Research Paper on Western Feminists and Muslim Women

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Introduction
Thesis
Western Feminist Movement
Islamic Influences
The Role of Culture
Feminist Organizations
The Arab World
Oppression
The Gulf Crisis
The Afghan War
Women during the War
Changes after the War
Conclusion

It would be, then, politically paralyzing to claim that the old order of female difference has been overturned in favor of a new gender skepticism that on theoretical grounds disapproves of a historical, cross-cultural categories like "female," "feminine," and "woman." For many Western feminists, Muslim world represents mystery, darkness, chaos, absence and ambiguity. Nature, too, with its unrelenting rhythms of growth and decay speaks of concealment. Insofar as anything exists, it exists as unconcealed, and that is what we see when we look at present beings. But the way beings appear or are revealed is open to ambiguity, change, error, and further determinations because of their historical context and simply because of the incarnate nature of being. Thesis In their political and social activities, Western feminists did not take into account needs and wants of Muslim women but promulgated and imposed their own norms and principles.

Western feminists influenced social and political ideas of Muslim women thus through the lens of western world views. The advantage was that Western feminists promoted human values and personal freedom, equal rights and western ideas in Muslim countries. A body and nature formed solely by social and political significations, discourses and inscriptions are cultural products, disemboweled of their full existential content (Chatty and Rabo 12). One of the main objectives of the Western feminism is to give to the citizen of the new nation a feeling of dignity and importance resulting from that citizenship and from his ethnic origin, and to make him feel different from and superior to a citizen of another nation, even if both are Muslims. Islam, which is based on the equality of the faithful in the sight of God and on social doctrines which are both antiracist and anti-materialist, tends to lead in very different directions. Religious leaders, therefore, were generally not influential in the organization of independence in most of the new Muslim states. In fact, the leadership in most countries emphasized religion as a rallying point only where people of a different religion were perceived as a threat to the new state, as in Pakistan and Malaysia (Ghoussoub 4). This pattern of secular thinking, nationalism, and emphasis on material progress has continued to dominate the plans and actions of most governments in the Muslim world. In the past few years, the initial euphoria of independence has worn off. Material progress has lagged or has not brought the new era of happiness expected of it (Ahmed, 43).

The weakness of Western feminism in the East is that it did not take into account unique cultural values of the region. Islam is an active force in the lives of its adherents. It is neither a way of life manipulated by unshaven zealots in turbans nor an unresponsive religious system divorced from the lives of the faithful. Indeed, throughout its long history, Islam has never been unchanging. It has made innumerable adjustments and compromises as a result of its internal processes of questioning and reform, and it has acquired a richness and depth of experience that has enabled it to meet challenges creatively. This departure from the literalism of the earlier revivalists was facilitated by the modernists' use of an important intellectual approach: the effort to discover the spirit or the objectives of the Koranic teaching rather than holding mechanically to its literal meaning. Many Muslim women were deprived as chance to speak about their needs and desires (Bhabha 85).

Above all, new generations of educated or partly educated young people who have no personal recollecton of colonialism have found that the world seems to have no place for them. It is understandable that large numbers of these young people, mostly urban, and the poorer classes, rural and urban, whose lives have not witnessed great improvement over the past years, should begin to conclude that there must be a better way and that it must be sought through a return to the teachings of Islam -- a return to the basic values from which the fact of political independence had deflected their attention. This feeling in many countries is challenging the newer, but essentially imported, ideas about what is most important that have been put forward by the still dominant secular modernists. This challenge runs through the Muslim world as a common theme with wide national variations. In the present period it is a major source of concern for the leaders of Muslim states. It also has consequences for the West, for challenge to or rejection of Western concepts inevitably leads to doubts about and suspicion of relationships with the West, particularly with the United States (Naseef, 73).

Western feminists transform and disorientate the global society speaking about inequalities and poor education in Muslim countries. In Muslim society, some even claimed that the Koran made women the equal of men in all essential respects, that certain inequalities that had existed in Islam were largely due to social custom -- much of which was anti-Islamic -- and that some of these inequalities were due to misperceptions of the purposes of the Koran by medieval Muslim lawyers. Modernists thus distinguished between the principles, values, or objectives of the Koran, on the one hand, and some of its legal solutions, on the other (Ahmed, 55). With the increasing consciousness of the relevance of Islam to all aspects of national life, one can expect stronger pressure in the future for a greater accommodation between Islamic values and Western society and culture. Liberal and manpower education, as well as secularizing urbanization, would have to come to terms with the constant Muslim demand for the infusion of Islamic moral values in the process of economic, political, and socio-cultural changes (Ghoussoub 6). There is, therefore, an urgent need for the government and the Muslim pressure groups to start communicating with each other so that both parties can understand and appreciate their respective positions. The plight of the Muslim family and the education of the future generation are matters of serious concern to the morally conscious Malays in the government and to the Muslim community. The preservation of Islamic values ought to be maintained by both parties without incurring the sacrifice of the beneficial aspects of development. This balance between stability and change can only be sustained if the government and the Islamic groups can both express their concerns objectively, i.e., without being motivated primarily by selfish political party sentiments (Naseef, 43).

Through international organizations and non-government organizations Western feminists influenced ideas of Muslim women and deprived them a chance to choose their own life path. This nonpersonal self cannot be separated from its intermingling existence in things and in our personal life. This natural self cannot be separated from cultural self except in an artificial, abstract way. The intellectual activity of the modernist was primarily in the field of social problems, i.e., in the areas of political thought, education, rights of women, and later, in economics. Western feminists suppose that education is the main problem for Muslim women. They state that education is far more widespread among women in the urban middle and upper classes, and the urban occupational structure allows for a significant degree of participation by women in a variety of professions. These phenomena do not seem to be regarded by most urban Bangladeshis as inconsistent with Islam. Typically, however, in the countryside women's work is restricted to the home environment, within which they carry out child rearing and other domestic tasks as well as important activities in the processing of agricultural goods (Naseef, 61).

In general, it is likely that the changes that have occurred in the rural Bangladeshi family, particularly in recent decades, may be attributable to widespread poverty and population pressures, which surely have had a negative effect upon the quality of family life and the maintenance of traditional family forms. On the one hand, the government has been tempted to treat women as individuals outside the family context, perhaps to weaken the family as the intermediary organization between the state and the individual. On the other, it has recognized that its desire to see a rapidly rising Iraqi birthrate requires the family framework. Yet it seems that men's experiences and men's voices have constructed the knowledge by which we try to understand the implications of this crisis, not only for the peoples of the Arab region but also for those intellectuals (Arab or Western) whose task it is to analyze and explain such phenomena (Ghoussoub 4). One of the most important "discoveries" of the women's movement is that as women, we had been living in an intellectual, cultural, and political world from whose making we had been almost entirely excluded and in which we had been recognized as no more than marginal voices. The consequence of this discovery has been the emergence of a serious critique of mainstream social science (Ahmed, 88).

This is not a call for the imposition of a Western feminist perspective as the prism through which to experience and understand the situation of Arab women. On the contrary, whether the social scientist is Arab or Western, whether the discourse takes place in the harem or in the household, in the marketplace or the mosque-wherever women go about the business of living their lives-it is women's situation and experience that constitute the basis of social inquiry. It is impossible to account for one's directly experienced world, or how it is related to the worlds others directly experience, by remaining within the boundaries of the former (Nicholson, 43). Accounting for that initial "knowledge," and the social organization that sets it up for us, necessarily leads us back to an analysis of the total socioeconomic order. The structures that underlie and generate our own directly experienced world are social structures, and they bring us into unseen relations with others (Ahmed, 88).

Many western feminists misinterpret the role of a veil and family in life of Muslim women. The Arab world is rich with examples of women who experience various forms of oppression and who resist and struggle to change their lot. Such experiences are generally relegated by the current dominant mind-set of most observers to a sphere outside organized political activity and are dismissed as "private troubles" (Nicholson 76). Alternatively, when Arab women seek a voice of their own in defining the politics of the Middle East, they meet largely with ridicule, exclusion, or ostracism as a form of punishment for assuming the right to interpret their own role in society or, worse, daring to rewrite the script. A women's perspective as radical critique offers alternative criteria for defining political activities and issues, because by its very nature it thrusts directly to the center of discourse issues that have been previously declared private or nonpolitical. A women's perspective faces a double challenge: to struggle not only against political policies, structures, and arrangements but also against prevailing definitions of politics and modes of political explanation. A women's perspective is necessary to liberate us from the present concepts and methods of thinking within mainstream social science that reconstruct us as objects (Naseef, 81). From orientalist perspectives, eastern culture and people are weak enough to resist oppression so the role and task of Western feminists is to "save" women from imagined slavery (Goodwin, 42).

In reality, individually and through their organized activities, the women leaders of Turkey, Iran, Pakistan, Afghanistan, India and Indonesia have become a dynamic social force, helping to transform the life of their lands. The growing power of women in five widely diversified Moslem countries and India may be considered as representative of the remarkable forward movement of women in the entire East. Essentially the same currents of change--economic and technological, political and cultural--are transforming the life of the entire East. Women in all countries are vitally affected by the rapidly changing environment and are themselves playing a creative part along many lines in Eastern life (Naseef 87). Working and talking with many representative women in each country make it clear that in the diversity of their activities there is a remarkable unity of purpose and sense of direction. They are confronted by the common needs and problems of the East and are working toward a common goal. Women are actively participating in many phases of civic welfare and in the varied collective efforts to build national life on a sound basis. They are, however, concerned primarily with the specific needs of women and girls and are contributing their knowledge and special experience in all areas of life--the home and social welfare, business and professions, political life and public office--to the total advancement of women (Nicholson, 88).

The patriarchal home, the established pattern for economic as well as social reasons, offers little opportunity for independent family living, but the need for it is recognized, especially among the modern younger generation. The higher up in the social and economic scale and the more educated, the greater is the number of separate families, each with its own compound (Naseef 87). But whether there are separate homes or not, the feeling for the large family group remains and the dominant position of the head of the family is an accepted fact. Yet, though the traditional authority of the husband may not in general be questioned, educated women have considerable influence in family affairs and there is a growing sense of partnership in marriage which is the natural result of mutual interests through education. Social life is also reaching beyond the narrow limits of the immediate family to include the ramifications of the larger family relationship, and even the broader circle of close friends (Moghissi, 92). The degree of social intermingling varies with individual families. A number of young married couples who are quite advanced and Westernized meet regularly for small social gatherings in their homes. These normal social groups of young married couples, though numerically negligible, represent a significant departure from the traditional social segregation required by the veil, and are an example for other liberal groups. The members are usually those who studied in Europe and America and most of them are in educational or Government service, or young business men with their wives, who may have been in the United States. Of basic concern to educated Afghan women, as to Moslem women elsewhere, are the two related problems of polygamy and divorce. The uneducated women accept fatalistically whatever comes.(Moghissi, 86). The small educated minority is aware of social injustice and legal inequality, but as a whole makes no vocal protest. Some returned students seriously discuss polygamy and voice an adverse opinion. Polygamy is said to be declining, but it still occurs in all classes and is accepted as standard practice if a man is without a son. The usual apology for four wives--"all are treated equally"--is made. A government official in Kabul demonstrated this principle by building four identical good-looking brick houses on a main street for his four wives. Unilateral divorce is a major threat to the security of women, irrespective of class, but the uneducated are more vulnerable (Ahmed, 87).

During the Afghan war, Afghan women living in the atmosphere of purdah, constantly restricted by the veil, are at the same time living outside the purdah system in the ideas of a modern world. They are called upon to develop the ability to live in two worlds, accepting the requirements of purdah as long as necessary, but at the same time becoming oriented to a modern way of life. For the typical uneducated woman behind the veil, life is simple--a single pattern in her clothing, relationships and way of life. The educated Afghan woman faces the constant problem of adjusting to two different ways of life, both in the home and in her growing outside relationships. A concrete evidence of the ability of the Afghan woman to adapt herself to two techniques of living is shown in the practical matter of dress--the Western dress adopted some years ago for outside activities, social relations and general purposes, and the Afghanistan costume worn to meet the desire for comfort in the home (Bhabha 63). The problems involved in Western clothes, as already indicated, are met resourcefully, with taste and distinctive style. Dress is only an external detail of living in the present complicated pattern of life. But dress is an important part of the total orientation to modern life, where the successful adoption of modern modes and mores may have special value in preparing for the more basic changes later when the veil is ultimately discarded (Moghissi 11). The stylish Western costume under the chaderi is a striking illustration of the two different techniques of living that typify the life of modern Afghan women.

After September 11, many western feminists supported the war in Afghanistan seeing it as the only chance for Muslim women to receive equal rights with men and democratic freedoms. They did not take into account deaths and grievances faced by Muslim women who lost their relatives and friends. Many western feminists suppose that the government and local authorities would pay more attention to women's questions and rights (Goodwin, 41). This brief view of the present situation in respect to education makes clear two basic facts: first, the urgent need of increased promotion of education in general; second, the marked disparity between girls' and boys' education, which is the inevitable result of the purdah system requiring separate schools for girls from the first grade to the University. The Government of Afghanistan in its effort to promote equal educational opportunity for both girls and boys, the desirable and ultimate goal, is confronted with the exceedingly difficult, if not impossible, problem of developing and supporting a dual system of primary and secondary education. The present stage in the development of education of girls, measured in the flat reality of statistics, presents a discouraging picture of tremendous needs and problems (Moghissi 13). However, viewed in the perspective of the thirty-five years since the beginning of girls' education in Afghanistan, the present situation shows evidence of progress and promise for future growth. A branch of the Women's Welfare Society has been organized in Kabul in an area of special economic need. Establishing branches in the various provinces is contemplated if funds can be secured. The Society is now under the Ministry of Education (Bhabha 77). The governments in the East, under the pressure to achieve universal literacy as rapidly as possible and provide educational facilities for their people, have given high priority to quantity rather than quality and have concentrated their efforts on the expansion of education as the immediate goal. Leading educators in each country, while recognizing the continuing necessity for the major emphasis on expansion, realize the importance of special development along a number of lines. The economic life of women in Afghanistan is limited as yet to those in professions. Of great significance during the past decade has been the development of the professional life of Afghan women, to which reference has been made in previous sections in some detail. Ten years ago there were already teachers and nurses, as there had been for some years (Goodwin, 41). Teaching has been highly regarded in Afghanistan as in other Moslem countries; nursing has had little status. These two professions are a necessity, since women in purdah can be served only by women. Government policy has been favorable to the development of the professions for women which can be carried on within the purdah pattern and are recognized as a necessary service. In the non-professional general employment field of work for women in the middle class, there has been as yet practically no progress. There are many young women of secondary education ready for occupational opportunity when the veil is lifted (Bhabha 77). Despite this rapid influx of women in general, and married women with children in particular, into the paid labor market, their integration remains far from complete. Indeed, few aspects of social life display as much uniformity among countries as do the patterns that indicate the separate and restricted position of women workers. Women are overrepresented among part-time workers This sex segregation is measured in two ways: by the degree of sex-typing-that is, the percentage of all workers in an industry or occupation who are female-and by the degree of female concentration- that is, the percentage of all female workers who work in an industry or occupation

Because of their recognized capacity in this field, secretarial service offers many opportunities to trained and educated young women who must be self-supporting. There is a growing demand in government agencies at all levels and in foreign business firms for trained secretarial and clerical service. Yet the entrance of women into this especially favorable field of work is curtailed by lack of training facilities and by the fact that it is traditionally a male occupation (Moghissi, 16). There are a growing number of commercial courses for typing and stenography on the medium standard, i.e., ninth or tenth grade, in girls' schools and also courses on a commercial basis in large cities. But in each country there is special need for professional secretarial training on a higher level. A successful effort is being made in several countries in the East by leading educators to promote more creative citizenship education through Government programs. This development is a natural result of the widespread renaissance of nationalism in the East today, highlighted in countries that have recently acquired independence and have established universal suffrage. Creative citizenship education stresses the development of individual civic responsibility through independent initiative in action. The emphasis on creative homemaking in the teaching of home science will give the present students--future homemakers and teachers--a basis for developing clearer understanding and closer relationship between the home and society. Women leaders in each country and foreign technical assistants are having a formative influence in the development of home science teaching in schools and colleges, helping to rainse it to full professional status (Chatty and Rabo 55).

In sum, western feminists have a negative impact on consciousness and self-identity of Muslim women. The importance of feminist movement in Muslim countries is that it helps women to overcome old traditions and adopt a western life style, start education and enter workforce. At the same time that equal opportunity policies ar beginning to be implemented, many policy-makers and activists are questioning the extent to which equal opportunity policy is an effective strategy for reducing the wage gap. Instead, it is being suggested that equal opportunity policy needs to be supplemented by other policies specifically designed to attack that problem head-on.

Works Cited

Ahmed, Leila. Women and Gender in Islam. Yale University Press.

Bhabha, Homi. The Location of Culture. New York: Routledge.

Chatty, Dawn, and Annika Rabo, eds. Organizing Women: Formal and Informal Women's Groups in the Middle East. Oxford: Berg.

Ghoussoub, Mai. "Feminism -or the Eternal Masculine- in the Arab World." New Left Review 161 (1987): 3- 18.

Goodwin, Jan. The Price of Honor: Muslim Women Lift the Veil of Silence of the Islamic World. New York: Penguin.

Lerner, Sh. N.d. Feminists agonize over war in Afghanistan.

Moghissi, Haidah . Feminism and Islamic Fundamentalism: The Limits of Postmodern Analysis. London: Zed.

Naseef, Fatima Umar. Women in Islam: A Discourse in Rights and Obligations. Cairo: International Islamic Committee for Woman and Child.

Nicholson, Linda, ed. Feminist Contentions: A Philosophical Exchange. New York: Routledge.

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Bilingual Education: The Lessons of History

Multicultural education is one of the dominant features of modern American society. The USA has a unique history, important elements of which are an indigenous population, a slavery past and recent extensive immigration of people from many different countries and cultures. Since the middle of the 20th century, when the bilingual education was introduced in America it has been politically sensitive problem influenced by immigration issues and racial differences (Huntington 31). Thesis Bilingual education should be supported by the state as it it provides minority students and immigrants with an opportunity to receive quality education, become a worthy citizen of American society and enter the American workforce.

The history of bilingual education can be traced back to 1940 when the first instructions for foreign students were developed. "Polish language instructions were provided in six schools in Chicago" (Zimmerman 1383). During 1880s, German language instructions were used to block German language. During the WWI, language blockage was used as a means to reduce German impact on the American society. Jewish community was one of the main groups which demanded Hebrews instructions in public schools (Zimmerman 1398). The first legal attempts to introduce bilingual education go back to 1960s. "The bilingual education bill was unveiled in 1967 by Sen. Ralph Yarborough in Texas" (Davies 1407). The Bilingual Education Act was introspected in 1968. This Act was a great step in bilingual education as it institutionalized bilingual education and allowed immigrants and minorities to receive education at their native language. During the next historical period, Nixon and Reagan administrations introduced bilingual education in schools and supported new programs for minority children. Thus, only a small number of students had access to bilingual programs. Critics admit that during 1970s, "the expansion of the program, however, owes more to a second dynamic, ... namely the program's migration from the work of electoral politics to of bureaucratic and judicial discretion" (Davies 1406). In spite of these limitations, more and more minority students were involved in language learning and receive a chance to finish high school. Under Nixon administration "Title VII was and remained a small program raising to $35 million in 1974" (Davies 1406). A New Republican majority supported Mexican-Americans and backed bilingual education programs. The main problem was that Nixon White House saw bilingual education symbolically as a chance to attract minority electorate. The next important step in bilingual education was made in 1970. The OCR introduced new regulations which supported Spanish-surnamed students (Davies 1419). These changes can be seen as an important step towards equality in education but they did not solve the problem of equal access of all minority students to American system of education.

The legal case, Lau v. Nicjols (1974) marked a new era in bilingual education. It proved that minority students in California deprived a change to study native language with special provisions. 20 years before, Brown v. Board of Education in 1954 opened new opportunities for minority students to study first and second languages. "On May 17, 1954, the United States Supreme Court, in the case of Brown v. Board of Education, ruled that racial segregation in public schools was unconstitutional". Prominent scholars, educators, and bilingual education advocates were also attempting to convince teachers that it is beneficial to let immigrant students use their home language in the English language arts class. Although they claim this practice aids in learning English and other academic subjects, there is no consistent body of evidence from the research on bilingual education to back this up at all. New bilingual standards supported the development of common literary knowledge (and, hence, a common civic culture) are particularly anathema to educators and groups consumed by identity politic. During this period of time, the major programs for language learners were the following: "English immersion, transitional bilingual education/early exit, developmental bilingual/late exit and two-way immersion"). This legal case and the Bilingual Education Act stipulated that schools are responsible to provide minority students with special services and support to study English language. Such cases as Swann v. Charlotte-Mecklenburg Board of Education (1971), Keyes v. Denver School District No. 1 (1973), Milliken v. Bradley (1974) proved that American needed bolongual education programs and the state support.

New regulations introduced during 1980s improved the situation and introduced more programs for bilingual children but they did not allow equal access of all minority students to education. Recent changes were made in 2001, when the US Congress introduced No Child Left Behind doctrine. This law supports native language learning and demands that all students will be tested in English yearly. These changes were caused by the fact that "85 percent of Mexican-born immigrants spoke Spanish at home; 73.6 percent of these did not speak English very well; and 43 percent of the Mexican" (Huntington 37). Recent years, bilingual education programs become one of the most popular language programs for minority students. Even if educators do not support the goals of identity politics, many view almost all American literature as the expression of white male, Protestant, and Eurocentric sensibilities only and convey their views openly to their colleagues or subordinates. "Most broadly, the fate of foreign language instructions reminds us that Americans challenged "ethnicization" as well as "Americanization" (Zimmerman 1385). This example shows that the attempt to cultivate group identity through the school curriculum invariably affects the choice of literary works assigned to minority students. In bilingual education, it is clearly a strategy designed to inhibit both English teachers and test publishers from exposing students to any older literary works at all. The history of bilingual education shows that it was accepted and developed because of racial struggle and tension which took place between the minority students and the American education system.

Works Cited

Davies, G. The Great Society after Johnson: The Case of Bilingual Education
The Journal of American History, 88, No. 4, 1405-1429.
Gandara, P., Moran, E. Garcia, E. Legacy of Brown: Lau and Language Policy in the
United States Review of Research in Education, 28 (2004), 27-46.
Huntington, S. P. The Hispanic Challenge. Foreign Policy, o. 141.
Zimmerman, J. Ethnics against Ethnicity: European Immigrants and Foreign-Language Instruction, 1890-1940 The Journal of American History, 88, No. 4, 1383-1404.

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HISTORY OF COUNTING SYSTEMS

The first operation to be considered is numeration, which is defined in a rather modern vein as the representation of numbers by symbols. To fully appreciate the task the Treviso's author is undertaking in this section, one should understand the level of acceptance for the "Hindu-Arabic" numeral system that existed in Europe at this time (Al-Daffa, 1977).. The new numerals had been known in Europe from about 1000 A.D. yet they had not been universally accepted for use. Computing and the techniques of arithmetic still centered around the manipulation of counters and recording one's results with Roman numerals. There was a certain social status and prestige associated with the use of a counting table.

Hindu mathematics presents interesting features of notation. Valuable information on this development is revealed by the Bakhshālī Manuscript. First, Hindu Arabic numeral system was mentioned in the 9th century. It is classified as a positional decimal numeral system consisted of symbols (Smith and Karpinski 1911). It has been generally believed that the so-called Arabic numerals, from which arise those in use by us today, were derived by the Muslim peoples from India, and that the Hindus invented (1) the principle of position or place value of the decimal point and (2) the nine digits and zero (or dot). In the astrological treatise written by Ch'-t'an Hsi-ta, who flourished under the T'ang Dynasty in the early eighth century A.D., the so-called Hindu decimal notation and rules are implied, so that they were introduced, or re-introduced into China, at that time or possibly earlier (Datta and Singh 1998).

Whereas Hindu astronomy made improvement through Greek influence, mathematics in India, as Professor Sarton has stated, had no need to wait for Hellenism: we are, therefore, at present disinclined to refuse legitimate claims for Hindu originality in respect of the nine numerals and decimal system (Al-Daffa, 1977). "The basic idea of the system is the primacy of grouping (and of the rhythm of the symbols in their regular sequence) in "packets" of tens, hundreds (tens of tens), thousands (tens of tens of tens), and so on" (Ifrah et al. 2000, p. 25).

In the Bakhshali Manuscript researchers find a small sign used to represent negative quantity: it is a cross, like the present 'plus' sign, but placed to the right of the quantity to which it refers. Zero is represented by a dot. The dot is also used to indicate an unknown quantity. There is an absence from the Bakshali Manuscript of symbols of operation, even the negative sign already noted not being used as such. In Bhaskara's Bija-Ganita, however, the dot is used as the negative sign of operation (Datta and Singh 1998). Operation is indicated in the Bakhshālī Manuscript by an ad hoc term, or by relative position, In general, Hindu mathematicians used the terms "ya" (as many as") for the first unknown quantity, now usually denoted by x; for the second unknown, say y for the constant quantity in an expression; "v or va" for a square and the initial letters of the words representing various colours for other unknown quantities (Al-Daffa, 1977).

During his khalifate and later, there flourished Al-Kindi. Al-Kindi, like many eminent scholars of the Middle Ages, was an encyclopedialist, and wrote numerous works on many subjects. He translated extesively from the Greek, and his treatise on geometrical and physiological optics (known in the Latin form as De Aspectibus) was based on the optical works of Euclid, Heron, and Ptolemy. He was interested in large-scale natural phenomena, studying particularly the tides, and also the rainbow ion accordance with the principles of optical reflection. Further, his scientific studies embraced the Hindu numerals and a musical notation relating to pitch (Smith and Karpinski 1911). He was sufficiently far-sighted to regard much alchemy as spurious and non-scientific Eminent among writers on mechanical and mathematical subjects were the three sons of MÅ«sā ibn Shākir, the BanÅ« MÅ«sā, who engaged also the great translators H£unain ibn Ish£aq and Thabit ibn Qurra. Among the various writings attributed to the BanÅ« MÅ«sā is the Book of the Balance, a treatise dealing with weighing. They also knew the construction of an ellipse by means of a string connecting the foci (Datta and Singh 1998).

There also flourished under Al-Ma'mūn the great mathematician Muhammad ibn Misa al-Khuwarizmi, who was born at Khuwarizm (Khiva) and who was the most influential of mediaeval mathematicians. He fused Hindu and Greek mathematical knowledge, and from his work derive the terms algorism and algebra. His arithmetic introduced the Hindu numeral system to the Arabs and the West; his Algebra gave solutions of linear and quadratic equations, and also a neat geometrical illustration of the solution of the quadratic, x2 + 10x = 39, by 'the completion of the square. (Al-Daffa, 1977).

Mathematicians will know of a further solution, which is x = - 13, but the Arabic scholars dealt only with the positive answer. Unlike the Chinese and Hindus, they tended to ignore negative quantities. Mathematical tables, compiled by AlKhuwarizmī and revised by Al-Majr, contained values of the sine and tangent of angles, and were introduced to Europe in the Latin translation of Adelard of Bath in 1126. Al-Khuwārizmī also improved the Geography of Ptolemy.

Albiruni gave the best mediaeval account of the Hindu numerals and the principle of position, and investigated certain mathematical problems which are insoluble by the use of ruler and compasses alone--e.g. the trisection of an angle--and which involve the intersection of conics. This investigation of problems by the intersection of conics, including as it does the solution of cubic equations, was a special feature of mediaeval Arabic mathematics, and several leading mathematicians such as Al-MI+0101hani (Datta and Singh 1998). Al-Khazin, Al-Kuhi, Al-Sijzi, Abū'l Jid, and ' Umar Khayyām made their contributions to it. Ibn Al-Banma', the Moroccan mathematician and astronomer, who wrote at least fifty works, including a very popular treatise on the methods of calculation, entitled Talkhi, and containing the use of the Hindu numerals in their Western form, a better treatment of fractions, and the summation of the squares and cubes of the natural numbers; Al- and Muhyi al-Din AlMaghribi, who both worked in the Mongol observatory of Hulagi Khan established at Maraghac. 1259, and Nasir al-Din Al-T (1201-74), the famous director of that observatory; and finally (Boyer, 1991).

While this method is suggested for a two-addend problem, no consideration is given for dealing with a problem with a larger number of addends. The method of casting out nines is very old in the history of arithmetic. Avicenna ( 978-1036) speaks of it as "the method of the Hindus." Transmitted from India by Arab merchants, it became popular in medieval Europe even before its "fellow traveler," the Hindu-Arabic numeral system (Ifrah et al 2000). The acceptance of the use of such a method to assert the correctness of computation in both Eastern and Western cultures was due to the peculiarities of the computational processes used. In the East, calculations made on a dust board or sand table were erased in the course of reaching a solution; similarly, in the West, abacus or counting-table procedures eliminated primary entries in advancing towards an answer. The casting out of nines provided a check on one's work, depending only on a knowledge of the final answer and the initial problem--knowing the intermediate result was not necessary (Datta and Singh 1998).

Since the use of algorithms associated with the Hindu-Arabic numerals, if popularized, could be easily learned and performed without elaborate equipment, its knowledge presented a definite threat to the well-being and livelihood of established computers; therefore, it was resisted. Zero is referred to merely as a symbol to be used in conjunction with digits to express a number (Ifrah et al 2000). By itself, it was literally said to mean nothing, i.e., nulla, nulle, rein, but written to the right of a digit it became a placeholder. Brahmagupta also knew the rules for arithmetical operations involving zero, appreciated the use of negative quantities and of negative terms in algebra (which the Muslim algebraists later ignored), studied quadratic equations, and had considerable success in the solution of indeterminate equations of the second degree. He further stated a rule giving the radius r of the circle circumscribing a triangle ABC (of sides a, b, c) which we now express in the form of its sides in whole numbers, and with the area and circumference of the ellipse; but in the latter investigation his results were inaccurate (Datta and Singh 1998). He also dealt with geometrical progressions. "From this time on, until the decimal system finally adopted the first nine characters and replaced the rest of the Br[=a]hm[=i] notation by adding the zero, the progress of these forms is well marked" (Smith and Karpinski 1911, p. n.a). The Hindus, however, went far beyond the work of Diophantus. Bīja-Ganita contains sections on notation or algorithm; cipher or zero and its use; unknown quantities; surds; the pulverizer; simple and quadratic equations, including a general rule for the solution of the latter which went beyond that of Śrīdhara; solutions of several indeterminate equations of the second degree; and solutions of certain equations of the third and fourth degree (Boyer, 1991).

In sum, the development of the Hindu-Arabic counting system was influenced by mathematical knowledge and development of general sciences. It was not developed as an independent system but was influenced by Hindu and Arabic traditions and knowledge. The "ten place value" notation became a core of modern mathematic and computer science, based on simple symbols and signs.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Al-Daffa, A. A. The Muslim Contribution to Mathematics. Atlantic Highlands, NJ: Humanities Press.

Boyer, C. B. 1991, A History of Mathematics. New York: Wiley. Revised by Uta C. Merzbach, new ed..

Datta, B., Singh, A. N. 1998, A History of Hindu Mathematics. Bombay: Asia Publishing.

Ifrah, G., et al. 2000, The Universal History of Numbers: From Prehistory to the Invention of the Computer. John Wiley & Sons.

Smith D. E. and Karpinski. L. C. The Hindu-Arabic Numerals. New York, 1911.

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Applied Leadership Paper

Introduction

Many scholars see the leadership establishment as concentrating on narrow, highly deterministic, and rigidly delineated models. Some would defend these as representing the results of application of the scientific method to leadership research. The frequency that leaders exhibit activity on different leadership dimensions represents varying leadership styles. One leader's style may be to exhibit initiating structure activities more frequently than consideration activities; whereas another leader's style may be the opposite. A large segment of leadership research has focused on the problem of determining which styles of leadership activity are most effective in different work situations. I am working for United Networks, a holding company based in Kuwait that owns various businesses in satellite communications, Internet service provision. (Armandi et al 2003, p. 1076). The example of this company shows that leadership is one of the crucial elements of management and effective performance as it determines strategic leadership position of the company, organizational culture and effective location of resources. Leadership is important for every organization because it determines its culture and values, relations between employees and corporate morale. Leaders differ consistently from each other across groups but also may relate differently to different members within their group. A leader is the kind of person (with leadership qualities) who has the appropriate knowledge and skill to lead a group to achieve its ends willingly. These leadership functions need to be handled with excellence and this is achieved by performing those functions with increasing skill. Before examining the skills of leadership, it is worth seeing where certain qualities of leadership can be viewed as having functional value. It would be wrong to say that some leadership styles better than other except the case of negative personal traits and an autocratic leadership style which has a negative impact on the organization and employees.

Conclusion

Leadership is a complex process base on emotional intelligence and strategic choice of organization. Recent years, researchers propose to focus on emotional intelligence and pay more attention to feelings and emotions of employees. Following Daniel Goleman, Warren Bennis and James Macgregor Burns, managerial function of leading deals with the schemes of influencing the employees to work productively to achieve the goals of the organisation. On other hand, Leadership as a higher form of management. A leader has the capacity to affect the manner in which the employees act and provide opinions; whereas, managers only affect the actions and decisions of the employees. It is important to distinguish moral and just leadership from the character of despots who, by definition, are effective leaders if they accomplish their goals through persuasion. Management, like leadership, is ethically neutral. Managers mobilize and allocate resources; they staff and ensure the continuing vitality of the team; they create and maintain appropriate procedures. They also direct, delegate, and coordinate, and they provide a system of incentives to motivate and encourage productive behavior. Managers also establish reporting systems, perform evaluations, and assign accountability.