Green faith means caring for God’s creation from a faith perspective. My faith is Christian – the faith of my parents and my ancestors within the Roman Catholic tradition. From early childhood to the present, my experiences in life have led me to express my faith – my belief in a loving Creator God – in words and in actions that demonstrate love of God and neighbor, and respect for all creation.

We are all part of one human family. We are all brothers and sisters on this planet. In my tradition, we are all seen as children of God. My concern is that the home we share, planet Earth, is in perilous condition and we are facing an urgent crisis. This is difficult to face and to talk about. Facing truth can be hard and we all have our coping mechanisms to deal with difficult information. Who wants to hear bad news? Who wants to talk about bad news? For example, who likes to hear that the National Academy of Sciences in the United States reports that approximately 97 to 98 percent of the most prominent climate science experts believe that humans are causing global warming; that a climate crisis is unfolding, as evidenced by extreme weather events, receding glaciers, and rapid sea-level rise; that millions of people are today facing starvation because of the desertification of their lands, a fact attributed to soil erosion and climate change; that about half of Earth’s tropical and temperate forests have already been destroyed and the loss of forests continues at a worrisome rate; that according to the World Water Council, more than 1.1 billion people lack access to safe drinking water with 3.4 million people dying every year from preventable, water-related diseases; that coral reefs are disappearing and that we are facing a massive loss of biodiversity.

You may be saying to yourself that I know that there are problems and that I don’t need to keep hearing about it. This is a challenge for me and perhaps for you as well. Do we avoid the facts? Do we engage in denial? Or do we face the facts and act in accordance with our faith teachings, thereby opening the door to hope for the future? In working together we tap the reservoir of our strengths, and we bring hope to our world. That is why I seek all of us, regardless of our faith and cultural backgrounds, regardless of our responsibilities in daily life, to work together and help one another to make a difference in our world through care for our home – planet Earth.

Each of us has a story that brings us to our own “green faith” – the ultimate source of meaning shared within one’s faith community that provides the moral and ethical framework as to how we live on this earth. Let me share with you one of my stories.

When I started as principal at St. Anthony School I asked the teachers what their priority was for the next five years. The school had a very diverse population, with many kids from immigrant families – including refugees. A survey indicated that there were 42 languages spoken in the homes of our children. The teachers informed me that the school had a project based on the United Nations Declaration of the Rights of Children, which includes a statement that children have a right to be heard on matters that concern them. Having listened to their students, they informed me that one the children’s top priorities was to be able to sit under the shade of a tree in their schoolyard. The schoolyard was a wasteland, 100% asphalt. We entered the Ugliest Schoolyard Contest sponsored by Earth Day Ottawa and the Canadian Biodiversity institute. We won! That gave us funding. We planted many trees, and there is now a small forest on the schoolyard. The children were delighted.

If we look at God’s creation as through the eyes of a child, we are not befuddled by political discourse. Rather, we are humbled and in awe. As stated in the scriptures, Mark 18, “At that time the disciples came to Jesus, saying, ‘Who is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven?’ And calling to him a child, he put him in the midst of them, and said, ‘Truly, I say to you, unless you turn and become like children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven. Whoever humbles himself like this child, he is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven.'”

In our humility we sense our responsibility to creation, to the poor, to our children, and to future generations. If we wait for the resolution of all scientific uncertainty, we risk harming the poor, our children, and future generations. Is it not the way of our faiths to be open to lifestyles that are consistent with our faith teachings? It is not so much about what I have, but who I am. It is about my relationship with God and neighbor. We act together now for the common good. In so doing, we share hope for the future.

Over the past six years I have served and continue to serve as Liaison for Environmental Stewardship within the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Ottawa. I have served as the Ottawa representative of the interfaith network, Faith and the Common Good, and continue with this organization in a liaison capacity, supporting efforts in environmental stewardship among a variety of faith traditions. I am constantly reminded that our traditions share common moral and ethical principles with respect to caring for the Earth. Those values are expressed explicitly in words through scriptures, through the Qur’an, and through the sacred texts of all faiths and in their teachings. We share common ground.

I will take a moment to focus on Creation. For example, the Book of Genesis in the Old Testament and the Qur’an clearly identify God as Creator. How such readings are interpreted impact how we live. For example, in Genesis 1, it is written, “Let us make humankind in our image, according to our likeness… And let them have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the air and over every living thing that moves upon the earth.”

As people created in God’s image, how do we interpret exercising “dominion” in today’s world of climate change, species extinction, and biodiversity loss? In Genesis 2, it is written, “The Lord God took the man and put him in the Garden of Eden to till it and keep it.” In Hebrew the word used in this quote is “shomrah” which means to protect and safeguard. In the Qur’an it is also written that God made well everything he has created and commanded us to keep it that way. An English translation of the Qur’an states, “(God) made all things good which He created” (32:7) and “Do no mischief on the earth, after it hath been set in order” (7:56). Indeed, we are charged with a responsibility to care for the earth.

Where do we go from here? I would say that we must all act on the basis of our faith traditions and engage in actions that support care for all of creation. I am touched by scriptures, including a quote from James (2:18), “But someone will say, ‘You have faith and I have works.’ Show me your faith apart from your works, and I by my works will show you my faith.”

What kinds of actions reflect the moral principles of faith? Increasingly we see the publication of ideas in resources provided by our respective faith traditions, including online resources. I have found it most helpful to access the resources from Faith and the Common Good. For example, Faith and the Common Good has developed a poster called the “Green Rule” with sayings from a number of the world’s great religious and spiritual traditions, demonstrating that at their core all have an awareness of the sacredness of creation. This organization offers a practical program called Greening Sacred Spaces designed to assist faith communities in taking actions to create a more sustainable and energy efficient place of worship, and to educate members of the community about ecological issues (the resources are available electronically and without charge at greeningsacredspaces.net). Workshops are also provided. For example, recently the Greening Sacred Spaces program has received a grant from the Ottawa Sustainability Fund to carry out Green Audits and to organize workshops that support environmental stewardship. One of the events carried out was an eco-bus tour that brought participants to see the good work being done in a mosque, in churches, and at the Tucker House Renewal Centre. More workshops are to come. This builds interfaith engagement. This builds hope for the future as more and more faith communities make a difference.

Let us continue to support our intercultural and interfaith dialogues. We must respond to the developing environmental crisis with hope based on the expression of faith in action. We must listen to the children. We must listen to the cry of the poor. We must take seriously the call to convert to ways of living that support ecological justice. That is our responsibility regardless of our role in society. Let us continue to listen to one another so that we may come to truly know one another. Let us work towards a world of peace where the “richness of human and religious diversity is woven into the fabric of communal, civil and societal life.”

With faith in action comes hope for the future of our planet. That is Green Faith.

Looking back, I’m not sure why they believed that the rarity of life in our universe proved that God must have created life only on this planet. Perhaps they believed that if intelligent life were found on other planets, it would diminish the miracle of God’s creation of Human Beings.

For me, the opposite is true; that God’s universal creation is filled with life is simply the result of God’s mercy and love of living things. What science can teach us is the awesomeness of God. As Said Nursi, an influential early 20th century Turkish Muslim theologian, taught, “God created the universe as a ‘book’ to be ‘read’ by those who want to learn of and draw close to Him.”

I am a Reform Rabbi who first became interested in Islam 55 years ago, when I studied it at the Hebrew University in Jerusalem. I have continued my study of Islam off and on since that time. I now consider myself to be a Reform Rabbi and a Muslim Jew – i.e., a faithful Jew submitting to the will of God.

As a Rabbi I am faithful to the covenant that God made with Abraham – the first Muslim Jew – and I submit to the commandments that God made with the people of Israel at Mount Sinai. Thus, I see scientific things from the perspective of both the Qur’an and the Torah.

The Qur’an and the Hebrew Bible teach that the Living God created the whole universe to be conducive to the universal evolution of life. The Qur’an says, “We have not sent you but as a blessing for all the worlds” (Al-Anbiya 107). Many commentators say this refers to the 18,000 worlds created by God. Our world is one of them (Mir’at-e-Kainat, vol.1, p.77).

The Hebrew Bible says in the Zabur of Prophet David, King of Israel, “Your kingdom is a kingdom of all the worlds; and Your dominion is for all generations” (Psalms 145:13).

Both of these readings suggest the likelihood of other planets with life on them – and new science suggests the same thing.

In January 2013, astronomers estimated that there could be at least 17 billion Earth-sized exoplanets¹ in just our galaxy, the Milky Way. They also said that one in six stars could host an Earth-sized planet in a close orbit.

Now, two years later, two new studies have offered additional evidence favoring widespread solar systems with earth-like planets, thus providing more proof that God’s universe is filled with life.

First, at a meeting of the American Astronomical Society in January 2015, the NASA Kepler Space Telescope team announced its 1,000th discovery of a planet outside our solar system. This brings the total number of confirmed exoplanets to 1,795, with an additional 4,000 possibilities also located by Kepler.

Twenty years ago we had no proof at all that our planetary system was not unique in the universe. Now we know that we are one of thousands, perhaps even millions or billions, of systems.

Second, the Kepler Space Telescope has discovered a star with three planets only slightly larger than Earth. The outermost planet, which is 50% larger than Earth, orbits in the zone where surface temperatures could be moderate enough for liquid water, and perhaps life, to exist. This means that proof that God’s universe is filled with life is literally coming closer and closer.

The star around which this planet rotates is a cool, red M-dwarf, about half the size and mass of our own sun. At a distance of 150 light years, it ranks among the 10 nearest stars known to have orbiting planets. The star is close enough for astronomers to study the planet’s atmosphere to determine whether oxygen is present and if it could possibly be conducive to multicellular life forms.

For those who believe in the One God of all the inhabitable worlds, these two new scientific studies are not shocking. For unlike the inquisition’s condemnation of Galileo, no Muslim or Jewish astronomer was ever condemned by a Muslim or Jewish inquisition, because Jews and Muslims never had an institution like the inquisition.

Also, because both Muslims and Jews had many philosophers who were critics of Aristotle’s and Ptolemy’s sciences, most medieval Jewish and Muslim religious leaders did not feel they had to prevent new science from disagreeing with Greek science.

Thus, even as new discoveries always change the scientific understanding of God’s universe, the religious belief that the whole universe exalts God and reveals God’s glory remains the same.

The Qur’an proclaims over and over again, “Whatever is in the heavens and whatever is on the earth exalts God” (Qur’an 57:1, 61:1, and 64:1); and the Zabur of Prophet David, King of Israel, states, “The heavens declare the glory of God” (Zabur of David-Psalm 19:2).

Note

1. http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-20942440

Nigella sativa, commonly known as black cumin or black seed, is native to the Mediterranean region, but has also been grown on the Arab peninsula, Africa, and western Asia. It belongs to the Ranunculaceae family and is one of the numerous plants from this family that has been shown to have great potential for therapeutic use. With more than 100 nutrients and compounds, black cumin is rich in unsaturated fatty acids and essential oils (about 0.4%), including but not limited to thymoquionone and carvacrol. The antioxidants in black cumin attributed to the compounds in the essential oil relieve oxidative stress by scavenging activity through free radicals. Other nutrients include proteins, carbohydrates, and many, many vitamins. The plant can grow up to 30 cm and have white flowers with black seeds no more than 3 mm in length.

Historically, black cumin has been used for two different purposes: as a seasoning and flavoring in foods, and as a medicine for the treatment of ailments. Ibn Sina (980-1037), also known as Avicenna, refers to black cumin as stimulating the body’s energy and helping it recover from fatigue. Recent research shows that if it’s taken over time, black cumin can greatly boost the immune system. Another report from the Prophet Muhammad, peace be upon him, similarly puts emphasis on consistent use of black cumin with the phrase, “hold onto the use of the seed.”

Research highlights

Recent research highlights the benefits of black cumin in the induction of apoptosis (cell death) in cancer cell lines and in decreasing blood sugar levels, which can help limit complications from diabetes. Numerous medicinal properties of black seed extracts and oil have been shown to strengthen the immune system, radioprotectivity, antihistaminic, antihypertensive (reduces high blood pressure), analgesic (pain reliever), anti-inflammatory (reduction of swelling/inflammation), hypoglycemic (suffering from an abnormally low level of sugar in the blood), antibacterial, antifungal, antitumor and protective effects against oxidative stress, hepatotoxicity (toxicity to liver) and nephrotoxicity (damage to the kidneys). Black cumin seed extracts also inhibits NO production. Thymoquinone found in black seed improves liver antioxidant capacity while increasing expression of antioxidant genes. Black cumin reduces the risk of various other maladies such as respiratory disorders, skin disorders, and allergies.

Supportive role in the immune system

Studies done decades ago suggested that the use of black cumin on regular basis enhances human immunity, especially in immune-compromised patients. In the 80s and 90s, different studies done on human volunteers show that black cumin acts as a natural immune enhancer. Use of black cumin for this purpose has been patented as well. These findings suggested that black cumin could play an important role in the treatment of cancer, AIDS, and other diseases associated with immuno-deficiency.

In 2010, Xuan and colleagues at University of Tubingen, Germany conducted a study on thymoquinone, a component of black cumin, to test its effect on dentritic cells, which take key role in the innate and adaptive immunity. By using mouse bone barrow derived dentritic cells as model, they showed that thymoquinone cooperate in the maturation, cytokine release and survival of dentritic cells.

Black cumin also has radioprotective effects. A study by Assayed in 2010 on rats aimed to investigate the radioprotective potential of black seed oil against exposure to radiation. Gamma irradiated rats fed black seed oil demonstrated that black seed oil is a promising natural radioprotective agent against the immunosuppressive and oxidative effects of ionizing radiation. Those findings suggest that black cumin might be used as protection against the adverse effects of radiation in the case of a nuclear leakage from nuclear plants, such as the one that happened in Japan following the massive earthquake in March 2011.

Reducing blood sugar in diabetes

A study performed in Japan by Fararh and colleagues on the hypoglycemic effect of black cumin oil in streptozotocin-induced diabetic hamsters showed that treatment with black cumin oil has both a regulatory role in blood glucose levels and an immunopotentiating effect. In this study, black cumin oil decreased blood glucose from 391+/-3.0 to 179+/-3.1 mg/dl after the fourth week of treatment. Hepatic glucose production from gluconeogenic precursors (alanine, glycerol, and lactate) was also lower in the treated hamsters. In addition, they showed that black cumin has an immunopotentiating effect through inducing the phagocytic activity of macrophages and lymphocyte count in the blood. Approaches for the treatment of diabetes using black cumin are noteworthy, including patented ones (US Patent No 6042834).

Studies on inflammation, cancer, and oxidative stress

Black seed oil has an anti-inflammatory effect and it could be useful in relieving the effects of arthritis. Thymoquinone, an active ingredient of black cumin, shows a remarkable anti-inflammatory potency. Research on thymoquinone also demonstrates that it increases T cells and natural killer cell-mediated immune responses.

Moreover, black cumin is known to show protection against cancer growth due to the induction of cellular death. A study on mice back in the 90s showed that fatty acids derived from black cumin could inhibit the various cancer cell lines, including Ehrlich ascites carcinoma and Dalton’s lymphoma ascites. This study concluded that black seeds contain a potent anti-tumor agent, and this could be long chain fatty acids.

Another study also found that black cumin oil could inhibit eicosanoid generation; thus, black cumin demonstrates anti-oxidant activity. This inhibition of eicasanoid production, however, was higher compared to thymoquinone alone, suggesting the presence of other compounds within the oil that increases anti-inflammatory reactions.

A model based on experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis (EAE) done by researchers at Gaziosmanpasa University in Turkey showed that black cumin may be protective against oxidative stress in the brain. Black cumin also regulates tissue NO levels, at least to some extent.

Black cumin as an anti-histamine agent and a fighter of bacteria

Bronchial asthma is associated with allergic reactions, and sometimes this could arise from the production of histamine from bodily tissues. Back in the 60s, it was shown that dimer dithymoquinone (nigellone) from black seed oil suppressed symptoms associated with bronchial asthma. In 1993, Chakravarty demostrated that nigellone inhibits histamine through the inhibition of protein kinase C, a protein known to induce the release of histamine. A clinical trial on 152 patients with the allergic disease done in 2003, in Germany, also demonstrated that black seed oil is an effective agent for the treatment of allergic diseases. These studies offered alternative treatments using black cumin to people who suffered from bronchial asthma and other allergic diseases.

Studies in Bangladesh showed that black cumin extracts exhibit anti-bacterial and anti-fungal properties as well. A study comparing the volatile oil of black cumin with five antibiotics (ampicillin, tetracycline, cotrimoxazole, gentamicin, and nalidixic acid) demonstrated that black cumin oil is effective against various strains of bacteria, including V. cholera, E. coli (a common infectious agent), and strains of Shigella.

Final remarks

It has been suggested that black cumin could support metabolism, improve digestion, and drive out worms and parasites from the intestines. It could also be used for soothing coughs, stimulation of menstrual periods, the promotion of lactation (the flow of breast milk), increasing sperm count and hair growth, and perhaps even more.

Modern technology and studies based on synthetic compounds for new therapeutics have diverted the attention of researchers to where they could seek cures that already exist in the natural world. Pharmaceutical drugs show a lot of benefits to human well-being, and have cured a number of diseases, but they also have unwanted side effects.

Black cumin could be a treasury for medicine. Research findings and historical practices shed light on the curative aspects of black cumin. However, the quantity, quality, and extent of studies on black cumin are not comparably high. This urges researchers to put more, and more intense efforts into understanding and discovering treatments for diseases that we are facing today by using black cumin – a natural cure that people have been using for 1400 years.

References

• Xuan et al. (2010) Effect of thymoquinone on mouse dendritic cells. Cell Physiol Biochem. 2010;25(2-3):307-14. Epub 2010 Jan 12.
• Assayed ME. (2010) Radioprotective effects of black seed (Nigella sativa) oil against hemopoietic damage and immunosuppression in gamma-irradiated rats. Immunopharmacol Immunotoxicol. 284-96.
• Abdel-Zaher AO et al. (2010). Blockade of nitric oxide overproduction and oxidative stress by Nigella sativa oil attenuates morphine-induced tolerance and dependence in mice. Neurochem Res. 2010 Oct;35 (10):1557-65.
• Butt MS and Sultan MT. (2010) Nigella sativa: reduces the risk of various maladies. Crit Rev Food Sci Nutr. 2010 Aug;50(7):654-65.
• Salem ML. (2005) Immunomodulatory and therapeutic properties of the Nigella sativa L. seed. Int Immunopharmacol. 2005 Dec;5(13-14):1749-70.
• Kalus et al. (2003) Effect of Nigella sativa (black seed) on subjective feeling in patients with allergic diseases. Phytother Res. 2003 Dec;17(10):1209-14.
• Fararh et al. (2004 ) Mechanisms of the hypoglycaemic and immunopotentiating effects of Nigella sativa L. oil in streptozotocin-induced diabetic hamsters. Res Vet Sci.:123-9.
• Schleicher, P., and M. Saleh (2000) The Magical Egyptian Herb for Allergies, Asthma, and Immune Disorders. Rochester, VT: Healing Arts Press.
• Luetjohann, S. (1998) The Healing Power of Black Cumin. Twin Trees, WI: Lotus Light Publications
• M. Ali Albar. The Revival of Prophetic and Herbal Medicine. Fountain Magazine. Issue 14 April – June 1996.
• Ziya Aydin. Asirlarca Once Mujdelenen Sifali Bitki: Corek Otu. Sizinti Dergisi.
• Nigella sativa. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nigella_sativa
• Research. http://www.blackcuminseedoil.org/research.php
• US Patent No 5482711 and 6042834.

Despite this, some of these stories are both real, and as legendary as could only be imagined in an epic tale. What happened fifty years ago in Selma, Alabama, features these qualities, both as a national marker and a real story of heroism. This year marks the fiftieth anniversary of what was to be remembered as “Bloody Sunday” – March 7, 1965. The achievements that came from that day – and the whole Civil Rights Movement – helped to move the US, and the world, closer to racial equality.

As remarkable as the achievements that ensued have been, it is equally heartbreaking to witness, in many countries across the globe, that discrimination – based not only on racism but also on religious convictions, social affiliations, and political positions – still exist, and often under the guise of legal justifications. In this article, I will stretch the story of Selma to relate it to a unique drama of discrimination ongoing in modern day Turkey, a strategically located country in the Middle East.

Bridge-crossing from Selma

A young John Lewis, today a Congressional Representative (since 1987), led his SNCC (Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee) and a crowd of around 600 on a march across the Edmund Pettus Bridge. They were planning to leave the city of Selma on a march to Montgomery, the state capital 54 miles east, to demonstrate their desire for equal citizenship rights. At the other end of the bridge, however, waited a line of state troopers. The non-violent marchers were violently attacked, leaving many heavily injured.

After re-grouping, another march was held, led by Martin Luther King Jr. This march and other demonstrations resulted in the 1965 Voting Rights Act which ensured every American citizen the right to vote regardless of race. Selma is an important threshold in the history of the Civil Rights Movement and it did not happen at the cost of nothing: thousands were arrested, many killed, and many more heavily wounded. Famously, the murder of an activist and deacon, Jimmie Lee Jackson, inspired the marchers. Yet despite frustration at the violence and discrimination, non-violence was a defining character of Civil Rights’ activism, and the followers would not compromise on this.

First march, March 7: Bloody Sunday. Around 600 marchers were heavily beaten and dispersed.

Second march, March 9: Turnaround Tuesday. Around 2500 marchers joined by hundreds of people from around the country to support the demonstration. Minister James Reeb who came from Boston was beaten by Ku Klux Klan that night and he could not survive. Dr. King turned marchers back from the bridge to wait for a judicial order to proceed.

Third march, March 21-25: To Montgomery. Started with 8 thousand and culminated with 25 thousand marchers and they were able to deliver a petition to the Governor’s office.

With endurance, patience, diplomacy, and stamina, activists were finally able to cross the Pettus Bridge, making their suffering known nationwide, and were able to make themselves heard in D.C. The commemoration of this event on its 50th anniversary was led, incredibly enough, by the first African American president of the United States. President Obama said on the site of the march and massacre, “In one afternoon 50 years ago, so much of our turbulent history — the stain of slavery and anguish of civil war; the yoke of segregation and tyranny of Jim Crow; the death of four little girls in Birmingham; and the dream of a Baptist preacher — all that history met on this bridge.”

But one description Obama made that day portrayed the true character of the Civil Rights Movement:

“It was not a clash of armies, but a clash of wills; a contest to determine the true meaning of America.”

This was an accurate description; for the followers of the Civil Rights Movement were not using violence. Instead, they constantly trained to restrain themselves when challenged by violence and curses. And after they were able to sharpen their wills to the highest point of resilience, they won over their oppressors. They did not tarnish their rightful cause with the filthiness of violence, and this mustered sympathizers across the nation, both black and white. The Minister James Reeb, who was killed after the second march, was a white man. In fact, three of the four martyrs who answered SCLC’s (Southern Christian Leadership Conference) call and came to Selma, were white (Unitarian Minister James Reeb, Unitarian laywoman Viola Liuzzo, the Episcopal seminarian Jonathan Daniels).¹

Fast forward to 2015. The United States still suffers from racism. The recent killings in Ferguson, Baltimore, Charleston, and a few other places² are sad evidence that racist violence is still with us and has not yet yielded, and that the march begun in Selma is not yet over. Still, however, these attacks, which have been earnestly denounced by the American nation as a whole and perpetrators are facing trials, cannot undermine the accomplishments of the non-violent civil rights movement and their white supporters.

What is happening in Turkey?

The movie Selma, which was about the marches to Montgomery, was released around the same time when the trailers of a Turkish movie called Selam: Bahara Yolculuk (Peace: Journey to Spring) was being screened across Turkey. The two movies are related not only due to the extremely similar names, but because they feature the uniqueness of two epic tales of struggle for basic human rights and peaceful coexistence. They are the stories of two communities seemingly distant in location, time, and color, but mutual in goals and methods, in many respects.

Whereas Selma conveys the heroism of African-Americans striving non-violently as a part of civil rights movement, Selam reflects an episode of the Hizmet Movement’s expansion to the world. The volunteers involved in this movement are professionals – teachers, business people, physicians, and people from all walks of life who cherish the peacebuilding ideas of Fethullah Gülen, a retired Turkish preacher, who promotes education and honors every human being with compassion and respect. Hundreds of schools, relief organizations, healthcare centers, and dialogue institutions have been established by the participants of this movement across the globe. The movie is about the successful opening of one of the schools in Central Asia and the self-sacrificial work of their teachers.

Yet, what is not featured in the movie is the discrimination the Movement is suffering in its home base, Turkey, where it also originated. There is a systematic oppression underway against the schools, media outlets and journalists, corporations, public servants, and individuals who are affiliated with the Movement. This has been ongoing since the outbreak of the enormous corruption scandal against the government in December 2013.

The government, which has been in a position of un-checked power since 2002, responded to the claims of corruption with incredible vitriol, reassigning “thousands of police and prosecutors … and the prosecutors who initiated the investigation were suspended. The government closed the investigation and destroyed evidence that was gathered.”³ Heavily injured by these probes that included “claims of bribery, irregular gold exports worth billions of dollars and stashes of cash,”⁴ the government, which was trying to win upcoming local, presidential, and parliamentary elections, needed a scapegoat to lay all the sins on, in the public’s view. The Hizmet Movement, the largest social mass movement in Turkey, with sympathizers and volunteers from all spheres of society, was a tailor-made candidate for this position. And thanks to the overwhelming majority of the media, which the government directly and indirectly controls, as well as the overhaul of the entire state structure through reassignments and undermining the separation of powers, they have succeeded, to a certain extent, in manipulating public perception. Today, there are many public servants and journalists jailed on no legal grounds, but solely because of an alleged affiliation with Hizmet. Among the constituents of the ruling party’s supporters, a considerable portion believes Fethullah Gülen is an American spy secretly serving US interests by trying to overthrow the Turkish government! Accusations of similar sorts were alleged against the civil rights movement too. Robert Welch wrote in JBS Bulletin (John Birch Society Bulletin, June 1965): “Our task must be simply to make clear that the movement known as ‘civil rights’ is Communist-plotted, Communist-controlled, and in fact…serves only Communist purposes.”

People are afraid to send their kids to Hizmet schools, and they don’t want to work with sympathetic business owners. The signs of the schools are being torn down by municipalities, their companies are being raided by police, defamations of all sorts are being circulated through a paid-off propaganda machine, and witch-hunts of all sorts are being conducted.

Discrimination and segregation based on race as experienced in the US cannot be compared to the current political controversy in Turkey. Turkey has its own extremely weak record on human rights based on ethnicity and sectarian differences with Armenians, Greeks, and Kurds. Ironically, fellow sunni Turks who did not conform to the uncompromising definition of the new citizen under the ultra-secularist Kemalist regime have been subjected to state violence and defamation arguably no less than the previous groups. Yet, it is very disappointing to see a country which was once considered in the first decade of the twenty-first century as a potential model in the Middle East to have turned into a regime with only minor differences, if any, from its authoritarian neighbors.

One thing that Hizmet shares with the Civil Rights Movement is an approach to countering oppression: using non-violence and positive action. Through this policy, Dr. King and his supporters were able to gather much support from the rest of the nation and eventually acquired their rights. Non-violence and positive action are the essence of the faith-inspired Hizmet Movement, too, and thankfully, there is a growing support for them in many of the 170 countries where they operate.

Tyranny cannot last long, and Turkey will certainly wake up soon to once again realize the importance of this mass movement of education and dialogue. Retaliation in kind is not in Hizmet’s nature, so they will not slander back, they will not curse back, and they will never hurt back – these are against who they are. Those who support the oppressors against Hizmet are doing so either because of their envy for the achievements of Hizmet, because they cannot really believe their government could be this corrupt, or because it is in their best interest to continue to work closely with the government for their personal and/or institutional survival; this is the most accurate definition of slavery, where perhaps not the physical bodies, but their wills, values, and virtues are being compromised.

Conclusion

I have been writing this article at the time when Mr. Obama was preparing himself for a eulogy to be read at the funeral of Rev. Clementa Pinckney in Charleston, South Carolina. The reverend was allegedly killed by a white supremacist. Despite many achievements that were earned during the Civil Rights Movement and despite the many obstacles the US has surpassed, such mass violence shows the US still has a long ways to go to true equality.

The word Selma is considered to have descended from either a Germanic root – the shortening of Anselma, from Germanic “ans,” which means god, and “helm,” which means helmet – or from an Arabic root of “salam,” which means peace. Thus, Selma stands for a Godly protection in peace. Selma, as in the Turkish movie, is a journey to spring. It is a one-way road for innocent victims to leave behind all discrimination and maltreatment. Challenged by these ongoing discriminations, we hope both Turks and Americans will be victorious in this “clash of wills.”

References

1. http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2015/03/07/selma-people-who-died_n_6810430.html
2. http://www.nytimes.com/2015/06/21/us/from-ferguson-to-charleston-and-beyond-anguish-about-race-keeps-building.html
3. http://www.state.gov/j/drl/rls/hrrpt/humanrightsreport
4. Daniel Dombey, Financial Times, October 18, 2014.

In 1993, the European Space Agency (ESA) prepared a project to investigate 67P; the launch of a satellite named Rosetta was planned for the year 2003. However, due to an explosion of a rocket (Ariane 5) in 2002 right after its launch, Rosetta’s launch was delayed until 2004. Very sophisticated calculations were completed to make the orbit of Rosetta intersect with 67P. This was done by utilizing the gravities of both Earth and Mars.

A spacecraft called Philae was included with the Rosetta satellite. This device was to be separated from the satellite and land on the comet. Philae was also equipped with instruments that could carry out 10 different analyses. One of these was a drill with an approximately 30 cm probe enabling it to collect specimens by boring into the comet’s soil. These soil specimens would be analyzed via some of Philae’s devices to determine the composition of the comet. Another mounted instrument would send radio waves directly into the center of the comet and these signals would be analyzed by the Rosetta and tell us about the comet’s center and core.

The comet was estimated to have a planar and cylindrical structure; however, when its photograph was taken at a close distance, it was seen to have a duck-like shape. This situation made it very difficult for Philae to land. Despite that, Rosetta entered the orbit of the comet in August 2014. Three months of surveys were conducted and photographs were taken, generating information to locate a landing spot for the Philae craft. After assessment of this data, a decision was made on where to land.

The landing took three attempts. Philae sent a signal to Rosetta five hours after its detachment and the satellite itself relayed that signal to Earth. Then, it made a soft landing. However, the landing zone was away from the initially planned spot and deprived Philae of solar rays, which would charge its batteries. It was running out of energy. Nonetheless the module operated for nearly 57 hours before running out of power and was able to send analysis information regarding the soil it collected with the drill. This was the result of 10 years of planning, 10 years of travel, and 1.6 billion dollars spent.

Are there minerals on comets?

Philae is actually hoped to be a start for “asteroid mining.” In other terms, it is an effort to obtain precious minerals, which are about to diminish on Earth, from asteroids. According to the report published by the US Geological Survey in 2006, the Titanium (Ti) reserves on Earth will run out within 34 years. Titanium is mainly utilized by heavy industries, especially in plane and spacecraft manufacturing. Today the situation is also critical for other rare earth metals, primarily platinum (Pt), europium (Eu), and palladium (Pd) which are consumed in the production of smart phones, tablets, PCs, and weapons. For instance, in tablets, europium (Eu) is used; in touch screens, indium (In) is used; and for headphones, neodymium (Nd) is used. For these reasons, it is anticipated that countries with space technology will increase their efforts to obtain these types of precious elements via asteroid mining in space. The firm Planetary Resources is a pioneer for this enterprise.

There is also hope that Philae gathered new information which pertain to the creation of the solar system – and even the whole universe. Asteroids are the oldest heavenly masses in the solar system, and as such can provide data in terms of planet formation. Discoveries of major geological clues to the Earth’s past are expected. Furthermore, the report sent by Philae enabled a reinvestigation of the issue as to whether there are different elements in space than on Earth or not. No new elements were discovered during the study. In other words, it is proved one more time that space does not contain different elements than are already found on Earth.

No new element found

These type of studies have been completed in the past; no new elements were found during the analysis of the rocks brought to Earth on board the US spacecraft Eagle from the moon; and analysis of the soil brought from Mars by the Phoenix Mars Lander in 2008 also showed no new elements. Lastly, every meteor collected has been analyzed, and none have had any new elements. The carbon testing conducted on these samples, each a constituent of the outer space, has also confirmed that the solar system is approximately 4.5 billion years old.

What does space dust tell us?

Every year, an average of 15 million tons of space dust lands on Earth. The laboratory analysis of these microscopic particles means a lot for science.

As the result of studies carried out with electron microscopes and uranium testing, scientists have never encountered any element other than the 92 found on Earth. These analyses also confirm the age of the solar system.

All this dust raises the question: where does it come from? Dr. Loretta Dunne from Cardiff University said: “The origin of cosmic dust is, in fact, the basic question of the origin of our planet and others. Effectively, we live on a very large collection of cosmic dust grains and yet, until now, we have not been sure where cosmic dust is made.”

As we explore stars, comets, and meteorites, and reflect about the vast space, we remain fascinated by the size and order of the universe. Finding the same materials in everything we have discovered confirms the one singular source of all existence, from every point of view.

References

• http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2003/07/030723084654.htm
• http://sci.esa.int/rosetta/14615-comet-67p
• http://rosetta.jpl.nasa.gov

Starting from the perspective of the description above, some scholars deal with wisdom in two categories, namely practical and theoretical, as they have done with reason. Theoretical wisdom is the effort that one makes along with a God-given ability to observe things and events as if they were an exhibition. It is also an attempt to penetrate the meaning behind and purpose for such events in order to study and read them like a book, to listen to them like a symphony, and to study and try to understand the mysterious relationship between the physical and metaphysical realms of existence.

As for practical wisdom, it is turning to the Owner of this exhibition, the Author of this book, the Composer of this symphony and trying to discover Him through worship, running to Him in love and yearning, and deeply experiencing the awe and amazement of being in His presence. So, to sum up, wisdom begins with reflection, curiosity, wonder, and the zeal to study and search, and continues with obedience and worship, ending in spiritual pleasures and eternal happiness.

Studying the Qur’anic verses where wisdom is mentioned, we can add to the above explanation the following points:

Wisdom means the subtleties and mysteries of the Qur’an. Since the Qur’an is, in one respect, the correlative of the book of the universe and, in another, its interpretation and explanation, its subtleties and mysteries are also those of the book of the universe. The Qur’an indicates this in the verse (2:269), He grants the wisdom to whomever He wills, and whoever is granted the wisdom, has indeed been granted much good.

Wisdom means Prophethood and the meaning of Messengership. The scholars of the Hadith have interpreted it as Sunna (the way of the Messenger). The verses, God granted him (David) kingdom and wisdom (2:251), and We granted Luqman wisdom (31:12), refer to this meaning.

Wisdom, in both its theoretical and practical aspects, means goodwill, which is mentioned in: Call to the way of your Lord with wisdom and fair exhortation and preaching (16:125).

Some have defined wisdom as correct judgment, and acting as one should act and doing what is necessary to do at the right time and right place. We can elaborate on this meaning, which can be re-stated as being just, moderate, balanced, and straightforward as follows:

Giving everything its due, or right judgment, without going to extremes, viewing and discharging our responsibilities in the framework of the Shari‘a, fulfilling the necessary conditions and prerequisites for any desired result, avoiding extremes, even when doing good deeds, being careful to maintain the fact that religion can be practiced or lived under all circumstances, and leading a life in accordance with the Sunna of the Prophet.

Always preferring God’s decisions and judgments concerning us over our own choices, and leading our lives according to the rule, Submit to God and be saved,1 i.e. being resigned to all of God’s decrees and acts concerning our lives and nature, without ever forgetting that God has wisdom in whatever He does, and does nothing in vain.

Being steadfast in following the Messenger strictly in our thoughts and actions in full perception of his way, and as stated in the verse (12:108), Say: “This is my way: I call to God based on conscious insight and sure knowledge – I and those who follow me,” serving our religion and humanity in his way with conscious insight and sure knowledge.

The principal sources of wisdom are Divine Revelation and inspiration.16 This means that all the Prophets and all the spiritual guides, each according to his rank, are also sages or wise people whose special property is wisdom. Such people apply spiritual therapy to those diseased in mind and spirit (those who have followed wrong ways in thought and belief and who suffer from spiritual discontentment), and, by God’s leave, cure them, trying to keep their spiritual lives cleansed of the viruses brought on by evil nature and sin.

In view of the missions (special tasks and occupations) of the Prophets and saints, we can add to the definition of wisdom the following:

Wisdom is unity of thought, intention, and action. Right thinking, precision in expression, and acting in the right way are true signs of wisdom.

Certainty in knowledge, soundness in action, and perfection in any performance, which we can paraphrase as supporting knowledge with action or practice, and doing any work of art with efficiency, which adds to the artist’s zeal and ability, also demonstrate wisdom.

Grasping the aims of religion and, in addition to representing it in individual life, trying to make it prevail in life or ordering life accordingly, is a dimension of wisdom.

Perceiving the essence of existence together with its inner truth, as well as the peculiarities of each thing together with its relationship with all other things, and the Creator’s purposes for the existence and life of things, is another, important dimension of wisdom.

Approaching things in order to understand and analyze their uses and the benefits expected of them, and, as a vicegerent of God, to use them within the limits He has set, is an aspect of wisdom relating to art.

Seeing everything in the light of the Divine way, which is responsible for the perfect accord, order, and balance in the universe, where everything is in its exact place, the observation of this same order and the balance in our lives, and the development of sciences that study the earth and the sky to maintain the balance in them, is another approach to wisdom.

Pursuing the best goals in life, trying to make prevail what is good and preferable in the relationships between the rulers and the ruled, and, by adopting God’s way of conduct and treatment of His servants in our individual and social life, making heavenly the systems of government on earth, realizing God’s purposes for sending the Prophets, are other, excellent dimensions of wisdom.

In order to distinguish between reasoning and logic that are guided by the All-Merciful One, and those guided by the suggestions and misleading of Satan, one should submit one’s intellect to the guidance of God’s Messenger, upon him be peace and blessings, and always be on the alert. It is only by so doing that one can feel the Divine gifts of correct judgment, sound reasoning, and wise thinking appear within oneself; thereafter one begins to feel and think correctly and is saved from self- contradiction in one’s behavior. In the end, wise, right thinking and behavior become second nature—this means the adoption of the Divine way of conduct. We can also describe this as the transformation of theoretical reason into practical reason, and theoretical wisdom into practical, or, according to some Sufi leaders, the angelic aspects of a human being surpassing their satanic ones.

Knowledge, combined with action is an important dimension of wisdom. Although action is not a part of belief or, in other words, neglecting to practice religion in daily life is not a sign of unbelief, it is certain that action is an important aspect of religion. Putting knowledge into practice or practicing the religious commandments in daily life after learning them is an essential of Islam. The verse (51:56), I have not created the jinn and humankind but only to worship Me, warns us of this. Mere information without action will not help. As pointed out before, existence is a book or an exhibition of wisdom, with the Qur’an being its voice or translator or description. What falls on humanity is to read and study the book of creation in the Qur’an. Those who are able to do so are, in the words of the Qur’an, rewarded with abundant good, and gain great value in proportion to the depth of their inner world and the sharpness of their faculties. Contrarily, those who see the realities on the face of existence but cannot discern the truths lying behind it and the purpose for it alongside the magnificent order it displays, are doomed to not receive its messages. This is manifestly a loss or failure.

O God! Show us the truth as being true and enable us to follow it, and show us falsehood as being false and enable us to refrain from it. Amen!

Note

1. al-Bukhari, “Bad’u’l-Wahy,” 6.

This brief essay has three basic aims. The first is to offer a general definition of the Hizmet movement. The second is to highlight some of the major characteristics of the movement that relate to its emphasis on education. The third is to convey the extent to which the teachings of Fethullah Gulen embody an understanding of, and commitment to, education as a liberative force, a commitment which resonates deeply with the role of education in the ongoing struggle for civil rights in the United States.

1. Definition

I define Hizmet (Turkish for “service”) as a global spiritual renewal and social reform movement, rooted in traditional Islamic spirituality, observance, and teachings, but appealing to people of diverse faiths and backgrounds who share its universal values. These values center around the importance of family, education, and personal responsibility for the welfare of others–all within a context of a life lived in loving submission (islam) to God. Such values are oriented towards dialogue and cooperation–both within and across societies and cultures–for the purpose of pursuing greater justice and thus greater peace and solidarity in the human family.

In this respect, Hizmet stands in contrast to other contemporary so-called “Islamist” movements which are primarily political in nature, seeking to pursue a reformist agenda by overtly “Islamizing” the governmental and legal structures of existing Muslim majority nation-states.

2. M. Fethullah Gulen’s teaching of Hosgoru as the dominant ethos of Hizmet

As many of the readers of this publication are well aware, the human spiritual inspiration behind the Hizmet movement is an elderly Turkish gentleman, who mows the lawn and washes the dishes, by the name of M. Fethullah Gulen. He is also known respectfully and affectionately to the millions who deeply admire and love him as a true man of God and eminently wise teacher, myself included, as “Hocaefendi” or “beloved teacher.”

There are many things one could say about this extraordinary man. Indeed multiple volumes could be written about his incredible life story of selfless service to God in the humble service he has always striven to render to others. Countless pages could be written exploring the insightful and profound ideas he shares in his scores of books translated into scores of languages. But Mr. Gulen himself would be displeased if he thought any writer was expending energy focusing on him rather than the mission to which he has dedicated his life and to which he has tirelessly invited countless others. So in deference to Mr. Gulen’s sensibilities, allow me to encapsulate a key principle of his teachings which is arguably the dominant ethos of the movement he has inspired. This key principle is known, in Gulen’s native Turkish, as hosgoru.

The standard translation of hosgoru into English is “tolerance.” Hence the following translation of a very famous set of verses from the poetry of Hocaefendi:

“Be so tolerant that your bosom becomes wide as the ocean. Be inspired with faith and love of human beings. Let there be no troubled souls to whom you do not offer a hand and about whom you remain unconcerned.”

Even as translated, the moral and spiritual pathos of these verses is powerful. Yet, as powerful as it stands, the translation is inadequate. Its inadequacy has primarily to do with the vagaries of translation and, in this particular instance, a significant semantic gap between the relatively maximalist root meaning of the Turkish word hosgoru and the rather minimalist contemporary connotation of the English word, “tolerance.” Whereas “tolerance” connotes a sense of enduring—usually with some difficulty—an adverse circumstance or set of circumstances, hosgoru connotes a radically different sensibility.

The term is derived from two roots: the first—hos—meaning “good”; and the second—gormek—meaning “to see.” Thus hosgoru literally means “seeing [especially the other] in a goodly manner” and/or “seeing the goodness in the other. Gulen writes:

“Under the lens of hosgoru, the merits of believers attain a new depth and extend to infinity; mistakes and faults shrink so much that they can be squeezed into a thimble. Actually the treatment of He Who is beyond time and space always passes through the prism of hosgoru, and we wait for it to embrace us and all of creation.”– “The Necessity of Interfaith Dialogue: A Muslim Perspective” (2001)

Attend, if you will, to what Mr. Gulen is saying here. He is not only implying that human dignity is elevated through an ethic of hosgoru. He is saying that God, Godself, looks upon God’s creation—and especially all human beings—through the “lens of hosgoru.” In other words, Gulen identifies hosgoru as a divinely ordained dynamic in the divine-human relationship. He is implying that if the One God, who is perfect and flawless, looks upon creation—and especially us human beings with all our sins and shortcomings—in a manner which emphasizes our goodness (cf. Hadith 37 of the Arba`in of al-Nawawi), how much more so are we, as flawed and sinful beings, beholden to look upon others in the same way?

3. Commitment to education and a pedagogical methodology of example (temsil)

Before I actually met Fethullah Gulen Hocaefendi, I felt that I had already met him in the many friends I had acquired from Hizmet. They concretize, in their lives, the essence of so much of what he teaches: humility, service and a deep concern for others (especially those who are suffering), dedication to family, commitment to self-improvement, and a willingness to learn from those who are different from themselves. These are all wonderful words, but in my many friends from Hizmet—working in so many different places around the world—they strive to put them into action. The world is hungry for examples not just rhetoric and Hizmet, in it’s own special way, is attempting to help satisfy this hunger. This notion of teaching by example—in Turkish, temsil—is a key component of the educational philosophy of, and pedagogical methodologies advocated by, Fethullah Gulen.

As Ruth Woodall (“Fethullah Gulen’s Philosophy of Education in Practice”) reminds us:

Gulen calls performance of the superficial, technical aspects of instruction “teaching”, reserving the term “education” for a deeper, more meaningful and holistic activity (unal and Williams 2000:312). Notwithstanding the importance that the schools attach to training in practical classroom technique, the teacher is more than a mere purveyor of information or skills. The relationship between teacher and student is crucial: “The best way to educate people is to show a real concern for every individual, not forgetting that each individual is a different ‘world'” (Unal and Williams 2000:313).

So, in Gulen’s thought, the role of the teacher as an exemplar of hosgoru is key to her or his effectiveness, not only in the classroom as a pedagogue, but as an educator in the broader and more holistic sense. We should not miss the degree to which Gulen models this in his own role as the paradigmatic teacher/educator or hoca par excellence of the Hizmet movement. The practical effects of Gulen’s own modeling of hosgoru are palpably evident in the teachers who work in the over 1500 Hizmet schools worldwide. To return to Woodhall:

This importance given to the development of the individual in the movement leads to teachers and administrators dedicating extra hours to free after-school and weekend lessons for individuals or small groups. Graduates of the schools, who have started university courses, also return voluntarily to help the students in the following years with their studies and to mentor them (Aslandogan and Cetin 2007:54). …Teachers’ altruism is not confined to sacrificing their time for students. They also make considerable financial sacrifices. Many teachers also sponsor students for part or all of their tuition. (www.fethullahgulenforum.org)

4. Mutually critical assessment of tradition and modernity

A characteristic of the teachings of Fethullah Gulen and the Hizmet movement, which has roots in the work of Bediuzzaman Said Nursi (d. 1960), is the importance of placing tradition and modernity into a mutually critical conversation with one another, triangulating on questions of socio-cultural development and reform. Put simply, Gulen encourages those he inspires to take up the project of using modern ideas to critique and better understand traditional values and practices, and using traditional teachings better to assess and critically evaluate particular features of modernity. The reason for doing this is to arrive at the optimal synthesis of the traditional and the modern for the welfare of human societies.

As someone who spent his formative years in late twentieth century Turkey, Gulen experienced firsthand the many negative effects of a brand of coercive and oppressive laicite as part of a much larger project of nationalist social engineering. In particular, Gulen perceived the way in which “democracy” and its reputation as a “modern” value could be little more than a Western rhetorical trope. Indeed he witnessed the way in which this trope, when transplanted into his own Turkish republican context, was used to mask a very modern and unforgiving form of Kemalist authoritarianism which could well be assessed as far less “democratic” and certainly far less “pluralist” than the Ottoman imperial structures it supplanted. So, for Gulen, modern ideas, such as those distilled in the U.N. Universal Declaration of Human Rights, could be a very helpful lens through which Muslims could begin to glimpse with more clarity some of the foundational universalist and humanist principles proclaimed in the Qur’an and embedded within Islamic jurisprudence. By the same token, Gulen saw these very principles—especially in their particularly Islamic modality—as having much to offer, not just contemporary Muslim societies, but all societies.

In this regard, Gulen writes of democracy that it

“…has developed over time. Just as it has gone through many different stages in the past , it will continue to evolve and improve in the future. Along the way, it will be shaped into a more humane and just system, one based on righteousness and reality. If human beings are considered whole, without disregarding the spiritual dimension of their existence and their spiritual needs, and without forgetting that human life is not limited to this mortal life and that all people have a great craving for eternity, democracy could reach the peak of perfection and bring even more happiness to humanity. Islamic principles of equality, tolerance, and justice can help it do just this.” Toward a Global Civilization of Love and Tolerance (NJ: Tughra, 2011 p. 224)

5. Akil ve Kalb: The integration of “mind and heart,” of intelligence and compassion

A hallmark of Hizmet epistemology is the integration of akil ve kalb—of “mind and heart” or intelligence and compassion. In the broadest sense, this is an expression of Gulen’s—and therefore the movement’s—holistic approach to spirituality. In particular, Hizmet participants frequently exhibit an appreciation for the importance of the integration of mind and heart for improving human communities. People in the movement widely affirm the fact that arriving at good solutions to social problems necessitates hard critical analyses. At the same time, however, Hizmet participants would emphasize that every rational solution to a problem must be judged according to how it affects the lives of people—especially the most vulnerable–the ones the Qur’an refers to as the mustad’afun and the New Testament refers to as those “who hunger and thirst for righteousness.”

6. Dialogue and consultation

Closely related to the integration of “mind and heart”—especially with respect to meaningful and salutary social reform—is Gulen’s and the Hizmet movement’s emphasis on dialogue and consultation or, to use the Turkish term, istisare. Istisare is a strong ethic of mutual inquiry on strategies for achieving social goals. In fact, I would go so far as to say that there is a natural elective affinity between the largely intra-movement dynamic of istisare, on the one hand, and the movement’s deep commitment to intercultural and interreligious dialogue. I would also argue that, to a very significant degree, the Hizmet ethic and practices of dialogue and consultation comprise the foundation of its emerging identity as a movement of “civic Islam” (cf. Etga Ugur, “Civic Islam in the Public Sphere: the Gulen Movement, Civil Society and Social Capital in Turkey” http://www.islamconference.org/2006/ICI-06%20PAPERS/ABSTRACTS/Etga%20Ugur.pdf).

Conclusion: An illustrative personal story

I would like to close with a personal story which I hope will give you a sense of the global scope of the movement, as well as help illustrate the definition of Hizmet with which I began and the five major characteristics I’ve attempted to identify and briefly explicate.

A few years ago I had occasion to travel to South Africa where, among many other things, I had the opportunity to visit a Hizmet math and science academy for boys which largely served young men from the notoriously economically impoverished Apartheid Era township of Soweto. In fact, I had occasion to visit Soweto and meet people with indomitable and dignified spirits living in abject poverty (even long after Apartheid had been officially dismantled). I was taken there by the teachers at the Hizmet school who regularly visit with their students’ parents in adherence to the holistic educational philosophy of Fethullah Gulen. I also had the privilege of talking to these young men back at the school where they asked me lots of questions about what I did and about President Obama, and where I asked them questions about their studies, their school, and their hopes and dreams for the future.

After this unforgettable exchange, I went back to the office with the principle, where we chatted, and I got around to asking him about the background of the boys I had just met. When I asked about religion, the principle said to me, smiling: “Agabey (a Turkish term of respect for an elder), 80% are Roman Catholic like you!” I had to struggle to hold back my tears, even though by that point I well knew that Turkish men, and especially the men of Hizmet, have no problem crying or seeing other men cry. To think that these Turkish Muslims traveled thousands of miles from the many comforts—both material and spiritual—of their homes, at great personal and familial sacrifice, to build and operate a school so that my young Catholic brothers from Soweto could have a better chance at life, was emotionally and spiritually overwhelming. But more than that, it drove home to me the essence of Hizmet and the vision of Fethullah Gulen.

[This is an abbreviated and edited version of a talk originally given by the author on the occasion of the conferral on M. Fethullah Gulen of the Gandhi, King, Ikeda Peace Award by the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King International Chapel of Morehouse College on April 09, 2015.]

Through its various incarnations, from the Egyptian, Greek, Muslim, and Western sciences to the present day, mathematics has ignited the interest of people, nations, and religions. Mathematics has been used extensively to solve the secrets of the Holy Qur’an in the discipline of jifr and numerology, despite not being recommended by theologians, and Kabbalists have endeavoured to understand the word of God by using mathematics. Within Christianity, Saint Augustine’s statement that, “six is not perfect because God created the world in six days; rather, God created the world in six days because six is a number of perfection,”¹ shows that mathematics has been far more influential than science. Therefore, mathematics’ role in the transformation of knowledge into wisdom should be carefully considered.

In its abstraction, mathematics provides us with a vast quantity of information to explore. It is one of the most effective means of explaining incomprehensible phenomena in the cosmos, including the aspects that are beyond human perception. Even though not everything in mathematics appears to have a correspondence in the real world now, according to Nikolai Lobachevsky, the future will bear witness to such a correspondence. Therefore, contemporary mathematicians need not be concerned whether their studies correspond to real facts or not.

History has demonstrated repeatedly that nations which have progressed in the social and natural sciences have become more fully developed. Life depends on a lot of parameters, which share several common characteristics. For example, a link may exist in society between a society’s justice system and its level of mathematical knowledge. John Nash, the Nobel Prize winner, stated (2012)² that there is no justice in a society where people do not know mathematics, revealing that all levels of mathematics have more meaning and social impact than we imagine. In this context, math can even be useful for understanding and solving complicated social issues.

How can theology, which deals with creation and belief, help us understand life without mathematics? The answer to this question depends on our understanding of the universe as evidence for God’s existence. In Richard Feynman’s words, “To those who do not know mathematics it is difficult to get across a real feeling as to the beauty, the deepest beauty, of nature.”³ Here it can be realised that Feynman’s ideas on the language of nature correspond to those of Galileo, who lived over four centuries ago. Both scientists seem to agree that an understanding of the universe is intricately linked to mathematics.

In the contemporary world, the reason the majority of people prefer studying social sciences may be related to an unwillingness to study mathematics. If we believe everything in the universe was created for a purpose, it makes sense then that everything is connected at a deeper level. Mathematics can make enormous contributions to other disciplines. Therefore, the current role of mathematics in other disciplines needs further attention. As an illustration, although the work of Leonardo da Vinci is globally acclaimed, particularly masterpieces such as the Mona Lisa, most people ignore the mathematical aspect of da Vinci’s art. To understand this aspect of his work would only deepen our appreciation of his genius.

In Islamic theology, it is suggested that every sin, whether minor or not, should never be undermined. The Qur’an asks every human, as small as they are, to behave as if they were in the presence of God. Bediuzzaman mentions that, “For there are some small things which can in one respect swallow many large things.”⁴ Indeed, the things that we regard as small can be the bearers of larger things, and this is possible in mathematics as well. The example of the butterfly effect is prominent proof of this fact; the flap of a butterfly’s wings in China may trigger a storm in the United States. In other words, a single occurrence, no matter how small it is, can change the direction of the universe. This was proved with a weather forecast experiment. When the decimal value of one of the parameters was not entered, considerable changes occurred in the curve of the weather estimation. This is a clear example of how small things may have much more of an effect than we assume.

In conclusion, the universe will disclose its secrets more if approached holistically. It is obvious that the universe cannot be fully read without mathematics. People who want to understand the workings of creation should know all disciplines, at least to a certain extent.

Notes

1. Hamilton, Albert Charles. 1990. The Spenser Encyclopedia, page 514.
2. Evin, Mehves. 2012. “There is no justice in a society where people do not know mathematics,” (Turkish) Interview with John Nash. Milliyet, 24.07.2012.
3. Richard, P. 1967. The Character of Physical Law, MIT Press, p. 58.
4. Nursi, Bediuzzaman Said. 2008. The Gleams, NJ: The Light, Inc. p. 188.

The carpenter was an orphan, and grew up alone. He learned to calm his temper by taking certain parts of the sculpture out and giving the whole a symmetrical shape. “This touch of hammer is for yesterday’s anger,” he said.

The pupil listened, his eyes wide open.

“If you do not take out something, you will never get shape,” he whistled, the pencil between his teeth. He drew another line after some calculations on the nose of sculpture, then took a sip from his coffee. In the old days, in Boston, it would’ve been tea. “Now we all drink Columbian coffee,” he murmured as if he were a New Englander.

“You know,” he continued. “To take out some part of you, it’s useful to get to know the human inside and build something from the inside out … but, you know, it is not enough! You will need to nurture your soil to make it into shapeable clay. You need to sow a hundred good intentions, and even if some fade away, that’s ok. The twenty will save the day. Also, if one has a hundred good wishes for each new day, even though you cannot achieve one thing out of a hundred immediately, that wish will make your humanity flourish. You know, people are like planes. From the ground they look like they are following a steady path, but nay. You either go higher or lower. The moments when a plane looks steady from the ground are often moments of turbulence. So my son, each day you have to carve out some and nourish the rest. Be careful, if you carve out without nourishing the clay, you will loose the sculpture. If a human has no soil left, and you replace it with arrogance and cruelty, neither sun or rain can nourish that mud. Those days are when seeds meet with stones or mud; if you do not keep up your soil, you will harvest the worst. Those are moments of death.” “What is the worst?” asked the pupil.

The carpenter continued, “have I ever told you the story of milk and butter?”

“Nope,” the child responded.

“You know, if milk goes bad, it may ferment into yogurt, right? What happens if it does not turn into yogurt? It becomes, cheese or butter. But what happens if butter goes bad? Nothing: it smells terrible and is of no use. This is what happens when we do not nourish the soil by scything or letting it rest for a year after harvest… If one looses the thin layer of humanity, you become less than an animal. Animals have a dignity of their own; such a human would not, son. Take care of that thin layer that keeps you alive as a human. You know, sometimes humans lose their humanity when they became carnivores. I do not only mean wars. There is more. If you gossip, that kills society. No trust, no truth, no humanity!

“Soil and nature are the best books I have. Those make me closer to my human self.”

I looked at sky. It rained as if it never did since a year in Boston. I left my soil to reach its sculpture under the rain clouds, as fresh as the smell of a new day. One day, I hope when I also become a human sailor in the vessel of this body, I will reach the limits of existence in the form of humanity. It is my duty to shape the soul as a sculpture, to sail this vessel. But this human soul is not mine. As a sculpture, I am weak, after all. It is on the Artist to make His art breath with life: The Artist, who gives the tools in the form of books we read in universe, in scripture, and in human souls.