Act Of Charity Research Articles

The Narrations of Imam Al-Sadiq (peace be upon him) on Healing through Acts of Charity in the Book 'Pillars of Islam' by Judge Abu Hanifa Al-Maghribi (292-904)

This study, titled 'Narratives of Imam Al-Sadiq (AS) on Healing through Acts of Virtue in the Book 'Da'a'im al-Islam' by Judge Abu Hanifa al-Maghribi', encompasses a comprehensive exploration. It is structured into an introduction, two main sections, a conclusion, and findings. The first section provides an overview of Abu Hanifa al-Numan al-Maghribi, the author of 'Da'a'im al-Islam', and his other works. The second section delves into the narratives discussing healing through acts of virtue, as cited by Abu Hanifa al-Maghribi in his book, particularly focusing on the section dedicated to healing through virtuous deeds. This includes an analytical examination of the narratives attributed to Imam Al-Sadiq (AS).

The Implications of Religious Practices on Loxococcus rupicola (Thw.) H. Wendl. and Drude, A Critically Endangered, Endemic Palm Species in Sri Lanka

Sri Lanka is rich in biodiversity and traditional, religious, and cultural practices. However, some of these traditional beliefs could lead to decline of the local biodiversity. Ran-Dotalu (Loxococcus rupicola (Thw.) H. Wendl. & Drude,) is one of the sacred groves among the Buddhists and Buddhism is the major religion followed in Sri Lanka. L. rupicola (Family Arecaceae), is a palm listed as Critically Endangered and Endangered on the global and national red lists respectively. Loxococcus is an endemic genus and Ran-Dotalu is also protected under the Flora and Fauna Protection Ordinance. It confines to rainforests in central highlands of Sri Lanka as small populations on shady rocky outcrops. Therefore, the objective of this study was to explore the religious beliefs, and cultural practices, and document the present state of the wild collection of Ran-Dotalu to identify the threats related to religious activities. Sociocultural data on Ran-Dotalu and its uses in the rituals were collected based on semi-structured questionnaire interviews via formal discussions, telephone conversations, and emails. Out of 114 respondents there were Buddhist priests (n=03), plant collectors (n=07), and users and or worshipers (n=104). Among them 36% were males and 64% were females. According to the results, flowers, seeds, seedlings, and saplings collections were reported from Peak Wilderness sanctuary, Erantha-Gilimale Forest reserve, and Knuckles Forest Reserve. Ran-Dotalu. Flowers were mainly collected for religious activities and rituals (42.3%), medicinal purposes (26.3%), as a substitute for Areca nut (23.6%), and to sell (7.8%). Worshiping with Ran-Dotalu flowers was common at Sri Padasthanaya, Temple of Tooth, Ruwanweliseya and Jayasrima Bhodiya, Saman Devalaya, and Katharagama Devalaya. On average 10-12 flowers were collected by a collector per month and, sold for a price ranging from Rs. 500 to Rs. 5,000. On average 10-15 flowers (per month) were brought to above-mentioned religious places. According to the legends god Sumana-Saman offered Ran-Dotalu flowers to Buddha for establishing Sri Padastanaya. Therefore, worshipers believe that offering Ran-Dotalu flowers is a great act of charity and pays off all sin. The palm recently become a popular ornamental plant (9%) despite its protected status. Around 78% of the respondents were not aware of the conservation status of L. rupicola. Thus, seed production and young generations in the wild populations are in danger. The study suggests that understanding of practices that may threaten local biodiversity and immediate actions are needed to conserve the L. rupicola wild populations. 
 Keywords: Loxococcus rupicola, Sacred groves, Ran-dotalu, Critically endangered

Peran Yayasan Baitul MALLPLN dalam Meningkatkan Perekonomian Mustahiq dalam Penyaluran Dana Zakat

Distribution of zakat funds to develop the mustahiq economy is an act of charity in Islam where zakat funds are distributed to people who qualify as mustahiq (zakat recipients) with the aim of improving their welfare and economy. This process can be explained as, Mustahiq Identification The first step is to identify the person or family who qualifies as mustahiq. Mustahiq are individuals or families who meet the criteria of Islamic sharia and need financial assistance to meet their basic needs. Zakat Calculation Zakat is one of the religious obligations in Islam which orders Muslims to give a portion of their eligible assets to mustahiq. The distribution of zakat is based on calculating a certain percentage of assets subject to zakat. Distribution of Funds. After the zakat funds have been identified and calculated, the next step is to distribute the funds to the mustahiq. This can be done in various ways, including providing direct assistance, providing business capital, providing skills training, or providing interest-free loans.

The Question of Moral Worth in a Controversial Market: Moral Justification Regimes and Boundary Work Among Israeli Men Who Pay for Sex Abroad

ABSTRACT This study examined the internal moral debate that takes place among Israeli men who pay for sex (MWPS) while traveling abroad. We explored how they construct their sense of moral worth and present themselves as moral subjects in light of the intensified stigmatization of their actions. Using the theoretical frameworks of pragmatic morality and boundary work, we conceptualize four main moral justification regimes that MWPS use to construct themselves as moral subjects: Cultural normalization; Conditional freedom of choice; The altruistic act of charity; and Unpacking the Stigma Discourse. The findings highlight how these justification regimes are anchored in three intersecting fields – cultural, spatial, and power relations – which produce various matrices of conflict, compromise, or collaboration in different situations. Thus, the flexible switching between various justification regimes reveals how MWPS define themselves and their activities and negotiate various moral dispositions – akin to various cultural logics – in the context of moral taint and stigma.

Political Charity: The 1642 Collection for the Relief of His Majesties Distressed Subjects in Ireland

AbstractThis article revisits the 1642 Collection for the relief of the Protestant victims of the 1641 Irish Uprising. Based on an analysis of all extant (English) parish returns, it explores how the act of charity was understood by the thousands who contributed and what its consequences were for popular engagement in the politics of a country on the edge of civil war. Despite the relative historiographical neglect of the returns, the article seeks to show that they provide valuable evidence of politics at the most local level of the early modern state and society that contradicts an earlier historiographical emphasis on localism as the defining characteristic of provincial popular politics. Contributing to the Collection offered recognition and role to groups otherwise largely excluded by age, gender and class from formal participation in the politics of parish and nation. Conceived as an exercise in charitable benevolence to co‐religionists, the Collection demonstrates the political potential opened up in the politics of the gift, suggesting the possibilities of a protestant association with expansive boundaries and wider membership. In a political culture in which anti‐popery provided an imminent language to explain that crisis, a charitable collection for the protestant victims of Catholic cruelty was necessarily political and made the parish a space for political talk. Contextualising the Collection in the contemporaneous set of subscriptions to petitions and oath‐taking required from local communities, the article demonstrates how these developments helped politicise the parish and mobilise the country in the English Revolution.

Performing encounters (and encountering performance) at Auckland Zoo

Performing encounters (and encountering performance) at Auckland Zoo

Media Representations of Local Muslim Associations’ Acts of Charity in Zambia’s Multi-Religious but Christian-Dominated Context since the 2010s

Abstract Using media representations, this article explores how the media presents Islamic charity in a multi-religious but Christian-dominated context of Zambia. It shows that representations of local Muslim associations’ acts of charity ranged from rendering support to the vulnerable (in the form of donations of assorted items to communities, schools, hospitals and prisons), to undertaking community development programmes, to building and renovating infrastructure in selected areas countrywide. This representation signified a shift in media coverage of Islam in the 2000s. While the mediatised acts of charity were centred on Muslim social responsibility, the article advances that the representations of Muslim charity revealed not only the significant place of Muslims in the Zambian society, evidenced by the recognition by both state and non-Muslims as key players in public life, but also their ability to unite as a religious minority.

THE NEED OF PEOPLES PARTICIPATION IN BEGGARY ELIMINATION

Even though beggary was considered an honorable deed in ancient India, it was still restricted to the domain of students and monks. Today, not only has beggary increased in its magnitude but also become a major concern for the society as well as the economy. Studies have shown that beggary is not an isolated phenomenon but an amalgamation of many background problems such as poverty, unemployment, family disintegration, diseases, physical inabilities etc. Moreover, the social and cultural values of the country have traditionally promoted beggary. Whether people beg due to various compulsions or have over time adapted it as a profession, what is important to note is that beggary may have been accepted and even respectable in Indian culture but today it is not. It is a vicious circle; idleness may be a cause of beggary but once it sets in, it leads to further disenchantment and lack of enthusiasm towards productive work. And naturally, crimes like theft, robbery, fraud, cheating, etc are associated with beggary. To liberate the person from this circle, it is important to make him or her independent and arrange for proper rehabilitation, eventually paving the way for such people to become a part of the mainstream production and social system. This will also pull society towards a level of equality and stability, and needless to say, this process will require the support of the entire society. To put it simply, it is noble and considered a religious act of benevolence if alms are given to a person who is helpless and unable to survive on his or her own, but if such a person is provided with stable arrangements of living and rehabilitation, it will be a greater act of charity and morality. This research paper provides a detail analysis of impact of people\'s participation in liberating beggars from the vicious circle of beggary.

Khums – en obligatorisk donation eller en obligatorisk skat i shiitisk islam?

«Khums and zakat … should never be looked upon as an act of charity. Rather, it is a duty, an obligation which must be fulfilled whether one likes it or not.»2 (Sayyid Mohammad Rizvi i Khums – an Islamic Tax).

Nano-alumina reinforcement on AA 8079 acquired from waste aluminium food containers for altering microhardness and wear resistance

The recycling of waste is act of charity as it takes part of maintain environmental clean as well as offer balance in supply to meet the same or alternate use. Thin Aluminium sheets made food packaging items are usually ‘use and through’ and AA 8079 obtained by recycled them after use by stir-casting process. This research aims to investigate the control over hardness and wear resistant by reinforcing alumina nanoparticles at different wt% in such recovered AA 8079 by Sliding wear test and Vickers micro hardness test to identify the degree of variation in mechanical and tribological aspect of reinforcement effects. The results of wear test reveal that the highly influencing functional parameter is normal pressure or load on the surface on the rate of wear than usage. The increase of quantity of reinforcement increases the wear rate in experimental results and the same confirmed with probability graph and the surface plots used to graphically analyses the relationship between combinations of parameters on wear rate. The increase of reinforcement increases, the microhardness also improved the same was depicted with microhardness graph. The effect of reinforcement in altering micro defects generation also investigated with SEM analysis and found that increase of reinforcement increases the micro defects. Contribution of wear functional factors and optimized parameter for minimum wear found by ANOVA and Taguchi analysis respectively. Hence the alteration of wear and microhardness properties can be done by nanoparticle reinforcement and the developed regression equation can be used for prediction of wear rate.

The Christian-Orthodox teaching about fasting in St. John Chrysostom’s work

Attempting to present the teaching of St. John Chrysostom about fasting, we must specify from the very beginning that this holy father does not ascribe the fasting a medical and culinary meaning, in the sense of diet change or variation of foods, but a spiritual meaning. In the spiritual sense, fasting is not a mere moral exercise of willpower and control of the physical passions and urges, but a freely accepted sacrifice out of love and respect to God. The man who loves God is happy to offer Him this sacrifice, which consists of renouncing food, drink and amusement, games, and, first and foremost sin. Such a believer does not darken his face but maintains his good mood, showing people the joy emerging from fasting, because naturally, anyone feels joy when he makes an act of charity and sacrifice for the person he loves, for God who is love (I John, IV, 16). And the sacrifice from love is discrete, it wants to remain unknown to others. This sacrifice for God is a fountain of indescribable gifts for each faster. Fasting is the abstinence of all urges, all senses, all physical impulses so that you can hear God, so you can feel God in your heart. This is fasting according to St. John Chrysostom: a process of purification of body and soul, so that God may dwell in our being. Fasting is the discipline that makes the life of Christ blossom within us.

Charity Donor Behavior: A Systematic Literature Review and Research Agenda

ABSTRACT Donor behavior and the act of charity have attracted evident attention globally in recent years primarily because of squeezed government funding to charities and Nonprofit Organizations (NPOs) post 2008 financial meltdown. This paper reviewed 148 articles on charity donor behavior and giving behavior, and provides a coherent and contemporary view with a classification scheme having various categories based on different attributes. The purpose of this study is twofold. First, it covers a systematic literature review (SLR) of charity donor behavior and its drivers. Second, it identifies the gaps in the current body of knowledge and highlights the future research direction. Using SLR Method, the present research identifies, meticulously evaluates, critically analyzes, and synthesizes findings of the relevant studies published in international journals in the fields of consumer behavior, information technology, services marketing, psychology, economics, and marketing management from 1980 onwards. Subsequently, various emerging themes in the area of Donor Behavior are identified based on gaps to facilitate the researchers and practitioners for their future research efforts.

Agora and Its Possibilities in James Joyce’s “Wandering Rocks”

Reviving and representing the concept of agora, a central space for the politics, economy, and religion of ancient Greek city-states, this paper claims that Joyce in Dubliners and Ulysses evaluates the limitations and possibilities of Ireland as an emerging nation through the citizens’ interactions in agora. Focusing on this public space’s role for communication, the paper pays attention to the kinds and characters of communication especially in “Eveline” and “Wandering Rocks.” In the former story, Eveline is occupied in her uncommunicable concern of whether or not she has to leave Ireland, yet her agoraphobia ultimately ends her communication with others, especially with Frank who she regards as a possible savior from her stifling situation. The citizens in “Wandering Rocks” do not show such physical symptoms of agoraphobia as Eveline; however, their consciousness and communication still expose what obstructs themselves from intellectual development. The pretentious and uncharitable attitude of Dubliners, perhaps except for foreign Bloom and female Molly, marks their communication everywhere and develops a false community in this episode. Molly and Bloom, in contrast, open up possibilities for building an ideal community through the act of charity, which is particularly emphasized in this episode.

Милосердие и/или справедливость: милостыня в католической мысли XVI–XVII вв.

Approaches to almsgiving in the Catholic tradition of the Early Modern Times largely fol­lowed the ideas, developed in the previous period: surplus and need are taking into account, and only a certain correlation of them turns alms from pious counsel to an obli­gation, gives the poor certain rights as well; important is a distinction between different categories of needy recipients (by criterion of moral dignity, place in the hierarchy of the so-called “or­dered love”, etc.). At the same time, approaches to almsgiving slightly vary in the “high” theology and in writings addressed to the laity. In the first case, there is a noticeable depar­ture from the medieval understanding of alms as mainly spiritual practice, or an act of char­ity directed at the benefactor himself; the understanding of alms as a form of redistribution of goods, or an act of justice directed at another comes to the fore. This is also reflected in the development of practical criteria for distribution of alms: to whom, on what grounds, how much is due. These trends are less pronounced in the “popular” theology: as before, the reasoning on almsgiving in the 16th and 17th centuries focuses on the person of a benefactor and his merits – lifetime and posthumous. In this context, almsgiving acts primarily as an act of charity. At the same time, the focus in the “high” and “popular” theo­logy is not so much on the problem of poverty as a social phenomenon and of opportunities to eradicate it, as the question of opposing its specific manifestations.

US Adult Catholics Attitudes About Vaccination

US Adult Catholics Attitudes About Vaccination Mark M. Gray, PhD This report presents findings from a national survey of 1,050 self-identified Catholics from May 21 to June 4, 2021 regarding vaccine use during the pandemic. The survey was taken online and was available in English and Spanish. CARA programmed and hosted the online survey. The sample was provided by Qualtrics from actively managed, double-opt-in survey research panels. Self-identified Catholics were sampled randomly from these panels. Quotas and weighting for generation and ethnicity are used to ensure representativeness of the sample to the adult Catholic population relative to the most recent estimates in the General Social Survey (GSS). Because the survey did not use probability-based sampling, a traditional margin of error cannot be calculated. When opt-in panels are used, a credibility interval is used. For this survey, this is 3.5 percentage points. The United States Conference of Catholic Bishops announced their position on COVID-19 vaccination in "Moral Considerations Regarding the New COVID-19 Vaccines" in December 2020. This statement coincided with similar direction from the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith at the Vatican and preceded availability to the Johnson & Johnson vaccine in the US. Both statements measured the morality of vaccination with a product that was developed or tested using cell lines that were the result of abortion. The USCCB provided the following direction: In view of the gravity of the current pandemic and the lack of availability of alternative vaccines, the reasons to accept the new COVID-19 vaccines from Pfizer and Moderna are sufficiently serious to justify their use, despite their remote connection to morally compromised cell lines. In addition, receiving the COVID-19 vaccine ought to be understood as an act of charity toward the other members of our community. In this way, being vaccinated safely against COVID-19 should be considered [End Page 285] an act of love of our neighbor and part of our moral responsibility for the common good.1 At the time of the survey, 75% of US adult Catholics responding to the survey said they either plan to or have already received a COVID-19 vaccine. Among those most likely to have vaccinated or those planning to are older Catholics (96% of Pre-Vatican II Generation Catholics born before 1943 and 87% of Vatican II Generation Catholics born between 1943 to 1960). Similarly, female Catholics (81%) and those with a four-year college degree (81%) were also among the most likely to vaccinate. At the other end of the spectrum, the least likely to vaccinate were Millennials (60%, those born 1982 or later), those with less than a high school degree (60%), those residing in the western United States (70%), and men (70%). Seventeen percent say that their personal stance on abortion impacted whether they would choose to get the COVID-19 vaccine. Sixty-eight percent of those who say their stance on abortion impacted their choice have vaccinated or intend to. By comparison, 76% of those who were not affected by their stance on abortion have vaccinated or intend to. Catholics who support abortion and embryonic stem cell research are more likely than those who do not to have been vaccinated or plan on getting vaccinated. Eighty-two percent who support abortion are vaccinated or intend to be and 79% who support embryonic stem cell research are vaccinated or intend to be. Seventy-two percent who oppose abortion are vaccinated or intend to be and the same share who oppose embryonic stem cell research are vaccinated or intend to be. Twenty-three percent of adult Catholics say that statements from US bishops regarding the morality of the COVID-19 vaccines influenced whether they would or will get the COVID-19 vaccine. Seventy-seven percent of those who say these statements influenced them have vaccinated or intend to. By comparison, 74% of those who were not influenced by these statements have vaccinated or intend to. This shows that nearly a quarter of Catholics are aware of what bishops are saying regarding the vaccine. This awareness increases the more frequently Catholics attend Mass. Thirty-two percent of weekly attenders say they were influenced...

Bruegel and the Cost of the Bended Knee.

In Pieter Bruegel's painting, "The Seven Acts of Charity" he portrays 2 subjects with flexed knees. One of them cannot walk while the other can walk but does so with excessive energy expenditure.

Poe in Richmond: Conserving Poe's Papers

Poe in Richmond: Conserving Poe's Papers

Reflection on the reflective ethics of charity

This article is a reflection on the NSU Winter Symposium of March 2020, entitled ‘Feminism and Hospitality: Religious and Critical Perspectives in dialogue with a Secular Age’. It contends with moral judgments which regard charity as an act of alienation from the other and as a reiteration of hierarchies of power. Instead of this conceptualisation, I propose an ethics of charity in terms of an ethics of the reflective agency of otherness. This ethics of charity entails acts of aid for an other which stem from the recognition of the agency pertaining to both parties. It will be shown how this recognition of agency, and the reciprocity it entails, is critical for the success of the charitable endeavour in two ways: first, for the manifestation of the act itself of aiding and providing for another; second, for the assertion of the other’s own agency through the reciprocal act of charity.

‘Between righteousness and alms’ in Tobit: What was the author’s real intention?

Before the Semitic fragments of 4QTobit were found at Qumran, the 4th-century Greek GI version of Tobit was thought to be original and was regarded as ‘a lesson on almsgiving and its redeeming powers’. In his presentation of the 4Q196–4Q199 (Aramaic) and 4Q200 (Hebrew) fragments of Tobit, Fitzmyer, in 1995, reconstructed and rendered the Semitic lexeme צדקה (literally, ‘righteousness’) as ‘almsgiving’, as in Mishnaic Hebrew. He referred mainly to the 4th-century Common Era Greek and Old Latin versions. The hypothesis of this article is that the Aramaic lexeme צדק may not yet have had the meaning of ‘almsgiving’ in the original composition; thus, the original authorial intention may be masked in Fitzmyer’s presentation. Therefore, the emphasis on almsgiving for ultimate personal gain found in the later copies of Tobit may be a secondary, reductionist application by subsequent scribes of the lexeme צדקה. To test this hypothesis, the relevant reconstructions and English translations as ‘almsgiving’ of the Semitic copies of Tobit found at Qumran are examined and reconsidered. In the beginning of the narrative, in 4Q196 (and in GI and GII) the rather self-righteous Tobit is ‘accidentally’ blinded while performing an act of charity to his own kin, which he believed was the way to gain righteousness and thus be rewarded by God. In the end, when he has recovered his sight, Tobit redefines the way to achieve true righteousness: to bless God and extol his majesty to all nations with truthfulness in heart and soul.Contribution: The comparison of the Semitic fragments from Qumran with the Septuagint versions suggests that the first reconstructions and translations of 4QTobit may have been overly influenced by the long-standing Greek versions. Whereas the Greek versions tend to emphasise almsgiving as a means to gain righteousness, the older Aramaic versions tend to highlight righteousness and truthfulness as the primary value.

INNOVATIVE DESIGN OF SOCIAL TRANSFER PROGRAMS IN UKRAINE THROUGH THE LIGHT OF WORLD EXPERIENCE

Topicality. The global and local crises over the past two decades have redefined the role of social protection and social security systems as automatic social and economic stabilizers. Despite the level of economic development of the country, the global experience indicates that countries with a well-defined social strategy are less difficult and suffer less time to stabilize the country. Effective state social policy is relevant in times of economic crisis and is necessary to alleviate internal market disfunction. It is worth to admit that annually from the state budget of Ukraine almost 70% of social expenditures are redistributed to programs for improving the standard of living of the needy. However, despite the efforts of government officials, the level of poverty is increasing annually, and the problem is the mass outflow of workforce abroad. The current situation in the field of social security and its level of financing is unsatisfactory, since it does not contribute to the overall improvement of the standard and quality of life of the population, and therefore requires regulation with the introduction of fundamental changes in social budgeting. Aim and tasks The purpose of the study was to determine the argumentation based on the study of the world experience of national priorities of social policy modification and substantiation of innovative design of social transfer programs in the conditions of spreading threats of globalization challenges and strengthening of the turbulence of the macroeconomic environment. Research results. As a result of studying foreign experience, the authors of the article found that the social policy of a successful country is intended to fulfil a regulative and stimulating role in ensuring the development of the economy and creating conditions for the effective functioning of the social protection system, social security and social services, the activity of which should be not only an "act of charity", but a way to increase the economic activity of the working classes and support other segments of the population to ensure a decent life for the whole community. However, over the years of independence, Ukraine's social policy has never been shaped as a coherent, integrated strategy. It is in fact replaced by the accumulation of various types of poorly justified and not supported by the possibilities of budget financing of payments, benefits, subsidies, etc. The establishment and functioning of the national social security system is undoubtedly important, but the objective need to formulate a social transfer policy in order to find ways to optimize the social sphere by enhancing the effectiveness of the social transfer tool that must be taken into account. Conclusions. The research made it possible to substantiate the position of the authors, which is that the permanent nature of the socio-economic crisis in Ukraine forces to work on the development of anti-crisis measures in the social sphere. This requires constant updating of the tools of the social protection system, social security and social services as automatic state social stabilizers and economic incentives to activate life and well-being of the population. In times of crisis and post-crisis periods, social policies should aim to compensate for the loss of economic benefits not only for the population in need, but also for the proportion of the population in need because of the crisis. Therefore, the state, through social programs, must “insure” a decent standard of living for the entire population of the country, especially in times of crisis.