Exploring Individual and Social Factors that Influence Human Belief: An Analysis in the Light of Quran and Sunnah

استقصاء العوامل المؤثرة في الاعتقاد الإنساني من الناحية الفردية والاجتماعية: دراسة تحليلية في ضوء القرآن والسنة This research work was primarily designed to explore the factors that affect and change the human beliefs. The paper particularly addresses the issue from individual and social perspectives in relation to Holy Quran and authentic traditions of Holy Prophet PBUH. Qualitative research approach was employed for the collection and demonstration of data. The review of relevant literature concluded that there are many factors which seriously affected and changed the human beliefs. However, the most important and common factors are four: individual, social, religious, and economic. These factors play a significant role in changing Islamic beliefs of an individual. In this context, it was recommended that Islamic states in general, and Islamic scholars in particular should play their role to preserve Islamic beliefs in its original form. Furthermore, Muslim scholars should also design the strategy of purging beliefs from impurities and presenting them in systematic, logical and rational way along with their impact on the society

Environmentalism and Native American Writers: An Eco-Critical Study

In the Native Americans’ worldview, nature holds a special place; for this reason, in our contemporary concerns about environment and its degradation, the Native American literature has been attracting specific critical attention. They not only identify themselves with nature but also have a life sharing bond of interdependence with it. The European colonisation displaced the Native Americans from their homeland. Their natural resources have been mercilessly exploited since then; resulting into fatal diseases and poverty. Hence, environmental degradation continues to marginalise the Native Americans perpetually. Compelled by abject poverty, they have been left with no options but to sell their native land and animals. They have been enduring great pain due to the loss of nature; even have lost their very identity. This research work is the analysis of Leslie Marmon Silko’s Almanac of the Dead, Ceremony and N. Scott Momaday’s House Made of Dawn and The Ancient Child. The novels depict the distinguished features of the Native American’s cultural and spiritual vision rooted in nature. The destructive activities of the European colonisers wreaked havoc in the Native Americans’ life by separating them from their beloved environment. This not only made them impoverished but also destroyed their mental peace. Keeping these issues in view, Silko and Momaday offer a depiction, in their works, of the importance of restoring the Native Americans’ lost identity by challenging the Euro-Americans’ relegation of nature and the Native Americans to a lower stratum to be destroyed and dominated. Finally, the present research reveals that nature is an integral part of the Native Americans’ lives and destruction of it is detrimental to their very existence. The research findings indicate that the selected texts neutralise the Euro-Americans’ misrepresentation of the Native Americans’ intimacy with nature and expose the European devastating activities for colonising purpose under the guise of development and civilisation.