مطالب

Democracy is a much used and abused word. As a possible structure of political organization, democratic concepts are very much under debate in Muslim countries. Democracy in a western sense has become associated with a forceful “democratization” of the Middle East, which in effect has brought war and various forms of foreign domination to crucial areas of this sensitive region. However, up to now democratic structures are an exception in Muslim countries. Due to historical developments during the past centuries, there seems to be a lack of theoretical backing for democracy in the culture of the Middle East. This is surprising, because Islam, from its beginning, has offered the model of shura (consultation), which can and should be developed to serve modern governance. Especially Shi'ism can offer a theological backing through interpretations and explanations conducive to the formation and implementation of an Islamic democracy. In Imam Ali's (a.s.) letter to Malik al-Ashtar, we find a beautiful outline of what today is called “good governance”. Moreover, Shi'ism postulates the Imamate of the Mahdi (a.s.) as a just rule to-come. In the absence of the Imam-e zaman, an Islamic democracy should prevail with full participation of Muslims. But how is it possible to organize a modern Muslim country democratically? In addition to a working government and a majlis or parliament formed on the basis of elections, the expertise of religious scholars is needed – scholars who are capable of Ijtihad, so that they can find answers to the needs of present-day life in the wake of ongoing social change. In an Islamic polity, the period of awaiting al-Mahdi al-muntazar requires active participation of the people, since unless there is widespread readiness to support the good cause, the Mahdi will not appear. This participation is a basic human right and also a duty of men and women. For this purpose, every individual should have the opportunity to develop his/her moral, religious and cultural consciousness and the social and political awareness through education and self-education, so that citizens may fulfil their social and democratic responsibilities within the framework of Islam. 

Financial markets are one of the most fundamental markets in any country. In the financial markets, the securities market and the foreign exchange market are sensitive sectors. These two markets are affected by fluctuations and economic cycles so reflect economic changes rapidly. Changes in the returns of one market due to arbitrage conditions during time lead to changes in the returns of other markets. This paper by dividing the spillover effect into two parts, mean effect and volatility effect, employing DCC-GARCH method, aimed to capture the spillover effects of dollar return, global market and Iran financial market in the period 1394-1398. Mean conditional results show that stock returns react negatively to dollar returns. In other words, there is a substitution between dollar returns and stock returns among economic agents. For the global economy, the stock market returns decreases with the fluctuations of the global economy index, but for the dollar, the relationship is reversed so that increase in the global economy index volatility increases the dollar return. For the volatility spillover, the results also supported strong spillover between each market pairs.

INTRODUCTION: Iran has long been recognized as one of the most accident-prone areas in the world due to its special geographical location. Therefore, it is of utmost importance to devote special attention to crisis management in organizations and the identification of related strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats. METHODS: The present study aimed to identify the strategic positioning of crisis management after natural disasters at the Ferdowsi University of Mashhad as the center of excellence in the east of the country. To this end, the internal and external factors which militate against university crisis management were identified. Thereafter, the strategic positioning of this university was determined among four positions, namely offensive, defensive, adaptive, and contingency, using a combination of SWOT (strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats) analysis, analytic hierarchy process (AHP), and Monte Carlo simulation, and strategies were presented. The statistical population were university facility experts and managers among whom 10 cases were selected by purposive sampling. FINDINGS: Based on the obtained results, the highest weights in different sub-criteria were as follows: compliance with the required technical and safety standards in new constructions of the university campus (strength), the absence of any specific plan for dealing with various types of crises in different buildings (weakness), the proximity of the fire station to the university campus (opportunity), and indecisiveness of organizations supervising building retrofitting, including provincial government and Roads and Urban Development Office (threat). CONCLUSION: The results of the present study demonstrated that strategic positioning can be identified by analyzing internal and external factors. Moreover, among the four strategic positions, it was found that the Ferdowsi University of Mashhad adopted an offensive crisis management strategy in 45.4% of the cases.

INTRODUCTION: Fars is a disaster-prone province which is affected by a myriad of disasters, such as floods, earthquakes, fires, and traffic accidents. Therefore, the present study aimed to evaluate the disaster risk of hospitals in Fars province in 2017. METHODS: This descriptive cross-sectional study was performed in 2017. Out of 90 hospitals in Fars province, 51 centers cooperated in the presented study. Six prevalent disasters and crises in Fars province were identified using the recorded incidents in the last 20 years in the Emergency Operation Center (EOC) of Shiraz University of Medical Sciences. A book entitled "National tools for the assessment of risks and indicators of specialized competencies of the health sector in response to hazards and disasters (risk map), which was written for the Ministry of Health of Iran in 2014, was used to assess and obtain the risk score. The maximum and minimum risk scores were obtained at 95 and 19, respectively, and the data were analyzed in Excel 2016. FINDINGS: The mean and standard deviation of the obtained scores for different hazards were reported as 56.039±175.785 (earthquake), 45.962 ± 322.17 (seasonal flood), 575.786.195±19.57 (drought), 909.18±686.36 (chemical threats), 47.764±18.066 (human-caused fires), and 50.235±15.709 (power outage). In most hospitals, the risk of earthquakes and the negative impact of drought were higher than other hazards, while the chemical threats obtained the lowest score. CONCLUSION: Since Fars province is a disaster-prone area, the risk assessment should be periodically performed at short intervals to identify hazards with higher risk scores and implement corrective measures in this regard.

INTRODUCTION: Mental health which is recognized as one of the leading health indicators and a key component of a healthy life can be influenced by multiple factors. METHODS: The current study aimed to develop a mobile self-regulatory concepts training program and determine its effectiveness on the mental health of Red Crescent Society relief workers in Yazd. This quasi-experimental applied research was conducted based on a control group pretest-posttest design. The statistical population of the study included all 500 Red Crescent aid workers in Yazd in 2019, out of whom 30 cases were selected by convenience sampling method and were randomly assigned to two groups of experimental and control (n=15). The General Health Questionnaire developed by Goldberg (1972) was used for data collection. The experimental group received 11 60-minute sessions of mobile self-regulatory training. FINDINGS: Based on the results, mobile self-regulatory concepts training was effective in the mental health of Red Crescent Society aid workers in Yazd. CONCLUSION: As evidenced by the obtained results, mobile self-regulatory training improves physical symptoms, anxiety and insomnia, social dysfunction, and depression

INTRODUCTION: The enhancement of nurses’ risk perception plays a significant role in their preparedness during disasters and emergencies. Therefore, this study aimed to investigate the effect of educational workshops on disaster risk perception in nurses METHODS: This randomized controlled field trial study included 62 nurses working at Razi Hospital, Birjand, Iran. The participants were divided into intervention and control groups. The intervention group was then requested to participate in a one-day intensive educational workshop based on the current national standards. The workshop content included a combination of lecturing methods, round-table exercises, and film display. The data were collected using the demographic characteristic form and researcher-made questionnaires measuring the nurses’ risk perception during disasters and emergencies. Subsequently, the data were analyzed using independent t-test, repeated measures analysis, and Bonferroni post hoc tests.

INTRODUCTION: In times of crisis and disasters, the Red Crescent Society is faced with wide and diverse duties and quality of human resources (HRs) in management departments and high organizational levels. One of the most important reasons for the success of HR projects in crises is the sufficient attention paid to the job requirements and the feasibility of implementing each of the crisis management strategies at different levels of the organization. Therefore, this study was conducted to present the current state of HR architecture of the organization based on the HR management system considering the HR architecture model in 2020. METHODS: In this study, the Delphi method was used to collect the necessary data. The statistical population of this study (n=15) consisted of academic and organizational experts who had expertise in crisis management and HR management. The samples were selected using purposive and snowball sampling techniques. To conduct the research, a 30-item questionnaire (each item representing a variable) was designed with applying weight restrictions in the model and distributed among the subjects. The reliability of each variable was confirmed using Cronbach's alpha coefficient method (α>0.7). FINDINGS: Based on the findings, in the optimal HR management system, the most attention should be paid to recruiting HRs to have the highest performance speed in crisis management. Moreover, to have the least uncertainty in crisis management, HR improvement needs the most attention. It was also found out that the least amount of organizational disorder in crisis management would be experienced by devoting great attention to the maintenance of HR. Finally, to have the most response options in crisis management, recruitment of HR should be taken into consideration mostly CONCLUSION: The greatest attention should be paid to recruiting HRs in the optimal HR management system to have the largest number of response options in crisis management. This means that, according to the conceptual model, the emphasis on employing analyst staff would maximize the number of response options in times of crisis incidence. Therefore, to succeed in this field, the organization must reconsider its recruitment policies in a way that leads to the entry of capable employees with the ability to solve problems in the organization. The ability to suggest and review different solutions in problem-solving and make the best decision are largely an inherent characteristic of individuals. The recruitment of capable people in this field would increase the options for dealing with the crisis and improve the efficiency of the decisions and actions. The second and last priorities in this area were respectively related to maintenance and improvement.

INTRODUCTION: Nowadays, government officials seek ways to monitor, control, and manage events and crises due to the concerns of the general public and social media as informative tools. Regarding this, the present study aims to identify and analyze the factors affecting the crisis incidence in Iranian stadiums. METHODS: The present interpretive qualitative research was performed based on a grounded theory method and latent content analysis technique. The data were collected by the implementation of in-depth interviews with 19 people consisting of the Ministry of Sports and Youth experts and executives, sports management professors, and crisis management specialists. The participants were selected using non-probability and snowball sampling techniques. The interviews were continued until reaching theoretical saturation regarding the research questions and objectives. The gathered data, in form of audio recording and text, were analyzed by MAXQDA software (version 18). FINDINGS: The interview data were analyzed based on open and process coding. Afterward, the researcher categorized the identified factors into causal, contextual, and intervening conditions. In this regard, the causal factors consisted of the following items: 1) nature of crisis, 2) technical and specialized factors, 3) infrastructure and equipment, and 4) environmental and equipment hazards. With respect to the contextual factors, they included: 1) human resources, 2) nature of sporting events, 3) security factors, 4) vandalism, 5) welfare facilities, and 5) management factors. Finally, the intervening factors were found to entail: 1) stadium atmosphere, 2) political and social crises, and 3) information and communications technology. CONCLUSION: According to the obtained results, the officials are recommended to consider the paradigmatic model of factors leading to crisis management in stadiums in the crisis management programs adopted for sports venues, especially large stadiums. The consideration of the factors constituting the given model can lead to the improvement of crisis management in the country's sports venues.

The book "The The Qur’an Misinterpreted, Mistranslated, and Misread: the Aramaic Language of the The Qur’an" was published in 2006 by Gabriel Sawma. The author has claimed that the language of the Qur'an is the Syro-Aramaic, and most of its teachings are derived from Jewish-Christian sources. Among his claims, he alleges that Muslims have misunderstood the verse 116 of Surah al-Baqarah:"And they say Allah has taken to Himself a son Glory be to Him…" (Wa Qālūt takhadhal lāhu Waladāan Subĥānahu). He regards the word ‘اتَّخَذ’ (Has taken) as a distortion of the Syriac «اتَّحدَ» (has united) happened by the Qur'anic scribers.  According to this recitation, the meaning of the verse is "They said that God is united with the Son". This meaning is in accordance with the New Testament doctrine of the incarnation of God through the Son. In this paper, Gabriel Sawma's viewpoint is reviewed and criticized by two intra-religious aspects including the Qur'an and Arabic literature and extra-religious features including linguistic historical-comparative in some branches of Sami languages and interfaith research. The authors conclude that the textual and linguistic evidence prove contrary to the Sawma's claim.

Arabic, as the only medium of performing religious rituals, is a widely used language in Islamic communities. Amongst uses of Arabic, reading and recitation of the Holy Qur’an enjoy a critical position. Accordingly, many religious schools have invested in teaching Qur’an and its required skills. Research findings have shown that Qur’anic teaching follows a traditional procedure in theory and practice. Considering the importance of conducting applied linguistics studies on teaching Qur’anic reading, the current research was an attempt to investigate the effect of semantic-structural elaboration of Qur’anic reading efficiency, encompassing reading reaction time, fluency, and comprehension. To this aim, an intact group of intermediate Qur’anic learners was selected through non-random convenience sampling and an experimental (pretest/intervention/posttest) design was employed in which the group underwent three different experiments. After raising awareness on five frequent Qur’anic roots and their derivations that occurred in different Qur’anic verses, tests were administered and parametric data were collected and analyzed through SPSS. Research findings revealed that intervention adversely affected reaction time by a significant increase (t (24) = -12.067, p < 0.000.) while promoting reading fluency and reading comprehension (t (24) = -9.643, p < 0.000, and t (24) = -6.914, p < 0.000, respectively). It was suggested that, though semantic-structural elaboration significantly increases learners’ knowledge of semantic, syntax, and morphology and promotes language skills, form-focused instruction is cognitively demanding and must be done with due caution. These findings could have implications for Qur’anic teachers, learners, and applied linguists in general.