American Ethnic Literature Essay Example for Free

American Ethnic Literature Essay American Literature has been an important part of American people for centuries. What makes this type of literature great is that the authors vision is objective and not one sided. Several of the American authors are still considered to be great writers. The books that were written by these authors are still read by people of all ages around the United States. These books are now considered classic literature. American literature is considered American because it was written by American people. Overall, â€Å"editors appear to use an inconsistent combination of citizenship, geographical location, language, and subject matter (that is, the subject of America and the United States) (Hames- Garcia, p. 1, 2003). Most of the American literature was written by white men. In order to be considered American literature it has to be about the United States. There have been many great authors that write about science fiction, but because it is unreal their literature is not considered American literature. Politics also played an important role in literature. It was of great importance to portray the American character as an â€Å"exceptional entity† (Hames-Garcia, p. 1, 2003). In the early twentieth century, writers who were not American white men were not allowed to publish their works. Women writers as well as Black, Latino, American Indian, and immigrant writers were left out altogether. This happened because other ethnic groups were considered to be inferior. It was until the 1970s that feminist began to speak out and rebel against the oppression they were faced with. It is thanks to this reform that the American literature holds diversity. It allows for men and women to have the same opportunity to express their feelings without having to worry about their race or sex. Another type of literature is ethnic literature. This type of literature is often read as an autobiography, even when making no such claims. This is written on a first person point of view. The author’s point of view is specific to their personal beliefs and life stories. It is difficult for this type of author to provide an objectionable story. They are blinded by anger because of what they had to live. The topics these authors write about covers racism and suppression. The definitions and topics will vary depending on the life experiences that each author or their families experienced. The storyline will also vary because each author lived different time periods, and of course things change over time. Ethnic Literature is great because it now holds different point of views. Every person has a different perspective on what happens around them. What allows for this to be great is that each person is entitled not only to have their own belief, but they are able to express their feelings with freedom. No person is afraid of what repercussion might come because they decided to write from their heart. The truth allows readers to realize that life has been harder for some people more than others. It is easy to forget what our ancestors had to experience in order for each individual to encounter freedom. It is now easy for men and women of all races to walk freely around their city. This however came at a price, and this type of literature allows human beings to read and experience in some small way what it was like to live in a world were the color of your skin as well as your sex had a lot to do with the quality of life you lived. American Literature will continue to play an important role in American people. The only way to enjoy this type of literature is to introduce our younger generations to it. This is the perfect material needed to give to young readers so that they can value the lifestyle they are allowed to live today. It is up to us to keep this tradition alive so that our future generation can enjoy it as well. Reference Michael Hames-Garcia. (2003). Which America is ours? Martis Truth and the foundations of American literature. Modern Fiction Studies, 49(1), 19-53. Retrieved October 25, 2009, from Research Library. (Document ID: 328665241). Yonjae Jung. (2004). The New Americanist Intervention into the Canon. American Studies International, 42(2/3), 213-225. Retrieved October 26, 2009, from Research Library. (Document ID: 676208971).

What Is Syariah Law By Meaning Philosophy Essay

What Is Syariah Law By Meaning Philosophy Essay The term Sharia itself derives from the verb sharaa, which according to Abdul Mannan Omars Dictionary of the Holy Quran connects to the idea of spiritual law and system ofdivine law; way of belief and practice (45:18) in the Quran. Definition of Sharia law. Sharia (Arabic: Ø ©ÃƒËœÃ‚ ¹Ãƒâ„¢Ã…  ÃƒËœÃ‚ ±ÃƒËœÃ‚ ´ ; also SharÄ «ah, Sharia, Shariahor Syariah) is the Arabic word for Islamic law, also known as the Law of Allah. The word sharia mean the right path, refers to traditional Islamic law. The Sharia comes from the Koran, the sacred book of Islam, which Muslims consider  the actual word of God.  The Sharia also stems from the Prophet Muhammads teachings and interpretations of those teachings by certain Muslim legal scholars. Muslims believe that Allah (God) revealed his true will to Muhammad, who then passed on Allahs commands to humans in the Koran. Islam classically draws no distinction between religious, and secular life. Hence Sharia covers not only religious rituals, but many aspects ofday-to-day life, politics, economics, banking, business or contract law, social issues and legal rules, is more than legal system, strictly speaking. Islam is al-deen which is the way of life. Sources of sharia law. Basically the primary sources of sharia law are the Quran, Hadiths or Sunnah which is the sayings, practices, and teachings of the Prophet Mohammed. The secondary sources are ijma, qiyas, ijtihad and istihsan. School of Sharia law No. Schools of sharia law Explanation 1. Hanbali Most conservative school of Shari`a. Used in Saudia Arabia . 2. Maliki Based on the practices of the people of Medina during Muhammads lifetime. 3. Shafii Emphasizes on opinions, companions of the Prophet Muhammad 4. Hanifi Most liberal school, relatively open to some limited modern ideas. WHAT IS HUDUD LAW BY MEANING? Etymology. It means limits, or forbidden and also as  definition. The root word is derived from the Arabic hadd. Literally hudud  (Arabic, also transliterated  hadud,  hudood; singular  hadd,  ÃƒËœÃ‚ ­ÃƒËœÃ‚ ¯, literal meaning limit, or restriction) is the word often used in  Islamic  literature for the bounds of acceptable behaviour and the punishments for serious crimes. Definition of hudud. In Islamic law or  Sharia, hudud usually refers to the class of punishments that are fixed for certain crimes that are considered to be claims of God. They include theft, fornication and adultery (zina), consumption of alcohol or other intoxicants (khamr), and apostasy. According to Islamic dictionary hudu law is define as muslim law: divine punishments; the category of crimes most egregious and therefore most severely punished. Sharia is an Arabic word meaning the right path. Crimes in Islam Crimes under Islamic Law can be broken down into 3 major categories. Each will be discussed in greater detail with some common law analogies. The three major crime categories in Islamic Law are: Hadd Crimes [plural Hudud] (most serious), Tazir Crimes (least serious), Qisas Crimes (revenge crimes restitution). Hudud crimes. Hadd crimes are those which are punishable by a pre-established punishment found in the Quran. These most serious of all crimes are found by an exact reference in the Quran to a specific act and a specific punishment for that act. There is no reducing the punishment for a Hadd crime. Hadd crimes have no minimum or maximum punishments attached to them. The punishment system is comparable to the determinate sentence imposed by some judges in the United States. If you commit a crime, you know what your punishment will be. No judge can change or reduce the punishment for these serious crimes. The Hadd crimes are: Murder, Apostasy from Islam (Making war upon Allah and His messengers), Theft, Adultery, Defamation (False accusation of adultery or fornication), Robbery, Alcohol-drinking (any intoxicants) The first four Hadd crimes have a specific punishment in the Quran. The last three crimes are mentioned but no specific punishment is found. Thus the last three crimes, the punishment falls into taazir crimes which the punishment is declared by the government. Punishments under hudud law. Hudud  punishments are the severe  penalities prescribed by  sharia  for offenses defined as being against God himself. The punishments for these crimes are seen as divinely ordained and cannot be changed by humans. Methods of Execution HOW SYARIAH AND HUDUD LAW APPLIED IN MALAYSIA? According to Islam, a state which use holy quran and prophets tradition as its state constitution and the law that govern the people is an Islamic law is an Islamic state. The rulers also must be elected from muslim members in their community. Article 3 of the Federal Constitution stated that Islam is the religion of the Federation. But as such stated in Article 11 of the Federal Constitution is that every person have the right to profess and practice their own religion and subject to Clause 4, to propagate it. Article 3 merely declares that Islam is the official religion of the federation. It does not declare as does Constitution of Pakistan that the federation is an Islamic state. In Malaysia, although sharia law is applicable to all Muslim, but it only deals with family law and the division of property. Not all chambers of sharia law is applied in Malaysia. Basically for crime, the punishment is laid down in Penal Code. Recently, the government of Kelantan express their intention to impose hudud law in Malaysia while the other opposition side refuse to, especially DAP which their members all are non-muslim and Parti Keadilan Rakyat. Taking into consideration how you wanted to govern the people which are not muslim and didnt have faith in it, to follow its rules? As rational human beings, naturally we understand that in life there is such a thing as limits to whatever we can do or experience in all that takes place upon ourselves or others for the matter. No matter what particular matter or issue that we want to dwell upon or commit, we know that the law of nature always prevails over us or any circumstances. How much can we eat? How much can we drink? How much can we carry? How fast can we go? How long do we want to live? There are just so many things that we can keep asking each and everyone of you reading this and almost always you will agree with me that there is only a certain amount of things or eventualities that can take place. History is the best teacher of us all where it concerns matters that mankind are so desperately after? Power, strength, youth, beauty, libido, masculinity, femininity, authority, wealth, all the spoils of this earthly life that one can imagine and crave for? Reflect back to our coming into being. From a embryo after being conceived by our mother as a result of the physical union of our parents, we develop from stage to stage and eventually become a fully formed human baby in our mothers womb and at the appropriate time and moment decided by Allah the Almighty, we are born and delivered into this earthly realm. If we had stayed any longer in our mothers womb, there might be a danger both to our mother and to us as an infant ready to come out into this world. There is a certain limit to pregnancy. Thats a form of hadd or limit. Coming back to the main gist of this posting, we now have to understand what the Hudud in Islam means? As stated above, the ulama of Fiqh define hudud to be a Code of Punishments to be implemented by the authorities in an Islamic nation upon criminal acts carried out by the offenders who are proven without a doubt to be guilty of such crimes and upon conviction be punished as decreed by the Almighty. It is tosaid that if hudud law will be enacted in Malaysia, some of the execution must be recheck and change to suit the society now. As such, there is no provision for any punishments decreed by Allah SWT to be reduced, added on or altered by Mankind. The Hudud is Allahs Rights upon us Mankind. Criminal punishments upon those found to be guilty according to the Hudud Laws can not be dropped against the criminal or criminals by any individual or society as a whole. The Hudud Laws are meant to be a safeguard from the Almighty to protect human society from all forms of crime and to preserve peace, social orderliness and to ensure the safety of the general public. Any form of wrongdoing committed by any individual or group is to be judged according to what has been laid down in the Supreme Constitution of Allah SWT in the form of the Holy Al Quran Al Karim and as per the Hadiths of His Greatest and Final Messenger to all Mankind, the Blessed Prophet Muhammad S.W.T. Part A ( Chart Research ) SUGGESTION TO IMPLEMENT THESE LAWS ONTO NON-MUSLIMS. There is suggestion to implement these laws onto non-muslims, but, question arise whether this is workable? Our group had divided into three categories during our research and analysis on this suggestion where we suggested to divide the opinion to the basic of 3 findings, which consist most general(society Malaysia), less general(MMU student), and specific(lecturer and legal expertise). First category is on the views given by society in Malaysia. CHART 1 : MALAYSIAN CITIZENS VOTES ( Based on Poll Opinion on Internet ) The second category is according to the societies votes in Malaysia included those non-Malaysians who lived in Malaysia. Chart 2 : MMU Votes According the chart above, which derived from the poll, survey and interviews that made by our group. There were 30% of Muslims in Malaysia totally disagreed to implement these laws in Malaysia, and, 10% of them agreed to implement it in Malaysia, 2% of them were neutral positions. While, for the votes given by non-Muslims in Malaysia, there were 35% disagreed and none of them vote for agree or neutral. On the other hand, Muslims but not citizens of Malaysian gave 5% agreed and 5% disagreed towards the suggestion but none of them give votes for neutral. Lastly, the non-Muslims for those who are not the citizens of Malaysia, totally disagreed by giving 15% of the votes. It can be conclude that 85% of the Malaysian citizens totally disagreed on the suggestion to implement these laws onto non-Muslims. Some of them said that there will be no equality and justice to those who has no beliefs in the religions. Not only that, there is also some sayings that the law is too excessive and strict to adapt in current society. There will be difficulties and challenges that government and society will face if they impose the law. LECTURER`S VIEW CHART 1 : Lecturer view`s and opinion`s In this chart, we can see that among 9 lecturers that had been interviewed, there were 5 lecturers that totally disagreed of the suggestion to implement these laws onto non-Muslims. One of them is Miss Nur Fazini Asro Binti Ramizi Sulaiman, which in her opinion, she said that As for me, the suggestion to implement hudud law to non -Muslims is unreasonable. This is because if it is to be look upon the legal perspectives itself, the Syariah law only has the jurisdiction within the matter of MUSLIMS only. The interpretation in the statute itself has define, who are to be governed within this kind of law. For an example, a non-Muslim cannot become a syariee law, only a Muslim can be a syariee law, same goes to the syariah law (implementation only to Muslim). Thus it may be seem to complicated if arguments, suggesting hudud law are to be implement to non-Muslims. Not only that, Dr. Mohamed Ishak Bin Abdul Hamid also stated in his opinion that Hudud law ,is created only to govern the one who are professing the religion of Islam, and as for non-Muslims , it shall be unfair for them, for hudud law to be impose on them , due to their lack of knowledge, pertaining on Hudud law. On the other hand, the other 4 lecturers were in neutral opinions. Neither agreed nor disagreed. According to Sir Gary Ng Kit Min, If it to be look upon to in this matter, it may be divided into 2 aspect which is, in religion perspectives and the legal system perspectives. If in religion perspectives, the syariah law, should be apply to muslim only, not to non-muslim ,but if in legal perspectives, if the parliament passed a law, that which provides that the syariah law shall be the supremacy law in the country, thus the citizens (Muslim and non) cannot do anything except to accept it as the law of the country. As for Sir Jeong CP, have a different view pertaining on this matter, the religion is not wrong, if the question to be arose, such issues. Every religion have its own way in culturing of the individual who professing the religion itself, It its to be look in more liberal way, the religion is never wrong, it is one who are professing the religion are to be blamed for not giving the detail reason for his or her act. For an example, if it`s to be look in one principle of a car and a driver, the driver drive a car later caught into accident, who`s to be blame? The car or the driver.? The car is never to be blamed, as it had given, its fullest performance, well as for the driver? it may be the driver fault, maybe he was negligence when driving the car . Same goes to the religion, if there`s any defect, mischief or any mistake occurs to the society due to action done by an individual who professing such religion, it for them ( the individual ) to be blamed, as he or she has been negligence. The Al-Quran had put such many various way, to protect the maslahah (life in word and hereafter ) of individual, and any action done by an individual must have the sebabasbab ( reason ) .The society have been much liberal nowdays, any action done, must come with justifications and reason. Then the society may somehow be much open minded to receive any law to govern them, to develop a better society. Part B ( Articles and Newspaper Reviews ) ARTICLES SUMMARY [Hudud Law being applied in Terengganu, Malaysia]  [1]   As being shown in the article itself, Hudud Bill was being drafted by the Terengganu State Government and it constitutes a gross violation of the principles of justice and equality in Islam. Its being said that under this Hudud Bill, women who reported to been raped if being unable to provide evidence for the said statement, will be charged for slanderous accusation and 80 lashes; an unmarried woman who gets pregnant is assumed to have committed zina,  [2]  even if she has been raped; also a women cannot be taken as a witness for a case. The question arise here would be, how is this constitutional in the eyes of the law? In Malaysia we have a supreme law which is the Federal Constitution (FC) and under the FC, it provides equality section which made all persons equal before the law and entitle to an equal protection of law. The Hudud however, contradicts with the provision of the FC as it mentioned no discrimination shall occur in favor of any person under Art.8 of the FC  [3]à ‚  . It is important to note that all criticisms of Islam and its defense mainly rotate around its approach to women rights. Theres many criticism as to why Hudud shouldnt be applied in Malaysia, but the criticism is primarily focused on the stringent requirements of four reputable witnesses for offences such as adultery and qazaf  [4]  which according to them makes conviction for the abovecrime almost impossible.The evidence that could support the charge of adultery are the confession of either orboth the accused persons and/or eyewitness testimony made by four males, who are of justifiable and credible character. Anything else is merely circumstantial evidence and not admissible in a hadd prosecution.  [5]  Going back to the article itself again, question to be asked would be whether it would be unjust for the law to come out with a punishment of flogging 80 lashes if a clear proof of the rape committed couldnt be shown? The answer itself, lies under Art.8 of the FC as in the ca se of PP v DatukHarun bin Haji Idris  [6]  , where Suffian LP laid down the principle stating that if a law itself is discriminatory, one should see whether it falls within the exceptions allowed by the FC and if its not, it cant be said as a good law. As the situation laid down here, if we insist to apply Hudud into the Malaysian Legal System, even to the non-Muslim, it would definitely be unjust and contradicts with our Constitution as it is not obeying the provisions laid under Art.8 of the FC, which the equality of all before the law. Tun Dr. Mahathir, our ex-PM commented at the Hududs condition on rape offence, whereby four witnesses are required to convict a perpetrator, that today we have the modern equivalent tool of DNA. You can collect evidence of rape through collecting DNA samples and compare them with the offender.In Islam, the most important thing is justice. When you judge, you must make sure justice has been served. If you judge knowing clearly that this is unjust, then I think it is un-Islamic, he said.  [7]  And not to forget, Art.11 of the FC is interpreted itself to mean freedom of religion and therefore it is supposed to be a guarantee against prosecution on the basis of choice of religion thats being propagated. As for the effect of the Hudud on the gender relations if its being applied in Malaysia, there are many provisions in the Hudud discriminate against women. Women will not be accepted as witnesses and women are also most likely to be prosecuted for slander if they are not able to prove rape, which contradicts which our current provision of the Constitution. While in cases of adultery women which becomes pregnant will immediately be charged for the offence while it will be impossible to charge the male partner because of the requirement of four male Muslim witnesses. Evidence for rape is ocular evidence of four adult male witnesses or confession of the accused. The victims own statement has no testimonial value. Even if medical examination is taken and a sexual act has been proved to have taken place, the accused can still be acquitted. The woman is then convicted of zina. The onus is upon the victim to prove that she was not a consenting party to her rape. Even minors can be convicted of zina, unlike what is provided in the existing penal code, where consent of a minor is immaterial and statutory rape is applicable. All of these will then be causing gender discrimination in our country and the equality provision under the Constitution will therefore become unreliable under the provision of the Hudud if being applied here, in our country. ARTICLES SUMMARY [Hudud Law being applied in Saudi Arabia] Traditional Islamic law has become the basis for criminal law systems in Islamic countries. The most notable example of this is Saudi Arabia, where the Quran and Sunnah form the basis for the government and the legal system. Political Background Article 1 of the Constitution states that: The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia is a sovereign Arab Islamic state with Islam as its religion; Gods Book and the Sunnah of His Prophet, Gods prayers and peace be upon him, are its constitution, Arabic is its language and Riyadh is its capital  [8]   The legal system is, therefore, based on the divine revelation, rather than judicial decisions or written law. Article 38 of the Saudi Constitution sets forth that : (i)There shall be no crime or penalty except in accordance with a Shariah or organizational law. (ii)There shall be no punishment except for acts committed subsequent to the coming into force of the organizational law. This indicates that crimes and their penalties must be specifically set forth before punishments may be imposed. The Saudi Constitution also provides that the state protects human rights in accordance with the Islamic Shariah  [9]  . Legal System Saudi Arabian courts follow the Hanbali school. A judge in Saudi Arabia is called a qadi and must be trained as a scholar and a great follower of Islam  [10]  . There are three levels of courts. Mustajalah courts are the local courts and do not have jurisdiction over any case that could result in death. The High Courts of Sharia Law, or kubra, have jurisdiction over hudud and qisas crimes. Although usually only one qadi sits on each court, the hearing of a crime that would result in execution is heard by a panel of three judges. The three qadi conduct the investigation, examine witnesses, and issue a verdict. A defendant sentenced to death in a kubra court has a right of appeal to the Court of Cassation, and the case is heard by a five-qadi panel. During this review, the court does not examine the law or facts, but merely ensures that the judge has paid sufficient attention to the point of objection  [11]  . The Supreme Judicial Council reviews all death penalty cases. The Ki ng has final review. For death penalty cases for hudud crimes, the only review is of guilt; the penalty cannot be changed  [12]  . Population Saudi Arabia is the largest Muslim country of the world. It has an estimated population of 28 million. Saudi Arabia is a Kingdom and about 8 million people are migrants from different countries of the world. Saudi Arabia is the center of Muslims as the mousoleum of Holy Prophet Mohammed (PBUH) is in this country. According to The Future of the Global Muslim Population by Pew Research Center  [13]  , Saudi Arabia have about 25,493,000 estimated number of muslims population in 2010, which brings to approximately 97.1% of its citizen is a muslim. Thats about 1.6% of the muslim population as a whole. Educational System According to Robert Sedgwick  [14]  , education in Saudi Arabia is segregated by sex and divided into three separately administered systems: general education for boys, education for girls and traditional Islamic education (for boys). The religious secondary school curriculum includes the general academic secondary school curriculum but focuses primarily on Islamic and Arabic studies. Where memorization of the Quran, interpretation and understanding of the Quran (Tafsir) are stressed. Newspaper review ANALYSIS BETWEEN MALAYSIA AND SAUDI ARABIA Well it come to our understanding, on the paper based on its facts, analysis and others, we might able to implement this kind of law to both in Malaysia. But the question arose, whether when the government tries to implement this kind of law to both, would It be a total satisfaction to all who professing other religions? Indeed based on the analysis in Saudi Arabia country, it much obvious to see, hudud and syariah law, have well indeed, governed its government and society, whether in education, society, politics and legal system. But it come to much argument though, well if it is to be look upon the society of Saudi Arabia itself, Saudi Arabia is the largest Muslim country of the world. It has an estimated population of 28 millionapproximately 97.1% of its citizen, is a muslim. Thats about 1.6% of the muslims population as a whole. Differently in Malaysia which consist a multi-race society, which professing other religion instead of Islam itself. It would be easy to implement to Saudi Arabia, where its citizens, almost 97% professing the religion of Islam, while in Malaysia at least 30% of its citizens, professing the religion of Islam. Further to be illustrated that, as to be seen in respect of Education matters in Saudi Arabia, the government itself have well emphasized the society with primarily on Islamic and Arabic studies where the government of Saudi Arabia divided the system of education, into three parts which is education for boys, education for girls and traditional Islamic education (for boys), since their childhood. Differently, in Malaysia, it seems that the government itself does not really emphasizes the teaching of Islam (like fardhu ain) to the citizens, where the general education are ought to be champ. To be concluded, if one argument arose that the hudud law are ought to be implemented in Malaysia, first aspect to be considered is, the government of Malaysia itself may need to take a reconsideration to send a few people of ulama to have an emphasize knowledge of hudud and syariah law in any other Islamic country for example Saudi Arabia. As far to be concern, Malaysia have none who is really have such a perfect detail knowledge of any arguments pertaining to hudud law itself. Differently in Saudi Arabia, it would be easy to implement hududlaw there, as to the reason, there is many ulama who are far concerned, well learned of the syariah and hudud law themselves. THE DIFFICULTIES AND CHALLENGES ON THE IMPLEMENTATION OF THE HUDUD LAW IN MALAYSIA. Crux of hudud controversy, is the fact that both sides do not understand democracy and do not respect the democratic right of someone to support or oppose what they feel they want to support or oppose. Being a citizen of a democratic country, every citizen has a democratic right to drea about the Hudud and to support it, also to have nightmares about Hudud and oppose it. The implementation of hudud law (or any law for that matter) in Malaysia remains a possibility under democracy. It is not yet implemented because the majority of Malaysians including the Muslims themselves for some reason do not want it. They are simply practicing their democratic right by not giving it their consent.  [15]   Seen from a broader perspective hudud is not actually the real problem. It is just a form of punishment for a number of crimes mentioned in the Quran. Only criminals and criminals want-to-be, we might say, should be afraid of it. A proper Muslim would never reject hudud per se because he knows that it is a part of Islamic Law and it is a part of Islam. But a proper Muslim also would not allow people who are incompetent to use hudud as their rhetoric just to get into power because they are going to create bigger disaster. Hudud and Islamic law will not appear good and convincing in the hands of those who do not possess adequate moral and intellectual integrity. Hence, this is a matter of giving the trust to the rightful people. Implementing hudud is a big trust and it should not be given to just anybody. If the ability is not yet there, the real responsibility of the Muslims is to get themselves equipped with what it takes to carry out that responsibility.  [16]   So the real problem is the Muslims themselves who are, as a whole, no longer good Muslims in term of their understanding and practice of Islam so that they are not capable of carrying out their duties and responsibilities as it should be. As such, and as a matter of priority, what they really need today is a proper education that will make them be a good Muslims morally and intellectually. It is true that the criminals among them need to be punished according to Islamic law but that is not going to happen anyway if the majority do not believe in Islamic law or have no confidence in those who want to implement it. So now, the crux of the matter is actually education, only a properly educated human being will be able to use his democratic right wisely. When we talk about the education, the emphasis is on the individuals, not the society, and what matters most is ethics and morality instead of politics and law. Islamic law and political system cannot be conceived nor practiced outside the framework of Islamic ethics and morality because justice actually begins with the self. Even divine law cannot bring justice to the society if it is left in the hand of incompetent and corrupt individuals. A corrupt government can be brought down through the ballot box but it does not guarantee that the new government will be better that the previous one. True reform must ultimately come from a gradual process of education that is properly conceived and implemented. Our politicians, unfortunately, are not really interested in education. Perhaps, due to being poorly educated themselves, they do not see anything greater and more important than power. They think only with power and kind of reform can be done, hence their first concern over anything else is to get into power.  [17]   Besides that, the Malaysian Bar, stated that the Hudud cannot be implemented within the current constitutional and legislative framework. This is because, the law, as it stands, does not allow for the implementation of hudud by the States.   The Federal Constitution only allows the States to enact laws creating offences by persons professing the religion of Islam, against the precepts of Islam, and the respective punishments for such offences. With respect to the nature of such offences, these offences cannot include matters within the legislative powers of the Federal Government.   Therefore, there can be no replication of any of the offences within any Federal law with a different degree of punishment only for Muslims. Further, these laws, if enacted, must themselves be consistent with fundamental liberties guaranteed to all citizens, including Muslims, under Part II of the Federal Constitution. As to the scope of the punishments for offences against the precepts of Islam, the extent must be conferred by Federal law. The Syariah Courts (Criminal Jurisdiction) Act 1965 provides that the Syariah Courts in all States shall not exercise jurisdiction in respect of any offence punishable with imprisonment for a term exceeding six strokes or with any fine exceeding five thousands ringgit or with whipping exceeding six strokes or with any combination thereof. Hence, the penalties that Syariah Courts can mete out are clearly circumscribed, and do not inclu

Reasons For Strategic Decision At Thai Airways

Reasons For Strategic Decision At Thai Airways An inspired and carefully considered business strategy can be used to guide a company to achieve greater profitability and success, as it is known that strategy can be viewed as plan, ploy, pattern, position and perspective (Kourdi 2009, p3). To those companies that rely on low price to attract customers, such as budget airlines, business strategy plays a significant role in their business. However, business strategy should be based on the understandings about competition and threats in the industry, micro and macro environment factors that affect the success of their business, and strengths and competitive advantages of the company. Only can business strategy that is based on these understandings be used to achieve success of business Question 1: Reasons for Launching a Low-cost Airline with Thai Airways Tiger Airways is going to launch a low-cost airline with Thai Airways, which will target domestic and international destinations within five hours flying times distance on the basis of Bangkok (Creedy 2001). There are many reasons that Tiger Airway launched this airline jointly with Thai Airways, and the following five reasons are the most important ones: To compete effectively. It can be seen from the case that, by joint venture, it is easier for Tiger Airways to grow its business in Thailand, and will compete effectively in this region with Jetstar and AirAsia (Creedy 2001). Additional network advantages. By joint venture, it will build better network relationship with Thai Airways and may have advantages to deal with future spread risk and competition, as Thai Airways becomes a partner rather than a competitor (Creedy 2001). Additional cost advantage. By possessing 49% of the joint venture, and other 51% owned by Thai Airways, Tiger Airlways has chance to use the advantage of Thai Airways to maintain and even strength its low cost advantage (Creedy 2001). To reduce risk. By additional network and cost advantages brought from this deal, Tiger Airways is capable to face further spread risk. Pan-regional strategy. This joint venture is an important step forward in Tigers pan-regional strategy. It is noted by CEO of Tiger Airways, Tony Davis, that Bangkok is one key South East Asian gateway within striking distance of both India and China (Creedy 2001). By additional network advantage from joint venture with Thai Airways, it becomes easier for Tiger Airways to implement this strategy. Reasons for Strategic Decision Tiger Airways decision of launching a new airline jointly with Thai Airways can be considered as a strategic decision. Reasons are stated as follows: This decision affected the long-term direction of Tiger Airways. As mentioned above, this decision was an important step forward for its pan-regional strategy (Creedy 2001). This decision helped achieve advantage for Tiger Airways. Additional network advantage with Thai Airways and cost advantages were achieved by this joint venture decision. This decision expanded the activities scope of Tiger Airways to low-cost flight to Bangkok/ Thailand, and might expand to India and China as well This decision had major resource implication. It is mentioned in the case that by 2015, 68 flights would be allocated to this low-cost airline (Creedy 2001). This decision created new opportunity for Tiger Airways. By this decision, Tiger Airways became more competitive with Jetstar and AirAsia, which created new opportunity for the growth of Tiger Airways (Creedy 2001). This decision affected operational decisions of Tiger Airways. Investment in this new airline needs to be taken into consideration by Tiger Airways. Obviously, this decision can be viewed as a plan, a ploy, a pattern, a position, a perspective. Therefore, it is a strategic decision. Macro Environment Analysis PESTEL model is a good technique that can be utilized to analyze macro environment factors that affect the industries, as well as low-cost airline industry. It contains six factors which are Political, Economical, Social, Technological, Legal and Environmental factors (Robinson 2009, p75). Political: Government instability is a major factor to the low-cost airline industry. For example, the affairs of Prime Minister of Thailand, Thaksin Shinawatra and his Red-Shirt, led to a fatal drop in tourism industry, which may decrease the customer amount of low-cost airline industry (BBC 2010). Economical: Economy recession and financial crisis affected the profitability of low-cost airline industry players. A survey carried by Airline Business indicated that although revenue didnt show decline, profitability was affected by the financial crisis. Many players encountered a loss in 2008 compared to 2007 (Dunn 2009). Social: The attitude of income distribution and balancing work and leisure are factors that cant be neglected. People who are willing to distribute their money on travelling and their free time of leisure will increase the customer amount of the industry. Technological: Technology that makes standing seats for airlines available influence this low-cost airline industry seriously. The availability of standing seats for airlines will cut down the cost of industry will make it more attractive (BBC UK, 2010). Legal and Environmental: Employment laws, competition law, threat of natural causes, carbon dioxide emission are other factors of the low-cost airline industry. Question 2: Corporate Strategy, Business Level Strategy and Operational Strategy Corporate Level Strategy According to the definition from Collis and Montgomery (2005, p8), corporate level strategy can be defined as the way that a company uses to create value through configuration and coordination of its multimarket activities. There are three main emphases of this definition, value creation, configuration and multimarket activities. It is indicated in Appendix 1 that the corporate strategy of Tiger Airways is that: To create a portfolio of profitable routes throughout Asia and Australasia by establishing airlines in market where low-fare, low cost business model has exceptional potential for sustainable profitability with ancillary services such as luggage upsize, seat selector and sports equipment check-in. Business Level Strategy One model developed by Bowman called The Strategy Clock can be used to get good understanding about business level strategy, which relates competitive advantage to cost advantage and differentiation advantage. These successful strategies can be illustrated as following levels: Low price/ low added value, Low price, Hybrid, differentiation without price premium and Focused differentiation (Angwin et al 2007, p121) All these different strategy are classified based on two factors, price and value. It can be seen from Appendix 1 that the price of Tiger Airways is low because the company implement cost leadership strategy. Besides, compare to other airlines, the value added by Tiger Airways is limited. Luggage is limited to a certain size; seat selection will be charged. Only is purchased food or drink is allowed compare to free food and drink in SIA. Thus, the activities are low value-added. Therefore, based on these two factors, the business level strategy is Low price/Low added value. Operational Strategy According to the definition of Lowson (2002, p57) that operational strategy can be viewed widely as a value delivery strategy. It is all about decisions which helps create and deliver product/service, value to customers through companies core competencies. Therefore, the main operational strategy of Tiger Airways is to maintain and enhance the core competencies of low fare/ low cost. Many decisions have been made based on this strategy: Joint venture with Thai Airways to launch new airline. Install advanced 3-D weather radar to increase efficiency (Tiger Airways.com 2010) Minimize service that charges customers on customers behalf. Question 3: Porters Five Forces Analysis Porters five forces model is one of the most well-known models in business literature that produce the competitive situation in any industry (Beamish Williams 2008 pp76-77). The five forces and their relations are indentified as follows: Threat of new entrants Threat of substitutes Bargaining power of buyers Bargaining power of suppliers Intensity of rivalry Source: Caneval Ventures. Models on the dynamics of innovation. http://www.caneval.com/vision/innovation/innovation2.html [Last accessed: Dec. 7th 2010] Threat of new entrants The threat of new entrants of the low-cost airline industry is very fierce (4 out of 5). Although the investment of setting up new airline companies is huge to those organizations which are not in the airline industry, it is feasible to other organizations which are already in airline industry to establish new companies which serve the low-cost airline industry. The establishment of Tiger Airways can be an example to support this point. Tiger Airways is partially by SIA, which is the leading airline service provider all over the world. Threat of substitutes Long distance coaches, trains, passenger ships, network and other airline service providers (such as SIA) are the main substitutes of the low-cost airline industry. It can be seen from Appendix 2 that, although the low-cost airline industry is a booming industry with high growth rate, Network airline service providers are still the main provider in the airline industry. And Long distance coaches and trains play much more significant role in transportation in countries such as China because of the poor development of air transport. Therefore, this threat is very high (3 out of 5). Bargaining power of buyers In low-cost airline industry, though customers are easy to find substitutes but these substitutes may cause higher price or take more time to reach their destinations. Therefore, the bargaining power of buyers is not so strong (2 out of 5). For example, it is clearly seen from Appendix 3 that SIA return ticket for travelling between Singapore and Hong Kong is around 100SGD expensive than that of Tiger Airways. Bargaining power of suppliers Obviously, the main supply of low-cost airline industry should be the aircrafts, and Boeing and Air Bus are the two suppliers of aircrafts to low-cost airline industry. It means that these two companies are in the position of monopoly. Therefore, their bargaining power is extraordinary strong (5 out of 5). Intensity of rivalry The intensity of rivalry of low-cost airline industry is not so fierce (2 out of 5). Although the core competency of low-cost airline players is low fare/low cost, they have regional characteristic, which means only few airline players are recognized by customers in a certain areas. For instance, in South East Asia, Tiger Airways and AirAsia are the two recognized players by customers. In conclusion of the analysis of Porters five forces model, the outcome can be summarized as the following picture. Low-cost airline industry is an attractive industry, as buyers dont have strong bargaining power, which means this market is a seller market; low threats of substitutes means low-cost airline is a good choice among the products or services. Besides, although bargaining power of suppliers is extraordinary high, every player in the industry will face this problem, and because of a booming industry with high growth rate, low-cost airline industry is an attractive industry. Question 4: Value Chain Analysis Porters value chain model is a typical value chain model, which state nine kinds of business activities (Wang 2007, p81). And these business activities are classified into assistant and basic activities, which can stated as below: Wang Weijun (2007). Integration and innovation orient to e-society. New York: Springer Science+ Business Media, LLC. p81. However, this model aims at manufacture companies. Tiger Airways is in the industry of low-cost airlines, which is a service industry, therefore, the model needs to be modified based on the assumptions as follows: All the purchases are for infrastructure development purpose. Service is produced once purchase happens. Therefore, it can be seen from the case and other information from website and Tiger Airways 2010 annual reports that the value added activities are presented as follows: In the case, it is said that by 2015, 8 flights would be allocated to the new launched low-cost airline; this is the value-added activity which develops the infrastructure of Tiger Airways (Creedy 2001). In the annual report, it is stated that all new directors to the Board are briefed by Management on the Groups business activities, strategic directions, and will be sent for external training and development programmes. This is the value-added activities on manpower resource management (Annual report 2010). By this, Tiger Airways is able to make out better corporate, business level and operational strategies for the long-term development of the company and sustain the cost advantage as well. According to the media release of Tiger Airways, in 2010, by partnering with Honeywell, the company installed advanced 3-D weather radar enhance safety and passenger comfort. This can be viewed as a value-added activity based on technology development (Tiger Airways.com 2010). The annual reported stated that by renewing contracts with airports, ground services, providers and other suppliers, and purchased two aircrafts from Airbus (own rather than lease), enabled Tiger Airways to further reduce operating cost and in tune increase value to customers (Annual report 2010). According to the website, extra service is provided such as luggage upsize, seat selection and as well as related service, for example, hotels, insurance and car hire to enhance the types of service that customer can enjoy through Tiger Airways. There are many other business activities done by Tiger Airways, which enrich the value of service provided by Tiger Airways and gain wide recognition among customers, this is the exact reason helps Tiger Airways be one of the leaders in South East Asia to provide low-cost airline service. Question 5: Common Cost-cutting Strategies According to many literatures, there are many different kinds of cost-cutting strategies, for instance, rationalization, standardization, central processing of transactions, technology application and cost management strategy (OBrien Datta 1989, p165). Therefore, related to low cost carriers, the common cost-cutting strategies can be presented as follows: Rationalization. To low cost carriers, non-value-added activities are removed and only do those value-added activities remain. For example, there is one rule in Tiger Airways that only is purchased food or drink is allowed. Standardization. Another strategy is to standardize the service of low cost carriers. It can be seen for Appendix 4 that the service of Tiger Airways is standardized, as extra services will be charged by a certain price. Central processing of transactions. Crucial processes are identified by low cost carriers that need to be focus on to provide the basic service to their customers. Technology application. New technology can be applied to reduce operational cost and even reduce the proportion of risk. As mentioned above, the 3-D weather radar is applied by Tiger Airways to increase the accuracy of weather prediction to reduce unnecessary loss by reason of bad weather (Tiger Airways.com 2010). Cost management strategy. This strategy is used by low cost carriers to understanding the factors that affected the cost such as fuel, labour, distribution, inventory management, purchasing, and foreign exchange (IATA Training Portfolio). Take Tiger Airways as an example, the two main business regions are South East Asia and Australia. Therefore, the foreign exchange rate between AUS Dollar and SGD is a factor that cannot be neglected Another evidence stated in Tiger Airways 2010 annual report that by renewing contracts with airports, ground services, providers and other suppliers, and purchased two aircrafts from Airbus (own rather than lease), enabled Tiger Airways to further reduce operating cost. Three Future Strategies The strategies will be given according to Ansoffs product/market matrix. Source: Berger Roland., Kotler Philip., Bickhoff (2010). The Quintessence of Strategic Management. London: Springer Heigelberg. p36. Market Penetration. To Tiger Airways, it should use activities such as advertising, sales promotion to increase seat occupancy rate, which in turn will reduce the operating cost, this is the way to build strong core competencies. Market Development. It is evident in the case that market development is a suitable strategy for Tiger Airways to reduce operating cost and company development (Creedy 2001). By adding new airlines through joint ventures with other airline companies, it will give Tiger Airways have chance to benefit from advantages of other airline companies. Diversification. There are two main types of diversifications, related and unrelated diversification. Thus, To Tiger Airways, the company may use related diversification strategy to expand its business, such as to international express business. Through this strategy, the company can reduce the operating cost. References: Angwin Duncan., Cummings Stephen., Smith Chris (2007). The strategy pathfinder: core concepts and micro-cases. Oxford: Blackwell Publishing. pp121-122. Annual report (2010). Chairmans statement. http://www.tigerairways.com/news/Annual_Report_2010.pdf [Last accessed: Dec. 7th 2010] BBC (2010). Thailand red-shirts set out new conditions. http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/8671991.stm [Last accessed: Dec. 7th 2010] BBC UK (2010). Are standing seats a standing joke? http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/8779388.stm [Last accessed: Dec. 7th 2010] Beamish Karen., Williams John (2008). Analysis and Evaluation. Oxford: Elsevier Ltd. pp76-77 Berger Roland., Kotler Philip., Bickhoff (2010). The Quintessence of Strategic Management. London: Springer Heigelberg. p36 Caneval Ventures. Models on the dynamics of innovation. http://www.caneval.com/vision/innovation/innovation2.html [Last accessed: Dec. 7th 2010] Collis J. David., Montgomery A. Cynthia (2005). Corporate strategy: a resource-based approach. New York: McGraw-Hill. P8. Creedy, S. (2001), Tiger Airways to start Thai low-cost airline, The Australian, http://www.theaustralian.com.au/business/tiger-tostart-thai-low-cost-airline/story-e6frg8zx-1225900253006 [Last accessed: Dec. 7th 2010] Dunn Graham (2009). Low-cost carriers: Ready for battle. http://www.flightglobal.com/articles/2009/04/21/325429/low-cost-carriers-ready-for-battle.html [Last accessed: Dec. 7th 2010] IATA Training Portfolio. Cost Reduction Strategies. http://www.iata.org/training/courses/Pages/talf02.aspx [Last accessed: Dec. 7th 2010] Kourdi Jeremy (2009). Business Strategy: A Guide to Taking Your Business Forward. 2nd ed. London: Profile Books Ltd. p3. Lowson H. Robert (2002). Strategic operations management: the new competitive advantage. 1st ed. Oxon: Routledge. p57 OBrien Richard., Datta Tapan (1989). International economics and financial markets. Oxford: Oxford University Press. p165. Robinson Peter (2009). Operations Management in the Travel Industry. Oxford: CAB International. p75. Tiger Airways.com (2010). Tiger Airways to install advanced 3-D weather radar; first low-cost airline in Asia to use latest technology on A320s. http://www.tigerairways.com/news/20100616.pdf [Last accessed: Dec. 7th 2010] Wang Weijun (2007). Integration and innovation orient to e-society. New York: Springer Science+ Business Media, LLC. p57. Appendix 1: http://www.tigerairways.com/sg/en/about_us.php Appendix 2: Figure 1: Airline Market Share by Type of Carrier Note: All others is primarily regional jet carriers but may include a small percentage of scheduled charter carriers. Source: M.R. Dayton, Trends and Demand in Aviation Markets, presentation at the ATCA/FAA/Nav Canada Technical Symposium, Office of Inspector General, U.S. Department of Transportation, 2004. Appendix 3: Tiger Airways price: http://booking.tigerairways.com/skylights/cgi-bin/skylights.cgi SIA price: http://www.singaporeair.com/saa/zh_CN/Pricing/FlightCalendar.jsp

Gay Marriage Will Help America Essay -- argumentative, persuasive

Why is gay marriage such a big deal? Why are there so many people against it? Most of the time it is easy to presume where to draw the line when interfering with someone else’s rights. Simply, do not do it. Everyone has the right to get a driver’s license or has the freedom of speech, but why on earth do some people have the right to wed and think that he or she has the right to tell somebody else that he or she does not have that same right? Gay marriage is not traditional, gay relationships are immoral, and marriage is for procreation. Gay marriage is a perfectly acceptable decision that any citizen should be able to make for themselves. A gay California man, whose partner died in the September 11 terrorist attacks has become "legally vulnerable in ways he could never imagine". Keith Brodowski lost his life partner, Jeff Coleman, to American Airlines flight 11, which was the first plane to hit the World Trade Center. Coleman was a flight attendant. Brodowski is now battling the state and the nation for survivors' benefits, granted to the widows of those who died. It took powerful words of Keith’s testimony to move legislation to grant partial inheritance rights for registered domestic partners in California. Married couples had to go through nothing of this caliper for their benefits. In a survey conducted by Partners Task Force for Gay and Lesbian Couples, over fifty percent of lesbians and forty percent of gay men had faced problems obtaining employment benefits, lower tax rates, and insurance breaks because civil unions are not recognized as a legal marriage. Other discriminations included employment, hospital visitation, adoption, and many more. These problems could have been eliminated if the couple had been legally m... ...y not believe in the same sexual likings as us, they are still people who live among us. People with different religions do the same and they are allowed to get married and spend a life together. Why shouldn’t gays? References Bidstrup, S. (2000). Gay Marriage: The Arguments and the Motives. Veritas Et Ratio - Truth And Reason. Retrieved from website on March 19, 2011. From . Head, T. Arguments against same-sex marriage - Debunking 10 Arguments Against Same-Sex Marriage. Civil liberties at about.com - Your guide to civil liberties News and Issues. Retrieved from Website on March 19, 2011. From . Should gay marriage be legal?. Gay Marriage ProCon.org. Retrieved from website on March 18, 2011. From .

Chemical Warfare Essay -- essays research papers

Chem Warfare It was not until the early 1930's that German chemists observed that organo-phosphorus compounds could be poisonous. In 1934, Dr Gerhard Schrader, a chemist at IG Farben, was given the task of developing a pesticide. Two years later a phosphorus compound with extremely high toxicity was produced for the first time. According to contemporary regulations, discoveries with military implications had to be reported to the military authorities, which was also done with Schrader's discovery. This phosphorus compound, given the name tabun, was the first of the substances later referred to as nerve agents. A factory for production of the new CW agent was built and a total of 12 000 tonnes of tabun were produced during the years 1942-1945. At the end of the war the Allies seized large quantities of this nerve agent. Up to the end of the war, Schrader and his co-workers synthesized about 2 000 new organo-phosphorus compounds, including sarin (1938). The third of the "classic" nerve agents, soman, was first produced in 1944. These three nerve agents are known as G agents in the American nomenclature. The manufacture of sarin never started properly and up to 1945 only about 0.5 tonne of this nerve agent was produced in a pilot plant. Immediately after the war, research was mainly concentrated on studies of the mechanisms of the nerve agents in order to discover more effective forms of protection against these new CW agents. The resul...

Obamacare Essay

â€Å"Change will not come if we wait for some other person or some other time. We are the ones we’ve been waiting for. We are the change that we seek.† Those words were famously spoken from Barack Obama during his election period. Following through with those words, he begins to make change in the country. Change isn’t easy, yet you hope it’s worth it in the end. The USA seems to be standing on both sides of the fence when it comes to the changes the President is making with healthcare. March 23, 2010 Obama signed into law Affordable Care Act, or better known as Obamacare. Together with the Health Care and Education Reconciliation Act, it represents the most significant government expansion and regulatory overhaul of the U.S. healthcare system since the passage of Medicare and Medicaid in 1965 (www.obamacarefacts.com). Obamacare was enacted to provide affordable health insurance to 44 million uninsured Americans and to reduce the growth in health care spending. Obamacare has done some important things already, such as prohibiting insurance companies from dropping your coverage if you get sick and has been working with insurance companies who will not cover a person because of a pre-existing condition. However, as with all change there are two ways at looking at the new bill. Obamacare will drastically affect the low-income families in a positive way. In America healthcare is so difficult to afford for the average low-income family, Obama has placed the care on a sliding scale. The expansion will cover over 15 million low-income individuals and families below the 133% FLP mark. However each state has the option to opt-out of providing coverage for the poor. By not providing coverage for the poor, it will leave 2-3 million people without coverage. States that decide to opt-in employers will have to respond by laying people off and making full time employees part time to avoid Obamacare penalties and taxes by not implementing the program. Others will not expand beyond 50 employees to avoid the bill’s mandate’s (Shenk, 2013). The average consumer will see a difference because some businesses are adding surcharges to invoices in to help make up the cost of healthcare coverage for their employees. On a positive note, there would be no annual or lifetime limits, children can stay on their parent’s plans to age 26; FDA can approve more generic drugs driving prices down and breaking monopolies and protections against discrimination for gender, disabilities and domestic abuse. And there will be significant tax credits to the small businesses with less than 25 employees, to help offset the costs of providing coverage to their employees. Obamacare will certainly challenge the nation over whether it wants a national system to be dependent on Washington or rely on dual federalism that protects freedom. The bill doesn’t allow the American citizen the option, if they want to offer or accept coverage; they have to have it or they will be penalized. That doesn’t allow much freedom of choice, however at least they are being offered the opportunity to coverage. Despite the rocky road Obamacare has had to start, it has lived to see another day and each day the kinks are worked out. This bill is here to stay. So, as cchange isn’t always easy, the average American citizen can say that the law will be beneficial to them as individuals, their families, communities, and country.

In Oedipus the king Essay

Fate is an unavoidable part of a person’s life that may control who we are, what we do and what will happen to us. So, regardless of human actions and regardless of emotions and wishes, fate upon each humans being will occur. Fate can be undeserving and cruel, awesome and unchangeable, so much so that no one can change its course. Even when others try hard to help, fate will have its way. Certainly, in Sophocles’ tragedy, Oedipus the king was such an individual for even though exercising free will to determine the course of his destiny, fate ultimately had its way in that he is to kill his father and to marry his mother. An individual life is governed by the forces of fate that takes away autonomy and only leaves destiny as the road an individual will travel on. Despite Queen Jocasta’s individual effort to change her destiny, that she could stop her son from murdering his father and herself will marry her son, she was unable to do so. Even though she gives up her son to death in the useless hope to avoid fate, the oracle seals her destiny. However, later on, she herself admits that â€Å"chance rules our life†, for she realizes that all that efforts are not enough to change the predestined course of her life. Jocasta’s calm and reasonable brother, Creon, also support the philosophy that simple mortal do not control life, but gods control human’s destiny. Calm and in control, he announce to Oedipus before his self-proclaimed banishment, by saying that, â€Å"god will decide not I. † therefore, it shows that no one can predict their own future because what happenings in our life are decided by a greater force than humanity that is the control of the gods and human beings have little say in their destiny. Even when others interfere in one’s life, fate will in the end have its way. Jocasta and Laius try to escape the horrible prophecy set down by the god by giving up their new born son to a terrible death. However, the control of the god reign and the baby does not die, but lives. Oedipus, like his real parents tried to exercise free will in determining his destiny rather than that control by the gods. Once Oedipus hears of his fate from the oracle that he is to murder his father and marry his mother , Oedipus flee from Corinth to save his â€Å"parents† lives and so shows that he is willing to do anything, including giving up the throne, to make sure the prophecy does not come true. Yet, this very act leads him directly towards his fate, it is fate that drives him towards Thebe, the place where his destiny began. As well as placing him on the three crossroads where he angrily killed his real father laius. in addition, the efforts of the shepherd further add to the belief that humans cannot escape the control of the Gods, in his claim that â€Å"I hadn’t the heart to destroy it,† thereby ultimately allowing fate to continue in its path. Some humans, however, are able to exercise free will and control their own life; their lives have not been predetermined by destiny from the gods. Teiresias exercise free will to determine his own destiny, as such circumstances have not been imparted on him. Although cursed with blindness for he â€Å"lives in perpetual night†, Teiresias may exercise his own wish in his actions and is not restricted in his ultimate fate by the workings of the gods. Creon, jocata’s brother and Oedipus’ brother in law and uncle, has all the rights of a royal couple with none of the kingly responsibilities, for he claims that â€Å"who in his right mind would rather rule and live in anxiety than live in peace, mainly if he enjoys the same authority. † Unlike Oedipus who has had his fate set out for him from birth, Creon has not been give with such a tragedy, and so allows â€Å"chance to rule his life,† â€Å"living each day as best he can. † Likewise. Since human beings often suffer great pains in order to discover their true selves, it is ultimately the powerful and dominant Oedipus, whose â€Å"name is known afar,† who pays a very high cost for such revelations. At the same time as demonstrate free will to show himself to be a king with little self knowledge, his passionate and dogmatic nature leads him on this path of self- discovery. However, fate also has its way, for ultimately he suffers the indignity of a man who has committed the most dreadful of crimes.