Fazl-e-Haq Khairabadi: Arabic Literary Legacy and Anti-Colonial Resistance in Nineteenth-Century India

Allama Fazl-e-Haq Khairabadi (1797–1861) was a prominent Islamic scholar, philosopher, poet, thinker, and Arabic author of nineteenth-century India. Born into a distinguished scholarly family in Khairabad, present-day Uttar Pradesh, he received a comprehensive education in the religious and rational sciences, as well as in Arabic and Urdu literature. His father, Mufti Fazl-e-Imam Khairabadi, was a renowned scholar who contributed significantly to the intellectual and scholarly tradition of the period. Fazl-e-Haq Khairabadi subsequently established himself as an influential scholar and literary figure, particularly in the fields of philosophy, theology, Arabic literature, and poetry. He also became an important intellectual voice in opposition to British colonial rule and played a significant role in the events associated with the Revolt of 1857. His opposition to colonial rule eventually resulted in his arrest, trial, and transportation to the Andaman Islands, where he spent the final years of his life. Alongside his historical role in the anti-colonial resistance, his contribution to Arabic literary culture in India deserves closer scholarly attention. His Arabic writings and poetry demonstrate the influence of the classical Arabic literary tradition while also reflecting themes of resistance, patriotism, religious conviction, suffering, exile, and social justice. This chapter examines Fazl-e-Haq Khairabadi’s intellectual formation, his role in the anti-colonial resistance of 1857, and his contribution to Arabic literature as an author and poet. It further analyses selected literary and rhetorical features of his Arabic writings and evaluates their significance within the broader development of Arabic literature in India. By bringing together historical and literary perspectives, the chapter highlights Fazl-e-Haq Khairabadi’s enduring legacy as an important Arabic literary figure and a significant representative of anti-colonial intellectual resistance in nineteenth-century India.

Keywords: Fazl-e-Haq Khairabadi; Arabic Literary Legacy; Arabic Literature in India; Anti-Colonial Resistance; Revolt of 1857.

Local Governance, Institutional Trust and Conflict Prevention in Cabo Delgado, Mozambique

Since October 2017, the province of Cabo Delgado, in northern Mozambique, has faced a prolonged insurgency that has already displaced more than one million people and exposed deep fragilities in the relationship between the state and local communities. Much of the political and academic response has focused on military and security interventions, but a growing body of literature suggests that the erosion of institutional trust and the absence of effective local governance may contribute to the persistence of the conflict, rather than merely being its consequence. This study examines, through qualitative documentary analysis of secondary sources, the relationship between local governance, institutional trust, and conflict prevention in Cabo Delgado. Anchored in Börzel and Risse’s theory of governance in areas of limited statehood and in the institutional literature on political trust, the study argues that institutional trust functions as a constitutive element, rather than a by-product, of effective governance, and that interventions focused exclusively on security may deepen rather than reduce the trust deficit. The evidence suggests that local dialogue initiatives with communal, religious, and traditional legitimacy have shown signs of institutionalizing trust at the community level, albeit on a smaller geographic scale, and that the most recent spikes in displacement, including the 2025 wave, remain associated with deficits in sustained administrative presence. The study concludes with policy recommendations oriented toward a stabilization approach centred on local governance, alongside conventional security responses rather than subordinate to them.

Keywords: local governance; institutional trust; conflict prevention; Cabo Delgado; limited statehood; traditional authority

Gender Differences in the Associations of Gender Role Characteristics and Weight Self-Stigma with Binge Eating Among College Students in China

Binge eating is prevalent among young adults and may be associated with body weight, negative affect, social expectations, and body-related self-evaluations. This study examined gender differences in the associations of masculinity, femininity, weight self-stigma, and binge eating among college students in mainland China. Between May and July 2026, 960 students were recruited through Wenjuanxing using purposive and snowball sampling; 908 valid responses were retained. Participants completed measures of gender roles, weight self-stigma, binge eating, depressive symptoms, grade level, and body mass index (BMI). Descriptive statistics, independent-samples t tests, Pearson correlations, hierarchical multiple regressions, and a pooled interaction model were conducted. Female students reported higher femininity, weight self-stigma, depressive symptoms, and binge eating, whereas male students reported higher masculinity and BMI. Weight self-stigma was positively associated with binge eating in both groups, with a stronger association among female students. Masculinity was positively associated with binge eating among male students, whereas femininity was negatively associated with binge eating among female students. Depressive symptoms and BMI remained significant covariates in both models. These findings highlight the relevance of gender-role characteristics and weight stigma to binge eating among Chinese college students. College-based prevention should address weight-related shame, strengthen adaptive coping skills, and provide gender-sensitive support without reinforcing restrictive gender expectations.

Keywords: gender role characteristics, weight self-stigma, binge eating, college students, gender differences, China

Book Review: Academic Leadership in Higher Education in India: Needs, Issues, and Challenges

Higher education in India is metamorphosing at dizzying speed. Universities and colleges are being called upon to enhance teaching, facilitate research, adopt new technologies, respond to emerging educational policies, and better prepare students for a radically different world of work. In the face of this evolution, academic leadership has taken on far greater significance than ever before. Academic Leadership in Higher Education in India: Needs, Issues, and Challenges, Lokanath Mishra, Academic Press -AP (2016). From a leadership-strategizing perspective, the book captures these developments succinctly. It reframes academic leadership as a position whose essence is not simply administrative but involves decision-making, team building, institutional improvement, etc., to promote research and implement policy while gaining stakeholder buy-in. One thing this book does well is narrow its focus to India. Most leadership books focus on corporate or Western contexts, but universities are their own beasts, with their own culture, structure, and set of challenges. Academic institutions filter through committees, protocols, faculty needs, student desires, governmental guidelines, and institutional mandates. Thus, leadership in the higher education context cannot be drawn directly parallel to leadership within a company. Hence, this book offers a relevant debate for teachers, administrators, and researchers on one hand, and heads of departments and principals, among others, on the other, interested in how leadership can help improve higher education institutions in India.

Magic and Medicine: Epistemological Hybridity and Healing Practices in Contemporary Lagos

This paper examines the complex relationship between magic and medicine within the socio-cultural and epistemological landscape of Lagos, Nigeria. It challenges the conventional binary that positions scientific medicine as rational and magical healing as irrational or primitive. Drawing from philosophical inquiry, historical analysis, and socio-cultural observation, the study argues that both systems of knowledge coexist and interact dynamically in contemporary Lagos. The research adopts a qualitative methodology, relying on interpretive analysis of historical texts, ethnographic insights, and philosophical discourse. It explores how colonial legacies, indigenous Yoruba cosmology, religious pluralism, and global biomedical practices have shaped a hybrid medical culture. The findings reveal that Lagosians often navigate multiple healing systems simultaneously, engaging biomedical institutions while also consulting spiritual healers, herbalists, and religious figures. This coexistence reflects not confusion but a pragmatic and holistic approach to health that integrates physical, spiritual, and social dimensions of human existence. The paper further argues that the persistence of magical thinking in healthcare is not a sign of epistemic backwardness but an expression of an expanded understanding of reality and causation. The study concludes that the dichotomy between magic and medicine is philosophically inadequate and culturally misleading. It recommends a more inclusive healthcare framework that recognizes epistemological pluralism and encourages dialogue between different healing traditions. Such an approach can enhance patient-centered care, improve health outcomes, and foster mutual respect between biomedical practitioners and traditional healers.

Keywords: Biomedical Procedures, Epistemological Hybridity, Healing Practices, Magic, Medicine, Philosophical Discourse

The Hejaz Railway: The Historical Interplay of Religion, Politics, Technology, and Power in the Ottoman Empire

The Hejaz Railway was one of the most important infrastructure projects undertaken during the final phase of the Ottoman Empire. Initiated with the aim of extending a railway from Damascus to Medina and eventually to Mecca, the project encompassed a range of religious, political, military, economic, and social objectives. Construction began in 1900 and progressed through several stages, reaching Medina in 1908. One of its principal objectives was to facilitate the long and arduous journey of Muslim pilgrims undertaking the Hajj. A journey that had previously taken more than a month could be completed within a few days by railway, making pilgrimage faster and more convenient. At the same time, the Hejaz Railway was intended to strengthen unity and communication among Muslims and to consolidate Ottoman administrative and military control over the Arab provinces. The development of the railway contributed to Medina's emergence as an important commercial center, facilitated the transportation of agricultural products, and stimulated local and interregional trade. Militarily, the railway assisted the Ottoman Empire in strengthening its military presence in Syria and the Hejaz and in transporting troops and supplies more rapidly. During the First World War and the Arab Revolt, the railway played a crucial role in maintaining the Ottoman presence in Medina. Thus, the Hejaz Railway was not merely a transportation project; it was a remarkable Ottoman-era undertaking that interconnected religious service, Muslim solidarity, administrative integration, military strategy, and economic development.

Keywords: Hejaz Railway; Ottoman Empire; Abdul Hamid II; Hajj; Islamic Solidarity; Ottoman Caliphate; Railway Technology; Military Strategy; Economic Development; Arab Provinces.

Architecture, Identity, and Meaning: A Phenomenological Socio-Semiotic Study of the Ojude-Oba Festival

This study examines the Ojude-Oba Festival of Ijebu-Ode, Ogun State, Nigeria, from a phenomenal architectural socio-semiotic perspective, exploring how space, symbolism, and human experience interact to sustain cultural identity and social cohesion. Drawing on architectural theory and socio-semiotic theory, the research investigates ways in which the festival's spatial organisation, ceremonial practices, visual symbols, dress codes, colour schemes, equestrian displays, and processional activities communicate social meanings and reinforce communal values. Using qualitative methodology involving visual content analysis, observation, and socio-semiotic interpretation of selected festival images and activities, the study analyses participant interactions, architectural settings, ceremonial hierarchies, and embodied cultural performances. Findings reveal that the palace's forecourt functions as a symbolic centre that reproduces social hierarchy and cultural authority, while coordinated dress practices, colour symbolism, and equestrian performances serve as visual markers of identity, prestige, and collective memory. The study also shows that embodied participation and interaction with architectural space generate cultural meaning, facilitating the transmission of heritage across generations. Additionally, the festival illustrates how Yoruba society successfully negotiates tradition and modernity by integrating contemporary aesthetics, tourism, and digital visibility without compromising core cultural values. The research concludes that the Ojude-Oba Festival is not merely a cultural celebration but a living socio-spatial institution where architecture, symbolism, and social relations converge to preserve and continuously reconstruct Yoruba cultural identity.

Keywords: Architecture, Cultural Heritage, Ojude-Oba Festival, Socio-semiotics, Spatial Symbolism.

Investment Awareness and Financial Behaviour Among Salaried Individuals: Evidence from Pune and Pimpri-Chinchwad

This study looks at how aware salaried individuals in Pune and Pimpri-Chinchwad (PCMC), Maharashtra, say they are of investments, and how that sits alongside their saving and investing habits. We collected 96 valid responses through a structured online questionnaire in September 2026 and analysed them using frequencies, percentages and three exploratory chi-square tests. Twenty-nine respondents (30.2%) described themselves as very aware of investments, 33 (34.4%) as somewhat aware, 32 (33.3%) as slightly aware and 2 (2.1%) as not aware. Fixed deposits (65.6%), gold (62.5%) and mutual funds (59.4%) were the most widely recognised avenues, while friends or family (45.8%) and social media (42.7%) were the most common sources of investment information. Fifty-three respondents (55.2%) were investing at the time of the survey and another 28 (29.2%) planned to start. Fear of losing money was the most frequently reported challenge (36.5%). Current investment participation was not significantly associated with salary group, self-reported awareness or risk–return understanding at the 5% level. Because the sample is small, non-probability based and self-reported, the findings describe the surveyed respondents and should not be generalised to all salaried workers in the region.

Keywords: investment awareness; financial behaviour; saving; investment participation; Pune; Pimpri-Chinchwad

Explainable AI for Decision Support in Blood Bank Operations

Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Machine Learning (ML) are increasingly being applied in blood bank operations to support demand forecasting, inventory management, shortage prediction, and resource allocation. However, the complexity of many AI models creates challenges in understanding and trusting their predictions. Explainable Artificial Intelligence (XAI) can address this issue by providing understandable explanations for AI-driven recommendations. This paper presents a systematic review of AI and ML applications in blood bank decision support, with particular focus on explainability, transparency, and human-centered decision-making. The review examines existing approaches, their benefits and limitations, and identifies research gaps in the development of explainable decision-support systems for blood bank operations. Based on the reviewed literature, a conceptual framework integrating operational data, AI/ML models, an explainability layer, decision-support outputs, and human review is proposed. The framework emphasizes transparency, validation, and human oversight to support responsible adoption of AI in blood bank management.

Keywords: Artificial Intelligence (AI), Machine Learning (ML), Explainable AI (XAI), Blood Bank Management, Decision Support Systems, Blood Inventory Management, Healthcare AI, Systematic Review

The Role of Reinforcement Learning in Autonomous Systems: Applications, Challenges, and Future Directions

Autonomous systems are increasingly required to make sequential decisions in environments that may be dynamic, uncertain, and only partially predictable. Reinforcement learning (RL) provides a framework in which an agent learns decision-making behaviour through interaction with an environment and feedback in the form of rewards. This paper presents a focused review of the role of RL in autonomous systems, with emphasis on robotics, autonomous navigation, autonomous vehicles, drones, and intelligent control. The paper first explains the foundations of RL, including states, actions, rewards, policies, value functions, exploration, exploitation, and Markov Decision Processes. It then reviews major RL approaches relevant to autonomy, including Q-learning, Deep Q-Networks, policy-gradient methods, actor–critic methods, multi-agent RL, and safe RL. Findings from the reviewed literature indicate that RL is particularly relevant to sequential decision-making and adaptive behaviour, but practical deployment remains challenging because of reward design, sample efficiency, safety, generalization, computational requirements, and the gap between simulation and physical environments. The paper further identifies research gaps related to reliable safety constraints, efficient learning, robust transfer, explainability, and multi-agent coordination. Finally, future research directions are discussed, including safe and explainable RL, sim-to-real transfer, hybrid learning and control, and more efficient autonomous decision-making architectures.

Keywords: Reinforcement Learning, Autonomous Systems, Robotics, Autonomous Navigation, Deep Reinforcement Learning, Safe RL, Sim-to-Real Transfer

AI-Powered Resume Analyzer and Skill Gap Analysis for Career Development

The transition from education to employment increasingly requires students to present their skills in a form that can be understood by both employers and digital recruitment systems. A resume may contain useful evidence of technical knowledge, projects, coursework, certifications, and transferable abilities, but these elements are often written with inconsistent terminology and may not correspond directly to the wording used in a job description. This paper proposes an AI-powered resume analyzer that converts unstructured resume text into a structured skill profile and compares it with the requirements of a selected job role. The proposed approach combines document parsing, natural language processing, skill extraction, semantic similarity, rule-based normalization, and an interpretable skill-gap report. The system is designed not merely to produce a match percentage, but to explain which required skills are present, partially demonstrated, or missing and to suggest practical learning directions. The study is motivated by evidence that skill requirements are changing rapidly and that AI-based hiring systems can create fairness, privacy, and transparency concerns. The paper therefore treats the analyzer as a career-support tool rather than an autonomous hiring decision-maker. A literature-informed methodology, system architecture, evaluation framework, sample data structures, and prototype-oriented findings are presented. The proposed design emphasizes human review, transparent scoring, data minimization, and the distinction between evidence in a resume and actual competence. The work concludes with future directions including multilingual resumes, stronger skill ontologies, longitudinal skill tracking, explainable recommendations, and evaluation with real student and job-posting datasets.

Keywords: Artificial Intelligence, Resume Analysis, Skill Extraction, Skill Gap Analysis, Natural Language Processing, Semantic Similarity, Career Development, Explainable AI, Recruitment Technology

WHY DOES CORRUPTION PERSIST? PATRONAGE, POLITICAL PROTECTION AND THE LIMITS OF ANTI-CORRUPTION INSTITUTIONS

Anti-corruption laws, agencies and international conventions have expanded substantially over the past three decades, yet corruption remains persistent across a wide range of political systems. This article argues that corruption persists because, where political survival depends on patronage, those who control the state have incentives to keep anti-corruption institutions formally present but effectively subordinate to the arrangements that patronage sustains. Persistence is therefore a political equilibrium and not an administrative failure. The article develops a framework that integrates principal-agent theory, collective action approaches, research on patronage and clientelism, and political settlements analysis. It distinguishes between formal institutional presence, effective institutional autonomy and accountability outcomes, and identifies four mechanisms through which the gap between them is maintained: appointment dependence, selective enforcement, protective fragmentation and symbolic compliance. Three propositions and a set of observable implications are derived, and documented cases are used to illustrate them. The framework applies across regions and regime types wherever the underlying political conditions are present. The article concludes that durable reform requires changes not only in institutional design but also in the political incentives and distribution of power that determine whether formal institutions can constrain powerful actors.

Keywords: corruption; anti-corruption institutions; patronage; collective action; political settlements; institutional autonomy

AutoML Builder Pipeline: Design, Implementation and Empirical Analysis of an Automated Machine-Learning Workflow

Building a supervised machine-learning model by hand requires a long chain of decisions: how to clean the data, how to scale and encode features, whether to reduce dimensionality, which algorithm to use, and how to set its hyper-parameters. Automated machine learning (AutoML) aims to make these decisions with a search procedure instead of manual trial and error. This paper reviews how an AutoML builder pipeline is organised, describes a transparent seven-stage reference pipeline implemented in Python with scikit-learn, and evaluates it experimentally. The pipeline combines automatic profiling, imputation, scaling, optional feature selection, a random search over eight classifier families with hyper-parameters, k-fold cross-validated scoring, and soft-voting ensembling of the best candidates. It was evaluated with nested cross-validation on three public benchmark datasets and one synthetic mixed-type dataset containing missing values and class imbalance, and compared against untuned default models. The main measured findings are as follows. First, the AutoML pipeline performed on average about as well as the best of four default models chosen after seeing the test fold (mean macro-F1 difference −0.001; paired Wilcoxon p = 0.35, i.e. no significant difference) and clearly better than a default model chosen without that knowledge (mean gain +0.036 macro-F1). Second, no single algorithm won everywhere, which supports automatic model selection. Third, returns diminish quickly with search budget, with most of the gain obtained within 12 of 24 evaluated pipelines. Fourth, ablation showed that restricting the search to linear and kernel models lowered mean macro-F1 by 0.027, whereas removing feature selection or scaling from the search changed it by 0.005–0.010. The study is small in scale, and the limitations of that scale are stated explicitly.

Keywords: AutoML, machine-learning pipeline, hyper-parameter optimisation, model selection, ensemble learning, cross-validation, tabular data

Applying Data Science to Environmental Conservation: Deforestation and Biodiversity Loss

Deforestation and biodiversity loss remain among the most pressing environmental challenges of the twenty-first century, driven by agricultural expansion, illegal logging, infrastructure development, and climate change. Traditional conservation monitoring, which relies heavily on manual field surveys and periodic aerial inspection, is often too slow and too coarse to keep pace with the rate of ecosystem degradation. This paper examines how data science techniques, including satellite remote sensing, machine learning classification, predictive modeling, and network analysis, are being applied to detect deforestation in near real time, forecast biodiversity risk, and prioritize conservation interventions. Drawing on peer-reviewed literature, open datasets such as Global Forest Watch and the IUCN Red List, and case studies from the Amazon, the Congo Basin, and Southeast Asia, the paper evaluates the strengths, limitations, and ethical considerations of current approaches. It concludes that while data-driven methods substantially improve the speed and precision of conservation monitoring, their impact depends on integration with policy enforcement, community engagement, and continued investment in open, high-resolution environmental data infrastructure.

Keywords: deforestation, biodiversity loss, data science, machine learning, remote sensing, GIS, conservation informatics, predictive modeling

TEUNGKU ANJONG: BIOGRAPHY AND HIS ROLE IN THE ACEH DARUSSALAM SULTANATE

Sayyid Abū Bakr bin Ḥusayn Bālfaqīh, known as Teungku Anjong, was a significant yet understudied figure in eighteenth-century Acehnese Islamic scholarship. This study examines his origins, scholarly networks, and socio-religious role in Aceh. Employing a historical method and philological approach, the research draws on primary sources including hagiographical texts, old new paper, and manuscript traditions. The findings reveal that Teungku Anjong was a prominent figure within the Ṭarīqah Alawiyah, connected to a lineage of distinguished Hadrami scholars including Sayyid Ḥusayn bin ʿUmar Bālfaqīh (d.1157 AH), Sayyid ʿAbd al-Raḥmān bin ʿAbd Allāh Bālfaqīh (d.1162 AH), Sayyid Ḥasan bin ʿAbd Allāh bin ʿAlawī al-Ḥaddād(d. 1188 AH), and Sayyid Muḥammad bin Ḥāmid al-Waḥath(d. 1160 AH). Recognized as a Sufi master of Ṣāḥib Al-Aḥwāl Wa Al-Maqāmāt, he established a dayah in Gampong Jawa that evolved into the present-day Teungku Anjong Mosque. His legacy further encompasses waqf endowments across Aceh and an adjacent mausoleum built in traditional Acehnese style. He passed away on 14 Ramadan 1196 AH, and his memory is perpetuated through the annual Khanduri Thon Teungku Anjong commemoration. This study contributes to scholarship on Hadrami diasporic networks and their enduring impact on Islamic traditions in Indonesia.

Keywords: Teungku Anjong, Thariqah ‘Alawiyah, Banū ʿAlawī, Karamah and Waqf

Effect of Project Monitoring and Evaluation on Success of Agriculture Project: A Case of the Scientific Intercropping Project in Rwamagana District, Rwanda

This study assessed the effect of project monitoring and evaluation (M&E) on the success of the Scientific Intercropping Project in Rwamagana District, Rwanda. It examined the effects of M&E planning, M&E tools, M&E data collection and M&E reporting on project success, guided by Theory of Change, Resource-Based View, Goal-Setting Theory and Double-Loop Learning Theory. A descriptive and correlational design combining quantitative and qualitative methods was used. From a target population of 371 managerial staff, field staff, beneficiaries and local stakeholders, a sample of 193 was determined with the Yamane formula and selected randomly; 181 questionnaires were returned (93.78%). Interviews and document review complemented the questionnaire data, which were analysed in SPSS version 28 using descriptive statistics, Pearson correlation and multiple regression. Together, the four M&E dimensions explained 82.9% of the variance in project success (R = 0.910, R² = 0.829; F = 209.862, p < 0.001). Each dimension had a positive and significant effect: M&E tools (B = 0.468, p < 0.001), M&E reporting (B = 0.249, p < 0.001), M&E data collection (B = 0.230, p < 0.001) and M&E planning (B = 0.114, p = 0.007). All four null hypotheses were rejected. The study concludes that well-designed M&E systems are essential to the success of agricultural projects. It recommends standardised M&E tools, clearer indicators, regular training of field staff in data collection and wider stakeholder participation in reporting.

Keywords: Monitoring and Evaluation, M&E Planning, M&E Tools, M&E Data Collection, M&E Reporting, Project Success

Neurodivergent English Learning: Optimizing Sensory-Friendly Classroom Strategies for L2 Reading Comprehension in Sokoto State, Nigeria

Neurodivergent learners in English as a second language (L2) classrooms frequently encounter significant academic hurdles arising not only from intrinsic linguistic demands but also from heightened environmental sensory stimulation, attentional competition, working-memory strain, and instructional unpredictability. This study investigated whether implementing a multi-component sensory-friendly classroom environment could optimize L2 reading comprehension among neurodivergent secondary-school learners in Sokoto State, Nigeria. A quasi-experimental mixed-methods design was adopted because intact school classes could not ethically or practically be reorganized through individual random assignment; combining quantitative and qualitative evidence permitted both precise measurement of learning outcomes and granular examination of learners' lived experiences. A sample of 120 learners aged 13–17 years was purposively identified across four public secondary schools through a rigorous five-stage screening protocol involving school records, standardized teacher screening, parent/guardian confirmation, and professional educational documentation. Sixty learners participated in an eight-week sensory-friendly reading intervention, while 60 received standard instruction. The intervention incorporated visual clutter reduction, typography optimization, controlled acoustics, predictable lesson sequencing, adjustable lighting, low-distraction seating, and structured reading pauses. Analysis of Covariance (ANCOVA) revealed significantly superior comprehension gains in the intervention group F(1, 117) = 84.12, p < .001, partial η² = .418), alongside reduced reading time, fewer eye-tracking regressions, and lower perceived fatigue. Qualitative thematic analysis highlighted enhanced attentional stability, alleviated sensory overload, and heightened academic self-efficacy. The study establishes that sensory-friendly design operates as an essential cognitive accessibility bridge in L2 contexts and emphasizes that adaptations must be individualized rather than uniformly applied.

Keywords: Neurodivergence, L2 Reading Comprehension, Sensory Processing, Cognitive Load Theory, Inclusive English Language Teaching, Sokoto State

Ideological Infiltration and the Unschooled Mind: A Discursive Analysis of Recruitment Vulnerabilities among Never-Been-to-School Youth in Northern Nigeria

This study examines how extremist recruitment narratives exploit the educational exclusion of never-been-to-school youth in Northern Nigeria. Using a qualitative Critical Discourse Analysis (CDA) design anchored in Fairclough’s three-dimensional model and Social Identity Theory, the study analyzes recruitment rhetoric, propaganda transcripts, community testimonies, security reporting, and education-policy data drawn from UNICEF, peer-reviewed scholarship, and open-source materials published up to 2026. Findings show that recruiters construct legitimacy through grievance framing, moral-authority appeals, binary identity constructions, oral and audio-visual communication, and promises of protection, belonging, and material reward. The paper advances a novel argument that the “unschooled mind” is not inherently susceptible to extremism; rather, vulnerability emerges where educational deprivation intersects with poverty, insecurity, weak governance, and grievance-based propaganda. It positions foundational education as a preventive security priority and recommends Universal Basic Education enforcement, accelerated foundational learning, community-based critical-literacy programmes, and early-warning education surveillance.

Keywords: Boko Haram; Critical Discourse Analysis; Educational Exclusion; Ideological Infiltration; Never-Been-to-School Youth; Northern Nigeria

From Arabic Devotional Heritage to Malabar Poetics: Prophetic Representation and Vernacularization in Kunhayin Musliyar’s Nūl Madḥ

This article develops a framework for examining the relationship between classical Arabic prophetic praise poetry (al-madīḥ al-nabawī) and the Malayalam devotional literary culture of Malabar, taking Kunhayin Musliyar’s Nūl Madḥ as its central point of inquiry. Its principal argument is that vernacular devotional poetry should not be understood simply as a secondary copy of an Arabic original. Rather, vernacularization can be approached as a literary and cultural process through which inherited religious themes, poetic conventions, images, and modes of address are selected, translated, reshaped, and made meaningful within a new linguistic community. The study situates Nūl Madḥ within the wider history of prophetic praise, considers the multilingual ecology of Malabar Muslim literary life, and proposes a comparative method attentive to genre, imagery, language, performance, and reception. It distinguishes direct textual borrowing from shared devotional conventions and thematic resemblance, since similarity alone cannot establish a line of influence. The article also argues that the social life of devotional texts—their recitation, memorization, circulation, and place in communal gatherings—must be considered alongside their verbal artistry. Because a verified critical edition and a parallel corpus of Arabic source texts are necessary for line-by-line comparison, the present study is framed as a historically informed, text-centred interpretive analysis rather than a claim to have established every textual correspondence. It contributes a conceptual model for future close readings of Nūl Madḥ and for the broader study of vernacular Muslim literatures as active participants in transregional Islamic literary history.

Keywords: Nūl Madḥ; Kunhayin Musliyar; al-madīḥ al-nabawī; Malayalam literature; Mappila literature; Malabar; vernacularization; Prophetic representation; Arabic literary heritage

Countering Digital Displacement: Evaluating A I-Enhanced Curriculum Studies Education through Philip’s Theory of Academic Performance Decline

The rapid spread of generative artificial intelligence (GenAI) across educational settings has raised fresh concerns about digital displacement: the gradual transfer of human cognitive agency to algorithmic systems. This paper used Philip’s Theory of Academic Performance Decline (PTAPD) as a diagnostic lens for detecting cognitive regression linked to uncritical AI use in curriculum studies. Using a conceptual and critical analytical approach, the study examines weaknesses in current assessment practices, curriculum structures, and pedagogical mediation models against three core parameters: algorithmic over-reliance, cognitive friction deficits, and epistemic flattening. Results show that static, product-oriented assessments are especially open to synthetic generation, while the erosion of productive struggle and the homogenization of inquiry undermine localized, human-centred intellectual growth. In response, the paper proposes structural remedies that deliberately restore productive friction, diversify the aspects of learning tasks, and align curriculum with hyper-local and tactile realities. Policy and pedagogical recommendations call for a shift from output efficiency toward the protection of cognitive sovereignty. The analysis supplies educators and curriculum designers with a theoretically grounded tool for integrating GenAI without sacrificing the intellectual agency that remains central to meaningful education.

Keywords: Academic Performance Decline; Curriculum Studies; Cognitive Friction Generative Artificial Intelligence; Digital Displacement; Epistemic Flattening

Dynamic Phonological Re-Grouping (DPR): An AI-Driven Framework for Real-Time Intra-Lesson Scaffolding in Teaching at the Right Level (TaRL) Classrooms

Teaching at the Right Level (TaRL) has gained prominence as a practical response to heterogeneous foundational learning because it organizes instruction around demonstrated competence rather than age or grade. Yet broad TaRL assessment categories can conceal moment-to-moment listening problems that arise when learners move from isolated forms to connected speech. This conceptual paper proposes Dynamic Phonological Re-Grouping (DPR), an artificial intelligence-assisted framework that adds a temporary, task-specific layer of phonological diagnosis to ordinary TaRL instruction. DPR integrates three components: a Real-Time Acoustic Diagnostic Module (RADM), an Intra-Lesson Re-Grouping Logic (IRL), and an Adaptive Scaffolding-Decay Engine (ASDE). RADM uses brief, teacher-mediated listening probes to identify probable bottlenecks in phonemic segmentation, lexical access, and phrase- or sentence-level decoding. IRL translates repeated evidence into reversible five- to ten-minute micro-cohorts while incorporating confidence thresholds, persistence rules, minimum cohort size, hysteresis, and teacher override. ASDE then adjusts speech rate, co-articulation, lexical familiarity, prosodic salience, and controlled signal-to-noise conditions, withdrawing support as performance stabilizes. The framework is grounded in the Zone of Proximal Development, Cognitive Load Theory, input-oriented second-language pedagogy, listening research, and responsible AI. A conceptual methodology is used to synthesize established pedagogical and speech-technology principles rather than to claim empirical effectiveness. The paper contributes a testable architecture, decision matrix, implementation workflow, ethical safeguards, and a mixed-methods empirical roadmap. Its central proposition is deliberately modest: AI should not replace TaRL’s teacher-led pedagogy; it should reduce the delay between noticing a specific listening bottleneck and providing an appropriately scaled response.

Keywords: Teaching At The Right Level; Artificial Intelligence; Automatic Speech Recognition; Phonological Awareness; Listening Comprehension; Adaptive Scaffolding

Divine Revelation and Religious Diversity: A Comparative Theological Perspective on Judaism, Christianity, and Islam

This article is a confessionally oriented comparison of theologies of divine revelation in Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. It argues that three traditions offer partially comparable but not equivalent accounts of revelation, and that the most productive way to examine the concept of revelation is within each tradition's internal framework categories, not in an early or premature attempt to categorize it universally into a single structure. The article examines the primary texts (the Sinai story and Mishnah Avot 1:1, John 1, Hebrews 1, and the Qur'an's description of itself as a Wahi in the surahs of al-Shura, al-Najm, al-Baqarah, and al-Ma'idah) as well as the classical and contemporary scholarship (Dulles 1992; Clooney 2010; Widigdo & Zakaria 2021; Cornille 2020), identifying a set of qualified analogies across the traditions: address, disclosure, and covenantal or submissive relationship, and treating them as an analytical construction, not a doctrine any tradition teaches. Between the positions of substantive theology-of-religions (exclusivism, inclusivism, and pluralism), the article positions itself as a confessionally grounded Sunni comparative theology with a dialogical approach. It ends with a reflective "return" to the theological reflection of Islam and how it proposes to future empirical research on interreligious relations in Bangladesh.

Keywords: Divine revelation, Comparative theology, Theology of religions, Judaism, Christianity, Islam, Sunni theology, Interreligious dialogue, South Asia