NICOTINE

          

Nicotine is an extremely poisonous, colorless, only liquid alkaloid that turns brown on exposure to air. The most potent ingredient of the TOBACCO plant, nicotiniana tabacum, it is found mainly in the leaves. Both nicotine and the tobacco plant are named for Jean Nicot, a French ambassador who sent tobacco from Portugal to Paris in 1560. nicotine can affect the human nervous system, causing respiratory failure and general paralysis. It may be absorbed through the skin. A typical cigarette contains 15 to 20 mg of nicotine. However, the actual amount that reaches the bloodstream and hence the brain through normal SMOKING is only about 1 mg.

* taken from GROLIER International Encyclopedia

By Grolier incorporated, Danbury, Connecticut, USA, 1991

Read More..

SOME BASIC ISLAMIC BELIEFS

There are six basic beliefs in Islam; they are belief in god, belief in the angels, belief in god's revealed books, belief in the prophets, belief in the day of judgment, and belief in al-qadar.     

Muslims believe in one, unique, incomparable god, who has no son nor partner, and that none has the right to be worshipped but him alone. The Arabic word Allah means god. The word Allah is mentioned in the Quran more than 2150 times. He is the god, and every other deity is false. He has he most magnificent names and sublime perfect attributes. No one shares his divinity, nor his attributes. No one has the right to be invoked, supplicated, prayed to, or shown any act of worship, but god alone. It is described in the Quran as follows. 

   Say: he is god, the one. God, to whom the creatures turn for their needs.he begets not, nor was he begotten, and there is none like him (Quran, 112:1-4). 

Muslims also believe in the existence of the angels and that they are honored creatures. The angels worship god alone, obey him, and act only by his command. Among the angels is Gabriel, who brought down the Quran to Muhammad (p.b.u.h.). Muslims believe that god revealed the holy books to his messengers as proof of their prophethood for mankind and as guidance for them. Among these books is the Quran. It is given to the prophet Muhammad. God has guaranteed the Quran's protection from any corruption or distortion.     God says: indeed, we have sent down the Quran, and surely we will guard it (from corruption) (Quran, 15: 9).    

In addition, Muslims believe in the prophets and messengers of god, including Adam, Noah, Abraham, Ishmael, Isaac, Jacob, Moses, Jesus (peace be upon them). But God's final message to man, a confirmation of the eternal message, was revealed to the prophet Muhammad p.b.u.h. it has been in the Quran:     Muhammad is not the father of any your men, but he is the messenger of god and the last prophet… (Quran, 33: 40).     

Moreover, Muslims believe in the day of judgment (day of resurrection) when all people will be resurrected for God's just judgment according to heir beliefs and deeds. Finally, Muslims believe in al-qadar, which is the divine predestination. However, this belief in divine predestination does not mean that people are not devised with freewill. Rather, it is believed by Muslims that god has given human beings free will. This means that they can choose between right or wrong and, that they are held responsible for their choices. 

 Source: A Brief Illustrated Guide To Understanding Islam  

Read More..

E-COMMERCE IN ISLAMIC PERSPECTIVES

            As far as Islamic welfare is concerned, islam accords a dominant importance to the trading sector as a major source of wealth and the engine of the economy.

            In this respect, the holy Qur’an  has many references to trade and commercial activities. For example, the Quranic ayats that support this statement are:

“Woe to almutaffifin [those who give less in measure and weight (decrease the rights of others)]” (83:1).

‘O you who believe! Eat not up your property among yourselves unjustly except it be a trade amongst you, by mutual consent. And “do not kill yourselves (do not kill one another). Surely, allah is most merciful to you” (4:29).

            What is more striking for a prophetic authority dated back to as long as fourteen centuries ago, is that Islamic teachings had been aware of what is conventionally known as “Trading Data Management”. This is justified by the fact that the religion of Islam is broken into four major legalistic sections, among which is “Islamic Business Transactions” (fiqh al-mu’amalat). It is not necessary to speak about the very ample provisions set by Islamic laws in regard to the efficient treatment of wealth. However, this research draws on the meaning of the smooth functioning of business transactions and commercial activities from the islam cater for E-commerce? Right from the very outset, our eminent sunnah (act of prophet p.b.u.h), in some aspects, preached the same quality values offered by ‘E-commerce”, particularly, accuracy and veracity, flexibility, convenience, contract standardization, speed, cost effectiveness, and others. Our prophet (p.b.u.h) said:

“Allah showers his mercy and compassion upon the one who is tolerantly flexible, both when buying and selling”.

            Nonetheless, there are a number of serious legal drawbacks that are likely to arise in the field of “E-commerce”, particularly, short selling, and absence of concrete (hand to hand) delivery, uncertainty (gharar), juridical authentication’s problems and much more.

            According to an analysis, it is found that islam accepts the conduct of e-commerce as a new way or technology to facilitate economic transactions. This is based on the Syariah (Islamic law) legal values, namely the obligatory (wajib), recommended (mandub), permissible (mubah), reprehensible (makruh), and forbidden (haram). In an interview with ustadz Mustafa Omar, he mentioned that Islam is not against E-commerce as one of the new ways of conducting business. He further explained that traditionally, business was conducted verbally face to face but today the two contracting parties are connected together via computer. In the event that the persons who are engaged in businesses should not meet directly, they still need to make an agreement. However, he added that what is much of a consent in conducting E-commerce is the moral perspective that leads to a more accountable and responsible trader. As such, a few shariah issues may be referred while discussing matters related to the ethical principles of islamic business.

Adapted from: E-commerce in islamic perspectives

Vocabularies in context:

Ample (adj): banyak

Authentication (adj): keabsahan

Cater for (v): menyediakan

Consent (n): persetujuan

Conventionally (adj): biasanya

Convenience (n): kemudahan

Drawback (n): kelemahan

E-commerce (n): jual beli via internet

Eminent: terkenal

Encourage (v): memotivasi

Offer (v): menawarkan

Gale (n): angin

Legal (adj): berkaitan dengan hukum

Measure (n): takaran

Mutual (adj): bersama

Paramount (adj): utama

Property (n): harta benda

Provision (n): persyaratan

Striking (adj): menghebohkan

Treatment (n): perlakuan

Unjustly (adv): secara tidak adil

Value (n): nilai

Veracity (n): keaslian

Weight (n): timbangan

Read More..