Featured Post
Chapter 1 Essay Apush Free Essays
The Europeans confronted a lot of misfortune all through their long history. Whenever there was an opportunity to investigate the New World ...
Saturday, January 25, 2020
Nations Destroyed by Allah
Nations Destroyed by Allah Comparing past and present PREFACE: Allah has mentioned the stories of perished nations in Holy Quran And at some places He has mentioned to learn lesson from them and try to gain knowlege about their sins. Muslims now a days hardly recite Quran daily. My research will help them know about the deeds pf perished natinos and to stay away from those deeds. I didnt find any article or book comparing the perished nations and todays nation. All of the books which i have read only have discussed the stories of demolished nations. This topic is very important for the people now a days, specialy Muslims. All the people should get aware of Allah power. They should know what will be their end if they get themselves involve in the same actions by which previous nations have faced a fierced end. Not only by the sins they did, but we should abide by all the actions Allah and His prophet (s.a.w) mentioned not to do. By this topic Muslims will know that if they will not stop doing the bad activities and will be involved in these deeds, then they will be punished harshly. Past nations were involved in many wronge activities which were prohibited by Allah. Some of the nations were Nuhs (as) nation (was involved in worshiping false gods), Luts (as) nation (was involved in sodomy), people of Ad (were arrogant and boastful), Thamud (rejected warnings of Allah), Pharaoh (was involved in shirk and was a cruel ruler), people pf Madyan (were dishonest in doing business). Todays nation is also involved in same avtivities where as Allah has clearly mentioned the stories of previous nations and told to learn a lesson from them. Today people are involved in such activities like, seeking help from the dead people, having a wronge concept that visiting a shrine of good people and seek help from them, involve in adultery (even with homosexual), involve in doing shirk. INTRODUCTION: Allah has always sent His prophets in every age since the creation of this world to give humans the knowledge about Allah (their creator). Some people followed those instructions told by prophets and majority of them didnt followed. Some of them even not only denied to follow the right path but they also harmed prophets and the people who followed them. The messengers were generally accused slanderously of falsehood, magic, insanity and conceit and leaders of many peoples even sought to have them murdered. Allah gave those nations many chances to belief in truth, but they never did.And then allah perished them.The Muslims are, therefore, given a constant reminder not to follow the path of these nations.because no one can hide from Allah when His chastisement occurs. Allah reveals in Holy Quran: But how many generations before them did We destroy (for their sins) stronger in power than they? Then did they wander through the land: was there any place of escape (for them)? (Surah Qaf: 36) It is noteworthy that these characteristics belong as well as to the current civilisation, which has established an elaborate world-culture through todays technology and science, and has founded centralised states, huge cities, yet denies Allah, forgetting that all is made possible by His power. Most of the people are involved in the false activities and at some sort denies Allah. PAST: Nation of prophet Nuh (a.s): Prophet Nuh (a.s) was sent to teach people the lesson of tauheed and to tell them to worship only Allah. Prophet Nuh (a.s) preached Islam over 950 years of time period but only few follwed his message. Nuhs people were engaged in worshiping false god in the form of statues. Then Allah sent his prophet to bring them to the right path. Allah says: Indeed, We sent Nuh (Noah) to his people and he said: O my people! Worship Allah! You have no other God but Him. Certainly, I fear for you the torment of a Great Day! [Al-Araf 7: 59] For many generations Nuhs people had been worshipping statues that they called gods. They believed that these gods would bring them good, protect them from evil and provide all their needs. They gave their idols names such as Waddan, Suwaan, Yaghutha, Yaauga, and Nasran, (These idols represented, respectively, manly power; mutability, beauty; brute strength, swiftness, sharp sight, insight) according to the power they thought these gods possessed. Originally these were the names of good people who had lived among them. After their deaths, statues of them were erected to keep their memories alive. After sometime, however, people began to worship these statues. Later generations did not even know why they had been erected; they only knew their parents had prayed to them. That is how idol worshipping developed. Since they had no understanding of Allah the Almighty Who would punish them for their evil deeds, they became cruel and immoral. Prophet Nuh (a.s) warned them and invite them to worship only Allah, but they denied. They firstly denied prophethood of Nuh. As they said that he is also a man like us, he just want superiority on us thats why, he is doing this. Allah says: The leaders of his people said: Ah! we see thee evidently wandering (in mind). (Surat al-Aââ¬Ëraf: 60) The chiefs of the disbeliveers among his people said: We see you but a man like ourselves. (11:27 Quran) Prophet Nuh (a.s) warned his people about the punishment of Allah. Allah says: We sent Nuh to his People (with the Command): Do thou warn thy People before there comes to them a grievous Penalty. (Surah Nuh: 1) Nuh continued appealing to his people to believe in Allah hour after hour, day after day year after year. He admonished his people and called them to Allah day and night, in secret and openly. HE gave them examples, explained Allahs signs and illustrated Allahs ability in the formation of His creatures. But whenever he called them to Allah, they ran away from him. Whenever he urged them to ask Allah to forgive them, they put their fingers in their ears. But they didnt listened and Allah told Nuh to prepare a large boat and collect pairs of every specie and every believer to make them safe from the disaster.Prophet Nuh (a.s) was grief about his people that they will be punished. It was revealed to Nuh: None of thy people will believe except those who have believed already! So grieve no longer over their (evil) deeds. (Surah Hud: 36) The ship was constructed, and Nuh sat waiting Allahs command. Allah revealed to him that when water miraculously gushed forth from the oven at Nuhs house, that would be the sign of the start of the flood, and the sign for Nuh to act. The terrible day arrived when the oven at Nuhs house overflowed. Nuh hurried to open the ark and summon the believers. He also took with him a pair, male and female, of every type of animal, bird and insect. Seeing him taking these creatures to the ark, the people laughed loudly: Nuh must have gone out of his head! What is he going to do with the animals? Slowly the level of water increased and every non-believer died in the flood. Nuhs wife and his son who were non-believers didnt join him and were faced to death. Not a single non-believer was left alive. Then the order to stop the rain and to retreat the water was given and once again dry land was shown but flood had cleaned the non-believers from the land. Nation of prophet Lut (a.s): Prophet Lut (as) was sent as a messenger to one of prophet Ibrahims (as) neighbouring communities. These people, as the Quran tells us, practiced a perversion unknown to the world up till then, namely sodomy. When Lut (as) told them to give up this perversion and brought them Allahs warning, they denied him, refused his prophethood, and carried on with their perversion. In the end, these people were destroyed by a dreadful disaster. This city was filled with evil. Its residents waylaid, robbed and killed travelers. Another common evil among them was that men had sex with men instead of with women. This unnatural act later became known as sodomy (after the city of Sodom). It was practiced openly and unashamedly. It was at the height of these crimes and sins that Allah revealed to Prophet Lut (alai salam) that he should summon the people to give up their indecent behavior, but they were so deeply sunk in their immoral habits that they were deaf to Luts preaching. Swamped in their unnatural desires, they refused to listen, even when Lut warned them of Allahs punishment. Instead, they threatened to drive him out of the city if he kept on preaching. Allah says: And his people gave no answer but this: they said, Drive them out of your city: these are indeed men who want to be clean and pure! (Surat al-Aââ¬Ëraf: 80-82) Lut (as) called his people to an obvious truth and warned them explicitly, but his people did not heed any warnings whatsoever and continued to reject him and to deny the penalty of which he told them. Receiving the above answer from his people, Lut asked for the help of Allah: He said: O my Lord! help Thou me against people who do mischief! (Surat al-Ankaboot: 30) Upon Luts (as) prayer, Allah sent two angels in the form of men. These angels visited Ibrahim (as)before coming to Lut (as). Giving Ibrahim (as) the good news that his wife would give birth to an infant, the messengers explained the reason for their being sent: the insolent people of Lut (as) were to be destroyed. Angels came to Lut (a.s) as guest and stayed at his house. This news was spread in town by his wife who was non-believer and in some time the whole town was standing outside his home. They broke the door and came in. Angels said to Lut (a.s) that dont fear as we are angels and they cannot harm you. After listening that non-believers got feared and ran outside.The angels warned Prophet Lut (pbuh) to leave his house before sunrise, taking with him all his family except his wife. Allah had decreed that the city of Sodom should perish. AN earthquake rocked the town. IT was as if a mighty power had lifted the entire city and flung it down in one jolt. A storm of stones rained on the city. Everyone and everything was destroyed, including Luts wife.In the morning, his people were destroyed by the disaster of which Lut (as) had informed them in advance. Allah says: But the (mighty) Blast overtook them before morning, And We turned (the cities) upside down, and rained down on them brimstones hard as baked clay. Behold! in this are Signs for those who by tokens do understand. And the (cities were) right on the high-road. (Surat al-Hijr: 73-76) People of Ad: The people of Ad lived many years in the windswept hills of an area between Yemen and Oman. They were physically well built and renowned for their craftsmanship especially in the construction of tall buildings with lofty towers. They were outstanding among all the nations in power and wealth, which, unfortunately, made them arrogant and boastful. Their political power was held in the hand of unjust rulers, against whom no one dared to raise a voice. They were not ignorant of the existence of Allah, nor did they refuse to worship Him. What they did refuse was to worship Allah alone. They worshipped other gods, also, including idols. This is one sin Allah does not forgive. Allah wanted to guide and discipline these people so He sent a prophet from among them. This prophet was Hud (as), a noble man who handled this task with great resoluteness and tolerance. Hud (as) condemned idol worship and admonished his people. MY people, what is the benefit of these stones that you carve with your own hands and worship? In reality it is an insult to the intellect. There is only One Deity worthy of worship and that is Allah. Worship of Him and Him alone, is compulsory on you. In Quran: To the Ad People (We sent) Hud, one of their own brethren. He said: O my people! worship Allah! ye have no other god but Him. (Your other gods) ye do nothing but invent! Prophet Hud (as) told them He created you, He provides for you and He is the One Who will cause you to die. He gave you wonderful physiques and blessed you in many ways. So believe in Him and do not be blind to His favors, or the same fate that destroyed Noahs people will overtake you. Hud (as) warned them. With such reasoning Hud hoped to instill faith in them, but they refused to accept his message. His people asked him: Do you desire to be our master with your call? What payment do you want?.Hud (as) replied them that he did not want their money nor reward from them. Allah says: O my people! I ask of you no reward for this (Message). My reward is from none but Him Who created me: Will ye not then understand? Hud (as) tried to speak to them and to explain about Allahs blessings: how Allah the Almighty had made them Noahs successors, how He had given them strength and power, and how HE sent them rain to revive the soil.Huds (as) people looked about them and found they were the strongest on earth, so they become prouder and more obstinate. Thus they argued a lot with Hud (as). Hud (as) taught them everything a prophet teaches to his nation. But they used to ask silly questions. Hud (as) used to answer them gently but they never followed his message. Hud (as) warned them if they wont worship only Allah they will destroyed like Nuhs (as) nation. And they declared we will be safe by our gods. Hud (as) told them that these idols will be the reason of your destruction.There is no one who harms or benefits any one except Allah. The conflict between Hud (as) and his people continued. The years passed, and they became prouder and more obstinate, and more tyrannical and more defiant of their prophets message. Furthermore, they started to accuse Hud (as) of being a crazy lunatic. One day they told him: We now understand the secret of your madness you insulted our gods and they harmed you; that is why you have become insane. Almighty Allah repeated their words in the Quran: O my Hud! No evidence have you brought us, and we shall not leave our gods for your mere saying! And we are not believers in you. All that we say is that some of our gods (false deities) have seized you with evil (madness). (11:53-54 Quran) A drought spread throughout the land, for the sky no longer sent its rain. the sun scorched the desert sands, looking like a disk of fire which settled on peoples heads. The drought increased, the trees turned yellow, and plants died. A day came when they found the sky full of clouds. Huds (as) people were glad as they came out of their tents crying: A cloud, which will give us rain!.But the weather changed suddenly from burning dry and hot to stinging cold with wind that shook everything; trees, plants, tents, men and women. The wind increased day after day and night after night. Huds (as) people started to flee. They ran to their tents to hide but the gale became stronger, ripping their tents from their stakes. They hid under cloth covers but the gale became stronger and still and tore away the covers. It slashed clothing and skin. It penetrated the apertures of the body and destroyed it. It hardly touched anything before it was destroyed or killed, its core sucked out to decompose and rot. The storm raged for 8 days and 7 nights. Almighty Allah recounts: Then when they saw it as a dense cloud coming towards their valleys, they said: This is a cloud bringing us rain! Nay but it is that torment which you were asking to be hastened! a wind wherein is a painful torment! Destroying everything by the command of its Lord! (46:24-25 Quran) That violent gale did not stop until the entire region was reduced to ruins and its wicked people destroyed, swallowed by the sands of the desert. Only Hud (as) and his followers remained unharmed. They migrated to Hadramaut and lived there in peace, worshipping Allah, their true Lord. Thamud (samood): Prophet salih (as) was sent on people of thamud. People of thamud were also engaged in the same sins in which people of Ad were involved. Thamud rejected the warnings of Allah just as ââ¬ËAd did and perished in consequence.Thamuds denial of the warnings coming to them is an incident which is itself a warning to people of all ages. Prophet Salih (as) was sent to Thamud to warn them. Salih (as) was a recognised person within the Thamud society. His people, who did not expect him to proclaim the religion of truth, were surprised by his calling on them to abandon their deviation. A small part of the community complied with Salihs (as) call, but most of them did not accept what he told. The leaders of the community in particular denied Salih (as) and took an antagonistic stand towards him. They tried to impede those who believed Salih (as) and tried to oppress them. They were enraged at Salih (as), because he called them to worship Allah. This rage was not specific only to Thamud; Thamud were repeating the mistake made by the people of Nuh (as) and by Ad who had lived before them. This is why the Quran refers to these three communities as follows: Has not the story reached you, (O people!), of those who (went) before you? of the people of Prophet Nuh, and Ad, and Thamud? And of those who (came) after them? None knows them but Allah. To them came messengers with Clear (Signs); but they put their hands up to their mouths, and said: We do deny (the mission) on which ye have been sent, and we are really in suspicious (disquieting) doubt as to that to which ye invite us. (Surah Ibrahim: 9) Despite the Prophet Salihs (as) warnings, the people continued in their ways on overcome by doubts. But still, there was a group who believed in the prophethood of Salih (as) and those were the ones who were saved along with Salih (as) when the great catastrophe came. The leaders of the community tried to oppress the group believing in Salih (as). Moreover, a certain group openly denied Salih (as). A group among those who rejected faith supposedly in the name of Allah made plans to kill Salih (as). Salehs people disbelieved and thought he was bewitched. Then they asked him to show them a sign from Allah that he was indeed a prophet. They pointed at a huge rock that was standing by itself, and proposed to him that he ask his God to create a she-camel out of it. They of course thought that it was a good way to dumbfound him and silence him. But Saleh, in turn, took a strong oath from them that if Allah provided them with this sign they would believe in him and follow him. He then fervently prayed to Allah to answer their request. The huge rock moved and split and from it came a wonderful she-camel, which was pregnant and soon to give birth. Allah provided the Thamud people this miracle which was also a test for them, to see if they obey His orders. In Quran: Saleh told them: O my people! This she-camel of Allah is a sign to you. Leave her to feed on Allahs earth, and inflict no harm on her, or a swift punishment will seize you! (Hud, 11:64) The she-camel and her young offspring lived among the Thamud people, she would drink from the water of the well for one day, and leave it to them the second day as Allah ordered: She has a right to drink (water), and you have a right to drink water, each on a day appointed, (Al-Shuara, 26:155). Allah ordered Prophet Saleh to tell his people of the camels rights, saying: And tell them that the water is to be shared between her and them. Each ones right to drink being established by turns, (Al-Qamar, 54:28). On the day the she-camel was to drink from the well, she would have enough milk for all the people of Thamud who would milk her and fill all their containers. She would graze in the valley and she was so huge that when she came near their sheep, they would flee and leave the way for her, and the cattle would not come near the well on the day she would drink from it. The Thamud people were very amazed and some of them believed and followed Prophet Saleh. It was clear that she was not a normal camel but was a miracle from Allah and a blessed animal. The disbelievers, however, were very much bothered by her for she was always reminding them of that oath They plotted to kill her and get rid of her, so that way they would use the well every day. There were nine men in the city who were known for their mischief and crimes, and hence they were trusted with the mission of killing the camel. After making sure that all the disbelievers were in agreement to kill the she-camel, the men went out secretly by night to the well when she came to drink water. They hit her and killed her, then ran to kill the child but he ran away and vanish in the mountain from where she-camel came. When saleh (as) heard of their horrible crime, Prophet Saleh (as) warned them saying: Enjoy yourselves in your homes for three days. This is a promise that will not be belied! (Hud, 11:65). This warning was an occasion for them to repent to Allah, but to the contrary, they not only disbelieved in the threat but also decided to kill Saleh as well. After three days Angel Gabriel (as) shaked the walls of their homes and when they came out of their homes, he made a loud sound by which they were caused to death.Except saleh (as) and his believers. The Pharaoh: The pharaoh who ruled Egypt was a tyrant who oppressed the descendants of Musa (as). He used every means to demean and disgrace them. They were kept in bondage and forced to work for him for small wages or nothing. Under this system the people obeyed and worshipped the pharaoh, and the ruling class carried out his orders, thereby authorizing his tyranny and crazy whims.The pharaoh wanted the people to obey him only, and to believe in the gods of his invention. Perhaps, during that time, there were many classes of people who did not believe in or practice polytheism; however, they kept this to themselves and outwardly did as they were expected to do, without revolting or revealing themselves to anyone.Pharaoh came to know that a child will be born who will be cause of his destruction and death. He gave command to kill all the male children among the children of israel. Ibn Abbas narrated: Pharaoh saw in his vision a fire, which came from Jerusalem and burned the houses of the Egyptians, and all Copts, and did not do harm to the children of Israel. When he woke up, he was horrified. He then gathered his priests and magicians and asked them about this vision. They said: This means a boy will be born of them and the Egyptian people will perish at his hands. That is why Pharaoh commanded that all male children of the children of Israel be killed. But that child was born. He was prophet Musa (as). Even he was cherished by pharaoh in his palace. But after the prophethood Musa (as) conveyed the message of Allah. Musa (as) and Harun (as) went to pharaoh in obedience to Allahs command and conveyed to him the message of the religion of truth. They asked him to stop tormenting the Children of Israel and let them go with Musa (as) and Harun (as). It was unacceptable to pharaoh that Musa (as), whom he had kept near him for years and who most probably was to have been his successor on the throne, stood up to him and talked to him in this manner. For that reason, Firawn accused him of ingratitude. In Quran: (Firawn) said: Did we not cherish thee as a child among us, and didst thou not stay in our midst many years of thy life? And thou didst a deed of thine which (thou knowest) thou didst, and thou art an ungrateful (wretch)! (Surat ash-Shuara: 18-19 Out of pride and greed for power, pharaoh did not listen to what Musa (as) said. He tried to make fun of him, attempted to prove his power, and denied him. At the same time, he aimed to portray Musa (as) and Harun (as) as anarchists and accuse them of being politically motivated. Finally, neither Pharaoh nor the leaders of the people within his close circle, except for the magicians, obeyed Musa (as) and Harun (as). They did not follow the religion of truth shown to them. Therefore Allah first of all sent some disasters to them. pharaoh and his close circle were so deeply engaged in their polytheism and their idolatry, that is the religion of their ancestors, that they never considered leaving it. Even the miracles of Musa (as) were not enough to make them move away from their superstitions. Moreover, they expressed this openly. They said: Whatever be the Signs thou bringest, to work therewith thy sorcery on us, we shall never believe in thee. (Surat al-Aââ¬Ëraf: 132) Because of their conduct, Allah sent them a number of disasters as separate miracles to make them taste the torment in this world, before the eternal torment of the next world. The first of these was drought and scarcity of crops. In relation to the subject, it is written in the Quran: We punished the people of Firawn with years (of droughts) and shortness of crops; that they might receive admonition. (Surat al-Aââ¬Ëraf: 130). However, instead of taking heed as they should have, they held all that had happened was because of ill fortune brought by Musa and the Children of Israel. They were overcome by such conviction because of their superstitions, disobedience and devotion to the religion of their ancestors and, as a result, they suffered great distress for years. Allah sent to them a series of disasters, and warned them. These disasters are described as follows in the Quran: So we sent (plagues) on them: Wholesale death, Locusts, Lice, Frogs, and Blood: Signs openly self-explained: but they were steeped in arrogance a people given to sin. (Surat al-Aââ¬Ëraf: 133) In pharaohs time, this kind of chain of disasters appears to have occurred. According to this scenario, when the Nile was contaminated, fish also died, and the Egyptians were deprived of an important source of nutrition. Without predator fish, the frogs could initially breed freely in both ponds and the Nile and thus overpopulate the river, eventually escaping the anoxic, toxic, and putrefying environment by migrating to land, hence dying on land and decomposing along with the fish. The Nile and adjacent lands thus became fouled, and the waters became dangerous to drink or to bathe in. Moreover, the extinction of frog species causes bugs such as locusts and lice to reproduce excessively. Finally, no matter how the disasters took place, and what effect they left, neither pharaoh, nor his people turned to Allah by paying heed, but they continued in their arrogance. Musa (as) set out from Egypt with the Children of Israel who obeyed him. However, pharaoh could not accept their departure without his permission. He and his soldiers followed them . By the time Musa (as) and the Children of Israel reached the shore, pharaoh and his soldiers had caught up with them. Some of the Children of Israel, who saw this, began to complain to Musa (as). This weakness of the community is also described in the Quran in the following verse: And when the two bodies saw each other, the people of Musa said: We are sure to be overtaken.' (Surat ash-Shuara: 61) Allah revealed to Musa (as) that he should strike the sea with his rod. Upon this, it divided, and each separate part became like the huge, firm mass of a mountain. (Surat ash-Shuara: 63). In ordinary circumstances, at the moment when pharaoh saw such a miracle, he should have understood that there was something extraordinary about the situation that he was seeing Divine intervention. The sea opened for the people whom pharaoh wanted to destroy. Moreover, there was no guarantee that the sea would not close back after they passed across. Still, he and his army followed the Children of Israel into the sea. Most probably, Pharaoh and his soldiers had lost their ability to think reasonably because of their insolence and spite, and were unable comprehend the miraculous nature of the situation. The Quran describes the last moments of pharaoh as follows: We took the Children of Israel across the sea: Firawn and his hosts followed them in insolence and spite. At length, when overwhelmed with the flood, he said: I believe that there is no god except Him Whom the Children of Israel believe in: I am of those who submit (to Allah in Islam). (Surah Yunus: 90) The People of Madyan: The people of Madyan were Arabs who lived in the country of Maan, part of which today is greater Syria. They were a greedy people who did not believe that Allah existed and who led wicked lives. They gave short measure, praised their goods beyond their worth, and hid their defects. They lied to their customers, thereby cheating them.They led a very happy and a prosperous life. Due to Allahs grace and endowments, they were very wealthy. But instead of thanking Allah for His bounties, they turned greedy and started cheating and betraying people in business. They used to cheat in weighing goods i.e. when they sold goods they weighed less whereas while buying they asked for more. Fraud and deceit were commonplace and the one who was more expert in this field was considered more intelligent and wise. Allah sent His Prophet Shoaib (as) armed with many miracles. Shuaib preached to them, begging them to be mindful of Allahs favors and warning them of the consequences of their evil ways, but they only mocked him. Shuaib remained calm as he reminded them of his kinship to them and that what he was doing was not for his personal gain. In Quran: And to Madyan (We sent) their brother Shoaib. He said, O my people! Serve Allah, you have no god other than Him. Clear proof has indeed come to you from your Lord. Therefore give full measure and weight. And do not diminish to men their things and do not make mischief in the land after its reform. This is better for you if you are believers. (Araaf: 85) Shoaib (as) prohibited the people from committing such contemptible deeds, and also reminded them about Allahs chastisement. But people mocked at him and said, You want us to worship as you worship? You expect us to leave the religion of our forefathers? You expect us to employ some other method in our trade? You want us to deal honestly and suffer losses? Never! Certainly we will never heed you! Since you have become old and also have children, we pardon you. Else we would certainly have stoned you to death! They seized the belongings of Shoaib (as) and his followers, then drove them out of the city. The Messenger turned to his Lord for help, and his plea was answered. Allah sent down on them scorching heat and they suffered terribly. On seeing a cloud gathering in the sky, they thought it would bring cool, refreshing rain, and rushed outside in the hope of enjoying the rainfall. Instead the cloud burst, hurling thunderbolts and fire. They heard a thunderous sound from above which caused the earth under their feet to tremble. The evil doers perished in this state of horror. PRESENT: Todays Muslims are the followers of the last prophet of Allah, Muhammad (s.a.w). He was sent as a seal of prophets. As Allah also declared that Muhammad (s.a.w) is the seals of prophets and after him no prophet will come. He (s.a.w) was the noblest man on earth ever. And no one will come better than him. We are his nation known as Muslims. Todays Muslims are proud to be Muslims. But should they really get proud of it? Todays Muslims are also involved in the activities the previous nations used to be involved in and they cam to no good end. They were perished by Allah. Muslims are involved in different sins like; stealing, killing, greed, not to be thankful to Allah, arrogant, mean, boastful, diminish, and the worst sin shirk. As it
Friday, January 17, 2020
According to Marx, How Does Capitalism Alienate Workers?
SS 2029 Basic Sociology 2011-2012 (Semester A) Individual Term Paper CHEUNG Kai-HO (52596777) 7. According to Marx, how does capitalism alienate workers? How did Marx feel that workers could overcome their alienation? 1. Abstract Alienation, a term used to describe the feeling of no connection with others or the separation from former attachment. When it comes to sociologist aspect, especially on Marxism, this term describes the stage of losing oneââ¬â¢s identity. To Karl Marxââ¬â¢s belief, Alienation means the loss of control over the process and product of work (Bell, 1959).Thus, under the capitalism, workers are alienated by the production system. 2. Content A First and foremost, from Marxââ¬â¢s point of view, alienation is the eventual outcome of capitalism. Capitalism itself is based on a mode of production, as stated by Marx. The capitalists own the capital, materials, properties for the production, as well as the products. The capitalists will then put the products in exchange with money and hence, gain profit. As capitalists can decide the salaries of workers, they will plausibly pay as little as they can, so as to gain the largest profit.Without the power of decision, workers have no choice but to earn their livings by selling their labor force. These create what indicated by Marx as the capitalist mode of production. Marx also explained that capitalists are the bourgeoisie class while workers are the proletariat class. Production process and output are controlled by bourgeoisie. Workers have little say on their own will. As mentioned by Michael Curtis, man is enslaved by the system of goods and commodities that he produces.Therefore, capitalism can gain the domination over the production as well as the workers and trigger alienation. In Marxââ¬â¢s vision, there are four aspects in his theory of alienation. According to his writing, Economic & Philosophic Manuscripts of 1844, alienation means that workers are alienated from the process of p roduction, the products they produced, species being and other workers. a) In the first aspect, alienation of workers and process of production, workers are alienated from the work itself.As mentioned above, workers have to work under the capitalist mode of production, which means that they have little or even no say on how they should carry out the process of work. Unlike other professions, workers cannot decide working hours, salaries, working procedures they are involved. Take Jorn Bramannââ¬â¢s example as an illustration, artists relatively have greater freedom on how they want to work. Not only do they have the choice of working hour, but also the working direction. Therefore, workers are alienated for the work they are involved.They cannot make the decision on the way they work. Besides, workers are alienated under the process of production as capitalism follow the using of division of labor. Take a car factory as an example, the products, which obviously cars, consists of a great number of components. For example, engines, wheels, doors, head lights, rear view mirrors. The process of producing a car is apparently complicate; however, after the using of division of labor, the work process is then become easier. Each worker should be responsible for one repeated part only.Thus, Marx noticed the problem in this kind of production. He mentioned that alienated workers have to carry out repeated, less interesting, machine-like rigid procedure. They have to work in same position on the lines of production. Marx saw this phenomenon as domination. Workers are also forced to use machinery so as to perform production easily but Marx again noticed a problem in it. He believed that workers are no longer the user of machines while machines are designed to be extensions of workers. Hence, workers are eventually losing themselves from the repeated working method.Alienation is then sparked off by capitalismââ¬â¢s way of production. b) In the second aspect, alienat ion of workers and their products, workers cannot decide what they produce. In the past, such as medieval age, blacksmiths, bakery owners, clothes makers and many other producers could decide what they produce, how they produce, as well as the nature of the products. The most important part is that, the final outputs of production belonged to the producers, whether sell them or not was totally depended on them.But in Marxââ¬â¢s time, factory owners, which mean capitalists, paid money to workers in return of labor force to carry out productions. Let aside the boring rigid production actions, the products belonged to the factory owners, not the workers. Workers had no control over the products and what products should they produce. So, Marx stated that this was one of the four aspects of alienation. Furthermore, this alienation also creates a negative effect on workers. In Marxââ¬â¢s writing Economic & Philosophic Manuscripts of 1844, he said:All these consequences are implied i n the statement that the worker is related to the product of labor as to an alien object. For on this premise it is clear that the more the worker spends himself, the more powerful becomes the alien world of objects which he creates over and against himself, the poorer he himself ââ¬â his inner world ââ¬â becomes, the less belongs to him as his own. (Economic & Philosophic Manuscripts of 1844) We can see that Marx believed that workersââ¬â¢ labor force become an external object that is alien to them. This external object will be a hostile force:The alienation of the worker in his product means not only that his labor becomes an object, an external existence, but that it exists outside him, independently, as something alien to him, and that it becomes a power on its own confronting him. It means that the life which he has conferred on the object confronts him as something hostile and alien. (Economic & Philosophic Manuscripts of 1844) Thus, capitalism will spark off aliena tion towards workers. The very products they produced will be ââ¬Å"takenâ⬠away from capitalists and, as a result, become a hostile force to them. ) In third aspect, alienation of workers and their species being, workers are being separated from the nature spirit known as human nature. What makes human so unique is that, we have our own special nature. Human have personal wills and consciousness. We can create things by following our own belief, will, preference. Human are also fond of beautiful things. Marx discussed about this topic in his Economic & Philosophic Manuscripts of 1844. He believed that human can produce not only for physical needs, but also for their desires. Besides, human produce universally and can form products according to the law of beauty.When workers need to follow the capitalist mode of production, the above species being will be deprived. With the fixed working position and repeated procedures, workers no longer produce according to their own wills o r preferences. Marx said: Manââ¬â¢s species-being, both nature and his spiritual species-property, into a being alien to him, into a means of his individual existence. It estranges from man his own body, as well as external nature and his spiritual aspect, his human aspect. (Economic & Philosophic Manuscripts of 1844) This saying represents what Marx thought about those alienated workers.Capitalism put workers under the same routine of productions. Workers are merely a tool of capitalists to make profit. All the human nature, creativity, workersââ¬â¢ decision and preferences are neglected. Workers have to work as ordered by their employers. This is what alienation on workers and species being means. d) In forth aspect, alienation of workers and other workers, relationship between them will also be alienated. What Marx believed was that, workers are alienated by capitalists and eventually become the ââ¬Å"goodsâ⬠on the trading market.As capitalists own factories, they ca n make decision about who they want to hire. Thus, workers are first ââ¬Å"selectedâ⬠to work in the factories. Then, throughout the working period, workers are usually monitored by supervisors. Once a worker is found to violate the factory as well as the capitalistsââ¬â¢ interest, he or she is no longer hired. As a result, workers have to work in a commercial, capitalist atmosphere. The relationship between workers is worsened. Another important effect is that, relationship between workers will deteriorate or even become hostile under the capitalist working environment.As the capitalist can lay off any one as they desire, workers will become a competitors of each other. Some may take hostile attitude towards each other as they want to stay in the factory to earn a living. This alienation is against Marxââ¬â¢s hope as people with same interest, same class will be against each other. So, Marx pointed out that alienation not only cause effect on workers themselves, but als o the relationship with others. 3. Content B With a view to the alienation, Marx believed that it can only be eliminated by changing the whole system.Marx pointed out the cause of alienation lies on the property system. The relationship between workers and employers are obviously money related. In this property system, workers do not own the factory, input materials, machines or other prerequisite. Properties are privately owned. Therefore, Marx called these workers as proletariat class. To tackle this problem, Marx had one method, the only method: To completely abolish the private ownership and property system. With the destruction of this money or property system, communism should be set up. Marx once said that: (2) Communism (? still political in nature ââ¬â democratic or despotic; (? ) with the abolition of the state, yet still incomplete, and being still affected by private property, i. e. , by the estrangement of man. In both forms communism already is aware of being reint egration or return of man to himself, the transcendence of human self-estrangement. Marx clearly stated that communism will bring workers back to human essence. A new society will be created. Workers no longer need to complete with each other. Species being, products will not be alienated. To achieve this change, revolution is a choice for Marxists.As the authority will not easily change the original way of ruling, capitalist will still exist. Michael Curtis, the writer of Marxism: The Inner Dialogues, said that ââ¬Å"Communism will overcome alienation through the creation of a community which ends the cleavage between production and consumption, intellectual and manual labor. â⬠Hence, the only solution to demolish alienation is communism, while communism itself can be achieve by revolution. 4. Conclusion All in all, alienation is a eventual outcome of capitalism. With the private ownership and money system, the relationship between workers and employers evolve to commercial relation.With the usage of division of labor as well as the assembly line, workers are forced to repeat the same procedure of production. They will thus be alienated with the work itself and their species being. Besides, workersââ¬â¢ relationship with other will deteriorate. Notwithstanding the effects of alienation, Marx believed that it can be eliminated by demolishing the property system. Revolution is the answer to this. Reference: * Economic & Philosophic Manuscripts of 1844 by Marx, K. (Between April and August1844), fromhttp://www. marxists. rg/archive/marx/works/1844/manuscripts/preface. htm * Curtis, M. (1997). Marxism: The Inner Dialogues (pp. 129-142) * Ollman, B. (1976). Alienation: Marx's Conception of Man in Capitalist Society (2nd ed. ) (Chapter 22) * Marx on Alienation by University of Regina- Department of Sociology and Social Studies (2002, September 30), fromhttp://uregina. ca/~gingrich/s3002. htm * Marx: Capitalism and Alienation by Jorn Bramann, fromhttp://fa culty. frostburg. edu/phil/forum/Marx. htm * Themes, Arguments, and Ideas by Sparknotes, fromhttp://www. sparknotes. com/philosophy/marx/themes. html
Thursday, January 9, 2020
Wednesday, January 1, 2020
The Musical Genre Of Reggae - 900 Words
The musical genre, reggae, was originally coined in the 1960s. Derived from rege-rege ââ¬â Jamaican for ââ¬Å"rags or ragged clothingâ⬠ââ¬â the genre was used to describe the raggedy music style found in Jamaica at the time. Reggae incorporates the traditional Jamaican music such as mento and ska, rhythm blues, and rocksteady. Ska characteristics such as the walking bass line of the guitar and piano off-beats are used in reggae. However, ska is much faster than reggae, so the use of rocksteady in the genre slows the ska tempo. Reggae songs are heavily backbeated, meaning the music has highly emphasized second and fourth beats; this style is typically found in African-based musical genres. In reggaeââ¬â¢s foundation, artists typically wrote of love, but the seventies foresaw the use of socio-political and religious lyrics. To English listeners, reggae lyrics are nearly incomprehensible. For example, ââ¬Å"Jahâ⬠means God, and ââ¬Å"Gangaâ⬠is the Jamaica n slang term for marijuana, a medical herb Rastafarians smoked to feel closer to God. Since those not of this faith do not understand the importance of marijuana, reggae lyrics often get misinterpreted as ââ¬Å"getting high.â⬠Never the less, reggae music first rose to international acclaim in the 1970s following the release of the movie, The Harder They Came, a story of a young man traveling through urban Jamaica. The movieââ¬â¢s soundtrack was comprised entirely of reggae music, skyrocketing the genre into the mainstream. Despite the movieââ¬â¢s success inShow MoreRelatedReggae Music : A Musical Genre That Influenced Jamaican Music1268 Words à |à 6 Pages Reggae is a musical genre that has revolutionized Jamaican music. Reggae originated in Jamaica in the late sixties, early seventies. Itââ¬â¢s slow jerky rhythm and spiritual lyrics have influenced many artists, genres, cultures, and societies throughout the world. This had contributed to the advancement of new counterculture movements, especially in the United States of America, as well as Europe and Africa. In the late seventies, it had impacted western punk and rock/pop cultures, which had resultedRead MoreReggae Is Not Only A Type Of Musi c1560 Words à |à 7 PagesFor indigenous communities throughout the world, reggae is not only a type of music, but a culture. One of the most worldwide forms of popular culture, reggae is able to be found in many communities, such as Native American, Aboriginal Australian, Hawaiian and Pacific. Reggae has a very well known and well defined associated culture. It must be kept in mind the appeal of the Rastafarian ââ¬Ëlifestyleââ¬â¢ associated with the reggae genre. For many youth in indigenous communities, this lifestyle may be seenRead MoreReview Of David M. Greenberg Et Al Divided People And Their Musical Choices814 Words à |à 4 Pagescomes to topics that can cause a heater argument. Musical preferences are sacred to most people and we tend to divide into small tribes over music, considering the other tribes as less sophisticated. Interestingly, your music choices are not a random grouping ââ¬â your tribe isnââ¬â¢t determined by where your friends go. Instead, you r personality and the music you like are interlinked, both influencing each other. Three thinking groups and their musical choices A 2015 study by David M. Greenberg et alRead MoreSimilarities Between Rock And Blues719 Words à |à 3 PagesThis week we learned about many genres of music, some similar some different. The two genres I want to compare and contrast are Rock and Blues. When you hear rock music, you picture electric guitars, amplified sounds, and complex styles of play. But if you take a deeper look you would probably be surprised to learn that rock would not even have existed without simple 12-bar forms, antiphonal textures, or ââ¬Å"walking bass linesâ⬠used in much blues music. Though Rock and Blues are distinctly differentRead More An Overview of Reggae Music Essay1268 Words à |à 6 Pages Reggae is a genre of music that originated in Jamaica during the late 1960s. It is known for the heavy and strong emphasis on the bass within the background beat. Reggae was perceived as a kind of music used to express feelings about the social, political, and economic hardships in Jamaica during the l ate 1960s and early 1970s. It was performed by musicians from black ghettos who used unhurried beats to make a style of music of their own. Reggae became an important part of the lifestyle of manyRead MoreReggae Paper1223 Words à |à 5 PagesReggae, ââ¬Å"a generic name for all Jamaican popular music since 1960, is defined as a ââ¬ËWest Indian style of music with a strongly accented subsidiary beatâ⬠(Chang). Reggae music is a great style of music that was popularized by one of the worldââ¬â¢s most famous musicians, Bob Marley. Personally, I never listened to it until I made it to college, and it has quickly become one of my favorite genres. For that reason is why I chose to write this paper on Reggae music. This genre is a very calming and relaxingRead MoreUnit 22 Essay2299 Words à |à 10 PagesBTEC Extended Diploma in Music Unit 22: Music Performance Session Styles You are to recognise 3 genre of music and evaluate that style with the aim of performing that style accurately. P1 Explain the fundamental stylistic elements of a wide range of musical genres. You will understand the stylistic elements across a wide range of musical genres Reggae Reggae is most easily recognized by the rhythmic accents on the off-beat, usually played by guitar or piano (or both), known as the skankRead MoreHistory of Jamaican Music1268 Words à |à 6 Pagesfirst by Spanish colonists, and later by English colonists. (Megan, R.) Jamaicans possess a musical heritage that comes from their African and European roots. Reggae music is Jamaicaââ¬â¢s best sound. These thumping sounds are rich and infectious and encompass expression of private freedom, independence, religion, and gossip. Jamaicaââ¬â¢s most well-known is Bob Marley whose influence helped bring Reggae music in to the Jamaican main stream. (Cultural Attraction Tour in American (2010).) Jamaicans alsoRead MoreThe Great Bob Marley1537 Words à |à 7 Pages If someone was asked to name the first famous reggae artist that came to mind, the majority of people would say one name, Bob Marley. Robert Nesta Marley, commonly known as Bob Marley, is undoubtedly the most famous reggae artist of all time. Additionally, he is responsible for bringing reggae to the masses, and he did this through his unique style, raspy voice, guitar playing and drumming. Bob Marley is known around the world for not only his music, but also his greater message of peace. FurthermoreRead MoreJamaica is known for its jerked chicken, clear waters, and more notably for Reggae, which makes1000 Words à |à 4 PagesJamaica is known for its jerked chicken, clear waters, and more notably for Reggae, which makes Jamaican culture globally recognized. However, despite its mainstream entertainment value of today, reggae is not only music; however it is a way of life for some Jamaicans. It originated as a political form of protest against the colonial forces operative in the s ocial context of Jamaican life. Musical ambassadors like the Abyssinians, Burning Spear, Sir Jimmy Cliff, Bob Marley, Peter Tosh, Bunny Wailer
Tuesday, December 24, 2019
Analysis of Ebay Chinaââ¬â¢s Failure and Suggestions to Ebayââ¬â¢s...
Analysis of eBay Chinaââ¬â¢s Failure and Suggestions to eBayââ¬â¢s Return Strategy from the Perspective of Cross-cultural Conflicts 1. Introduction Along with the development of global economy, no one is unfamiliar with the word of globalization, and the world is filled with multinational-corporations. In such circumstances, those companies have realized that the necessary way to survive in the global market and maintain the competitive advantages is to enlarge the geographical scope of their business. As a result, the issue of localization strategy is put into the essential agenda of every multinational-corporationââ¬â¢s meeting. Culture, as an invisible hand, leads the multinational-corporationsâ⬠¦show more contentâ⬠¦Of course, the problem of cross-cultural conflicts commonly existed in multinational companies. Cross-cultural conflicts stem from the term of ââ¬Å"Culture Shockâ⬠, it was first applied by Kalvero Oberg, an American anthropology, in 1960. In his article, Oberg defined Culture Shock as follows: ââ¬Å"Culture Shock is precipitated by the anxiety that results from losing all our fam iliar signs and symbols of social intercourse. These signs or cues include the thousand and one ways in which we orient ourselves to the situations of daily life. (Oberg 24)â⬠Oberg refers to the visual aspects of culture like behavior, language, and customs, because in contrast to values and beliefs they can be observed. The fact that people tend to judge visual aspects applying their own values and beliefs is responsible for the anxiety. 2.1 Related Research Results Six years ago, eBay Eachnetââ¬â¢s failure in China was a shock to many multinational-corporations, especially internet companies which were planning to open Chinese market. Before long, Google and Yahoo also left mainland China. At that time, a lot of scholars analyzed the reasons of those big international internet companiesââ¬â¢ failure in China from different aspects, while the reason caused by cross-cultural conflicts was an important one. And a numbers of papers were written in this subject. When typing the words of ââ¬Å"eBay Chinaâ⬠and ââ¬Å"cross-culturalShow MoreRelatedStephen P. Robbins Timothy A. Judge (2011) Organizational Behaviour 15th Edition New Jersey: Prentice Hall393164 Words à |à 1573 Pages10.5/12 ITC New Baskerville Std Credits and acknowledgments borrowed from other sources and reproduced, with permission, in this textbook appear on the appropriate page within text. Copyright à © 2013, 2011, 2009, 2007, 2005 by Pearson Education, Inc., publishing as Prentice Hall. All rights reserved. Manufactured in the United States of America. This publication is protected by Copyright, and permission should be obtained from the publisher prior to any prohibited reproduction, storage in a retrieval
Monday, December 16, 2019
A rose for emily AP response Free Essays
Prancer Town gossip is some of the Juiciest and most important news in a small community, itââ¬â¢s like an invisible hand that gradually shifts public opinions, and usually becomes a unanimous view of the town. William Faulkner creatively uses first person communal view in his short storyââ¬â¢A Rose For Emilyâ⬠to create a tale narrated by the townââ¬â¢s collective opinion. The narration Is told out of chronological order but with a steady flow and quick plot build up giving the story even more of a town gossip feel. We will write a custom essay sample on A rose for emily AP response or any similar topic only for you Order Now Throughout the story the author creates a decaying motif and twists the saying-skeleton in the closestâ⬠Into a literal metaphor. The townspeople are onlookers to the decent of another citizen of their town, but they choose to watch her slowly fall and rarely approach her or try to help her. Faulknerââ¬â¢s point of view makes this even more effective since It creates a kind of commentary on Emilyââ¬â¢s life. The story opens with the end, Emily Griersonââ¬â¢s funeral. This allows the reader to assume that the remainder of the story will be about her life, when In fact the plot uilds up to the climatic scene after her burial. Faulkner creates this plot sequence with town gossip, all of the townspeople are remembering her life and recalling her downfall. Not only is it a unanimous telling, it may also be assumed that the story is watered down telling and general of what all the townspeople think or feel about Emily. Others may have had more radical or different opinions but the narration typically leaves out these outliers. Through the eyes of the townspeople we get a very brief image of ââ¬Å"Miss Emilyââ¬â¢sâ⬠life. It seems that not many of them have really even spoken to her, just notice when she is out of the house or when she locks herself back in. The town watches her make an action and then assumes, for instance when she buys arsenic they all make the comment ââ¬Å"ââ¬ËShe will kill herselfââ¬â¢ and we said it would be the best thingâ⬠. To assume that she will kill herself for buying arsenic would seem to be a cue to help her, instead they almost silently encourage it. The townspeople dont see her as a person; They see her as a source of entertainment, nd they emotionally distance themselves from her. Theyââ¬â¢re only onlookers to her life, the may offer financial support, like dismissing her taxes, but any other help they offer is superficial and without meaning behind it. Even when the women of the town prepared to ââ¬Å"helpâ⬠when Emilyââ¬â¢s father died they quickly gave up giving her ald when she denied her fatherââ¬â¢s death. Most of the story she is referred to as ââ¬Å"Miss Emilyâ⬠and very rarely as a Grierson, only when Itââ¬â¢s pertaining to her social standing. Even hough being referred to Miss Emily might be a historical quirk It still distances the townspeople from her. With this communal view Faulkner empathizes the emotional dissonance of the townspeople have toward Emilyââ¬â¢s life, but If the story was told from Emllys view the reader might experience a lonely girl with the world around her controlled with criticism at every turn. Faulkner also using a decaying motif throughout the story, applying It to MISS Emily and her environment, which compliments plot since Emily was falling from race. The Imagery is Introduced early In the story, with her body â⬠She looked bloated, like a body long submerged in motionless waterâ⬠¦ â⬠and her house in a slmllar conaltlon ââ¬Å"It smelled 0T oust ana Olsuse-a close, clank smell. ââ¬Å". Even tnougn tne townspeople dont see her often they still mention these details. Faulknerââ¬â¢s communal third person alienates the reader from Emilyââ¬â¢s emotions through her life. The townspeople donââ¬â¢t see her as a person, instead they Judge her and rarely offer her companionship or help. How to cite A rose for emily AP response, Papers
Saturday, December 7, 2019
Industrial Revolutions Impact on Families - MyAssignmenthelp.com
Question: Discuss aboutthe Industrial Revolutions Impact on Families. Answer: Introduction Technology is upgrading rapidly and this has a great influence on common people in their daily life. This technology has also influenced citizens of a country to purchase their products like groceries, cloths and medicines through online. Online shopping has become popular at present as there are large numbers of available platforms for customers to choose their products. It also helps people to save their time from their busy schedule as they do not need to go to a retail shop. They can easily order their products from anywhere. Hence, it is important to learn business report of an online portal to understand their conditions in market. In this report, Redmart of Singapore is chosen to prepare a business study report. This is also an online supermarket that offers home-delivery of grocery products like fresh vegetables and essential goods through internet shopping. Hence, it is not a traditional retailing shop like others. Moreover, Redmart provides a platform for manufacturers to s ell products directly to their customers instead of depending on retailers. Manufacturers or producers also directly promote their new products through this online portal. Hence, from this online portal, manufacturers can easily analyse data with leading marketing capabilities and can expand their business. Hence, there will be various economic points related to this e-commerce platform, which will be discussed within this report. There will be a description of this business, production costs and scales, macro business environment and sustainability practice of the Redmart. Under those categories, a detail overview and deep analysis of this company will be described. Moreover, after analysing all those points, a conclusion will be drawn to complete this business study report. Description of the Business Redmart Limited runs its business through an online portal of grocery in Singapore. The company was founded in 2011 by Roger Egan, Rajesh Lingappa and Vikram Rupani. It delivers products 7 days a week. This e-commerce company is supported by well-known investors and advisors. Those investors and advisors are Toivo Annus, the co-founder of Skype, Edaurdo Saverin , co-founder of Facebook, Garena. There are also some other wellr-respected advisors and investors like Jason Ackerman, CEO of FreshDirect, SoftBank Ventures and Visionnarie Ventures. Hence it needs its own transport system to deliver door-to-door products. Therefore, Redmart conducts its own transportation business to deliver products directly to their customers house, all over the country. This company allows its customers to purchase fresh foods like dairy, meat and seafood, alcohol, commodities for baby, child, pet and household and so on. Redmart offers those products to its consumers with a standard price. It also allows its customers to choose two-hour delivery windows. Those delivery windows offer consumer benefits, which is supported by the supply-chain management of Redmart. The chief customers of Redmart are common citizens of Singapore. The company also reaches out to its potential customers, like Ntuc Fairprice Co-Operative Ltd. to capture their interests. In Singapore, a large number of customers buy their products through online. Redmart provides more than 25000 products to its customers. Fig1: Customers of Different Age Group Source: (Doan, 2017) It can be seen from the above diagram that, there are large numbers of customers with different age groups, who demand products through online. People, aged 21 to 34, demands 30% products through online. Generation Z, aged between 15 and 20, orders 28% grocery items from internet. Generation X, aged 35 to 49, orders 22% products. Moreover, people above age 50, orders 17% products through online. However, the percentage of demand from senior citizens of above 65 years old, order only 9% products through online. However, the chief customers of Redmart are women, aged between 25 and 44 years. Competitors of Redmart: In Singapore, there are also some other online grocery stores who have become the strong competitors of Redmart. Honestbee is the strongest competitor of Redmart. It is also an online platform that delivers food and grocery items. This online supermarket operates its business with its business to business (B2B) clients. Honestbee covers wide areas to operate their business. These places are Singapore, Taipei, Kuala Lumpur, Hong Kong, Tokyo, Manila and Bangkok. This online platform offers more than 40000 types of products to its customers. This number of different types of products is larger than the number of products that Redmart offers. HappyFresh is also a large competitor of Redmart. HappyFresh and Redmart have competed with each other for a long time. However, the number of competitors has increased over time. There is a strong competition among Redmart, Honestbee and HappyFresh (Abuzahra Imraish, 2017). On the other hand, there are also some other companies which have online p ortals to shop. That delivers fresh vegetables in Singapore, Kuala Lumpur and Jakarta. Those online grocery stores are Gofresh and The Fishwives. Gofresh provides its customers fresh foods like crabs, seafood and lobster and so on. Their customers also order their products through this online portal. On the other hand, The Fishwives also try to supply healthy, fresh and clean food to their customers in Singapore. Redmart is trying to maintain and access its own warehouses and logistic system. This can control its customer service cycle. It also helps to expand rapidly into other vertical companies. However, its competitors, HonestBee and HappyFresh, have increased its significant equity finance. They have adopted a model. This model is depended on third-party logistics and delivery services. This model has taken to expand their business across te markets of Southeast Asia. Redmart also tries to adopt a market strategy to compete with some other competitors. These competitors are like Rakuten, Alibaba and Amazon. These e-commerce companies are enjoying a higher level of success in this e-commerce space. General Business Environment: Redmart operates under the e-commerce market environment. In Singapore, this e-commerce market is expanding rapidly (Hoppe, Lamy Cannarsi, 2016). Hence, it is increasing the percentage of retail sales among people. This is because, 83% people use internet connection over there. Singapore is famous as it has the most mature market of e-commerce in Southeast Asia. The country has a very small number of populations compare to other countries. However, it captures 25% online retail value of Southeast Asia in 2013. This value is greater than Indonesia, which has only 20% value (Vaithianathan, Hool, Hurd Rohwedder, 2017). Indonesia is the largest market of Southeast Asia. Citizens of Singapore are turning online to purchase basic needs, like groceries. They generally use mobile internet to order products. Redmart has launched mobile apps. This also helps customers to place their orders. On the other hand, this increasing number of online retail shopping attracts investors to invest more funds for Redmart and Honestbee. Marketing structure of Redmart: Those online portals operate under the perfectly competitive market (Cattani, Porac Thomas, 2017). They sale same types of products to their customers like fresh foods, vegetables and other grocery products. Hence, every e-commerce portal shares a small share of market. Online grocery stores cannot set prices for its products. As Redmart sales necessary goods to its customers, the demand curve of this grocery store is downward slopping and inelastic (Varian, 2014). That means a small increase in price of a product will not decrease the quantity demanded for this product. Cost structures of Redmart are low compare to other cost structures of traditional grocery stores. This means as Redmart improves its business, advertising costs and customer acquisition costs will be decreased compare to its revenue. However, the customers of online grocery stores always try to find out products with lowest price. Hence, for Redmart, it is difficult to sale their products at a lower rate. Moreover, for common people, the cost of products is high. Production Costs and Scales In Redmart, the labour cost is high. This is because; online grocery stores need to hire more labourers to deliver its products door-to-door, all over the Singapore. Hence, this labour cost is huge compare to any other traditional grocery stores. It is the variable cost of Redmart. The online portal can increase or decrease the amount of labour at any point of time, with its requirement. To compete with other grocery stores, Redmart should generate competitive margins. Hence, it is important for Redmart to operate efficiently and should utilise its labour resources as it is the chief factor of their company. Moreover, this online grocery store needs huge number of delivery cars to deliver their products to its customers within time. Hence, the company should invest huge amount of money to purchase delivery cars. Other costs of Redmart are cupboard to pack products, portal maintenance, cold warehouses to store foods and medicines and so on. Costs differentiation between Traditional and Online Grocery Stores: In general, the business margin of grocery is low. If cost structure is compared between traditional grocery store and online grocery store then the first and important point will be delivery and rental cost. Retail store pays huge amount of rent to obtain strategic location in a populated place. This is because; a good location helps those physically existed retail shops to attract their customers. On the other hand, rental charges for a retailing shop are not required for online grocery stores. This online store only needs to bear costs for a warehouse. Online portal bears higher amount of transport costs to deliver products to their customers. However, large retail stores do not bear any kind of transport costs. They only bear distribution costs to distribute their products from warehouse to their customers. The company also has packaging costs. It is important to pack products nicely so that they can deliver to its customers nicely. Redmart is the first, who starts a large online grocery in Singapore. However, at present, there are more than two online grocery stores. They deliver same kinds of products to their customers. Customers can easily switch among those online sites freely. Hence, to run its business with full capacity, Redmart needs to invest money for making its warehouses. By increasing the number of warehouses, Redmart can also expand the scale of their business. This will be the fixed costs of this company. The fixed cost of Redmart is huge compare to its variables costs. As the company is building or hiring warehouses, the cost is very large. Moreover, an electric connection and internet connection is also required with a warehouse. As the demand of grocery products is increasing day by day, the company will expand their firm size. As the costs of Redmart is high compare to its revenue, the firm is currently operating its medium optimal size of production. Macro Business Environment Singapore has the best political environment to operate a business. Hence, the start-up cost of any business is very low in this country. If different factors, relating to a business is considered, then Singapore is one of the best business-friendly countries in the world. These other factors of business are business licensing, credit legal rights, taxes and protections of investors. Investors also have accepted that the level of transparency and reliability for a business in Singapore is very high (Valera, Holmes Hassan, 2017). Economic and regulatory conditions are also very good to conduct a business. The political structure is stable with parliamentary democracy. The judicial system of this democratic country is nicely established. The domestic institutions with a strong corporate governance practices have created a good environment for business for global investors. The economic condition of Singapore is indentified by a high level of openness and extreme financial condition. The economic condition of Singapore is always good. The current balance of payments of this country is always remained in surplus. Moreover, the country has a huge reserve of foreign exchange. Singapore also provides financial help and benefits with a large extent to increase spending on social services to local businesses. The government always gives priority to confirm quality of growth and to create a large inclusive society. To maintain a competitive position rather than increasing wages, government is looking to promote business with higher added value. In 2016, Singapores budget deficit was 1.2% of total GDP. However, in 2017, the government of Singapore recovers its budget deficit. The government also tries to encourage local enterprises to improve their connectivity and to digitalise. The reason behind these initiatives is to improve their level of competition and t o promote innovation. The per capita wealth of Singapore is very high. The country faced a long period of full employment. However, after this phase, the country has facing unemployment due to structural changes within the economy (Xie, Alba Chia, 2017). This situation becomes worst at the time of global economic crisis. However, this situation is currently overcome and the current rate of unemployment is only 2%. Singapore is also facing an increasing level of income inequality and a discontinued society. This is caused by overpopulation and a highly competitive environment of employment and housing. Singapore is the hub of regional commerce. The port of Singapore is one of the important ports, all over the world. This port is dominated by trade, transportation and business services and financial services. The economy of Singapore is highly industrialised. This industrial sector captures one-fourth part of total gross domestic products (GDP) of this country. Inflation in Singapore: The current rate of inflation is low compare to its previous year. This can be shown by a suitable diagram. Fig2: Inflation rate of Singapore compare to previous years Source: (GRAHAM BILGER, 2017) It can be said from the above diagram that inflation rate of Singapore was -0.5% in 2016. With an economic slowdown and the uncertainties of a restricted political environment, the living cost of citizens in Singapore remains relevant. The inflation rate is used sometimes as an indicator of price levels and the living cost of common people. It can be seen that Singapore is experiencing a negative inflation for last two years. The labour demand of Singapore is expecting to improve in the near future. However, Accumulated inefficiency will take time to absorb in the market and wage pressure will increase rapidly. According to the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS), domestic cost pressures will be moderated. Moreover, due to some factors like subdued commercial and rentals of retails, this cost pressure will also be increased. The unemployment rate of Singapore was 2.1% in the third quarter (Rouxelin, Wongsunwai Yehuda, 2015). This rate is low compare to the first quarter of this year. Redmart does not export their products till now. Hence, exchange rate of foreign currency does not have any effect on demand for Redmarts products. However, the company is planning to expand their business in other countries. Potentil targets of redmart to expand their business include Jakarta, Hong-Kong and Indonesia. However, the chief aim of this firm is to maintain a market leadership in Singapore. Hence, it can be seen that the economic condition of Singapore is increasing rapidly. This will further help domestic business to grow further. Hence, this condition will be more favourable for Redmart to expand their business in near future. As Redmart chiefly sales normal goods, the demand of those goods will fall during a recession period (Fernald, 2015). The reason behind this outcome is due to decrease of income of common people in Singapore. However, at present, the economy of this country is not facing any recession. Hence, the probability of decreasing demand for products of Redmart is low. If business trend of Redmart is taken to analyse then it can be seen that the company is growing rapidly. It will expand more in near future. Sustainability Practice of the Business: Redmart is an online portal and it does not produce any products. Hence, it does not have any huge amount of negative externalities (Clemons, Dewan, Kauffman Weber, 2017). People can easily buy their products through online. However, there are some factors which can create negative externalities of Redmnart. The first one is use of excessive plastic bags. This e-commerce company delivers its products with plastic bags to its customers (Lin, Wijedasa Chisholm, 2017). The government of Singapore is imposing taxes on some e-commerce companies to restrict the use of plastic bags in an economy. However, the company is using bags to keep its products fresh and unbreakable. Hence, Redmart is using technologically upgraded plastic bags. Conclusion Technological innovation has made online shopping safer and easier for customers to choose and purchase goods and services easily according to their choice. This has excluded consumer doubts and allowed them to accept e-commerce for conducting their daily purchases, especially for grocery shopping. Redmart, the start-up e-commerce company in Singapore is taken the first initiatives to conduct a business through online. It helps customers to order their products easily from anywhere. The selling price of each product is almost same for both online grocery stores and normal retail stores. Hence, it is the basic choice for those customers who want to shop their products from home. This is because this practice helps those customers to receive their products directly to their home. It also helps people to save their time. Moreover, there are many well-known producers, who choose Redmart to launce their new products. Hence, customers can also get new products from here. What Redmart offer s to its customers is quite common in United Kingdom. However, this shopping practice is increasing rapidly, at present, in Singapore. On the other hand, maximum citizens of Singapore use internet connection. Hence, the demand of Redmarts product is increasing rapidly. The economic condition of a start-up business is favourable in Singapore. This environment also helps Redmart to expand their business. Though there are two strong competitors of Redmart in Singapore, its profit is increasing over time. This company is adopting various new business strategies to compete with its competitors, like, HoneyBee. Moreover, it is trying to expand its business on other courtiers. Hence, after analysing all market reports of Redmart and economic condition of Singapore, a conclusion can be drawn. The economic condition of Singapore is perfect to expand a business. As a result, Redmart is expanding its business rapidly. Reference: Abuzahra, N., Imraish, N. (2017). The Industrial Revolution Impact on Families as Seen in Hard Times.Studies in Linguistics and Literature,1(1), 23. Cattani, G., Porac, J. F., Thomas, H. (2017). Categories and competition.Strategic Management Journal,38(1), 64-92. Clemons, E. K., Dewan, R. M., Kauffman, R. J., Weber, T. A. (2017). Understanding the Information-Based Transformation of Strategy and Society.Journal of Management Information Systems,34(2), 425-456. Doan, D. A. (2017, March). 7-ELEVEN SETS TO OPEN STORE IN VIETNAM: WHAT LIES AHEAD?. InProceedings of NIDA International Business Conference 2017Innovative Management: Bridging(p. 368). Fernald, J. G. (2015). Productivity and Potential Output before, during, and after the Great Recession.NBER Macroeconomics Annual,29(1), 1-51. GRAHAM, W. C. K., BILGER, M. (2017). Financing Long?Term Services and Supports: Ideas From Singapore.The Milbank Quarterly,95(2), 358-407. Hoppe, F., Lamy, S., Cannarsi, A. (2016). Can Southeast Asia Live Up to Its E-commerce Potential?.Bain . Lin, Y., Wijedasa, L. S., Chisholm, R. A. (2017). Singapores willingness to pay for mitigation of transboundary forest-fire haze from Indonesia.Environmental Research Letters,12(2), 024017. Rouxelin, F., Wongsunwai, W., Yehuda, N. (2015). Aggregate cost stickiness in GAAP financial statements and future unemployment rate.The Accounting Review. Vaithianathan, R. H. E. M. A., Hool, B. R. Y. C. E., Hurd, M., Rohwedder, S. U. S. A. N. N. (2017).High-Frequency Internet Survey of a Probability Sample of Older Singaporeans: The Singapore Life Panel. CREA working paper. Valera, H. G. A., Holmes, M. J., Hassan, G. M. (2017). How credible is inflation targeting in Asia? A quantile unit root perspective.Economic Modelling,60, 194-210. Varian, H. R. (2014).Intermediate Microeconomics: A Modern Approach: Ninth International Student Edition. WW Norton Company. Xie, T., Liu, J., Alba, J. D., Chia, W. M. (2017). Does wage-inflation targeting complement foreign exchange intervention? An evaluation of a multi-target, two-instrument monetary policy framework.Economic Modelling,62, 68-81.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)