This case study explored the influence of socio-economic factors such as age, ethnicity, education, occupation, income and health on the lives of elderly residents at Taiping, Perak geriatric home. Their religion and the nature and quality of relationship with their children were also examined. Information was collected from June 24 to July 4 1998. A structured interview questionnaire was used on a purposive sample. Simple descriptive statistics were applied for the analysis of the data. First, the study identified the general demographic characteristics of the respondents. In general, the average respondent admitted to this place was above the age of 60 years, male, unmarried, did not have high level of education and was financially dependent. They were predominantly urban, Malays and Muslims, had stayed at this facility from less than a year to three years, were reasonably healthy and nearly half of them were able to perform certain physical tasks. It was also discovered that religion was considered important in their daily lives, but further research is needed to investigate its actual relationship with their life pattern. The respondents seemed to posses neither the Imowledge nor the skill that could enable them to secure better jobs with pension or insurance benefits. Thus, they depended solely on the facility for their support and sustenance. In terms of health, they were relatively healthy, although a small number of them suffered from failing health and physical disabilities, which required constant assistance from the staff. Most of the time, they would however exercise their personal independence especially in carrymg out their personal and private activities. Their psychological feelings were explored by studying their relationship with the people close to them like their children, relatives, friends and staff of the facility. It appeared that respondents who had children were admitted there because the latter did not have adequate time and/or income to support them. In addition, strained relationships between respondents and their children also hindered the latter to fulfill their responsibilities towards their parents. Consequently, the respondents felt disillusioned with and rejected by their children and thus sought solace among friends and the staff at the facility. We also found out that more than half of the respondents were unmarried (single, divorced or widowed) and did not have a spouse or children to rely on. This fact also became the reason for their admission. Regardless of the reasons for their admission to the home, they were in general grateful to be taken care of and regarded it as their permanent home. They also had accepted their fate and tried to make the best of their presence.

This study analyses and compares two important works of two prominent Muslim scholars of different periods - one classical and the other contemporary. The works are Al-Muqaddimah by Ibn Khaldun and On the Sociology of Islam by Ali Shari’ati. The two works provide evidence for a comparative sociological thought of the two thinkers who have different cultural backgrounds and orientations. Specifically, the study was undertaken to achieve three main objectives: 1) to compare the sociological thought of Ibn Khaldun and Ali Shari’ati based on their selected works, 2) to produce a synthesized thought on ideal society based on the views of these two thinkers and 3) to analyse the influence of their respective social environment in shaping their sociological thoughts. These objectives were achieved by answering three corresponding research questions: 1) What are the differences and similarities in the thought of Ibn Khaldun and Ali Shari’ati? 2) What theory of ideal society can be derived from the views of these two thinkers? and (3) In what way have their social environments influenced their thought? Methodologically, the study followed ‘The Ten Steps Content Analysis’ technique in drawing comparison and identifying the differences and similarities between the two respective scholars as detailed in the Methodology Chapter. In generating their synthesized thought, the study was inspired by the approach employed by McNelis (1972) in one of his works. In terms of findings, the research has found that there are aspects which are peculiar to each of the thinker such as their scientific and philosophical approaches in constructing their views and thought as reported in the Findings Chapter. More importantly, the study found significant commonalities between the two, particularly in terms of their interest in social philosophy, which consequently shed light on their respective sociological thoughts. The findings also showed that there were significant influences of their respective academic, socio-cultural and religious backgrounds on their thoughts. In conclusion, Ibn Khaldun can be said to have provided a scientific floor for Ali Shari’ati to build his metaphysical ceiling for his sociological thought. Some recommendations and suggestions for future study are also proposed at the end of this dissertation.

In recent years, gamification has emerged as a transformative approach to enhance learning experiences in the educational landscape, specifically in the IIUM entrepreneurship course. By integrating game design elements into educational environments, gamification seeks to boost engagement, motivation, and knowledge retention among students. This innovative strategy has shown immense potential in addressing traditional educational challenges, fostering a dynamic and interactive learning atmosphere in classroom learning. Hence, the objective of this research is to investigate the constraints of gamification adoption, identify the strategies needed to incorporate gamification into the entrepreneurship course, and examine the types of social interactions that exist through gamification. Grounded in Goffman’s Frame Analysis Theory, this research aims to examine the dynamics and collective experiences of teaching and learning. The theory provides a lens to understand how educators and students respond towards and interpret the gamification system, framing their actions and communication patterns within the rules and rewards of the gamified system, how individuals portray their interactions within the gamified environments. This study employed qualitative methods such as in-depth interviews, focus-group discussions and participant observation for data collection. Nineteen interviewees were recruited using purposive sampling for this study. The findings revealed three themes: 1. adoption dilemma towards gamified learning system, 2. gamification incorporation strategies, and 3. interactional mechanisms in gamified environments. Based on the findings, it can be concluded that gamification incorporation strategies can effectively enhance learning by combining game design, thoughtful implementation, and aligning these game elements with educational objectives. In addition, key barriers that hinder gamification adoption include resource constraints, varying levels of adaptability among educators and students, and technological challenges. Finally, the interactional mechanisms of cooperation, exchange, and competition were identified during gamified environments. Therefore, the implementation of gamification in today's educational system is essential, as this study proves that gamification could enhance the teaching and learning process of educators and students.

This study examines the health and illness beliefs among rural Malays in Kampung Pasir Panjang, Pahang, Malaysia. The objectives of the study are: to examine these beliefs and practices. Second, to examine their health seeking behaviour, including women, in relation to health and illness. Lastly, to identify the contributing factors that influence them to seek either traditional or hospital-based medical treatment. The study used a qualitative approach. Several methods of data collection were utilised. These included in-depth interviews, direct observation and secondary data. The findings of the study show that health does not only mean the ability to work or being physically healthy but it also covers the mental, spiritual and emotional dimensions. However, the perception of illness embodies the patient’s subjective perception or sometimes the perception of those around him. The rural Malays believe that illness could be attributed to both the supernatural and non-supernatural forces. Furthermore, the study also shows that the different use of health resources among rural Malays in Kampung Pasir Panjang, Pahang is related to perceptions of the causes of illness and to the types of treatment, either traditional or modern. Rural Malays are gradually beginning to accept the role of hospital-based medicine in dealing with women’s health and illness as in the case of pregnancy, childbirth and the postpartum period. At the same time, many Malay women hold strongly to traditional health-related rituals. It is clear that the rural Malays’ concept of health and illness as well as their utilisation of health services in Kampung Pasir Panjang was largely influenced by their traditional belief system. However, there was also evidence of a slight decline in their continued conformity to traditional health practices due to exposure to current modern health practices

The study attempts to investigate the various issues related to the phenomenon of religious expression in contemporary Indonesian society with particular focus on the study of Ahmadiyah movement at Parung, Bogor and its impact on the society. Ahmadiyah movement is considered against Islamic beliefs especially due to its teaching that its founder, Mirza Ghulam Ahmad is a Prophet and the Tadzkirah is a holy book next to the Qur’ān. The study discusses complex interplay between Indonesian ‘Ulamā Council (MUI) with its fatwā on the prohibition of Ahmadiyah sect, its proponent, the Radical Conservative Islamist group (RCI) and its opponent the Liberal Islamist group (LIG). RCI groups have pushed for imposition of Sharī’ah to solve Indonesia’s multi-dimensional problems. On the other hand, liberal Islamic groups are more tolerant and promoting a liberal-inclusive approach to Islam in society. This situation has put the government in a dilemma as to the most appropriate move to take in dealing with the matter. Moreover, soon after the issuance of the fatwā, a series of attacks on the compounds, buildings and properties of Ahmadiyah centres have taken place. The attacks seemed to suggest to the ordinary people that the fatwā is crucial and timely and they are responsible to implement it. In this context, it is pertinent to investigate in greater detail the central issue in question i.e. the teaching of Ahmadiyah itself, how do its followers understand Islam, how was the “meaning” of Islam developed by Ahmadiyah founder and his disciples and what are the local socio-cultural factors that might have further influenced their understanding and practice of Islam. In addition, the study also looks at how such an understanding is seen by the above ‘authorities’ and ‘powers’ within the context of Indonesian sociocultural milieu as well as the implications of such religious understanding and practice on people. This study adopts a qualitative research approach involving both fieldwork and library research. For the former, it uses mainly interview and participant observation as tools for generating primary data from the research site namely Parung branch of Ahmadiyah movement. The study revealed that there are several factors that seem to have influenced the respondents’ decision to join the movement and their understanding of Islam. Among all factors, one element appears to be the most outstanding, that is, most of the respondents came from families and educational institutions with strict Islamic background and orientation. Their meaning of Islam also seems to be influenced mainly by their own experiences. It is found that there are similar patterns of experience among the respondents which have shaped their meaning of Islam. The study ends with some suggestions and recommendations in its concluding chapter.

This study attempts to find out the factors associated with school dropouts among the students of Kampung Sungai Rasau Hilir, Malaysia. Dropouts are generally associated with many factors which differ from one place to another. Students may leave school because of personality, societal and economic problems. This study is significant because it shed some light on the immediate and remote causes of school dropouts among the children of Kampung Sungai Rasau Hilir. By investigating the problems associated with school dropouts in Kampung Sungai Rasau Hilir recommendations can be made to overcome the problem. In the case of the Orang Asli many of them left schools because parents failed to support them financially. Other major factors that led children to leave school are laziness and lack of enthusiasm; they prefer learning skills in handicrafts and mechanics than formal learning. It was also found that many of the Orang Asli students failed in their final examination because they did not understand major subjects (i.e. subjects taught in English and Malay languages), while others wanted to work to support their parents. Divorce of parents is also another factor contributing to school dropouts. Many students of Kampung Sungai Rasau Hilir left school because their parents abandoned them while their mothers could not control them. Besides that the youths are not dedicated to their study because parents who should encourage them are not aware of the importance of education. Parents are found unconcerned about these issues due to their level of illiteracy.

This study focuses mainly on hotel workers` perception of the impact of tourism industry on their social life in Langkawi, Malaysia. It assesses the hotel workers` perception of changes brought about by tourism in their social life and their reaction thereof. It also assesses the changing pattern of economy as well as the environment and their impact on the life of people in general and of hotel workers in particular. The present study focuses on the social impact of tourism on hotel workers. It opens new vistas of understanding the youth culture in the region. Social scientists neglected this aspect and most of the previous researches only concentrated on physical impacts of tourism (environmental, economy and lifestyle at large). By that the economic gains are more concerned than the social life of youths. In order to expose and highlight the issues involved in it, thus, this study concentrates on analyzing the social impact of tourism particularly on hotel workers of Langkawi, Malaysia. The present research studies the changes brought about by tourism and affected, to a great extent, the social life of hotel workers. It assesses hotel workers perception of the changes and the extent they affected their attitude, aspirations and way of life. It also tries to find out their reaction towards tourism and its positive and negative effects on the region. It further assesses how they adapt to these changes with particular reference to family relation and religion. The study adopts quantitative methodology and data is derived from both primary and secondary sources. Questionnaire is administered among hotel workers in Langkawi to find out their perception of the impact of tourism industry on their social life.

Involvement in university-community engagement (UCE) activities is important for students’ knowledge enrichment because it exposes them to fieldwork. Experiences gained will help students to prepare themselves for future careers and expose them to a holistic view of the community expectations toward university graduates. With direct engagement between students and the community, it encourages students to socialize with the members of the community. However, with the different social and cultural backgrounds of international students within the Malaysian context, this thesis attempts to explain the participation in UCE activities among undergraduate international students of the International Islamic University Malaysia (IIUM). Thirty undergraduate students participated in this study. Data analysis was performed using the qualitative approach. In general, there is minimal participation of undergraduate students in UCE activities at IIUM. Interestingly, social cultural barriers, particularly language barriers, time constraint, strict adherence to gender roles and the prohibition of mixing among the sexes are amongst the problems that discourage international students from participating in UCE activities. Indeed, UCE has become an important agenda in any university to develop the human capital. The university needs to strengthen its structural environment, thus to make students from various social and cultural backgrounds realize that they have a role to play in the community despite their differences.

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