The elegance of technology has various impacts on the life cycle of today's society. From a positive point of view, every activity can be done via various existing media including new media. However, the use of modern technology without control will also cause problems in society. During the COVID-19 pandemic, the spread of fake news has increased since day 1. To combat this negative and ill situation, the official page Sebenarnya.my has been created on Facebook to help society identify fake news. The page would repost all the fake news pertaining to the Covid-19 pandemic, or anything related and identify the number of shares made by Facebook users on that fake news. Thus, this study was conducted to identify the number of shares by Facebook users as identified and posted on Sebenarnya.my Facebook page and to investigate the dominant themes of the fake news spread. Content analysis was conducted to answer the objectives of the study. A total of 50 fake news postings on March, April, and May 2020 on the Sebenarnya.my Facebook page were selected. The findings showed various amounts of fake news posting within three months. Similarly, the percentage data for sharing by Facebook users recorded different amounts. Finally, few themes were identified to be the most dominant ones of fake news related to the COVID-19 issue that were posted by netizens.

iPad merupakan sebuah peranti yang direka hasil gabungan komputer dan tablet. Kegunaannya semakin meluas dan meliputi pelbagai urusan sama ada di pejabat dan sekolah ataupun untuk beraktiviti santai seperti bermain permainan video atau melayari internet. Peranti ini turut dijadikan medium untuk menimba ilmu di sekolah seawal tahun 2010 sebagai satu alat bantuan pembelajaran dan pengajaran di sekolah-sekolah terpilih di Malaysia. Kajian ini dijalankan untuk melihat keberkesanan penggunaan iPad dalam kalangan pelajar sekolah menengah dengan menggunakan kaedah kualitatif iaitu temubual separa struktur. Oleh kerana ini adalah kajian awal, para penyelidik hanya menemubual dua orang guru dari setiap sekolah iaitu Sekolah Menengah Imtiaz Ulul Albab, Melaka dan Kolej Genius Insan, Nilai yang menggunakan iPad dalam pembelajaran dan pengajaran mereka. Antara persoalan yang akan dijawab dalam kajian ini termasuklah kebaikan dan keburukan penggunaan iPad dalam kalangan pelajar, rutin penggunaan iPad dalam pembelajaran dan pengajaran sepanjang waktu sekolah, dan cabaran menimba ilmu barakah dengan peranti teknologi komunikasi yang terkini. Artikel ini merupakan ringkasan hasil dapatan awal kajian yang masih sedang berjalan. Hasil temubual awal menunjukkan penggunaan iPad di kedua buah sekolah ini menjadikan pembelajaran lebih efektif dan memudahkan guru-guru berinteraksi untuk menyampaikan maklumat, nota dan tugasan kepada semua murid.

The advancement of the Internet has made many social media networks emerge such as Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, YouTube, personal blogs and etc. with a variety of functions that also gloriously allocates space for da’wah activities and messages. This study examined how two Muslim female celebrities in Malaysia; Abby Abadi and Raisyyah Rania Yeap propagate da’wah messages through their Instagram by uploading pictures and videos they have shared during the first week of Ma’al Hijrah. A total of 5908 of pictures and videos were studied with Abby Abadi representing 5037 pictures/videos and Raisya Rania representing 871 pictures/videos. These two Muslim female celebrities were selected because they are seen as new trendsetters to Muslimahs with their new appearance, new look and their eagerness to spread Islamic messages through their Instagram actively. The researchers also discovered that both Abby Abadi and Raisyyah Rania Yeap received positive comments related to hijrah in terms of covering the aurah and also neutral comments related to online business. The researchers can conclude that both celebrities have their own strength and weaknesses but are very keen in spreading da’wah and have their own strong fan base of followers in Instagram. Therefore, a preliminary conclusion can be made that social media, especially Instagram can be used as a platform for da’ies to spread da’wah and well-meaning messages.

Researching on Islam and Muslims-related issues in the media have been a never-ending debate and always have been updated time by time. It catches the attention of academics, scholars, preachers, researchers to discuss on the alternative platform in reducing or somewhat controlling what the media should report about particularly on Islam and Muslims issues. The aim of this study is to examine the reportings related to Islam and Muslims issues of the Western newspapers. Interviews were conducted among eight Malaysian media practitioners to identify how they translate the meaning of work as a journalist in Islamic context, and also to find out their best practices in producing a balanced and fair news reporting. The interviews were later transcribed verbatimly, analyzed and deliberated their experiences towards this issue. Results show that they believe as Muslim journalists, they should be true, trusted and not bias in reporting news. Further, they also find out that having good references from experts and doing some research before reporting on any issues are very important especially in reporting news globally. Thus for them, the adaptation of good journalistic practices represent a positive image of Islam and Muslims in order to continue creating a surrounding of Islam and Muslims at present and in the future.

The facts and truths of the news have always become the imperative point in informing and updating the public. However, the fake news emerged has disrupted the originality and authenticity of the news. It has become a longstanding issue when social media sites become a platform in disseminating fake news, videos, photos, etc. rapidly to the public. They become more aggressive due to the development of information communication technologies and made the quality of the news posted become questioned. Furthermore, fake news emerges abundantly and easily on online platforms than before. Thus, this paper discusses fake news by examining the current trends of fake news in today’s journalism through the previous scholarly discussion on this topic. In the era of Revolution Industry 4.0, the role of technology in reducing or/and increasing the threat of fake news in modern communication is also discussed. Lastly, this paper illustrates the concept of Islam towards the issue of fake news and provide what Islam has to say about fake news. It shows that Islam teaches us to be “wasatiyyah” or being moderate to uphold the trustworthy and highlight self-respect by dissemination news with facts, values, and reliability. Keywords: fake news, islamic perspective, online journalism

Kemasukan pelajar ke institusi pengajian tinggi seluruh negara kini direkodkan mengalami kemerosotan. Di Pusat Tamhidi USIM, pendaftaran pelajar berkurang sebanyak 21.3% berbanding bilangan pelajar tahun lalu. Melalui soal selidik (kuantitatif) yang dijalankan ke atas 583 orang pelajar ambilan baharu sesi 2022/2023, jumlah pelajar yang memasuki Tamhidi adalah 50.3% berasal daripada aliran sains, namun dalam Rajah 1 hanya 46.7% (23.2+23.5) daripada responden yang berada di Tamhidi Perubatan, Pergigian dan Sains (TPPS) dan Tamhidi Sains Fizikal dan Teknologi (TSFT). Segelintir (3.6%) pelajar daripada aliran sains memilih untuk bertukar aliran ke Tamhidi Syariah dan Undang-Undang (TSU). Pelajar lepasan SPM yang berumur 18 tahun terdorong untuk memilih program di Pusat Tamhidi atas faktor dorongan keluarga dan cadangan daripada guru dan kaunselor sekolah. Kedudukan kewangan keluarga juga merupakan faktor yang agak memainkan peranan daripada segi pendaftaran pelajar, memandangkan terdapat beberapa orang pelajar yang tidak mendaftar sejurus menerima tawaran yang berkemungkinan disebabkan faktor kewangan. Adalah diharapkan bilangan kemasukan pelajar ke Pusat Tamhidi akan meningkat pada tahun-tahun akan datang dan seterusnya USIM dapat melahirkan pelajar-pelajar yang berdaya saing dan holistik pada masa hadapan.

This special issue of Da’wah in the Media for Muslims’ Sustainability brings together six selected articles presented at 2017 International Conference on Islam, Media and Communication (ICIMaC) which was held on 8 & 9 August. The conference was organized by Communication Program, Faculty of Leadership and Management, Universiti Sains Islam Malaysia (USIM). The topics presented discussed on the relationship between Muslims identity in new media and the use of social media and film as a platform to spread da’wah. However, there are three invited articles from outside which have been included together in this issue to discuss on the representation of Muslims’ sustainability.

We are pleased to present this issue to readers as a special issue on Healthy Prophetic Lifestyle presented at the Prophetic Science International Conference (Al-FURSAN18) which was held on the 4th November to 5th November 2018 at Universiti Sains Islam Malaysia. The conference was jointly organized by NRGS Research Group on Prophetic Food and Islamic Science Institute. Rasulullah SAW is a perfect and exemplary model not only in spiritual, but also physical and mental well being through healthy nutritional diet. Thus this conference aims to gather scholars from various disciplines such as science and technology, Islamic studies and social sciences to discuss and share research findings on topics related to prophetic science on healthy and sustainable living. The discussion starts with the article by Mohd Rahman, Ummi Affah and Hana Maizuliana who presented on scientific evidences of complementary and prophetic medicine in managing dengue infection.

This special issue reveals pertinent academic discourses of 13 articles that had been presented in the 6th Regional Seminar on Higher Islamic Education (SeIPTI 2019), At Sultan Sharif Ali University, Brunei Darussalam. All articles connote within the themes of The Directions and Challenges of Regional Islamic Higher Education Institutions within the Modernization and Fourth Industrial Revolution. The articles presented and discussed in various angles of multi-discipline knowledge hence arrive at the same objectives to produce balance human being in accordance with Maqasid Syariah.

This special issue of Communication, Media, and Its Impact in Times of Crisis brings together 15 selected articles presented at the 3rd International Conference on Islam, Media, and Communication 2021 (ICIMaC2021) which was held on 10 and 11 July. The ICIMaC2021 is co-organized by the Communication Programme and New Media Communication Program, Faculty of Leadership and Management, USIM. For this special issue, various topics are brought to light including the impact of COVID-19 on media and society, and how the Malaysian government uses social media in delivering information during the pandemic, which is deemed efficient in handling crisis communication.

Issues related to terrorism have been reported excessively by the media in order to tell public by giving recent and significant information. Currently, online media are known to be a major source of news as they can provide information without any delayed to ensure the society stay connected with and being informed on the latest issues. Therefore, this article is specially designed to explore on how the main online news portals in Europe (http://www.euronews.com/) and Africa (http://allafrica.com/) report issues on recent attacks in Paris and Mali. The objectives in this article are threefold: to compare the coverage of news reporting; to identify the news sources used and lastly to identify the news themes that emerged in news reporting. To perform this, a qualitative content analysis approach on two different case studies have been employed and all the news samples were analysed using qualitative software namely QSR NVivo 11. The results indicated that Paris attack issues received 25 news coverage compared to Mali attack issues at 19 news coverage. In terms of news sources used, majority of the news articles used official sources such as Minister, Police officer, spokesperson, media, leader, authorities and security forces. The findings also revealed several news themes such as suspected attackers, rescue efforts, security efforts and death toll are emerged in this analysis.

Research on media representation on Islam and Muslims have been carried out widely in the post 9/11 tragedy from a cultural, religion, political and social group lens. However, this paper discusses a science fiction film, Interstellar (2014), directed by Christopher Nolan. It is a film about space exploration by a group of scientists in their quest to find a new planet for humankind to replace the earth. The film portrays scenes of the scientists travelling into places in space - the wormhole and other potential planets for a living. Apart from highlighting space and its discovery journey from the perspective of modern science, this film can also be explored from the perspective of Islam. Many scenes in the movie represent and translate what Allah SWT has thought of Muslims through verses in the al-Quran. What are the scenes, and how does it relate to verses in the Quran? This paper uses qualitative content analysis to highlight selected verses of Kauniyah (verses explaining about Allah’s creation of the universe and its system) in the al-Quran as evidence that reflects the truth of al-Quran and the Islamic teachings. The findings are highlighted based on the relationship of scenes containing this evidence in the film with the verses in the Quran and their meanings.

From the perspective of Islam, zakat and prayers are synonym. In Malaysia, income zakat is a major contributor to state treasury compared to other types of zakat. However, until today the awareness of many civil servants regarding the payment of income zakat, is not yet comprehensive. Some previous studies have shown that they still choose a scheduled salary deduction (PGB) for income tax payment rather than income zakat. Researchers conducted a study on the role of media in Malaysia in injecting awareness and understanding on targeted group on the importance of income zakat through PGB as an alternative to income tax. This quantitative survey aimed at: 1) measuring the effectiveness of the media in channeling the awareness of government staff on this issue and 2) measuring the level of understanding of the group on the obligation to pay the income of zakat through monthly salary deduction. A total of 500 civil servants within the Management and Professional groups (grades 41 and above) around Selangor, Putrajaya and Kuala Lumpur were listed as the selected respondents in the survey. Researchers found that the majority of respondents were informed about the importance of income zakat through the Internet compared to other media sources. While the print media is the main source of information for people over the age of 40. The findings show that electronic media is a major source of information for young people who earn more than RM 4000 monthly.

Culture covers a wide range of different aspects such as food, clothing, communication, relationship, way of life, way of thinking and etc. In Malaysia, with the diversity of the various ethnic groups and religions give us the opportunity to have cultural diversity. However, the practice of cultural awareness in Malaysia is still low because there are still some people who do not know even purposely disregard for other people's cultures. Hence, this paper will look into the history and definitions of cultural awareness in details by giving explanations from the experts. In addition, this paper also discusses the concept of cultural awareness and the necessity to practice it according to Islamic perspective and how the views and perceptions of cultural consciousness in Malaysia, whether among those who are Muslims and non-Muslims. This paper will also look at the aspect of the media as a medium to provide an understanding and knowledge of cultural awareness to the society. Lastly, in this paper, the authors also share their previous experiences with different ethnics, cultures and religions and has assessed how their level of acceptance of our culture and vice versa.

The idea to embark this study on Islam and Muslim issues is still relevant due to there are many reportings from the Western media especially about Middle East. On that account, the purpose of this study is to find out the solution to encourage more positive reporting about Islam and Muslim issues. Eight Malaysian media practitioners have been interviewed to share their experiences and ideas in finding an answer to formulate a new, fair and balanced guideline to be practiced. All of them were interviewed via face-to-face methods and phone calls. From the interview, the researchers found out the important tips with regards to assisting students, journalists and individuals to become more expert in writing news accurately. The researchers found out how a journalist played the role of an Islamic journalist and anchor the meaning of Islamic journalism. In addition, the results of this study also managed to formulate a guideline in writing reports or news related to Islam and Muslim community to produce a positive image of Islam and the Muslims in the media.

Perdebatan dan perbincangan mengenai kandungan media sosial seperti Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, WhatsApp dan sebagainya dalam pengaruhnya menyebarkan kandungan seperti berita, foto dan video yang berkait dengan ekstrem dan keganasan seakan berleluasa. Kepantasan media sosial sebagai platform digital bertindak untuk menyebarluaskan kandungan berkaitan isu keganasan dari dalam dan luar negara perlu dipastikan kesahihannya. Hal ini kerana kandungan di media sosial berupaya untuk membentuk pengaruh, fikiran, dakyah dan ideologi yang tidak benar kepada pengguna terutama dalam kalangan remaja. Oleh itu, kajian ini akan membincangkan secara umum berdasarkan literatur yang lepas untuk melihat sejauh mana perbincangan mengenai isu keganasan di dalam media sosial ini telah didebatkan. Ini kerana, isu penyebaran kandungan berkaitan terrorisme di alam maya ternyata memberi impak ke atas pemikiran dan tindakan untuk meningkatkan kes-kes berkaitan keganasan sama ada secara fizikal ataupun serangan ideologi pemikiran. Selain itu, kajian ini juga telah menemubual enam pakar bidang untuk mendapatkan pengalaman dan pengetahuan mereka mengenai isu penggunaan media sosial sebagai platform penyebaran ideologi terrorisme. Selain itu, penyelidik juga cuba mendapatkan beberapa saranan dan cadangan untuk membendung isu ini terutama dalam kalangan pelajar IPT. Berdasarkan hasil kajian ini, cabaran untuk menangani isu ini sepatutnya dipikul oleh semua pihak yang berkepentingan sama ada dari pihak kerajaan dan pentadbiran, pihak berkuasa, pembuat dasar dan polisi, pihak media dan juga pengguna media sosial itu sendiri. Kesedaran, pendidikan dan pemulihan tentang isu keganasan ini perlu dipergiatkan yang mana akhirnya akan membantu untuk mencapai keamanan, keadilan dan memperkukuhkan institusi yang berkesan, bertanggungjawab dan inklusif di semua peringkat.

Satu kajian mengenai nilai-nilai Islami dalam media bukanlah sesuatu yang baru. Peristiwa bersejarah pada 11 September 2001 telah memberi persepsi buruk kepada imej Islam dan penganutnya. Selain itu, imej Islam yang dipaparkan melalui drama, filem, akhbar dan saluran media lain yang turut menambah kepada persepsi negatif terhadap Islam. Oleh itu, menariknya kajian ini ingin mengenal pasti secara khusus bagaimana filem yang bukan dikategorikan sebagai filem Islamik boleh menggambarkan ajaran Islam. Oleh itu, sebuah filem Bisik Pada Langit (BPL) telah digunakan sebagai sampel untuk kajian ini. Jalan cerita BPL akan dianalisis melalui kaedah analisis kandungan kuantitatif untuk melihat kekerapan ajaran Islam yang ditunjukkan. Hasil kajian menunjukkan bahawa ajaran Islam di BPL telah dijelaskan menerusi solat, membaca al-Quran, menutup aurat, melakukan kebaikan kepada ibu bapa dan sebagainya. Melalui penemuan ini, ia membuktikan bahawa filem bukan Islam telah memainkan peranan sebagai medium untuk meningkatkan nilai positif dan ajaran Islam demi kebaikan masyarakat. Yang paling penting, korelasi antara filem bukan Islam dengan ajaran Islam telah terbukti melalui BPL.

Kemunculan media baharu telah membuka peluang dan ruang kepada golongan belia untuk menjalankan urus niaga melalui dalam talian. Kini, urusan pembelian dalam talian telah menjadi salah satu aktiviti wajib bagi pengguna Internet kerana ianya menjimatkan masa dan tenaga seseorang individu. Walaupun, teknologi moden ini memberi pelbagai manfaat tetapi dari sudut yang lain ianya boleh memberi ancaman kepada pengguna Internet terutama golongan belia seperti menjadi mangsa penipuan dalam talian. Isu penipuan pembelian barangan dalam talian semakin hari semakin membimbangkan. Ianya semakin terjadi apabila negara menghadapi pandemik Covid-19 yang mana penggunaan e-dagang semakin meningkat dalam kalangan rakyat. Satu usaha holistik perlu dilakukan bagi melihat, menangani dan membendung isu-isu pembelian barangan dalam talian di kalangan belia. Dalam konteks ini, ilmu pengetahuan dan amalan pengguna amat penting agar mereka tidak menjadi mangsa jenayah siber. Oleh itu, kajian ini berobjektif untuk mengenal pasti tahap pengetahuan, sikap dan amalan golongan belia terhadap privasi maklumat dan keselamatan pembelian barangan dalam talian. Kajian ini menggunakan pendekatan kuantitatif yang mana seramai 400 responden di Klang, Selangor telah menjawab soal selidik mengenai isu pembelian dalan talian ini. Hasil kajian mendapati, isu privasi dan keselamatan maklumat mempengaruhi sikap dan amalan golongan belia ketika membuat pembelian dalam talian. Hal ini membuktikan bahawa golongan belia yang mempunyai ilmu pengetahuan dan kesedaran mampu melindungi mereka daripada menjadi mangsa jenayah siber dan seterusnya mampu mendepani risiko-risiko pembelian dalam talian.

Penularan wabak Covid-19 telah memberi impak kepada corak kehidupan masyarakat dunia secara keseluruhannya. Kemuncaknya pada sekitar penghujung tahun 2020 ini apabila hampir 4 billion manusia atau separuh dari penduduk dunia menghadapi ‘lockdown’ atau kawalan pergerakan di rumah atau di pusat kuarantin. Hal ini telah memberi kesan secara keseluruhan kepada pergerakan antarabangsa masyarakat dunia atas apa juga tujuan sama ada untuk pelancongan, perniagaan mahupun pendidikan. Meskipun semua negara akan menarik semula arahan kawalan pergerakan ini apabila keadaan pulih, namun, norma kehidupan masyarakat dunia tidak akan kembali seperti sedia ada untuk tempoh yang lama. Impak negatif Covid-19 ini tidak terkecuali di peringkat pengajian tinggi termasuklah pelajar antarabangsa yang terpaksa menghadapi PdP secara online sepenuhnya. Kesukaran yang dihadapi golongan pelajar ini mungkin tidak diberi perhatian khusus memandangkan mereka merupakan minoriti di universiti. Justeru, kajian ini bertujuan mendapatkan pandangan pelajar siswazah antarabangsa terhadap kesediaan dan pengalaman mereka dalam mengharungi cabaran PdP ketika pandemik. Dapatan dari data kuantitatif ini dijadikan asas untuk mencadangkan dasar pengurusan pelajar siswazah antarabangsa pasca pandemik. Kajian ini mendapat maklumat yang diperlukan melalui kaedah soal selidik yang diedarkan kepada 130 pelajar siswazah antarabangsa semasa yang sedang mengikuti pengajian sarjana dan doktor falsafah di Universiti Sains Islam Malaysia (USIM). Hasil kajian menunjukkan bahawa walaupun sebahagian besar pelajar antarabangsa siswazah di USIM tidak menghadapi masalah besar dalam mengikuti PdP online ketika pandemik Covid-19 ini. Namun, minoriti pelajar juga perlu diberi perhatian agar tiada pelajar tercicir dari mengikuti pengajian. Kajian juga menunjukkan aspek kebajikan dan kebolehcapaian fasiliti menjadi isu utama yang perlu ditangani pihak universiti.

Peranan media masih dibincangkan secara relevan kerana ia menjadi medium utama dan penghubung dalam menyampaikan informasi, hebahan, berita dan lain-lain sama ada melalui gambar, teks, video, infografik dan sebagainya secara pantas. Kini, cabaran utama dilihat kepada kandungan media digital yang mendominasi selera masyarakat. Justeru, untuk mengekalkan keseimbangan kandungan media yang disiarkan, para penyelidik melihat perlunya kita kembali kepada pengamalan konsep manhaj wasatiyyah atau prinsip kesederhanaan Islam (moderation) agar setiap individu mempunyai kesedaran dan memahami secara tuntas apakah kandungan media yang patut disiarkan dan dipersembahkan kepada masyarakat di seluruh dunia. Perkara ini menjadi satu keperluan kerana wujudnya elemenelemen negatif dalam penulisan, video, gambar dan sebagainya yang menjadi punca kepada perpecahan dan pergaduhan. Justeru, para penyelidik menemubual lapan orang pengamal media di Malaysia untuk melihat sejauhmana peranan mereka dalam membantu membentuk kandungan media yang seimbang. Hasil daripada temubual menunjukkan bahawa peranan mereka dengan memperkasa etika kerja Islam dapat membantu untuk memastikan setiap kandungan atau berita yang disampaikan mengikut etika yang betul. Selain itu, hasil temubual juga menunjukkan bahawa terdapat beberapa kaedah untuk menghasilkan kandungan media yang wasatiyyah, adil dan seimbang untuk menjadi panduan kepada warganet, individu atau sesiapa sahaja yang ingin menyampaikan hebahan atau maklumat terutamanya apabila disebarkan melalui media sosial.