The purpose of this thesis is to examine how different news agencies around the world portray the Islamic State, using the beheading of journalist James Foley as a case study. Whether or not media outlets coverage and portrayal of the Islamic State and terrorism differs depending on region and state.  This to investigate or uncover how cultural heritage and political currents might be influencing news agencies portrayal of the Islamic State and its advances. How do different news agencies depict or picture the same events and the terror organizations advances. By using Norman Faircloug’s model for critical discourse analysis three prominent discourses are found. The conclusion is that political currents and cultural heritage does have an influence in media coverage and portrayal; news agencies belonging to different regions portray this terror organization differently but when condemning the event there is a global standardization.

The thesis studies two groups of the Naqshbandi Sufi Order. One is in Tripoli, north Lebanon, and has a loose membership of about 60 people. The other is based in London and has about 100 members, most of whom are Western Muslim converts. Sufism is Islamic mysticism. Sufis claim to emulate the mYbtical practices of the Prophet Muhammad which they believe were transmitted in their complete form to his first and fourth Caliphs. Sufi Orderb were first formalibed in the 9th c e n t u r ya . do and by -the- I-3th c en tu ryh-ad- gained an l.J ne a 5 y acceptance by orthodox Islam. They rapidly became an integral part of the Muslim world. The Naqshbandi Order c I a j m 5 tot r ace its des c e n t tot he fir s t Ca lip h and re g a r d s itself as the premier Sufi Order. The pro c e s se s 0 f model insation and industrial is ation led to drastic reduction in the influence of the Orders. Associated with this was the growing domination of a fundamentalist interpretation of Islam which denied the orthodoxy of Sufism and today dominates Muslim religious expression. The thesis examines the contemporary role of a branch of a Sufi Order in the West and the East. The discrepancy between the values of Sufism and those of the modern world are considered, as is the influence of politics on the survival of the Sufi Orders in the Middle East. Both groups contain elements of Mahdism which is a type of Muslim millenarianism. This is considered as well as the different ways in which the two groups interpret and react to these beliefs. Throughout the thesis attention is paid to the internal logic of Sufism's beliefs and practices.

An adaptable service system adjusts to the operational-level environments of organisations to enable heterogeneous services. This adaptation is important for sustainability and contextual-value (benefit) creation in a service system. Academics, such as those related to the current service-ecosystem concept, acknowledge the significance of this adaptation. However, little is known about a comprehensive adaptation process and how that integrates within a design for a service system. Also, practitioners are inclined towards this development, as the financial regulator in Pakistan has established an “evolutionary framework”. This framework encourages financial institutions to design Shariah finance services (SFS) which respond and evolve to the emergent market environments. The existing SFS models take benefit from Islamic jurisprudence and economics literatures to provide designs for transactions of financial and physical assets. However, the SFS models de-emphasis the intangible service-elements, where the adaptation is more likely to occur. Currently there is a great need for models that could explain the detailed adaptation process and its placement in an SFS design. The aim of this research is to develop, evaluate and theorise a model for conceptualising a holistic adaptable service-system design. The research aim is achieved through the proposal of a novel deferred service-system design (DSD) model. The DSD conceptualises a service-system design that adapts to the operational-level environments of SFS organisations in Pakistan. The DSD has seven constructs: (i) the service creators apply centrally-planned designs to create a service ii) they adapt these designs to meet the requirements of emergent contexts (iii) the service personnel, customers and aiding parties co-create a service by integrating their (iv) roles and actions, (v) resources and usufructs, (vi) rules and control to generate (vii) value. DSD is based on service-system design (SSD) literature, SFS literature and theory of deferred action (TODA)  a theory of system and organisation design. A multiple case study strategy is employed to evaluate, extend and theorise the DSD developed in phase I. Qualitative data are collected in four SFS organisations: Islamic commercial bank, Islamic life Takaful, Islamic mutual fund, and Islamic leasing organisation. Thirty-two in-depth narrative interviews of SFS personnel are conducted and analysed using a narrative discourse analysis method. The findings are triangulated by adding focus-group discussions, visualisations and service offering documents. The empirical findings are synthesised with the extant literature to develop a novel and comprehensive DSD in phase II. The findings show that the service co-creators apply a centrally-developed planned design typology (PDT). PDT includes different blends of SFS models (e.g., partnerships, sales, leases, agency and endowment), expected varieties (list, range and negative) and addable-deductible modules. The service co-creators and their inclusive systems (e.g., families, societies, markets, regulators and other government agencies) affect the planned service-system design to adapt or migrate. The service co-creators follow a novel six-step deferred adaptation process (DAP): emergence locale, information diffusion, knowledge diffusion, indexation, specifics evaluation and adaptation/migration. The empirical findings advance our understanding of a service-system design by showing how a planned design enables adaptation through PDT. More importantly, how the service co-creators follow a systematic process, DAP, to attain the desired adaptation or migrate off the scene. The findings also broaden the conceptualisation of SFS by showing how it is co-created by the financial institutions, customers and aiding parties. This is due to the SFS being perceived as a product of financial institution alone. This research also makes a contribution to service visualisation method by extending and using the service blueprint as an additional data-collection and analysis tool. This study provided fourteen implications for the practitioners.

This study concerns mainly with the status and position of dhimmi in various aspects of Islamic law. It is an attempt to survey the legal status of dhimmi in the scattered writings of Muslim jurists, and tie them up systematically in a one work. The Introduction deals with the purpose of the inquiry, the scope, and the relevant literature of the " thesis. In Chapter One the Muslim conception of the world, or Islamic law of nations; viz. dar al-Isläm, d8r alh" arb. dgr al-'ahd. is analysed as is the nature of the relationship among those states, and category of non- Muslims. Chapter Two is devoted to the dimmr's obligations pertaining to the fundamental concepts of lizyah kharä_i. 'ushr, and their need to observe some aspects of Islamic law. Chapter Three is concerned with the principles and aspects of the Islamic conception of tolerance towards non-Muslims as well as some archetypes of Muslim tolerance. Chapter Four gives a detailed discussion of the dhimmi's judicial status in Islamic criminal and family laws, and the law of contracts.Chapter Five is concerned mainly with the analysis of dhimmf's religio-socio-political status. The question of religious autonomy, political rights, economic, education, welfare etc. will be discussed. Finally, Chapter Six outlines the result of this study.

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The fundamental distinction made in Shiite legal epistemology is that between qaṭʿ (certainty) and ẓann (conjecture). Contemporary Uṣūlī epistemology maintains that in the juristic process of the derivation of Sharīʿa precepts, a mujtahid is prohibited to use any evidence that gives rise to mere ẓann. Rather, he must only use evidence that gives qaṭʿ of Sharīʿa precepts. Furthermore, this discourse distinctly argues that a mujtahid can also derive knowledge of Sharīʿa precepts through the ẓann al-khāṣ (especial conjecture) that is emanated from evidence that is ẓannī (conjectural) by nature but is substantiated by the Divine Lawgiver Himself through other qaṭʿī (certainty bearing) evidence. This understanding effectively curtails the derivation of Sharīʿa precepts to only the textual evidence of the Qurʾān and sunna, and in the present day this textualist dependency can be criticised for contributing towards the gulf that exists between traditional Shiite jurisprudence and matters that are pertinent to contemporary societies. In light of this, this study critically analyses the contemporary discourse of Uṣūlī epistemology and explores whether it has the potential to legitimise the epistemic validity and utility of a wider range of evidence in the juristic process of deriving Sharīʿa precepts. It essentially focuses on the strength and rigour of the epistemological underpinnings that are maintained in Uṣūlī legal theory, and by highlighting that these underpinnings and the underlying epistemic assumptions that are prevalent in contemporary Uṣūlī legal epistemology are rationally derived, this study explains how and why the Uṣūlīs have been led to rationally give preference to textual evidence over nontextual evidence. This study concludes that Uṣūlī legal theory has the potential to, and moreover is required to, undergo an epistemological paradigm shift that permits the acceptance of the epistemic validity of a wider range of evidence, other than just those that emanate qaṭʿ or ẓann al-khāṣ.

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