Taṣawwuf in Islam

Sufism is an important branch of Islam. Sufism is nothing other than Islamic teachings.  Because of Sufism, human beings can correct their outward actions as well as inward actions. This requires a spiritual guide to achieve this goal. Without a spiritual guide, common man cannot reach this point. Therefore, the common man should have allegiance to a spiritual guide. Pledge is a Sunnah process. Some psychic and greedy people have joined the ranks of Sufism and have dropped the value ​​of Sufism and Taṣawwuf in the eyes of the people and have incorporated innovations within Sufism. The public became abhorrent from Sufism. That is why, Sufism itself was declared wrong. The fact is that there are some bad people in the Sufism. Those people are wrong but Sufism cannot be blamed for this. Sufism is present in other religions besides Islam. In order to understand Sufism, it is necessary to read the terms and conditions of this knowledge so that the reality of Sufism is revealed.

Spatiotemporal Variation in Organochlorine and Pyrethroid Pesticides in Ecosystem of River Chenab

Present study was designed to monitor organochlorine and pyrethroids pesticides, possible sources, their spatial and temporal variations, bioaccumulation pattern in fish through water and sediments and human risk assessment. Levels of aldrin, o, p′, DDT p, p′, DDT o, p′, DDE p, p′, DDE, α-Endosulfan, β-Endosulfan from organochlorine and cypermethrin, deltamethrin, permethrin and bifenthrin from pyrethroids class were monitored in the present study. During the study, five fish species, four carnivores (Channa marulius, Anguilla rostrata, Channa punctatus and Wallagu attu) and one herbivore (Labeo boga) were sampled from the four headworks of the river Chenab. Samples were collected from three major aquatic matrices (water, sediments and fish) from the eight sampling sites situated at Marala, Khanki, Qadirabad and Trimu Headworks of River Chenab, during summer and winter seasons. Prior to analysis, liquid phase extraction technique was applied for water samples while all the collected sediment and fish samples were extracted by Soxhlet Extraction Technique. Samples were then processed to column chromatography for cleanup and analyzed by High Performance Liquid Chromatography (HPLC) after achieving LOD and LOQ and assuring all the quality control procedures. BCF and BSAF were calculated for the presence of relevant pesticides in water, fish and sediments. Human health risk was assessed for organochlorine and pyrethroids pesticides by consuming the contaminated fish. Physical and chemical parameters of both water and sediments collected from all the sampling sites of the river Chenab were determined. Analysis of variance (ANOVA), cluster analysis and PCA were applied for significance, classification of sites and source identification of pesticides. Concentrations of pesticides in surface waters of River Chenab ranged from 15 to165 and 23 to 275 ngL- 1 for organochlorine and 0.087 to 0.189 and 0.094 to 0.355 µgL-1 for pyrethroids during summer and winter seasons, respectively. Among organochlorine pesticides, DDTs exhibited the highest concentration in all water, sediments and fish samples, followed by Endosulfan and then aldrin while from pyrethroids group, deltamethrin showed highest values followed by cypermethrin, permethrin and then bifenthrin in descending order. Concentrations of DDT in water exceeded from the CCC concentration guidelines of USEPA while aldrin levels were higher than the PSQCA set criteria. Concentrations of pesticides in sediments ranged from 4.3 to 156.3 and 8.15 to 239.19 ngg-1 for organochlorine and 0.147 to 1.162 and 0.254 to 1.248 µgg-1 for pyrethroids during summer and winter seasons respectively. The risk assessment estimated that the 12.5-100% of sediments exceeded than the sediment quality guidelines while total DDTs level exceeded in 75-100% of sediments samples compared to the sediments quality standards. Indicative ratios of DDT with its isomer and metabolites suggested the past and current application and long transport range of organochlorine. Deltamethrin, cypermethrin and permethrin concentrations in water were found to be higher than their LC50 while levels of pyrethroids in sediments were below its LC50 values. Statistical analysis reflected the intensive agro-industrial activities and municipal effluents as major sources of organochlorine and pyrethroids in the freshwater ecosystem of river Chenab. The level of organochlorine monitored at Khanki Headworks (S3, S4) was relatively higher than the other three Headworks while level of pyrethroids was higher at Trimu Headworks (S7, S8) as compared to Marala, Khanki and Qadirabad Headworks. Organochlorine and pyrethroids levels in all the samples of water, sediments and fish were higher during winter season as compared to summer season. Organochlorine concentrations in fish ranged from 23.79 to 387.12 ngg-1 but 0.35 to 1.272 µgg-1 for pyrethroids during summer and winter seasons respectively indicated their bio-magnification in fish. Risk assessments of organochlorine pesticides showed that DDT contaminated fish intake would pose a health risk to humans. However, no immediate risk was assessed by pyrethroid contaminated fish consumption. Present study results highlighted both organochlorine (outdated) and pyrethroids (current) pesticides associated pollution in the riverine ecosystem of the river Chenab to mitigate the adverse situation. Current study also evaluated the phytoremediation potential of aquatic macrophytes (Eichhornia crassipes, Pistia stratiotes) and algae (chaetomorphasutoria, sirogoniumsticticum and zygnema sp.) for organochlorine and pyrethroids pesticides. Eleven treatments (T1- T11) with and without plants were used for phytoremediation of organochlorine and pyrethroid pesticides. Water and plant samples were extracted by liquid phase and solid phase extraction respectively and analyzed by high-performance liquid chromatography. During the experiment, P. stratiotes, E. crassipes and algae (C. sutoria, S. sticticum and Zygnema sp.) showed good removal efficiency with 62% (71% root, 29% shoot), 60% (67% root, 33% shoot), and 58% respectively for organochlorine and 76% (76% root, 24% shoot), 68% (69% root, 31% shoot), and 70% respectively for pyrethroids. Dissipation rate constant of treatments with plants (T2, T3, T5, T6, T8, and T9) was significantly higher (p < 0.05) as compared to treatments without plants i.e. T10 and T11 (control) for both organochlorine and pyrethroids. Bioconcentration factor of pyrethroids treatments (T3, T6, and T9) was significantly higher (p < 0.05) as compared to that of organochlorine treatments (T2, T5 and T8). The removal efficiency of E. crassipes, P. stratiotes and algae (C. sutoria, S. sticticum and Zygnema sp.) for pyrethroids was significantly higher (p < 0.01) as compared to that of organochlorine. Present study concluded that organochlorine and pyrethroids pesticides were abundantly found in the three aquatic environmental compartments (water, sediments and fish) that may cause a severe ecological risk to humans and other biota due to continuous and irregular use of these chemicals which ultimately add to the river Chenab via surface runoff or atmospheric deposition.