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Title: Development of non-viral gene delivery system using chitosan-PLGA microsphere for transfection on neuron cell line(s).

Summary of the research project
Primary objective of this study is to test the ability of plasmid DNA (pDNA) fabricated into chitosan-PLGA microspheres to transfect neuron cell line using non-lipid-based transfection agents namely GeneJuice® and NanoJuice®. The API, pDNA (pGL3 control vector), is selected as it allows gene expression quantification which will provide evidence of successful transfection. pDNA-loaded chitosan-PLGA microspheres will be fabricated using a versatile double-emulsion (w/o/w) solvent-evaporation method and thereafter characterized with scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and Coulter sizer for its external morphologies and size distribution, respectively. Additionally, encapsulation efficiency, in-vitro release profile and pDNA integrity will be evaluated as a function of polymer MW as well as a function of surfactant types. Transfectivity of the resultant microspheres will then be carried out on Neuro2a cell line to investigate potential application of the chitosan-PLGA microspheres to deliver DNA intracellularly. Success of the study will indicate promising use of a novel gene delivery system for gene therapy in neuronal diseases.

Principal Researcher:
Asst. Prof. Dr. Farahidah Mohamed
Kulliyyah of Pharmacy
International Islamic University Malaysia

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Notes for the Online Halaqa, Ramadân 1429 (part two)Topics covered in the first session:
• The meaning of ‘nasîhah’ in the hadith ‘religion is nasîhah’, especially as related to the Qurân.
• The ‘excellence of the Qurân and its people’ taken from Ihya and from Forty Hadith on the Excellence of the All-Clarifying Illuminating Qurân by Mulla ‘Ali al-Qari.
• The first five of the ‘outward etiquettes of reading the Qurân with reference to Etiquette with The Qurân by Imam al-Nawawi.
• Today, we will complete the reading of the Hadith on the Excellence of the All-Clarifying Illuminating Qurân; continue with the outward actions and look at the inward actions of reading the Qurân.
• The remaining outward actions are:
 Weeping
 Giving each verse its due
 Making ‘istiâdha’ (seeking of refuge) at the beginning of the recitation
 Reading aloud
 Beautifying of ones’ recitation

Weeping
Imam al-Nawawi says:
It is an attribute of those with profound knowledge of God (‘ârifîn) and a distinguishing feature of God’s devotees. God Most High said, They fall down upon their faces weeping, and it increases them in humility (17:109).

Many hadiths and accounts from the Righteous Forebears have been related concerning this. Among them is from the Prophet himself, upon him be peace: ‘Read the Quran and weep. If you do not weep, cause yourself to weep.’

‘Umar ibn al-Khattâb, may Allah be pleased with him, prayed the Morning Prayer in congregation and read Surat Yusuf (12). He wept until his tears flowed over his collarbone. In another version (of the report), it was in the Nightfall Prayer, affirming that this happened repeatedly, and in one version he wept until people in the rows behind him heard his weeping.

Abû Rajâ said, ‘I saw Ibn ‘Abbas and below his eyes were tracks wet from tears.’ Abû Sâlih said, ‘A group of people from Yemen came to Abû Bakr al-Siddîq, may Allah be pleased with him, and began reciting the Quran and they wept. Abû Bakr al-Siddîq, may Allah be pleased with him, said ‘This is how we were. Hishâm said, ‘I sometimes heart Muhammad ibn Sirîn’s crying at night while I was praying.
The accounts concerning this are innumerable. What we have just alluded to suffices. And God knows best.

Imâm Abû Hâmid al-Ghazâli said, ‘Weeping is recommended while reciting (the Quran) or witnessing (its recitation). He said, ‘The way to achieve this is by bringing sadness to mind by pondering the threats and warnings, the covenants and agreements that it contains, and then contemplating one’s shortcomings with their regard. If this does not bring to mind sadness and weeping, as it does with elite worshippers, then one should weep from the lack of it, since it is among the greatest calamities’
[Etiquette with The Qurân by Imam al-Nawawi p45]

Fulfilling the rights of specific verses of the Qurân
These include prostrating when you read or hear a verse of prostration. The rules of this type of prostration are found in the books of jurisprudence. They are also detailed in Etiquette with The Qurân along with a list of all the verses requiring prostration.
Other rights of the Qurân are to supplicate for the Heaven when it is mentioned, to seek protection from the Fire when it is mentioned, to make istighfâr (seek forgiveness) when told to in any particular verse and to say ‘subhanallah’ (transcendent is He) when verses describing the marvels of creation are read.

Al-Istiâdha
Among the specific rights of the Qurân is to seek protection before reciting it and to supplicate after it.

Reading aloud
There are several evidences stressing the merit of reading the Qurân silently and others of reading it aloud. These apparent contradictions are reconciled by al-Ghazâli when he points out that ‘silent recitation is furthest from ostentation and humility and is most appropriate for one who fears them in himself. However, if he does not fear them and he is not likely to disturb someone else who might be praying then reciting aloud is better as it requires more actions, its benefit is connected to others and the good is therefore compounded and preferred to that which is confined (to oneself), it wakens the heart of the reciter and concentrates his aspiration on contemplation and focuses his hearing on it; it repels sleep and energizes him towards (more) recitation and reduces his laziness and because he should hope through his recitation for the waking of the sleeping one and hence be the means of his revival and because a lazy, neglectful one may be energised by his energy and thereby desire to serve (Allah).’

Beautifying one’s recitation
Al-Ghazâli quotes a number of hadîth, some of which are included in previous classes and also the stories of Sâlim the freed slave of Abû Hudhaifa and Abdulllah ibn Masûd who were both excellent reciters of the Qurân and praised by the Messenger, upon him be peace, for their recitation.

The ‘inner actions’ involved in reciting the Qurân
There are ten inward adâb. They are:
1. Understanding where the Qurân originates
2. Veneration (ta’dhîm)
3. Presence of heart
4. Reflection (tadabur)
5. Striving to understand (tafahum)
6. Removal of barriers to understanding
7. Personalising the message (takhsîs)
8. Feeling the effect of the Quran (ta’athur)
9. Rising (taraqî)
10. Recognition of not having any part in the blessing (tabarra)

May Allah grant us understanding of these actions and the ability to practice them and fulfil the rights of the Qurân. Āmin.

(a translation of a section of his Nasâih al-Dîniyâh)

Imam al-Haddad, may Allah shower him with mercy, said:

Know! O gathering of brothers, may Allah ease us and you towards ease and distance us from difficulty and forgive us in the next world and the first one, that Ramadân is a month of mighty status and rank with Allah and His Messenger. It is the master of all months. Allah made fasting compulsory for the Muslims and prescribed it for them. The Exalted said:

يَا أَيُّهَا الَّذِينَ آمَنُواْ كُتِبَ عَلَيْكُمُ الصِّيَامُ كَمَا كُتِبَ عَلَى الَّذِينَ مِن قَبْلِكُمْ لَعَلَّكُمْ تَتَّقُونَ
O you who believe! Fasting is prescribed to you as it was prescribed to those before you, that you may (learn) self-restraint,- (al-Baqara 2:183)

In it, Allah descended His Book and made the Night of Power, which is better than a thousand months, among its nights. A thousand months is more than eighty years. Count and contemplate what this Night of Power is – a night that Allah has made greater than this long period. And Allah, The Exalted has said:
شَهْرُ رَمَضَانَ الَّذِيَ أُنزِلَ فِيهِ الْقُرْآنُ هُدًى لِّلنَّاسِ وَبَيِّنَاتٍ مِّنَ الْهُدَى وَالْفُرْقَانِ
Ramadhân is the (month) in which was sent down the Qurân, as a guide to mankind, also clear (Signs) for guidance and judgment (Between right and wrong).
(al-Baqara 2:185)
And He also said:
إِنَّا أَنزَلْنَاهُ فِي لَيْلَةِ الْقَدْرِ
وَمَا أَدْرَاكَ مَا لَيْلَةُ الْقَدْرِ
لَيْلَةُ الْقَدْرِ خَيْرٌ مِّنْ أَلْفِ شَهْرٍ
تَنَزَّلُ الْمَلَائِكَةُ وَالرُّوحُ فِيهَا بِإِذْنِ رَبِّهِم مِّن كُلِّ أَمْرٍ
سَلَامٌ هِيَ حَتَّى مَطْلَعِ الْفَجْرِ
We have indeed revealed this (Message) in the Night of Power:
And what will explain to thee what the night of power is?
The Night of Power is better than a thousand months.
Therein come down the angels and the Spirit by Allah’s permission, on every errand;
Peace! This until the rise of morn!
(al-Qadr, 97:1-5)
He, the Transcendent, made us aware that the Qurân was descended in the month of Ramadhân and then that He specifically sent it down on the Night of Power. The ‘descending’ was in one go from the Sacred Tablet (al-Lahw al-Mahfûz) to The House of Power ( bayt al-‘Izza ) which is in the lowest sky and then it was revealed in portions by Jibrîl (Gabriel) by Allah’s command to His messenger, upon both of them be peace over a period of 23 years. That is the period of Allah’s revelation to His Messenger, upon him be peace, as Allah revealed the Qurân when he was forty years old and he, upon him be peace and salutations passed away when he was sixty-three years old. That is what the critical scholars from the early and later generations have said.

The blessings of Ramdhân
The Messenger of Allah, upon him be peace, said regarding Ramadhân: ‘Ramadhân to Ramadhân, Friday prayer to Friday prayer and compulsory prayer to compulsory prayer cover up what is between them if one avoids the major sins.’
And he, upon him be peace and salutations, said, ‘it is the month of steadfastness (sabr) and the reward of steadfastness is the Garden.’ And he said of it, ‘its beginning is mercy, its middle is forgiveness and its ending is freedom from the Fire.’
Allah, the Exalted, looks to the Muslims on its first night and He will not punish the one He has looked to and He forgives them on it last night.
Jibril (Gabriel) said to the Messenger of Allah, upon both of them be peace, ‘whoever reaches Ramadhân and is not forgiven in it, may Allah distant him, say “amin”.’ The messenger said, ‘amin’. This is because the means of forgiveness in Ramadhân are greater than in other months and therefore the only one who is prevented from forgiveness is the iniquity of his rebellion against Allah and the enormity of ….. against Allah and he causes distance and rejection from the Allah’s door. We ask Allah form safety from His anger, His punishment and all His tribulations.
It has been related that the doors of the skies are opened as are all the doors of the Garden during Ramadhân. The doors of the fire are locked and the minions of Shaytân are banished to the seas so that they cannot spoil the fast and the standing in prayer of the Muslims. A caller calls on each night of Ramadhân ‘O desirer of good, come forward! O desirer of evil, go away!’
It has also been related that ‘whoever seeks proximity to Allah through a compulsory act will have the reward of seventy compulsory acts. Whoever seeks proximity to Allah through a superogotory act will have the reward of a compulsory act.’ The superogotory acts in Ramadhân are of the status of compulsory acts in other months in terms of reward. The compulsory reward are increased seventy times above those of other months.
And He upon whom be peace and blessings said, ‘whoever fasts the month of Ramadhân and prays the night prayer with faith and sincerity will have his prior sins forgiven. Imân here means believing and ihtisâb means with sincerity. And Allah knows best.

The fast has etiquettes without which the fast will not be perfected.

The etiquettes of fasting
Among the most important is to protect one’s tongue from lies, backbiting and falling into that which does not concern you and protecting your eyes and ears from looking at or listening to that which is not permitted and that which is superfluous.
Likewise one should protect one’s stomach from consuming anything prohibited or doubtful especially when breaking one’s fast. One should make special effort to only break one’s fast with the permitted. Some of righteous predecessors have said, ‘if you fast, take care about what you break your fast with and with whom you break your fast. This indicates the importance of …. And scrupulousness about what breaks one’s fast with.

Intention for studying from Imam Abdullah Al-Haddad (may God be pleased with him!) translated from Arabic to English by Shaykh Abdul Aziz Ahmad Fredericks (may God be pleased with him!) of Glasgow, as:

All praise to God, Lord of the Worlds. And salutations and greetings upon our master Muhammad and upon his family and companions. I intend to study and teach, take and give a reminder, take and give benefit, take and give advantage, to encourage the holding fast to the book of God (the al-Qoran) and the way of His messenger, and calling to guidance and directing towards good, hoping for the countenance of God and His pleasure, proximity and reward, transcendent is He.

I would give this du’a to the very first of classes with students throughout the batches and InsyaAllah, we will recite it together before commencing each lesson hoping for barakah of our most beloved Prophet Muhammad (peace and blessings be upon him!) (teacher of all teachers), the composer of the du’a Imam Al-Haddad waliyullah and of Shaykh Abdul Aziz, teacher that we directly learned the du’a from.

May God grant us all success in the world and in the hereafter, ameen…

Beloved teachers and friends…kindly pray for me.

My power is awesome, try me and you’ll see
But if you do, you may never break free.
Try me once and I might let you go
But try me again, and I’ll own your soul.
When I possess you, you’ll steal, you’ll lie
You do what you have to - just to get high.
You’ll forget your morals and how you were raised
I’ll be you conscience, I’ll teach you my ways.

tbc….