زیارت قبر رسولﷺ،جمہور اور شیخ ابن تیمیہ Sheikh Ibn-e-Taymiyyah’s Distinction on the issue of the traveling to visit the tomb of the Holy Prophet ﷺ

Shaykh-ul-Islam Ahmad bin Abdul Haleem alias Ibn Taymiyya (661-728 AH) is one of the great personalities whose far-reaching effects of his thoughts and opinions have been felt in every age. The issues, on which Allama Ibn Taymiyya has a different opinion, are the result of his such research as well as liquidation, wisdom, Ijtihad and continuous consideration as well as deliberation which have been based on Quran and Sunnah, the interaction of companions and speculation. In his Ijtihadi issues, there is a collection of evidence and proofs related to the Quran and Sunnah. Most of Ibn Tamiya’s dissent is of a jurisprudential and principled nature. Some of these dissents are against the consensus of the Ummah. Some are against the religion of the four Imams, some differences are contrary to Hanbali School of thought itself and some differences are against the majority of scholars. Allama Ibn Taymiyya also has such differences in which he looks unique and distinguished from the whole Ummah. One of them is related to the pilgrimage to the tomb of the Holy Prophetﷺ. According to Islamic scholars, traveling to visit the tomb of the Holy Prophet Muhammad ﷺ is permissible and rewarding. The majority of scholars agree on this. Ibn Tamiya’s position and the difference is that if he did not intend to offer prayers in the Holy Prophet's Mosque during this pilgrimage, then it is not permissible according to most of the scholars and imams, nor has it been commanded. According to the command of the Holy Prophet ﷺ, the reason behind this is that only three mosques should be packed, namely Masjid al-Haram, Masjid al-Nabawi, and Masjid al-Aqsa. After the Prophet of Islam, there is room for disagreement with the words and deeds of everyone in Islamic thought. Almost all the great scholars have disagreed with this position and have refuted it with arguments. But their other religious and national services cannot be ignored based on this distinction. In the article under discussion, Ibn Tamiya’s position and his arguments will be critically examined in light of the views of other scholars of the ummah.

Linkage Analysis of Pakistani Families With Autosomal Recessive Retinitis Pigmentosa

Over the past decades progress in the field of molecular genetics has had an immense contribution to the better understanding of hereditary diseases. Hereditary retinal disorders are a group of diseases that affect the normal function of retina leading to partial or complete loss of eye sight. Depending upon the type and severity of the disease, loss of vision may occur suddenly or gradually. Despite the age of onset and symptoms, eye diseases generally affect the overall quality of life in the affected individuals of all races, cultures and ethnicities and thus remained an active area of research in the past and will be explored in the future as well. The current study focused on the genetic analysis of eight consanguineous Pakistani families (A-H) with multiple members suffering from autosomal recessive RP or retinal dystrophies. These families were enrolled from different rural villages of Pakistan including Punjab, Khyber PakhtunKhwa and Sindh provinces. Clinical data of the affected members of the families were obtained and diagnosis of RP was made after ophthalmic assessment by local ophthalmologist. Physical evaluations ruled out presence of extraocular phenotypes. Blood samples were collected from available members of families and genomic DNA was isolated for use in genetic analysis. Initially all collected families were tested by STS based homozygosity mapping which result in the mapping of family B to chromosome 16. Remaining seven families were subjected to SNP based genome scan which revealed their mapping to different genomic regions. Further follow up of these seven families led to the identification of three novel muta-tions; (c.244- 2A>C) in C8ORF37 (Family C), (c.786delT) FAM161A (Family D) and (g.[152634_42094] delins A) LCA5 (Family F) genes. However mutation analysis of ZNF513, C2ORF71, FAM161A, VSNL1 genes in family A and CLN3 gene in family B did not identify any pathogenic variation. Two families (Family E and H) with multiple homozygous regions and a third family (i.e family A) underwent RD panel based next generation sequencing which only resulted in the identification of a known c.1600G>A in family E in TRPM1 gene. Although we identified two heterozygous variants (c.5653 A>G and c.14662 A>T) in USH2A gene in family A by RD panel sequencing but these variants did not segregate with the disease phenotype in this family. The splice site mutation (c.244 -2A>C) identified in family C was further analyzed with a minigene assay which confirmed the loss of splice acceptor site and the activation of Linkage Analysis of Pakistani Families with Autosomal Recessive Retinitis Pigmentosa xvi Abstract cryptic splice site in exon 3. Sanger sequencing of the cDNA also confirmed the activation of the cryptic splice site within exon 3 which result in the deletion of 22 nucleotides from the RNA. This 22 nucleotide deletion probably results in the frameshift and premature truncation of the protein. DNA walking was used to identify the large LCA5 deletion in family F. Sanger seuencing of PCR products obtained with DNA walking kit revealed a large homozygous deletion of 110540 bps (g.[152634_42094] delins A) in the LCA5 gene. This deletion is predicted to affect the binding site for the basal transcriptional apparatus therefore disrupts the transcriptional regulation and normal gene activation. Family G showed a recurrent mutation c.25G>A in the NMNAT1 gene. While RD panel NGS identified a recurrent missense mutation c.1208G>A, (p.Arg403Gln) in exon 11 of the CNGB3 in family H which did not segregate with the disease phenotype in the family. As this family has been clinically diagnosed with retinitis pigmentosa the CNGB3 variant does not segregate with the disease phenotype therefore negates the disease causative nature of the variant in this family. Families that did not link to any of the known genes/loci by conventional sequencing techniques may have the potential to link to novel genes involved in the pathogenesis of retinal dystrophies. Whole exome sequencing or whole genome sequencing may be implemented to determine the underlying genetic factors for families A, B and H. Linkage Analysis of Pakistani Families with Autosomal Recessive Retinitis Pigmentosa xvii Abstract This study resulted in one publication, · Ravesh and El Asrag et al., 2015. Novel C8orf37 mutations cause retinitis pigmentosa in consanguineous families of Pakistani origin Two manuscripts submitted and currently under review · Ansar and Ravesh et al., 2015. Detection of Novel Mutations Causing Autosomal Recessive Retinitis Pigmentosa in Pakistan · Ravesh et al., 2015. DNA walking reveals a large deletion of LCA5 in a consanguineous family from Pakistan Abstracts Presented in International Conferences · Ravesh Z, Weisschu N, Wissinger B, Ansar M. (2015): Molecular genetic analysis of Hereditary Retinal Dystrophies in Consanguineous Families from Pakistan. (Asia ARVO 2015, Feb 16 - 19, Yokohama, Japan). · Ravesh Z, Weisschu N, Reuter P, Bonin M, Ansar M, Wissinger B. (2015): Molecular genetic analysis of Autosomal Recessive Retinitis Pigmentosa & Leber congenital amaurosis in Pakistani Population (25th Annual Meeting of the German Society of Human genetics, ESSEN 2014).