Origin of Earth: A Quranic Perspective

The modern scientific concepts were clearly envisioned in the Qur'an date back to 7th century, when observational facilities were not available, mathematical principles were not discovered, primary principles (quarks) and fundamental forces  i.e. Gravitational and electromagnetic were not identified. The word earth (أرْضَARD) appears 409 times in Quran. The number of verses in which the Earth is mentioned first is quite small, e.g. Sura 2, verse 29 and sura 20, verse 4, where a reference is made to "Him Who created the earth and the high heavens". On the other hand the numbers of verses where the Heavens are mentioned before the Earth are much larger e.g. Sura-l-araf (7), Verse 54; SuraYunus (10), verse 3; SuraQaf (50), verse 38; Sura l-Hadid (79), verses 27 to 33 etc. The Quran describes itself as a book of guidance. Sura l-Baqarah, verse (67)[i] states:  قَالَ أعُوْذُ بِاللهِ اأنْ أَکُوْنَ مِنَ الْجَاهِلِيْن He said, "I seek refuge in Allah from being among the ignorant."The Qur'an does not render a coordinated description of the Earth Creation. In lieu of a continuous story of creation, there are verses dispersed all over the Quran which deal with certain aspects of the Earth Creation. These scattered verses provide information on the sequential events marking its development with varying degrees of detail. The Quran referred toward at least five points which shed light on the creation of heaven and earth.  And these points are entirely confirmed by scientific facts.    

Studies into Bio-Ecological Interference of Cleavers Galium Aparine L. in Wheat Triticum Aestivum L.

Investigations regarding Galium aparine interference in wheat were made in two different experiments in the Research Laboratory and at the Agronomic Research Area, Department of Agronomy, University of Agriculture, Faisalabad, Pakistan during the year 2005/06 and 2006/07. In lab experiments aqueous extracts obtained from roots, stem, leaves and fruit of cleavers (G. aparine) harvested at maturity, and soil taken from a G. aparine infested field were used to determine their allelopathic effects on germination and seedling growth of wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) at 15 o C and 20 o C. Maximum time taken for 50% germination and mean germination was recorded for stem and fruit extracts. Time taken for 50% germination and reduction in germination index was maximum at 20 o C whereas maximum mean germination time was recorded at 15 o C. Reduction in root and shoot length, and biomass of wheat seedlings due to different extracts over control was 34.0 to 67.9%, 10.4 to 61.6% and 16.5 to 38.0%, respectively. Maximum reduction in root and shoot length, their dry weights and seedling biomass of wheat was caused by fruit extract of G. aparine. Root extract showed 32.4% increase in shoot dry weight and 11.4% in seedling biomass of wheat over control. Soil beneath G. aparine plants significantly reduced the shoot length, dry weight and seedling biomass but increased root dry weight of wheat seedlings. Field trials conducted to measure the competitive effects of five G. aparine density levels (0,18,36,54 and 72 plants m -2 ) on the productivity of wheat planted under three sowing time regimes demonstrated that wheat grain yield loss varied between 4 to 32% with weed density ranging from 18 to 72 plants m -2 in each year. Maximum grain yield of 5480 and 5395 kg ha -1 was obtained in 2005/06 and 2006/07, respectively from G. aparine free wheat and G. aparine density of 18 plants m -2 did not cause significant yield reduction over control in our conditions. The wheat growth and yield determinants like number of spike bearing tillers, spikelets per spike, grains per spike, 1000-grain weight, grain yield and NPK concentration were significantly reduced by increasing G. aparine density. Sowing of wheat on 7 th Nov. proved to be helpful in reducing wheat grain yield loss from G. aparine infestation. Galium aparine per plant dry weight and seed production which are important elements of weed population dynamics were suppressed with delayed sowing and increasing G. aparine densities in the presence of crop while its NPK concentration did not differ significantly. Response surface analysis indicated that G. aparine density around 40 plants m -2 is most crucial as it results in maximum G. aparine per plant dry weight and seed production. It also explained that with increase in weed density and delay in sowing after mid November there will be a subsequent decrease in wheat grain yield. Analysis of maximum ridge estimate of response surface depicted that maximum grain yield (5780 kg ha -1 ) could be achieved at derived sowing date values of 7 th to 12 th November while maintaining a G. aparine density of 0 to 3 plants m -2 on a sandy loam soil with less than 1% organic matter. On the basis of these findings we can propose that soil incorporated plant residues of this weed will have broader ecological implications on the growth of a succeeding crop and wheat should be planted in early November to get bumper yields and the option of herbicides to control G. aparine at its density beyond 18 plants m -2 should be exploited.