Doctrine of Peace: An Islamic Perspective, an Analysis of the Hindrances in Peace Making Process

The present day global community is confronted with several challenges, absence of peace being the biggest one. The UNO and other regional organizations strive hard to achieve this goal. Unfortunately the world is far from achieving the goal of ensuring peace. It is also a fact that in most cases the Muslim world is in turmoil and it is involved or has been involved in one way or another. In order to find out the real causes of unrest, it is imperative to analyze the situation from academic, political, economic and social aspects.  This article deals with first aspect i.e. The academic. It has three parts, in the first part importance of peace has been elaborated in the light of the Quran and the Sunnah. In the second part, importance of peace treaties of the Prophet (PBUH), and one of His successors Umar, the second Caliph, has been brought in to focus. The issue that the foreign policy of Islamic State is based on perpetual peace has been discussed in this part. While in the third part those obstacles have been discussed which have caused to damage the  peace process in the world.

Impact of Biochar on Chromium Uptake by Maize Grown in Tannery Polluted Soil

Leather industry is one of the leading industries in Pakistan. However, environmental management for this industry is generally ignored. Chromium (Cr) is a heavy metal used for tanning of leather and discharged into soil through waste water. It is toxic to plants and animals even at low concentration and causes human health hazards through food chain. Organic amendments such as compost and biochar are alternatives to expensive and could lower the pollutant associated risk. Elemental sulfur (ES) as inorganic amendments could alter the Cr dynamics and lowered the toxicity by adsorption on biochar surfaces. A survey of tannery area of District Kasur (K) and Sialkot (S) was conducted to check the Cr toxicity level in different location and soil was collected. The present research project was planned with four independent experiments focusing on major issues: (i) Evaluation of feedstock and pyrolytic temperature for biochar production on the basis of maximum adsorption of Cr (ii) Effect of biochar on different maize cultivars grown in tannery polluted soil (iii) Impact of biochar with compost on Cr tolerance in maize cultivars (iv) Effect of biochar with elemental sulfur on Cr dynamics in soil to reduce uptake in maize. In evaluation of biochar, sugarcane bagasse (SB) prepared at 350oC applied at rate of 3% maximum adsorb the Cr and improved the soil pH, electrical conductivity (EC), cation exchange capacity (CEC) and organic carbon (OC). After development of best adsorbent biochar, it was further evaluated on different maize cultivars grown in tannery polluted soil. Biochar application in both K and S soil were significantly improved the plant growth, physiological and biochemical attributes and decreased the concentration of Cr (VI) and Cr (III) in maize cultivars. Cultivar P-1543 performed better followed by NK-8441, NK-8711 and FH-985 in both K and S soils. Furthermore, biochar was evaluated with compost (1:1) on Cr tolerance in maize cultivars (P-1543 and NK-8441) grown in tannery polluted soil. It was observed that combined application of biochar and compost showed better results than their sole application. In comparison of both soil, Cr toxicity were more effected the maize growth in Sialkot soil. In the last trial, more polluted Sialkot soil was ameliorated. Biochar was compared with ES on Cr dynamics in tannery polluted K and S soil. It was observed that biochar application with ES improved the maize growth by reduced the toxicity of Cr in K as well S Soil. Conclusively, biochar (SB-350oC) application at rate of 3% was effective in amelioration of tannery polluted soil and combine application of biochar with compost and ES were better improved the maize growth.