This portfolio Thesis consists of three parts: a Systematic Literature Review, an Empirical Research Report and Appendices. Part One is a Systematic Literature Review, concerning the prediction of worry in adults. Though various definitions of worry implicate different psychological constructs, Intolerance to Uncertainty (IU) has been considered to have a unique relationship with worry. Hence, the review evaluated whether IU is a superior predictor of worry. Sixteen studies were identified by applying eligibility criteria in searches across two electronic databases. Methodological quality of studies was incorporated into the interpretation of findings. Generally, it was found that IU is indeed predictive of worry. However, IU did not always explain the highest proportion of worry, when compared with constructs tied to alternative theories of worry. Reasons for this are discussed, as well as clinical implications, future research directions and limitations of literature included and the review itself. Part Two is an Empirical Research Report, exploring IU and attention. A clearer understanding of how IU influences cognitive processes can help to improve current treatments for Generalised Anxiety Disorder. The report extended a previous study by investigating whether IU biases attentional processes towards information considered as threatening in GAD and Obsessive Compulsive Disorder. Fifty-seven participants completed questionnaires on Depression, Anxiety and IU. Participants also provided personal relevance ratings of words used in a computerised task, in which reaction times to Threat words were considered a measure of attentional bias. No significant relationships between levels of Depression, Anxiety, IU and attentional threat bias were found. Discussion of findings focuses on the experimental task’s sensitivity to detecting the hypothesised effects. Theoretical implications are tentatively drawn and recommendations for improving the future use of the experimental task are made. Part Three contains Appendices to Parts One and Two and a Reflective Statement on the research process.

Adult lactose intolerance due to low lactase levels is often associated with varying degrees of abdominal distress ranging from bloating and distension to severe cramps and diarrhea. Recent studies have suggested that these gastrointestinal disturbances may interfere with normal absorption of nutrients in addition to lactose. In order to investigate this possibility, both human and animal studies were conducted. Twenty-three healthy Caucasian adults were used to study the effect of lactose on the absorption of vitamin A, ascorbic acid and protein. Eight of the 23 subjects were lactose intolerant on the basis of a maximum rise of blood glucose of less than 20 mg/100 ml over the fasting blood glucose level after ingestion of 50 g of lactose in 300 ml water. In each study, blood samples were drawn after an overnight fast and at intervals up to k hours after consuming 50 g lactose in an aqueous solution or test meal containing gelatin, vitamin C or vitamin A. Sucrose replaced lactose as a control. The results from the human studies failed to demonstrate that lactose had an effect on the absorption of ascorbic acid, vitamin A or protein in lactose intolerant subjects. It may be that the composition of the test drink which contained fat and protein, may have affected the rate of absorption of the nutrients tested through a delay in gastric emptying time. However, the finding that absorption of vitamin C remained unaffected even when consumed with an aqueous solution of lactose, is attributed to the possibility that the level of ascorbic acid given was too low to show measurable differences in blood levels of that nutrient. To study the effect of lactose on the absorption of calcium, fat and protein, balance studies were conducted using postweaning rats. The experimental groups received either 10?S, 20fo or 30$ lactose diets, while an equivalent amount of sucrose replaced the lactose in the control diets. In addition, postweaning rats were given vitamin A intragastrically with either lactose or sucrose to investigate the effect of lactose on vitamin A absorption. From the balance studies with rats, the results indicate that fecal nitrogen and fat excretion was significantly (p <0,05) higher in all the animals fed lactose as compared to the controls. However, fecal calcium excretion was found to be generally lower for each lactose group relative to the controls, but the difference was statistically significant (p<0.05) only at the 30% level of lactose intake. Improved calcium absorption may have important nutritional implications where dietary calcium intake is low. It appears though, that the level of dietary lactose would most likely have to exceed the limits of normal lactose consumption to have an effect on the absorption of nutrients. / Land and Food Systems, Faculty of / Graduate

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Retratos de uma Casa de Candomblé na cidade de São Paulo, traz uma pesquisa que trabalha com a etnografia como forma de aferir o cotidiano de um Ilê (Casa de Candomblé) urbano, que sobrevive em São Paulo desde 1988, em uma região de classe média, cercado de edifícios, preconceitos e intolerância religiosa. Muitos registros fotográficos foram realizados e parcela deles compõe a iconografia da pesquisa, essas imagens expressam a forma de ver e de viver do povo do santo na cidade, mas que possui ligações com as casas ancestrais no Recôncavo Baiano e em Salvador, além de fazer parte de uma Família de Santo que se ramifica através de outros Ilês. A pesquisa procurou ter um olhar voltado para os Filhos de Santo e buscou escutar o que os Iyawôs , Abians, Ebomis, dirigentes do Ilê, dirigentes de casas ancestrais e pessoas públicas, tinham a falar sobre as relações vividas e como essas vivencias afetavam suas vidas, como era a construção dessa Família de Santo e como solidificavam as relações de parentesco dentro do Ilê, partindo da observação participante e das imagens fotográficas, o processo segue realizando entrevistas que foram fundamentais para o entendimento desse sentimento que é ser do santo, ser uma pessoa iniciada ou prestes a passar pelos ritos de iniciação, tudo isso comparado com uma vasta bibliografia sobre o assunto, o texto que compõe essa dissertação foi construído. Foram entrevistadas 25 pessoas em um universo de 55 adeptos e partindo do questionamento de como o Candomblé entrou na vida deles e delas, cada um contou sua história para formar um mosaico de diversidade. As vivências, a forma de ensinar e aprender, os sentimentos antes de se iniciarem os ritos e a intolerância religiosa, foram preocupações observadas e retratadas no trabalho de campo. A pesquisa teve a oportunidade de acompanhar o processo de iniciação de duas Iyawôs desde o momento que elas se preparavam para os ritos de iniciação(2016) até o ano de 2018, onde passaram pelos primeiros rituais e na hora que estavam se recolhendo, na saída de santo, no final do preceito e um ano após realizarem a iniciação foram entrevistadas, pois a ideia era expressar o sentimento vivido naqueles momentos. Os trânsitos territoriais e religiosos foram detectados, e um fator recorrente na vida da maioria dos entrevistados foram suas vivencias na Umbanda. Outra questão interessante que a pesquisa aferiu foi a introdução das crianças no ambiente e nos ritos do Candomblé e por último a questão da intolerância religiosa que aparece como uma constante na vida das pessoas e na Casa de Candomblé. / Portraits of a Candomblé House in the city of São Paulo brings a research which works with ethnography as a way to measure the daily life of an urban Ilê (Candomblé House), which remains in São Paulo since 1988, in a middle-class region, surrounded by buildings, prejudices and religious intolerance. Many photograph logs were realized and some of them compose the iconography of the research. This image expresses a way of seeing and living of the people of saint group in the city, which has connections with ancestral houses at Recôncavo Baiano and Salvador, besides being part of a Sant´s Family, which branches through other Ilês. The research aimed to look at the Children of Saint and listen what the Iyawôs, Abians, Ebonis, respectively the leaders of Ilês, the leaders of ancestral houses and public people, had to say about the lived relations and how these livings affected their lives, how was the construction of this Sant´s Family and how they solidified the family relations inside the Ilê. Beginning with participant observations and photographs, the process follows realizing interviews which were fundamental to understand this feeling which is being of the holy, being an initiated one or a person about to pass through the initiation rites, all of this compared with a wide bibliography about this subject, building this work. A total number of 25 people were interviewed inside a group of 55 people, beginning with a question about how the Candomblé entered in their lives, each one told their history to form a diversity mosaic. The livings, the way of teaching and learning, the feelings before the beginning of the rites and the religious intolerance were concerns observed and portrayed in the field work. The research had the opportunity to go along the process of initiation of two Iyawôs, since the moment they were preparing to the rites (2016) to the year of 2018, when they passed through the first rites and in the hour, they were gathering, in the saints exit, at the end of the precept and one year after they realized the initiation. At each one of these moments, they were interviewed, since the idea was to express the feelings, they lived at each one. The territorial and religious moving were detected, and a frequent variable in the life of the subjects were their livings at the Umbanda. Other interesting question which the research measured were the introduction of children in the environment and the rites of the Candomblé and the religious intolerance question, which appears as a constant in the peoples life and at the Candomblé House.

Este documento de tesis fue desarrollado con la intención de estudiar la propuesta de arquitectura religiosa desde un punto de vista fenomenológico y social. La propuesta toma como punto de partida a Huaycán, una zona de Lima con problemas sociales particulares, y se identifica a su comunidad franciscana y la falta de un centro social y religioso como el componente clave para el desarrollo de una identidad espiritual faltante en el lugar, pues a pesar de ser una zona rica, importante y compleja en historia y dinámica religiosa, no se haya como tal. Es así que la propuesta trata de aprender de las raíces prehispánicas del lugar sin desviarse de su identidad verdaderamente cristiana e incluso retomando tradiciones simbólicas de uso infrecuente. / This thesis was developed with the intention of studying the proposal of religious architecture from a phenomenological and social point of view. The proposal takes as its starting point Huaycán, an area of Lima with particular social problems, and identifies its Franciscan community and the lack of a social and religious center as the key component for the development of a missing spiritual identity in the location as despite it being a rich, important and complex area in history and religious dynamics, there is no such manifestation. Thus, the proposal tries to learn from the pre-Hispanic roots of the place without deviating from its truly Christian identity and even retaking symbolic traditions of infrequent use. / Tesis

Thesis (PhD)--Stellenbosch University, 2012. / ENGLISH ABSTRACT: The non-profit sector has grown and changed substantially since its origins more than 2 000 years ago. At present there is an increase in organised voluntary activity around the globe, which reflects a set of social and technological changes, as well as an increasing lack of confidence in the ability of the state to render certain vital services. NPOs that do not work in the fields of housing, the aged, HIV/AIDS and education, for instance organisations doing missionary work, are faced with the difficult task of procuring funds within this highly competitive environment. The overall purpose of relationship marketing is customer retention and development, not simply a series of transactions. With this in mind, it seems that relationship marketing has an important role to play in the non-profit sector. Why is it then so difficult to "sell brotherhood like soap"? To answer this question tools have been developed and adapted to fit the non-profit sector. Donor behaviour plays a crucial role in the survival of an organisation and insights into behaviour can give the organisation an edge over its competitors. In the case of this study the research problem relates to the identification of the dimensions impacting on donor behaviour in religious (Christian) organisations. A conceptual model of donor behaviour in religious non-profit organisations was developed and used for the eventual formulation of 23 hypotheses to guide the study and to represent the possible relationships. For the statistical analysis it was deemed necessary to revise both the model and the proposed hypotheses. The model was split into three models: - Perceptions of non-profit organisations; - Individual donor characteristics; and - Donor perceptions of the non-profit organisation. A thorough overview of the literature was undertaken, mainly to investigate the nature of the non-profit sector in general as well as in South Africa, its marketing and behaviour of its donors. The conceptual model that was developed through the literature study was used to develop a measuring instrument specifically for this study for collecting primary data. It was empirically tested in a religious (Christian) non-profit organisation in South Africa by collecting primary data. Questionnaires were mailed to its whole donor database. The questionnaires returned were captured with the aid of an Excel spreadsheet and merged with data from the donor database. The first step was to assess the validity and reliability of the measurement instrument used. Next, an exploratory factor analysis was done to identify the unique factors evident in the study data. The next step entailed testing the proposed theoretical model by means of the "Structural Equation Modelling" technique. The results of the data analysis led to the creation of a model suitable for the management of the donors of a Christian missionary organisation. This study is a pioneering study of donor behaviour in South African religious non-profit organisations, in particular Christian organisations. It is clear from the results that donors of religious organisations react differently than donors of other non-profit organisations and therefore that different approaches are needed to secure Christian donor loyalty and trust. / AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: Die nie-winsgewende sektor het sedert die oorsprong daarvan, meer as 2 000 jaar gelede aansienlik gegroei en verander. Op die oomblik is daar oral in die wêreld 'n toename in georganiseerde vrywillige optrede. Hierdie neiging weerspieël sekere maatskaplike en tegnologiese veranderinge, asook 'n toenemende gebrek aan vertroue in die staat se vermoë om sekere noodsaaklike dienste te lewer. Die nie-winsorganisasies wat nie binne die veld van behuising, bejaardesorg, MIV/VIGS en onderwys werk nie, soos byvoorbeeld organisasies wat sendingwerk doen, het 'n moeilike taak om fondse te bekom. Die oorwegende doel van verhoudingsbemarking is die behoud en ontwikkeling van klante, nie net 'n reeks transaksies nie. As hierdie feit in ag geneem word, word dit duidelik dat verhoudingsbemarking 'n belangrike rol binne die sektor te speel het. Hoekom is dit dan so moeilik om "broederskap soos seep te verkoop"? Om hierdie vraag te beantwoord is hulpmiddele ontwikkel wat aangepas is by die behoeftes van hierdie sektor. Donateursgedrag speel 'n uiters belangrike rol in die oorlewing van 'n organisasie en daarom kan insig in hierdie gedrag die organisasie 'n voorsprong gee bo die van sy mededingers. In die geval van hierdie studie gaan dit oor die identifisering van dimensies wat donateurs se gedrag beïnvloed binne religieuse (Christelike) organisasies. 'n Konseptuele model is ontwikkel om donateurs, soos dit verband hou met religieuse nie-winsorganisasies se gedrag, te ontleed. Die model is gebruik as riglyn vir die navorsing, asook om uiteindelik 23 hipoteses te formuleer en hulle moontlike onderlinge verhoudings uiteen te sit. Gebaseer op die statistiese ontledingsproses, is die model en die voorgestelde hipoteses aangepas. Die model is onderverdeel in drie modelle: - Persepsies van nie-winsorganisasies; - Individuele kenmerke van donateurs; en - Donateur persepsies van die nie-winsorganisasie. 'n Deeglike oorsig van die literatuur is gedoen, hoofsaaklik om ondersoek in te stel na die omstandighede van die nie-winssekor oor die algemeen en veral binne Suid-Afrika, asook na donateurs se gedrag. Die konseptuele model wat ontwikkel is volgens die literatuurstudie, is empiries getoets binne 'n Christelike nie-winsorganisasie in Suid-Afrika. 'n Metingsinstrument is spesfiek ontwikkel om primêre data te verkry en vraelyste is gepos aan die totale dontateurbasis van die organisasie. Die inligting van die vraelyste wat teruggestuur is, is opgeneem in 'n Excel-spreitabel en saamgevoeg met inligting van die donateurdatabasis. Die eerste stap was om die geldigheid en betroubaarheid van die metingsinstrument te bepaal. Daarna is 'n ontleding van verkenningsfaktore gedoen, wat gebruik is om unieke faktore uit die navorsingsinligting te identifiseer. Die volgende stap was die toetsing van die teoretiese model volgens 'n erkende toetstegniek wat gebruik word vir strukturele vergelykings. Die resultate van die ontleding is daarna gebruik om 'n geskikte model te skep vir die bestuur van donateurs van 'n Christelike sendingorganisasie. Die navorsing van die gedrag van donateurs van religieuse nie-winsorganisasies en veral Christelike organisasies is baanbrekerswerk in Suid-Afrika. Die resultate dui ook daarop dat donateurs van religieuse organisasies verskillend reageer as donateurs van ander nie-winsorganisasies en dat ander benaderings dus noodsaaklik is om eersgenoemde se lojaliteit en vertroue te bekom en te behou.

Thesis (PhD)--Stellenbosch University, 2004. / ENGLISH ABSTRACT: The purpose of this study is to identify didactic strategies for the use of lyrics in children's religious education. This is done to enhance and facilitate children's spiritual growth by means of singing lyrics. The study pays particular attention to the recognition of the role of lyrics in Christian religious education as a maturing agent. Lyrics help to provide children with the opportunity to communicate with God by revealing God's characteristics through theoretical and doctrinal content in an artistic form. Lyrics enrich children's religious development by helping them to express their joy and praise of God. Lyrics can also help children to experience a special quality of fellowship when they sing together. Lyrics ease the stiffness which can occur during the process of education. The survey of lyrics in Christian history also reveals that lyrics played an essential role in the lives of Christians throughout history. Lyrics have been used for worship, education, evangelisation and fellowship. Lyrics have functioned as a medium in which people have conversations with God and worship Him. They have also been a delightful source through which people learn about God through joyful experiences. Lyrics have helped Christians to establish true fellowship in their faith by singing together. The study reveals, however, that lyrics today do not seem to be effective in supporting people, including children, in their encounters with God. As much as lyrics can help children, they can also be obstacles to children's spiritual growth because of their inappropriate contents or improper ways of presentation. Children might misunderstand religious concepts by acquiring "unfamiliar" doctrine from lyrics. It seems that children can also develop inappropriate ideas and attitudes about worshipping under the influence of self-oriented or fun-seeking styles of lyrics. This potential of lyrics to influence children either positively or negatively is often overlooked. The question that may be raised is: what should be done to facilitate the lyric's maturing role and to keep it from being a hindrance in children's religious education? This study attempts to identify systematic and scientific didactic approaches of teaching lyrics as a way of heightening the positive role of lyrics in children's spiritual growth. For the identification of didactic strategies which are best suited for children's spiritual growth, the study presents approaches in which systems of coherent ideas, findings, activities and views concerning instruction and learning are performed. The didactic strategies are illustrated in three main phases, i.e. introductory, executive and assessment phases. Essential characteristics of the instruction-learning phenomenon in all its facets are absorbed into the theory as an overall guide for every teaching situation. The study makes an effort to apply these didactic strategies to the practical situation of teaching lyrics. Korean children are chosen as the subjects for the teaching oflyrics and their religious development is empirically investigated as the basic research on the understanding of the learner in the didactic situation. The application of the general approaches to the definite and specific situation of teaching Korean children is explained. Didactic approaches are redesigned, taking the specific didactic situation of Korea, including Korean children's specific religious characteristics, into consideration. These programmes can be effectively applied to other didactic situations, keeping them flexible in the light of the uniqueness of each lesson. The ultimate aim of this study - the recognition of systematically organised didactic strategies and exemplification of their practical application to the detailed situation of teaching lyrics - is to maximise the effectiveness of lyrics for children's spiritual goodness, particularly in enriching children's religious knowledge and experience. / AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: Die doel van hierdie studie is om didaktiese strategieë te identifiseer vir die gebruik van lirieke in kinders se religieuse opvoeding. Dit word gedoen om leerders se sprituele groei deur middel van die sing van liedjies te fasiliteer. Die studie fokus in die besonder op die herkenning van die rol wat lirieke, in hoofsaaklik Christelike religieuse onderrig, in die proses van volwassewording speel. Lirieke verskaf aan kinders die geleentheid om met God te kommunikeer deurdat God se eienskappe deur middel van teoretiese en dogmatiese inhoud as 'n vorm van kuns openbaar word. Lirieke verryk kinders se religieuse ontwikkeling deurdat dit hulle help om hul blydskap en eer vir God uit te druk. Lirieke kan kinders ook help om 'n besondere kwaliteit van gemeenskap ("fellowship") te ervaar wanneer hulle saam sing. Deur die gebruik van lirieke kan die stramheid wat dikwels met die opvoedingsproses gepaard gaan, in 'n groot mate verlig word. Die opname wat van lirieke in die Christelike geskiedenis gedoen is toon aan dat lirieke dwarsdeur die geskiedenis 'n baie belangrike rol gespeel het in die lewens van Christene. Lirieke is deur die eeue gebruik vir aanbidding, opvoeding, evangelisasie en geloofsgemeenskap. Lirieke funksioneer as 'n medium waardeur mense in gesprek tree met God en Hom aanbid. Dit dien ook as 'n bron waardeur mense deur vreugdevolle ervaring van God leer. Lirieke help Christene om ware geloofsgemeenskap deur hul samesang te bewerkstellig. Dit blyk uit die studie dat lirieke vandag nie meer effektief is om mense, insluitende kinders, in hulontmoeting met God te ondersteun nie. Alhoewel lirieke kinders kan help, kan hulle in dieselfde mate struikelblokke wees in kinders se sprituele groei weens onaanvaarbare inhoud of onvanpaste aanbieding. Kinders kan religieuse konsepte misverstaan deurdat hulle met "vreemde" dogmas vanuit lirieke gekonfronteer word. Dit blyk dat kinders ook onaanvaarbare idees en houdings oor aanbidding kan ontwikkel weens die invloed van die selfgeoriënteerde of pretsoekende styl van sommige lirieke. Die potensiaal van lirieke om kinders óf positief óf negatief te beïnvloed word dikwels misgekyk. Die vraag wat ontstaan is: Wat moet gedoen word om die lirieke se rol in die verwerwing van volwassenheid te fasiliteer en te verhoed dat dit 'n hindernis in kinders se religieuse opvoeding word? Hierdie studie poog om sistematiese en wetenskaplik-didaktiese benaderings te identifiseer om die onderrig van lirieke te bevorder ten einde die positiewe rol van lirieke in kinders se spritiuele groei te versterk. Om didaktiese strategieë te identifiseer wat die beste by kinders se spirituele groei pas, bied die studie benaderings aan wat stelsels van samehangende idees, bevindinge, aktiwiteite en sieninge betreffende onderrig en leer behels. Die didaktiese strategieë word in drie hooffases geïllustreer, nl. die inleidende fase, die uitvoerende fase en die assesseringsfase. Essensiële kenmerke van die onderrig-leerverskynsel in alle fasette daarvan is in die teorie opgeneem as 'n allesomvattende riglyn vir elke leersituasie. Die studie poog voorts om hierdie didaktiese strategieë toe te pas in 'n praktiese lirieke-onderrigsituasie. Koreaanse kinders is gekies as proefpersone vir die onderrig van lirieke, en hul religieuse ontwikkeling is empmes ondersoek as die basiese navorsing ten opsigte van die begrip van die leerder in die didaktiese situasie. Die toepassing van die algemene benaderings tot die bepalende en spesifieke situasie van onderrig aan Koreaanse kinders word verduidelik. Didaktiese benaderings word herontwerp met inagneming van die spesifieke didaktiese situasie in Korea. Koreaanse kinders se besondere religieuse karaktertrekke word tegelykertyd in aanmerking geneem. Hierdie plooibare programme kan ook effektief op ander didaktiese situasies toegepas word, wat beteken dat hulle by elke unieke les aangepas kan word. Die uiteindelike doel van hierdie studie - die erkenning van sistematies georganiseerde didaktiese strategieë en die toeligting van hul praktiese aanwending in die onderrig van lirieke - is om die effektiwiteit van lirieke vir kinders se sprituele welsyn te optimaliseer en veralom leerders se religieuse kennis en ervaring te verryk.

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Three questions command even greater attention today, as over forty countries, including many Muslim-majority states, unite against Daesh (the so-called ‘Islamic State'): How do Muslims relate to the Muslim ‘other'? How do Muslims relate to the religious ‘other'? What role can Muslim religious education play in fostering peace? Islam and Muslim education are suspected of promoting intolerance. This thesis investigates a group of Shia Ismaili Muslim trainee-teachers' attitudes to plurality in their religious education programme. The Secondary Teacher Education Programme (STEP) is a two-year postgraduate course of the Ismaili Muslim community to train religious education teachers. STEP, a novel development in Muslim education, experiments with an innovative pedagogical approach to plurality. The research spanning over three years involved in-depth interviews, focus group, observations and textual analysis. 21 trainee-teachers from 13 different countries participated in the study. Alan Race's (1983) typology ‘inclusivismexclusivism- pluralism' serves as a key theoretical lens through which to examine attitudes to religious others. The thesis argues that a ‘rooted religious pluralisation' is taking place in the Ismaili community facilitating the emergence of the ‘tradition' of pluralism in the community. The study shows that initially, the participants were inclusive of other religious communities and worldviews on ‘theological', ‘humanistic' and ‘instrumental' grounds, but were selective about how they embraced it. Many of them believed that their religious perspective exceptionally equipped them over their religious ‘other'. Gradually, STEP's ‘civilizational, normative and humanistic' approach cultivated an ‘academically informed pluralism' in most trainee-teachers. It strengthened their Ismaili Muslim identity on the one hand and generated an appreciation for diversity on the other. The individuals developed not only greater socio-cultural and historical awareness of religion, but also their ability to make a space for faith academically. It cultivated in the participants a degree of ‘inter-tradition competence' and ‘intra-Islam competence'. The individuals were not ‘pluralist angels', but they discursively participated in pluralism. The present study makes three key contributions. Firstly, this is the first study to propose the thesis of ‘rooted religious pluralisation'. It identifies the key features and tendencies inherent in a religious community's engagement with diversity through a five-dimensional working framework. Moreover, as a study of the socio-cultural process of ‘intra-faith pluralisation' in Muslim religious education setting, it is unique. It is about making sense of the everyday experiences of the Muslims who encounter diversity within their own faith. The thesis identifies various stages involved in the process of developing intra-faith competence and provides tools and vocabulary to discuss them meaningfully. Moreover, the study suggests the possibility of a Muslim education that can play a vital role in combating extremism and sectarianism. Current scholarship does not sufficiently take account of new and thought-provoking pedagogical developments in Muslim education. There is a dearth of studies on Muslim faith communities' efforts to build ‘intra-Islam competency' in their followers through faith-based education. The literature is also silent about how Ismaili Muslims handle differences among themselves regarding matters of faith, how they view differences within Islam and relate to wider religious plurality. Thus, the study contributes to a niche in the existing literature on religious pluralism.