This issue is in the field of Natural and Built Environment Studies which encourage researches on current academics and practicing issues in all aspects of land use and resource management.

The papers published in this special issue will discuss the role of the ulama (scholars) in Islamic society based on the Qur’an and the Sunnah. It is clear that the scholars in Islamic society are:
1) The learned people (ulama).
2) Those who lead people and who are followed by the people.
3) Those endowed with sound knowledge who will guide people to the right path.
4) Those who are necessary for the community’s benefit.

Today, the ummah is illiterate and many people act as Imams and Shaikhs without sound knowledge in Qur’an, Hadith, jurisprudence (usul al-Fiqh) and Ijma (consensus of opinion). When such unqualified people give religious verdicts, people are led astray. In order to save the ummah from this predicament, there must be ulama who spend their time in studying and who are SPECIALISTS, and the masses should seek their guidance and opinion on contemporary issues. Nowadays, Islam is often associated today with terrorism or violence.

Thus, the special issues will use this platform to be able to respond to issues affecting Muslims in the region and also to systematically engage and educate the world about the true tenets of the Islamic faith.

The 21st century has witnessed unprecedented developments in the field of technology innovation in general, and Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) in particular. These great technological strides have had various positive as well as negative impacts on human populations around the world. The impacts can be felt in all spheres of life; be they social, economic, commercial or political. Amidst these impacts, there appears to be a need for sociologists and academics working within the domains of applied sociology to re-think, re-formulate and reconceptualize their thinking around such issues as social structure and organization, social interactions, work place relationships, social values, cultural beliefs, and so on. The purpose of this proposed Special Issue theme is to provide academics, thinkers and professionals in sociology and related applied fields, a platform to suggest and debate the direction research in these areas could take in order to generate new ways of understanding the dynamics of the rapidly unfolding and changing contours of 21st century society.