الشفاء بتعریف حقوقِ مصطفیٰ ﷺ کا تعارفی و تجزیاتی مطالعہ An Analytical Study of the “Al-Shifā Ba Ta‘rīf-e-Ḥuqūq-e-Muṣṭafā”

The most prominent and living name among the African biographers is Qazi Ayaz Mālkī. His book “Al-Shifā Ba Ta‘rīf-e-Ḥuqūq-e-Muṣṭafā” has an important place in the books of Sīrah and also has the status of the most popular book among all kinds of people. This book is also called Kitab-e-Shifā (meaning the one who revives hearts and heals from heart diseases). The reason for writing this book was that the people were becoming oblivious to the obligatory status and virtues of the Holy Prophet ﷺ and were becoming completely incapable of paying their dues. In these circumstances, the demand for preparation and compilation of a collection of rights and manāqibs related to it became intense and he compiled this magnificent book. On the one hand, it teaches love and respect for the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) and on the other hand, it mentions his rights and rewards for fulfilling them. The writing style of the book is simple and smooth as well as eloquent. The book is not so long that it would be too long for the reader to comprehend, nor is it so short that it would not be possible to get access to the concepts and demands due to its brevity. The people have made this book their favorite and have been studying it and the biographers have adopted Al-Shifā as an authoritative and reliable source. Because of its importance and usefulness, an introductory and analytical study of this book will be presented in this article.

Effect of Processing Methods and Antioxidants on the Reduction of Aflatoxins in Red Chillies Capsicum Annuum L.

Chili is an important spice and used as salad, complementary dish, medicine, industrial product, or as decoration. It is consumed as fresh, dry, powder, paste or as sauce. It enhances food palatability, inducing the consumption of other foods. It is a rich source of Vitamin A & C. In Asia, chili is an important component in the cropping system. In terms of area, it is ranked first in Asia and third in the world as most important vegetable. Chilies are subject to various pest and disease constraints to optimal production. The contamination of the crops with mycotoxins from the growth of Aspergillus flavus and/or Aspergillus parasiticus is one of the most serious problems. Mycotoxins are secondary metabolites of fungi. Due to the widespread distribution of fungi in the environment, mycotoxins are considered to be one of the most important contaminants of foods and feeds. Aflatoxins are important class of mycotoxins. The toxins can be produced in the field prior to harvest, or alternatively, can arise due to fungal growth under poor storage conditions. Mycotoxins can produce both in temperate and tropical regions of the world, depending on the species of fungi. The extraction, clean up and analysis methodology for aflatoxins in chilies were validated and found it efficient and good in respect of recovery, reproducibility, repeatability, resolution and cost-effective. The collected chili samples from Faisalabad Division, Pakistan exhibited high level of aflatoxins but after treatment with γ-irradiation, more than 95% reduction in AFB 1 and ≥ 97% in Total (∑AFB 1 + AFB 2 +AFG 1 + AFG 2 ) were observed at a dose of 6 kGy. Citric acid was effective for the reduction of AFs in chilies and reduced 89% AFB 1 and 90% total AFs in contaminated chilies. Propionic acid is also used for the reduction of AFs in red chilies and it reduced 80% AFB 1 and 76% total AFs in chilies. Antioxidants like butylated hydroxyl-anisole (BHA) and butylated hydroxyl-toluene (BHT) were effective to reduce fungal load and the of (20:20 mM) of BHA and BHT were inhibit 100% of fungal load in malt extract agar of chilies. From the results it is evident that among aflatoxin reduction techniques, γ-irradiation is a good technology to remove contaminants like AFs from chilies. The food quality of irradiated cereals was evaluated to study any chemical change in vitamin E and fungal biomass. The total biomass (CFU g -1 ) showed linear behavior as increasing the dose level of gamma irradiation. In some samples of chilies, no microflora (fungi) was observed after 72 h. of incubation. From the results however, it is revealed that with increasing γ-irradiation doses a decrease in vitamin E content was observed in chilies but this decrease is not significant (p > 0.05). In the present study, phenolics, flavonoids and antioxidant activity of chilies and selected spices (cloves, turmeric, oregano, black pepper and cinnamon) have been evaluated in the Department of Food Science, Cornell University, USA. From the results, it has been evident that chilies and spices are good source of antioxidants. Special attention is urgently needed to create awareness of the high level of AFs contamination in chilies, among farmers, consumers, and traders. Special emphasis should also be given to adopt GHP and GSP in order to minimize the toxin in chilie