Linguistic Expressions of Prophet Muhammad (ﷺ) As a Miracle in Arabic Language: A Study of Linguistic Miracles of Prophet Muhammad

Arabian Peninsula was famous for its language expertise and linguistic expressions at the time of Prophet Muhammad (ﷺ). The poets and language experts would spend most of their lives to attain excellence in Arabic language and literature. It was during such time that a man named Muhammad (ﷺ) emerged, whose linguistic expression was remarkable, accurate and amazing. He was also quite familiar with the dialects and accents of every tribe of Arabia. It was the surprising effect of this linguistic excellence that people tagged him with different titles such as Poet, Sorcerer, Kāhin (soothsayer), Majnūn (One possessed by Jinn), and insane man with insane message. Allah Almighty revealed Qur’ānic verses not only to answer such allegations but also entrusted him to present commentary of the Holy Qur’ān to the people who would called him illiterate. This article will try to find out the Qur’ānic commentary on the linguistic expressions of Prophet Muhammad (ﷺ) as a miracle of revelation. The method of research is descriptive analytical and historical. The discussion of verses of Qur’ān and the explanations of the experts of Qur’ān through the comments of orientalists have been included to support the arguments. First Part of the paper discusses status of Prophet Muhammad (ﷺ) as an illiterate man with his remarkable linguistic expressions of Qur’ān due to which he was awarded different titles such as poet, sorcerer and insane. The second part explains the Qur’ānic response to accusations on Prophet (ﷺ) raised by the opponents. In the third part, some intellectual arguments of Qur’ān and opinions of orientalist have been discussed to support the Qur’ānic responses in favor of linguistic expressions of an “Ummi” Prophet Muhammad (ﷺ) which is followed by findings and conclusion of the whole discussion.

A Randomised Controlled Trial Comparing Haemodynamic Stability in Elderly Patients Undergoing Spinal Anaesthesia at L5, S1 Versus Spinal Anaesthesia at L3, 4 at the Aga Khan University Hospital, Nairobi

Background: Spinal anaesthesia is a routinely used anaesthetic technique for elderly patients undergoing operations involving the lower limbs, lower abdomen, pelvis and the perineum. Spinal anaesthesia has several advantages over general anaesthesia and these include stable haemodynamic variables, less blood loss, less post operative pain, faster recovery time and less post operative confusion. However, despite these advantages, the sympathetic blockade induced by spinal anaesthesia can result in hypotension, bradycardia, dysrhythmias and cardiac arrests. Conventionally, spinal anaesthesia is performed at the level of L3,4 interspace; with a reported incidence of hypotension in the elderly ranging between 65% and 69%. A possible strategy for reducing spinal induced hypotension would be to minimize the peak block height to as low as possible for the planned procedure. The purpose of this study was to investigate the decrease in mean arterial pressures and change heart rates from baseline values (haemodynamic stability) of elderly patients undergoing spinal anaesthesia performed at the level of L5, S1 compared to the conventional level at the L3, 4 interspace. Objective: To determine the difference in haemodynamic stability between elderly patients undergoing spinal anaesthesia at L5, S1 interspace compared to elderly patients undergoing spinal anaesthesia at L3, 4. Study design: A randomized single blinded controlled trial Methods: Thirty two elderly patients scheduled for lower limb or pelvic surgery under spinal anaesthesia were randomized into 2 groups (control group and intervention group) using a computer generated table of numbers. Control group; received 2.5 mls 0.5% hyperbaric bupivacaine injected intrathecally at the L3, 4 interspace Intervention group; 2.5mls 0.5% hyperbaric bupivacaine injected intrathecally at the L5, S1 interspace Results: The two groups had similar baseline characteristics in age, sex, body mass index and use of anti-hypertensive medications. There was 68.75% proportion of hypotension in the control group and 75% in the intervention group. The difference was not found to be statistically significant (p= 0.694). During the study period, there were 106 episodes of hypotension, out of which, 65 were in the control group and 41 in the intervention group (p=0.004). This difference was statistically significant.Linear regression analysis of the decrease in mean arterial pressures (MAP) showed a higher decrease in MAP in the control group (p 0.018). There were more crystalloids used in the control group (1006mls ± 374) than in the intervention group (606mls ±211) with a p< 0.0001. There was no difference in the amounts of vasopressors used between the two