In order to find answers to these questions, let’s consider ourselves sitting at home after a long, tiring day. Are we aware that we are moving very fast even at a moment when we seem to be resting? When we travel by bus, we are motionless from the standpoint of a sitting passenger, yet have a velocity compared to an outsider standing on the sidewalk. The trees lining the road seem to be going backwards, but they are fixed to the ground with no speed. Therefore, velocity is relative and we in fact move at different speeds while sitting at home depending on the objects of reference. We have a zero velocity relative to our guests sitting with us on the couch, but have various speeds compared to the center of Earth, the moon, the sun and the center of the Milky Way galaxy. Not only us, but all existence in the universe has a movement, or oscillation. This movement is usually in the form of a revolution for objects of important mass and as a vibration for particles with smaller masses.

The shining celestial bodies of the cosmos rotate around themselves like whirling dervishes. They revolve around other heavenly bodies or around their common center of gravities, such as pilgrims revolving around Ka’ba in Mecca. The gravitational force set in the universe pulls all objects towards each other. This gravitational force indeed pulls all masses together; however, it is counterbalanced by the motion of revolution given to grand heavenly bodies. As a matter of fact, everything is moving: a solar system with its planets, moons, and comets; the Milky Way galaxy, along with billions of stars, nebulas, galaxies, interstellar dust, gas clouds, and other celestial objects… all are moving in a giant rotating motion like a carousel. In this article, you are going to find some of the scientific findings of our revolving planet, the sun, and the universe, and how some verses in the Qur’an sound miraculously relevant to them.

The Earth’s motion

First of all, we have a velocity stemming from the Earth’s rotation. People living on the equator travel approximately a thousand miles per hour in reference to the center of the globe due to this rotation. While people on the poles never gain any distance over 24 hours, people on the equator travel nearly 23,800 miles! Inside a plane, because we move at the same rate as the plane, we cannot feel its speed. In a similar way, since we move at the same rate as Earth, we cannot feel the globe’s movement.

There are many benefits associated with the Earth’s rotation. The delineation of day and night, atmospheric jet streams, oceanic currents, and similar events rise from the rotation of Earth around its axis. For instance, it causes the warm water currents of the Gulf Stream to reach England, generating a warm and rainy climate.

There are verses in the Qur’an that point to the globular shape of the Earth and its rotation around its axis and revolution around the sun:

“He has created the heavens and the Earth with truth. He wraps the night around the day, and He wraps the day around the night. And He has made the sun and the moon subservient (to His command), each running its course for a term appointed (by Him). Be aware! He is the All-Glorious with irresistible might, the All-Forgiving.” (Az-Zumar 5)

Yet another verse furthers this point:

“It is He Who has created the night and the day and the sun and the moon. Every one (of such celestial bodies) floats in its orbit.” (Al-Anbiya 33)

The verb “wrap” is usually used for round objects, and the perpetual arrival of day and night are only possible with a circular planet. The Earth’s rotation leads to different days, on the micro level, and different seasons, on the macro level. The Qur’an concisely summarizes all these physical events with the simple phrase, “wrap the night around the day.”

The Earth’s primary motion is around the sun. We are roughly 93 million miles away from the sun and we make this orbit, which is nearly 584 million miles, every 365 days. According to the center of the sun, our average velocity on this orbit is approximately 66 thousand miles per hour.
In addition, other planets travel around the sun via different orbits and speeds, each moving on a separate plane. For a moment, it is significant to visualize the sun, which is more than a million times larger than Earth, with its planets and other viscera revolving around it via no visible bond between them.

The movement of the sun

As stated earlier, when we travel on a bus, we observe the trees and buildings near the road going backwards even though we are the ones moving. In a similar way, we see the sun as revolving around us, though in fact the Earth is the one moving. In the Qur’an, the chapter of Al-Anbiya, the verse reading, “each running its course,” is about the creation of the sun and moon, clearly pointing to their movements. Unfortunately, the verse that reads, “A(nother) clear sign for them; And the sun runs the course appointed for it for a term to its resting-place, for the stability of it(s system)…” (Ya Sin 38) was misunderstood as the sun revolving around the Earth. However, we know today that our sun is one of a couple hundred billion stars in the Milky Way galaxy. As such, it both rotates around itself and revolves around the center of the Milky Way galaxy, and confirms the miraculous declaration of the truth in the verse.

In addition, the sun also has a secondary movement inside the local star cluster towards a certain direction. We can explain this with an example: the atmosphere is in motion along with the Earth. Each particle and particle set that makes up the atmosphere not only moves right and left, but also has a total revolution around the Earth. The sun behaves in a similar way within the star cluster and around the center of the Milky Way.

How are we going to define the velocity of the sun? We can determine the sun’s speed by referencing a constant point depending on the average velocity of stars in the section of the galaxy that we inhabit. The sun, according to a local constant point, travels towards the shiny Vega star in the Lyra constellation with an average speed of 43 thousand miles per hour.

Apart from their individual movements, the stars in our galaxy also revolve around the galactic center. The velocity of this movement depends on the star’s mass and its distance to the galaxy’s center. The sun completes one loop inside the Milky Way galaxy every 225 million years. It has completed a total of 20 tours around the galaxy’s center since the Earth’s creation. Our Earth, which moves along with the Sun, travels around the galaxy’s center at nearly 492 thousand miles per hour.

The motion of the Milky Way galaxy

Our galaxy is one of the billions of galaxies in known space. Galaxies are the biggest known structures. The universe expands and galaxies move away from each other, conforming to the meaning of the verse, “And the heaven, We have constructed it mightily; and it is surely We Who have vast power, and keep expanding it” (Adh-Dhariyat 47). Our galaxy, along with nearby galaxies, is pulled towards the Leo and Virgo constellations. The cause of this attraction is not understood yet.

Since all galaxies are moving, how can we determine the velocity of the Milky Way galaxy? As is known, the entire universe is filled with cosmic radiation as a remnant of the Big Bang. When this radiation is taken as a reference, the Milky Way travels at around 1.3 million miles per hour.

At the moment, when we think we are sitting in place, we are actually moving around the center of the Earth, sun, our local star cluster, the center of the Milky Way galaxy, and also moving away from other galaxies. We have velocity in relation to all of these movements. The revolution of the universe is also a fact verified by the Divine word: “I swear by the heaven ever-revolving” (At-Tariq 11).

Across the country, in the months following 9/11, other events took place; although they were of a different scale, they were equally evil. The murders of Muslims or people identified as Muslims, the willful destruction of Muslim-owned property, and the bullying and mistreatment of people with “Muslim-sounding” names occurred frequently in the guise of retaliation or justice. This atmosphere of intolerance did not sit well with me. I knew that my neighbors who were Muslim were not evil people, and I felt that a faith which had birthed so much beauty over its history could not be solely evil. My own faith was one of the many Christian traditions born in the spiritual renewal which swept through the United States in this nation’s early days. Many of these early Christians had been persecuted by their neighbors due to intolerance and fear born of ignorance; this element within my family’s history helped me to recognize the injustice of what was occurring.

I am a Christian minister, I am an artist, and I am an educator. My responsibility to my faith is to seek God and His goodness wherever they might be found; my drive as an artist is to recognize and share the beauties of God’s creation wherever they may be; and my goal as an educator is to help open minds so they may be receptive to knowledge and the inspiration of God’s love, however it manifests. After 9/11, I was determined to learn about Islam – not from the media-driven mindset of sensationalism and sound-bites, but with an eye open to truth and a mind open to the promptings of the Spirit, and to give the faith the same respect I felt my own beliefs deserve. I met with Muslims and asked them what they believed, and I read the source documents of the faith, the Holy Qur’an and the Hadith. Those who responded to my questions were scholars, imams, sheikhs, and laity from all over the world, from multiple schools of Islamic thought and practice. From these many, many points of view a picture of Islam as a faith and Muslims as a people emerged. This picture shook me profoundly – there was a great deal more we shared than I had thought possible.

Muslims love their children. Muslims believe in God – the same God in which I believe (in Mark 15:34, in the New Testament, Jesus called God “Eloi,” the same word in Aramaic as “Allah”). Muslims love education, finding truth, and caring for their neighbors. The list could go on and on. There was nothing I could find in the Qur’an which said anything about the supposed glories of terrorism; in fact it was plain that such violence angers our Creator more profoundly than almost any other evil. How then could I share this knowledge with those around me? Shortly after asking this question, I happened upon the tradition of the 99 Most Beautiful Names of God, or Asma al-Husna, and I recognized this was not a coincidence. The answer was to begin building and showing glass sculptures to explore the wisdom and meaning of each of the 99 Names from the point of view of a Christian.

The 99 Names Project is meant primarily to provide an excuse for dialog; each work is the result of prayerful research bringing together Muslim views of each Name with the points of convergence I see in my own Christian faith. As such, the initial dialog begins with me. I read references to the Names in the Qur’an as well as in the writings of scholars like Rumi. I visit Muslim scholars, ecclesiastical leaders, and laity, and ask them about the Names. I then cross-reference what I learn with what I find in the Bible. Then, I prayerfully consider what motifs and designs in Islamic artistic tradition best correspond with what I have discovered; develop new images and patterns emulating traditional works; and build up shapes with the sculptures to communicate this whole process of learning. One of the first things I discovered is that unlike in my own Christian tradition, figurative work having to do with the Deity is entirely inappropriate in Islamic tradition, so the works are abstract and non-representational.

There are three elements which consistently return in the works. The most visible is geometry: all truth comes from the same Source regardless of the site of its discovery or the language of its transmission. It seemed the best way to symbolize this is through the purity of mathematics and its material manifestation. Another primary element is architectural structure. One truth shared between my Christian faith and that of my Muslim brothers is the honor and responsibility of building the kingdom of God on earth, and the earliest Muslim buildings were shared in peace by the believers of many faiths. The third element is a bookbinding sensibility. The widespread use of art in books is perhaps the most important element shared among my sculptures because it symbolizes the vital role of the Qur’an. In my Christian faith, I recognize Jesus as the Word of God made flesh and he is the bridge connecting me to God; in Islam, the Word of God is made legible, and the miraculous bridge uniting God and man can be read every day.

Building the Name Forgiving (Al-Ghaffar) is a good example of the overall process. The shape was built as a softened cube and doors were mounted on each surface, perpetually pointing inward. The design elements were drawn from Ottoman history, one of the most pluralist and inclusive societies of medieval times. The floor of the sculpture is etched and painted with the traditional 8-pointed star and cross pattern known as “Compassionate Breath,” and a cup of white liquid is in the center. I had considered several colors for the liquid, including clear and gold, but felt prompted to use white.

At the first display of the finished sculpture, a Turkish man complimented me on the work and asked why I had placed milk in the center of the welcoming doors. I explained I had no idea, but felt compelled by something outside myself. He explained that the cup was filled with the color of the rivers of heaven, and felt the sculpture was just right. The ongoing experience of this project is a dance between what I am learning about Muslims and the nudges or promptings I receive; these are my heartfelt responses to the Divine Names of God, built from a place of reverence and respect for those I now know are my spiritual siblings, fellow children of father Abraham. I may have no idea why the nudge or prompt to action comes, but experiences like this one show me how important it is to listen to that small voice.

When this project started, I was given counsel by many of the Muslims I interviewed to take my time and open my heart to Divine guidance. It has taken 3 years to build the first 25 sculptures, and I have documented these in a book, 99 Names: 1 to 25 (A Christian’s Exploration of the Names of God from the Qur’an in Glass). There has been some negative feedback, including a very small minority of Muslims who felt it was inappropriate for a non-Muslim to examine Muslim themes and a few Christians concerned I was losing my perspective as a Christian. However, something remarkable happened. Throughout this process, I have learned about many points of agreement and separation in our respective faiths. I have rejoiced in our similarities and I respect our differences – and rather than diluting my Christian beliefs, my faith has expanded, grown, and deepened. As Fethullah Gülen teaches, something holy happens through the process of education, and such an exercise can only result in the growth of those involved.

These sculptures are meant to show our many points of convergence and understanding, and to celebrate opportunities for learning, dialog, and friendship. Regardless of the faith we claim or how we pronounce the Name of our Creator, we are all, first and foremost, human and His creations. God is Beautiful and loves beauty, and I pray He finds this offering acceptable.

99 Names: 1 to 25
A Christian’s Exploration of the Names of God from the Qur’an in Glass
2013
978-1490510750
CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform

In order to shed light on this matter, I would like to reference a part of the movie The Truman Show. In this movie, a man’s life is continuously recorded and broadcast worldwide as a TV show. From babyhood on, his life is completely planned, and many of his major life events are designed by the makers of the show. However, all of this is unbeknownst to the main character, Truman. As he grows into his elementary school years, he develops a passion for exploring the world. But this would mean that he would have to leave the movie set, which by now covers a huge area and is deliberately surrounded by water, giving the impression that Truman is living on an island. So, in order to avoid his departure from the movie set and in order not to violate his freedom of choice at the same time, the moviemakers do two things. First, a set-up is made in which Truman’s father drowns in the sea when he and Truman were caught in a storm while sailing. Thus, a negative psychological association is used in order to keep Truman away from the sea. In Truman’s later years, the show’s architects assign a geography teacher who consistently curtails Truman’s passion for exploration. Anytime he expresses interest in exploring a place, his teacher tells him that it has already been done. The plan of the show’s makers works; Truman buries his passion for exploration deep into his heart.

Before returning to our topic, I would also like to mention the main idea of a TEDx talk by Nate Staniforth. Nate is a performing magician from Iowa City, and he visits kids, some of them as young as kindergarteners, for a purpose he believes in: helping people experience awe. At the end of his talk, his advice to the audience is that when you see a trick, instead of quickly going on-line and learning how it is done, take your time and experience the awe for a while. If you don’t, learning the reality behind the trick is going to instantly destroy the feelings of awe and amazement. This is similar to someone telling you a joke, and in the middle of it, another person who already knows the joke revealing the punch line, which ruins all the entertainment.

People are created with different levels of interest in math and science. For a small minority, these subjects are inherently attractive, but for quite a lot of people, they are no more than a school obligation. But these views can change. Sometimes, students develop at different paces, and after a few years of showing no interest, they start to have a passion for math or science. And sooner or later, when they have that passion, suddenly, the life stories of different scientists electrify their imagination. The path leading to an innovation or a theory energizes the blood in their veins. When they get to the moment at which the long-sought explanation is revealed, they feel as if they themselves have found it. And when they are presented with an experiment that includes new and surprising concepts, they imagine themselves at the outset of a great journey. Symphonies start playing their most exhilarating notes in their minds.

Then what happens? Well, we don’t allow them time to experience this feeling of awe and amazement for long. Before they have the opportunity to use their imagination and intellect, we present them with an explanation and a mathematical formula that has been experimentally verified. And in doing this, the language of instruction involves authoritative phrases like, “this phenomenon is known as…,” “the governing equation is…,” “the explanation for the rate of change is controlled by…” For some of the students, these explanations seem more complicated than the phenomena themselves. For others, they mean that there is an explanation as to how something seemingly magical is happening. The more we stress explanations, the stronger the impression that “everything is known, and you can’t touch this.”

For many of them, the story ends here, which means by enriching science education and growing the list of explanations, we are actually channeling students away from science towards the things they can experiment and explore with: smart phones, computer games, etc.

However, this is not the whole story, because there are students, despite being few in number, who still enjoy learning these explanations. Although the original awe loses its strength upon learning the explanation, the existence of an answer, and humanity’s ability to discover it, bring a new kind of awe. This is good, but what is the difference between these people who enjoy learning the explanations and those who don’t?

I am going to use a metaphor to solve this puzzle. When we look upon the night sky, we see only points of light. However, today we know that some of these lights are actually galaxies, containing billions of stars. And we also know that there are other points of light that are invisible to the unaided human eye. How do we know this? We have telescopes that enhance our vision. They work as follows: the larger the mirror of the telescope, the higher the resolution (i.e., the zoom-in capability). With larger telescopes, we can see into galaxies that, from afar, seem like dots in the sky. Also, in order to see some distant bodies, telescopes need a very long exposure time to collect sufficient light from them. These two factors – a larger eye and a longer wait time – determine how deeply we can see into the universe.

Looking back to the issue of science education through these two factors, most students either don’t have a wide enough intellectual perspective to grasp the beauties that are hidden in the big picture or they don’t have enough patience to work on finding the phenomena that are invisible at first glance. But these deficiencies are not just on the student’s side. It is also possible that the teachers themselves cannot see the big picture and the accompanying awe, which leaves the students helpless. Lastly, the curriculums may not be giving enough time for the students to digest the new material and feel the joy of discovery.

In his article, A Rationale for Fiction, which appeared in the 49th issue of The Fountain, Firat Kocol talks about classifying knowledge into two categories: transferable and nontransferable. For example, basic addition would be transferable, but feelings of surprise would be nontransferable. In real life, there is a varying mix of these two types of knowledge. In any event, Kocol claims that nontransferable knowledge can only be evoked in the audience through fiction, be it in the form of art, story, or music.

When we think in terms of science education, it is not difficult to see that all of our efforts are aimed at the transferable aspects of science. The nontransferable side of it, such as the feeling of awe, is ignored. Instead, the feelings of awe and amazement are considered as the job of the entertainment industry, powered by audio-visual technologies. After all, feelings are not scientific, anyway (or so the logic goes!). Hence, as science education has ignored the human soul, the human soul has started ignoring science.

Perhaps it is like Truman’s psychological aversion to sea travel: when we see the feeling of awe drown in a sea of information, we turn away from it, and that information cannot become a part of us. But again: why awe? Why is this feeling of awe and amazement so important for us? Why, when it is absent, do we disconnect ourselves from a subject?

Awe is a reverential feeling we have when faced with something unpredictable. The unknown relationship between the start and the end bewilders our minds. In other words, awe is the attraction of the unknown, not that of the known. Therefore, a body of knowledge that appears to have an answer for all the questions in the mind of the student has no relation to awe! This is even truer if that body of knowledge claims to be unique, and shuts the door of unpredictability.

This is contrary to the image of science in our minds, isn’t it? Why should a complete and consistent theory of everything be repulsive to the human mind, when that mind that has been working on that puzzle for thousands of years?

Luckily, a mathematician from the early 20th century stumbled upon something similar, and his answer, known as Gödel’s incompleteness theorem, perplexed the community of mathematicians. Taking this theory as basis, we can say that it is impossible for a body of knowledge to have a complete and consistent explanation for everything. In other words, science cannot achieve what it wants to ultimately achieve. It’s logical that this failure would trickle down to science education, too.

But how can students feel this fallacy when they are not even capable of understanding it? The answer lies in the nontransferable aspect of the taught material. Just like you don’t need to know the molecular content of a food in order to feel that it is rotten, the inhibition of awe is enough for a student’s mind to disregard a body of knowledge because it feels off.

Just like the existence of light in the outer world and the existence of eyes in our bodies necessitate each other, the existence of incompleteness and inconsistencies in the outer world necessitate the feeling of awe. The feeling of awe wants the door of unpredictability open.

This can lead to only one conclusion: that we must reincorporate awe into our science education, teaching students to feel amazement when faced with extraordinary, or even ordinary, events. If we don’t do this, the status of math and the sciences will continue to deteriorate among newer generations.

Divine favors that are granted out of God’s will refer to favors that are not dependent upon human willpower and choice. In this respect, everything that we possess may be and should be considered divine favors. That we come into existence from non-existence, that we exist as humans rather than as animals or plants, that we are born into believing families and communities, that we are given a healthy body, etcetera – you can extend the list as long as you want. All these are favors granted to us in return for nothing.

As for its diverse dimensions, we have to consider belief in God Almighty the foremost favor. Belief is a Divine favor. For while there are those who cannot benefit from the most convenient contexts of belief, there are other people in the most unlikely contexts who happen to meet belief and embrace it sincerely. Many examples around us prove that belief or faith is a blessing that comes through as divine grace. Many smart people with brilliant minds live without a compass and without a purpose, for they cannot free themselves from the past baggage of misguided perspectives. It is even harder for those who are in a position to lead their communities, for now they have to speak to their people to tell them that the path they took so far was wrong.

Another dimension of Divine favor is to grow up in a community where one isn’t profiled for their associations or beliefs. If we happen to be in a community where individuals are welcomed regardless of their racial, cultural, or religious identities, where no one is discriminated against because of his family relations or social allegiances, then this is a manifest Divine favor as well. In such a community, other groups are not defamed for their way of life, but on the contrary they are praised for their respective methods of public service and engagement. The opposite would be to narrow down and shrink the otherwise expansive nature of faith that welcomes all and which does not segregate those who are different. Such exclusivist attitudes lead to misunderstandings and raise concerns about religious thought which by definition should be inclusive.

One more favor that is significant and must be mentioned is the feeling of contentment as opposed to seeking benefits and self-interest. Future conflicts that may possibly arise at times of new worldly opportunities can only be prevented when people take a step back in an altruistic spirit, just as in the example of Hasan, the grandson of the Prophet Muhammad, peace be upon him.

Hasan (d. 669) had an opportunity to seek political leadership, and though he had an enormous amount of popular support, he did not wish to risk people’s lives or threaten social stability, and thus did not accept this opportunity. It is important to follow in his track and refuse any worldly gain when others are competing for such gains, and instead be prepared to even retreat into a cave, if this would be to the benefit of the community.

This attitude, which we may call contentment or abstinence, is a priceless virtue for a community. When, during a conflict, one party raises their hand to hit, they will not find a material form before them, for the contented party will already have vanished, avoiding any sort of fight whatsoever. The one who starts a fight is wrong, even if he is absolutely on the right side of the issue.

Perhaps the most important of all Divine favors is the consciousness that these gifts are divinely granted and that our willpower has nothing to do with them. Human willpower is a basic condition that is required for all matters, even for the most important ones. Yet, in the context of divine favors as described above, it is almost impossible to claim the intervention of human willpower. We have been created as human, the most honorable and superior of all creation in the universe. We are born into a world where we are given all opportunities to reveal our full potential to become “the perfect human” (al-insan al-kamil). In this life, we are given a whole infrastructure and the necessary dynamics to reach the horizons of being fully human as the giants of human history did. And these are no doubt “given” to us without us being involved.

What falls on our side is not to treat these favors as if we accidentally bumped into them, but as the most precious property entrusted to us and do our best to deserve their continuous bestowal. Each individual honored with these blessings should take all measures to keep them safe and to offer wholehearted thanks to the One in appreciation for all His favors.

However, none of these movies properly – or accurately – explains radiation. Regardless of what you do and where you are on a typical day, you are being exposed to millions of particle showers – another term for radiation – at all times. Radiation is all around us, but we are not turning into monsters, giants, or any other kind of creature. We do not even sense most of the radiation unless the harmful effects reach the detectable level. In fact, radioactive isotopes (the sources of radiation) found in water, air, soil, and most places in the environment have been emitting radiation since the Big Bang ^[1], which occurred approximately 14 billion years ago.

Radiation can be emitted by both natural and man-made sources ^{[2, 3]}. There are generally two main types of natural radiation: radiation from natural sources, such as elements in the ground, is terrestrial, and radiation from outer space, such as charged particles and gamma rays, is cosmic. For example, at this very moment you are being bombarded with cosmic rays every few seconds. On the other hand, the main human-made source of radiation exposure is from medical sources like nuclear medicine, x-rays, computed tomography (CT) scans, etc.

There are various types of radiation emitted by the sun. The most widely recognized forms are visible light, infrared, ultraviolet (UV), x-ray, and gamma radiation. We can only see the visible light, which is defined as having a wavelength on the electromagnetic spectrum between 400-700 nm (a nanometer, or nm, is approximately 10-9 meter). Some of the other kinds of light have greater wavelengths, and some have smaller. In short, visible light’s region is a very narrow part of the wide EM spectrum.

Why can our eyes see only within this limited range? There are several reasons ^[4]: solar emissions, low absorption in the atmosphere, the energy of chemical bonds, the optical properties of matter, black-body emissions, and so on. Unless all these reasons align into a specific rhythm, we cannot see the kind of light. There are many laws determining light, and the fact that we can see even some light is quite remarkable, and a sign of how perfectly calibrated the universe is.

Misfits of the standard model: Neutrinos

Following our discussion of radiation, I would like to focus on one particular type of radiation: neutrinos. Neutrinos are created in certain types of radioactive decay and nuclear reactions, such as those occurring in the sun. They are one of the most abundant particles in the universe; billions of them pass harmlessly through your body, unnoticed. David Griffiths, a physicist at Reed College, describes neutrinos in his book on particle physics ^[5]:

“…neutrinos interact extraordinarily weakly with matter; a neutrino of moderate energy could easily penetrate a thousand light years of lead. That’s a comforting realization when you learn that hundreds of billions of neutrinos per second pass through every square inch of your body, night and day, coming from the sun.”

In total, there are three kinds of neutrino flavors, as they are called. These are electron neutrinos, muon neutrinos, and tau neutrinos. Each kind has a tiny mass. According to the Standard Model, there are three kinds of particles in the universe: “light-weight” leptons, “mid-weight” mesons, and “heavy-weight” baryons, such as protons and neutrons. Neutrinos are in the lepton family, which, in total, has only six particles; they have weak interactions within the universe. Neutrinos are neutral leptons since they are chargeless. Other leptons, electron, muon, and tau are called as charged leptons.

The Standard Model is one of the fundamental models in experimental high-energy physics explaining how the universe came into being. Well-known scientists are still improving the model to categorize particles properly in the universe with the aim of finding missing particles. The model explains very well the fundamental forces governing the world: strong nuclear forces, weak nuclear forces, gravitational force, and electroweak force. There were, frankly, two contradictions challenging the Standard Model until today: the Higgs mechanism ^[6] and the mass of neutrinos. The model predicted that Higgs boson ^[6] is the particle responsible for all the mass in the universe. CERN, the biggest particle accelerator^[7] on earth, announced in July 2012 that they had found a particle that behaves like the Standard Model predicted Higgs boson would. Scientists at CERN are still striving to understand the identity and features of this discovered particle. If they achieve that, they can unravel the mystery and origins of the universe a little bit more. At the end, only the mass of neutrinos will remain a controversial topic within the model.

The Standard Model predicted that neutrinos were chargeless and massless particles. However, cosmic, reactor, and accelerator neutrino experiments, which are the main three experiment types to track neutrinos, confirmed each other on the subject of neutrino oscillation. Neutrino oscillation, in short, means that they can change their flavors. For example, a tau neutrino can convert to an electron neutrino, and vice versa. This discovery shows that these particles can be chargeless but not massless. Each of them has to have small, different masses to be able to perform flavor conversions, according to the laws of physics. That is why these particles are usually called the misfits^[8] of the Standard Model.

Since each particle was produced with its antiparticle, according to Dirac’s theory of pairs^[9], neutrinos also have their antiparticles, so there are actually six types of neutrinos in the universe. Each antiparticle has exactly the same properties as the original particle, just with the opposite charge. What about the chargeless neutrinos? The difference between neutrinos and antineutrinos is their spin behavior, not their charge. They both have zero charge; however, antineutrinos have a right-handed spin and neutrinos have a left-handed spin.

If each particle has its own antiparticle in theory, there should be the same amount of particles and antiparticles in the universe. However, experimental results show that there are more particles than antiparticles. There are a lot of scientists explaining this dilemma by accepting a parallel universe in which there are more antiparticles than particles, so the total would still be the same. In return, some others are trying to clarify this contradiction by accepting that more particles were created at the beginning of the universe, approximately 14 billion years ago.

Acknowledgment: This article is produced at Mergeous ^[10], an online article and project development service for authors and publishers dedicated to the advancement of technologies in the merging realms of science and religion.

References

[1] Kaya, A. 2009. “The Expansion of the Universe and the Big Bang: A Qur’anic Perspective,” The Fountain Magazine, Issue 68.
[2] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Radiation
[3] http://www.chem.duke.edu/jds/cruise_chem/nuclear/exposure.html
[4] Why can we see visible light? 2007. Physics Education, 42(1), pp. 37-40.
[5] David Griffiths, Introduction to Elementary Particles.
[6] Kara, Cihan. 2013. “Will CERN Reveal the Origin of the Universe or Cause the End,” The Fountain Magazine, Issue 92.
[7] http://home.web.cern.ch/
[8] Symmetry Magazine, A Joint Fermilab/SLAC Publication, Spring 2013.
[9] Mahmood B. S. 2009. “The Holy Qur’an and Dirac’s Theory of Pairs,” The Fountain Magazine, Issue 68.
[10] Mergeous, Online article and project development platform, http://www.mergeous.com

Tschauner O. et al. Discovery of bridgmanite, the most abundant mineral in Earth, in a shocked meteorite. Science, November 2014.

A team of scientists has identified and characterized the Earth’s most abundant mineral: “Bridgemanite” makes up about 70 percent of the Earth’s lower mantle and 38 percent of its total volume. It is made of a high-density form of magnesium iron silicate and named after 1964 Nobel laureate physicist Percy Bridgman. For decades, scientists knew of the existence of dense Bridgemanite layers in the Earth’s lower mantle (660 to 2890 km beneath the surface) through theoretical and some experimental studies. However, since the mysterious mineral never survived the trip to the surface, no one had been able to prove its existence. Conveniently, shock-compression that occurs in collisions of asteroids creates an identical hostile temperature (2100 C°) and high-pressure (240,000 times greater than sea-level) conditions to those found in deep layers of the Earth. As such, scientists decided to look at meteorites closely, particularly one that had fallen in Australia in 1879. By using a micro-focused X-ray beam in conjunction with electron microscopy, they were able to successfully detect the Bridgemanite grains for the first time. The discovery of the Bridgmanite’s crystal chemistry will have a significant impact on the future studies of chemistry and geology of the Earth’s deep mantle, and perhaps studies on the formation of the universe.

Male smokers lose Y chromosomes

Dumanski et al. Smoking is associated with mosaic loss of chromosome Y. Science, December 2014.

The Y chromosome is one of two sex-determining chromosomes in men, who have one X chromosome and one Y (women have no Y chromosomes, but two X chromosomes). During normal cell division, copies of all of the 23 chromosomes, including X and Y, are synthesized and sorted into the two new daughter cells. This complicated process sometimes goes wrong and chromosomes are lost. Cells with missing chromosomes usually die, but cells can still survive without a Y chromosome. Scientists initially thought that men lose Y chromosomes as they age and this is a part of the normal aging process. But later studies have shown that the age-dependent loss of Y chromosomes can have serious health implications, as it is linked to a shorter life span and an increased risk of dying from cancer. Even more troubling results came from a recent study that screened for associations between behavioral and lifestyle choices, and diseases. Comparison of the DNA in blood cells of over 6000 men suggested that blood cells from actively smoking men are 3-4 times more likely to be missing Y chromosomes than the nonsmokers in the control. These findings may explain why male smokers have a slightly increased risk of death from the majority of cancers than female smokers. The scientists hypothesized that the Y chromosome loss may create defective immune cells that cannot fight cancer and ultimately make the body susceptible to tumors. The study gives some good news to smokers though. Y chromosome damage by smoking is both reversible and dose-dependent, so you are always better off not smoking; it is never too late to quit.

The world’s oldest case of cancer

Lieverse AR et al. Paleopathological Description and Diagnosis of Metastatic Carcinoma in an Early Bronze Age (4588+34 Cal. BP) Forager from the Cis-Baikal Region of Eastern Siberia. PLOS ONE, December 2014.

Cancer is responsible for one in four deaths in the Western world. It is widely assumed that cancer is a disease of modern times. Since people in older eras were exposed to fewer toxins, ate only natural foods, and adapted physically active lifestyles, many people thought that no one in older civilizations would have had cancer. Yet an analysis of a 4500-year-old skeleton from a cemetery in the Cis-Baikal region of Siberia has seriously challenged this idea. Researchers estimated that the Siberian man was about 35 to 45 years old before he died from a severe lung or prostate cancer. The ancient man’s bones, from head to hip and including his upper arms and upper legs, were covered by lesions and big holes. It is almost certain that the deterioration of his bones left him immobile and eventually caused him a very agonizing death. It is also clear that those around him recognized his situation and placed him in a circular grave in the fetal position with some artifacts ,which is completely different from the rest of the burials in the cemetery. Although ancient skeletons with the scars of cancer are relatively rare, scientists suspect that cancer may have been considerably more common in ancient times than is generally predicted, especially when considering other variables such as naturally occurring carcinogens and longer life expectancies.

Before talking about the universality of Prophet Muhammad’s message, it is essential to focus our attention on the era when Muhammad’s message first emerged: fifteen hundred years ago, in pre-Islamic Arabia. Although there were some positive characteristics of Arabs before Islam, such as generosity, courage, and dignity, the feudal system used by society was extremely harsh: marginalized groups did not have any rights; slavery was rampant; women were sold like property; and female infants were often buried alive as a part of the tradition of tribal honor. Wars between tribes occurred without cessation. People worshipped idols and made their own gods according to their own desires.

In the midst of such chaos, Muhammad was born in 571 CE on the 12th day of the third month of the Arabic calendar, Rabi Al-Awwal. Today, according to the Arabic calendar, the 12th of Rabi Al-Awwal is the Prophet’s birthday. As he came into adulthood, he was not satisfied with the tribal traditions of his society. He would often go into seclusion and meditate for a long time, particularly for the whole month of Ramadan.

In the year 610 CE, he experienced the first revelation. This would forever change him and it transformed the world. The revelations continued for twenty three years, and these make up the Holy Scripture of Islam; its name, the Qur’an, literally means recitation. While spreading this message, over a very short period of time and despite hostile reactions, the Prophet’s kindness and tenderness impacted the hearts of many in the city of Mecca. He did not consider himself a deity or a part of God, but rather the messenger of God sent to convey God’s message to his people.

The Qur’an speaks of many Prophets. There are also particular verses about Muhammad, peace be upon him. In one verse, the Qur’an speaks of him as Rahmatan li al-Alamin, the “mercy for all spheres.” In order to understand the meaning of being merciful to creation, it is important to think of the oppression that was occurring in the world into which he was born and the transformation that his message made possible.

Arabs, due to geographic proximity, were the first group addressed by the Prophet’s message; but the message was not supposed to be limited to just Arabs. In fact, it is not limited to any nation or group. Many Qur’anic verses transcend locality, region, ethnicity, and nationality, by starting with the call, “O human beings,” or, “O people.”

The Prophet’s message brings the idea that everything in creation is a living, chanting, obedient worshipper of God, regardless of whether they are human, animal, or another organism. The Qur’anic verse which says, “Everything in the heavens and earth praises God,” invites the reader to enter the world in which the Qur’an was revealed and see the darkness that dominated it. In Arabia, before the Prophet, the meaning of creatures was not recognized. The Qur’anic revelation breathed life into the world of nature and taught humans that creatures around us are not static and meaningless. Instead, all of them praise God with great joy through their own languages.

Going back in time in our imagination to see the situation in Arabia before and after Muhammad, peace be upon him, would be quite revealing to witness the remarkable transformation he was able to accomplish. One should keep in mind that to change a little vice, such as a bad habit, is difficult enough; changing the minds and the hearts of an entire society, as the Prophet did, is exponentially more difficult. He successfully transformed a wild society into a civilized community and shaped leaders for a new civilization.

If one would like to see the power of transformation that the Prophet made, one needs only to look at the second caliph, Umar, before Islam and after Islam. Umar himself said that he remembered two things from his pre-Islamic life: one, he would cry; and two, he would laugh. He cried that he buried his own daughter alive and he could still hear the voice of her calling to him. He laughed that he made gods of flour, and people ate them when they were hungry.

The new Umar became a symbol of justice for the world. Umar after Islam, during his caliphate, is known for his following statement: “If a wolf attacks a lamb at the shore of the Euphrates, I am afraid that God would ask me why I did not protect the lamb against the wolf.” Out of compassion, he would walk among houses at night and he would anonymously provide food for needy people. It was the universal message of the Prophet that transformed Umar into a person of such immense compassion and humanity.

Mercy and compassion constitute the foundation of the Prophet’s message. The first verse of the first chapter of the Qur’an indicates that God is “All-Merciful and the All-Compassionate.” Another Qur’anic verse says, “Muhammad, We have sent you as a mercy for all creation” (21:10). Being merciful towards all creation, the Prophet’s personal life has become a reflection of this Qur’anic verse. In his relationship with people, he always smiled and no one ever heard a bad word from his mouth. His companion, Anas ibn Malik, who faithfully served the Prophet for thirteen years, witnessed his mercy, saying that he was never reprimanded for his service, despite his mistakes.

The Prophet was also very sensitive towards human suffering. When he heard of a slave being tortured, he commanded one of his companions to buy that slave’s freedom. His famous hadith about the treatment of slaves is a great example of his universal teaching. He said, “They are your brothers; give them to eat what you eat, and give them to wear what you wear.” On one occasion, he asked Zaid bin Haritha, a slave freed by the Prophet, if he would like to go back to his family. Zaid chose not to return with his father, but instead preferred to stay with the Prophet.

The Prophet’s farewell sermon on the plain of Arafat also has remarkable aspects of the universality of his message. In this sermon, he spoke about the rights of women, the relationship between races, and slaves. About slaves, he said, “Fear Allah with regard to your slaves.” In fact, because of his message, just thirty years after his death, it became difficult to find a slave in Arabia. The Qur’anic verse clearly says, “O people, We have created you from male and female and made you into nations and tribes to know one another. The best of you is the best in conduct” (49:13). He said that all humankind is from Adam and Eve: an Arab has no superiority over a non-Arab, and a non-Arab has no superiority over an Arab. Also, a white person has no superiority over a black person, and a black person has no superiority over a white person.

Furthermore, of women he said, “It is true that you have certain rights in regard to your women, but they also have rights over you.” He successfully established a sense of responsibility and conscience in the minds and hearts of his people.

The Prophet’s universal message of mercy did not include only human beings, but also animals. Among the miracles narrated in the hadith, there was the story of a camel that had gone wild and would attack whoever attempted to come near it. When the Prophet appeared, it came to him, prostrated itself as a sign of respect, and knelt beside him, so that he could put a bridle on it. Then the camel complained to the Prophet, “They have employed me in the heaviest work, and now they want to slaughter me.”

Muhammad asked the camel’s owner: “Is it true?”

“Yes,” he said.

The Prophet said to his companions, “These animals are communities, just like you. Be compassionate towards them.” Regarding someone who used his donkey for more than he needed, the Prophet said, “Don’t make the backs of your animals chairs.” On another occasion, the Prophet saw a donkey on the road with a brand on its face, and said, “God’s curse is on him who branded it.”

The Prophet’s mercy even extended to his enemies; he never took revenge. It is reported in the hadith collection that at the battle of Ghatfan and Anmar, the courageous head of a tribe named the Ghuras slyly approached the Prophet. Holding his sword over the Prophet’s head, he asked, “Who will save you from me?”

Muhammad replied, “God!” And he prayed, “O God, suffice me against him.”

In the same breath, Ghuras was knocked down by a mysterious blow between his shoulders, and his sword slipped out of his hand. The Prophet took the sword and asked him, “Now who will save you from me?”

But the Prophet forgave him and allowed him to return to his tribe. His people were all surprised that such a courageous man could not do anything against the Prophet. They asked, “What happened to you? Why couldn’t you do anything?” He told them what had happened, and added, “I am now coming from the presence of the best of men.”

In a fashion similar to this event, at the battle of Badr, a hypocrite from among his own men likewise approached him. He had just lifted his sword when the Prophet turned and glanced at him, causing him to tremble and drop the sword. Once again, the Prophet did not take revenge.

As we can see, the Prophet exemplified the virtues of his message at all times and in all situations. I’d like to finish with a quotation that I think captures the essence of the Prophet and his message. It’s from British Historian Edward Gibbon:

“Mohammed was distinguished by the beauty of his person, an outward gift which is seldom despised, except by those to whom it has been refused… They applauded his commanding presence, his majestic aspect, his piercing eye, his gracious smile, his flowing beard, his countenance which painted every sensation of his soul, and the gestures that enforced each expression of the tongue. In the familiar offices of life, he [meticulously] adhered to the grave and ceremonious politeness of his country; his memory was capacious and retentive, his wit easy and social, his imagination sublime, his judgment clear, rapid and decisive. He possessed the courage both of thought and action; … [and] bears the stamp of an original and superior genius.”

Zeki Saritoprak is a Professor of Islamic Studies at John Carroll University in Cleveland, OH.

With this realization, skepticism has the potential to become an inconvenience and, at its most extreme, a debilitating disorder of mammoth proportions. An example of the inconvenience of skepticism might look like this: Imagine you are looking to buy a new car from a car dealer you are unfamiliar with. The cars he sells all look to be in great condition, and the man himself seems honest enough. However, because of your skeptical nature you are not entirely sure about the quality of these cars and you ultimately decide not to buy one. Because of this, you end up missing an opportunity to own a great new car at an affordable price due to unwarranted suspicion, stemming from an overly skeptical worldview.

What does it mean to be “overly” skeptical? There are times when skepticism is warranted and even necessary. If you were to notice some odd or shifty behavior from the car salesman, for example, you would be prudent and wise to take a second to doubt the quality of the vehicles he is selling. However, problems arise when you are skeptical in the absence of any evidence to suggest that what you perceive is not in reality what one thinks it is. Is there a remedy for the soul who is afflicted with constant doubt about the world and the intentions of those in it? Is there a cure for the mind that is never satisfied with its ignorance, and wishes to know the truth and reality behind all events in the universe?

Bediuzzaman Said Nursi, a twentieth-century Islamic scholar, answers in the Risale-i Nur with an affirmative “yes,” and says that having an idea of God in one’s life is sufficient to address the concerns of skepticism.

Born in 1877, in an Anatolian village in the city of Bitlis, Bediuzzaman Said Nursi lived through one of the most tumultuous periods in Turkish history, witnessing the end of the Ottoman Empire and the birth of the secular Turkish republic under Mustafa Kemal Ataturk.

Nursi’s own life was equally tumultuous. Under the young republic’s Kemalist ideology, Nursi was routinely held by police, unjustly tried in court, and forced to live in states of exile. Despite these hardships, Nursi never deviated from his message of faith and peace, and managed to compile his incredibly influential Risale-i Nur collection.

What does Bediuzzaman Said Nursi have to say about skepticism? We should first look at Nursi’s attitude towards modern science. Said Nursi emphasized contemporary scientific achievements, and used religious and scientific terminologies together. This indicates that he supported and accepted the positive and metaphysical sciences. One of his fundamental ideas was how religious and modern scientific knowledge should complement and support each other, rather than come into conflict. In the following quote, we’ll see the importance he places on both sciences, and how skepticism is a result of a lack of the religious sciences:

“The light of the conscience is the religious sciences (ulum-u diniye). The light of the mind is the modern sciences (funun-u medeniye). Combining both manifests the truth. The student’s skills develop further with these two (sciences). When they are separated, the former breeds superstition and the latter breeds corruption and skepticism” (from Munazarat, in ibid., 2:1956).

To further the study, we will examine what Said Nursi says about the relationship between man and God. Nursi writes that belief, knowledge, and worship of God are the ultimate purpose of existence, and that these are our innate and original duties. Therefore, belief in God is the highest aim of creation. According to Nursi, because of these facts, which complement each other, human beings can only find true happiness and serenity through belief. This idea of finding inner peace through belief in God is a very important component of the Risale, and although Said Nursi does not speak to skepticism directly, this idea can address skeptical concerns about knowledge and the world. More specifically, it is when a person puts their full trust in God that he or she can stop worrying about their burdens in this world.

Said Nursi writes about putting one’s trust in God in the part of the Risale-i Nur known as The Words. He explains this concept in the Twenty-third Word, in the Third Point. Nursi writes that belief in God is both light and power, in that those who have true belief can be relieved from the pressure of events. Since they entrust their burdens to God’s Absolute Power, they travel through the world without fear and misery. Nursi writes that belief consists of affirming Divine Unity, which requires submitting to God. Submitting fully to God requires relying on Him, which will yield happiness in this world.

Nursi cautions that relying on God in this manner does not mean that one should ignore the relationship between cause and effect, but rather one should view cause and effect as veils covering Divine Power’s hand. For example, in order to earn a high score on a final exam for school, we shouldn’t only sit back and pray to God, but we should also study for the exam. He writes that observing the laws of cause and effect is actually a type of worship through seeking to comply with Divine Will. However, this kind of desire and seeking of results is not enough for us to get what we want. According to Nursi, we should understand that, with the right belief, the result we want can only be expected from God, because He is the sole producer of effects.

Said Nursi further explains this concept by use of an allegorical argument. The parable goes as follows: once, two people boarded a ship, each carrying heavy loads on their backs. One man immediately put his burden on the deck of the ship after boarding and sat on it to keep it safe. The other man refused to lay down his cargo, even after being told to do so. He feared that it might get lost, and felt that he was strong enough to carry it himself. His friend told him that the ship was stronger and could hold it better, and also that by holding onto his burden, his strength would eventually fail him. Additionally, if the captain of the ship would see him, he might think he was ungrateful or insane to be carrying that burden by himself. And so he was convinced to lay down his burden and he found relief at last. Said Nursi writes that putting trust in God delivers one from being fearful of things in life, similar to how the men in the boat put down their burdens and stopped worrying about them.

What does any of this have to do with skepticism? Let us recall the problems associated with living a life of skepticism. When a person has an unhealthy amount of skepticism, he or she can no longer be sure about things that should otherwise not concern them. This type of skepticism is like a kind of paranoia, a type of phobia. We saw earlier that Said Nursi views this sort of skepticism as a result of a lack of the religious sciences. By extension, this means that a lack of trust in a Benevolent and Wise God can be responsible for this skepticism. Completely trusting in God first requires one to believe that God has Absolute Power over cause and effect. If one believes that God controls cause and effect completely, and if one believes that everything God wills is for the best purpose and wisest reason, then one has no reason to worry about the things one cannot know for certain, because those matters are entrusted to God’s control.

Said Nursi also writes in the Twenty-Fifth Word, Second Station, about evil thoughts and involuntary suggestions that may come to people. He first quotes a verse from the Qur’an:

“O Lord, I take refuge in You from the evil suggestions of the satans, and I take refuge in You, O my Lord, lest they attend me” (23:97-98).

Nursi has this to say about involuntary evil thoughts: the person who is afflicted with these thoughts and fancies is in an unfortunate state. The more one thinks about them, the more they grow. If one ignores them, they will shrink away; but if one exaggerates them, they will loom large in one’s life. If one fears them, they will make one sick; but if one does not fear them, they will become hidden.

This approach is relevant with regards to skeptical worries. One can observe that the only people who tend to worry about whether we can ever have knowledge with 100 certainty are philosophers. Most people are free of this type of worry. Most people, for example, wouldn’t think to question whether they are awake or asleep at this moment in time. If we see a tomato, we shouldn’t worry about the fact that we cannot see every aspect of the tomato at once; this shouldn’t lead us to question whether what we see is in fact a tomato. Nursi’s advice to philosophers is that we should stop worrying about the 0.01 of knowledge we can never obtain, and instead put our full trust in God, Who has Absolute Knowledge, Wisdom, and control over the world. If God wills it, the tomato will turn out to be a tomato, and if not, it is not the end of the world. Nursi would probably also say not to worry about whether the car salesman is trying to rip you off. If it so happens that you bought a lemon, you should remember that God willed it to happen for a reason you may not yet understand.

On a final note, I can share a related story. About a year ago, I was playing paintball with some friends. We were at a park in the woods. The field was very large, and I went into a thick patch of brush and was quickly lost. After stumbling around for a bit, I emerged in a wide open area, and right in front of me I saw a strange sight: I had somehow ended up behind what I thought was the enemy team. I slowly crept forward, waiting until I was in a prime position to attack. I finally stopped, but I hesitated. And in that moment of hesitation I heard the whistle blow to end the match. I was dismayed at such a wasted opportunity. However, as I sulked back to my team, I soon realized that I had come perilously close to making a massive fool of myself. It turns out that I had bumbled onto an entirely different match with different teams. How differently I viewed the situation after just a few moments! In place of despair, I felt a huge wave of relief wash over me.

While it’s true that if I had taken the time to question my surroundings I might not have almost made myself look silly, in this case I would say there was a good reason for skepticism, which was the fact that I had gotten lost. If we have no reason to be skeptical about something we shouldn’t try to create reasons to be skeptical. This was the moment in my life where I clearly saw with my own eyes that sometimes things can happen that we may be upset about and appear to be bad for us, but in the long run they may actually turn out to be good. Because of this we should not worry too much about the outcomes of things out of our control, because they are all ultimately in God’s control.

Flies have two wings that are capable of moving independently from each other; these wings go back and forth on a single axis during flight. Technically, the unequal angles of the wings to the abdominal region could have prevented flight. Yet in the case of flies, this abnormal situation is not a hindrance and results in a harmonious wing stroke.

Let’s bring our palms together over our head and then lower them near our legs. How many times can we make this movement in a second? Let’s say two, three, or maybe four times if we are really quick. Flies have the ability to stroke their wings hundreds of times in just a second. There are benefits associated with this series of movements. The surface of the wings and the rear section of the head are equipped with sensitive hairs that are in charge of registering air currents and mechanical pressures and conducting relevant flight data to the brain. The unwanted effects of air currents towards the body surface and wings during the flight are detected via these hairs that house receptors. Thus, the wings are controlled according to the signals arriving from the brain. Therefore, a fly can feel an air curtain (like an insect screen) against it instantly and often times flies away. Sometimes, they also stroke their wings hundreds of times per second to avoid the negative effects of air resistance on the wings. Without these receptors and serial wing movements, the air current would stick to the wing’s surface and would not let the fly, well, fly.

Is it a fly or a plane?

We sometimes witness comparisons between the flight specifications of planes and flies. However, it is a great injustice to the fly to be put in the same basket as a plane. The products of modern technology, such as a plane, are invented after drawing inspiration from the meaningful skills of animals like a fly. It is not possible to build planes with a wing width smaller than 15 centimeters; there are disadvantages to wings smaller than that in terms of generating lift. On the other hand, flies have much smaller and more fragile wing structures (relative to their bodies) and can maintain their flight in a perfect fashion. When a fly extends its rear legs, covered with hairs designed especially for cleaning the wings, and sweeps them over its wings, doesn’t this suggest a fly is more impressive than a plane?

It challenges mountaineers!

A fly challenges mountain climbers by easily moving on the four walls and ceiling of a room – and even on slippery surfaces like glass. What is its secret?

Its ability to stand or walk on the ceiling without being defeated by gravity is possible via some of its organs. The final sections of fly’s legs are like hooks and the tip of this hook is equipped with suction pads. When flies touch a surface, a sticky fluid is secreted from the suction pads. Flies can remain suspended on the ceiling with the help of this fluid. When it approaches the ceiling, extends its legs to the front and flips towards the opposite direction of its approach, it sticks to the ceiling on its abdomen.

The grand architecture in the eye of the fly

Can you complete a jigsaw puzzle of 8000 pieces in a second without any missing pieces? It seems impossible, but let’s accept that you have. Can you fit this puzzle into an area that’s just a couple of square millimeters? It’s not possible for a man of intelligence to pass this test. However, the fly completes this miraculous task every time it uses its eyes in our rooms. We are unaware of the fact that the fly, which draws patterns of colors under the sun light, has such amazing eyes. Its eye is created to contain nearly 8000 ommatidium, which function almost as small eyes. Different areas can be seen via each ommatidium and once images are put together in the brain, the whole picture forms. Through these tiny eyes, shaped as hexagons that resemble honey combs, a fly can see as close as 2 mm – and can even see behind its body! Because of the wise hexagonal design, the ommatidia are placed in the most economical way possible; there are no missing spaces which could cause a lack of clarity. The optical speed of a fly’s eye is nearly 4-10 times faster than the human eye. Flies can see the ultraviolet section of the light spectrum and this allows them to evade predators easily in dim environments. Every time a fly uses its eyes, it’s as if it gives the message, “Look at how miraculously I’ve been created. Do you think that my creation could have been in vain?” Such complexity is an inspiration to scientists as they try to develop new technologies.

One of the features of flies that surprises scientists most is the way they use a neural network of a very limited number of neurons to perform so many complex movements. Biologist Michael Dickinson expresses his astonishment as to how a neural system of such small scale can accomplish all of these features.

Do not ever kill a fly!

Flies consume plenty of energy during flight. A regular supply of oxygen is needed to compensate for the energy they use. Air is inhaled via a constriction of the abdominal muscles when the fly lands on a surface. However, during the flight, air enters via the serial movements of the wings. Air that enters through the openings of the chitin layer surrounding the fly is transported to cells via small channels.

Flies locate their food via their smell receptors. Thus, a fly in the air easily lands on the food source that it detects. The taste organ detects whether the food is an ideal source or not. Usually, their choices of food are human foods, waste remains, and dirt. There are two tubes located in the mouth of the house fly. It sucks liquid food with one of the tubes; saliva containing enzymes is secreted on the food source with the other hose so that digestion is facilitated. A fly secretes plenty of saliva in order to liquefy the solid foods it prefers.

Flies that use dirt and waste as a nutritional source are considered as disease contracting pests. However, this is a major fallacy. Flies are actually the health officers of the ecosystem. They turn microorganisms ineffective as they take in their food; the digestive enzymes that they carry play role in completing this important task. Due to this important task, it should be remembered that killing a fly is very unfortunate. Great scholar, Bediuzzaman Said Nursi, notes that flies are assigned to terminate unhealthy microorganisms and materials.

Scientists led by Prof. Andy Beattie have noticed that flies are resistant to all kinds of dirt, including from meat and manure. He said that these organisms should be super resistant to infections, otherwise they could not survive and that our work to gain antibiotics from them has been partially successful. In fact, studies focused on obtaining antibiotics from flies started in the past century. English and Swedish scientists isolated certain antibiotics from flies in 1930 and 1947. Efforts to isolate antibiotics from flies continue today.

Reproduction in black flies!

Black flies reproduce quickly. In suitable humidity and temperature, eggs start to hatch in just 10 hours. Larvae feed on liquid materials, though they need bacteria living on solid food to convert it into liquid form. Therefore, an acid is secreted inside the digestive track of the fly that can terminate most of the bacteria. Thus, the insect becomes free of bacteria, ready to fly. One fly can lay more than 100 eggs at one time and between 600 and 1000 in their lifetime. They can lay eggs again after just three days.

When looking at the information we have, it’s clear that flies are acrobatic flight masters with mind blowing features. We should abandon the negativity towards flies and contemplate the perfection of creation by considering their many remarkable skills – and working to discover even more secrets about them.

Abu Hanifa (d. 767 CE) is considered a leading scholar of Islamic law and his thoughts led to the formation of the Hanafi school of Islam, which has the greatest following among schools. Abu Hanifa’s time was an era of intense political and social mobility. While new conquests brought in new cultural and religious components, the political authority aspired to disseminate an official form of Islam; at the same time, new groups and formations emerged to respond to changing conditions. Unfortunately, these conditions led to some groups being radicalized. Abu Hanifa’s stance against radicalism was exemplary and his arguments are still worthwhile today.

His political attitude

Abu Hanifa represents the prototype of an independent scholar. He was wary of state power, believing that it corrupted intellectual honesty in the interest of preserving power; thus, he did not hold an official political position. This was a brave stance, as he was seriously persecuted for it. Yet his independence allowed him to see radicalism – on both sides of the political spectrum – for the danger that it was.

Understanding of Islamic jurisprudence

Abu Hanifa is considered the pioneer of the school of sound opinion (ray), which advocates seeking solutions to social-judicial problems by using reason together with religious essentials and scholarly comparison (qiyas). Deductive reasoning (ijtihad), juristic preference for the better (istihsan), and acceptable custom (urf) have an important place in his understanding of Islamic jurisprudence. We can infer that he also believed in the necessity of taking social and psychological realities into account when making religious judgments; this was what he did in practice.

Abu Hanifa did not choose a reductionist approach by restricting himself to the frame of religious essentials, but produced solutions to the questions he faced—or could possibly face—by benefiting from the sources mentioned along with the Qur’an and Sunnah. It is possible to define his approach to jurisprudence as an understanding that places humanity in the center; his views expanded the domain of legitimacy and accepted components of historical and cultural heritage that do not contradict the spirit of religion and belief of Divine oneness, such as local customs and practices. This broad perspective ran contrary to radical beliefs. Because the Hanafi school of Islamic jurisprudence does not disregard real problems in life, it is more capable of solving them.

Abu Hanifa viewed education and debate as essential to his jurisprudence. He would bring a certain problem – some of them contemporary, and some hypothetical – to the attention of his students, each of whom was an expert on an Islamic discipline such as tafsir, hadith, and fiqh; he would let them discuss that matter in detail, follow the discussions with patience, and come to a conclusive judgment according to the strength of the arguments. But he would still tolerate the opposing thoughts of his disciples, such as Imam Muhammad and Abu Yusuf, and let those thoughts come to life. All of their opposing thoughts were recorded, and people acted upon most of them.

We can accept Abu Hanifa’s educational method as a pluralist and democratic one, which also teaches how to forbear different opinions with patience. It shows the value of viewing an issue from different points of view. Despite its value, there were some groups that did not support Abu Hanifa’s methods.

His understanding of belief

Some groups had formed prior to Abu Hanifa as extensions of the extremist Kharijites. They not only directly declared believing Muslims who sinned were apostates, but they also attacked them and tried to exterminate them in the name of religion. The Kharijites even declared Caliph Ali – and many other devout believers – apostates. Though the Kharijites were the most violent, other groups – including the Mutazilites – also persecuted certain religious groups when they came to political power. Unfortunately, this act of dividing society into groups inevitably led to more violence.

According to one definition, it is possible for religion to be a dividing or uniting factor within a society. It can be a great force for good when it is kept separate from the political machinations of power. In his work Fiqh al-Akbar, Abu Hanifa defined the concept of religion (din) in terms of its contents by saying, “Religion is the title given to the entirety of religion, faith, submission, and religious judgments.” Abu’l Muntaha, the scholar who annotated this definition, states that the word religion has different uses, sometimes meaning belief, sometimes submission, and sometimes as the Divine judgments conveyed by a certain Prophet. However, at his answer to the question directed to him about the difference between religion and religious law, Abu Hanifa he expressed that he saw a difference between them. He did not only acknowledge this difference, but also gave a religious and rational explanation for it.

According to Abu Hanifa, religion (din) and religious law (shariah) are separate concepts. He accepted religion as the principles to be believed in – namely, the belief of Divine unity, and faith in the existence and unity of God. Religious law, however, is a body of judgments related to different aspects of human life such as worship, interpersonal relations, and the like. Abu Hanifa interpreted the Qur’anic verse meaning, “I have not created the jinn and humankind but to worship Me (exclusively)” (Dhariyat 56), in the sense of, “So that they know Me and acknowledge my Oneness.”

He believed the origin of religion is the belief in the unity of God. Obviously, this definition is based on the distinction between the essence of religion and what it necessitates. Here, belief is the absolute condition of religion, because a person belonging to a certain religion is a matter of accepting the essential teachings of that religion, rather than observing the acts of worship commanded by that religion.

Abu Hanifa came to this conclusion about religion by considering the fact that the essentials of belief brought by the Prophets are the same, but there are certain differences on other issues, such as worship. The Prophets of God did not belong to different religions. None of them commanded their people to forsake the religion of the previous Prophets, since their faith is the same. On the other hand, every Prophet invited their people to follow the law they conveyed, as decreed by God Almighty for that specific people, not necessarily following the exact law conveyed by the previous Prophets. There were many different codes for different peoples. It is for this reason that God Almighty states, “(For each community) …We have appointed a clear way of life and a comprehensive system (containing the principles of that way and how to follow it). And if God had so willed, He would surely have made you a single community (following the same way of life and system surrounded by the same conditions throughout all history)” (Maedah 48).

The faith of Divine oneness is always the same and religion does not change from one Prophet to another in this sense; it is the systems and their rules that change. If “religion” were fulfilling everything God commands and avoiding everything He forbids, then a person who fails to observe only one command or commits one forbidden act would be an apostate. As such, the legal judgments between fellow believers such as marriage, receiving an inheritance, attending a funeral, and the like would be invalid. However, it is having belief that makes them lawful between fellow believers. Other commands come after having accepted religion. If the commanded acts were faith itself, then God would not call His servants believers until they fulfilled the acts He commanded.

In order to support the point stated above, Abu Hanifa asserted the fact that when believers are excused from certain acts at certain times, they are still considered to have faith: a menstruating woman who abandons the daily prayers, a man who has a valid excuse abandons the Ramadan fasting, or a poor man who cannot give the alms of zakat are still considered believers. If such observances were identical to having faith, failing to observe them for some excuse would have the same meaning. However, it is impossible to make such a claim. According to Abu Hanifa, there is no complete relation between faith and deeds, since they are separate things.

Abu Hanifa stated that the following verses and others of similar meaning also point to the same fact:

“Tell those of My servants who believe that they must establish the Prayer in conformity with its conditions…” (Ibrahim 31); “O you who believe! Prescribed for you is retaliation in cases of (deliberate, unjust) killing…” (Baqarah 178); “O you who believe! Remember and mention God much” (Ahzab 41).

If the commanded acts were identical with belief or faith (iman), then God would not address people as believers until they fulfilled those acts. In addition, God Almighty separates having faith and good deeds in other verses as well:

“Except those who believe and do good righteous deeds…” (Asr 3); “No! Rather, whoever submits his whole being to God (and does so) as one devoted to doing good, aware that God is seeing him, his reward is with his Lord, and all such will have no fear, (for they will always find My help and support with them), nor will they grieve” (Baqarah 112); “But whoever wishes for the Hereafter and strives for it as it should be striven for, being a believer…” (Isra 19).

This distinction proves that faith is not the same as deeds. Believers observe the prayers, fasting, zakat, Hajj, and they make remembrance of God owing to their faith – but they are not considered to have faith for having observed these. This proves that they do good deeds after having faith (iman) already.

In his letter to Uthman al-Batti, a scholar from Basra, Abu Hanifa stated this view with reference to different proofs. He used the following example: an indebted man firstly acknowledges his debt and pays it afterwards, but not vice versa. His acknowledgement of the debt is not for having paid the debt, but his paying is for having acknowledged the debt.

Abu Hanifa did not believe that a person who sins is out of the sphere of faith; nor are they an apostate. He expressed this point, saying, “Those who have acknowledged the direction to turn for worship are believers. I cannot count them as having forsaken faith owing to some command they do not observe. As for one who abandons some obligatory acts in spite of having faith, that person is a believer, but a sinful one (he is not a disbeliever).”

Abu Hanifa argued that what would make one an unbeliever is not committing a forbidden act, but considering it lawful; not abandoning an obligatory command, but considering it unnecessary.

Abu Hanifa also pointed out that real believers commit sins not by considering them lawful, but by giving in to their carnal soul. When asked, “If God is dearer for a believer than everything, why does a believer rebel Him? Is it possible for a person to rebel while having sincere love for God?” the great imam replied, “Yes, a child loves his father, but sometimes disobeys him. The situation of a believer is the same…He commits sins not owing to a lack of love for God, but for giving in to the feeling of lust or something similar.”

Some claimed that this stance aligned Abu Hanifa with the school of Murjia, whose adherents believed that sins would not nullify one’s faith, but Abu Hanifa soundly argued that it is not possible to guarantee anything in matters of faith:

“We cannot say that sins do not harm a believer at all. Similarly, we cannot say that a person who commits sins will not enter Hell. Neither can we say our good deeds are accepted and our evil deeds are forgiven… However, who commits good deeds in conformity with all of the conditions of validity…and dies as a believer without nullifying those deeds, then God does not let those deeds be in vain, but rewards them.” We need to clarify at this point that by this definition Abu Hanifa did not refer to an argument as if religion was a matter of conscience only; religion for him is a comprehensive system of life that concerns all aspects of believers’ existence.

While founding the most developed school of Islamic jurisprudence, Abu Hanifa defined religion with reference to its essence, pinpointing the difference between religion and other factors related to religion. His definition of religion as the faith of Divine oneness is very important in terms of maintaining social unity. Such a definition does not lessen the importance of religion’s other requirements. Moreover, the political and social conditions of his time called for such a definition. For this reason, Abu Hanifa made a definition that referred to the essence of religion and aimed to maintain unity in society by counteracting the tendency to easily condemn those with different opinions.

This is valuable even today, as taking belief in Divine unity as the basis of religion allows followers of different monotheistic religions to meet on common grounds. In the Qur’an, God Almighty addresses Muslims in the person of the Prophet and demands them to call People of the Book to a common word between them: “O People of the Book, come to a word common between us and you, that we worship none but God, and associate none as partner with Him, and that none of us take others for Lords, apart from God” (Al Imran 3: 64).

Conclusion

When Abu Hanifa’s world of thought and understanding of life are studied, it’s clear that his viewpoint valued differences and did not permit persecution. This perspective still bears significance in terms of peaceful coexistence in today’s societies. Such a magnanimous attitude can help to combat radical attitudes and inclinations for violence.