must thus come with measures representative of the various factors of CSP and stakeholders interests. Unlike neo-classical stockholders who were only interested in financial performance (Grouf, 1994; Shapiro, 1992), the major stakeholders of today, that is, the stockholders are more interested in the firms current and future financial benefits and social performance. 2.3 Empirical Review This section reviews the works done and methods used by researchers on the relationship of CFP and CSP. Empirical results on the correlation between these are mixed whereby some yielded in positive, some in negative or some in non-significant relationships. Basing on the stakeholder theory approach, several models on the CFP-CSP relationship have been proposed, where the largest number of investigations found a positive CSP-CFP relationship. Notably, different methods to compute indexes for CFP and CSP have been used since data on both cannot be possibly obtained in absolute figures. As such, using aggregated weights assigned to K dimensions of social performance obtained through questionnaire for CSP and using change in Return of Equity, change in Return on Sales and growth in sales as financial measures on a sample of 496 firms, Bernadette M. Ruf et al. (2001) came up with a positive relationship between CSP and CFP. They, in fact, regressed change in CSP on change in CFP. The results revealed a significant positive relationship between change in CSP and change in Return on Equity and change in Return on Sales in the long term but that with the Growth of Sales to be significantly positive only in year 0 and 1. The study suggests that improvements in CSP have both immediate and continuing financial impacts. A paper by S. A. Waddock and S. B. Graves (1997) also came up with positive linkage between CFP and CSP. An index for CSP was computed using eight attributes, rated consistently across the entire Standards Poors 500 by a rating service, which were related to stakeholder concerns. The firm financial performance (profitability) was measured using three accounting variables, namely, return on assets (ROA), return on equity (ROE) and return on sales (ROS) used to assess CFP by the investment community. Factors such as size, risk and industry which affect both CFP and CSP were taken as control variables. Used on a sample of 469 companies and using CSP as both dependent and independent variable, the results revealed that CFP does depend on CSP and vice-versa and also indicated the importance of controlling for industry in assessing such a relationship. To bring more integrity, M. Orlitzky et al. (2003) conducted a quantitative meta-analysis on the CFP-CSP relationship building on the hypothesis that CSP and CFP are generally positively related leading to competencies, learning, efficiency and reputation-building with its external stakeholders. Taking CFP as a companys financial viability through three broad subdivisions consisting of market-based (investor returns), accounting-based (accounting returns), and perceptual (survey) measures and constructing CSP through four broad measurement strategies, namely: (a) CSP disclosures (annual reports, letters to shareholders); (b) CSP reputation ratings; (c) social audits, CSP processes, and observable outcomes; and (d) managerial CSP principles and values (Post, 1991), the study suggests that corporate virtue in the form of social responsibility and, to a lesser extent, environmental responsibility can pay off, despite the CSP-CFP operationalisations can also moderate the positive associa tion. CSP appeared to be more highly correlated with accounting-based measures of CFP than with market-based indicators, and CSP reputation indices were more highly correlated with CFP than are other indicators of CSP. This meta-analysis establishes a greater degree of certainty with respect to the CSP-CFP relationship than is currently assumed to exist by many business scholars. According to Mahoney L. and Roberts R.W. (2007), there is no significant relationship between a composite measure of firms CSP and CFP. Using four years panel data of Canadian firms, they calculated a composite measure of CSP score by summing all dimension strength ratings, such as, community relations, diversity, employee relations, environment, international, product safety, and amongst others and subtracting all dimension weaknesses ratings. As concerned the CFP, following Waddock and Graves (1997a), return on assets (ROA) and return on equity (ROE) were used separately to measure a firms CFP. As CFP was expected to be positively related to CSP, a one-year lag between CFP and all independent variables (CSP, firm size, debt level, and industry) was used. Inconsistent with their expectation, they found no significant relationship between the composite CSP measure and either ROA or ROE. However, the use of individual measures of firms CSP regarding environmental and international act ivities and CFP resulted in a significant relationship providing mixed support for the business case for CSP. A study, using the Granger causality approach, by Rim Makni et al. (2008) reaffirms Mahoney and Roberts (2007) works on the non-significant relationship. However, there may also be a simultaneous and interactive negative relation between CSP and CFP, forming a vicious circle. Building on P. L. Cochran and R. A. Wood (1984) CSR-financial performance model where average age of corporate assets was found to be highly correlated with social responsibility rankings, D. J. Wood (1991) reformulated the CSP model to build a coherent, integrative framework for business and society research. The principles of social responsibility were framed at the institutional, organisational, and individual levels; processes of social responsiveness were shown to be environmental assessment, stakeholder management, and issues management; and outcomes of CSP were posed as social impacts, programs, and policies. The third part of the CSP model concerning the social outcomes was the only portion that was actually observable and open to assessment and any real performance, determined by stakeholders, existed. It was noted that stakeholders were likely to evaluate CSP differently, depending not only on their own interests, but also on their understanding and acceptance of social res ponsibility principles and their relationship to CSP. Building on this model, many researchers worked on finding the linkage between CFP and CSP. Using Wood (1991)s model, the results of a study conducted by P. A. and S.D. Stanwick (1998) showed that a firms CFP is indeed affetced by the size of the firm, and the amount of pollution emissions released. Where many numerous quantitative studies have been carried out to establish, largely in samples of multiple industries, the CSP-CFP relationship, M. Soana (2009) investigated this very linkage in the banking sector using a sample of national and international banks where social performance was proxied using content analysis, surveys, reputational measures, unidimensional indicators, ethical ratings and financial economic performance was proxied using market and accounting ratios. The eventual examination resulted in a no statistically significant link that could indicate any positive or negative correlation between CSP and CFP. The reason was that the majority of studies revised till now are also almost exclusively focused on the USA and UK markets. Corporate governance was also used as control variable, but it showed a non-significant and negative link with ROA and ROA. The study also confirmed the hypothesis that those banks that have the most transparent and efficient ownership st ructure are also the least profitable for shareholders.