Islamic World in the Global Scenario, Challenges and Strategy: A Study From the Seerat Nabawi’s Perspective

Islam is the perfect religion from every aspect and for every time which provides guidelines for all situations of human life. Islamic political system is one of these aspects which is based on the principles of Holy Quran and sayings of the prophet Muhammad (PBUH), and it supports such a civil structure which follows the directives and requirements mentioned in the afore said two main sources. In Islamic political system, the supreme authority is Almighty Allah and human being utilizes this right as His vicegerent. The present global political system and the strategy of Muslims invite the attention of the thinkers around the globe for effective international interaction between Islamic world and others. This shows that serious deliberations are direly needed to compete with the current challenges. In the present paper, the contemporary situation of global political system will be discussed in order to determine the development of western political system, suggest means to compete with the challenges of this age and to facilitate in devising a suitable strategy for it

Identification of Natural Fungicides from Asteraceous Weeds for the Management of Charcoal Rot of Black Gram

Black gram [Vigna mungo (L.) Hepper], an significant legume of Pakistan, is affected a number of biotic and abiotic stresses. Charcoal rot disease caused by Macrophomina phaseolina (Tassi) Goid. is one of the serious biotic factors affecting its yield badly. This pathogen infects plants at almost all growth stages. This pathogen is difficult to control by ordinary cultural practices. Moreover, chemical control of M. phaseolina is also difficult and generally not advisable. Furthermore, use of chemical fungicides also cause environmental pollution. The present study was undertaken to evaluate potential of selected Asteraceous weed species namely Eclipta alba (L.) Hassk, Sonchus oleraceous L., Ageratum conyzoides L., Cirsium arvense (L.) Scop. and Launea nudicaulis (L.) Hook, for management of charcoal rot of black gram. Antifungal screening bioassays of selected Asteraceous weeds were performed with different concentrations (1, 2, 3, 4 and 5 g 100 mL-1) of methanolic extracts of leaves, stems, roots and inflorescence of each selected weed species. Methanolic extracts of all the five weeds exhibited antifungal activity against the pathogen. However, the antifungal activity varied with the weed specie, plant part assayed and concentration of the methanolic extract. Extracts of S. oleraceous and A. conyzoides were found highly effective against M. phaseolina. Leaf, stem root and inflorescence extracts of S. oleraceous caused 7-73%, 54-84%, 51-87% and 49-82% inhibition in fungal biomass, respectively. Similarly, A. conyzoides stem extract exhibited maximum reduction in fungal biomass i.e. 20-83% while its leaf, root and inflorescence extracts suppressed fiungal biomass by 16-67%, 6-31% and 4-21%, respectively. Methanolic leaf extracts of E. alba, C. arvense and L. nudicaulis exhibited pronounced antifungal activity caused 10-64%, 10-74% and 20-75% reduction in biomass of M. phaseolina, respectively. In screening biomassays, methanolic stem extracts of S. oleraceous and Ageratum conyzoides showed the best antifungal activities against the test fungus, therefore, their different organic solvent fractions viz. n-hexane, chloroform, ethyl acetate and n-butanol were further tested for antifungal activity against M. phaseolina. Chloroform fraction of S. oleraceous showed the highest antifungal activity followed n-hexane fraction causing 60-90% and 15-68% suppression in biomass of M. phaseolina, respectively. Similarly, chloroform fraction of A. conyzoides showed the highest inhibition in fungal biomass (56-93%). On the basis of their best antifungal potential, chloroform fractions of methanolic stem extracts of S. oleraceous and A. conyzoides were selected for identification of antifungal constituents through GC-MS analysis. In S. oleraceous stem chloroform fraction, a total of 16 compounds were identified. The five major compounds were hexadecanoic acid (13.263%); 11-octadecenoic acid, methyl ester (13.12%); 9, 12-octadecadienoic acid, methyl ester, (E, E) - (12.946%) and 1- docosonal (8.616%). Similarly, 10 compounds were identified in chloroform fraction of stem extract of A. conyzoides 2H-1-benzopyran, 6,7-dimethoxy-2, 2-dimethyl (27.58%); hexadecanoic acid, methyl ester (18.85%); 11-octadecenoic acid, methyl ester (15.28%); 9, 12-octadecanoic acid (Z,Z)-, methyl ester (13.67%) and 1,2- benzenedicarboxylic acid, mono(2-ethylhexyl) ester (10.88%) as the most abundant ones. Dry biomass of the two highly antifungal weeds in laboratory bioassays viz. S. oleraceous and A. conyzoides were was used as soil amendment for management of charcoal rot of black gram in pot experiments. Different doses of the two weeds viz. 0.5, 1.0, …3.0% were mixed in M. phaseolina inoculated pot soil before sowing of black gram seed. Soil amendment with 2.0% dry biomass of each weed species resulted in 100% control of the disease. In general, the highest crop growth and yield under M. phaseolina stress was recorded in 2.5% soil amendment with dry biomass of either of the weed species. There was 4293% and 7400% increased grain yield was recorded due to 2.5% amendment of A. conyzoides and S. oleraceous dry biomass, respectively, over positive control. The highest peroxidase and phenyl alanine ammonia lyase activities were recorded in M. phaseolina alone inoculated plants which were gradually decreased by increasing dose of dry biomass as amendment. . The present study concludes that methanolic extracts of selected weed species A. conyzoides and S. oleraceous possess antifungal potential against M. phaseolina. Chemical compounds particularly fatty acid methyl esters present in these weeds are responsible for their antifungal activity against M. phaseolina. Charcoal rot disease in black gram can effectively be managed by incorporating dry biomass of A. conyzoides and S. oleraceous at the rate of 2.5% (w/w) followed by pronounced increase in crop growth and yield.