Islamic Personal Religiosity as a Moderator of Job Strain and Employee's Well-Being: The Case of Malaysian Academic and Administrative Staff

Islamic Spiritual and Emotional Intelligence and Its Relationship to Eternal Happiness: A Conceptual Paper

This paper discusses the relationship between spiritual and emotional intelligence and eternal happiness, from an Islamic perspective. In Islam, achieving spiritual intelligence first requires a close relationship with God-established, for example, through consistent purification of the soul, repentance, acts of worship, performing good deeds and avoiding evil. Through such action, the light of God-which comes with Divine guidance and the knowledge of truth-touches the hearts of believers, causing them to experience pure contentedness. This study takes a qualitative approach, using the NVivo text analysis tool to analyse texts from 43 references, comprising  31 journal articles and 12 books or chapters. The three most frequently used words were 'Islamic', 'spiritual' and 'happiness', while 'intelligence' was the fourteenth most-used. This finding highlights the fear of God due to the love of God as the highest obedience, as it is the purest and sincerest degree of worship (i.e. for God's sake completely). Spiritual intelligence trains the soul from its prone-to-evil state to become more angelic or serene, thereby increasing emotional intelligence. This will be reflected in a believer's attitude, emotion and behaviours aligning with the conduct commended in Islam, to whom God promises an afterlife of eternal happiness in Heaven. This paper draws on the Qur'an and Sunnah as well as prominent Islamic scholarship to support the Islamic concepts discussed, enriching our understanding and perspective on the Islamic concept of spiritual and emotional intelligence and its role in attaining eternal happiness in Islam. This study also highlights several key concepts pivotal to Islamic spiritual and emotional intelligence as pre-requisites for obtaining eternal happiness, therefore advancing current knowledge on the subject.

Coping with Anxiety During the COVID-19 Pandemic: A Case Study of Academics in the Muslim World

The COVID-19 pandemic has been a global phenomenon defined by uncertainty, fear and grief which has resulted in record high levels of stress and anxiety in the first half of 2020. It also led to an increased interest in the study of the role of belief, religion, and spirituality as responses to coping with and responding to the pandemic throughout different societal domains. This study explores the impact of anxiety and stress caused by the pandemic on Muslim academics' subjective well-being. It also explores correlations between coping and spirituality by assessing Muslim academics' coping strategies in overcoming stress and anxiety. To this end, this study sampled 480 Muslim academics ages 25-60 years residing in Muslim countries. The findings show a negative yet significant correlation between anxiety and well-being while also showing a positive and significant correlation between coping strategies and subjective well-being. The research also points to the role of coping strategies in reducing anxiety and stress, the resulting improvements in well-being for Muslim academics, and the mediating effect of coping strategies between anxiety, stress, and well-being for Muslim academics.

Workplace spirituality, organizational commitment and life satisfaction: the moderating role of religious affiliation

Purpose

Based on a multidimensional perspective of workplace spirituality, the authors examined a moderated mediation model, wherein workplace spirituality leads to life satisfaction through organizational commitment moderated by employees' religious affiliation.

Design/methodology/approach

Data were collected from South Korean employees, and hypotheses were tested using hierarchical regression analysis.

Findings

Three subdimensions of workplace spirituality – meaning at work, membership and inner life – were positively related to organizational commitment. In addition, organizational commitment mediated the relationships between the subdimensions and life satisfaction. Employees' religious affiliation moderated the relationship between the inner life and organizational commitment, which, in turn, also mediated the interactive effect on life satisfaction.

Practical implications

Based on the awareness of the importance of workplace spirituality, organizations need to endeavor to help employees find meaningfulness in their work, experience a climate of mutual understanding and feel a sense of trust and respect within organizations by providing opportunities or resources to fulfill their needs to spiritual self. In addition, organizations need to consider implementing policies to support employees to pursue their inner spirit not only within the workplace but also in the areas of personal life.

Originality/value

This study verifies the internal mechanisms behind the workplace spirituality – life satisfaction relationship and underlines how religious affiliation interacts with workplace spirituality to influence organizational commitment and life satisfaction.

Job Stress and Nurses Well-Being: Prayer and Age as Moderators

There is increasing popularity among researchers, scholars, and policymakers concerning the efficacy of prayer as a coping strategy for job stress. This study examines the moderating effects of prayer and age on the relationship between job stress and nurses' well-being in UMMC. Three hundred (300) Muslim nursing staff working at the University of Malaya Medical Centre were sampled. Data were collected via questionnaires. The findings of this study show that the effect of job stress on well-being is significant for nurses and that prayer of nurses contributed to alleviating job stress and enhancing well-being. This study is limited to nurses in one public hospital in a developing country. Thus, it would be more interesting if the study could be extended to other public and private institutions in a Muslim country, and a comparison could be done between other religions as well.

Systematic review on the prevalence of illness and stress and their associated risk factors among educators in Malaysia

BACKGROUND

Despite evidence of physical (illness) and mental (stress) health problems, there appears to be a lack of studies or concern regarding occupational safety and health among educators in Malaysia.

OBJECTIVE

To review the prevalence of illness, stress, and corresponding risk factors among educators in Malaysia.

METHOD

Scopus, ProQuest, PubMed, ScienceDirect, CAB, and other computerized databases were searched according to Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) guidelines to identify studies published between January 2013 and April 2019 on the prevalence and associated risk factors of illness and stress among educators (S1 Checklist). The keywords used included educator, teacher, lecturer, academic staff, teaching profession, university staff, academician, faculty, illness, injury, disease, pain, WMSD, dysphonia, hoarseness, stress, mental health, strain, health problem, disorder, and/or Malaysia. Selected studies were evaluated by quality assessment.

RESULTS

Twenty-two articles fulfilled the eligibility criteria. The prevalence of illness and stress was determined for low back pain (33.3-72.9%); upper back pain (33.33-56.4%); neck/shoulder pain (40.4-80.1%); upper arm discomfort (91.3%); forearm pain (89.6%); wrist pain (16.7-93.2%); hip pain (13.2-40.9%); thigh discomfort (91.8%); lower leg discomfort (90.5%); knee pain (23.7-88.0%); ankle/feet pain (19.3-87.7%); elbow pain (3.5-13.0%); voice disorder (10.4-13.0%) and stress (5.5-25.9%). Sex, education level, teaching experience, quality of life, anxiety, depression, coping styles, and others were reported as associated risk factors across the studies.

CONCLUSIONS

There appears to be a cause for concern regarding musculoskeletal disorders, voice disorder, and stress reported among educators in Malaysia. While most risk factors matched those reported in studies elsewhere, others such as school characteristics (school level, government or private school, and location [rural/urban]) have not been investigated.