Introduction
The Divine Promise to the human species at the time of its exit from the heavens – Q.02:38- 39 – was held through ages of human history. It started with Adam, continued through Enoch, Noah, Abraham, Isaac, Moses, Jesus and culminated with Muhammad. May Allah’s peace and blessings be upon them.
The foundations of Faith are, prima facie, based on the Absolute Supremacy of One Divine Being. The teachings of all Scriptures came from the same Divine Source with the purpose of providing guidance for a life of righteousness within societies along a Straight and Optimal Path
– Qur’an 06:126, 07:16; and The Torah/Proverbs 4:23-27.
The Qur’an is the grand finale of all Divine Revelations and the Ultimate Truth. Allah, The Exalted and The Almighty, guaranteed to preserve its Sacred Arabic Text in its entirety and original form safe from any satanic change – Q.15:09.
Enriched with themes, history, law, images, symbols, language, recitation and a unique literary style – it is a master piece of a revelation that has been bestowed on humanity as a matchless text signifying the very name it carries – Al Kitab – The Book.
As The Qur’an was being revealed on to the last of the Prophets - Prophet Muhammad, in the Arabic language, he would dictate it to his appointed companions to serve as scribes over the 23- year period of its phased-revelation.
The Qur’an contains the narratives of past nations and the events of future generations to facilitate comprehension of the meaning and value of the Qur’anic Message. It also sets out examples and analogies for people so that they may reflect and take heed - Q.39:27. Its message transcends...
Ḥajj―an annual Islamic congregation―is a supreme manifestation of Faith (Imān) in which muslims assemble to pronounce explicitly their subservience and loyalty to Almighty Allah alone. Besides freeing themselves from the squalor of Shirk, Muslims satiate their souls with the feelings of ‘Faith’ and ‘Unity.’ This fact is purely accomplished when the Muslims shed off their outer difference by donning the dress of unity (Iḥrām). Ḥajj is a perfect blend between ‘Creator’ and ‘creature’, ‘soul’ and ‘spirit’ on the one hand and an enduring and invaluable expression physically, socially, and materially on the other. From this pragmatic Institution, Pakistan―one of the premier countries of the Islamic world―can derive unprecedented benefits politically, socially, and economically. One of the important objectives of the paper is to describe the significance of Ḥajj to the people of Pakistan. In so doing, the paper examines and explores, objectively and analytically, the institution of Ḥajj and its implications on the Muslim world, particularly Pakistan. The first section of the paper, “Ḥajj―At a Glance”, presents meaning and historical background of Ḥajj. The second section “Revitalizing the Ḥajj”, besides presenting the revitalization of the Institution by the final Messenger (peace be upon him) also gives an overview of some of the very important rituals to be realized (during Ḥajj). The subsequent sections, “Socio-Economic Dimension of Ḥajj” and “Ḥajj―Implications and Impact on the Society of Pakistan”, describe respectively the socio-economic impact and leverage of the Ḥajj on the Muslim world in general and on Pakistan in particular. The study is followed by “Conclusion” wherein it has been argued that the Ḥajj can bring an immense transformation and positivity in a country if its sweetness is sought in all earnestness.
Essential oils are plant‘s secondary metabolites that are known for their fragrance and food flavour properties.These odoriferous oils offer a promising potential for multiple applications such as in the fields of agriculture, food, cosmetics, medicine, pharmaceutical industry and aromatherapy. Chemistry and biological attributes of essential oils are deemed to be varied not only among different varieties of the same plant speciesnevertheless different agro-climatic conditions also affect the biochemical composition of the oils due to morphological diversity of the plants.In the present dissertation, selected medicinal herbs such as Mentha spicata, Menthapiperitta, O.basilicum Lamiaceae] andC.citratus[Poaceae], harvested from different geographicalzones of Punjab, Pakistan, were evaluated for yield, physicochemical and biological potential of their oils which were produced by two different methods including hdrodistillation (HD) and supercritical fluid extraction (SCFE). Gas chromatography attached with flame ionization detector (FID) and Gas chromatography fitted with mass spectrometry (MS)analyses of chemical costituents of volatile oils showed the presence of different types of oxygenated monoterpene (OM), monoterpene hydrocarbon (MH), sesquiterpene hydrocarbon (SH), oxygenated sesquiterpene (OS) and phenyl propanoid (PP).Depending upon the isolation mode, the tested essential oils exhibited a promising extent of antioxidant and antimicrobial and hemolytic activities, total phenolics and total flavonoids contents.With respect to different harvesting such as drought stressed, hilly, arid and irrigated regions, the tested essential oils revealed considerable differences in yield, chemical composition, TPC, TFC and biological properties that can be linked to varying agro-ecological parameters of the regions under study.Generally, the essential oilsextracted from the drought stressed region leave samples presented superior antimicrobial and hemolytic actions while,samples from hilly regions exhibited a greater range of antioxidant potential and total phenolics and flavonoids. A significant variation noted in the percentage yield,volatiles chemical composition and biological properties/actionscan be related to theirvariable chemical profiling resulted from morphologicaldiversity of the plants.