Pre-school children and reading

Reading books to little children is one of the best ways of spending time with them. What we tell them at this period has a greater influence on them, because this is the period when their personalities are developing. It is a very remarkable fact that Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) counseled Muslims to whisper the adhan and iqama in a baby’s ear as soon as he/she was born; from this we can infer that we should start talking to our child from the very first day. Today, researchers who study child development have reached the same conclusion.

As soon as our baby can differentiate colors and shapes, we can begin to communicate with him/her using books. A picture will catch a child’s attention. It is better to explain something to a child with a picture or a photograph, for it is recognized that learning is more effective with visual support. Our child will be interested in books at an early age if we show them the pictures in a book and talk about them. Such a practice is useful in terms of language development and establishing a dialogue between parents and their children, as well as making children feel that their parents love them. A further benefit in introducing books to children at an early age is that it raises their interest in books. In time, books become their close friends and reading becomes a need for them. As Victor Hugo stated, the need to read is like gunpowder, once it is ignited it does not die out.

During the pre-school period, if the parents read books to their children everyday, their child’s vocabulary will become enriched and their ability to think will improve along with their intellectual progress. In this way, children will learn to listen and to speak. They will grow up as individuals who love reading. They often ask questions when a story is being read, for children learn by asking. They should be given logical and satisfactory answers. Their questions should never be ignored or undermined. They should never be misinformed. Children are never bored by listening to the same stories over and over. This helps them to become familiar with the vocabulary and facilitates absorbing the message given in the book.

What is the benefit of books?

Books are the most important means of educating children. We transfer our culture to new generations via books. Books improve language use and teach about life. Children can get to know people through books and evaluate them. Within the plots of novels and stories, children come to recognize human behavior. Starting from this point, they learn what kind of people should be considered as friends and what type of behavior is to be avoided.

A child who reads about the problems in life and the ways to cope with these knows what to do when he/she encounters similar problems in real life. Books teach children to use their imagination and to love people, nature and living things. Books raise interest in inventions and technology. They teach about man’s place and his duty in the universe. The stories children read teach them that they should not step on ants, destroy bird-nests, that they should not let animals starve and so on. They make children feel in their consciences that lying, stealing, and fighting are all wrong. Children internalize values, such as being kind to people, helping them without expecting anything in return, courage, determination, modesty, being resolute and striving for success when identifying themselves with the heroes in the books they read.

Books are a means of entertainment as well. Riddles, puzzles, mind games and anecdotes contribute to the mental development of children and help them enjoy themselves.

The reason for reading:

Reading is related to the way we perceive the world and our perspective of life, universe and our self-opinion. Reading is the outcome of the urge to discover new things and our desire, as a human being to understand ourselves, the reason of our existence, our Creator and the mysteries of the universe. This must be the reason why the first order of the Qur’an is Read. People can achieve these only by reading.

How can we motivate children toward books and reading?

There is no magical way to make children love reading. Nevertheless, we can try different ways to approach this problem. We have already mentioned some methods that can be used with pre-school children. We can apply different methods for older children.

First of all, if the adults at home constantly read and share their opinions with each other about the themes or characters in the books they are reading, the children will develop an interest in reading. Reading starts with the family. Even a little child who cannot read or write, holds a book, turns its pages, looks at its pictures, asks questions about it and in the end, reading becomes as natural for him/her as eating and drinking. In short, if reading has a place in our own life, our children will read too.

We should not just present books as a means of transferring information. We should emphasize the entertaining and attractive sides of books also. Children should be made to meet books as if they were meeting a friend. Illustrated story books, novels, books of riddles, puzzles and anecdotes are usually more interesting for children. Such books warm children to reading.

We should read together with our child. Children love this. We should alter the tone of our voice when we read what different characters are saying, trying to animate the story. If the parent is the only one reading, it will be boring for the child. Sometimes the child should read to his/her parents. Some parents habitually read stories to their children before they go to sleep. This is a good method that can be used in most families.

Children should be taken to book fairs and bookshops, they should be given time to take a look at the books. They should be allowed to choose some of the books they are to read. We should be careful about choosing books suitable to their age. A book should have interesting illustrations and should be written in a language that is grammatically accurate, yet interesting.

In conclusion, if we choose the right ways, any child can love reading. However, we cannot make a child read a book by force. Even if we cannot help the children to love books, then at least we should not make them hate books. Once a person hates books, it is very difficult for them to warm to them again.

A: Before discussing the equality of men and women, we should first look more closely at the meaning of “equal” and “equality.”

“Equal” means that there is no difference between things, that they have the same nature, quality, value and dimension. On the other hand, “equality” means that there is no discrimination between people in terms of rights.

Having established these definitions of “equal and “equality,” then how are we to view women in relation to men?

a) Difference in Nature

God has created everything in the universe in pairs. It is impossible to say that one of these pairs is equal to the other in all respects. “And of everything we have created pairs that you may reflect.” (Az-Zariyat, 51/49).

From atoms to plants, and from these to the male and female of animals and human beings, everything has been created in pairs and each member of the pair is in need of the other. Positives are in need of negatives, electrons are in need of protons, night is in need of day, summer is in need of winter, the surface of the earth is in need of the sky, men are in need of women and vice versa. In addition, there are probably other pairs that we may not know of yet, but we will learn about these with the development of science and technology.

Just as God has created the electron in relation to the proton, the negative in relation to the positive, and the female seed in relation to the male seed, God has created women and men, and He has formed a unity between these couples. But just as positive and negative are not equal, nor are the electron and proton equal, women are not equal to men. This is an unchanging rule of the nature of creation. Moreover, other than God, Who is One, everything else is deficient and insignificant and cannot continue its existence by itself. So, men and women, who are imcomplete by themselves, will come together to form a union, and it is this union that is the essence of the whole.

Therefore, women and men are not equal, but they complete each other. Prophet Muhammad (pbuh), in one of his hadith says: “Women are (the other) half of men.”

The word for “other half”-sakik-in this hadith means a piece of a whole divided into two through the middle. This means that each piece that is forming the whole is the sakik of the other. Thus, according to this hadith, women and men are equal halves as human beings. But they are never the same as the other; that is, their natural, spiritual and psychological structures are different. As a woman can never be equal to a man according to his physical and spiritual structure, a man can never be equal to a women according to the same aspects. Neither are men biologically superior, nor are women inferior to men. As human beings cannot really change the difference between the sexes, both believers and nonbelievers should give up their dreams of bein equal and should accept women and men as they are.

In addition, we cannot even claim that individuals of the same sex are totally equal to one another. Trying to verify this would be to attempt to change the rules of creation; such efforts are useless. Here we should mention that the difference in the creation of women should not lead men to feel superior. On the contrary, God states, “And Who made (things) according to a measure, then guided rightly” (Al-Ala 87/3). He is the One who creates women and men in the best pattern of creation and He is the One Who teaches them how to improve themselves. He is the One Who makes them complementary to one another and the protector and guardian for one another.

b) Differences in Duty

As is clear from the above explanations, just as women and men cannot be equal in their nature, nor can they be equal in duty. If you expect a woman to perform the same duties as a man, you will in fact be oppressing her. It is obvious that women are different from men physically, biologically and spiritually. It is therefore only normal that, arising from this difference in their natures, that there should be a difference in duties. For instance, men are stronger than women. In this respect, it is very difficult for a woman to do some of the work that a man does. This is not to be seen as an inadequacy of women. Women are generally more merciful, compassionate, intuitive and emotional when compared to men. In this respect, men cannot be compared to women in any way. Both sexes are equipped according to the necessities of their duties; this is the true justice. Therefore, instead of studying men and women as if they were on equal terms, we should evaluate women and men separately and according to their own particular natures.

Women have certain rights and duties based on the nature of their creation, and if women make use of these qualities they will then be able to obtain better results.

New generations are brought into this world by women and are brought up by them. Humanity gains good individuals through their efforts. It is a great kindness and wisdom of God that women have been equipped with such compassion when we consider that they are in charge of bringing up children. In this respect, among all the members of the family, women deserve the greatest respect. They are the educators, teachers, and the source of the family’s endurance and the peace of the home. Men are reassured by them. Children grow up under their compassionate wing, and are raised with healthy emotions, compassion, and strong values. If the mother lives a chaste life, then the children will be saved from degeneration, and a community formed of these children will be saved from oppression.

When we compare all the things that humans provide women with in the name of equality with those favors that God the Almighty provides, the former will be very small in comparison. Moreover, all the rights granted to women and all the effort expended on behalf of their gaining “equal rights” is as ridiculous as if we were to give a copper medal to someone whose chest was already covered in gold medals.

God has given everyone their own nature. With the granting of this nature he did not make anyone coarse or foolish. If he had granted any superflurous duties to people, then this would have been no more than an injustice or an act of oppression.

The tasks or duties that women do should be suited to their physical, psychological and spiritual nature. Offering a woman a job that she cannot handle, or employing her in a job that is not in her nature to accomplish, has nothing to do with equality or treating a woman as an equal; this is not a humanitarian approach. On the contrary, such behavior is little more than the forceful seizure of the majority of her rights.

A hadith of Prophet Muhammad (pbuh), expresses the subject in a beautiful and elegant manner: “They had put a cow to yoke. It turned and said to its master: I have not been created for such jobs.” Rather, it is the ox that was created for such jobs.

In conclusion, everything has been created for a reason. For true justice to prevail, every creature should be employed according to its capabilities and according to the reason for its creation.

In fact, the days of Ramadan are the center of attention, the sum of our spiritual joys, the stage for excitement, the helix of the divine light of progress and the sphere of opportunity and a prize that encourages the growth of all human characteristics all over the world; this is most especially so in Muslim countries and among Muslims.

Occurring in a totally unconventional manner during the night, and with a special brightness during the day, the days of Ramadan pass, communicating a speical aura to the hearts, reuniting those parts of society that have fallen out of touch with one another; opening the way for all those in solitude to congregate, eliminating their severence from society. It is a banquet of emotions and ideas for everyone in varying dimensions, and reminds us all, one more time, about life.

Ramadan, above all, is the month of the Qur’an; in this regard even the ones who have distanced themselves from the Qur’an throughout the year, those who are parched with a burning thirst, find themselves in this light, in this radiating ambience. These days replenish the valleys of the psyches which have almost dried out with the spirit, meaning and mystery that the Qur’an has showered on people distanced from the Qur’an; it converts the complete heart into a flower garden and elates these people with the joy of existence. They, on the other hand, sense and receive the entire cosmos by and through the Qur’an, developing wings with the emotions and thoughts that are communicated, appreciating that the whole creation process is manifested in the Qur’an, and are meek in astonishment and reverence. They sometimes breathe through their tears, unburden with their tears, having a sense that the veils that come between have been removed, feel that they are closer to God than even the closest ones, and find themselves almost in an abundance of joy.

As a matter of fact, the divine contents of the Qur’an can be totally penetrated solely by those who cannot only hear the sound of the entire cosmos, but who are also attuned to the melody of the human soul; a melody composed of fear and hope, worry and joy, dolor and cheer, all at the same time. The souls beyond time, those who can listen to the Qur’an as if it has been sent just for them, can experience the flavor of paradisical fruits, the colors and beauty and the panoramic falls of the gardens and bays of Paradise, and become enthusiastic and energized. In the philosophy and life of these people, metaphysics completes physics; meaning becomes the true content and significance of the matter, and everything that has had its value concealed up to date becomes visible. Again, an imaginary mystery is sensed on the countenances of these people, as if a secret intuition and an extraordinary comprehension has been inspired by their receptiveness to the infinite sphere of the Divine Names and Attributes; a maturity, a satisfaction, a purity, a sincerity imbued by the piety of days fully engaged with the Qur’an; a delicacy, an attraction and a benevolence cherished by the golden enthusiasm of faith all pour in through these portals.
In no month other than the “Qur’an oriented” Ramadan are the nights and days differentiated by different illuminations; the nights are luminous, the days are enlightened.

Once again in Ramadan one can observe, perceive and discern the Qur’an and its celestial origin from beyond the heavens, with its aura of divine manifestations, and its significance that is scattered throughout the cosmos, with its love for God and the traces of it glowing so clearly on the countenances of the believers. Indeed during Ramadan, the originality of the Qur’an shines in every glowing face; in faces that have been shaped by the entire web of fate, in eyes that disseminate the inner profundity of the entire meaning. Male-female, old-young, rich-poor, learned-illiterate, almost all walks of life are affected by Ramadan during this blessed period of time, as far as the schemes of life are concerned, and they breathe the impressive demeanor that comes within Ramadan…

Again, within Ramadan, every single soul becomes purified from all his/her spiritual errors in an unprecedented dimension, and they reflect the light that comes from beyond the heavens; this is, of course, reflected in accordance with his/her aptitude and ability. As a result he/she gains a place in Paradise. This month grants such an abundance and prolificacy that almost everyone that shelters in its shadow can benefit from its wealth and riches and attain the spiritual sultanate; all believers who normally are differentiated from one another in many aspects become completely metamorphosized in its luminous climate; they are able to transform and reach somewhere that is blessed, in relation to their states.
The excellent and divine light of Ramadan – with the meaningful grandeur of the cosmos reflected in the eyes capable of receiving this light, and by shedding a prism on the servants of God – Ramadan is able to diffuse onto the people in different walks of life, to penetrate into their hearts in a profound manner with its unique taste, ambiance, spirit and significance, so that even the most obstinate ones will not be able to resist it and will surrender.

During the whole of Ramadan, the nights enfold everything in their mysteries; mysteries so intimate and amiable, the days which embrace one’s emotions and thoughts with an unaccustomed pleasure are so warm and soft, the faces in faith are so affectionate and informed, the sounds that summon one to God are so caring, and above all, the total meaning of these are so touching that the ones who can open their hearts to this month of mercy, even temporarily, welcome the happiness of heaven after they have unburdened themselves of their worries and sorrows, one by one.

A Heavenly Month

We, in Ramadan, can almost view the panorama from beyond this world and listen to the melody of Firdaws. An integrated faith of the religion of the hearts; in fact, a life led in belief, an appreciation of the divine meaning, blessed affection and spiritual gratification are also considered to be among the essential elements of this melody. Those who can color their lives with these components shall find themselves experiencing an abundance of delight and enthusiasm beyond which it is impossible to imagine. In other words, such blessings could be seen to be God’s rewards, granted in advance to those who are inclining towards Him with all their hearts, or a feeling of the nucleus of Paradise placed in the essence of faith. As for the genuine pleasure-without-sorrow and unending happiness, these do not belong to this mortal world; they will be offered as God’s holy gift to the souls who are able to reach the final stop with a heart assured of its fate, in another realm.

Conceiving the whole globe as a grand mosque, the Ka’ba as the mihrab (pulpit), the Prophet’s tomb (Al Rawdatu’l Mutahharah) as the minbar (altar), and all of those who pray as the congregation of this vast temple, every single soul can taste the joy of praying with Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) standing in front of them.

Again during Ramadan, each action and behavior that is carried out at the times of sahur, iftar and tarawih (special meals and pra-yers) these periods considered to be the harbor and stairs used to approach and reach God – become so mysterious that the heavens and the lights of the realms beyond the heavens almost seem to be poured down on our heads, and they whisper to us magical poems alongside our praise and gratitude to God; as affectionate and warm as the lullabies composed in the very hearts of our mothers, and as profound and respectful as the glorification of angels..!

An exceptional mildness and warmth embraces our conscience as we comprehend Ramadan in its original profundity and become one with Ramadan in all ways of life… a sweet breeze of emotions blows here and there… and it, like a familiar breath, reveals numerous occasions of love and reunion!
Throughout Ramadan a sacred excitement, that never fully ceases, can be sensed in the air; every single moment – from the legendary fascination of the nights to the mysterious minutes before dawn, from the course of days blessed by Ramadan, to the colors of the Ramadan dawn with its heavenly inspiration; a different flood of emotions prevail every moment. The dawn, with its mysterious and confidential aura, points us to particular bays where our wishes and needs shall be met, and it whispers the paths that we should follow to reach there. Days come with a breeze – a breeze that is lively most of the time, lively, yet so benign, polyphonic and warmhearted at the same time – the days embrace us, making us perceive them through the delight that originates in our prayer and worship, that we practice at least five times a day. The days then leave, along with their divinely arrayed colors, pouring their final smiles down on us, with a promise that the episode not yet completed will be fulfilled. The evenings, on the other hand, loom on the horizon, always with the promise of a splendid feast; they make themselves felt through a series of bustling occasions that are related to the time, they appeal to both our bodies and souls; they surround us with the excitement of both iftar and tarawih, they hint to us that we are standing at the front door of a secret realm, they make our souls appreciate the bliss of living in a Muslim way, inspiring our hearts with their sparks of love and passion for holy reunion.

In the same way, the nights stand on the horizon enveloped in a mystery of silence; they whisper to us of a private meeting with the Absolute Beloved; they lead us to transcendental ways of life and present compositions of paradisical melodies for those who are capable of hearing them. The nights keep on revealing things, no matter if we can comprehend them or not. Like circles joining one another, these mysterious utterences sometimes turn out to be such impressive orations that all, except the totally blind and deaf, hold their tongues and stand in astonishment while listening to these sermons that consist of neither letters nor words.

As our feelings and thoughts change and become more profound during Ramadan, Ramadan, too, puts forward extraordinary meanings and original ideas, these are parallel to our aspirations and dreams. They are directly proportioned to the profundity of our ideas; they create such an eloquent speech that these orations cannot be found in the works of the greatest speakers, writers, thinkers or philosophers. To penetrate into the subtlety of these profound and loaded utterances, however, the necessity to comprehend the very language of Islam becomes evident. If we can understand this language concisely, Ramadan – with its days and nights, with its fasting and tarawih – will permeate our hearts and our essence so effectively that we will never desire to leave such a world; a world woven with emotion, conscience and imagination.
Even if we were to be deprived, literally, of the luminous climate of such a Ramadan, we could picture the vicinities of the mosques with their gleaming lamps that in a way recall the heavens, the faces of Muslims, with their saint-like glow, that fill the mosques, their hearts resounding in sincerity, and their pulses beating with excitement. Imagining these people affected by Ramadan, their faces shaped by trust, the warmhearted glances that they freely throw on all, the smiles they shower on the way, their warm and open hearts, their feeling of benevolence and their Muslim demeanor we could share their perception and portray myself as a guest of their sahur or a participant at their iftar meal. We also could discern the intentions of these virtous people – they are going to the mosques in great enthusiasm to worship, and they bend their bodies double in the psychology of service – and we could perceive that aura which has been completely blessed with all its riches.
Ramadan, with its own original tone, its light and mystery, makes all of us appreciate the spiritual riches hidden within ourselves, and feeds our starving hearts with heavenly gifts, gifts that stand open at all times, even to the darkest souls, and it continues to cool our souls through the heavenly breezes and removes all the hatred in our hearts with its blessed atmosphere. Even if those who are full of hatred, those who cannot stand the reality of Islam, who swear at the divine light, who set war on tolerance, love and dialogue remain unmoved.

We, as a matter of fact, contrive to grasp Ramadan with all our hearts and our essence; it then offers us love, interest and excitement in its most affectionate, sensitive and profound moments. That is, by granting us hope and ambition enough to satisfy our hearts, it makes all the sad faces smile.

Therefore, we would never wish for Ramadan to leave us, in spite of this, it goes. It leaves like a guest; it has arrived and spent a pleasant time with us, staying for a while. As with everything, it comes one by one, it goes on in the same way… and then the ’Eid comes to us as the royal heir of the full harvest of this magnificient month.

(Ibrahim Abu-Rabi)

During the nineteenth century, Turkey underwent an unprecedented process of modernisation and secularisation at an accelerated rate. This was not witnessed in any other part of the Muslim world. At the beginning of the twentieth century, the Ottoman capital, Istanbul, had become a bustling laboratory for the ‘westernisation experiment’. How Islam kept on pulsating under the external pressures and encroachment of the Western powers, and among the colossal debris left by the crumbling Empire is an issue that many have grappled with. Cantwell Smith, Bernard Lewis, Niyazi Berkes, and Fazlur Rahman, to name a few examples, have all revisited Turkey in an attempt to throw light on this issue, but none actually investigated the ‘Nur Movement’, or glanced at its founder, Bediuzzaman Said Nursi (1875- 1960) in their accounts. An oversight perhaps, but a very a significant one indeed: to try to explain the position of Islam in today’s Turkey and to speculate about its prospects tomorrow without taking account of Nursi’s oeuvre and actions necessitates that the task will be incomplete and difficult. No doubt, Serif Mardin’s “Religion and Social Change in Modern Turkey” is the first work in a direction that seriously takes notice of Said Nursi and adds him to the equation. Mardin’s work, as its title suggests, “approached Nursi’s work from the point of view of the sociology of religion”. Its purpose is to elucidate, “How Nursi’s ideas formed against the backdrop of the economic, social, and political conditions of his times.” In “Islam at the Crossroads”, no less than nineteen scholars from Islamic, as well as from western academia, have gathered to discuss the thought, life and times of Bediuzzaman (the non-pareil of his times). In this enterprise, the variety of the contributions produces a multi-faceted approach, which can only be welcomed considering the enigmatic, ambiguous, and nuanced character of Nursi and his times. Indeed, “Islam at the Crossroads” may be seen to be the most significant complement to Mardin’s groundbreaking work. “Glory be to Him who is hidden due to his sheer apparence.”

The study of the life and testaments of Said Nursi leads to diverse questions and paradoxes. In what way did the historical context influence his thoughts? How did his views radically shift following the war to end all wars? What is the relationship between his dictated writings, the enlightenment philosophies of Europe, and the various streams of Muslim thought? What drives the popularity of his collected works? How did external imprisonments, exile and loneliness become for him a home, a freedom?

A significant figure who stands at the crossroads of 20th century history and the geography of empires, at the modern crisis of philosophy and faith, Said Nursi cannot help but provoke a variety of reactions. So it is that this book brings together a range of perspectives – from the historians and biographers, to the philosophers and activists, to the followers and translators.

The editor, Ibrahim M Abu-Rabi`, provides a context for reading the Risale-i Nur. He draws in the threads of Nursi’s self-perception, the deep-rooted nationalist movement in Turkey, and the Sufi traditions that informed Nursi’s early education. He notes the theme of exile, prompting an association with the exodus movement to Madina that began the first Muslim community, and reminds us that Nursi’s exile was forced on him. And he surveys the ideas that Nursi draws from saints, such as Ghazali and Sirhindi. The scholarly authors of these articles, as already mentioned, come from both Muslim and Western perspectives, which creates some striking contrasts.

Taha ‘Abdel Rahman’s article aims at clarification, with a distinction between philosophy and wisdom. Nursi views the former as processing the strange, the ‘extra- ordinary’ and as being anomalous until there are no answers left of consequence. ‘Abdel Rahman argues that instead, Nursi’s thinking is characterized by wonder and a sense of the miraculous in the midst of the ‘customary’. This is not so much a suspension-of-disbelief, but an attitude which seeks purpose in its questions. So it is that ‘Abdel Rahman connects Said Nursi to Immanuel Kant, both of them upsetting the assumptions about the relationship between philosophy and wisdom. But where Kant reaches the Enlightenment conclusion that “the pure concepts of the understanding never admit of a transcendental, but only of an empirical use”, Nursi finds that wisdom has no purpose unless it leads one to the transcendent. Philosophical reason becomes the servant of wisdom, and the ‘will to meaning’ takes over the ‘will to power’ of a turbulent Europe, in which wisdom had been trodden beneath the feet of a selfish, calculating and controlling reason. For Nursi, then, everything becomes a ‘proof’, not as a gratuitous and philosophical argument, but as a sign of the Creator – whether it be the person of the prophets, the rightness of the cosmos, the witness of the book, or the consciousness of human nature. It is not that this multi-faceted universe is an analogy to the Qur’anic text; but in a deep sense, it actually is the recitation of God’s words.

This time, with your permission, I won’t be talking about the last two weeks that I have spent in this alien city, as I usually do. Instead, I feel obliged to reflect on your anger at the fact that your father did not use the opportunity he had during his youth to become a medical doctor. What I’m going to tell you has been said by many great thinkers in the past, but I want to bring their words up-to-date and relate them to my studies here. I hope to give you an alternative understanding of tolerance by using the idea of networks.

As commonly defined, networks are web-like maps of nodes that represent entities and links that connect the nodes and represent their interactions. Networks have become very popular these days, and are used to analyze everything from ecology and biochemistry to social infrastructures.

Try to visualize your father 30 years ago in a large network that consisted of his two brothers and three sisters, his fiance of 2 years standing, maybe a very close friend who had recently died, maybe another friend who already had had a child, along with the fear of leaving his hometown for the first time, and so on. All of us, including your father, are surrounded by such factors all the time. Perhaps your father could have overcome some of them, like his fear of loneliness or impatience, but he certainly could not have overcome all of them, because his family, surrounding events, and many other factors existed on their own and didn’t develop according to your father’s will.

Upon further reflection, however, maybe none of these factors, even the trivial ones, were ever in his grasp and thus were never under his control. Let’s think back even further. When your father was in the womb, he had only one obvious link with the world: his mother. But wait a minute, you might ask, didn’t he have other links, such as his genes, family, and birthplace? Of course, you would agree that your father had no choice in any of these crucial factors. Moreover, I don’t think that it’s hard to accept that, for example, his impatience was probably the result of his cultural make-up, genes, interactions with his family members, and other things. As you know, all of these were independent of your father’s will. Thus, your father, and indeed every person, was born into a predetermined world, one in which most choices had already been made for him. Moreover, these initial determinations had an undeniable impact upon the rest of his life and decisions.

Imagine a circle in the center of a big picture. The circle is you, and the picture represents your life, or else all of the interactions that you make during your life. As mentioned above, even in the very beginning, that circle is not unique. Now imagine a few more circles which represent your family members and hometown, and draw a line from each circle to yourself. This is you in the beginning. Without a doubt, soon some circles will fade away and other circles will appear in a continuously regenerating network. Let this little human being live in this world (morph his network, as we say) for some years and, in the end, you’ll obtain a dreadfully complex picture that is almost impossible to understand.

Nevertheless, let’s consider for a moment the evolution of this self-network. At each decision point, we make a choice that is influenced by our personal self-network, defined as a collection of those choices over which we had no control and those which we made due to our personal network at that time. This recursive definition of self, which is entirely reasonable, makes it impossible for us to judge other people’s behavior, for we can never know if such behavior is the result of free will or of the previous self-network. We find it easy to criticize students who drop out of school, or behave anti-socially, or sleep all day. But maybe they had no other option in the context of their self-network. If this is the case, criticizing them is almost like criticizing a fish because it cannot fly. It is quite possible that no alternative choices were within their reach.

The key observation lies in this: When we see a person do something that we don’t like, we don’t know and can never know how much his or her self-network has influenced that specific act. Therefore, my friend, who are we to judge other people’s acts unless we have this kind of knowledge? Given this, if we want to be true to ourselves, what other alternative do we have but to exercise complete tolerance toward others?

Before going on, however, I should stress that I am talking about tolerance for acts that don’t violate other people’s rights and freedoms. In addition, I’m talking about personal tolerance only, for obviously everyone must follow the law for the sake of society. For example, a thief should be punished according to the law. Therefore, given that there are many underlying reasons for a person’s act, we should hesitate before passing judgment, for it benefits both of us if we are tolerant. As shown above, this is not only a more pragmatic, but also a more rational approach.

The world’s great religions and great minds have said such things many times. For example, we read in the Bible: Judge not, that ye be not judged (Matthew 7:1) and Therefore thou art inexcusable, O man, whoseoever thou art that judgest… (Romans 2:1). The great Hellenistic philosopher Epictetus says: If a man drinks much wine, do not say that he drinks badly, but that he drinks much. For till you have decided what judgment prompts him, how do you know that he acts badly? 1 Even more, another Biblical verse states: Therefore judge nothing before the time, until the Lord come, who both will bring to light the hidden things of darkness, and will make manifest the counsels of the hearts: and then shall every man have praise of God. (I Corinthians 4:5). This verse supports tolerance, for it tells us that we should have comprehensive knowledge of a person before judging their acts. Such knowledge, as we all know, is possessed only by God.

An interesting result of considering individuals as nodes located in the center of a complex network occurs when we try to influence a person’s views, acts, and beliefs. In order to appreciate how difficult (if not impossible) this is, imagine the self-network of the person you want to influence, with all of his or her beliefs, memories, friends, as well as all of the nodes acquired while morphing his or her self-network.

Now imagine the fraction of nodes in that self-network that are directly related to you. I don’t think that you’ll claim to be a big part of that person’s life, unless both of you have been on intimate terms for quite a while. The proportion of the nodes that you represent in his or her self-network can be quite an accurate measure of how much influence you will have. For example, you can alter a lonely or a simple person’s beliefs in a shorter time, since in a short time you can become a large proportion of his or her self-network.

By the way, you might be amazed to hear that the English mathematician Thomas Bayes (1702-61) tried to formulate quantitatively how a person’s beliefs would change upon receiving new information that contradicts his or her previous beliefs. In a Bayesian analysis, a set of experiences (in our case, links) are seen as something that influences opinion and decision. I won’t discuss this further, however, since it’s beyond both my and this letter’s scope.

In my opinion, the reason why we almost always criticize and blame others, and constantly see faults in everybody else is because we refuse to make an honest self-criticism; that is to consider our own responsibilities, not those of other people.

Forgive me for saying this, but you want to achieve a better quality of life now; this is something for which you have to work really hard. Yet, if your father had become a doctor, you probably would already be living this better life, and so you wouldn’t have to push yourself. Hence, we can find a convenient scapegoat in your father, who, for whatever reason, didn’t set you up with such a life!

Another example, one in the future, might be that a person explains his/her beliefs in the hope of influencing someone else. Unable to convince this person, he/she blames that person for not opening their heart and really listening. Easy, isn’t it? However, remember that you can’t really influence a person if you are not a large part of his or her life.

Do you see what’s missing in this picture? Reality and, more than that, a solution. It lacks reality, for we can never hold someone absolutely responsible for anything. And why not? Because we have no way of knowing which actions were based upon free-will and which ones were the result of his or her prior self-network. By blaming others, regardless of whether we are correct in doing so or not, we not only contradict reality, we also ignore our own mistakes, closing the roads to a solution that could come from ourselves, and taking a passive position of stagnancy that, I think, won’t make a better world for ourselves or anybody else.

Before ending, I’d like to apologize if some of my words sound harsh. However, I consider you a true friend who will appreciate my openness. Even if some of my words have upset you, perhaps you’ll be patient with me. For this to be, before blaming me, stop for a moment and try to look at this situation from another perspective. Try to find some truth in my words, and try to be hard on yourself. Below are some extraordinarily beautiful lines from Nietzsche, which I think are appropriate to our discussion. He writes:

Why so hard? the kitchen coal once said to the diamond. After all, are we not close kin?

Why so soft? O my brothers, thus I ask you: are you not after all my brothers?

Why so soft, so pliant and yielding? Why is there so much denial, self-denial, in your hearts? So little destiny in your eyes?

And if you do not want to be the destined inexorable ones, how can you one day triumph with me?

And if your hardness does not wish to flash and cut through, how can you one day create with me?

For all creators are hard. And it must seem bliss to you to impress your hand on millennia as on wax, bliss to write on the will of millennia as on bronze harder than bronze, nobler than bronze. Only the noblest is altogether hard.

This new tablet, O my brothers, I place over you: become hard!2

Yes my friend, become hard, very hard on yourself; and soft, very soft towards others.

Footnotes

1 Epictetus, The Discourses of Epictetus, tr. P. E. Matheson (New York: Heritage Press, [1968]).

2 Friedrich W. Nietzsche, Thus Spoke Zarathustra, tr. Walter Kaufmann (USA: Viking Penguin, 1966), 214.

In the US, Thanksgiving was declared an annual national holiday in 1863, however, its actual origin traces back to harvest festivals that were held by many ancient civilizations. The autumn festival, Thesmosphoria of the Greeks, the harvest festival, Cerelia of the Romans, the full moon harvest festival, Chung Ch’ui of the Chinese, Sukkoth of the Jews and the spring harvest festival of the ancient Egyptians are just some examples. Europeans also used to celebrate a good year at the end of the harvesting in fall, long before the establishment of colonial New England. Aside from the harvest festivals that are observed in many parts of the world, today’s Thanksgiving has roots in the Thanksgiving holidays of the English Puritans. In times of crisis or after a period of misfortune, Puritans would designate special days to thank God and to express gratitude for God’s blessings. These serious religious occasions were distinct from the harvest festivals and were not held regularly.

Puritans, or Separatists, were members of a religious movement that broke from the Church of England in the 16th century in order to reform the church and to establish a middle course between Roman Catholicism and the Protestant reformers’ ideas. In the early 17th century, a group of Separatists escaping religious persecution in England immigrated to America in 1620. After a difficult journey on the famous Mayflower, they reached the coast of America near present-day Provincetown, Massachusetts and founded the Plymouth Colony. Shortly after their arrival, the selected governor of the colony signed a treaty of mutual peace with the chief of the Native American tribe, the Wampanoag, so that they could co-exist in the region. Almost all of the immigrants, or Pilgrims, became ill, and half of them died due to the harsh winter and starvation. In the spring of 1621, the Native Americans taught them how to raise corn in this new land, how to catch fish and how to tap maple trees for their syrup. In the fall, the Pilgrims had an abundant harvest and stored enough food to sustain them through the next winter. They invited the members of the Wampanoag tribe to their celebration. Although this event is considered the first American Thanksgiving, there is no evidence that the Pilgrims thought of the feast as a thanksgiving. They were devoutly religious people and a day of thanksgiving would involve fasting and prayer.

Two years after the first American Thanksgiving celebration was held in 1621 in the Plymouth Colony, the Pilgrims observed a day of fasting and prayer due to drought. When the rains came during their prayers, the day turned into a Thanksgiving day. Gradually, they started to celebrate Thanksgiving after the harvest annually.

As the Thanksgiving celebrations in New England spread into other states, colonial governments designated Thanksgiving days to commemorate various public events. During the American Revolution, following the American victory at the Battle of Saratoga in 1777, the Continental Congress proclaimed a national day of Thanksgiving. Later on, in 1789, after the promulgation of the U.S. constitution, the President, George Washington, proclaimed another day of Thanksgiving.

New York State became the first state to observe Thanksgiving annually, with many others following. At this time, Thanksgiving celebrations were still not being held on the same day; generally they were held sometime in November. In 1863, President Abraham Lincoln appointed the last Thursday in November as Thanksgiving day. This took place during the American Civil War. When Congress established Thanksgiving as a national holiday after the war, Southerners saw Thanksgiving as a Northern custom imposed on them. However, in the late 19th century, Thanksgiving became a widespread national observance, as Thanksgiving’s emphasis on home and family appealed to all people throughout the United States. Later immigrants also appreciated Thanksgiving as a distinctly American holiday and saw it as an introduction to American values.

In the 20th century, as materialistic ideas dominated most value systems, Thanksgiving also took its share. The day following Thanksgiving was accepted as the start of the Christmas shopping season. Large retailers began to sponsor parades decorated richly with huge balloons to attract customers. Retail merchants even petitioned President Roosevelt in 1939 to change Thanksgiving day to one week earlier in order to allow for an extra week of shopping between Thanksgiving and Christmas. The change brought about great opposition from fellow Americans, as well as from opponents in Congress. In 1941, the president had to change the date back to the fourth Thursday of November.

Customarily, US presidents address the nation on Thanksgiving Day in an effort to gain public support for current government policies. It would be amiss not to mention football here as an American Thanksgiving tradition, as many people enjoy their evening watching the Rose Bowl.

Today’s Thanksgiving is about sharing food, family, friends and love. Family members come together at a table loaded with many tasty blessings from God. Classical Thanksgiving menus include turkey, mashed potatoes, sweet potatoes, squash, cranberry sauce, and pumpkin pie, food that is plentiful during the harvest season. As more people immigrated to North America, they brought their traditional food to the Thanksgiving tables. Preparing and eating a large meal is a central part of Thanksgiving, in a way contrary to the spirit of the early Pilgrims, who fasted to express their thankfulness to God. The memory of the Pilgrims still survives though, in the parades of children dressed up in Pilgrim costume, with their tall hats or bonnets and shoes with large silver buckles and in the images of baskets overflowing with fruits and vegetables, that reminds one of the old autumn harvest celebrations. At the Thanksgiving table people usually express their thanks for their family, children, their good health and their well being. Children on the other hand are often not sure what to be thankful for, or they may just be thankful that there is no school on Thanksgiving Day.

Thanksgiving is not just a celebration once a year. It is an act that expresses our gratitude for any gift or blessing from God. Thanksgiving as a holiday may be seen as an American institution, but it is something that belongs to many cultures and religions.

Thanksgiving in Islam

In Islam, thanksgiving is the most important pillar of being a good worshipper and a beloved servant of God. Many verses in the Qur’an express the importance of thanksgiving. Remember Me then and I will remember you. Give thanks to Me and do not be ungrateful. (2:152). If you disbelieve, God does not need you, although He does not approve disbelief in His servants. However, if you give thanks, He will approve that in you. No sinning soul shall bear the burden of another. Then unto your Lord is your return and He will tell you what you used to do. He knows the secrets within the breasts. (39:7)

Many other verses emphasize that what the Creator requests most of His servants is thanksgiving. We have indeed created man from a mixed sperm to test him; and so We made him capable of hearing and sight. We have guided him upon the path, either as thankful or thankless. (76:2-3)

It was out of His mercy that He created the day and the night, so that you may rest in it and to seek some of His bounty, that perchance you may give thanks. (28:73)

Also in Sura al-Rahman (55), it is asked repeatedly: So, which of your Lord’s bounties do you deny? The bounties, such as fruits with different aromas and flavors, are invitations from God for thanksgiving. In this respect, thanksgiving is the appreciation of the providence coming from God, and respect for it. It is an expression of our acceptance of God as the Provider and Sustainer of our presence, rather than crediting our own efforts or mere chance. Thanksgiving is the connection of the worshipper with the name All-Merciful, one of the ninety nine beautiful names of God.

Signs of thanksgiving are contentment, thrift, consent and gratitude, while those of unthankfulness are greed, waste, ingratitude and consumption without discriminating between the lawful and unlawful. There are many kinds of thanksgiving, the most comprehensive of which is the daily prescribed prayers. As it is stated in a hadith;* The Prophet used to pray so much that his feet used to become edematous or swollen, and when he was asked as to why he prays so much, he would say, ˜Shall I not be a thankful servant (to God)?’

Thanksgiving can be an oral or physical act. Saying Al-hamdulillah (praise be to God) in response to a blessing we have appreciated is a kind of thanksgiving. Using our hands, eyes, time and wealth in accordance with God’s will is also thanksgiving. God had already given you victory at Badr, at a time when you were still powerless; so fear God that perchance you might be thankful. (3:123)

Other prophets were also ordered to be thankful for God’s blessings. give thanks, O family of David! And very few of My servants are grateful. (34:13) Indeed, Abraham was a model (of virtue), obedient to God and upright; and he was not one of the polytheists. (He was) thankful for His blessings, and God chose and guided him to a straight path. And We gave him good in this world, and he will be, in the Hereafter, in the ranks of the Righteous. (16:120-122)

Then he (Solomon) smiled, laughing at its words, and said: Lord, inspire me to be thankful for Your blessing, with which You have blessed me and my parents, and to do the right pleasing to You. Admit me, by Your Mercy, into the company of Your righteous servants. (27:19)

One can also realize the importance of thanksgiving from the supplications of Prophet Muhammad (pbuh), who desired nothing more than to be a thankful servant of God.

Islamic teachings define human beings as the best of creation. Only through thanksgiving can people attain this highest of ranks, otherwise they will fall to the lowest of the low. In a sense, a Muslim should observe each day of his/her life as a thanksgiving day.

References

• Microsoft Encarta Online Encyclopedia 2003
• William Bradford by Dorothy Honiss Kelso, www.pilgrimhall.org/bradfordwilliam.htm
• Glorious Qur’an
• The Duty of Thanksgiving, http://www.herkul.org/spring/duty.htm
• (*) Sahih Bukhari, Volume 8, Book 76, Number 478: Narrated by Al-Mughira bin Shu’ba

In a book that deals with questions of logic, when we see numbers written in succession, such as 5, 15, 25; then we are able to discover the relation between these numbers, to predict the next number and to realize that this pattern was made by somebody. However, if we were to be told that these figures indicate the distance covered in equal segments of time by a pebble that has been dropped from a certain height, most of us would not think about the One Who made this general rule.

Or for example, the equation 11.111.111 x 111.111.111 = 12.345.678.987.654.321 may be as amazing to some people as the verses of a beautiful poem, whereas it will leave others cold.

Likewise, the famous mysterious symbols of mathematics, e, i, , are nothing more than some alphabetical signs for most of us, nevertheless they must have meant a lot to the famous physicist, Richard Feyman, since he wrote the following equation in his diary, noting that he admired it: ei+1=0

If we write f (z) = Z2 + c;, this will not be a meaningful sentence for most people. But that will not change the fact that it is an incredibly simple expression of biological and physical reality in an expression which concerns our lives (as in fractal logic). And the picture you see here (Figure 1) is nothing but the analytical projection of this equation on a computer screen.

The spiral form (Figure 2) which can be seen in various things from cone shells to nebulas, has a very simple formula, r2=a2/A which is fascinating for those who spend some time to think about it. All these examples have a point in common. These numbers, which are abstract concepts, are as real as the concrete objects of the physical world. While other sciences make sense, more or less, for a layperson, mathematics can only be appreciated by people who know it well.

The mythological Princess Dido of Phoen-icia fled from the city where her husband (the King;s brother) had been slain by the King. She wanted to settle in Carthage, in North Africa. There the King only allowed her to buy as much land as could be covered by the skin of a cow. Dido decided to interpret the word ;cover; in a wider sense. She had her servants cut the skin in thin strips, connecting them to each other. In the end, she obtained a long cord, estimated to be somewhere from between 1,000 to 2,000 m. long. When it came to placing it on the ground, Dido wanted to find the shape that would cover the largest area. She found the right shape. She made a circle on the ground and she was able to encompass quite a large area of land. As a matter of fact, looking at some ancient castles, we can understand that they were built in this way in order to create the largest structure over the smallest possible area. This explains why the cross-section of a vessel tissue is circular, because it occupies minimal space in the body (Figure 9).

Did you know that mathematical reality applies in our body and in the universe? This fact was realized when scientists developed fractal geometry. The fractal structure we see in the roots and leaves of plants and in the human respiratory and vascular systems are very good examples of this fact. Such excellence indicates the All-Knowing Omnipotent One Who is behind these geometrical designs (Figures 4, 5, 6).

What is the invisible secret of this visible structure? Dido had to enclose the maximum area by using limited material, which she accomplished. Such optimization also exists in the human body and in other living things. The biological systems we have mentioned above have vessel systems designed as fractal networks, delivering the necessary substances to cells. Essentially, these systems are designed in such a way that the vessels occupy minimal space while serving all the cells within the system; this can only be realized through such a fractal structure.

The most striking proof supporting this idea is that if the human veins, which do not take up a great deal of space in the body, were all added together, they would reach a length that is three times the circumference of the world.

How can this be possible? This can be explained quite simply: find an equilateral triangle and carry out the following instructions. First, divide each side of the triangle into three equal sections and place another (smaller) equilateral triangle on the middle section of each side you have divided, facing outwards. If you repeat the same thing for each of these small triangles, you will create the pattern below (Figure 8).

In a fractal structure, as the number of branches near infinity, the shape of the structure resembles a circle more and more. The new area we will find cannot be bigger than the area of the circle, and the points of contact with the circle will approach the maximum value (Figure 9).

We can also explain this fact in the following way: take a circle with a radius of 3 cm. This will serve as the cross-section of a cylindrical object. Then draw seven smaller identical circles inside the first circle. You will see that the proportion between the sum of circumferences and the sum of areas is 5/7. Those who are interested in mathematics will see that as the value of the r (radius) decreases, the difference increases. This clearly indicates that fractal structures are always advantageous. So, what about organs like the brain or the lungs? They do not have a completely fractal structure, yet they really need to have a larger surface area than other objects of equal size. These organs have been enabled to have the largest possible surface area by being convoluted. Otherwise, man would be a strange creature, burdened with a huge mass on his back. Similarly, when we look at a map that shows the coastlines, we see that a coastline that has many capes and bays has a longer coast line than its counterparts, which run straight along the land. All these living things or organs (man, trees, brain etc) have such structures from the very moment they are created. This system or project (Figure 10) cannot have developed on its own, by chance, without there having been a Creator.

Sir James Jean says, ;The Creator must be a perfect Mathematician; in his book The Mysterious Universe. In so saying, he draws attention to mathematics, the mysterious pattern in the universe, and points to the Artist behind the ornamented beauty seen in Creation. The magical science of mathematics whispers its secrets to those who try to perceive it through the eyes of wisdom.

There are several verses in the Quran that outline very clearly why God created the universe and humankind. God was the only existence, and He wanted to be known, loved, and obeyed by intelligent beings that, unlike the angels, would have the free will to choose to worship God. Thus, God created the universe in which the human beings would dwell, multiply, and be subject to a life-long trial, lasting until Judgment Day when the universe would be destroyed, only to turn into a different realm for the Hereafter.

The human mind has the intellectual capacity to contemplate nature and to reach the conclusion that there has to be a Creator for this complexity to exist in such an orderly manner. Yet, how could we know the reason why God created the universe and humankind in particular? Islam recognizes three sources for the answers: the messengers, the scriptures (the Quran in particular), and the universe as ˜the book of signs. These sources explain that creation is a necessary manifestation and the purpose of this manifestation is for the creatures to know God, to love God, and to worship and obey God.

The Word Khalq (creation) and the Creator Al-Khaliq

The Arabic word khalq comes from the root kh-l-q and refers to the act of creation. Creation in Islamic terminology primarily signifies creating something from nothingness in accordance with the creatio ex nihilo (the doctrine of the theory of creation from nothingness). The ability to create belongs only and only to God, who is the al-Khaliq. He is the One Who creates from nothing, establishing at the same time the states, conditions, and the sustenance of all that He has created.1

Islam is built on the principal of the unity (tawhid) of God, which is prevalent in every aspect and practice of the religion. Since He is the only creator, the entire universe owes its existence to God; therefore He is the only one worthy of worship. Likewise, all Islamic principles are deduced by reason, are built on each other, and can be traced back to the fact that God is the Sole Creator.

Sustaining the Creation

The Creator not only has created, but also governs the world according to an order that issues from His Wisdom as well as His Will.2 Thus, Gods Hand is present in all things at all times, as is evident in the harmony and order of nature. The Quranic verse In Whose Hand is the dominion (malakut) of all things(23:88) explains this phenomenon clearly. Everything in the cosmos has a divine aspect to it, since everything was created and is sustained by the Divine One, and more particularly, because God breathed into everything His Divine Breath. Ibn ˜Arabi states that there is no property in the cosmos without a divine support and a lordly attribute.3

The very essence of the cosmos is the ˜Breath of the Compassionate (nafas al-Rahman) while cosmic forms and all that constitutes the order of nature emanate from the archetype realities and ultimately the Divine Essence Itself.4

Thus, Islam views each animate and inanimate being as sacred, as reflecting some aspect of God. Environmen-talism and humanism (in the sense of loving human beings because of the Creator) are innate to Islam due to this principle, and are manifest in Islamic literature and the practices of Prophet Muhammad (pbuh).

The Purpose of the Creation of the Universe

Islamic theology holds that creation is not without a purpose, rather it has a divine purpose. Numerous verses in the Quran urge humans to question and to observe the creation so that they can understand that it has not been and cannot be created in vain.

Not without purpose did We create heaven and earth and all between! That was the thought of the Unbelievers! But woe to the Unbelievers because of the Fire (of Hell)!(38:27)

“Did you, then, think that We created you in vain and that unto Us you will not be returned?” (23:115)

Gods intention in creating the universe is clearly outlined in the Quran and is centered on humanity. Numerous verses in the Quran explain how the whole universe, the heavens and the earth are arranged to provide for and to serve humanity (Quran: 2:22; 2:29). Thus the universe and everything within are subordinate to mankind, putting the responsibility on man to take care of nature, bringing us back to the environmentalism theme in Islam.

The universe has another, more essential role to play other than for serving humanity. Nature is a divine revelation reflecting and manifesting the Creator. In other words, the most important trait of the cosmos is its theophany. God has also designed it to be a book of signsfor humankind. Human beings may recognize Gods Majesty and comprehend His Divine Names by contemplating nature. As Esposito argues, nature, properly viewed, becomes a revealed book very much like the Quran is itself, composed of individual signs or miracles.5

Do they not look at the sky above them? How We have made it and adorned it, and there are no flaws in it?(50:6)

When viewed from this perspective, the universe takes on an entirely different meaning and becomes increasingly significant for man. The study of natural sciences becomes almost an act of worship, since it leads to knowledge of the Creator. God, in the above verses, urges humans to use the intelligence that He gave them. It is emphasized that we are given this intelligence (and were not created as a plant or an animal, with limited intelligence) so that we use it in the right way and recognize God. Early Muslims took up this command; both natural and social sciences flourished in the Muslim world for centuries in medieval times.

In one of the most well-known phrases on the subject of the purpose of creation, God conveyed through Prophet Muhammad (pbuh): I was a Hidden Treasure and I loved to be known, and so I created the world.6 God manifests His Treasures through His creation since He is a transcendent being that cannot be limited to time and space, and cannot be conceived directly. Also, Prophet Muhammads (pbuh) own words explain that the universe and its contents were created in order to make known the Creator, and to make known that good is to praise it.7 Both of these hadith refer to and require a being with free will and intelligence to know and praise God, which brings us to the core of the matter.

The Purpose of the Creation of Humankind

If the universe was created to serve humanity then what is the purpose of creation for humankind? There are three main reasons that are agreed upon by a wide range of scholars as to why God created humanity: to know God, to love God, and to worship God. All of the Prophets, the revealed scriptures and the universe, as the book of signs, serve as tools through which we know God. The reason for their existence is solely to guide humanity to recognize, acknowledge, and revere God as He deserves. Only after knowing God can we begin to love God in a more conscious and appreciative manner.

I have not created the jinn and mankind except to worship (ibaadah) Me(51:56).

Then the question takes on a new form; what is meant by serving God, or how does one serve God? The Arabic word used in this verse is ˜ibaadah, which translates into English as worship(origin weorthscipe, meaning honor). In this sense, all the prophets preached ˜ibaadah, conveying the message of what God wants human beings to do. In general, worship is defined as all those acts within the circle of halal8 (the acts do not have to be physical, even an intention can be counted as worship) done for the sake of God, to please Him.

Why does God want human beings to worship him by obeying Him and His Divine Laws? Without faith in ones heart, the immediate response to obedience and worship is ˜why does God need my worship? However, it is the human beings themselves who need the worship. Islam presents Divine Laws that guide all aspects of life by distinguishing right from wrong. The Creator alone knows best what is beneficial for His creation and what is not. The divine laws command and prohibit various acts and substances to protect the human spirit, human body and society from harm. In order for human beings to fulfill their potential by living righteous lives, they need to worship God through obedience to His commandments.9 Also, the underlying purpose of the regular acts of worship is to constantly remember God.

What follows is the trial, a concept common to all three monotheistic traditions, although in Islam it takes on a slightly different connotation (The Quran: 18:7; 67:2). Human beings will be held accountable for every single action they do in this life, good as well as bad. Since God provided humanity with guidelines (Divine scriptures) and Messengers and since He gave us intelligence and free will, without accountability and the Judgment Day, creation would be in vain.

He it is Who created the heavens and the earth in six Days-and His Throne was over the waters – that He might try you, which of you is best in conduct(11:7)

God created the heavens and the earth in truth, so that every soul may be rewarded for what it has earned; and they shall not be wronged.(45:22).

The Vicegerency of Humanity

The optimal reason for the creation of humankind lies in the concept of vicegerency. What does it mean for humanity to be the vicegerent of God on earth? God called upon the whole of creation and informed them that He had a trust to offer. All of creation, including the mountains, refused to accept this challenging trust, all, that is, except humanity. Thus, humanity became Gods trustee on earth. There are varying arguments for the definition of the trust. Mawlavi claims that since the only unique trait that humans possess is free will and choice, then this must be the trust. There are several extremely clear verses in the Quran stating that God has appointed humanity as His vicegerent on earth.

It is He Who made you successors on the earth.(6:165)

Philips explains this long term cycle of the role of human beings as follows:

God created human beings with the potential to be good and evil. He implanted in man the desires that need to be controlled according to the Divine Law. God created human beings knowing that they would disobey Him. He thus taught them how to repent and purify themselves. The story of Adam and Eve is a prototype of the human beings repeated cycle. They forgot Gods commandment and were lured by Satan. They disobeyed God and afterwards repented and God forgave them.10

Conclusions to be drawn

The Quran outlines the appropriate chain of conclusions to draw after acknowledging God as the sole creator. Since God created existence and is the source of sustenance, then His creatures should live according to His Will. Thus, the Messengers and the revealed divine scriptures expound the right way of life for His creatures. God urges humans to use their intelligence and power of reasoning to contemplate the universe and the scriptures so that they can recognize and acknowledge Gods wonders. Awe for and thankfulness to God naturally follow, as existence depends only upon Him.

O people, worship your Lord Who has created you as well as those who came before you so that you may guard against evil.(2:21).

His being the creator is a central reason that he is deserving of worship for the entire universe owes its existence to him;11 therefore worship is a requirement of loving and acknowledging God. Also, Worship of him proceeds not merely from his gracious creative act in the past but from dependence upon him for existence at every instant of the present and the future.12

“And why should I not worship Him Who created me, and to Whom you shall be brought back?(36:22).

Conclusion

As is evident from the abundance of Quranic verses related to the creation process and the purpose of creation, God did not leave much room for interpretation nor did He leave this subject ambiguous. Since creation is not a divine comedy, humanity has to understand the reasons for its creation, thus enabling the purpose of creation to be fulfilled. The answer to the crucial question, ˜why have we been created? helps unfold numerous other religious and philosophical questions, thus it is an inclusive and important matter to study and comprehend in the context of Islam.

Conclusively, the purpose of creation can be summarized as follows: God was the only Being; He wanted to be known, loved, and obeyed by intelligent beings that would have the free will to choose to worship God. Creation was not a necessity, but a result of the Divine Will of God. We, as human beings, regard our lives as the most precious thing we have and we would do anything not to lose them. It is, therefore, His Mercy to have created us as human beings without even our knowledge, and also that He sustains us and makes it possible for us to enjoy this life. From this perspective, loving and worshipping God becomes more relevant and logical. 

Footnotes

1 Bayrak, Sheikh Tosun. The Name and The Named.Fons Vitae, 2000., p. 64.

2 Nasr, Seyyed Hossein. Religion and The Order of Nature.Oxford University Press, 1996, p. 53.

3 Ibid, p. 61.

4 Ibid, p. 61.

5 Esposito, John. The Oxford Encyclopedia of the Modern Islamic World.Oxford University Press, 1995, p.474.

6 Nasr, Seyyed Hossein. Ideals and Realities of Islam,ABC International Group, Chicago, 2000, p. 133.

7 Lings, Martin. Symbol and Archetype: A Study of the Meaning of Existence.Malta, Quinta Essentia, 1991, p. 1.

8 ˜Circle of halal is a phrase used to signify all those things, acts, and inten

tions that fall into the category of the permissible in Islam.

9 Philips, Abu Ameenah Bilal. Belief: The Purpose of Creation. www.viewislam.com/belief/purpose, p.3.

10 Ibid.

11 Esposito, John. The Oxford Encyclopedia of the Modern Islamic World.Oxford University Press, 1995, p. 472.

12 Ibid, p. 472.

References

• Khan, Pir Vilayat Inayat. Awakening: A Sufi ExperiencePenguin Putnam, New York, 1999.
• Mutahhari, Ayatullah Murtada. Fundamentals of Islamic Thought: God, Man and the Universe.Mizan Press, Berkeley, 1985.
• Mutahhari, Ayatullah Murtada. Goal of Life. Foreign Department of Bethat Foundation, Islamic Republic of Iran. www.al-islam.org/short/goal.
• Nasr, Seyyed Hossein. Knowledge and the Sacred.Crossroads Publishing, New York, 1981.
• Nursi, Bediuzzaman Said. The Words: On the Nature and Purposes of Man, Life, and All Things.Sozler Publications, Turkey, 1992.
• Perry, Whithall. A Treasury of Traditional Wisdom.Quinta Essentia, United Kingdom, 1971.
• Philips, Abu Ameenah Bilal. Belief: The Purpose of Creation. www.viewislam.com/belief/purpose.
• Shariati, Ali. Man and Islam.Filinc Ltd, Texas, 1981.
• Ward, Keith. Religion and Creation.larendon Press, Oxford, 1996.

The physical body of a human being is in fact a coordinated and cooperative organization consisting of billions of cells. Every hour, millions of old cells die and millions of new cells are produced in a human body. A young body can produce new cells as fast as they degenerate. However, the total number of cells decrease in the body as a result of aging. Brain cells cannot be renewed after a certain age. Cell loss increases and the number of healthy cells decreases as the body ages. Thus, life gradually loses its balance. As a result of the loss of balance, the harmony and order of the body tend to break down, and death becomes inevitable.

The Indications of Death and its Occurrence

For an organism, especially for the human body, which is one of the most complicated organisms, designating the exact moment of death is rather controversial. There are different methods used today to accurately detect the exact moment of death. It is accepted that a moribund person displays typical signs of death. According to research, there is a period of struggle that precedes the actual moment of death. For sudden death situations, this period is short. On the other hand, if the death is due to a chronic illness, this period may consist of hours or even days. The major signs of death are, for the most part, as follows: the skin becomes pale and loses its elasticity. It is observed that in the eye the blood circulation stops in the retinal arterioles. The muscles lose their tension and there is a loss of bulk. Respiration stops and the pulse fades. The body loses heat until it reaches room temperature. 2-3 hours after death, rigor mortis occurs, due to the hardening of the muscle fibers.

Despite all of these signs, it still seems impossible to detect the exact instance of death. It is well known that many people who have been assumed to be dead have returned to life after some time has passed. According to the information in the book by Lyall Watson, The Biology of Death (Watson, 1987), the definition of death in the Experimental Reanimation Physiology Laboratory is: A state where all life signs, such as consciousness, reflexes, respiration and the heart beat cease, however the organism, as a whole, is not dead yet, the metabolic processes inside the tissues continue and under certain circumstances, all the vital functions can be resumed.The aforementioned signs are in fact the external appearance of death and the explanation of death on a physical level. However, in reality, during the process of death, other than those concerning the physical body, there also exist some interesting, complicated transformations and events, that still await explanation.

The Concept of Second Body

In England, in a study carried out concerning the events that occur just before death, scientists from Southampton Hospital noticed that people who were assumed to be clinically dead could sense most feelings. After brain death has been declared, that is when a patient is assumed to be clinically dead, the scientists claim that, contrary to common opinion, patients can have various feelings. According to these scientists, patients can also perceive the flow of time and light. In a study carried out by Dr. Sam Qarniea and Dr. Peter Fenwick from Southampton Hospital, 63 people who had returned to life from the edge of death (caused by heartfailure) were interviewed. Dr. Fenwick, one of the researchers who interviewed these 63 patients, 4 of whom were pronounced as clinically dead, said that, If it is possible to consider the mind and brain separately, this brings up the question whether the consciousness is awake after death. The results of this research have raised new debates throughout the world.

6 people who were regarded as being dead by modern medicine have claimed that while their brains were regarded as non-functional, that first they saw a bright beam of light, then they entered a happy and peaceful world that was very difficult to describe. Experts pointed out that these 6 people were interviewed separately and yet they used the same expressions; this is a fact which cannot be ignored.

Besides studies on death, people who have been involved in fatal accidents say that they felt comfortable and peaceful at the time of the accident. In the book by Lyall Watson it is mentioned that in such circumstances past memories flash up and the whole life of the person appears in front of their eyes, like a movie. Memories fade away, being replaced with a mystical spiritual state. The nurse who entered a coma remembers that she was seeing a picture of the Taj Mahal; and a mountain climber that fell from a cliff recalls his memories as follows: ˜My body was being crushed and ripped apart, hitting the rocks, however, my consciousness was totally independent of these physical wounds and pain, and it did not even feel them.

Besides the physical body, people have always felt the presence of another body, which is invisible and retains its existence after death. Today, many researchers and experts have begun to talk about the existence of a second body. This body is called the astral, the aetheric or the double.

Previously, the concept of a second body, which has not been accepted by some scientists, was scientifically identified and even photographed. For many years, scientists have been experimenting on the bright light that radiates from the human body when exposed to a high frequency electric current. Some evidence was found regarding the existence of an energy body in living creatures; in other words, the existence of a second body composed of energy has been determined. What is this energy body? What is its origin?

The Relationship between Matter and Energy

The theory of relativity has dramatically changed our view about matter. This theory has shown us that matter is only a form of energy. On the other hand, energy is a quantity related to activity, period and movement. The fact that the mass of a particle is equivalent to a certain amount of energy leads to the conclusion that the particle cannot be regarded as a static object. Accordingly, the mass of a particle is a dynamic object, in other words, the energy appears as mass.

Recently conducted high energy dispersion experiments have shown us in a striking manner the dynamic and continuously changing structure of the world of particles. As a result of these experiments, it has been discovered that matter is entirely a variable entity. Thus, all particles can be transformed into other particles. Particles can be formed from energy or they can be transformed completely into energy. In todays world, classical concepts such as essential particles, material essence or isolated mass/entity have lost their meaning. As a result, the universe as a whole can be seen as an elaborate network of energy processes that cannot be separated one from another and cannot exist alone. Realizing that mass is a form of energy has led modern physics to disregard the understanding of mass as a material thing with a stable body; we have begun to refer to atoms as energy fields, not as the essence and basis for matter. Yet energy is a concept related to movement and activity.

On the other hand, force and matter emerge as consequences of the various assumptions of dynamic processes and structures, which we refer to as the particle. And these are not unrelated to each other. It would be more convenient to regard them as different perspectives of the same truth.

Besides noting that mass is, in fact, a form of energy, energy was also regarded as the mass of light. In modern physics, mass is no longer bound to a material essence, therefore it is assumed that particles are not composed of a basic matter. Now particles are regarded as being energy clusters. However, since energy is related to activity and time processes, subatomic particles are thought to be essentially dynamic.

These dynamic forms, or energy clusters, form the atomic and molecular structures that are the building blocks of substances and that make matter appear macroscopically in a concrete form. Eventually, we arrive at a false conclusion that matter is composed of material essences.

The efforts of humanity to find the truth by trial and error and our desire to discover the essence of everything has broadened the boundaries of science and has brought metaphysics into the arena of science. Today, science is pushing back the boundaries of the unknown by using the God-given abilities of questioning, interpretation and investigation. As a result of improvements in science, scientists have reached the point where they have begun to discover existence beyond matter and to question its properties.

We should disregard the terms and models that we have become accustomed to use scientifically when we go deeper into nature and investigate the ray-like quantity, called energy, that does not have limitations in space and is beyond the dimension of time. When we go beyond the dimensions surrounding us, mechanical terms lose their meaning and they are replaced by organic terms. These terms have attracted attention because of their spiritually based nature.

Kirlian Photography Technique:

Developments in the twentieth century have provided us with supporting evidence that beings are not composed only of their bodily parts, and that there are mysteries beyond matter and energy. Among these are the experiments that took place in the 1940s which demonstrated that living things have a secondary energy body. This technique was named after Semyon and Vaentilla Kirlian, inventors and electricians from Krasnodar, Russia. In the presence of a high-frequency, high-voltage, low-amperage electrical field, the photographs of different objects show glowing, multicolored emanations. These are said to be auras or biofields. After years of study, they were able to take pictures of the energy field that surrounds humans, animals, plants and all living organisms. Their research and subsequent discoveries were the result of observations made in a hospital. During the shock treatment of a patient, there were sparks that jumped through the glass electrodes on the skin of the patient. Inspired by this, Semyon Kirliyan used the instrument at home and performed the first experiment on himself. During the experiment, he saw a blue spark along with a small electric shock and when he processed the film, he saw the silhouette of his finger. Blazing beams from his finger were easily seen in this very first photograph.

The Kirlian technique attracted much attention in many universities in Russia. In 1968 doctors V. Inyushin, W. Grisshchenko, N. Vorobev, N. Shoinki, N. Federova, and F. Gibadulin stated in a joint declaration that All living organisms not only have a physical body composed of atoms and molecules, but they also have an energy body which is a replica of the physical one. This second body was called the bioplasmic body.

Bioplasmic Body and Life

Studies on plants showed that there is a great difference between the radiation that surrounds a faded leaf that is drying out and a fresh leaf, newly picked from its branch. In consecutive photographs of the fresh leaf, the radiation is continuous and dynamic, whereas in those of the dried leaf there is no radiation present. This means that, as a result of the loss of life, the radiation also fades away slowly. In the photograph of a leaf which is partially torn, the missing piece can be observed in its place, however, the energy field belonging to the missing part fades after a while. When living organisms die slowly, the sparks and flames of the bioplasmic body extend outwards and eventually fade away.

As everything has been created in pairs, the twin of our physical body is said to be the virtual body in Islamic literature. The virtual body that is detectable by the Kirlian photography technique has many different names, such as the light covering (Ghilaf-i nurani), the aetheral body (athir-i badan”), the energy body, the second body, the perispirit, the double, the astral body. We have been told that the second body serves as a sheath and a covering for the soul. After death, as a result of the Divine Wisdom, the soul leaves the body, which has served it as a material envelope; however, the soul does not leave the figurative body. The Kirlian photographs have been used to support the view that all living organisms have an energy body which is a copy of their physical body composed of atoms and molecules. In an experiment, an American Doctor Watters exposed about 50 grasshoppers to ether and took their photograph. This was done as soon as he was confident that the grass-hoppers were about to die, and after he had filled the room with steam. As a result, he was able to capture the images of about 13 grasshoppers.

In the former Soviet Union, yogis who can travel out of their body were subjects of scientific research. People can make their energy body leave their physical body under certain conditions, such as during a time of crisis, when in a coma, when meditating, or under the effect of anesthetics. As a result, their soul appears with the energy body.

Appear (as in Tamassul) means to emerge in any shape. Angels, and jinn too, can appear to the human eye (tamassul) as well as in the imagination of humans. Ted Serious, an American, was able to observe the image of his thoughts on the film of a camera while focusing on the objective lens (1960s).

Abstract objects can intervene with the physical world. As time passes, this becomes more evident. When the soul manifests in its virtual body, it looks like itself (that is, the physical body of the person). When we are asleep and our physical body is at rest, an interesting mechanism takes our virtual body into the virtual heavens. The virtual body performs many activities and meets with the double bodies of many people in the world outside the limits of time and location. In death, on the other hand, the virtual body leaves the body and never comes back. The new soul, free from the body goes to the heavens and starts its new life.

Extrasensory Perception: Mediums and Human Aura

There are many mysteries tied up with human beings; the universe is at their service. In fact every member of the human race is a universe in his/her own right. Although humans have many things in common, we can see that some people have extremely improved sensibilities. For some, this sensibility shows itself as extra sensory perception. These people can see some things that we cannot see during the day, while they are awake, or during meditation. The second pair of eyes that enable us to see the virtual bodies of the energy universe can sometimes be used during everyday life. These people tell us that they can see an aura around other people and this aura changes color and is different in sickness or at stressful, difficult times. They can even determine the character and personality of a person by looking at their aura.

Very interesting and informative results have been obtained from observations made by these sensitive people of dying people. The things they see should be investigated and taken into consideration. According to the results of such observations, the energy body, which normally appears as an aura that is present in all living organisms, leaves the body at the instant of death and is able to move consciously out of the body. In other words, when the physical body dies, the second body recovers life.

Davis Observations

Observations of a famous American ESP expert on the death of a dying woman are as follows: There appeared a strong focus, which was gradually increasing around the brain when the woman was about to die. This thing was becoming brighter and stronger as the struggle decreased and the paleness in the body increased. These struggles that are observed during the death are not related to pain and are not felt by the soul. These are entirely organic movements. When the moment of death was near, the organs of the body fell onto the bed like a vacant case and in turn the formation of the other body was being completed separately from the patient. The first part that left the patient was the head of the body and then slowly the remaining parts left the body and finally, it stood up at the front of the head of the patient. There was a bright cord connecting these two bodies, which we refer as the ˜life cord. When this cord broke, some part of it remained on the corpse. It is probably this piece that prevents the corpse from decomposing immediately. The virtual body of the woman became slowly used to freedom and left the house consciously, as if it knew what to do.

We have given just one example of such observations with common themes. Among these is the cloudy image that emerges from the body of the dying person connected to the body by a cord of divine light. As this cord breaks away, this body departs, acting as if it knows where to go.

The common point of these discoveries is that there is an existence of a virtual body that affects all of our bodily organs, making us alive, conscious and able to function; all of this has become more clear in the light of science. We have begun to understand that death is nothing more than the departure of the second body from the corpse and that death is not nonexistence or annihilation, but on the contrary, that it is a passage to a new world where everyone will gather, one by one.

References

• Lyall Watson, THE BIOLOGY OF DEATH: A Natural History of Death, London: Sceptre, 1987 ISBN: 0 340 41727 7
• http://www.occultopedia.com/k/kirlian_photography.htm
• Moss, Thelma, The Body Electric, J.P. Tarcher Inc., Los Angeles , 1979.
• Harold Burr, The Electrodynamic Theory of Life, The Black Box, Connecticut, Yale University Press, 1935

The Plaza of Abraham is a place that will host and welcome people of all faiths, especially followers of the Abrahamic faiths. The Plaza is envisioned as being built on approximately ten acres of land. On this land a large circle, called Abraham’s Circle, has been planned. Three places of worship are positioned on the circle. If the circle were a clock, at 3 o’clock there is a mosque, at 7 o’clock a synagogue, and at 11 o’clock a church is located. These will be active places of worship. People will feel safe and comfortable in these places. To illustrate this feeling of safety and comfort for our readers, we would like to them to imagine that they are going to stay in a foreign city, where they do not know the language. They may well prefer to stay in a hotel which is part of a well-known chain. A significant number of people visiting foreign cities would prefer to stay in a well-known hotel, because even though they have come to this foreign city to explore and discover new, fascinating facts of history and geography, even though they are there to visit places, meet people and otherwise live an experience that is novel and different from what their experience at home, they would still prefer to stay in a place that is familiar to them, as a starting point. In the same way do the places of worship on the Circle of Abraham serve as safe and comfortable starting points for people who want to discover other religions. They give the message: Come, you are safe here.

The imams, the rabbis and the priests to be employed in these places of worship are not simply religious leaders; they are scholars as well. They can and are willing to study different religions without any prejudice. They are also guides for other people in the dialogue experience, they serve to protect this effort from falling into a common dilemma: the blind leading the blind. In interfaith dialogue, in efforts where knowledgeable people are not involved, ignorant members of the groups can easily turn the atmosphere into a critical one. In order to prevent such occurrences, these scholarly religious leaders have authority over the people of their faith and there is an internalized approach to dialogue, based on such principles of interfaith dialogue as courtesy, respect, self-critical examination, abandonment of preconceptions and seeking first to understand before trying to be understood.

The plaza will also have a computerized digital library that provides access to digital copies of the main sources for all three religions. Scholars of the different religions will come together to discuss recent issues, and past and possible future interpretations of the religious sources. These efforts focus on searching for interpretations of the sources that foster peace, harmony and mutual coexistence instead of animosity.

A common value to each of these three faiths is hospitality. To bring this common value to the fore, Abraham’s plaza has a feast table covered by a large tent. Once a year a celebration will be held that will last for many days and weeks. Through this event, the People of the Book (as described in the Qur’an) become the People of the Tent. A feast like this is also likely to attract young people. The feast itself and the possibility of making friends from other faiths and nations is likely to be attractive to them.

We envision replicas of Abraham’s Plaza being constructed on all continents of the earth: Europe, Asia, the Americas, Australia and Africa. We envision plazas in major cities, as well as in any small towns where there is a representation of all these faiths. We live in a strange age. We have the best, most widespread and fastest means of communication and transportation to date. Yet the world still faces challenges of misunderstanding and animosity. Projects like the Abraham’s Plaza are needed to get everyday people involved in an interfaith dialogue and in the active pursuit of a more peaceful world.

Reference

• Feiler, Bruce. Abraham, a Journey into the Hearts of Three Faiths. Harper Collins Publishers, 2002.