Multiple factors shape thought, but communication is especially heavy-handed. Communication not only restructures the contents of the mind,; it re-configures the brain’s very neurological patterns (Rotman 2008: 51-52). Brian Rotman explains four ways people communicate selfhood: self-pointing, a spoken “I,” an alphabetically written “I,” and “self-enunciation within contemporary media” (Rotman 2008: xxxiii). The written “I” is the only disembodied method, but this separation subliminally trickles beneath conscious awareness. Writing has been a major component of communicating theological concepts because writing has been the easiest form of mass communication for centuries. Theologians 1,000 years ago probably did not ponder the disembodiment of writing any more than landing spaceships on the moon. Television – which mediates communication through bodies – was not on their radar. But contemporary theologians have options. Gunther Kress is clear that, “The former constellation of medium of book and mode of writing is giving way… to the new constellation of medium of screen and mode of image” (Kress 2003: 9). These moving constellations have forced a fundamental shift in the way social brains engage thought. Theology that fails to take this into account will find itself hopelessly outmoded and no longer equipped to engage the study of God in fresh situations.

This article addresses the cognitive and neurological effects stemming from shifts in “culturally mediated systems of external memory” (Rotman 52) – such as writing and images – and how theological communication could expand in response. Writing reinforces left-brain, systematic, and linear thought (Armstrong 1995: 115). Images, on the other hand, encourage more right-brain, intuitive, and spatial reasoning. It would be simplistic to hold that writing is only mediated through the right hemisphere and images only through the left, but communicative modes create lateral biases. Theological minds emerge, – not only from the “linear, logical, detail-oriented left hemisphere”, – but from embodied, whole brains. The first section of this paper shows writing’s left-brain bias. The second section turns a corner by examining emotion as altered body states and how this leads to a right-brain bias. Visual mediums are the most direct way to communicate right-brain thoughts, so the last step is to show how visual mediums could add a holistic, embodied element to theology.

WRITING AND A DISEMBODIED, LEFT-BRAIN BIAS

Writing forces neurons to march in line with time (Kress 2003: 2). The left hemisphere attributes meaning to words and strings those words together to form sentences, paragraphs, and full discourses (Hogue 2003: 87). In a sentence, one… word… follows… another, so the brain follows a preset “reading path” (Kress 2003: 3). A dog bit Karen means something entirely different than Karen bit a dog. Reading paths necessitate choices about which words make the most sense in which temporal order (Kress 2003: 3), so writing creates “the subliminal appeal of reducing wholes to constituent parts” (Jahandarie 1999: 57-58). It entrenches linear (temporal) neurological patterns through the repetitive, reductive decision-making (Jahandarie 1999: 54).

This leads to what could be called: alphabetic reasoning. Daniel Siegel explains that the left hemisphere is responsible for “more slowly acting, linear, sequentially active, temporal (time-dependent) processes. Verbal meanings of words… are a primary mode of processing for the left side” (Siegel 2001: 179). The left-brain deals in “monosemantic ‘packets’… which are then processed in a slower, linear mode” (Siegel 179). Writing strengthens linear thought patterns in the left hemisphere. Siegel holds that, “Repeated activation of specific neuronal pathways reinforces the strength of connections between groups of neurons” (p. 194), so neurons fire in similar patterns in the future (p. 24). The brain functions like a malleable muscle, but writing only exercises the left-brain. The brain is sculpted like a bodybuilder who only lifts with one arm. That arm ripples, but the other atrophies. Plastic makes perfect.

The “linear, logical,” and “linguistically-based” left-hemisphere (p. 161) evaluates the contents of written words through syllogistic reasoning (p. 197), prejudicing the brain to evaluate their contents through the brain’s semantic operator. The semantic operator deals with “propositional representations – symbols of external or internal facts that can be… assessed as ‘true’ or ‘false’” (p. 35 [emphasis mine]). In alphabetic reasoning, ideas are filtered into categories of: right or wrong, – fact or fiction. Then, alphabetic reasoning reinforces the brain’s quest for causation through sequencing. Reading paths communicate meaning through cause-effect relationships, so the ensuing left-brain thought patterns in the semantic operator create a syllogistic lens. Wholes are eliminated in the effort to snap details into linear, cause-effect relationships. Meaning is confined to these necessary but limited ways of processing information.

THEOLOGY AND LEFT-BRAIN BIAS

As writing has become increasingly more accessible in punctuated bursts over the past few millennia, theologians have become more and more linear and syllogistic in thought. But neurons fire in strikingly complex and highly plastic patterns (Bennett and Hacker 2008: 137). Linear rules for systematic theology are only engrained through repetition. The dark side of alphabetic reasoning is that it can produce theologians who tend to exercise linearity while alternative methods atrophy. Recall that the semantic operator can only qualify concepts as right or wrong. Linear patterns do not leave cognitive space for multiple details to be processed simultaneously. In the study of God, this cognitive capacity is absolutely necessary.

So far, I have examined several important consequences of alphabetic writing: it is inherently linear; in committing to using particular words in particular sequences it automatically eliminates other options; it coerces thought into cause-effect analysis, and it externalizes, or disembodies, thought. Of these consequences, the disembodied nature of theological writing is the most problematic.

EMOTION AS ALTERED BODY STATES

Emotions are physiological changes in a person’s body. These are mediated through combinations of gestures, postures, and behaviors (Damasio 2003: 63). External images – or stimuli – are mediated to the brain through the senses, and internal body and brain states refract the external world (Damasio 195). Marshall McLuhan writes, “The use of any medium or extension of hu/man/ity alters the patterns of interdependence among people, as it alters the ratios among our senses” (Jahandarie 51). The higher cognitive processes involved in developing theological concepts are pushed and pulled by the body’s constant emoting (Siegel 143).

The signals passing in and out of bodies generate emotion, so change signals can make emotions contagious (Siegel 143, 50). Siegel explains that, “Complex neural/bodily aspects of emotional processes are not easily translated into words. Nonverbal expressions, including those of the face, tone of voice and gestures, can transfer information about internal states more fully to the outside world than words can do” (Siegel 150). When it comes to altering the emotions correlated with belief – belief that can override higher cognitive functions – bodily gesture trumps writing.

Because this emotional processing is primarily non-conscious, people do not qualify intuition as true or false by sequencing details into rational arguments. For example, anger is typified by “dilated pupils, widened orbital area, raised eyebrows, furrowed brow, and pursed lips” (Siegel 128). The brain absorbs all of these signals at once when someone unexpectedly sees this:

Through non-conscious processing, faces can change emotions and minds in a flash.

Intuition of other people’s emotions occurs within the Mirror Neuron System (MNS). This system draws most heavily from facial expressions (Siegel 290), and it tells the viewer’s brain to respond to the viewed face in kind (Siegel 129). The MNS non-consciously indicates: whatever is happening in that person is also happening in me. This is why people constantly imitate the “motor acts, postures, and gaze of their co-citizens” (Kanwisher and Duncan 2004: 463-64). When people talk, their body language loops without their awareness as emotions harmonize. Yawning becomes contagious. When the MNS causes altered body states and facial expressions, people influence each other’s emotional-cognitive looping, and thought itself is steered.

There is scientific evidence that the entire body is engaged in understanding and remembering. James McGaugh demonstrated that the Vagus nerve – which connects the brain stem to the stomach – directly unites visceral and emotional experience with mental processing. McGaugh presented subjects with two stories containing similar amounts of data. One story had high emotional content and the other had low emotional content. People with functioning Vagus nerves recalled more data from the stories with high emotional content than from the stories with low emotional content. People with damaged Vagus nerves had identical recall from both stories. This suggests that certain types of thought are crippled by the absence of full-bodied emotion. Siegel explains that, “conceptual representations are nonverbal. They form the fundamental building blocks of our thoughts, beliefs, intentions, and aspects of our explicit memories” (Damasio 167). Written theological method is often left wanting embodied communication to close the cognitive loop.

EMBODIED COMMUNICATION AND RIGHT-BRAIN BIAS

The body’s indicators of emotion – somatic markers¬ – interface with the right hemisphere more than the left (Damasio 144, 82). The right-brain simultaneously correlates multiple details rather than sequencing them in cause-effect relationships. Siegel describes how the right-brain deals with nonverbal communications through “fast-acting, parallel (simultaneously active), holistic processes” (Damasio 179). This means that the right-brain is the default processor of metaphor and paradox. Imagistic representations in the mind do not force choice, categorization, or analysis. They exist simultaneously without being truncated by “top-down” processing as emotions ebb and flow (Siegel 165).

Kress calls this type of right-brain embodied thought “spatial reasoning,” and he places it in opposition to the “temporal reasoning” sublimated by alphabetic thought (Kress 45). Spatial reasoning portrays multiple details simultaneously, so spatial reasoning is correlational rather than sequential. This opens up possibilities for theologians by beginning with building blocks of thought before they are sequenced into categories of justified and true, fact or fiction.

The right-brain is functionally nonverbal, so its contents have to be externalized in “non-word-based ways, such as drawing a picture or pointing to a pictorial set of options” (Siegel 327). Alternative mediums, such as video and visual art, could generate entirely new forms of theological thought.

MEDIA’S ROLE IN SPATIAL REASONING

Video and visual art are viable possibilities for developing a right-brain, spatial reasoning into theological method. Jahandarie poetically explains, “Electric media are extensions of our central nervous systems and thus put us in touch with the totality of experience” (Jahandarie 99). Jahandarie overstates his case; – for example, video does not communicate through odors, for example, – but his intended meaning is helpful. New technologies make it possible to create right-brain mass communication. The MNS is 80-85% as effective at influencing emotion through video as it is in person (Kanwisher and Duncan 469), so gestures captured on video have a startlingly high ability to steer the emotional side of the cognitive loop. Emotions can be altered and details can be expressed simultaneously if theologians were to use a wider set of cognitive and communicative tools.

Rotman explains that people listen, “not to speech sounds as such… but to the movements of the body causing them; we focus on what happens between the sounds, to the dynamics of their preparatory phases, pauses, holds, accelerations, fallings away, and completions” (Rotman 23). Through the MNS, we get hunches, – not only about what another person is thinking, – but how the person is thinking and feeling. The dynamics of gesture in film add an intuitive, interpretive element to its communicative ability. In split-brain studies, the left-brain cannot even register facial expressions or emotional states (Rotman 151). While the left-brain might be incredible at reading and writing books, it is inept at spatial reasoning. Siegel writes that the left-brain’s “monosemantic ‘packets’” operate through neurological patterns and processes “quite distinct from the analogic representations seen, for example, in an artist’s painting or in a photograph,” so “the right hemisphere more fully ‘sees the world for what it is,’ whereas the left hemisphere must reduce the world much more into mentally defined, often socially constructed chunks of information” (Rotman 179). The right-brain’s holism and simultaneity could be invaluable to theologians, but it is too often dampened by the limitations of past technologies.

WHEN THEOLOGY IS EMBODIED

Siegel mentions the “theory of nonlinear dynamics of complex systems” in regard to personhood (Siegel 7). The firing of every synapse in every thought exponentially complexifies what it means to be human. Perhaps God is not only linear, either. Images are not filtered through the linear critiques applied to writing because they function differently in the brain. This does not make imagistic, spatial reasoning irrational. It makes spatial reasoning non-rational, and theologians desperately need non-rational ways to discuss a nonlinear God. Spatial mediums are not able to comprehensively encapsulate God’s personhood any more than writing, but they could generate new perspectives to better triangulate theological depth in conjunction with it.

In the syllogistic line that runs from rational to irrational, the concept of a trinity is inherently problematic. The semantic operator only deals with logical, sequential coherence, so the multiple, simultaneously existing details involved in conceptualizing the trinity do not get cognitive space. In this case, it might be advantageous to take a right-brain, imagistic approach to theology.

Depictions allow for multiple details to coexist without sequence. Images can be worth far more than 1,000 words. Imagistic reasoning allows space for entire persons to subject themselves to concepts. The “events and actions” lost in writing’s “principles and concepts” could be filled out through images (Jahandarie 17). Instead of only understanding theology in terms of right and wrong, the theologian could also trust a Vagus nerve when it communicates that an image or gesture is good or bad. The details could remain simultaneous in the right-brain without being sorted, and persons could experience theologies to a fuller degree in addition to critically evaluating them.

CONCLUSION

As neurological patterns become more spatial and less linear, theologians have the opportunity to construct new theological paradigms by diversifying their communicative tools. Creating theology through imagistic mediums would be bounded by its own “epistemological commitments,” (Kress 57) though. Critical thought is a crucial element in theological conversations, for example. This suggests that – when used in isolation – either alphabetic or imagistic methods are reductionistic. Theology has to be alphabetic, linear, and critical to be constructive, but it also needs to be imagistic, embodied, and holistic to avoid reductionistic sequencing of nonlinear concepts. The multiple natures of cognition cannot be mixed or separated. Language and experience, left-brain and right-brain thinking, knowledge and belief, are locked into cognitive loops (Eichenbaum and Bodkin 179), and it is impossible to have a one-sided loop.

The advent of new mediums makes the creation of an embodied theological method – complete with shifting neurological patterns – a mandatory opportunity. The next step is to synthesize multimodal theologies with alphabetic reasoning. A critically holistic methodology would emerge as gestalt. Full-blown theological paradigms could materialize if both hemispheres were used in conjunction. However progressive, however gestalt, and however critically holistic theological method becomes, it can never be comprehensive or complete. Theologians must do theology at all times. When necessary, they should use words.

Jonathan Camery-Hoggatt is a freelance writer in Seattle. He has MA in divinity from Princeton Theological Seminary.

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There are two main points to this question – this matter has aspects that relate both to the people of guidance who are attached to God, and to those who are not.

It is the duty of the people of guidance to communicate to other people the truth as they believe, the truth they have found and had a taste of; the truth they are satisfied with or a view with which they mature with, and to guide them to peace. First and foremost, this is a debt of conscience we owe to humankind. A person who knows these truths, the content of which has been bestowed to our consciences as a divine favor, should communicate them to those who do not know and open for them the doors leading to God.

Now, let’s have look at how God has commanded about this matter: “The believers, both men and women, they are guardians, confidants and helpers of one another. They enjoin and promote what is right and good and forbid and try to prevent the evil” (Qur’an 9:71). Another verse reads: “O you who believe! There must be among you a community calling to good, and enjoining and promoting what is right and good and forbidding and trying to prevent evil (in appropriate ways). They are those who are the prosperous.” (3:104). God has always referred to those who promote what is right and good as an honorable community: “You are the best community ever brought forth for (the good of) humankind, enjoining and promoting what is right and good forbidding and trying to prevent the evil, and (this you do because) you believe in God” (Qur’an 3:110).

These divine lights considerably clarify this obligation towards humanity. This matter is clarified by many other verses and hadiths and it is so open and clear that it does not require any further interpretation or explanation. Therefore, we can gather from these verses that we are responsible for communicating the divine truths. This is such a compelling responsibility that if there was no one left on earth one day in future, then we will entertain the possibility that there might be people living in a colony near Sirius or some distant planet around some unknown star in the Hercules constellation and somewhere in the Milky Galaxy, and with an urge that is unique to human species to reach out to them, we will build colonies and cities as interim stations on our route toward them, and we will communicate our heart-felt inspirations to the people there (if any). We will intermingle and sympathize with them and we will show them the roads that will lead to God. We will say, “Say, ‘There is no god but God,’ and be saved and be prosperous,” as the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, put, and this will always be our main motto. This is our duty. On the other hand, their duty is to lend an ear to this call of ours that invites them to peace and to search for the straight path wherever they are and everywhere they go.

If we do not fulfill our duty, we will fail to comply with our obligation towards God. Then, Almighty God will ask questioningly: “You knew the truth, but you failed to communicate to other people? You knew God, but you did not introduce Him to other people? You could see the straight path, but why didn’t you show it to other people? You were aware of the light, but why didn’t you turn other people to look toward that direction?”

In the light of divine revelations, I can say that on that day, Almighty God will say to them: “Although you satisfied all of your animal drives to the full, why didn’t you search for the way which would provide you with full gratification? Even during your most troubled and distressed times, you did not think for an instant to experiment this way? In other words, you have resorted to all sorts of recipes for your worldly welfare, but why didn’t you consider making the truth which you somewhat heard about even for once?”

In the final analysis, Almighty God will hold every individual against his or her own sins. Since we are responsible only for communicating the truth to them, we will be questioned only for our faults in fulfilling this duty of ours. On the other hand, they will be questioned for failing to search for truth or lend an ear in a sincere manner to the truth, if they have already heard about it. May God save us from falling tumbling down by failing to enjoin and promote what is right and good, and forbid and try to prevent the evil while having capability to do so!

Original Article: Cranford, S.W. et al., Nature 482, 72 (2012).

Spider silk has been a symbol of durability and strength, but the role the design of a web plays or contributes to the strength was unknown. Researchers from Massachusetts Institute of Technology discovered that the impressive design of web and the feature of silk allow spiders to build a super-strong web under different levels of stress. The response of spider silk subjected to load was studied. They studied webs of a variety of species, including European garden spiders and orb weavers, and combined their experiments with correlated web models. At low stress, silk threads soften and extend that result in retaining web structure. At high stress, the silk threads extend and the most stretched ones break. The strength of the silk and the geometry of the web allow only one or two threads being broken under strain. Therefore, the break in the web is minimized and prevents destruction of the whole web. The localized web damage can be repaired by the spider and therefore a requirement for rebuilding the web completely is eliminated. This study shows that spider silk web is very stable even under hurricane winds. This research gives an idea to engineers to build a system that will fail only at small parts of the system under certain stress. Therefore, the system will continue to work just after repairing the destroyed parts of the system. Otherwise, the whole system may be destroyed under potential load and will have to be rebuilt. For example, when a building is exposed to large mechanical stress such as an earthquake, it may be destroyed as a whole and become dysfunctional. Applications on such systems require further research in engineering to achieve structures as stable as a spider’s web.

2- Benefits of Exercise Through a Protein

Original article: Bostrom, P. et al., Nature 481, 463 (2012).

Exercise has a number of beneficial effects in human health such as increasing cardiovascular, respiratory and metabolic capacity. Scientists at Harvard Medical School have discovered a muscle hormone, Irisin, which may be responsible for the many beneficial effects of exercise. Irisin secreted from muscle after exercise and act on white adipose tissue that stores energy. Excessive amounts of white fat cells contribute to many pathologic effects of obesity and diabetes. Irisin, however, converts white fat into the more beneficial and metabolically active brown fat, which burns more calories and produce heat instead of energy. It helps to prevent excessive glucose and fatty acid accumulation in the body. The researchers demonstrated that mildly increased Irisin levels in the blood cause an increase in energy expenditure in mice with no changes in movement or food intake. It also reduces body weight and improves glucose tolerance and obesity induced insulin resistance. This research suggests that Irisin can be a new therapeutic target in human metabolic diseases treatment. Also it could help people lose weight and fight against obesity induced problems such as diabetes and hypertension.

3- New Generation Vaccines with High Efficacy

Original Article: Avci F.Y. et al., Nature Medicine 17, 1602 (December 2011).

Most pathogenic bacteria contain complex carbohydrate structures on their surfaces. These carbohydrates are called capsular polysaccharides. “Glycoconjugate” vaccines are prepared by chemical conjugation of capsular polysaccharides with proteins. This method is the standard design for many vaccines that protect us against common diseases such as pneumonia and meningitis. One drawback with these vaccines is their limited efficacy in populations such as the elderly, children and patients with compromised immune systems. Researchers at Harvard Medical School and Rockefeller University have designed and synthesized a vaccine that is about 100 times more potent than traditional vaccines available today. Until now, the scientific community believed that the body’s professional immune cells, called T-cells, were only able to recognize vaccine’s protein molecules to generate an immune response. However, after studying how glycoconjugate vaccines stimulate immune response, the researchers found that T-cells are also able to recognize the carbohydrate molecules. In a series of elegant experiments, they demonstrated that there is a repertoire of T-cells that can recognize the carbohydrate portion of a glycoconjugate vaccine, and that these T-cells stimulate antibody producing B-cells to generate high affinity antibodies against the carbohydrates. Based on the knowledge obtained from this mechanistic study, researchers have designed a new-generation glycoconjugate vaccine and showed that this new vaccine was about 100 times more immunogenic than a vaccine made by traditional methods.

4- Producing Fuel from Waste with Bacteria

Original Article: Bokinsky, G. et al., PNAS 108, 19949 (December 2011).

It turns out, the secret for alternative source for oil might be hidden in a very common bacterium and plant, E coli and switch grass. As the world’s natural resources are quickly exhausted by humans, new energy sources or alternative energy production methods are needed. One popular way for addressing this question is promoting biofuels. Most of the biofuel source is in ethanol form, often produced from sugar that is extracted from sugarcane and corn. However the consuming of main food sources for energy sources begs a question: What if one day feeding the machines with our food sources makes food scarce? Another concern is that many countries are not using ethanol as an energy source. All these led researchers to pursue another idea: Instead of using food sources as precursor for ethanol, non-food biomass or bio-waste can be converted to precursors for biofuels by utilizing the cellulose or hemicellulose as a starting material. Human body cannot digest cellulose. Hence, cellulose is a bio-waste, which can be broken down into sugar using a mixture of enzymes and subsequently can be used for gasoline production. The enzymes for this procedure can be produced by bacteria in massive amounts. To this end, researchers genetically engineered Ecoli bacteria to consume large amount of cellulose from switch grass and convert it to sugar. Scientists achieved to produce different precursors for different fuels, including gasoline, diesel or jet fuel with bacteria. These are big steps in turning bio-waste into fuels. Imagine one day your plane will be powered with a hay of switch grass and a bottle of bacteria. Next time when you fly over a field of switch grass, you might actually be seeing the next oil well.

“I do not know what I may appear to the world, but to myself I seem to have been only like a boy playing on the sea-shore, and diverting myself in now and then finding a smoother pebble or a prettier shell than ordinary, whilst the great ocean of truth lay all undiscovered before me.” Isaac Newton

Perspective, or how you look at events, is pivotal for happiness in our lives. To be able to look positively and see the good behind everything is not always easy, for it entails a set of beliefs and convictions to be well nested in the heart and mind. But it is also a fact that if we are seeking happiness, there is no other way than this prescription: “The one who sees positively will think positively; one who can think positively can take pleasure out of this life,” a trendsetter saying of Bediuzzaman, the giant trendsetter scholar of the twentieth century.

The lead article “Love for Truth” in this issue opens a door to us on how to set that perspective, the one through which we can see things beautifully, and glimpse across “the great ocean of truth” in the words of Newton from the epithet. From the angle the author of the lead article stands “the whole nature or entire existence is an exhibition of beauties, a gallery of art and marvels, a promenade of pleasure and delight.” His advice is to look at this exhibition and gallery with the eyes of our hearts and with the light of faith, so that it is as if we listen to special lessons of wisdom from every being, and the world becomes a travel to Paradise.

Dr. Kristeller confirms this perspective when she mentions that cancer patients who are caught in a struggle with the thought that they are being punished are not doing well in recovery or in their quality of life. Her research on the role of spirituality in the treatment of cancer patients is worth reading.

The Fountain is rich with psychology and religious thought in this issue. Tosun and Mette are analyzing how psychology is “essentially” a useful discipline for Muslims offering a beneficial body of knowledge and why a special focus is needed for the peculiar settings of a Muslim community. Namik Top delves into character education programs in schools for achievement and to reduce violence. Ozsoy discusses how divergent thinking is significant for authentic interpretations of religious texts in order to “discover the unveiled aspects of it.” Camery-Hoggatt addresses the cognitive and neurological effects stemming from shifts in “culturally mediated systems of external memory” – such as writing and images – and how theological communication could expand in response.

Such a love can also be referred to as the feeling, excitement, effort and passion of becoming aware of the essence and reality of everything by scrutinizing all existence, things and events; such a love is the safest way to reach the Truth of all truths. To stimulate such excitement and desire in one’s spiritual world, to activate in him the sense, curiosity and thought of understanding the meaning beyond every being, and to enliven his will and determination, are the first murmurs and stirs in the name of love for truth. Among sine qua non principles for this matter are that he peruses and evaluates the outer and inner worlds with perfect joy and seriousness of worship, that he reviews the beings and events with the perspective of new scientific developments and changing paradigms, that he endures all problems he faces during all these, his determined attitudes and mental effort, that he does not fall into despair and feel panic when facing with some intricate and inextricable matters, and that he takes reaching the truth as the goal of his life against all odds.

We can also summarize such a journey as “deliberation” (tedebbür), namely reflecting upon and evaluating the beings and events with their premises and consequences; as “reflection” (tefekkür), namely thinking in a comprehensive way as if brainstorming; as “observation” (tebassur), namely testing every object and event in the vast horizon of insight; and as “endurance” (tesabbur), namely enduring against the maddening effect of time (namely, difficulty of waiting for the fulfillments) with a determination without tiring.

If one can read the universe, beings and events with these considerations, everything in his near or far environment begins to talk in time, every object begins to sing eulogies about its condition and meaning, unburdens itself making indications to the Creator, and spreads lights to his horizon and relief to his heart with the immense meanings beyond itself. Electrons with their amazing movements and fascinating harmony; molecules with their dynamic and disciplined activities as if they are officials on active duty; the cell with its perfect structure and operation; our organs with their hundreds of functions; the mind with its myriad activities in connection with the spirit and divine command; the conscience with all its profundity; humankind with his relationship with the Creator through faith, wisdom, love, yearning, closeness and reunion; countless creatures on land and in sea with their different formations and life adventures; the earth with all its conditions convenient for life and resources gushing out from its bosom; the sun with its dazzling energy and its contact with every creature on earth; namely, all the cosmos, macro and micro, with their majestic appearances and trembling depths, are all sending various messages to everyone in the name of truth, enlivening souls on the path towards truth, and providing the insatiable experiences for those who can contemplate.

The earth especially, which we see and observe every day, excites our hearts with the love of truth, as it is more beautiful than the most beautiful exhibitions, more magnificent than the most magnificent palaces, more informative than the most informative books, more orderly than the most orderly systems, more fascinating than the most pompous promenades, and always fresh and colorful—we can also call it the projection or the enchanting corridor of the Paradise.

If one reflects on aspects of nature and life without prejudice and with a fair mind, he will deeply admire every being he witnesses and meditates on that he will not help but observe them again and again and perhaps will always dream like a lover to reach the essence of existence; he will become a curious researcher and a loving discoverer of the truth beyond all beings, by his every new scrutiny, analysis and synthesis. Every curious and prudent mind looking at and interpreting the universe in this manner will see the things differently, and colors, patterns and languages transform in his sight. He will experience a spiritual ecstasy whenever he observes the heavens and the earth, and is enchanted when gazing at the splendid beauties of flowers. He nearly hears the hymns glorifying the Creative Power in every sound, from the thunders of lightning to the heart-felt and fine melodies of birds. He experiences a tasty rapture in all phenomena from the atmospheric events to the purls of rivers, and he feels beyond all these the infinite will and mercy encompassing the whole existence, becoming as joyful as a child. Like a curious one approaching the truth, he is searching, or like a lover sensing the scent of his beloved one, he is sometimes hopeful; but now and then he says “not yet” and goes on, only to comprehend in phenomena the deep and immense truths that could not be expressed in books.

And one day, he faces with the glaring manifestations of the Supreme Being, who is beyond our comprehension and descriptions, in the sound, breath, color, pattern, form and spirit of everything he witnesses in his near and far environment. He then finds himself in a unique tune of sensing and intuition. He goes further and reaches the horizon where everything recites “God the Worshipped, God the Intended, God the Beloved…” Then all the inconveniences turn into graces, and the hardship of searching into pleasure.

In fact, for such a vigilant spirit, the whole nature or entire existence is an exhibition of beauties, a gallery of art and marvels, a promenade of pleasure and delight. Those who look at this exhibition and gallery with the eyes of their hearts, and those who observe this promenade with the light of faith feel as if they are walking in a corridor leading to Paradise, often swoon with the ecstasy of the eternal truth, and run towards new horizons by combining their will to their insight. They receive a unique greeting from every being they meet, and listen to special lessons of wisdom from them. They travel from one valley to another by internalizing the knowledge and love expressed by each creature. They salute and are saluted by everything. They feel in each step that they are getting closer to the Truth of all truths that they have been pursuing. They sense that they are bestowed a special kindness, and feel like receiving messages from Him by the help of their strengthened faith and wisdom. When its time comes, they reach the horizon of, as if, seeing Him. They see the unseen and hear the unheard. So they do not want to leave this cove of pleasure, enthusiasm, and awe.

Such a love of truth generates an aspiration for serious research, another important subject that requires separate treatment.

How beautiful it is to stop somewhere every day!

How nice it is to flow without freezing and getting muddy!

What word that belongs to yesterday,

Is gone, my loved one, with yesterday,

Now is the time to say new things.

Hierarchy of hematopoietic stem cells

The blood system, also known as hematopoietic system, has enormous regenerative capacity to maintain functional mature blood cells that arise from highly proliferative but short-lived progenitor cells. Those progenitors in turn are generated from very rare blood stem cells called hematopoietic stem cells (HSCs). HSCs are one of the most studied stem cells in our body which has greatly shaped our thinking on the features of adult stem cells. These stem cells are kept at the bone marrow in close proximity to bone cells and other supporting cells forming the specialized home known as niche. In several aspects, a niche resembles a cellular stronghold that a queen lives in a safe and protected environment.

The interaction of stem cells with the niche is crucial as this prevents exhaustion of stem cells from uncontrolled cellular divisions and proliferation. While active progenitors account for the generation of mature blood cells, hematopoietic stem cells function as a reserved cell population. Interestingly, we observe the importance of the balance between those two cell populations in the aging process. Although the number of HSCs increases in aged animals, there is a decline in self-renewal of HSCs.

Other protective mechanisms include the low proliferation rates of HSCs in a relatively quiescent state, residing in a low oxygen environment [3], a relatively low degree of metabolism and preferential use of glycolysis as energy source, and additional protection mechanism against oxidative stress.

Low in oxygen but a good place to be!

Stem cells as the cell bank of the body are protected against internal and external insults by a number of mechanisms. Stem cell niche not only provides an environment that they can survive but also poses the lesser degree of internal and external insults. Those possible stresses on cells include, but not limited to, UV exposure, radiation, toxic chemicals, and free oxygen species that cause various damages in the cell including mutations in DNA (Fig. 3). Cells respond to those external and internal issues by various ways such as senescence (loss of stem cell activity), cell death or DNA repair. For example, blood stem cells mainly house in the bone marrow next to osteoblastic lining (blood-forming cells) and endothelial cells where they form the hypoxic (low oxygen tension) endosteal region. This hypoxic niche of HSCs provides lower levels of oxygen so that there are lower levels of free oxygen radicals that mainly arise from electrons leaking from mitochondria during oxidative phosphorylation. In addition, it has been shown that HSC express higher levels of hypoxia inducible factor-1α, a master regulator at low oxygen tension with hundreds of downstream targets regulating various aspects of metabolism including defense against oxidative stress and survival at low oxygen environment. It has also been shown that hypoxia increases self-renewal abilities of HSCs, thus keeps them healthy and functional for longer periods.

Protection from detrimental effects of reactive oxygen species (ROS)

Excess amounts of reactive oxygen species are detrimental to cells. ROS are found to cause hematopoietic stem cell defects as shown in mouse lacking FoxO and Atm genes. In those mutant mice, the hematopoietic defects could be rescued by the use of an antioxidant N-acetyl-cysteine. Anti-oxidants are one of the scavengers that diminish unwanted effects of reactive oxygen species. A number of fruits and vegetables such as beans, blueberry, strawberry, and apple are known with their high content of anti-oxidants. It is amazing to observe anti-oxidants being placed into our sustenance just as much as in some special genes (such as SOD2 and Hypoxia Inducible factor-2α) that provide additional protection for cells. Amazingly, stem cells show high levels of ROS scavenger genes.

Low metabolism provide protection for stem cells

Recent studies demonstrate that hematopoietic stem cells have lower rates metabolism as measured by lower oxygen consumption, lower ATP content and higher lactate production (an end product of cytoplasmic glycolysis) [4]. This means that stem cells produce and consume lesser energy (ATP) compared to more differentiated cells and the by-products of the energy production are kept lower. As higher energy demand brings higher rates of internal insults like production of ROS which is associated with aging and cellular damages, HSCs are granted with another protective mechanism by preferential use of glycolysis (anaerobic) instead of oxidative phosphorylation (aerobic).

Hematopoietic stem cells are quiescent

Another defense mechanism is the quiescence of stem cells which is associated with slow cell-cycle progression. Quiescence of stem cells means that they are kept at a resting, inactive state thus sustaining a self-renewing HSC compartment for life. Because when cell divides, they have to undergo thousands of chemical reactions including making a copy of the three billion letter long DNA, which puts cells at risk to get mutations. Thus, they don’t undergo division unless there is a stimulus. In addition, it has been found that HSCs divide only once every 145 days on average.

There are a number of studies indicating that there are signals in the niche that keeps HSCs in a quiescent state. Tie2/Ang-1 signaling, for instance, has been demonstrated to contribute to the maintenance of HSCs by inducing quiescence. While Ang-1 is expressed in the mesenchymal/stromal cells of niche, its receptor Tie2 is expressed at HSCs. In addition, it has been shown that Ang-1 can inhibit HSC division in culture and promote quiescence of HSCs in the bone marrow [5].

It is also reported that the cell adhesion molecules that allow physical interaction between stem cells and their niche components may participate in regulation of stem cell quiescence through a process called contact dependent inhibition of proliferation. For instance, it has been found that cell adhesion molecules such as N-cadherin, β1-integrin, and osteopontin might be involved in the regulation of cell cycle status of HSCs [6].

One advantage of quiescence of HSC comes from the lower susceptibility of slowly proliferating cells to radiation than other cells due to the expression of cell cycle inhibitors like p21 and anti-apoptotic (controlled cell death) machinery like ATM in HSCs. In addition, studies in p21 (a cell cycle inhibitor gene) knockout mice suggest that maintaining cell cycle quiescence is directly linked to self-renewal of HSCs [7].

Toxics are exported from hematopoietic stem cells

There are other issues concerning external insults against toxics and unwanted chemicals. An HSC population described as side population has been equipped with a number of transporters such as ATP Binding Cassette (ABC) transporters, P-glycoprotein (P-gp/ABCB1) and Breast Cancer Resistance Protein (BCRP/ABCG2) on their membrane providing high efflux ability [8]. They play an important role in the excretion of drugs and endogenous compounds. Those transporters work actively when there is an entrance or excess of such chemicals thus keeping damage minimal.

HSCs are placed in such an environment that even minimum damages by internal and external insults are prevented by different defense mechanisms including residing HSCs in the hypoxic niche, expression of ROS scavenger genes, preferential use of glycolytic metabolism, quiescence nature of HSCs, and removal of toxins by ABC transporters. It is very wise to home such an important cell in a place where it can prosper with a carefully balanced rate of cell division and metabolism. Hypoxic niche seems key to the protection of hematopoietic stem cells by supporting self-renewal and preservation of hematopoietic functions both at the same time. The presence of these protective systems that are graciously placed in our cells with perfect measurements provides an elusive mechanism to ensure healthy life-long reservoir of HSCs.

Ali Fethi Toprak is a PhD candidate at Southwestern Medical Center, Texas University.

Selected References

1. Kobayashi, C.I. and T. Suda, Regulation of reactive oxygen species in stem cells and cancer stem cells. J Cell Physiol, 2012. 227(2): p. 421-30.

2. Li, L. and H. Clevers, Coexistence of quiescent and active adult stem cells in mammals. Science, 2010. 327(5965): p. 542-5.

3. Eliasson, P. and J.I. Jonsson, The hematopoietic stem cell niche: low in oxygen but a nice place to be. J Cell Physiol. 222(1): p. 17-22.

4. Simsek, T., et al., The Distinct Metabolic Profile of Hematopoietic Stem Cells Reflects Their Location in a Hypoxic Niche. Cell Stem Cell, 2010. 7(3): p. 380-390.

5. Arai, F., et al., Tie2/angiopoietin-1 signaling regulates hematopoietic stem cell quiescence in the bone marrow niche. Cell, 2004. 118(2): p. 149-61.

6. Yamashita, Y.M., D.L. Jones, and M.T. Fuller, Orientation of asymmetric stem cell division by the APC tumor suppressor and centrosome. Science, 2003. 301(5639): p. 1547-50.

7. Cheng, T., et al., Hematopoietic stem cell quiescence maintained by p21cip1/waf1. Science, 2000. 287(5459): p. 1804-8.

8. Huls, M., F.G. Russel, and R. Masereeuw, The role of ATP binding cassette transporters in tissue defense and organ regeneration. J Pharmacol Exp Ther, 2009. 328(1): p. 3-9.

9. Antioxidant Riches Found in Unexpected Foods. Retrieved from http://www.webmd.com/food-recipes/news/20040617/antioxidants-found-unexpected-foods, January 31, 2012.

In a harsh, corrupt and unforgiving land,
came a mercy and salvation.
Warring tribes and fierce factions,
he united into one nation.
And to the women at the bottom of the tribal castes,
he brought liberation.
He was. The best of creation.
A people so lost in ignorance,
they required a complete transformation.
When they prayed to many gods,
he insisted on unification.
With divine unity at its core,
he built a solid foundation.
He was. The best of creation.
When forced from his home land,
he made patient migration.
But his was a mission of mercy,
there would be no retribution.
What less would you expect? From the best of creation.
While Kings lived vain glory,
he was humility and moderation.
He had no need for worldly goods,
his purpose was to save his nation
Whatever he had he would give away,
yet he was richest in God’s estimation
He was. The best of creation
Now 14 centuries later,
he remains an inspiration.
In a world of darkness and delusion,
his way is illumination.
O God! If you grant me just one wish,
let him know of my adoration.
Your beloved one, the best of creation. 

This is the winning poem in a recent competition organized by ISRA, Islamic Sciences and Research Academy in Sydney, Australia, dedicated to the Prophet Muhammad, peace be upon him.

In the twentieth century, like other religious communities around the world, Muslims had to come to a resolution regarding the compatibility of their religion with science. Today, at least at the fundamental level, this is not an issue, however, the same pattern of questioning is extended to the use of the products of science: is it permissible to donate one’s organs? Under what conditions is abortion permissible? Can a person perform daily prayers (salaat) while onboard vehicles? etc. Along the same line of thought, psychology is under scrutiny in terms of its use for understanding mechanisms of cognition and behaviors, character education and methods of therapy.

Putting Islam and psychology into a perspective

Islam aims at the prosperity of humanity both in this world and in the next. As its prerequisite, Islam requires a conscious and willful submission from its followers. In this brief description, the key words are conscience and will. Without a healthy conscience and free will, human beings can neither be responsible for their actions nor submit to Islam. Therefore, at the fundamental level, Islam calls for action in order to foster the development and exercise of conscience and free will.

Psychology is a discipline that is intended to understand behaviors. It is the study of not only the problematic ones but also the everyday behaviors such as how we remember or forget, learn a language, make selections, or adjust to a society. In this sense, a healthy psychology means a soul in good health that can exercise its free will and associate their actions with their conscience.

The two previous paragraphs imply that essentially psychology is a useful body of knowledge for practicing Islam. With this perspective, there should be no conflicts or compatibility issues between Muslims and psychology. Furthermore, due to their religion that promises to satisfy all faculties of human existence, Muslims should have a completely healthy psychology. Now, let’s think about the Muslim world with this idea in mind.

Journey to ground zero

While reading the cases below, imagine yourself in similar situations. While reading we have to bear in mind that many of these cases are not exclusive to Muslim societies, and their reasons have diverse economic, political, and socio-cultural dimensions (please read footnote 1 for more explanation):

– The near past of the contemporary Muslim world contains wars and sectarian conflicts. There are children in those places whose parents, siblings or friends are dying in the clashes. There are consequences of these traumatic events in the development of their psychology.

– In other places, there are Muslims who feel an obligation to hide their religious practices in order not to be an outcast from the society. The children and the adolescents in such atmospheres are likely to develop a feeling of guilt or inferiority.

– In some parts of the Muslim geography, there are girls who are forced to marry someone that they did not want to, or forced to marry an old man. They struggle for emotional survival, and in the meantime, they try to raise their children. There are many suicidal cases among them, and their yearning for revenge is transmitted to their children.

– There are children who barely hear words of appreciation from their fathers, or have almost no one-on-one time with them. There are children who rarely see their mother being treated respectfully by their father. Such children are likely to establish families in which they use their children as race horses to achieve certain goals in life, and in which the wife is treated very much like a loyal servant.

Due to these unfavorable situations, some Muslims who were victims of these situations face various psychological challenges, which can lead to real problems. These problems are not necessarily acute schizophrenia or paranoia, but more subtle things that penetrate the individual and social life thoroughly, such as excessive self-assertion or self-annihilation, negligence in parenthood, malpractices in the family life, gourmandism, back-biting, obsession and compulsion. In such conditions, people have more difficulty in exercising their free will towards what is taught in Islam; because they develop several psychological immune responses for protection. Hence, their free will is no longer as free as they think.

Atop the ivory tower

One of the premises of science is that the gained knowledge must be objective, i.e. independent of the person. In fact, when we consider the human behavior at a broad level, it is possible to reach some universal rules as well. However, the rise of the social sciences in the past century and the consequent accumulation of knowledge severely challenged the premise of objectivity in the humanities. Innate variations in perceptions of the same phenomenon, diversity in the ideals for humanity, various interpretations of the meaning of life are only a few among many reasons that rendered social sciences rather subjective. Being one of the social sciences, psychology is no exception to this subjectivity. As such, the meaning and applications of psychology in different communities exhibit distinct properties.

Modern psychology as a branch of science has been mainly developed by Western scholars. In doing so, they based their statistical works on their own communities. Thus, the observations and conclusions made by them were reflective of Western societies. At a first glance, one can say that humanity shares a lot in their innate character, and so this knowledge base is useful for everyone. True, but when it comes to building characters, one needs to define an ideal and come up with ways to achieve that ideal, given the conditions of the society. The differences in the definition of an ideal bring an essential subjectivity to the table. Aside from this, the difference of the settings in each society necessitates a special focus and a deeper understanding for each and every group of people.

Richard Nisbett, one of the most cited social psychologists, confesses that as a built-up science over the years, psychology was wrong in assuming human cognition to be the same everywhere. He says that these differences are even scientifically measurable. According to Nisbett’s studies, the world is more complex to Easterners than to Westerners, and everything is considered “in relation to one another in no simple and deterministic way.” Therefore, harmony is almost everything in the East. If something is considered as a breaker of “the harmony,” it tends to be refused even if blind conservatism would be the result. In the West however, self sufficiency is valued over dependency and individuality is preferred over conformity. So, psychological treatments that aim to help people become “their best” and “shine their egos” are misfit to the Eastern social context. This is only one example showing that the studies in the Western world do not entirely represent the Eastern world. Still, the rest of the world is copying what the Western world finds in the psychological studies, even though it is known that the dress does not fit the rest.

Another issue with the modern psychology is the position of faith and religion. To modern psychology, religion is nothing more than statistics that say, “Religious practices can be good for recovering from mental and bodily problems, and an adherence to a faith enhances the protection against certain troubles” or, “religious disciplines may lead to psychological complications.” Along the same lines, God is either a concept that is out of concern or is no more than a product of our brain. The entire body of spiritual development for that matter, e.g. Sufi practices, is nothing more than a beneficial cultural activity. A vast majority of psychologists would diagnose with schizophrenia a person who is experiencing some spiritual perceptual aspects, which are not counted as hallucination in Muslim society. Thus, although modern psychology may respect a patient’s beliefs in God, angels, afterlife, etc., it would not necessarily be able to suggest a cure that can resonate within a Muslim mind.

Focusing on errors

As a consequence of the aforementioned elements of psychology that are not compatible with Muslims, some Muslims make erroneous assumptions about psychology, often triggered by a motive to take pride in their religion.

For example, many Muslims would know Freud only due to his obsession with sexuality as the underlying motive for all human activity. Another erroneous example is towards behaviorism, which establishes deterministic action-reaction patterns of behavior; thus denial of the free will.

A final example to this matter is the emphasis on ego expression and its use in the motivation of the individual. As a daily life application of psychology, self-improvement techniques have been developed and are exported to Muslim societies. These techniques are originating from scientific research mixed with ancient mysticism. One can admit that there is useful information in those sources, but they have been interpreted and organized in such a way as to address the Western individual. And what is more, the picture of ego favored in the resultant teachings is clearly not justifiable with the truths of Islam.

The above examples do not necessarily represent all schools of psychology or the situation of all Muslims or psychologists. However, these are enough materials for the uneducated minds to shun psychology.

Stabilizing on Islam, the middle path

Despite the unfortunate picture drawn above, it is possible that the body of knowledge within psychology can be useful for Muslims. For this, one needs a pragmatic perspective gained through the Qur’an and the practice of the Prophet Muhammad, peace and blessings be upon him; the sources uncontaminated by cultural interference.

In the context of Islam and Muslims, something that is not a perfect-fit for the norms of some Muslim communities or contradicts them, can be acceptable in Islam (e.g., coexistence and cooperation of Muslims and non-Muslims). Conversely, something that is accepted and appreciated by some Muslim communities can be unjustifiable in Islam (e.g., status of women in social life). Given that guidance and counseling activities are adjusted according to the cultural norms, such activities unaided by the Qur’an and the practice of the Prophet are only likely to sustain the status-quo, without necessarily improving the state of the people in an Islamic manner. With the help of those two sources however, guidance and counseling activities can step outside the cultural norms and provide an improvement in an Islamic spirit.

For example, take the internal conflicts between different groups in a society. In original Islamic understanding, “unity within multiplicity” is taken as a basis in society. This understanding requires diversity under unity, or discrepancy in a harmonious way. Briefly, unity within multiplicity leads to “both/and” thinking style, instead of “either/or.” Therefore, claiming to be members of the final and universal religion, Muslims must be able to accommodate the variances among people instead of leveling them off completely under the banner of “unity.”

The same view leads to embracing the methods of psychology that agree with or serve Islamic ideals. For example, how many people would know Freud as the person who established a psychoanalytic theory in which the importance of childhood memories is emphasized? More importantly, who would know that he proposed a dynamic understanding for the subconscious? The analysis of childhood memories and tracking how they evolved in the subconscious throughout the life of the individual are things that are not in contradiction with the teachings of Islam. What is more, they can be key concepts for the Muslim world to remove their non-Islamic habits.

Similarly, it is well-known that both the Qur’an and the practice of the Prophet recommend rewarding laudable behavior to strengthen it and punishing evil action to curtail it. Behaviorism, thus gives hope to Muslims to change towards what is right using the right methods when they believe hopelessly that there is no way to become a good person after all wrongdoings. Therefore, conditioning-related phenomena, hence behaviorist methods in this sense, can be of importance within the Islamic educational framework.

Achieving the “perfect human”

Once the issues mentioned in this article are addressed, the psychological methods could be well-suited complements for becoming perfect Muslims. Then, issues like conflict resolution, social justice and poverty are going to be much easier to address. Self-improvement and personality development techniques are going to become a different way of servanthood through reliance on God and destiny. Above all however, for the realization of such goals, Muslims need to be educated about psychology in an Islamic spirit and need to use their free will to change themselves as necessary.

Sumeyra Tosun is a forensic psychologist and graduate student at Texas A&M University. Seth Mette is a postdoctoral fellow at West Virginia University.

While discussions on the education of creation in schools continue, generations grow up with lack of knowledge about the Creator and understanding of His Actions. The current education system in high schools and colleges are giving knowledge about the universe, nature, earth, and life but courses are not directed to understand the Actions of the Creator. How and where can people learn about their Creator? Although there are various means such as the internet, religious groups, and journals, it is not always feasible and enough to understand directly the Creator’s Actions without a good understanding of sciences. Fortunately, every science continuously mentions God with their unique language and speaks of the Creator, but we will need a point of view, windows to see beyond our sight and knowledge, just like we need a microscope to see microorganisms or a telescope to discover depths of the universe. With some attention, everyone can understand what sciences reflect from God’s Actions. That’s why we should listen to what sciences tell us in their own language.

Imagine there is a simulation program to analyze a car crash. In this program, let us say you enter different parameters such as velocity, weight, angle of hit, general structure of the car, hardness of the body, and weather information like wind velocity and its direction and so on. After you click on the OK button in this imaginary simulation program, you almost get the same results with real physical crash tests. This obviously shows us a skillful software programmer and his great knowledge in mathematics and physical events. Noticeably, nature is composed of millions and millions of parameters determining final result just like this simulation program. For instance, when you throw a stone to a lake or into water, first of all it falls down with a velocity and then you see a wave of water expanding to its surrounding from the center affected by that velocity. The velocity of this stone at a certain time and place and wave formation on the surface of water can be explained with some physical laws described with mathematical equations. Whoever put these rules for the physical events also created the universe in a perfect mathematical order. From these and the knowledge we get from computer sciences, physics, and mathematics, we can open windows to understand the ruler of the universe as Glorious Creator.

We are at the time of great advancements in gene technology and huge increase in knowledge about molecular biology; even individual structures of biological molecules are known and many more discovered about cellular mechanisms. The more we learn, the more we face complexity and organization in the tiniest compartments of cell. Cell is no longer a small room filled with a gel-like structure in our minds, it is a massive factory that contains all required machinery and it is automatic, well balanced, and continuously renewed. Things are in constant motion; uptake follows release of substances and signal from outside results in a response produced inside. With increase in understanding of how living things are working and necessity to answer how these things originated caused discussions in scientific research. Some scientists like to talk only at scientific platforms or on so-called testable scientific subjects, but this does not change the reality. We wonder about the beginning and we wish to live forever. We are finite but dream of infinity. How can we think of eternal life if we were a product of something that is not eternal?

Imagine there is a high-tech, but small self-working factory producing highways and trucks to carry items, fuel engines for the energy that can be used in many different processes and containing solar energy collectors. There are great photocopy machines for the production of a new factory, feedback systems to control and repair any problems as well. Without any concern, control of all these events and thousands of machines, engines, highways in such a small sized factory without any problem involves a perfect engineer, scientist, architect, and chemist. Similarly, believe it or not, the cell is an excellent composition of around one million molecules, thousands of machines, and energy producing engines. There are highways, trucks, feedback systems and more in an arranged and fine control in such a small size. Mitochondria, for instance, is one of the most essential cellular organelle and produces ATP molecules as carrier of energy obtained from organic molecules for energy requiring cellular processes. In addition, cellular requirements vary by time and vesicles carry required molecules as cargo on molecular motors using microtubule pathways to different places. Those and many other examples we learn from biological sciences point to the Glorious Creator of the Earth.

When you consider a cell coming into existence by causes other than the hands of a Creator with numerous levels of regulation, coordination of subcellular compartments like organelles, information storage in DNA, and use of this information required for their specific function, it means molecules come together under the effect of natural causes and form an artistic cellular structure in a wise-manner. Actually, this reminds us of a very famous experiment by Stanley Miller to make amino acids, the building blocks of proteins, to demonstrate that life on earth has originated by natural causes and chance. Miller, in his experiment, took molecules which were supposed to represent the major components of the early Earth’s atmosphere and put them into a closed system. He used methane (CH4), ammonia (NH3), hydrogen (H2), and water (H2O) in his experiment and ran a continuous electric current to stimulate lightning storms and to drive these unfavorable reactions. He found that three amino acids have been synthesized in these conditions. Later, it was found that this composition was different from the early Earth’s atmosphere and arguments raised to his experiment due to continuous energy input not possible in nature. However, this was exciting at that time and some used headlines like “Miller created life.” On the other hand, what Miller had managed to synthesize was only a few inanimate lifeless molecules.

People who do not believe in God also do not believe in creation. That’s why they tend to conclude that “nothing is created out of nothing, and nothing goes to nothing; there is only composition and decomposition.” But, the All-Powerful One has two ways of creating. The first way is through origination and invention and the second way is through composition and through art. He creates from out of nothing together with everything necessary for, again, nothing. In the second way of creating, He forms beings from materials of universe in order to show his delicate wisdom, perfection, and the manifestations of His Names. “O people! be careful of (your duty to) your Lord, Who created you from a single being and created its mate of the same (kind) and spread from these two, many men and women…” (Quran 4:1)

When we think about the lessons learnt from these examples and natural sciences with their special focus areas, we realize that every science somehow declare the Glorious Creator of this universe. However, there may not be an opportunity in school to discuss and go deep into the understanding of the Actions of the Creator. With the window of what sciences open to us about God, we can uncover the hidden truths.

Ali Fethi Toprak is a PhD candidate at Southwestern Medical Center, Texas University, Dallas.