In this issue of The Fountain, Bruce Parker expounds on the “math wars” among parents, students, and educators. Questioning the necessity of math has been going on for many decades and the range of counter arguments against math have varied from “harmful to thinking for ordinary living” and “nonfunctional and nearly valueless”. So, Parker asks, do we really need to have math in middle and high school, as well as college, curriculums? His answer is an emphatic yes.

Supporting Parker in the need for math, Guvenalp writes that “mathematics can make enormous contributions to other disciplines,” and that “an understanding of the universe is intricately linked to mathematics.” Many people think that a scientific viewpoint and a religious viewpoint are incompatible. Mesut Sahin argues that a scientific mind can be deeply complementary to a religious soul – and vice-versa. “Scientific pursuit demands a personality with a strong dedication and faith in a cause. Those are the traits that are well developed in a person with religious experience,” says Sahin, whose essay is a substantive contribution to the age-old debate on whether science and religion can be reconciled.

Who are Sufis? How different from, or similar to, Muslims are they? The Western experience of Islam has historically been more confrontational than peaceful. Sufism, however, has been welcomed rather warmly despite its origins being deeply rooted in Islam. In his “A History of Sufism for Western Readers” Sait Yavuz explains how Sufi orders came into being and systematized their practices over time. Western sympathy towards Sufism seems to arise from the latter’s emphasis on genuine love rather than the prescriptions of legalistic scholars. Sufism, according to Yavuz, is, “setting aside everything in this temporary world to reach purity, and achieve a state of direct experience of God, in which one can even annihilate himself in God’s Divine being.”

Not much different than Sufis, we all seem to have annihilated ourselves in something these days, but this thing is not as holy as the Divine, unfortunately: the internet. Onyeagolu Tochukwu writes that the virtual world in which we have immersed ourselves has created an illusion of greater connection, yet “a great majority of human relationships have been transferred from the world of reality, where they involve personal encounters between humans, to the virtual world of the internet and other online platforms where personal encounters between humans are either ruled out or vastly different.”

Fethullah Gülen, the author of our lead article, was the 2015 recipient of the prestigious Gandhi King Ikeda Award for Peace. The award ceremony took place at the Martin Luther King Int’l Chapel Crown Nave at Morehouse College, Atlanta, Georgia. Mr. Gülen was awarded due to his “interfaith and cross-cultural dialogue about science, democracy and spirituality and opposition to violence and the misuses of religion as political ideology [which] made [him] the humanizing face of Islam.” The keynote speech delivered during the ceremony by Dr. Scott C. Alexander is in print for the first time in this issue of The Fountain. This piece is a must read for those who research both Mr. Gülen’s ideas, and Hizmet, the global movement of education and dialogue inspired from these ideas.

Many students in elementary, middle, and high school have problems with math classes. Many students and their parents often ask why math is an important part of the curriculum for all levels of their education. Most of the time, the main complaint is, “Why do we have to take so many ‘useless’ math courses? There is no direct or immediate use of most of the material we learn in our math classes.” Even though this assertion seems to be right for the “direct/immediate use” aspect at first sight, we will try to go deeper and consider the question from a different point of view.

An anecdote from recent US math education history proves the controversial nature of the subject. The paper, “A Brief History of American K-12 Mathematics Education in the 20th Century”1 by David Klein gives a good account of the developments in US math education in the 20th century. In the early 1900s, one of the nation’s most influential education leaders, William H. Kilpatrick, rejected the notion that studying mathematics contributed to mental discipline. He even defended his view that mathematics is harmful rather than helpful to the kind of thinking necessary for ordinary living. At the time, his opinions about the teaching of math and algebra were supported by many experts. For example, in the 1920s, Commissioner of Education for the state of Massachusetts, David Snedden, said that, “Algebra…is a nonfunctional and nearly valueless subject for 90 percent of all boys and 99 percent of all girls–and no changes in method or content will change that.” Hence, at the period, the students were taught basic math skills which would have immediate practical applications. However, after World War II, policymakers began to advocate for a stronger math curriculum, a movement motivated by the space race of the 1950s. But later, and especially in the 1990s, the controversy of the “math wars” among parents, professional educators, and mathematicians was raised again. With the involvement of many educators and mathematicians, the US’ math curricula and textbooks were remodeled to provide students with stronger math skills, which are essential in global competition.

The importance of math in the core curriculum

The aim of the core curriculum for K-12 (and for college) is to prepare people for life; to cultivate the verbal, numerical, and visual skills necessary to analyze and synthesize information; and to foster an understanding of the intellectual and cultural wealth of modern society. This basic education aims to provide the members of society a basis and medium to communicate, to live together, and to advance within the society.

If we take out one or two of the courses like literature, arts, social science, or the natural sciences from the core curriculum, it is not hard to see that students would definitely miss out on some of our rich human experiences; it would be hard for them to adapt to the society in some ways, since they would have no idea about some very basics elements of that society. Beyond this direct implication, each of these courses affects people in a deeper way, encouraging them to explore who they are, and to be a “more complete” member of society. These courses enrich and deepen our understanding of what our surroundings are and how they function in the world. For example, if literature was taken out from the core curriculum, as an immediate consequence, it would weaken students’ communication skills with other people; and moreover, people would miss out on the first chance of interaction with an excellent medium to express human feelings, experiences, and imagination. If we took out the natural sciences, most of us would be ignorant about why and how many things came to be. The deeper effect would be that it would cause people to get used to ignorance, as there would be many things around them which they had no idea about.

Now, let’s go back to the original question. What if we took out math from the core curriculum? No one opposes the need for basic math at the elementary school level, as it gives basic knowledge of numbers, counting, etc., which are undeniably very basic skills in a person’s life. So the question is, “Do we really need to have math in middle and high school, as well as college curriculums, as a required component?” This is not a meaningless question as we do not see “the direct use” of the contents of these courses in practical life. To answer this question, we first need to understand what these contents are about, and what they enable us to do.

First, we must ask: “What is mathematics?”

There are many definitions. We can cite some of them here. According to Aristotle, “Mathematics is the science of quantity.” Benjamin Pierce defined math as, “…the science that draws necessary conclusions.” Lastly, Walter Warwick Sawyer thought that, “Mathematics is the classification and study of all possible patterns.”

For our purpose, though, we will use the following intuitionist definition: “Mathematics is a mental activity which consists in carrying out, one after the other, those mental constructions which are inductive and effective.” This means that by combining fundamental ideas, one reaches a definite result.

Math trains the brain

By using the definition above, we can argue that even though the mathematical content in the core curriculum may not have direct use for many jobs and practical applications in life, studying math should be considered as training the brain to comprehend complicated ideas, and to deduce or construct new knowledge in every aspect of life by reflecting on and relating the given information.

In other words, studying math (independent from the content) trains the brain in logic, order, and pattern recognition, all of which are essential to understanding and arguing about ideas everywhere. The most common analogy for this situation is that “studying math contributes to strengthening one’s ‘brain muscles’ very effectively, like running strengthens one’s leg muscles.” Studying math makes people smarter, and helps them solve complicated problems and analyze tough situations from different parts of life. These skills are undeniably very important for any person, and everyone wants to strengthen these skills through their education to prepare for their mature life. Hence, if we can prove our claims above about studying math, we can present a convincing argument to show the necessity of math education in our core curriculum.

Of course, we cannot give a 100% solid proof that studying math improves one’s ability to comprehend or better analyze the complicated situations we confront in our work and daily life; or to deduce new relations and make smarter decisions. However, if we go back to the example of running and how it enhances one’s leg muscles, we can point out the similarities of these processes.

If one considers any math problem from any level, it always describes a situation with given statements A, B, and C; it asks when the statements A, B, and C are true, whether a new statement, D, is also true? From elementary school to the PhD and research levels, any math problem can be described in these terms.

Doing this in an abstract setting might make it complicated at first sight, but this property provides math with great advantages. First of all, it makes math universal for any time and place. A mathematical truth is absolute (if a,b,c are assumed to be true, it is impossible that d is false); after being settled, the statement is true at any time and any place in the world. If you asked the question “whether A & B & C implies D or not” five centuries ago, it still makes sense today; and the answer will still be true in the future. If you ask the same question in the USA, Europe, or Africa, it undeniably has the same answer. Since the whole setting is abstract, the answer does not depend on time or place. Furthermore, because of this universal property, by using a good idea, a kid might solve a nice math problem, while many smart people cannot. This makes math very interesting and intriguing. It is not a coincidence that the youngest university professors are mathematicians.

Now, let’s go back to our original question. For an untrained person, running a couple of miles in his or her first attempt would be quite hard, but with a few months exercise, they can get used to the distance, and run it very easily. Furthermore, it improves his other athletic skills, and gives a good base to adapt to other sports. Like this example, studying math is good training for the brain to analyze situations, to understand deeper concepts, and to find connections. In K-12 education, the aim is to prepare students for their mature life, and to give a good background for their future jobs. The math content up to the high school level is from research that is at least 3-4 centuries old; many of the formulas are over a thousand years old. Because of the universality of such formulas, if any number of kids or teenagers talks about the same problem, they can communicate with each other without any problem, across national, ethnic, and linguistic boundaries. Hence, math provides us an ideal environment in which to train the brain.

The abstract setting is ideal

The next question would be, “Is math the only (or best) way to work out one’s mind? Would we ask everyone to run laps on a track if some students prefer to exercise by swimming, cycling, weightlifting, or rock climbing? We have already answered this question above, but it would be better to underline some points again. Of course, other courses like natural sciences, social sciences, literature, etc. will help students to train their brains, too. However, as we emphasized earlier, math provides us an excellent workout environment because of its abstract property. For a given, complicated math problem, one must separate the problem into simpler pieces, and see the relation between these pieces. After comprehending the whole complicated scenario with this process, he or she comes up with a new idea to deduce the answer. This training subconsciously equips people with the skill to approach the different complicated situations in their lives, and to come up with a solution. In other fields/courses, the answers and solutions are not absolute, and most of the time there may not be only one good answer. This ambiguity could undermine the training which we want to achieve.

On the other hand, because of the universal property of math, a great variety of subjects and questions have accumulated over the past centuries. These abundant and rich resources have been collected in different parts of the world at different times by the people who would like to understand the patterns and relations around them, and who enjoy to travel in this abstract world. Hence, math consists of a great wealth of subjects and problems, which have naturally developed through the work of very intelligent people who have sought answers to the puzzles posed by both nature and the human mind. This property makes math the best way to train the human mind, and it offers a rich platform for all levels and ages.

In short, math provides the mind with the skills to question and analyze, to find connections between events, and to make deductions with the given information. These are unquestionably essential skills for any life.

Direct and practical outcomes

Besides the profound effects mentioned above, math education also has very direct and practical effects in our lives. In this century, even many entry-level jobs require good math skills. With the advances in technology, good math skills became very handy in everyday life. As job descriptions change over time, the necessity for good math skills becomes more urgent.

Many college majors like engineering, economics, finance, medicine, and natural sciences demand a solid math background. In other words, if you don’t acquire the basic math skills in your basic education, it will be impossible to get a degree in these fields, and to get a decent job related to these subjects.

Conclusion

Math education as a part of a K-12 core curriculum has been a controversial issue for centuries. One side sees math education as a “luxury,” whereas the other side believes that it’s one of the most essential components of a well-rounded education. This side – correctly, I believe – feels that math trains the human mind to comprehend, question, and analyze complicated ideas. In our changing times, math education becomes more and more important as it gives a necessary background for many professions, from entry level to advanced research positions.

Reference

1. Klein, David. “A Brief History of American K-12 Mathematics Education in the 20th Century,” in Mathematical Cognition: A Volume in Current Perspectives on Cognition, Learning, and Instruction, p. 175-225.

First and foremost, life is one of the biggest graces granted to humanity. To exist itself is a grace. But to exist as a human being – instead of an animal – is an even greater blessing. Of course, whether or not we are granted a life with a human identity is something over which we have no control. However, once we have been blessed with life as a human, we are tasked with the responsibility of making the best use of this blessing. If we do this, we will attain bliss in both worlds, which is another divine gift, one that is tied to our freewill.

Exploring life and all its dimensions within the framework of the Creator’s laws and principles is a glorious duty for us all. The human being, with its inborn capabilities and predisposition, is likened to a marble stone that has not yet been sculpted. Just like the sculptor cuts and chisels the marble according to the plan in his or her imagination, human beings, as sculptors of their own souls, can also bring a second existence to life in themselves. According to the plan that has been granted to them, they can engrave the secret within their conscience onto their visage – provided that they are able to read the secrets deep within their conscience; the conscience which is tantamount to the book of the universe and a conscious mirror to the glorious truth. They endeavor to realize exalted ideals, instead of merely running after short and ephemeral achievements. Instead of keeping busy with simple, idle thoughts, they are engulfed in ideas that are deep enough to make their temples throb. Instead of examining arbitrary things, they scrutinize and study serious works that will prepare them for both this world and beyond; works that will mature their souls.

Those unrefined souls, failing to set their hearts on exalted ideals and failing to calibrate themselves towards a higher purpose, are unable to break free from simple thoughts and an atmosphere full of darkness and opposites. They are unable to reach innovations and improvements through the things they’ve seen, heard, and read. Without the passion of real love for their fellow man, they can’t be considered to have really lived.

Human beings have been sent to this world as a vicegerent of the Exalted Creator, to achieve great things and to produce precious works. If they are aware of this obligation, they will penetrate into things and events. They will intervene and, through various analyses and syntheses, produce new works of art. All the while, with each passing moment, they will sense the endless will and power of the Almighty behind their own will; thus, they’ll bend over with gratitude.

The gear needed to fulfill such glorious duties has already long been granted to humans: self-discipline, freewill, and excitement to ascend to the fullest potential of their humanity; curiosity and a love of beauty in order to get to know and love the universe and all that it houses; a conscience for integrity and justice; a heart to feel empathy and love for all existence; a mind that allows one to use these graces properly and to be able to distinguish, to some extent, between good and evil; and finally, a pure atmosphere enlightened with the divine light of revelation in order to accomplish these tasks without any set-backs or disturbances.

Amongst all creation, the human being, having been honored with both physical and spiritual blessings, is unique and by far unparalleled. But when humans fail to make use of these divine gifts, it will be inevitable that they fall to the lowest degree in a most wretched way.

From this perspective, the first chapter of life is for attaining both consciousness and favor of His presence, whereas the second stage is a threshing floor in which individuals concentrate on the Almighty’s orders with the utmost sensitivity, and function through self-discipline and planning. Yes, by utilizing our willpower, consciousness, and obligations, it will always be possible to enrich our world, to immortalize it with virtue and divine consent, and to transport it to even newer dimensions through the abundant and vibrant flow of time.

Victories of every shape and kind are available to those who know well and act according to the principles this path requires, and who behave reasonably, having comprehended the conditions of the time and who continue their studies without any interference. However, the ignorant, impatient, ill-mannered ones—especially those who do not live according to their current period of time—do not stand a chance.

Those who consider each day a new spring and scatter seeds throughout their environment; who see every coming dawn as an enlightened and abundant doorway to divine treasures; and who hurry to open the doors to these very first divine gifts, will turn their lives into ever-blossoming fields of grain. With their souls alight, they will reach immortality.

Humanity is faced with a choice: to pursue a selfless path of humility and service, or to live selfishly, wasting time on trifles.

The most striking example of immune system memory is that we only catch certain microbial diseases once in our lives. For instance, in the past, a commonly observed skin disease called “Oriental sore” would heal by leaving a pit on the skin. When this infected the face, it would cause a permanent ugly mark. People aware of the situation would let the disease occur somewhere out of sight on a child’s body. So, they would take a droplet of fluid from the infected tissue of a patient and apply it to a child’s back. The sore would develop on the back of child and then heal. The reason this was effective is because the immune system would permanently store the Oriental sore microbes in its memory and would build up an immunity to the microbe.

The elements of the immune system are created to recognize microbes, and the tissues of foreign plants, animals and even humans. The immune system is created to respond to these foreign substances. However, due to the immaturity of the system’s recognition, the risk of developing a disease upon the initial entry of microbes to the body is very high.

This is because the system does not sufficiently know the microbe. The way the immune system fights microbes is with blood cells called lymphocytes. Once lymphocytes are produced inside lymph nodes, they enter the blood stream, and then into the body’s tissues. This way, they reach all over the body to scan for potentially harmful foreign cells. When a microbe enters the body, lymphocytes proliferate in higher numbers to join the fight against these microbes.

There are two types of lymphocytes: T lymphocytes and B lymphocytes. T lymphocytes are white blood cells in charge of direct encounters with microbes. B lymphocytes, however, kill microbes, via antibodies they synthesize. In other terms, while T lymphocytes kill the enemy via face-to-face combat, B lymphocytes resemble artillery soldiers, striking from afar.

When a microbe enters the body, the lymphocytes specific to that kind of microbe enter the arena and start battling with the microbes. During this battle, strange things happen: certain T and B lymphocytes travel to the battle but return without participating in the fight. This is not an escape from war; these lymphocytes are tasked with gathering information and preparing the immune system for the future. These are called memory-B and memory-T lymphocytes.

Memory cells reorganize their tools against microbes they recognize. For example, when they recognize a microbe, they generate a genetic “handcuff” that keeps the microbe from being effective. Lymphocytes that have never encountered a germ also produce “handcuffs”; however, there can be slight mismatches between the microbe parts and the handcuff. Memory cells are created solely to generate weapons to capture, disable, and destroy a specific microbe. These weapons are deadly enzymes and antibodies. Thus, the body regains immunity against a special microbe via a key-lock fit, which is called acquired immunity.

Again, the difference between memory cells and normal cells is noticeable. B lymphocyte cells that have never met a microbe are in charge of producing antibodies called immunoglobulin M (IgM); because these antibodies are not tailored to the microbe, they are usually slow and ineffective. Memory B lymphocyte cells, however, synthesize special immunoglobulin G (IgG) antibodies that are suited to the dimensions (size and shape) of the germ; this makes it impossible for the microbes to develop a disease.

These mechanisms are also utilized in vaccinations. Acquiring personal immunity happens through two ways. The first is the identification of a microbe during a disease, which is a risky method. If the body’s resistance is low, the patient can endure great suffering – or even die. If the body’s cells defeats the microbe during the first fight, immunity is gained. Memory cells do not let the disease develop again. Certain illnesses like measles, smallpox, and mumps can only occur once.

The second method of acquiring immunity is to provide the body with the microbe without permitting it to cause an illness. This is a vaccination. There are vaccinations for diseases like measles, typhoid fever, whooping cough, diphtheria, tetanus, tuberculosis, and hepatitis B. In vaccinations, the microbe is first treated chemically and this way its ability to infect is eliminated. Then, the disabled microbes are injected into the body; in other terms, the shapes and sizes of the germs are made available to the memory of the immune system.

These mechanisms show us that humans do not only memorize with their brains. Lymphocyte cells are created in a fashion to memorize things permanently.

Another feature of the immune system is the ability to distinguish friends from foes. Lymphocytes cells go through training when babies are approaching their birth and during the first few months after birth. In this training, the cells are introduced to every tissue in the body. This operation takes place in the thymus and other organs related to the immune system. The thymus is an organ located at the upper region of lungs, on the trachea, and T lymphocytes obtain their diplomas from here. Other immune system organs like bone marrow and the liver are also in charge of B lymphocyte training. During this training, they learn two things:

1. To kill foreign microbes and defend the body
2. Not to attack their own body and organs

Humans sometimes can obtain diplomas without sufficient literacy from schools; however, no diploma can be obtained in these organs without properly learning how to fight germs. Our immune system functions perfectly.

The immune system rejects blood, tissues, and organs of foreign origin by causing reactions and thus removes them. However, no reaction is developed against our own tissue or organs. With aging, the immune system becomes more sensitive towards our own tissues, thus increasing the risk of autoimmune diseases developing as we get older. Autoimmune diseases form as the result of our immune system targeting our own tissues and organs.

Of course, we’re more frequently damaged by outside microbes. Each encounter with a microbe means a war. In a war, both sides may suffer damage. Therefore, our immune system is equipped with suppressive T lymphocytes which prevent extensive fighting. Suppressive T lymphocytes prevent the overreaction of our immune system and are in charge of stopping any damage to the body.

Here we might need to mention the relationship between cancer and the immune system. In fact, cancerous cells also form in healthy people. Members of the immune system, especially T lymphocytes, scan the body from head to toe to detect and eliminate cancer cells. A person constantly wins the fight against cancer without even realizing it. However, in persons of low body resistance, cancer may form by crossing the immune system’s barriers. Aging reduces the ability to fight against cancer. Grief, sadness and similar psychological stresses are also significant factors in cancer development. All these intricate mechanisms show us that these systems are not just lucky incidents occurring on their own. These systems have been created to function perfectly. We are still living in an infantile age of understanding the wonders of our body’s systems and organs. It ought to be hard to claim that such an amazing body formed itself, after random collisions of atoms and molecules.

On the other hand, the methodology in the positive sciences can make for a striking contrast with some traits of a person who has a strong religious faith. The religious experience is mostly personal and subjective. An unshaken faith demands unconditional trust and obedience. Criticizing the scriptures and the trustworthiness of the messenger who delivered the scriptures harms the faith, casting doubts into the mind of a believer. In religious experience, once the source of the message is “believed” to be divine, the content of the message has to be followed. It is this complete trust, based upon a strong faith, which opens up the gates for a personal spiritual experience. This spiritual experience with the Divine increases one’s faith and the faith increases their spiritual joy, in a blissful circle of events. Therefore, after the initial phase of questioning and searching for the truth, the religious experience in the mind and heart of a person becomes richer by obedience and trust, leaving the critical thinking behind.

Scientific methodology and religious experience demand completely different thought processes in a person, seemingly diametrically opposed to each other. This raises the question of whether a person with a religious mindset can be a good scientist. Does the religious experience in one’s life hinder the path to becoming a good scientist? These are important questions to all people of science, since scientists are people like everyone else and they are souls who would benefit from religious and spiritual experiences like any others.

In this article, we claim that religious dedication and faith to a scientific cause are also requirements for a successful scientific career. On the flip side, a scientifically trained mind is a great tool to turn a superficial faith into a strong one based on rationalization.

First, addressing the former assertion, it suffices to consider how long and how much effort it takes to bring a scientific hypothesis to fruition: from the idea phase to the preliminary testing in a “Petri dish”; to a “proof of the principle” with animal testing; to small-scale clinical trials in human subjects; to large-scale multi-center patient trials; and finally to becoming an established treatment method approved by the national screening agencies, such as the FDA (Food and Drug Administration). These are the stages of development for a new drug, a medical device, an implant, or any medical treatment for human use. Other branches of science have similarly bumpy roads and lots of disappointments. A career in theoretical physics, for instance, might mean a lifetime commitment to discovering a new subatomic particle or a new celestial body and not finding even a trace of it! A scientific career is never without frustrations and disappointments that shake one’s faith in the original hypothesis that the scientist set out to prove, or that the final objective will ever be reached in a lifetime. Sometimes, months or years of experimentation are needed before any supporting evidence is discovered. The only thing that keeps the research spirit alive in this journey are the small serendipitous findings on the road while searching for the ultimate goal – the “holy grail,” as many Western scientists say. The history books are full of those who dedicated their lives to a scientific hypothesis, which is only heard of if successful. We know the life stories of Edison, Madam Curie, Avicenna, al-Biruni, and others because they made accomplishments that marked the history of mankind. But, we never heard of thousands of others hidden in the pages of unwritten books of unsuccessful scientific research.

To say the least, scientific pursuit demands a personality with a strong dedication and faith in a cause. Those are the traits that are well developed in a person with religious experience. Believing in the ultimate “goodness” in life, or that we are on earth for a purpose and that there is reward for our good, can help motivate a scientist, just like these basic human instincts lead to a hunger for faith in the Divine.

Not all scientists believe in the Divine Being or follow a religious tradition. However, a scientist with a strong religious faith would believe in a purpose and that life is not just random, and can use this faith as a source of inspiration during times of difficulty and trial. Believing in divine purpose and that the journey of the soul continues after the grave can be a great motivation for anyone.

On the latter question regarding the scientifically trained mind being an impediment on the way of religious faith, we can say this: accepting a faith is only the beginning of the religious journey. In order to grow in faith, one needs to seek knowledge of that faith. Only by making connections between one’s personal experiences and the doctrines of our faith can we truly begin to understand that faith. The search for a deeper spirituality can lead to different innovations, as research into the workings of the world will be viewed, by a scientist of faith, as research into God’s creation.

A scientist of faith goes into the lab wondering: Is He a God watching us from a distance, or revealing Himself to our hearts and helping us on a daily basis? If He is the Maker of all that we see and experience, can we find manifestations of His qualities in this universe? What about finding traces of His style? Just like any artist would have his own style expressed in his art, surely He has left traces in his work, too – for instance, the holographic effect of finding information about the whole in its smallest particles, such as the DNA of a life form, or its seed. Contemplating on these issues requires a questioning mind; that is, a mind that enjoys questioning, rather than being content with the answers given by others. Only through the personal answers given to these questions, can one’s faith have strong foundations based on personal experience. Having been trained in scientific methodology of connecting the observations to governing principles is certainly an important trait that can also be used to deepen one’s faith through reasoning and logic. Furthermore, scientific knowledge can also be a means of better understanding faith, for it provides tools to explore the works of the Divine.

Many great scientists of the past were also people of strong faith, perhaps for the reasons we tried to discuss here. A scientist with faith does not have to wear different hats – i.e. use different mental skills and tools – during his religious journey with God and in the lab. Also, religious experiences do not lower his enthusiasm for scientific research. Scientific motivation and religious faith do not have to be in competition, splitting the mind of a person and thereby causing a conflicting personality. Both can coexist in an individual as personal traits and help him become successful in both fields in life.

For Sufis, God is more than what the legalist scholars of the early Islam described. In Islamic legal terms, God is the One who created the universe and obligated people to show their obedience to Him through following His orders and refraining from the prohibited. For the Sufis, however, God is the One men can approach through genuine love and respectful fear.² Thus, Sufis teach not only joyful obedience to God, but also remembrance of God at all times, and setting aside everything in this temporary world to reach purity, and achieve a state of direct experience of God, in which one can even annihilate himself in God’s Divine being.³

For Junayd (d. 910), one of the greatest Sufis of the ninth century, the essence of Sufism is an attribute of God in mankind which involves the annihilation of human qualities.⁴ To annihilate the self in God, one has to separate himself from this world. In the words of one of the earliest of the Sufis, Abu al-Hasan Nuri’s (d. 907), “[s]ufism is the renunciation of worldly pleasures and Sufis are the ones whose souls have been freed from the stains of humanity, and whose carnal desires have been annihilated to be purified, so that they could find rest with God.”⁵

As this quote suggests asceticism has been a common feature in the lives of Sufis. Like Nuri, Junayd describes Sufis as people who “… did not take Sufism from talk or words, but from hunger and renunciation of the world and cutting off the things to which we were accustomed and which we found agreeable.”⁶ For Dhun-Nun of Egypt (d. 859), another well-known Sufi from the ninth century, Sufis are the ones who do not get tired of being asked for anything; they are not saddened by the loss of anything. They have preferred God to everything, and God, in response, prefers them to everything.⁷ For this reason, early Sufis mainly focused on God and God’s oneness (tawhid), and their spiritual paths were composed of acts and rituals which aimed at interiorizing Islam in the hopes of understanding God in a deeper way.

The exact time when certain Muslim mystics called themselves Sufis for the first time is not known. Mysticism and living an ascetic life had been practiced since the time of the Prophet. Prophet Muhammad’s life (peace be upon him) was a model ascetic life for Sufis. Ali (d. 661), the Prophet’s cousin, son-in-law, and the fourth Caliph of Islam, is the main figure among the Prophet’s companions who transmitted his mysticism to the next generations. Thus, he appears in almost every Sufi chain (silsila) as the first link in the spiritual lineage from the Prophet to the present Shaykh. Names of other companions appear at the top of a few other chains.⁸ Sufis believe that the Prophet taught his mystical ways and esoteric knowledge (ilm al-ladun) to his companions, and they, in turn, transmitted these to the next generations and became the first link in a spiritual chain.

Unlike followers of the Sufi orders that appeared after the eleventh century, the first generations after the Prophet never considered mysticism as a separate way within Islam. They simply regarded the ascetic practices of the Prophet and the companions as a part of the Prophet’s Sunna (traditions). Nonetheless, by the eighth century, the term Sufism was already in use as a distinguished practice within Islam. Yet, it had not been systematized, nor had it produced any organized groups like the Sufi orders, which would come later. Thus, until the twelfth century, Sufis functioned as independent individual scholars who taught their own ways of mysticism to students who were in search of esoteric knowledge. Very few people had the means to become Sufi, as few people knew, or had connections to, the proper way to being accepted into a Sufi training circle. Still, knowing the procedures, and even having connections, would not be enough. One had to go through rigorous purification processes, the least of which was renunciation of the benefits of this world. Hence, if the prospective student was seeking a bright scholarly future, then following the Sufi path would not be appealing.

The formative period

The period between the eighth century and the twelfth is the formative period to which Sufi orders trace their origins. The Sufis became visible for the first time in the political arena in the eighth century, when they openly criticized the extravagancy of the Umayyad dynasty. Islam had expanded to three continents, and prosperity came as cash flowed from the newly captured territories. Palaces were built, and luxury became the norm of the ruling class.⁹

The Sufis’ reaction was quiet but highly political. They began protesting the government by stressing the virtues of asceticism (zühd) in their teachings.¹⁰ They encouraged their audiences to abhor anything temporary (fani – or of this world) in exchange for the eternal (baki – Godly). As one of the earliest Sufi manuals states, the Sufis considered purity a necessity for getting closer to God. Repentance was mentioned heavily as a tool for spiritual cleansing whereas abstinence and poverty were regarded as two virtues that would help one shed their worldly materials. Patience would help one endure the hardships of abstinence and poverty, and resist sinful temptations. Humility, fear of God’s punishment, piety, and sincerity were just some of the other qualities that the early Sufis considered as tools to train one’s soul in order to get closer to God, be intimate to Him, and possibly reach a state of intimacy with God.¹¹

Unlike the organized and institutionalized structure of the Sufi orders of later times, Sufis of the formative period functioned as individual scholars who were committed to passing their esoteric knowledge to the new generations. There were not established standards for such activities, nor was there a tradition of establishing a lodge – tekke – in which to conduct their activities. Abu Hashim (d. 767) from Kufa, who used the term Sufi for the first time, was also the one who established the first lodge of Sufism in Ramla, a city in Palestine on the road from Cairo (Fustat) to Damascus, the Capital of the Umayyads, where he lectured on Sufism to visiting students.¹² Unlike the twelfth century Sufi lodges that functioned as hospices where students of a particular Sufi order lived, studied, and were trained in the Sufi way, Hashim’s lodge was in the form of contemporary educational facilities, where wandering students heard lectures on Islamic sciences. Sufi masters of the formative period lectured either at their homes or at local mosques and educational complexes.¹³

Sufis of the formative period mostly lived in the vicinity of Baghdad, which had become a center for learning after the Abbasid takeover of the Caliphate in 750 CE. This area is the only location that superseded Khorasan (Transoxania) as a center for Sufi learning. The Abbasids generously funded learning activities and students seeking knowledge began visiting Baghdad, and they stayed if they could carve out a place for themselves.

As freelance scholars who championed ascetic lives along with teaching Islamic sciences, the Sufis of the formative period drew numerous students. However, they could not build a strong following resembling any of the post-eleventh century Sufi brotherhoods. This was most probably due to the fact that the later Sufi practice of strict allegiance to one master-shaykh had not been developed yet, and thus the students were not devotees of a certain Sufi tradition but were seekers who constantly travelled between several different masters in search for esoteric knowledge. Still, the great shaykhs’ of the period must have had charismatic influence as they left their tracks in the Sufi world in the form of distinguished traditions which we now think of as “schools” within early Sufism. Hujwiri, in Kashf al-Mahjub, mentions twelve distinguished Sufi schools – ten genuine and two reprobated. Two of these – the Junaydiyya of Junayd al-Baghdadi (d. 910), and the Tayfuriyya of Abu Yazid Tayfur al-Bistami (d. 874) – represented two opposite poles in Sufi tradition. The Junaydiyya’s doctrine was based on sobriety (keeping consciousness despite the intoxicating spiritual influence of the love of God) and observing Islamic Law (Shari’a), whereas Tayfuriyya represented the school of rapture (ghalabah) and intoxication (sukr, jazbah), a spiritual state of unconsciousness with the love of God.¹⁴

The sober Sufis of the formative period were the closest to the legal scholars of early Islam in their understanding of the religion. Thus, these Sufis were mostly on good terms with the legalists who had gained political influence through their legal professions.

The first known sober Sufi was Hasan al-Basri (d. 728), whose key tools in reaching God were fear of God and sadness. Based on the Prophet’s saying that if people had known what the Prophet knew, they would laugh little but weep much, Hasan al-Basri and the followers of the school of sobriety would constantly weep for the miserable state of the world and their own shortcomings.¹⁵ Basri’s sober school was carried by much celebrated Sufis like Habib al-Ajami (d. 767), Davud al-Tai (d.800), Maruf al-Karhi (d. 815), and Sariyy al-Saqati (d. 867) to Junayd al-Baghdadi, in whose personality the school of sobriety found its most refined form. Junayd was born in Baghdad in 830. According to Farid al-Din Attar (d. 1221), one of the most famous biographers of the Sufis, Junayd’s way was that of the Qur’an and the Prophet’s traditions, as only these two would save one from destructive doubts about belief and bad innovations within the religion.¹⁶ Therefore, in Hujwiri’s words, Junayd was accepted by both the externalists (legalists) and the spiritualists (Sufis).¹⁷

Abu Yazid Tayfur al-Bistami’s Tayfuriyya school would be a perfect example of the schools of intoxication. Al-Bistami was born in the early ninth century in Bastam, a city in the north of what is today Iran, near the Caspian Sea, in the early ninth century. He was best known for his piousness, and for his rapturous longing for God and the intoxication of his love of God.¹⁸ Bistami’s school of intoxication suggests that once a man is intoxicated with love of God and enraptured upon his spiritual experiences with God, he does not notice anything else in creation since he is blinded with the love of God and loses his consciousness.¹⁹

The systematization of Sufism and the formation of the Sufi orders

The school of intoxication attracted much attention from the legalists, who accused the Sufis of polytheism. As their state of intoxication affected Sufis as a whole, Sufi intellectuals authored books and treatises in the defense of Sufism against extreme manifestations of intoxication. These works were crucial in the development of Sufi orders in later centuries, as these works ignited a long tradition of scholarship which helped formulate Sufism.²⁰

Manuals of Sufism and biographical works were the final two intellectual steps in the development of organized Sufi groups. Sufi scholars authored manuals on Sufism to prove that the true Sufism belonged to mainstream Islam (sirat al-mustaqim, or the straight path). Biographical works on great Sufis of the past followed the manuals. In these hagiographical dictionaries the authors narrated stories of the early Sufis, and provided later generations with their educational and training backgrounds. While manuals helped the Sufis theorize their ways of Sufism, biographies provided later Sufis with an indispensable tool to track their spiritual lineages to the Prophet for authenticity and legitimacy purposes.

Sufi orders started emerging by the twelfth century. One of the earliest orders, the Suhrawardiyya, emerged in Baghdad as Abu al-Najib Suhrawardi (d. 1168) started disseminating his way of Sufism in the area. Abd al-Qadir al-Jilani (d. 1166), the eponymous leader of the Qadiriyya tariqa, was Suhrawardi’s colleague in training under Muhammad Ibn Muslim al-Dabbas (d. 1131).²¹ Around the same time that Suhrawardi established his order, Jilani was conquering people’s hearts through emotionally moving sermons, a popular profession which brought him much fame and helped him disseminate the Qadiri way to a wide range of people.²² The Chistiyya and the Mawlaviyya were founded almost a century later, in Afghanistan and Anatolia respectively.

Another colleague of Jilani at al-Dabbas’ place was Abu Yaqub Yusuf al-Hamadani (d. 1140), a freelance Sufi scholar who was among the ones who brought Sufism from Baghdad to Transoxania.²³ His silsila (spiritual lineage) could be traced back to Junayd through various famous Sufi shaykhs.²⁴ Al-Hamadani is considered to be one of the most influential Sufis of the formative period as two of his disciples, Ahmed Yesevi (d. 1167) and Abd al-Khaliq Ghujduwani (d. 1179) were among the founding fathers of two distinguished and widespread Sufi tariqas of Transoxania, the Yeseviyye and the Naqshbandiyya.

When its origins are taken into consideration, it is clear that Sufism has been well rooted in mainstream Islam. Its origins go back to the Prophet Muhammad, peace be upon him, and his companions through the first generation Muslim scholars in the late seventh and early eighth centuries.

Notes

1. Annemarie Schimmel, Mystical Dimensions of Islam (Chapel Hill: The University of North Carolina Press, 1975), 24
2. Fudayl b. Iyad says he worships God out of love. See Abd al-Rahman Jami, Nafahat al-Uns, trans. Lamii Çelebi (Istanbul: 1289 AH / 1872 CE), 91.
3. Ali bin Usman al-Hujwiri, The Kashf al-Mahjub, trans. Reynold A. Nicholson (Lahore: Zia-ul-Quran Publications, 2001),101-105.
4. Hujwiri, The Kashf, 107.
5. Hujwiri quotes Abu al-Hasan Nuri (d.907), one of the greatest Sufis of the formative period. See Hujwiri, Kashf, 107-108.
6. Schimmel, The Mystical, 58.
7. Abu Nasr as-Sarraj, Kitab al-Luma fit-Tasawwuf, Ed. Reynold A. Nicholson (Leyden: E.J. Brill and London: Luzac &Co, 1914), 25. Schimmel quotes the same text but in the English version of her book the Arabic word of A-TH-R is translated as “choose”; however, “prefer” would be a better translation since “choose” distorts the meaning to some extent. See Schimmel, The Mystical, 15.
8. Schimmel, The Mystical, 28.
9. Schimmel, The Mystical, 29
10. Abu’l Qasim Qushayri, al-Risala al-Qushayriyya fi ilm al-Tasawwuf, trans. Alexander Kynsh (Reading, UK: Garnet Publishing Limited, 2007), 17; Abdülkerim Kuşeyri, Kuşeyri Risalesi, trans. Süleyman Uludağ (Istanbul: Dergah Yayınları, 1978), 49.
11. Abu Bakr al-Kalabadhi, Kitab al-Taarruf li-madhhab ahl al-tasawwuf, Trans. A.J. Arberry (Cambridge; Cambridge University Press, 1978), 82-102.
12. Jami, Nafahat, 86.
13. See Schimmel, The Mystical, for detailed information how early Sufis functioned.
14. Hujwiri, Kashf, 263-361.
15. Schimmel, The Mystical, 31.
16. Fared al-Din Attar, Tadhkira al-Awliya, trans. Mehmed Zahid Kotku, 60, accessed November 22, 2014 http://www.erimsever.com/Mevlana/Buyukler/TezkiretulEvliya_FAttar.pdf.
17. Hujwiri, Kashf, 208.
18. Jami, Nafahat, 66.
19. Hujwiri, Kashf, 273.
20. Schimmel, The Mystical, 55-7.
21. Diyanet Islam Ansiklopedisi, s.v. “SÜHREVERDI, Ebü’n-Necîb.”
22. Diyanet Islam Ansiklopedisi, s.v. “Abdülkadir-i Geylânî.”
23. Jami, Nafahat, 409, 588.
24. Jami, Nafahat, 409.

This energy is distributed via our blood. Our arteries and veins slip through every organ and serve them with energy. But, where does the blood get the energy?

The answer to that is the topic of our article: the digestive system. Our digestive system is how we process what we eat and drink. Though it has multiple different parts, in essence, it’s all just one long tube, starting from the mouth and ending at the rectum. The main goal of this system is to break down molecules so that they are able to enter our cells. There are three main molecule types this system is concerned with: carbohydrates, proteins, and fats. These are all digested at different levels in different parts of the digestive tract. Carbohydrates are broken down in the mouth, while proteins are digested in the stomach. The area that breaks down all three types of molecules is the small intestine. Here, all molecules are broken down into “bite-sized” pieces for our cells. After all the organic molecules are absorbed by the blood, all that is left is waste and water. This is where the large intestine comes into play. The large intestine is responsible for absorbing any water left in the feces. Of course, it can’t just absorb all the water. This process is performed according to what the body needs. If an excess amount of water is absorbed, then constipation occurs. However, if a low level of water is drawn, we suffer from diarrhea. The absorption has to be very precise.

We now have basic knowledge about the digestive tract. It all seems quite simple, doesn’t it? What could possibly go wrong?

Well, even though it looks fairly simple in theory, this system is designed to function very precisely. Every type of different molecule can only be digested by a specific enzyme in a specific environment. For instance, even with the right enzyme, a protein cannot be digested in an alkaline environment. Every compartment of the digestive tract is unique, and they all have to be able to work together harmoniously. First of all, food needs to get from one end of the digestive tract to the other. The digestive tract is lined with involuntary muscles that contract and relax to form a movement called peristalsis. These movements form small pockets in the tract that carry food. The muscles behind the pocket contract, pushing the food further. The muscles ahead of the pocket relax, forming an opening where the food can empty into.

An area of interest is the junction of the airway and the esophagus (the tube leading to the stomach). When food passes through this area, a door-like structure called the epiglottis closes the airway and pushes food into the esophagus. These series of contractions and relaxations must be done in a precise order and timing, or else choking or vomiting may occur. The amazing thing here is that all we have to do to start this process is swallow! The rest is involuntary; we do not need to stop and think about when to contract or relax which muscle. Imagine if you had to be very careful while eating not to vomit or accidentally choke yourself; eating wouldn’t be much fun then, would it?

The large intestine also uses peristalsis. The phenomenon of pocket formation here helps separate fully-drained contents from partially-drained contents. This is very useful during defecation, since we expel one pocket at a time. This way, only fully-drained contents are expelled. Otherwise, we might unknowingly expel feces for which drainage is incomplete, causing our body to waste water. This intermittent procession of pockets also allows us to feel finished after visiting the toilet. Of course, this all raises the question of how long food stays in each compartment and the transition of food between the compartments. As a general rule, the period of time food stays in each compartment gets longer and longer as food proceeds in the system. For example, food stays in the mouth for around 5-10 seconds, while the average transit time throughout the large intestine is 40 hours.¹ Even though the main purpose of each organ in the digestive tract is digestion, they also serve as storage areas. Food stays in these organs even after digestion is complete, until the next compartment has emptied and is ready.

Even the process of transition is quite complex. “Why?” you may ask. The reason is that each compartment has a totally different environment. The stomach has a pH (acidity level) of around 2, with acids that can easily melt down a nail. Just a few centimeters into the small intestine, the pH becomes an average of 7. If the acid were to travel down the small intestine without being neutralized, it would digest the small intestine! So, a hormone called “secretin” is responsible for the secretion of bile (which is a great buffer) in the small intestine’s entrance. This bile neutralizes the acid into a more “user-friendly” form for the small intestine. It really is unbelievable how each part of the digestive tract is aware of the others, and adjusts their movements accordingly. The timing and process of transporting food through the tract is amazing.

So far, we have discussed the general procedures of the digestive tract. But there is no doubt that such a unique system will contain unique parts. Now, we will examine two specific structures and try to understand what makes them so special.

First, let’s check out that little bulge where the large and the small intestines meet. This bulge has a name we are all actually quite familiar with: the appendix. This structure is kind of mysterious and there have been many theories on what it actually does. According to some, it is a leftover of evolution. But there is another viable theory: that the appendix serves as a haven for useful bacteria when illness flushes harmful bacteria from the rest of the intestines.² It is a safe spot because it is not within the normal pathway of digestion. This way, in times of infection when harmful bacteria are flushed from the intestines during diarrhea, the beneficial bacteria can seek shelter in our appendix. Of course, these bacteria are only beneficial when in the intestines. They could cause serious damage if they were to spread to other parts of the body. That is why the entire surface of the intestines is covered with mucus, which keeps bacteria under control inside the digestive tract. Of course, as most of us know, a common illness is appendicitis. Appendicitis is the inflammation of the appendix, and may cause the appendix to burst. A bursting appendix will, in turn, spread our beneficial bacteria and cause infection. This is why people with appendicitis are quickly taken into surgery and have their appendixes removed before bursting occurs. Even though the appendix may look like an oddity in the digestive tract, it, too, has its own purpose. This is what we would expect, because no organ in the body is dead weight.

The other unique structure is the external sphincter. This structure is the doorway between the end of the digestive tract and the outside. There is also an internal sphincter right behind it. There is a special way these two doorways are coordinated that allows us to easily pass feces. These two doorways are both very much the same except for one thing: the internal sphincter is involuntary while the external is under our control. So, how do these work together? Whenever our rectum fills, feces will apply pressure onto the internal sphincter, which causes it to open. However, unless we consciously open the external sphincter, we will not let the feces out. As can easily be understood, this is extremely convenient.

There is another mechanism that makes this process even better, and that is the closure of the internal sphincter after a few seconds. How does this affect us? Well, if that sphincter were always open, we would constantly have the urge to use the bathroom. The occasional opening of our internal sphincter is a reminder of our need to defecate. But there is a balance to this process, so we are not constantly in the bathroom. It is as if the body somehow “knows” about social life and how convenient it is that this mechanism manages our daily activities. Otherwise, like animals, we would satisfy our need on the spot at the first urge.

Now that we have a better idea of our digestive system, we are able to see how flawless it really is. It is amazing how the compartments are placed centimeters apart and are still so different. It is awe-inspiring how each section manages to work harmoniously with the others for one common cause: to digest food into small pieces that cells can use for energy. It is wondrous how every little part of this system plays a huge role and how even the smallest dysfunction in any of them can cause huge problems. Every centimeter, every bulge, and every minute is crucial for the continuation of this system; yet, it manages to work 24 hours a day for up to 100 years. Only one word can be used for such a system: Impeccable.

We don’t often think about how our food is digested – and this is part of what makes our digestive system remarkable. It fulfills an incredibly intricate, complex role without any conscious oversight.

Notes

1 Metcalf AM, et al. Simplified assessment of segmental colonic transit. Gastroenterology. 1987;92:40

2 Associated Press. “Scientists may have found appendix’s purpose”. MSNBC, 5 October 2007.

To be able to lead a virtuous life, especially one that is extremely careful about moral values and worship, it is important to develop a character of seriousness, dignity, prudence, and contentment; and we must ensure that we graft these traits onto our nature as a dimension of our personality. Though this sounds simple, it is not a very easy venture.

As an example of how to make these traits a dimension of our nature, we can quote the Prophet Muhammad, peace and blessings be upon him, who prescribes that one should self-train their character to this level: “This Qur’an has been revealed with sadness. Cry when you read it. If you are not able to cry, force yourself to” (Ibn Maja, Iqama, 176; Zuhd 19).

In other words, read the Qur’an with peace in your heart and tranquility in your soul. In view of this, you may need to take forced steps before gaining the traits mentioned above; and because of this you may face criticism from people who are not cognizant of the profundity of this matter. However, you should not get hung up on such things; for on this road you have set out to reach Him.

Let us consider some other examples on the attributes of virtue. I believe that avoiding vain talk comes at the fore of the principles of virtuous living. Speaking a lot may lead one to commit a lot of mistakes, which may lead to further undesired consequences. The Prophet would never speak without being asked a question, or unless he deemed it necessary to expound on a matter. Following in his footsteps, his Companions acted in the same way.

For example, it is told that Abu Bakr, the hero of faithfulness, would put a small stone in his mouth in order not to talk foolishly. When it was necessary for him to speak, he would take the stone out, speak, and then put it back again. Although I have never found this story in sound sources, I did not and would not find this to be strange. A man of such caliber like him might have done such a thing in order to discipline himself. Sound sources show that while at the Prophet’s side following the Emigration to Medina, Abu Bakr did not utter more than a few hundred words . This can be shown as proof of the earlier story.

If a person’s speech explains something related to the world of the heart, spirit, or mind, and if it enlightens others in regard to these, then it is beneficial. All other speech can be considered wasteful. How can a religion that forbids wasting water while making ablutions even on the banks of a stream consider it permissible to waste jewels like words, which are more important to a person than water?

Ascetics have adopted “scarcity of words,” “scarcity of food,” and “scarcity of sleep,” as vital life principles. In this case, we can easily see meaningless and trivial talk as objectionable. Similar to eating, drinking, and dressing, talking should also be economical; the number of words it takes to explain a theme or main idea should be approximated and spoken accordingly. Speech should be made so that absolutely no words are wasted – and consequently no time is wasted. Speaking by weighing and filtering every word is a moral task. Gaining this virtue and making it natural takes a lot of time and effort.

Asceticism—meaning abandoning worldly pleasures and resisting physical inclinations—is also morally very important. Asceticism has a very serious place for seekers of spiritual awareness, and it was pointed out by the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, as an important dynamic of the spiritual path long before it came to be considered part of the Sufi discipline. Adding to this Bediuzzaman’s approach to asceticism—”abandoning the world not physically, but in the heart,” as well as not glorifying the world and the things in it more than they deserve, having no worldly expectations, and being dignified enough to have no desire to leave behind a huge legacy—these become indispensable traits for every believer, especially those spirits who are committed to a higher cause.

At first, taking such an attitude against wealth, social status, fame, etc., in every aspect of your personality, can be very difficult. But by beginning with small things and working towards bigger things, this will become a part of our nature. It may start with thoughts like, “it is enough that I have one dress today; no need for a second one. Otherwise, I will want a third and then a fourth.” This is the prophetic practice of an ascetic life.

We can certainly make a longer list of virtues other than these two, like being earnest in matters of character, keeping one’s eyes pure from sinful looks, avoiding pride, etc. But these are a good place to start on the journey to virtue.

Practicing one’s faith, i.e. worship, is also a matter requiring constant exercise. It starts first by praying in due time without delay; and praying with love and enthusiasm on a level at which God opens doors of acceptance. We should not pray as if ridding ourselves of a heavy weight.

Of course, the full experience of prayer is not a summit that can be attained immediately. However, a person can make it feel natural by doing it over and over again. More accurately, he must do this. As a result, in spite of all the independent desires of the ego, a person should live so as to give his will its due. To do this, the traits that make a person human should become natural to them.

To this, we can respond with an emphatic, “yes!” Having been through the ups and downs of our own lives, and observing the same struggles in others’, we’ve come to accept that things which might crush us can have valuable lessons. However, the advice Frederick Buechner shares in his famous memoir, Now and Then, is different. I think it’s highly worthy of attention.

Buechner observes that, “Finding your vocation is less about grand moments of discovery and more about a habit of awareness.” To be honest, at first I couldn’t swallow this statement easily. I couldn’t figure out how, and why, finding your calling, setting goals, pursuing them vigorously, and then landing where you wanted is not “about grand moments of discovery”? What else would we call discovery, if not grand? I devoted time and focus to rereading this thought-provoking statement, almost devotionally, until I found a clue to its meaning in an insightful article by Jeff Goins. He writes:

“We have been raised to believe that anything is possible, that our potential is unlimited, and that we are entitled to our dreams. But finding your calling is not so simple. Just because you can become an astronaut or a newspaper deliveryman does not mean you should.”

Goins writes that a person’s responsibility is not only to do what she is capable of or thinks she wants, but rather what she is meant to do. He quotes author-activist Parker Palmer: “Don’t just tell your life what you want to do with it; listen to what it wants to do with you.”

This quote made Goins wonder, as I did, how one could go about listening to one’s own life. And honestly, I’ve never been guided before as Jeff Goins guided me in his next lines. Suddenly I began to visualize the process of listening to my own life:

“When you pay attention to your life and the lessons it can teach you, you won’t feel so lost. Your story will seem less like a series of disjointed events and more like a beautifully complex narrative unfolding before you. You will understand each setback, inconvenience, and frustration as something more than what it appears to be. And perhaps, as you listen to it, your life will speak.”

The process continues in simple steps. First, the person seeking to listen must consider the shape of their life, identifying major and significant events. It helps to write these down. This is not writing as a simple list, either, but writing in-depth. You should note each detail you can remember, whether it is clearly significant or seemingly irrelevant. Even the silly bits should be taken down. There’s no need to decode the story’s meaning right away. Everything that comes to mind will be part of this process.

Can you see how one event, without any intention or planning on your part, influenced another? How your comment on a situation led to someone’s asking for your introduction at the end of the program you once attended somewhere? How a series of insignificant-looking incidents influenced your choice of a book at a bookshop? How it could be possible for you to finish that book, though you don’t normally read books? How a series of useless internships influenced your career choice?

Once you have put down as much as you can remember, read over these events while looking for a common thread or recurring theme between them. Perhaps one event caused or influenced another, often without any planning on your part.

For Goins, one significant memory was of the time he won a spelling bee as a sixth grader, beating his eighth-grade opponent by correctly spelling “acquiescence.” Then he remembered how his mother used to read the dictionary to him on family vacations. He also recalled how much he had always loved to write. Seeing these memories listed out during this exercise, he was able to identify core themes in his life, and it became obvious that he was “supposed” to become a writer. Such a process, I thought as I read Goins’ article, could help us as well.

As such, I immediately tried to follow Goins’ example, and I too was soon busy watching how my life played out on the paper before me. I saw many scenes, a lot of them nonsense, but a few stood out as meaningful:

1. On one weekend, I was busy finishing my third grade course book on Urdu, reading the text aloud to my mother, who was sitting beside me and listening. She was supervising my reading while she expertly knit a sweater, intervening whenever necessary to make corrections, and always encouraging me to keep going. I kept reading, happy to know that I was getting ahead of my fellow classmates. Soon, I’d reached the last page, and I went to bed feeling excited and accomplished.

2. When I was older, I discovered that I loved speeches. Every time I gave one, it grabbed everyone’s attention. I even won contests and always received thunderous applause.

3. From the time I could read, I was forever enthralled by storybooks, and read hundreds of them while I grew up.

4. I discovered a love of pen-friendships, and kept up many, with individuals living all around the world.

5. After reading many stories, I began writing my own. At bedtime, I would read them to my younger brother and he always wanted to know what happened next.

6. I also loved reading poetry to my class, and sometimes I composed poems, too.

For me, it was clear that I was born to be a writer, and so I’ve begun to build my habits of awareness, just as Buechner suggests.

What about you? Are you ready to write out the random, disjointed events of your life in the hopes of finding a common thread? I guarantee you, no matter what kind of life you’ve led, that if you look diligently enough, it will be there; with earnest effort, you will not only discover your purpose, but will build the life you were meant to live.

More than 50% of the world’s population lives in urban areas, and the number is expected to rise to 70% by 2050. Studies show that urbanization is associated with an increased rate of mental disorders. For example, people living in big cities have a 20% higher risk of anxiety disorders and a 40% higher risk of mood disorders. In addition, people who are born and raised in a large city are twice as likely to develop schizophrenia. There are many possible causes for the correlation between urban life and the susceptibility to mental disorders, but one obvious explanation is that urbanization disconnects humanity from nature; this schism might lead to mental disorders. Scientists tested this hypothesis with a simple experimental design. They split 38 city people, who had no history of mental disorder, into two groups and asked them to walk for 90 minutes. One group walked in a grassland area with trees and shrubs, while the other group walked along a traffic-heavy four-lane roadway. Researchers measured participants’ heart and respiration rates as well as their brain activities through a neuroimaging method called arterial spin labeling (ASL) before and after the walk. Interestingly, researchers did not find a dramatic difference in physiological conditions like heart rates between the groups. However, they found big changes in brain activity, specifically in the subgenual prefrontal cortex, a region of the brain found to be active during ruminative thoughts. Rumination, in psychology, is defined as having repetitive thoughts of negative aspects of the self, such as thinking back over embarrassing or disappointing moments. Researchers found that participants who went on the nature walk showed marked reductions in the activity of the subgenual prefontal cortex, while those who went on the city walk had persistently active subgenual prefrontal cortexes. This suggests that a natural environment somehow reduces rumination. Scientists now aim to figure out what specific factor(s) in nature changes our brain activity. As increased urbanization is almost inevitable, understanding the link between nature and human psychology will help to design better urban plans and to come up with new ways to bring people to nature.

Singh GM et al. Estimated Global, Regional, and National Disease Burdens Related to Sugar-Sweetened Beverage Consumption in 2010. Circulation, June 2015.

According to a new study, sugary drinks alone caused 184,000 deaths worldwide in 2010. Scientists analyzed dietary surveys and large prospective disease studies from 51 countries that included 612,000 people between 1980 and 2010. The consumption of sugar-sweetened sodas and iced teas, sports and energy drinks, and fruit drinks – as well as homemade sugary drinks – were tracked (though 100% fruit juices were excluded from the study). Scientists estimated the contribution of sugary drink consumption to obesity, and of obesity to such diseases as diabetes, cardiovascular disease, and cancers of the breast, colon, esophagus, gall bladder, kidney, pancreas, and ovaries. Then, they calculated how many deaths from those diseases might have been exacerbated by sugary drinks. Analyses showed that sugary drinks caused 133,000 deaths from diabetes, 45,000 from cardiovascular diseases, and 6,450 from cancers. Death percentages linked to sugary drinks varied widely by country: low- and middle-income countries had the highest percentage of deaths. Years of campaigns and education have made most people well aware of the potential risks of high dietary fat. Although there are no health benefits to sugary drinks and they obviously cause many disorders, sugar consumption worldwide is not regulated at all. As alarming as this study was, the death tolls from sugary drinks do not illustrate the adverse effects of such consumption on the health of children. If younger people continue to consume high levels of sugary drinks at the current rate, death and disability from heart disease and diabetes in the future might be even higher than those seen in the current study.

Sobral D et al. Evidence for PopIII-like stellar populations in the most luminous Lyman-a emitters at the epoch of re-ionisation: Spectroscopic confirmation. The Astrophysical Journal, June 2015.

Astronomers recently reported that they have discovered some of the first generation of stars. When these stars exploded, carbon, oxygen, and other elements were generated which would eventually result in modern-day planets and life in the universe. These early stars have been estimated to be thousands of times bigger than the sun and to be composed of only hydrogen, helium, and traces of lithium. They burned for a few million years before they exploded in supernovas that ultimately started new generations of stars with elements like oxygen, carbon, and iron. Groups of astronomers recently captured the signatures of these first generation stars in Cosmos Redshift 7 (CR7), a recently discovered distant galaxy. CR7 is a galaxy from when the universe was about only 800 million years old. Analyses of the spectrum of lights from CR7, which have been traveling to Earth for 12.9 billion years, showed evidence of ionized helium, but not any sign of ionized carbon and oxygen, suggesting that the lights were emitted from the ancient stars. We all want to know where some of our essential elements – like the calcium in our bones or the carbon in our muscles – originally came from, and these recent advances in the field have shown us the beginnings of the elements of life for the first time.