43. Az-Zukhruf/Decoration of Gold
I/We begin by the Blessed Name of Allah
The Immensely Merciful to all, The Infinitely Compassionate to everyone.
43:01
a. Ha. Mim.
43:02
a. By the Book of Divine Qur’an - clear in itself and clearly guiding to the truth.
43:03
a. Indeed, WE have made it a Qur’an in Arabic,
b. so that you may understand its meaning, comprehend its demands and live your lives accordingly.
43:04
a. And, indeed, this - The Divine Qur’an - is in the Mother of the Book with US -
b. it is truly exalted and full of wisdom.
43:05
a. O The Disbelievers!
b. Should WE withdraw the Reminder – The Divine Qur’an - from you just because you are a people gone beyond limits in its denial?
c. No. WE shall not!
43:06
a. And how many Prophets have WE assigned to the earlier people before you, O The Prophet!
43:07
a. Yet not one Prophet came to them whom they would not ridicule,
b. the same way people ridicule you and your message.
43:08
a. So WE destroyed those who were more powerful in prowess, strength, and might than them,
b. and thus they have become history.
43:09
a. And if indeed you were to ask them:
b. ‘Who created the celestial realm and the terrestrial world?’
c. They would surely answer:
d. ‘The Almighty, The All-Knowing created them.’
43:10
a. It is HE WHO made the earth a habitat for you, and
b. has set pathways within it for you so that you...
The financing operations of conventional microfinance institutions are usually based on interest (Usury/Riba) which is strictly prohibited by the Shariah of Islam, therefore, some Islamic microfinance institutions were set up in Pakistan to provide micro credit and other financial help to the deserving people based on Shariah compliant mechanism. The aim of this paper is to evaluate and compare the social and financial performance of these microfinance institutions in Pakistan. Two separate samples containing two microfinance institutions each, representing conventional and Islamic microfinance institutions has been selected for this study. Four stars, Wasil Foundation and Akhuwat from Islamic microfinance institutions while Asasah and Community Support Concern (CSC) from conventional microfinance institutions, rated by Mix market have been selected for this research paper. The social and financial performance based on outreach, profitability, efficiency/productivity, and portfolio quality of both these microfinance institutions were studied and compared. The study revealed that Islamic MFIs were more cost effective compared to conventional MFIs based on cost per borrower (CPB) and operating expenses to assets (OEA), while on the basis of financial efficiency conventional MFIs performed well. Though the financial and social performance of both Islamic and conventional MFIs have improved over the passage of time, still they have to struggle hard on various fronts especially to improve their profitability based on ROA and ROE measures to make the institutions profitable and sustainable. This study reveals that the successful operation of Akhuwat and Wasil Foundation for the last more than a decade latterly proves that Islamic MFIs are viable and sustainable even in the absence of charging interest from their clients. So, the society and the government should encourage and promote these Shariah compliant organizations in order to help the extremely marginalized people of the society.
Microgel particles are emerging soft and smart materials for multiple applications including their use as adsorbent for environmental applications and as micro-reactor for in-situ fabrication of metal nanoparticles etc. The impregnation of such organic microgel particles with catalytic and optical active inorganic metal nanoparticles results in formation of hybrid materials with exceptional properties. This work encircles the synthesis of microgels with different morphologies, their use as adsorbent for environmental applications and as micro-reactor for stabilization of catalytic active metal nanoparticles. First part of the thesis emphasizes on recent research progress of the synthesis, properties, characterization and applications of microgels and hybrid microgels with different morphologies. Later, synthesis of poly(N-isopropylmethacrylamide-acylic acid) [p(NipMa-Aac)], polystyrene poly(N-isopropylmethacrylamide-acrylic acid) [PSt-p(NipMa-Aac)] core/shell microgels and silver nanoparticles loaded PSt-p(NipMa-Aac) composite microgels have been described in detail. pH responsive behavior of acrylic acid (Aac) co-monomer functionalized p(NipMa), PSt p(NipMa) and Ag@PSt-p(NipMa-Aac) core/shell hybrid microgels have also been described. Then, characterization of both pure and hybrid microgels using Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), Uv-vis spectroscopy (Uv-vis), dynamic light scattering (DLS), thermo gravimetric analysis (TGA), differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) and Transmission electron microscopy (TEM) has been described. Use of p(NipMa-Aac) microgel particles and PSt-p(NipMa-Aac) core/shell microgel particles as adsorbents for removal of various pollutants such as dyes and heavy metal ions from iii aqueous medium have been discussed in detail. At the end of thesis, applications of Ag@PSt p(NipMa-Aac) core/shell composite microgel particles as catalyst for reduction of various nitro aromatic compounds such as 2-nitrophenol (2-Np), 4-nitrophenol (4-Np), 2, 4-dinitrophenol (2, 4-DNp), 4-Nitrotoluene (4-NT) and 4-chloro nitrobenzene (4-CNb) as well as toxic dyes such as Congo red (CR), Rhodamine B (Rh-B), methylene blue (MB) and brilliant blue (Bb) under various reaction conditions to explore the mechanism of catalysis process have been described. Recoverability and reusability of Ag@PSt-p(NipMa-Aac) core/shell composite micro particles catalyst was also investigated.