SEPTEMBER • OCTOBER 2010 ISSUE 77

A MAGAZINE OF SCIENTIFIC AND SPIRITUAL THOUGHT

Everybody else’s relation with the home is temporary, limited and relative. But
a woman, whether she has other jobs or not, always stands up straight in the
heart of her home and nourishes our feelings with affection, mercy, and love.
CANADA: $ 5.95 • TURKEY: 6. 00 TL • UK: £ 4.00 • USA : $ 5.50

Reflourishing Career and

Thoughts The Spread Kids: Can I
of Islam Have Both?

4 14 46
 EDITORIAL
A MAGAZINE OF SCIENTIFIC AND SPIRITUAL THOUGHT

WOMEN SEPTEMBER•OCTOBER 2010 ISSUE 77

M
ale-domination is a matter of dispute in every sphere of life as
much as it is in language; the transition from “man” to “human”
is still an ongoing process in the usage of the English. The issue
ranges from lexicography to politics, from “who is the head of home” to com-
petition in employment. But perhaps the most severe battle continues in
the business world, where statistics still reveal a dramatic gap between male
vs. female ratios, favoring the former, and there seems to be no exceptional
cases in the world for this discrepancy. Gender roles assigned by culture still
define what men and women are thought to have the capacity to undertake.
How far can or should this extension and intermixing of roles go? Is mother-
hood one of such gender roles imposed by the dominant cultural values? Can
working conditions be adjusted so that mothers do not have to lose their
jobs? Is “equality” the right term to use, and is it the ultimate goal in our
efforts to elevate the status of women, which is otherwise not on a par with
men? In “Career and Kids: Can I Have Both?” Safiye Arslan shows how great
a challenge working women face when they become mothers. Read her own
account when a mother with a PhD learns she is pregnant with her second
child, how her boss and husband react, and what she believes the true path Lead Article
should be.
With a similar theme, Mirkena Ozer portrays how pivotal a mother is in a
family. In a touching poem, Ozer outlines a typical mother with “eight arms,”
mother as the pediatrician at home, and mother with paradise lying under
her feet.
It has always been a forged image of Islam that it spread across the world
with sword and bloodshed and nothing else. Paul Kearns’ piece “The Spread
of Islam” in this issue provides a detailed analysis with a fair approach of
the motivations in Muslims’ mobilization from the early seventh through the
late seventeenth centuries. This mobilization was so powerful that “in less
than one century after the death of the Prophet Muhammad in 632, Mus-
lim rule covered more of the earth than had the Roman Empire at its peak.”
Could this only be done with a sharp blade? Kearns notes that “the spread
of a religious or ideological ideal can only be truly successful if those whom
it is trying to gain submission from are disillusioned or unhappy with their
own contemporary world. … We find that a great number gladly adhered to
the conquering Islamic rulers and Quranic law as they found protection and
benefits that had not been attained under Byzantine rule.”
The lead article in this issue touches on the rise and fall of nations, per-
Environment
haps expounding on Kearns’ analysis of Islam’s spread from a cosmic sense.
In addition to “successive turns of prosperity and hard times,” leaders of
nations play a significant role as they sway back and forth, sometimes with
“religious devotion and piety, yet at other unfortunate times captured in the
web of materialism with no righteousness, morality, or character.”

www.fountainmagazine.com
 LEAD ARTICLE
M. Fethullah Gülen

Arts & Culture

8 Environment
Belief and Our Treatment of the Environment
Nisa Nur Terzi

Lead Artıcle 19 A Moment for Reflection

4
Forgiving Dad
Mary Lahaj
Reflourishing
Thoughts 30 Perspectives
True Altruism and Unconditional Love
Zainab Cassim Akdemirci
M. Fethullah Gülen
38 Philosophy
Critical Thinking
Ertan Salik

History
49 Memoirs
Brittany’s Spirit: A Legacy of Learning and Living

14
April Bollig

The Spread
of Islam
Scıence
Paul Kearns
22 Computer Science
Our Unique Digital Footprint
Halil I. Demir

26 Physics
Bridging the Nano and Macro Worlds: Shadowing and Reemission
Poem

37
Murat Yuksel, Tansel Karabacak, and Hasan Guclu

Portrait of a 43 Biology
Straighten Up Yourself and Know It’s a Miracle
Mother Omer Arifagaoglu

Mirkena Ozer 54 See-Think-Believe

It’s Me Peter, Your Nervous System
Irfan Yilmaz

62 Science Square
• How the “fit” tests survive
• Our scents make us targets
Women • Genomes of microbes living with us

46
• Seeing with the sound
Career and Kids:
Can I Have Both? Belıef
Safiye Arslan 34 Emerald Hills of the Heart
Humility (Tawadu)

60 Q&A
Time Management
 LEAD ARTICLE
M. Fethullah Gülen
We have every confidence in the
belief that the chaos and dismay of
today will be followed by the same
heavenly victories and will experience
a revival.
SEPTEMBER / OCTOBER 2010 4
n the course of history, the
sequence of events periodi-
cally recurs—just like the day
alternates with the night—over
and over again but with just a lit-
tle variation. I say it comes about
“with just a little variation” as one
aspect of the sequence of events
happens compulsorily and favor-
ably as a small portion of the uni-
versal macro plan which is beyond
the human will while the other hap-
pens as a result of apparent reason,
depending on how one uses one’s
freewill. The former depends upon
a regular, repetitive, and time-based
pattern whereas the latter is depen-
dent on the human will, preference,
and volition.
Just like the alternation of the
day and the night with the succes-
sion of the light after darkness in
every twenty-four hours, the rising
and regression of nations have al-
ways occurred in successive turns of
prosperity and hard times.
As for the leading figures of these
nations, we see them swaying back-
ward and forward with transforma-
tions and alterations, once in love
with religious devotion and piety,
at a different time bewitched by the
 After seeing everything in an astonishing harmony, composed of teensy weensy constituents mixing up quietly and fascinat-
ingly—seeing all these resuscitating in an unexpected manner and with an unanticipated liveliness, how can one ascribe this captivating
vitality that looks like stillness and this unity that gives the impression of disorderliness to the true and eternal death and departure?

things of this life, and yet at other unfortunate times captured cribe this captivating vitality that looks like stillness
in the web of materialism with no righteousness, morality, or and this unity that gives the impression of disorder-
character. liness to the true and eternal death and departure?
As a matter of fact, it would be quite wrong to conceive of Besides, even if this is temporarily so, every winter
any state or nation that is on the rise, taking root every- is followed by the spring and every night by the day.
where, as making consistent progress on a single plan From the point of recurring occurrences in history,
and seeing it all religiously-oriented and heavenly- it was nothing but such empty words heard at the be-
driven with regard to their rule and influence. ginning of the twentieth century: “Religion has been
Following their creation, everything enters into defeated by positivism” (as was formed in the mind
the process of growth, finds itself on the path of of those with deviant thinking), “the spirit is down
expansion and the ramp of ascension; however, and out in the face of materialism”; “the atom is the
only those upon whom fate smiles grow and flourish, and essence of everything”; “the existence of all is de-
everything that grows is bound to die sooner or later! pendent on material things”—it was such codswal-
To the extent of our interconnectedness with the cosmos lop in the ears. Since the notion of energy
and events, we can observe and witness all this phenomena was not fully comprehended, the atom
unfolding before us every day. As we peruse the existence and was accepted as an unquestionable
events around us, if we can direct our thoughts and imagina-
tion towards historical occurrences as the consecutive projec-
tions of each other or as the overlapping pile-ups on top of each
other, then we will testify that the world has turned green and
blossomed, has tidied up and gathered strength, has revived
and stood back on its feet as many times as it has stumbled
and fallen over.
We are astounded by the moribund communities and na-
tions, which, like the leaves caught in an abrupt gale or the
ivy whose branches are torn off and yet cling to or twine about
any support so as not to topple down, get back to their previ-
ous track, make great efforts with avidity, and speed towards
their time of greatest power and authority. They gush out sud-
denly and unexpectedly, looking forward to rebirth, as if in an
undeveloped shoot of plants, within the most indistinct and
tiniest hollow on the stem, rooted in the past with the strength
for growth after their decline; they run to grow by clinging to
the points of support like ivy plants and try very hard to have
springtime just once more.
Who knows how many times the roots, stem, and the
branches of the society have been shaken with tempests! Who
knows how many times it turned pale from the ice-cold and
became ash gray under the heat of sun! Who knows how many
times it has risen again in various spheres and grown rife! If
the falls have taken away some part of its life and vigor, the
springs have embosomed it so intimately with sparkling colors
that everything else is discolored and all deceptive colors fade
away one by one.
After seeing everything in an astonishing harmony, com-
posed of teensy weensy constituents mixing up quietly and
fascinatingly—seeing all these resuscitating in an unexpected
manner and with an unanticipated liveliness, how can one as-

5 SEPTEMBER / OCTOBER 2010

whole in those days. Before the turn
of the second half of the twentieth
century, however, materialism was
shaken with the first surprising blow
from within the circle of their own.
It struggled with and got defeated by
the perception of its inherent power
(energy). Even if energy was not
known in all its complexity at the
time, it started to show its teeth, be-
coming more cognizable through the
effects of its work. At the time, phys-
ics was aware of only its doings and
not of energy itself; science consid-
ered energy as the capability of the
matter or a physical system to carry
out work. The science of physics had
no knowledge of the real nature of
this capacity, its general features,
and its qualities.
The coming of energy into promi-
nence occurred at the same time as
the materialist philosophy entered
into the sphere of the unknowns,
chasms, and hardships. It was at this
time that matter was believed to have
the capability of turning into energy,
journeying in the same realms with
the spirits. According to the reality of
the time, matter—something regard-
ed as the proof for materialism—ac-
tually testified against materialism.
If the atom is a power compressed
and placed in a micro body and has
the capability of not yielding to force
and if all existence and incidents
are created within this fountain of fundity of faith and spiritual think- lost long; it embraced and adopted
power and are endowed with their ing with the perception transcend- faith most sincerely and had a life
latent energy to full growth, those ing matter and all existence. This in a manner appropriate to heaven.
who discovered this immense power was experienced before when we It had such a pious life turning its
whose magnitude is accepted as not felt the universal truth in our pure deeds into worship, its talk into
measurable in numbers and who conscience and had welcomed a glo- prayer, its appearance into graceful-
burned down Hiroshima and Naga- rious period of eight hundred years ness and mercy, and its unity into
saki did indeed not only put materi- after being long exposed to such power. Thanks to faith that it found
alism to death but also trumpet forth kind of chaos and disturbances a the way from emotion to soundness
its historic death while they were thousand years ago. and sensibility, from logic to heart,
enunciating its enchanting efficacy It is beyond doubt that the most and from reasoning to insight and
only upon that occasion. influential power in the establish- inspiration and thus stepped up
Everybody knows the rest of the ment of such a glory surpassing and elevated itself. It found out the
story; we have witnessed the defeat everything else belonged to faith. secrets of eternal subsistence all the
of the forged system based on mate- Thanks to faith that our society way through feeling and thought,
rialism—a deceiving system with its moved from the mundane to the culture, arts, and esthetic delights.
formation of the family and the so- spiritual life, from chaos to the order, We have every confidence in the
ciety, its social and economic struc- from emptiness to the ideal, from belief that the chaos and dismay of
ture, its understanding of arts and narrowness of mind to the immense- today will be followed by the same
esthetics, and its interpreting power ness far beyond this world and the heavenly victories and will experi-
of things and beings. other world and became aware of ence a revival. We believe whole-
After all that bloodshed, casual- the depth and extensiveness of their heartedly that we will acquire once
ties, and financial loss and all those scope. It rediscovered its true worth more what we have lost by means of
years of life spent in vain, now we and merit, its particular way of life, the coming people of the heart who
are once again ushering in the pro- the refinement and grace it had will find remedies for our wretch-

SEPTEMBER / OCTOBER 2010 6

edness and sufferings, elevate our
souls to the profundity of their own,
and direct them from there to the
real Source of everything. We can
even call it our renaissance if this
labeling will not be considered a
fantasy.
It undoubtedly is necessary to
prepare the way for this rebirth.
The dynamics and potentials avail-
able in all the spheres of the society,
with no exception of those in edu-
cation, religion, and the army, will
be utilized for this purpose. All this
preparation, however, will be ful-
filled not by cumbrous institutions
that are retired into themselves
and consoled only by distinctive
titles and designations, that think of
nothing else except for their share
of the appropriation, but by the in-
tegrated institutions founded upon
the concord of heart, soul, mind,
and discipline as well as by those
luminous scholars and intellectu-
als who believe in justice and have We believe wholeheartedly
a sound character, mentality, and
worldview and who blend all these that we will acquire once more
with a faithful culture that has been what we have lost by means of
acquired over hundreds and hun-
dreds of years. It will be realized the coming people of the heart
both by educational institutions who will find remedies for our
that are represented by the lovers
of knowledge and wisdom who are wretchedness and suffer-
united with the truth in body, spirit, ings, elevate our souls to the
intellect, and zeal and by the people
of truth with a sound character who profundity of their own, and
get to work with the consciousness direct them from there to the
of duty, who act not just simply to
save the day, and who seek ways to real Source of everything.
strive for their cause rather than try-
ing hard for the satisfaction of the
desires and pleasures of their own.
Aware of the fact that we are now
at such a turn in the recurring events
of history, we reexamine our con-
science and smile at our fate with
confidence in our auspiciousness.
7 SEPTEMBER / OCTOBER 2010
 ENVIRONMENT
Nisa Nur Terzi

I see…
Everywhere I look, I see citizens polluting, communities
mistreating and nations exploiting the earth.
I watch them as they misuse and abuse this sacred place, as if it
was theirs.
What they fail to remember is that this earth is the same earth
the first man and woman called home. It is the same earth
countless prophets, saints, and scholars called home. It is the
same earth my Ottoman ancestors called home. It is the same
earth my country’s natives, the Aboriginal people, called home.
But I could almost see this earth diminish before my eyes. My heart aches
with uncertainty of what lies ahead.
What have we left to offer the future generations? What have we done? What
have we become?

SEPTEMBER
JULY / AUGUST
/ OCTOBER
20102010 8
Divine cleanliness
Everything God created in this world
and beyond has perfect order and
balance, for He is the Most Powerful
and All Wise. So it cannot be He who
is responsible for the world’s current
state of affairs.
This earth is like a hotel, a guest-
house which is continually filled
and emptied by the living and dead.
Despite this constant entry and exit,
this guesthouse remains totally pure
and clean. There is nothing unneces-
sary, nothing exists without having
any benefit or purpose, and not a
random piece is put out of place.
If it was not for this remarkable
cleaning, in a short amount of time,
thousands of animal and plant spe-
cies would have been suffocated on
the face of the earth.
God’s orderliness is everywhere
the eye reaches.
Carnivorous animal species clean
the seas by gathering up the corpses
of other sea-creatures that die every
day by the millions, preventing the
sea from becoming polluted.
Ants collect the corpses of tiny “How deplorably and awkwardly we have treated plains and residential
creatures and small particles and places, which we have changed into deserts and heaps of ruin. How deplor-
fragments of bounty, preserving ably and gracelessly we have treated seas and rivers, which we have polluted.
them from waste and uselessness. Again, how deplorably and awkwardly we have treated air and water, and
Flies clean away poisonous sub- fields, forests, and gardens, which we have made unfavorable to any life.
stances and microbes which breed Truly, by changing this Paradise-like world to a hell, how deplorably and awk-
diseases that are invisible to the na- wardly we have treated ourselves!”2
ked human eye, thus preventing the In our eagerness to “progress” and “develop,” we have lost sight of the
spread of many contagious diseases. finite and delicate nature of our world and of humanity’s place in it. So it is
His command is obeyed every- when humans improve the condition of this world whose order they have de-
where by everything, from eyelids stroyed and polluted, and restore it to its prior balance and beauty, only then
cleaning the eye and flies brushing will they be able to live a healthier and happier lifestyle.
their wings.1 Guardians of the Earth
Therefore, there is magnificence The origins of global environmental problems lie in humankind’s deliberate
and harmony in every creation in rejection of the physical laws governing environmental management and a
every corner of the world. With va- persistent disobedience to God’s revealed laws.
rieties of beauty spread in a myriad “And do good as God has done good to you. And desire not corruption in the
of colors and forms, it is so splendid land. Indeed, God does not like corruptors.” (Quran 28:77)
that imaginations are pushed to the The Quran and the teachings of Prophet Muhammad, peace be upon him,
limit when trying to imagine any- contain instructions to assist humanity in preserving its environment. In the
thing more beautiful. Quran God declares, “It is He who has appointed you viceroys (guardians) in
It is such a pity that this wonder- the earth” (6:165). Through this verse it becomes evident that humans have a
ful world, which God has bestowed special place in God’s scheme. They are more than friends of the Earth; they
upon humans to observe and study are its guardians.
free of charge, is no longer given any Prophet Muhammad, peace be upon him, lived up to this verse best as a
more care than is given to a heap of guardian of the earth. He was an “environmental pioneer” who lived with the
junk. philosophy that there is a fundamental link and interdependency between

9 SEPTEMBER / OCTOBER 2010

all natural elements and that if hu-
mans abuse one element, the natu-
ral world as a whole will suffer the
direct consequences.
For instance, the Prophet point-
ed out the many benefits in planting
trees which he said will last until
the Day of Judgment. He said, “If
the Hour is imminent and anyone of
you has a palm shoot to plant in his
hand and is able to plant it before
the Hour strikes, then he should do
so and he will be rewarded for that
action.”3
Furthermore, the Prophet rec-
ommended and warned that shaded
spots where people could rest and
spaces under fruit trees should not
be dirtied. He also emphasized that
there should be no spitting on roads
and places of worship,4 and objects
that could injure people should be
removed from the roads and put to
one side.5 All of these principles are
essential for every person to imple-
ment in ensuring a healthy environ-
ment and in respect to protecting
and keeping the environment clean.
The Quran also emphasizes not
harming other living creatures on
earth. God declares, “And there is
no creature on or within the earth or
a bird that flies with its wings except
that they are nations (communities)
like you.” (6:38)
Recent statistics show that over
60,000 animal species have gone ex-
tinct, over 4 million hectares of for-
ests are lost, around 1.8 billion liters It is possible to see the value, Furthermore, I have assigned 10
of water are used up, and around 10 importance, and respect given to the surgeons, 10 doctors, and 3 nurses.
million tons of toxic chemicals are environment by the Islamic world They are to walk through the streets
released into our environment by in- during fifteenth century through of Istanbul on certain days of each
dustries each year. 6 These are mas- the will of the great Ottoman Sultan month, knock on each and every door
sive amounts of waste and destruc- Mehmet II, Fatih the Conqueror. The and find out whether there are any
tion that humans have brought upon will reads: sick people in that household. If there
themselves. “I, the conqueror of Istanbul, are, they are to treat them. If this is
The environmental devastation humble servant Fatih Sultan Mehmet, not possible at the time, they are to
encapsulating this planet is thus a donate 136 shops which I personally be transferred to Darülaceze (nurs-
direct result of these physical laws and rightfully own in Taşlık suburb of ing homes/hospitals) and be treated
being broken. These statistics illus- Istanbul with the following conditions: there.
trate the results of our law-breaking I have assigned two persons for Additionally, the families of the
catching up with us. every street in Istanbul to be paid soldiers who are fallen martyrs and
The Ottomans: Sultans of sympathy from the profit earned from these the poor people of Istanbul are to be
The Ottoman era was a period dur- shops. These persons are to walk fed in the soup kitchen which I have
ing which an extreme emphasis along these streets at specific times of built. However, those who are not
was placed on the regulation and the day with a bucket in their hands able to personally come and eat there
protection of the environment, such which contains limestone and coal or collect their food will be provided
that had legally enforceable conse- powder. They are to conceal any spit with alternative service. Their food is
quences. This meant that there was found on the streets with these pow- to be sent to their homes in concealed
zero tolerance towards any misuse ders and be paid 20 akçe (Ottoman containers after sunset without it be-
of the environment. currency) per day. ing seen by others.”7

SEPTEMBER / OCTOBER 2010 10

 Another royal document regarding environmental care comes from six-
teenth century Sultan Süleyman the Magnificent titled Nişan-ı Hümayun. Some
important points to note in this document include:
“All homes, shops, and their surroundings are to be kept clean or to get
cleaned. Those in charge should identify citizens who litter and get those who
are responsible to clean their own litter.
Owners of oxcarts should not disturb local residents by leaving their ani-
mals near houses or courtyards. They are to collect and dispose of the dung
from their animals to appropriate places outside of the city. People are to be
prevented from throwing the carcasses of horses, sheep, etc. onto the streets.
Those who refuse to comply with this rule are to be punished publicly.
Used water containing detergent and soap are not to be thrown out onto
the streets. No individual has the right to prevent these rules from being imple-
mented and will closely be monitored by law enforcement agencies.”8
It is clearly evident that in royal documents like those mentioned above,
the leaders took necessary precautions and showed sensitivity towards the
implementation of the matters regarding the protection of spiritual and physi-
cal wellbeing of the people and the cleanliness of public places.
Animal rights are a contemporary issue that came to public attention only
quite recently. Unfortunately, in today’s society, many governments are still
struggling with human rights issues, let alone dealing with animal rights.
Ottoman sultans implemented legal measures on the protection and the
treatment of animals. In doing so, the care and proper treatment of animals
were bound by legal measures and are not left to the individuals’ own judg-
ment.
The Ottoman Empire was known for its vakıf, or foundations, which were
first set up to meet the needs of certain groups of people within society but
later became an integral part of the Ottoman lifestyle. The most interesting of
these vakıf were those dedicated to animals. These foundations were places
where generous people would donate certain amounts of money to bakeries
and butchers so that they could provide bread and meat for street animals.
Moreover, the sultans did not just stop at providing food for animals, they
also made sure that if these animals fell ill, there were specialized hospitals
for them to be treated in and looked after.
Ricaut, a British clerk who worked at the British embassy in Istanbul dur-
ing the Ottoman period (d. 1700) said how impressed he was by the respect
and value the Ottoman people had given animals and the importance they
had shown towards their nutrition and protection.
“There were not only people, but also cats and dogs that ate from the
soup kitchens. In some cities buildings were made for cats, foundations were
established for their nutrition, and expenses were paid for the allocation of
The Ottoman era was a period
servants to meet the needs of these animals.”9 during which an extreme
Aboriginals: the key to land management
Until quite recently the human race, whether in small self-governing native
emphasis was placed on the
communities or vast empires, functioned instinctively within natural, unwrit- regulation and protection
ten boundaries. When these old civilizations died, the forest and natural en-
vironment just grew over them. They left no rubbish, pollutants, or waste. of the environment, such
Similarly, Aboriginal tribes of Australia moved around their land for track-
ing shifts in the availability of important resources. Their respect for the na-
that had legally enforceable
tive flora and fauna meant using techniques to ensure their survival. consequences.
They actively managed their land through prescribed burning regimes
handed down from their ancestors. Aboriginal people burnt to hunt, to pro-
mote new grass, to make their land easier to travel through, to clear their land
of spiritual pollution left after a death, to create firebreaks for later in the dry
season, and for a variety of other reasons whose sole aim was to “bring the
land alive again.”10
They also had such deep respect for the animals on their land that, for
instance, they would slaughter a kangaroo to eat only if the total number of
kangaroos in a specific area had reached a certain amount. So until then, they
could not touch the kangaroos even if it meant staying hungry and finding
something else to eat. Their overall respect for the plants and animals of their

11 SEPTEMBER / OCTOBER 2010

land is one that was extremely sacred, one they felt li-
able to take care of and pass on in good condition to the
generations to come.
Conclusion
Today, however, man has much more to offer the world,
intellectually and technologically, when compared to the
past. Despite having the upper hand in areas such as sci-
ence and technology, the environment is still struggling
and suffering. Who has control over whom? Why is it that
tribes, clans, and empires in the past with little advance-
ments had more control over the environment, and today
with all the technological breakthroughs, people are still
struggling?
Sadly, the harmony that the Prophet promoted be-
tween man and his environment has been lost. As we
face the effects of chemical pollution caused by indus-
trial wastes, visual pollution caused by rubbish dump-
ing; noise pollution caused by unnecessary sounds,
and thought pollution caused by pointless and disor-
ganized overflow of information, it is perhaps time for
the world community as a whole, regardless of faith or
background, to look into the Prophet’s teachings and
address the current environmental crisis wisely.
The fundamental solution to these crises lies in hu-
mankind respecting the physical laws and embracing the
revealed laws designed by God.
Only then can there be true health, happiness, and
healing.
Nisa Nur Terzi is a student of journalism and law at LaTrobe
University, Melbourne.

Notes
1. Nursi, Bediuzzaman Said. 2008. The Gleams, NJ: Tughra Books, p. 429.
2. Gülen, Fethullah. 1996. “The Nature We Have Destroyed,” The
Fountain, No. 15.
3. Hadith Musnad.
4. Bukhari Volume 1, Book 8, Number 406.
5. Muslim Book 004, Number 1126.
6. Worldometers, “World Statistics updated in real time,” http://www.
worldometers.info/, Accessed 1 June 2009.
7. Özdemir, Ibrahim. “Osmanlı Toplumunda Çevre Anlayışı” Türkler, edt.
H.C. Güzel and K. Çiçek, Ankara: Yeni Turkiye Yayınları, c. 10. http://www.
ibrahimozdemir.com/Makaleler/Osmanl%C4%B1ToplumundaCevre.pdf,
Accessed 21 May 2009.
8. Ibid.
9. Ibid.
10. Northern Land Council: Caring for the country, “Land
Management”http://www.nlc.org.au/html/care_fire.html, Accessed
1 June 2009.

SEPTEMBER / OCTOBER 2010 12

Clean the fountain of your soul until it becomes perfectly pure.
Fix your eyes on your heart until your heart becomes an eye.
Give up doubts and put the pitcher of your heart to that fountain.
When that pitcher is filled with the water which gives delight,
Withdraw yourself and submit to its Owner His home.
When you leave it, God doubtless comes to His home.
Never let the devil-robber enter the home of your heart,
For once he has entered, it is very difficult to throw him out.
(La Makani Husain Efendi)

13 SEPTEMBER / OCTOBER 2010

 HISTORY
Paul Kearns

Islam
The Spread
of
The spread of a religious or ideological ideal can only be truly successful if those whom it is trying to
gain submission from are disillusioned or unhappy with their own contemporary world.

T
here are several historical reasons for the astounding spread
of Islam throughout Arabia and abroad after Muhammad’s
death in 632. These factors differed in degree depending
on which Islamic leader, empire, or dynasty was in power.
Although the religious sincerity and zeal of the Islamic powers varied
greatly, some reflection of the Muslim theological past was needed –
and I would argue was vital – to internally stabilize the Islamic world,
which would be necessary for later conquests and expansion. I will be
arguing that due to the ingenuity of those in power, general internal
stabilization followed in the new Islamic world, which allowed suc-
cessful Islamic military conquests to begin, and Islam soon became a
more likely entity to spread during the period of 630–1683. I will also
be emphasizing how Islamic leaders and empires regularly referred
back to the religious principles established by the Prophet and the
early Caliphs, which justified their claims to power and fueled a desire
to expand realms.
The spread of Islam would obviously not have occurred without
its Prophet, Muhammad, who was able to win support for his spiritual
and political status within Arabia in the early seventh century. After
having claimed to receive divine revelations, Muhammad slow-
ly acquired a small following and eventually some seventy
families had converted to Islam.1 However, not all of
his contemporaries were convinced of the genu-
ineness of his message. This was especially true
of the pagan rulers of his Quraysh tribe in
Mecca. Consequent persecutions caused
the early Muslims to flee to Yathrib,

SEPTEMBER / OCTOBER 2010 14

which was located 250 miles north
of Mecca. Yet, what appeared to be a
backward move for the early believ-
ers actually benefited them and their
religion as the tribes around Yathrib
were enthralled by Muhammad’s
spiritual vision and pledged alle-
giance to the ummah (community).
A series of conflicts between the
Quraysh and Muslims climaxed in
630 when the Quraysh broke an ear-
lier peace treaty that had been estab-
lished. This saw Muhammad march
upon Mecca with 10,000 men and
take the city without bloodshed. He
then destroyed the idols around the
Kabah and rededicated it to God. By
the time of Muhammad’s death in
632, as Karen Armstrong explains,
“almost all the tribes of Arabia had
joined the ummah as Confederates
or as converted Muslims.”2 As his-
tory will show, this was not the end
of this remarkable series of events.
For unification of Arabia would not
cease at the death of the founder of
Islam but would rather dramatically
gain momentum through his succes-
sors, the Caliphs.
With the combination of three
important factors: unification, con-
quest, and religious zeal, the early
Caliphs were able to consolidate
Muslim rule in Arabia and prepare a
launching pad for further conquests.
This initial spread of Islam was so
rapid that, as H. U. Rahman explains,
“in less than one century after the
death of the Prophet Muhammad in
632, Muslim rule covered more of the
earth than had the Roman Empire at
its peak.”3 This unification did not
however happen overnight, and it
must be emphasized that Islamic
rulers always had much division to
contend with. The first Caliph, Abu
Bakr, had the difficult job of uniting
all of the tribes that had forsaken
their allegiance to the ummah after
Muhammad’s death. Yet through
political, theological, and at times
military coercion, Abu Bakr was able
to completely unify Arabia before
his death in 634.4 Secondly, despite
the assassinations of the next three
caliphs – Umar, Uthman, and Ali –
which characterizes the bloody pe-
riod that ensued, the spread of Islam
continued to gain momentum as
successful military campaigns were
carried out abroad. From 634–44, the
Caliphate of Umar had conquered
Jerusalem, controlled Iraq, Syria,
Palestine, and Egypt, and defeated
the Persian Empire.5 Furthermore, in
Uthman’s reign (644–50), Muslims
conquered Cyprus, Tripoli in North
Africa, and established Islamic rule
in Iran, Afghanistan, and the Sind
region.6 The above two methods of
internal unification and successful
conquest led to the establishment of
the Islamic world during the seventh
century, and the speed in which it
accomplished this announced to the
world that Islam was here – and here
to stay.
The third explanation of the
rapid spread of Islam throughout
Arabia and beyond was – most im-
portantly – the religious zeal of the
leaders, soldiers, and general Arab
population. Plainly put, without
being fuelled with a sense that God
was on their side, the Muslim con-
quests would have fallen far short
of their eventual reality. Tamara
Sonn explains that the basic te-
nets of Islamic faith captivated the
people and structured Islamic life
in Medina, and it was around these
practices and core values that the
early Muslim community was built.7
Francesco Gabrieli supports Sonn
and places a heavy emphasis on
religion as the principal factor un-
derlying and motivating the Arab
conquests.8 Indeed, it is hard to
imagine any group achieving geo-
graphical expansion without a clear
goal and purpose; for the Mongols of
the thirteenth century it was a bru-
tal ideological reason, whilst for the
Muslims it was the feeling that they
were being divinely guided.
Nevertheless the spread of a re-
ligious or ideological ideal can only
be truly successful if those whom it
is trying to gain submission from are
disillusioned or unhappy with their
own contemporary world. This was
the case for the many thousands of
people under Byzantine rule. We find
that a great number gladly adhered
to the conquering Islamic rulers and
Quranic law as they found protec-
15 SEPTEMBER / OCTOBER 2010
tion and benefits that had not been attained under Byzantine rule. Many mi- tual construction shows that Islamic
norities had become increasingly dissatisfied with the Byzantine regime due rulers could not go forward unless
to their insecurities of being persecuted and instead came to favor the secure they acknowledged the close rela-
Islamic rulership who allowed autonomy for minority groups if their taxes tionship between conquest and the
were paid.9 The preference of many of the conquered peoples to favor Islamic Muslim religion, and this was done
rule enabled the Islamic Empire to remain politically stable, which is a pre- most emphatically with the con-
requisite for any group wanting to expand its geographic borders. struction of this monument.
Turning back the clock to the infant stages of Islam, we find that the Despite geographical consolida-
Muslims were fraught with political struggles for power. With factions de- tions made by the early Umayyad
veloping within the Islamic world following Ali’s assassination (the fourth Caliphs, discontent remained within
Caliph) in 661, the unity and prosperity of the new Islamic Empire became the Islamic world with several ex-
threatened. However, it was the way that the Muslims were efficiently able tremist groups emerging regularly in
to get back on their feet and consolidate unity that saw these power strug- Islamic culture. This was perhaps a
gles, which had the potential to dismantle Islamic hopes for expansion, catalyst for Umayyad leaders having
averted. The Islamic world needed a leader who could unite as many of a more political conception of Islam
these factions together as possible, and this stability came with the es- than did previous rulers.13 Although
tablishment of the Umayyad Dynasty through Muawiyyah I. He ruled the discontentment of factions with-
from 661–80 and was the first Caliph to move his capital away from in the Islamic world, such as the
Medina, transferring it to Damascus. However unpopular this Shias, could not be eradicated, in-
move was, R. Stephen Humphreys explains that Muawiyyah I ternal stability generally emerged at
saved the Muslim Empire from disintegration as he was, “the the commencement of the Umayyad
only man with the political and military resources available Dynasty. Paul Lunde explains that
to restore unity within the realm of Islam.”10 Although the the pacification of the central lands
Umayyad period is typically characterized by political under early Umayyad rulers enabled
and military success, the Umayyad rulers did not for- them to focus primarily on conquest
get its founding religion. According to Karen Armstrong, so that the spread of Islam could
Muawiyyah I was simply “a religious man and a devout continue.14 Furthermore, according
Muslim.”11 Furthermore, a statement of Islam’s superiority to Armstrong, conquest was able
to past religions was symbolically made through the estab- to be successfully waged during
lishment of the Dome of the Rock, which was completed al-Walid I’s reign between 705–715
at Jerusalem in 691 under Caliph Abd al-Malik.12 This spiri- where the Umayyad dynasty reached
its peak and the Muslim armies
continued the conquest of North
Africa, and established a kingdom
in Spain.15 However, even though
the Umayyad Dynasty had
expanded its Islamic bor-
ders throughout the Arab
world, its power soon
declined, as internal fric-
tion had finally reached
unmanageability. Then,
the Umayyads – some-
what inevitably – suc-
cumbed to the over-
whelming power of the
Abbasids in 750.
Even though the
overthrow of the
Umayyad family by
the Abbasids was
horrific and angered
many, this brutal act
did not slow the con-
tinual geographical or
economical gains of Islam.
In fact, at the height
of Abbasid power in
800 (who had moved
the Islamic capital to
Baghdad in 762) only

SEPTEMBER / OCTOBER 2010 16

Constantinople and Xian, the capi-
tal of the great T’ang China, rivaled
Baghdad’s wealth.16 Although mili-
tary might was the predominant ve-
hicle of Islamic power, the strength
of Muslims at the zenith of Abbasid
power in the ninth century was rep-
resented through a great cultural
renaissance which took place in
literary criticism, philosophy, po-
etry, and science. This marked the
beginnings of “Muslim genius” as
individuals such as Abu Bakr Al
Razi (864–925) studied medicine
and uncovered unique contracep-
tive methods; and Abu Nasr Al
Farabi (870–950) incorporated logic
and politics into philosophy.17 As
Armstrong explains, such was the
grandeur of this era that the Muslim
scholars made more scientific dis-
coveries during this time than in
the whole previously recorded his-
tory put together.18 Hence, these
examples symbolize the prestige of
the superpower Abbasid Empire of
the old world, which asserted itself
not only through military conquests
but through cultural and scientific
discovery.
However, despite the Abbasid
period reaching new heights in re-
gards to its geographical expansion,
it too slowly declined in prestige
from about 935 and would soon be
unable to hold off a young and pow-
The traditional theory of the
conquests being character-
ized merely by Bedouin
neophytes of Islam rushing
from their desert birthplace
to convert other nations
with the sword has been
completely dismissed by
modern historiography.
erful group of Muslims in the centu-
ries to follow: the Turks.
Before the success of one final
Islamic Empire is discussed, it is
important to reflect on several other
specific reasons why Islam spread
so rapidly throughout Arabia and to
the whole world. Three of these de-
serve particular mention. First, the
Caliphs and Muslim rulers were will-
ing to use existing administrative
structures to enforce laws, and it was
not uncommon for non-Islamic offi-
cials to be used in high places within
a conquered society.19 Second, there
was seldom force or coercion used
from Islamic forces once a mili-
tary campaign was successful. As
Francesco Gabrieli explains, the tra-
ditional theory of the conquests be-
ing characterized merely by Bedouin
neophytes of Islam rushing from
their desert birthplace to convert
other nations with the sword has
been completely dismissed by mod-
ern historiography.20 In fact, Arabs
were quite content with their pas-
sive non-Muslim subjects known as
dhimmis (those who were second-
class citizens under Islamic law,
yet protected under this status) and
no real effort was made to convert
them.21 This hands-off approach ac-
tually led to an increase in Islamic
converts regularly throughout the
Islamic Empire as individuals were
pleased to make their own decision
about religion, which is something
that had not been afforded them un-
der Byzantine rule.
Finally, further comparisons be-
tween Byzantine Christianity and
Islam highlight how many became
turned off by Christendom but en-
thusiastic and inquisitive about
Islam. Christianity had become
heavily clericized by the seventh
century and appeared to be exclu-
sive, whilst Islam appealed to in-
dividuals by offering unparalleled
simplicity through its core princi-
ples. According to Abul-Fazl Ezzati,
the five pillars of Islam, when com-
pared to Christian orthodoxy, “re-
placed complexity of religious doc-
trines with simplicity, trinity with
unity, empty theological discussions
with concrete observation and fun-
damental analysis.”22 Moreover,
the extent and rapidity of the suc-
cess of Islamic military conquests
had Muslims feeling that there was
something divine aiding their cause.
Zealous Muslims and their mission-
ary activities always went hand in
hand with the success of Islam and
this sense of mission motivated
Muslims to assist the expansion ef-
forts in whatever way they could.23
Hence, Islam appealed to many con-
temporaries’ needs and with the lure
of further expansion, many felt that
Islam was the path for the future.
With this understanding in
mind, we can finally return to the
last great Islamic Empire of the an-
cient world through looking at the
Ottoman Empire. Although Islam
had by no means died out in terms
of its expansion after Abbasid rule, it
had clearly slowed by the fourteenth
century. As Armstrong explains,
from 935 onwards, “the caliphs no
longer (wielded) temporal power but
merely (retained) a symbolic author-
ity. Real power now resided with the
local rulers, who established dynas-
ties in various parts of the empire.”24
Moreover, with the addition of the
Mongol raids, which began in 1220,
Islamic cities became desolate and
the spread of Islam was curtailed for
the first time in centuries as atten-
tion was turned to internal frontiers.
However, a final thrust of Islamic
expansion would occur through the
Ottoman Empire, who slowly con-
solidated its own power in Anatolia,
and by the late fourteenth cen-
tury had begun to threaten Europe.
One of the early Sultans, Murad I
(1360–1389), had become the most
powerful of the western Muslim rul-
ers and this led to the name of the
Ottomans symbolizing hope for a
reunified Islamic empire.25 This hope
was fueled by geographical gains
made through military expansion
by several Ottoman Sultans, such as
Murad I (1421–1451), who asserted
Ottoman power against Hungary
and the West and by 1453 his succes-
sor, Mehmed II, who had conquered
Constantinople, changed its name to
Istanbul, and made it the Ottoman
capital. Accordingly, the Ottomans
had recommenced Muslim expan-
sion and would look to achieve
something past Islamic Empires
could not – to successfully challenge
Western Europe.
Ottoman expansion continued
17 SEPTEMBER / OCTOBER 2010
with Suleiman the Magnificent
(1520–66) whose Empire, after con-
quering Hungary in 1526, had be-
come the greatest power in Eastern
Europe.26 It is important to note
here that Suleiman saw the con-
solidation of Islamic values as the
key to his military successes. As
Jason Goodwin explains, Suleiman,
“oversaw the most detailed codifi-
cation of sultanic and Quranic law
that had ever been known in an
Islamic state.”27 Hence, although
the Ottoman Empire did not repre-
sent all Muslims, it is clear that great
Sultans such as Suleiman did not
forget the founder of their religion
as they saw themselves as a genuine
continuation of early Islamic his-
tory. Justin McCarthy puts it clearly
for us – “the base of the Ottoman
Empire was Islam. Religion was in-
timately bound up with the ideology
and legitimacy of the government
… Their Empire was always styled
a Muslim empire, one in the line of
Islamic empires that had included
the Umayyads, the Abbasids, and
the Seljuks.”28 We see once again
here, this time under the rule of the
Ottomans, that legitimacy and sup-
port of a great Islamic Empire went
hand in hand with a reflection on
the spiritual past of the Muslim tra-
dition.
Nevertheless, during the latter
stages of Ottoman rule, the sultans
began looking too far outwardly
and neglecting inner spirituality,
which deadened the degree of sup-
port that Muslims would give it. This
empire fatally climaxed when the
Ottomans looked to secure further
lands in Europe. Their efforts fell
horribly short, and they lost a vital
battle to the coalition of the Holy
League in 1683 at Vienna. When they
were forced to humiliatingly sign the
Treaty of Carlowicz in 1699, they had
to yield Ottoman Hungary to Austria,
which was the first major Ottoman
reversal.29 Although the Empire did
not crumble overnight, this point
marks the end of Ottoman expan-
sion – and indeed Islamic expan-
sion – and the beginning of its slow
decline.
The powerful Islamic dynas-
ties and empires finally came to an
end with the demise of the Ottoman
Empire. Yet the legacy that both it
SEPTEMBER / OCTOBER 2010 18
and previous rulerships had left
behind was remarkable geographi-
cal expansion, which had emanated
from a small tribe in Arabia. The
spread of Islam was orchestrated
through the close connection of
most Muslims and their leaders to
an Islamic way of life, which gave
them a sense of purpose for their
conquests and expansions. It is im-
portant to understand that this was
not always done smoothly; the over-
throws of Islamic Empires did not
always happen peacefully and blood
was often internally shed in order to
propel a fresher and stronger willed
Islamic group forward. Although
much internal strife was a com-
mon characteristic of the Islamic
Empires, the historical reality shows
us that enough of the Muslim popu-
lation was willing to forget past dis-
agreements and get on with a com-
mon cause of conquering peoples
and gaining territory. Yet the key to
all of this success was surely the reli-
gious foundation of the Prophet and
the early Caliphs. Through future
Islamic rulers regularly reminding
their adherents of their Prophet and
of his message, the Muslims felt as if
they were part of something greater
than themselves. Despite religious
zeal fluctuating from time to time,
Islamic faith would always seem to
be reinvigorated which led to grand
Empires being established and
Islamic history being created.
Paul Kearns has a major in history and
English from Monash University, Melbourne.
Notes
1. Karen Armstrong, Islam: A Short History,
New York, 2000, p. 12.
2. Ibid, 23.
3. H. U. Rahman, A Chronology of Islamic
History: 570-1000 ce, London, 1989, p. vii.
4. Tamara Sonn, A Brief History of Islam,
Oxford, 2004, p. 23.
5. Armstrong, 2000, pp. 27, 29.
6. Ibid, p. xiv.
7. Sonn, 2004, p. 22.
8. Francesco Gabrieli, Muhammad and the
Conquests of Islam, London, 1968, p. 104.
9. Sonn, 2000, pp. 25, 34.
10. R. Stephen Humphreys. Mu‘awiya ibn Abi
Sufyan: From Arabia to Empire, Oxford,
2006, p. 84.
11. Armstrong. 2000, p. 42.
12. Ibid, p. 44.
13. Gerald R. Hawting. The First Dynasty of
Islam: The Umayyad Caliphate AD 661-750,
London, 1986, p. 2.
14. Paul Lunde. Islam, London, 2002, p. 52.
15. Armstrong, 2000, p. 50.
16. Lunde, 2002, p. 56.
17. Akbar S. Ahmed. Discovering Islam:
Making Sense of Muslim History and
Society, London, 2002, pp. 44-5.
18. Armstrong, 2000, p. 56.
19. Ibid, p. 54.
20. Gabrieli, 1968, p. 105.
21. Ibid, p. 115.
22. Abul-Fazl Ezzati. An Introduction to the
History of the Spread of Islam, London,
1978, p. 43.
23. Ibid, p. 3.
24. Armstrong, 2000, p. xix.
25. Sonn, 2000, p. 78.
26. Patrick Kinross. The Ottoman Centuries:
The Rise and Fall of the Turkish Empire,
New York, 1979, p. 187.
27. Jason Goodwin. Lords of the Horizon: A
History of the Ottoman Empire, New York,
1998, p. 83.
28. Justin McCarthy, The Ottoman Turks: An
Introductory History to 1923, London, 1997,
p. 106.
29. Armstrong, 2000, p. xxvi.
 A MOMENT FOR REFLECTION
Mary Lahaj

Many a night Zainab would hide at the top of the stairs silently cowering and listening, as the battle raged below over

F
the gambled money—whether won or lost.

or many years, Zainab had been struggling to understand the true meaning of forgiveness. She was especially distressed
whenever she thought about her father who had died in 1973. He was someone she loved more than anyone in the world. 
But sadly, Zainab’s father was afflicted by an addiction: gambling. Zainab believed, according to her religion Islam, that Allah,
the loving Creator, prohibited certain actions to Muslims because those actions had the potential for the most harm.
Gambling was one of the most destructive among them. So Zainab could not reconcile her father’s beloved status with the
abominable act he was committing. But, it was life, and her father did what many people do: rationalize the wrong he was
doing when, in fact, the wrong he committed affected everyone in his life.  It caused Zainab’s family to be dysfunctional and
had a disastrous effect on her mother. This unhappiness rained down from the mother onto her children.

19 SEPTEMBER
JULY / AUGUST
/ OCTOBER
20102010
 And though Zainab’s parents
tried their best to hide their shame
and to protect their children from
this wrong, they fought constantly
in the house.
Many a night Zainab would hide
at the top of the stairs silently cower-
ing and listening, as the battle raged
below over the gambled money—
whether won or lost. Her home was
a scary place that she forever asso-
ciated with emotional turmoil. In
Zainab’s home, the rights that were
given to the children by their religion
were violated each time she and her
siblings were exposed to the wrong
and the undeniable harm it caused.
Her one thought was to grow up and
get away from that house, from the
confusion, the humiliation, and the
pain.
About six months before he died,
her father quit gambling. At the time
of his death, Zainab was 25, and she
had already succeeded in getting as
far away from home as possible. She
came back for her father’s funeral,
went through all the motions, but
she didn’t shed a single tear. She
could never understand why be-
cause she had loved her father so
deeply.
Five years after Zainab’s father
died, she finally dreamt of him. In
her dream, there was a room full of
people crowding around the bottom
of a long staircase, anticipating her
dad’s arrival. He was delayed up-
stairs for some reason. Earlier in the
day, Zainab had agonized over what
to wear—just as she always did in
real life—but she finally borrowed
the perfect dress from her friend
for this special occasion of seeing
her dad after so many years of be-
ing apart. With the arising of a loud
hum of excitement, she looked up to Then, one night, as Zainab was making a supplication, she felt the warmth
see her father slowly descending the
stairs. He was pale and sickly look- of God’s love gripping her heart, and she heard herself whisper effortlessly,
ing, but he never said a word as he “I forgive you, Dad.” In that overwhelming moment, Zainab experienced for-
made his way through the crowd. He
came directly to Zainab and took her giveness as both an act of giving and a gift from Allah.
in strong arms, hugging tightly. The
desperation of the greeting alarmed
her.
The next thing she knew, her
father had some sort of convulsion
and he vomited all over the front
of her dress. She tried to push him
away, thinking foolishly only of the

SEPTEMBER / OCTOBER 2010 20

Forgiving another had never been easy for Zainab and granting forgiveness felt
so much heavier than asking for it. But in this case, she wanted reconciliation
more than anything. She wanted to feel her heart whole (not divided) again, as
she did as a child. She wanted to forgive her dad… if only she could.

borrowed dress, but he held her and pulled her closer. Zainab straight-
ened her arms, trying in vain to get out of the embrace. But then her dad
had another convulsion. He seemed to be weakening and leaning on her
for support. Responding, Zainab finally gave in. Ignoring the ruination of
her dress, she held his weakened body, making sure he didn’t fall. When
she awoke, she was squeezing her wet pillow and sobbing hard. For over
thirty years to come, she wondered about the meaning of that dream.
Then one day she was reading how practicing Jews fasted on the Day
of Atonement (Yom Kippur) and asked God to forgive them their sins of the
past year. It was interesting to learn that they must also ask for forgiveness
from anyone they might have harmed. Thinking of the harm she had suf-
fered as a child, Zainab suddenly realized the meaning of her dream:  her
dad had come to ask for her forgiveness. This revelation was really a shock
to her. For so many years, she had held anger and resentment rightfully
against her dad. Yet now, forgiveness was being asked of her.
In fact, her own religion Islam placed a great emphasis on seeking
forgiveness from other people for the harms one might have caused them.
So putting herself in her father’s shoes, Zainab could easily understand
why he needed to free himself of this burden.
Zainab began her journey toward forgiveness by realizing how impor-
tant it is to ask for forgiveness from Allah. It comforted her to know that
one of the 99 names of Allah is the Most Forgiving (Al-Ghafur). A hadith
qudsi (those words of Allah on the tongue of his prophet that are not part
of the revelation of the Quran) reads as follows: “Oh son of Adam, were
your sins so great as to reach the clouds of the sky, and were you then
to ask forgiveness of Me, I would forgive you” (Al-Tirmidhi, Hadith). She
dared to think that even she might be forgiven for her sins. Then she pon-
dered: doesn’t everyone want their sins forgiven?
Still struggling to free herself from anger and resentment, Zainab
sought the advice of a Christian friend who directed her to Paul’s letter to
the Ephesians, in which he encouraged his readers to understand that as
God has forgiven us, so we must also forgive one another. Paul’s words,
like the hadith qudsi, described forgiveness as a gift from God.
These words strengthened Zainab’s belief in the Most Forgiving (Al-
Ghafur), but forgiving another had never been easy for Zainab and grant-
ing forgiveness felt so much heavier than asking for it. But in this case, she
wanted reconciliation more than anything. She wanted to feel her heart
whole (not divided) again, as she did as a child. She wanted to forgive her
dad… if only she could.
Then, one night, as Zainab was making a supplication, she felt the
warmth of God’s love gripping her heart, and she heard herself whisper
effortlessly, “I forgive you, Dad.” In that overwhelming moment, Zainab
experienced forgiveness as both an act of giving and a gift from Allah. For
Zainab, the greatest favor she had sought from Allah was forgiveness, and
it brought her the peace and reconciliation that she had desired.

Mary Lahaj has a master’s degree from the Hartford Seminary in Islamic Studies and
Christian/Muslim Relations. She is currently the first Muslim woman chaplain at Simmons College
in Boston, an all girls’ undergraduate Liberal Arts College.

21 SEPTEMBER / OCTOBER 2010

 COMPUTER SCIENCE
Halil I. Demir

Our influence on the earth and environment in a general sense is

not limited to the consumption of goods. One of the most influen-
tial yet less-visible traces is the footprint we leave in the digital
environment. There are active or passive traces left in a digital
environment by personal activity.

T
he term “footprint” refers in general to traces left or caused by hu-
man beings through the consumption of resources while guests in
this physical world. It is the culmination of our environmental im-
pact through consumption in our short lifetime. This consumption
includes natural resources, time, money, energy, and most precious of all,
our given lifetime and youth. Thus, our impact on the environment tells a
lot about us and can be as unique as our fingerprints.
According to a study by researchers of the Human Footprint Project [1],
humans have influenced 83% of the earth’s surface. The study is based on
four factors: population, travel routes, land use, and lights. One of the find-
ings of the study shows that an average American is responsible for more
carbon emissions in one year, than a person in Tanzania in a lifetime. This
significant difference is certainly related to the average lifespan, income,
culture, and climate. However, do any of us have the rights to disturb the
environment more than others? Are we consuming something that doesn’t
belong to us, and leaving an unsustainable environment for future genera-
tions? To answer these questions, it is imperative that we understand and
acknowledge exactly what we have inherited, what we are responsible for,
and what we will leave to future generations.
Our influence on the earth and environment in a general sense is not
limited to the consumption of goods. One of the most influential yet less-
visible traces is the footprint we leave in the digital environment. There are
active or passive traces left in a digital environment by personal activity.
An active trace is left when personal information is released by a person
himself, whereas a passive trace (digital shadow) is left when personal data

SEPTEMBER / OCTOBER 2010 22


is collected during personal activity.
These traces, also known as digital
footprints, can spread very quickly
and may reach to millions in a very
short time. One can leave digital
traces by simply visiting a website,
sending a blog post, or posting a
photo or message to a friend’s web-
site.
Our digital traces affect the envi-
ronment in many ways. Every trace
takes our time to generate it and for
others to read it. It consumes storage
and network resources on the server
that increase the costs, power usage,
and eventually our carbon footprint,
or the total greenhouse gas emis-
sions. We need to seek a balance in
our use of digital media in order to
utilize the benefits efficiently and to
minimize our consumption of time
and other resources.
Have you ever wondered “how
often a person leaves digital traces
behind every day?” or “how much
of our privacy are we sharing with
others?” A recent study reveals some
figures about the size of the digital
universe as 281 billion gigabytes
(GB) for 2008 and 1.8 billion tera-
bytes for 2011 [2]. The digital trace
generated by the average person
on a daily basis was about 45 GB in
2008. This includes private informa-
tion such as emails, photos, VOIP
calls, and instant messages.
How about passive digital traces
we leave behind by credit card pur-
chases, bank accounts, phone re-
cords, web searches, general backup
data, medical and hospital records,
surveillance cameras, and so on?
There are more passive traces col-
lected than our active digital traces,
which provide more personal infor-
mation.
As of 2006, there were over 1
billion Visa credit cards worldwide
23 SEPTEMBER / OCTOBER 2010
and counting [3]. Credit cards give in England is 4.2 million, or one for provide tools to build online com-
a lot of private information about every 14 people according to an es- munities of people, who want to
a person: stores we prefer, movies timate. According to Scotland Yard, share and learn interests and ac-
we watch, places we travel, books one crime per 1,000 CCTV cameras is tivities of others. We can build our
we read, prescriptions we take, rent solved in a year [6]. friend list and share photos, vid-
and utility fees we pay; mainly our The number of smart phones eos, and updates about our life.
lifestyle is hidden in our credit card increased 13.9 percent worldwide, According to Nielsen Online’s report
statements. It might contain a lot of compared to 2007, and reached on Internet usage in June 2009 [8],
details we want to keep private. We 139 million in 2008 [7]. Many smart users spent an average of 4 hours
can easily learn a lot about our so- phones have real-time video stream- and 39 minutes during June on one
cial life just by analyzing one of our ing capabilities and are widely used. of the most famous social network-
credit card statements. Users upload hundreds of thou- ing sites, Facebook, which has 87
Web searches provide more in- sands of videos per day to YouTube million visitors. Normally these web-
sightful information about a person. about themselves or people around sites provide privacy settings to limit
113 billion web searches were con- them. Considering that there are who can access our friend list, pho-
ducted in July 2009, a 41 percent in- thousands of video sharing web- tos, or other information. Since most
crease compared to 2008 [4]. Besides sites like YouTube, sharing videos of the people don’t refuse friend re-
all the information we leave with our on these websites lies at the center quests, it is very easy to be added as
credit card, web searches may show of important privacy concerns. There a friend and get access to all the pri-
things we have not actually done. are websites to share videos, photos, vate information of people we do not
They contain information about music, location, blog posts, and per- even know. Once we get accepted
our future plans, such as travel, job sonal updates. With the rise of the by a person as a friend, it gets eas-
search, health related issues, meet- micro-blogging trend, we can see ier to be accepted as friend by his/
ings, and education. Websites can real-time updates about a person on her friends, since we have mutual
provide smarter search results and websites like Twitter. This allows us friends. These connections increase
personalized advertisements ac- to track every minute of a person’s our friend list exponentially.
cording to our search habits. Search life. I had known about this process
engines even know how fast we type Social networking is a new way for some time, so I wanted to confirm
or process information, our typos, of communication. Many websites it myself by setting up an account
languages we speak, how smart we
search, and even our physical loca-
tion from the IP address.
Today many cars have GPS
(Global Positioning System) ca-
pabilities and smart phones have
GPS sensors. GPS devices can show
our exact location anywhere in the
world, provide turn-by-turn instruc-
tions from one location to another,
provide a list of nearby stores, and
warn us about traffic problems. A
recent market research [5] estimates
that the mobile location technol-
ogy market that crosses the US will
be $75 billion by 2013 with growing
usage of GPS capabilities in auto-
mobiles and consumer electronics.
Beside all the benefits, GPS devices
leave an important digital trace be-
hind, our exact location, which can
be stored for later use or tracked by
third parties.
Even if a person doesn’t have
a GPS sensor with him, there are
cameras all around the city that can
help capture one’s location. We can
see cameras inside and outside of
the banks, stores, traffic lights, and
even closed-circuit TV (CCTV) sur-
veillance cameras in some cities.
The total number of CCTV cameras

SEPTEMBER / OCTOBER 2010 24

With various effects on our natural and social environment, digital traces are
one of the most influential and yet less known by-products of consumption.
with fake information and identity
on Facebook in 2008. I selected a
college and input random personal
information to my profile. I visited
some group pages on Facebook and
joined them. Then Facebook started
to offer possible friend lists that have
common interests with me. I started
to make random friend requests to
many users on these lists. In one
day, I had around a hundred friends
in my list that I don’t know person-
ally. As a friend on their list, I have
access to all information they share
with others. Most of the users are
using default settings and are not
aware of privacy issues. Even if we
are careful about all these settings
and our privacy, our information
is accessible by website managers.
Digital traces left by users are valu-
able commercial assets for compa-
nies, and most of them share or sell
this information to third party com-
panies which provide online adver-
tisements, products, and services.
There is a positive side of these
digital traces. Websites provide bet-
ter recommendation of products and
services, targeted advertisements,
smarter search results, and personal
news. Entertainment businesses can
provide appropriate suggestions by
using location services. However,
erasing our digital traces is difficult
or even impossible in some cases. To
protect our privacy and identity, it is
essential that we are aware of places
our personal information is stored.
It is the responsibility of websites to
protect user’s data. However, it will
be a good start to be aware as users
of our traces on the digital universe
and to share personal information
carefully.
With various effects on our natu-
ral and social environment, digital
traces are one of the most influen-
tial and yet less known by-products
of consumption. It is an important
responsibility for us to decide how
we affect our environment, how we
spend our time, and what we are go-
ing to leave to future generations.
With all the unique values given to
humans, we need to learn to make
meaningful contributions and carry
more responsibility for our actions,
especially in the digital world where
boundaries are unlimited.
Acknowledgment: This article is
produced either in part or a whole
at MERGEOUS [9], an online article
and project development service for
authors and publishers dedicated
to the advancement of technologies
in the merging realm of science and
religion.
Halil I. Demir, PhD, is an internet entrepre-
neur and freelance writer.
References
1. Wildlife Conservation Society [http://
www.wcs.org/humanfootprint]
2. EMC Report, “The Diverse and Exploding
Digital Universe,” 2008.
3. Visa USA Internal Statistics, Q4 2006.
4. ComScore Press Release, August 31, 2009.
5. RNCOS Market Research Report, “World
GPS Market Forecast to 2013,” April 2009.
6. Telegraph, 24 Aug 2009.
7. Gartner Press Release, Worldwide Smartphone
Sales, Mart 2009.
8. Nielsen Online’s Report, June 2009.
9. Mergeous [http://www.mergeous.com]
25 SEPTEMBER / OCTOBER 2010
 PHYSICS
Murat Yuksel, Tansel Karabacak,
and Hasan Guclu

The interesting observation we would like the reader to recognize here

is that shadowing and reemission effects take place at nano as well as
at macro levels, and both play important roles in shaping formations or
structures. Though these effects are mainly studied in physical struc-
tures, they certainly exist in unphysical structures such as societies.
Sharing both physical wealth and knowledge is strongly advised for a
strong community that lives in harmony.

SEPTEMBER / OCTOBER 2010 26

U
nderstanding the
dynamics involved
in the formation
and development of
physical structures on both
atomic and galactic scales
has been a key topic for the
scientific investigation since
the beginning of scientific
inquiry. These dynamics can
be driven by many differ-
ent factors such as gravity,
molecular relationships, and
atomic/electron interactions.
The characteristics of the
dynamics are critical as they
are responsible for the final
shape of the physical struc-
tures. Scientists have been
explaining the final forma-
tions of physical structures by
means of the main factor(s) of
the dynamics. For example,
molecular structures are ex-
plained via chemical bonds,
wind patterns via pressure
gradient, ocean streams via
temperature gradient, and
tree shapes and galaxies via
gravity. In this essay, we take
a brief look at the two dynamic effects believed
to drive the final shapes of various physical
structures from nano to macro scales: shadow-
ing effect and reemission effect.
Shadowing effect: the game of who is taller
When sunlight falls on Earth, some shadowy ar-
eas do not receive it due to an elevated structure
nearby. This causes the shadowy areas to have a
different set of plants, which are usually shorter
and smaller than the plants in the sunny areas.
In brief, the shadowing effect is the input (here
sunlight) reception behavior caused by height
differences across a surface. The game here is
that the taller ones grab more input than the
shorter ones. In systems where the input is
some kind of material falling on the surface,
the most important outcome of the shadowing
effect is slowly-rising columnar structures. The
ultimate surface morphology depends heavily
on the strength of the shadowing effect. Hills
of snow following a heavy snow fall and forests
with trees of various heights are examples of
the shadowing effect.
Reemission effect: the game of reflections
When things bounce, they follow certain physi-
cal rules. When you throw something, it may
stick or bounce depending on several factors.
For instance, when the light falls onto a surface,
some of it penetrates the surface and gets ab-
sorbed while the rest gets reflected. Reemission
is another name for bouncing or reflection in
physics, though the idea is not just equivalent
angle reflection or equivalent reaction force
bouncing.

Figure 1: Surface of
a growing thin film
(growth front) under
shadowing and reemis-
sion effects. [1]

Figure 1 illustrates the shad-
owing and reemission effects
on a sample surface with
hills. Falling particles will
most often hit the hills first
due to the shadowing effect.
If the hill cannot grab the
particle on the first hit, then
the particle reemits, and it
becomes possible for the par-
ticle to fall into a valley. In
order for a particle to settle
in a valley (e.g., particle B
in Figure 1), it will have to
go through a sequence of
reemissions. Let’s say that a
particle’s reemission prob-
ability (i.e., residual of the
sticking coefficient) is p dur-
ing a hit onto the surface. By
simple math, if k reemissions
are needed in order for a
particle to settle in a valley
point, then the probability of
this valley point grabbing a
particle is (1—p)pk-1 while it is
(1—p) for a hilltop under no
shadow. In this very approxi-
mate model, k will be larger
for a deeper valley point,

27 SEPTEMBER / OCTOBER 2010

thereby further reducing the grab
probability. To get a quick sense of
it, for p=0.5, the grab probability is
50% for a hilltop and 25%, 12.5%,
and 6.25% for valley points with
k=1, 2, and 3 respectively. Similarly,
the parameter p represents the im-
portance the of reemission effect in
the growth of the surface. Higher p
means more reemissions and a larg-
er grab probability for valley points.
That is, for p=0.9 (which means the
material reemits 90% of the time),
the grab probability is 10% for a
hilltop; and 9%, 8.1%, and 7.3% for
k=1, 2, and 3 respectively.
Intuitively, when the shadow-
ing effect is dominant, the hills will
grow larger and maybe merge with
each other while sites at the valleys
will remain short. The final sur-
face will not be smooth but rough.
Figure 2 shows this phenomenon on
the macro scale for Tibetan forest
growth under the shadowing effect,
and Figure 3 shows it on the nano
scale (1 nanometer corresponds
to 1 billionth of a meter or about
hundred thousand times smaller
than the diameter of a human hair)
for growth of nanostructures like
nanorods (i.e., sticks at nanometer
SEPTEMBER / OCTOBER 2010 28
lengths). When the reemission ef-
fect is dominant, one can expect
that the hills will get eliminated
as the valleys will quickly grab the
reemitted particles. In this case, the
final surface will be smooth with
evenly distributed growth.
Scientists have been using
these effects to control the growth
of the surface, especially recently
for nanostructure growth. By
changing the material characteris-
tics (which affects the reemission
probability) or the angle at which
the atoms arrive at the surface
(which affects shadowing), the sci-
entist can control the dominance
of the shadowing or reemission
effects [3]. The final outcome of the
nanostructures depends on other
factors as well, such as (i) tempera-
ture of the substrate surface, (ii)
energy of the particles, (iii) move-
ment of the underlying substrate,
and (iv) the initial pattern of the
substrate as in Figure 3(b). By us-
ing a combination of these tech-
niques, designers have been able
to grow interesting structures such
as nanosprings as shown in Fig.
3(b), or nanoballs as in Fig. 3(c).
These nanostructures attracted the
interest of researchers for various
applications such as biosensors [4],
engineering of light propagation
[5], and microchip production [6].
A social perspective
It is not hard to see the role of
shadowing and reemission effects
on people and social growth as
well. One typical tendency is that
well-connected and well-known
people or institutions are more
likely to grab attention of newcom-
ers to a society or a network. This
phenomenon has been regularly
observed in the growth of online
social networks (e.g., Facebook)
[3]. Similarly, wealthier people
are more likely to receive a larger
share of the aggregate social rev-
enue, which yields a highly skewed
wealth distribution. These social
trends exist for valuable goods (i.e.,
“attention” in the former example
and “money” in the latter) which
have a high “sticking coefficient”
and less reemission probability.
A well-known phrase to describe
this is “the rich get richer,” which
Figure 3(a) clearly reveals, show-
ing nanorod growth with a highly
sticky material, silicon.
 rich
hills

poor
valleys

Figure 3: Cross-sectional scanning electron microscopy (SEM) images of some Si nanostructures obtained through the oblique angle deposition method [3].

“Equal sharing” in societies is cer-
tainly achievable through a more
dominant reemission effect. An
analogy between reemissions and
charity (or helping others) is plau-
sible. Again, the social tendency has
been to equally share (or reemit)
items that are mostly commodity.
Water, electricity, education, and
health are examples of such com-
modities that people “reemit” in
many societies, though even the
water is not reemitted in some so-
cieties.
Conclusions
The interesting observation we
would like the reader to recognize
Figure 2: Slanted forest growth in Tibet due to the shadowing effect on
sunlight. [2]
here is that shadowing and reemis-
sion effects take place at nano as
well as at macro levels, and both
play important roles in shaping
formations or structures. Though
these effects are mainly studied in
physical structures, they certainly
exist in unphysical structures such
as societies. Sharing both physical
wealth and knowledge is strongly
advised for a strong community that
lives in harmony. This is similar to
the reemission effect during the
growth of materials on the nano
scale, in which reemission leads
to smoother and denser films with
structural integrity. On the other
hand, when reemission is poor and
the shadowing effect is dominant, it
leads to isolated structures that look
nicer but are structurally fragile
(See Figure 3).
Dr. M. Yuksel is an Assistant Professor
at the Computer Science and Engineering
Department of the University of Nevada,
Reno. Dr. T. Karabacak is an Assistant
Professor at the Applied Science Department
of the University of Arkansas at Litte Rock.
Dr. H. Guclu is an Assistant Professor at the
Biostatistics Department of the University of
Pittsburgh.
References
1. T. Karabacak, H. Guclu, and M. Yuksel,
“Network Behavior in Thin Film Growth
Dynamics,” Physical Review B, 79(19),
May 2009.
2. D. Winkler, “Patterns of forest dis-
tribution and the impact of fire and
pastoralism in the forest region of
Tibet,” In: G. Miehe and Y. L. Zhang,
Editors, Environmental Changes in
High Asia. Selbstverlag der Marburger
Geographischen Gesellschaft, Marburg

Intuitively, when the 3.

135, pp. 201–227, 2000.
T. Karabacak, G.-C. Wang, and T.-M. Lu,

shadowing effect is “Physical self-assembly and the nucle-

ation of 3D nanostructures by oblique

dominant, the hills angle deposition,” J. Vac. Sci. Technol. A

22, pp. 1778, 2004.

will grow larger and 4. J.-X. Fu, A. Collins, and Y.-P. Zhao, “The
optical properties and biosensor applica-

maybe merge with tion of ultra thin Silver films prepared by

oblique angle deposition,” J. Phys. Chem.

each other while 5.

C 112, pp. 16784–1679, 2008.
D.-X. Ye, Z.-P. Yang, A.S.P. Cang, J.Bur,

sites at the valleys S.Y. Lin, T.-M. Lu, R.Z. Wang, S. John,
“Experimental realization of a well-con-

will remain short. trolled 3D silicon spiral photonic crystal,”

J. Phys. D: Appl. Phys., 40, pp. 1, 2007.
6. P.-I. Wang, S. H. Lee, T. C. Parker, M. D.
Frey, T. Karabacak, J.-Q. Lu, and T.-M. Lu,
“Low temperature wafer bonding by cop-
per nanorod array,”, Electrochem. and
Solid State Lett., 12, pp. H138-H141, 2009.
7. R. Kumar, J. Novak, and A. Tomkins,
“Structure and evolution of online social
networks,” Proceedings of the 12th ACM
SIGKDD International Conference on
Knowledge Discovery and Data Mining,
pp. 611-617, Philadelphia, PA, August
2006.

29 SEPTEMBER / OCTOBER 2010

 PERSPECTIVES
Zainab Cassim Akdemirci

Having love and compassion is something that needs to be nurtured and

cultivated through spiritual education and practice. All religions preach love
of humanity, and they aim to teach the faithful how one can attain the state of
true love and compassion.

SEPTEMBER / OCTOBER 2010 30

A
ltruism and love - these
are two words that are fast
losing meaning in today’s
world of violence, selfish-
ness and avarice. These words are
losing their true meaning and val-
ue in the eyes of some people who
see false value in other aspects
of life such as power, status and
wealth. So, what exactly do these
words mean? This essay will ex-
plore these two facets in relation to
human lives, and will also examine
their situation in the world today
and in the past. It will also touch
upon the relation between science
and love as well as the different
kinds of love.
Altruism and love go hand in
hand. A person cannot be said to
love unconditionally without be-
ing altruistic, nor can a person be
altruistic without loving uncon-
ditionally. Unconditional love is a
concept comparable to true love,
and is frequently used to describe
love between family members,
comrades in arms and between
others in highly committed rela-
tionships. Love is the most power-
ful emotion in the world, even more
powerful than its opposite, hate or
indifference. It is the most powerful
and most elusive phenomenon in
our world, but when really pursued
and sought after, it is simple and
accessible to all. Dr. Stephen Post
of Stony Brook University says,
“When the happiness and security
of another person means as much
to me, or more than my own hap-
piness and security, I love that
person.” Put very simply, this is
love—loving someone, so much so
that his/her happiness means more
than one’s own.
According to Dr. Adnan Aslan,
Researcher at ISAM Foundation,
Istanbul, true love is the love of all—
all human beings and all of nature;
everything that exists. By his defini-
tion, it is evident that simply loving
one’s fellow beings is insufficient.
Rather, true love encompasses love
of animals and birds, trees and
plants; “all of nature.” The most
compassionate man is he who is
able to love all living things. Harold
W. Becker, author and founder of
It is true that many speak words of love, beautiful and pleasant words, but
what is important is putting such words into action. If words are not put into
practice, they are doomed to fail, no matter how beautiful they may be.
The Love Foundation Inc. said, “un-
conditional love is an unlimited way
of being.” True love requires the
making of sacrifices, giving things
up for those one loves.
Altruism is an exalted human
feeling, and its source is love (Gülen
2004). Altruistic people continue to
live on in the hearts of people even
after they are dead. Their exemplary
lives of selflessness shine like bea-
cons of hope for those who despair
at the state of the world; they are
the proverbial “straws” that “drown-
ing men” clutch at. Such examples
can be seen in the lives of our Holy
Prophets (peace be upon them)
and those of compassionate people
such as Mother Theresa, Florence
Nightingale, Nelson Mandela, and
Mahatma Gandhi. Their lives show
us that people of love do not always
have to be nice—such people of love
are the first to speak when there is
injustice.
Having love and compassion
is something that needs to be nur-
tured and cultivated through spiri-
tual education and practice. All reli-
gions preach love of humanity, and
they aim to teach the faithful how
one can attain the state of true love
and compassion. The most direct
way to the hearts of people is the
way of love, the way of the proph-
31 SEPTEMBER / OCTOBER 2010
ets and all other great religious
leaders such as Lord Buddha, who
advised his son, “Rahula, practice
loving kindness to overcome anger.
Loving kindness has the capacity
to bring happiness to others with-
out demanding anything in return”
and Jesus, who said, “If someone
hits you, turn the other cheek.” It is
also quoted in the New Testament,
“Be kindly affectionate one to an-
other with brotherly love; in honor
preferring one another” (Romans
12:10). All the prophets practiced
unconditional love during their
times. Their love for all life was
in direct relation to their ultimate
goal in life; the pleasure of God. It
is true that many speak words of
love, beautiful and pleasant words,
but what is important is putting
such words into action. If words
are not put into practice, they are
doomed to fail, no matter how
beautiful they may be. The Prophet
Muhammad, may peace be upon
him, practiced what he preached.
He also loved his people so much
that his constant prayer was for
the forgiveness and salvation of his
followers. One of his constant cau-
tions to his companions was “He
is not of us who sleeps while his
neighbor goes hungry.”
Love and affection are among
the most important principles of
being true human. All the prophets
we learn from religions had among
their dominant traits, love and com- An individual’s behavior with and towards other humans is at least partially
passion. These blessed people were
able to root out feelings of hatred dependent upon how he is brought up, his family’s background, the support
and rancour in themselves against
others, even when faced by great
received during childhood and adulthood, social acceptance and so on.
opposition, such as the Prophet
Muhammad, may peace be upon
him, when he was laughed and
lives of Mother Theresa, Nelson is not put into practice. The world
mocked, and stoned by the people
Mandela, and Mahatma Gandhi is devastated by endless killings,
of Ta’if, and when the Qurayshis
can be referenced. All of them eternal war, corruption, racism and
dumped faeces and entrails of
stood up for their people and even various different kinds of evil. The
animals on his head as he prayed.
for people of other cultures, and globalization of knowledge, power
Noah, who bore the ridicule of his
own people as he built the great helped them with such compassion and technology has been followed
ark at the command of his Lord, and love, even at the risk of their by conflicts among cultures and
and Jesus, who was made to suffer own lives. civilizations. Daily news items con-
by his own people whom he loved, In today’s world, love is a word tain horrifying stories of destruction
are two other such examples. Only we constantly stumble over. But of churches, temples and mosques.
hearts that are filled with love for how exactly is this love portrayed? People – including little children –
God and for people are able to toler- The writing of flowery verses, are being maimed like flies during
ate such unjust and merciless treat- romance novels, the making of war; the horror stories never end.
ments. romantic movies and so on, does Yet there are individuals and orga-
In more recent times, the not count, if, as said before, love nizations trying to do something

SEPTEMBER / OCTOBER 2010 32


to preserve peace and the love of
humanity in the world.
It is interesting to see what
Science has to say about love.
According to Dr. Gregory Fricchione
of the Harvard Medical School, the
ability to love requires a healthy
functioning brain. Therefore, chil-
dren of drug addicts are oftentimes
neglected. Mothers who are drug
addicts may not respond to the
needs of their children as the drugs
they use make them lose their abil-
ity to love in a normal and healthy
way. According to Dr. Fricchione,
a person with a healthy brain is
predisposed to think about a future
in which there are connections
to others. The part of the human
brain called the pre-frontal cortex
enables us to think into the future,
and when we think of a future we
gain security when we see a future
of connectedness and attachment.
Scientific research concludes that hu-
mans are indeed born with the need
and ability to love, which remains
with us, unless tampered with.
However, this is not always vis-
ible in our environment because, as
explained previously, the world to-
day is filled with negative feelings—
anger, greed, envy, hurt. An indi-
vidual’s behavior with and towards
other humans is at least partially
dependent upon how he is brought
up, his family’s background, the
support received during childhood
and adulthood, social acceptance
and so on. The two opposing feel-
ings of love and hate can be likened
unto two wolves inside a person;
one sleek, beautiful, graceful, soft
eyed, and the other fierce and ugly,
with blood shot eyes. Whichever
feeling is fed will be the one that is
victorious.
There are several kinds of love,
such as maternal love, familial love,
romantic love, marital love, platonic
love and so on. It is a mother’s love
for her child that turns her blood
into milk when her baby cries, it is
out of love for their children that
parents correct and punish them
when they do something wrong.
Lovers love each other, friends love
each other, husband and wife love
each other. It is our love for one an-
other that makes us overlook each
other’s faults and shortcomings.
People of love busy themselves
with fighting their own mistakes
and misdemeanors rather than
complaining about the misdeeds
of others. Instead, they set a good
example for people to follow. Such
people do so because of their close-
ness to God, devotion to a spiritual
life and determination to stay away
from all material dirt and evil.
In conclusion it can be said that
true altruism and unconditional
love in human beings is definitely
possible, since we have been given
the innate capacity to love. It is
also further proved by the fact that
altruism and unconditional love
were the daily practice in the lives
of our great and noble prophets and
religious leaders, and such qualities
were also witnessed in the lives of
great people of more recent times.
Though love does not always show
itself in the world as it is hidden by
other violent forces, it is ever pres-
ent and ready to be cultivated if
only people take enough time and
interest to do so.
Zainab Cassim Akdemirci has a degree
in English and language teaching from Open
University of Sri Lanka.
References
1. Gülen, M. Fethullah. 2004. Toward a
Global Civilization of Love and Tolerance,
NJ: Tughra Books.
3. “Matter and Beyond,” Ebru TV. Interview
with Dr. Stephen Post.
2. Thich Nhat Hahn. 1991. Old Path White
Clouds: Walking in the Footsteps of the
Buddha, CA: Parallax Press.
33 SEPTEMBER / OCTOBER 2010
 BELIEF
M. Fethullah Gülen

HUMILITY

True humility means that people must know the full extent of their worth
before God’s infinite Grandeur, and then make this fully realized potential an
ingrained, essential part of their nature. Those who have done this are humble
and balanced in their relations with others.

T
awadu (modesty and humility) is the opposite of arrogance, pride,
and haughtiness. It can also be interpreted as one’s awareness of
one’s real position before God, and as letting that realization guide
one’s conduct toward God and with people. If one sees oneself as an
ordinary, individual part of creation, a threshold of a door, a mat spread on a
floor or a pavement stone, a pebble in a stream or chaff in a field, and if one
can sincerely confess, as did Muhammad Lutfi Effendi: Everybody else is good
but I am bad; everybody else is wheat but I am chaff, the inhabitants of the
heavens will kiss him or her on the head.
In a narration attributed to the truthful, confirmed one, upon him be
peace and blessings, it is said: Whoever is humble, God exalts him; whoever is
haughty, God humiliates him.1 Thus, one’s true greatness is inversely propor-
tional to behaving as if one were great, just as one’s true smallness is inversely
proportional to behaving as if one were small.
Humility has been defined in many ways: seeing oneself as devoid of all
virtues essentially originating in oneself, treating others humbly and respect-
fully, seeing oneself as the worst of humanity (unless being honored by a
special Divine treatment), and being alert to any stirring of the ego and im-
mediately suppressing it. Each definition expresses a dimension of humility.
However, the last definition relates to those made sincere by God Himself and
who are near to Him.
A Companion saw Caliph ‘Umar, may God be pleased with him, carrying
water in a pitcher on his shoulder. He asked him: What are you doing, O Caliph
of God’s Messenger? ‘Umar, one of the foremost in nearness to God, answered:
Some envoys have come from other countries. I felt some conceit in my heart
and wanted to suppress it. ‘Umar used to carry flour on his back.2 Once he
accused himself while giving a sermon from the pulpit, and kept silent when
people questioned and criticized his action.
Abu Hurayra carried wood while he was the deputy governor of Madina.3
When he was the chief judge in Madina, Zayd ibn Thabit kissed Ibn ‘Abbas’
hand, and Ibn ‘Abbas, known as the Interpreter of the Quran and the Scholar
of the Umma, helped Zayd get on his horse.4 Hasan, the grandson of the
Prophet, upon him be peace and blessings, sat with some children who were
eating bread crumbs and ate with them. Once Abu Dharr offended Bilal al-Ha-
bashi and, to obtain his forgiveness, put his head on the ground and declared:
If the blessed feet of Bilal do not tread on this sinful head, it will not rise from the
ground. All of these events and many similar ones are instances of humility.

SEPTEMBER / OCTOBER 2010 34

 Both God Almighty and His
Messenger emphasized humility so
much that one who knows of it does
not doubt that servanthood consists
of humility. The Quranic verse: The
servants of the All-Merciful are those
who walk on the earth in modesty,
and if the impudent offend them, they
continue their way saying: “Peace”
(25:63) praises humility, and the
Divine statements extremely humble
toward believers (5:54) and merci-
ful among themselves; you find them
bowing down and falling prostrate
(48:29) are expressions of praise for
the ingrained humility reflected in
their conduct.
Concerning humility, the glory of
humanity, upon him be peace and
blessings, declared: God has told me
that you must be humble, and that no
one must boast to another5; Shall I in-
form you of one whom Hellfire will not
touch? Hellfire will not touch one who of greatness in the great are humility
is near to God and amiable with peo- and modesty, while the signs of small-
ple, and mild and easy to get along ness in the small are arrogance and
with6; God exalts one who is humble. vanity. Based on this understanding,
That one sees himself as small while they sought to show men and women
he is truly great in the sight of peo- how to become perfect.
ple7; and O God, make me see myself True humility means that peo-
as small.8 ple must know the full extent of
The glory of humanity, upon him their worth before God’s infinite
be peace and blessings, lived as the Grandeur, and then make this fully
most humble of people. He stopped realized potential an ingrained, es-
at the places where children were sential part of their nature. Those
gathered, greeted them, and played
with them.9 If someone held him by
the hand and wanted to lead him
somewhere, he never objected.10 He
helped his wives with the house-
work.11 When people were working,
he worked with them.12 He mended
his shoes and clothes, milked sheep,
and fed animals.13 He sat at the table
with his servant.14 He always wel-
comed the poor warmly, looked after
widows and orphans,15 visited the
ill, followed funeral processions,
and answered the call of slaves in his
community.16
The beloved servants of God, from
God’s Messenger, upon him be peace
and blessings, to Caliph ‘Umar and
the Umayyad Caliph ‘Umar ibn ‘Abd
al-’Aziz and from him to numerous
saints, purified and perfected schol-
ars, and those honored with near-
ness to God, have held that the signs
35 SEPTEMBER / OCTOBER 2010
 “Do not see anything or anybody else other than God as so much greater than you as to deserve adoration or ser-
vanthood. Do not boast of yourself in a way to see yourself as greater than others. As creatures are equal in being
distant from being worshipped, so also are they equal in that they are all created.”
who have done this are humble and
balanced in their relations with oth-
ers. Those who have realized their
nothingness before God Almighty
are balanced in both their religious
lives and their relations with people.
They obey the commandments of
religion, for they have no objection
to the revealed truths of religion,
nor do they criticize its method of
addressing or relating to human rea-
son. They are convinced that what
is contained in the Quran and the
authentic Traditions of the Prophet,
upon him be peace and blessings, is
true.
If there is an apparent contradic-
tion between these two sources and
human reason or established ratio-
nal or scientific facts, such people
seek to learn the truth of the matter.
Therefore, it is nonsense for those
without humility and modesty to as-
sert, when confronted with an appar-
ent contradiction between reason or
rational premises and the revealed
and narrated principles of religion,
that reason or what is rational must
be preferred. Their further assertion
that judgments based on reasoning
and analogy must be given prior-
ity over revealed principles is also
mistaken. The wonders worked and
spiritual pleasures felt by following
ways not followed by the Prophet,
upon him be peace and blessings, is
God’s way of leading people to per-
dition, for “success” in such endeav-
ors leads to sin.
Those who have achieved humil-
ity are completely convinced of the
truth of whatever the Prophet said or
did. They never doubt it, and seek to
practice it in their lives. If something
else, such as a wise saying or a great
SEPTEMBER / OCTOBER 2010 36
accomplishment, appears to them as
more beautiful or acceptable, they
accuse themselves of being unable
to discern the incomparable superi-
ority of the revealed truths and ex-
pressions, saying:
There are many people who find
fault with the words having no de-
fects.
However, the fault lies in their
defective understanding.
They are certain that one cannot
prosper in the Hereafter by following
ways opposed to the Quran and the
Sunna. They find the greatest source
of power in servanthood to God. In
reality, one who worships God never
adores anyone else, and one who
serves others cannot be a true ser-
vant of God. How apt are the follow-
ing words of Bediuzzaman:
Do not see anything or anybody else
other than God as so much greater
than you as to deserve adoration
or servanthood. Do not boast of
yourself in a way to see yourself as
greater than others. As creatures are
equal in being distant from being
worshipped, so also are they equal in
that they are all created.
Those who are truly humble do
not attribute the fruits of their work
and efforts to themselves, nor do
they regard their successes or efforts
in the way of God as making them
superior to others. They do not care
how other people regard them, and
do not demand a return for their ser-
vices in the way of God. They regard
their being loved by others as a test
of their sincerity,17 and do not exploit
God’s favors to them by boasting to
others about them.
In short, just as humility is the
portal to good conduct or being
characterized with the qualities of
God (such as generosity, merciful,
helpful, forgiving, and so on), it is
also the first and foremost means
of being near to both the created
and the Creator. Roses grow on the
earth, and humanity was created on
the earth and not in the heavens. A
believer is nearest to God when pros-
trating before Him. While recount-
ing the Prophet’s Ascension (to the
heavens), the Quran refers to him as
God’s servant, as a sign of his humil-
ity and utmost modesty.
Notes
1. Al-Haythami, Majma‘ al-Zawa’id, 10:325
2. ‘Izz al-Din Abu al-Hasan ‘Ali ibn Muhammad
al-Jazari Ibn al-Athir, Usd al-Ghaba fi Ma‘rifat
al Sahaba, 8 vols. (Cairo, 1970), 4:165.
3. Abu al-Fida’ Isma‘il Ibn Kathir, Al-Bidaya
wa al-Nihaya, 14 vols. (Beirut: Maktabat
al-Ma‘arif, 1966), 8:113.
4. Ibn Hajar al Asqalani, Al-Isaba fi Tamyiz
al-Sahaba, 4 vols. (Beirut: 1238 ah / 1910
ce), 2:332.
5. Muslim, “Janna,” 64; Abu Dawud, “Adab,” 40.
6. Al-Tirmidhi, “Sifat al-Qiyama,” 45.
7. Abu Nu‘aym, Hilyat al-Awliya’, 7:129.
8. Muslim, “Zuhd,” 14.
9. Al-Bukhari, “Isti’dhan,” 15; Muslim, “Salam,”
15.
10. Abu al-Fida Qadi ‘Iyad, Al-Shifa’ al-Sharif,
2 vols. (Beirut: Dar al Fikr, 1988), 1:131.
11. Al-Bukhari, “Nafaqat,” 8; Al-Tirmidhi,
“Sifat al-Qiyama,” 45.
12. Ibn Hanbal, Musnad, 2:383; Muhammad
Ibn Hisham, Al-Sira al-Nabawiya, 9 vols.
(Beirut: Dar al-Ihya’ al-Turath al-‘Arabi,
n.d.), 2:141.
13. Al-Tirmidhi, Shama’il,” 78; Ibn Hanbal,
Musnad, 6:256.
14. Al-Bukhari, “At’ima,” 55; Muslim, “Ayman,” 42.
15. Al-Bukhari, “Nafaqat,” 1; “Talaq,” 25; Muslim,
“Zuhd,” 41, 42.
16. Al-Bukhari, Tafsir Sura 9, 12; Muslim,
Munafiqin, 3.
17. In other words, they view other people’s
love for them as the reason for doing good
deeds, not as a way of asserting their supe-
riority over others.
 POEM
Mirkena Ozer

I am a mother,
instead of a picture, multiplication table adorns my kitchen wall.
I have 8 arms like an octopus reaching in every direction.
Nobody can worry as much as I do.
There is always some stain on my clothes that detergent won’t remove.

I am a mother,
my notebook has dinosaurs drawn on it
the wall of my bedroom a little artist’s exhibition.
Me and my cell phone fall apart too often.
I lose my keys every other day.

I am a mother
and a pediatrician though I never went to medical school.
I play the cook, the nurse, the teacher, the driver, the singer
selfless like the rain, the earth, the sun.

I am a mother,
small things make me cry for joy.
like little notes that say “luv mom”
or sketched portrait with ugly teeth and fuzzy hair,
every line reflecting admiration and care.

I am a mother,
my heart deep and vast like an ocean.

I am a mother,
paradise lies under my feet.
Mirkena Ozer pursues MA in women studies at the University of Georgia, Atlanta.

37 SEPTEMBER / OCTOBER 2010

 is
ng k.
bei hin
an to t
um lity al
ry h abi kes nity
Eve n the hat ma huma ink
give t is w ess of we th ma-
Tha progr When infor d on
the sible. ss the base w
pos proce eceive y kno
we we r alread make an
tion at we sual y ody c
wh we u s. Nob mans ss
and gment al hu proce y.
jud y that h this ry da
den throug es eve
go ny tim
ma

38
SEPTEMBER / OCTOBER 2010
PHILOSOPHY
Ertan Salik
T
he Fountain Magazine recently published an inter-
view with Nobel Laurate Ahmad Zewail,1 in which
he answered a question about critical thinking.
In his response, Prof. Zewail promoted critical
thinking greatly and emphasized that critical thinking is
an essential ingredient for progress. In this article we aim
to clarify what critical thinking is, how an individual can
practice it, and what benefits critical thinking will bring to
a person and the society.
First, we should emphasize that Prof. Zewail’s state-
ments resonate very well with what famous scholar Ibn-al
Haytham said 10 centuries ago:

“The seeker after truth is not one who studies the writings of
the ancients and, following his natural disposition, puts his
trust in them, but rather the one who suspects his faith in them
and questions what he gathers from them, the one who submits
to argument and demonstration, and not the sayings of a hu-
man being whose nature is fraught with all kinds of imperfec-
tion and deficiency. Thus the job of the man who investigates
the writings of scientists, if learning the truth is his goal, is
to make himself an enemy of all that he reads, and applying
his mind to the core and margins of its content, attack it from
every side. He should also suspect himself as he performs his
critical examination of it, so that he may avoid falling into
either prejudice or leniency.”2

Every human being is given the ability to think. That is

what makes all the progress of humanity possible. When
we think we process the information we receive based on
what we already know and we usually make judgments.
Nobody can deny that all humans go through this process
many times every day. But we can question the outcome of
our thinking process, that is, our judgments. Many times,
we can be wrong in our judgments, and this is where
“critical” thinking might help.
Today, most people learn how to think systematically
at schools, particularly during university education. In
fact, according to Derek Bok, the former president of
Harvard University, faculty members in the US almost
unanimously agree that “teaching critical thinking” is
the principal aim for undergraduate education.3 Although
many have great conviction that critical thinking is very
important, there is no universal definition for it. The
American Philosophical Association gives the following
definition:
“Purposeful, self-regulatory judgment which results in
interpretation, analysis, evaluation and inference as well
as explanation of the evidential, conceptual and method-
ological considerations on which a judgment is based.”4
Based on this definition and what we quoted from Ibn-
al Haytham, we can identify the following points about
critical thinking:
1) When you read or hear a statement, do not accept it
without question.

39 SEPTEMBER / OCTOBER 2010

 2) Try to find other information that can support or disprove the state-
ment, try to come up with ways to demonstrate validity or falsehood of the
statement, and test the statement.
3) As you perform your critical examination, be aware of your own
deficiencies as a human. Consider your own biases, numerous possibili-
ties of making mistakes in your judgments, or prejudices you can assume
without knowing.
4) Be aware of the method you use for evaluating a claim, and think
about both its strengths and weaknesses.
Critical thinking, if we develop the habit of performing it, can help
us every day. Consider how you receive information in the twenty-first
century. Typically, you read a newspaper or watch news on TV. If you just
accept what you hear and see, then you can sometimes be manipulated
or fooled. In an ideal world we can assume that objective presentation of
news is possible. In the real world, however, those who transfer news bits
to the population are also humans who are prone to similar biases. Many
times a newspaper or a TV station represents certain values, ideologies,
or supports some political positions. Besides, news reporting is so much
commercialized that news editors and reporters also think about how to
attract readers, and might use catchy words deliberately. Therefore, every-
one should ask questions, clarify certain interpretations, and need to fight
their own biases before reaching conclusions whenever they encounter a
media report. An increased number of critical thinkers will help create a
healthy debate about controversial issues.
We can expand this critical approach with respect to news media to
our formal education experiences. At schools, our teachers deliver new
information every day. We also read our textbooks. Typical student ten-
dency might be to just accept what they hear and what they read, though
this may depend on the student’s intellectual development and the culture
of the society. If we perform critical thinking in the classroom and while
reading textbooks, we can grow intellectually much more than other-
wise. We can retain what we learn more easily. In addition, the purpose
of schools and universities is to prepare us for life. We all know that in
real life problems are never well defined, and most of the time you cannot
readily find an authoritative figure or a manual to consult. Therefore, it is
imperative that we teach students to question what they hear and what
they read. In order to encourage students to perform more critical think-
ing in the classroom, however, we might need to find alternative modes
of teaching and move away from conventional method of active teacher –
passive students.
Although we must strive to teach critical thinking, we should also rec-
ognize the fact that there are roughly three distinct phases in our lives with
respect to thinking, and not everyone is in the same phase at a given time.
When we are young we usually think that every question has a certain
answer, and it is just a matter of finding the authority who can give that
answer. As we grow up, however, we realize that sometimes many authori-
tative figures may disagree. This observation may make one a relativist;
that is, we might start thinking that depending on who you ask the answer
varies, and it is all relative. As we further grow in our intellectual develop-
ment, we usually notice that although people disagree on certain topics,
we should always make some decisions, and some points of view have
more support than others. By performing critical thinking we can filter out
less reliable information, and come to better conclusions. In some com-
plex cases, however, we might realize that there is no single correct judg-
ment, and circumstances might lead us down different paths.
In the context of these three different phases, we can safely claim that
on the average you expect the ability to think critically improve, as we get
older. Elementary school children are most likely to think that there is a
correct answer to every question. In middle and high school, many stu-
dents will realize that there may be different answers to the same question

SEPTEMBER / OCTOBER 2010 40

depending on whom you ask. By the time of their graduation we expect
university students to learn how to critically evaluate information. This
final outcome, though very significant for a healthy society, highly depends
on our teaching strategies. That is, if rote memorization is more valued
than critical evaluation, then university graduates might stay as naïve rela-
tivists or even worse.
Critical thinking is extremely crucial to separate the truth from myth. A
well known example is about our brains. In many societies, it is said that
people typically use about 10% of their brain, and geniuses like Einstein
are able to use more of their brains. Some questions to ask are as follows:
1) What does it mean to use 10% of the brain?
2) Who provides this information? Is s/he a neuroscientist?
3) How do people measure brain usage?
4) Einstein lived long time ago. Did they measure his brain activity the
same way as the control group to conclude that he used more of his brain?
When we search for answers to these questions, we typically find that
there is no basis for this claim. It does not mean much. Maybe the state-
ment originally meant that many do not use their brain’s full potential,
which might be true. But, when the statement is compared to what we
know about brain science, then it becomes a myth.
While everyone and every profession benefits from critical thinking,
some jobs require critical thinking more than others. Scientists, for ex-
ample, have an obligation to be extremely critical of others’ work. Let us
remember that Ahmad Zewail and Ibn-al Haytham are both scientists. In
science, there is a process called “peer review,” which is extremely useful.
Any research carried out becomes scientific knowledge after it is submit-
ted to the critical reviews of other scientists in the field. Any contribution
submitted to a scientific journal is tested for correctness and originality. At
the end of the critical review, the reviewers submit a report to the editors of
the journal, who then make a decision. Many times the authors of the ar-
ticle are asked questions or are asked to make modifications, to which they
may respond. In short, we can safely state that a scientist must be a critical
thinker, or otherwise s/he cannot perform his or her research duties, and s/
he is prone to become a repeater of someone else’s ideas, and may go awry
at times.
From what we explained so far, it is probably obvious that we need
some background knowledge about a subject in order to become a real
critical thinker. It is clear that if someone knows nothing about urban plan-
ning, for example, it is very hard for him to critically examine any work
on urban planning. This straightforward observation suggests that most
people cannot be critical thinkers even if they want to be. Fortunately, this
conclusion is only partially true because critical thinking is not a single
discrete outcome but rather a continuum. Although knowledge of a topic
makes us better thinkers in a field, there are always some minimal ques-
tions one can ask. For example, there is a controversial topic and someone
makes some crucial statements about it. Even if you don’t know about the
topic, you can ask whether the speaker is an expert on the topic or not. Or
you can ask about what kind of evidence he is using. Does the evidence
presented come from a reliable source? Why may this person take this side
of the argument, but not other alternatives? Are there any other alternative
approaches to the same issue? That is, at minimum, the answers to these
questions can help us develop sound judgment.
A great case in which many feel lost is the global warming debate. By
doing a simple web search on global warming you can find articles both
supporting and denying human-caused global warming. But which point of
view should you believe? Although there is consensus that global warming
is happening, there is disagreement about whether it is caused by our tech-
nological conveniences, or whether it is just a result of natural temperature
fluctuations in geological time scales (hundreds of thousands of years).
Indeed, the question “which point of view should you believe?” may
not be the correct question. Instead, perhaps we should ask why people

41 SEPTEMBER / OCTOBER 2010

 Critical thinking cannot be done instantly; it requires effort and
courage to come face-to-face with one’s own errors. Teaching
critical thinking is not instant, either.
feverishly debate about this issue.
Why do people care a lot about
various aspects of global warming
and atmospheric science research?
A little investigation shows that
there is a lot at stake. Accepting
that excessive use of energy by
humans, which leads to increase
in carbon dioxide levels in the at-
mosphere, causes global warming
has many economic, political, and
social consequences. If you agree
that man-made global warming can
trigger many other events which
can eventually make the climate
on the Earth fall off-balance, then
it follows that many people in the
world must change their lifestyles,
and this may also mean that some
big companies must make changes
which may hurt their profits, or that
some governments might not use
certain political leverage in interna-
tional relations.
Obviously, it will not be easy to
accept such findings, even if they
come from some prominent scien-
tists. There are, in fact, scientists
on both sides of the aisle. This
is because atmospheric science
is extremely complex, and even
with our best computers modeling
the changes in the atmosphere it
remains a very hard task. Further
investigation also shows that there
are different types of evidence peo-
ple use. Some point to reports pre-
pared with sponsorship from some
governments or companies. Some
expand on disagreements among
scientists, and conclude that no
action is needed until all the claims
are proven. As we mention above,
there are also scientific articles
published in “peer-reviewed” jour-
nals. The Intergovernmental Panel
SEPTEMBER / OCTOBER 2010 42
on Climate Change (IPCC) puts out
consensus statements.5 In short, it is
a complex issue, and the credibility
of evidence varies. We leave further
investigation on climate change to
practice critical thinking to the in-
terested reader.
Critical thinking requires effort,
sometimes a lot of effort. Lazy per-
sonalities and those who do not like
to engage their mental abilities are
less likely to perform critical think-
ing. In this regard, critical thinking
is also very different from rote criti-
cism. Rote criticism does not require
much effort; typically the state-
ments of the person performing the
critique do not have a sound basis.
While critical thinking is necessary
for a healthy society to clarify espe-
cially certain controversial topics,
mere criticism of one another can
be a means to create unnecessary
enmity among individuals.
Critical thinking does not mean
that we need to become a skep-
tic and reject everything. In fact,
descriptions of critical thinking
involve paying special attention to
certain criteria and standards. In
practice, if one does not have any
reference it becomes very hard to
move forward in thought. What
needs to be emphasized is that
the world is not black and white.
It displays a vast variety of colors.
We can give more weight to certain
colors than to others. What we can-
not claim is that there is a single
color, and all others are false. We
can certainly have certain beliefs,
paradigms, and values. These
may become the basis for some of
the criteria and standards against
which we evaluate new information.
At times, great events and findings
might force us to evaluate certain
paradigms we take for granted, too.
However, such sharp turns do not
happen frequently in the life of an
individual or society.
In conclusion, critical thinking
skills are essential for everybody.
We should be aware of our own
shortcomings, biases, prejudg-
ments, as well as the sources, agen-
das, worldviews, paradigms and
the information channels we use
when we process new information.
Critical thinking cannot be done
instantly; it requires effort and cour-
age to come face-to-face with one’s
own errors. Teaching critical think-
ing is not instant, either. Formal
and informal education institutions
must strive to develop critical think-
ing skills in students, and such an
endeavor might require modifica-
tion of our approach to teaching. In
the final evaluation, it is extremely
crucial that we take the necessary
steps to increase the number of
critical thinkers in the world for the
benefit of all humankind.
Dr. Ertan Salik is an Assistant Prof. of
Physics at California State Polytechnic Univ,
Pomona. As well as teaching and conducting
physics research Dr. Salik is currently involved
in many education programs.
Notes
1. The Fountain magazine, interview with
Ahmad Zewail by Nuh Gedik, Jan-Feb
2009, issue 67.
2. Steffens, Bradley. Ibn-al Haytham: First
Scientist, Morgan Reynolds Publishing.
Also see Book Review in The Fountain
Magazine, issue 63, May-June 2008.
3. Bok, Derek. Our Underachieving Colleges,
Princeton Univ Press, 2006.
4. Critical Thinking: A Statement of Expert
Consensus for Purposes of Educational
Assessment and Instruction, American
Philosophical Association Report, 1990.
5. IPCC consensus statements can be down-
loaded from http://www.ipcc.ch/.
 BIOLOGY
Omer Arifagaoglu

J ust after having started my job at the university, I was

shocked by some sad news. One of my professors, who was
only in his fifties, had died; when the cause of death was
revealed, we learned that due to hypotension he had become
dizzy and fainted, hitting his head against the bathroom sink and
suffering cerebral bleeding.
When we have been sitting or lying for a long time we can suf-
fer from orthostatic hypotension due to an insufficient operation
of the sympathetic nerves.
When we are lying down, the blood pressure in our arteries is
pretty much equal throughout the body. When we stand up, the
blood pressure is affected by the gravity and increases in the ves-
sels under the heart, while decreasing in the brain. If we lie down
again, the blood pressure in the arteries balances once again. If
these changes cannot be naturally controlled, then we may suffer
an increase or decrease in blood pressure, which could result in a
fatal injury.
There are baroreceptors in the walls of main arteries whose
tasks are to measure constantly the blood pressure and to send
data (electrical signals) to the brain, informing it about the blood
pressure in the body. These baroreceptors are located in the aorta
as it leaves the heart and in the carotid artery as it enters the
brain. With the onset of hypertension, the frequency of the signals
that are sent to the brain increases and this drops in case of hypo-
tension. The center of vessel movement in the brain, with regard
to the frequency of electrical signals it receives, perceives a low or
high blood pressure.
In the brain is a vasomotor center; this continuously controls
the blood pressure and regulates it. This center constantly re-
ceives data about blood pressure. If the pressure decreases, the

43 SEPTEMBER
JULY / AUGUST
/ OCTOBER
20102010
signals of the sympathetic nerve
increase. If the pressure increases,
the signals to the parasympathetic
nerves are suppressed. As a result
of sympathetic irritability, the
heart begins to beat faster and
stronger. It pumps much more
blood in a unit of time, and thus
the blood pressure increases. The
arteries and veins also constrict
and owing to this constriction in
the arteries, the blood pressure in-
creases further. As a consequence
of constriction in the veins, the
extra blood that is stored inside
the veins is pumped into the
heart. Now, as the heart is receiv-
ing greater volumes of blood, it
works faster and contributes to
the increase in the pressure. In
the meantime, as a result of the
suppression of parasympathetic
nerve signals, the heart contracts
faster and stronger, thus pumping
much more blood.
As the blood pressure rises,
the mechanism which is in charge
of reducing the pressure via vaso-
motor center is triggered. While
pressure is applied to the sympa-
When a person whose sympathetic system is not functioning normally
suddenly stands up, they can suffer from dizziness and perhaps even faint
due to irregular blood pressure.
SEPTEMBER / OCTOBER 2010 44
thetic nerves, the signals that are
being sent to the heart and vessels
decrease. Thus, the rate of systole
and the amount of blood which
is being pumped decreases. As
the arteries receive less blood the
volume of blood in the system falls
off and as the arteries and veins
expand, the blood pressure falls.
Due to the dilatation in the veins,
the volume of blood which is sent
to the heart also decreases and as
a result the heart pumps less blood
and the blood pressure drops.
However, by triggering the
parasympathetic nerves, the
signals that are sent to the heart
increase. This helps to slow the We cannot control this system
heart down and ensures that there and it acts extremely rapidly and
is less blood pumping through with great elegance. Even in the
the system. As a result, the blood systole period, when the heart is
pressure which has been reduced pumping the blood and there is a
via the sympathetic system is short and sudden increase in pres-
reduced even further with the sure and in the diastole period,
parasympathetic system. At this when the heart relaxes and there
is a short and sudden decrease in
point, it is necessary for there to
pressure, the system is in charge
be a rapid drop in blood pressure,
and functioning at every second,
which is provided by the simul-
operating to increase the hypoten-
taneous functioning of different
sion and to decrease the hyperten-
mechanisms.
sion. The average healthy human
heart beats 70 times per minute.
Consequently, there are 70 systole
and 70 diastole stages every min-
ute; thus a normal balance can
be maintained by decreasing the
pressure, which increases 70 times
every minute, and by increasing
the pressure, which decreases 70
times every minute; this is how
the body maintains a normal
balance. In other words, this
system functions 140 times every
minute. Is it possible that this
system, which operates through-
out our life, a system that we are
not aware of, a system that is so
sensitive and vital to our lives, a
system the details of which have
only recently been understood
after centuries of observation
could be nothing more than a
coincidence?
The pressure regulating sys-
tem mentioned above carries out
other important tasks while we
are sitting and standing as well.
The amount of blood going to
the brain is related to the main-
tenance of a difference in blood
pressure between the arteries
and veins and to the recircula-
tion of blood. In connection with
hypotension, the pressure in the
veins to the brain decreases, in
order to partially compensate
for the decrease in the arteries.
By preventing a decrease in the
difference of pressure (perfu-
sion pressure) between the two
systems, the continuity of blood
going to the brain can be main-
tained.
In addition, a small decrease
in the blood going to the brain
can lead to an increase in acidity
and carbondioxide in the brain
tissues and to a decrease in oxy-
gen; this results in the dilatation
of the blood vessels in the brain.
When these systems go into ac-
tion anyone who is not suffering
from orthostatic hypotension will
have a stable amount of oxygen
consumption in the brain when
they stand up, and thus not expe-
rience dizziness.
In fact, scenes from karate
movies are wonderful displays
of the perfect functioning of this
system. In such scenes, the fight-
er will jump up, and then sud-
denly fall to the ground; he will
then suddenly spring up and per-
forms different moves. Certainly
with every movement, the blood
pressure changes suddenly, but
as a sign of the Creator’s mercy
and grace, the body is able to
maintain a balance. Should not
the person watching these scenes
stand in amazement before the
divine wisdom and art.
As mentioned at the begin-
ning of the article with reference
to an actual sad incident, when a
person whose sympathetic sys-
tem is not functioning normally
suddenly stands up, they can suf-
fer from dizziness and perhaps
even faint due to irregular blood
pressure.
For patients suffering from
orthostatic hypotension patients,
it is important that they do not
stand up rapidly. In addition,
exercises that encourage the use
of leg muscles before standing
up will help pump blood towards
the brain.
Pause for a minute… What
would happen if this miraculous
system did not exist? Consider
how much time it would take you
to merely get out of bed every
day!
45 SEPTEMBER / OCTOBER 2010
 WOMEN
Safiye Arslan

At last, I have talked to

my boss. He was very
rational. He asked me
if I could manage doing
research and raising two
kids because research
was never meant to be an
8 am to 5:30 pm job. It
was not a simple question
to answer.

SEPTEMBER / OCTOBER 2010 46

I
was just sitting there hysterically crying and think-
ing what I would do now. It didn’t seem like a right
time to have another baby in that point of my life.
We had planned so many experiments with my
boss just a couple of days ago when we had a research
planning meeting together. There were too many things
to do, new responsibilities and commitments to keep;
however, I was pregnant. My conscience was telling me
that I need to cherish this baby since every baby is a
miracle and a blessing and God does things for a reason,
but I did not want to listen to it. Instead I was trying to
decide how and when I should talk to my boss about this
pregnancy. He hired me two years ago expecting me to
work 60–70 hours per week like all other distinguished
researchers in the life sciences. However, my productiv-
ity had been affected due to my first pregnancy, which
was very problematic. I had morning sickness for five
months and I was not even able to keep down water.
Since I was dehydrated all the time, I could not go to
work most of the days of the week. Unfortunately, things
did not get better after I gave birth because my baby was
not sleeping at all during the night. Therefore, I had
trouble waking up in the morning and struggled with
daytime at work. My boss was nice to me and kept tell-
ing me I would do better when my child becomes one
year old during all these difficult times. Since then I had
been doing better and we made plans for more intense raising two kids because research was never meant to be
research. I was very excited to be able to fully pursue my an 8 am to 5:30 pm job. It was not a simple question to
research and to show my boss how dedicated I was. But I answer. I knew that with kids, no matter where I am or
was pregnant again. what job I have, my life will be challenging. To keep both
I could not talk to him for awhile, because I was a family and an academic career intact I need discipline,
worried about disappointing him. However, it was not planning, and some help at work and home. I won’t have
fair not to tell him as soon as possible. In a few months time for chatting with colleagues, talking on the phone
I would need some time off and he would need some with friends, reading e-mails or taking lunch breaks at
time to find a new person to replace me. I was aware of work. I will make long to do lists, and prioritize each
the fact that he actually would not be able to lay me off item and if I can not get all of them done. I will not stress
because of my pregnancy. He would not act against the myself out. Instead, I will be happy with the things I have
Pregnancy Discrimination Act.1 According to this amend- accomplished. Furthermore, balancing career and fam-
ment women affected by pregnancy or related conditions ily life is a team effort so I need to share parenting duties
must be treated in the same manner as other applicants with my husband, who is also overwhelmed at work. The
or employees with similar abilities or limitations. In most difficult part is that I have to deal with the guilt as-
academia, on the other hand, there is a high risk of get- sociated with leaving my children to go to work everyday.
ting scooped by a competitor if you delay publishing and I love them with all my heart and it is so hard to see them
that’s why scholars are pressured to publish new work crying behind me when I leave them for work.
quickly. The saying “publish or perish” is well-known in The actual question was if I really want to go through
academia; therefore, my boss would need to find some- all this trouble. I began to think about my motivation
body who will be able to work significantly more hours for my academic career. Many years ago, as a young
than I can work. It was not ethical to delay telling him woman who was trying to find a direction for my life, I
anymore even if I did not want to quit and knew that had heard about a Turkish Muslim scholar, Fethullah
when I want to go back to work, it will not be so easy to Gülen. As I studied his teachings more, my perception
find a job. I was also aware of the fact that in scientific on the roles of women in society had changed. I realized
research, if I slow down and take a couple years off, I am that I can take on many roles besides being a wife and a
done. It is not good enough to have a PhD degree to set mother. My conclusion from his teachings was that men
me apart from my competitors on the job market. I am or women, every single human being, should serve God,
expected to get high-quality publications out to apply for and that serving humanity is serving God since it is done
a tenure-track faculty position. I need to constantly be for the sake of His love. Then I thought that doing sci-
an active and productive researcher. ence, especially studying biochemistry, would be a great
way to serve humanity. By the divine grace of God and
*** with the help of biochemistry, I might prevent the spread
At last, I have talked to my boss. He was very ratio- of diseases, find cures for them, enhance the nutritional
nal. He asked me if I could manage doing research and value of crops or even improve plant resistance against

47 SEPTEMBER / OCTOBER 2010

environmental stresses, and thus help so many people
around the world.
Furthermore, the first word revealed in the Quran
was “iqra” meaning “read” (96:1) followed by:
In and with the name of your Lord, Who created–
Created human from a clot clinging (to the wall of the womb).
Read, and your Lord is the All-Munificent,
Who has taught (human) by the pen,
Taught human what he did not know.
“Iqra” is a command to read the signs the Creator
placed in creation. So, for me, biochemistry is not only
the study of the chemical processes that happen in liv-
ing things but also a way to better understand God’s
Mercy, Wisdom, and Power. When I look at a tiny cell
under a microscope, or study its biology in a book, I
am fascinated by its perfect structure created in such a
small size. This little thing controls so many complicat-
ed biological pathways at the same time without mess-
ing them up. Then, I ask myself who makes cells from
nothing and inspires each one to do all those complex
functions. The creation of the little cells, the delicate
balances in all the cellular pathways, the nutrients and
minerals provided to maintain their lives etc. allow me
to better understand God’s eternal wisdom, power and
mercy. Furthermore, the Prophet Muhammad, peace be
upon him, has said: “Seeking knowledge is mandatory
for every Muslim (male and female)”2 and “Whoever
takes a path for knowledge, Allah will make an easy way
for him or her to paradise.”3 In brief, knowledge and sci-
ence are my vehicles that can take me to God and heav-
en. When I re-thought all the reasons why I got into this
field, I decided to continue on my journey as a scientific
researcher, but this time with some “obstacles.”
After 2 months of thinking, planning and contemplat-
ing, I told my boss that I would do as much as I can to be
a successful scientist and a mother. Afterwards, I even
started enjoying my pregnancy and being a mother for
the second time. I found comfort and inspiration from a
saying of the Prophet Muhammad, peace be upon him:
“Heaven lies under the feet of mothers.”4 This means a
lot to me. I am so happy that all the hard work I do as a
mother to raise my kids to become good individuals will
be awarded hereafter by God. So, motherhood was an
opportunity and honor God has given me, not a burden.
I said to myself that as millions of other working women,
I will face many difficulties, but this should not prevent
me from celebrating every milestone in this pregnancy
and afterwards. I would try my best to be a mother like
the one in Gracie Harmon’s memorable quote: “My mom
is a never ending song in my heart of comfort, happiness,
and being. I may sometimes forget the words but I always
remember the tune.” I may not prepare dinners like the
ones in cooking shows for my kids; I may not do it all and
do it well all the time; but I can still be a mother who pro-
vides the most care, love, and compassion for her kids. In
addition, no matter how tired I am after a long and busy
day, if my two little angels greet me with hugs and kisses
that will make me happy. They will cheer me up at home
so that I will forget all the problems and stress at work.
SEPTEMBER / OCTOBER 2010 48
Besides, it will be wonderful and so much fun to explore
their world which is so innocent, lovely and full of joy. I
am so blessed to have these tiny, cute and adorable crea-
tures around me.
Going through all of this and reading a lot on this
subject have helped me realize a few things. First of
all, there is no convenient time for me to have babies in
academia. It is a dilemma whether pregnancy is more
reasonable during graduate school even with disserta-
tion writing and teaching than it is when I am on the
job market or have a tenure-track job or a postdoctoral
research position. Second, I need a lot of support and
encouragement to maintain my motivation. I need my
husband’s help to overcome the challenges of manag-
ing a family and an academic career. He can’t do any-
thing about 5 months of morning sickness and another
full year of nursing and sleep deprivation, but he can
share parenting responsibilities and household chores.
Third, according to a study done by Virginia Valian,
who is a distinctive professor of psychology at Hunter
College, females are only 13% of all the full professors
at universities and 21% at colleges5; therefore, more
universities started to promote their female faculty’s
research programs in the science and engineering
departments to ensure that more women are walking
the halls of academia. For example, Brown University
and the University of Rhode Island got $3.3 and $3.5
million grants respectively from the National Science
Foundation in 2007 to develop the careers of women
in science and engineering departments, where they
are significantly underrepresented.6 There is also a
Women Faculty Mentoring Program at the University of
Wisconsin-Madison which seeks to support and retain
women assistant professors throughout the tenure pro-
cess.7 These kinds of programs, which provide funding
for principal investigators with their own research proj-
ects, or for the inclusion of female researchers, are excit-
ing opportunities and show the support of society and
the academic community for women and mothers. This
highly encourages me to pursue research and helps me
know that I am not alone.
As a result, I am happy with my choice about being
a mother and an academic even though it is tough and
stressful. I did not deliver my baby who was a beautiful
gift from heaven on Friday and go to work on Monday.
I took a month off after the delivery, so my research
halted for a month; however, I am back now. Am I ever
going to get a tenure-track job and get tenure? Am I go-
ing to be my little ones’ unforgettable tune? Simply, I do
not know, but I sure hope so.
Safiye Arslan is a research fellow in the area of biological chemistry
and lives in Nevada.
Notes
1. The Civil Rights Act of 1964, Pub. L. No. 88-352, 78 Stat. 241 (July 2,
1964).
2. Sunan Ibn Maja, “Muqaddimah,” 17/224.
3. Sahih al-Muslim, “Kitab ad-Dhikr,” 11/38.
4. Ajluni, Kashf al-hafa, 1/335.
5. Virginia Valian. 1999. Why So Slow: The Advancement of Women, MIT
Press.
6. http://www.pbn.com/stories/25262.html
7. http://www.secfac.wisc.edu/wfmp/cal.htm
 MEMOIRS
April Bollig

She had such an incredibly strong spirit and it was

not in any way defined by the body that she so
briefly resided in; her spirit remains while it has
also moved on to its next destination, no doubt to
find a higher purpose.

I
t was a day not unlike any other typi-
cal school day. I got up at 5:30 a.m.,
caught the bus to high school at 6:20
a.m. and was in my second period
class. It was February 17, 2005, and it
was extremely cold, as it normally is in
Colorado that time of year, but the blus-
tery weather did not bother me. I was
seeing everything through rose colored
glasses because my best friend, who just
three months prior had been diagnosed
with leukemia, had found a bone marrow
donor in New Jersey, a distant east coach
angel that would give her the gift of life.
As I listened somewhat less atten-
tively than usual to my teacher’s ancient
European history discussion, instead
thinking more about visiting Brittany
later in the week when the final round
of chemotherapy was completed, one of
the school’s counselors entered the class-
room somberly. She asked my teacher if
she could take me down to her office and

49 SEPTEMBER / OCTOBER 2010

 What ultimately defines a person’s
spiritual being both in life and in the
afterlife? Is the earthly body and
spirit a completely different entity
from the heavenly spirit or does it
represent an ongoing continuum?
Does a person’s spirit die just as the
body dies?

SEPTEMBER / OCTOBER 2010 50

 we walked the winding hallways
side by side in utter silence. I
honestly don’t remember what
I was thinking as we proceeded
towards her office; I just knew
something must be terribly wrong.
It was.
Brittany’s path towards recovery
had been abruptly cut short. After
three months of chemotherapy,
radiation, and alternative treat-
ments that never ended, and with
a bone marrow transplant on the
horizon, Brittany had unexpectedly
developed a massive infection that
could not be controlled. She had
been doing so well, and no one saw
it coming. I was told that she had
passed away in the early morning
hours while I was still sound asleep
in my warm, soft bed. My mom was
on the phone when I arrived in the
office. She was equally devastated
not only because Brittany was my
dear friend, but because she was
also the niece of her best friend. It
was a close inner circle. Now some-
one was missing from it.
As I reflect on that horrific day
over four years later, I have finally
come to peace with Brittany’s tragic
and untimely death, though I doubt
I will truly ever understand it. Yet
I have realized that we have no
choice other than to come to terms
with death because it is an integral
part of the life process. However, I
do not consider Brittany to be truly
gone. I believe she lives on in so
many ways, and I think that we as
a society are just on the threshold
of understanding life beyond death
and the spiritual continuance and
connection that lives on in the day
to day lives of everyone who knew
the deceased.
In the most simplistic terms, I
see Brittany in the spirits, faces, and
actions of every person’s life she
ever touched. I see her in her moth-
er and how she compassionately
and gently treats other people; I see
her in her sister and her never end-
ing kindness and understanding; I
see her in her aunt and her eternal
optimism; I see her in the many
friends she had who worked so hard
to keep her memory alive within a
very large high school environment;
and I see her in myself when I try to
embrace her passion, patience, and
inner peace. She lives on in all of us
and always will. I have come to be-
lieve that a person’s spirit and soul
are truly separate from their earthly
body; I’ll never see her smiling face
again other than in pictures, but I
still see her every day.
During Brittany’s brief but
valiant battle with cancer, she
embodied so many traits to which
the rest of us can only hope to as-
pire. She exemplified a true sense
of inner grace that I had never
witnessed before in any other per-
son. Throughout her illness, she
never showed any outward signs
of fear, although undoubtedly she
was terribly frightened. She never
complained although she must
have often been in excruciating
pain. She was always positive and
optimistic and tried to keep a smile
on her face, even though I know it
must have been an incredible chal-
lenge. I knew she was struggling,
but she didn’t want anyone to know.
She never wanted to burden any-
one, even though she was facing the
biggest battle anyone can ultimately
face.
Brittany did not have the benefit
of growing old and wise, yet her
spirit is endless and inspirational.
At only fifteen years old, she never
even had the opportunity to gradu-
ate from high school, go to college,
fall in love, raise children, and live
a long life. She was only in the 9th
grade, a mere freshman in high
school. So what does this say about
a teenager who is selfless enough
to not want to impose any pain on
anyone around her when she was
clearly suffering? I often wonder
if she thought that she might die,
even though she always said that
she was going to be okay, and even
proclaimed that she planned to run
laps around the hospital once she
was finally released. Certainly, she
thought of others more than herself
during this very difficult time. I
sometimes wish I had talked to
her about death just to know more
about her thoughts on the subject; I
just don’t think that she ever consid-
ered death to be an option, but I’ll
never know for sure.
Yet even today I continue to
feel Brittany around me, just as I
see her in the all people’s lives that
she forever touched. She has obvi-
ously left her earthly body, but that
does not mean she is not present
in the lives of those who loved and
continue to love her. She had such
an incredibly strong spirit and it
was not in any way defined by the
body that she so briefly resided in;
her spirit remains while it has also
moved on to its next destination, no
doubt to find a higher purpose. She
will never truly be gone, nor will the
people who knew her and loved her
ever let go of what she represented
and the joy she brought to their
lives.
What ultimately defines a per-
son’s spiritual being both in life
and in the afterlife? Is the earthly
body and spirit a completely differ-
ent entity from the heavenly spirit
or does it represent an ongoing
continuum? Does a person’s spirit
die just as the body dies? I contend
that it does not because the spirit is
never something you can reach out
and touch. It is real, but it is not
palpable, even in life. You can’t see
it, touch it, taste it, hear it, or physi-
cally feel it, yet you can sense it. A
person’s spirit forever defines their
goodness or lack thereof in some
circumstances, their impact on
other people’s lives, and the innate
individual qualities that make that
soul unique.
A person’s spirit is not finite
by any means, but rather it is all
encompassing. It is the inherent
essence of the soul of an individual,
whether living or deceased. Could
anyone truly claim that the spirit
of Martin Luther King Jr. is dead
and gone after his inspirational,
albeit abbreviated life and his in-
famous words, “I have a Dream”?
Conversely, doesn’t the spirit of
Adolph Hitler similarly still exist in
the families that continue to mourn
the atrocities endured by the vic-
tims of the Holocaust? A spirit is
not limited by life or by death, by
good or by evil, nor by a moment in
time or by eternity.
In life, Brittany was indeed
unique and someone many would
consider to be a refreshing and op-
timistic soul, and certainly she con-
tinues to be the same years after her
passing. No one ever had a negative
thing to say about Brittany, even
51 SEPTEMBER / OCTOBER 2010
 There is without a doubt a higher plan, in my opinion, for every relationship we encounter on this earth. Brittany
and I will see each other again someday, and I have no doubt that she will still have that beautiful, inspirational
smile on her face.
in an often catty high school environment. She was
never among what many would consider the “popular”
crowd; rather, she hung with members of the Anime
Club. She was generally happier reading a book than
going to the latest movie. She was quiet and introspec-
tive, scientific and analytical, not one interested in par-
ties, dating and high school football games. Wherever
she is today, I envision her working with the angels,
perhaps on mathematical and scientific innovations
that may eventually benefit those of us on earth. She
certainly wouldn’t be happy sitting idle. She would
always need a challenge and an opportunity to use her
amazing brain power. God must have needed her for a
much higher purpose.
Surely her untimely death has left her family devas-
tated and questioning why this happened, especially to
such a kind and innocent young person. For those of us
who knew and loved her, it obviously makes no sense,
and I continue to question, but in the end, know that
I will someday understand. But I know for a fact that
she wouldn’t want sadness or bitterness. That’s not at
all what Brittany was about. I believe that she would
instead hope that we look inside of ourselves and take
a harder look at what purpose we want to fulfill within
our own lifetimes.
Life is inherently limited. We all know that someday
it will come to an end for each and every one of us. It
is very, very sad when it comes to an end prematurely;
at least by our standards. But God’s standards may be
infinitely different from our own, and in the end, an
individual’s legacy to those left behind on this earth
cannot be measured by longevity. Further, it does not
matter whether a person is a John F. Kennedy, an Albert
Einstein, a Mother Teresa or a small town high school
student, because it is not the number of lives we are
able to touch, but the spirit in which we are able to do
it. As long as a life is lived with a sense of true, un-
abashed passion, the spirit as we know it can never be
extinguished in the minds of those left behind. More
importantly, for reasons yet to be understood by mere
mortals, that spirit has found another place in time,
another purpose to fulfill, inevitably choreographed by
the divine power.
When I graduated from high school in 2008,
Brittany’s mother gave me a memorable gift. Knowing
my love of music and dance, she presented me with a
CD by Lee Ann Womack with the feature track being “I
Hope You Dance”. The lyrics are inspirational and time-
less. In part, they are as follows:
“I hope you never lose your sense of wonder,
You get your fill to eat but always keep that hunger,
SEPTEMBER / OCTOBER 2010 52
May you never take one single breath for granted,
God forbid love ever leave you empty handed,
I hope you still feel small when you stand beside the ocean,
Whenever one door closes I hope one more opens,
Promise me that you’ll give faith a fighting chance,
and when you get the choice to sit it out or dance –
I hope you dance, I hope you dance.”
(MCA Nashville, 2000)
Brittany’s mom, whose daughter should have been
in that same procession marching in cap and gown to
“Pomp and Circumstance”, receiving her well earned
diploma, simply wrote the message, “April, I hope you
dance!” At that moment, I once again felt Brittany’s
eternal presence.
There is without a doubt a higher plan, in my opin-
ion, for every relationship we encounter on this earth.
Brittany and I will see each other again someday, and
I have no doubt that she will still have that beautiful,
inspirational smile on her face. Still I miss her, but I do
know that she is not far away. And when we do meet
again, she’ll probably just say something like, “Hey
there, April, I missed you, but I told you I was just fine.”
Since that terrible day in 2005 when I found out that
my best friend, who was thought to be on the road to
recovery, suddenly and unexpectedly lost her battle, I
have done a great deal of soul searching and introspec-
tion. Sometimes I wonder how the potential and very
unselfish bone marrow donor in New Jersey felt when
he heard that he matched a young high school girl
thousands of miles away and could save the life of this
anonymous recipient. I imagine that he must have been
excited yet somewhat nervous because the bone marrow
extraction from the donor is said to be somewhat un-
comfortable. But then I wonder how this man felt when
the statistically unlikely match failed to come to frui-
tion. I would think that this stranger must have grieved
as well, or at least this is what I want to believe.
Brittany and this unknown New Jersey resident had
more than bone marrow in common. Having known and
loved Brittany, I knew she was kind, loving, unselfish,
and generous. Even though I never knew her potential
donor, he obviously embodied the same qualities. And
when I say “embodied,” I mean it in a spiritual sense. If
Brittany had not suffered a massive infection, a person
who had never met her was willing to undergo an invasive
procedure in an attempt to save her life. That is a person’s
true spirit. It is what defines us, it is who we are in life and
thereafter, it is the life we live while we are here on this
earth and legacy we ultimately leave behind.
April Bollig is pursuing a degree in Elementary Education at
University of Colorado at Colorado Springs.
Peacefulness is such an elevated rank of certainty that a soul
traveling through it sees in every station the truth of: I wish to
set my heart at rest (2:260) and is rewarded with gifts. Wherever
the believer is, the breeze of: No fear shall come upon them, nei-
ther shall they grieve (2:62) is felt; the good tidings of: Fear not,
nor grieve, but rejoice in the good news of Paradise that has been
promised to you (41:30) is heard; the sweet, life-giving water
of: Beware, in the remembrance of God do hearts find peace and
tranquility (13:28) is tasted; and corporeality is defeated.

53 SEPTEMBER / OCTOBER 2010

 SEE-THINK-BELIEVE
Irfan Yilmaz

When you hear the words

“nervous system,” what
comes to mind is a cluster
of cells called neurons.
But this is a great mass
of cells, and we should
always remember that we
are referring to the most
IT’S ME PETER, complex matter in all of
creation.

YOUR NERVOUS
SYSTEM-1

SEPTEMBER / OCTOBER 2010 54

F
Dear Peter!
inally, I have come to say goodbye to you.
As you probably know, there is a saying
“Leave the best till last.” I am the greatest
of all the organs and systems that have
described themselves to you so far. I am an integra-
tive system that forms a chain between every organ
in your body. Just as your veins are spread out to
carry nutrients and oxygen to every part of your
body, I also embrace your entire system like a net-
work, without leaving the tiniest space; I am in-
formed of everything that goes on inside your body.
Even if a tiny insect settles on your arm, you sense
it immediately. I make you aware of a tiny drop of
sweat on your body. I induce pain in suitable mea-
sures to inform you of any illnesses in your inner
organs. In fact, I not only inform you, I also warn
you to seek help.
However, it is hard for me to describe myself.
When you hear the words “nervous system,” what
comes to mind is a cluster of cells called neurons.
But this is a great mass of cells, and we should
always remember that we are referring to the most
complex matter in all of creation. The very impor-
tant main nervous systems, which are very close
to one another, are the huge masses positioned
beneath the skull, the extensions of my system and
secondary nervous system; this latter is spread out
through various regions of the body. It would take
up too much of your time to describe each region
and branch of my system individually to you each
month, but in this way I could prove what a perfect
and incredible duty each of them performs within
your body. However, I will try to explain the subject
briefly to avoid boring you. Nevertheless, please
forgive me if I ramble on too much; we are describ-
ing the most excellent organ created by God so it
is inevitable that there will be some complicated
matters that need clarification.
Instead of allowing each of my sections to de-
scribe themselves to you individually, I will speak
on their behalf as the “brain.” It may be easier for
you to understand the system if we divide it into
two. One of them is me and the nervous system
which I lead; we can briefly describe this as the
thalamus, hypothalamus, cerebellum, the medulla,
and the spine. The other part is the peripheral
nervous system, which emerges from the central
nervous system and is distributed, rather like fiber
optic telephone cables, throughout the entire body.
In addition to me, the brain, and my two large cere-
bral hemispheres, there is another smaller section,

55 SEPTEMBER / OCTOBER 2010

 which is known as the brain stem. The
brain and its cerebral hemispheres and
the sections of the brain stem which
are protected beneath the skull (the
cerebellum, medulla, thalamus, and
hypothalamus) are very important. The
spinal cord, which is also a part of the
central nervous system, however is not
in the skull, but positioned within the
vertebrae that constitute the spine. Due
to its connection with the central ner-
vous system, any damage to the spinal
cord can endanger life.
Although damage to regions of the
body where the nerves are distributed
from the central nervous system may
cause paralysis, or functional disorder
for the specific organ, such an incident
is not life threatening.
If you recall, when the heart and
circulation system described them-
selves they boasted – indeed the veins
also seemed to brag a bit when they
stated that they measured 75,000
miles (long enough to go around
the world almost three times). But
the nerves are approximately 477,000 miles, long enough to stretch from
the earth to the moon, and back again… the nerves which are distributed
throughout the various parts of your body measure 250,000 miles, and the
total length of the central nervous system is 228,000 miles. Almost 200,000
signals pass through just one cell at a time, which means that every mo-
ment thousands of signals pass through millions of my cells all throughout
your body, and flow from the central nervous system to the whole body
and then back to the central nervous system. There are about 30 billion
cells in my system. 10 billion of these cells are in the cortex, 10 billion in
the cerebellum, and the remainder forms the structure of the nerves and
other sections. As a comparison, a fly’s brain contains 100 thousand cells,
and a rat’s brain has 10 million cells. The total number of connections and
contact points (synapses) that my 30 billion cells use to send and receive
signals is 100 trillion. The number of combinations that these connections
can establish to send signals to one another is greater than the number of
atoms in the universe. At the beginning of a thinking process, the number
of cells activated is between 10 and 100 million, and according to the depth
and intensity of the activity, these figures can increase to astounding num-
bers. Every second 4 billion signals are exchanged between the left and
right hemispheres. When you were an embryo, just a few weeks old, I con-
sisted of 92% water. When you were first born, the ratio of water was 90%.
And when you were fully developed, the water ratio remains at 77%. Peter!
Can you imagine, a heap of mass consisting of 77% water, the remainder
made up of various element. Our Lord, the bearer of eternal power places
me in you, in the head of the most honorable creation, and with me you
form civilizations; you invent and discover. And even more important, with
my mediation you have the ability to contemplate and reach your Creator.
What we are learning about here is how with me you are able to recognize
the wisdom of the entire universe. The electric signals of the various sense
organs, such as the eyes, ears, nose, tongue and skin, all of which have
previously described themselves, are transmitted by the receptive cells on
various wavelengths; these are then conveyed to you in the form of sight,
noise, smell and taste. In fact I am inducing you to write these words at this
very moment. The evaluation of everything you do passes through me, but
you are not even aware of it. When you walk, eat, talk, speak or sleep, the

SEPTEMBER / OCTOBER 2010 56

information I receive from every part of your body is reviewed and respond-
ed to in a suitable manner. Dear Peter! Could a single nucleus of a single one
of my cells possibly position itself alone?
The Lord has created me so magnificently that you are still only aware of
a very few of my mysteries. Each of the sections that I mentioned above has
a distinct and important vital function. On their behalf, I will briefly explain
their duties: The cerebellum is the nerve center from which the harmony
of balance and muscle movement is controlled. As this section of me has
no sense of perception, it is impossible to voluntarily change the functions
of this region. The pyramid shaped medulla oblongata, which connects the
spinal cord to the midbrain and the pons; the latter constitutes the other
end of the brainstem through a hole in the back of the skull in the form of
the spinal cord and enters into the vertebral column. Here, there are many
nerve centers which regulate autonomic nervous system activity, such as
the heart rate, breathing, and digestion process. This is also the center from
which the reflexes are controlled, the body’s inner environment is regulated,
and this center, working with the cerebellum also controls movement and
coordinates signals received from the nerves of inner organs. Moreover,
activities such as excitement and sleep are also controlled here in collabora-
tion with the thalamus.
The thalamus lies between the brainstem and the hemispheres of the
brain, performing a function rather like a junction or relay station. This
section gathers all the signals sent by the sense receptors, except for those
from the olfactory (smell) receptors, and conveys these signals to the cor-
tex reflecting the information; there is also a role played in consciously
identifying sensations such as pain, touch and noise. There is also a role
played in the sensory changes that occur with the perception of senses in
our consciousness and awareness, as well as in the regulation of sleep and
paying attention. The hypothalamus, which is located below the thalamus,
is an important center that controls sexual senses; the sensations of pain,
pleasure, hunger, and thirst, as well as blood pressure, temperature and
other functions of the inner organs. It also performs the important duty of
regulating hormone release. The nerve fibers that enter this center, which is
the location of a very complex network of nerves coming from the olfactory
bulb, thalamus, and the frontal lobe, reach the autonomic nervous system,
the reticular formation in the stem sec-
tion, and the posterior lobe behind the
pituitary gland (hypophysis). The pitu-
itary gland, one of the most important
systems that earlier described itself in the
endocrine system, produces hormones
that stimulate secretion in the anterior
section, as well as the oxytocin and an-
tidiuretic hormones which are stored and
released from the posterior pituitary.
On the base of the deep grove that
separates the two hemispheres of the
large brain there is a callus-like body; this
is a bundle of axon (nerves) called the
corpus callosum which connects the two
hemispheres. Because the nerve fibers
cross and change direction in the medul-
la, the left side of the brain controls your
right side, and the right controls your left.
Although my two hemispheres may look
like a reflection of one another, there are
some variations in their duties; for exam-
ple, the left hemisphere controls speech,
but the section which controls the percep-
tion of location is in the right hemisphere.
Whilst you use the left hemisphere for

57 SEPTEMBER / OCTOBER 2010

 duties that must be performed in a specific order (activities such as add-
ing and subtracting or buttoning a shirt), you use the right hemisphere in
thinking with images (for example, mapping the route from your home to
the market). If the callus substance that connects my two hemispheres did
not exist, there would be no communication between the two, therefore, you
could read the word “fish,” but you would not be able to picture the image of
a fish in your mind without the right hemisphere to achieve this.
The brain, the grey-colored mass of folds and grooves that covers the top
of my anatomic hemispheres, the region where the main stems of my cells
are found, is called the cortex or grey matter; the lighter colored matter that
lies beneath this, the region where the axons (stems of neurons) are found,
is called the white matter. My cortex region, which is composed of six layers
of cells, is the center where the sensory signals are received and analyzed
and where voluntary muscle movement is controlled, while also being the
center of activities, such as learning, reasoning, and remembering. My two
hemispheres, the focal point of conscious activity and thought that forms the
large brain, constitute 85% of the whole brain. When you were first born I
weighed 400 grams, but I grew very quickly, and by the time you were a year
old I weighed 800 grams. When you were four years old, I weighed 1,200 gr.
However, my growth began to slow down after the age of seven, and when you
reach twenty, I will weigh approximately 1,379–1,434 grams. When you begin
to pass your first youth, my weight begins to decrease every year by 1 gram, so
when you reach seventy-five, I would have shrunk in comparison to when you
were twenty. The reason for this decrease in weight is that approximate 50,000
neurons die, or cease to function daily, after you reach the age of twenty. The
body cells of the cartilage, bone, skin, ligaments and the liver divide, regen-
erate and increase in number; however, the nerve cells that are part of me
continue to increase until they reach the figure set out for you when you were
formed in your mother’s womb; they then lose the ability to segregate. So if
there is any damage, relative functions fail because the cells in that region
have died. Then the question arises: As there is no increase in the numbers of
cells, how does the weight continue to increase until the age of twenty? Well,
there is not an increase in the numbers of cells; rather, there is an increase in
the number and growth of connections between the cells and this is how my
weight increases. Of course, nutrients are added to build and stimulate these
connections. Subsequently, with age these connections begin to decrease.
With ever experience you have, all the things that you learn or see during
your youth these connections increase, and in turn this increases my capacity
for thought and reasoning. If you continue to activate your brain by reading,
writing and other social activities in old age, these connections continue to
increase. Even if there is a decrease in my cells, you are able to continue your
usual activities without losing any functions of the brain. But as soon as you
say that is enough, it is time for a rest, my cells begin to withdraw their con-
nections immediately, and in time you will certainly see the difference in my
capacity. If the cells in my central nervous system are injured or damaged,
they cannot repair themselves. However, if the cell bodies of my cells in the
peripheral nervous system are not damaged the stems are repairable.
Thanks to this special feature if a severed arm, leg or finger can be care-
fully replaced with microsurgery, the nerves can repair themselves, and the
limb will continue its normal functions. The visible cause of this characteristic
is found in the nerves of the arms and legs, but not in the brain or spine, is the
casing that surrounds this bundle of nerves that transmits signals for the cells
to grow. Even with the greatest of techniques, no surgeon could sew the sev-
ered nerve fibers. However, thanks to the nerve casing that holds these fibers
together (like the plastic that covers the electric cable, consisting of thin wires)
the severed limb can be replanted. Then with guidance from this outer cas-
ing, each of the hundreds of fibers found inside grow 1 mm every day, and in
a period of between 1 month and a year, they will begin to function again. (We
will continue covering the nervous system in the next issue.)
Irfan Yilmaz is a professor of biology at Dokuz Eylul University, Izmir.

SEPTEMBER / OCTOBER 2010 58

 I
n our monotonous daily lives, it is easy to lose our sense of
wonder, to lose the amazement we feel at life’s everyday mira-
cles. The fact that the sun rises above us each day has almost
rendered it trivial. Maybe our school teachers once explained
to us that it was a star, made up mostly of hydrogen and helium, or
maybe in a documentary we saw that the earth, along with several
other planets, revolves around the sun, creating four distinct sea-
sons. But how often do we investigate further or stop to ask, “What
does it all mean for me?”
The Emmy award-winning producers at Everest Production
Corporation are seeking a host for a new reality TV show about the
never-ending search for meaning and purpose in our universe. Titled
Conviction, the series will follow the host on a personal journey to
find answers to life’s most intriguing questions. Each week the host
will confront issues such as prayer and healing, déjà-vu and dreams,
alternative medicine, free will vs. destiny, artificial intelligence and
more, with insight from both scientific and spiritual perspectives.
In each episode, the host of the show will tackle a new pro-
found question that turns up on this journey. Sometimes it will
emerge from life’s struggles, or it will be proposed by friends who
may have to face serious challenges. At other times, it will simply
be the result of a long-burning fascination.
How did the world come into being and how is it going to end?
Does one really have free will? What causes people to experience
déjà vu? How does prayer affect one’s mental health? Is there any
truth to horoscopes? Why do we dream? Why do good people ex-
perience pain and suffering? Never losing its human touch, this
program dares to explore the difficult questions of the cosmos,
consciousness and conscience.
If exploring the mysteries of reality, spirituality, and conscious-
ness appeals to you, please send in your resume and tell us how
your personality, experiences, natural curiosity and concerns for
the human condition might best serve a television audience. Links
to your own video reels showing previous on-camera experience
are preferred but not required.

Mustafa Tabanlı

Contact:
www.conviction.tv
info@conviction.tv
300 Franklin Square Drive, Somerset, NJ 08873 USA
Phone: 1 (732) 560 0800 Ext: 330
Fax: 1 (732) 560 0801
59 SEPTEMBER / OCTOBER 2010
 Q How should a person spend one day, one week,
one month, and one year in order to perform
services in the path of God?

SEPTEMBER / OCTOBER 2010 60

M
anagement of time and
work is one major area
where many of us per-
form very poorly. Being
hardworking and self-sacrificing is
fine and believers should strive to be
as such, but for some reason, many
of us are indifferent to organization of
our lives and live in a disorderly way.
In addition to their lack of penchant
for scheduling their work, they can-
not systematize the idea of doing
service to humankind as the primary
purpose of their lives despite the
fact that they already make so many
sacrifices. People should refrain from
allocating only a small or limited part
of their time to the mission of doing
services in the path of God, but try to
make their mission permeate to every
fragment of time during a day, keep-
ing their purposes or goals in sight,
and leading a well-scheduled life.
There are some points that
must be discussed in this context.
First, people will make the idea of
doing service to God part of their
life if they have sincere faith in it
and are prepared to suffer to this
end. If they are painfully diligent
for service, they will be equally
meticulous about managing their
time. They will make slices out of
their day based on the prayer times
such that there will be a time slice
between the dawn prayer and the
mid-day prayer, another between
the mid-day prayer and the after-
noon prayer and the sunset prayer,
another between the sunset prayer
and the night prayer, and they will
say, “If I fail to labor for the sake of
my mission for service during any of
these time slices, then all the time
slices of my life will be deemed as
wasted.” Indeed, time is relative
and it has no real body.
The thing that gives value, vital-
ity and liveliness to time is what is
done within that period or, in other
words, its contents. When we refer to
the Age of Happiness (the time of the
Prophet Muhammad, peace be upon
him), we hail not a certain age or pe-
riod of time, ipso facto, but the people
who lived during that span of time
as well as the deeds they performed
therein. Time only takes on color in
relation to what happens then and
it becomes a rainbow. A moment of
time lived fully in this way is worth
centuries of other time. Therefore,
giving real essence and value to time
or putting it to good use is directly
proportional to what one can do dur-
ing the passage of that time.
Secondly, we have a capital of
twenty-four hours. If we remember
the possibility that these twenty-
four hours may be the last twenty-
four hours of our life and if we
schedule this period of time accord-
ing to our daily prayers and if we try
to perform good deeds during every
time slice separated by prayers,
then we will attain the true value of
time and our life will start to flow
in a luminous manner and in a way
that will fully deserve eternity.
If people can put their time to
good use in this way, then this means
that they really appreciate the impor-
tance of time and the points raised
in the question are automatically
dealt with. Thus, the idea of doing
service to humankind will be visible
not only throughout our day, but also
throughout our week. And these will
combine to form a luminous month
and an illustrious year consisting of
these enlightened months.
If only our people as a whole
knew how to organize time and use
it to their advantage! However, do-
ing this fully is dependent on their
fully believing in our philosophy of
service to others. Indeed, without
this dedication, nothing can be done
or ensured through compulsion. Re-
petitive acts of servanthood toward
God faith becomes a second nature.
The same applies to our case.
When time management be-
comes a second nature in our con-
sciences, then we will concentrate
on it and try to decorate every part
of it with the wealth of our spiritual
world and we will not allow any
flat moment to pass. Actually, by
inserting precious stretches of time
such as prayer times into a day of
twenty-four hours, God intends to
spread the luminosity of these mo-
ments to the entire time and make
sure that we can feel the passage
of time as we live through it. God
illuminates the week with Friday
which contains in it the propitious
moment. If during that sacred and
most esteemed moment, people can
raise their hands in supplication
and turn toward God girded ready
for worship, they will witness so
many surprises in their lives.
Similarly, Almighty God illumi-
nates a month with four Fridays,
and a year of 365 days with Ra-
madan. There are sources of light
scattered by God over time such
as these and one can find them
not only within a day or a week
or a month, but also within a year
or during one’s own life. In doing
so, God intends to teach us how
to make an efficient time manage-
ment. By taking advantage of these
small pieces of time, from the past
to the present, people with common
sense have been successful in living
their whole lives in light.
Almighty God has so many fa-
vors over us and the gracious favors
of our Lord are like clouds hanging
overheard. But, whether we reach
out and pick these favors or walk in
the shade of them is up to us as we
are free to use our will to do so.
May God help us succeed in us-
ing our free will to manage our time
and put our time to good use!
61 SEPTEMBER / OCTOBER 2010
SCIENCE SQUARE

How the “fit” tests survive

1
ORIGINAL
ARTICLE:
LEWIS, G.D. ET
AL., SCIENCE
TRANSLATIONAL
MEDICINE 2, 33
(2010).

V
isits to biochemistry
labs are frequent in
our lives. Often we give
blood to know levels
of different metabolites, such as
glucose or cholesterol. Instead of
looking at a handful of metabo-
lites, a group of scientists from
Harvard Medical School has
screened more than 200 metabo-
lites before and after exercise.
Interestingly, the levels of 21
of these metabolites changed
significantly following exercise.
The study also showed significant
differences between physically
more fit and less fit individuals removing waste materials. dencies to develop Type II diabetes
after exercise. Following exercise, Moreover, exercise increased where insulin action is impaired due
more fit people had greater in- the levels of “niacinamide”, a to decreased sensitivity of the body
creases in the biological markers compound which modulates in- to this molecule. Understanding the
of fat-burning and had decreased sulin sensitivity. This increase biochemistry behind the exercise
oxidative stress -a state where was more prominent in leaner may lead to identification of small
the balance between oxidants individuals and was maxi- molecules mediating its beneficial
and antioxidants shift towards mized in fast marathon runners effects. These molecules may then
damaging oxidant side. Hence, after exercise. It has been long be used to boost up metabolism or
fit people can get better results known that obese and less-ac- treat diseases. Until then, it is best to
following exercise by efficiently tive individuals had greater ten- exercise and stay fit.

SEPTEMBER / OCTOBER 2010 62

 Our scents make us targets

2 ORIGINAL ARTICLE: VOGEL, M.J. & STEEN, P.H.,

PNAS (PUBLISHED ONLINE BEFORE PRINT ON
FEBRUARY 4, 2010).

A
re you avoiding spending
time outdoors in summer
evenings because most of
your time has to be spent
chasing away the unwelcomed at-
tention of mosquitoes? If so, then
you must be one of those “lucky”
people whose perspiration con-
tains a key chemical that makes
you irresistible to the six-legged
bug. Scientists at Yale University
have identified a key chemical
compound that is detected by
one of the mosquitoes’ 27 smell-
receptors in their antenna. These
smell-receptors are tuned to detect
the key chemicals from hundreds
of meters away which make people
who secrete large amounts of
these key chemicals in their sweat
vulnerable to frequent mosquito
attacks. Depending on the species,
usually only the female mosqui-
toes bite humans, mainly on their more than 500 million people and a better understanding of those
feet or lower legs. More important- killing more than 3 million every mosquito-borne diseases, and
ly, mosquitoes carry several deadly year, mostly in sub-Saharan Af- hopefully may lead to the produc-
diseases such as Malaria and West- rica. Sadly, the majority of deaths tion of more effective drugs both
Nile dengue fever. In fact, Malaria occur among children. Therefore, for the prevention and the cure of
is one of the deadliest and the these types of studies, far from diseases as well as better mosquito
most neglected diseases, affecting being trivial, may in fact lead to repellents and traps.

63 SEPTEMBER / OCTOBER 2010

 We are not alone in our body:
Genomes of microbes living with us
ORIGINAL ARTICLES: QIN, J. ET AL., NATURE

3
464, 59 (2010) & THE HUMAN MICROBIOME
JUMPSTART REFERENCE STRAINS
CONSORTIUM, SCIENCE 328, 994 (2010).

N
ew advancements in DNA
sequencing technology al-
low scientists to sequence
genomes of microorgan-
ism living in their natural habitat.
Human body contains roughly ten
times as many microbes as human
cells. As part of Human Microbiome
Project, scientists are decoding the
DNA sequences of all microbes liv-
ing in several parts of our body such
as skin, mouth, gut, respiratory
tract and urogenital tract. Two inde-
pendent teams from US and Europe
have produced the first results of
DNA sequences of microbes living
with us. The projects have initially scientists sequenced the entire species are different in healthy indi-
focused on bacterial genomes but microbial DNA in the gut instead of viduals compared to the individuals
intent to sequence viral and fungal sequencing them individually. They with inflammatory bowel disease.
genomes as well. The US team has have sequenced more than 3 million Throughout these projects, scien-
generated a set of 178 bacterial bacterial genes, nearly 150 times tists are trying to reveal significant
reference genomes and is aiming to more than our own (humans have information about the role of differ-
generate many more. In the second only ~20 thousand genes). Impor- ent microbial species in health and
project funded by European Union, tantly they have found that bacterial disease states.

SEPTEMBER / OCTOBER 2010 64

 Seeing with the sound
4 ORIGINAL ARTICLE: YOVEL Y ET AL.,
SCIENCE 327, 701 (2010).

B
ats, dolphins, shrews and swiftlets use sound
waves for navigation and hunting. They emit
short sonar pulses and listen to the echoes
reflecting back from solid objects. Microsecond
differences in the arrival times of echoes are coded by
detector neurons and used as a main cue for posi-
tioning objects in an environment. This phenomenon
is known as biosonar. A recent study published in
Science reveals one unknown part of this perfect sound
processing strategy. The study shows that bats do not
center the sonar beam on the target. Instead, they aim
to match the maximum slope of the beam to the target
in order to increase the signal-to- noise ratio. Around
the sharp edge, small variations of the target position
can be detected as a clear signal change in reflected
sound intensity. Furthermore, the researchers showed
that if the environment is very noisy, bats could bias
this critical point to increase amplitude of the echoes.
As it turns, this powerful technique has already been
employed by humans in engineering and used in vari-
ous technological tools such as atomic force microcopy.
Whether this strategy is used in general by other echo-
locating animals remains to be answered.

65 SEPTEMBER / OCTOBER 2010


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 As long as she does not neglect her
responsibilities toward her family and
observes the rights of her children,
a woman can work and serve in an
environment where she can live in
accordance with her faith.