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.

Ecobiological and Allelochemical Characterization of Selected Invasive Plants of Pothwar Region of Pakistan

Pothwar region, Pakistan is a hot spot for biodiversity, but the vegetation is constantly under pressure of exotic invasive plants. Phytosociological studies help to understand extent of biological invasion. Multiple analyses of ecological parameters at different locations derive general explanations of impact on species diversity in plant communities. The current study assessed impact of selected invaders viz. Parthenium hysterophorus L., Lantana camara L., Xanthium strumarium L. and Broussonetia papyrifera (L.) L’Herit. ex Vent. invasion on native flora in Pothwar region of Pakistan. Paired plot experimental design with two categorical factors; invaded and non-invaded (control) under same habitat conditions was used for sampling. Differences in number of species (S), abundance (N), species richness (R), evenness (Jꞌ), Shannon index of diversity (Hꞌ) and Simpson index of dominance (λ) were calculated using PRIMER-7 software package. Ecological indices were compared between invaded and control plots by t-test series using IBM SPSS v. 21 software. Control plots harbored by an average of 0.9, 1.74, 1.28 and 1.3 more individuals per 10m2 respectively. The control category was diverse (Hꞌ=1.73, 2.56, 2.15, 2.00) than invaded category (Hꞌ=1.53, 1.56, 1.65, 1.82) for four studied invaders. Similarly, control plots showed higher value of Jꞌ and λ for all the studied sites. The higher value of species richness in control plots shows heterogeneous nature of communities and vice versa in invaded plots. The lower value of index of dominance in invaded plots shows less sample diversity than control ones. This decrease in number of species directly affects α- diversity in invaded plots. At multivariate scale, ordination (nMDS) and ANOSIM showed significant magnitude of differences between invaded and control plots in xvii all sites. The decrease in diversity indices in invaded over control sites indicated that plant communities become less productive due to invasion; hence a threat to plant diversity. Invasion impact was observed as Lantana camara > Xanthium strumarium > Parthenium hysterophorus > Broussonetia papyrifera. Results suggested appropriate control measures for studied invaders. Radish seed germination bioassay with methanol extracts harboring 0.05 gmL-1 of root, leaves, flowers and stem of selected invaders indicated L. camara leaves and X. strumarium fruits as most phytotoxic plant parts. Fractionation and bioassay guided isolation of allelochmicals from L. camara leaves against monocot (Phalaris minor Retz. & Avena fatua L.) and dicot (Rumex dentatus L. & Chenopodium album L.) weed test species provided evidence about herbicidal potential of test plant species. Among ethyl acetate, hexane, chloroform and aqueous methanolic extract fractions, ethyl acetate fraction was shown to be most inhibitory to selected weed test species. Through flash column chromatography using mobile phase of Hexane : Ethyl acetate (60:40), 31 fractions were collected in small vials and tested for inhibition activity against radish seeds. Fraction with highest inhibition activity was subjected to GC-MS analysis that shows compound as ‘Vitexin’. To the best of our knowledge Lantana camara leaves have not been previously reported to possess flavonoid compound ‘vitexin’ and tested against weeds of wheat crop. So this investigation has provided a clue about its herbicidal importance for further research.