Fiscal Transparency, Political Parties, Abd Debt In OECD Countries - Free Essay Example

Sample details Pages: 7 Words: 1992 Downloads: 4 Date added: 2019/08/12 Category Politics Essay Level High school Tags: Political Parties Essay Did you like this example? Abstract Many believe and argue that fiscal, or budgetary, transparency has large, positive effects on fiscal performance. However, the evidence linking transparency and fiscal policy outcomes is less compelling. To analyze the effects of fiscal transparency on public debt accumulation, we present a career-concerns model with political parties. This allows us to integrate as implications of a single model three hitherto-separate results in the literature on deficit and debt accumulation: that transparency decreases debt accumulation (at least by reducing an electoral cycle in deficits), that right-wing governments (at least for strategic reasons) tend to have higher deficits than left- wing governments, and that increasing political polarization increases debt accumulation. To test the predictions of the model, we construct a replicable index of fiscal transparency on 19-country OECD data. Simultaneous estimates of debt and transparency strongly confirm that a higher degree of fiscal transpar ency is associated with lower public debt and deficits, independent of controls for explanatory variables from other approaches. Don’t waste time! Our writers will create an original "Fiscal Transparency, Political Parties, Abd Debt In OECD Countries" essay for you Create order 1 We thank David Skilling for participating in the early stages of this project and Alberto Alesina, Morten Bennedsen, Tim Besley, Carles Boix, Bob Inman, Casey Mulligan, Jonathan Rodden, Christian Schultz, Ken Shepsle, David Stromberg, Guido Tabellini, and participants in the Fiscal Federalism Conference at CES, Harvard, the Political Economy Workshop at Harvard, the 97th Annual Meeting of the American Political Science Association (San Francisco), ECPR (Canterbury), and the Danish Public Choice Workshop III for very useful comments and suggestions. This work was begun when Lassen was visiting Harvard. He would like to thank the Economic Policy Research Unit, the Danish Research Academy and a Sasakawa International Fellowship for funding, and Harvard for its hospitality. The work was completed under an EPRU-network grant. * [emailprotected] ** [emailprotected] Fiscal Transparency and Fiscal Policy Outcomes 1. Introduction Many believe that fiscal transparency has large and positive effects on fiscal performance. According to the IMF, â€Å"transparency in government operations is widely regarded as an important precondition for macroeconomic fiscal sustainability, good governance, and overall fiscal rectitude† (Kopits and Craig 1998: 1). Both the IMF and the OECD have recently developed Codes of Best Practice for Fiscal Transparency. Fiscal adjustment programs (like some aimed at satisfying Maastricht Treaty criteria) can employ or produce creative accounting practices. Transparency can affect the probability that such budgetary tricks are revealed. In ways like that, more transparency leads to lower budget deficits and makes fiscal discipline and control of spending easier to achieve. However, while such asserted effects are common, there is not much empirical evidence about institutional transparency and fiscal policy outcomes. Some links appear between fiscal transparency and fiscal performa nce in European countries, and between indirect measures of transparency and fiscal performance in Latin American countries.Fiscal Transparency and Fiscal Policy Outcomes 1. Introduction Many believe that fiscal transparency has large and positive effects on fiscal performance. According to the IMF, â€Å"transparency in government operations is widely regarded as an important precondition for macroeconomic fiscal sustainability, good governance, and overall fiscal rectitude† (Kopits and Craig 1998: 1). Both the IMF and the OECD have recently developed Codes of Best Practice for Fiscal Transparency. Fiscal adjustment programs (like some aimed at satisfying Maastricht Treaty criteria) can employ or produce creative accounting practices. Transparency can affect the probability that such budgetary tricks are revealed. In ways like that, more transparency leads to lower budget deficits and makes fiscal discipline and control of spending easier to achieve. However, while such asse rted effects are common, there is not much empirical evidence about institutional transparency and fiscal policy outcomes. Some links appear between fiscal transparency and fiscal performance in European countries, and between indirect measures of transparency and fiscal performance in Latin American countries. Many remain convinced of the importance of fiscal transparency, however.2 The purpose of this paper is to investigate whether a higher degree of fiscal transparency is in fact associated with lower public debt, other things equal. To do this, we extend the career- concerns model of public debt developed by Persson and Tabellini (2000) and, in particular, Shi and Svensson (2002) to include political parties with preferences over public spending. We show that this allows us to integrate as implications of a single model three hitherto-separate results in the literature on deficit and debt accumulation: that transparency decreases debt accumulation, at least partly through an effect on the electoral cycle (Shi and Svensson, 2002), that increasing political polarization increases debt accumulation (see, for instance, Alesina and Tabellini, 1990), and that right-wing governments, at least for strategic reasons, tend to have higher deficits than left-wing governments (Persson and Svensson, 1989). We also develop measures of fiscal transparency and show that recent evidence from OECD countries is consistent with these implications, even after controlling for the effects of explanatory variables from other political- economic models of debt and deficits, and accounting for the potential endogeneity of transparency. 2 On Europe, see von Hagen (1992), de Haan et al. (1999), Milesi-Ferretti (forthcoming), and Hallerberg et al. (2001). On Latin America, see Alesina et al. (1999). The theoretical literature on the causes and consequences of fiscal, or budgetary, transparency is not large.3 In the Shi and Svensson (2002) political agency model that we extend below, voters want more competent politicians in office, as they can provide more public goods for given levels of taxation and private consumption. However, this creates incentives for incumbents to try to â€Å"appear competent† by issuing debt, providing more public goods by ‘buying now and paying later’. In the model, the degree of fiscal or budget transparency determines when and how far voters can observe debt, and thus the extent to which an incumbent can use debt to appear competent. Milesi-Ferretti (forthcoming), on the other hand, considers in a reduced-form model the effect of transparency on government debt and deficits in a regime characterized by fiscal rules, allowing for creative accounting practices like those arising in connection with the Maastricht Treaty (Easterly 19 99). Transparency, Milesi-Ferretti argues, affects the probability that such practices are revealed, resulting in a penalty for not meeting the formal budget rule requirement. Thus, transparency determines the scope for creative accounting vs. â€Å"true† fiscal adjustment, and matters only because of the existence of fiscal rules. Finally, Ferejohn (1999) examines an agency model in which fiscal transparency affects voter trust in government and thus the size of government. In all these cases, transparency increases the probability or accuracy of observations of incumbents’ performance. The empirical literature on transparency is also limited, in part by measurement problems.4 So, in addition to providing a model that synthesizes and unifies several disparate results on debt, we construct a direct, replicable index variable measuring the transparency of budget processes of OECD countries. The index contains variables comparable though not identical to ones collected and ana lyzed in the American states (Alt, Lassen, and Skilling 2002). Further, we use this index to investigate empirically the hypotheses of the model. We find that fiscal transparency is, indeed, robustly associated with lower public debt and deficits, even after allowing for the effects of partisanship and polarization. However, we also recognize that fiscal institutions are subject to change, and investigate the reasons why governments change fiscal 3 Asymmetric information models of fiscal policy have been studied by, e.g., Rogoff (1990), but a direct focus on the role of fiscal transparency is rare. Besley and Prat (2001) touch on transparency in their investigation of the role of the media in communicating information about the government to voters. The effects of transparency about monetary policy objectives has begun to be studied as well; see, e.g., Faust and Svensson (2001), Jensen (2002), and Stasavage (2003). 4 Alesina and Perotti (1996) note that the â€Å"results on transparency probably say more about the difficulty of measuring it, than about its effect on fiscal discipline†, a point echoed in Alesina and Perotti (1999) and Tanzi and Schuknecht (2000). 2 Fiscal Transparency and Fiscal Policy Outcomes transparency. This allows us to correct transparency for possible endogeneity in the empirical analysis. Estimating the simultaneous empirical model leaves the main results unaltered. Finally, many other analyses of public debt focus on the number of actors involved in the budget process. Two conjectures predominate: either there is a â€Å"common pool problem† so that actors do not internalize the full cost of their spending or there is a â€Å"fragmentation problem† so that they cannot coordinate, for instance on a response to negative shocks. â€Å"Actors† include the number of spending ministers, parties in a governing coalition, decentralized units in a fe deral system, or veto players.5 Our model does not make specific predictions about these other variables, so in the empirical analysis we control for as many alternative approaches as possible. The paper proceeds as follows. Section 2 defines fiscal transparency. Section 3 summarizes the career-concerns model of fiscal transparency with competing political parties, deriving results for the effects of transparency, and partisanship and polarization from the â€Å"strategic debt† literature, to guide the empirical analysis. (We present the full model in an appendix.) Section 4 describes the construction of the transparency index, as well as other data, used in the empirical work. Section 5 examines the effects of fiscal transparency on fiscal performance, the causes of variation in fiscal transparency across the OECD, and the possible endogeneity of transparent institutions with respect to debt. Section 6 concludes. 2. Defining Fiscal Transparency Greater transparency eases the task of attributing outcomes to the acts of particular politicians. It makes observers more able to distinguish effort from opportunistic behavior or stochastic factors â€Å"primarily by providing actors with greater or lesser degrees of certainty about the present and future behavior of other actors† (Hall and Taylor 1996, p. 939).6 With respect to the budgetary process, a comprehensive definition of fiscal transparency is the following: â€Å"Fiscal transparency is defined †¦ as openness toward the public at large about government structure and functions, fiscal policy intentions, public sector accounts, and 5 Proposed remedies include delegation to a strong central Ministry of Finance (when there is no problem of ideological heterogeneity) and a form of commitment among coalition partners when there is (Hallerberg et al. 2001). On the effects of number, possibly conditional on decentralization and heterogeneity, of ministers and parties see Kontopoulos and Perotti (1999) and Volkerink and de Haan (2001); on decentralized units in a federal system see Rodden and Wibbels (2002); and on veto players see Tsebelis (2002). Outcomes projections. It involves ready access to reliable, comprehensive, timely, understandable, and internationally comparable information on government activities †¦ so that the electorate and financial markets can accurately assess the government’s financial position and the true costs and benefits of government activities, including their present and future economic and social implications† (Kopits and Craig 1998: 1).7 The literature also provides specific examples of transparent budget reporting procedures: â€Å"A transparent budget process is one that provides clear information on all aspects of government fiscal policy. Budgets that include numerous special accounts and that fail to consolidate all fiscal activity into a single ‘bottom line’ measure are not transparent. Budgets that are easily available to the public and to participants in the policymaking process, and that do present consolidated information, are transparent† (Poterba and von Hagen 1999: 3-4). As features of non-transparent financial reporting, Alesina and Perotti (1996) identify optimistic predictions on key economic variables and forecasts of the effects of new policies, and creative and strategic use of what is kept on or off budget, budget projections, and multi-year budgeting. We believe more transparent procedures have four distinct characteristics. First, more transparent procedures should process more information, and, other things equal, do so in fewer documents. This speaks to openness and ease of access and monitoring. Second, the possibility of independent verification, which has been shown experimentally to be a key feature in making communication persuasive and/or credible, increases transparency. Third, there should be a commitment to non-arbitrary language: words and classifications should have clear, shared, unequivocal meanings. The use of generally accepted accounting principles in some of the American states is a good example of this. Finally, the presence of more justification increases transparency, reducing the optimism and strategic creativity referred to above. Below we operationalize multiple indicators of these characteristics into an index of budget transparency.

The Educational Achievement Gap Between Minorities And Non...

Race in America is and has always been an enormous deal and a focal point in America and of many educational studies. Many studies have researched the educational achievement gap between minorities and non-minorities. I rather refer to it as the educational debt we as educators owe those students, this study looks at the idea of having more teachers of color in hopes to pay our debt of education back to these minority students. I surveyed over 100 minority students to gauge their attitudes concerning learning, motivation, confidence and much more to see how it differs from their minority teacher class and their non-minority teacher class. I also looked at grades of 20 students and was able to view a survey done about my class compared to†¦show more content†¦Therefore, the only thing I could think of is my race. I am one of very few African Americans on the campus and one of few African American male teachers in the school district. Although most schools in the district have over 90% minority students, which is not the case when it comes to the numbers of minority educators in the classroom. This is not just a problem in my school district or just in California but one seen across the nation. Today in the United States minority students have actually become the majority in the classroom. With this change, there has not been any uptick of teachers of color. One place where there is a great disparity is Boston, for every 52 Latino students there is only one Hispanic teacher, and one black teacher for every 22 African American students (Rich, 2015). This is not a new problem or one that can be fixed with just money, a stroke of a pen or with this study but will take a number of things to happen. 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Consumer Behavior What Affect Does It Have Potentially...

Consumer Behavior Analysis Introduction Consumer Behavior can be described in many ways. How does one describe it and just what affect does it have potentially on a community? One can imagine the positive or adverse effects it may have personally or with consumers, however, marketers know that value is the key in order to reach consumers. Our textbook provided the following focus; it states; â€Å"This chapter focuses on precisely how the value a consumer obtains from a purchase or consumption act varies based on the context in which the act takes place. Situational influences are the team that captures these contextual effects†¦Ã¢â‚¬  (Babin/Harris, Page 227) As the discussion continues on Consumer Behavior the following subjects of decision making, psychological variables, social and purchase influence, buying patterns, post-recession consumer and changes will be examined and applied to personal purchasing habits. 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Dna Rn Double Helix Structure - 1335 Words

DNA RNA Double helix structure made of two DNA strands Made up of a single strand In DNA adenine base pairs with thymine In RNA adenine base pairs with uracil There is only one type of DNA There are three types of RNA; messenger RNA (mRNA), ribosomal RNA (rRNA) and transfer RNA (tRNA) Made up of monomers called nucleotides, which is made up of three parts; pentose sugar, nitrogenous base and a phosphate group Made up of monomers called nucleotides, which is made up of three parts; pentose sugar, nitrogenous base and a phosphate group Contains purine and pyrimidine nitrogenous bases Contains purine and pyrimidine nitrogenous bases DNA is a nucleic acid (a molecule which is made up of a long chain of nucleotides) RNA is a nucleic†¦show more content†¦DNA contains short sections of genes at regular intervals which store genetic information, this is known as the genetic code. The genetic code is the sequence of bases in the gene which will code for a particular protein. The genetic code is read in terms of triplets, every three bases is a triplet which codes for one amino acid. The genetic code is translated by reading each triplet in turn whilst assembling the chain of amino acids based on the triplets [ 4 ]. So it other words the genetic code determines the sequence of amino acids, and depending on the sequence of amino acids a protein is produced. Any small change such as a change in one of the bases can result in a protein not working as it should and can therefore be harmful. The body can create 20 amino acids itself, all of which are coded for by the base sequence in the DNA. Three bases code for o ne amino acid therefore you have 64 triplets (codon’s) that code for 20 amino acids, 3 of those triplets are stop codon’s (UGA,UAA, UAG) which signal the end of the genetic code, they do not code for an amino acid. And there is one start codon which signals the beginning of the genetic code. However if the start codon (AUG) is found elsewhere

The Value of Higher Education Free Essays

Ruben Zamudio English 1 Section 1739 Dr. Garnica Assignment 1 The Value of a Higher Education As the predecessor for success in America since the 1970s, college is questioned more and more this generation whether its stature is essential for socioeconomic mobility. What once was seen as the eroding force of class divisions has sadly become the reason for its fortification. We will write a custom essay sample on The Value of Higher Education or any similar topic only for you Order Now This eroding force does however give a pleasant image of a better life with a higher earning career at hand. The instability of the nation’s economy has made it difficult for students of low-income class to get access to colleges and universities and surpass the invisible barriers that hold them back from achieving the American dream every citizen has. One major drawback for access to higher education can be focused directly on the nation. Since the tragic incident of 9/11, our nation’s spending towards defense has dramatically increased. What does that mean? Not enough dollars are going towards what matters most: education. The Bush’s administration’s 2007 budget proposed the largest cut to federal education funding since the twenty-six years of existence for the Education Department—a loss of $2. 1 billion. This cut meant that schools and colleges throughout the nation had to compete more than ever for proper funding from the government, both at the state and federal level. As resources are being stripped from schools, struggling students will only continue to struggle, while students with money and resources continue to add on to the legacy that has preceded them. This information does not include another economic sector that has made it difficult for students to access higher education, the ever-growing cost of college tuition. â€Å"College tuition has increased 66% beyond inflation within the last ten years, and 26% at private institutions†. Higher education was looked at to further the knowledge of our nation’s citizens, to expand and better what we had, but due to the difficulty of accessing it, all we continue to do is increase the gap of class stratification. Gary Rhoades of the Center of the Future of Higher Education stated, â€Å"Our current policy path, of continued cuts in state support and continued increases in tuition will only increase the stratification in the future†. This is an adverse trend, as our nation is in dire demand for more educated graduates and workers, not fewer. Yet, policymakers continue to steer their focus away from increasing access to schools, and making it that much harder for students who struggle already. In the world we live in today, money is the motive and the drive. Elementary and post secondary schools with a high property tax are two linked reasons for the inequality of education. Schools rely heavenly on property tax revenue using as much as half for funding. A report done by Daphne A. Kenyon, a member at the Lincoln Institute, displayed the correlation of property tax and school funding of seven states: California, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Texas, Ohio, New Jersey, and Michigan, with â€Å"Massachusetts ranks the highest and California the lowest, according to the respective property tax relief and school funding principles presented in the reports. This report associates itself with the most educated states in the country, with Massachusetts being one of the most educated and California being one the lowest. Giving you an idea how this source of revenue actually helps the students in the long run, getting a higher quality of education, as schools are able to buy more materials for the classrooms, and pay for workshops which could impro ve teachers. Educational value depends on the educational spending in students and institutions, as does the quality. This inequality for students enforces class stratification, as students who receive better quality of teaching throughout their academic career, will be better prepared for colleges and universities and the workforce ahead. As these students leave a form of legacy behind them in their alma mater, access for their children will be easier, as children with parents who’ve attended college are more likely to go than those with parents who have not. Unfortunately for those who receive poor quality education, their mobility will be limited than what it should be, ignoring general income as a factor. Students with lower income have always trailed behind their affluent colleagues in school performance, not saying that they cannot advance, but the way the system is being operated against them. Universities have grown selective in their admission process, aiming towards students with higher incomes, as they contribute and pay more than those with lower income. A trend that has continued to grow and debated about is the acceptance of out-of-states students over in-states students. Populated states with tight higher education budgets have grown to rely on out-of-state students due to their higher tuition payments to help sustain the schools. Another issue that universities and institutions present is the administration blight. A 2010 study has shown that administrators have grown 39% per 100 students compared to professors, researchers, and other staff members, who have only grown 18% per 100 students. Schools need more professors and researchers, not administrators, who make an average of $390,000 a year. This steers universities’ mission away from providing a proper education and more and giving those in higher power more power. Full time professors and researchers are being replaced, and do not have time to perform research to further the advancement of knowledge. Despite the numbers flown around everywhere, what you earn from a college degree is in fact beneficial to a person. Those with a post secondary education will genuinely earn a bout 64% more than someone with just a high school degree or a drop out ($1053 vs. 638 earned a month). The earning gap in today’s society has been the highest since 1915, and in today’s economy, you need to have that stable income to be ready for whatever policies and laws and raises in tax rates that the country might throw at you. So attending college will definitely have it’s advantage, most of the times. Although attaining and completing your post secondary education, the work field will not always guarantee you a job solely due to a degree. Post secondary education has taken it share of hits from legislators and policymakers, but this should not affect the access for students who are working hard to achieve a better future for themselves and potential families to come. Despite, the intense competition that has grown, post secondary is essential in the today’s world and a little competition is always healthy. Our state and national government, as well as schools and parents have to understand the importance of post secondary education for our future generations, and must find a way to restructure our budgets to help students succeed as much as possible. How to cite The Value of Higher Education, Papers

Definition of a Malay Culture free essay sample

Definition of the Malay Culture Mankind is the only civilized creatures in this world. Culture can be defined as the integrated system that relates to values, beliefs, behaviors, norms, artifacts and the other works of any society. In the human history, this is the culture that divides human beings or separates one community from another. Specifically, many aspects of Malay culture encompassed within this definition are the universal aspects such as philosophy of life, art, literature and language, means of livelihood, food, traditional ceremony, equipment, dress, artifact, building, traditional medical treatment and other Malay norms. Philosophy of life is a concept or mindset about humanity and surrounding situation, which is used to obtain a meaningful life. It comes from the response and answer to the significance of human existence. Every single person has its own philosophy of life including the Malay people. Malay as a cultural identity is often associated with Muslim holding Malay custom-adat and occupying Malay areas. However, such definition merely produces reductive definition on what is Malay since not every Malay is Muslim occupying Malay areas and holding Malay custom-adat. From this point we may say that Malay is not solely a single and homogenous cultural entity, but indeed it is a very heterogeneous one. Malay is like a house occupied by people with different points of view as the consequence of different religions and beliefs. Many of the beliefs and some of the cultural practices of the Malays have developed as a result of the inter-mingling of cultures, and the religious experiences of the Malays over the last two thousand years or so. Within a Malay  household that continues to maintain the traditional code of conduct inherited from the past,  the children or younger persons are strictly bound by custom  to look upon their parents with respect. To them are due unquestioned loyalty and total obedience, and these qualities must be demonstrated through the daily conduct. When a son, for instance is  sent for by either of the parents, he should come before them as soon as possible, and he must be properly dressed. In their presence he is not allowed to sit in an improper manner, to talk too loudly or to smoke. In the case of a daughter, the expectations of the parents are even greater. Similarly a younger person must behave in decorum before those elder to him or her, be it an uncle or aunt, or an elder brother or sister. Traditionally this code of conduct extends beyond the family to  recognise certain relationships between families in the same neighbourhood or kampung. It is customary for, instance, to welcome a new family or a newcomer, to make a social visit to the new household,  and to render any assistance that may be needed. Again similar concern or involvement, in the spirit of mutual help manifests itself  when someone in the neighbourhood is ill, when a child is born or in the event that someone dies. On a very simple level these occasions require at least a visit. Where necessary material assistance may be rendered, particularly during a wedding, as a means of lightening the burden upon a family that is not very well off. Congregations, common in Muslim communities both in the villages as well as in the towns and cities, serve as a means of social cohesion. The major congregation is the all-important Friday prayer, which apart from its religious significance also becomes an occasion to meet others from the same kampung or neighbourhoodsince generally, a kampung dweller prays in the mosque nearest to his homeand possibly, these days, those from further away. This also applies to the five daily prayers, which, according to Islamic teaching, have greater merit when offered in congregation. History of Islam in Malay Culture In the period of 13th and 15th centuries Malaysia has seen the arrival of Islam and the rise of the great port-city of Malacca on the southwestern coast of the Malay peninsular. The Islamic faith arrived on the shores of what are now the states of Kedah, Perak, Kelantan and Terengganu, from around the 12th century. The earliest archaeological evidence of Islam from the Malay peninsular is an inscribed stone dating from the 14th century found in Terengganu state, Malaysia called the â€Å"Batu Bersurat† where the first Malay state to receive Islam is Sultan Megat Iskandar Shah, known as Parameswara prior to his conversion, is the first Sultan of Malacca. He converted into Islam after marrying a princess from Pasai, of present-day Indonesia. By 15th century, the Malacca Sultan, whose dominance reached over much of the western Malay Islands, had become the centre of Islamization in he east. The Malaccan tradition was transmitted onwards and encouraged a vigorous spirit characteristic of Malay identity. During this era, the Islamic faith became closely identified with Malay society and played a significant role in defining the Malay identity. In 1511, the city of Malacca fell into the hands of Portuguese conquerors. However, Malacca remained an institutional prototype: an example of statecra ft and a point of cultural reference for successor states such as Johor Sultan, Perak Sultan and Pahang Sultan even until now. Across the South China Sea in 14th century, another Malay government, the Brunei Sultan was on the rise to become the most powerful constitution in Borneo. By the middle of 15th century, Brunei entered into a close relationship with Malacca Sultan. The sultan married a Malaccan princess, adopted Islam as the court religion, and introduced an efficient administration modeled on Malacca. Brunei profited from trade with Malacca but gained even greater prosperity after the great Malay port was conquered by the Portuguese in 1511. It reached its golden age in the mid 16th century when it controlled land as far south as present day Kuching in Sarawak and north towards the islands of the Philippines. Bruneis fairly loose river based governmental presence in Borneo projected the process of acculturation known as Malayization. Fine Malay Muslim cultures, including the language, dress and single family dwelling were introduced to the natives primarily from ethnic Dayaks, drawing them into the Sultanate. Dayak chiefs were incorporated into the Malay hierarchy, being given the official titles of Datuk, Temenggong and Orang Kaya. In West Kalimantan, the development of such sultanates of Sambas, Sukadana and Landak tells a similar tale of recruitment among Dayak people. Besides that, individual Arab traders and including Sahabas preached in Malay Islands, Indo-Chin and China in early seventh century. The Islamic peoples Chams of Cambodia trace their origin to Jahsh (Geys), the father of Zainab and thus one of the fathers-in-law of the Islamic prophet Muhammad.