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Al-Huda opened its first school of Islamic education in Islamabad in 1994. The institute branched out to Lahore and Karachi over the next few years and by now its network has grown to approximately 70 locations in urban areas all over Pakistan. More than 15,000 women 1 have graduated with a diploma or certificate from one of Al-Huda's courses while many more attend these lessons without enrolling formally. In addition, classes under the Al-Huda banner are carried out amongst Pakistani diaspora communities in North America, Europe, the Middle East and East Asia. The founder and leader of this movement is a woman called Dr. Farhat Hashmi 2. Her teachings form the core of study in Al-Huda classrooms and her lectures can attract audiences numbering in the thousands. Her message and fame are carried far and wide through audio cassettes and CDs, books and pamphlets, radio and television programs, and websites. The curriculum at Al-Huda focuses on the texts of the Quran and Hadith, 3 including translation from Arabic into Urdu and Hashmi's extensive commentaries on their meaning, historical context and contemporary relevance. These lessons train women so they can understand and apply canonical Islamic teachings to their own lives, reform themselves, and then share this knowledge with others (Hashmi 2006). Farhat Hashmi's interpretations are marked by the particular doctrinal stance that is identified as the Ahli Hadith branch of Sunni Islam in South Asia. This is a puritanical school of thought that rejects most customary practices and intermediaries to privilege foundational texts and individual religious responsibility. 4 Hashmi also advocates non-religious education for women, preaches the value of scientific reasoning and logic, and uses modern management and marketing tools in organizing Al-Huda. This combination of old and new forms of knowledge, of modern and traditional approaches to religious practice, has attracted urban educated women from Pakistan's upper and middle classes. Many of them take up teaching and administrative positions across Al-Huda's organizational network, volunteer for its social welfare projects, or stay involved with the group on an informal basis. The wealthy amongst them also make

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Background: The plant Berberis aristata is traditionally used and scientifically validated for treating obesity and hyperlipidemia. It is also traditionally used to treat gynecological abnormalities. Therefore, the present study was designed to evaluate the therapeutic potential of Berberis aristata for obesity related reproductive changes and chemically characterize it. Methods: High fat diet was given to 36 female rats for six weeks to induce obesity and infertility. These obese rats were treated with 10 mg/kg orlistat or the plant extract at 125-500 mg/kg for 45 days. Results: The GC-MS analysis of the plant extract included fructose, thymic acid and other hydrocarbons. The plant extract revealed a remarkable free radical scavenging activity. The treated animals exhibited a decrease in total cholesterol and triglycerides (p<0.001), insulin and leptin levels (p<0.05), visceral fat and body weights while increasing the estradiol level at 500 mg/kg dose of the plant extract as compared with untreated animals as demonstrated from the histology of the ovary. Oxidative stress biomarkers such as superoxide dismutase, nitric oxide, malondialdehyde and reduced glutathione were significantly (p<0.01-0.001) ameliorated in treated rats. Conclutions: B. aristata exhibited substantial potential against obesity induced reproductive damage in female rats by reducing oxidative stress and resistance to leptin and insulin.

Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is a neurological condition that affects characterized with limitations the occurrence of specific interests and recurrent behaviors in social interaction. This article explains factors that may influence prevalence rates, such as recent changes to the diagnostic criteria, in light of current concerns about increased prevalence. To observe the development of literature regarding autism spectrum disorder in light of recent researches. The data was collected from data bases such as google scholar, Pubmed, HEC library and Scopus. The researches from only national scholars was considered. The data was vetted by a self appointed committee of expert peer reviewer to ensure maximum quality. Based on our analysis of published works, it can be claimed that there is a lack of academically sound published material from Pakistan, making it challenging to quantify the burden of ASD in this community, identify risk factors, or even create efficient intervention methods.