Muslim-Christian Relations in the Era of Prophet Muhammad: Review of Najrān Delegation’s Case in Modern Context

Muslim–Christian relations are as mature as Islamic history itself. Historical evidences state the first interaction of Muslims and Christians occurred in 5th year after nabuwwah (615 AD) when Muslims migrated to Ḥabshah (Abyssinia) and second contact was established after immigration of the Holy Prophet (PBUH) to Madinah. After getting socio-political stability in 8th hijrī (629 AD), Muhammad (PBUH) sent letters and ambassadors to different statesmen and religious leaders to spread the Islamic Mission and Message globally. One letter was also sent to the chief Bishop of Najrān. In response, the chief Bishop of Najrān accepted the invitation and personally came to meet the Prophet (PBUH) with his reputed delegation. The beloved Messenger (PBUH) warmly welcomed this delegation. As a result, the peace agreement was reached after some theological debate and discussion. Later on, throughout history, the relations between Muslims and Christians have been in situation of up and down. It’s also a fact that over the centuries, the Muslims-Christians relations had sometimes been one of enmity, sometimes one of rivalry, competition, and encounter. In spite of it, the Najrān’s delegation case has a historical significance in Muslim-Christian relations in the literature of both religions. Therefore, in this study efforts were made to explore the event of Najrān delegation as theological foundations for Muslim-Christian relations in times of the Holy Prophet (PBUH) and how can we get benefit from it in modern era. Moreover, this study perceives that the case of Najrān delegation was the first practical interaction between Muslims and Christians of that age. Hence, we could get benefit from it with its modern applications and interpretations. The analytical, comparative and historical approaches have been adopted in this study with qualitative paradigm. I compared and analysed the case in Islamic and Christian context and then gave recommendation for its application.

Biodiversity of Diazotrophs in Rhizosphere of Potato Solanum Tuberosum L.

Potato is the third most important food crop which requires high fertilizer that leads to environmental pollution. The use of biofertilizer is environment friendly and cost effective hence is suitable for sustainable agriculture. In this study, 44 bacterial isolates including mostly Azospirillum, Bacillus, Brevundimonas, Enterobacter, Pseudomonas and Rhizobium spp. were isolated from potato rhizosphere of which 32 were able to fix atmospheric N2 and 29 showed indole acetic acid (IAA) production. Strains showed high metabolic and genetic diversity based on BioLog, ERIC and BOX-PCR analysis. Out of potential plant growth promoting rhizobacteria (PGPR) tested for inoculation response in potato, it was observed that the N2 fixation (%Ndfa) decreases with the increase in applied N for Rhizobium sp. TN04 and Azospirillum sp. TN09 whereas no effect was observed for Azospirillum sp. TN03. Azospirillum sp. TN09 showed the highest %Ndfa among three tested isolates. Under field conditions, Azospirillum spp. TN03, TN09 and Rhizobium sp. TN04, Rhizobium sp. TN04 increased plant height (18%), dry weight (18.5%) tuber dry weight (14%) and tuber yield (19%). Azospirillum, Brevundimonas and Rhizobium spp. also maintain substantial population with potato roots. Metagenomics were employed to study total bacterial diversity in the rhizosphere of potato from major potato growing areas of Punjab, Pakistan showed that structural community (based on 16S rRNA) is almost similar across all the regions whereas functional diversity (based on nifH) of diazotrophs is mostly variable. Abundance of diazotrophs (108-1010 copies of nifH g-1 of soil) changed among regions. Pyrosequencing of nifH validated maximum diversity in Sheikhupura (446 species) whereas minimum in Gujranwala area (291 species). Overall in the potato rhizosphere, most abundant class was α-proteobacteria followed by β-proteobacteria. The study concludes that abundance of different genera varies across different regions due to many biotic and abiotic factors. Azospirillum spp. TN03, TN09 and Rhizobium sp. TN04 omnipresent and have potential to improve potato yield up to 15-19% subsequently saving 50% nitrogenous fertilizer, are recommended as potential candidates for biofertilizer production for potato crop. The study also shows that potato harbor a diverse range of novel diazotrophs (not known earlier) which opens new horizons for future prospects.