Wilfred Scawen Blunt and his Ideas on the Future of Islam

Wilfrid Scawen Blunt, like many aristocratic Englishmen in the age of Empire in the late 19th century, took an interest in the Muslim populations of the colonies being governed by Britain. As a prolific writer and poet, his approach differs from his contemporaries in being, on the whole, genuinely sympathetic to Islam. In his book ‘The Future of Islam’ he shows how important the power of Islam in coming centuries is likely to be, and touches upon many important topics, such as the growing spread of Islam in the world and possible adjustments to the Caliphate. He would like to see the formation of a friendly association between Great Britain and the Muslims of the world in the political interests of Britain. Inevitably, many of his predictions and wishes did not materialize in the 20th century. Wilfred Scawen Blunt [1840-1922] was an English gentleman who followed the leisurely pursuits available to affluent members of Victorian society, i.e, travelling and poetry. His travels in the Middle East made a powerful impression on his intellectual and emotional sensibilities. As E.M. Forster wrote in his essay on Blunt, he ‘was drawn to Islam, and at one time thought of professing it.’1 He was, no doubt, in sympathy with the subjugated peoples of the Middle East and with the Indians of South Asia who were groaning under the colonial yoke. Further in the essay, Forster writes, ‘Egyptians found him too proTurkish and Indians too anti-British.’2 This attitude was unique for a stolid Englishman of the time of the ‘highnoon of Empire’. Blunt feared the advance of European powers in Oriental lands. Forster further writes: ‘His detachment is amazing. He dreaded a war because it must involve Asia and Africa, and complete the enslavement of the conservative Oriental nations, whom he loved and who loved him……

Nanofluid Flows in Different Geometries

Many conventional fluids, such as water, sodium alginate, organic liquids (e.g., propylene and ethylene glycols, etc.) and some others, are quite often used in various engineering and industrial processes as coolants. The use of water in car radiators is a very basic example. Nowadays, scientists are keenly looking for ways to enhance the performance of engines and such equipment where these coolants are being used. Conventionally, the heat transfer capability of these liquids is not up to the mark. Therefore several attempts have been made to enhance their thermo-physical capabilities. The use of nanofluids is one of such efforts. Scientists, over the past few decades, have been working on the idea of mono-nanofluids (nanofluids with single nanomaterials), to enhance the thermal efficiency of these traditional fluids. However, to improve the number of desirable features of mononanofluids, a novel subject of hybrid nanofluids (nanofluids with two or more nanomaterials) has come into existence. It exhibits superior thermo-mechanical properties when compared to mono nanofluids. In this manuscript, a number of thermal conductivity models, for both mono and hybrid nanofluids, have been employed to see the working of these models in different geometries. In the case of hybrid nanofluids, the modified versions of the models (such as Renovated Hamilton and Crosser’s model, Bruggeman’s model, Hamilton and Crosser’s model, Maxwell’s model, and Xue’s model) for thermal conductivity have been considered. The flow of mono as well as hybrid nanofluids inside an expanding\contracting domains, rectangular conduit with the lower stretchable wall, curved stretching surface, and curved channels, have been studied in details. A novel analysis of hybrid nanofluid flow between two Riga plates is also a part of this manuscript. Moreover, the squeezing flow of a hybrid nanofluid inside a rotating rectangular conduit, with lower stretchable walls, has also been investigated. The impact of the externally applied magnetic field, along with the internal heat generation phenomena, on the flows and heat transport mechanism of some mono and hybrid nanofluids have thoroughly been examined. Heat and mass transfer under the influence of nonlinear thermal radiation and chemical reaction effects in several geometries have been studied in this manuscript. xi In our analysis, we have used certain similarity transformations and scaling parameters to reduce the governing partial differential equations to the corresponding systems of nonlinear ordinary differential equations (dimensionless). This process reduces the number of variables, and parameters, which leads to a relatively more straightforward mathematical treatment. However, the resulting systems are still complicated enough to have an exact solution. For their treatment, we have discussed the implementation of several approximation techniques based on the method of weighted residuals and wavelet methods. We have also proposed some modifications in wavelet methods for a better and more flexible implementation. The plots for velocity, together with temperature, and concentration profiles (wherever applicable) are presented to capture the effects of involved parameters on the respective profiles. It has been found that the addition of nanomaterials significantly boosts the thermal and heat transport properties of the host fluid and that these phenomena are more prominent for the hybrid nanofluids.