IIUM JOURNAL OF HUMAN SCIENCES

Coping with Exploitative Labour Market: A Case of Sri Lankan migrants in Bahrain

Mohamed Aslam Mohamed Idrees — 2023-06-30

This study is a detailed description of the experience of Sri Lankan migrant workers in Bahrain, exploring the labour market exploitation after arriving in Bahrain and coping strategies. These migrants’ labour market experiences show contrasting and negative experiences after arriving at their destinations. The qualitative research method was utilised, drawing descriptive analysis (thematic analysis technique) of compiling data through semi-structured interviews. Thirty in-depth interviews with Sri Lankan migrant workers, who stayed with their families in Bahrain for more than six months, were conducted using a purposive sampling technique. The study has identified negative experiences of relationships with employers and co-workers in which migrants went through a range of exploitations. The study revealed that the power exercised by employers and co-workers was the prominent cause behind this exploitation. The findings have confirmed that the foremost goal of migration, earning through productive employment, has collapsed due to wage exploitation. Finally, the study highlights acceptance of exploitation as a coping strategy that the migrants had adopted to endure with their exploitative labour market. The information explored on the exploitation of migrant workers in Bahrain enriches the literature with a new sociological and empirical study which provides new evidence about the serious challenges that they had faced.

The Thoughts of Shaykh Adam Abdullahi Al-Ilorī (1917-1992) on Islam and Cultural Practices among Yoruba Muslims in Nigeria

Yusuf Badmus Olanrewaju — 2023-06-30

The practice of Islam in Yorubaland has posed serious challenges to many Muslims who find navigating between Islamic rules and Yoruba customary practices difficult. It has led many to Shirk (polytheism), Bid^cah (heretical innovation), and Takhlīṭ (syncretism) among others with perilous effects in Islam. Unfortunately, many Muslims are unaware of these but adopted a free attitude to Islam. Shaykh Adam is one of the foremost scholars whose views are sought and relied upon by either Yoruba Muslims in their practice of Islam or by researchers who intend an assessment of the practice of Islam in Yorubaland, thus the crux of this paper is to examine his views on selected areas that are paramount to ^caqīdah (creed) and the general practice of Islam. Historical and exegetical methods are adopted in achieving the objectives of this paper. The former enabled the paper to assess historical facts that are related to the personality that the paper focused on, while the exegetical allowed the interpretation of relevant texts to the discourse of the paper. It is discovered that the interaction between Islam and culture in Yorubaland has necessitated both fine-tuning and abandonment of some customs. Social events like the naming ceremony, Islamic titles, and burial among others are fine-tuned, while magic, Ifa divination, bending or kneeling while greeting and a host of others are condemned and to be abandoned. The paper, therefore, concluded that Shaykh Adam remains a prominent personality whose views are driven by scholarship to liberate Muslims from the shackle of ignorance and perdition.

Syed Ahmet Arvasi’s Alternative Model of Nationalism

Esra Polat — 2023-06-30

This paper highlights Syed Ahmet Arvasi’s ideas on an alternative model of nationalism that integrates Islam and ethnic peculiarities without discriminating against any minority groups. It also explains the profound importance of Islam in Turkish society, and how Islamic identity is interwoven with Turkishness. This research finds that Turkey has taken very concrete steps towards Westernization and consequently lost aspects of its traditional Turkish and Islamic culture. Moreover, based on the ideas of Arvasi, the research finds that the ethnocentric European ideology of nationalism was alien to the Turkish people, who had been affiliated with a multi-ethnic Islamic identity and values for centuries. The ideology of modern Turkish nationalism demanded a secular approach, creating a nation based on secular and Western values, consequently causing social discord and tensions. This study accordingly suggests, based on the ideas of Arvasi, that there should be a more inclusive alternative model of national cohesion for the Turkish nation. Also, Arvasi suggested that the basic ideology of the Turkish nation was Islam, therefore the Turkish nation’s concept of nationalism must be inherently linked to Islam. In summary, for the Turkish nation to live in social harmony, Turkish nationalism should be based on the concepts of social race and Turkish-Islamic culture.

Viewing Person-Centred Counselling from an Islamic Perspective

Mardiana Mohamad — 2023-06-30

Studies have shown that person-centred approach to counselling is effective in helping various groups of clients. It has been almost thirty years after the departure of Carl Rogers, yet, the approach remains influential in counselling profession. In Malaysia, it becomes one of the most practised counselling approaches among counselling practitioners. As the theory was developed in the United States and represents the Western secular worldview, there is a need to look into its philosophy and concepts from the Islamic perspectives. This is due the reason that many counselling practitioners and clients in Malaysia are Muslims. Hence, the article aims to discuss the main features of the person-centred theory such as its philosophy, view of human nature, origin of individual’s problem and counsellor’s personal qualities and review them from an Islamic perspective.

The Role of ‘Stage Theory of Bereavement,’ ‘Dual Process Model (DPM)’ and Spirituality in Dealing with Grief During Illness Experience in Cancer Patients

Shehenaz Ismail — 2023-06-30

When individuals experience terminal illness based on their internalization of the illness, the construction of meaning and the adjustments made by the individual to accommodate changes that has occurred due to the illness, influences their cognitive and emotional representations based on the illness perception (Leventhal et al., 2001). The illness experience of some individuals leads them to experiences different types of losses and grief. According to Kubler Ross’ theory of loss and grief (2009), there are five stages of bereavement to cope with the grief experiences. Kubler Ross states that the individual goes through 5 stages of bereavement or grief while the Dual Process Model states the individual oscillates between the loss-oriented stressor and the restoration-oriented stressor. In addition, some researchers have found that spirituality is also a mechanism used to cope with loss and grief experiences. The aim of this paper is to examine an evaluate the theoretical frame works of The Dual Process Model of Coping with Bereavement (DPM) (Stroebe & Schut, 1999) the 5 Stages of Bereavement by Kubler Ross (Martin & Privette,1989), along with trying to understand the role of religion or spirituality to deal with loss and grief experiences among terminally ill patients such as patients with cancer.

Key words: illness experience, loss and grief, Stage theory, Dual Process Model, Spirituality