In Malaysia, jurisdiction of such Islamic matters as zakat is under the supervision of states and administered by the Islamic Religious Council. Zakat is compulsory for all Muslims and should follow the maq??id ashshari'ah principles to ensure proper distribution. Every scheme provided should be evaluated as to whether it fulfils the main elements in maq??id, which are preservation of religion, preservation of life, preservation of intellect, preservation of lineage/family and preservation of wealth. This research assesses zakat distribution schemes provided by Bait-Ulm?l department in Negeri Sembilan Islamic Religious Council. The findings of this research were that all schemes provided for the Mu 'allaf followed the maq??id ash-shari'ah aspects but revision is needed to ensure zakat distribution followed the maq??id rules.

Giving zakat is the third of the five pillars of Islam and it is obligatory. The issues arose when the gantang for zakat payment in Malaysia is converted to kilogramme, a metric unit for weight as usually used for foods and there was no available standard for gantang used for zakat payment in Malaysia. However, this unit is inaccurate since gantang (sa') is not a measure of weight (mizan) but it is a measure of volume (mikyal). Thus, the objective of this research is to study the volume of the sa' and to calibrate it in the correct metric unit for standardisation purpose. A qualitative method was used by calibrating the gantang replica at Volume Laboratory, National Metrology Institute of Malaysia and the interviews with State Islamic Council, State Zakat Centre and State Mufti Department. From the calibration, the capacity of the gantang (sa') was obtained, and subsequently, the respective capacities for cupak and agricultural nisab were calculated. The finding of the research found that the volume of gantang was important in the determination of nisab, a minimum amount of crop for a certain cropping season. Hopefully this research would be a guideline for all states in Malaysia to be more systematic and efficient for the zakat agriculture determination.

Considering the significant evidential values of fingerprints in underwater criminal investigations and the need to visualise them using a user- and environmentally-friendly reagent, development of a novel, rapid and relatively greener nanobio-based reagent (NBR) is deemed beneficial. Lipase from the commercial Candida rugosa immobilised onto acid-functionalised multi-walled carbon nanotubes (NBR) was used as the safer and cheap lipid-sensing reagent to visualise groomed whole/split fingerprints on non-porous objects immersed in stagnant tap water for up to 30 days under a laboratory-controlled setting. Attenuated Total Reflectance – Fourier Transform Spectrometry, Field Emission Scanning Electron Microscopy and bioinformatics (molecular docking and molecular dynamics simulations) were employed to characterise and confirm the attachment of NBR onto the lipid constituents of wet fingerprints. Chromatographic results further confirmed the presence of n-hexadecanoic and octadecanoic acids on fingerprints up to 30 days of immersion. Thus, NBR may potentially be useful as the future state-of-the-art fingerprint visualisation technology. © 2020 Elsevier Ltd

Evidences of crime are often disposed in waterways to destroy all ties to the crime. Nonetheless, these evidences are not inevitably lost as the water insoluble lipid components may remain on the object. Currently, Small Particle Reagent (SPR) is used for visualizing such wet fingerprints and it comprises of several chemicals that are relatively hazardous to the crime investigator and the environment. The adaptation of a greener nano-biotechnological route might be useful, but there is still much to be done to improve this fingerprint visualisation method. Henceforth, this study was carried out to optimise the visualization protocol for CRL-MWCNTs/GA/I3K/SAF on split natural fingerprints immersed in purified tap water for one-and 15 days using response surface methodology (RSM). The addition of I3K as the mordant expedited the overall staining process. This study achieved a better mean fingerprints quality for the one-day immersed samples fared better compared to 15 days, thus suggesting the adequate use of CRL in the formulation. Hence, it was shown that RSM is reliable in predicting the optimum condition that yielded the highest mean fingerprint quality for both time intervals (one and 15 days). © 2020, Institute of Chemistry, Slovak Academy of Sciences.

Dental remains one of the most reliable forensic means for identification, especially when facial recognition and fingerprints are inconclusive. Even though previous studies reported the possibility of retrieving DNA from teeth exposed to 300 °C, its recovery at varying exposure durations at that temperature remains unexplored. Therefore, in order to acquire forensic significance, in this research, unclaimed canine teeth obtained from clinics and hospitals were divided into 0 min exposure group together with 4 other groups, and were exposed to 300 °C at varying durations. The dental pulps were extracted and subjected to DNA analyses viz. DNA extraction, quantitation, amplification and visualization, as well as profiling. Although the concentrations of DNA were found to be negatively and moderately correlated (P < 0.05, r = -0.669, r2 = 0.447) to the durations of exposure, complete human DNA profiles for the 0 min exposed sample and sample exposed to 300 °C for 5 mins alone were successfully obtained. This finding deserves consideration for whenever human DNA evidence from teeth exposed to such temperature and duration of exposure needs to be considered for human identification in forensic practical caseworks.