In Paul and Virginia, the Christian author relates the pure love between Paul and Virginia, who live on an imaginary non-European island. In this story, he discusses God’s existence and Omnipotence, divine rules, and the relationship between the Almighty and His servants. He begins with a discussion of the order and harmony in the universe.

His expressions sometimes come quite close to Islamic morality and faith, with which they have much in common with their Christian counterparts. We find beautiful examples in this work, some of which will be given below. These quotations present a glorious example of the similar attitudes held by people of different religions. Two children, their mothers, and a few servants live together on an island. Madam De Latour is a noblewoman who lives on the island with her daughter Virginia. The other woman, Margaret, was seduced by an aristocrat who promised to marry her. She is from a poor rural family and lives there with her son Paul.

“Every new day was embracing this cozy home with peace and serenity. Their hearts felt the sufferings of neither ambition nor envy. They had no expectations from worldly glories gained through intrigue and lost through slander.”

The author says that the characters “are very nice people” and that “they were such violets that no one could spot them with their thorns in the heath; but their pleasant smell could be sensed from very far away. They had crossed out gossiping from their lexis for good, and they were right about this. Gossiping always feeds resentment under the cover of revealing the truth, and it is disguised by hypocrisy.

-They performed good deeds as much as possible. Their hearts were so pure that they could leave the world of gossiping with the help of their feelings. Instead of speaking about other people’s scandals, they took the topics of their speech from nature and these topics filled them with joy and pleasure. Were not all these granted by an Unseen Being holding the universe in His power?

-The beautiful works of this world have been set up in such a way that it is possible to perceive them all, at one glance.

-Their faith was sincere and moral; their considerations were practical rather than theoretical. They didn’t have any festivities, celebrations or mourning days. Everyday was a festival for them and the world was their temple. In that temple, they admired the Sovereignty of a Supreme Will, friendly to man, in everything they saw. The trust they cherished for this Infinite Might made them forget the sufferings of the past, and became a source of courage today, never-ending hope for tomorrow…”

The following words, uttered by Paul, are so beautiful that they can be dedicated to those who devote themselves to humanity’s happiness: “Man can not be happy unless he is concerned about the happiness of others.”

Madame De Latour explains beautifully to Virginia about humanity’s purpose in this world: “My dear, seek help from the Lord. He is the decision maker about the well-being of His servants. Who knows? Maybe today He is just trying you in order to reward you tomorrow. Bear in mind that we have come to this world for doing good deeds so that they make us closer to God.”

One day, Madame De Latour’s aunt informs them that she is ill and would like Virginia to live with her. In exchange, Virginia will inherit her entire estate. Her mother wants to send Virginia, thinking that she will be happy there, but Virginia does not want to part from Paul. Before sunset, she boards the ship and leaves without telling him. Naturally he is very sad, for Virginia is no longer there. Being separated from his beloved friend, Paul suffers. Lonely, he recalls the days spent with Virginia. “She even used to bury the seed of the fruit she ate, since she cared for others more than herself, even in her simplest affairs. ‘One day, a tree grows here, passersby eat its fruits; it benefits birds at least’ she would say,” recollects Paul. His mother consoles Paul: “Let God be your sole helper, let humanity be your nation. Do not give up relying on them. God and humanity only expect virtue from us. God granted you freedom, health, a clear conscience and true friends. Even kings are not that fortunate.”

The relation between happiness and virtue is questioned in the mother’s counsels to Paul: “Most of the rich are bored with every kind of pleasure, for it is obtained with no effort at all. Haven’t you experienced that you buy the pleasure of drinking by thirst, eating by hunger and resting by tiredness. Likewise, loving and being loved is obtained through a great deal of absence and self sacrifice.”

(Paul): “What do you mean by ‘virtue'”?

“My dear, you are working to support your family. Virtue is bearing difficulties for the good of others, and doing this only for God’s good pleasure.”

His mother advises him to rely on destiny with patience and endurance: “My dear, what throws one into an early death is nothing but a momentary venture. Mostly, this is encouraged by worthless applause. However, there is a more exalted kind of courage which is more seldom but needful. With the courage called ‘patience and endurance,’ we face up to the misfortunes in life. Showing this patience is neither being manipulated by someone else, nor giving up to an ambition arising inside us. It is doing only what God says, since patience and reliance on destiny is a courage generated by virtue.”

Later, his mother tells Paul that the mind is darkened by desires in which people are lost, yet there is a torch for the person to illuminate his or her inner world: reading.

She states the following about literary works: “My dear, literary works are God’s gifts to us. Mankind is enabled to discern the rays of a wisdom ruling the universe by a Divine art on the earth. Just like the rays of the sun, these literary works also illuminate, warm, and cheer us. They are like a fire descending from the sky. They render everything useful to us, just like fire cooks our food. With these works, we gather around ourselves things, times, places, and people. They are what show us the way in life. They extinguish desires and remove despicable feelings. They are angels descended from heavens in order to develop the ‘love for virtue,’ and they present the honorable ones who exalt humanity as ideal models for us. There have always been great writers inspired by them. These people were raised in hard times which society couldn’t bear, in the period of barbarism, when morality was low. My son, there are countless others a lot unhappier than you among the ones who seek consolation by reading and contemplating.”

Starting with the saying that “a good book is a good friend,” reading is recommended as a magic potion to save humanity from loneliness. Stating that nothing can replace a good friend, Paul then summarizes a good friend’s qualities : “When Virginia looked at my face and said ‘my friend,’ I would forget all my worries.”

Later on, Virginia boards the ship to return, but a terrible storm wrecks it while it is approaching the island. In the midst of the waves, beside the wrecked ship, Virginia is seen floating in the water. Everybody calls out to a sailor, who is not far from her, to save her. Although waves cause her to drift toward the wreck, the sailor cannot help her and only manages to save himself with difficulty. Then the young survivor says: “O Lord, I am grateful that you granted my life to me. On the other hand, I was ready to sacrifice my life for that young girl.”

Now Paul is lonely forever. His grief overflows his heart. When the author consoles him, he virtually voices the Islamic understanding of submission to God: “God has taken Virginia from you. Everything comes from Him. He knows what is good for you better than you do. There is no reason for you to feel the sorrow and remorse we bear as a punishment of our own deeds. What lasts is only His Eternal Will. Therefore you can say: ‘This is the Providence after all, and I did not commit any transgressions to generate this result.’ And what are you grieving for? For Virginia, or for her dying like that? Remember that everyone born is destined to die. Virginia must be happy to have died before you and your mother did.

“My son, death is a blessing for all people, it is the night of this day named life. The diseases, sorrows, sufferings, fears that make people tired of living all disappear in the sleep of death. If a person has reached a rare blessing such as ‘being loved,’ imagine through what sacrifices he gained it. Mostly, when such people come to the end of their lives, they find nobody but false friends and ungrateful relatives around them. But Virginia is as blissful as can be. She was blissful again at the terrible event which resulted in her death. She saw how all the people of the province struggled for her, how you rushed to her rescue, risking every danger; in this way, she understood her worth for us. The memory of her pure and innocent past had strengthened her for the future. Thereby, God granted her the reward for virtue, namely ‘courage’ against dangers, which overpowers any kind of danger. That is why she welcomed death with a smile.

“My son, God granted the ability of accepting all suffering in life to the virtuous. This way, he showed us that the real purpose of life is virtue, which is the sole way to reach honor and happiness. If somebody will introduce himself to the world through his virtue, God makes that person meet death in a great arena of trial. Then his courage becomes an example for others, thereby allowing the ones who follow to remember him in tears, recalling what he went through. Here is a memorial for such people in this transient world, where every memory, even that of kings, is forgotten.”

The author dwells upon faith in God and the Day of Judgment in the following passage: “But Virginia still lives, my son. Don’t you see that nothing really vanishes? What changes is only the appearance. If all the power and knowledge of humanity were to unite, they wouldn’t be able to make anything disappear. Then, how can a being with intellect, love, virtue, and piety disappear while the slightest particle of her doesn’t disappear? Be sure that now Virginia is happier than when she was with us. There is a God my son, no doubt about it. I don’t even need to prove His existence, for all of nature is a witness to that. Some people deny His existence, for they do not want him to exist. The feeling of His existence is in your heart, just as the things He created are before your eyes. Is it possible that He would leave Virginia unrewarded? Is it possible that the Power that provides the happiness of people through some principles unknown to you would not provide Virginia’s happiness through principles also unknown to you? Does the Almighty need this small world in order to show His power and kindness, like people do? There is no single drop of water in the ocean that is not full of life. We know this for sure. While this is so, do you think that so many stars revolving above mean nothing to us? Fine! It means that the endless sources of light filling this enormous universe, the immense fields of light surrounding them, this land of light which is never to be darkened by nights or cyclones, is just a meaningless space and an infinite nothingness. Is that so? We didn’t grant anything to ourselves but everything was granted to us by the Almighty, by His Infinite Power.

“There is no doubt about that. Your virtue will be rewarded one day: there is a place where your merit will find what it deserves. Virginia is blissful now. If it were possible for her to tell you how she feels, like she did in her last letter, she would speak so: ‘Paul, this world is nothing but an abode of trial. I always lived relying on love and virtue. I went overseas, obeying the words of my mother. I rejected a fortune to sustain my faith. The Almighty Lord saw that my time was due. I rid myself of everything that makes life bitter: corruption, gossiping, storms, and people in agony. No disaster that frightens people can reach me now. Therefore, it is so strange that you feel pity for me! I remained chaste, my purity is free from any disturbance, just like a gleam of light. While this is so, you are inviting me to the darkness of life.”

Paul, who cannot bear the pain of separation, dies two months later. His mother lives only one week after that event, and, before she dies, expresses her faith in resurrection: “We shall meet each other eternally and with a sweeter affection. Death is the greatest blessing for humans. This blessing must be appreciated. If life is a punishment, one should long for its end as soon as possible. If it is an abode of trial, one should prefer the trial to be short.”

This novel contains beautiful descriptions of nature. When evaluating the work, we have tried to focus on those parts that are common to Christians and Muslims. Although the author was a Christian, it could have been written by a Muslim. It is a remarkable work in terms of underlining the two religions’ common points. This beautiful work has found a place among the classics of world literature. Its theme and the values it questions make it a universal work.

Bringing such works to the attention of people, writing fresh ones with similar themes, and reinforcing the common faith and values of people is something that must be done in order to establish the longed-for dialogue. The descendants of the Crusaders have shown the way by apologizing to the Muslims. Such things draw people of different faiths closer. If we look at it from the monotheistic viewpoint, this shared belief will engender intimacy and friendship. Words like love, tolerance, and dialogue, which are found in every language, must be felt in our hearts and present in our daily behavior. People should try to depict this theme in every form of the fine arts as well.

Reference

• Paul and Virginia (indypublish.com, 2002)

In order to maintain the effective use of power resources to reach a target, researchers divide them into various subgroups according to different criteria. For instance, capital is categorized into such groups as material, emotional, morality and virtue, intellectual, knowledge (know-how), and consciousness of opportunity and favor. Each one is highlighted by being given a separate name. In addition, various scientific concepts are used as metaphors to imprint on people’s minds the importance of those factors that help a community or nation develop. This is done because the human brain can think more easily through metaphors and understand a fresh and novel point of view.

The definition of social capital draws attention to an important – but often ignored or underemphasized – source of wealth for national development. This concept expounds why developing countries cannot achieve Western standards of development. While financial power and knowledge (intellectual capital) constitute the fuel and mechanical parts of the car of progress, social capital functions as its lubricant and oil. An old car that lacks lubrication cannot take you very far, just as a nation whose social capital has been exhausted or broken cannot progress.

So just what is social capital? Which national riches can be seen more clearly through the lens of social capital?

Defining social capital

Social capital is defined as the individual’s capacity and ability to benefit from and take advantage of public and private institutions through membership. Social capital forms bonds between neighbors, families, individuals, and communities. The society’s civil organizations need social capital to coordinate their existing resources more effectively. The sense of belonging to a society and a nation, and the people’s ability to make use of their various capacities, are involved in social capital. At each society’s base of interpersonal relationships and institutions, all of a person’s opportunities and duties comprise social capital.

Being a member of a social group brings both responsibilities and advantages. Social capital is formed by social structures and institutional characteristics (e.g., reliability, norms, networks of relationships, and systems of facilitating coordinated actions). It facilitates some actions within the structure and makes some benefits available, such as the material gains that accrue with group membership opportunities and chances, as well as the support brought about by relationships within the organization.

If the essence of a relationship is mutual trust and reliance, a system containing expectations and responsibilities arises. This mutual trust and reliance between the members of a civil organization oils the wheels of socioeconomic interactions, reduces costs, maintains the circulation of confidential information among group members, and enhances the availability of chances offered by the group. All of the values and norms needed to erect and maintain a healthy society can be defined as social capital.

Social capital also can be defined as the existence of institutional and inter-institutional participation and cooperation that keeps the individuals grouped around a common purpose and which acts as an adhesive that makes it possible to construct a society or a team. Given that religion and moral education form such values as charity, self-sacrifice, trust, and reliability, it follows that religious and moral teachings play primary roles in constructing social capital. Social capital has yet another meaning: those norms that influence a society’s productivity and health and social networks, as well as interpersonal relationships, respect, trust and credibility. Social bonds can boost efficiency by reducing the cost of work and production and facilitating the coordination and cooperation needed for production and marketing.

Social capital, an indispensable component of society and progress on both the micro- and macrolevels, includes all of the norms that shape the quality and intensity of a society’s social interactions. In this respect, a large amount of social capital allows more resources and opportunities to be mobilized in the pursuit of common goals. Social capital, however, has both positive and negative sides. For example, social clubs exclude non-members from their services by forming an internal social capital. Thus, poor and rich social sectors have different social capitals. The social capital of poor people is built around trust and the exchange of goods or property. The critical point of social progress is making public opportunities and chances available to the poor by reducing the exclusivity of the social capital available to the rich. The Islamic institutions of zakat (the prescribed alms) and interest-free credit practices are quite significant here.

The social capital of socially harmful groups (e.g., drug cartels and corrupt people) prevent socioeconomic progress. In this respect, the social capital value of a society’s subgroups and civil organizations determines whether the net value of its social capital is positive or negative. The value of an institution’s social capital is determined by the levels and degrees of the following: the development of an institutional identity among staff members; the sense of belonging; the extent of common thoughts, visions, and goals; being informed of the chances and opportunities inside or outside the institution; staff members’ respectability in the institution and the institution’s respectability in society; its ability to offer equal opportunities without getting entangled in religious, ethnic, and socioeconomic differences. In addition, participation in managing a society’s institutions and establishments also strengthens social capital. Thus, we can say that social capital can be defined in many ways and represents the group of differences called capital.

We should distinguish the resources of social capital from its outcome. We can list the following among its outcomes: social control, preservation of family and kinship ties, preservation of the society’s unity and solidarity (both material and spiritual), and the capacity to put forward common ideas and targets due to the unity and harmony of society. All of these are vitally important for economic progress and sustained growth and development.

Social capital also makes an important contribution to forming a sociopolitical environment that allows certain norms and standards that shape society in order to improve it. Unlike economic capital, social capital cannot be bought from another community or nation; every society has to build it up with its own faith, tradition, and education system. Civil organizations play a major role in the rapid construction of positive social capital. The value of social capital directly affects the government’s functioning, as well as that of the justice system and the use of rights and freedoms. And, socioeconomic development is directly related to the common goals and principles determined by the social capital accumulations of subgroups

and institutions. As networks of relationships that are limited to a person’s family and neighbors have a small amount of social capital, they are deprived of chances and opportunities to improve themselves. Those with a larger network of relationships, due to their membership in civil organizations, as well as professional and social clubs, have more social capital and a better chance of enriching and making individual progress.

Social and other types of capital

Social capital is a means of investing in your future. People with a high social capital value are honest, trustworthy, possess professional honor, function as a member of a team, and are sought after in all sections of life. Individuals and institutions that maintain their social capital above a certain value can acquire knowledge, power, and opportunities of critical importance. A collective group identity that increases the capacity of collective action can be enhanced only by building up social capital. As material capital can be used for reaching various objectives, social capital can be used to access critical information or to receive sound advice. Certainly, the advantages of a person’s position within society or a group can be transformed into economic gain. Material capital, the most fluid and that with the highest value of convertibility among all types of capital, can be used to improve men and women, culture, and social capital. However, the convertibility of social capital to economic capital is lower, for social capital, which keeps the common values that make up the society together, is less transferable.

When necessary, social capital can function as other types of capital or can compensate for their absence. For instance, the lack of financial or human capital can be eliminated by introducing strong social relationships and connections. Furthermore, the efficiency of social capital can be raised by reducing operation costs. Research reveals that people with a lower social capital value are less reliable and less receptive to institutionalizing and organizing.

Social capital needs protection and continuity, just like physical (e.g., clean air, water, and environment) and human capital do. In other words, existing social ties among people need to be refreshed and confirmed periodically to maintain their efficiency. The value of social capital increases, instead of decreases, as we use it. For example, the social capital of people who rely on each other and inspire mutual trust increases daily. Thus, dialogues and interactions between different civil organizations and cultures, as well as interfaith dialogues, are important infrastructural activities that enable the construction of social capital.

Social capital, like physical capital, is advantageous for the public and requires that all people work to save and improve it. Such an understanding allows us to comprehend the wisdom of the Divine Order, which wills that every society contains a group that calls for good and prohibits evil. Fresh air and water decrease in proportion with their usage; social capital increases in proportion to its usage. Individuals equally run the risk of not making use of social capital’s potential in an equal manner. Social capital is usually constructed by its relationship to a club or a community. Thus, people who are not members cannot benefit from the opportunities.

Social capital is not held by a person or an institution, but emerges within the network of interpersonal or inter-institutional relationships, and continues to grow as long as the relationship lasts. In other words, the construction of social capital depends upon mutual trust, dialogue, and cooperation. Since social capital emerges within the network of social relationships, it cannot be transferred. Each society has its own methods of operating and achieving success.

All of the cultural elements that motivate a person, generate opportunities, or facilitate the utility of talents and capacities play a role in the construction of social capital.

Measuring social capital

Several criteria are used to measure the value of social capital: the degree of trust and respect for the state and its institutions, the level of people’s participation in making those decisions in which they have a role to play, the extent of their presence in civil organizations, and the average of monthly voluntary service hours, as well as the level of help, support, and self-sacrifice between individuals and neighbors. For example, social capital strengthened by the active support of local citizens and families enhances the quality of education, for students are more successful when teachers improve themselves, take their jobs seriously, and establish a good relationship with the students. Doctors and nurses who work in citizen-monitored and supported health institutions are sure to be more attentive in their jobs. Building a healthy society depends on social capital being rooted in interpersonal trust and assistance.

Social capital and social progress

Researchers have discovered that a nation’s ability to achieve healthy progress does not depend only on financial, structural and legal regulations. For example, the failure of the financial aid offered by the World Bank, as well as its advised structural reforms, to the developing countries raises the following question: What did we miss or undervalue? The resulting analyses and research so far have revealed that the interaction between labor and capital for progress is far more complicated than originally expected. Various types of capital were acknowledged (e.g., physical, geographical, human, cultural, moral, emotional, and social) and held to be significant for progress. Social capital was recognized as the primary prompter and sustainer of development and progress.

Recently, researchers have begun to focus on the need for developing countries to have social, rather than financial and labor, capital. They underline that existing corruption, bribery, and monopolies can be dealt with only by enhancing social capital. We hope that this article helps administrators, who are at the steering wheel of national ships, realize the contribution of our religious, moral, and cultural inheritance to establishing a high-quality social capital, and encourages them to consider social capital in their projects.

References

– Hwe P., and A. Shiell. “Social Capital and Health Promotion: Review.” Social Science and Medicine, no. 51 (2000): 855-871.

– www.worldbank.org./poverty/scapital/whatsc.htm.

The Qur’an refers to olives directly in surahs al-An’am, al-Nahl, al-Nur, ‘Abasa, and al-Tin, and indirectly in Surah al-Mu’minun. In Surat al-Tin, God takes an oath by the fig and the olive. When the Qur’anic verses and Prophetic sayings about olives are studied closely, we see that the olive, as well as its tree and oil, are all given importance.

Olive trees

Olive trees, which live from 300 to 400 years on average, require much attention. They are grown mainly in Turkey, Greece, Italy, Spain, and North Africa, and, after the sixteenth century, also in North and South America, China and Japan.

While olives have been cultivated for some 6,000 years, they had been around for far longer than that: 39,000-year-old olive tree fossils have been found in archeological excavations on Santorini Island. Excavations also has revealed that the ancient city of Klazomenai, near Izmir, Turkey, used to be an important center for olives and olive oil. Today, there are more than 900 million olive trees in the world, 98% of which are in Mediterranean countries, where they occupy approximately 10 million hectares of land.

Those with olive orchards benefit not only from the olives, but also from the tree’s branches, leaves, and roots. Leaves are left to dry after pruning, and then used as fodder or made into various kinds of folk remedies. Branches and protruding roots removed by pruning are significant sources of firewood.

The characteristics of olives

Each olive tree yields abundant fruit once a year and then less the following year, due to climatic conditions and methods of cultivation.

An olive weighs anywhere between 2-12 grams. The pit makes up 13-30%, the edible part makes up 66-85%, and the skin makes up the rest. Breakfast-type olives have a thinner skin and a smaller pit. One hundred grams of the edible part of a green olive gives us 144 calories of energy. It also contains 13.5 grams of oil, 2.8 grams of carbohydrate, 1.5 grams of protein, 90 mgs of calcium, 2 mgs of iron, and 300 units of vitamin A. In contrast, 100 grams of the edible part of a black olive gives us 207 calories of energy. It also contains 21 grams of oil, 1.1 gram of carbohydrate, 1.8 gram of protein, 77 mgs of calcium, 1.6 mgs of iron, and 60 units of vitamin A. Both kinds of olive also contain lesser amounts of other vitamins and minerals. 

In addition to being an important source of oil, olives also contain significant amounts of vitamin A, iron, and calcium. These nutritious qualities, which have been studied by scientists, are known to most people.

In the last few years, important studies have been made on a group of substances found within the olive’s proteins. Until recently, this group of substances received only a little attention. Bisignano et al., of the University of Messina, Italy, studied secoiridoids, which are found in an olive’s poliphenols, and their effects on microorganisms. They discovered that secoiridoids prevent and hinder the growth of some bacteria-causing diseases in our respiratory and digestive systems. In light of these observations on olives and olive oil, some substances have been offered as possible sources for developing new antibiotics.

Olive oil

Around 1.6-2.6 million tons of olive oil, the olive’s most important product, are produced each year. Around 75-80% of this amount is consumed by the producer countries, while the rest is sold abroad.

Olive oil is extracted by squeezing olives and separating the so-called “black juice” by physical means. No chemical methods are used. There are three main types of olive oil. Natural olive oil, which is the best quality and can be consumed raw, is usually used in salads and sauces. Refined oil, which is made tastier by physical refining and has reduced acidity, is usually added in cooking. Riviera oil, which is produced by adding 10-20% of natural oil to refined oil, is used mainly for frying or added in cooking.

Olive oil, which is 99.8% triglyceride (an oil), is composed of 14% saturated fat acids, 72% singular unsaturated fat acids, and 12% polyunsaturated fat acids. Furthermore, there are 300 mg of phenol and 150 mg of tocopherol in 1 kg of olive oil. When compared to other cooking oils, it has been shown to contain very high proportions of oleic acid, which is a singular unsaturated fat acid.

The beneficial effects of olive oil

Remarkably, there are fewer cases of cardiovascular diseases and cancer in Mediterranean countries where high amounts of olive oil are consumed. Cholesterol, famous for its role in causing cardiovascular diseases, is carried by two groups of lipoproteins found in our blood: LDL and HDL. The liver breaks down the HDL-carried cholesterol more effectively, which reduces the risk of cardiovascular disease. On the other hand, LDL-carried cholesterol is the major cause of cardiovascular disease. Therefore, lower LDL levels and higher HDL levels in our blood mean better resistance to cardiovascular disease.

The risk-lowering effect of olives on cancer is believed to be caused by the antioxidant effect of its phenols. Due to the antioxidant effect of these substances, they are thought to help restore DNA damage by neutralizing those substances that might damage it. Owen et al., of the German Oncology Research Center, reported that olive oil prevents the onset of coronary heart disease and some types of cancer (e.g., large intestine, breast, and skin cancers) through some of its phenols’ antioxidant features.

Alarkon de la Lastra et al., of the University of Seville in Spain, published an article evaluating the positive effects of olive oil. In this article, they reported that olive oil lowers the risk of cancer by decreasing LDL cholesterol and increasing HDL cholesterol in our blood; it lowers the risk of cancer in the large intestine and the breast, especially by its effect upon triglyceride metabolism; it reduces the formation of such auto-immune diseases as rheumatoid arthritis; it lowers the risk of calcification in the gall bladder by making it secrete regularly; and it also reduces the formation of ulcers and facilitates the recovery of existing ulcers with its effect on our stomach.

Budiyanto et al., of the University of Kanazawa in Japan, studied the effects of applying olive oil externally to rats that had been exposed to cancer-causing ultraviolet rays. After dividing the rats into three groups, the first group received no olive oil, the second group received olive oil before being exposed, and the third group received olive oil after being exposed. Researchers observed far lower rates of cancer development in the third group than in the other two.

Conclusion

The Omnipotent One, who knows our heart, veins, and the mechanism of cancer, stored its cure in a tree found just beside us. Olive oil is believed to have other as yet undiscovered qualities as well. By the time these qualities are discovered, its consumption will have increased and, at the same time, it will pioneer the development of new medicines and treatment methods. In addition, olive oil is commonly used in medicine and the cosmetic industries, and it is already being used to treat various hair and skin diseases. Hopefully olive oil, which is a blessing from the Almighty, will be consumed in larger amounts in the near future.

References

– Owen RW, Giacosa A, Hull WE, Haubner R, Wurtele G, Spiegelhalder B, Bartsch H.Olive-oil consumption and health: the possible role of antioxidants.

– Lancet Oncol. 2000 Oct;1:107-12. Review.

– Owen RW, Mier W, Giacosa A, Hull WE, Spiegelhalder B, Bartsch H.Phenolic compounds and squalene in olive oils: the concentration and antioxidant potential of total phenols, simple phenols, secoiridoids, lignansand squalene.

– Food Chem Toxicol. 2000 Aug;38(8):647-59.

– Owen RW, Mier W, Giacosa A, Hull WE, Spiegelhalder B, Bartsch H. Identification of lignans as major components in the phenolic fraction of olive oil.

– Clin Chem. 2000 Jul;46(7):976-88.

– Owen RW, Giacosa A, Hull WE, Haubner R, Spiegelhalder B, Bartsch H. The antioxidant/anticancer potential of phenolic compounds isolated from olive oil.

– Eur J Cancer. 2000 Jun;36(10):1235-47.

– Bisignano G, Lagana MG, Trombetta D, Arena S, Nostro A, Uccella N, Mazzanti G, Saija A. In vitro antibacterial activity of some aliphatic aldehydes from Olea europaea L.

– FEMS Microbiol Lett. 2001 Apr 20;198(1):9-13. Erratum in: FEMS Microbiol Lett 2001 Jul 10;201(1):117.

– Bisignano G, Tomaino A, Lo Cascio R, Crisafi G, Uccella N, Saija A. On the in-vitro antimicrobial activity of oleuropein and hydroxytyrosol.

– J Pharm Pharmacol. 1999 Aug;51(8):971-4

– Budiyanto A, Ahmed NU, Wu A, Bito T, Nikaido O, Osawa T, Ueda M, Ichihashi M.Protective effect of topically applied olive oil against photocarcinogenesis following UVB exposure of mice.

– Taris Zeytin ve Z.Yagi Birligi/ Zeytin Hakkinda

– www.taris.com.tr/zeytin/zhak.htm

– Zeytinyagi

– http://www.maximumbilgi.com/saglik/zeytinyagi.htm

Prisoners, especially those who are young, need the Risale-i Nur as much as they need bread. Young people, following their blind emotions and desires, prefer an ounce of immediate pleasure to tons of future pleasure. However, an hour of dissolute pleasure may result in life’s enjoyment being utterly destroyed, due to the distress caused by the fear of prison and the fear of one’s enemies.

Muslim youths must act heroically and benefit from the “Fruits of Belief” and the “Guide for Youth” of the Risale-i Nur so that they will not destroy their future in this world, their pleasant lives, their happiness in the hereafter, and their eternal lives. Abuse and dissoluteness will cause them to end up in hospitals, and their excesses will land them in prison. In their old age, they will weep copiously with a thousand regrets.

Young prisoners who spend one hour a day performing the five obligatory prayers, who repent their mistakes, and abstain from other harmful sins will gain a great benefit now and in the afterlife. The Qur’an has promised this. If they practice moderation and obedience, showing their gratitude for the pleasant, delightful bounty of youth, this bounty will increase, become eternal, and be a pleasure. Of course, not doing so will lead to the opposite result, which will harm everyone, including themselves.

If they have been imprisoned unjustly, each hour spent performing the obligatory prayers will be the equivalent of a day’s worship, and they will be like pious hermits. If they are poor, elderly, and sick, and want to learn the truth, each hour will become the equivalent of twenty hours’ worship, and prison will become like a rest-house, a place of love, training, and education. Prison will offer them some protection from sin, and they may actually receive a full education there. When released, they will be penitent, proven by trial, well-behaved, and of benefit to the nation. In fact, the Denizli (1) prisoners became so extraordinarily well-behaved after studying the Risale-i Nur for only a short time that some of those concerned said: “Studying the Risale-i Nur for fifteen weeks is more effective at reforming them than putting them in prison for fifteen years.”

I am 75 years old, and I know that life’s happiness is to be found only in belief and in the truths of belief. O you unfortunate prisoners! Since your world is weeping and your life is bitter, strive so that your hereafter will not also weep, and so that your eternal life will smile and be sweet! Benefit from prison! Just as an hour’s watch sometimes may be equivalent to a year’s worship under severe conditions, each hour spent in worship becomes the equivalent of many hours, thereby transforming hardship into mercy.

In His Name, be He glorified!

My dear and loyal brothers!

I will set out three points for the prisoners and for those who help them and faithfully supervise their diet, which is provided from outside the prison.

First Point: Each day spent in prison may equal as much as ten days’ worship, and, with regards to the fruit of this time, may transform those transient hours into enduring hours. But to realize this gain, you must perform the obligatory prayers, repent for your mistake, and offer thanks in patience.

Second Point:Always be patient, for just as the end of pleasure brings pain, the end of pain brings pleasure. Live in the present, for remembering past pleasures and worrying about the future brings pain. Displaying any type of impatience, and ignoring one’s faults, as if you are complaining about God, is most foolish. So long as you remain patient, your distress is reduced by ten to one. I discovered this great truth through personal experience, and encourage you to adopt the same attitude.

Third Point:There is great gain in meeting the prisoners’ physical and spiritual needs. Feeding them is like an act of charity, and is recorded in your book of good deeds. If they are old, ill, poor, or strangers, the reward is increased manifold. To obtain this high profit, perform the obligatory prayers for God’s sake; hasten to help them with sincerity, compassion, and joy; and do not make them feel under obligation.

In His Name, be He glorified!

And there is nothing but it glorifies Him with praise.

My friends in prison and brothers in religion!

It occurred to me to explain a truth to you which will save you from both worldly torment and the torment of the hereafter. It is as follows: If you murder someone, you might feel a moment of pleasure, but then you will have to contend with long-lasting distress, prison, fear of retaliation by your victim’s family and relatives, and anxiety. The only way out of this is reconciliation, which the Qur’an demands.

Looking at it in Islamic terms, the victim’s time to die had come, and the murderer was simply the means of executing God’s decree. Without reconciliation, both sides perpetually suffer the torments of fear and revenge. This is why Islam commands that “one believer should not be angry with another believer for more than three days.” (2) If the murder was not the result of a vindictive grudge and enmity, and a two-faced trouble-maker instigated the discord, make peace quickly. Otherwise, that minor disaster becomes a large one, and continues. If they make peace and the murderer repents and prays continuously for the victim, both sides gain much and become like brothers.

This happened in Denizli Prison, where all the prisoners eventually became brothers through the lessons of the Risale-i Nur. This caused us to be set free, and even the irreligious and ungodly said: “Masha’llah! Barakallah!” I have seen a hundred men suffer inconvenience because of one man and be deprived of their exercises. Sincere believers of sound conscience will not cause others to suffer for some minor error or benefit. If they do, they should repent immediately.

In His Name, be He glorified!

My loyal new brothers and old prisoners!

In respect of Divine Favor, you are an important cause for our entering here. The Risale-i Nur can save you from the distress of prison and from much worldly harm, needless grief, and sorrow, and secure a pleasing Hereafter for you.

Be brothers to one another. Do not attack each other. Appreciate those who guard you, for they suffer much trouble. And so, new friends, who are by nature bold and courageous, with great moral courage, say to the group:

“If not knives, but rifles and revolvers were given us, and the order to fire as well, we would not hurt our friends. Through the Qur’an’s guidance and command, belief, Islamic brotherhood, and our interests, we forgive them and to try not to offend them, even if formerly there were many reasons for our enmity and hostility.” Transform this prison into an auspicious place of study.

Footnotes

1. A city in Turkey
2. Muslim, Birr, 25.

Reference

• The Words (Sozler Publ., trans. Sukran Vahide) / Thirteenth Word – Second Station- A Footnote to the Second Station of the Thirteenth Word

(By M.Fethullah GULEN…)

In our contemporary world, our self and our ego have become unbridled, insolent arrogant and inflated, as if the ego knows everything. This becomes apparent when we look at such phrases as “self-respect” and “I did.” Developing one’s personality, character, and abilites is necessary. However, if the achievement of such a goal involves the spoiling of the self, throwing an individual into the turbulence of ego, it is better to avoid such exercises, for adding this to the limited possibilities and abilities of one’s self, when added to one’s weak will-power, makes everything more difficult . Those who say “I” in everything they do put their ego at the center and take it as their essence. Thus, all accomplishments and good works only feed the ego. If such ego-centered and self-trusting people stumble and slip, they lose their hope and can find nothing on which they can hold, and so cannot stand up again.

Actually, without falling into such an abyss, individuals can be very productive. First of all, they have to trust the One Who created them. They just need to use the abilities that the Creator has given them, and then ascribe the resulting accomplishments not to themselves, but to the Owner of those abilities. They strongly believe that success comes from the Creator’s, the most powerful, hand. They take this faith with them when they are walking toward the target, and after every accomplishment and bounty give thanks to the real Owner of Everything. Acting in such a way is like an invitation for their Creator to send other bounties.

When compared with those individuals who trust in their egos, those who trust in the Creator are more motivated and encounter less stress when accomplishing great tasks. Believers have the power, which comes from their inner faith and trust in the Source’s power; they have the wealth, knowing that they are fed from the Creator’s treasure of mercy and love; and they have the courage to challenge the whole world, yet remain devoted to the truth of “faith is the light and power, and the person who obtains real faith can challenge the whole world” and “there is no power except the power of the Creator.” Both of these truths are the source of their power.

Certainly, if people place their trust in the One Who is Trustworthy and then strive to better themselves, acquire wisdom, fulfill their duties, and turn accomplishments into opportunities to give thanks to their Creator, they will achieve a very high level of performance and reach goals that those who trust only in themselves have never and can never reach. Every achievement causes such ego-less people to enter a new realm of thanksgiving and protects them from falling into the morass of the ego. They follow the same path as many others, but walk upon it without falling, or pursue the middle way of accepting the ego’s defeat.

Reflections on Self-Improvement

(By Fatih Ferda…)

Introduction

Self-improvement is a mysterious expression, one that sounds impressive, like “human resources”. It is both fashionable and modern. Many people are asking: “What is the aim of self-improvement: improving your self, starting a personal quest for peace, or adhering to the Qur’an’s teachings and taking refuge in God?”

People do not try to improve themselves for the sake of improvement alone; improvement should be purposeful and in accord with our character. Given that there are many characters, there are many ways of improvement and perfection. Maybe the ways to the truth are as many as the heartbeats of creatures, a different recipe for everyone. One of them, at least for Muslims, is Said Nursi’s Risale-i Nur collection.

Not everybody has been enchanted by self-improvement. In fact, some people are completely against it, for self-improvement has a deceptive side. For example, it gives you the feeling that you can do everything. It flatters the ego and makes you say: “Actually, if I tried a little harder, I would become an Einstein.” Many people have become addicted to such books in order to improve themselves, such as the overweight couch potatoes who fall asleep with “Wake up the Giant in You” on their laps. We must beware of the addictive side of this prevalent understanding and self-improvement concept. Obviously, an understanding of improvement that is not all-embracing does not have much to offer.

Take Einstein, Edison, or any other successful person. Which one of them used a self-improvement book for success? Except for one or two, the only success that such writers have obtained is that of writing about success. Self-improvement, now so fashionable, also has a considerable commercial side. There is self-improvement in the essence of religion, but not as we currently understand it. Each member of humanity, who was created in “the best of shapes,” strives to live on the levels of the heart and soul, away from the prison of the human ego. They try to improve their heart and mind within life and without excluding it. Our understanding of self-improvement is that people work to improve their material and spiritual sides in accordance and in balance with their characters.

Self-improvement is not always benign

Capitalism is successful because it assimilates and makes its opponents adapt, keeping them within the system. Nobody tells Muslims not to pray, but they are offered thousands of other choices. Muslims think that they will have no time for praying with other things to do. The West’s strategies of control and assimilation do not depend upon oppression and deprivation, but upon making people believe that they are free or at liberty to transgress the limits set by God. In other words, westerners are trying to assimilate Muslims into western cultures – a “westernization of Muslims”. At this point, we come across an incorrect understanding of Islam that is redefined into a dual worldview. This process results in Muslims becoming westernized, but also in the West becoming Islamized. If we Muslims remain ignorant of the dangers inherent in this process, and do not take due precautions or adhere to our faith clearly and properly, we face the danger of westernization.

The “New Age” movement

The so-called New Age movement is the harvesting of ancient far eastern cultures. The main reason it is attractive is western civilization’s quest for some kind of a spiritual life, which it has neglected, and its presentation in a consumable form … not a philosophy or a worldview, but just a strategy or an object of consumption.

In its most comprehensive meaning, New Age is the totality of systems covering every kind of knowledge (e.g., astrology and tarot), belief (e.g., Buddhism and Sufism), art figures (e.g., totems), physical exercise (e.g., yoga), spiritual experience (e.g., astral projection and meditation), and music (e.g., world music and Sufi music) about life’s spiritual/metaphysical side. Western culture, which already has exploited and consumed the Third World’s natural resources, is now exploiting its spiritual/cultural resources without fully understanding them, and thereby distorting them and spreading misconceptions.

At this point, such openings are no more than a passing interest. That is why Sufism, rather than Islam, is popular in the West. Within the West’s consumption perspective, ideas and beliefs are just products in the supermarket. Buy whichever one you fancy and as much as you want, and then consume it. The capitalist West is open to any type of experience, just as long as it does not affect anyone’s comfort level. Whether it is Buddhism or Sufism does not matter. If these people feel sure that Islam will not disturb their comfort, they will have no problem with it.

There are some grains of truth in the New Age and the self-improvement movements, such as emphasizing the significance of one’s spiritual side. However, those beliefs that have some authenticity in their roots are being made into models for the New Age. At this point, the beliefs of various cultures are blended together and the end product is a culture without a base. Some grains of truth found in this culture can dazzle us and cause our viewpoint to go astray. In fact, the New Age is simply imposing on us the mistaken idea that we do not need religion to find happiness and peace in this world. New Age culture, which leaves the spiritual/metaphysical dimension to a gutted mysticism, highlights the importance of self-improvement when it comes to the physical dimension. Here, if we present the relation clearly, the New Age movement is blending these cultures in a self-improvement understanding unique to itself. Thus, the understanding of self-improvement being formed within this culture threatens Muslims.

Two different ways

There are two paths and two different ways of looking at events: philosophy and Prophethood. The path of philosophy says that self-improvement is possible by existing on one’s own and for one’s self, thereby adopting a Pharaoh-like attitude. Its followers say: “I exist for myself and am the owner of myself.” They adopt an unwarranted degree of pride, but are easily scared by such news as a comet passing by the Earth. In the path of Prophethood, however, perfection and improvement are possible through the realization of one’s impotence and helplessness and, as a result, the choice of God as the only Supporter. Its followers know that they are overwhelmed by reality and thus are impotent and that their faith, which causes them to rely totally on God, enables them to challenge the universe. The Creator, the universe, humanity, and society all have different approaches to social life. The resulting behavior, systems, lifestyles, and thoughts generated by these differences are also completely different. One of them yields a Tuba tree (Heaven); the other yields a Zaqqum tree (Hell). Philosophy says: “The ultimate goal of a person’s perfection is to adhere to the Creator’s position,” while the Prophethood says: “The Almighty is the true owner of everything.” Followers are aware of their impotence and thus rely totally upon God.

Common points and deceptive aspects

Representatives of these two paths have some points in common in their thoughts and lifestyles, rights and wrongs. Yet for the most part their presence can be misleading for us. When we consider the Prophetic saying of “He whose two days are equal (He who makes no progress) is in loss,” we see the Divine perspective that regards the human as the most honorable creature. It sees each person as a being who comes from the mother’s womb, proceeds toward the resurrection, and bears the responsibility that even the mountains would not accept. Thus, it instills great significance into human beings, as well as into other creatures.

On the other hand, many self-improvement books tell you to “grind the axe,” an expression meaning that you should renew yourself. This expression seems to be quite parallel with your beliefs, and so you read the rest of the book eagerly, falling for that expression. You savor the pleasure of having your beliefs confirmed, of looking at life through a new paradigm. Meanwhile, a process of which you are unaware begins. As you read the book, incorrect ideas, along with a bit of truth, enter your mind, for it is wide open. More importantly, despite having something in common with what you already believe, that pleasant expression is based upon a different basis: that of philosophy, which says: “I am my own master; the world exists on its own.” Thus it guides you to a one-sided, perhaps a capitalist, kind of improvement. Even if the principle set forth is the same, the examples, behaviors, and attitudes are totally different.

People should try to renew themselves. However, renewal has an ambigious meaning; it can be understood as a person’s physical renewal of his or her image, or as the making of daily spiritual discoveries. When renewal is mentioned, one understanding is rediscovering beings and events every day, reading, setting sail to new horizons, and describing it accordingly. The other understanding is status, money, and reaching knowledge (but only knowledge that can be transformed into money), and is described accordingly. Those in the first category try to reach the target by using the power granted to them in return for their awareness of their impotence; those in the second category try to reach the target for themselves and by believing in themselves. Therefore, there are great differences between seemingly similar approaches.

If your ideas are not based upon a firm infrastructure, what you learn will be unsound and therefore damaging to your heart and soul. For example, both Buddhism and Islam talk about love and tolerance. But as they are fed from very different sources, they counsel tolerance for different reasons and so take you to different destinations. As we see: “There can be some grains of truth in every false cause.” The presence of a minor truth should not make us believe so navely. Hence, we must know the difference between the path of philosophy and that of the Prophethood. If we have a proper understanding of the Creator and the universe, humanity and society, we will recognize the possible damage by filtering what we read and perceive. However, if we have not discovered ourselves and the true meaning of existence, we will be prone to the damaging influences of both eastern and western philosophy.

Holistic improvement and the perfect person

Our perspective is to take humanity as a whole and offer a balanced line of improvement. The worldview underlying this path is that the body and soul, matter and spirit, the physical world and the metaphysical world are so closely integrated that they cannot be separated from each other. We see the physical and metaphysical worlds not as mutually exclusive, but as two different faces of the same world. Thus, far from being irrelevant to each other, they have a mutual relationship. The West’s dualistic Cartesian understanding divides the world into two and claims that each one has it own set of rules. Islam, however, proclaims that these two worlds (e.g., physics and metaphysics, body and soul, matter and spirit) are not separate; rather, they are closely integrated with each other. Thus, since there is no conflict between the rules of this world and the metaphysical world, for they complete each other, perfecting the human being means improving the individual’s material and metaphysical aspects.

If you take the position that “matter and metaphysics are separate” as a starting point and educate people accordingly, certain problems inevitably arise, for the material and spiritual worlds are not separate. Rather, they are like two sides of the same coin. If we take them separately, as is the case in the West, we would conclude that “Divine books appeal to spirituality, but this world has different rules.” Even if we do not say so openly, our behavior will reflect this. Unfortunately, we are slaves of Cartesian logic, of dualism. We face excesses, deficiencies, and false notions in our lives, for we make this discrimination without being aware of it.

The current understanding of self-perfection focuses only on the spiritual side of life, thereby undermining the material side. On the other hand, some self-improvement approaches consider only the material side. Focusing on only one aspect of a person’s life means that such techniques are deficient; being based upon far-eastern religions and philosophies means that they are of no use to Muslims, for they are not rooted in Islam. Unfortunately, most of the time we fluctuate between excess and deficiency, thereby showing just how alienated we are from our values.

The Path of Truth

Islam is a religion for all humanity, its Prophet is the last Prophet, and the Qur’an is the final Divinely Revealed Book. Therefore, the Islamic perspective embraces all of humanity and considers all human faculties. Such a path teaches us the necessity of reviving our self-discipline, the spiritual soundness of the Sufi lodges and knowledge of the Islamic academy, as well as the necessity in recognizing the individual’s mental, physical, and emotional dimensions. We must practice a balanced self-improvement, based upon the material and spiritual worlds, self-perfection, and our own values, for both worlds are related to each other, as are self-improvement and individual progress. Each of these two paths affects and completes the other and reflects each other’s beauties.

Saving ourselves from dualism depends upon correcting our perspectives. We should pay attention to the relationship of the Creator-human-universe. Our principle should not be to abandon it; rather, it should be a principle like the staff of Moses, bringing out water from every rock that we strike. We must be active in every aspect of life in order to reveal our differences.

If one does not have this viewpoint, one of the two aspects is ignored. The person either develops only partially or in an undesirable way. We, the Prophet’s community, are the real inheritors of Earth, for he said: “He whose two days are equal is in loss.” Therefore we must improve ourselves. However, our understanding of self-improvement differs markedly from the one that is prevalent today. We do not accept today’s understanding of self-improvement, for it ignores human nature and is based upon the Darwinian theory of “the survival of the fittest.”

We understand improvement to mean educating ourselves in life and striving for individual perfection by working on our heart (and soul). We must become successful business people, scientists, teachers, and parents who possess an inner depth in their personal lives. The improvement of our material world and the perfection of our spiritual world must support one another. Improvement should lean on spiritual perfection, so that a positive transformation will take place. Our perspective is based upon improving our spiritual and material faculties by employing the principles of absolute impotence, absolute ardor, and absolute thanksgiving before the Lord. If we do not build up this understanding, we lean toward abuse and misguidance.

Conclusion

Given all of the above, different approaches must be seriously considered, and personal instead of generalized strategies must be devised. Hundreds of self-improvement books are available, but they deal only with one dimension of human life. Thus, those who are attracted to them have certain characters. If the individual is not considered as a whole, he or she will be condemned to remaining a half-person who will raise more half-people and work with other half-people.

The Pitfalls of Self-Improvement

(By Ahmet Ertugrul…)

NLP (neuro-linguistic programming), also known as brain-learning programming, is a very common self-improvement field. Self-improvement activities have become more widespread in recent years, and have resulted in an explosion of courses, seminars, and certificate programs for those who are interested. However, the whole arena of self-improvement contains information that only confuses and misinforms some people

.

NLP actually means neuro-language programming. This method, invented by Richard Bandler and John Grinder and based upon the principles of psychotherapy and rhetoric, has been developed further by experts in psychotherapy, psychology, anthropology, and the like.

Joseph Connor and Ian Mc Dermott, both NLP experts, provide the following information in their The Principles of NLP: “The word neuro is related to the mind and how we regulate our mental life. The word linguistic is about how we use language and how language affects us, and programming explains repeated patterns of behavior and the motives of our actions. In this respect, NLP studies relations; in other words, it is about our thoughts, conversations, and behavior, which connect us to other people, the world, and the spiritual dimension.” (1)

Self-improvement techniques

According to NLP’s principles, human behavior is purposeful. A person’s body acts in accordance with his or her mind. NLP experts emphasize the importance of belief in our behavior and seek answers to various questions, most of which can be answered directly by religion. Even in NLP books, which contain useful and positive advice, the source of information is confined to philosophical or personal comments. Such subjects as anxiety, suspicion, fear, success, problem-solving, attitude, and behavior are evaluated subjectively. It could be said that people’s wishes, demands, and objectives are, in a way, abused. The methods used to obtain success, as well as the basic principles laid out, sometimes can conflict with religious principles or even misguide or deceive people. Such expressions as “Your mind is a source of unlimited power” and “There is an unlimited source of power inside you” can be counted among these.

In addition, these books give advice on such subjects as “the power of praying” or “the benefits of belief in health” without any religious content or reference.(2) Actual religious belief or prayer is not part of these activities, for NLP is only a path to partial self-improvement. Self-improvement covers a wide range of activities, from the art of meeting people to living healthily, from nutrition to studying, and from happiness to the effective use of time. In self-improvement books, authors tell us about how they used to be failures without talent or success, and then how they obtained happiness with the help of these books. They quote those who attended the seminars. Such books as The Legend of Kentucky Fried Chicken, which traces Colonel Harlan Sanders’ story, and those about Abraham Lincoln and other famous people, analyze their life stories.

In self-improvement books, experts make up their own numerical or symbolical theories, such as the rule of the 7As, the rule of the 5Ds, the rule of the 3 principles, the rule of the 8 abilities, the 5 keys to success, and so on. We do not claim that all of these books are completely futile, harmful, or devoid of any scientific value. A few good points can be found in any book. Like everything else, what really matters is the nature of these books as a whole. Furthermore, we also should mention that such practices as narrating fictional processes as real, correlating these processes with irrelevant issues, personalizing and nationalizing problems that emerged in different arenas and different circumstances, are in no way correct.

Another point to consider is that such books shift and direct the reader to another domain.

The propoganda of eastern beliefs through self-improvement

Some self-improvement books present completely personal, philosophical, or subjective sources of information, along with a new danger as well. There are people who try to manipulate such books to their best advantage, as well as publishers, whose names recall Indian, Chinese, or other eastern cultures and who have used belief systems associated with Taoism, Buddhism, or Hinduism to do just that. In many western countries, especially America, meditation sessions are held in luxurious hotels. Proclamations are made that exercise relieves not only the body but also the soul, and therefore the seminar leaders recommend such sitting positions known in Buddhist teachings as sukhasana, siddhasana, or padmasaya.(3) Buddhist-based views are scattered throughout the presentation or disguised so as not to alert anybody, and then are offered as novel ideas and concepts to be heard for the first time. For instance, some books refer to common sense as buddhi and introduce suffering within the meaning of dukka. Even in an innocent-looking book which discusses “the power of now,” a Buddhist doctrine correlating happiness to suffering, is imposed.(4)

Another important point to be made here is that Sufism, which offers the true secret of humanity’s real peace and happiness, is identified with Buddhism and Hinduism, whereas Buddhist or Hindu attitudes and philosophies are presented as prescriptions. Some groups introduce the Dalai Lama of Tibet as the world’s greatest spiritual leader and claim that Buddhist meditation is the only path to happiness. Many self-improvement books, which are widespread in this society, approach such basic concepts as soul, self, love, beauty, and eternity from Buddhist, Manichaean, Hindu, Taoist, and even Shamanist points of view. Such an approach confuses people who do not have a solid religious background.

Usually, ideas and superstitions that contradict Islam and other monotheistic religions appear in books containing Buddhist, Hindu, and Taoist teachings, as well as those of the Dalai Lama, all of which are written to spread eastern belief systems. It is a pity that these works confuse people when it comes to God, the Prophets, angels, the Hereafter, death, and similar concepts. Some people think that these books emphasize spirituality as opposed to materialism, just as some movies do, based in the Christian mysticism of Europe’s Middle Ages, with magic and myths, for these have points in common and parallel purposes with Asian creeds. Those who attend meditation sessions in fancy hotels attribute divinity to a man by prostrating before him, and fall for such non-monotheistic beliefs as reincarnation.

First, people were deprived of their spiritual needs, and then were deceived into believing that science and scientific concepts could satisfy all of their wants, in an attempt to replace these needs.

When all of this turned out to be a delusion, they were offered other delusions in the name of satisfying their souls and spiritual feelings. At all costs, they are kept away from Islam, which stands before all humanity as the sole alternative. The underlying purposes of such publications and activities, along with their desires and plans, is an attempt to take advantage of the deficiencies brought about by spiritual isolation. However, those beliefs or ideas that separate people from their Creator or deny the reality of their absolute dependence upon Him directly contradict human nature. Worldviews that burden people with loads that they are not meant to bear and cannot bear, by assuming that they can achieve everything, only deepen their unhappiness. By placing more demands and requirements upon them, they can never become truly happy. As in the past, such a function was given to science and people were deceived into believing that science would solve every problem. We face a similar phenomenon, one with the same purpose, today.

Conclusion

The unhappy people of today, while searching for the sources that will make them happy, pursue everything that is presented as a solution. On the other hand, some groups take advantage of the individuals’ ignorance of the subject and expose those people who are looking for correct information to a flood of misinformation. Those who impose superstitious views and rituals, which claim to have everything that a person needs, reject all religious beliefs and presumptions. They keep on confusing “the lonely person” with ever-increasing greed.

Above all, the most important thing to do is to supply people with those moral and spiritual values that they so desperately need within the basic Islamic framework. Developing such studies and presenting them as an alternative search, and taking its logic and schematic structure from the right basics, will reinforce the people’s self-confidence. Spending time with phony and misleading spiritual “treasures,” instead of the real treasure within the base of our own house, gains us nothing.

Footnotes

1 Joseph O’Connor and Ian McDermott, The Principles of NLP, trans. Demet Uyar Ezerler

(Istanbul: Sistem Publ., 2001), xiii.

2 Norman Vincent Peale, The Power of Positive Thinking, trans. Sahin Cuceloglu (Istanbul: Sistem Publ., 1998).

3 Henry Brunel, La mathode du chat, trans. Birsel Uzam (Istanbul: Civiyazilari Publ., 2001), 105.

4 Eckhart Tolle, The Power of Now, trans. Semra Ayanba (Istanbul: Akasa Publ., 2001).

As love is an innate need, we love delicious foods and fruits; our parents, spouse, children, friends, and companions; pious people, Prophets, and saints; life and youth; the season of spring, beautiful things, and the world. When all of these things and people either abandon us, due to their absence, whether temporary or permanent, or cause us to suffer, due to their own sufferings (e.g., illness, death, old age) that touch our hearts, we cannot help but ask: “Since I cannot stop myself from loving them, can I love them in a way that will not cause me any pain?” Is there a recipe for painless love?

By means of the will, love’s face may turn from one object of love to another. For example, when a beloved displays some ugliness or shows that he or she is a veil or mirror to another beloved, who is truly worthy of love, then love’s face may be turned from the metaphorical beloved to the true beloved.

Recipe for painless love

Love may cause pain due to one’s separation from the beloved, the beloved’s decline, or the beloved’s lack of response. In order to experience painless love, then, the subject of our love must be everlasting, immune to decline, and sure to respond. Only God, Who is eternal and everlasting, does not decline, and always answers our love for Him, has these attributes.

Therefore, the recipe for painless love is to dedicate our true love to God and to love everything for His sake. It is unreasonable to expect a person not to love that which he or she loves. But it is possible to love them for God Almighty’s sake and in the name of His Love? Let’s consider some examples:

Love of delicious food

The love of delicious food and luscious fruit can be changed to a love for God’s sake by seeing them as the bounties of God Almighty, the All-Merciful and Compassionate One. In this way, our love for them becomes a love of His Names, the All-Merciful and the Bestower of Bounties. Moreover, it takes on the meaning of thanks. Such love seeks gain contentedly within the sphere what is permissible, thereby showing that it is both for the sake of the instinctual soul and in the name of the All-Merciful One. It is to enjoy something thoughtfully and with gratitude.

Love of parents

Love and respect for one’s parents, for the sake of the Divine Wisdom and Mercy that compassionately entrusted you to them and caused them to bring you up with tender care, pertain to God Almighty’s love. The sign that this love, respect, and compassion are for God’s sake is that when they are old, useless, and troublesome, we become even more loving, kind, and compassionate toward them. The Qur’anic verse: Your Lord has enjoined you to worship none but Him, and to show kindness to your parents. Should one of them, or both, attain to old age in your care, never say to them a single word of contempt, nor rebuke them, but speak to them kind words (17:23), exemplifies this attitude. Being kind to parents also is mentioned in Qur’an 2:83, 2:215, 4:36, 6:151, 17:23-24, 19:14, 19:32, 29:8, 31:14, 46:15, and 71:28.

God’s Unity and not associating any partners with Him is the Qur’an’s most important message. Yet in the Qur’an 2:83, 6:151, 17:23, 31:14, treating one’s parents with kindness is ordered right after this most important principle. This demonstrates how important our parents’ rights are, and how ugly it would be to show any ingratitude to them.

Parents deserve their children’s utmost love and compassion. A father desires that his children, more than anyone else, be much better than himself. Furthermore, the children cannot claim any rights over their father. In other words, there is no inherent cause for dispute between parents and children, for disputes arise from envy and jealousy, neither of which the father feels toward his children. Or they arise from an abuse of rights, and the children are not in a position to claim any rights against their father. If a father does not fulfill his responsibilities or if he abuses his children it may not be reasonable to expect the children to be respectful of his behavior. But this does not necessitate rebellion in other affairs nor does it justify showing disrespect. Under such circumstances, the children can still obey their father in manners approved by God and pray for him.

Even more importantly, the mother deserves the highest degree of everyone’s love and respect. In an authenticated prophetic tradition, Prophet Muhammad says: “Paradise lies beneath the feet of mothers” (Ahmad, Nasai). It is also reported in the prophetic tradition that a man came to the Prophet and said, ‘O Messenger of God! Who among the people is the most worthy of my good companionship?’ The Prophet said: ‘Your mother.’ The man said, ‘Then who?’ The Prophet said: ‘Then your mother.’ The man further asked, ‘Then who?’ The Prophet said: ‘Then your mother.’ The man asked again, ‘Then who?’ The Prophet said: ‘Then your father.’ (Bukhari, Muslim).

Love of children

The love and protection of children with complete compassion and tenderness pertain to God when we see them as gifts of the All-Compassionate and Generous One. The sign indicating that this love is for Almighty God’s sake is the display of patience and thankfulness when they die, rather than crying out in despair. It is to say: “He/she was a lovable little person created and owned by my Creator, Who entrusted him/her to my supervision. Now that His wisdom requires it to be thus, He has taken him/her from me … to a better place. If I had one apparent share in that little person, 1,000 true shares belonged to his/her Creator.” It is to submit by saying: “All authority is with God.”

Love of friends

As for friends and acquaintances, if they are friends of God Almighty due to their belief and good works, according to the meaning of “love for God’s sake,” that love also pertains to God.

Love of spouse

Love between spouses is for God’s sake when it is not conditioned on transient attributes. A husband loves and cherishes his wife as a companionable and gracious gift of Divine Mercy. He does not fasten his love to her physical beauty, which swiftly fades. Rather, a woman’s most attractive and agreeable beauty is her fine character, which accompanies her unique delicacy and refinement.

Her most precious and sweet beauty is her earnest, sincere, sublime, and luminous compassion. This beautiful tenderness and fine character continues and increases until the end of her life. Moreover, that weak and delicate person’s rights of respect are protected by that love. Otherwise, she will lose her rights when her superficial beauty fades, a time when she most needs them.

Similarly, a wife loves her husband not for his looks, strength, or wealth, as these are only transient things. Instead she loves him as her everlasting companion in the garden of Paradise, and as a compassionate partner in this world who sacrifices his time, energy, and wealth for his family’s well-being.

Love of pious people

Our love of the Prophets and saints as God Almighty’s most esteemed servants is for His sake and in His Name, and not for their persons. In this form, it pertains to Him. Such love, if not done for God’s sake, may cause us to turn them into idols.

Love of life and youth

Our love of life is for God’s sake when we love and preserve life as the most precious wealth and capital that will gain us a happy eternal life. We see life as a comprehensive treasury yielding eternal perfections, something that Almighty God has given to us and to all humanity. When we employ our time, which is what life is made of, in His service, our love of life pertains to the True Object of Worship. Similarly, our love of youth becomes a painless love when we see it as a fine, sweet, and beautiful bounty of Almighty God and put it to proper use in God’s guidance.

Love of the spring and this world

Our love of the spring turns into a love of His Names when we love it thoughtfully as being the page of the subtlest and most beautiful inscriptions of Almighty God’s luminous Names. In this perspective, we see the spring as the most finely adorned and glittering exhibition of the All-Wise Maker’s supreme art. Similarly, our love of this world can be for God’s sake when we love it as the tillage for the Hereafter, as a mirror of the Divine Names, and a missive of God Almighty. We see it as a temporary guesthouse in which we train our souls to reach spiritual heights by struggling against the carnal self’s evil commands.

In short, loving for God’s sake requires that we love this world and its inhabitants as indicating, like words, a meaning beyond themselves, rather than loving them just for themselves. When we see a beautiful member of creation we say: “How beautifully it has been made” instead of “How beautiful it is.”

True love for God’s sake does not give any opportunity for other loves to enter one’s inner heart, because the inner heart is the mirror of God, the Eternally Besought One, and pertains only to Him. This love is crystallized in the following prayer: “O God, grant us love for You, and love for that which will draw us closer to You.”

When it assumes this form, each type of love enumerated above gives a painless pleasure, and, in one respect, leads to an unending union. Moreover, all of them increase our love of God. Due to their connection with the Eternal One, these forms of love are feelings of gratitude and a source of pure pleasure and joy.

The parable of the apple

To understand the difference between loving something for its own sake, as opposed to loving it for its giver’s sake, consider the following parable: If a mighty king were to give you an apple, there would be two types of love for that apple and two types of pleasure in it. First, you would love the apple because it is beautiful and delicious. The pleasure associated with this love is specific to, and is concerned only with the existence of, the apple. This love does not concern the king. Those who feel this kind of love, who eat the apple in the king’s presence, love the apple itself and their own souls rather than the king. The king is not pleased with the type of love that nourishes the instinctual soul; in fact, he detests it. Moreover, the pleasure that the apple gives is very limited and passes quickly. After it has been eaten, only the regret of its departure remains.

The second type of love, however, acknowledges the king’s favor. Those who consider the apple to be something precious, as if it were the sample and embodiment of a royal favor, show their love for their king. Moreover, the pleasure in that fruit, which is a sort of container for the favor, is far greater than the pleasure obtained from 1,000 apples. This pleasure, then, is the essence of thankfulness, and this love is a respectful love for the king.

Conclusion

If we love all bounties and fruits for themselves and delight in them only for the material pleasures that they yield, our love is merely love of self. Also, such pleasures are transient and bring pain. But if they are loved as favors proceeding from God’s Mercy and as fruits of His Munificence, then they always remind us of their source.

When the pleasure is obtained from them with a good appetite, appreciating the degree of kindness in that Divine Munificence and Favor, then it has both the meaning of gratitude and is a pain-free pleasure. The taste of the fruit may vanish, but the Giver of the gift of fruit is eternal. The beloved may die, but the Creator and the Sustainer of every being is eternally alive. The apparent beauty may decay, but the Source of true beauty is not subject to decay.

The recipe for painless love, then, is to direct our love away from transient things and toward the Eternal One, and to love everything else in His sake. The thirteenth-century Turkish mystic poet Yunus Emre expressed this paradigm concisely in his poem: “We love the creation because of the Creator.”

References

‘ Ali, A. Y. An English Interpretation of the Holy Qur’an with Full Arabic Text. Kazi Publications: 1995.

‘ Emre, Y., K. Helminski, R. Algan, E. Helminski trans. The Drop That Became the Sea: Lyric Poems of Yunus Emre. Shambhala Publications: 1999.

‘ Khan, M., trans. Sahih Al-Bukhari: The Translation of the Meanings. Darussalam Publishers: 1997.

‘ Siddiqi, A. H., trans. Sahih Muslim. Kitab Bhavan: 2000.

‘ Harf Information Technology. Hadith Encyclopedia. Egypt: 1996.

‘ Nursi, S. “The 32nd Word,” The Words. Kaynak A.S.: 1997.

Unfortunately, most of the time it is too late. Sometimes I try to take a closer interest in the ones we save, trying to find out what solution they expected suicide to provide and the underlying reasons for their attempt.

Being an emergency room doctor and seeing many suicide cases has enabled me to look into this issue’s metaphysical dimension. A healthy society is composed of individuals who are physically and spiritually healthy. The ever-increasing spiritual absence and economic problems faced by our society have a negative influence upon the psychology of both the society and the individual. People are on the verge of explosion, because they have been weakened in their attempt to solve life’s problems. This is especially true for those who have weak personalities, who find no support from their families or environment, and who try to solve everything on their own but cannot do so. Sometimes, the resulting depression leads them to attempt suicide.

Why people commit suicide?

The psychological problems that people cope with are encountered by our society and also comprise a critical issue facing the world as a whole. In 2001, the World Health Organization reported that one-fourth of the world’s population suffers from psychological problems. According to data collected from 185 countries, depressive disorders are regarded as the fourth major cause of disease. The same study reported that every year, 1 million people commit suicide and 10-20 million more attempt suicide.

Research reveals that fatal suicide is more common among single and unemployed men aged between 30-40 and those who have been diagnosed with schizophrenia or depression. On the other hand, suicide attempts are more common among single, unemployed women under 30 and people suffering from depression. Most of these people attempt to commit suicide again, often with fatal results.

There are several apparent reasons for attempting suicide: various disabilities, suffering from a major disease (e.g., cancer, ulcers, cardio-vascular diseases, epilepsy) and such risk factors as tough life-conditions, which engender feelings of hopelessness and helplessness. The underlying factor is accepted to be the absence of faith in fate and the Day of Judgment. Oblivious of the world’s being a place of testing, they panic because of the emerging risk of losing their accustomed comforts and pleasures. They lack such essential knowledge as God being the All-Just and the All-Compassionate, as well as the significance of patience. In addition, they sever all bonds linking them to life. In such cases, the lack of an environment with a rich culture of conscience and heart which provides the best companionship is one of the biggest misfortunes.

The presence of family members who attempted suicide also may generate a tendency toward suicide, though the data on this is not quite clear.

The Journal of the American Medical Association, in its March 2002 issue, pointed out that suicide cases among American young people have increased markedly in recent years. Suicide is said to be the second highest cause of death among college students, the third among people between aged 14-24, and the sixth among children aged 5-14. The same study says that from the 1950s onwards, suicide rates have tripled among males aged 15-24 and more than doubled among women.

Suicidal people often exhibit the following symptoms: altered eating and sleeping habits, aloofness from family and friends, lack of interest in previously enjoyable activities, the use of alcohol and drugs, hopelessness, feelings of guilt, complaints of being tired and uneasy, absentmindedness, failure, and the entrusting of valued objects to others. Those who see such symptoms in others should treat these people carefully, take a close interest in them, and share their worries, for some young people with suicidal tendencies might have treatable disorders (e.g., depression or drug abuse). 

Medicine and children

While there are many ways to commit suicide, the most common seen by emergency personnel is overdosing on a particular medicine or drug. Of course not all such cases are suicide attempts, but overdosing in order to commit suicide figures in a majority of them. This indicates the importance that must be given to this matter.

Surprisingly, in some places children under five comprise nearly half of all overdose victims. The primary reason for this figure is momentary parental neglect. We know that young children are prone to eat unpleasant-tasting things with a rotten smell and appearance. Another factor is the incorrect behavior of adults who take their medicine in front of children, for children just imitate what adults do. The family’s children are fascinated when elderly people spread out their medicine and tell them: “These pink pills are for high blood pressure, these white pills are for rheumatism, and the green ones are for my stomach.” The following answer, given by children who have become ill because of taking such medicines, proves that adults need to be more aware of how their children view medicine. They should think about how to answer such questions as: “My grandparents take the same medicines, so why aren’t you angry with them as well?”

The relation between taking medicine and adult suicide rates

The most frequent cause for adult suicide is overdosing on certain medicines. Mortality rates are 5-8 percent, due to reaching the hospital too late, the lack of antidotes, and being unable to make an early diagnosis.

The troubles arising within both our personal and our natural environments from such overdoses are shaking our society’s basic structure. This situation is an obstacle to solving the problems of people living in spiritual depression.

While we need a world-wide spiritual cooperation to solve this problem, only medical doctors are making any effort in this area, mainly by asking: “Can I at least save this young person who has just been brought in?” The first thing to do in such cases is to provide medical assistance. On the other hand, it should not be forgotten that medical emergency services cannot provide ultimate success. What we really need to do is to eliminate the root causes of why people attempt suicide.

This duty falls upon the shoulders of the government, people of religion, and psychologists. People who are physically and spiritually healthy also can help. For a society to be healthy, everybody must strive to prevent negative and harmful things happening to others. This approach must be based upon brotherhood and sisterhood.

People must be motivated to love and care about each other, listen to others’ worries, and guide each other to healthy thoughts. This way, they will not feel lonely and will be able to find people to support them in times of trouble. As a result of this concern, suicidal people tend to change their minds and have healthy thoughts.

In the Qur’an, God Almighty says: Do not take life, which Allah has made sacred (17:33). Prof. Suat Yildirim comments that “the person himself/herself is also included in the Divine Prohibition against killing.” Therefore, practicing Muslims do not contemplate suicide. However, the regret and shame following such attempts highlight the need to help those who do attempt suicide, instead of just blaming or criticizing them.

If Destiny has given us the duty to help those who come to the emergency room as a result of an overdose, we should try to fulfill this duty in the best way possible. As for those entrusted with educating people and guiding society, they should work hard to make sure that young people, who could be the future, never have to be brought to hospital on a stretcher because of an overdose.

References

– www.un.org.tr/who/who.htm

– www.toxnet.nlm.nih.gov

– Heckman JD, Rosenthal RE, Worsing RA, McFee AS. Zehirlenmeler, sokmalar ve isiriklar (poisonings, stings and bites) .

– Hasta ve Yaralilarin Acil Bakimi ve Nakledilmesi (emergency care for the sick and the injured) Copyright@ 1987 American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons – trans. Nasetti Ltd 1991:27;284-301.

– Pirkis J, Burgess P. Suicide and recency of health care contacts. A systematic review. Br J Psychiatry. 1998:173:462-474.

– Murphy GE. Why women are less likely than men to commit suicide. Comp Psychiatry. 1998:39:165-175.

– Hawton K. Assesment of suicide risk. Br J Psychiatry 1987:150:145-153.

– Stevens LM. Ergenlik Caginda Intihar (suicide at adolescence). Ed. Glass RM. JAMA. Mart 2002. 15(3); 146. 

Water, an indispensable part of our lives, forms 70% of the world, 65-70% of the human body, 85% of our brain, 20% of our bones, and 5-10% of dry seeds. Nearly 40 kgs of a person weighing 65 kgs is water. Moreover, the molecular structure of water is unique, for it differs from other liquids. If we study its structure, we conclude that it is flammable or supportive of fire. In a water molecule, a a flammable gas (H+) and a gas supportive of fire (O-) are found together. Within the cradle of water, these “children of fire,” have apparently “forgotten” how to burn and be burned, and so they became a source of “coolness and safety” (Qur’an 21:69).

Scientists tell us that all objects falling from a certain height accelerate toward the ground. However, a raindrop is an exception. If water acted in accordance with this principle, it would pierce everything it touched, just like a bullet. However, raindrops descend at a constant speed, as if they had parachutes. They touch the wing of a butterfly with great delicacy and land on a violet’s petal without harming it. In other words, rain becomes a Divine Mercy.

Let’s take a brief look at water, considering its benefits to our body and the amount we should drink.

The functions of water in our body

We cannot even count all of the benefits of water to the human body. The following are only some of its foremost functions: It controls bodily heat, helps excrete toxic substances via perspiration and urination, carries the substances in our blood, regulates the blood’s acid-base balance, enables cells to absorb food by dissolving it (water is the best solvent), makes germination possible through humidity, and regulates the concentration inside the cell in order to maintain substance exchange.

How much water should we drink?

On average, people lose 2.5 liters, 10 glasses of water a day through perspiration, respiration, urination, and defecation. We lose it even when we breathe. All of this lost water has to be replaced, especially in the case of infants, who should never be deprived of water, and the elderly.

We do not meet all of our needs with water. We satisfy our need with other drinks and food as well, and yet water is the best substance with which to quench one’s thirst. No drink can substitute it. For one to be healthy and the kidneys and lungs to function normally, one should drink at least 8 glasses of water a day. As drinks with caffeine and alcohol increase urination and water loss, we should not choose them instead of water when we are thirsty.

Are there any exceptions? Of course there are… For example, if you have kidney stones, drinking 10 or more glasses a day is recommended. When the weather is hot, humid, or cold, one’s need for water increases, just as when we are at a high altitude or engage in physical exercise. Plenty of water must be consumed in such circumstances.

What sort of water should we drink?

According to Ibrahim Hakki of Erzurum, river water is healthier than well water. In fact it is the best type of water, especially if the river runs through a clean and uncontaminated environment, and down from a spring located above it. Abundant water that runs forcefully is the best type of water. But finding clean rivers is becoming increasingly harder, due to widespread pollution. Artesian well water has a high pH degree owing to its stagnancy. Underground water has a high pH degree in general, and water in caves and wells has an even higher pH degree. On the other hand, spring water is light and delightful to drink.

When should we drink water?

Drinking water two or three hours after a meal is a good, healthy practice. According to some scholars, drinking water during a meal prompts disease. But if you have heartburn, you should drink water during and after the meal, for it increases your appetite. You should not drink water, especially cold water, when you are hungry or sweaty, after having a bath, taking laxatives, or eating fruit, for doing so will make you even thirstier. If you are patient, your thirst will fade away spontaneously. Drinking water while sitting is recommended.

Regulating the amount of water

The hypothalamus, located near the brain, regulates the amount of water in a person’s body. The ADH (vasopressin) hormone secreted by the epiphysis maintains the amount of water in our body. The slightest change in pressure and volume is detected by pressure-sensitive osmotic receptors, which are located in our heart as well, and baro-receptors (pressure-sensitive receptors) located in our veins. These receptors detect any changes in water pressure and volume, and then inform the brain of this unbalance. The ADH hormone, secreted from the back part of the epiphysis causes the kidneys to reabsorb water and thus reduce excretion.

What does drinking large amounts of water indicate?

In general, there is no problem if we drink a lot of water. Excessive thirst and excessive urination may be a sign of diabetes, as well as an indication of diabetes inspidus. Diabetes metillus (common diabetes) is related to the insulin hormone. Diabetes inspidus, however, results from an ADH hormone deficiency, thereby causing an imbalance of water in our body. Therefore, it is a good idea to consult a doctor if we experience excessive thirst or urination. Being thirsty while exercising is not a good sign, for researchers say that we should supply the water that we need before engaging in exercise or hard work. Usually, the body does not need much water for the first hour. But while exercising, one should drink water once every 20 minutes.

Qur’anic verses dealing with water

As the Qur’an mentions everything that is important for humanity and to human life, it contains some verses about water. A few of these are given here:

– He will then loose the heavens upon you in torrents. (71:11)

– And brought down from the rain-clouds abundant water. (78:14)

– Have you not seen that Allah drives the clouds, then brings them together, then piles them into a heap, from which you can see rain coming? He brings mountains of hail from the sky, with which He smites whomever He pleases and diverts it from whomever He pleases. The gleam of its lightning almost blinds the eyes. (24:43)

– Or have you seen the water that you drink? Have you brought it down from the clouds or did We send it down? Had we wished, We would have made it bitter; if only you would give thanks. (56:68-70)

References

– www.mayohealth.org

– Ibrahim Hakki, Marifetname (Bedir Publ.).

– R. Murray, Harper’s Biochemistry.

– Senai Demirci, Dar Kapidan Gecmek.

In the two Texas counties of Tarrant and Dallas, there are over 200,000 Muslims from all around the world. Some are Arabs, but only one in five of all Muslims is from the Middle East. Many are from Indonesia, Pakistan, Bangladesh (the three largest Muslim countries in the world), and India. Others come from Africa and Europe, and many thousands are African Americans. All large cities of Texas have mosques and Muslim community centers; even rural Texas has increasing numbers of Muslim inhabitants. Our dialogue can begin here – with neighbors in our own community.

In the spring of 2002, a class of more than 30 students at Brite Divinity School at Texas Christian University devoted a semester to studying Islam and Christian-Muslim relations. Under the guidance of their professors, one a Christian and one a Muslim, they listened to visiting speakers, attended services in local mosques, and spoke with Muslims from many walks of life. As a culmination of this transformative experience, the class formulated a set of guidelines on Christian-Muslim dialogue, which they now offer to members of churches located in the Metroplex and throughout Texas. It is their prayer that through dialogue, Christians and Muslims everywhere will affirm together a wider vision of community and a shared resolve that religion must never be an instrument of hatred and division.

Principles of Christian-Muslim dialogue

1. Dialogue invites us to come together as people, not as belief systems. It acknowledges that each religious tradition is pluralistic within itself, and realizes that each dialogue partner speaks from a particular religious perspective that cannot – and does not – represent all adherents of that faith. Dialogue also recognizes that each participant is located within a particular cultural, political, and economic perspective and inevitably brings particular loyalties, commitments, and preconceptions to the relationship. Through dialogue, we get to know one another as individuals.

2. Dialogue, which is characterized by courtesy and respect, is most productive when its participants are considerate, open-minded, and genuine in their desire to learn from the other partners. Each tradition’s scripture, beliefs, and practices deserve our respect for having brought countless diverse people into a relationship with God.

3. Dialogue is enhanced if participants have engaged in a preliminary investigation of the other faith tradition, as well as in an informed and self-critical reflection upon their own faith identity. We must come prepared to the best of our ability, for dialogue enjoins us to listen with and speak from the heart as much as the head, to be open, vulnerable, honest, and sensitive to feelings of frustration or offense.

4. Dialogue enables us to confront inherited preconceptions. It asks us to remember that Christians and Muslims share a history of both fruitful exchange and peace as well as of misunderstanding and fierce conflict. In dialogue, we are mindful that ambiguous situations sometimes can be misinterpreted or misrepresented. Dialogue deliberately seeks to identify and dispel common stereotypes and inherited misconceptions based on misinformation.

5. Dialogue recognizes that in order to reach a clear understanding, we must pay attention to vocabulary. Some words have specialized meaning within a religious system; the meaning of others varies over time or within certain contexts or between cultures. Dialogue entails a careful clarification of our use of language.

6. Dialogue asks us first to understand, and only then to be understood. In dialogue, we listen in order to understand the other’s point of view and seek to understand each person as they understand themselves. We seek to understand each religious system “from within” or on its own terms, while temporarily setting aside our own critical presuppositions.

7. Dialogue is enhanced by each participant’s strong faith convictions. In a context of courteous listening and mutual trust, we can offer an authentic expression of our own personal faith. Dialogue involves a humble and sincere exchange of information about each participant’s faith journey and sustaining religious tradition.

8. Dialogue seeks to share, challenge, and be challenged. Insisting one’s own religious tradition’s superiority inevitably undermines productive dialogue. We can be truly respectful of the integrity of our dialogue partner’s religious identity only if we avoid all attempts at proselytizing.

9. Dialogue can occur on many levels besides that of theological discussion. For example, it is enriched through interactions of friendship and hospitality, working together in community projects and celebrations, and making common cause to solve social problems. Dialogue is most vital and effective when we pray together, open our homes to each other, and actually share our lives together.

10. Dialogue should be transformative, opening the windows of the mind and spirit to a broader vision of God’s presence in the world.

Dialogue in practice

Here are some practical suggestions for interfaith dialogue meetings.

1. Fair and thoughtful planning, done together and well in advance, can help ensure that both Christians and Muslims feel comfortable and welcome at meetings. A skillful and knowledgeable moderator, as well as a neutral environment, may smooth initial encounters, for it is important to encourage real discussion and interaction among participants. Dialogue is enriched by wide-ranging participation, including persons of various ages, socioeconomic levels, types of spirituality, and cultures.

2. Anticipating that we will encounter both similarities and differences, dialogue recognizes that mutual acceptance and understanding, not absolute agreement, is the main goal. Initially, dialogue should focus on common features and similarities, without minimizing differences, while working to build the trust that will allow candid discussion of those differences. Issues for early discussions might include the five pillars of Islam and their Christian counterparts or concerns related to social justice, ecology, or the challenges of secularism. A host of other issues will raise themselves in the early meetings.

3. We should have realistic expectations about our meetings. Dialogue is a long-term and ongoing process of building community, not a few shared encounters. Still, the journey can be taken only one step at a time. All participants should be encouraged to make an active and steadfast commitment to walking together toward understanding and peace. 

Globalization or Westernization?

As the mere terminology surrounding the debate has led to a considerable amount of confusion and misunderstanding, we need to define our terms. Globalization is the spread and exchange of people, goods, and ideas across the globe. Characteristically, it is directly associated with change, or transformation, modernity, and an increasingly interdependent relationship between different regions of the world. “Globalization is an aspect of human life that has always been there since the beginning of humanity. It corresponds with the natural human instinct and man’s tendency towards being a ‘social animal.’ It is the tendency with which God has created man to live on exchanging his sources and experiences with others around him, in order to achieve and realize the best chances of life.” (1)

However, globalization is frequently associated with the liberal classical economic theory, and since the mid-1970s with neo-liberalism, which has its roots in the classical economic theory. More specifically, globalization is considered a reflection of the classical economic theory’s principle of comparative advantage, which promotes an open economic system and free trade in order to achieve and realize the best chances of life.

Although the process of globalization has been linked with concepts of comparative advantage, free trade, and open economy, its origins can be traced to a time long before such ideas appeared. In order to develop a more comprehensive and accurate understanding of the so called “Islam-globalization” debate, it is critical to distinguish between the process of globalization in its original sense and such relatively more contemporary processes, like Westernization, that are masked as globalization and yet are fundamentally different.

“Globalization targets the narrowing of the gaps separating different communities. This is done by exchanging benefits in all aspects of life — economic, social, scientific, and political governance. That is, they exchange information, understand each other’s values and codes of ethics and build a common ground.” (2) In contrast, Westernization does not consider such an understanding or building of such common ground to be worthwhile enterprises. Globalization is a process in which “the whole world becomes like a small village, where the less advanced communities can develop their capacities” and that “tends to be a two-way street process, which makes it possible for each community to take as well as to give.” (3) Westernization, on the other hand, tends to be a one-way street, meaning that one region attempts to dominate and control other regions in the name of globalization. Moreover, while globalization occurs through the free will of different communities, Westernization is characteristically imposed upon other regions. 

Islam’s role

Having clarified the difference between globalization and Westernization, the Islam-globalization debate can be assessed more accurately. Islam is not anti-globalization (or modernity, which is considered to be a by-product of globalization) in its original sense, but Muslims do have a problem with Westernization. “Although Westernization of society is condemned, modernization as such is not. Science and technology are accepted, but they are to be subordinated to Islamic belief and values in order to guard against the Westernization and secularization of Muslim society.” (4) Based upon historical precedence and contemporary evidence, Islam clearly embraces globalization in its original form, which is based upon free-will and not upon the aggressive imposition of the West upon the East.

First of all, it is important to note that Islam orders people to cooperate, to be helpful to one another according to goodness and piety, and not to be helpful in evil and malice (Qur’an 5:2). This principle is fully endorsed by Prophet Muhammad on the local level, regardless if your neighbor is a Muslim or not. Surely this principle can be extended into the international level, where a neighboring country can be defined as any country that has normal economic and political relations with the Islamic world.(5)

Other factors illustrate Islam’s acceptance and predominant role in the process of globalization. “For several centuries, Arabic was the world’s leading language in sciences. Muslims made important advances in mathematics, astronomy and medicine — a legacy from which European scholars derived great benefit,” and which led to the Renaissance. (6) Globalization is not only a Western phenomenon, for “the agents of globalization are neither European nor exclusively Western, nor are they necessarily linked to Western dominance. Indeed, Europe would have been a lot poorer — economically, culturally, and scientifically — had it resisted the globalization of mathematics, science, and technology [from the East]…”(7)

We have to differentiate between the gifts of globalization and the products of Westernization. More specifically, the Islam-globalization debate in itself is built upon a number of mistaken diagnoses that misconstrue Islam’s place in the globalized world — one that has been quite productive in the past and has the potential to be productive in the future. The misguided assumption that Islam opposes globalization and modernization is dangerous, because it could potentially result in the loss of Islam’s significant contributions to the rest of the world.

Muslim attitudes toward Westernization

The Muslim world’s reaction to Westernization, and the West’s emergence as the dominant force transforming the world, must be assessed. “It is similar to the emergence of the Arab Muslims as a major world power in the seventh and eighth centuries…”(8) It is important to note that “the Muslim weakness at the end of the eighteenth century coincided with the rise of an entirely different type of civilization in the West, and this time the Muslim world would find it far more difficult to meet the challenge.”(9) In the past, Muslim communities were able to revitalize Islam’s role and power in the world. However, the impact of Westernization was an unprecedented experience that significantly challenged Islam and created a bi-polar dichotomy that separated the West from the rest — and specifically from Islam.

From a historical perspective, Westernization minimized Islam’s role and made it dependent upon the Western way of doing things. “The Islamic world has been convulsed by the modernization process. Instead of being one of the leaders of world civilization, Islamdom was quickly and permanently reduced to a dependent bloc by European powers.”(10) As a result, resentment toward the West emerged. Muslims questioned whether they would have to accept Western-style modernization or be deemed as being anti-globalization. “From this point, a growing number of Muslims would wrestle with these questions, and their attempts to put Muslim history back on the straight path would sometimes appear desperate and even despairing. The suicide bomber — an almost unparalleled phenomenon in Islamic history — shows that some Muslims are convinced that they are pitted against hopeless odds.”(11)

The emergence and rise of extremism can be directly attributed to the resulting resentment toward the Western style of globalization — a one-way process that does not strive to create a common ground between the West and other regions, and hence the desire and perceived need to pursue religious revivalism. However, we should realize that violence and extremism are not exclusively Islamic phenomena. “The Western media often gives the impression that the embattled and occasionally violent form of religiosity known as fundamentalism is a purely Islamic phenomenon. This is not the case. Fundamentalism is a global fact and has surfaced in every major faith in response to the problems of our modernity.”(12)

“For Islamic society, the underlying concerns regarding globalization are: how to protect a unique heritage in the face of global pressure; to uphold religious traditions; to preserve linguistic purity; to defend social institutions; and ultimately, to maintain a viable identity in the midst of a rapidly changing global environment.”(13) According to Islam, complete submission to God is the first and foremost priority for all Muslims. Anything that undermines Islamic principles is considered a threat to Islam’s longevity and power in the world. More importantly, we should be aware of the fact that despite the Islam-West bi-polarization, Islam is rapidly becoming a global phenomenon that transcends the boundaries that once separated the West from the rest. 

Global Islam: The growing phenomenon and implications for the future

Islam is the second largest religion and the fastest growing religion in the world. Islam began to spread in Arabia around the year 610 A.D. when Prophet Muhammad began receiving revelations from God through Archangel Gabriel, sharing with others what he had been told. Today, Islam is a global phenomenon represented by Muslims across the world. “Fifteen million Muslims reside in Europe, and seven to eight million in the United States. There are now about a thousand mosques each in Germany and France, and five hundred in the United Kingdom.”(14) One factor that may explain the rapid spread of Islam is the process of globalization itself.

Islam’s future depends upon its ability to wed Western-style modernism with Islamic principles, or, in other words, whether it can develop an Islamic-style modernism. The challenge is to engage in modernity without sacrificing Muslim values or undermining Islamic principles. “As we are only slowly realizing, Islam is truly a world religion, increasingly visible in Europe and the United States as well as Asia, Africa, and the Middle East.”(15) It is significant for the future of Islam that “the capitals and major cities of Islam are not only Cairo, Istanbul, Mecca, but equally Paris, London, New York.”(16)

Given that Islam has become a global phenomenon, it is increasingly important that its principles are respected and not made irrelevant in the modern world. “All religious people in any age have to make their traditions address the challenge of their particular modernity…”(17) Rather than provoking the bi-polarization of the world, separating Islamic values from Western values, the goal of globalization is to develop an understanding of each other’s values and codes of ethics and to establish a common ground. Establishing a common ground is vital for ensuring the progress of globalization and allowing the world to reach its full potential. Modernization and globalization need to respect the identities of all regions and respect religion as a natural necessity for humanity.

Conclusion

The struggle for religion to remain relevant in the world is common to all religions at some point in history. Much of the literature surrounding the current Islam-globalization debate provides an inadequate and fragmented view of religion’s role in the process of globalization. Secularization, which is promoted in the current forms of globalization, is a new concept. In fact, based upon historical precedence, religion has played a key role in contributing to globalization and, more specifically, Islam has had a predominant role. The challenge for the future of a globalized world, and not just for Islam, is to be helpful to one another according to goodness and piety, and not to be helpful in evil and malice (Qur’an 5:2). 

This article is available in Romanian in the following link: http://webhostinggeeks.com/science/article-fountainmagazine-rm

Footnotes

1. www.IslamOnline.com.
2. www.IslamOnline.com.
3. www.IslamOnline.com.
4. John Esposito, Islam: The Straight Path, 3d ed. (Oxford University Press, 1998), 165.
5. Choudhury, www.Islamic-finance.net.
6. Hardy, http://news.bbc.co.uk.
7. Sen, www.prospect.org.
8. Karen Armstrong, Islam: A Short History, (Modern Library: 2002), 141.
9. Ibid., 138.
10. Ibid.,
11. 146.
12. Ibid., 153.
13. Ibid., 164.
14. Dr. Ahmed Kamal Aboulmagd, The Middle East Times,
15. Armstrong, Islam, 176.
16. Esposito, Islam, xvi.
17. Ibid, 203.
18. Armstrong, Islam, 164.