Al-Zalzalah/The Earthquak
I/We begin by the Blessed Name of Allah
The Immensely Merciful to all, The Infinitely Compassionate to everyone.
99:01
a. When the earth will be shaken violently in its mighty quaking to its very core,
99:02
a. and when the earth will throw out its burdens of the dead from their graves,
99:03
a. and when the human being will be crying out in panic:
b. ‘What is happening to it?’
99:04
a. At that Time it - the earth - will narrate its news,
99:05
a. for your Rabb - The Lord would have commanded it to do so.
99:06
a. That Time the people will proceed in separate groups,
b. so that they may be shown the results of their worldly deeds and dealings.
99:07
a. So whoever would have done good, even to the weight of a particle, will see it, and be rewarded for it.
99:08
a. And whoever would have done evil, even to the weight of a particle, will see it, and be rewarded for it.
Islam lays great emphasis on security and the sanctity of human life. The holy Quran terms killing of an innocent person as killing of the whole humanity. It prohibits unjust killing of human being in unequivocal terms. The holy Qur’an and Sunnah terms killing of an innocent person as one of the greatest sins. An eternal torment is the destiny of a killer who takes life of a person unjustly. However, it is also a bitter fact that hardly a crime free society could be found anywhere in the world. Peace prevails only in those societies where culprits are brought to justice. This is why Islamic penal code has prescribed punishments for all kinds of crimes. It has prescribed punishment of Qisâs in case of intentional murder and Diyat (blood money in case of killing of a person by mistake, it is also due in case if remission is made by the heirs in intentional murder case). To prove the crime of murder, testimony of two reliable witnesses or confession of the killer is required before the court. However, if a corpse is found in a place where killer is unknown and witnesses are unavailable, then Islam enjoins the process of Qasâmah to safeguard rights of the heirs of the deceased. Qasâmah is a process of taking oath by fifty persons selected by the heirs of the slain. In this article the concept of Qasâmah has been elaborated. It has three parts , in the first part conditions for the validity of Qasâmah has been elaborated, while in the second part its process has been discussed with elaborate opinions of jurists regarding taking of oath, as some of them opine that the heirs of the slain have to take oath, mentioning name of the killer, while others say oath will be taken by the defendants that they didn’t kill him, Both these opinions have been discussed by producing arguments of the both sides. While in the third part the issue of Qisâs and Diyat has been discussed as according to some jurists the Qasâmah entails Qisâs while other say that it entails Diyat only; arguments of both sides have been discussed in detail.
Medicinal plants have been a major source of biologically active natural products and are used as medicines to cure disases in all cultures since ancient times. Cassia angustifolia (senna) and Trigonella foenum-graceum (fenugreek), are medicinal herbs, recommended by Prophet Muhammad (Peace be upon him), used in Muslim ethnobotanical culture. These herbs have traditionally been used against liver diseases, constipation, typhoid, cholera, cancer, diabetes, high cholesterol, ulcer, and inflammations etc. The present study describes isolation and identification of biologically active compounds, selected based on their bioactivity, from C. angustifolia and T. foenum-graceum. The pharmacological activities; antibacterial, antioxidant, anticancer, neuroprotective and hepatoprotective effects of C. angustifolia and T. foenum-graceum were investigated from their aqueous and organic (methanol, ethanol, acetone and ethyl acetate) extracts. Phytochemical screening revealed the presence of steroids, alkaloids, terpenoids, flavonoids, coumarins, cardiac glycosides, saponins, anthraquinones, phenols and tannins in both plant extracts. Methanol and ethyl acetate extracts of both plants possess antibacterial, antioxidant, anticancer, neuroprotective and hepatoprotective activities which led to the isolation and identification of active compounds. A novel compound (proposed name “Irizoflavan”) and three known flavonoids i.e. Quercimeritrin, Scutellarein, and Rutin were isolated from C. angustifolia. Two known flavonoids i.e. Amurensin and Cosmosiin were isolated from T. foenum-graecum. These compounds were isolated and reported for the first time from these plants. The present work provides basis for the in depth understanding of the molecular pathways associated with these isolated compounds and for the development of plant based drugs.