Will there be wars over elements like there have been over petroleum and water? What element have we been using in color televisions? What substance is used to make energy saving, environmental light bulbs?

Each of the elements found in the periodic table have their own characteristics. After they have been cooked in the pot of the universe, these substances that are offered to our service can be radioactive (like uranium), metallic (like magnesium) and even gaseous (like helium). Seventeen of the elements not easily found among the layers underground have unique properties. These elements are called rare-earth elements, because it is hard to discover and mine them.

Rare-earth elements are in many of our everyday devices. The data projected on a computer screen is transmitted via optic cables containing erbium. The light of a tablet device is generated by the phosphorescent element europium. We actually touch indium covered surfaces when we scroll our fingers on touch screen monitors. When listening through headphones, we are using neodymium magnets that are ten times stronger than iron magnets.

From space technologies to defense industries, from cell phones to LED lighting, many such rare-earth elements are used in every stage of our lives. These elements – many of which we cannot live without, even though we’ve never heard of them – were recorded into the Critical Materials Strategy Document published by the U.S. Department of Energy in 2010. In a public announcement, the department declared fourteen of the elements as specially significant regarding clean energy, listed six of them as critical, and the other four as near critical. Fifteen elements, beginning with lanthanum and ending with lutetium, numbered between 57 and 71, comprise lanthanides. Combined with scandium and yttrium, these make up the seventeen rare-earth elements.

The elements that we touch on screens

Indium (atomic number 49) gains the properties of electrical conductivity and optic transparency when combined with tin, which, at number 50, is indiums’s neighbor on the periodic table. Optical transparency is a desired property for plasma screen and television technologies. Indium is also an important material for mobile phone touchscreens. Interestingly, when indium combines with cadmium, also as a neighbor at number 48, it loses the optical transparency. Instead, it is able to absorb light. Light harvesting is a very critical feature in the production of solar cells.

The relationship of indium with its two neighbors opens new horizons for scientists. In the near future, it is hoped that many unknown and interesting features will be unearthed by investigating the known elements of the periodic table. It is amazing that these elements have been around for thousands of years in the universe only to be discovered by technological advancements.

The need for rare-elements in the world is around fifty thousand tons. The current recorded reserve for rare-earth elements is 110 Million tons. Currently, 95% of the demand for rare-earth elements is supplied by China, yet the country only has 35% of the world’s reserves. Therefore scientists are constantly searching for rare-earth element mines to eliminate the Chinese monopoly and to boost the production of these rare materials. In recent years, China has gotten into political debates with Japan and the United States by curbing rare-earth element exports. Economic journals covering these debates wondered if “element wars” were near. In 2010, a massive reserve of elements, enough to sustain worldwide demand, was discovered in the Pacific Ocean. Developed countries are now planning to recycle rare-earth elements from used devices due to low reserves.

Yttrium, europium, and terbium (atomic numbers 39, 63 and 65) have been known for a long time. Terbium and yttrium are named after the Swedish town of Ytterby. Yttrium is the first rare-earth element discovered, at the end of 18th century. Plastics containing europium are used to make laser products; it’s also used as an element to provide the red color on television screens. Yttrium has a supplementary role that enhances europium’s red color production. And terbium oxide activates the green phosphorescence of television tubes with its yellow-green phosphorescent property.

Terbium also enables an 80% reduction of energy consumption in light bulbs. This makes it one of the most wanted elements in the $2 billion rare-earth element market. Today, when we purchase class A type light bulbs, we are actually buying rare elements like terbium.

Neodymium (number 60), which emits a green light via laser pointers, is also used in the magnets of electric motors. When neodymium combines with boron and iron, it makes a magnet twelve times stronger than simple iron magnets. Because it is significantly less dense than iron, it makes electric motors and laptop computers much lighter. Another interesting feature of neodymium is that it enhances the data storage capacity of hard drives. Furthermore, neodymium is wanted for electrical devices and wind turbines.

The union of elements

Dysprosium was discovered in 1886 and can never be found in a free form in nature. This is because it exists in a compound form with other minerals, like gadolinite. Dysprosium is also known for its magnetic property, and when mixed with terbium and iron, it forms a substance called Terfenol-D. In a magnetic field, Terfenol-D has unique transformational abilities. Dysprosium is utilized in laser production together with vanadium, and it emits infrared radiation when used with cadmium.

The magnetic alloys of iron, boron, and neodymium lose their magnetic features beyond 300 degrees Celsius. However when this alloy is combined with dysprosium at a 5% ratio, that problem disappears. Therefore, these magnets are used for electric turbines and hard disc motors. Dysprosium also makes magnets in electric motors 95% lighter. And dysprosium and nickel mixed fillings are used as cooling rods in nuclear reactors.

The human mind becomes fascinated after seeing all the wisdom and properties involved in these lifeless elements. Either we conclude that these elements have doctorate degrees in physics and chemistry from Harvard University, or we may express our weakness and fascination in front of The Grand Creator who created and presented these elements for our benefit.

Is the yellow color in glasses from the planet Ceres?

Since Dell recalled four million laptop computers in 2006, because of a possible explosion caused by overheating battery, scientists’ eyes have been focused on lanthanum and cerium. These two elements are considered to be safer than other alternatives. Lanthanum and cerium are used in electrical equipment and energy saving light bulbs, and are classified as critical elements in these processes, along with tellurium. Cerium, named after the planet Ceres, is responsible for the yellow coloration in glasses. Cerium is also used in polishes, ceramics, and petrol refineries. Tellurium is produced indirectly, unlike most other elements. The production of cadmium takes place during zinc production, and tellurium during copper refining. Tellurium is a cheaper element that has been used in combination with cadmium on solar cells since 2009; before then, most solar cells used expensive silicon panels.

Elements in our lives, from space rockets to ultrasound imaging

Hafnium, tantalum, erbium, and technetium are important elements, even though they are not listed critical. Even though hafnium and technetium are not rare-earth elements, they were still added to the critical material strategy document produced by the US Department of Energy. Hafnium is employed in space rockets for its resistance against extreme temperatures and wearing. Hafnium oxide is a valuable material for electronic transistors since it is a very effective electric insulator. It is 20% faster than the silicon oxide that is commonly used in transistors. A transistors length is around 65 nanometers when silicon oxide is used, but it is only 32 nanometers with transistors made of hafnium oxide. This 50% decrease enables smaller devices.

Touchscreens containing indium, laptop computers powered by lithium ion batteries, and cell phones with hafnium transistors are some of today’s technological wonders. Would these inventions still be possible without these elements? Could we reach the high capacities in hard discs without the tantalum? Would we be able to protect ourselves from electric leakage in computers without high quality electric insulators such as tantalum oxide?

Radioactive technetium, which was discovered in 1937, is the first artificially produced element. The technetium 99 isotope is used in nuclear medicine. Technetium produced from uranium has a half life of 211,000 years, as opposed to the 6 hour half life of the technetium 99 isotope. The number of technetium based nuclear medicinal tests, like ultrasounds and x-ray imaging, is estimated to be above thirty million annually.

We take advantage of these elements in every stage of our lives, from medicine to technology. Could we become dependent upon elements the way we are upon petroleum? Only time will tell. Either these elements will be replaced by other materials, or other technologies will outdate the current technologies. It is also possible new elements will be discovered.

A majority of our modern technologies would not exist without these elements that were dispersed among the earth billions of years ago. These elements were placed here for our benefit, and so we could utilize them, and produce institutes of scientific research and education to study them.

Kadir Can and Mehmet Ramazanoglu are science teachers in Ankara, Turkey.

Ibn ‘Arabi was such a determined one. He is a strong milestone in the history of mysticism. His heritage goes beyond Muslim identity and encompasses a following from diverse traditions. In this issue, Brenda Pletcher explores Ibn ‘Arabi’s mystical legacy as a firm foundation for interreligious dialogue. For Pletcher, Ibn ‘Arabi’s philosophy of “diversity within unity,” as symbolized by his vision of a Universal Tree surrounded by four mystical birds, reveals dialogues “of life, of study, of prayer, and of spirituality, all of which, if followed in an atmosphere of mutuality, will have the potential to facilitate people toward the dialogue of action—an action bringing forth a vision of justice for all.”

Just as these great messengers enrich our spirits, so do fruits enrich our bodies.. We love their taste and smell, and are aware of their health benefits. However, a great majority of us do not consume fruits when we should – we are not even aware of when we should. “When To Eat Fruits” explains reasons why fruits should not be consumed right after a meal, and why we should eat them at least an hour before the main course, or two hours after. It is a very useful read on the right consumption of one of the most important components of our daily diet, which we wrongfully substitute with industrially processed juices.

Like eating well, recycling has become integral to our daily lives. We collect the food remains in our kitchen and the leaves in our backyard. We separate paper from plastic, all in the hopes of making our planet’s body healthier.. But were you aware that recycling has always been a part of our body’s survival mechanisms? Abdullah Acar says there are recycling centers in our cells which “have the duty to help with the digestion of cellular trash (i.e. damaged cellular organelles, misfolded proteins, toxic loads) so that energy can be generated and raw material obtained for the construction of new cellular units.” Named autophagy (i.e. self-eating), this recycling phenomenon “is primarily activated or enhanced via fasting or food deprivation.”

The Fountain is bringing scholars from different disciplines and traditions together in Istanbul on November 5-7 for a three-day workshop to have “Conversations on Life, Knowledge, and Belief.” The purpose is to pave the way for The Fountain to be a platform of thoughtful discussions on cross-cultural dialogue, scientific thought, faith, and philosophy. We will keep you posted about the event.

Harming our bodies or health is a betrayal against this incredible gift. One of the major ways people harm the body is through smoking cigarettes.

Smoking harms human health in countless ways. It is one of the main causes of many diseases, such as lung and throat cancer, along with cardiovascular and respiratory track diseases, such as chronic bronchitis. According to the latest report from the World Health Organization, smoking remains the fourth of the top ten risks that threaten human health. Approximately 20-30% of adult fatalities are caused by ailments contributed to by smoking. Recent studies have shown the negative effects smoking has on human reproductive functions.

Effects on fallopian tubes

Smoking has a negative impact on female reproductive organs; this impact is determined by how long, and how much, a woman smokes. It may cause infertility by damaging the fallopian tubes that serve as a ground for the egg to be fertilized by sperm. In many studies, the risk of damage to the fallopian tubes was very high – this danger increases if a woman starts smoking a pack a day before the age of 18.

Effects on female hormones

Many toxic substances in cigarette smoke, including nicotine, directly inhibits the activity of the enzyme called aromatase, which plays a major role in the synthesis of the female hormone (estrogen) in the ovaries. Depending on the biological function, estrogen can be found in three different forms: as estrone, estriol and estradiol. Polyaromatic hydrocarbons found in cigarette smoke stimulate the microsomal cytochrome P-450 enzyme system that degrades hormones in the liver and, consequentially, increases conversion of estradiol with high biologic activity into estriol with the lowest activity. Alkaloids, one of the harmful substances found in cigarette smoke, were discovered to prevent production of progesterone in the ovaries. This plays a role in preparing the womb and in continuation of the pregnancy during the first three months. Therefore, smoking leads to progesterone deficiency during the early stages of pregnancy, causing miscarriages.

Effects on the maturation of the egg

The concentrations of the FSH hormone that is involved in the maturation of reproductive cells in the ovaries are especially high in young female smokers. In other words, a resistance develops against the FSH hormone in the ovaries and higher FSH hormone levels are required for the maturation of the egg. Thus, fertilization problems and missed periods can occur because of an absent reproductive cell. During the treatment of such patients with insufficient egg cell maturation, there is a 50% decrease in the success of the implantation (placement of the fertilized egg into the womb) and the continuation of the pregnancy in smokers when compared to nonsmokers. This means smoking significantly reduces ovarian functions, and ovarian stimulation becomes inadequate at earlier ages in women.

The negative effects of smoking on the reproductive system are also observed during the implementation of reproduction methods such as in vitro fertilization and assisted fertility technologies. The presence of high androgenic hormone levels (pre-metabolites of gender related hormones: androstenedione, DHEAS and testosterone/SHBG) in female smokers has been found to decrease the possibility of pregnancy during in vitro fertilization efforts.

Effects during pregnancy

There are many harmful consequences of smoking during pregnancy, especially for older women who are pregnant. Some of these consequences are premature birth, miscarriage, retardation of development, inadequate baby weight, perinatal mortality, ectopic pregnancy, placental praevia, and placental abruption. Placental praevia is the abnormal placement of placenta in the womb. In this case, depending on the excessive bleeding that occurs after the eighth month of gestation, the lives of the mother and fetus become imperiled, and fetal development is hindered. Placental abruption occurs depending on the premature separation of placenta from the womb, causing excessive bleeding that can also endanger the lives of the mother and baby.

In pregnant smokers, the postnatal ratio of infant mortality and disability increases as a consequence of deficiencies involving lung function and nerve development. These effects are directly proportional to how much a woman smokes. There are also negative impacts when a pregnant woman is exposed to second hand smoke by a spouse or close friend. Harmful metabolites of nicotine reach the baby via the placenta. Furthermore, nicotine is degraded slowly in the liver of a pregnant woman. Inadequate baby weight is related to smoking dosage and time.

Due to smoking in the early stages of pregnancy, the hormone levels of estriol, estradiol, progesterone and hCG, hPL which is secreted from the placenta, have been found to decrease. This reduction, which is observed in parallel with the amount of smoking, can result in miscarriages.

Toxic polyaromatic hydrocarbons have been found to accumulate at elevated ratios in the wombs of women who were exposed to cigarette smoke for a long time. During pregnancy, this situation leads to the deterioration of sertoli cells located in the reproductive glands of male fetuses. These glands assist in sperm production during adulthood, and damage to them can therefore cause a reduction in sperm generation.

An insufficient placental development occurs because of the negative effects of nicotine, cadmiums, and polyaromatic hydrocarbons damage the reproduction of trophoblast cells that make up the placenta. This situation explains the increasing miscarriage ratios among female smokers.

The free T4/TSH ratio in the serum of the umbilical cord, which connects the fetus to the placenta, increases in the babies of smokers compared to those of nonsmokers. This means that in babies of smokers, the thyroid glands may become overactive during birth. Depending on a mother’s smoking habits, this hyperactivity of the fetal thyroid increases the metabolic speed and the amount of consumed oxygen in the body, thus leading to the inadequate development of fetus.

Menopause occurs two-to-four years earlier due in women who smoke, as compared to non-smokers. This is due to the aging of the eggs. The risk of entering menopause before the age of 45 in women who quit smoking at least ten years prior is 87% less than smokers who don’t quit. Therefore, the earlier a woman stops smoking, the lower the risk of early menopause.

Effects of smoking on men

In research studies, it has been discovered that smoking has many harmful effects on testicular development and functions. These effects can be summarized as follows:

• Reduction of semen volume and quality, increase in its adhesiveness, delay in its becoming liquid, and resulting deformation of the sperm.

• Reduction in the number and mobility of sperm cells.

• Delayed sperm nucleus maturation, deteriorated DNA integrity.

• Decrease in the production of testosterone from Leyding cells.

• Decrease in the egg fertilization capacity of the sperm.

As a consequence of these negative effects, male infertility can occur. As the amount of daily cigarette consumption increases, the number, strength, and types of anomalies also increase. In a study conducted in 2010, smoking has been showed to decrease zinc levels in the seminal plasma. As a result of this decrease, oxidative agents populate and DNA breaks take place, thus causing a disruption of sperm functions and infertility. Zinc deficiency at the same time leads to the destruction of seminiferous tubule cells where sperm cells are produced. Paternal smoking generates negative results during the application of assisted fertility methods (such as in vitro fertilization). The damage in the sperm DNA of the father can disrupt the embryo development. The risk of anomalies, cancer, and genetic diseases increases for the fetus.

Cigarette smoking clearly occupies a position as one of the worst enemies of mankind because of its destructive effects on the body. In this case, it does not make any sense to try finding excuses for smoking, for it is harmful to the body that has been loaned to us as a gift and a temporary property.

Cihanoglu is a professor of medicine in KATU, Trabzon, Turkey.

“You are a forlorn one in this world
Ergo laugh not but cry o heart!” (Yunus Emre)

Forlorn ones are only a few; a few heroes of the heart, and unknown holy ones. A forlorn person is one who sighs and groans, whose heart burns and aches. A person who is forlorn is beaten and persecuted because of the sublime truths they hold. They face trouble every day, and are threatened by all different kinds of death. They are despised and held in contempt.

Forlorn ones are not necessarily away from country or home, isolated from friends and companions. Forlorn ones are the ones whose societies do not understand them. They are considered odd and scrutinized by those around them. A forlorn one’s supreme ideals and transcendent thoughts are considered strange. They contradict the rules of their society through their willingness to sacrifice personal yearnings for communal good.

The masses forlorn ones run to help persecute them, sometimes exile them, sometimes throw them into prison, and sometimes even threaten them with death. The forlorn ones, however, grapple with these threats every moment, and live to rescue other victims. At times, they challenge dangers like Heraclites. When they can, they rush to put out fires; at the very least they moan like caring mothers. Society never tires of cruelty, and forlorn ones never tire of loyalty!

Mostly, forlorn ones feel alone and separated from their society on material terms, because they cannot establish a permanent dialogue with them. Nevertheless, a feeling of altruism and the thought of living for the sake of others takes over a forlorn one’s entire spirit. This feeling is deep and multidimensional enough to make them forget their separation and loneliness. Despite the fact that they might moan with a feeling of loneliness for a moment, they can be happy and elated with the idealist worlds established in their souls.

Forlorn ones are like the early spring grass. These flowers of the dawn face snow and ice. They undertake a sublime fight against blizzards and thunderstorms, occasionally finding reprieve from the snow and ice.

Yes, forlorn ones running to the light with a thousand joyous shouts in the realms beyond the heavens are just like the snowdrops, showing off under the sun, their dimples and white muslins rising from multicolored snow. They appear before heat warms the land, before the ices melt. Their survival is a hard one; they grapple with hazards defying them, are injured and torn, are devastated and destroyed without even experiencing a breeze of the earthly joys. They go, but their going is brave. They do not go under the earth without a few hyacinths. They die once, but revive twenty times.

Every day, forlorn ones, with a dozen of the most sacred thoughts in their hearts and minds, stand on the gate of society to offer life to the dead ones, and to return the values they lost. They knock on the door a few times, cry out the inspirations of their soul, and then turn back. They are roughed up, scolded and exiled; but they never fear, they never grow tired, and they especially never resent. They always keep their eyes on the spiritual realms and expect tidings of revival every time the sun rises and sets. They are freshly enthusiastic every new day, rushing to every corner to assume responsibilities, and to show the masses the path to Khidr fountain.

Those who understand and sympathize with them achieve eternal existence. Those left apart fade away forever. They have united with Archangel Gabriel and met Khidr fifty times; as the dirt on their feet becomes an elixir of life, the earth beneath them grows very green.

Disbeliefs, heresies, and misguidance melt away like ice under their warm breath, and it is their breath that turns arid places into gardens of paradise.

They always suffer. They are disappointed and bent over double in the face of the varying emotions and thoughts and deteriorating customs of the society that raised them. Nevertheless, they are also faithful, hopeful, and marvelously motivated. Occasionally, they are left alone and unattended, and are insulted by society. Yet, they are always joyful and in peace.

No familiar face like it is empty everywhere;

Roads are curly and slopes are steep:

Suffering, agony; cry, groan and there is the path!

How sweet is this path despite everything, and how pleasant it is to be forlorn!

All sorts of sorrow and sadness are apparent in the broken hearts and misty looks of the forlorn ones. With their groans and sighs, they remind us, respectively, of Prophet Adam and Prophet David, peace be upon them. Because they are reproached and are far away from home, they say, “Now that I am left apart from the beautiful ones, I say woe, my longing!” They groan, and yearningly await the moment of reunion, the moment when they will become a constant companion with the Beloved One. They wait, and reach a distinct union and zeal in every moment with the winds blowing from the city of mercy to the longing hearts. And if they find familiar hearts to discharge the intuitions of their spirit into, they let themselves go, turning into a waterfall. The forlorn ones never demonstrate sorrow, even if their wealth is looted and their family perishes on this path they took with love. As they see that the light they’ve spread amongst the spirit of their people is shining, the forlorn ones soar to infinity singing “O friend!” with the delight of the heavens!

A thousand heralds of good news to the forlorn ones! A thousand glad tidings to those breathing hope and fulfillment, forgetting their personal pleasures and tastes for the welfare and happiness of the public in a period of anarchy and turmoil that terrorizes everyone!

And there are also forlorn ones – in other words, the poor in character – who become estranged from their own people and their own culture in their own country, and they are very similar to the former ones with their sorrow and misery. But they are slovenly, wretched, hopeless and unenlightened. More than anything, they are lackluster and debilitated in their heartfelt and spiritual lives. Their days are darker than their nights; their nights remind of the grave. These miserable ones, their spirits torn by numerous paradoxes and deprived of a root and a personality, almost forget what it is like to be human. Questions arising from their minds and afflicting their souls make it impossible for them to benefit from the joys of this life – in fact making it even more miserable. They are dark inside; their thoughts are foggy; their eyes are misty. The questions they endlessly puzzle over remind us of one stuck in hell. Would you call this experience a “life”? But because they think of death as final, they have no choice but to prefer this life comprised only of hesitation and doubt.

For them, life is torment; being a human is another misfortune; death is a maelstrom, a black hole; existence is chaos, and the only way to avoid pain is intoxication.

How unfortunate this way of thinking is and those miserable ones are! Have pity on these kinds of forlorn ones!

Undoubtedly, throughout history these states engaged in war with other states. A crucial point to understand is that war has always been a form of engagement between states caused by political, economic, or militaristic reasons. Therefore, in a hostile relationship where long-term dominance and its benefits play a major role, it would be wrong to call such conflicts religious wars solely because the opponents have differing religious identities. Such conflicts are embarked not for religious dominance but for political dominance. Additionally, it is possible for Muslims to be attacked solely for religious differences (this still happens today). In this case, it is natural to react to the attack by defending oneself and one’s religion, for, in fact, it actually becomes an obligation for Muslims to defend their religious freedom (22:39-41), themselves (2:190), and those being oppressed (Haleem 65).

Jihad, a crucially controversial concept in Islam, is often misunderstood by many Westerners, and even some Muslims. Whenever the word comes up, what comes to mind is an armed struggle by Muslims against non-Muslims, such as fights, clashes, and holy war. Jihad is a very comprehensive and dynamic term that can take on different forms, depending on historical circumstances and the needs of Muslims (Heck 95).

The word jihad comes from the Arabic root “j-h-d” and its dictionary meaning denotes doing one’s best, struggling against every kind of difficulty. In a religious context, it refers to the struggles one faces for the sake of God. In the words of Gülen “Jihad is … the inner struggle of a believer against all that stands between the believer and God” (Gülen 191). As Campanini clarifies through al-Ghazali’s teachings, there are two meanings for jihad. “The ‘great’ jihad is the struggle for self-purification, in order to conquer the evil inclinations of character and behavior, while the ‘small’ jihad corresponds to war” (Campanini 54). Delving deeper into the former category for purposes of clarification, the great jihad refers to a person’s struggle to overcome destructive obstacles within the carnal self such as feelings of resentment, hatred, envy, arrogance, and haughtiness – feelings that Islam orders followers not to harbor.

The following explanation for why jihad is confused with terrorism can be made: for the Muslim world, the 20^th century was one that was full of oppression and colonialism. Dating back further, to the 19^th century, a majority of Muslim lands were struggling for independence. In these battles and wars, Islam was conceived as a means to unite and mobilize people. During these wars, jihad was naturally the most frequently used concept. The war was against these invaders and colonizers, and the people were fighting to protect their country, their people, and their religion. Religious concepts – Qur’anic verses and the sayings and practices of the Prophet – were the main motivational factors driving Muslims during their hard struggle. Muslims called these wars, which were carried out in legitimate self-defense, jihad; however, there is a barrier between war and jihad in Islam that needs to be clarified.

The primary source of information in Islam must be the Qur’an; thus, I will refer to the Qur’an and its usage of the word jihad. Jihad is used in three verses in the Qur’an in the imperative form, as “jahid” and “jahidu,” to mean fighting against non-Muslims.

The other verses that contain jihad refer to its greater meaning, the personal struggle against feelings raised by the carnal self. Actually, the Qur’anic verses concerning war are mostly expressed by the word qital (fighting) rather than jihad (Haleem 64). In terms of the etymological meaning of qital, the relative context of the verses in which it is used and the events on which these were revealed support the fact that this word was mostly used in expressing war in the Qur’an. To give a few examples[1]:

Fight in God’s cause against those who fight against you, but do not exceed the bounds (set by God), for surely God loves not those who exceed the bounds (Baqara 2:190). But if they break their pledges after their treaty (with you) and assail your religion, then fight with those leaders of unbelief – surely they have no trustworthy pledges – so that they may desist (from aggression) (Tawba 9:12-13).

Reading these verses raises an important question: would it be wrong to identify jihad with war, or to give an emphasis to the aspect of war? The simple answer is no, for almost all of the verses related to jihad and qital were revealed in a situation of warfare. Furthermore, it would not be possible to interpret other verses in the Qur’an referring to the great jihad, such as striving with wealth (4:95, 8:72), without these terms’ relation to the aspect of war. This is the very point where the concepts of jihad and qital intersect.

When people devoid of the necessary knowledge of history and Qur’anic commentary methods interpret Qur’anic verses concerning war, they often take it out of context, ignoring the previous verse and subsequent ones, thereby presenting Islam as a religion that gives no value to non-Muslims. This is absolutely wrong. I shall support my argument with a few Qur’anic verses that are commonly misinterpreted:

… kill them wherever you come upon them, and drive them out from where they drove you out. Disorder (rooted in rebellion against God and recognizing no laws) is worse than killing. Do not fight against them in the vicinities of the Sacred Mosque unless they fight against you there; but if they fight against you (there), kill them – such is the recompense of the (rebellious) unbelievers. (Baqara 2:191)

To understand a Qur’anic verse correctly, two essential things need to be kept in mind. First, the verse needs to be considered both independently and within its context. Second, the event for which the verse was revealed needs to be considered. If we consider the above verse with its previous and subsequent verses, we understand that there is an armed group that does not want to let the Muslims live. Thus, God allows the Muslims to put up a legitimate defense, and particularly commands them not be on the side that starts the fight. Furthermore, God reminds them that they should accept any possible offers of peace from the other side, no matter the stage of war.

This verse refers to the idolaters of Mecca, who tortured every Muslim they could, declared a boycott on all relations with Muslims, sent them into exile, drove them out of their homes, tried to force them back to paganism, and when Muslims began to gain power after settling in Medina, the idolaters constantly violated their peace treaties. When the verse is considered in this light, one may even ask the question: why did the Muslims even wait for a revelation to defend themselves – isn’t it common sense to strive to survive?

Let’s take a look at another commonly misinterpreted verse: “…seize them and kill them wherever you find them; and do not take to yourselves any of them as confident, nor as helper” (Nisa 4:88). This verse is often known to be quoted separately to detach it from its context. When one reads this verse as I have presented it, one sees the image of a ruthless and aggressive Muslim, sword in hand, ready to fight. However, as we experienced with the previous verse, reading the context (Nisa 4:88-91) alone will suffice in giving us a better idea behind this verse. After reading the context of the verse, we see that the people mentioned here are the hypocrites of Mecca and Medina. They pretended to be on the sides of the Muslims, but they were not sincere in their faith. Moreover, these hypocrites took every opportunity to act against the Muslims. An additional point to emphasize with this passage is not the command to kill, but the command by God to accept peace if it is offered. Thus, Muslims are not to be on the side that starts a war, but if they are attacked by an enemy, they are allowed to defend themselves.

These were just two examples of verses that are often misinterpreted when stripped from their contexts. These misinterpretations lead to the misinterpretation of Islam and obfuscate the true meaning of jihad. We can also give examples that clarify the meaning of jihad from secondary sources, such as the Prophet’s sayings, or hadiths. God’s Messenger was the conveyor of the Qur’an; therefore it is impossible for his words or practices to contradict the Qur’an in any way. When we look at the Prophet’s sayings on the topic of jihad, we see the same truth behind it.

One example that often comes up when jihad is mentioned is as follows: on returning to Medina after a battle, God’s Messenger told his companions: “We are returning from the lesser jihad to the greater one.” After having fought a battle in which many Muslims had lost their lives, the Companions were surprised to hear this statement from God’s Messenger. When they asked what the greater jihad was, he explained that it was fighting the carnal self (Ajluni, Kashf al-Khafa, 1:424).

An additional example is what the Prophet told a Companion who asked for permission if he could join a military campaign. The Prophet asked the man whether his parents were alive, upon which the man replied affirmatively. The Prophet said in return: “You perform jihad by serving them” (Bukhari, Jihad, 138). God’s Messenger had a plethora of other cases in which he used the word jihad in a wider non-militaristic sense. Two more of these sayings are: “The most virtuous jihad is speaking up for truth in the face of injustice,” (Abu Dawud, Tirmidhi, 13) and, “The most virtuous jihad is speaking up for the truth before an unjust and cruel ruler” Abu Dawud, Malahim, 17). More importantly, the gravity of this form of jihad is strengthened when looking at one of the statements of the Prophet: “Whoever dies trying to protect his property from a usurper dies a martyr” (Abou El Fadl, 123).

Hitherto, we have looked at jihad in a theoretical sense, using definitions interpreted from the Qur’an and the Prophet’s sayings to reveal its true nature. It is not unreasonable for the reader to wonder how the Prophet acted in times of warfare to further dispel notions of jihad being considered a “holy war”; after all, there were wars and battles in which the Prophet was present. To give a brief account of the Prophet’s example in this light, let’s consider the Battle of Badr. The enemies of the Muslims in the Battle of Badr were the Meccan pagans, who were afraid that the Prophet was amassing enough supporters to pose a strong threat to the Meccans. Consequently, the Meccans sent a letter of ultimatum to their allies in Medina, appealing for the exile and the execution of the Prophet and his followers.[2] These harsh letters caused great upheaval in Medina; however, the actions that the Prophet took quickly eliminated the anxiety of the people of Medina.

The first of the Prophet’s actions was to sign a pact of truce with nearby tribes. The essential elements that he signed with the neighboring tribes were aimed at preventing the neighbors from assisting the Meccans against the Muslims. The Meccans proved to be determined, and despite all of the Prophet’s actions aimed at holding peace, the Meccans wanted to fight. When everyone knew that the battle was inevitable, the Prophet made a last attempt by sending Umar with an offer of peace[3], which was refused and provided the spark for the Battle of Badr. Similarly, when looking at accounts of the other battles of the Prophet – Uhud, Khandaq, and Khaybar – one sees that God’s Messenger always strived to maintain peace and worked to avoid engaging in the Western, ill-defined “jihad” – the spread of Islam, the taking of lives of non-Muslims, and the acquisition of new lands.

Now that the true definition of jihad has been clarified using the Qur’an and accurate interpretations as a primary source and the Prophet’s sayings and actions during warfare as a second source, we have to consider some broader questions. When is jihad complete? How can we accept one interpretation as the proper one? Why is jihad so misunderstood by some Muslims? Does it play to their advantage to intentionally misrepresent it? Lastly, does violent jihad justify terrorism?

Jihad, as mentioned earlier, has two meanings: the “great” jihad – corresponding to self-purification in the path of God, comparable to the Christians’ miles Christi (Peters 206) – and the “small” jihad – corresponding to war. The former type of jihad is essentially never complete; it is everlasting throughout one’s life, for situations that necessitate “great” jihad emerge everyday in a Muslim’s life. In example, if we look at the citizens of Syria today who are opposed to the ruthless oppression of their dictatorial leader, we see that they experience jihad everyday, for the Prophet has stated that, “The most virtuous jihad is speaking up for the truth before an unjust and cruel ruler.”[4] And the tens of thousands of Syrians who have already lost their lives in the face of injustice in Syria’s conflict have died martyrs, for the Prophet has stated that “whoever dies trying to protect his property from a usurper dies a martyr” (Abou El Fadl, 123). If we consider the “small” jihad in this question, we can say that it is intermittent, experienced by Muslims whenever they need to engage in warfare for self-defense to protect their country and their religious freedom.

When faced with the question of the accuracy of interpretations, one cannot bluntly state that one interpretation is more accurate than the other. When presented with a similar question, John Esposito, a Professor of Religion at Georgetown, pointed to a Surah from the Qur’an, which recalls how “God made humankind into nations and tribes for you to get to know one another not that you may despise one another.”[5] These words support a language of religious plurality, a concept that is contrary to religious extremism. Esposito further argued that there is no central authority in Islam or Christianity who can speak for all Muslims or for all Christians. Although the Pope is the central authority for Roman Catholicism, he does not speak for the Orthodoxy or for Protestantism. Every denomination has its own individual religious authority. Islam, similarly, supports the idea of ijtihad, the individual interpretation of the Qur’an. The important point in this question behind interpretations is the broadening of the base of religious authorities. Esposito argues that although this diversification may lead to more chaotic situations, it also serves as a check for religious authorities who legitimize illegitimate wars. Therefore, this system of checking can prove beneficial in stopping wars, though it may pose more problems in other aspects of interpretation.

Earlier in the paper, I gave an example as to why Westerners might misunderstand jihad; this poses the inevitable question: why is it misunderstood by Muslims? More specifically, does it play to their advantage to intentionally misunderstand it? Rahman describes the true meaning behind the propaganda slogan “Islam was spread by the sword” in his book Major Themes of the Qur’an. He writes: “What was spread by the sword was not the religion of Islam, but the political domain of Islam, so that Islam could work to produce the order on the earth that the Qur’an seeks” (Rahman 63). However, Rahman also points out that armed jihad was often used by later Muslims whose primary aim was territorial expansion and not the worldview they were asked to establish by God. This, unfortunately, answers the question posed above with a yes; it does play to some Muslims’ advantage to intentionally misinterpret jihad for selfish reasons: territorial expansion, political power, and economic benefits, all under the pretext of “religious duty.” These kinds of interpretations of Qur’anic verses and hadiths outside of their more important contexts render the practice of religion astray, allowing selfish extremists to justify their illegal behaviors. However, it is important to note that their justifications behind their actions are largely unaccepted by the greater Muslim community around the world, those who know the distinction between the two jihads and how to apply them in their lives.[6] This brings us to the final question: does violent jihad justify terrorism?

In the Muslim world, there is and always have been radical thoughts and political ideologies; the same is true in Christianity, Judaism, and other religions. However, it is wrong to identify the thoughts and the beliefs of radical groups with religion. One of the focuses of this paper was to emphasize the importance of using the Qur’an and the statements of the Prophet to seek answers in Islam, and the aforementioned radical thoughts are not found in either. Nonetheless, there are still those who commit terrorist acts “for God” or “in the name of religion.” These terrorists also believe in Islam. This leads to a paradox: on one hand, we have Muslims who commit terrorist acts, and on the other hand, we have a religion that forbids these acts. If we view this paradox from the lens of Muslims, we do not see a paradox at all; it is merely a situation that is generated by a wrong perspective. If we take a look at all perspectives – the political, economic, historic, cultural, moral, and humanistic – we see that there is a perceptible dichotomy between religion and terrorism, and are able to consequently establish that terrorism does not stem from religion, but that it has other political, economic, and cultural roots. Therefore, jihad does not justify terrorism; nothing in Islam does, for terrorism is essentially forbidden in Islam.

In conclusion, jihad is a crucial concept in Islam due to the wide misunderstanding it causes amongst people around the world and the concept’s import in Islam on a global scale. While the term Islamic Terrorism – an oxymoron within itself – is inaccurate in all aspects, its existence is not the issue; its degradingly common usage, especially in the media, advertises a negative Muslim image to non-Muslims, imbuing a subconscious belief that all Muslims are terrorists. The reverse of this scenario often happens in the Muslim world as well, especially after the Iraq War and the War in Afghanistan. These wrongful representations of both sides do nothing but aggravate tensions between the two sides, which leads to further conflict and a discordant world. Instead, if books or news reports that clarify the true meaning of jihad and other misunderstood concepts of various religions and their applications were broadcasted for the world to hear, we would not witness as much religious conflict around the world as we witness today. What a beauty that sight would be: a harmonious society of people living with a plurality of religious beliefs.

References

• Abdel Haleem, Muhammad. 2011. Understanding the Qur’an: Themes and Style. I.B. Tauris.
• Abou El Fadl, Khaled. 2001. Rebellion and Violence in Islamic Law. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
• Campanini, Massimo. 2011. The Qur’an: Modern Muslim Interpretations. London: Routledge.
• Gülen. M. Fethullah. 2012. Toward a Global Civilization of Love and Tolerance, NJ: Tughra Books, p. 191.
• Hamidullah, Muhammed. 2011. Islam Peygamberi. Beyan Yayinlari.
• Heck, Paul L. 2013. “Jihad Revisited.” The Journal of Religious Ethics 32.1 (2004): 95-128. JSTOR. Web. 22 February.
• Peters, F. E. 2003. Islam: A Guide for Jews and Christians. Princeton: Princeton University Press.
• Rahman, Fazlur. 2009. Major Themes of the Qurʼan. University of Chicago Press.
• Ünal, Ali. 2006. The Qur’an with Annotated Interpretation in Modern English. NJ: Tughra Books.

[1] The reader may also refer to (Tawba 9:36) and (Tawba 9:5) for additional examples on the usage of qital that were omitted due to their length.

[2] Hamidullah, Muhammad, Islam Peygamberi, I, p. 217.

[3] Hamidullah, Hz. Peygamber’in Savaslari (Wars of the Prophet), p. 55–92.

[4] Abu Dawud, Tirmidhi 13.

[5] “Who Speaks for Islam and for Christianity?” Voice of America News, 2008.

[6] This is also true in other non-religious cases. When Timothy McVeigh caused the Oklahoma City Bombing and resulted in the death of 168 people, he thought he had legitimate reasons to do so; however, a majority of the people did not accept his thoughts as sound justification behind his actions.

Science is the systematic study of the behavior of certain phenomena (that is, regularities, uniformities) in the physical universe. Scientific study is based on observation, experimentation, measurement, and the formulation of universal laws that describe these facts and phenomena in general terms and enable prediction.

The process of describing regularities (i.e. things that happen in a particular way) is incomplete and never exhaustive because regularities are not exact and deterministic. There is actually quite a lot of approximation and simplification involved in this process. If an exact equation is desired, then these scientific laws, which are useful for prediction, must be formulated in mathematical terms; this represents the whole business of science.

The huge popularity of science is due to its practical results, such as the previous technological examples stated previously. Science is about studying regularities in the material world and describing those regularities in order to make predictions and to make possible the technology that we use daily possible.

It is important to stress that describing and making use of science is not about explaining, but rather using it to make sense of something; here, description is not to be confused with explanation. Therefore, science is about describing, not explaining. The moment a scientist talks about the meaning behind a law or regularity in nature and our ability to benefit from it, he is no longer talking science and he is venturing into the realm of metaphysics and the philosophy of science. Just because someone is a great scientist, it does not mean that he has a deeper insight into the meaning of the laws of the physical world and universe.

What science seeks to explain

Science does not answer questions of meaning or questions of agency (like, who is doing what for what reason? What is responsible for a given regularity?) and we cannot criticize science for not dealing with these questions. They may be important questions but it’s not the responsibility of the field of science to answer these questions. For example, consider the Law of Gravity. We drop a pen and it falls. Why did it fall? Because of gravity.

We observe that, without exception, the pen always falls when we lift it and drop it. Then we call the conjunction between performing an action and its regularity the law of gravity. This means that the law of gravity is simply the name we have given to this regularity; however, it does not mean that the pen is falling because of gravity. Gravity is the name given to the process, not an explanation for it, but in our minds both the name and the explanation for the phenomenon have become one and the same.

The question arises: Is it logically justified to explain an experience through a causal law that is derived through the same experience?

In the beginning, when scientists started asking these questions, it was unclear what the difference was between description and explanation. For a long time science was thought to be a venture competing with religion in providing answers for life.

Regarding natural laws, 19th century American philosopher Charles Peirce stresses on the point that natural laws serve as a description of natural events, not as explanations of these very events: “no law of nature makes a stone fall, or a Leyden jar to discharge, or a steam engine to work.”¹

A law of nature left to its self would be quite analogous to a court without a sheriff. A court in that predicament might probably be able to induce some citizen to act as sheriff; but until it had so provided itself with an officer who, unlike itself, could not discourse authoritatively but who could put forth the strong arm, its law might be the perfection of human reason but would remain mere fireworks. Just so, let a law of nature – say the law of gravitation – remain a mere uniformity – a mere formula establishing a relation between terms – and what in the world would induce a stone, which is not a term nor a concept but just a plain thing, to act in conformity to that uniformity?²

The law of gravity is just a formula, just a name. It cannot make a stone act in accordance to it.

It is important to note that the notion of law is closely related to issues of agency and also to the affinity of the human mind to perceive natural phenomena and the possibility of finding patterns in nature beyond science (i.e. how is it that we are so in tune to what is happening in the world that we can pick up all these regularities?). These issues announce the “greatness” of science. When it comes to the affinity of the human mind to realize recurrent patterns in the universe, Peirce says:

. . . the mind of man is strongly adapted to the comprehension of the world; at least, so far as this goes, that certain conceptions, highly important for such a comprehension, naturally arise in the mind; and, without such a tendency, the mind could never have had any development at all.³

Therefore, there would be no science if one could not grasp the regularities.

In our scientific inquiry, it is reasonable for us to be searching out these regularities and hoping that they will remain stable, but we cannot assume that we have explained how or why such regularities or laws are in effect. It may also be reasonable to say that there are regularities and we hope that these regularities and so-called universal laws will come into effect in the future so that technology can be made from predictions. There can only be hope, and not certainty, because science is based on observation and there may be some instances where the same observation may not occur.Even though science is based on exactitude, there is still a measure of hope and faith involved.

A scientific law states a repeated observation about nature. How do we come to the conclusion that we have a scientific law? Several events occur, (not just to the researcher) that hold to certain regularities, according to a certain pattern, and a generalized statement is formed. The process of generalization from a limited number of observations to form a universal statement or law is called the process of induction, or looking at a certain number of events and saying that things are going to happen all the time. The assumption under the process of induction is that the more observations made about a particular phenomenon, the more it will reinforce the law.

There is only one way for such an assumption to be true, and it has nothing to do with the number of observations. We assume a relationship or connection between the object and what occurs, the cause and effect. The assumption is that there is a necessary connection between the cause and the effect. One must be able to explain this connection in a logical way, not as something that depends solely on observation but something that necessitates the event. If this is unable to be done, if it is only based on observations, then induction is a problem. In formulating a scientific law, generalizations made through the method of induction are problematic.

Because of induction, the basic application of our inductive reasoning is twofold: firstly we think we can describe what we have seen by the use of universal laws, and secondly, that we can use these established laws in predicting what we will see. There is, however, a problem with the mechanics of the inductive process. Are we justified in formulating these universal laws simply on the basis of a discrete number of past observations that have been made?

For example, based on the scientific observation of planetary motion, we could suggest that “the sun will rise every day.” However, just because the sun has risen in the past, it does not mean that it will continue to do so either tomorrow or the next day. So the induction based on the number of occurrences of a particular phenomenon is illogical. There is no guarantee that we will ever see the sun rise again. The sense of faith we have in the scientific laws of planetary motions is based on the supposition that some kind of necessity has caused the sun to rise in the past and will therefore continue to cause the sun to rise in the future. We assume that the connection between the cause and the effect are necessarily related. To use another common example, everyone in Europe thought the statement “All swans are white” was true because every swan that they had ever seen was white. However, when travelers came back from Australia and New Zealand, they reported having seen black swans, thus providing a real life example of how induction can falter. This observation negated the previous generalizations.This brings us to the issue of causality.

Causality is the relationship between an event (the cause) and a second event (the effect), where the second event is understood as a consequence of the first. In relation to one another, induction only has to work sometimes whereas causality always has to work. It has little to do with the number of occurrences; it has to work for each cause-effect relationship. The consequence of this model of the world is that empirical knowledge is connected to the causal relations between objects and events. According to this view, the logic of scientific discovery is inductive. In other words, it infers universal laws from particular statements.

The logic of induction proceeds as follows: First, it conjectures that induction is valid, and then concludes that causation is true. Whereas, from the point of view of logic, it is just the other way around; induction can be justified only by proving that causation is logically valid i.e., that the relation between cause and effect is necessary. Induction is therefore logically not a justified method to attain universality. As the Australian-British philosopher of science Sir Karl Popper observes, scientific induction is “logically inadmissible,” that scientific “theories are, therefore, never empirically verifiable.”⁴

Can we count on the laws of nature? It depends. We can have faith in them; we can hope that they will continue to hold in the future but there exists no logical certainty. But we cannot prove that they will remain true because we cannot observe something that will occur in the future (the dogma of the experiment).

The British philosopher Bertrand Russell calls the dogma of induction, the “biggest scandal of philosophy.” He provides the example of a farmer and his chicken. The chicken notices that the farmer comes every day to feed it. It predicts that the farmer would continue to bring food every day. According to the principle of induction, each feeding event added justification to its prediction. Then one day the farmer came and wrung the chicken’s neck. Russell’s point is that induction cannot justify any conclusions!

Critical problems with the method of induction have been in discussion long before the more recent debates, and are often connected with the concept of causality. The same issue was also at the center of a heated debate among Muslim philosophers and theologians as early as the 12th century. This critical problem with the method of induction was also pointed out earlier by the 18th century Scottish philosopher David Hume. Hume stated that when we observe two events to be causally related, say a seed (a) resulting in the growth of a shoot or tree (b), what we in fact observe is only a contingent conjunction of two events. That is, the causation that we think we perceive is not actually “out there in the world” for us to observe. When we see two events and judge them to be causally related, it is merely through a habit of the mind, something we project onto the world. A necessary causal link, as such, is not guaranteed. Hume writes:

Were any object presented to us, and were we required to pronounce concerning the effect, which will result from it, without consulting past observation; after what manner, I beseech you, must the mind proceed in this operation? It must invent or imagine some event, which it ascribes to the object as its effect; and it is plain that this invention must be entirely arbitrary. The mind can never possibly find the effect in the supposed cause, by the most accurate scrutiny and examination. For the effect is totally different from the cause, and consequently can never be discovered in it.⁵

This means that causal laws of nature are not true logically and there is no concrete evidence that these will continue to hold in the future. We simply cannot postulate universal laws that tell us the way the world irrefutably is and will always be unless we have some good reason to trust such generalizations. And even if we could trust such universal laws as “the sun will always rise,” it is not clear how many times we would need to see the sun rise in order to justify proposing this law. Scientific observation, although detailed and informative, has no claim to being the irrefutable truth of the matter.

The solution

Sir Karl Popper offered a potential solution to this problem by thinking about the way we do science in a new light. Popper turned science on its head by claiming that we are looking at science in the wrong way. Instead of looking to science to provide us with theories that are definitive and true, Popper said that we should be looking to science to provide us with theories that we have failed to prove false for a very long time. This approach to science is referred to as “Falsificationism.” Less of a solution and more of a shortcut, it is a tool which we are allowed to use in the game of science. He describes the Falsification approach by noting that for the scientific method to be rational, it must make claims to knowledge that is logically sound. That is, science is not about making grand universal laws, but about the examination of individual observations. According to the model of falsification, science is concerned with evaluating and refining. What we commonly think of as scientific claims to knowledge, are only hypotheses that we accept till they are proved wrong.

Fundamentally, Popper accepts that science can never provide us with complete 100% certainty, but he claims that this is not really a problem because it is not actually science’s job. The purpose of science is to provide us with a theory that is likely to be true based on the fact that we haven’t yet managed to prove it wrong. One unfortunate consequence of this, however, is that you can only ever be certain of the things that you have proved wrong. We know, for example, that the world definitely is not flat. The problem with this fact is that, although certain, it is not particularly useful to know that something is definitely false. For Popper, the best we can hope for is that a given claim is corroborated at one instance in time and if we presume otherwise, we are begging the question of the uniformity of nature: that what has always been, will (for apparently no good reason) continue to be.

To recapitulate, science does not deal with explanation; this is the realm of metaphysics. How we explain things depends on our beliefs and world view.

Dr. Yamina Mermer is a member of the Scriptural Reasoning Group based at the Faculty of Divinity, University of Cambridge, UK.
Dr. Eren Tatari is Assistant Professor of Political Science, Rollins College, Florida.

Footnotes

1. Online Past Masters text, The Collected Papers of Charles Sanders Peirce, (University of Virginia E-text Center), 1.323. (The online texts is drawn from The Collected Papers of Charles Sanders Peirce, Vols. I-VI ed. Charles Hartshorne and Paul Weiss (Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 1931-1935), Vols. VII-VIII ed. Arthur W. Burks (same publisher, 1958).
2. Ibid., 5.48.
3. Ibid., 6. 417.
4. Popper, Karl. (1959). The Logic of Scientific Discovery. Hutchinson & Co. (Original work published in 1935).
5. Hume, David. (1772). An Enquiry Concerning Human Understanding. Hackett Publishing Co.

Whatever the conditions may be, a believer should not go out of the frame of good manners, civility, and decency, for others ascribe all of their actions to faith. Thus, even in the face of the most grave situations or unyielding cases, believers should not swerve from their direction. Examining the life of the Prophet Muhammad, peace and blessings be upon him, we see that he never changed his manners, even at times when he was challenged by Abu Jahl, the man who did all possible evil to oppose the Prophet.

There is occasionally a bitter tone in some of the Qur’anic passages as far as unbelief and unbelievers are concerned. However, we should clarify here that this harsh style is for devious thoughts and ideas, not for individuals. The Qur’anic message does not position any individual as an opponent just because of who they are. It is profane thoughts and views of denial – which are not unique to certain individuals but which have always existed and will continue to exist – that the Qur’an deals with rather harshly. This is a lesson believers should learn from the Qur’an in their engagement with others.

This is an attitude to be adopted not among people only, but among states, too. Let us reify the concept by an example from the Qur’an. God’s message to Moses, peace be upon him, concerning his encounter with the Pharaoh was, “but speak to him with gentle words, so that he might reflect and be mindful or feel some awe (of me, and behave with humility)” (Ta Ha 20:44). Speaking with gentle words and softly, even if it is the Pharaoh you are going to deal with – the Pharaoh who afflicted you and your nation with all possible oppression and violence. Another remarkable point here is that the Qur’an binds reflection and God-consciousness to “gentle words.” By a reverse conceptualization, we could induce the meaning that “in case you advance towards him in virulence, he shall neither reflect nor stand in awe.” So, benignity and tolerance are indispensable articles to communicate a message, whoever the addressee is.

That is, a believer always has to stand in the climate of a gentle attitude, gentle state, gentle heart, gentle conscience, and gentle words, so that they can serve others with true guidance. Otherwise, all the states and attitudes of those who have not been softened, melted, and molded in this Prophetic spirit will be artificial and theatrical. Such insincere people may smile for a while, but they will expose their teeth and present their genuine nature when their tails are stepped upon. Indeed, for how long could a firefly deceive astronomers that it is a star?

In the light of these criteria, it is also possible to read the descent of the Messiah on earth in the latter times with a message of being “without a hand to those who beat you, without a speech to those who curse you, and no hearts for those who break hearts,” even if some may consider this out of balance.

The example of Bediuzzaman, the sufferer of the age, is unique. Even towards those who had been his most merciless, inhumane torturers he managed to communicate the truths of faith and was never offended. Indeed, have believers not exerted every single effort to shine the inspirations of their souls to those who dug ditches and pushed them in?¹

Communicating with someone, or spreading a message, is impossible by raving or clamoring, violence or anger. Maybe violence was once a method or tool; but time has invalidated it. Today, the principle of persuasion is, and will be, dominant ever after. Today’s devotees of love should reach the level framed above, and should make abundant practices about that.

As as pointed out above, in the latter times, the Messiah will surely descend on earth in order to fulfill that significant mission, even, say, if he is in the remotest corner of the Hereafter. But this descent is dependent upon the meaning and spirit within your representative, collective body. Yes, he will descend to be the mold for that meaning. If that spirit is missing, I think, his corporeal descent will not mean anything. To conclude, we should know that a resurrection in the latter times will be realized by the reviving breaths of the heroes of love who represent gentle states, gentle attitudes, gentle hearts, and gentle words.

1- See 85:4 in the Qur’an for the short passage on tyrants who dug ditches of fire and killed believers.

With all of its faculties, a human being can be thought of as an index of the whole universe. Therefore, we witness correlations between the processes taking place in the human body and in the universe. Accordingly, the world we live in has a correspondence to human biology. For example, the cyclical processes in the environment (water cycle, carbon cycle, etc.) ensure the continuous recycling of the same matter, hence the cleanliness of the habitat for all. Similarly, the human body includes mechanisms to cleanse itself from harmful and unnecessary materials.

Prior to the development of such an understanding, the prevailing attitude encouraged consuming natural resources and using the environment as a “trash can.” Even today, we live in a world that promotes excessive consumption of daily goods leading to accumulation of incredible amounts of trash. For example, in developed Western societies, an average family discards more than one ton of trash every year, which is mostly paper, packaging material, and kitchen waste.

Nevertheless, as we realize the importance of the recycling systems in nature and the multi-faceted harms of trash accumulation on the environment, recycling of conventional and technological waste is encouraged by collecting plastics, glass, paper, and tins. On a larger scale, recycling centers have been developed to minimize the damage to the environment and to meet the need for raw materials.

The recycling process consists of three main steps as depicted by the famous three-arrows symbol representing 1) the collection of materials, 2) the remanufacture of new materials from the collected ones, and 3) reselling or reusing as new products. Thus, recycling centers not only contribute to the economy, but also serve as clearance sites to maintain the harmony of the environment.

Cellular recycling through “fasting”

Similar to recycling centers at the macro level, there are recycling centers in the cellular level too. These centers have the duty to help with the digestion of cellular trash (i.e. damaged cellular organelles, misfolded proteins, toxic load) so that energy can be generated and raw material obtained for the construction of new cellular units. This recycling phenomenon was simply named as autophagy (i.e. self-eating) by cell biologists. What is interesting, though, is that autophagy is primarily activated or enhanced via fasting or food deprivation.

How autophagy works

Autophagy is a process that occurs when astarving cell starts to form double membrane containers through an orchestration of several proteins. These containers are called autophagic vesicles or autophagosomes ¹. Their main role is to target and collect cellular trash. Then, they start to fuse with lysosomes, the digestion centers of the cells, to degrade the trash into building blocks—amino acids. The amino acids can then be used both for the construction of new proteins needed by the cell and in the production of ATP, which is a source of energy for the cell.

The whole process corresponds to micro-scale representation of a real world recycling concept: collection, re-manufacture and resell/reuse. Through autophagy, a cell recycles its own material and obtains energy ².

Fasting: An emerging trend

With the discovery of mechanisms initiating autophagy and its involvement in various diseases such as cancer, neurodegenerative disorders, auto-immune diseases etc., autophagy has gained a unique significance that is progressively increasing ³. After the year 2000, the number of publications on autophagy-related research began to increase exponentially. Moreover, due to the increased conviction about the link between fasting and autophagy, fasting started to become a real trend in modern civilizations. Let’s examine a few of the important recent findings that reveal the relationship between autophagy and fasting.

In a study involving mice, the response to fasting was assessed in liver cells (hepatocytes) by tracking the presence of a protein (GFP-LC3) that indicates autophagy. It was seen that the lack of food, which is the source of energy, led to the disintegration of mitochondria, which are the power plants of the cells. Subsequently, the components that made up those mitochondria were re-utilized for the building of other necessary proteins⁴. These results indicate that unnecessary mitochondria were eliminated for the sake of recycling organic materials during fasting.

Neurodegenerative diseases, such as Alzheimer’s or Parkinson, etc, are linked to the accumulation of trash in the brain cells, which is indicative of a lack of autophagy. Drugs developed for these diseases do not possess effective treatments since they are unable to penetrate into the brain cells (a concept known as the blood-brain barrier). During another study involving mice, in one track, animals were exposed to fasting, and in the other, their brain cells, (more precisely cortical neurons and Purkinje cells) were isolated and exposed to food deprivation. In both tracks, researchers observed that fasting enhanced autophagy, suggesting that fasting could be a simple, cheap, and safe therapeutic cure for prevention of neurodegenerative diseases ⁵.

In another study, this time involving a subset of kidney cells (proximal tubule cells), a lack of autophagy resulted in the accumulation of dysfunctional mitochondria and other cellular debris. As a result, the cells grew in size abnormally (hypertrophy), decreasing the functionality of the kidney. This suggested that autophagy was part of the continuous maintenance of proximal tubule cells and that inducing autophagy in the kidney may provide a novel therapeutic approach to minimize acute kidney injury ⁶.

As a final example, one more study revealing the association between autophagy and the immune response should be mentioned. It was found that the number of autophagic vesicles (chambers) in the macrophages, a subset of immune cells that are the first to perceive threats to our body, increased as a response to invading bacteria. These vesicles wrapped, sequestered, and digested the bacteria eaten by macrophages ⁷. Thus, fasting has the potential to improve the fighting ability of macrophages against invading pathogens by enhancing autophagic machinery.

Taken together, the autophagy process seems to be a recycling mechanism with minor variations depending on the cell type and activation triggers. Once initiated, it leads to a) reduced accumulation of cellular trash (toxic protein aggregates); b) an improved immune response for removing bacteria (intracellular pathogens); and c) the protection of the interior of the cell (cytosol). As one of the main stimulators of autophagy, fasting or food deprivation seems to be a way for improving health.

Next time you fast, keep in mind that while you are starving, your cells are feasting for your health. Just as the natural world is structured to continually cleanse and renew the earth, fasting seems to trigger similar processes inside the human body. While individuals may choose to fast for spiritual cleansing, their physical bodies experience a cleansing as well.

Abdullah Acar is freelance writer in the US with a special interest in biology.

References

1. Mizushima, N., et al., Autophagy fights disease through cellular self-digestion. Nature, 2008. 451(7182): p. 1069-75.
2. Mizushima, N. and M. Komatsu, Autophagy: renovation of cells and tissues. Cell, 2011. 147(4): p. 728-41.
3. Yang, Z. and D.J. Klionsky, Eaten alive: a history of macroautophagy. Nat Cell Biol, 2010. 12(9): p. 814-22.
4. Kim, I. and J.J. Lemasters, Mitochondrial degradation by autophagy (mitophagy) in GFP-LC3 transgenic hepatocytes during nutrient deprivation. Am J Physiol Cell Physiol, 2011. 300(2): p. C308-17.
5. Alirezaei, M., et al., Short-term fasting induces profound neuronal autophagy. Autophagy, 2010. 6(6): p. 702-10.
6. Kimura, T., et al., Autophagy protects the proximal tubule from degeneration and acute ischemic injury. J Am Soc Nephrol, 2011. 22(5): p. 902-13.
7. Fujita, N. and T. Yoshimori, Ubiquitination-mediated autophagy against invading bacteria. Curr Opin Cell Biol, 2011. 23(4): p. 492-7.

Life, illness, and death are basic human conditions. But at the same time, it is a very individual decision which specific meaning you ascribe to these elements. These meanings also affect the behavior patterns of our life and its consequences. Ascriptions of meaning can – considered without any judgment – be of religious, nationalist, pluralist, and atheistic nature, or be supported from the symbiosis of several ways of thinking.

In the training of health care professionals and in public lectures, the author of this article noticed that illness has a very negative image: the color which stands for physical and mental discomfort is a deep black, while shiny white is the color of health. Consequently, modern medicine therapies have been developed that do not necessarily try to diagnose the causes of diseases, but most of all combat the declared enemy. For this purpose, high-dose drugs, radiation and other weapons are out in the field, according to the motto: attack is the best defense.

The doctors make every effort to win the battle, but there is a risk that the emotional state of the ill person falls into despair – because it is taught to him that his new physical condition is an unnatural, undesirable condition. Thus, a melancholy forms, which reduces the quality of life dramatically. The patient regards the illness as invincible.

In the following, I will present some perspectives that renowned scholar Said Nursi (d. 1960) demonstrated decades ago. They are still powerful today. In my opinion, they harbor the potential to raise the quality of life not only of the ill, but also of healthy people.

In his treatise “The Twenty-fifth Gleam: 25 Remedies for the Sick”¹ Said Nursi throws 25 views (Turkish: Deva² ) on the phenomenon of illness. His outlook could assist in transforming the negative picture of illness into a positive one.

What makes a shift in perspective so important?

Anyone who prepares himself while he or she is a healthy person, if they later catch a more serious illness, will benefit from this text. Nursi’s thoughts on the meaning of illness and potential remedies can play an important role in preparation. Those who internalize his message can help prevent the emotional fall into depression and may instead hope for a cure.

Said Nursi’s first view presents its readers with the understanding that illness should not be seen as a problem that brings bitterness into life, but that you can also draw strength out of it. There may, as said before, be different ascriptions of meaning to human life, but ultimately all people agree that life is something precious and offers a variety of opportunities. The direction of our lives depends on which use we make of these opportunities.

Those who consider illness as something negative will experience every illness as a curse. Such an attitude has a negative impact on the patient and their environment and turns them very pessimistic. They might castigate themselves, and ask questions like: “Why is it me of all people who has ​​this disease?” In extreme cases, this can lead the patient to become delusional and withdraw from society. A shift in perspective, however, can release positive energy and let sorrow and pain melt away.

Those who recognize the opportunities offered by life and appreciate the efforts and labors of everyday life as something positive will concede that even diseases have a meaningful function – for themselves and humanity as a whole.

Nursi says that ill people perceive time differently, which enables them to observe their environment from a more passive perspective. This passivity is supposed to tear modern, urbanized people from the hustle and bustle of everyday life and move them to a pause. It decelerates the lives of those affected and leads them to horizons healthy people find difficulty to access.

Nursi’s second view goes to the role of prayer which he defines in two forms: positive and negative prayers. He refers to prayers like ritual worship, fasting, supplication, and other forms of remembrance as “positive” (müspet) prayers. “Negative” (menfi) prayer on the other hand is attaining awareness and knowledge of one’s own vulnerability and mortality – which is more likely to arise in moments of illness rather than any other time – as a result of which one turns to God in praise of His ultimate power and infinity. Nursi signifies these positive and negative prayers as the second remedy.

The insight into our own transience, which is the third remedy, allows the ill person to recall their past mistakes, many of which might have been forgotten, and allows them to reconcile with themselves and their fellow humans. According to Nursi, this allows a person to realize they are not as perfect and as infallible as they thought. Illness makes people honest: honest with themselves and with others. The confession of the own fallibility is tantamount to an admission of human weakness and mortality.

Viewed from this perspective, the question arises as to whether illness itself is a cure for mankind. It conveys us new views and leads us to reconsider our previous positions. The ill person becomes an observer, and he finally has time to start thinking. As said by Nursi, he realizes that mankind may be considered the crown of creation. But man’s frailty, his aging, and also the health problems of other people make him realize that life on earth is not all there is – a realization that opens his eyes and takes him out of the darkness into the light. Becoming aware of one’s mortality takes away any thoughtlessness. It causes a person to shed laziness and reflect on their obligations.

If the patient manages to do so, they will feel gratitude and be patient, not least in dealing with physical ailments. This gratitude and patience is what Nursi refers to as the fourth remedy. For Nursi, the body is not the property of man, but rather a loan, which he may not dispose of freely. Suffering is to be endured, since it can do some good, too. Nursi characterizes it as a kind of bonus, which God the ultimate owner of our body grants to us, and we should not protest against it.

Chronic diseases or disabilities, which are seen very negatively in today’s society, can be reinterpreted positively in this way because, as Nursi asserts, they bring a gain in knowledge compared that we cannot achieve when healthy. As a result of their illness, they understand new things that healthy people cannot, just as blind, deaf, or dumb people perceive their environment differently, and sometimes more sharply, than people without physical limitations.

Each person strives for well-being, mercy, and forgiveness, and every sorrow and misfortune also harbors rays of mercy in it. From behind the veil of the illness many quite pleasant insights can emerge. A new consciousness arises, and thus many people gain the courage to take risks and reposition oneself in life.

This maturity Nursi describes as the fifth remedy and it can be observed especially in young ill people. Because of their illness, and in contrast to their peers, they have to cope with issues that seem to contradict their youth. They do not fall into the typical noise of youth and are relieved of thoughtlessness and of the pressures of everyday life.

From this point of view, health, for some people, can be even a calamity that can make their heads spin and blind, and lets them lose sight of the fact that their life does not last forever.

Conclusion

Even these first 5 of 25 views on the subject of illness show that not everything, which is interpreted as negative, is actually negative. A shift in perspective can often work wonders.

Nevertheless, such a shift in perspective appears quite disconcerting initially in our modern society in which health equals to a gift and illness to a disaster. If we have considered diseases as the enemy for so long, why should we suddenly welcome disease? A notion that a disease may also enrich the patient and their friends and family is a useful approach. Surely, the thought that positive thinking can influence the illness (coping), and even contribute to the healing process, is quite common. However, the angle shift described by Said Nursi goes much further. And in my eyes, there is no doubt that it is able to significantly improve the quality of a patient’s life and environment.

Illness allows ill persons to pull out from everyday life, at least for some time. Thereby, it gives them new insights and opens doors that probably would have remained closed if they had stayed healthy. Illness allows a refocusing of which we can benefit from as individuals and communities.

Erdogan Karakaya is pursuing a master’s degree in history in Heidelberg, Germany.

Footnotes

1. Nursi, Said. 2009. 25 Remedies for the Sick, the Twenty-fifth Gleam, NJ: Tughra Books.
2. Deva in Turkish actually means cure, resort, and solution. In this article it is also understood as view or view angle.

A sugar is a monosaccharide if it is made up of a single sugar molecule; it is disaccharide if it is built by two sugar molecules; and a polysaccharide if it is composed with multiple sugar molecules.

Sugars that we ingest are broken, in the digestive system, into monosaccharides of glucose, fructose, and galactose. Almost all of the absorbed monosaccharides are first converted into glucose in the liver. This conversion is a very important task of the liver: 80% of the sugars passing into the blood are glucose. As a result, very limited amounts of fructose and galactose are present in the blood. Therefore, when blood sugar is mentioned, normally glucose is taken into consideration and the fructose and galactose levels in the blood are ignored. Glucose, which is also called grape sugar, is most abundantly found in grapes, while fructose is called fruit sugar, as it is plentiful in fruits, and galactose is named milk sugar after its dense presence in milk. The most important characteristic of fructose is that it is sweeter compared to other simple sugars.

Insulin is secreted from the pancreas in order to lower elevated blood glucose levels after digestion. Insulin functions in the transport of glucose from the blood into cells to provide necessary energy, therefore reducing blood sugar levels; furthermore, it also plays a role in the storage of excess glucose as glycogen, which is found primarily in the liver. Once glycogen storage limits are reached in the liver and muscles, glucose is then stored as fat. Fat tissue acts as sustenance during long fasting periods.

Differences between fructose, glucose, and galactose

Glucose and galactose are absorbed actively, depending on salt. They cannot be absorbed without salt while passing through the intestines. Salt is necessary for the absorption of glucose which is present in the starches of potatoes and other foods. Thus, when potato is consumed with salt, the transport of glucose into the blood is facilitated.

However, salt is not necessary in the case of fructose absorption. The intestinal absorption of fructose contained in fruit is delayed by fruit fibers, since these fibers prevent or balance the transport of fructose into the bloodstream. However, when fructose is ingested as a fruit juice, it is absorbed and joins the bloodstream much faster because of the lower fiber content.

A person feels full after a meal when neurons in the satiety center of the hypothalamus are stimulated by elevated blood glucose. Then, hunger center neurons are repressed, eliminating the feeling of hunger. Therefore, a person reduces their food intake during a meal as their blood glucose levels increase. Increased levels of amino acids and fatty acids in the blood also suppress hunger and stimulate fullness after meal. However, one important point is that fructose does not stimulate fullness in the brain. Therefore, if the blood fructose levels are elevated instead of glucose, a person cannot generate a sensation of fullness sensation. As a result, a person desires to intake more food during consumption of fructose. It is only possible for fructose to generate fullness after it has been converted into glucose by liver.

How to consume fruits?

We should prefer direct consumption of fruits instead of drinking natural or industrial fruit juices because of the high fructose content of fruits. The Prophet Muhammad, peace be upon him, consumed fruits before meals, the wisdom of which we learn only today. Fruits should be consumed at least an hour before or two hours after a meal, for sufficient time should be given for the fructose of an ingested fruit to be absorbed by the intestines and converted to glucose by the liver. Such practices will result in a reduced appetite and food intake. If fruit is consumed after a meal, a delay occurs in the conversion of fructose into glucose since the liver will be occupied by other biochemical processes, along with a full storage of nutrients; this will increase blood fructose levels and fail to reduce appetite. Fatty liver occurs as a consequence of high fat content of the blood. Arteriosclerosis and cirrhosis of the liver may be seen in people with a habit of excessive post-meal fruit consumption.

In a research carried out on laboratory animals, it was found that glucose induces fullness in the hypothalamus and suppresses food intake, whereas fructose was found to repress this effect of glucose, stimulating food intake.¹ Insulin reduces the harms of accumulating sugar in the blood by increasing lipid synthesis. Insulin also takes place in leptin secretion from adipose (fatty) tissue. Leptin is important in the prevention of obesity; therefore, insulin helps in weight loss, too. The leptin hormone causes reduced food intake by stimulating nerve cells in certain parts of the hypothalamus.² Fructose does not cause any leptin secretion because it does not stimulate an insulin release; therefore, it is not effective in generating a sense of fullness.

Ghrelin is a hormone secreted into blood by stomach cells during hunger. This hormone, which produces stomach acids, is enacted through the hypothalamus. It induces hunger, and therefore increases appetite. Insulin secretion increases along with the blood glucose levels during satiety. This eventually causes the increase of the leptin hormone, which also leads to a decrease in ghrelin secretion. As a result, fructose gets absorbed more than glucose in the intestines. Elevated fructose in the blood leads to insufficient or reduced insulin secretion. In this case, a person continues eating.

Fructose and diseases

Free circulation of lipids in the blood damages arteries and veins. For this reason, lipids are transported in “molecular vehicles” that are called as high, low, and very low density lipoproteins (HDL, LDL and VLDL). Neutral lipids (triglycerides) that are present on VLDL (very low density) vehicles are broken down with an enzyme. These lipids are then unloaded from the vehicles by cellular uptake and stored as fats. This transfer of lipids into adipose (fatty) tissue is enhanced via the insulin hormone. In the case of fructose intake, without its insulin secretion effect, lipids accumulate in the blood and liver and eventually prepare ground for liver damage and arteriosclerosis.As the result of a fructose based diet in laboratory animals, it was discovered that lipid production shifted from adipose tissue into the liver, therefore elevating the risk of high blood and liver fat levels.

There are two reasons for this shift. The first one is that fructose acts on the fat producing enzymes of the liver whereas it does not act likewise in adipose tissue.

Secondly, fructose plays an inhibitory role in the conversion of glucose into lipids in adipose tissue. Also, fructose consumption in humans has been linked to elevated blood fat levels.

Overconsumption of fructose causes increased liver fat synthesis. Phosphofructokinase is the limiting enzyme regarding the breakdown of glucose in the liver. This enzyme is regulated by citrates and ATP produced by glucose catabolism and the Krebs cycle, limiting glucose breakdown. However, there is no such limitation in fructose breakdown. Through fructose catabolism, glucose, glycogen, pyruvate, lactate, glycerol and the acyl part of acylglycerol are synthesized. This synthesis can not be limited. As a result of this excessive output and high amounts of triglycerides, VLDL is produced.³ It has been found that persons who consume two or more boxes of fructose sweetened beverages every day carry a 35% higher risk of heart disease.⁴

This isn’t the only disease associated with fructose. In some studies on laboratory animals, it has been reported that a high fructose diet is associated with hypertension.⁵ A lot of research exists suggesting that excessive fructose consumption leads to insulin resistance in both the liver and peripheral tissues, which can often cause diabetes.⁶ In a recent study, it was claimed that excessive fructose intake poses risks for renal diseases leading to glomerular hypertension, renal damage, and inflammation and damage to renal tubules and tissues.⁷

In a study conducted on 21,483 Americans who were older than two years, daily consumption of 37 gr. of fructose (8% of total calorie need) was found to be elevated to 54.7 grams (10.2% of total calorie need) gradually between the years of 1988-1994, mostly consumed by younger people. Increased use of fructose syrup was linked to obesity during the last 35 years.⁸ Furthermore, in a study carried on 1,749 male and female children and teenagers, a positive relation was found between body mass index (BMI) and excessive consumption of carbonated beverages containing high fructose concentrations.⁹ There many studies that support this report.¹⁰ Excessive fructose consumption is known to cause “metabolic syndrome” in which many diseases like obesity, arteriosclerosis, and diabetes emerge together.

Are fruit juices harmful?

Fructose syrup is being used at increasing rates in the food industry. According to the annual report of US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for the year 2000, fructose syrups are sugar solutions containing approximately more than 50 % fructose. It is often synthesized by a conversion of corn starch into glucose by glucose isomerase.¹¹ There is also a third syrup type containing 90% fructose, however this has limited uses.

The sweetness of fructose syrup is similar to that of table sugar. It prevents the dehydration of food with its hydrophilic character. It is mostly used in aromatic foods, especially carbonated beverages and fruit juices. It prevents the proliferation of microbes with its high osmotic pressure property and makes food more resistant against them. Syrups containing 42 to 55% of fructose are used in baked goods, cereal products, dairy products, processed foods, both carbonated and regular beverages, ice creams, and frozen desserts. High fructose syrups are used in foods to decrease water activity and prevent spoilage.

Fructose syrups have a very low ash level due to application of intense purification processes during production and product color is water-white. Therefore colors of fructose used industrial foods are white as well. Fructose syrups have a lower viscosity and density compared to glucose syrups and therefore it is runny like water and not as sticky.

How to consume sugars after a meal?

Especially after a fatty meal, our body seeks sugar. The reason behind this is the requirement of sugar for the storage of lipids into fat tissue. However, this sugar should absolutely be glucose instead of fructose. Therefore, some amount of sugar can be consumed to facilitate the removal of lipids from blood after meals. This is recommended to lower blood lipid levels. However, this should not be done with fruits but with natural sugars like grape molasses. A baklava or a dessert made with industrial sugars (fructose) will not be beneficial but harmful.

In conclusion, the consumption of corn-derived fructose syrup is gradually increasing in recent years. Fructose syrup is used both in various carbonated or regular soft beverages, and in desserts. The reason for our fructose syrup preference is that it helps preserve foods longer and it leads to food addiction because it enhances appetite due to its strong sweetness. Fructose syrup is synthesized by the conversion of natural glucose in corn into fructose by isomerase enzymes. In this sense, today’s increased consumption of fructose is altering the existing sugar balance of natural food items. Overconsumption of fructose can pave the way to obesity, metabolic syndrome, arteriosclerosis, diabetes, hypertension, and arteriosclerotic heart and kidney diseases.

Arifagaoglu is a professor of medicine in Ankara, Turkey.

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