The example of Prophet Muhammad, upon him be peace, is explicitly commended in the Qur’an as the best pattern for believers to follow. Therefore, the practice and precepts of the Prophet have been a source of legal judgements and general guidance in the affairs of Muslims since the earliest days of Islam, a source which supplements and is second only to the Qur’an. Since health is so important a part of human well-being, it is not surprising that Muslims over the centuries devoted so much effort to recording and reflecting upon what the Prophet taught about maintaining good health, preventing and curing diseases and ailments.

The most widespread book on ‘Prophetic Medicine’ was that written by Ibn Qayim al-Jawziyiah (691-751AH / 1293-1351). But there are scores of manuscripts on the subject in world libraries and museums. After a preliminary study, I found references to some forty different books (some published, most manuscripts, some lost) with the title ‘Prophetic Medicine’. In his 1985 paper on Islamic heritage, S. Abdullah al-Habashi of Yemen mentioned 23 monographs by different authors on plagues and infectious diseases – I could add a further 16 on the same subject. He went on to write a book on infectious diseases as related to Prophetic Medicine, with a Foreword by the late Sheikh al-Azhar. ‘Abd al-Halim Mahmud.

Recently, the number of publications on Prophetic Medicine as a whole or on different areas of it has been growing rapidly. There are many books and articles, referenced with ahadith (sayings) of the Prophet on the curative properties of honey, black seed (Nigella Sativa), senna (Casiacutifolia), henna (Lawsonia Inermis), aloes (Aloe Vera), garlic and onions, olive oil, etc.; on the positive health benefits of breast feeding, and of the Islamic practices of fasting, prayers, ablution, cleaning the teeth and mouth, etc. Doctors in particular have been very active in elucidating the relevant ahadith and their importance to health promotion and disease prevention. Papers are published almost weekly on Islamic teachings related to health concerns, for example on food and drink (prohibition of excess, of pork, blood, and intoxicant drugs like alcohol), on circumcision, on sexuality and marriage (particularly with regard to the spread of sexually transmitted diseases such as AIDS).

There is growing interest, too, reflected in the volume of publications, in spiritual medicine which treats psychological ailments believed to be produced by evil jinn (evil spirits). Die treatment usually includes reciting particular chapters or verses of the Qur’an, certain supplications attributed to the Prophet, and making incantations.

Current issues in medical ethics from an Islamic perspective have also received a great deal of attention in recent times. There are literally hundreds of articles, books and doctoral dissertations on organ transplantation, brain death, new methods of procreation including test-tube babies and surrogacy, abortion, contraception, cloning and genetic engineering.

Traditional Medicine

As lbn KHaldun observes in his famous Muqaddimah, the pre – Islamic Arabs used a sort of folk medicine based on herbs and plants tested by experience and handed down. At the time of Prophet Muhammad, there were surgeons adept at treating wounds, abscesses and other minor operations, and also some renowned physicians like al-Harith ibn Kalada of Ta’if who had travelled to Jundishapur (near Ahwaz in Iran) to gain more knowledge. The Prophet asked his cousin Sa’d ibn Abi Waqqas to consult al-Harith when Sa’d fell ill after the conquest of Makkah in 8AH(630).

Cupping, venesection and cautery were all common pre-Islamic treatments endorsed by the Prophet with some reservation against cautery. Cupping with blood-letting was definitely encouraged by him and there are tens of ahadith related to this procedure. It is interesting to note that cupping and cautery are still widely practised in Arab countries, especially among villagers and Bedouins.

Recently, Dr. Mansoor Suliman of the medicine faculty of King Abdul Aziz University, Jeddah, published a paper on ‘The myth and reality of treatment by cautery’ in Alternative Medicine (1986, 1(3), pp.237-40). He studied 500 patients treated with cautery and modern techniques for different ailments. He found that cautery was useful in treating diarrhoe where 45% of those cauterized showed marked improvement. Cautery was useless for jaundice, haemolytie blood diseases, respiratory diseases, other infectious diseases and cancers, though it was helpful in stopping bleeding. Diathermy (cautery) is also used in modern medicine to treat epistaxis, cervical erosion, to stop bleeding during operations, and to remove warts and other skin tumours. There are also different types of modern heat therapy e.g. infrared and laser therapy.

Cupping and blood-letting were used widely in the past to treat different ailments e.g. hypertension, polycythemia, and even heart failure. Modern medicine rarely, if ever, resorts to such measures.

The pre-Islamic Arabs believed in supernatural forces such as evil spirits, the evil eye and so on, and sought to counter them with spells, amulets, talismans and other animistic practices. The Qur’an (see 72.6) deplored all such rituals of seeking refuge from evil spirits as a pseudo-worship and therefore a sort of polytheism. The Prophet Muhammad scorned superstitious beliefs. Al-Bukhari records his saying: ‘There is no Adwa (i.e. contagion) [except by the will of Allah]; no Safar [the pagan Arabs believed that Safar, the last month in the lunar calendar, can cause malady. Safar could also refer to huge ‘snakes’ that dwell in the abdomen of some people and cause serious disease]; no Ha’ma [i. e, vengeful ghosts of the dead that hover around the living].’ And Tirmidhi records the Prophet saying: ‘Whoever wears an amulet has relapsed into shirk (polytheism). Whoever goes to a fortuneteller or a divine and asks him about anything, his prayers extending for four nights will not be accepted.’ In another hadith, he said: ‘Magic spells, amulets and the like are shirk.’ Polytheism is considered in Islam the worst of sins, the one that will never be pardoned by God until the person repudiates all forms of polytheism and reverts to pure, original monotheism. The Muslim should have faith in God alone, in whose control lie the causes of health and disease, life and death, in fact of all things, small or large.

Diseases and ailments are considered in Islam as a type of tribulation which expiates sin. Those stoics who forbear to complain and endure in dignity are rewarded in this world and on the Day of Judgement. Al-Bukhari, Muslim and Ibn Hanbal record the Prophet’s saying: ‘Never a believer is stricken with discomfort, hardship, illness, grief or even anxiety but that his sins are expiated.’ However, the Prophet also always urged Muslims to seek remedies for their ailments: ‘O servants of God, seek medical treatment, for God has established a remedy for every malady, clear to whoever knows it and unclear to whoever does not know it’ (recorded by Ahmad ibn Hanbal). In another hadith (in al – Bukhari),he said: ‘0 servants of God! seek remedy for He who established the malady has already created its cure and remedy.’

Muslims are thus encouraged by their religion to search for cures and new modalities of treatment, and apply them if they prove successful. Islam exhorts Muslims to keep healthy as health is one of God’s most precious gifts. Islamic teachings which prohibit alcohol, intoxicants, fornication, adultery and consumption of pork, blood or carrion, and which, at the same time, command cleanliness by frequent ablutions and baths with water, frequent daily cleaning of teeth, physical exercise, are all most beneficial to the maintenance of individual and public health.

The teachings of the Prophet Muhammad radically changed the mode of life, beliefs and customs of the pre-Islamic Arabs. The Muslim became a shining pearl in the jahiliyya community, as lie was chaste and clean inside and outside. Islam inspired Muslims to search for knowledge and wisdom. The Prophet said: ‘Search for knowledge and wisdom even as far as in China’, as China was the farthest country known to Arabs.

Once Islam became established as a civilization and empire, the medical sciences and wisdom of different nations were translated into Arabic and then incorporated in the traditional medicine.

Greek medicine, most notably the works of Hippocrates and Galen, received great attention. They were translated mainly during the rule of the ‘Abbasid Caliph al-Ma’mun (late 8th and early 9th century). The four humours were at that time accepted as the basis of medical theory. Both theory and practice flourished and were developed enormously not least in the area of the design and administration of hospitals – by some of the greatest figures In medical history, such as al-Razi (in the West known as Rhazes, d.925), Ibn Sina (Avicenna, d. 1037), at-Zahrawi (Abuleasis, d. 1013), Ibn al-Nafis (d.1288), ‘Ali ibn al-’Abbas al-Majusi (Haly Abbas, d.994) among many others. Within the same inclusive Islamic civilization, there were also many non-Muslims who achieved eminence for their encyclopaedic learning and skill as physicians, the best known being the Jewish philosopher, Musa ibn Maimun (Maimonides), the Christians Bakhtishisha who worked for the Caliph Harun al-Rashid, and Hunayn ibn Ishaq who worked for Caliph al-Mutawakkil and had been the chief translator of Galen, Hippocrates, Plato and others.

The Muslim and non-Muslim physicians, pharmacists, surgeons, opthalmologists etc. wrote huge works in Arabic and added their wisdom, knowledge gained by experience and experimental procedures, to the previous knowledge gained from the ancient Greeks and other peoples.

Although some of the original works are no longer extant, a huge amount of this Islamic medical knowledge contained in books and manuscripts is still accessible in many libraries and museums. Also, many of the original works were translated into Latin and thence into European vernaculars and provided the basis of modern medicine after the intellectual renaissance of Europe: the Latin texts of Arabic originals can still be read.

The Islamic world suffered from internal feuds and wars resulting in its weakness and gradual disintegration. The Mongols and Tartars (under Genghis Khan and Hulagu) dealt crushing blows to Islamic civilization in the eastern part of the empire from Samarkand to Baghdad and beyond towards Egypt. In the western domains of Islam, Christian Spaniards not only rebelled against Muslim overlords, they set about systematically removing Muslims and their civilization front the Iberian peninsula despite eight centuries of mutual tolerance between Muslims, Jews and Christians under Islamic rule: Granada fell in 1492.

The Islamic world became intellectually stale and very little innovative scientific work was produced. Even the great medical works such as those of lbn Sina, al-Zahrawi, lbn al-Nafis etc. were not kept alive except in isolated centres. Exceptionally, in the Indian subcontinent lbn Sina’s al-Qanun (Canon) continued to be the standard text for physicians with additions front ancient Hindu medicine. This style of healing is still active in India and Pakistan and known as Unani medicine, its practitioners being known as hakims rather than doctors.

In the Arabic-speaking world, by contrast, only a few people could read and understand al-Qanun or other great works, the later physicians depended on the Tazkarat Dawud of Dawud al-Antaki, a work quite inferior to the writings of Ibn Sina or al-Mansuri or al-Razi. With further passage of time, many of the traditional healers and physicians were unable to read and understand even Tazkarat Dawud. Many reverted back to animistic practices including the prescription of amulets, charms and talismans which are all prohibited in Islam.

The growing interest over the last two decades in herbal medicine has made it a profitable subject area for publishers. Some of them have begun to publish abridged versions of the works of Ibn Sina. Indeed, there are almost weekly additions to the popular literature on herbal medicine, most of it containing nothing new. However, there are a few physicians (mostly Western-educated) both in Arab countries and else where who have published the results of modern researches in pharmacology and biochemistry. The work of Dr Hassan Shamsi Pasha in this field is a good example. Also, many centres have sprung up in the Arab world for the study of traditional and Islamic medicine which organize conferences and symposia to encourage and enable new research in this field.

Conclusion

A lot of work has been going on to revive both traditional herbal medicine and Prophetic medicine in many Arab and Islamic countries. There is, however, a great need to improve on traditional medicine and integrate it with the national medical system. The majority of physicians and pharmacists, trained in Western medicine, lack even rudimentary knowledge of traditional medicine and are therefore hostile towards it. This negative attitude will not disappear unless the medical curricula in universities include training in traditional and Prophetic medicine. Equally, there is a need to educate herbalists and practitioners of traditional medicine to improve their standards of understanding and their techniques in preparing and prescribing traditional remedies.

What should I ask of God so that I shall have asked for all things?

Three things: health and prosperity with contentment.

To whom should I entrust a task?

To those who deserve that task.

In whom can I place my trust?

An intimate friend who is not jealous.

What is the most fitting thing in every area of my life?

Study and prayer when you are young and prayer to God when you get old so that you become a good example to the young.

What speech diminishes one’s value in the eyes of others?

Speaking of one’s own excellence.

How can I remove myself from relationships with those who don’t conduct themselves properly?

Three ways: visit them at infrequent intervals; ask less after their well-being; do not expect any favour from them.

Does the outcome of something depend on deeds done or destiny?

Destiny depends on deeds done. (Knowledge depends on the thing studied.)

What is fitting for the young and what for the old?

For the young courage and a sense of shame; for the old knowledge and a sense of dignity.

To whom is greatness suited and who can be called great?

One who differentiates between good and evil, and delegates work to the most appropriate person.

Whom should we avoid in order to achieve peace of mind?

Sycophants and people given to show.

Who is generous?

One who gives and derives contentment from giving.

What is more important to human beings than life?

Three things: educating one’s own character, having a clear belief in religion, and making oneself safe from the one’s enemies by taking positive action against cruelty of them.

What is that which people long for but cannot wholly achieve?

Three things: health, happiness and an intimate friend who would give his/her life for you.

Which is better to do a good deed or to avoid doing evil ones?

To avoid evil is the doorway to doing good.

Is there a good deed that comes to he regarded as shameful over time?

Doing someone a favour than reminding them that you have done it.

What quality best adorns knowledge?

Truthfulness.

What is the sign of daring?

To forgive when you have the power to take revenge on someone.

Who has no cause of shame?

The All-Mighty, God.

What sort of work is suited to an intelligent person?

The work that prevents him from doing wicked things.

Which is the most harmful human fault?

A cause of shame of which a person is unaware.

Which moments in life are wasted completely?

When a person can do a favour for someone but doesn’t do it.

Which commandments shouldn’t be despised?

Four commandments; firstly those of God, secondly those of parents, thirdly those of wise people, and finally those of sovereigns.

Which seed is sown in one place but harvested in two?

A service done for the wise and learned; because we can benefit from it in this world and hereafter from God.

What is the best thing in life?

Being comfortable in mind and feeling safe.

What is worse than death?

Fear of poverty and destitution.

What thing is the best and the most beautiful in its outcome?

Seeking the pleasure of the All-Mighty, God.

Which things des fray humanity?

Four things: the meanness of elders, the arrogance of wise men, the immodesty of women and the lies of men.

What causes a wise man : works to he wasted?

Praising cruel men.

What tools do we need to prosper in this world?

Knowledge, dexterity and humanity.

What precautions can we take to avoid needing a doctor’s care?

Eating little, sleeping little, speaking little and not having contact with everyone.

Who is wiser?

A person who speaks less, and listens more, and has a wide knowledge.

Why does the inferiority complex exist?

Because people are jealous of others’ possessions.

What is the reason for greed?

Indolence and sedition.

How is a good reputation acquired?

By hastening to do good works.

How can a ruler achieve greatness?

By being prompt in his works.

What is the best course of action?

To reap the rewards after death you should be modest without being under an obligation to anyone;, in this world, you should be generous without taking any profit.

What is the worst cow-se of action in this world?

Two things; the cruelty of governors and the meanness of the wealthy.

What is true modesty?

To be cheerful, to sit below one’s friends and not being hypocritical.

From whom should we take advice?

Those who treat religion with sincerity, who associate with sincere people and who are wise in judgement.

What kind of advisors does a leader need the most?

Wise ones.

Who is better in this world?

Someone who works with generosity and who speaks the truth.

What can I do to prevent loneliness whilst away from home?

Do not give cause for accusation, do not offend anybody, and keep your moral integrity.

What respect should be shown the old by the young?

The young should keep the secrets of the old, should keep company with the old, and should not favour one above another.

Which things benefit from prayer?

Three things: the body, the tongue, and the heart.

What are their benefits?

The body’s benefit is a deed, the tongue’s is recitation and mention of the attributes of God, and the heart’s is reflection.

What are the attributes of a good person?

To cover up others’ faults and forget them, mention them anywhere.

How does a favour become perfect?

Through generosity that is unconditional, done or given without approval of oneself.

What things can make life easier?

Three things: first, not pushing things to their extremes; second, being patient; third, not desiring too much (i.e. being moderate in your desires).

What are the conditions of wanting something from someone?

Find someone who has sound morals, and objects of desire should be confined to your sphere.

What are the essentials required by everyone?

Three things: a wise person’s advice for a sensible person, strategy and path for a soldier however strong, prayer for a pious man.

What qualities will help you to be liked by others?

Two things: not being cruel in human relationships and not injuring others with your words.

What should the functions of our possessions be?

To compensate others for wrongs we have done them, to support our parents, to improve our chances for the next life (to gain experience for the next life), to make the poor rich, to make friends out of enemies, and to help our friends and enemies.

What things can be helpful to the human body though not eaten?

Soft and white clothes, pleasant smells, gazing at water and greenery, seeing friends when healthy, walking about in vineyards and gardens, visiting scholars whether they are dead or alive, bathing in want water and avoiding chatter and gossip. 

This is taken from the Pendnama often attributed to Ibn Sina, and here translated from Dr Muhammad Debir Siyaki’s Numune-i Nesrha-i Dila viz-u Amuzende-i Fars Teheran, 1348 AH. (The emperor referred to is the Persian Anusherwan, his counsellor Buzurcmihr.)

Mucus is a viscoelastic gel-like material. It has been used to describe the coating and/or lining layers of vertebrates (e.g. fish, mammals) and invertebrates (e.g. coelomates, molluscs) (Rose, 1992). As noted earlier, in mammals the term mucus is restricted to the material covering the epithelial surfaces and providing an interface between the external environment and the epithelial layers. In vertebrates, this interface provides lubrication, maintenance of tissue hydration, and cytoprotection against proteases – a group of enzymes that break down the bonds amoung aminoacids – pH extremes, chemical irritants, and biological agents. Whereas invertebrate mucus has additional biological functions, like navigation, locomotion, and structural support (Denny, 1989). In the human both, the importance of these biological functions may vary depending on the location of the mucus: for example, in the respiratory tract, to clear the airways of inhaled particles: in the eyes, to prevent corneal surfaces from drying: in the reproductive tract, to protect the uterine cavity and control the survival and penetrability of the spermatozoa. However, there is one important function common to all systems, namely the maintenance of the mucosal water balance.

The composition of mucus

It is important to know something about the biological composition of mucus. In humans, this viscoelastic gel usually contains more than 90% water, 0.5-5% high molecular weight glycoproteins, termed mucins, and also a large number of other components such as electrolytes, lipids, plasma proteins and nucleic acids. Mucins are extremely large and heavily glycosylated molecules that consist primarily of a non-globular, thread-like polypeptide backbone and 0-linked oligosaccharide side chains. Within the mucin producing cells the molecules are found, without water, within large membrane-bound granules that fill the upper part of the cell. It appears likely that the mucins are the major determinants of mucus behaviour, and non-mucin constituents such as DNA, lipids and proteins are, when present, likely to influence the properties of the gel (Carlstedt, 1988). However, acidic mucopolisaccharides and glycoproteins are the major macro- molecular components of mucus in other animals, such as marine snail mucus (Rose, 1992).

In general, the gel forming mucin macromolecules have an oligomeric structure and are assembled from subunits via disulphide bonds. They can be fragmented into subunits by reduction of these disulphide bonds (Thornton. 1995). On the basis of their sensitivity to proteases it is believed that mucins typically contain two different types of domains that are highly glycosylated regions (rich in serine and threonin) and ‘naked’ hydrophobic regions that have lower substitution with carbohydrates. Where when and how does such a complex substance get synthesized, assembled and secreted? And what can happen if the process goes wrong or gets out of balance?

In the gastrointestinal tract

One of the common places where mucus has many vital functions is the gastrointestinal tract. The main site of production of intestinal mucin is the goblet (mucous) cell. However; there is a small amount of mucus production in columnar cells (intestinal epithelial cell). Mucus secretion is probably under both neural and hormonal control. However, little is known about exocytosis in which the membrane of the granules fuses with the apical plasma membrane, thereby releasing its contents.

In this tract, mucus forms a protective layer between the epithelial surface and the luminal compartment, and has been indicated in the mechanical protection of the gastrointestinal epithelial cells from bile acids, pH extremes, digestive enzymes, biological agents such as bacteria, virus and parasites, and mechanical damage. Also, in the stomach, mucus provides a mixing and diffusion harrier which protects the stomach wall from the damaging effects of the secreted hydrochloric acid which plays a big part in the digestion of our food. Bicarbonate ions are secreted into the unstirred mucus layer to help neutralize the acid and limit its harmful effects (Flemstrom, 1987). We are unaware of this function of mucus generally; however, when someone has a stomach or duodenal ulcer, or any types of gastritis, they have to take some anti- acidic drugs and so become aware of their neutralizing mucus blanket.

We know little about the involvement of gastrointestinal mucus in disease. It is suggested that there is a selective loss of a ‘specific’ mucin subpopulation in ulcerative colitis which is an inflammatory intestinal disease (Podoisky & Isselbacher, 1984). Many recent studies indicate that mucins secreted by colorectal carcinoma are immunologically and biochemically different from those in normal colon and adenomatous colon in which there is epithelial benign tumour and/or tumours in the colorectum (Gendler eta1., 1990; lass et al., 1994). Moreover, it has been shown that some components of mucus can be employed as a marker for colonic carcinoma and pre-cancerous conditions (Guang & Abdulkalam. 1995).

In the respiratory tract

Another common place for mucus is the respiratory tract, where mucus is produced by submucosal glands and by goblet cells interspersed among the ciliated respiratory epithelial cells. The cilia are like tiny hairs and are very numerous on epithelial cells of the upper respiratory tract. There maybe 250 or more cilia on the surface of a ciliated epithelial cell, arranged in regular rows. The ciliated epithelial cells, together with a thin mucus layer, constitute the mucociliary transport system designed to clear the airways from foreign particles such as dust, pollen, bacteria or other harmful particles. When we inhale these harmful particles into the lungs, a local stimulation of mucus secretion is evoked. The mucus blanket surrounds the particle and is moved by the cilia which beat in a rhythmical, wave-like manner into the trachea and from there it is swallowed to the gastrointestinal tract. In this propelling the gel towards the pharynx (the upper part of the trachea), the tips of the cilia interact with the mucus layer so that the energy can be passed from the cilia to the mucus blanket. If something goes wrong with the ciliated epithelium or the epithelium is depleted of mucus, this transport may not necessarily occur.

Although in healthy individuals goblet (mucous) cells represent on average 1/10 of ciliated cells, in a chronically obstructed airway (when diseases such as bronchitis, asthma, bronchorrhea and cystic fibrosis are present) the number of the goblet cells and of the submucosal glands increases markedly. In these particular diseases, hyperplasia of goblet cells, hypertrophy of submucosal glands and the hypersecretion of mucus are the prominent features of the pathological process. The most common inherited disease where mucus is very important is cystic fibrosis. This disease appears in about 1 in 2000 people born in Europe and America, although 1 in 20 people carry the defective gene. In this case mucus is stickier than normal and so the abnormally sticky mucus cannot be easily removed from the lungs. Instead of acting as the means for removing bacteria, the mucus becomes a breeding medium for them and the complications of the resulting infection ultimately lead to early death. 

In the reproductive tract

Besides the gastrointestinal and respiratory tracts, mucus is very important also in the reproductive tract. The cervical canal, the entrance to the upper reproductive tract, is filled with mucus whose biological functions are to protect the genital tract from infection and to control the survival and penetrability of the spermatozoa (male germ cell). The amount and physical properties of mucus vary during the ovulatory cycle. At ovulation, when the woman produces ova from her ovary, there is an increased hydration of mucus which results in a watery secretion with high spermatozoal penetrability and low viscoelasticity (Wolf et al., 1978). In contrast, during the luteal phase, the second part of the menstrual cycle, the mucus is scant, contains less water and provides an effective barrier to the spermatozoa (Carlstedt et al., 1988). During pregnancy a large mucus plug blocks the cervical canal in order to protect the uterine cavity including the baby from any external effects. If the composition of the mucus changes during the early stages of the pregnancy, this mucus plug may become defective and the pregnancy may result in abortion or premature birth. It has been shown that high levels of cell-surface MUC1 (a mucin gene product) inhibit both cell-cell and cell-matrix adhesion that is important in human embryo implantation and this occurs in the mid-secretory phase of the menstrual cycle (Aplin & Hey, 1995). Moreover, the changing of mucus composition may be an important factor in infertility, because it controls the survival and penetrability of the spermatozoa. Also, there is the same significant alteration in the biochemical characteristics of the mucus in endometrial carcinoma.

Alterations in mucus composition

As mentioned earlier, there are some notable alterations in the biochemical characteristics of mucins in many diseases. For example, in chronic obstructive respiratory disease excess mucus is present in airways. In cancer, one frequently finds abnormal carbohydrate structures on mucins that can serve as surrogate markers for tumour progression. Also, mucin peptide epitopes that are normally covered with carbohydrates become uncovered and can serve as markers. Since membrane mucins can function as anti-cell adhesion molecules, and their over expression in cancer may facilitate tumour dissemination and therefore metastases. However, there is still a lot of work to be done to understand biosynthesis, secretion and functions of the mucus, especially mucins, in healthy people or in diseased conditions. How is it that mucus can change in response to environmental influences, bacterial attack, or hormonal balance? What is the relationship between mucus and the progression of cancer or such kind of life-threatening diseases? It is clear that mucus is susceptible to almost infinite and rapid modification. When we understand how this capability is employed and controlled, we may be one step nearer to controlling sonic life-threatening diseases, such as cystic fibrosis, cancer, or some abnormal conditions, like infertility and miscarriage.

As a conclusion we can say that mucus may appear a sticky, tiresome, messy nuisance hut it is obvious that a life without mucus would he extremely uncomfortable. It is a gift of the Creator to all living beings, and a miracle, many of whose wonderful mysteries remain to he discovered. 

References

• Aplin J.D. & HEY NA. (1995) ‘MUCl, Endometrium and Embryo Implantation’, Bioch, Soc. Trans., 23, pp. 826-31.
• Carlstedt I. (1988) Mucus Gylcoproteins: Structure and Macromolecular Properties, Lund University Press, Lund,
• Denny M.W, (1989) ‘Intervertebrate mucus secretions: functional alternatives to vertebrate paradigms’. Symp. Soc. Exp. hal. 43, p. 337.
• Flemstrom (3. (1987) Physiology of Gastrointestinal Tract, Raven Press, New York, pp. 1011-29.
• Gendler S.J., Lancaster C., Taylor-Papadimitriou J., Duhig T., Peat N., Burchell ,J.. Pemberton L., El-Nasir I .., Wilson D. (1990) ‘Molecular
• cloning and expression of human tumour-associated polymorphic epithelial mucin’. .J Biol. Chem. 265, pp. 15286-93.
• Guang Y.Y. & Abdulkalam MS. (1995) ‘A new monoclonal antibody, CMU1O, as a marker for colonic carcinoma and precancerous conditions’. Arch, Pathol. Lab. Med., 114, Mayc pp. 454-60.
• Jass JR., Robertson A.M. (1994) ‘Colorectal mucin histochemistry in health and disease: a critical review’, Pathol. Int,. 44, pp.487-504.
• Podolsky D. & Isselbacher K.J. (1984) Gastroenterology, 87, pp.99 1-8. Rose MC. (1992) ‘Mucins: structure, function, and role in pulmonary diseases’. The Am. Physiol. Soc., pp. L413-L429.
• ThorntonD.J., Howard M., Devine P.L.,. Sheehan J.K. (1995) ‘Methods for separation and deglycosylation of mucin subunits’. Analytic Biochemistry. 227, pp.162-7.
• Wolf DR Blasco L., Khan M.A., Litt M. (1978) , Fertil. Steril. 30, pp.163-9

Walking without stopping to surmount all obstacles;

With hopes fresh as days breaking after nights.

And the future worlds appear in mists from ahead

Light about to rise on the horizon is red like roses;

First rays of the sun are touching the high hill-tops;

All obstacles fall away, one after another.

A spring awaits us finer than any that went before.

We are sailing over deep and limitless oceans:

Our eyes bright with happiness, and souls at peace,

Feeling from the heart the joy of our existence,

The fragrance of paradise pervades everywhere.

Rays of light pouring into our souls in abundance,

We are as if seeing in advance the happy times to come.

Night is about to die, it is the hour of day-break –

At the door of the future we meet the post unexpectedly.

A gorgeous spring prevails where once was autumn.

Light breezes and leaves whisper to each other.

Tunes of eternity are sung in different pitches;

There are varied meanings in the waving of flags.

Let us go on and not stop, the destination being near:

Life like a mysterious dream, belief like a sweet melody,

Our lives are recorded on a permanent register

As existence is so fine, its end is assuredly finer.

***

Then, as the weather grows warm toward the end of winter, you witness an overall resurrection on earth. The seeds of innumerable species of grasses, plants and trees germinate under earth and each individually, without confusion, takes on its own form and puts on its own charming dress. Countless living beings brought back to life change the dead earth into a paradise and enjoy the happiness of awakening to a new life. The number of flies which fill the earth in a single season of summer make up, alone, is a more populous community than the whole of humankind from the time of the Prophet Adam to the end of time. Each living being restored to life again, whether of plants or animals, is given its special provision without any neglect, and supplied with the equipment necessary for its life. All this takes place in so short a time and yet so perfectly and in such a miraculous harmony that, like the rays of the sun being indicative of the sun, it points to the Single One of Unity who rules over all things and creates everything on a particular pattern and with a particular nature and disposition.

Indeed, who other than the One with infinite power, all-encompassing knowledge and an unlimited wisdom, can have a part in those infinitely complicated yet harmonious events of creation and recreation or revival and provision, instruction and training and discharge from life? If anyone other than the Supreme Being, who gives existence to all living and non-living things, had had a part in these events, which are each a miracle, everything would have been in a chaos. Whereas, as all branches of science have concluded after long years of study and research, there is a wonderful, overall order and harmony in existence, with nothing in confusion or disorder.

Cancer is a major cause of illness and death in developed countries. The risk of death from cancer has also been increasing in the less developed countries. As improvements in medical care have reduced deaths from infectious diseases and increased life expectancy, cancer has become the leading cause of death in many societies. For example, according to the American Cancer Society, about one in three people in the USA will develop cancer at some point in their life, and about one in four will die from it. Each year about 500,000 individuals die of cancer, a rate of about one death per minute, and more than one million new cases of cancer are diagnosed annually in the US. Currently more than 10 million individuals are receiving medical treatment for cancer in US hospitals and medical centres.

What are the causes of cancer?

Scientific evidence gathered over the last hundred years has dispelled the superstition, once prevalent, that cancer is a contagious disease. But, despite significant advances in the last decade, its underlying mechanisms are still a mystery.

The link between cancer and genetic mutation was shown early in this century: normal cells mutate into malignant ones because of changes in chromosome constitution.

There are four points which support the idea that cancer has a genetic origin:

1. More than 50 forms of cancer are known to be inherited to one degree or another
2. Some tests detecting mutations have shown that most environmental toxic agents which are called carcinogens are also mutagens.
3. Work with cancer-associated viruses has revealed the presence of some mutant genes, known as oncogenes, that promote and maintain tumour growth.
4. The chromosomal abnormalities found in particular forms of cancer, especially leukemia.
5. The environment and behaviour can also play a significant role in the genesis of cancer.

The existence of high rates of specific cancers in particular families has been known since early in the 19th century. Many explanations have been offered for this phenomenon, including multiple gene inheritance, environmental agents or even mere chance.

Hereditary forms of cancer

Recent advances in cancer research have provided some clues about the relationship between mutant genes and the cellular events that lead to tumour formation. Experimental evidence suggests that as few as two mutational events may be sufficient to cause a cell to become cancerous (see Figure I). In those forms of cancer that show a heritable predisposition, the first mutation is present in the germ cells and is transmitted genetically. The second mutations are acquired by somatic cells through spontaneous replication errors or exposure to environmental agents that cause genetic damage, resulting in cancer. On the other hand, not all individuals who inherit the first mutation will develop cancer.

If the second mutational event does not occur, then no tumour will develop. Research has focused particularly on two classes of genes in carcinogenesis: tumour suppressor genes which normally function to suppress cell division, and proto-oncogenes which normally promote cell division. 

Tumour suppressor genes

Tumour suppressors are detected in the form of chromosomal deletions (or other inactivating mutations) that are tumorigenic. The strongest evidence for their nature is provided by certain hereditary cancers. There is also now evidence that changes in these genes may be associated with the progression of a wide range of cancers. About 10 tumour suppressors are known at present. These genes act at certain points to inhibit cell division. These and or their gene products must be absent or inactive for normal cell division to take place. If tumour suppressor genes become deleted or inactivated by mutation, control over cell division is lost, and the cell can proliferate in unchecked fashion. The example of breast cancer illustrates how mutations in tumour suppressor genes are involved in the development of cancer:

The genetic link to breast cancer

In the USA, the ratio of women getting breast cancer is approximately 1 in 8. It is the most common form of cancer in women: 46,000 women die and 182,000 new cases are diagnosed each year. Epidemiological factors may also be involved in breast cancer, but geneticists have focused on the question – Is there a genetic predisposition to breast cancer? Their answer, for the present, is Yes: though involved in only about 5% of all eases, a particular gene has been identified and located on chromosome 17. It is responsible for susceptibility to a form of breast cancer that appears in the third and fourth decades of life. About one in 200 females inherits this gene, and 80% to 90% of these will develop breast cancer. Besides breast cancer, a gene has been found on chromosome 17 in sufferers from astrocitoma (brain tumours), colon, lung and bone cancers. This finding suggests that there is a mutation on this gene (called p53), and as a result the cells start growing abnormally.

The Future

Investigations into the tumour suppressor genes are an example of the recent progress in molecular aspects of cancer research. A better understanding of molecular carcinogenesis and molecular epidemiology will eventually decrease the quantitative and qualitative uncertainties associated with the current state of cancer risk assessment. It may be possible to immunize patients against their tumours by using these findings about genes-cancer relationships. Indeed, determination of the type and number of mutations in p53 and other cancer-related genes in tissues from ‘healthy’ individuals may allow the identification of those at increased cancer risk and their consequent protection by preventive measures.

Although there have been many and most welcome developments in the diagnosis and treatment of diseases, including cancer, there is a definite and reliably cure only for some of the infectious diseases. However, we firmly believe there are definite remedies for all diseases in the universe except death.

References

• HARRIS, ADRIAN L. (1990) ‘Mutant p53-The commonest genetic abnormality in Human Cancer?’ The Journal of Pathology.
• HARRIS, CURTIS C. (1993) ‘p53: At the Cross-roads of Molecular Carcinogenesis and Risk Assessment’, Science, 262.
• CUMMINGS, M. (1994) Human Heredity, West Publishing Company, St Paul. Lewm, B. (1994) Genes 5, Oxford University Press, New York.
• LEWIN, B. (1994) Genes 5, Oxford University Press, New York.

To begin with, we can agree, as pointed out by Mason and McCall Smith (1984, p.107), that what constitutes the state of being a person, or personhood, is a matter of moral decisions, not of scientific facts. The relevant arguments are therefore primarily based on some moral, philosophical and theological hypotheses. However, even these arguments are informed by the scientific knowledge we have recently obtained about the condition and development of the human embryo. Insofar as the question is a moral one, arguments fall broadly into two groups, those that follow a secular approach, and those that follow a theological approach.

According to the secular approach, the basic condition for being a person is being capable of valuing one’s own existence. And the moral difference between a person and non-person lies in the value that persons can give to their own lives. Through language a person can comment on and declare awareness of awareness or fully developed self-consciousness (ibid. pp.l9, 21). Command of human language is thus offered as the decisive criterion. On this argument, pre-embryos, embryos, fetuses and very young infants are living beings, even living human beings, but they are not human persons. So, morally, we owe them nothing.

In his widely read article ‘A defence for abortion and infanticide’, Tooley (1973) observed that it is important to be very clear about what makes an entity a person, what gives that entity a right to life. He went on to define five necessary properties: 1) the capacity to envisage a future state for oneself, and to have desires about it; 2) the capacity to have a concept of a self; 3) being a self; 4); the capacity for self-consciousness; and 5) self-consciousness. As unborn babies, very young infants and PVS patients do not fulfil these requirements; they would not qualify as human persons. Singer (1993, p.87), in a forceful line on personhood, made a point of comparing human ‘animals’ with non-human animals, arguing that there could be a person who is not a member of our species and, conversely, there could also be members of our species who are not persons.

Those writers who, by contrast, accept the spiritual side of being a human person, have used different arguments to define personhood but, generally, link it with the human embryological state. Keith L. Moore, one of the foremost embryologists of our time, answered the question ‘When does the embryo become human?’ as follows: ‘The scientific answer is that the embryo always had human potential, and no other, from the time of fertilization, because of its human chromosome constitution. Two things are definite: (1) human development begins at fertilization, and (2) the zygote and early embryo are living organisms. My personal view is that the embryo becomes human being during the eighth week when it acquires distinctive human characteristics’ (Moore, 1989, p.72). 

Most of the writers who think that human personhood begins at some stage of embryological development base their view on various theological arguments. Before explaining these arguments it will be useful to give some historical background.

Aristotle (d. 322 BC), considered the first thinker to speak explicitly of human life as beginning in the womb, wrote: ‘the soul is the cause and the first principle of the living body’ (1957 edn. p.4l5b). He suggested that, when first formed, the embryo would have a nutritive or vegetative soul, replaced in due time, as a result of the causal influence of the particular semen’s pneuma, by the sensitive soul. Finally, in the case of a human, the rational soul would emerge to complete the generation of a human offspring. Aristotle associated quickening and differentiation into distinct stages of 40 days for the male and 90 days for the female, and so has been traditionally interpreted as placing the beginning of the individual boy and girl at those times respectively.

Aristotle’s ideas on this subject influenced many philosophers and scientists from prior to Christian times right through to the Middle Ages, notably Thomas Aquinas (d.1274), and for several centuries afterwards. His ideas also shaped the views of philosophers and scientists from the Islamic world and the East. For example, according to Musallam (1990), the method of lbn Sina (Avicenna, d. 1037) consisted of bringing Aristotle’s facts up to date, then re-stating the original Aristotelian arguments on the basis of the new facts.

Aristotle’s concept of the soul as the cause and first principle of the living body is confirmed by all monotheistic religions with little divergence. Despite significant differences on other points, these religions share the concept of life as sacred because given by God, and therefore forbid the termination of an innocent human life after it has been given its soul. However, they differ in their understanding of when this happens and what it means. Christian theology is definite that ‘immediate animation’ or ‘ensoulment’ is the instant at which our humanity is determined, but is uncertain when that instant occurs. Mahoney sums up the Christian theological position on the beginning of a human life as follows: In point of fact, current Roman Catholic teaching on the time of human ensoulment is one of uncertainty. Official Roman Catholic teaching is that we cannot be absolutely certain when animation takes place, or when the conceptus or the fetus is a human person; but it may well be precisely at the moment of conception’ (Mahoney 1984, pp. 6 7-9).

Evidently, in the monotheistic religions, certain topics can only he discussed knowledgeably after clear Divine guidance or Revelation. Without such guidance, human beings simply cannot know when ensoulment takes place. Because this information is not disclosed in the Christian scriptures, there is uncertainty on the subject among Christian authorities.

In the case of Islam, the situation is quite different. The creation of the human individual, fetal development and ensoulment are referred to in several dozen verses of the Qur’an in various contexts (32:8-9, 23:13-14, 71:14, 16:4, 75:37-9, 86:6, 77:20-1, 76:2, 22:5, 96:1-2, 40:67, 39:6, 53:45-6, 35 11, 3:6). Also, in the second source of knowledge after the Qur’an, namely the Hadith, there are a number of sayings of the Prophet, upon him be peace, which specifically address the subject of the embryological stages of a human being and the time of ensoulment.

From these texts, the great majority of Muslim scholars have understood that ensoulment takes place 120 days after conception (al-Nawawi, 1965 edn, p.189). However, when the relevant verses and ahadith are considered more carefully, the time for ensoulment should be put at between 40 and 45 days after implantation (the detailed textual discussion to support this view cannot be given here; see Aksoy, 199-) This means that. 49 or 55 days after conception, a human individual, with all the attendant rights, can be considered to exist, due to ensoulment having taken place.

Aristotle’s argument that ‘the soul is the cause and the first principle of the living body’ should not be dismissed as a religious myth. Something important is lacking in all our reflections on the subject if we take into account only the material existence of living beings. Although life is a continuous process, the physical existence of living beings is finite. If a human is taken as an example, every single cell in a human body has a limited (and programmed) lifespan. Some cells live a couple of hours, others a couple of days, weeks or months. After that they die and are shed. It is now known as incontrovertible fact that, with the exception of certain brain cells, all the cells in a human body are replaced with new cells every two years. Thus, in two years time, as regards my physical and material existence, I will be a completely different being from the one I am today. So, if I murder someone today and am caught after two years, I might say: ‘It was not me who did the crime. It was not exactly ‘this brain’ that planned it, not ‘these feet’ that walked to the scene, not ‘this finger’ which pulled the trigger’. This defence is logical and must be acceptable if I am only a material being. Of course, our current legal systems are not based upon the (false) assumption that a person is a merely physical being and therefore I would be unable deny responsibility on these grounds.

There should be something beyond merely physical existence that makes me me. Parfit (1984, Part 3) has discussed the nature of a person and sought answers to such questions as: What makes a person at two different times one and the same’? and What is necessarily involved in the continued existence of a person over time? He defines two kinds of sameness or identity: qualitative identicalness (or exact alikeness), and numerical identicalness (or one-and-the-sameness). He writes: ‘Two white billiard balls are not numerically but may be qualitatively identical. If I paint one of these balls red, it will cease to be qualitatively identical with itself as it was. But the red ball that I later see and the white ball that I painted red are numerically identical. They are one and the same ball’ (ibid., p.20l). According to Parfit, a person is a separately existing entity, distinct from his brain and body, and his experiences. What makes an individual at two different times one and the same person is psychological connectedness and/or continuity, with the right kind of cause. The psychological connectedness is the holding of particular direct psychological connections. And the psychological continuity is the holding of overlapping chains of strong connectedness. Parfit addresses these and similar matters extensively and intelligently in his Reasons and Persons (ibid.).

All the Divine religions and some philosophers name that which provides the necessary continuity to make a person as soul. According to the authority of religion, a living human being consists of body and soul. Soul cannot manifest its existence without a body, and a body cannot be animate and survive without a soul. They are like glove and hand: just as the glove is an inanimate piece of cloth until the hand enters it, so the body becomes a human person only when the soul enters it. Likewise, just as when the hand is removed, the glove reverts to a piece of cloth, so too the human body ceases to be identifiable as a human person when the soul departs. Aristotle expresses the soul in this famous, graphic image: ‘For if the eye was an animal, then sight would be its soul…. so that when sight leaves it is no longer an eye except homonymously, much as we might say of a dead body that it is our friend; in one sense it is but in a very different sense it is not’ (Aristotle, 1957 edn, p.412b).

In sum: when the body meets with the soul it comes to be a human person, with all the attendant rights, especially the right to life.

References

• AKSOY, S. (199-) ‘When does a human individual begin to be?: A philosophical, embryological and theological perspective’. (Unpublished paper)
• AL -NAWAWI. (1965 edn) Sahih-i Muslim Bi-Sharh-i Nawawi, Kitab al Qadar, vol.16, Matbaa-i Misri. Egypt.
• ARISTOTLE (1957 edn), On the Soul (De Anima), trans. W.S. Hett. W. Heinemann, London and Cambridge, Mass.
• MAHONEY, J. (1984) Bio-ethics and Belief Sheed & Ward, London.
• MASON, J.K.& McCAll. Smith, R.A. (1984) Law and Medical Ethics, Butterworths, London.
• MOORE, K,L..(1989)Before We Are Born, W. B. Saunders Company, Philadelphia.
• MUSALLAM, B. (1990) ‘The human embryo in Arabic scientific and religious thought’ in G.R. Dunstan, (ed.) 7 ‘The Human Embryo: Aristotle and the Arabic and European Traditions, University of Exeter Press, Exeter. pp.32-46.
• PARFIT. D. (1984) Reasons and Persons, Clarendon Press, Oxford.
• RISPLER-CHAIM, V. (1993) Islamic Medical Ethics in the Twentieth Century, E.J. Brill, Leiden.
• SINGER, P. (1993) Practical Ethics, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge.
• TOOLEY, M. (1973) ‘A defence of abortion and infanticide’ in J. Feinberg (ed.) The Problem of Abortion’, Wadsworth Publication Company, California, pp. 51-91.

First of all, games and toys must help children to broaden their minds and become familiar with present and emerging technology. Thus, with some reservations, we would commend model and toy trains, planes, ships, robots and the like.

Secondly, in order to develop an aesthetic sense and a taste for art, children may be encouraged to play at decorating walls, doors and windows, designing book covers, arranging flowers and laying out gardens, etc.

Thirdly, children should be encouraged to use toys and play games that develop their design and constructive capabilities. Blocks of diverse sizes, shapes and colours, as well as other building toys’ for making houses, garages, bridges and the like, can be strongly recommended.

In later childhood and early youth, children will begin to ask for toys and amusements of different kinds. It is important for a responsible guardian to develop a taste in the young for games appropriate to their age. The games we have in mind can be roughly divided into two groups:

1 Those aiming at developing the aesthetic sense and constructive powers (For examples, see above); and

2 Those that train physical abilities and promote development of the body. Examples of the latter are sports such as running, swimming, riding, wrestling, archery, fencing and the so-called ‘martial arts’ (judo and karate are the best known).

Each of these sports (and other similar ones, according to the needs of the time and place) should be encouraged as they come within the circle of the permitted (halal) and are very effective in developing discipline and strength, balance and grace. Their value as entertainment and pastime is, as it were, an additional bonus. In adolescents, sports involving physical exertion and concentration help their bodily development and channel their energies. Older people can also benefit from such exercise which can prevent many of the ailments that arise from prolonged physical inactivity.

Among games and sports, archery, riding, swimming, and running merit special emphasis. They teach poise and confidence on land, water and air, qualities vital to the leaders and enterprising spirits every nation needs for its survival and prosperity.

Although in our tradition the ‘martial arts’ (judo, karate, etc.) receive little mention, they can certainly be recommended insofar as they do not contradict our moral principles and do not entail unacceptable risk of injury

Other games and sports might also be commended so long as they do not lead children to waste time or open ways to them way to commit sins. Games that involve gambling or betting are of course forbidden and can on no account be advised either for children or adults. However, we may note in passing, following the opinion of Imam Shafi’i, that chess is permissible unless played for money. Children who have a bent for that kind of mental activity could therefore be directed towards chess, until they reach adolescence.

Any kind of play or entertainment which counters or debases our ethics is unacceptable for both children and adults. Also, sounds and images, instruments and melodies, which arouse evil and lustful sentiments and so corrupt the soul are absolutely forbidden. It is unreasonable, and an unkindness to the young, to open the doors for them to forbidden entertainments while those within the circle of the permitted are quite satisfactory. The principal concern of education generally and, therefore, the principal concern of games and sports also, is to provide children with noble feelings and to keep them healthy spiritually as well as physically. It hardly needs saying that forbidden games and entertainments are not intended to raise children to humanity or to ennoble their feelings; rather, it is often the case that they have a negative, corrupting effect on their minds and spirits,

In sum, there is a need for moral awareness and guidance in the choice of entertainment, sports, games, and toys, just as in other elements of the education of the young. Failure to seek and provide such guidance will mean – instead of the healthy, balanced, morally sound and contented adults we desire to make of the young – exposing them to emotional and spiritual damage, with all the evil consequences for social life that follow therefrom.

The Western powers have no objection to the most ruthless tyrannies for as long as they can easily manipulate them. Their interest is really in stability in those areas of a country’s life which allow Western economic interests to function and flourish unopposed. And the same Western powers will give no respite to a democratic country if their interests are jeopardized in that country by its people’s will to political or cultural independence. They do not refrain from interfering in the internal affairs of other countries and claim to do so for democracy and freedom. Their own record of human rights is by no means good: leaving aside the past excesses of colonialism and its present excesses in different guises, racial, cultural and religious discrimination has by no means ended in their own territories, rather concessions are regularly made to extremist political parties (ostensibly in order to deny them greater popularity), the number of crimes and prisoners rises unstoppably, and physical torture, especially of activists on behalf of minority interests, is often enough reported to he unofficially tolerated. Yet, despite their known record, the Western powers unashamedly claim the right to champion democracy, freedom and human rights anywhere and everywhere – if it suits them. They do so in order to justify to their populations the resort to military or economic force abroad. They never tolerate ethnic or sectarian factionalism on their home ground, but they take advantage of such differences in other countries to divide their peoples against each other and from their authorities, thus destabilizing them. While they themselves will readily wage war thousands of miles away to assert their interests in an island, they do not allow others to use their right of guaranty in an island on their very borders. The operations Western intelligence agents carry out in other countries are invariably presented as heroic acts, whereas directly comparable, even identical, actions others attempt to maintain their independence and self-defence are equally invariably presented as barbarism and terrorism. They regard it as their right to determine a new order for the world, for which they are ready to mobilize and project huge armies equipped with the most lethal modem weaponry, while they include in the list of terrorist countries those that try to guard their territorial integrity against separatist movements whose terror the Western powers themselves have encouraged in the past or are encouraging now. In short, the moral or philosophical value of such concepts as democracy, freedom and human rights is utterly compromised by the naked and cruel cynicism with which they secure their dominion in the world. The cynical abuse of these concepts reminds us of the famous chant in Orwell’s Animal Farm: All animals are equal but some are some equal than others.

Nothing stands so effectively against the cynicism with which power is handled in the West than religious belief where such belief is both serious and sincere and can seriously inspire political thought and action. Therefore it is no surprise that, from time to time, political opinion-formers in the West will take swipes at religion, claiming quite absurdly that religion is responsible for inspiring killing. Thus, in one of its latest issues, Time Magazine presents the Divinely-inspired religion – whether it be Judaism or Christianity or Islam – as a way of life that encourages ‘killing for God’. We do not deny the misrepresentation of religion by some extremist groups who take religion as a narrow political ideology, making it a means of displaying their hardness or rigidity or of sublimating their inferiority or superiority complexes. However, it can never be justifiable to blame any order or system as such, specially for something it essentially condemns, because of the wrongs committed by some marginal groups or individuals who claim to act on behalf of that order or system.

Religion is a contract between God and man, all of whose conditions are in favour and for the benefit of man. As a complex, civilized being in need (besides innumerable other things material and spiritual) of secure co-existence with his fellow-men, man seeks peace and justice in his individual and collective life. Just as individual motives differ from one another to a great extent, so too the ‘collective reason’ of mankind is unable to comprehend the true nature of that peace and justice and how to realize it in practice. Therefore, there is a felt need for a ‘transcendent’ reason, and this was granted to man in the form of religion, which is, in fact, an assemblage of the principles laid down by God for the happiness and security of mankind in both worlds and for the realization of justice in practical life. Since, in terms of his essential nature and needs, man has never changed, nor will do so, all of the Prophets preached the same fundamentals of religion, although there were naturally some differences in secondary matters relating to the ever-changing circumstances of life. This religion, which God Almighty chose for man’s felicity, individual and collective, and in both worlds, and which He revealed through the Prophets, including Moses, Jesus and Muhammad. upon them all be peace, is Islam. Islam means belief in and submission to God and thereby peace and justice in man’s individual and collective life. Judaism and Christianity are the names given to its distorted forms by others after the Prophets Moses and Jesus respectively. No Israelite Prophet mentioned the word Judaism. Jesus never claimed to establish Christianity on earth and never called himself a Christian. The word Christian is mentioned only three times in the New Testament and first by pagans and Jews in Antioch about 43 AD, long after Jesus had left this earth (Acts, 11.26.).

Islam can be best summed up in the Basmala, the formula pronounced at the start of every good act: In the Name of God, the All-Merciful, the All-Compassionate. The word translated as the All-Merciful is al-Rahman, which denotes God as the One who, out of His infinite mercy for all His creatures with no discrimination of plant or animal or human, of sex or race, of believers or non- believers, protects, sustains and provides for all beings. The word translated as the All-Compassionate is al-Rahim denoting God as the One who has special mercy for his good, believing, devoted and upright servants in this world and the next. Al-Rahman guarantees the life and provision of all beings, whether Muslims or non- Muslims, believers or non-believers. In addition, the Qur’an plainly states that the Prophet Muhammad, upon him be peace and blessings, was sent as a mercy/or all worlds [all species of beings] (21.107). A religion thus based on mercy and compassion aims at reviving not killing.

Unfortunately, materialistic thought, fed by the extreme positivistic and rationalistic attitudes on which science is made dependent in the West, views life reduced to the physical or material dimension. However, the spiritual domain of existence is much broader and of greater significance for life. The peace, harmony and contentment obtainable in the physical domain depend, first of all, on spirituality. One’s spiritual life, which is based on enlightenment of mind or intellect through scientific knowledge, and the enlightenment of the heart and refinement of feelings through belief, religious knowledge, worship, and inspiration, has an essential place in the preaching of the Prophets. For example, the Qur’an proclaims: Respond to the call of God and His Messenger when they call yell to what will revive you [spiritually and intellectually].

Islam is, in the words of Mohammad Asad, a Jewish convert to Islam, like a perfect work of architecture. All its parts are harmonious/v conceived to complement and support each other nothing lacking, with the result of an absolute balance and solid composure (Islam at the Crossroads, p.5). Therefore, it gives almost as much importance to man’s physical life as it gives to his spiritual life. First of all, Islam regards each individual as the representative of its kind. In other words, in the view of Islam, each individual human being is of the same value as humankind as a whole. For this reason, Islam has condemned Cain, the son of Adam, who killed his brother unjustly and, since he opened the way to murder in human history, holds him indirectly responsible for all killings until the end of time. Also, for the same reason, because of the gravity of the sin, the Qur’an declares that one who slays a soul unjustly is as if he had slain all human beings, and one who revives a human being spiritually or restores him to life physically, is as if he had restored all human beings to life spiritually or physically.

It is clear that a religion which attaches to life much greater value than any other thing and presents the life of each individual human as being as weighty as the lives of all human beings will never preach killing for its own sake nor glorify it. Furthermore, Islam does not approve of compelling people to accept any belief. Islam aims to remove all obstacles before man’s free choice; it seeks a climate where beliefs can be freely preached. Once this climate is guaranteed, it leaves the choice to individuals themselves, which is required by the fact that God has endowed man with free will and calls him in the Hereafter to account for all that he did in the world. The Qur’an declares: There is no compelling in religion, as right and guidance have been distinguished, from wrong and deviation (al-Baqara, 2.256).

His enemies waged war on the Prophet Muhammad, upon him be peace and blessings, many times and forced him to sometimes wage war on them. In all these wars, the casualties amounted to only around seven hundred on both sides. By contrast, let us ask: Is it religion which was responsible for the scores of millions of people killed in Communist Russia and China? Is it religion which caused the Russian massacre of Afghan and Chechen peoples and the brutal suppression of the freedom movements in Hungary and Czechoslovakia? Is it religion that caused the death of a million people while the French denied the Algerian people their freedom? Is it religion which urged the US to its adventure in Vietnam, which cost a million lives directly and many more indirectly since? Is it religion or modern civilization, which its founders vaunt as the most advanced and humane in history, which caused the death of more than 60 million people, the majority of them civilians, and countless millions homeless, widowed and orphaned, in the two World Wars? Is it religion which is responsible for using scientific knowledge to make nuclear and other weapons of mass destruction with which to intimidate the poor and weak nations?

If the new world order which Western powers are trying to impose, in the name of world peace, democracy and human freedom, but in fact strictly for their own political and economic advantage, gives them the right to commit atrocities in other countries, why may not those who claim to serve God in order to clear the world of such atrocities and to found true peace and realize true freedom in human life, why may not they also claim the same right? However, we do not claim, as Western political cynicism does in practice, that atrocities and war-mongering can be justified for merely political ends. Only those actions sincerely undertaken in the name of God, the All-Merciful, the All-Compassionate, without any other motive and without going beyond the limits God has placed on individual and collective action, can bring about a revival of truly humane values. 

As an example of the level of sincerity of motive we have in mind, we would recall this famous incident: during a battle, ‘Ali, a noble Companion of the Prophet, upon him be peace, and the fourth Caliph, threw his enemy to the ground and was about to kill him. However, at this moment the latter spat in ‘Ali’s face whereupon, to his enemy’s surprise, ‘Ali released the man. He later explained that the man’s spitting at him had made him suddenly angry and, therefore, fearing that his motive for slaying the man was now confused and sullied by that anger, he had released him. The man became a Muslim and was thus revived both spiritually and physically. 

Sciences ‘walk’ on the feet of theories and develop through ‘trial and error’ to investigate those theories. There are numerous established facts which sciences once regarded as false, just as what were once believed to be established facts are now known as fallacies. Also, there are many other things whose existence we accept unquestionably but cannot establish scientifically. The existence of the spirit angels, jinn and Satan are something the majority of mankind have always believed since the beginning of man’s life on earth. So, it would seem to be more scientific to allow their existence in theory and then to investigate it. Denial of their existence is unscientific insofar as such a denial is a judgement or conclusion which must be based on concrete proof. No one can prove and therefore scientifically claim the nonexistence of the invisible realm of existence.

There are many physical qualities such as heat and cold, and abstract qualities such as beauty and charm, and feelings like joy, sorrow and love, all of which can be directly experienced and/or measured to some degree. Materialists attribute these to some bio-chemical processes in the brain and some scientists (like psychologists and psychiatrists) still try to explain them by natural or physical laws. However, the non-physical side of man – his feelings, beliefs, potentialities, desires etc., which vary enormously from individual to individual, although everyone is made up of the some material elements – is too profound to be explained within the terms of physics, chemistry or biology. A fact which believers can and do observe is that, the stronger one’s belief, the deeper and more regular one’s worship and the higher one’s morality, the more radiant and loveable one’s face appears to be. Is it at all possible to explain this fact in merely physical terms?

After these preliminary remarks to remove some of the so-called scientific objections to believing in the existence of the spirit, angels, jinn and Satan, we can go on with positive arguments to convince the reader of their existence,

1. Matter serves life in the universe, not the other way round. Sciences are unable to explain life. How inorganic matter grows into life is a mystery for the sciences. Although matter manifestly forms the basis for life or serves as a receiver of life, it is evidently not its originator. So, life is sent from immaterial dimensions of existence: God infuses it into matter or inorganic substance through something immaterial and invisible, which we call spirit. It is because of the particular features of each spirit that human beings, although formed of the some physical elements, are different from each other in character countenance, potential, desire and fate.

2. Life does not depend on matter; on the contrary, life makes a tiny body greater than a huge one. For example, it is through life that a fly or a bird is ‘greater’ than a mountain. Life enables a honey-bee to claim that the whole earth is its garden and to establish relations with all flowers and enter into transactions with them. Again, the more refined matter is, the more developed and active life is. The development and activity of life are also not in relation with the size of the body. A fly or a flea is more active and has sharper senses than a camel or rhinoceros.

3. This world is the arena where God manifests His Will from behind the veil of what we experience and describe as ‘natural causes’, but life is the result of the direct manifestation of His Name, the Ever-Living. So, as long as science insists on its positivistic, even materialistic, viewpoint, it will never penetrate the mystery of what life is.

Scientists restrict the concept of life to the conditions that obtain on or beneath the outer surface of our planet. Therefore when they have looked for extra-terrestrial life what they have looked for is conditions which are the same as or similar or closely correspondent to the conditions in which life is evident on the surface of earth. But surely, if they had retained a sufficient sense of the absolute wonder of life (and that absolute wonder is an aspect of life’s being a direct manifestation of the Ever-Living) they should not have ruled out forms and conditions of life which are at present beyond their understanding. In their view, the arguments put forward by Said Nursi (a Muslim scholar from Turkey who wrote mostly in the first half of this century) for the existence of angels and other spirit beings may not be worthy of consideration. However, the latest discoveries in deep sea biology may persuade them to review Nursi’s arguments. Said Nursi wrote at the beginning of the 1930s:

Reality and the wisdom in the existence of the universe require that the heavens should have conscious inhabitants of their own as does the earth. These inhabitants of many different kinds are called angels and spirit beings in the language of religion.

It is true that reality requires the existence of angels and other spirit beings because the earth, although insignificant in size compared with the heavens, is continually being filled with and emptied of conscious beings. This clearly indicates that the heavens… are filled with living beings who are the perfect class of living creatures. These beings are conscious and have perception, and they are the light of existence; they are the angels, who, like the jinn and mankind, are the observers of the universal palace of creation and students of this book of the universe and heralds of their Lord’s kingdom.

The perfection of existence is through life. Moreover, life is the real basis and the light of existence, and consciousness, in turn, is the light of life. Since life and consciousness are so important and a perfect harmony evidently prevails over the whole creation, and again since the universe displays a firm cohesion, and as this small ever-rotating sphere of ours is full of countless living and intelligent beings, so it is equally certain that those heavenly [realms] should have conscious, living beings particular to themselves. Just as the fish live in water, so those spirit beings may exist in the heat of the sun. Fire does not consume light; rather, light becomes brighter because of fire. We observe that the Eternal Power creates countless living beings from inert, solid substances and transforms the densest matter into subtle living compounds by life. Thus it radiates the light of life everywhere in great abundance and furnishes most things with the light of consciousness.

From this we can conclude that the All-Powerful, All-Wise One would certainly not leave without life and consciousness more refined, subtle forms of matter like light and ether, which are close to and fitting for the spirit indeed He creates animate and conscious beings in great number from light darkness, ether, air and even from meanings and words. As He creates numerous species of animals, He also creates from such subtle and higher forms of matter numerous different spirit creatures. One kind … are the angels, others are the varieties of spirit beings and jinn. (The Words 1, Truestar 1 g93, from pp.113-7)

Half a century after Said Nursi wrote this, nearly 300 animal species, almost all of them previously unknown, have been discovered living around hydrothermal vents which form when sea-water leaking through the ocean floor at spreading ridges is heated by the underlying magma and rushes into the cold ocean. V. Tunniclife writes:

All life requires energy, and nearly all life on earth looks to the sun as the source. But solar energy is not the only kind of energy available on the earth. Consider the energy that drives the movement and eruption of the planet’s crust. When you look at an active volcano, you are witnessing the escape of heat that has been produced by radioactive decay in the earth’s interior and is finally reaching the surface. Why should there not be biological communities associated with the same nuclear energy that moves continents and makes mountains? And why could not whole communities be fuelled by chemical, rather than, solar energy?

Most of us associate the escape of heat from the interior of the earth with violent events and unstable physical conditions, with extreme high temperatures and the release of toxic gasses – circumstances that are hardly conducive to life. The notion that biologic communities might spring up in a geologically active environment once seemed fantastic. And until recently, few organisms were known to survive without a direct or indirect way to tap the sun’s energy. But such communities do exist, and they represent one of the most startling discoveries of 20th century biology. They live in the deep ocean, under conditions that are both severe and variable.

This ‘startling’ discovery of biology contains clues to some other realities, which sciences should consider The Prophet Muhammad, upon him be peace, states that angels are created from light. We read in the Qur’an that God created man from dried earth, from wet clay and, from an extract of clay. According to the Qur’an, man has been made a khalifa on the earth. Khalifa means one who succeeds. Many interpreters of the Qur’an have concluded from this that the jinn once ruled the earth and they were succeeded by men.

Starting from the clues above, it should be possible to do formal studies to determine the worth of propositions such as these:

God first created pure light (nur) and then light. The process of creation followed a gradual, regular accumulation of identities and/or a saltational sequence of abrupt leaps. Fire followed light and then came water and earth. God spread one existence through another, compounding and interweaving. He also created living beings in every phase of creation appropriate for each phase. While the universe was in a state of pure fire or some other high energy, He created the appropriate life- forms. And when the earth became conducive to life, He created plants, animals and man. He adorned every part and phase of the universe with creatures, among them living ones, that are appropriate for that part and phase.

Finally, just as He created innumerable beings from light, ether, air, fire, water and earth, so too, from every word and deed of man, He forms ether his paradise or hell. In other words, as He grows a tree from a tiny seed through particles of earth, air and water, so He will build the other world from the material of this world which He will adapt for the other world during the convulsions of Doomsday. And He will use the words and actions of human beings in preparing the paradise or hell of each.

4. Angels are purely spirit beings. They stand for the purely good aspect in existence, while Satan and his descendants represent the purely evil aspect. God is One and Infinite, He does not have an opposite. Other than God, all beings and existents each have an opposite. Since man has two opposite aspects in his nature, one inclined to good, the other to evils, angels represent his good aspect, while Satan or satans, his evil one. Angels invite him to his purely spiritual or ‘angelic’ aspect, while Satan tries to seduce him by calling him to do evil. This struggle between good and evil in man, and in the universe as a whole, has been continuing since the beginning of existence. Everyone feels a stimulus in himself both to good and evil at the same time. The stimulus calling him to good comes from angels or his unpolluted spirit the stimulus inviting him to evil comes from Satan, collaborating with his carnal self, which represents his animal aspect.

5. The relation between the spirit and the body can be likened to the relation between electrical power and a factory operating by electricity. If there is no electricity to operate the factory, the factory will be reduced to a heap of junk. Likewise, when the spirit leaves the body because of some rupture or disconnection, which we call illness or something like that, despite his matchless value when alive, man is reduced to a mass of tissue and bone to decompose in earth. This means that man’s real existence and his uniqueness among beings depend on his spirit.

6. We unquestionably accept the existence of natural laws and forces and even go so far as to attribute all the phenomena in the universe to them. We ascribe the growing of a tiny seed into a huge, elaborate tree to the law of germination and growth in that seed, or the incredible balance in the universe to the laws of gravitation and repulsion, but we ignore the absolute will, knowledge, power, and wisdom which are necessary for the existence, operation and balance of the universe. The One who has absolute will, knowledge, and power and absolute wisdom, uses powerful beings, invisible like winds or gales and much more powerful than natural forces or laws, behind those forces and laws. It is through those beings that God makes natural laws and forces operative. Those beings are angels.