۱.
The Qur’an, as a divine scripture, transcends a merely religious and spiritual text; it constitutes a unique compendium of knowledge and guidance for understanding and addressing diverse individual and social issues. With its comprehensive and boundless depth, this sacred text engages with all aspects of human life and elucidates the causes and conditions of various challenges. One of the significant issues discussed within this framework is the conflict of interest. The main question of this study is: What are the instances of conflict of interest from the Qur’anic perspective, and what solutions does the Qur’an propose for managing them? This paper aims to identify and explain the manifestations of conflict of interest based on Qur’anic teachings and to explore the corresponding management strategies. To achieve this goal, a descriptive-analytical method was employed, drawing upon four Qur’anic narratives: the Battle of Uḥud, the behavior of the Companions during the Prophet’s time, the story of Prophet Shuʿayb, and the account of Hābīl and Qābīl (Abel and Cain). The findings indicate that the Qur’an extensively addresses this issue and provides multiple approaches for confronting, managing, and avoiding conflicts of interest. The key managerial components include identifying the roots of conflict, preventing and controlling it through transparency, emphasizing ethical leadership, and managing group relations. Qur’anic strategies are based on such concepts as al-taqwā (self-restraint), al-īmān (reinforced responsibility), al-infāq (almsgiving or reduction of inequality), and al-ṣabr (rational forbearance). Operationalizing these strategies through a three-level framework (individual, organizational, and social) can foster communities resilient against corruption. The results demonstrate that the Qur’an not only contributes to preventing conflicts of interest but also assists in cultivating a balanced and morally grounded society.
۲.
The aim of this study is to develop a comprehensive dataset for interdisciplinary research on the Qur’an and the environment. Conducted with a descriptive–analytical approach, the study examined all verses of the Qur’an based on authoritative translations and commentaries. In this process, 766 verses on human–environment relations were identified and classified into 15 categories, such as humans as part of nature, human vicegerency on earth, the subjugation of nature, legitimate use of natural blessings in this world and the hereafter, and the prohibition of corruption and destruction of the environment. In addition, 833 environmental instances were extracted and grouped into eight main categories: climate and atmosphere (27%), marine environment (1%), animal environment (10%), animal products (6%), plant environment (19%), plant products (8%), the solar system (22%), and human industries derived from nature (7%). Conceptual analysis indicated that these relations can be interpreted at three key levels, ethical, jurisprudential, and eschatological, showing that the Qur’an presents nature as a divine blessing and a trust given to humankind, emphasizing both proper utilization and the moral and eschatological consequences of environmental corruption. This dataset provides a novel foundation for future research in environmental ethics and Islamic jurisprudence, as well as for rethinking responses to contemporary environmental crises.
۳.
This article aims to identify the most spiritually favorable nights of the year for believers and the optimal timing for nightly devotion to God by employing the Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA) technique. Given the emphasis on nocturnal worship in Surah al-Muzzammil , this study explores the relationship between the length of night and the opportunities it provides for worship. Using DEA, the nights of the year are evaluated based on the duration of night and environmental conditions in order to determine those nights that offer the greatest potential for devotion and supplication. In addition to temporal variables, nocturnal temperature is also considered as an influential factor in this evaluation. DEA serves here as an analytical tool for comparative performance assessment, facilitating the identification of nights with the most favorable conditions for nighttime worship. In the methodological section, two scenarios are implemented. The first scenario constructs a composite index based on the interval between the religious midnight (half of the canonical night) and fajr (dawn), as well as between fajr and sunrise. The second scenario applies the Fair Model (KA) and the AP Model with three indices: the interval from the religious midnight to fajr , from fajr to sunrise, and the temperature index. For more precise evaluation, the AP and KA models are also executed for the first scenario. The findings of this research can assist believers in planning their nocturnal worship during the most spiritually advantageous periods of the night.
۴.
Olive oil is one of the most widely consumed and popular vegetable oils, with numerous applications including in the food industry. Among the factors influencing its quality, environmental conditions, particularly light exposure, play a significant role. Light radiation can trigger specific processes within olive oil that lead to chemical changes and a decline in quality. In religious literature, especially within the Qur’an, olive oil holds a prominent status; notably, it is the only edible oil explicitly mentioned in the Qur’an. In verse 35 of Surah Al-Nūr, God draws a metaphor between His divine essence and light, establishing a symbolic connection between olive oil and illumination. The verse describes a light whose source is a blessed olive tree and further states that its oil is so luminous that it nearly gives light even without being touched by fire. The scientific investigation of this phenomenon forms the core objective of this study.
This research presents a Qur’anic interpretation informed by key lexical analysis, exegetical perspectives and recent scientific findings, focusing on a unique property of olive oil. Studies indicate that extra virgin olive oil is among the rare types of oils extracted not from seeds but directly from the olive fruit, resulting in a high concentration of chlorophyll. The chlorophyll content enables the oil to emit light under ambient illumination, particularly in the infrared and visible regions of the electromagnetic spectrum (with chlorophyll fluorescence occurring in the red region). Since the visible range of the electromagnetic spectrum spans wavelengths from red to violet (low to high energy), the light emitted by olive oil, depending on the intensity of surrounding light, approaches the threshold of human visual perception. In essence, olive oil can nearly emit light without contact with fire, a phenomenon remarkably echoed in verse 35 of Surah Al-Nūr.
۵.
This research explores the arguments for and against the realization of strong artificial intelligence from the perspective of Qur’anic teachings. Opponents, citing verses from the Holy Qur’an, consider strong AI an instance of polytheism in creatorship, a tool for misguidance, human deification, alteration of divine creation, transgression into the divine domain, and a violation of human dignity and divine vicegerency. In contrast, proponents, by offering more precise interpretations of the same verses and applying principles of Islamic philosophy, demonstrate that strong AI is compatible with the teachings of the Qur’an. They argue that creation in the sense of innovation ex nihilo is exclusive to God, and what humans do is the manipulation of God’s creations, which is not forbidden according to Qur’anic verses. In other cases, most of the opponents’ arguments are based on limited interpretations or specific readings of Qur’anic verses. The research results indicate that there is no inherent conflict between strong AI and Qur’anic teachings; rather, this technology can be placed in the service of humanity within the framework of Islamic values.
۶.
This article conceptualizes the relationship between the components of modern Islamic civilization and the indicators of Islamic lifestyle on the basis of a structural analysis of the geometric organization of Surah al-Ḥadīd. It addresses the main question of how the Islamic lifestyle in the modern age can be modeled in light of civilizational components such as faith and a monotheistic worldview, rationality, spirituality, economic justice, Islamic governance, and faith-based, mission-driven management. The methodological approach relies on analyzing the four thematic segments of the surah, identifying the relevant components, and assessing their connections with both theoretical and practical lifestyle indicators, while quantifying verse–indicator relations and employing measures such as the number of possible links, a “decision number,” and TF–IDF weighting. The findings indicate that, at the civilizational level, faith and a monotheistic worldview occupy the central position of the model, with rationality, spirituality, and Islamic governance forming the main pillars of Islamic civilization, and economic justice and faith-based, mission-driven management also playing indispensable roles. At the lifestyle level, emulation of the Prophet and the infallibles in the theoretical domain, and divine servitude in the practical domain, emerge as the key axes that orient other indicators and function as the connective link between the monotheistic worldview and the regulation of economic, social, and moral relations within the framework of Islamic governance.
