Qatar Foundation Annual Research Conference Proceedings Volume 2016 Issue 1

Background

The term “bioethics” emerged in the last quarter of the twentieth century to refer to ethical reflection in the life sciences and in biomedical research. In general, it is used to denote three main areas of scholarship: medical ethics in health care and medical research; ethical issues at the interface of the life sciences and biomedical technology; and in its broadest sense, biological aspects of environmental ethics including animal research ethics and vegetarianism. Modern breathtaking advances in scientific research and biomedical technology have raised serious ethical concerns on the nature, limits, and boundaries of human and non-human life and stirred global debate on the wider implications of these advances. These ethical concerns touch on important questions such as: beginning and end of human life; organ donation, transplantation and trafficking; genetics and reproductive methods; and environmental implications of modern technology and lifestyles. Since its inception, bioethics developed as an interdisciplinary field that draws on insights from the wide spectrum of natural and applied sciences, social sciences, and humanities. Global interest in bioethics stems from the fact that it investigates universal issues that concern mankind and the very essence of life on this universe. Experts emphasize the need for cross-cultural dialogue with a view to create worldwide awareness on the importance of bioethics and to facilitate shared understanding and collective action towards bioethical issues. In light of the comprehensive scope of the Islamic normative tradition, bioethical deliberations in the Muslim context require thorough investigation of the foundations of this tradition and the extent to which they can be reconstructed to address modern bioethical questions. Empirical research in the Muslim world shows that as far as bioethical issues are concerned, Islamic ethical reasoning constitutes the primary form of legitimacy for the majority of Muslim populations. Therefore, efforts that overlook this important observation would risk alienating significant segments of the Muslim population and would in turn limit the outcome of these efforts. Bearing in mind the importance of Islamic ethical reasoning for bioethical deliberations, the Islamic Medical and Scientific Ethics (IMSE) project was launched in 2009 with funding from Qatar National Research Fund (QNRF)’s National Priorities Research Program (NPRP). This three-year project (2009–2012- NPRP No. 08-783-6-017) was established in order to undertake the necessary preliminary step of identifying and exploring available literature in the Muslim world in this area. In collaboration with the Kennedy Institute of Ethics in Washington D.C. and building on its recognized expertise of more than 30 years in developing reference services and research databases in this field, the project developed both a comprehensive physical collection and dedicated database on the topic. Prior to its successful completion, the project team sought to maximize the use and potential of this project by developing the idea of creating the world's first encyclopedia of Islamic bioethics. The proposal of this project was awarded another three-year grant from QNRF's NPRP competition (2012–2015 - NPRP No. 5-1390-6-043). Following these two pioneering projects, the team sought to build on the expertise and the resources that have been developed by investigating a focused research question addressing genetic and reproductive methods. Consequently, a third proposal for a three-year grant was submitted to the 8th cycle of the NPRP competition to investigate the impact of genetic and reproductive technologies on the nuclear family within the Islamic context, which was successfully awarded (2015–2018 -NPRP No.: 8-1478-6-053).

Objectives

This presentation aims to illustrate and highlight the main achievements of these three research projects. It seeks to trace the cumulative development of these efforts and the gradual emergence of a viable research program out of these three related yet distinct research projects. Most importantly, it seeks to demonstrate the difference between a research proposal at the theoretical level on the one hand and a real executed research project on the other. The journey from an abstract research proposal to an actual research project involves important lessons of practical experience that can only be gained through the process of trial and error.

Methods

The presentation will examine the methodology underlying each of these three successful projects and will provide research impact assessment in light of these six main pillars: - Understanding the context of these projects - Identifying their purposes - Defining employed methodologies and success indicators - Communicating findings and results - Managing the assessment of these results - Overall evaluation and quality assurance.

Results and Conclusion

The presentation will showcase the results of these individual research projects and will reflect on the creation of an ambitious research program as a result. It will highlight main outcomes in terms of: academic achievements (different types of publications); scholarly communication and collaboration (organization of scholarly meetings, conferences, and events); team formation and capacity building (recruitment of local and international experts); and community outreach and service (education, consultation, and advocacy).

This paper answers some questions regarding the nexus of food and fuel price commodities. This research can be used as a baseline to make policies to stabilize food commodities and renewable fuel standards. It also provide insightful evidence that policies which are used to increase the usage of green energy could possibly increase prices of food. This is an important establishment to account for when considering renewable fuel standards.

Qatar and other Middle Eastern countries stock market are influenced by oil prices. The goal of this paper is to compare how stock prices in the GCC are affected by shocks in oil prices and comparing the results with other stock markets in other oil exporting countries. The relationship between oil and stock prices has been analysed extensively in the recent media to the recent oil shocks. However limited literature examines and compares how oil prices affect stock markets in the GCC. This paper sheds light on the volatility spillover dynamics running from the oil market into stock markets volatility for eight selected Middle East/African frontier markets. Middle East countries account for 31% of all crude oil production, while approximately 69% of all crude oil is produced by only ten countries. The methodology adopted in this paper is based on the VAR-GARCH approach of Engle and Kroner (1995), which allows to test for the presence of volatility spillover in both directions (i.e., from oil prices to stock prices as well as in the opposite direction). We use weekly data for GCC stock markets, plus three frontier stock markets in Africa, as well as the US S&P500 stock market. We define weekly returns as logarithmic differences of oil and stock prices. Following Caporale et al. (2006) and Al-Maadid et al. (2016), we use a multivariate GARCH-BEKK model to test for volatility spillover by placing restrictions on the relevant parameters. We consider the following two null hypotheses: i) Tests of no stock price volatility spillover to oil price volatility (H0: Stock →  Oil: a21 = g21 = 0) and ii) Tests of no oil price volatility spillover to stock price volatility (H0: Oil →  Stock: a12 = g12 = 0). The results indicate that there is volatility spillover from oil prices volatility into stock market returns volatility. There is evidence of significant conditional volatility spillover, measured by g12, running from oil towards UAE (0.130), Qatar (0.134) and Oman (0.259). These results are consistent with other findings which show significant volatility spillovers between oil and stock markets in the GCC region. However volatility spillover from stock market returns volatility into oil prices volatility is also apparent in some GCC counties.

The conclusion of this paper helps with moving to a more diversified and knowledge based economy because it identifies the effects of oil prices volatility on stock markets volatility for eight oil exporter countries (GCC and non GCC counties). By using weekly data for the 2004–2015 period and using Wednesday to Wednesday weekly prices to overcome the different weekend effect, and by using the US stock market because it is a proxy for the business cycle, we model the relationship between oil and stock prices using a multivariate GARCH-BEKK model. We find evidence of co-movement between oil and stock markets, especially in the GCC region. Consequently, general policies aimed at stabilizing stock prices in oil exporting countries should be formulated by diversification the stock the reliance on the oil sector. However, the specific linkages between different markets need to be taken into account in order to devise appropriate policy measures.

World population has reached to 7.2 billion in 2014 and is expected to reach 9.6 billion by 2050 (United Nations 2014). In order to feed this growing population, global food production needs to increase by 70 per cent (FAO 2009). At present, about 800 million people are living with hunger; which means one in nine is undernourished (FAO, IFAD & WFP 2015). In addition, due to increasing urbanization, changes in lifestyle and consumption patterns, the demand for certain types of products such as meat, milk and eggs will steadily increase. (World Health Organization 2003). Food security is among the topics high on the agenda for many governments around the world. For countries with limited available natural resources such as land, water, forests and so on, increasing their food production will be a challenge. In addition, climate change will pose another constraint, as extreme weather events such as floods, storms, and drought will not only become more frequent, but also more severe in the near future (IPCC 2014). As a result, this is expected to overall negatively affect food production and all dimensions of food security. A food supply chain or food system refers to the processes that include agricultural production, post harvest handling and storage, processing and packaging, distribution and consumption. Each process in the food supply chain is connected, hence changes on one part will be reflected on other parts in particular as changes in price of end products. Both push and pull processes are in place: while growers, processors or retailers push the food products to the market, the consumers initiate “pull” processes by demanding food that can satisfy their needs and preferences. We report preliminary findings from the Safeguarding Food and Environment in Qatar (SAFE-Q) project, funded by the Qatar National Research Fund, and jointly undertaken by Georgetown University School of Foreign Service in Qatar, Cranfield University and Brunel University in the UK and Western Sydney University in Australia. The project involves undertaking a detailed analysis of supply and demand sides, examining the causes of food waste occurring during distribution, transportation and storage as well as during food preparation, cooking and consumption. Here, we report findings from interviews we conducted with the stakeholders on the supply side. We conducted interviews in October and November 2015 with distributors, restaurants, hotels as well as non-governmental organisations. In these interviews we asked whether the food was being discarded in the day-to-day operations of the company, followed by the main reasons for this food waste. We also presented the participants with factors that were identified in an earlier stage of the research as being contributors to the food waste and asked the cause and effect relationships between these factors. Following the factor-specific questions, we inquired about initiatives to reduce food waste in the company, as well as the relevant stakeholders that should be reached out to minimise food waste in general. Finally, we asked about potential solutions to food waste situation, and how the participant observes the future of food waste in Qatar. The factors that we have asked to the participants on the supply side were as follows: Packaging, Government legislation, Arab culture, Certification, Competition, Planning, Food safety standards/regulations, Import controls, Food labelling, Logistics infrastructure, Food handling, Promotions, Quality control, Seasonality of demand, Shelf life management, Stock management, and Temperature management. Throughout these interviews we gained insights into the previously identified factors leading to waste in Qatar. For example, food handling was elaborated as staff's lack of knowledge about the food product, lack of knowledge about the storage conditions of the food product. In relation to the seasonality of demand, inability to anticipate market demand was highlighted together with lack of skills for forecasting the demand. Another interesting finding was related to the shelf-life of products, the retailers commented that the shelf-life regulations were different from the rest of the countries in the Gulf region. For example, a canned food item would have a shelf-life of 1.5 years in Qatar whereas its shelf-life would be 2 years in other Gulf countries. Such discrepancies lead to food items being discarded in Qatar although they may still be fit for sale elsewhere in the region. This also had impact on what is being imported into the country, for example it was difficult to convince some producers to prepare the same product with two different expiry dates; one for the Gulf region and one specific to Qatar. One possible explanation to this discrepancy of expiry dates was suggested to be the legislator's desire to prevent bulk-buying on the consumption side, but this is yet to be confirmed with further research. Food labelling was one of the factors elaborated in many of the interviews in different aspects. For example, a significant amount of food is being wasted due to poor labelling; lack of the necessary information on the label. Sometimes the importers were unaware of the sensitivities in Qatar: a reported incident included the suggestion to eat the food with wine for example, and this resulted in the food products' being rejected at the port even though the product itself did not contain any alcohol. Another case mentioned involved a product's brand name familiarity with bacon, although the product did not contain any meat. In terms of suggested solutions to the food waste problem on the supply side, the preliminary data analysis found that the sector in general would benefit from training in food handling, purchasing, procurement, and storage conditions. The participants acknowledged a general lack of expertise in supply chain management and logistics. Another aspect was related to legislation and a single responsible authority for food control in the country. Although the interviews focused on the supply side, participants also commented in general on the awareness raising campaigns, particularly targeted at schools and young people.

References

FAO. 2009. How to feed the world in 2050. Rome.

FAO, IFAD and WFP. 2015. The State of Food Insecurity in the World 2015. Rome.

United Nations. 2014. The World Population Situation in 2014. A Concise Report. New York.

World Health Organization. 2003. Diet, nutrition and the prevention of chronic diseases. Report of a Joint WHO/FAO Expert Consultation. WHO Technical Series.

Qatar and other Middle Eastern countries stock market are influenced by oil prices. The goal of this paper is to compare how stock prices in the GCC are affected by shocks in oil prices and comparing the results with other stock markets in other oil exporting countries. The relationship between oil and stock prices has been analyzed extensively in the recent literature. This paper aims to shed light on the volatility spillover dynamics running from the oil market into stock markets volatility for eight selected Middle East/African frontier markets. Middle East countries account for 31? of all crude oil production, while approximately 69? of all crude oil is produced by only ten countries. The methodology adopted in this paper is based on the VAR-GARCH approach of Engle and Kroner (1995), which allows to test for the presence of volatility spillover in both directions (i.e., from oil prices to stock prices as well as in the opposite direction). We use weekly data for GCC stock markets, plus three frontier stock markets (Algeria, Morocco and Namibia), WTI oil prices and stock prices were sourced by the U.S. Energy Information Administration and Bloomberg, respectively. Weekly indices, Wednesday to Wednesday, were preferred in order to overcome the different stock markets days closure across the eight countries considered in this study. We define weekly returns as logarithmic differences of oil and stock prices. Following Caporale et al. (2006) and Al-Maadid et al. (2016), we use a multivariate GARCH-BEKK model to test for volatility spillover by placing restrictions on the relevant parameters. We consider the following two null hypotheses: i) Tests of no stock price volatility spillover to oil price volatility (H0: Stock →  Oil: a21?g21?0) and ii) Tests of no oil price volatility spillover to stock price volatility (H0: Oil →  Stock: a12?g12?0). The results indicate that there is volatility spillover from oil prices volatility into stock market returns volatility. There is evidence of significant conditional volatility spillover, measured by g12, running from oil towards UAE (0.130), Qatar (0.134) and Oman (0.259). These results are consistent with other findings which show significant volatility spillovers between oil and stock markets in the GCC region. However volatility spillover from stock market returns volatility into oil prices volatility.

The conclusion of this paper helps with moving to a more diversified and knowledge based economy because it identifies the effects of oil prices volatility on stock markets volatility for eight oil exporter countries (GCC and non GCC counties). By using weekly data for the 2004–2015 period and using Wednesday to Wednesday weekly prices to overcome the different weekend effect, and by using the US stock market because it is a proxy for the business cycle and an international stock market, we model the relationship between oil and stock prices using a multivariate GARCH-BEKK model. We find evidence of co-movement between oil and stock markets, especially in the GCC region, whereas results for volatility spillovers are quite mixed. Consequently, general policies aimed at stabilizing stock prices in oil exporting countries should be formulated by diversification. The specific linkages between different markets need to be taken into account in order to devise appropriate policy measures.

Cities provide places for people to live, work, learn and socialize. As urban environments, cities nowadays are typically characterized by urban sprawl in which open public spaces (1) are neglected and/or (2) social interactions are discouraged. In fact, the encouragement of social interactions among neighbors is a vital factor implementing livability among city dwellers. Recent evidence suggests that social interactions occur infrequently in contemporary urban neighborhoods. Therefore, it is worth investigating how communities can be designed in the future with the aim to increase social interactions. Al-Najada area in Doha provides a useful case study because it is a traditional area, built based on formal social structures aiming to the formation of social interaction in old neighborhoods (Fereej).

The research investigates how the urban fabric of Al-Najada area can be studied and investigated in order to enhance social interactions and become an effective sample of sustainable development. Also, it examines the factors that contribute to socially sustainable development in the regeneration of Al-Najada as a traditional asset in the heart of Doha. Literature review is conducted on topics of sustainable urbanism, urban sociology, and built heritage to learn about design implementation in order to enhance social interactions within the urban fabric of neighborhoods. Therefore, content analysis, site observations, and walking tour assessments are adopted as the main research methods in order to investigate how social interactions at Al-Najada area can be encouraged, namely how the spatial form can be implemented in order to enhance social interactions.

As understood from the reviewed literature, environment-behavior studies depend on experimental investigations. Sustainable urban development that constitutes a major part of environment-behavior studies is tested and measured through site observations, semi-structured interviews, and walking tour assessments. Also, illustrative sketches are used as common and intuitive method for communicating spatial information and knowledge. In this study, observations and walking tour assessments are the main methods to collect data. Also, morphological analysis of Al-Najada area is considered to understand its spatial configuration and the physical elements that define it. Collectively, these methods help in gathering relevant personal, behavioral, cognitive, and spatial data to achieve the research objectives. The main technique of data presentation and analysis is illustrative images of a 3D massing model developed for Al-Najada area.

The research study findings lead to the definition of a set of recommendations for a design approach, based on smart planning and design guidelines, aiming at implementing Al-Najada neighborhood case in order to facilitate social interactions. The recommendations are genuinely plan-led, empowering local people to shape their surroundings, with concise neighborhood plans setting out a positive vision for the future of Al-Najada area. Al-Najada area should be re-planned according to the following guidelines in order to implement social sustainability:

1 Al-Najada area should have a variety of functional attributes that contribute to a resident's day-to-day living (such as residential, commercial, or mixed-uses).

2 Al-Najada should accommodate multi-modal transportation (such as pedestrians, bicyclists, vehicles, metro, etc.).

3. Al-Najada should have design and architectural features that are visually interesting.

4. The Qatari history and heritage adaptation is recommended in future design guidelines.

5. It should encourage human contact and social activities.

6. It should promote community involvement and maintains a secure environment.

7. It should promote sustainability and responds to climatic demands.

8. It should have a memorable character.

9. The accessibility and smooth transition from one neighborhood to another should be enhanced.

10 Special attention to the neighborhood-targeted residents must be considered.

11 Municipal attention and follow up is a must for producing and implementing a set of proposed design guidelines and legislations that to be implemented in the regeneration of Al-Najada and other such like neighborhoods.

It is worth to mention that this research is submitted as a paper for publishing in an international journal and currently in the review stage.

Keywords

Sustainable Urbanism; Social Interactions; Al-Najada; Doha; Traditional Neighborhood

The Qatari media system is emerging rapidly to cater for the rapid socio-economic change and sustainable development the country is witnessing since its independence in December 18th, 1997. Since the accession of H.H Sheikh Hamad Bin Khalifa AI Thani to the reins of the country, the media have been promoting freedom, democracy and social change. Qatari media are fostering Arab and Islamic heritage and morals as well as national, Arab and Islamic causes. Established in 1971, Qatar continues to undergo a period of intense socio-economic change.

Although Qatar is a small nation in terms of area (4,416 sq mi) and population (2,116,400), it has one of the best media infrastructure in the region for press, broadcast, and electronic media. The country has four dailies in Arabic, three in English, and more than two hundred magazines of both general and specialized interest. Qatar also has several satellite television channels and radio stations, as well as the famous Al Jazeera network and be INSPORTS channels. Internet penetration in Qatar is 85.3% (http://www.internetsociety.org/map/global-internet-report/), which puts the state of Qatar third among the Arab countries and among the highest in the world. Journalism education and training is also expanding rapidly with the establishment of Northwestern university Qatar in 2008, besides Qatar University which started offering a minor in journalism back in 1982 and whose department of Mass Communication enrolls over 600 students during the academic year 2015–2016 and has graduated several hundreds of media and public relations practitioners since its establishment. Finally, there is great interest from government media officials in the qatarization of media profession.

The rationale behind this study is to find out who the journalists practicing in Qatar are, where do they come from, how do they perceive their job and role in society, and how do they fit as expatriates in a media system and a country which is not theirs. Over 90 percent of the practicing journalists in Qatar are foreigners. This study addresses the issue of their educational background, working conditions and professional orientations.

The other importance of this study lies in the fact that expatriate employees are making the majority of the working journalists in Qatar as it is the case in many other sectors of the economy. This is one of the rare situations in the world except for some other Gulf countries; and one wonders what are the perceptions, ideas, philosophy of these journalists who come from different countries with different schools of thoughts, backgrounds, culture, education, political systems, religious beliefs, and convictions.

The questionnaire was patterned after similar surveys of journalists in other countries, including those done in the Arab world, the United States, and England (Johnston, Slawski & Bowman, 1973, 1976; Kirat 1993, 1998, 2000; Tash 1983; Tunstall 1977; Weaver & Wilhoit 1986, 1996; and Weaver et al. 2007), while taking into the characteristics and peculiarities of journalism in the state of Qatar. A pre-test was administered to 20 journalists to ensure validity, reliability, adequacy of measures, and clarity of terms and language. The final questionnaire was distributed to journalists and media managers by two research assistants – senior students- at the department of Mass Communication, Qatar University.

The survey targeted a census of the population of Qatar journalists, estimated at about 850, and covered the daily press, radio and television networks, and the national news agency (QANA). Aljazeera network channels’ journalists were excluded from the research due to the fact that Aljazeera has a different coverage area than that of mainstream media in Qatar. Journalists working for specialized publications were not included in the survey. Despite skepticism on the part of journalists and media organization managers who declined to participate, the author collected questionnaires from 125 journalists. Respondents represented 13 media organizations, including the national news agency, radio and television, and the daily press (both Arabic and English language).

Thirteen media organizations were represented in this study. They included Qatar News Agency (QNA) (21.6%) Al Sharq (18.4%), Qatar Tribune (10.4%), Alwatan (8.8%), Gulf Times (8%), The Peninsula (7.2%), Alrayyan TV (7.2%), Sawt Alkhaleej Radio (7.2%), Qatar TV (4%) and Alraya (3.2%), Alkas TV (1.6%), Qatar Radio (1.6%), and Alarab (0.8%). The daily Arabic press is represented by 39 journalists (31.2%); the daily English press by 32 journalists (25.6%), the national news agency by 27 journalists (21.6%), the television networks by

journalists (12.8%); and the radio stations by 11 journalists (8.8%).

The findings from this survey offer a detailed and current profile of the demographics, education, job satisfaction, working conditions, roles, news values, ethics, professional orientations, and perceived impact on public opinion. More than half (58.4%) of the surveyed journalists in this study fall in the 3545 age bracket with a median of 37.94 years old. Journalists in Qatar have 12.42 years of experience in the field and work an average of 40.21 hours per week. One-third of journalists in Qatar are female (34.4). Over three-quarters of the journalists surveyed are married (80.6%), while 15.4% are single and have never married. More than two thirds of the journalists surveyed (68.8%) hold a bachelor's degree, and 12.% hold advanced degrees. Over half of those holding a bachelor's degree have a major in journalism and mass communication (52%), while other majors include social sciences (19.3%), political science (8.8%), business (6.9%), natural sciences (3.8%), and humanities (3.1%). Concerning continuing education, 73.6% of the surveyed journalists expressed interest in additional training in journalism. The majority of the respondents would like to have training in writing techniques (60.1%), followed by an interest in learning more about media technology (40%), multimedia (26.3%), new media (16.5%), and training abroad (15.5%). The findings suggest that age and experience are the key factors in determining whether the journalist is interested in having more training and continuous education. Younger and less experienced journalists were more likely than older and more experienced journalists to opt for additional education. More than half of the surveyed journalists had journalism training before entering the profession (60%), and almost three quarters would like to have the opportunity to take training courses and workshops related to the profession (73.6%).

Only 10% of the surveyed journalists are Qataris. This fact is due mainly to the very young age of the country and its need for foreign workers in all sectors of the economy. The bulk of foreign journalists working for Arabic media organizations in the country are from the Middle East, led by Egypt (39.4%), Sudan (8.1%), Syria (8.1%), Jordan (7.5%), and Lebanon (4.4%). On the other hand, journalists working for English news organizations are predominantly Indian (62.5%).

Responses also indicate that journalists in Qatar show strong support to their roles as mobilizers and interpreters. Roughly, three out of four journalists agreed with the extreme importance of the “mobilizing” role, as indicated by three questions: the concentration on news of a wide interest (86.4%), the goal of enhancement of Islamic values (80.6%), and the goal of education and formation of modern Qatari citizens (80.8%). Furthermore, most journalists surveyed agreed with the “interpretive” role, as indicated by three questions: providing analysis and interpretations of complex problems (89.6%), developing intellectual and cultural public interests (87.2%), and avoiding stories in which facts cannot be verified (72.8%). Journalists in Qatar view news in a national context and along the lines of the policies in practice in the country. Our data show that more than half of the journalists reported changing their conceptions of news since they began their careers. More than half of journalists surveyed indicated a high level of job satisfaction, and three-quarters said that their job conditions are either good or very good. Journalists also expressed satisfaction with their freedom in practicing their daily tasks. However, more than half of them showed some dissatisfaction concerning their relations with sources when investigating sensitive issues. And those surveyed were unhappy with their news organizations’ policies towards continuing education and refresher courses. The majority of them have never been given the chance to enroll in training workshops, seminars, and courses, although many expressed an interest in continuing education and training.

About three-quarters of the surveyed journalists responded that they are either satisfied or very satisfied with their jobs, the stability of their jobs, the use of their talents and creativity, and their peer relationships. Overall, these findings suggest that journalists in Qatar are satisfied with their job conditions, which is a positive and healthy sign for the media practice in the country. On the other hand, findings from the interviews revealed that journalists are aware of some weaknesses and common criticisms of journalism in Qatar, such as lack of in depth reporting, and too often being viewed as a megaphone and a spokesperson for the government. Journalists in Qatar were also aware that they may be seen as concentrating too much on routine government activities, and they rated highly their power to manipulate public opinion on some issues. The findings confirmed that journalists in Qatar highly value adhering to their standards of professionalism. Their beliefs and philosophies regarding the role of the media are compatible with the information policy of the country, which emphasizes national unity and national development.

In terms of media ethics, the study showed that the media practitioners learn mostly from day-by-day practice, from peers and colleagues, and from their family and religious upbringing. Seventy eight percent of the surveyed journalists consistently objected to the use of a range of questionable methods to get news. Journalists in this study also expressed strong support for the idea that the media are influential in forming public opinion and in influencing government decisions. These beliefs are reflected by and intersect with strong opinions on the mobilizing and interpretative roles of the media in Qatar. Asked if “the Qatari system of regulations is conducive to freedom of expression, pluralism and diversity of the media”, over half of the journalists answered positively (61.6%); and almost two thirds said that there is plurality and diversity in the media in Qatar. Asked if the media in Qatar serve as a platform for democratic discourse, half of the respondents said yes. The majority of the journalists (83.2%) think that journalists in Qatar need a professional association and are satisfied with the use of media technology (87.2%) and believe that there is self censorship practice in the country (80.8%).

Looking to the future of journalism in Qatar, these findings reveal the need for training and continuing education with specific concentration on modern technology such as databanks, multimedia, and the Internet. Also, there is a need to concentrate on learning different languages, especially English for Arab journalists who do not master English to communicate effectively in a multicultural media environment, and Arabic for non-Arab journalists. Finally, more native Qatari citizens should be encouraged to enter the industry and become leaders in a media field currently dominated by expatriates. Media officials in Qatar are urged as well to motivate and encourage young Qataris to enter the media industry through higher salaries and better incentives.

The costs, both monetary and psychological, associated with the injuries and deaths caused by motor vehicle collisions (MVC) are quite high across the world and as a recent call from the World Health Organization argues, very preventable (Nebehay, 2015). Qatar has not escaped this worldwide epidemic, in fact the situation may be worse than the global average, as traffic accident rates are alarming and expected to rise dramatically in the next 10 years (Nehlawi, 2013 citing the Qatar Statistics Authority). The report indicates that a 160% increase in MVCs has occurred in the last 10 years as Qatar's population has exploded ? almost tripling in the past 10 years (Trading Economics, n.d.). The number of deaths caused by road accidents is high, 12.5 percent, which means that for every 8 deaths in Qatar, one is from a traffic accident, a higher death rate than from cancer (The Peninsula, 2013). Nehlawi (2013) estimates that the economic impact alone is staggering; Qatar's GDP may be affected by as much as 2.73 billion USD annually.

The significant costs associated with MVCs have motivated numerous message campaigns designed to encourage drivers to engage in less risky behaviors in many locales, including Qatar. However, safe driving campaigns in Qatar are in their infancy. The first campaigns contained fear appeals that typically involved pictures of vehicles that had been smashed almost beyond recognition in accidents posted on signs around the capital city, Doha. A second generation of campaigns has recently been developed that are also fear appeal based, but feature more sophisticated messaging and visuals than the first group did. While laudable in their goals, both sets of campaigns are not based on either a theoretical framework or preliminary research on the target audience. Additionally, evaluation research on the specific campaigns has not been conducted making assessment of message efficacy difficult. Even if the campaigns have had some effectiveness, 18–25 year old Qatari men, our target audience, continue to be the highest risk group, involved in a disproportionate number of MVCs, suggesting the campaigns are not working for this cohort at all.

One of the common reasons message campaigns fail to have the intended effect is the lack of correspondence between the message content, form and design and the audience's attitudes and beliefs (Yzer, 2012). Different people respond to the same message in different ways: some may find it engaging while others ignore it, some may reject the message while others find it resonates with them. The stronger the match between the message and the audience, the higher the likelihood of persuasion. Creating a message that is closely tailored to an audience requires an understanding of the way they think and are likely to respond to the messages. Targeting specific audiences with targeted or tailored messages is essential for a safe driving campaign to be effective in changing behaviors. The objective of our study is to enable effective message design and tailoring by discovering young Qatari men's (18-25 year olds) attitudes and beliefs about driving behaviors and to then create such a message. Our research has two phases: (1) formative research on the target audience and (2) message creation and evaluation.

In the first phase of the research we conducted focus group discussions with 18-25 year old Qatari male drivers to discover their driving attitudes and behaviors to provide guidance for the tailored message campaigns designed to change their attitudes and behavior. We discovered that the perceived capability of actually changing one's behavior is seriously impeded by characteristics our respondents shared and that they typically engage in quite risky driving behaviors. High sensation seeking increases reckless driving because it is rewarded by both the psychological pleasure derived from dangerous actions and by young men's peers and simultaneously creates a barrier for attitudinal and behavioral change. Driving at excessive speeds and refusing to wear seat belts are some of the high-risk behaviors our respondents reported. In fact, they believe that seat belts can actually increase their likelihood of death or injury, rather than understanding that the opposite is the case. A respondent noted: “every time I tell him to wear the seat belt he tells me ‘what if the car flips? Everyone I know who have been in that situation get out from the window.’ They say that the seat belt will stop the people from being able to get him out of the car. They think the dangers are more than it's benefits.”

In the focus group discussions our respondents also reported fatalistic beliefs and message reactance. Fatalism is a belief that what happens to a person is not a result from their own behaviors but rather is caused by an entity higher that them, typically God, but non-religious people can nonetheless still have high levels of fatalism (Shen & Condit, 2012). A high level of fatalism presents a challenge to message campaigns because the message recipients, who believe they do not have control over their own fate, may reject the desired behavioral change. The young men in the focus groups reported such beliefs. As one participant stated: “When a person drives that fast they always say it's on God, or whatever's going to happen is written.”

The combination of fatalism and high sensation seeking coupled with routine engagement in risky driving behaviors makes our respondents a particularly difficult group in which to inspire behavioral change. Message campaigns must take these factors into account to increase their likelihood of success, however our respondents reported that they ignore or are reactive to standard safe driving messages. They indicated that they tuned out as soon as they recognized the persuasive intent of such messages. One participant stated, “there is good awareness and dangerous ones. If you get them used to drama and tears in videos they're going to get bored.” Other participants emphasized that they were particularly uninterested in sad or dramatic stories of loss and grieving. As another participant said, “as soon as I see the start as dramatic or sad, I stop watching the video straight away. I don't like watching these things. If you grab the viewer's attention from the start he won't stop watching. If the start of the video was a sad song or an accident the viewer will not watch it.” A participant argued that “the genre won't affect anything if just depends on the first 10 seconds of the film, if they draw the viewers in it would be successful. For example, you could be telling them a story but you shouldn't indicate that a person dies or an accident will occur.” Creating a novel message that they do not recognize as a safe driving campaign with a persuasive intent that is neither sad nor overly dramatic is required for successful influence on their attitudes and behaviors.

In the second phase of our study we created a 6-minute persuasive video targeting the use of seatbelts and tailored to the attitudes and beliefs that emerged from the focus group discussions. We sought to create a message that would be interesting but could not be dramatic or sad given the reactance to such messages. In such a situation, humor is perhaps the most obvious alternative. The research team brainstormed ideas then wrote a humorous script that features a personified seat-belt who chases after a group of young Qatari men and attempts to convince them to wear him. In the end he convinces the main character to wear him and thus saves his life after an accident. The other young men witness this event and also start wearing their seat belts.

We workshopped the script with men from the target audience for realism, appropriate dialog and vocabulary, humor and believability. After revising the script, we cast professional actors and shot the film. All of the actors are native Qataris from the target age group and the film is shot entirely in the local dialectic with English subtitles. We made a rough cut and then ran another focus group with the target audience to ask for their evaluation of the film. Based on their feedback we made some changes to the end of the story to increase its persuasive effectiveness. We are currently finalizing the film and editing, then we will screen it to our target audience. We plan to work with Qatar University and local schools for the screening and to do talkbacks for the evaluation research. The Qatari members of the research team will conduct the talkbacks and we will invite the actors as well. The film itself should have a persuasive effect on at least some members of the target audience and of course attitudinal change from messages is incremental and never affects an entire audience. The talkbacks should increase the persuasive effectiveness as they encourage more thoughtful reflection on the message and the opportunity for the members of the research team to orally target barriers to persuasion. We anticipate completion of this stage of the research by March 2016.

Health message campaigns are the most likely to be successful when they closely match the attitudes, beliefs and barriers to persuasion in the target audience. Developing such messages requires knowing these aspects of the intended message receivers. As our campaign focuses on an understudied population, 18–25 Qatari male drivers, we sought to learn directly from them what they believe about driving behaviors as well as their responses to safe driving messages to facilitate the creation of a tailored persuasive message. Our humorous film is not recognizable as a dramatic or sad safe driving campaign, is closely tailored to our target audience and the mechanism of screenings with talkbacks should increase its persuasive effectiveness, hopefully convincing young Qatari men to wear their seatbelts and thus saving precious lives.

References

Nebehay, S. (2015, October 20). Traffic deaths preventable, WHO says in call for road safety. Reuters. Retrieved from http://www.reuters.com/article/2015/10/20/health-who-roads-idUSL8N12J18L20151020

Nehlawi, M. (2013, April 17). The price of Qatar's high road accidents. The Edge. Retrieved from http://www.theedge.me/the-price-of-qatars-high-road-accidents/

Shen, L. & Condit, C. (2012). Addressing fatalism with health communication messages. In Health Communication Message Design, Ed. H. Cho, Sage.

The Peninsula (2013, December 8). One in eight dies on road. Retrieved from http://thepeninsulaqatar.com/news/qatar/266029/one-in-eight-dies-on-road

Trading Economics. Qatar Population. Retrieved from http://www.tradingeconomics.com/qatar/population

Yzer, M., (2012). The integrative model of behavioral prediction as a tool for designing health messages. In Health Communication Message Design, Ed. H. Cho, Sage.

Introduction

Investigating Glassmaking in the Early Medieval World

UCL-Qatar has embarked on a rigorous scientific project that aims to understand the production and trade of glass objects within the Byzantine Empire and Abbasid Caliphate—two contemporary and often rival regional powers. “Glass from Byzantium to Baghdad: Trade and Technology from the Byzantine Empire to the Abbasid Caliphate” is a QNRF-sponsored research project that combines archaeological and scientific evidence to compare the technological traditions and economic networks in place within the lands of the eastern Mediterranean and Arabian Peninsula during the early medieval era.

This paper presents some of the very first chemical analytical data ever produced for glass artifacts excavated from archaeological sites within the GCC region. This data enables us not only to identify the type of raw materials and aspects of the manufacturing technology used to make glass, it also allows scholars to better contextualize this material by addressing various economic aspects related to the production, consumption, and trade of glass objects in the early medieval world. In addition to shedding light on how glass was made and traded, the chemical analysis of excavated glass artifacts helps scholars elucidate what material- and knowledge-interactions people in the medieval world may have had, and whether such interactions went beyond cultural, political, or geographic boundaries.

Case Study

Islamic Glass from the Site of Kush, UAE

The first major case study in this investigation are the glass artifacts excavated from the archaeological site of Kush. Located in the Shimal area of Ras al-Khaimah (Fig. 1), Kush is one of the largest archaeological tells in the UAE. The tell was first noted by scholars in 1977, and was excavated from 1994 to 2000. Archaeological investigation shows that the settlement was occupied from the 5th century to the 13th century CE; situated just inside the Gulf on the edge of what was once a lagoon, the site was involved in the long-distance trade of goods with both the East and the West during much of its history.

Among the artifacts that were recovered from excavation were more than 5000 fragments of glass, which suggests glass vessels played an important role in the daily lives of people living at Kush. Because there is as yet no evidence for glassmaking or glass working in Eastern Arabia, it is likely that most of the glass was imported from the major contemporary glass producers that were located to the north and northwest in the Levant, Mesopotamia, and Iran.

Small samples were removed for analysis from 43 fragments of glass vessels excavated from Trench A at Kush. These glasses are translucent and come in a variety of colors including turquoise, aqua, light green, green, yellow green, dark yellow, amber, and purple hues as well as colorless glass. Over the course of time, the glass artifacts have deteriorated, leaving flakey white and black weathering layers that obscure the surface.

The chemical composition of the glass samples was determined using electron probe microanalysis (EPMA); 23 glass forming compounds and elements were measured, the results given as weight percent oxides. The chemical data sheds light on three aspects of the glass from Kush: 1) the raw materials used to make the glass, 2) the technological tradition of glassmaking and possible provenance or origin of the glass objects, and 3) changes in glass chemistry over time.

The Kush glass objects are all made from soda-lime-silica glass, a type which dominated ancient and medieval glass production and continues to dominate production even today. In terms of the raw materials used to make the glass, the relatively high magnesia and potash content of the sampled vessels (with an average of 3.9 wt% MgO and 2.5 wt% K2O) indicates that the glasses were made using plant ashes rather than mineral soda as a fluxing agent to lower the melting temperature of silica. Because mineral soda was the dominant flux used by glassmakers in Syro-Palestine and Egypt until the 9th–10th centuries CE, it is likely that the Kush glass vessels dating to this period were instead imported from Mesopotamia, where plant ash glass technology was in continual use since the Bronze Age. This suggests that at this time, Kush was primarily involved in the trade of raw glass or finished glass objects not with the main glassmaking regions within the former Byzantine Near East, but rather with the central Mesopotamian regions of the Abbasid caliphate of which the Arabian Peninsula was a part.

Plant ash is a chemically complex source of soda, and typically has a high concentration of other chemical compounds, making plant ash a rather “dirty” material. However, the Kush samples have lower phosphorus content than might be expected from a plant ash-based glass, which could suggest the plant ash soda was purified in some way during processing. In many of the samples, trace amounts of antimony, manganese, copper, cobalt, tin, and lead could indicate some degree of glass recycling was also taking place. In some cases the addition of metals to the raw glass was intended to colorize the glass, as in the case of the unique bright turquoise glasses that have high traces of antimony, copper, tin, and lead. The manganese content of the Kush samples is also notable; manganese is typically added to create purple or colorless glass, but manganese is present in relatively high levels in some of the green, aqua-green, and yellow-green glasses found at Kush.

The glass from Kush was also sampled to assess change over the course of time. The Kush glass can be divided into chronological periods based on their typological features and excavation context, and the samples were taken from vessels dating to four different periods of Kush's Early Islamic era of occupation history: the 7th–8th centuries CE (Period II), the late 8th-early 9th centuries CE (Period III), the 9th-late 11th centuries CE (Period IV), and the late 11th-early 12th centuries CE (Period V). However, the chemistry of the glass does not appear to reflect any major compositional changes over time. The glass samples from the 9th–11th centuries are of particular interest, as they coincide with a time of flourishing population and economy within the region; there may be some degree of standardization reflected in the 9th–12th century glass samples, as is suggested by the narrower range of potash levels.

Conclusions and Future Work

In comparison to glass made using mineral soda, plant-ash based glass is more chemically complex. As such it requires a more rigorous analytical program. The data provided in this preliminary study using electron probe microanalysis (EPMA) gives a good general impression of the glassmaking technology of the Kush samples, but it is expected that a better technological assessment and interpretation will result from the application of a new chemical analytical technique: laser ablation inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (LA-ICPMS). This technique goes beyond the detection capabilities of EPMA and enables measurement of the trace element composition of glass to parts per million (ppm). Trace element analysis of the Kush glass will thus allow us to discriminate between discrete glass groupings, and to better interpret the economic networks and patterns of trade that took place in the Gulf region during the Early Islamic era.

Acknowledgments

We would like to thank Philip Connolly for providing the EPMA data for the Kush samples discussed above. This presentation was made possible by NPRP grant 7-776-6-024 from the Qatar National Research Fund (a member of Qatar Foundation). The statements made herein are solely the responsibility of the authors.

حماية الاطفال والناشئة من اساءة استخدام الانترنيت وتقنيات الاتصال الحديثة لكل عصر وزمان أدواته وثقافته وسماته، التي لا غنى له عنها، ولعل وسائط تكنولوجيا الاتصال الحديثة كافة والإنترنت أهمها ـ باتت أهم أدوات عالمنا المعاصر، التي نستخدمها ونسخرها ونوظفها لتلبي احتياجاتنا، ومن خلالها نتمكن من أن نتواصل مع هذا العالم ونصبح جزءاً منه. وفق هذه القاعدة، علينا أن نعمل ونتعامل مع الواقع ونستوعبه ونتوافق معه، بمميزاته وعيوبه، دون أن ننحي أو نتجاهل أهم معطيات العصر وندفن رؤوسنا في الرمال إلى أن يلتهمنا الخطر. تبرز مخاطر تلك التأثيرات السلبية التي تكتنف تعامل الأطفال الصغار مع عالم “الإنترنت”، في ظل غياب الوعي المجتمعي لتأثيراته وتداعياته على سيكولوجية وشخصية الطفل، في ظل تراجع تأثير الأسرة بشكل عام وانحسار دورها في عملية التنشئة الاجتماعية أمام العوامل الأكثر تأثيراً، وأبرزها وأخطرها الفضائيات المفتوحة و“الإنترنت”. لا يمكن إغفال أو تجاهل التقدم والتطور الذي حدث في وسائل الإعلام الحديثة ووسائل التواصل الاجتماعي. حماية الطفل باعتبارها مسؤولية أسرية ومجتمعية، لم تعد قاصرة على مجرد توفير المأكل والملبس والمسكن، أو تقديم خدمات صحية ومادية له، أو مجرد منع الضرر والإيذاء الجسدي، بل هي عملية وقائية، وتحصين نفسي ومعنوي وأخلاقي وإنساني في المقام الأول، بعد أن أصبحت هناك شكوى عالمية تؤرق المجتمع الإنساني بأسره، ومن أخطر القضايا الشائكة التي تحتاج إلى استراتيجية وثقافة مجتمعية لإنجاحها رغم تأكيد دراسات عديدة في كثير من البلدان ـ حتى المتقدمة منها ـ أن الآباء والأمهات أنفسهم لا يزالون غير مدركين تماماً المخاطر التي يتعرض لها أطفالهم من عالم “الإنترنت”. ويمتلك جيل اليوم من الأطفال مهارات متقدمة في استخدام تلك الأجهزة بدرجة تفوق الأباء والأمهات، غير أن الدراسات الحديثة، سواء في الغرب أو في العالم العربي، تؤكد على خطورة تلك الوسائل على الأطفال الذين يتعرضون من خلالها إلى العنف إلى مخاطر الاستغلال الجنسي ومشاهدة المواد الإباحية عبر شبكة الانترنت.. إنها مدرسة جديدة؛ “مدرسة وسائل الإعلام الحديثة” يتعلمون فيها ـ من دون رقابة أو إرشاد ـ أشياء ثؤثر على تشكيل شخصياتهم وسلوكياتهم في المستقبل، فهل يمكن أن يكون للإعلام العربي دوراً في حماية الأطفال من تلك المخاطر التي تؤثر على شخصيته وتكوينه في مرحلة سوف تحدد أفكاره واتجاهاته وسلوكياته في المستقبل؟ في كل زمان ومكان، يسعى الأباء والأمهات إلى حماية أطفالهم بشتى الوسائل الممكنة من كل أشكال الضرر أو الإساءة؛ فيختارون لهم أفضل المدارس الممكنة، ويحرصون على تلبية طلباتهم المعقولة، وبمرور الوقت تتزايد معدلات الأطفال الذين تتوافر لديهم تليفونات محمولة خاصة، وربما تليفزيونات خاصة في غرف نومهم، لتفادي المشكلات التي تنشأ بين أفراد الأسرة من جراء إصرار عدد كبير من الأطفال على مشاهدة قنوات الأطفال المتخصصة التي يستمر إرسالها طوال اليوم، هذا بخلاف ألعاب الفيديو وأجهزة الكمبيوتر التي يجيد الأطفال استخدامها بمهارة عالية تفوق أباءهم، ويطمئن الآباء والأمهات إلى أن الأطفال بذلك يقضون أوقاتا ممتعة، ومن ثم ينشغلون بأعمالهم ومهامهم الأخرى، غير أن الأطفال يتعرضون إلى مخاطر عديدة نتيجة قضاء وقت طويل أمام تلك الوسائل التكنولوجية الحديثة بمفردهم. تنص المادة الثالثة من الاتفاقية الدولية لحقوق الطفل بالتزام الدول الأطراف باتخاذ التدابير التشريعية والإدارية الملائمة لضمان حماية الطفل، وتنص المادة التاسعة عشر من الاتفاقية أيضا على التزام الدول بحماية الطفل من كافة أشكال العنف أو الضرر أو الإساءة البدنية وإساءة الاستغلال بما في ذلك الإساءة الجنسية. ويوضح البروتوكول الاختياري لاتفاقية حقوق الطفل بشأن بيع الأطفال واستغلال الأطفال في البغاء وفي المواد الاباحية، معنى استغلال الأطفال في المواد الإباحية بتصوير الطفل، بأي وسيلة كانت، يمارس ممارسة حقيقية أو بالمحاكاة أنشطة جنسية صريحة، أو أي تصوير لأعضائه الجنسية لإشباع الرغبة الجنسية. وفي مادته الثالثة يلزم البروتوكول الاختياري الدول الأعضاء أن يغطي قانونها الجنائي الجرائم ضد الطفل ومن أهمها، إنتاج وتوزيع ونشر واستيراد وتصوير وعرض وبيع وحيازة مواد إباحية تتعلق بالطفل. ولعل من ابرز الآثار السلبية لشبكة الإنترنت والتي تؤثر على أبنائنا الآتي

● إضاعة الكثير من الوقت في أشياء قد تكون غير مفيدة √

● قد يؤدي الجلوس طويلاً على الإنترنت إلى الإصابة بالعزلة عن الواقع الذي نعيش فيه √

● التورط في مشاكل سرقة البيانات والابتزاز التي تمارسها بعض العصابات على شبكة الإنترنت والتي تكون متخصصة بهذا الأمر √

● فساد أخلاق الكثير من الشباب، والذي يؤدي إلى فساد المجتمع الذي نعيش فيه √

الدخول في علاقات جنسية بين كثيرٍ من الشباب والتي تكون خارج إطار الزواج √

أن أطفال اليوم يقضون فترة تترواح ما بين 7 إلى 10 ساعات يومياً أمام وسائل الإعلام الحديثة بما في ذلك الانترنت؟ أي أنها فترة تتجاوز الوقت الذي يقضونه في المدرسة، وتتجاوز الوقت الذي يقضونه مع الوالدين أنفسهما، وكذلك تتجاوز فترة التفاعل وجهاً لوجه مع أقرانهم من الأطفال. في الماضي كانت هناك مشكلة في الحصول على المعلومة، ثم تحولت المشكلة إلى القدرة على متابعة المعلومة، أما الأن فنحن في مرحلة الحاجة إلى تجنب المعلومة، على أننا لا يمكن أن ننعزل عن الثقافة والحياة، وإنما نحتاج إلى الإمكانيات لإجراء فلترة للرسائل التي تهبط علينا؛ فالأطفال يدخلون مدرسة جديدة كل يوم من دون استئذان، من خلال وسائل الإعلام، وتقدم لنا الاحصائيات الدولية أرقام مخيفة، فعلى سبيل المثال يصل معدل الساعات التي يقضيها الأطفال دون السابعة أمام وسائل الإعلام إلى أربع ساعات يوميا، وفي المرحلة العمرية ما بين 8 - 18 عام يصل عدد الساعات إلى أكثر من 7 ساعات يوميا، وربما يصل إلى 10 ساعات يوميا بمتوسط يفوق 53 ساعة أسبوعيا، وهي مدة أكبر من التي يقضيها الطالب في المدرسة، ويطرح تساؤل مهم حول مدى توافر البرامج التي تم إعدادها خصيصاً لتحصين الأطفال ضد الرسائل الإعلامية السلبية التي يستقبلونها. الإعلام ليس كله شر، وإنما يحتوى على بعض المحاذير، وأن الإحصائيات الأمريكية تدل على أن 66% من الأطفال والشباب يملكون المحمول في الفئة العمرية ما بين 8 - 18 عام، و76% منهم يملكون الـ والـ IPAD .3MP، و71% منهم لديهم تليفزيون خاص في غرف نومهم، و50% لديهم ألعاب فيديو في غرف نومهم، وعند مقارنة تلك النسب بالنسبة للدول العربية، أن النسب ستكون أكبر في دول الخليج العربي على وجه التحديد. يسعى الباحث الى تشخيص الاثار السلبية لوسائل الاتصال الحديثة وتاثيراتها على الاطفال وكيفية حماية الاطفال من تلك الاضرار وتحديد ادوار المؤسسات الحكومية والمجتمع المدني والاسرة والمدرسة وجهات ضبط هذه الوسائط.

The Arabian Peninsula has a wide variety of copper ore deposits that are distributed throughout the whole territory, with a particular concentration in the southeastern region, in what is modern day Oman. These resources, exploited since ancient times, are characterised by specific chemical and geological signatures that, when processed, give metals with distinctive compositions.

The Bronze Age (ranging from c 6,000 to c 3,000 years ago) was a period of major mining of copper deposits in this region, but very little is known about how this exploitation continued and changed during the Iron Age, starting c 3,000 years ago. The lack of published data on this subject is the basis of our research project “Iron Age Metal Production in the Arabian Region and in the Levant: A Comparative Study”, funded by QNRF and conducted at UCL Qatar. This is a lab-based project that examines ancient metal artefacts and metal production waste with the aim of shedding light onto the kinds of resources and level of technology employed at the time.

To date, investigations have been carried out on materials collected at three key Iron Age sites in Arabia, namely Tayma (Tabuk, KSA), Qattarah (Al Ain, UAE) and Salut (Nizwa, Oman). A great part of the materials analysed are made of a copper alloy characterised by a peculiar chemical signature, with variable amounts of arsenic (As) and tin (Sn) being jointly present in the low percentage range. Nevertheless, none of these samples has a tin content high enough to consider it a proper bronze. This is unusual for the type of metal composition that would have been expected in the Iron Age when the tin content in bronzes in other geographical areas was significantly higher, typically reaching from around 7 wt% in Egypt to more than 10 wt% in Mesopotamia and the Mediterranean world.

The high levels of variability of arsenic and tin detected in those materials lead us to consider whether this metal was the result of recycling operations. However, this required further investigation, so lead isotope analysis was used to try to establish the provenance of this group of finds. The results of these analyses show a good match for most of the As-Sn-containing copper artefacts in terms of isotopic signature, suggesting that they are likely to have the same provenance. This provenance can safely be identified as being in Oman, although the specific mining district has yet to be determined with certainty. The mining district of Yanqul is a likely source because an important Iron Age copper smelting site, Raki, has previously been identified in the area. Further detailed analysis of slag and other finds from Raki is still ongoing in order to test whether this is a possible origin for the metal identified in these sites.

It is interesting to note that groups of materials from different sites have been found to have the same geological ‘signature’ and hence provenance. This suggests that we are not dealing with recycled material but with a natural alloy that is the result of the processing of a specific copper ore, which is rich in arsenic and tin. The presence of this alloy in sites that are geographically remote from each other, suggests that it was traded over substantial distances across the region and must have played an important role in the overall supply of Arabia with copper.

The oasis settlement of Qattarah on the border between the UAE and Oman is of particular interest because excavations there yielded copper smelting slags, without any natural copper deposits being present in the area. Of particular importance is the observation that the metal prills analysed from those slags presented a similar distinctive As-Sn-enriched composition to the metal objects, a similarity that has been confirmed by lead isotope analysis. This means that not only the metal extracted from those specific ores was traded but also the ore itself; most likely because of the need for fuel which was available in the oasis settlements but not at the arid mine sites. These findings, however, do not explain why the natural alloy was traded long distances across the region.

It is unknown whether these ores were traded because their composition yielded a metal of particular quality, such as ease of melting and casting, or because it gave the metal a lighter and shinier colour compared to pure copper with its dull red tone, making the objects more attractive or ornamental. It is also possible that these ores were simply more easily accessible.

Further research on the project is ongoing and it is hoped that future analysis of samples from other contemporary sites will better our understanding of how widespread the use of this specific alloy was and the rational for the trade.

The research presented here was made possible by NPRP grant 6-813-6-016 from the Qatar National Research Fund (a member of Qatar Foundation). The statements made herein are solely the responsibility of the authors. The academic generosity of our project partners in the mentioned case studies is also gratefully acknowledged.

تتفق الدراسات الحديثة المتعلقة باللغة على اختلاف أنساقها المعرفية؛ اللسانية والإثنية والأنثروبولوجية والثقافية، على أن اللغة الإنسانية ليست كائناً فارغاً، وليست أداةً محايدة أو قوالبَ مصمتةً خاليةً من أي مواقف خاصة، بل هي مظهر من مظاهرِ الوعي تَجَسَّدَ لغةً؛ فإذا كانت الوظيفتان الأساسيتان لِلّغة هما التمثيل والتواصل فإن التحيّزات تسري فيهما معاً، فلا يستقيم تمثيل العالم من دون موقفٍ منه، أو وجهة نظر، أو زاوية رؤية، وهذه كلها بوابات مُشرعة للهويّات _ على أساس أن جوهر الهوية وجودُ موقفٍ متميّز من العالم. يُضاف إلى ذلك أن التواصل مع الآخرين سيستعمل أداة التمثيل نفسها: اللغة، وبكلام آخر: “إذا اختُزِل استعمال الناس للغة _بطريقة تحليلية_ في كيفية تشكيل المعنى وتمثيله في صوت، أو في كيفية إيصاله من شخص إلى آخر، أو حتى فيهما معاً، فإن ثمّة شيئاً حيوياً قد استُخلِص: إنهم الناس أنفسهم، إنهم حاضرون دوماً في ما يقولون، وفي الفهم الذي يبنونه على ما يقوله غيرهم. إن هويّتهم تتأصّل في صوتهم، ويكون ذلك ملفوظاً، أو مكتوباً، أو موقّعاً

والأصل الذي بُني عليه هذا التصور الخاص بوعي الجماعة الكامن في اللغة، يقوم على الأساس الفلسفي الذي يقعّد لطبيعة العلاقة بين الدال والمدلول ومحاولة الربط بينهما؛ وهي محاولة « ليست سهلة ولا آلية ولا حتمية، فهي تمر عبر الزمان والمكان الإنسانيين، وهي علاقة تبدأ في عقل الإنسان وقلبه…وتنتهي في عقل الإنسان وقلبه…فثمة مسافة طويلة من الأحلام والأوهام والرغبات والأهواء والأفكار والمصالح تفصل بين الدال والمدلول... ولابد من الاختيار بين عدد لا حصر له من الدال للإخبار عن مدلول مركّب متشابك مع عدد لا حصر له من المدلولات. وعملية الاختيار تعني إبقاء وتأكيد واستبعاد وتهميش، اختيار أو تأكيد لمعنى، واستبعاد أو تهميش لآخر، واختيار أو تأكيد لدال، واستبعاد أو تهميش لآخر، أي أنه لا يوجد تلاقٍ آلي أو تلاحُمٍ ضروري وعضوي بين الدال والمدلول، وإنما هناك حتمية الاختيار أو الاجتهاد الإنساني، في محاولة مزاوجة الدوال بالمدلولات، وهي عملية تتضمّن قدراً من التحيّز لدال على حساب آخر، ولجانب من المدلول على حساب جانب آخر». فإذا كان الدال هو الرمز اللغوي، والمدلول هو المعنى الذي يدل عليه فلابد من الإشارة _ كما هو معروف_ إلى أن هذا المعنى لا يتطابق تمام المطابقة مع الموضوع الواقعي المتعيّن الذي يُفتَرَض أن يمثله، بل هو ينقل وجهة نظر الجماعة التي صكته تجاه هذا الموضوع المتعيّن وموقفها منه، ولذلك فإن ثمة مسافة بين الدال والمدلول هي المسافة التي يقع فيها تحيز الجماعة الثقافية، وليست هذه المسافة من الاتساع بحيث يتم الافتراق بينهما على نحو نهائي، كما أنها ليست من القرب بحيث يتحدان

إن مثل هذه المقدمات التي تؤسس لطبيعة العلاقة بين الدال والمدلول داخل اللغة والفكر تؤدي إلى نتيجة حتمية، وقاعدة أساسية مفادُها أن كل لغة تحمل في طياتها _بوعي متكلميها أو بغير وعيهم_ موقف الجماعة التي صكتها أو الأمة التي تمثلها، أي إنها تحمل هويتهم المميزة التي تعكس موقفهم من العالم. وكل اللغات في هذا الأمر سواء، بائدها وقائمها. وليست العربية بمنأى عن هذه اللغات، مما يعني أنها هي أيضاً تحمل في بنيتها هوية الجماعة التي تعبر عنها؛ أي الهوية العربية-الإسلامية

وتفترض هذه الدراسة أن بنية الهوية العربية الإسلامية وبنية اللغة العربية كلاهما قائم على نظام معياري، مما سينبني عليه أن العربية وحدها قادرة على تمثيل الهوية الإسلامية دون باقي اللغات الإنسانية. فإذا كان الأمر كذلك بدا من الضروري الأخذ بعين الاعتبار هذه النتائج أثناء وضع السياسات اللغوية للمجتمعات والدول العربية لما لذلك من أثر في تهديد هويتها وانتمائها

The mixed methods research study Understanding College Community: Fostering Female Student Success at the Canadian Technical College in Qatar applied the critical feminist paradigm to investigate whether female students who were engaged in the college community, through participation in co-curricular activities, were more likely to achieve academic success and to have a positive perception of their college experience. It also sought to outline possible reasons for disengagement and made recommendations for increasing participation.

The value of the study lay in the context of a country where women are less likely to engage in public activities or participate in stereotypically male activities. It was unique in assessing whether female student engagement and academic and perceived success and barriers to participation, affect female student's ability to gain the transferrable skills necessary for employment (Stasz, Eide & Martorell, 2007). Although female post-secondary enrolment and graduation rates at all levels, including the graduate level, were four times higher than their male counter-parts, the data still indicated that women were five times more likely to unemployed after graduation (Permanent Population Committee, 2012).

The study consisted two phases. The first was a survey of thirty female participants who self-selected from the student body of a mixed-gender satellite campus of a Canadian technical college in Qatar. Data was analyzed to identify demographic trends and correlations among the variables of: Grade Point Average (GPA), ethnicity, student perception, reasons for disengagement and post-graduate plans. Analysis indicated that only 7% of the respondents were Qatari between the ages of 19–25. GPA data was gathered categorically with 77% of the respondents with a mean 3.0–4.0 (A and B letter grades). Rate of co-curricular engagement was assessed based 11 different possible areas or activities of engagement and was based on 1–5 Likert scale with an overall low mean rate of engagement of 2.48. Perception of college experience was assessed similarly based on seven aspects of college experience using a 1–5 Likert scale (college life, students, instructors etc). The findings indicated that student experience was overall very positive. The mean rate of perception was 4.10

Correlational data was analyzed using linear regression to compare three data sets: GPA and mean rate of engagement; GPA and perception of college experience; perception of college experience and mean rate of engagement. A two-tailed test of statistical significance using Pearson Correlation Coefficient indicated that a statistically significant relationship existed between GPA and engagement where the p-value = 0.03. Using the same methods of analysis, data subsequently indicated a statistically significant relationship, p = 0.00024, between GPA and perception of college experience (see Fig. 1).

In addition, data collected in the form of a checklist assessed the reasons for non-engagement. Participants indicated that the top for reasons for not participating in co-curricular activities included: feeling self-conscious, inconvenient times, not knowing what is available or family commitments account for the why are not engaged in

co-curricular activities. Although there was an overall low rate of engagement, nearly 100% of the respondents indicated their desire to participate in these types of activities.

From this cohort, the second phase of the survey consisted of three self-selected participated who volunteered to participate in one-on-one qualitative interviews. Interview questions were developed based on survey responses. Permission to record the interviews was obtained and the interview conditions were as identical as possible. Using qualitative analysis the interviews were transcribed and analyzed using the constant comparison method to identify the following five themes (Lichtman, 2013): development, socio-cultural barriers, value of education, importance of relationships and goal setting.

Interview data indicated that all participants believed that education was valuable because it helped develop the individual and that participating in co-curricular activities helped develop skills that are very valuable for employment. Participants unanimously indicated that women's behavior was influenced by socio-cultural norms whereby, ‘women have to be careful’. They all believed that freedom for women has significantly increased and that it will only continue to improve. These socio-cultural norms and sometimes restrictions were linked to family relationships. Women often indicated the influence or ‘advice’ of their fathers as both supportive and sometimes limiting in terms of their career choice, although all indicated that their families held education and employment in very high esteem. This further supported the survey findings, which indicated that 97% of the respondents intended to pursue further studies and/or seek employment therefore supporting the final concept of goal setting. All interview participants emphasized the importance of setting goals in order to achieve success.

Beyond the scope of this study is the notion that although women in Qatar are highly educated, they face a range of barriers to employment including cultural and social norms that make them less likely to engage in co-curricular activities and in the college community. The potential consequence being that female students were less likely to develop the necessary transferrable skills for success in gaining employment and remaining in the workforce. Interviews requested suggestions for recommendations for increasing engagement included, but were not limited to: linking co-curricular engagement to college courses, creating a new student ‘buddy program’ and instructors as role models by engaging or encouraging engagement in college activities.

References

Lichtman, M. (2013). Making meaning of your data. Qualitative Research in Education. Virginia: Sage Publications.

Permanent Population Committee. (2012). Qatar population status: Two years after launching the population policy. Retrieved from http://www.gsdp.gov.qa/portal/page/portal/ppc/PPC_home/ppc_news/ppc_files_upload/populations_status_2012_en.pdf

The Islamic garden was the earthly image of Paradise. The pre-Islamic Persian gardens derived the garden and tried to recreate the world within an enclosed space. After the conquest of Persia by the Arabs in the 7th century, not only was the Persian garden itself influenced by Islam philosophy, but this erudite form of garden spread throughout the Islamic world. It became the fabled Moorish gardens in Southern Spain the Generalife Alhambra as well as the basis of the Moghul gardens in Kashmir and India. Through these Spanish gardens the impression of the Islamic garden spread to the New World where its influence can still be traced in the Spanish colonial gardens of the South West, the Revival gardens of the early 20th century, especially in California, and even in the spare modern style of the Mexican landscape architect Luis Baragan. The Muslims emphasized the restrictions to dress the garden and keep it-man the steward. The design of the Islamic gardens influenced with specific intents in mind, relating certain ideological principles and objectives rooted in the Islamic faith and the Muslim culture using distinctive design elements. However, Quranic paradise imaginary provides a foundation for understanding Islamic Gardens as clearly shared by established Islamic Gardens such as the gardens of Persia, Mughal India and Moorish Spain. Accordingly, traditional Islamic Garden applied the typical design elements of an Islamic garden for instance the water features, courtyards, trees, flower and calligraphy on walls. The earlier civilization and arid environment are the factors that may have prejudiced the design of the historic Islamic gardens.

Objective

An ideal design of the a contemporary Islamic Garden should be considered others criteria such as value in Islamic teaching. A qualitative research which involves content analysis and descriptive throughout tafseer of Islamic teaching and descriptive analysis through tafsir of Syed Qutb ‘In the Shade of the Quran’ is applied.

Methodology

Islam has continuously revealed the life after death. This tendency can be seen in several Islamic sources such as theosophical manuscripts and fundamental texts. Those occasionally mentioned in the holy Quran about heaven and hell in some of the verses. Surah Al-Waqiah has presented beautiful descriptions of paradise among other metaphorical verses, in which we can find out the basic elements of landscape and garden design. At the beginning, this paper deals with the history of main elements of Islamic garden such as water in early culture and mythos. Many verses in Holy Quran invite the human to think about the amazing order of this world and creation of skies, earth, mounts, and seas. In Islamic insight, the world phenomena are assumed as signs of the God and one of the ways to achieve unity and recognition of God for thoughtful humans is to journey in horizons and rational wayfaring in divine signs. Thereupon, we also review the Islamic principle of paradise to realize the main concept and design features of it mentioned in Quran.

Results

A framework of a contemporary Islamic garden throughout Islamic values is formulated.

Conclusion

The outcome of this study determination contributes to the body of knowledge by proposing a new framework of Islamic Garden that suitable to the Malaysia context. Furthermore in the Surah Al-Waqiah, a paradisiacal garden is described as an unlimited paradise and secures space, with diverse trees planted in specific locations, accessed to through eight gates. From these finding, it is expected that at the end of study a framework of Islamic Garden principles based on applying the ideological principle in Islamic faith and Quranic paradise imagery will be formulated. The outcome will contribute to the body of knowledge by proposing a new framework of Islamic Garden that suitable to the Malaysia context. As a conclusion, an Islamic garden should be design based on district design elements, its contextual, local culture and ideological principles rooted in Islamic faith to enhance garden space for recreational and restoration function. The general Islamic garden principles and Quranic paradise imagery derived from verse of Quran can help people to establish systems, regulations, attitudes and views in order to understand and control their worldly life in accordance with their needs, region and time. Moreover, the responsive authority has to come out with a specific guideline that can be applied in improving our Islamic garden design. The ideas of implementing the Islamic garden into the garden in Malaysia is perceived as relevant and encourage effort to support the governance approach in creating an Islamic environment. This study also indicates that as Muslim landscape architects have always tried to develop the landscape architecture and design principles for their garden design from the verses of the holy Quran.

مقاربة جديدة لتعليم اللغة العربية

تعليم النحو نموذجا

إعداد:د منيرة القنوني

أستاذ مساعد جامعة قطر

تمهيد

يعاني الكثير من التلاميذ والطلبة صعوبات كبيرة في مستوى تعلّم واكتساب اللغة العربية ، ونعتقد أن هذا المشكل له الكثير من الأسباب لكن أسبابه الرئيسية تعليمية بحتة ترتبط في اعتقادنا بضعف برامج تعليم اللغة العربية في الوطن العربي عامة.

علوم اللسان قريبة من العلوم الطبيعيّة إلا أنها تختلف عنها اختلافا جوهريا ، علوم الطبيعة نشاط حضاري يسعى لبناء تصور عن حقيقة الكون المحيط بنا ، علم اللغة نشاط حضاري ولكنه يعكس تأويلنا الخاص لماهية الخارج ، يمس أداتنا الخاصة التي نستعملها لإعادة بناء الخارج فهما وتأويلا فتصورا

لذلك تعلم اللغة يختلف عن تعلم بقية العلوم ، فالمتعلم لا يتعلم مادة علمية وإنما يربي في ذاته أداة لغوية تكون وسيلته لبناء تأويله الخاص عن العالم الذي يحيط به ، هذا العمل يطرح إشكالية الحدود بين العلمي والتعلّمي في صناعة نحو تعليمي ناجع

صعوبات تعليم النحو

النفور وعدم الدافعية للتعلم: يعد النحو العربي التعليمي في أغلب مراحل تعليمه الابتدائي والإعدادي والثانوي وخاصة الجامعي للمختصين باللغة العربية وغيرهم من أكثر المقررات التي ينفر منها المتعلم ، ويستصعبها ، ولا يقبل عليها باهتمام ، ولا يتميز فيها. هذا المشكل ليس مقصورا على النحو العربي بل الكثير من اللغات الأخرى يعاني معلّموها من نفور المتعلمين من الإقبال والرغبة في تعلم أنحائها

مشكل الأهداف والمخرجات: إن اهم مشكل يواجه هذا النحو التعليمي هو مشكل الأهداف والمخرجات ، إذ لا يمكن بناء تعليم سليم إلا إذا كانت أهدافه ومخرجاته محددة وواضحة

ويعاني النحو التعليمي العربي من عدم وضوح أهدافه التعليمية ومخرجاته: لماذا نعلم النحو ؟؟؟ الحقيقة بعد تجربة في تعليم النحو لأكثر من 20 سنة لا أجد إجابة واضحة عن هذا السؤال

ونفترض إجابة عنه التصنيف التالي:

الملاحظ في أغلب برامج النحو التعليمي العربي أنها لا تميز بين الهدفين: تعليم النحو لتعلّم اللغة وتعليم نماذج نحوية وصفية تفسيرية للغة ، هذا الخلط أثر على مضامين النحو التعليمي ، في بناء المادة التعليمية ، وفي بناء التدريبات والتمارين وكذلك في الاختبارات وطرق التقييم

جعل هذا الخلط نجاعة النحو التعليمي ضعيفة جدا خاصة إذا كان الهدف تخريج طالب قادر على استعمال تراكيب اللغة العربية استعمالا تلقائيا سليما ، فلم توجه مخرجات تعليم النحو نحو هذا الهدف مباشرة

تعليم النحو لتعليم اللغة: عرفان المتعلـّم بمبادئ النحو سابق لتلقـّيه علم المعلـّم بعلم النحو ، إذ يمتلك المتعلم فطريا ملكة لغويّة في صورة برمجة طبيعية أو تجهيز طبيعي لاكتساب برامج لغوية ، وهي ما يشبه البرنامج المركزي في الحاسوب ونلاحظ في أغلب مدارسنا الاعتماد المطلق على تعليم العلم الواصف للغه أي النحو القواعدي للتلميذ في مختلف مراحل تعليمه من غير الانتباه إلى أنه يمتلك فعلا نحوا ضمنيا _ يقول جيفري بول متحدثا عن النحو القواعدي « كل ما تفعله في المدرسة هو أنك تعطي أسماء لأشياء تعرفها من قبل إننا نحاول أن نطور نظرية حول ما هو موجود فعلا في رأسك «

إنّ النظام النحوي المكتسب تلقائيا عند الطالب هو نفسه النظام الذي نروم إكسابه إياه بالتعليم الفرق بينهما يكمن في

ــ درجة أعلى من الكفاءة في استعمال النظام التركيبي للغة العربية في مستويات لا تطورها اللهجة هي مستويات الكتابة والقراءة خاصة وكذلك الاستعمال الشفوي الفصيح الذي لا يختلف في تراكيبه عن الاستعمال العامي

ـــ لا بد أن يكون الطالب على وعي تام بأن الأبنية الدلالية اللامحدودة تحكمها قوالب نحوية محدودة جدا وأن التعدد الدلالي يعود إلى توحد تركيبي نحوي

وضروري أن يكون أحد أهم مخرجات تعليم النحو هوالتركيز على إكساب الطالب هذه الأبنية النحوية المحدودة وجعله يتعرف عليها ويكتسبها فهما وتحليلا وتركيبا وأن يكون استعماله لها استعمالا مباشرا تلقائيا

شروط بناء برنامج تعليمي نحوي ناجح تعليم النظام

يرتكز تعليم النحو في مدارسنا عامة على حفظ القواعد مثل هذا النموذج:

ماهي الفائدة التي يمكن أن يجنيها الطالب بحفظ مثل هذه القواعد بهذا الشكل غير الوظيفي ؟

صعوبات تعليم النحو العربي

ـــ 1ــ مشكل اختيار النموذج الوصفي

تتعدد النماذج الوصفية لنحو اللغة العربية ولكن المشكل في اعتماد الكثير من صناع الكتب المدرسية النحوية على المادة المعرفية الموجودة في كتب التراث دون تغيير أو توظيف

فمثلا إن عدت إلى أي كتاب نحوي مدرسي عربي ستجد هذه التعريفات

ـــ تعريف الاسم مادل على معنى في نفسه غير مقترن بزمان

ـــ تعريف الاسم المعرب ما اختلف آخره لاختلاف العامل الداخل عليه...

هي نفس التعريفات التي تجدها عند سيبويه والمبرد وابن السراج وغيرهم...

ـ فتكون المادة جافة ، باهتة ، غير قابلة للتوظيف والتطبيق و إذا قسنا درجة تعلم طلبتنا نلاحظ أن قصى درجات اكتسابهم ــ حتى المتميزين منهم ــ هو القدرة على فهم القواعد والتعرف على استعمالاتها داخل سياقات مخصوصة ، يعني المخرج الوحيد الذي ستحققه هذه الكتب والمقررات هو جعل الطالب قادرا على وصف الظواهر النحوية في استعمالات خاصة

كيف يمكن ،انطلاقا من الانتاج العلمي الغزيرفي مجال البحث اللغوي بناء برامج تعليمية ذات جودة عالية ، نقدم في بقية العرض نموذجا إجرائيا يتناول مقاربة لدرس نحوي وظيفي نحاول أن نفصل فيه بين النظام النحوي للغة والقواعد اللغوية الناظمة لمنوال نحوي تفسيري محدد ، نحاول أن نبين حدود العلم وكيف يمكن توظيفه لصناعة تعليم ناجع

النظام النحوي

تعليم النظام النحوي

الهدف التعليمي: الخروج من الاستعمال العفويّ للتراكيب اللغوية إلى الاستعمال الواعي المتبصّر ونحتاج إلى بناء نظام نحوي تعليمي واصف للغة العربية

نظام نحوي تعليمي واصف للغة العربية

نحاول أن نقدم منوالا وصفيا يقوم على ت أبنية محدودة جدا وبعض القواعد التي تمكن من وصف وتفسير التراكيب في اللغة العربية ، ليس المطلوب منا مقاطعة النحو القديم فلا بد أن نعترف أن النحو القديم أفضل المنوالات وصفا للغة العربية خاصة مع تعثر الدراسات اللسانية العربية الحديثة ، وأقوى ما في النحو القديم حسب اعتقادنا هي الفرضيات التي كونها الحدس العلمي القوي جدا عند النحاة القدامى وقد كان نتيجة ممارسة عميقة للغة وخاصة اللغة في مستوى الاستعمال

أحتاج المنوال الوصفي لأفهم النظام إذا استطعت فهم النظام تمكنت من بناء نظام تعليمي ناجع ، ليس هدفنا من تقديم هذا النموذج مجرد العرض وإنما بيان كيف يمكننا الاشتغال على مبدإ من المبادئ النظامية للنحو العربي ، ثم كيف نخرجه من مجاله العلمي البحثي البحت لأستثماره في بناء تعليم نحوي يساعد على إكساب الطالب مهارة في استعمال تراكيب اللغة العربية

ـــ ولن نقدم نسقا كاملا ــ بل سنكتفي بتقديم مبدأ واحد لعلنا إن نجحنا في تمثله انتقلنا إلى مرحلة بناء نموذج تفسيري علمي كامل يساعد على بناء نموذج تعليمي واضح المخرجات والأهداف

مبدأ ثنائية التركيب في اللغة العربية

يقول سيبويه « لا تكون ثلاثة أشياء اسما واحدا « تحديد حدسي لمبدإ الثنائية في الأبنية الإعرابية على غاية من الأهمية ، عالج به الكثير من الابنية مثل (اسم العدد المركب من 11/19 وفسر البناء في نحو خمسَ عشرةَ درهما ، كذلك نصب الاسم ومنعه من التنوين بعد لا النافية للجنس في نحو لا رجلَ ظريفٌ في البيت وغيرها

جميع الأبنية في العربية هي مركبات ثنائيّة كل مركب يقوم على نواة عاملة هي الرأس ويطلب معمولا ليخصصه وقد يطلب معمولا ثانيا ولكن لا يعمل في الثاني الا بعد تمام عمله في الأول ، أي يتحول العامل الرأس مع معموله الأول إلى عامل رأس يعمل في المعمول الثاني هذا المبدأ الثنائية الناتجة عن رأس عامل ومعمول يخصصه موصوفة بدقة في النماذج الأخيرة لتشومسكي خاصة في نظرية سَ المسقطة X،

ـــــ مبدأ الثنائية: مبني / مبني عليه

ــــــ مبدأ رأسية العامل

لعل هذا المبدأ من المبادئ العامة المتحكمة في النحو ، قد تكون مختزنة في ذهن متكلمي اللغة و قد يمثل اختزان هذه المبادئ جزءا من القدرات الفطرية للمتكلمين واستعداداتهم عامة لاكتساب اللغة

سنحاول أن نفسر هذا المبدأ في اللوحات التالية أولا سنتتبع تفسيره للتركيب الجملي ثم تفسيره لبقية المركبات الاسمية والحرفية ـــــــ وأنوه أنه رغم أهمية هذا المبدأ وجدته وطرافته وقوته التفسيرية ـفإنه ليس هدفنا الرئيسي في مثل هذه المداخلة عرض نموذج تفسيري للتركيب النحوي في اللغة العربية وإنما هدفنا الأساسي بيان كيف يمكنني انطلاقا من نموذج تفسيري نظري صناعة تعليم مهاري تطبيقي لنتبين كيف يجب أن ينعكس العلم في التعليم وخاصة ماهي الحدود الفاصلة بينهما

هذه المبادئ الأولية ليست مادة تعليمية ، فلا جدوى من تعليمها للمتعلم ، ولكنها ضرورية جدا جدا لمعرفة وتكوين المعلم حتى يفهم طبيعة المتعلم ، طرق اكتسابه للغة ، نظامه اللغوي كل هذا سيساعده في بناء برامج ناجعة قادرة على تشغيل الجهاز النحوي للمتعلم وتحفيزه

مثال في برامجنا التعليمية لن نجد درس العامل والمعمول ، أو المبادئ الكبرى الناظمة للنحو ، وإنما سنجد دروسا من نوع المركب بالإضافة ، او المركب النعت ، وغيرها

ضروري جدا وهو يعلم التلميذ في الدرس أن يعي المعلم أنه يتناول جزءا من نظام ، وأن يعرف في أي جزء يتحرك و ضروري جدا أن يعي الوسيط بين المعرفة العالمة والمعرفة المدرسية ، الذي ينقل المعرفة من الكتب العلمية ليصنع الكتب المدرسية ، المبادئ الكبرى للنحو لينشئ أهدافا إجرائية تعليمية تقترب من طبيعة المتعلم ، إن وعي المعلـّم بالنحو وعيا علميّا، يجعله متمكـّنا في صناعة التعليم ومن وضع الخطط الموصلة إلى مجاوزة الصعوبات عند المتعلـّم

1. Introduction

Punctuation can be defined as the use of spacing and conventional signs to help the understanding of the handwritten and printed texts. Punctuation marks are used to create sense, clarity and stress in sentences and they are also used to structure and organize the text.

The punctuation rules vary with language and register. Some punctuation aspects of are stylistic choices. For language such Arabic, the punctuation marks are relatively a modern innovation since Arabic did not use punctuation and therefore the punctuation rules in Arabic are not always consistently used. From a Natural Language Processing (NLP) perspective, punctuation marks can be useful in the automatic sentence Segmentation tasks, since the sentences boundaries and phrase boundaries can be estimated according to punctuation marks. Moreover and as shown by a number of studies, the absence of punctuation could be confusing both for humans and computers.

Furthermore, many NLP systems trained on well formatted text often have problems when dealing with unstructured texts. In order to build robust automatic punctuation systems, large scale manually punctuated corpora are usually needed. In this abstract, we present our effort to build a large scale error corrected punctuated corpus for Arabic. We present our special punctuation annotation guidelines designed to improve the inter-annotator agreement. Our guidelines were used by trained annotators and a regular inter-annotator agreement were measured to ensure the annotation quality.

2. Corpus Description:

In this work, we describe the 2M words corpus developed for the Qatar Arabic Language Bank (QALB) project a large-scale error annotation effort that aims to create a manually corrected corpus of errors including punctuation errors for a variety of Arabic texts (Zaghouani et al., 2014; Zaghouani et al., 2015). The goal of the annotation in this project is twofold: first, to correct the existing punctuation found in text, than to add the missing necessary punctuation when needed. The comments are selected from the available comments related to news stories. The native student essays data is 150k words extracted from the Arabic Learners Corpus (ALC). The non-native student essays data, is 150k words corpus selected the Arabic Learners Written Corpus (ALWC). The data is categorized by the student level (beginner, intermediate, advanced), learner type (L2 vs. heritage), and essay type (description, narration, instruction).

Finally, the machine translation output data is collected from 100k words of English news article taken from the collaborative journalism Wikinews website. The corpus includes 520 articles with an average of 192 words per article. The original English files were in HTML format and were exported to a UTF-8 plain Text standard format so it can be used later on in the annotation tool. Afterwards, the corpus collected was automatically translated from English to Arabic using the Google Translate API service.

3. Punctuation Annotation Guidelines

Our punctuation guidelines focus on the types of punctuation errors that are targeted and describe the process of how to correct them and also when to add the missing punctuation marks. Many annotated examples are provided in the guidelines to illustrate the various annotation rules and exceptions. Since the Arabic punctuation rules are not always clearly defined, we adopted an iterative approach for developing the guidelines, which includes multiple revisions and updates needed to different rounds of updating and annotation to reach a consistent set of directions.

In order to help our annotators with some complex punctuation rules, we wrote a summary of the most common punctuation marks rules in Arabic as an appendix to the guidelines.

The rules of punctuation vary with language and register. Moreover, aspects of punctuation use vary from author to author, and can be considered a stylistic choice.

While punctuation in the English or French language is guided by a series of grammar-related rules, in other languages such as Arabic, punctuation is a recent innovation as pre-modern Arabic did not use punctuation.

According to Awad (2013), there is an inconsistency in the punctuation rules and usage in Arabic, and omitting the punctuation marks is a very frequent error. We use the Arabic standard general punctuation rules commonly used today and described in Awad (2013).

Punctuation errors are especially present in student essays and online news comments. This is mainly due to the fact that some punctuation mark rules are not clearly defined in Arabic writing references. We created a set of simple rules for correcting punctuation and adding missing ones.

4. Annotation Procedure

The lead annotator is also the annotation work-flow manager of this project. He frequently evaluate the quality of the annotation, monitor and report on the annotation progress.

A clearly defined protocol is set, including a routine for the annotation job assignment and the inter-annotator agreement evaluation. The lead annotators is also responsible of the corpus selection and normalization process beside the annotation of the gold standard to be used to compute the Inter-Annotator Agreement (IAA) portion of the corpus.

The annotators in this project are five university graduates with good Arabic language background. To ensure the annotation quality, an extensive training phase for each annotator was conducted. Afterwards, the annotator's performance is closely monitored during the initial period, before allowing the annotator to join the official annotation production phase. Moreover, a dedicated on-line discussion group is frequently used by the annotation team to keep track of the punctuation questions and issues raised during the annotation process, this mechanism, proved to help the annotators and the lead annotator to have a better communication.

This framework includes two major components:

 1. The annotation management interface which is used to assist the lead annotator in the general work-flow process, it allows the user to upload, assign, monitor, evaluate and export annotation tasks.

 2. The annotation interface is the actual annotation tool, which allows the annotators to do the manual correction of the Arabic text and add the missing punctuation or correct the existing ones.

All the annotation history is recorded in a database and can be exported to an XML export file to keep a trace of the entire correction actions for a given file.

5. Evaluation

To evaluate the punctuation annotation quality, we measure the inter-annotator agreement (IAA) on randomly selected files to ensure that the annotators consistently following the annotation guidelines. A high annotation agreement is a good indicator of the data quality. The IAA is measured over all pairs of annotations to compute the AWER (Average Word Error Rate). In this evaluation, the WER measures the punctuation error against all punctuation marks in the text. The average IAA results obtained was 89.84% (WER) computed over 10 files from each corpus (4,116 words total) annotated by at least three different annotators. Overall, the results obtained showed that the annotators are consistently following the punctuation guidelines.

6. Conclusions

We presented our method to create an Arabic manually punctuated corpus, including the writing of the guidelines as well as the annotation procedure and the quality control procedure used to verify the annotation quality. We showed that there is a high variety in the use of punctuation in Arabic texts and despite the existence of punctuation rules, the use of punctuation in Arabic is highly individual and it depends on the style of the author who defines his own use of punctuation.

7. References

Awad, D. (2013). La ponctuation arabe: histoire et règles.

Zaghouani, W., Mohit, B., Habash, N., Obeid, O., Tomeh, N., Rozovskaya, A., Farra, N., Alkuhlani, S., and Oflazer, K. (2014). Large scale arabic error annotation: Guidelines and framework. In International Conference on Language Resources and Evaluation (LREC 2014).

Zaghouani, W., Habash, N., Bouamor, H., Rozovskaya, A., Mohit, B., Heider, A., and Oflazer, K. (2015). Correction annotation for non-native arabic texts: Guidelines and corpus. Proceedings of The 9th Linguistic Annotation Workshop, pages 129–139.

This is a story of the National Flag of the State of Qatar. This Flag is white pierced with nine serrated points penetrating to the light Maroon portion. The origin of the colour of this Flag dates back to the Bronze Age of 3rd millennium BC. Archeologists found that the prehistoric settlers established a factory on Jezirat bin Ghannam (an island at the Bay of Al Khor) to produce purple red dyes from species of sea snails. This dye was imported by other countries to use for ceremonial and ritual garments for the royals including emperors, kings and high ranking citizens. The Maroon colour comes from the dye drying under the hot desert sun. Before 1851, each Qatari tribe had its own Flag. They used to fly them during fights, festivals and celebrations. In 1851, in an effort to unite all Qatari tribes under one banner, Sheikh Jasim bin Thani, the founder of Modern Qatar, adopted a single Flag to face Amir Faisal bin Turki, who arrived at Mesaimeer, a place situated to the west of Doha. Since then Qatar had been using this purple-red Flag. In 1916 the Anglo-Qatari Protection Treaty was concluded bringing Qatar under British Trucial system of administration, as 9th Member. Other members of the Trucial administration (now the United Arab Emirates), were Abu Dhabi, Dubai, Sharjah, Ras al-Khaimah, Ajman, Umm al-Qawain, Fujairah and later Bahrain. In line with the terms of the Treaty of 1916, the British Admiralty prescribed a distinctive Flag for Qatar in April 1932. This Flag was very similar to the Flag of Bahrain except the portion “which is red in the Bahrain Flag is more nearly Violet [Purple] in the case of Qatar.” While Bahrain's Flag had eight zigzag points, the Qatari Flag had nine. This prescribed purple colour Flag was not acceptable to Sheikh Abdullah bin Jasim Al Thani, Ruler of Qatar (1913–1949). He adopted a Crimson Flag with a serrated white strip near the staff pierced with Crimson diamonds. The word “Qatar” in Arabic characters inscribed in white on Crimson. Sheikh Abdullah adopted this Crimson colour to avoid confusion with Bahrain's red Flag. The small crimson diamonds between each zigzag point was added to distinguish the strips. This Flag also possessed nine points and the total number of diamonds was also nine. Crimson or Maroon represents coagulated blood colour. Red turns into Crimson or Maroon when it becomes dry. In 1949, Sheikh Ali bin Abdullah Al Thani, Ruler of Qatar (1949–1960), changed the colour of the Flag and adopted Maroon. This colour was obtained by exposing the natural red dye. In 1960, the country's name and the diamonds were removed from the Flag; but the colour and the serration remained the same. From 1960 to December 2012, Qatar flew this Maroon Flag. The Maroon portion of the Flag carries the past history, culture and heritage of Qatar. For the same reasons as before, the Maroon colour was used to differentiate it from the Flag of Bahrain and the nine points remained. On the occasion of the celebration of Qatar's sixth National Day, 18th December 2012, His Highness Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa Al Thani, Amir of the State of Qatar (June 1995–June 2013), now the Father Amir, changed the colour of the Flag to the 1851 light Maroon instead of dark to maintain the continuation of the old heritage of Qatar. In this way, through history, Qatar now has a new National Flag. Its meaning is from ancient natural resources from Qatar and is directly linked to the Qatari Royal Family.

This paper will analyze the contributions of transnational universities in Gulf to make Gulf cities transnational meeting places between national and professional cultures for creating innovative, knowledge-based economies and for building strategic knowledge relations with existing Western partners and new emerging market partners (the case of China).

The paper will have special emphasis on Doha and compare with other Gulf cities with transnational university environments as Abu Dhabi, Dubai, Sharjah and Kuwait City. The paper makes policy recommendations for Doha on maximizing the quality and intensity of transnational university relations. These recommendations will focus on developing transnational triple-helix innovation systems linking academia, business and government in Doha (elsewhere in the Gulf) as well as strategic knowledge relations for politics and diplomacy with both traditional partners in the West and new partners in emerging markets especially in Asia. These two agendas are mutually reinforcing as thriving global centers of triple helix innovation between academia, business and government stand the best chances of building strategic knowledge relations for politics and diplomacy. This research builds on field work in Lebanon, Egypt, UAE and Kuwait and 100+ interviews there and wider.

Qatar and other Gulf states are seeking to transform fossil fuel-based economies to innovative, knowledge-based economies and have large youth population. Both aspects demand quality and innovative higher education and expanded capacity. Gulf states have initially turned to privatization and internationalization attracting or establishing transnational universities (foreign branch campuses, universities offering double or foreign degrees, or universities with foreign accreditations or management partnerships). Qatar is now taking the next step of strengthening and internationalizing its national university. Both private and public transnational academic institutions connect a range of academic, government, business and civil society actors in Qatar and other Gulf societies with overseas societies.

Qatar also exists in a region with significant risks and pressures on the state as the other Gulf states. Qatar is therefore dependent on strategic relationships with the USA, European states, regional states and further. It is crucial for Qatar that there exist deep and longstanding knowledge relations between Qatari and foreign decision-makers in politics, (energy) business, military, academia, etc, with a deep knowledge of issues and other actors. There exists today such strong knowledge relations between especially Qatar, the Gulf states and the USA based on decades of close collaboration, educational and research collaboration, etc. However, Qatar lives in a changing world of globalization and rising new centers of power, most notably China. Qatar and China have not had the opportunity to build such a strategic knowledge relationship. It is imperative for Qatar going forward to do so.

Research on the historical transnational universities in the Middle East, the American University of Beirut, the Université Saint-Joseph de Beyrouth and the American University in Cairo, shows that these universities are exceptionally influential transnational actors moving ideas, information, talent and financial resources of high quality and intensity (Bertelsen 2012b). The Beirut universities transformed their urban environment making Beirut into an intellectual regional hub. The historical transnational universities are particularly interesting for their ability to build strong and long-lasting knowledge connections with high-ranking academia, business and government in especially the USA and France.

The basis of this paper is how public and private transnational universities in Qatar and the Gulf can create transnational relations with academia, government, business and civil society in both the USA and Europe – but also China as a case of emerging market science, technology and innovation systems. The purpose of these strong transnational knowledge relations is building transnational triple helix innovation systems in Doha and other Gulf cities both with connections to existing Western strategic partners and centers of science, technology and innovation and future partners.

The paper analyzes how universities in Doha and other Gulf societies contribute to create transnational cities with relations to academia, government, business and civil society in both the USA, Europe and China and thus contribute significantly to creating innovative, knowledge-based urban and national economies and strategic knowledge relationships.

The research finding and policy implications is that the transnational knowledge relations of Doha (and other Gulf university cities) are central for Qatar (and other Gulf states) in both strategic economic and political aspects: For economic policy strategy, these relations are central for building human capital with global skills and networks for building transnational triple helix innovation systems in Doha and wider, which can transform Qatar and other Gulf states into more knowledge-based economies. Here it is important both to strengthen existing knowledge relations to current US and European centers of science, technology and innovation.

For political and diplomatic strategy, these transnational knowledge relations are equally important. It is crucial for Qatar and the other Gulf states to maintain dense networks of Qatari and foreign current and future decision-makers in politics, business, academia, military, etc, who have a deep understanding of Qatari and Gulf affairs seen from within the Gulf and from outside. Such relations take decades to build up and are long-term investments. Again it is crucial to maintain the strategic knowledge relations between Qatar and its Western partners. However, Qatar lives in a rapidly changing world of globalization and new centers of power in Asia. Qatar and the other Gulf states have not cultivated the long-term and deep knowledge relations with especially China as with the West. Equally China lacks networks, knowledge and understanding of Qatar. Therefore it is of strategic importance that public and private universities in Qatar and Doha as a global city of knowledge build transnational knowledge relations with academia, business and government in China. (It is also important with other Asian emerging markets as India, South Korea, etc. China is selected here as the most important case).

- الملخلص بالعربية:

كثيرة هي الدراسات النقدية والبحوث الأكاديمية التي اشتغلت بقراءة وتحليل ومقاربة ما اصطلح على تسميته بالشعر الحديث، ولابد من الإشارة إلى أن الشعر الحديث هو كل نص شعري كتب برؤية جديدة معتمداً على تقنية فنية متفردة لم يسبق إليها من قبل؛ أي لم تكن مألوفة في الأوساط الشعرية، أو تم التميز والفرادة من خلالها نتيجة استخدامها بطريقة مختلفة، فالقصيدة الحديثة هي قصيدة ابتدعت بعيداً عن التقليد والاقتداء بالنمط الجاهز والاتباع لقانون الجماعة السائد، وكان ذلك الابتداع في كافة الأصعدة والمستويات، الدلالية والصوتية واللغوية، فجاءت نصاً ذو تشكيلات متناسبة والتجربة الشعرية لمبدعها، إلا أن المتمعن في مدونة الشعر الحديث، يجد بروز مسألة مهمة شغلت التفكير النقدي، هي مفهوم الشعرية poetics، وأستطيع القول أنها من المفاهيم الحديثة القديمة؛ حيث عرف منذ أرسطو، غير أننا في الوقت الراهن لم نعد نتحدث عن شعرية بل شعريات حديثة، ولم يعد حديثنا عن الشعرية قصراً على الحقل الشعري، أو حتى الأدبي، بل تجاوز هذا المفهوم حدود الأدب ليمتد إلى الفنون والمجالات الأخرى، فنجد من النقاد من يتحدث عن شعرية السرد، وشعرية الفنون الشكيلة، وغيرها.

وانطلاقاً مما سبق يرتكز اهتمام هذا البحث على موضوع مهم في مجال نظرية الأدب، وفي ميدان الشعرية تحديداً، هو موضوع الشعرية الحداثية؛ فقد ارتبط مفهوم الشعرية بتطور مفاهيم الحداثة وتعاقب حركات التجديد المختلفة، وأما قضية الحداثة فقد عدت من المسائل المعقدة التي اهتم بها النقاد لسنوات سواء على المستوى الغربي أم العربي، وتم طرحها على مستويات مختلفة فلسفية وأدبية وسياسية وفكرية وثقافية، ومما زاد الإشكال في هذا الموضوع هو عدم وجود تعريف دقيق لماهية الحداثة وجوهرها، فلكل مبدع أو ناقد أو مفكر حداثته الخاصة ورؤيته الفلسفية لما حوله، حيث أن لكل حركة حداثية جملة من التصورات والرؤى تستند عليها في خلق شعريتها المميزة، وبهذا لن يكون الحديث عن شعرية واحدة بل شعريات وفقاً لتعدد الحداثات، ولا أدل على تلك الإشكالية من أن كل شاعر حداثي قد انطلق في خلق عالمه الشعري الخاص من عالم المجهول، فأصبح العالم من حوله خاضعا لعلل الذات، ما جعل المتلقي بعد ذلك يقف في صدمة أمام ذلك الخطاب الشعري في محاولة فك شفراته، ومن هنا جاء هذا البحث محاولاً دراسة الشعر الحداثي في منطقة الخليج الذي تمثل من وجهة نظري في نموذجين أساسيين عرفهما الشعر العربي، يتشكل الأول فيما اصطلح على تسميته بالشعر الحر، والنموذج التحديثي الآخر في مسار شعرنا العربي، الذي أحدث –وما زال- ضجة كبيرة، وصخب غير مسبق، هو ما اصطلح على تسميته بــــقصيدة النثر، فوقفت على تجارب كثيرة لشعراء معاصرين في هذه المنطقة ممن استطاعوا أن يتمثلوا هذا التيار وفلسفاته المختلفة، ساعية بذلك إلى محاولة توضيح أبرز تجليات الشعرية الحداثية في المدونة الشعرية في منطقة الخليج.

- الملخص بالإنجليزية:

Many studies devoted to analyzing modern poetry which refers to poetical texts that is unique in its vision and techniques. The modern poem goes beyond imitating or repeating other texts. It is unique in its semantic, linguistic and phonological levels. The modern poetry is highly interested in poetics which is an ancient still modern concept. However, we nowadays talk about multiplicity of poetics. Poetics now is a field that is shared with other disciplines such as narration and fine arts.

Based on what has mentioned previously, this research focuses on the modern poetics and its relations with the concept of modernity. Modernity is a complex issue. It is quite difficult to give a widely accepted notion for it as every critic or intellectual has his (her) own definition. This diversity is manifested in the different approached to poetry. This research attempts at studying modern poetry in the Gulf area. I will study the free verse poetry and the prose poems. A selected corpus from around the Gulf will be analyzed.

In recent years, vision based solutions have shown improvement in performance for scenes containing single or few persons for the tasks of person detection, tracking, and action recognition. Dense crowd analysis is the next step which actually helps to solve more useful real word problems. It is crucial for surveillance, space and infrastructure management of large events such as political, religious, social, and sports gatherings.

Visual analysis of a dense crowd is significantly difficult as compare to a single or few person analyses due to a set of challenges including severe occlusion, low resolution, and perspective distortion. Such environment also offers a set of special constraints such as person visibility is strongly dependent on the position of other persons or a persons actions can also be inferred from the actions of the surrounding people.

Person pose detection in densely crowded scenes is very challenging task but also very useful for the higher level tasks like person tracking, action recognition and activity classification etc. Many automatic person pose detection methods are proposed in literature but for only single or few persons. These algorithms expect visibility of full body and therefore try to fit in all body parts. The body parts which are occluded are also forced to fit in resulting in incorrect detection (Fig. 1). We present a pose detection method for partially occluded persons using the extra constraints available in the dense crowd videos. We present our results on S-Hock spectator crowd dataset. It consists 15 videos each contains 929 frames recorded by five different cameras in four ice hockey matches. The annotations (face and head boundaries) for each person in each frame are also available.

In S-Hock dataset all videos were recorded using fixed cameras. Which means we can easily calculate the expected person height and width in pixels using the intrinsic and extrinsic parameters of the camera. We use state of the art face detector to get an initial bounding box around the face of each person. We use the expected person height and width along with person's face bounding box to get initial person boundary. In a crowded environment, a person is usually occluded by other persons therefore initial boundaries have significant overlap with other persons boundaries and we use this fact to correct the initial boundary of each person.

Figure 1 Results of the current state of the art human pose detection algorithm of Yong and Ramanan 2013 articulated on spectator crowd dataset Conigliaro 2015 shock. Only head (green) and arms (magenta and cyan) skeleton elements are displayed. The algorithm performed excessive errors.

Figure 2 Horizontal vs. Vertical occlusion. Left: two examples of horizontal occlusion. Green shaded regions show the bounding box of the person of interest. Right: two examples of vertical occlusion.

Figure 3 Left: ground truth vs estimated bounding box comparison. Right: horizontally occluded region and its edge representation. We check the curvature of the longest curve segment. The person corresponding to concave curvature is foreground and the person corresponding to convex curvature is in the background. For the background person we do not try to detect his occluded arm while pose detection.

First we adjust the horizontal lower boundary of a person using vertical occlusion (Figure 2). To detect the vertical occlusion we use the detected face position and define the vertical occlusion as if two detected faces horizontally overlap each other more than a certain threshold (25%) and their vertical distance is less than the person expected height then upper person is occluded by the lower one. If a person is vertically occluded by another person then we limit its lower horizontal boundary to the center of face of person below (Fig. 2). Second, we shrink the vertical boundaries of a person bounding box using the horizontally adjacent persons. If any person's initial vertically boundary overlap more than fifty percent with the face of horizontally adjacent person then this boundary will be limited by the center of that face (Fig. 2).

Figure 4 Results of Yong and Ramanan 2013 articulated pose detection algorithm on partially occluded persons. Since the algorithm is not able to automatically detect occluded body parts, therefore the algorithm forcefully tries to fit in the legs (red) and torso (yellow) and makes obvious mistakes.

Figure 5 After detecting the partially visible body parts of the three persons we apply the partial trained model consisting of head (green), upper torso (yellow) and arms (cyan and magenta) for pose detection. The partial model has performed quite well on the partially visible bodies and forcefully fitting of missing body parts is avoided.

After bounding box corrections we compared our estimated bounding boxes with the available ground truth and got very close match (Fig. 3). In person segmentation problem, we not only need to locate the person but also separate it from the other persons and the background. For this we need to identify that which person is at the front and which is at the back in the occluded region. We divide the occlusion issue into vertical and horizontal occlusions. First, vertical occlusion occurs when a person sits in front of other person and it is normal in spectator crowds. It means the person with lower head position will be in foreground. So we sort the persons using their vertical head position and mark the person as foreground in occluded region who has lower head position. Second, horizontal occlusion occurs due to the side by side appearance of persons. It is more challenging to mark a person as foreground or background in horizontally occluded region. To cope with this challenge we find edges in the occluded region and fit a curve in these edges. If the curve is concave with respect to the right person then this person is in foreground and other in background and vice versa (Fig. 3).

After having enough information about the person's location, occluded region, and boundary, the next step is to apply a state of the art pose detector to get the person pose. We use an approach similar to and train different body parts models (Fig. 5) including full body, upper body or head with arms which use the persons boundary and position information as prior. At time of detection, detection model is selected based on the size and shape of person's corrected bounding box for precise pose estimation. This model selection step helps to avoid the forceful detection of occluded parts. At the end, all detections of the pose detectors are reasoned holistically with respect to other persons positions. The proposed approach has demonstrated significant improvement over the full body detector when applied to dense crowds.

In future we will use the extracted pose information from consecutive frames of a video sequence of a crowd for the purpose of action or activity recognition. Pose information will enrich the optical flow based action or activity recognition algorithms offering them excessive information. Pose information is also required to localize the motion performed by different persons in dense crowds and thus action assignment will be improved.

Acknowledgment

This work was made possible by NPRP grant number NPRP 7-1711-1-312 from the Qatar National Research Fund (a member of Qatar Foundation). The statements made herein are solely the responsibility of the authors.

This study explores possible determinants of blogging in the Arab world. In particular, it tests the stereotype that political motives are strongly behind blogging among survey respondents in six Arab countries. Human rights activists, scholars, and others have often speculated about the role the Internet plays in the political mobilization of Arab populations in recent years and, at the same time, how political disaffection may drive online behaviors such as blogging (see, e.g., Ulrich, 2009).Discussions of why people in the Arab world blog are long anecdotes and short on representative data. It has been claimed that blogs allow Arabs to participate in politics in a way they often cannot through other means of communication (Lynch, 2007), which, while possibly true, has not been studied as a primary motivation for blogging in Arab countries through the administration of large surveys. Based on their analysis of Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, and blog posts during the uprisings in Egypt and Tunisia, Howard et al. (2012) assumed that social media were among the primary drivers of political activity and change, despite the fact that just one in five Egyptians were Internet users as recently as 2013 (Dennis, Martin & Wood). Online communication tools in Saudi Arabia, blogs among them, wrote Murphy (2015, p. 18), “constructed a whole new dimension to Saudi life by creating a social and political space where Saudis are expressing themselves more freely than ever,” but her conclusions came from interviews with a convenience sample of largely English-speaking, educated elites. In sum, the somewhat thin evidence does not generally support the supposition that the driving motives of blogging are political dissent and disaffection—in other words, that people blog because they want to express their views that detract from those of ruling class(es). But is this impression from countries outside the Middle East also true for the Arab world? The notion of whether political motives, or actually other antecedents, drive blogging in Arab countries forms our general research question on Arab blogging: What are the possible determinants of blogging and its frequency in Arab countries? This study examines predictors of blogging in six Arab countries—in a secondary analysis of population surveys of, in total, 7,525 respondents in Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Lebanon, Bahrain, Jordan and the United Arab Emirates in 2013. The surveys assessed a wide variety of Internet uses, news and information consumption, and also levels of political efficacy, media trust, and attitudes toward free speech, among other cultural and political indicators. Despite the oft-referenced supposition that blogging in the Arab world is associated with political disaffection, results here suggest blogging is mainly connected to online engagement in general—such as sharing photos online, participating in online chats, and reading others' blogs—rather than to sociopolitical indicators. In none of five of the six countries, for example, does a sense that one's country was not “on the right track” significantly predict blogging behavior. Also, distrust of mainstream news organizations played a minimal role only.

References

Dennis, E. E., Martin, J. D., & Wood, R. (2013). Media use in the Middle East. Northwestern University in Qatar. Retrieved April 27, 2015, from http://menamediasurvey.northwestern.edu

Howard, P.N., Duffy, A., Freelon, D., Hussain, M., Mari, W. & Mazaid, M. (2011). Opening Closed Regimes: What Was the Role of Social Media During the Arab Spring?. Seattle: PIPTI. Retrieved May 22, 2012 from http://pitpi.org/index.php/2011/09/11/opening-closed-regimes-what-was-the-role-of-social-media-during-the-arab-spring/

Lynch, M. (2007, April 10). “Blogging the new Arab public: Arab blogs' political influence will grow.” World Politics Review. Retrieved September 7, 2014, from http://www.worldpoliticsreview.com/articles/694/blogging-the-new-arab-public-arab-blogs-political-influence-will-grow

Ulrich, B. (2009). Historicizing Arab blogs: Reflections on the transmission of ideas and information in Middle Eastern history. Arab Media & Society, 8.

A growing phenomenon, which is gaining attention worldwide, is the rapid diffusion of themed-sport areas as legacies of mega-sporting events. An example of it is offered by the city of Doha. On the occasion of 2006 Asian Games, the capital of Qatar faced some significant urban transformations. The principal legacy left after staging the event is the implementation of the Aspire Zone, Doha's Sports City. Is this legacy beneficial in a long-term perspective? What is the value added to the city and its inhabitants? This study attempts at providing insight into the potential offered by themed-sport areas as legacies of mega events, and it aims at evaluating the rationale for the realization of sports dedicated zones, analysing their impact from a physical and social perspective. Specifically, the research offers an investigation into the long-term cost-benefit effect of the Aspire Zone, Doha Sports City, by conducting a post-occupancy evaluation. Conclusions show that there is a potential to realize sports-oriented area that are fully integrated into cities, but the design of a comprehensive and long-term plan is needed. Moreover, providing a sports city with a variety of different activities and functions will contribute to attracting different types of users and avoid occasional use. Mega-events have existed for a very long time, but it is only since the last century that they have been perceived and adopted as tools of urban transformation. Many scholars define the 1960 Olympic Games in Rome as the first example of event intentionally used for urban redevelopment purposes, while the Olympic Village set for the 1972 Olympics in Munich is considered an early case of event led sports city, as the village was concentrated in one main area (the Olympic Park), instead of being spread around the city, and as it was specifically designed for delivering urban leisure. Both Rome and Munich opened the way, and nowadays cities are increasingly competing and bidding to secure the hosting of mega-events, attracted by their potential urban regeneration effect. However, results are not encouraging, and literature shows how difficult is to transform event sites into well-integrated areas inside cities. These adverse outcomes are even exacerbated when events are used for the redevelopment of brownfield zones, or when events are held in suburban areas, because apart from sports activities, generally only a few other services are offered. This is the case of Sydney, which held the Olympics in 2000. Its sports site at Homebush Bay is about 15 km far from the city centre, and it has been under-utilised since the post-staging event. The Arabian Peninsula is not an exception in the desire of staging mega-events, being the area characterized by a massive sportification, expressed through the birth of several sports TV channels (Al Jazeera Sports, Dubai Sports, Saudi Sports, and Abu Dhabi Sport channels, among others), through the increasing migration flows of international athletes and trainers toward the region, and through the significant rise in the number of international sport events held (e.g.: Bahrain International Formula One Grand Prix, Doha Moto GP, Dubai World Cup of horse racing, Doha Tennis ATP Tournament, and many others). In the case of Doha, the phenomenon of sportification is translated into the desire of transforming the city into a sporting hub: looking at the official Qatar Tourism website, the first theme of the section “Activities” is dedicated to “Sports”, in which Qatar is defined as “Home to Sports”. Moreover, sport has a key role in the 2030 Qatar National Vision, in which sports tourism is indicated as an example of economy diversification from the oil-based model. Finally, Doha has bided and staged many international events: twenty-two international tournaments were hosted only in 2013 (Table 1), and this number will grow in the future. The process of transforming itself into an international sporting hub started with the Asian Games in 2006. In that occasion, the city faced some significant urban transformations. One of them, the principal legacy, is the implementation of the Aspire Zone, Doha's Sports City (Fig. 1). Is this legacy beneficial in a long-term perspective? What is the value added to City and its inhabitants? Did it worth to build it or not? Moreover, finally, does it fulfil the need for public spaces in Doha? These are the questions that framed this study, and that will be analysed in the next section of the research. In particular, the study investigates the lack of urban public spaces in Doha, and it argues that themed-sports area can fulfil this scarcity. The research analysed the main legacy left by 2006 Asian Games: the Aspire Zone, Doha's sports-themed area. In particular, the study focused on the analysis of the physical and social impact on the city. According to the literature, sport-themed areas are extremely costly, underused, segregated spaces, which are far from being considered liveable, social and sustainable. These negative characteristics are often exacerbated by strict event specifications on design and high external pressure by event rights holders. The risk of this kind of developments is to increase the level of physical isolation and segregation. The study showed there is a potential to realize sports-oriented districts that are fully integrated into the hosting cities. But first, the locations chosen for the event need to be carefully selected according to the morphology and the needs of the city. Moreover, as Barcelona strategy showed, a more comprehensive and long-term plan can prevent these areas to be under-utilized, desolate and segregated, and regardless of where these sports facilities are placed, the best results in term of social impact can be reached if they are totally integrated into the city and fully used by residents. As the Aspire Zone in part accomplished, providing a sports city with a variety of different resources and functions will tend to attract different types of users and avoid occasional use. Adding to stadia and elitist venues more participatory sports facilities, green and open spaces, museums and exhibitions, shopping centres will increment the number of visitors, so that the sites will not be used only by athletes and passive spectators, creating liveable, self-sufficient, and socially inclusive urban areas. To conclude, when bidding for an event it is critical to have clear in mind the reasons why hosting it and to design the long-term legacies from the very beginning, at an early stage of the planning implementation. Cities as Doha, which lacks public spaces, can benefit from the creation of themed areas as legacies of events, but the risk is once again to focus on building iconic and spectacular physical venues at the expense of societal development that can improve the quality of life of its citizens. Looking at the future, staging the 2022 World Cup will be an unrepeatable occasion for transforming Doha into a more vibrant and liveable city: will the city take advantage of it? Hopefully, it will, but it cannot do it without learning from past experiences and mistakes, without looking at good examples and best practices, and without planning a long-term legacies strategy for it.

Acknowledgments

This article was made possible by GSRA grant # GSRA1-1-1119-13007 from the Qatar National Research Fund (a member of Qatar Foundation). The findings achieved herein are solely the responsibility of the author.

In 2013, The Central Bank of Libya declared that all Libyan banking institutions must become ‘sharia compliant’ by 2015. Thus, Central Bank of Libya (2013) has formally introduce the Islamic banking and finance model to be compulsory for the first time. Indeed, many Libyan banking institutions especially public banks will go through different complex organizational change processes in order to be able to act the rules of the Islamic banking organizations. Therefore, it is expected that, the processes of building up such organizing procedures will not take any definitive patterns, either implicitly or explicitly as shown in much of organizational change literature. Furthermore, it is difficult to imagine how different actors work out how to develop and achieve transforming banking practices into a model that is consistent with the principles of sharia and its practical applications. Yet, this organizational phenomenon has attracted our attention and it becomes increasingly difficult to neglect further exploration and understanding of the manner in which such organizational change processes are constructed and translated within the context of this country. To achieve the above objective this study follows two influential theoretical concepts of organizational change. Change as fluxing reality (Tsoukas and Chia, 2002) embodied in process philosophy and a “translation” model (Czarniawska and Joerges, 1996). The latter is also referred to as “processual, networked” approach (Nicolini, 2010). Therefore, this study will adapt the two theoretical perceptions to explore and account for the translation of a broad organizational/societal programme into local forms of actions. Whilst, the former presents a contemporary ontological understanding on how social phenomenon such as organizations and change should be constructed and therefore understood (Collins, 2002, 2004), the latter will allow us to follow processual networked patterns of organizing in an attempt to understand different social and complex organizational aspects of constructing change processes. In doing so, this study will draw on three case studies from the banking sector in Libya and based on a qualitative, inductive approach it seeks to explore the complex dynamics of organizational change processes within the Libyan banking context. In particular, the study seeks to contribute to organization theory in three main areas (A) exploring the very nature of organizational change processes and how change is constructed and translated. (b) To illustrate how actors enable and/constrain the translation process itself and with what consequences. (c) To contribute to the sociology of translation by mapping out what actors do to translate the concept of Islamic banking and finance into everyday practices.

نحاول في هذا البحث استعراض آراء الباحثين حول علم التأريخ لدى المسلمين، هل كان لدى المسلمين علم تأريخ خاص بهم؟ ونذكر ثلاثة آراء رئيسة تتناول هذا الموضوع. الرأي الأول: يرى أصحاب هذا الرأي أن ابن خلدون هو المؤسس الأول لعلم التأريخ، بتلك النظرة الغربية الحديثة لابن خلدون التي تجعل منه عالما غربيا بامتياز، وتتناسىى كونه عربيا مسلما حضارة وثقافة، يرى هؤلاء العلماء أن ما جاء في المقدمة هو نتاج تميز شخصي حاز عليه ابن خلدون، ومن ثم فهو ليس له امتداد تاريخي في الحضارة الإسلامية، وإنما هو كخضراء الدمن نشأ فريدا غريبا، ولذا كان الغربيون هم أول من اهتموا به ولفتوا النظر إلى ابن خلدون لأن العرب لم يكونوا ليفهموا هذا العلم الحديث لأنه ليس علمهم بل هو علم غربي كما يزعمون، حتى إن العرب لم يستفيدوا من كتابات ابن خلدون فعلم التاريخ عندهم لم يتغير بعده كثيرا، فالتغير ظل قاصرا على ظهور كتب الخطط، أما كتب التاريخ مثل كتاب السخاوي مثلًا فقد ظلت على ما هي عليه قبل ابن خلدون ولو يؤثر عليها الكتابات الخلدونية. ويذهب إلى هذا الرأي وجيه كوثراني. الرأي الثاني: أن المسلمين ليسوا في حاجة لعلم تأريخ من الأساس، ذلك أن العلم الذي استعمله المسلمون واعتمدوا عليه في معرفة الصواب من الخطأ التاريخي كان علم الإسناد، وهو العلم الذي لم يوجد لدى أحد من الأمم بهذا الشكل والحجم من قبل. فعلم الإسناد بما يتبعه من علم الرجال والجرح والتعديل والطبقات والوفيات والأنساب لم يحوج المسلمين إلى الاعتناء كثيرا بعلوم نقد المتن، وإن كان هذا لا يعني عدم وجودها البتة بطبيعة الحال، فشروط الرواية والرواة السابق الإشارة إليها ستظل هي عماد منهاج النقد عند أهل السنة في جميع أطواره، وإن اختلفت درجة الاحتكام إليها من طور لآخر من حيث التشدد أو التساهل. ويتبنى هذا الرأي أحمد الشال. والرأي الثالث: يذهب إلى أن المسلمين كان لهم علم تأريخ وهذا العلم هو علم مصطلح الحديث. ويأتي على رأس من يقولون بهذا القول أسد رستم والذي ألف كتابا سماه “مصطلح التاريخ” كأنه بهذا يجمع بين التاريخ ومصطلح الحديث. ورستم يقول إن أول نمن نظم نقد الروايات التاريخية ووضع القواعد لذلك علماء الدين الإسلامي، وهو يرى أنه ليس بإمكان كبار المؤرخين في أوروبا والغرب أن يكتبوا أفضل مما كتب علماء المصطلح وإن مباحث مثل مباحث “تحري الرواية والمجيء باللفظ” تضاهي ما ورد في نفس الموضوع مما كتبه الغربيون في عصرنا الحديث. ويضيف أن التاريخ ليس مجرد نقل للرواية والأسانيد بل علم له أصول وقواعد كما علوم الفقه والهندسة والطب، وهذه الأصول تتلاقى في كثير من الأمور مع أصول علم الحديث المتمثلة في علم المصطلح. وبعد هذا نناقش في بحثنا أولا ماهية علم التأريخ وعلاقته بعلم مصطلح الحديث، فأقول إنه لا يخفى على أحد ما امتاز به علم الإسناد في الإسلام، فهذا العلم على مر تاريخ كان مفخرة المسلمين التي لم يسبق أحد من الأمم لمثل هذا العلم كما يقول العلماء. والمتتبع لكتب التاريخ يجد علم الإسناد قد احتل نصيب الأسد في منهجية تلك الكتب. انظر على سبيل المثال كيف مكن علم الإسناد مؤرخا كالطبري من القول إن ما يكن في كتابي هذا من خبر ذكرناه عن بعض الماضين مما يستنكره قارئه، أو يستشنعه سامعه، من أجل أنه لم يعرف له وجها في الصحة، ولا معنى في الحقيقة، فليعلم أنه لم يؤت في ذلك من قبلنا، وإنما أتى من قبل بعض ناقليه إلينا، وإنا إنما أدينا ذلك على نحو ما أدي إلينا. فقد وجد في الأسانيد التي يسوقها في كل رواية عذرا ومجنا له دون نقد الناقدين، فهو بتقديمه للإسناد كأنه يقول إنما نقلت لك ما عرفت ونقلت لك أداة التمييز بين الخبيث والطيب فما عليك إلا أن تعمل الأداة لتعرفه. لكن لو لم يكن ثم الإسناد لما كان بوسع الطبري أن ينقل ما نقل وإلا كان ملبسا على الخلق. ويقول المسعودي في مقدمة كتابه إن كتابنا هذا كتاب خبر لا كتاب بحث ونظر، أما السخاوي فيقول إن شرط المؤرخ هو شرط المحدث حتى إن العلماء لم يجوزوا حكاية شيء من أمور الدين والهداية إلا بمستند تجوز بمثله الرواية لعلمهم أنه يشترط في المؤرخ ما يشترط من العدالة والضبط المضبوط ليكون معتمدا في أمر الدين وأمينا فيه بين المسلمين ولتزداد الرغبة في تاريخه من المعتبرين. بل حتى ابن خلدون الذي يعزى إليه نقد منهج الإسناد والقول بعدم كفاءته كمنهج للتاريخ، لم يهدم المنهج الإسنادي لدى المؤرخين بل أكد على أهمية الجمع بين علم السند وعلم العمران الذي أنشأه، فهو مثلا حين يذكر من أخطاء المؤرخين وقوعهم في الثقة بالناقلين يرى أن الحل في هذا هو الاعتماد على علم الجرح والتعديل. لكن هل تعني أهمية علم السند عند المسلمين أنه كان المنهجية الوحيدة التي اعتمدوا عليها؟ وهل ابن خلدون هو الوحيد الذي خرج عن هذا النسق؟ ما أدعيه أن ابن خلدون هو امتداد لمدرسة تاريخية أصيلة وأنه ليس فريدا من بابه، نعم لا شك هو قد أوضح وأصل وعمق الفكرة لكنه بنى ذلك على تاريخ إسلامي قديم، قائم على النقد والتمحيص المتجاوز لفكرة السند نفسها. وللدلالة على ذلك نسوق أمرين: الأول: أن أهل الحديث أنفسهم لم يقتصروا على نقد السند فحسب، وإذا كان الحديث الذي هو كلام المعصوم صلى الله عليه وسلم خضع لتلك المعايير فإن التاريخ أولى. يقول معتز الخطيب إن اعتماد المحدثين على الإسناد لم يمنعهم من اللجوء إلى مناهج أخرى لنقد الحديث. وقد ساق دراسة كاملة عن هذا فليراجعها من أحب. الأمر الثاني: أن المؤرخين قبل ابن خلدون أنفسهم لجئوا لمناهج أخرى غير نقد السند. من ذلك ما يرويه هارون القروي أنه رأى الواقدي بمكة ومعه ركوة فقال أين تريد؟ فقال أريد أن أمضى إلى حُنين حتى أرى الموضع والموقعة. فهو لم يكتف بالأخبار بل أراد أن يقوم بدراسات ميدانية ethnographic ليتأكد من صحتها من عدمها. والمسعودي في مقدمة تاريخه يذكر مثل سابقه كيف أنه قطع الفيافي والجبال فقطع بلاد السند والصنف والصين والزابج وخراسان وأرمينية وأذربجان والران والبيلقان والعراق والشام ليرى البلاد “معاينة” ثم هو يلوم على من قنع بما نمى له من الأخبار وقعد في بلده. ومن قرأ مقدمة ابن خلدون وقرأ مقدمة مسكويه في تاريخه الموسوم بتجارب الأمم على وجازتها أدرك ما بينهما من الشبه. واليعقوبي لا يختلف عن ذلك ففي تاريخه يذكر بعض أساطير الفرس ثم يقول إن لهم أخبار قد أثبتت.. تركناها لأن مذهبنا ترك كل مستبشع. والمسعودي أيضا مثل صاحبه، بل هو لا يكتفي بنقد تلك الأخبار بل قد يذكرها ويعللها وفق ما يرى من علوم فيعلل ما يذكره العرب من الغول والعنقاء بأنه نتاج التوحد في القفار والإنسان إذا تفكر وإذا تفكر جبن فتدخله الظنون والأوهام ويتراءى له ما ليس بحقيقة. ما أفرضه في الجزء الثاني من هذا البحث أن على الباحث عن علم التأريخ الإسلامي أن يوسع نطاق بحثه ليتجاوز كتب التاريخ فيبحث في علوم الآلة عند المسلمين مثل علم الكلام الإسلامي وعلم أصول الفقه وما مثلهما من علوم المناهج. وما أحاوله هنا هو وضع لبنة في سبيل بناء هذا العلم من خلال جمع الأشتات الموجودة في تلك العلوم والمتعلقة بنقد التاريخ. والباحث في هذا الباب عليه أن يأخذ في اعتباره مجموعة من الاحترازات: فنحن حين نتحدث عن نقد التاريخ فإننا نعني به نقد التاريخ كما فهمه المسلمون في عصرهم، ولسنا ملزمين بالتقيد بمباحث نقد التاريخ الحديث والذي يجدر التنبيه على أنه علم غربي. وكذلك أننا حين نتحدث عن تشابه بين العلوم الإسلامية وعلم التأريخ المعاصر فهذا لا يعني نوع تطابق أو تماثل، أو أن التقسيات المعرفية الغربية يمكن أن تنطبق على التقسيمات الإسلامية. ثالثا أن تداخل العلوم لا يعني أن كل المناهج الموجودة في علوم الكلام أو الأصول أو المنطق يمكن تطبيقها على علم التاريخ، فالفروق موجودة بين العلوم ونفس المسألة قد تبحث في علم الكلام مثلا وقد يكون حكمها شيئا ما. وأخيرا فإن عدم جمع تلك القواعد في علم واحد في العصور المسلمة السابقة، لا يعني أنهم كانوا يجهلون تلك القواعد، فتلك القواعد كانت معلومة لدى الجميع وليست مما يخفى على دارس للعلم. وسنعرض بعد ذلك في بحثنا لمجموعة من القضايا والمناهج التي تشترك بين التاريخ وبين مناهج العلوم الأخرى كعلم الكلام والأصول ونحوها كما أسلفنا. وسنكتفي هنا في هذا الملخص بعرض مثال واحد لتلك النقاشات لأن المجال لا يتسع لأكثر من ذلك على أن تكون تلك المحاولة هي لبنة في بناء علم متكامل، من ذلك مثلا: هل يرى المسلمون أن للتاريخ قوانين وقواعد مضطردة يسير عليها؟ هل الأحداث التاريخية ناشئة عن أسباب عقلية لازمة أم عن مسببات غيبية متعالية؟ والإجابة على ذلك تطرقنا للحديث عن السببية وهو حديث قديم تطرق إليه علماء الكلام منذ القرن الأول الهجري، وهو كان وما زال محل جدل بين علماء المسلمين، لكن هل يمكننا تنزيل هذا الخلاف على الدراسات التاريخية؟ يرى الأشاعرة أن العلاقة بين السبب والمسبب هي علاقة عادية وليست تلازمية، بمعنى أن ما يجعل النار تحرق القطن ليس قوة كامنة في النار، وليس نتيجة علاقة تلازمية بين النار والقطن بحيث كلما عرضت القطن للقطن احترق، وإنما هي علاقة عادية بمعنى أنه قد جرت العادة على أن يحترق القطن كلما وضع على النار، لكن هل يعني هذا أن المسلمين لا يؤمنون بقوانين تحكم التاريخ وأنهم يعزون كل الأسباب إلى قوة الإله المتعالية كما كان هو الحال في القرون الوسطى في أوروبا؟ كما يقول أوغطسين إن الله أبدي وهو خالق الزمن، ولا يجوز فهم الأبدي ولا وصفه من وجهة نظر الموقت.. وليس في الإمكان الاعتقاد أن الله ترك ممالك البشر خارج قوانين العناية. ومن ثم فإن من الحكمة تعليل الأحداث بأنها مشيئة الله وخلقه يصرفه كيفما شاء. لكن المتتبع لكلام الأشاعرة يجدهم لا ينفون وجود علاقة بين السبب والمسبب، لكنهم يقولون إن هذه العلاقة علاقة عادية أي غير لازمة يمكن تخلفها، ومن ثم فلا مانع من أن نفسر تلك العلاقة وأن نبحث عن عللها وأسرارها، وهنا يظهر الفرق بين مذهب المسلمين ومذهب المسيحيين في القرون الوسطى فإن كان كلا الطرفين يسلمون بأن الأمر بيد الله، فإن المسلمين يرون أن هذا لا يتعارض مع وجود علاقة ما تفسر الأحداث التاريخية تفسيرا بشريا، وإن كانت هذه العلاقة غير لازمة. يذكر ولفرد كانتون سميث كيف أن الهندي لا يأبه للتاريخ ولا يحس بوجوده لأن التاريخ هو عالم الحس والهندي دائما مشغول بعالم الروح، وكيف أن المسيحي يعيش دائما في عالمين منفصلين المثل الأعلى غير القابل للتطبيق والواقع البشري المنقطع عن ذلك العالم، أما المسلم فالتاريخ بالنسبة له نسيج مشترك في حرية الإنسان وحكم الله. والسؤال الآخر هو هل هذه السنن مضطردة بمعنى أنها تحدث في كل عصر وزمان وكل زمان بغض النظر عن الفروق بين البشر؟ وهل هذه القواعد التي يتوصل إليها هي قابلة للخطأ أم هي مثل ما يدعى عن قواعد العلوم الطبيعية من أنها يمكن أن نصل إليها من غير خطأ، وهذا ينقلنا إلى مبحث القطعي والظني عند المسلمين. فإذا كان التاريخ يتوصل له من خلال استقراء الحوداث المختلفة وجمعها للوصول إل نتيجة ما، فتلك النتيجة إذا كانت نتيجة استقراء ناقص فهي ظنية وإن كانت نتيجة استقراء تام وهذا غير ممكن في التاريخ غالبا فهو قطعي الدلالة. وفي النهاية أعتقد أن هذه الدراسة قد تشكل نقلة مهمة وثورية في دراسة علم التأريخ لدى المسلمين، وقد تفتح الباب نحو إعادة فهم علم التأريخ الإسلامي بمنظور مختلف عن مجرد الحصر الضيق على الدراسات التاريخية فقط، فهي تقود إلى التركيز على أماكن لم يعن بها المؤرخون في بحثهم من قبل، وهي علوم الآلة لدى المسلمين متمثلة في علوم الكلام وأصول الفقه وعلوم القرآن.

The massive influx of foreign residents and workforce led to the exacerbation of the demographic imbalance in the GCC countries. As the rise of expatriate population may contribute to the economic growth, it may have an enormous impact on the regional social landscape. Therefore, the governments of the GCC States are trying to shape the process of national identity construction and attempt to rediscover their sense of self. During the past years, the debate about demographic imbalance has intensified in the region. It could be argued that the phenomena of “a minority in their homeland” mainly occurred due to the expansion of the oil industry, which has led to the inflow of a massive number of foreigners, leading to raise the concerns among GCC countries about the stability of the national identity in light of the disproportionate population demographics. Since the concept of identity from the social science perspective projects it as a fluid and a dynamic concept. This means, identity undergoes changes and transformations but this occurs in a state of relative stability. Consequently, this helped the Gulf States have led an up-bottom process of national identity construction by applying certain strategies for two related reasons. First, to establish a common sense of national identity among the locals that would make them feel distinctive from other countries. Secondly, through this instrument of building a national identity the GCC States would balance between the rapid modernization that is occurring within their borders and their indigenous values. Qatar is no exception in regard to what is happening in the Gulf. In fact, the last years has witnessed a rapid increase in the foreign population. This has resulted in establishing a number of cultural and national projects that aim to consolidate a sense of a Qatari national identity among the locals. The paper argues that Qatar has followed several procedures in order to construct and consolidate the sense of national identity within its nationals. First, this is done through revitalizing their heritage and past. Second, Qatar started to focus more on celebrating national occasions and creating a common sense of al-mwatana, belonging or loyalty. Third, they have put significant emphasis on the educational system. finally, the use of Arabic language in Qatar University is considered as a mean to enhance the sense of national identity. In order to pursue this argument, this paper first discusses the concept of identity and how countries built their national identities. Secondly, the paper addresses the debate about the absence of a nationalist history in the GCC as understood elsewhere in the Middle East. In this regard, it would focus on how tribal and religious identities were reinforced by the GCC states and how this has influenced the emergence of a coherent national identity. The second part will discusses the construction of Qatari heritage in the context of pre-conceived ideas of ‘cultural heritage’ predominant in the global and regional spheres that operate in this country. In the third part, the article would examine process of constructing this national idea and how it's been done. Finally, the paper would assess the measures used by Qatar in order to build a coherent national identity, and address what may challenge such coherence.