The Fountain #122 Mar-Apr 2018

On Life, Knowledge, and Belief

Mar - Apr 2018

From strong roots comes this beauty, which otherwise fleets.

The rootless withers; it is their destiny.

They are pretty, but for an instant only.

Chaos, Trial and Hope CANADA: $5.95 • TURKEY: 7.50

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TABLE OF CONTENTS /////

ISSUE

MAR • APR 2018

Dialogue

ARTS & CULTURE

Stanley Ridge

Perspectives

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“We Are Firefighters” Hakan Yesilova

Welcoming Sadiq Ansari

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Alliance of Virtue for the Common Good

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22 26 28 30 40

Entering into the Risk of Real Dialogue

Lead Article

Chaos, Trial and Hope

Paul Jacobson

Economy

M. Fethullah Gülen

Joseph Effect and Stock Prices Cuneyt Unsal

Interview

Many Values of Islam Live in the West But Are Challenged in Muslim Lands Esra Akdogan

52 54

Poem M. Fethullah Gülen

Psychology

The Psychology of Kneeling M. Tarik Ozgur

BELIEF

35 60

SCIENCE

Make Us Be with Your Love

Emerald Hills of the Heart

Safa (Purity) Q&A

“If Only…”

10 18 38 48 62

Ocean

The Giant Tube Worm Kadir Firtina

Botany

The Life Spans of Plants Atif Yorulmaz

Zoology

Squirrels – Neighbors with Long Tails Ertugrul Selcuklu

Entomology

Collecting Water from Droplets of Fog Rumeysa Yazar

Science Square

1. Largest population of “rare penguins” discovered in Antarctica 2. Smartphones and tablet lights before bedtime keeps children awake 3. Lies spread much faster than truths

EDITORIAL /////

www.fountainmagazine.com

UNIFIED IDENTITY

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eligion is one of the many factors that we define ourselves with. While many people around the world express frustration with organized religion, or feel distant to the idea of a merciful God, religion – along with the belief in a superior Being as the Creator of the universe and life – is still an important dynamic that shapes our individual and social being.

Many people live in countries in which their religious traditions do not constitute the majority. This results in serious challenges to discovering a sense of belonging and also hampers a person’s ability to effectively search their own soul. Muslims living in overwhelmingly non-Muslim countries are no exception. While there are still ongoing population movements from conflict zones, there are millions of Muslims who live in big chunks across Europe and the U.S. As decades pass younger generations tend to reduce, or even lose, their ties with their “home” country and culture. In their adopted home in the West, they speak less of their mother tongue and in many cases lose respect for the values of their parents. Concerned with similar challenges of the American Muslim community, Professor Jihad Turk says there a need to develop “a coherent and unified identity as both American and as Muslim.” President of Bayan, a division of Claremont School of Theology in California, Professor Turk believes the solution lies in “having leaders that can help the families and the young people [develop] a unified identity that is fully Muslim but also fully integrated into the modern world and to the United States of America.” One of the leading figures of the American Muslim community, Professor Turk shares some important insights about having faith and religious identity in a modern era. In our interview with him, he argues that many values of Islam live in the West while non-existent in the Muslim lands.

The Washington Hebrew Congregation had a special event in February. Shaykh Abdallah bin Bayyah, a renowned Muslim scholar, was a guest speaker at the Sabbath of Peace event. In this issue, we cover this visit and share observations of visitors about this magnificent interfaith event which was hosted by Rabbi M. Bruce Lustig. Shaykh Bayyah’s call to be “firefighters” to rush to extinguish the fire of violence around the world, instead of seeking the one who started it, is surely the take-home-message from his speech. Special thanks to Layne Weiss, Executive Assistant to Rabbi Lustig, for helping us bringing together this coverage.

The National Football League in the United States shook with a different kind of protest in 2016 and 2017 because some players refused to stand during the national anthem. Based on some approaches in psychology, M. Tarik Ozgur writes on what might have been in the minds of these players and why others reacted to this protest in various ways.

We recently lost a dear friend, Professor Stanley Ridge, the former Vice Rector of the University of Western Cape in South Africa. He was not only a successful academic who had previously contributed to The Fountain, but also a sincere dialogue activist. We are deeply saddened by his loss. What you will find in this issue is one of his recent talks on the importance of dialogue in which he endorses the dialogue and educational activities of the Hizmet community in South Africa.

LEAD ARTICLE M. Fethullah Gülen

Sincere souls try to ward off rancor with mildness.

They make even the most merciless attacks ineffective with their smiles.

Should they come face to face with misfortunes despite their efforts to avoid, they accept them as their share of the destiny’s justice as much as allowed

by Divine mercy.

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oday events are being evaluated only in respect to their appearances; there is constant fear, worry, anxiety, and a chilling uncertainty about everything that happens. Intentions are extremely dark, words and behaviors are deceiving, deeds are guided by ambitions, and our globe’s extremely sensitive balance is entrusted to a few adventurers with makeshift attitudes. It is uncertain to discern who is busy with what or what they will do. Desires are one thing, words and promises another. People compete in deception.

Excuses are made for killing and destroying, even if no one believes them; the oppressed and the victims have no idea what is going on. The dead are called martyrs, the survivors veterans. Actually, there is no need for faith to be consoled by these. Those without such support are comforted with awards and medals.

Hearts from all sides are scratched as if with reed pens, writing embarrassing notes on one of history’s dirtiest pages, the ink blood red. There is dust and smoke everywhere, and blood, pus, and tears in every district. Bodies are shields to souls; souls are trembling with the excitement of life and the anxiety of death. Those destroyed are on the hunt like sharks that have gotten the smell of blood; they attack everything they see and show their teeth to everyone. The oppressed victims are in a constant state of confusion and are tired from vain efforts. Everywhere there is the howling of wolves and the sounds of hyenas; in response to these sounds there are whimpers of helplessness from vulnerable bosoms. Forget about enjoying the world to its fullest; the masses are constantly on edge with the painful news that comes and strikes spirits from all sides.

The general atmosphere is pitchblack, like the faces of today’s people; events are always foggy and smoky, just like their thoughts.

Neither can they make the best of life nor can they sense it fully.

There is a constant ebb and flow between aspirations and longings, and people die and are reborn every moment through pain and suffering.

From time to time they complain about their situations, but it does not accomplish anything except doubling misfortune. Their perspective is deviant, thoughts are in constant shift, and they live in such deep heedlessness that they will not wake up, even with the sound of the Trumpet that will make the dead rise.

In contrast, there is no small number of those whose eyes are open to metaphysical realms, whose thoughts are in front of them like candles, and who petition God with cries from their hearts. These people—whose faith is sound, whose hopes are solid, who are accountable for their deeds, and 6

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whose accounts are full—read existence not just by looking at the superficial appearance of events and trying to squeeze everything into it, but also by seeing themselves correctly in existence and interpreting themselves correctly with all material-spiritual depth and by making universal observations. They sense beautiful things behind things that appear to be ugly; they feel otherworldly pleasures that make pain incumbent and constantly sip heavenly water from bowls of disaster.

Actually, there are some beautiful hidden aspects of every divine creation that appear unpleasant on the surface. Yes, sometimes there are divine works and activities whose beauties are hidden to our eyes, but their inner facets are so exquisite that those who can see and sense this beauty do not complain, but show their amazement by saying, “It could not have been better.”

Yes, winter nurtures spring in its bosom. The wind blows over wide terrains to fulfill its duty to fertilize crops. Brand new spectacular scenery forms with different changes, and the events that appear savage to many are so beautiful from the perspective of the ecosystem that it is impossible for those who feel and sense them not to be amazed by them. Almost all of these things are perfect, appropriate, and extremely beautiful, but it is difficult to explain them to those who want everything to occur according to their own wishes and desires.

Those who sense and understand that everything in the heavens and on earth occurs according to a knowledge-based program tied to the divine will of the Creator see and evaluate all things differently. On their horizon, sceneries have hues of rising, disasters have the color of happiness, pain contains a sense of success, and unavoidable oppression and suffering are vehicles for future hap-

piness. They look more at the smiling faces of events than at their sour faces; they do not only deal with the painful side of things, but also try to see their sweet sides.

Consequently, in their illuminated minds, the dust turns into gold; poison becomes sugar and sherbet; storms and hurricanes become enveloped in the color of mercy; pain transforms into the paths of deeds; and each suffering turns into a birth pang. In fact, general deaths and widespread catastrophes are like messages of spring in their eyes. They look at these as a process of pruning dry branches from trees and opening the way for fresh shoots, and they respectfully welcome destiny’s way of pruning. Moreover, they consider things that happen as correction for their wrongdoings. They accept fate and see it as redemption for their sins, and consider it as a season for calling for new favors from God and as a vehicle for His attention. They are always humble before God, but they always know how to stand tall when they are confronted with difficulties and disasters. At any rate, they have the awareness that they were not dragged here by just any wind. They do everything their positions require them to do, and they stand fast enough not to be blown about by the most violent storms. They have such a stance that, with God’s protection, events tantamount to wars or even as alarming as the doomsday cannot budge them from their places.

Evil takes on the colors of good in the atmosphere of such people.

For them, pain and suffering are purifying tools to attain their true nature. When the weather grows dark and the environment becomes unlivable, their tension increases and makes them more alert. The oppression of tyrants, the constant impositions of despots, facing one conspiracy after another with no solutions within the domain of causality, only lead them to turn more sincerely to the One Who is the helper of the helpless. They say to themselves: “When you are helpless/ the veil suddenly opens/ solving all problems” (I. Hakki). They read everything better, evaluate it better, and win many victories even during a streak of apparent losses.

For years we always tried to remain true to this understanding. Opposing dissent and disorder became our motto. For the sake of the society’s well-being, we strove to get rid of evil with goodness without saying anything about attacks and assaults. We did not utter a word in response to those who oppressed us and set up unimaginable conspiracies. We did not wish the destruction of those fixated on slander and lying.

Winter nurtures spring in its bosom. Almost everything is perfect, appropriate, but it is difficult to explain them to those who want everything to occur according to their own wishes and desires.

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We did not reconcile running after the world’s pleasures with sincerely being on God’s path, and instead exalting the truth tied to His approval became our mandate. We have always given priority to others; living for others has always come first before our own aspirations. Other than befriending believing hearts beating with love, we never felt or tasted worldly pleasures or delights. Just as we had no large or small worldly demands, we were extremely careful to keep a distance from everything worldly, including politics, because of their worldly aspects.

With the consideration that pleasure blurs God’s pleasure and would harm our servanthood to our Lord, we counted position and fame as defiling to our spiritual life and always kept our distance from these kinds of desires and expectations.

Yes, we behaved like this from the beginning. Yet, some circles who have abused their authority to make people feel indebted to them, and wanted to use this indebtedness as a bargaining chip. In addition, they put a claim on every beautiful thing, and although they made no positive service, these sick usurpers wanted to appear at the head of every positive work.

Actually, even if the conscience of the people said “yes,” they opposed some meritorious activities and they did not hesitate to resort to slander, malicious imputation, and falsehood. Maybe the number of those behaving like this was small, but the circumstances of what was done and its extent was quite chilling and extremely injurious to people who lived with honor. However, for a believer who dedicated himself to the people, these were things that absolutely had to be endured. In this respect, in my opinion, heroes of the heart should laugh at this kind of inconsideration—as they did in the past and probably will in the future.

They should stand tall and say, 8

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Things coming from You are pleasing Either a robe of honor or a shroud Either a fresh rose or thorn Both Your blessing and Your anger are pleasing. (I. Hakki) Our society and the human dignity are what matters to us. If the people are in a desperate situation and the masses are moaning from poverty, if the society is defeated by dissension and corruption is applauded, then what falls as our share is to helplessly sit down and burst into tears. Yes, a sincere soul who has dedicated himself or herself to the people is truly troubled not when he or she is personally persecuted or harassed, but when his or her faith, faithful affairs, and other values that they hold sacred are harmed. With the manner of a fireman, they will seek solutions in all directions, like lover who do not see anything else, they will give up on all their personal aspirations, but they absolutely will not allow the values they hold sacred to be harmed.

The path they trod is the path of the oppressed and injured. They have faced trials all their lives and do not enjoy anything in the name of worldly pleasure. They have been exiled, abandoned to rot in prison, and constantly squeezed by different pressures. They have been treated like a bandit, an outlaw. For all that, they do not bother at all. Not only do they not bother themselves, but they consider even sparing some thought for these is a wasteful thinking, which should have been used instead to find solutions to the problems of people.

They suffer from oppression and injustice, but they are not concerned at all with the oppressor nor do they dwell on those perpetrating injustice. They refer everything to the All-Knowing and move on, seeking only God’s approval. One calamity follows another, and disasters pour down on their heads. However, they attribute all of these to their faults and deficiencies in their relationship with God. They think that these trials they are subjected to are penitence for their sins. With the hope that they will be cleansed at least partially from their mistakes, they are pleased even while suffering pain. Moreover, with the thought that some of the things that are happening can have surprise endings, they perceive all

the frames of suffering they are in and the trouble and chain of unforeseen dangers resulting from all of these as if they were the steep paths on the road to heaven. Even in horrible situations when others sigh and moan, their voices constantly resound with gratitude and they question themselves: O helpless one, give up wailing and trust God, for this wailing is an error that causes trouble after trouble; If you have found the One Who tests you with suffering, this suffering changes into a gift bringing peace and happiness. …

When you have so great a responsibility (as to be able to be an approved servant of God and gain eternal life), why are you wailing over an insignificant misfortune?

Come, put your trust in God and smile at the face of misfortune so that it may also smile, for as it smiles, it lessens and changes. (from the Sixth Letter, by Bediuzzaman) Whereas oppressors who darken their lives with feelings of enmity, hatred, hostility, and revenge, continue to do so, sincere souls act like themselves; they try to ward off rancor with mildness. They make even the most merciless attacks ineffective with their smiles. They always display humane attitudes without becoming daunted or weary. Should they come face to face with misfortunes despite their efforts to avoid, they accept them as their share of the destiny’s justice as much as allowed by Divine mercy. They immediately gather themselves together, try to see their mistakes, and, make plans for an orderly life to attain a positive result and the pleasure of God. Coming to those who have not discovered the real reasons for the things that happened, they sporadically look for the guilty in their surroundings, and from time to time they throw rocks at fate. They harm their relationship with God, as if they have at all, and constantly make mistakes. Thus they send invitations to different kinds of oppression with each new mistake.

Just as all these matters are true for individuals, they are in the same way true for all societies. Today, oppression follows oppression; the strong trample on the weak; those with power in their hands mercilessly attack those who do not. During this kind of assault, many innocent people are victimized. Many people die or become captives, and all these events take place in a way that makes hearts bleed in regard to their outer appearance. However, the matter is not like this at all when looked at from the perspective of fate. Yes, we do feel hurt at times, but justice manifests itself destiny unfolds over time. Yesterday’s oppressors are being punished today, and the oppressed and their loved ones are cooled and consoled by their belief in eternal happiness.

Yes, to date those oppressors have smashed everyone that came in their path and acted ruthlessly towards the innocent who disagree with them. They do not think that one day what they have done will no more be tolerated by God. Those who have been trod upon and put down by others were trying to soothe the pounding of their hearts because they could not do anything about the situation, only by referring it to God. Years have passed like this as in the month of Muharram. Tears have flowed like the Ravan River, and eventually they rose to a point where God does not give any more respite for the oppressors nor for those who applauded them and took delight in what they did, and those who remained silent before injustice. “Those who flourish with oppression will end

up in misery,” and history is full of hundreds of examples of this.

Moreover, there is a day when everything, from needles to thread, will have to be accounted for. Alas for the oppressors on that day!

Now let us once again move on by referring everything to its Owner: “If a tyrant has his tyranny, the victim has his God on his side, It is easy to tyrannize people today; but tomorrow there will be God’s Council.”

Since its beginning, this world has been half in light and half in darkness. Those living in darkness today will walk in light in the near future, if they use well the dynamics entrusted to their wills. Those who sinfully polluted their time in the world will fall into darkness. Just as God punishes yesterday’s oppressors today, today’s tyrants will certainly get their just desserts soon.

Now what befalls us is to plead at night like birds at dawn and to push open the doors of heaven with sighs and groans. Who knows?

Maybe problems that cannot be solved with arms one day will unexpectedly be resolved with tears and pleading to God. Otherwise, if we do not immediately turn to ourselves and activate our own values and dynamics, it is inevitable that we will continue for a long time to writhe in our deprivation. Yes, the lethargic ones and those giving themselves to comfort today are condemned to be the contemptible ones of tomorrow. Those who pass their lives without feelings and action will be helpless and confused when the trumpets of death begin to blow around them. They will be helpless, but what good will it do for those who lose opportunities in spring and summer to sigh and moan and feel remorse in winter?

People should evaluate today so as not to say “if only” in the future, and they should try not to darken their tomorrows.

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NATURE Kadir Firtina

There is a spectacular biological diversity on earth, wherever the sunlight reaches. It is more spectacular when one encounters the same diversity at a depth of 2,600 meters in the ocean, which is way beyond the reach of sunlight.

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n important exploration was carried out in 1977 that extended into the darkness of the ocean. he awe-inspiring scenes the researchers stumbled upon upset their long-held beliefs. 320 km east of the Galapagos Islands, scientists on the research submersible Alvin discovered vents at a depth of 2,600 meters that had an extremely rich diversity of animals and other life. It was like a hidden paradise hidden behind what appeared as a dark and cold world. Such biological density and diversity was a complete surprise to the researchers. Of the many new species discovered, the giant tube worms, whose length reaches 1.5 meters, were a special area of interest.

Light, which makes photosynthesis possible, can penetrate only 200-300 meters below the ocean’s surface. This is the reason why most life is only observed to this level, called the sunlight zone, below which the number of living things decreases sharply.

Organic matter is synthesized in the sunlight zone.

Only a small fraction of it goes downward, so it becomes virtually impossible for animals to find food in the depths.

It was therefore confusing to discover creatures living at depths of 2,600 meters. The region where the creatures were found was one of hydrothermal vents. The temperature around the volcanic vents was 10-20°C, although water at this depth is normally much colder. The temperature was ideal for living things, yet studies at the hydrothermal vents showed that the vents were much like hot wa12

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ter sources on land: they were rich in hydrogen sulfide, an extremely poisonous compound. To put it simply, the region was highly poisonous. How could creatures continue to exist in such a toxic environment, where there was already a dearth of nutrients? As the conditions became more and more apparent, researchers began to believe that the region could not possibly support life. The mount-

ing questions led them to launch their expedition.

Initial research tried to reveal the secrets of the native giant tube worm riftia pachyptila. Every bit of information simply added to the scientists’ awe. It had been known that environments rich in sulfur could hold a wealth of bacteria, which are created with the miraculous ability to produce their own nutrients. These bac-

teria derived the energy required for converting carbon monoxide into organic molecules not from the sun but from the oxidation of hydrogen sulfide. The sulfurous bacteria looked, therefore, like green plants. The only difference was the bacteria used a chemical substance (hydrogen sulfide), while green plants used light, for the production of food. In other words, the former used chemosynthesis, while the latter did photosynthesis.

Once the importance of sulfur bacteria to the ecosystem became known, a new question arose about giant tube worms. The giant tube worm was like a closed sac. It did not have a mouth or a digestive tract, nor did it have any mechanism that could ingest food. The creature had a red plume where oxygen, carbon dioxide, and hydrogen sulfide were processed. Below the plume were rings of muscles that enabled it to stick. The rest of the worm was composed of a sac-like tube that included internal organs. The largest organ of the worm was the trophosome, which specialized in digestion, yet the worm did not have any canal that could take food from the external environment. How, then, could the giant tube worm ingest food?

Studies into the trophosome intensified after the participation of Colleen M. Cavanaugh and her colleagues from Harvard University. The findings showed that the organ had billions of sulfur bacteria in it that produced nutrients.

It became clear that there was a symbiosis between the worm and the bacteria. The tube worm fed on the carbon molecules converted by the bacteria, which received fuel for chemosynthesis from the tube worm in the form of CO2, O2, and H2S. These raw materials were absorbed by the plume and were carried over to the bacteria in the trophosome through the circulatory system. The trophosome of the giant tube worm was working

Deep down where the worm and other living things were found was a highly poisonous region. Then how could they continue to exist in such toxic environment without nutrients? like a busy chemosynthesis factory. The findings answered an important question about how the tube worm received nutrition.

But how did bacteria make its way into the trophosome of the tube worm, which did not have any opening for a mouth? The question begged for an answer.

Studies focused on the four stages of development starting from larva to adult. It was found that there were openings for a mouth and anus in the body of the larva but there was no trophosome, pointing to the fact that bacteria entered the body at this stage. In the next stage the mouth and anus openings shrunk as the trophosome structure developed. In the adult stage, the creature became a completely closed pouch. Micrographs taken during the larva stage showed bacteria entered the body through the mouth and also revealed how the trophosome formed.

One question that remained was about the poison. Hydrogen sulfide was an extremely toxic compound for animal; like cyanide, it prevented breathing. Sulfur closes the bonding areas in hemoglobin molecules and prevents breathing by disrupting cytochrome c oxidase, a respiratory enzyme. Yet studies showed that the respiratory rate of the tube worm was, wondrously, quite high. It was a mystery how the creature could possibly breathe with oxygen considering the high sulfur concentrations. Teams of researchers from several universities carried out intensive studies to uncover the mystery. Research finally revealed that the creature was protected from the lethal effect of sulfur through the presence in its blood of cytochrome c oxidase.

The hemoglobin studies conducted during the exploration of the hydrothermal vents in the East Pacific Rise in 1982 unraveled great secrets about hemoglobin. The reason for the redness of the giant tube worm’s plume was the high concentration of hemoglobin in its blood. Moreover, the hemoglobin was larger than usual and was not in red blood cells but rather appeared as free-floating agents. They were created to bond with oxygen and have a huge oxygen-carrying capacity. A significant difference between the hemoglobin of the giant tube worm and that of others was that it could bond with oxygen and hydrogen sulfide simultaneously. Put simply, the hemoglobin of the giant tube worm had two critical functions.

It both prevented respiratory poisoning and helped carry sulfur over to the trophosome by protecting it. In short, this special hemoglobin was endowed with necessary features that could meet the needs of the giant tube worm in the volcanic vent zone.

References Nussbaumer, Andrea D. et al. “Horizontal endosymbiont transmission in hydrothermal vent tubeworms�, Nature, Vol. 441. May 18, 2006.

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DIALOGUE Stanley Ridge

In memory of Stanley Ridge

Entering INTO THE RISK OF REAL DIALOGUE

Prof. Stanley Ridge, the former Vice Rector of the University of the Western Cape in South Africa, was a former writer for The Fountain. He was not only an accomplished academic, but also a sincere advocate for dialogue who saw the challenges of our time and sought solutions through friendship and conversation.

He recently abandoned this world for eternity. The following was his most recent talk on dialogue for the Turquoise Harmony Institute in Cape Town back in September 2017, where he courageously endorsed the Hizmet Movement and denounced the persecution they are enduring under the current Turkish government.

We join with the Turquoise Harmony Institute to offer our condolences to his loved ones, the Ridge family, and to the rest of us who advocate for dialogue around the world.

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race, mercy, and peace be with you all.

Perhaps I should say up front that I am a practicing Christian, a Presbyterian, and currently a senior elder in the United Church congregation of which I am a member. What am I doing here, then? I have come to tell you about some of the most faithful, humble, and loving people I have encountered anywhere. The God of grace, mercy, and peace has touched their hearts in unmistakable ways. What follows is not a deep discussion of dialogue, but a testimony to it in action.

I first encountered members of the Turquoise Harmony Institute 10 years ago. They were planning a dialogue trip to Turkey, and, through my friend and colleague, Yasien Mohamed, I was invited to come to the exploratory gathering.

Much as I trust Yasien, I couldn’t help asking questions. Who was this Fethullah Gülen? Why would a group like this be so generous? Was the “dialogue” real or a guise for indoctrina-

There is risk in dialogue, but for any real bridges to be built between cultures, people of faith must take that risk. tion? I did some homework and was astonished that I had missed a group the scale and significance of the movement. Its roots are in deep faith. In her book, The Gülen Movement, sociologist Helen Rose Ebaugh has since summed up its points of departure: “… based on his interpretations of particular verses of the Quran, [Gülen] teaches that the Muslim community has a duty of service (Turkish: hizmet) to the ‘common good’ of the community and the nation and to Muslims and non-Muslims all over the world; and that the Muslim community is obliged to conduct dialogue with not just the ‘People of the Book’ (Jews and Christians), and people of other religions, but also with agnostics and atheists.”

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3. The most remarkable achievements are in education. Around the world there are hundreds of excellent schools started by the movement and supported towards independence. These schools are consciously open to the poorer and less developed sectors of society, whose children are liberated to learn and think and prepare themselves to contribute to the well-being of the larger community. They may do so alongside some of the children of more welloff and privileged families. In Cape Town, there are two such schools.

Hizmet also founds excellent universities. None of the schools or universities is by any means confined to Muslims. At one of the superb schools we visited in Turkey, the brilliant Mathematics teacher was an atheist. He was welcomed, as he was committed to excellence.

In Gülen’s words: “Our ongoing activities are for the good of all humanity. All humanity are servants of the living God” (The Muslim World, Special Issue, July 2005, Vol. 95, Issue 3, pp 325-471).

My curiosity piqued, I went to the gathering and was delighted by the people I encountered there. To my relief, it was a deep meeting of minds around notions of love, service, and dialogue. We were on the same page.

My wife and I joined the party going to Turkey. I could happily talk about the beauty and fascination of that remarkable country, but this is not a travelogue, and the times are now less happy there. My focus is rather going to be on what we have learned and been challenged by in the work of the Hizmet movement, not only on that trip, when we had some extended exposure to it, but in South Africa and the USA. 1. The fellowship of faith in awe of the living God is the starting point.

Everywhere we have encountered the movement, we have been received in that fellowship. It changes the name of the game. In such company, one is not an observer, but a participant. On several occasions in Turkey, I was asked to give thanks at the start of a meal. And we have often prayed together.

2. Service is the central activity. There is no high-sounding stuff here, because you can’t serve in the abstract. The Hizmet movement is organized around local groups which share a larger vision but are sharply focused on the needs of the immediate community.

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4. Dialogue is a key word for Hizmet. It means much more than talking to one another, though in the modern world even that is sometimes a major achievement!

Dialogue for Hizmet is engaging with the other, taking the other seriously, and recognizing that in our limited understanding we have a great deal to learn from one another. A precondition for this kind of dialogue is humility. Using the humility which comes from awe for the living God we are able to engage respectfully and fruitfully with people from other faiths, or with no religious faith, not to mention those from other cultures.

5. Clearly, members care for one another. In any one Hizmet group the membership ranges from the wealthy to those who are struggling financially. Members have a deep respect for each other’s

dignity. They need each other: the relationship between members is mutually supportive and generous. Helping one another is done respectfully and without any show or publicity. It is the order of the day. In the few cases I have become aware of despite the discreetness of all involved, the poorer people helped have certainly not received “charity”; rather, their real needs have been responded to and efforts have been made to enable them to gain independence and flourish.

The importance of this discussion is partly in helping set the record straight. For the last few years, the Hizmet movement has been banned and its members mercilessly persecuted in Turkey. This came after the Erdogan government’s corruption was revealed. The movement has bizarrely been accused of terrorism. Its many thousands of dedicated members have been arrested and tortured and even killed. All their assets have been confiscated.

And the superb schools and universities and hospitals, which were making such a difference to modern Turkey, have been taken over by the state and closed down. Hizmet has also been subject to the kind of false news and disinformation campaign that is all too familiar in the world today. The modern world faces a crisis – the cynical use of social media to spread millions of false messages generated by computer and to shape ordinary people’s opinions. When this goes along with ruthless autocracy and corruption, we all have reason to be very concerned.

The Hizmet movement is not above criticism and has never claimed to be, but genuine criticisms are minor. I am trained to be a skeptical reader, but in ten years of fairly frequent contact with the movement I have seen no sign at any stage of the kinds of things Hizmet is accused of. If it has terrorist or state-undermining intentions, it has surely chosen the least efficient ways of giving effect to them.

Let me close with a brief theological reflection which I think is true to core Christian and Islamic belief. Without awe for the living God, we move off the path of life and end up trapped in the tangle of our own limitations, often arrogantly sure of ourselves and unable to engage with others. We become dogmatic, self-centered, dismissive and unapproachable, treating those who don’t agree with us as lacking in passion for truth or as flabbily committed to prevailing world values. From there we cling to the false certainties of fundamentalists, substituting limited and limiting ideas for the limitless glory of God, and fostering a fellowship of self-proclaimed “righteousness,” which is used to justify contemptuous dismissal of “others,” sometimes making them the subject of rage, hatred, and

violence. Fundamentalists have never been in short supply. Some define themselves in religious terms.

Some are openly secular. Some are political under the guise of religion. And some draw genuinely religious people into their gambit. Of course, none of us is immune to the enticements of fundamentalist rhetoric, but “forewarned is forearmed.” Fundamentalists of any form lead to profound traumas in religious, social, and public life. They turn faith into ideology.

The alternative is a spirituality based on awe for the living God. This spirituality enables us to enter into dialogue, talking to others with respect, whatever their sincere beliefs, and listening for what we can learn from them. In our wonder at God’s greatness, we recognize how little we know and how all our intellectual certainties are in need of ongoing qualification. As we study the scriptures, the Holy Qur'an and the Holy Bible, we are confronted again and again with new, life-giving perspectives and the recognition of how much we still have to learn in our relationship with the loving and gracious Lord of all. It is in response to His love that we are able to go beyond friendship and passion and show the most profound care for others.

It is in response to His grace that we are able to be gracious to others. And it is in response to His mercy that we are able to care and serve, entering into the risk of real dialogue and the joy of mutual support.

As-salaam aleikum, peace be with you, or in the voice missing so far from the People of the Book, Shalom aleichem.

In memory of Stanley Ridge We, as Turquoise Harmony Institute, are deeply saddened by the passing of one of our advisory board members, Professor Stanley Ridge, who died on the morning of 30 January 2018 at the age of 76, after a long battle with cancer. He was a man of great compassion and love, implausible persuasive eloquence and wide generosity. His efforts in making interfaith dialogue meaningful and sustainable through his actions and his eloquent articulation will never be forgotten.

He was a sincere Christian who believed that religion embraces all beliefs and races in brotherhood, and exalts love, respect, tolerance, forgiveness, mercy, human rights, peace, brotherhood, and freedom.

As Rumi says, “Goodbyes are only for those who love with their eyes. Because for those who love with heart and soul there is no such thing as separation.

We are all poorer for his loss, but richer for having known him. He will be dearly missed.

Ayhan Cetin Executive Director Turquoise Harmony Institute

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BOTANY Atif Yorulmaz

Why do plants live such long lives?

And could the cure to many illnesses be found in their secrets?

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ne of the underlying reasons behind research into the life spans of living things is that researchers hope to find out how to extend human life. It is widely accepted that the fundamental biochemical and metabolic workings of aging are encoded in the human genome, some lines of which we are familiar with. For example, we know that reducing calorie intake extends life, vegetarians outlive nonvegetarians (on average), and the shortening of telomeres at the ends of chromosomes parallels aging.

It should still be remembered that there are many unknowns about human life span.

Many plants live far longer than animals. Herbaceous plants, which are generally annuals or biennials, have soft anatomical structures. As can be understood from their lack of woody tissues, they are not given a long life. Still, there are controversies about the life spans of certain herbaceous species. For example, the plants presumed dead after withering in autumn have roots underground which blossom again in the spring. Is this blossoming the creation of a new plant or is it the re-emergence of the plant whose roots were hidden underground?

When the life spans of shrub-like plants, whose roots run deeper, are examined, it can be seen that annual flowers are not created individually, as are animals. Rather, some of their parts wither during the winter, while the plant as a whole, which has retreated for a while, simply re-blooms.

Summer flowers and vegetables are annual plants, living from spring to autumn. Plants with tubers, such as turnips and certain orchids, can live two years or more. Although their roots may remain underground for several years, the visible flowers remain alive for the summer only.

Trees, on the other hand, are hardwired both anatomically and physiologically to live long lives. They have stems made of strong wood tissues and root systems that can spread across a wide area.

Yet there are considerable differences between tree species. They have to obey the life spans dictated by their genetic programming.

Spruce tree in Sweden.

Estimated to be 9,550 years old.

Plants that have long life spans The oldest known tree was a spruce discovered in Sweden in 2004 by Leif Kullmann. Radioactive carbon isotope testing showed that it was 9,550 years old. There is also Pinus aistata, a pine species living in California that has withstood the test of natural elements.

Longaeva is 5,066 years old. The ages of certain trees cannot be confirmed, such as that of the Tamrit cypresses in Algeria, which are considered to be 4,000-5,000 years old, and the Japanese cedar, some of which are thought to be 7,000 years old.

Why is it that some plants can only live five to eight years, including the life of their seeds? In contrast, the beech (Fagus) can live 500-1,000 years; the common yew (Taxus baccata) for 100-3,000 years; the oak (Ouercus) for 500-1,300 years; the Bristlecone pine (Pinus aristata) for 4,900 years; the great sequoia (Sequoiadendron giganteum) for 4,000 years; the coast redwood (Sequoia sempervirens) for 2,100 years; the cedar (Cedrus) for 1000 years; and the cypress (Cupressus) for 2000 years.

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Pinus aistata in California.

Longaeva is estimated to be 5,066 years old.

Tamrit cypresses in Algeria.

Estimated to be around 4,000-5,000 years old.

Annual flowers are not created individually, as are animals. Rather, some of their parts wither during the winter, while the plant as a whole, which has retreated for a while, simply re-blooms.

Scientific studies into the Huon pines (Lagarostrobos franklinii), which grow on a mountain northwest of Tasmania, show that they have descended from a parent tree through cloning to form the group of trees in the area. The oldest of this group of Huon pines is estimated to be 2,000 years old, and the group to be 10,500 years old. As the root system has developed since the ancient times, those that reached the age of 2,000 have died, but the descendants – which have the same genetic structure – have maintained the existence of these trees.

In 2009, a research team led by Jeffrey Ross-Ibarra of the University of California stumbled upon a shrub oak called Quercus palmeri that has survived by cloning from the same root for 13,000 years. The researchers claimed that the plant, which has survived since the ice age, was now accustomed to heat and drought. New sprouts that develop slowly from the stems of this plant can grow higher than 20 meters. This tree can be even 10,000 years older than the oldest California sequoia tree.

The genome is the book where our biological codes for the color of our eyes, shape of our ears and noses are written. The same goes for plants, too. It is more likely that a plant will live longer if it is equipped with the genetic hardware that can withstand factors such as cold, heat, and disease.

Durable plants need only water, minerals, and air to survive. The physiological processes that are activated according to the genetic codes give rise to mind-boggling strategies for protection against the harshest weather conditions. These strategies are very complex and imply so high a level of consciousness that needs to take environmental conditions into account and develop tactics to stay alive against any harm that may come from insects or to prevent them from cracking open in the cold. If a plant cannot get water, it coils slowly, withers, sags, and loses its leaves. None of these, however, means the immediate death of the plant, which can maintain life for a long time through numerous metabolic changes. When it finds water, it comes back to life.

Plants lie at the heart of life on Earth. Plants function like laboratories in which the carbon dioxide in the air is converted into basic foodstuff like sugar, and then into fat, protein, or starch by using sunlight. They also release oxygen into the air and help animals and humans breathe.

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PERSPECTIVES Hakan Yesilova

A choir mixed with Jewish and Muslim girls and boys singing together at the Washington Hebrew Congregation

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he city of Kaolack in Senegal is a major destination in Africa for those seeking a spiritual path. Inspired by the mystical teachings of the Tijani order, hundreds of thousands of followers come to Kaolack to learn lessons (wird), and especially to join the annual Mawlid celebrations to honor the Prophet Muhammad’s birth, peace be upon him. I cannot forget the day when I visited this city with a group of friends in February 2013. As we were getting out of our van we were welcomed by a group of young men singing for us what is famously known as “The Poem of the Cloak” (Qasida al-Burda), an exceptionally beautiful poem written by Imam al-Busiri, a 13th century North African scholar and poet. This qasida, or hymn, is one of the rare examples of poetry that has been globally adopted, translated, and memorized by Muslims from the far east to the West Africa to honor the Prophet’s memory.

Five years later, in February 2018, when I heard the same hymn being sung live to welcome guests, I was in Washington, D.C., at the nation’s one and only synagogue established by a special act from the Congress: Washington Hebrew Congregation (WHC).

Muslim boys and girls of the ADAMS Center youth choir, who were singing the hymn, were welcoming Shaykh Abdallah bin Bayyah, the respected Mauritanian scholar (dob 1935) from Abu Dhabi. Indeed, it was a rare scene of a turban-wearing imam entering a Jewish temple to address a Jewish audience.

A Sabbath of Peace proved to be a remarkable interfaith event among members of different faith communities who prayed together and sang songs of peace.

Rabbi M. Bruce Lustig Mar / Apr 2018

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Leaders of different faith communities participated in the Sabbath of Peace service on February 9.

Shaykh bin Bayyah was hosted by Rabbi M. Bruce Lustig, who led the service, “A Sabbath of Peace.” It proved to be a remarkable interfaith event among members of different faith communities who prayed together and sang songs of peace.

In his introduction, Rabbi Lustig told about their visit to the Shaykh in his home in Abu Dhabi where the Shaykh spoke about the story of Joseph and his reconciliation with his brothers. Rabbi remembered he said to the Shaykh, “I am Joseph, your brother.”

Rabbi Lustig invited the Shaykh to the podium with the following words: “We are the only congregation created by an Act of Congress so that all the children of Abraham would be able to have their appropriate voice in this nation’s capital.”

Over 25 religious leaders from around the Washington area, including Cardinal McCarrick, Pastor Bob Roberts, Professor Akbar Ahmed, and Imam Magid were present during the service. Shaykh Hamza Yusuf, the President of Zaytuna Institute, was also a part of the event to translate the words of his teacher bin Bayyah. Shaykh Yusuf, himself a scholar, eloquent speaker, and, as Rabbi Lustig described him, “the west-most, influential, promising, and powerful scholar of Islam, great friend, great teacher,” respectfully stood at the podium throughout the address, and did not say anything other 24

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than translating the words of the honorable teacher.

What we saw in the way Shaykh Yusuf treated his teacher was a live reenactment of what used to be a teacher-pupil relationship in premodern times, one that acknowledged the true value of knowledge and their respective personal value vis-à-vis the infinite scale of our spiritual journey to the divine; a relationship marked by an appreciation of true knowledge, and in which teachers were not only the vessels of conveying theory, but also the role models of good character traits and virtues. One can manifest this behavior only when he or she has duly digested divine knowledge and made it a part of their nature.

After offering his greetings to Prophet Muhammad, Moses, and Jesus (peace be upon them), Shaykh bin Bayyah said he had not been able to visit a mosque yet during this trip, meaning that he had been to other places of worship to foster what he called the Alliance of Virtue amongst the Abrahamic peoples. Here are some of the highlights from his short speech: “Despite all the things we are witnessing in our world, animosities and wars, there should always be a voice that calls to peace, even if in times it might sound like a weak voice. We believe that the power of peace is actually stron-

ger than the power of war. A lot of people feel exhausted [by] these conflicts. Can the Abrahamic family once again bring the hope of peace in a conflicted world? The first thing that we are attempting to do is to remove the legitimacy of religion from the advocates of hatred and war.

It is not just with our words, but also with our relationships with others, with the love that we show one another, also with sincere friendship and integrity….

“I am not going to conceal from you the fact that there are people out there that don’t want to see people come together, especially the religious leadership coming together for this cause.

In many parts of the world, the masses can be divided into two types: the group that is victorious in war, and the other group that feels like they have failed. Neither of them, the victorious and the defeated, like the people that are calling to peace. The defeated group like those who are calling to war, because they are seeking revenge.

We are firefighters. We are not asking who started the fire, people can ask that after. But now we are just saying, ‘let’s put out the fire.’…

“It is undeniable there is a lot of oppression in the world. We can’t set that aside. There is no doubt that justice is the foundation of perpetual peace.

Despite that we are seeking peace even if it is a temporary peace. We want people just to set their weapons aside. God gave us ability to speak in order to communicate. God spoke to messengers.

Our Qur’an says, God spoke to Moses. Speech is actually an instrument for seeking peace. This is the why Plato said the purpose of speech is persuasion, and the purpose of persuasion is to find an alternative to fighting. Our religions, we want them for development, human flourishing, human wellbeing. We don’t want them for destructive devices... Religion is a power, and like all power, it can be used for good or for evil. These people are going to be the peacemakers. They will restore our religious traditions to their first priority, which is the spreading of peace…”

The Shaykh’s words are reminiscent of what Bediuzzaman Said Nursi (d. 1960) said in 1952 to Eşref Edip: “There is a massive fire in front me and its flames are rising high up to the sky. My child is burning inside; my faith is in flames. I am rushing to put out that fire and to save my faith. Who cares if someone wants to intercept me and I trip over? Does this little thing really matter when there is such a wild fire?”

The Shaykh’s trip to Washington was not only to attend this service. During the week he joined a conference with 400 faith leaders to foster ties of interfaith dialogue. Called the “Alliance of Virtue,” the conference “was viewed as a follow-up. In 2016, Muslim scholars and leaders from dozens of Muslim-majority countries met in Morocco to sign the Marrakesh Declaration, which called the oppression of religious minorities contrary to Islam” (Boorstein, The Washington Post, February 8, 2018).

Religious leaders signed a broader document, the Washington Declaration, which is an overall call to freedom of speech, religious liberty and tolerance. A dear friend, Rabbi Paul Jacobson from Temple Avodat Shalom in New Jersey participated in the conference and he shares his observations below.

The gathering at the Washington Hebrew Congregation was surely a touching one, filled with prayers and music by Dan Nichols who was accompanied

by Jewish and Muslim youth choirs. My friend Sadiq Ansari, a PhD candidate in Islamic studies, was also present during the event, and he explains below what has remained in his heart after the event.

To be healed from our paralysis Imam al-Busiri wrote Burda when one morning he woke up but could not rise; he was paralyzed and could not move one half of his body. The story goes that Busiri wrote this poem when he was bedridden with pain, and he hoped his praises for the Prophet would please God and he could perhaps be healed.

Then one day, he saw the Prophet in his dream. The Prophet covered him with his cloak, and when he woke up he could move. My encounter with this poem was in Senegal in 2013 where I was a participant to an international conference titled “Diversity and Cohesion in a Globalized World: Contributions of the Gülen Movement.” A number of international scholars and leaders had delivered messages of dialogue to over eight hundred participants from thirty different countries in that beautiful country which was once a major port of slave trade, “the door with no return,” as written over the door of slave houses in the Gorée island off the Dakar. Just as I was filled in that conference with hopes that our world could really be saved from its sufferings, I believe efforts like the American Peace Caravan, Sabbath of Peace, Alliance of Virtue, and welcoming each other in each other’s temples should inspire in us hopes for a healing from our current paralysis.

Reference Michelle Boorstein, “How the National Prayer Breakfast sparked an unusual meeting between Muslims and evangelicals,” in The Washington Post, February 8, 2018.

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DIALOGUE Sadiq Ansari

A

Welcoming

s an Australian citizen who has been enriched by the years of interfaith engagement in his local Sydney community, I immediately accepted an invitation to attend my first interfaith gathering after living in the USA for nearly two years.

Three things stood out for me.

First, I was moved by a very special moment when a choir of young Muslim children was called up onto the stage (after they had already performed) to sing the famous “Qasida Burda” (a traditional poem sung in praise of the Prophet Muhammad, pbuh) in order to welcome the respected Shaykh Abdallah bin Bayyah into the synagogue. This taking place on a Shabbat night in a Synagogue made it even more special. I would love to see more such examples of this, perhaps such as when a senior priest or rabbi enters a mosque and a song praising Moses and Jesus (peace be upon them) is sung for them.

Second, after the speech of Shaykh Abdallah bin Bayyah and its translation by Shaykh Hamza Yusuf (both of whom I was privileged to see for the first time), there was a very symbolic song sung for Jerusalem, that describes three brothers (representing the three Abrahamic faiths) worrying about their inheritance shares whilst forgetting their sister (which represented faith or the holy city itself). The song was “Three Brothers” by David Wilcox. Overall, I remember a genuine feeling of tranquility and I think it was due to the sincerity of the organizers and participants.

Finally, I happened to wander into a room before the program began (later I realized it was for the panelists only) and the Rabbi was going through the procedures and protocols with the guests. Before doing so however, he thanked them for coming, knowing that by doing so they will be subjecting themselves to negative criticisms or worst (God forbid) from sections of their communities who don’t support such interfaith work. I truly appreciated that thank you, as it reminded me the core duty of faith leaders – to represent the values taught by their faith traditions and the Prophets of their faiths despite the risks they may incur. Indeed, if a faith leader is not willing to advocate and represent the core ethical values of their faith (regardless of which faith it maybe), they are no leader in my eyes.

The core duty of faith leaders is to represent the values taught by their faith traditions despite the risks they may incur.

Three Brothers Song by David Wilcox All three brothers love their father and he's called them here today To see these papers and these lawyers and divide the old estate All three feel that they're the favorite, he loves each of them the best And these documents he gave them will now put them to the test So they open all the writings that will prove the rightful heir To this home that they remember and the right to settle there Their own sister is a prisoner, they don't see her face to face They've not heard her song of beauty or felt the movement of her grace She lives behind those bars of steel and waits for her release Will she die or will we see Jerusalem in peace?

Each one looks at what he's given and he studies what he's shown They hold their maps that show possession Of this place they've called their home At first they sigh with satisfaction when they see what's on their maps Each one's given all he wanted but the boundaries overlap Do you wish us to be brothers? Father, help us understand Or do we each kill off the others to claim this same piece of land?

Do you mean there to be hatred in this place you built to last And will faith just die a prisoner in the dungeon of the past She lives behind those bars of steel and waits for her release Will she die or will we see Jerusalem in peace?

Jerusalem is sending her voice From inside the prison of disbelief Stand up, you people of the one God To bring about her release

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etween February 5 and February 7, I had an opportunity to join approximately 400 other faith leaders at a conference in Washington, D.C. entitled "Alliance of Virtue for the Common Good."

The organization "Promoting Peace in Muslim Societies," whose president is His Excellency Shaykh Abdallah bin Bayyah, sponsored the conference. In January 2016, Shaykh bin Bayyah issued "The Marrakesh Declaration," a document signed by more than 250 Muslim leaders and scholars, as a way of supporting efforts towards building peace and coexistence with minority populations living in Muslim-majority lands. At that initial document signing, a handful of leaders from other faiths were present.

DIALOGUE Rabbi Paul Jacobson

If the experience continues to translate into action, there's a lot of healing that can be done.

Shaykh Abdallah bin Bayyah at the Washington Hebrew Congregation

The recent conference in Washington brought more of us for two days of speakers, breakout sessions, shared meals, and further dialogue. A partner in the process was the Religious Action Center of Reform Judaism, whose Director Emeritus, Rabbi David Saperstein, a former United States Ambassador for Religious Freedom, tried to ensure that there would be a large contingent of Reform rabbis present for the occasion. Given our synagogue's involvement in the past few years regarding multi-faith dialogue with members of the Muslim community, and our award winning in "Muslim-Jewish Dialogue for Teens" shared with Peace Islands Institute in 2015, we received a humbling invitation to attend and participate.

At the conclusion of the conference, the "Washington Declaration" was affirmed and signed, representing an effort by the Abrahamic faiths to work together amidst our differences to engage in activities that collectively bring healing to the world. Each of the speakers acknowledged that religion can and should be used as a force for good, not evil. It was very rewarding and heartening to meet people from Israel, the United Kingdom, Mauritania, Italy, Finland, Algeria, Nigeria, the United Arab Emirates, Qatar, elsewhere internationally and throughout the United States, who are engaged in various multi-faith initiatives including dialogue, retreats (for example, between evangelical pastors and imams), aid organizations, academic work, social justice projects, and national organizations who are responding to acts of religious extremism (throughout the Islamic world, too).

A few of the speakers offered some poignant words. Speaking in Arabic through a translator, Shaykh bin Bayyah taught, "Religious leaders are obligated to search their sacred texts to find stronger sources for tolerance. We need to develop and promote a narrative and vision of Islam that calls for peace and tolerance. The distorted perspective of extremists goes beyond the pale of our tradition.

Literal interpretation does not employ figurative understandings and results in alternative perspectives. There are irrefutable proofs that our religions are not causes of hate and violence."

Timo Soini, Finnish Minister of Foreign Affairs explained, "How we practice our religion holds a mirror in front of us." He reminded his audience, "Freedom of religion belongs to everyone, to people of all faiths. Freedom of religion also entails the freedom to not believe or share in a particular faith.

Finally, freedom cannot exist without responsibility. There is no freedom to be intolerant of the faith of the other. On the contrary, we have an obligation to be vigilant in preventing any kind of discrimina-

tion on religious grounds. If religion is part of the problem, then it also must be part of the solution."

Admittedly, this was my first time in the presence of numerous Christian evangelical clergy. Pastor Bob Roberts, who has partnered regularly with Shaykh bin Bayyah, instructed us that to discover common ground, can yield common actions, and ultimately result in a common good. Pastor Roberts has been involved in efforts to build bridges with the Islamic community focusing on clergy becoming acquainted with one another. After a relationship is forged between pastor and imam, the circle expands to include the clergy member's family (if they have one) and their congregation. In due course, knowing one another leads to opportunities to stand up for another. Going on dialogue retreats together and participating in projects in underdeveloped neighborhoods deepens the process. "We all bleed the same," he said. "If we quit the hatred, we might learn to love each other." As Pastor John Jenkins, Pastor Roberts' colleague, offered, "The imam has the same thing in his heart that I do, but the media won't tell you that story. We need to get the media to tell the other story."

While the event predominantly featured Muslims, Christians, and Jews, as well as a few people of other faiths, I am hoping that those who identify as secular, atheist, or do not identify as religious, will eventually be welcomed at this table, too. Thinking that religion has cornered the market on "virtue," "being a good person" or can speak to everyone's "common good" is simply not true and this notion of "virtue" needs to also include voices from those who do not identify with a religion or with a faith practice.

Still, it was interesting to be involved, to be a fly on the wall – and even more enlightening to gather awareness of others who are deeply involved in the work of trying to improve our world, day by day.

The most critical piece to emerge from the Alliance Conference is making sure that what was discussed in Washington becomes actionable in our own communities.

How remarkable and how disappointing is it that in 2018 we are still preaching lessons and holding conferences on how to talk to one another, how to be in relationship with one another, and how to see the Divine in other human beings and in other communities beyond our own.

If the Washington Declaration is a piece of paper that is ultimately just filed somewhere, then this was nothing but a talkfest. If the experience continues to translate into action, there's a lot of healing that can be done.

Time to get to work.

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And the king said one day: "I saw in a dream seven fat cows being devoured by seven lean ones, and seven green spikes of grain and another (seven) dry.� Qur’an: 12:43

PERSPECTIIVES Cuneyt Uysal

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Collectively, the story of Joseph suggests the predictability of prices in the long run.

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n perfect capital markets, all relevant information is incorporated into stock prices immediately. If a technology company announces a new product today, then its stock price immediately changes and reflects the effect of the new product on the firm’s value. Therefore, the new product has no additional effect on tomorrow’s stock price. Thus, investors cannot predict future stock prices based on current movements in stock returns, and there should be no correlations or trends between current and future stock prices in perfect capital markets. However, we live in a world that is far from perfect. The imperfections in financial markets lead to predictability in future stock prices. In this article, I study the predictability in stock returns in the context of the story of Joseph, peace be upon him, who predicted future changes in crop production and in response dramatically changed his government’s economic policies.

Earnings do not only determine the level of wealth, but also affect people’s risk aversion, which reflects the level of risk tolerance. That is, people with low income are more hesitant to undertake risky investments whereas wealthy individuals are more willing to undertake risky projects, as failures in these projects do not affect their livelihoods as much. For example, a $10,000 loss may devastate the financial wellbeing of an individual who is making $30,000 a year, whereas such a loss may have little or no impact on the consumption of an investor with a net worth of $10,000,000. Therefore, the seasonality in crop production that is mentioned in the story of Joseph, peace be upon him, did not only influence the people’s wealth – considering that the majority of people earned their living by agriculture – but might also have generated variation in the risk aversion of people, which reflected the level of risk tolerance of the society as a whole.

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In response to the economic crisis, Prophet Joseph, peace be upon him, actively took actions to reduce the effect of crisis on his society. This also suggests that free markets may be inadequate in addressing an economic crisis which calls for the timely intervention of government.

A society’s willingness to undertake risk plays a very important role in returns to assets. Typically, people prefer safe assets to risky assets. Thus, prices of risky assets are lower than those of safe assets with similar cash flows. In a society of high risk aversion, there is an even higher demand for safe assets, and, thereby, the spread in prices between safe and risky assets gets even bigger. Consequently, an increase in risk aversion in society generates higher prices of safe assets while lowering the values of risky assets. This suggests that if you have the information that people will get more risk averse, you can successfully predict the future increase in values of safe assets relative to risky assets. As changes in asset prices determine the returns of investments, the increases in the values of safe assets and the corresponding decrease in the values of risky assets consequently generate predictability in returns.

Robert J. Shiller, Nobel Laureate in Economics in 2013, also argues stock return predictability, in part due to longer-run swings in the risk appetite of investors. Thus, long-run changes in wealth, which affect risk aversion, may generate asset-return predictability. As changes in crop productions in the story of Joseph, peace be upon him, occurred over a long period, so do the variations in risk aversion, which in turn may generate predictability in stock prices in the long run. Thus, the miraculous Qur’an with the above verse, does not only suggest seasonality in commodities (e.g., crops), but may also suggest variation in risk aversion of people in response to changes in their wealth over the long term. This in turn suggests that the changes in risk aversion over a long period may generate predictable variation in asset returns.

The Qur’an also suggests economic fundamentals of the variation in prices. At the time of Prophet Joseph, peace be upon him, a crop was not an end product, but rather was a commodity, a vital input for final products. In contemporary financial markets, input markets play a very important role in the values of financial assets. For example, the recent drop in crop production generated a steep increase in food markets in general and the financial wellbeing of investors in particular. In addition to drawing attention to the importance of commodities in human life, the 32

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Qur’an in this verse suggests the important role of commodities in the formation of commodity prices in particular and financial asset values in general.

The Qur’an also uses the word “spikes” in describing the periods of fluctuations in crop production.

This may suggest that the fundamentals for variation in asset prices may last over long periods and consequent trends in stock prices occur only over the long term; this enables stock price predictability in the long run, rather than in the short run. This is also consistent with the findings of Eugene Fama and Robert J. Shiller. Professor Fama shows that it’s difficult to predict price movements in the short run while Professor Shiller argues that long term stock prices are predictable.

In response to the economic crisis, Prophet Joseph, peace be upon him, actively took actions to reduce the effect of crisis on his society. This also suggests that free markets may be inadequate in addressing an economic crisis which calls for the timely intervention of government. In the modern financial world, governments have continued to intervene during crises. For example, the U.S. government established the Troubled Asset Relief Program (TARP) to strengthen the financial sector by purchasing assets from financial institutions in 2008. The need for government intervention is even more pronounced for less-developed countries. By suggesting the moderating role of governments in financial and economic markets, the Qur’an encourages governments to be pro-active against a crisis by establishing agencies and gathering resources to purchase and to allocate commodities that are vital for society. As government intervention influences asset prices, anticipating government intervention may also lead to predictable asset prices in the long run.

Collectively, the story of Joseph suggests the predictability of prices in the long run. To the extent that the prices are predictable, one can forecast times of crisis in financial markets. Thus, the Holy Qur’an calls for the advanced preparation of societies for upcoming economic and financial crises through institutionalization and government intervention in economic and financial markets.

REFLECTIONS

People with a sound faith and solid hopes read existence not just by looking at the superficial appearance of events. They sense beautiful things behind things that appear to be ugly; they feel otherworldly pleasures that make pain incumbent and constantly sip heavenly water from bowls of disaster.

Emerald Hills of the Heart

SAFA (PURITY)

Purity originates from the purest of sources and reaches the pool of the human heart, from which it flows into other hearts to enlighten them on new wavelengths according to the capacity and disposition of each and the requirements of time and conditions.

S

afa, in the language of Islamic Sufism, signifies the state of a heart at peace because it has been purified of all kinds of things that contaminate it, such as sin, feelings of vengeance, jealousy, and hatred, and suspicion of others. The verse (38:47), They were, in Our sight, among the perfectly purified, chosen ones, the truly good, which expresses the holiness and greatness of some Prophets, stresses purity in the greatest degree. The word mustafa, derived from safa, and which means pure essence, extract or the cream of something, is the special title used to express in particular the rank of the Prophet Muhammad, peace be upon him, due to his being the essence and cream of existence and the master of both worlds—this and the next. So, having a special distinction among all ranks and being a symbol of transcendence among the Prophets, it has always been a goal to which the Prophets and the purified, saintly scholars have always aspired.

Purity originates from the purest and most blessed of sources and reaches the pool of the human heart, from which it issues and flows into other hearts to enlighten them on new wavelengths according to the capacity and disposition of each and the requirements of time and conditions. It sheds light on the ways of the travelers to the Ultimate Truth so that they can follow them easily. It purifies their hearts and equips them with sincerity, guiding them to the truth of Divinity, causing their spirits to move in ecstasy with the infinite pleasures of supplication and their hearts to move with love, zeal, and yearning for meeting with the All-Beloved. It is usually dealt with in three categories: The first is purity of knowledge. It occurs when a traveler continues the journey under the guidance and in the light of the knowledge taught by the Messenger, upon him be peace and blessings. The Book and the Prophetic Sunna are followed strictly and with utmost care during the journey, the requirements of doing so being never neglected. With the good pleasure of God as the sole aim of the journey, the traveler faces all hardships and difficulties, without ever losing the resolve to continue on the way.

In other words, purity of knowledge occurs when an initiate who is traveling under the guidance of the sun of Prophethood, puts heart, spirit, and reason under the command of this sun. Following him to the utmost possible in all thoughts, actions, and attitudes, the traveler

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is annihilated and revived in him, and appeals to his judgment to solve all the problems encountered. The traveler is honored with various favors to the extent of love and knowledge of the supreme goal—God—and zeal and yearning to meet with Him in the footsteps of the pride of Messengers, upon him be peace and blessings. The author of the Gulshan-i Tawhid (“The Rose-Garden of Divine Oneness”) talks about this rank as follows: Go and pursue such knowledge that it can open your heart and solve all your problems.

By contrast, any knowledge that does not inspire in people the true aim of life and, in order to realize that aim, does not equip their sight with the necessary light, their will with strength, their spirits with love and zeal, and their hearts with the desire to reach the realms beyond the heavens, is not promising, even though it may not be a delusion or mere illusion.

The second rank in purity is purity of state. It occurs when the heart constantly beats with the awe of God and love of the truth. It expresses its excitement and anxiety in supplications and entreaties to the Almighty, removing feelings of loneliness and gloom that come between it and the truth, becoming a hill where the breezes of peace blow. Setting itself solely on God alongside all the other faculties, such as the emotions, consciousness, and perception, the heart flings all else except the Almighty into the abyss of nothingness, like a stone, in order that nothing should veil God from it.

When travelers on the way to God attain the state of purity and refinement, their hearts overflow with the manifestations of the truth of Divinity, their spirits are flooded with the love of truth, and enraptured with the real beauty of existence which they observe through the windows that have been opened in them. In this state, they turn to the Realm of the Holy Presence with the most enchanting of supplications voiced with the full force of their sincere feelings, feelings that have begun to speak instead of themselves. They unburden themselves, feel that God is turning to them, and taste the deepest of pleasures. It even happens that in this state they mention and invoke the Divine Names considering the Divine Being Himself called by these Names, and the Divine Attributes in consideration of the All-Merciful (ar-Rahman)— the primary attributive Title of the Supreme Being Which, like the Name Allah, can be used for Him exclusively. In the rising waves of their feelings, they sense the pleasure that the angels have in worshipping the Almighty, witness the self-possession of other spiritual beings, are enchanted with the mysteries of the higher, incorporeal realms of existence and the beings that inhabit them, and feel as if they transcended the limits of humanity. In the following couplet, the author of al-Minhaj points to this spiritual state, which one who does not experience it cannot grasp:

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Sometimes a person is dumbfounded in this state, without being able to utter a word, And sometimes only one who experiences it can know what state this is.

Purity of meeting with God, which is the third rank in purity, occurs when the worshipping servants become as nothing or, to put it in other words, feel and know annihilation of their own being, attributes, and actions in the Being, Attributes and Acts of the Necessarily Existent Being, and live immersed in observation of the blazing manifestations of God’s Existence and Knowledge. In other words, the pleasure that the worshipping servant feels in God’s service is combined with and melts away in the duties of servanthood due to His being the Lord (One Who creates, sustains, brings up, and protects), and the mysteries of existence become unveiled and come into view on all sides. The manifestations of God’s Existence and Knowledge that pour in completely pervade the conscience, and the shadow of the truth, which will become visible in the other world, begins to be seen with the eye of the heart. To paraphrase the state, God declares concerning His servants whom He has made near to Him: He hears through Me, and sees through Me, and holds through Me, and walks through Me. So, such servants observe from their obser¬vatories of heart and innermost faculties, such as the secret (sir), the private (khafi) and the more private (akhfa), the Realm of the Transcendental Manifestation of Divinity with some of its mysteries, and the Realm of the Transcendental Manifestation of Divine Attributes and Names with some of its particularities, and the Realm of the Transcendental Manifestation of Divine Commands with some of its aspects, and the truths originating from the Divine Being.

They know the substantial truth behind realities that are evident to everybody, and acquires certainty in their knowledge, and their certainty rises to the degree of certainty that comes from direct experience (haqqu’l-yaqin) according to their capacity. Peculiarities vanish and particular natures melt away in the burning rays of His “Facial” Light, and only His SelfSubsistence is felt. In this rank, initiates, who have reached a state of pleasure that pervades the whole being, feel as if a drop has become an ocean, a particle the sun, and everything has turned into nothingness. They feel and know Him only, and begin and end with Him, and work by Him. They may go so far as to confuse His Being with His manifestations. Those who are not able to enlighten their feelings, consciousness, and faculties of perception with the light brought by God’s Messenger, may make mistakes or be confused in their comments. There are lots of beautiful words that those who have enjoyed this third rank of purity have uttered to express their state. What follows is only one of them:

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Any knowledge that does not inspire in people the true aim of life and, in order to realize that aim, does not equip their sight with the necessary light, their will with strength, their spirits with love and zeal, and their hearts with the desire to reach the realms beyond the heavens, is not promising, even though it may not be a delusion or mere illusion.

You have seen the lights of the sun (that is, you have burnt to ashes in the rays of the Divine “Facial” Light); and now you no longer exist.

A drop is lost in the waves of the ocean, and you, being a drop, have been lost in the ocean of mysteries.

You will no longer be able to find the drop.

Though it is not in the capacity of everyone to be lost, those who are annihilated like me are not few.

If those who try to explain purity of meeting with God use words that suggest incarnation and union in order to convey their states and pleasures, they are apt to be confused in their interpretations. Therefore, they must immediately appeal to the light of Muhammad, upon him be peace and blessings, and correct their confusion. On the other hand, those who adopt an interpretation and attitude that arise from a spiritual state and pleasure simply as a thought system and philosophy, are clearly misguided and are regarded as being in rebellion against God until they enter the way of the Messenger and his Companions.

O God! Show us the truth as being true and enable us to fol¬low it; show us falsehood as being false and enable us to refrain from it. O God! We ask You for Your forgiveness, and health, and approval. O God! Guide us to what You love and are pleased with. And bestow blessings and peace on our mas¬ter Muhammad, the sun of guidance, and the means of happiness, and on his Family and Companions, all of them.

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ZOOLOGY Ertugrul Selcuklu

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lenty of animals have distinctive features, such as an elephant’s trunk or a kangaroo’s pouch. It is certainly the tail for squirrels.

Watching the spry movements of a scurry of little squirrels seemingly in defiance of their enormous tails, one realizes that this tail, which could get bigger than the animal’s whole body, was created as a balancing and parachuting organ. Squirrels are all around us, but most of us do not know much about these playful animals.

Squirrels belong to the family Sciuridae, with 278 known species. They have a length of 34-43 cm from the top of the head to the end of the tail and a weight of 250350 gr. Its furry tail is 14-20 cm long. Having a pregnancy period of 30-40 days, these mammals can give birth to three to seven pups at a time and produce young once or twice a year. They live seven years on average.

Living almost everywhere on earth, squirrels inhabit forests and wooded areas. They do not hibernate but only sleep a lot during extremely cold winter days.

As ordinary as they look, squirrels are in fact wondrous creatures and their tail is exceptionally useful.

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Experts at climbing and jumping, squirrels spend virtually all their time in trees. They can climb up trees very fast and climb down headfirst. They build nests in the forks of branches or spherical dens in the cavities made by woodpeckers. Unlike bird nests, the entrances of squirrel nests, or drays, are at the bottom. To protect the pups from predators, the mother covers the entrance of the dray with grass when she goes out. Squirrels make several nests in an area and furnish them with grass, leaves, or moss.

Squirrels feed on nuts, almonds, walnuts, fungi, acorns, fresh bark, insects, baby birds, and snails. To avoid food shortages on cold winter days, they bury seeds and nuts as a precaution, which is a very wise action. Squirrels cannot sometimes find the seeds they bury. Yet, seeds are not wasted; squirrels’ forgetfulness result in another form of life, as seeds develop and blossom into new trees. Squirrels also have a powerful immune system that can protect them against many poisons. The creatures are created to withstand even the yew, which carries twenty different poisons.

Thanks to their tail, squirrels can rarely be hunted, which makes them one of the greatest survivors in the world.

If a squirrel is attacked, the blood floods into the vessels in the tail and enlarges it.

The tail: an organ of precision Thanks to their tail, squirrels can rarely be hunted, which makes them one of the greatest survivors in the world. If a squirrel is attacked by a reptile such as a snake, its blood pressure rises dramatically. The blood floods into the vessels in the tail and enlarges it.

The infrared radiation emitted by the warm blood in the tail makes the furry long tail look like a much larger animal for the predator.

The infra-red sensors on the heads of snakes are fine-tuned to the body temperature of animals. The expansion of the tail vessels also helps when the squirrel is attacked by a hawk or a weasel.

A careful route planner A predator can hardly harm squirrels as long as there are trees and food in its habitat. They are extremely alert to any danger. The position of their eyes in the skull allows them to see every angle and to compute the distance between trees and branches for a safe jump. As they keep jumping, they put all four claws to use, allowing them to land safely on the next branch.

An unswerving helm As squirrels jump between tree branches, they do not change direction mid-air, which is made possible by their long tails. Squirrels can also use their tails as de facto wings, allowing them to fly considerable distances up to five meters. If scaled to human proportions, the jumping distance of a squirrel would be equal to 36 meters. Their tails which function like a parachute make it an easy flight for squirrels to jump from one branch to another at the top of tall trees and prevent hard landings even from a fall of up to 20 meters. They are also light, and their rear legs are as flexible as a steel spring.

Masters of evasion Pine martens, wildcats, weasels, and raptors are the enemies of squirrels. The agility of squirrels allows them to evade even the fastest birds of prey like the hawk, which gets distracted because of the squirrel’s erratic movements and quits the chase. There have also been instances when weasels fall from trees when hunting squirrels.

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INTERVIEW The Fountain

Interview with Jihad Turk

We feel that there is a lot of common ground in terms of values [Islam shares] with other world religions that we can build upon for the common good.

Bayan Claremont Graduate School

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ayan Claremont is one of the few institutions offering graduate degree in Islamic studies in the United States. Operating as a division of the Claremont School of Theology in California, Bayan aims to contribute to “a world that understands Islamic values in a modern context,” as the vision statement reads on their website. Under the current climate of phobias, be it against Islam or immigrants, Bayan and other institutions that focus on Islamic studies have a serious role to play – to provide a convenient medium of communication among members of our society. Professor Jihad Turk, the President of Bayan, is surely one of those Muslim leaders in the United States who can keep channels of dialogue open and help shape a Muslim identity that is confidently unified with the Western context. Professor Turk was very kind to accept our request for an interview during a family visit in Cleveland, OH. We could not help but start our interview with what is perhaps so striking about him at first sight: his name, which is a very intriguing combination.

The Fountain: I am sure you have had to answer this question many times, but could you tell us about your name? Given the current circumstances, it must have been an interesting experience.

Jihad Turk: I am an American kid from Arizona. Having a name like Jihad, growing up, you’d think, would be a challenge for me. But I grew up in the seventies. People just thought Jihad was an exotic Mexican name. My father is an immigrant from Jerusalem. He is Palestinian, he was born in Palestine in 1938. He came [to the US] in 1956 as a teenager. He met my mother, who is a Christian American. They got married and had me in 1971. My father chose the names of the two boys and my mom chose the names for girls – I have three sisters. My father told me the meaning of my name when my classmates and teammates in soccer were giving me the nickname Jay for short. He insisted and said, “No, your name is Jihad, and I chose that name because it means something important. It means the struggle to do the right Mar / Apr 2018

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thing. And it is worth the extra effort for people to say the full name. I have always been very aware of the meaning of the name since I was seven or eight.

And as for the name Turk, it has to do with my great grandfather who was conscripted into the Ottoman Empire military as an officer in WWI. He was given the nickname Abu Turki, which was cut short when my father emigrated to the US in the fifties.

The Fountain: How much do you feel like that name has shaped your identity and made you who you are?

JT: It was really the experiences of being part of a pioneering Muslim family in Arizona and Phoenix in the seventies and eighties, participating not only in the mosque but also one of the things that my father and mother did was that they sent us to a summer youth camp for Muslims, a family camp that’s been operational since the sixties, called the Muslim Youth Camp. And they sent us to MYNA, Muslim Youth of North America, which was like a Muslim youth leadership training program. There I met other Muslims who became close friends, even though they lived all across the country, far away from me and Arizona. We formed a special bond. Some of the mentors I came to know as councilors or teachers at those programs really inspired me to learn more about the religion. Ultimately when my parents divorced when I was seventeen, it led me to explore more seriously religion in general and Islam in particular; it led me on a journey around the world, where I learned Arabic and Farsi (Persian). I studied in both the Islamic University of Medina and then in the University of Tehran and in Qum. I went on to pursue Islamic studies for my graduate work as well.

The Fountain: You are now the President of Bayan Claremont, a graduate school in Islamic studies. Tell us about the goals and vision of Bayan.

JT: I was fortunate. While I was pursuing my PhD at UCLA in Islamic studies, I was hired as the imam

or the religious director at the largest and oldest mosque in LA. It was in that context where I was able to serve a very large, dynamic, and diverse American Muslim community, and interact with imams and Muslim leaders from across the country, where I began to identify some of the major needs of the American Muslim community, plus having a wife and four kids, I saw some of the challenges of raising a Muslim family in the United States. It was through those experiences and through also serving as a counselor at MYNA, the same camp that I grew up in, that I identified a major need: the need to develop leaders for the American Muslim community who were well adjusted in their identity as both American and as Muslim. It might seem like a straightforward idea, but to have a leader who doesn’t see the conflict in being fully American and fully Muslim, and can help young people have a coherent and unified identity, is a major step, I think, we need to take as a community. We need to embrace this approach. Because what I have noticed is that many immigrant families, whether they be from Turkey or the Arab world, Indo-Pakistani or Persian backgrounds, isolate and insulate themselves from society and think that they are passing on the culture and the faith successfully in doing so, until they have a rude awakening when their children go off and sometimes leave the faith and don’t affiliate themselves with the Muslim community. That’s because children growing up with a household that is very cultural and religious within the house; but leaving the house, they have a split personality and were not only just American but also not religious, not respecting the values and traditions of their families outside the household. Having leaders that can help the families and the young people [develop] a unified identity that is fully Muslim but also fully integrated into the modern world and to the United States of America. It is important.

The Fountain: How do you believe the American identity can contribute to being a Muslim in this globalized world? And how can being a Muslim contribute to America?

Many immigrant families isolate and insulate themselves from society and think that they are passing on the culture and the faith successfully in doing so, until they have a rude awakening when their children go off and don’t affiliate themselves with the community.

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There is a need to develop leaders for the American Muslim community who are well adjusted in their identity as both American and as Muslim. It might seem like a straightforward idea, but to have leaders who don’t see the conflict in being fully American and fully Muslim, and can help young people have a coherent and unified identity, is a major step.

JT: There are a lot of tropes and themes going back to early encounters with colonialist powers where Muslim intellectuals would visit the West. Some of them, like one Muslim scholar said when he visited western Europe, “Here we have Islam with no Muslims in it, and in Egypt we have Muslims with no Islam.” That’s an exaggeration, of course. But the idea is that there are values in the West that are very Islamic, whether it’s the freedom of speech – something that is challenged in many Muslim lands, including Turkey – freedom to practice religion and to be protected in whatever it is that you believe in and however it is that you worship, [as well as] civic engagement, participation, and governance to ensure that there is not only justice in your local community, but at the national level, and even the opportunity for people to participate in policy making at the international level through elections and the democratic process. It is not perfect; there are many problems with it. That’s where I think being Muslim comes in. Because as Muslims we have values that we can offer to society, try and participate, and exert influence in a way that is positive and constructive to the society in which we live. Given that the system opens its arms to us and welcomes us not only to become citizens but also to participate fully, it would

be a dereliction of our moral responsibility to not take up that opportunity and challenge, and offer the beautiful responses inspired by our connection to God through Islam.

The Fountain: While covering different disciplines of science and the humanities, we encourage readers to explore life by exercising both their hearts and minds. This is in part in response to the downgrading of religion to an identity only, in which the faithful, be they Muslims or Christians or members of other traditions, in fact are believers culturally.

What would you say about this challenge?

JT: One of the things we have lost as an ummah, internationally speaking, is our rigorous, academic foundations in not only studying our own faith but in studying the natural sciences. There is a lot of debate on “closing of the door of ijtihad” and all of those things; I don’t fall into the category of those who believe that this collapse or downgrading of our intellectual production occurred because of that.

Even in that timeframe I think there has been much evidence that there was still significant contribution to various scientific fields up until the last hundred and fifty years or so. But I do think it’s lost for the Mar / Apr 2018

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Bayan Claremont graduates

most part and part of what’s lost is this curiosity, the ability to look with a scientific eye at nature and reality. This is something that’s lost not only in our tradition but also to the West: to be able to do that within the religious framework. So, we have lost the religious framework to look to science, and [how to create] a scientific-minded western world within a religious framework. One of things I think Islam has been better at than most other world religions, historically, is to seamlessly encourage exploration of science to its fullest without any reservations and to do so with a sense of awe and wonder of the Creator of all things, in a way that there has not been a conflict. We don’t have this conflict between church and science that manifested itself in other parts of the world historically that has driven many people away from religion altogether. We have exhortations in the Qur’an to go and explore and understand the creation and the existence. As God says in the Qur’an, “Only those who have true knowledge are in true awe of God” (35:28). So, a standard is set that we should pursue ’ilm, i.e. knowledge, scientific knowledge as well. One of the things we are trying to do at Bayan is to reignite the skill of critical thinking. If you study in a seminary wherever that may be in the Muslim world, you are oftentimes just taught to memorize certain texts that are already established; but you are not taught critical thinking skills and given the ability to apply those skills to the texts to extract from historical tradition the axioms and principles that we can apply in a way that is most relevant not for just Muslims in the West but Muslims in the modern world. Having that scientific frame-of-mind, rekindling that critical thinking skill that we always had historically and has only waned in the last hundred and fifty years or so, we can reclaim that as part of our central identity. Not only would we be well adjusted for modernity, but we would be able to reengage with the scientific world in a way that would allow us to begin to contribute once again in significant ways.

The Fountain: Religious thought in many parts of the world, especially in the Muslim world, today is being used more like an instrument to define relations with the “enemy,” with the “other,” and to respond to the colonizing powers. This is obviously not what a religion is for, which is an expression of an inner feeling and a source of faith and hope. One way of tackling this could be to review our understanding of the world by both scientific and religious references and reach a reconciliation between our hearts. The Hizmet Movement, whose main goal was to promote this sort of education and dialogue throughout the world, is now being persecuted in Turkey, where it was born, and in some Muslim countries where the Turkish government has influence. What are your thoughts about all of this?

JT: One of the things that Hizmet is doing really well is providing high quality education. I am not a member of Hizmet. But from visiting some of the schools here in the United States and around the world, it seems to me that there is great success in education that is focused on science. The scientific focus of the schools is something that will produce students who can be not only successful for themselves but also contribute to the success of their communities, their families, and 44

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There are values in the West that are very Islamic, whether it’s the freedom of speech – something that is challenged in many Muslim lands, including Turkey – freedom to practice religion, [as well as] civic engagement, participation, and governance to ensure that there is justice.

the countries in which they live. It is a shame that these schools are being forced to close down. Hizmet does three things very well from my perspective as an outsider: provide high quality education, oftentimes in communities that are underserved, sometimes impoverished. So, it is lifting up communities that are marginalized. [Two], Hizmet is focused on charitable work and relief efforts. And [lastly], it is trying to bridge the gap of understanding between cultures, communities, and religious groups. Those misunderstandings often lead to conflict and even warfare in certain circumstances. To have the efforts of this movement undermined not only by systematic persecution at home but also through the curtailing of fundamental modern values of freedom speech, freedom of association, and others is a travesty. It is heartbreaking to see the persecution and undermining of such great efforts that are of benefit to humanity.

The Fountain: The United States is a country where religion is still alive in many ways. However, an extreme secularist worldview is also on the rise, more so in Europe, dominating the politics and philosophy, as well as identities. How do you see the future?

Do you think religion will survive?

JT: For sure, you see in Europe a decline in religion much more dramatically than in the United States.

You do see growing trends of secularism and atheism. I would say atheism is a kind of materialism.

Materialism is sometimes misunderstood as a focus on money and wealth. Materialism is a scientific posture, almost like an anti-theological posture that explains everything through anything but God. It is like an anti-God theology or philosophy. Oftentimes it cloaks itself in the garb of science, when in fact the claims made by materialists who are demonizing religion and vilifying faith are doing so despite the fact that their claims are not backed up by a purely scientific approach. At Bayan we partnered with Claremont School of Theology and we put out a conference entitled “Science between Religion and Materialism.� We explored in that conference the area that is clearly scientific, where science can speak with authority, and where the edges of that are, and where either materialism makes claims that are not scientific, or religion makes claims that are not provable or disprovable scientifically. For example, the claim that God exists. You would not say that there is proof that God exists in pure scientific fashion, nor can you say that God does not exist using a pure scientific method. Both of those claims are made Mar / Apr 2018

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by people of faith in religion and by materialists. Even though they claim they are the scientific-minded folks, they are making nonscientific claims. They try in a very deceptive way to fool the audience, the masses, into thinking that they are more rational and sound, but in fact oftentimes for reasons of interpersonal bitter experiences, they have their agenda that is not rooted in science per se. So, what we can do as an institution is reestablish not only the solid position that science should have but also identify clearly the boundaries that define the scientific realm, and then still have conversations about what faith or materialism does have to offer. Then we can have more honest conversation, and if we can [make them] accessible to the public it will not necessarily create this tension between most people who are scientifically minded and faithful people. Many Muslim and Christian scientists historically do not see that conflict. It has been exaggerated and conflated in recent times by certain individuals, but unjustly so.

We can reclaim the complementary relationship between the two and push back against the movement that vilifies faith and religion based on science.

The Fountain: Finally, what would you say about the debate around women and Islam?

JT: To be honest, Islam does not mistreat women. But some Muslim individuals and cultures, quite frankly, might and do. If we are to take our religion seriously, we have to reevaluate our traditional and cultural practices and ensure that what we are doing upholds the role of women in our societies and gives them not only proper rights but also the dignity to participate in creating great communities. At Bayan Claremont we are not only inclusive of women at the level of board of trustees – our chair of our 46

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If we can reclaim that scientific frame-of-mind, rekindling that critical thinking skill that we always had historically, not only would we be well adjusted for modernity, but we would be able to reengage with the scientific world in a way that would allow us to begin to contribute once again in significant ways. board is a woman – but also we have women in prominent positions of our faculty – the chair of our academic committee is a woman. Many of our faculty members and students are women as well.

The word “Bayan” means – ironically – lady in Turkish. But the name of our school is from the Qur’an, chapter Rahman (55), which means clear, coherent speech reflecting clear, coherent thinking. Empowering women through education and positions of influence in society, we can live up to the Qur’anic and Islamic responsibility that we have to ensure that women are given their full rights and justice.

We are creating a university in the United States that is offering a world class graduate level education and accredited degrees to empower Muslim intellectuals and leaders to help bring communities in the United States and around the world to a position of excellence. We are doing that by not only having a solid foundation on the tradition of Islam but also in the modern world, [founded on] critical thinking and best practices in leadership in order to achieve that lofty goal. Our degree program is in partnership with other faith community institutions of higher education, i.e. a Christian seminary, a Jewish seminary, a Buddhist university, because we feel that there is a lot of common ground in terms of values [Islam shares] with other world religions that we can build upon for the common good. Having our institution work closely with other world religions, their leaders and future leaders, is a recipe for bringing about a more peaceful society in a more peaceful world.

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NATURE Rumeysa Yazar

For solutions to solve droughts, scientists have found an unexpected inspiration in the unlikeliest of place – the desert.

The creatures inhabiting the extremely arid Namib Desert survive by exploiting fog droplets that move in from the Atlantic Ocean.

The Namib has an annual rainfall less than 1 cm, but its air is almost at saturation point, which results in fog formation.

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reatures who survive and thrive in the desert have many fascinating characteristics. Just like the cactus, which has a water storage system made up of fluffy hair, the beetles which call the desert home are provided with mechanisms that enable them to extract the water they need from fog.

The creatures inhabiting the extremely arid Namib Desert survive by exploiting fog droplets that move in from the Atlantic Ocean. Believed to be one of the oldest deserts of the world, the Namib has an annual rainfall less than 1 cm, but its air is almost at saturation point, which results in fog formation. Studies into insects in the Namib desert that can and cannot collect water from fog revealed the vital importance of water collecting mechanisms. Subsequent research studies have led to the development of water collecting systems that might eliminate droughts.

Stenocara gracilipes is one of the beetle species that can utilize fog. The microscopic bumps along the surface of its back and wings have diameters of 100-500 microns and are spaced 5001,500 microns from each other. These bumps are smooth like glass and hydrophilic (water-attracting), while the hollows around the bumps are covered with a waxy substance like Teflon that is hydrophobic (water-repelling). During fog, the beetle stands upside down at an angle of 45 degrees against the wind. Water molecules that hit the back and the wings are channeled towards the bumps, where water is collected.

The micro-scale droplets gather, growing to a diameter of 5mm. The accumulation of water continues until the electrostatic gravity is overpowered with wind. When the droplet is heavy enough, it rolls down the bump into the beetle’s mouth.

During fog, the beetle stands upside down at an angle of 45 degrees against the wind. Water molecules that hit the back and the wings are channeled towards the bumps, where water is collected. When the droplet is heavy enough, it rolls down the bump into the beetle’s mouth.

Existing only in the Namib Desert, this beetle and the microscopic structures on its back and the surface of its wings have provided inspiration for technological designs made from hydrophilic and hydrophobic materials. The development of units capable of collecting water from air owes especially to the strategic use of construction materials without having to spend extra energy. Zoologist Andrew Parker, from Oxford University, has stated that tent coverings and roof materials developed from the water collecting design of this beetle can make it possible to get water for drinking and irrigation, even in deserts or areas of drought.

A nanotechnology company has used the same structure to model such products as water bottles, tents, and roofing systems that can collect water in deserts and drought conditions.

Depending of the environmental conditions, these products can collect between half a liter and three liters an hour. The system is planned to be used for preventing moisture in homes, producing water during military operations, and growing plants in special greenhouses. Scientists striving to meet the demand for water at the lowest cost in regions where water shortages are

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prevalent believe that much higher targets can be reached if success is achieved in this field. Şehmus Özden, a researcher studying nanotechnology at Rice University, has also developed a technological device that can collect water in arid regions. Modeling their device on the Stenocara beetle, Özden and his team designed a mechanism of carbon nanotubes that are as tiny as a millionth of a hair. They used hydrophilic material at one end of the bunch of tubes and hydrophobic material at the other. When the tubes are left outside with the hydrophilic side up and hydrophobic side down, they harvest and store water inside without requiring any external energy. The tubes can also be squeezed like a sponge to take the water out, and the mechanism can be used multiple times.

All these technological developments shed light on the fact that every creature has been brought into existence for many purposes and with precise measurements. It behooves us to look into every creature, including the tiniest beetles, to meditate upon them, and see what wisdoms have been hidden in every corner of the universe.

REFLECTIONS

Winter nurtures spring in its bosom. The wind blows over wide terrains to fulfill its duty to fertilize crops. Brand new spectacular scenery forms with different changes, and the events that appear savage to many are so beautiful from the perspective of the ecosystem that it is impossible for those who feel and sense them not to be amazed by them.

POEM M. fethullah GĂźlen

I’m poorly-loving, lazily-longing; Render me worthy of your loving.

Throw a coal, burn me with desire!

So my horizons light up with fire.

You were ever close, I stayed away, Mistook as intimacy my feigned prays; Slaves to imitation my every way, Caught up in sights along the way.

Longing had long since died down, Just talk of existence in nothingness; A lack of ideal mentors, a letdown, Detached from God, hearts and minds.

Many lending hands, none of them hold;

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Language ruined, systems overturned, Orphans of love and desire, we were; Heart, soul, and the sacred all destroyed.

Failing to love You and feel your love, In isolation, we longed for more; We could not surrender at your door, Burned for years with a strange ardor.

Let me be your loving Majnun, Bestow happiness with your care.

Being without you—a burning fire, As a mundane mortal in this journey.

Translated by Lina Cakmak

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PSYCHOLOGY M. Tarik Ozgur

Some football players in the United States protested violence and discrimination by kneeling during the national anthem. Psychology can give us some clues about the social motivations beneath their calls for equality.

Because different groups often have differing goals, conflict inevitably results when the goals of these groups are at odds with each other. In this situation, one group of people feel that to kneel during the national anthem is a sign of contempt for the anthem and the country, while the football players are interested in restoring equality to disenfranchised minorities.

What Does It Mean to Take a Knee?

M

any of us are aware of the controversy surrounding a group of NFL (National Football League) players in the United States who refused to stand during the national anthem. Instead, they chose to kneel. This action, used to protest systemic racism and police violence, gained much more widespread attention in September of 2017, when over 200 athletes kneeled in response to Donald Trump publicly pressuring NFL team owners to fire athletes who took part in this type of protesting.

Some of us may be wondering, “What is going through their minds?” or “What caused them to do this?” Fortunately, psychology can help us understand both why the NFL players decided to take a knee and why some people reacted so strongly towards this seemingly simple gesture.

Let us first consider this from a group dynamics standpoint. In psychology, group dynamics is the study of groups of people and how they interact both with other groups and among their own group members (Backstrom et. al, 2006). Some who are not in the group of NFL players may interpret kneeling as an act of aggression towards the status quo. We also know that all groups end up developing generally expected behaviors for nearly every aspect imaginable, including life, manners of speaking, and behavior. When an NFL player kneels, he is breaking the status quo of standing for the national anthem. This norm breaking signifies that the one doing the breaking does not agree with the current status quo.

This disagreement could be an affront to other people who would prefer to keep that status quo as it is, and as a result, strong reactions are unsurprisingly observed.

When a person is evaluating other groups they are aware of both their own personal identity and their social identity. Conflicts can arise in cases where there is an apparent, whether true or not, difference of status between one’s own social group and the group being compared to.

Standing for the national anthem has become a sort of ritual for many Americans. Rituals have been shown to help foster group cohesion and loyalty. When these kinds of rituals are broken by group members it can be perceived as an attack on the integrity of the group itself. Furthermore, kneeling itself is traditionally a non-threatening maneuver that is associated with reverence and submissiveness.

Athletes who kneel during the anthem are not intending to show disrespect towards it; if they were, they could have easily used a different gesture, such as turning their backs. Rather, they are intending to make a statement by deviating from the expected cultural behavior, while simultaneously showing respect for the flag and the song.

Another reason why this non-aggressive act may trigger such reactions is that people in positions of relative privilege may be more likely to stereotype others. In this case, white football fans may believe stereotypes that black athletes are aggressive and violent and, because of this, the non-violent act of kneeling may be perceived as a violent act.

Realistic Group Conflict Theory There are other psychological lenses through which one can view the act of kneeling. One such lens is Realistic Group Conflict Theory. This theory posits that because different groups often have differing goals, conflict inevitably results when the goals of these groups are at odds with each other, in addition to other triggering elements like low levels of cooperation between groups or differences in group interests. In this situation, one group of people feel that to kneel during the national anthem is a sign of contempt for the anthem and the country, while the football players are interested in restoring equality to disenfranchised minorities. If these two groups continue to exist in opposition to each other, then conflict between the groups themselves will likely remain ever present.

Relative Deprivation Theory Another theory that may help explain the act of kneeling during the national anthem is Relative Deprivation Theory. This theory states that when a person or people is deprived of a social category, conflict may arise. From this perspective, the players kneeling feel 56

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that they, and other members of their group, have been denied equality. The act of kneeling is meant to be an action that can resolve this discrepancy and restore equality to their group.

Social Identity Theory One last theory that can be applied to this situation is Social Identity Theory. In this theory, when a person is evaluating other groups they are aware of both their own personal identity and their social identity.

Conflicts can arise in cases where there is an apparent, whether true or not, difference of status between one’s own social group and the group being compared to. In this case, the conflict over kneeling arose because it pits two different social groups against each other. The players who kneel during the national anthem feel that there is a need for change in the status quo to restore equality between minorities and whites, and are comparing their social identity negatively towards other groups.

Although the issue of kneeling can be better understood through psychology, are there any practical solutions such a perspective offers us? Literature in psychology suggests that when groups are in more frequent contact and dialogue with one-another, they achieve a better understanding of their goals and interests, and subsequently are less likely to be in conflict over those goals (Schneider et. al, 2005).

In this example, if people who believe that standing during the national anthem is inherently disrespectful were to discuss their viewpoints with NFL players who kneel during the anthem, they would be better able to understand why the players feel compelled to perform this action – not out of disrespect, but as a call to action for better treatment of all groups.

References Backstrom, L.; Huttenlocher, D.; Kleinberg, J.; Lan, X. (2006). "Group formation in large social networks".

Proceedings of the 12th ACM SIGKDD international conference on Knowledge discovery and data mining - KDD '06. p. 44.

Schneider, F. W., Gruman, J. A., & Coutts, L. M. (2005).

Applied social psychology: Understanding and addressing social and practical problems. Thousand Oaks, Calif: SAGE Publications.

QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS “IF ONLY...”

QUESTION: Is it possible to live a life without regrets?

What needs to be done to live a life free from pangs of conscience?

I

f believers do not want to contaminate their lives in this world or the next with exclamations of repentance, they should get to know God first, walk on His path, endeavor to reach Him, and try to make efficient use of all the means He bestowed on His path. In order to achieve this, such believers must always lead an insightful life, never give up self-awareness, always try to correctly discern the meaning of events, and always be aware of their responsibilities and what their positions necessitate. *** In different verses, the Qur’an relates the woes of the unfortunate ones who are completely lost in the Afterlife. For example, one verse states that they will voice their regret: “Oh, would that I were mere dust (instead of being a responsible being with consciousness and free will)!” Those who oppressed others and committed all sorts of

atrocities in this world will wish to become stones and dust than suffer that punishment.

Another verse relates the woes of those who failed to keep on the straight path and were misguided by following others: “On that Day, the wrongdoer will bite his hands, saying (with remorse), “Oh, would that I had taken a way in the company of the Messenger.” “Oh, woe is me! Would that I had not taken so-and-so for a friend!” (al-Furqan 25:27–28).” A person who wishes to avoid wailing in the next world must live consciously now, determine well whose guidance to follow, and not give up the path of the Prophets whom God sent in order to save people from misguidance.

Actually, God never left people without any guide. Through the blessed Prophets and the saintly personages, who served as a mirror for the Divine, God Almighty has always shed light on our path.

Believers must always lead an insightful life, never give up self-awareness, always try to correctly discern the meaning of events, and always be aware of their responsibilities and what their positions necessitate.

However, if people disregard these leaders of deliverance, do not follow their footsteps, and become rudderless, they lose their way and stumble into the pitfall of misguidance. The pitfall in this world transforms into a pitfall of Hell in the next. In the end, that person wails in the pitfalls of Hell with woes of: “If only…”[1] *** Those who had sound considerations here, who adopted constructive action as their main principle, and who always acted righteously, will be given their records from the right and will cheer from the glad tidings they receive (al-Haqqa 69:19–20). As for those who are given their record from the left, they will see that all of their repulsive sins are written there. Since they looked at the sinful, listened to the sinful, walked toward and committed the sinful, and recognized no Divine laws, they will see the record of what they committed; they will regret their sins very much and wail: “If only…” Even before entering Hell they will bend double with the shame of the sins they committed.

In this regard, as human beings were created as a monument by God Almighty, according to the best pattern of creation, and as angels were commanded to prostrate before them, it is essential that they do not immerse themselves in such disgrace for the sake of this passing worldly life or for worldly ambitions and temporary titles, and thus not pollute the blessing of “humanity.” If one fails to retain this Divinely bestowed, dignified position, there is the risk falling lower than the lowliest beings: They are like cattle (following only their instincts)—rather, even more astray (from the right way and in need of being led)…” (al-A’raf 7:179).

Pangs of conscience However high a rank the human is given, so will be the depth of the pitfalls they will face in the case of falling. As Bediüzzaman stated: “One who destroys this sincerity falls from the pinnacle of friendship. They may possibly fall to the bottom of a very deep pit.”[2] Likewise, “Difficulty is directly proportional to reward.” That is to say, however much a person is honored with God Almighty’s blessings, the greater is the risk. In the case of ingratitude for the showers of blessings God Almighty pours down, a person might stumble into a deep pit.

Some people commit blasphemy against their own position and the blessing of humanity. Despite being created with the potential for being a loyal friend of God Almighty, they become a follower of Satan. They cannot become conscious of their duty and commit unbecoming deeds that will betray the endowments they are blessed with… Such people will say: “I wish I was condemned to annihilation so that I would not see and hear these!” and even before the real punishment begins, they will feel deep pangs of conscience about what is written in their record.

A person who does not wish to suffer such regret in the Afterlife must be very righteous in this world, take the noble Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, and his Rightly Guided Caliphs as their guides, and try to lead a life like they did. Even when they were state leaders, they did not indulge in comfortable beds, they didn’t wish for luxurious mansions, and they didn’t stoop to gain worldly wealth. When the master of the Prophets demised, his armor was held in pawn by a Jewish broker in return for an amount of debt he had taken in order to support his blessed family.[3] Similarly, the Rightly Guided Caliphs who followed his footsteps did not leave anything behind as they passed to the eternal realm beyond. They literally showed us the state in which one should leave this world. Since those who live like them will not commit anything they will regret, they will not say “If only” beyond.

Human life is not something to be gambled In order not to wail “If only,” we should lead such a life that not we but others should be sorry for our departure from this world; as a poet expressed it: “Remember the days you were born? You were in tears, while others would gladden.

Lead such a life that your death will be your bliss while others will mourn.” A baby cries after coming to this world but the family rejoices for having a new child. A person must lead such a life that death should be a means of joy for passing to a realm of inner relief and for soaring to the horizons of one’s spirit. If there will be mourning, it should be others who mourn; if there are tears to be shed, it should be others who shed tears for us.

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Those entrusted with handing the great heritage on their shoulders to future generations should not seek the world but God; they should not let their clothes be stained with the dirt of worldliness and should say, “My God! Please do not condemn me to be without You!” Those who rejoiced at the birth must cry this time.

Those who lead such a life never say, “If only.” As for those who see this life, which is a capital bestowed on us by God, as something like dice for gambling with and thus waste it, have always wailed their regrets in this world and the next.

In particular, those devoted souls who have dedicated their hearts to serving faith and the Qur’an must completely omit “If only,” which shouldn’t be part of their present day, tomorrow, or Afterlife. They must utilize their worldly life as capital so wisely that when they depart from this world, they should rejoice with the blessings they will enjoy in the Afterlife, and the rest of the world should cry for their absence. Even after decades and centuries, they must always be paid tribute to by later generations. The Qur’an shows us these horizons: “And all those who come after them (and follow in their footsteps) pray: “O Our Lord! Forgive us and our brothers (and sisters) in Religion who have preceded us in faith, and let not our hearts entertain any ill-feeling against any of the believers…” (al-Hashr 59:10).

In this respect, a person must not commit deeds that will be the cause of disgrace and utter shame in the next world; one must always lead an upright life, and pass to the beyond in that way. Particularly, those entrusted with handing the great heritage on their shoulders to future generations should not seek the world but God; they should not let their clothes be stained with the dirt of worldliness and should say, “My God! Please do not condemn me to be without You!” They must always live and die with this consideration. As it is also stated by the noble Prophet, a person dies in accordance with how he lives, is resurrected in accordance with how he dies, and goes to his destination in the next world in accordance with how he was resurrected. *** Bediüzzaman said, “Alas! We have been deceived.

We thought that this worldly life is constant, and thus lost it thoroughly. Indeed, this passing life is but a sleep that passed like a dream. This life, hav-

ing no foundation, flies like the wind.”[4] With these words, he drew attention to the transient aspect of this world. He also said: “I am mortal, so I do not want the mortal. I am impotent, so I do not desire the impotent. I surrendered my spirit to the All-Merciful, so I desire none else. I want only one who will remain my friend forever. I am but an insignificant particle, but I desire an everlasting sun. I am nothing in essence, but I wish for the whole of creation.”[5] Thus he pointed out that a person must seek truly great targets and that the worldly things one ambitiously seeks are not really worthy of consideration at all. May God not separate us from the path of such blessed ones, for their path is actually that of the Pride of Humanity, peace and blessings be upon him.

Let us conclude this subject by relating a short poem attributed to Ali ibn Abi Talib: O poor one who busies himself with worldly pursuits!

Always deceived with the hopes of a long life!

Is it not high time you gave up this irresponsible way of yours?

Look, the journey to the beyond is close at hand!

Don’t forget, death comes one day, all of a sudden!

The grave awaits you, the box of your deeds.

Then from the troubles of this world, seek refuge in patience!

Know that your death will not happen unless the appointed hour comes! [6] Notes 1. Maryam 19:58–63.

2. Nursi, Bediüzzaman Said, The Gleams, New Jersey: Tughra, 2013, p. 229.

3. Sahih al-Bukhari, Jihad, 89; Sunan at-Tirmidhi, Buyu, 7; Sunan Ibn Majah, Ruhun, 1.

4. Nursi, Bediüzzaman Said, The Words, New Jersey: The Light, 2013, p. 228.

5. Nursi, Bediüzzaman Said, The Words, New Jersey: The Light, 2013, p. 235.

6. Ibn Hajar al-Asqalani, Al-Munabbihat.

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S C I E N C E S Q U A R E //

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Largest populatıon of “rare penguıns” dıscovered ın Antarctıca

Scientists recently discovered a supercolony of 1.5 million Adélie penguins off the Antarctic Peninsula, which have lived undisturbed for nearly 60 years. An observation in 2014 revealed a substantial amount of penguin droppings on Antarctica’s Danger Islands in NASA imagery of the area. The guano stains in the islands indicated that there must be a big colony of undiscovered penguins in the area. In 2015, groups of scientists from multiple institutions combined their efforts to begin to explore the scene. With the help of a drone, the expedition discovered an estimated 1.5 million penguins nesting in the area. The group of nine rocky islands, which lie off the northern tip nearest South America in the northwest Weddell Sea, housed the third- and fourthlargest Adelie penguin colonies in the world.

Adélie penguin numbers have dropped by about 70% in recent decades. Scientists argue that this sharp

Borowicz et al. Multi-modal survey of Adélie penguin mega-colonies reveals the Danger Islands as a seabird hotspot. Scientific Reports, March 2018.

decline was caused by global warming, which has resulted in large amounts of sea ice to melt. These findings suggest that the eastern side of the Antarctic Peninsula is likely to remain more stable under climate change than the western Antarctic Peninsula. Adélies are one of five penguin species that live in and around the Antarctic continent. A medium-sized penguin, they grow to about 70 centimeters tall, and weigh 3-6 kg. The Adélie are carnivores that feed on shrimp-like creatures called krill. Most scientists agree that the most surprising and incredible thing in this discovery seems to be that, in this day and age, something so big could have been overlooked for so long. It is difficult and treacherous to get to the Danger Islands to do surveys because of the heavy ice that covers the Islands during most of the year.

It is for these reasons that the supercolony went under the radar for so long.

Smartphones and tablet lıghts before bedtıme keeps chıldren awake

Lameese D. Sensitivity of the circadian system to evening bright light in preschool-age children. Physiological Reports, March 2018.

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Electronics usage amongst preschoolers has been rapidly expanding within recent years, and concerned parents are trying to understand the ramifications for their young ones. A recent study showed that exposing kids to bright light including smartphones or tablets can alter their sleeping habits. For the study, researchers measured levels of melatonin, the principal hormone that regulates sleep, in a group of 10 children ranging from ages 3 to 5. The children were first put on a regular sleep schedule for five nights, with researchers monitoring their saliva to measure their melatonin levels. Then, on the sixth and seventh day, the kids slept in lower-light conditions.

Except that for an hour before bedtime, the preschoolers were exposed to bright light, playing on a table emitting 1,000 lux of light, which is approximately equal to the brightness of a bright room to replicate the effects of using a smartphone or tablet. The researchers then measured the children’s melatonin levels again and discovered that their levels had dropped by almost 90 percent and the effects persisted even 50 minutes later after the children returned to lower- light conditions.

A similar study previously performed on adults showed that a one-hour light stimulus of 10,000 lux (10 times that of the current study) suppressed melatonin levels by only 39 percent in adults. Since children have larger pupils and their lenses are more transparent, they are thought to be more susceptible to dysregulation of sleep and the circadian clock. Therefore, for preschoolers, this increased sensitivity to light may not only lead to trouble falling asleep one night, but also to chronic problems feeling sleepy at bedtime. Since melatonin also plays crucial roles in other bodily processes including regulation of temperature, blood pressure, and glucose metabolism, the effects of light at night exposure can definitely go beyond sleep.

Studies alarmingly showed that use of electronic media among young children has tripled since 2011. One thing is very clear that parents and clinicians should make informed decisions on children's light exposure before bedtime.

LÄąes spread much faster than truths

Soroush V. et al. The spread of true and false news online. Science, March 2018.

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A new study demonstrated how easy it is for rumors to spread online along with how simple it is for social media to disburse these falsehoods. Researchers analyzed 126,000 tweet cascades in Twitter between 2006 and 2017 containing rumors and reached the following conclusions: - It takes true stories about six times as long to reach 1,500 people as it does for false stories to reach the same number of people.

- Falsehoods are 70% more likely to be retweeted than truths.

- Falsehoods reach a cascade depth of 10 retweets about 20 times faster than facts.

- Twitter bots amplified true stories as much as they amplified false ones suggesting that humans, not robots, are more likely to spread falsehoods.

The study unexpectedly found that a false rumor cascade was more likely to begin with a new, unverified account with a small number of followers. False rumors are also found to contain more novelty and frequently expressed words associated with disgust and surprise. It is no surprise that people do not trust social media platforms.

Seven in ten people asked by a marketing firm (2018 Edelman Trust Barometer) this year said they worry about fake news being used as a weapon. “Media� is the least trusted institution in 28 global markets the firm surveyed. But it seems that in a world where fake news dominates, real news is valued more. Overall trust in journalism and journalists increased by 5% and 12%, respectively, despite the population losing trust in social media. At the same time, however, 59% of respondents said that it is getting harder to tell whether a piece of news comes from a legitimate source or not.

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On Life, Knowledge, and Belief

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Tie to your heart your aspiration to rise And you will have a life of serenity If not, for now you may be making merry yet, you will surely end up in misery.