Life of Shāh Walī Allāh
Shāh Walī Allāh has written an article titled “al- Juz’ al- Laṭīf fī tarjamat al- ‘Abd al-Ẓa‘īf” in his book “Anfās al ‘Ārifīn” in which he has described his life history. Following are the events of his life as narrated by him:
“I was born on Wednesday 4thShawwāl, 1114 A. H at sunrise… Parents and other saints had received the intuitions about me even before and after my birth. I was sent to Maktab at the age of five and when I was about seven my father made me offer prayers and commanded me to observe fast. In the same year, circumcision was done and after having finished the Qur’ān I took up studying books in Arabic and Persian. At the age of ten, I was going through “Sharaḥ Mullā” and during that time the field of studies opened up for me. I was married at fourteen as my father had desired an early wedding…. I gave my hand to my father’s hand at the age of fifteen and got busy taking up Ashghāl-e-Ṣufīah, especially the Mashā’ikh-e-Naqshband. I set up my spiritual discourse after having sought their attention and motivation to acquire the grooming about norms of religious practices and spiritual uplift through Sufiism. In the same year, I studied a part of Beḍāvī Sharīf and then my father arranged a general feast where he accorded me permission to deliver dars. In short, I learned all the disciplines of that area (‘Ulūm-e-Mutadāwalah) at the age of fifteen and went through all the books linked with these fields in chronological order. In the field of Ḥadīth, leaving aside its part from Kitāb al-bay‘ upto Kitāb al-ādāb, I went through the remaining complete Mishkāt, Ṣaḥīḥ Bukhārī upto Kitāb al-ṭahārah...
Ḥadīth learning has a very high status in Islamic education after the Exegesis of the Holy Qurān (Tafsīr). Oddly enough, Non-Arab (‘Ajam) has a more important and key role than Arabs in the service of this knowledge. In this regard, the subcontinent is also being remained in the forefront. It started when Muhammad bin Qasim strengthened the Arab government in Sindh. Sheikh Abdul Haq Muhaddith Dehalvi is one of the prominent names in the teaching and writing of ḥadīth which travels gradually and reaches the family of Shah Waliullah, which is undoubtedly the pinnacle of ḥadīth knowledge in the subcontinent. The types of hadith that have been worked on, in connection with the service of ḥadīth, include the text of ḥadīth, commentaries, as well as summaries of ḥadīth and others. The entire Islamic world has benefited from all these teaching and writing services. The subcontinent, especially Pakistan, is gaining a central position in the Islamic world, which is the result of the propagation of Islam and understanding of the Qurān and Ḥadīth. In this regard, it is imperative to re-evaluate the services of the historians of this land. The said article will not only provide an introductory review of the Muḥaddith in the subcontinent and their authorship as well as a compilation but will also highlight the broadcasting and writing services of the hadith learning.
The endorsement of ethno-botanical data from the under explored folk plant remedies represent an illimitable reservoir of novel compounds for drug discovery. Nature has always been the most imperative source of novel drugs against a number of unremitting and challenging health anomalies since antiquity. The present work was aimed to discover natural compounds from untapped natural source. After an extensive survey and information gathered by local vicinity, Rhus punjabensis Stewart (Anacardiaceae) plant was selected from Pakistan for investigation. For initial screening, a total of 22 extracts from leaf and stem parts of R. punjabensis were prepared by using total ‗11‘ different extraction solvent of escalating polarity. All these extracts were subjected to standard phytochemical and in-vitro biological evaluation. The phytochemical assays included standard chromogenic assays for the determination of total phenolic (TP) and total flavonoid contents (FC) and specific polyphenol quantification by RP-HPLC. Multimode antioxidant, antimicrobial, cytotoxic, antileishmanial, nuclear factor kappa-B (NF-κB) and mitochondrial transmembrane potential (MTP) detection assays were employed to assess the in-vitro biological prospective of the subject plants. All-inclusive, the results of initial screening were promising and led to the selection of R. punjabensis leaves as the most bioactive plant material for further appraisal. Briefly, maximum total phenolic and flavonoid contents were determined in the polar solvents extracts whereas, substantial amounts of gallic acid, rutin, apigenin and catechin were quantified in the moderately polar solvents extracts. A proficient antioxidant stature in terms of DPPH free radical scavenging (FRSA), total antioxidant capacity (TAC) and reducing power potential (RP) was also manifested by the moderately polar extracts of R. punjabensis leaves. A noteworthy antibacterial activity (MIC 1.11 µg/mL) against S. typhimurium. Sulphorhodamine B (SRB) cytotoxicity against human cancer cell lines (DU-145, IC50 value of 11.11 µg/mL), (HL-60, IC50 value of 10.82 µg/mL), and NF-κB based chemo-preventive proficiency was demonstrated by the ethyl acetate leaf extract.. All the extracts/fractions were tested for their anticancer and cancer chemopreventive activity by employing different independent assays. Overall the results of the initial screening were very encouraging and led to the selection of the most potent plant material for further investigation. Keeping in view the results of aforementioned assays, ethyl acetate was selected as the extraction solvent to proceed for preparative scale extraction. A total of 6 fractions were prepared from the crude ethyl acetate extract of leaves (863 g) by employing solid phase extraction as the fractionation technique. Bioassay directed isolation from active fractions using column chromatography led to the isolation of 5 bioactive compounds, n-hexane (n-hex), chloroform+n-hexane (n-hex+CHCl3) and ethyl acetate (EtOAc) fractions showed significant activities against tested bioassays. Structural elucidation of these compounds was conceded by infrared spectroscopy (IR), nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy (1D and 2D NMR) and mass spectrometry (MS). Compound 1 (RPPEC1) showed substantial antibacterial potential against S. typhimurium and B. bronchiseptica (MIC: 11.11 µg/mL) as well as antileishmanial activity (IC50 11.6 µg/mL). Compound 2 (PEEA-C2) demonstrated noteworthy cytotoxic activities against DU-145 and HL-60 human cancer cell lines with an IC50 value of 11.2 and 15.2 μg/mL, respectively. It also exhibited chemopreventive prospective in terms of inhibition of NF-κB (IC50 value of 19.4 μg/mL) and MTP (IC50 value of 28.6 μg/mL). Compound 3 (PEEA-C3) manifested noteworthy cytotoxicity against DU-145 cell line (IC50 value of 21.72 μg/mL). Compound 5 (RPEA-C5) demonstrated significant antibacterial spectrum against all the tested gram positive and gram negative strains while compound 4 manifested significant antibacterial activity against S. typhimurium (MIC 11.1 μg/mL) and cytotoxicity against DU-145 cell line (IC50 value of 29.5 μg/mL). The present study have been reported for the first time from R. punjabensis total five bioactive compounds were isolated, among them compound 4 (RPEA-C4) is a new compound.