Rhythm in Space

Like our body’s biological clock, every event that occurs in the universe, and each living or non-living thing, has a dynamic rhythm that forms during their creation in the space-time continuum. The completion of Earth’s rotation around its axis in one day, and its revolution around the Sun in a year, are examples of periodic events in space. Likewise, we always see the same side of the moon because the moon’s rotation velocity around its axis and its speed of revolution around the Earth are roughly the same.

Our solar system is also rotating, and it completes its tour around the Milky Way galaxy in one galactic year (225-250 million years). In fact, all heavenly bodies are in a constant state of motion. For instance, it is already known that 2061 will be the next time Haley’s Comet orbits Earth.

The movements of the planets and their satellites present in the solar system affect events taking place on Earth. Tidal movements, occurring on a 24.8 hour period, are dictated by the gravitational pull of the moon. The tides deeply affect humans and other animals, both on land and in the sea. For example, coastal birds have adapted their natural rhythms to only forage during low tides. Anyone who has ever wanted to beachcomb also knows that low tide is the best time to search!

Rhythm in nature

Our planet’s living and non-living reactions also take place rhythmically: seasons, and sun rises and sun sets, never lose their proper order.

This is important, as many animals depend on these rhythms. The reproductive period of the Mid-European Roe deer is regulated according to these seasons. They mate in the months of July and August, when abundant food is available. The fawns are born during the month of May, which is the most suitable time regarding temperature.

Porcupines living in South Africa spend June through August – winter in the Southern Hemisphere – in hibernation, while Mid-European porcupines hibernate from October to April. However while Mid-Europe is dominated by cold weather, porcupines kept in the controlled environs of zoos do not hibernate like their partners in the wild.

The migration habits of many animals also depend on the seasons. Pearl mullets of Van Lake, in Turkey, start migrating upstream into rivers in June every year. They return once they deposit their eggs somewhere sheltered and stagnant in the river. Salmon in the American northwest follow similar patterns.

Birds lay eggs at certain times, incubate them, and then migrate thousands of kilometers. Their ability to do this depends on the rhythms of the seasons. And as we know, flora also buds and flowers depending upon these natural rhythms.

Rhythm in our body

Our body and organs also have a rhythm. Even though we are not aware of it, these harmonious movements, called the biological clock, continue until death. For example, our heart pumps rhythmically and a disturbance in this rhythm can be a sign of serious diseases. By cell death and creation of new ones, our organs are periodically rejuvenated.

Our metabolism also works in harmony. The pineal gland (epiphysis) is the first check point of the biological clock. This tiny organ in the brain plays a role in the proper regulation of our organs and systems via a couple of hormones it secretes, primarily melatonin.

Together with the hypothalamus, the pineal gland works like a clock to measure time. While many organs use chemical cues to secrete hormones, the pineal gland activates according to light strength. Melatonin secretion is related to the dimness of the environment. Generally, light causes levels of melatonin to decrease, but darkness leads to an increase. Light cues arrive at the pineal gland via a complicated neural path that starts with the retinal layer of the eye. It follows this route:

light retina hypothalamus epiphysis melatonin secretion

The speed of our metabolism in terms of the causation chain is controlled by the melatonin hormone. Physiological events such as feeling sleepy in the evening and waking up in the morning occur according to melatonin levels. In other words, the rotation of Earth around its axis and its revolution around the Sun, which also means the arrival of the Sun’s rays on the planet, act directly on the body’s metabolism.

Rhythm in the cells and deciphering a code

As the smallest functional unit of organisms, cells also have a lifespan. A cell’s biological clock displays its division and death times. Telomere, a part of our DNA present in chromosomes, gets shorter with each cell division, meaning that a cell cannot divide beyond a certain point. Therefore, the telomere is a structure in charge of determining a cell’s biological clock. However, the telomerase enzyme present in cancer cells is a protein that prevents this DNA fragment from becoming shorter; thus, a cancerous cell reproduces by dividing continuously and uncontrollably.

Dr. Woodring Wright and Dr. Jerry Shay from Texas University have discovered that a substance called 6-thiodG binds to the telomerase enzyme to inhibit the growth of cancerous cells in both cell culture mediums and mice. When the telomerase enzyme encounters the 6-thiodG substance, the cancerous cells sense a signal, as if the cell has been damaged; it quits dividing and later dies. Today, this chemical molecule gives hope for future studies. We can be satisfied that one code has been deciphered and a step has been taken in terms of scientific progress.

From the world of the heavens to the world of atoms, creation continues at every scale in the universe. All events take place in rhythmic periods, and all organisms follow these rhythms. Like the gears of a clock, though some are small and some are big, all are still part of a larger system. As the laws and organizations established in the universe are elucidated better, the wonderful rhythm of existence and the codes regarding these will be continually discovered. Humankind, which is built with curiosity to investigate and learn, will have better awareness of the wonders of the creation as they analyze these rhythmic mechanisms, and they will be filled with awe and gratitude.

In his book, The Culture of Ambiguity: Another History of Islam, the contemporary Islamic scholar Thomas Bauer wrote:

For about a thousand years Arab-Islamic societies cultivated a “culture of ambiguity.” Various truth claims were allowed to stand next to one another, and the search for the probable seemed to be satisfying enough. Only the colonialism practiced in the Middle East in the 19th century exerted pressure to define oneself through unique standards.[1]

Today, Islamism (or the political interpretation of Islam) strives for self-definition through demarcation, “… in a merely apparent reference back to traditional Islamic values.”[2]

Professor Dr. Dieter Dieterich in turn referred “… to the tolerant and very fruitful Islamic high culture in ‘Moorish Spain’ between 714 and 1492 and … to the high esteem of Islam influenced by Sufism on behalf of Gotthold Ephraim Lessing (1729-1781), J.W. Goethe (1749-1832), Friedrich Rückert (1788-1866), and the Islamic scholar Annemarie Schimmel (1922-2003).”[3]

But does Islam really teach tolerance? How did Muslim rulers of the early Islamic period treat people of other faiths? How did Umar ibn al-Khattab, the second successor of the Prophet Muhammad, peace be upon himafter Abu Bakr, deal with the year 638, when he encountered people of different faiths in villages inhabited predominantly by Christians? Is there any evidence that Umar tried to establish dialogue?

In this essay, I will examine the issue and concern myself with a place that could, today, be the place of a similar encounter between faiths – the Kathisma Church located between Jerusalem and Bethlehem. I will document the church’s history, and then study how the Muslims dealt with this Christian place of worship. In addition, I will try to clarify why the ruins of the church bear witness to the existence of a Muslim prayer niche.

Kathisma – a place of worship for both Christians and Muslims

The Greek word “Kathisma” can be translated to mean “seating” or “rest area.” The Kathisma church, rediscovered in 1992 during excavations at the Kibbutz Ramat Rachel, halfway between Jerusalem and Bethlehem, is considered a model and a symbol for successful peaceful coexistence in early medieval times. In pre-Islamic times, the site is supposed to have served Christians on the pilgrimage from Jerusalem to Bethlehem as a rest area and a place of worship. It is alleged that the very pregnant Holy Mary herself rested on the rock over which this facility was built, when she made her way to Bethlehem. The church was in the form of an octagon, featuring the same scheme as the Dome of the Rock in Jerusalem. Figure 1 shows the octagonal shape of the building, with the apse aligned to the east, the rock in the middle and – added later – the Muslim prayer niche, the mihrab:

Figure 1: Kathisma-stone plan / floor plan, approximately 8th century [4]

Literary sources

a) The Gospel of James

In the so-called Gospel of James, an early Christian writing, which is believed to have been composed in the middle of the second century, there is an indication that on her way from Jerusalem to Bethlehem, Holy Mary stopped for a rest. However, there is only vague information provided, which also varies depending on the translation. In James 17:5-11, we read:

And he saddled his donkey and sat her on it and his son led and Samuel followed. And they arrived at the third mile and Joseph turned and saw that she was sad. And he said to himself, “Perhaps the child within her is troubling her.” And again Joseph turned around and saw her laughing and said to her, “Mary, what is with you? First your face appears happy and then sad?” And she said, “Joseph, it is because I see two people with my eyes, one crying and being afflicted, one rejoicing and being extremely happy.” When they came to the middle of the journey, Mary said to him, “Joseph, take me off the donkey; the child is pushing from within me to let him come out.” So he took her off the donkey and said to her, “Where will I take you and shelter you in your awkwardness? This area is a desert.”

b) A travel report by Archdeacon Theodosius

Another source noted that Mary may have rested at the place of the Kathisma church:

There is a place located three miles from the city of Jerusalem. When Mistress Mary, the Mother of the Lord, came to Bethlehem, she dismounted from the donkey, sat down on a rock and blessed it.[5]

This source, from the first half of the sixth century, at least adds to the extract from the Gospel of James the information that there was a rock Mary rested upon.

c) The pilgrim from Piacenze

In the 6th century, a pilgrim from Piacenze mentioned that the place had been blessed by Mary. He also said that a church was built there:

On the road to Bethlehem, at the third milestone from Jerusalem, the remains of Rachel are located on the outskirts of a village named Rama. Halfway off this road I saw motionless water pouring forth from a rock, and the people drew from this water, without it becoming more or less. Its flavor is indescribable; they say the reason for this is the fact that the Virgin Mary on her escape into Egypt took a seat there, thirsty; then this water was broken forth. There was also a church being built recently.[6]

Fig. 2: Map[7]

Archaeological finds

Archaeological finds and explorations on the spot indicate three construction phases:

First phase:

One striking feature of these layouts (Fig. 3-5) is that obviously the Kathisma Church was supplemented by an Islamic prayer niche over time.[9] The fact that the prayer direction of the Muslims differs from the prayer direction of the Christians should have made it easier to carry out this modification. Even today, the remains of the mihrab are visible at the spot:

Fig. 6: Remains of the mihrab of the Kathisma Church[10]

Fig. 7: Remains of the mihrab and the rock[11]

Fig. 8: A photo of the remains from above[12]

At this point, it should be noted that the Kathisma church remained undestroyed in the early Islamic period and was shared by Christians and Muslims. ^[13] This fits other evidence showing the two faiths co-existing peacefully. On a palm mosaic found nearby, it is evident that symbols were used which fit both religions:

Fig. 9: Kathisma-palm mosaic from the Arab period, Israel Antiquities Authorities

The palm motif is known to figure in both religions’ stories of Holy Mary. According to the Islamic tradition, she at least rested, but perhaps also brought forth her child under a (date) palm tree[14]; and it can be learned from apocryphal Christian stories that she refreshed herself by enjoying the juice and the fruits of a palm tree. [15]

The Kathisma Church in the 7th and 8th centuries

On the third ground plan (fig. 5) there is a prayer niche, which was probably added after the Arab conquest of Jerusalem and the surrounding area – an indication that Muslims and non-Muslims alike must have come to an agreement at that time to convert the Kathisma Church into a place of worship for both religions. The Arab expansion, which proceeded rapidly, especially after the death of the Prophet, reached Jerusalem and the surrounding villages in 638. In the annals of the historian Tabari, the text of a treaty has been handed down, which was concluded between the second caliph Umar and the Patriarch Sophronius:

In the name of God, the Most Merciful! The following is granted by Umar, servant of God and Commander of the Faithful, to the people of Aelia [Jerusalem] as a security guarantee: He has given them a guarantee for their lives, their possessions, their churches and crosses, for the sick and the healthy, and for the whole population [of the city].[16] Their churches are not to be destroyed or used for housing; neither the churches itself nor the associated property shall suffer any loss; nor their crosses or their other property. They shall not be affected in their religion, nobody is to suffer loss. […] The people of Aelia are supposed to pay tribute as other cities do. […] Those residents of Aelia who wish to leave with their belongings preferring to join the departing Byzantines and abandon their churches and crosses, shall be granted safe passage for themselves, their churches and crosses, until they are safe. […] On this document are the guarantee of God and the protection of his envoy, and the caliphs and the protection of the faithful as long as they pay the tribute incumbent upon them. [Followed by the names of the witnesses.][17]

As shows, protection is granted both to all who want to stay in the city and to those who want to leave. Treaties of this kind were not unusual at that time. A contract had been concluded with the residents of Damascus as early as 635. The example of the Kathisma Church makes clear that Christian places of worship were protected and not destroyed. Last but not least, the preservation of the Church of the Nativity in Bethlehem testifies that the Muslim conquerors were wont to keep their promises.

Conclusion

The Kathisma Church can be understood as a clear sign of dialogue and coexistence – not only because it remained undestroyed under caliph Umar, but because it was used as a place of worship by both Christians and Muslims. A similar culturally ambiguous form of tolerance among people with different faiths and ways of thinking is still not evident today, which makes this sharing all the more impressive. Nevertheless, today there are similar projects, such as the House of One in Berlin,^[18] the aim of which is to increase tolerance by providing information and conversations with people of different faiths (rather than merely about each other). Healthy understandings of dialogue and discourse are helpful in this regard.

Our example illustrates that as far back as the early period of Islam a peaceful coexistence between Christians and Muslims can be proven. Dialogue was, and still is, possible. Umar ibn al-Khattab’s reign as the caliph lasted from 634 to 644. More examples could be cited from this period that confirm his willingness to engage in dialogue with people of other faiths and ways of thinking. Historical testimonies bear out, for example, the right for residence to the Jews of Jerusalem, granted after 500 long years of persecution.^[19] In-depth research on this period and subject shall bring other instances to light.

The number of taxonomically defined animal species is around 1.5 million. These are classified into 32 phyla according to their distinct features. One of these is the phylum of Tardigrada.

These cute, tiny water creatures were discovered in 1773 by Johann August Ephraim Goeze. Despite being aquatic, these animals were called “water bears” because of their legs; and because of their resemblance to pandas, they were named “Tardigrada,” meaning “slow stepper,” by the Italian biologist Lazzaro Spallanzani. Tardigrades also look like dwarf rhinos and armadillos. There are about 1,000 different species in the Tardigrade phylum.

Tardigrades live in habitats with variable amounts of humidity, from high mountains to deep oceans, and from polar regions to the equator. They are especially found in lakes, freshwater springs, or on stone walls, mosses, lichens, leaves, and litter.

As cute, charismatic, miniature animals, tardigrades can be seen under a microscope. The length of adults can reach 1.5 mm, while the smallest ones are under 0.1 mm; their larval length is only around 0.05 milimeters. Their body is covered with a strong but elastic material.

Animals grow in two ways: via an increase of cell numbers or the enlargement of a single cell. In Tardigrades, generally the latter is observed. These animals possess a hard external skeleton, like insects, and this structure changes as they grow.

Their bodies are composed of five sections: a distinct head in addition to four body parts, each equipped with claws. They walk using the short, blunt feet under their bodies. Their clawed legs help them cling to sand particles or plant surfaces. Their hind legs are used for snatching and slow acrobatic movements. They have a sharp mouth, called a “stylet,” which enables them to consume plant cells, algae, small invertebrates, and even their own kind.

They are provided with anatomical and physiological features similar to larger animals, including a digestive track and system: a mouth, esophagus, stomach, small intestine, anus, well developed muscles, a pair of abdominal nervous systems, and a brain. The body lumen of Tardigrades are filled with a fluid that is in contact with every cell and this provides them with their necessary nutrition and gas exchanges without the need for a circulatory or respiratory system. Their respiration occurs throughout their body surfaces. Because of their physiology and ability to quickly reproduce, Tardigrades can be used as a model organism for education and research. The cell count of certain species of Tardigrades at birth never changes during their lives. While some species contain around 40,000 cells, some have fewer. Their reproduction can be sexual, but it also can occur via parthenogenesis (offspring development without the fertilization of the egg).

Tardigrades: Organisms of extreme conditions

Tardigrades are created with a resistance to a wide range of temperatures, pressures, and radiation. Therefore, they can live in environments where many living things die. They can survive a temperature of 150 C for minutes, and can also live at minus 200 C without suffering any damage for days; they can even stay alive at temperatures near absolute zero (−273 C).

Some Tardigrades can live at extreme low pressures, including situations approaching a vacuum, or at extreme high pressures, such as 600 times the normal atmospheric pressure. This pressure is six times the pressure present at the depths of the Mariana trench, the deepest part of the Earth’s oceans (roughly 11,000 meters). This was discovered when Tardigrades were taken to space and exposed to different pressures. When brought back to Earth, they were still alive.

They can also survive in environments with no humidity for 10 years, and they can stay alive in places where radiation is 1,000 times more (5000 Gy to 6200 Gy) than many organisms can endure (10 Gy is fatal for humans).

Hibernation – a dead phase

How does a Tardigrade stay alive in detrimental conditions?

When they are exposed to conditions unsuitable for life, they enter a semi-dead phase called Cryptobiosis. One of the most distinct changes during this state is that their metabolic speed slows down to near zero, and they experience programmed dehydration. In very low temperatures, Tardigrades’ water ratios drop from 85% to 3%. This way, damages that can occur by freezing are prevented. As is well-known, the main hazard during freezing is the cell membrane damage caused by the crystallization of cellular water.

During the dehydration stage, trehalose sugars are synthesized (this also happens when Tardigrades are faced with low temperatures). This sugar prevents possible damages to the cell membranes during freezing and water loss. This sugar is very intriguing for the pharmaceutical industry because of its potential use in the prevention of freezing-related damages in organ transplants.

Another benefit of dehydration is resistance to radiation. This is because reactive molecules generated in the cell by the effects of radiation cannot cause a reaction in a dehydrated medium; due to the low water concentration, the possibility of harmful reactions drops.

Cryptobiosis does not only take place during dehydration. It also happens during periods of low temperature (cryobiosis), high salinity (osmobiosis), and low oxygen. By being able to hibernate, Tardigrades are important for space research. Maybe during interplanetary trips, passengers could be hibernated by freezing.

Tardigrades could have other uses for medical purposes. Certain disease-causing microorganisms could be dehydrated without killing them via Cryptobiosis. This way, “weakened organisms” contained in vaccines get to be stored in a dry fashion, eliminating the need for freezers, making them easier to store and distribute. Similar technologies could also be employed for the conservation of seeds, sperms, blood, and various nutrients.

Further terrorist attacks in certain countries, and the brutal emergence of ISIS right after the Syrian crisis, have led to the embers of anti-Islamic sentiments burning in the west.

Just last year, comedian Bill Maher identified ISIS with Islam, stating, “If vast numbers of Muslims across the world believe, and they do, that humans deserve to die for merely holding a different idea, or drawing a cartoon, or writing a book, or eloping with the wrong person, not only does the Muslim world have something in common with ISIS, it has too much in common with ISIS.”

In addition to many irrational arguments they contain, these simplifications and equating Islam with terror do not help us actually fight terror, nor do they reflect the truth.

Mr. Fethullah Gulen, a leading Muslim scholar who has challenged extremism and radicalization for decades, said in one of his statements in 2004:

“Today, at best we can say that Islam is not known at all. Muslims should say, ‘In true Islam, terror does not exist.’ … No person can kill a human being. No one can touch an innocent person, even in times of war. No one can give a fatwa (a legal pronouncement in Islam, issued by a religious law specialist, concerning a specific issue) on this matter. No one can be a suicide bomber. No one can rush into crowds with bombs tied to his or her body. Regardless of the religion of these crowds, this is not religiously permissible. Even in the event of war — during which it is difficult to maintain balances — this is not permitted in Islam.”

The prominent scholar Jessica Stern suggested that religion is essentially irrelevant as a causal force, adding that jihadist actors are not actually religious during the course of their radicalization.

She argued that, “terrorists who claim to be motivated by religious ideology often turn out to be ignorant about Islam and do not have much formal religious education or proper religious instruction and had only a limited and incomplete understanding of Islam.”

In his article titled “No Direction Home?” Professor John Horgan noted that radicalization in general is the main reason for terrorist engagement.

Here is the summary of Professor Horgan’s findings:

“They feel angry, alienated, or disenfranchised. They believe that their current political involvement does not give them the power to effect real change. They identify with perceived victims of the social injustice they are fighting. They feel the need to take action rather than just talking about the problem. They believe that engaging in violence against the state is not immoral. They have friends or family sympathetic to the cause. They believe that joining a movement offers social and psychological rewards such as adventure or a heightened sense of identity.”

There is no doubt that the problem of radicalization is not limited to Muslim societies and should be analyzed through a broader aperture.

However, despite these voices disputing the link between Islam and terror, there are also other views suggesting that some terrorist acts, like the Paris attacks last year, have had some roots in Islamic law.

Dr. Ahmet Kurucan, 54, a renowned Islamic scholar who has published often on Islamic law, argued that the attacks in Paris were terrorism, but that he could see no evidence or justification in the Qur’an, the hadiths, or other Islamic sources for such terrorist attacks:

“I do not see any evidence or justification for these terrorist attacks in the Qur’an, the Sunnah, or other sources of Islamic law. There are three main sources of knowledge in Islamic law: the Qur’an, the Sunnah, and juristic discretion. There are some warnings, orders, bans, or directions in the Qur’an regarding unpleasant behaviors, including insults and defamation, but there is no specific punishment prescribed for insulting the Prophet Muhammad, peace be upon him. On the contrary, the Qur’an asks Muslims to leave if they hear anything that insults verses of the Qur’an or Islamic precepts. In a sense, this is passive opposition. But there is no specific criminal punishment in such cases. For a Muslim, the greatest truth and fact is the faith of the oneness of Allah. If there is an assault against this faith, a Muslim is advised not to stay with the group of people who make these insults.”

Kurucan said the hadiths reach the same verdict.

“Even when Abdullah Ibn Saba insulted the Prophet Muhammad and Muslims in Medina, the Prophet did not respond. He rejected the offers of those Muslims who said they should retaliate with violence.”

Kurucan said that there is nothing in Islamic tradition that has been made in reference to the methodological rules of the Qur’an and the foundations of the Sunnah to justify terror attacks. But of course, there are many incidents and cases that contradict the teachings and provisions of the Qur’an and the Sunnah in the history of Islam, including the battles of Siffin and Jamal. Kurucan also cited the disaster in Karbala, bloody wars, disagreements, political turmoil, tricks, and riots. He said these incidents had no roots in Islam, but were disagreements amongst the Muslims.

“These are cases in which the murderers and the victims alike were Muslim. We may also go back to the time of the Prophet Muhammad. People in Mecca and Medina used to kill each other before Islam. These were tribal disagreements. So, from a theoretical perspective and standpoint, it is possible to say that some fault lines — including sectarian, ethnic and tribal divisions may cause bloody conflicts.

“What was the purpose of the attacks in Paris? Was it to protect the honor of Islam and the Prophet Muhammad? Do we not see based on the reactions to the attacks that this did not happen? If such a response had not been made, the caricatures would have had very limited influence; because of these attacks, millions of people are now paying attention to the caricatures.”

However, last year The Atlantic magazine published an article claiming that ISIS is actually following a Prophetic methodology, labeling it ‘very Islamic’:

“The reality is that the Islamic State is Islamic. Very Islamic. Yes, it has attracted psychopaths and adventure seekers, drawn largely from the disaffected populations of the Middle East and Europe. But the religion preached by its most ardent followers derives from coherent and even learned interpretations of Islam.”

Another expert on Islamic theology, Professor Zeki Saritoprak, of John Carrol University, said, “ISIS [the Islamic State in Iraq and al-Sham] is far from following ‘Prophetic methodology.’ ISIS preaches hatred and contempt for human life. Nowhere are these parts of anything that could be remotely described as the Prophetic methodology, and their killings and brutal treatment of other Muslims, Christian, Jews, and others show that their methods are truly illegitimate.”

Professor Saritoprak underlined that the Quran describes the Prophet as merciful to all human beings and asks Muslims to take the middle path, thus avoiding the temptations of extremism.

“ISIS’ methodology is extremist. In this regard, ISIS is nothing new. Throughout the history of Islam, there have been Muslims who follow the path of extremism,” said Saritoprak.

“An example from early Islam is the Kharijites. The Kharijites accused some companions of the Prophet, including Ali, the last of the rightly guided caliphs, of being a ‘kafir,’ or infidel. They specifically accused Ali because he made a peace agreement with Muawiyah, the governor of Damascus. In their argument, they referred to a verse in Quran, which says that those who do not rule according the rules sent down by God are truly disbelievers (5:44). According to extremist groups, all judges who do not rule in line with God’s message are disbelievers. This mentality is still alive today – not just in ISIS, but also other groups that profess versions of political Islam.”

Professor Saritoprak emphasized that ISIS uses eschatological themes extensively in their ideology, especially certain narratives found in the hadiths, or the collection of reports of sayings and teachings of the Prophet.

“First, let me say that nowhere in the Quran or hadith does it say that the duty of Muslims is to establish a caliphate, and in fact, the idea of an Islamic state did not exist prior to middle of the 19th century. I think that ISIS is so obsessed with a state because they have forgotten how to apply the rules to themselves, and so they have a desire to impose the rules on others. ISIS is thus a version of political Islam, which as a governing philosophy holds that Islam can be imposed on a population from the top down. This actually goes against Quranic principles, which focus on the individual as a universe in and of her or himself.

“One thing that followers of political Islam are generally not aware of is that time is an interpreter of the Quran. Some Quranic verses should be interpreted under the conditions of our time and not under the conditions of the Middle Ages. Therefore, I do not think that a caliphate or an Islamic state is necessary for Islam to flourish in the 21st century. It seems the future of Islam is in cooperation with the West and with Christianity. There is no imperative in the Quran to destroy the West or Christians. Quite the opposite; Islam should build upon Western civilization, not seek to destroy it. Those who see problems in the West should take solace in the words of Said Nursi, who said that eventually the negative aspects of the West will dissipate and there can be a coming together of Western and Islamic civilizations.

“Methodologically speaking, establishing an Islamic state may sound very attractive to many Muslims, but in reality it may not solve the problems of human beings. If you provide the best rules and put them in the hands of corrupt people, those rules will be used for corruption as well. I think that the attraction of an Islamic state blinds many Muslims to the reality of their situation and morality. It can be argued that helping one person to have faith in God is more rewarding than creating an Islamic state. Therefore, I think that any state that develops justice in society is compatible with the core teachings of Islam. Today there are many Western countries that follow Islamic values more closely than many states that claim to be Islamic.”

Another scholar, Richard Bulliet, a well-known historian and author of the insightful book, The Case for Islamo-Christian Civilization, said that calling the terrorists ‘jihadists’ is not appropriate.

“We often call the terrorists jihadists. I don’t really think that is the right word. In the Quran, there are certain offenses for which capital punishment is permitted; one of them is ‘fasad fi al-ard’ — that is ‘corruption in the earth.’ There are variations in how ‘corruption in the earth’ is defined. There are several different places in the Quran where it appears. It is a flexible term, but one of the common definitions is that ‘corruption in the earth’ includes deeds that act to destroy the Muslim community.

“Now, I think that people who kill in the name of Islam are not participating in jihad. Rather, they are participating in ‘fasad.’ I think they are seriously wounding their own faith community by leading people to believe that the Prophet Muhammad was a murderer and leading people to believe that Muslims categorically are murderers and terrorists. I think jihadist is too kind a word. I think these are ‘Mufasidun.’ These are people who are acting against Islam, while claiming to be acting in the name of Islam.

Getting started in life

Intuitively, we know we can move the whole world with just one cry, setting up a kind of hotline to our parents. The number of this hotline is stored in our genetic code. Miraculously, we also know how to dial the various functions of this hotline. Cries with different undertones seem to be the only way to solve our problems, from the fly on our nose, to a dirty diaper – or even just being hungry. Once we cry, on the horizon, a friendly, loving face appears. And when it does, we can relax and feel comfortable again. Our parents save us from many difficult situations.

Over time, we mature and notice that the processes in our world are subject to conditions. With our free will we can influence events, albeit within a very limited space, and thus take responsibility for our destiny before it becomes our destiny. If we do not study, for example, for an exam, we must not complain about our failure. If we do not strive for social contacts, we should not be surprised if we are suffering from loneliness. If there are problems to solve and conflicts to eliminate, we can consult our social reference system, the legal system of our country, and perhaps even the internet.

But these worldly ways are quickly exhausted. We do what we can, knock on every door for support and help, but quite often we remain helpless and restricted. Plagued by pain and suffering, these are the situations we seek refuge from in prayer and supplications to God, whether we are searching for a cure or a twist of fate. And not unlike in early childhood, we cry again for help, trying to reach a hotline – but this time a hotline to God. Will He answer our prayers? And if so, what will His answer be?

For thousands of years theologians and philosophers have dealt with the issue of divine activity in our everyday lives. There are hundreds of theories, concepts, and explanations about the origins of the macro and micro universes. Cultures tend to believe that they own exclusive truths and show a willingness to stand up for the dissemination of these truths. And each individual has his own very personal way to ask God for support. For some, God created the universe with perfect laws, which run self-sufficiently without any further intervention. For others, He is omnipresent, ever creating anew. Sometimes, He even intervenes on a microbiological and atomic level. The existing theological literature offers countless exciting texts on this subject. But different religious beliefs are not supposed to be part of this article; we will leave them to the theologians.

Healing through supplications?

Consulting medical databases, it is to be noted that the experimental scientific investigation of the question of whether or not supplications for sick people have a positive effect on their healing has not been explored in depth until recently. For the first time in 1988, Byrd and colleagues examined whether supplications made by religious people had an impact on patients of a hospital’s heart unit – without these patients knowing that supplications were being spoken for them and without knowing the people praying for them. The researchers were able to state that in patients who were prayed for, fewer complications occurred and that their stay in the hospital was significantly shorter than in patients for whom no prayers had been made.¹ The patients for whom prayers were spoken had been picked at random, and the worshipers in turn only knew the first names of their patients, and no further details.

After 1999, numerous other studies came to the conclusion that supplications to God have positive effects for various patients. For example, there was a doubling of successful egg fertilizations and a doubling of successful pregnancies in assisted reproductive techniques²; there were shortened fevers³; hospital stays were shorter⁴; and there were overall reduced mortality rates⁵ and a significantly better well-being in cancer patients.⁶

Thus, several teams of researchers had dialed an international hotline to God. There was much praying for the patients, mostly without their knowledge and in some cases from a great distance. Some of the researchers involved came to the conclusion that it could be helpful to install prayer teams in hospitals alongside the usual medical care.⁷ This method was even researched on animals, which showed accelerated healing and better blood values. The positive here was that a placebo effect could be excluded.⁸

It is not so simple

Apart from these positive results, some researchers didn’t find any differences in patients who were suffering from diseases such as pregnancy complications, warts, or other health problems.⁹

In 2006, Benson even found a higher rate of complications in patients who knew that someone prayed for them. He postulated a so-called performance anxiety, i.e. that ​​the patients were thinking: “Am I really so sick that the hospital needs to engage a private prayer team for me?”¹⁰

Gaudia wrote in an article published in 2007 that even back then far too many researchers had dealt with the issue, which he regarded as senseless, and that far too much money had been wasted on it. In his view, these efforts are nothing other than an investigation into miracles or a study on the existence of God.

He began his complaint with the assumption of the existence of an incredible, breathtaking power that created the galaxies and complex molecular biological structures – and then after all this creation, that force is asked whether it could regulate the blood pressure of a randomly selected group of patients. Gaudia compared this approach with asking an incredibly talented composer about writing a melody to “Three Blind Mice.” He argued that with already prefabricated opinions and expectations it is possible in every study to state differences and deviations, which are then, however, likely due to chance, a placebo effect, statistical calculation errors, or to the bias of the basic assumption that there is a God at all. For him, prayer was a request asking God to change His mind about the current course of events. He considered the belief in prayer ridiculous and called it a superstition. In addition, he objected to the variables for measuring the differences in the studies, judging them not to be clear and transparent. Instead, he claimed it should be ruled out that these changing variables were exposed to any physical or psychological mechanisms, so that there would be no other explanation other than divine work. The growth of amputated limbs through prayer, for example, would meet this requirement.¹¹

In 2009, Jorgensen advocated for further investigations on this issue, but also concluded that the studies up to that time suffered some questionable deficiencies. He stated that researchers attach too much importance to positive results while tending to hide negative results. In addition, he described the results presented as no more convincing than the results of placebo-controlled trials. He suspected the positive results were affected by the expectations of the investigators. He spoke of an “immunization research hypotheses,” which means that the researchers involved in these studies tend to believe in the effectiveness of their intervention; their findings are therefore not in accordance with the experimental results, but with the strength of their faith in God. He identified three basic assumptions: first, that God exists; secondly, that the worshiper can travel around in the cosmos and reach out to God; and thirdly, that God will answer to prayers and thereby act over a long distance. He found it hard to imagine why God should help patient Peter in hospital bed A, just because someone chosen by chance prayed for him, while dropping patient Paul in bed B because nobody prayed for him. This would be in conflict with our ethical understanding of fairness.

Thus, the studies to date leave too much room for interpretation. It is possible to state happiness, bias, or even fraud as the reasons for their results. In Jorgensen’s view, however, these studies are neither evidence of God answering supplications, or ignoring them. If the human capacity to understand God is really as limited as the Holy Scriptures emphasize, then God’s work should be subtle enough not to be tracked down in a simple experimental design.¹²

Chittaranjan, in turn, regarded prayer as a special kind of meditation whose positive effects have been proved in many a study. He insisted that religion will always remain a matter of faith, and asked: If research could prove the positive effects of prayer without any doubts left behind, wouldn’t that mean that we could manipulate God or statistically predict his behavior? And anyway, why should God participate in a study trying to prove His existence? On the issue, Chittaranjan considered randomized controlled trials neither appropriate nor effective.¹³

Conclusion

The results of experimental research on our subject until now are – thanks to God – quite sobering. There have certainly been some mistakes, and they didn’t yield clear evidence for a positive effect of prayers and supplications. But objectivity can’t be accredited to the critics of these studies either, especially as most of the mentioned points of criticism could also be applied to a large number of studies from other fields of medicine.

People still, and repeatedly, deal with this issue, a fact certainly not least due to our personal everyday experience that things have often turned positive after having asked God wholeheartedly and sincerely for help. Millions of people worldwide can report innumerable reactions from God to their supplications.

But the mystery of the existence of God and the question of whether or not he responds to our prayers will always remain a matter of personal faith. Even a visit to the doctor ultimately is a kind of supplication, which can be answered in different ways. Perhaps he prescribes medicine, or he recommends us to entirely do without medication because he deems it detrimental to us.

For everyone, it requires special insight to recognize whether God answers, how to interpret his answer, or else to find out why we wait in vain for an answer. Our experience may speak a different language, but even upcoming new studies most likely won’t provide us with a definitive answer to this question. However, we should at least consider the criticisms submitted, so the studies can be designed to ensure objectivity.

Imagine yourself facing a very burdensome problem, and suddenly, out of the blue, a friend or even a complete stranger provides you with the solution to this problem without your having asked him for it. Perhaps then the perspective that we are not alone in the universe will occur to you. And if it already happened to you, you may have subconsciously dialed the code for the hotline to God genetically anchored in our essence – just as we all used to dial the number of the hotline to our mother when we were small, thirsty children.

Notes

1. Byrd RC, “Positive therapeutic effects of intercessory prayer in a coronary care unit population”. South Med J. 1988;81:826-829
2. Cha KY et al. “Does prayer influence the success of in vitro fertilization-embryo-transfer? Report of a masked randomized trial.” J Reprod Med. 2001;46:781-7
3. Leonard Leibovici, “Effects of remote, retroactive intercessory prayer on outcomes in patients with bloodstream infection: randomized controlled trial”, BMJ 2001;323:1450-1
4. Ibid.
5. Ibid.
6. Olver IN et al. “A randomized, blinded study of the impact of intercessory prayer on spiritual well-being in patients with cancer.” Altern Ther Health Med. 2012 Sep-Oct; 18(5):18-27
7. William S. Harris et al. “A randomized controlled Trial of the Effects of Remote, Intercessory Prayer on Outcomes in Patients Admitted to the Coronary Care Unit”. Arch Intern Med. 1999;159:2273-2278 Leonard Leibovici, “Effects of remote…”
8. Lesniak KT. The effect of intercessory prayer on wound healing in nonhuman primates. Altern Ther Health Med. 2006;12:42-8
9. da Rosa MI. “A randomized clinical trial on the effects of remote intercessory prayer in the adverse outcomes of pregnancies.” Cien Saude Colet. 2013 Aug; 18(8):2379-84
10. Benson J et al. “Study of the therapeutic effects of intercessory prayer (STEP) in cardiac bypass patients: a multicenter randomized trial of uncertainty and certainty of receiving intercessory prayer”. Am Heart J. 2006;151:934-942
11. Gil Gaudia, “About Intercessory Prayer: The Scientific Study of Miracles”, Med Gen Med. 2007;9(1):56
12. Jorgensen K. J. et al. “Divine intervention? A Cochrane review on intercessory prayer gone beyond science and reason”. Journal of negative Results in BioMedicine 2009,8:77
13. Chittaranjan et al. “Prayer and healing: A medical and scientific perspective on randomized controlled trials”. Indian J Psychiatry. 2009 Oct-Dec;51(4):247-253

Human beings are endowed with special abilities such as feeling, anticipating, introspection, imagination, and the ability to synthesize. These abilities are essential, because as a consequence of perennial change, we are living in a complex world. This complex lifestyle consists of wide communication networks, larger amount of transactions, intense mechanisms of influence, and the use of advanced technologies.

The massive changes in recent human history could make one’s life quite difficult if we, as human beings, did not possess “adaptability.” Adaptability is one of the most amazing capabilities humans possess, as it mediates the way human beings interact with their environment. Thanks to adaptability, a smart phone has become a great “toy” for today’s toddlers and the same kid can speak multiple languages equally well when sufficiently exposed.

Despite our adaptability, and despite many alluring aspects, this new lifestyle has its problems, including anxiety, stress, obesity, and more complicated health problems such as cancer. We’re also confronted with relatively new problems. For instance, though we have more types and sizes of transportation vehicles, cities suffer from worsened traffic. We should humble ourselves when we think about the troubles we have created here on earth. The massacre of the masses with advanced weapons, the use of technology at the expense of environmental safety, as well as ignorance, racism, and hatred, are all unique to human beings. We can observe what is happening in the human body for the diagnosis of health problems, but some of these monitoring tools themselves lead to serious health problems. Our new life style requires a more creative and complex thinking to solve the deep problems we are facing.

How can we fully utilize what we are given for the best of human kind? Can we be more creative for good rather than bad? How can we be more effective at resolving these complicated problems? What does it take to tackle unprecedented challenges?

I want to look at the literature on the process of creative thinking and underline two essential components. The first one is the active stage of preparation, hard work, persistent effort, active elaboration, data gathering, and solution generation; and the second is the period of passive longing, deliberate interruption, and incubation.

The active stage

Scientific studies of problem solving and creativity, as well as anecdotal evidence from stories of innovation, provide useful insights about effective problem solving strategies. An easy practice to test or develop problem solving skills is about generating ideas for an open-ended problem. For example, take a few minutes and try to generate at least 12 ideas for different uses of a chair. You could list ideas such as “sit on,” “use to eat dinner,” “stepping on to reach the ceiling,” or “for protection when playing with kids.” Then, split the idea list into two parts. If you ask a number of other people to generate ideas for the same problem, and check which ideas they also generated, this will enable you to see the ideas that were generated by only one person.

These are the unique ideas based on the small group experience. If you count the number of unique ideas that were generated in the first and second part of your list and compare them, you are more likely to see a higher number of unique or original ideas in the second half than the first half. Research results have consistently reported such findings over the years (Milgram & Rabkin, 1980). Original, uncommon, infrequent, surprising, unusual, and even smart ideas tend to come later as opposed to earlier. What would happen if you stopped generating after only six ideas instead of twelve? What you lose would be the original and uncommon ideas rather than the ordinary ones. Originality is the backbone of creativity (Stein, 1953) and original ideas do not come very easily. It takes more effort than the simple, regular, and traditional way of thinking. This is called the extended effort principle (Parnes, 1961; Basadur & Thompson, 1986). Smart solutions to the complex problems of the world require a lot of extended effort.

These empirical findings would be no surprise to Graham Wallas (1926), who proposed his classic theory on the cognitive processes of creative thinking. Wallas argues that the creative process consists of four stages. The first stage is called preparation, in which tremendous amounts of time and energy are dedicated to deep thinking, problem finding, research, and developing new knowledge. This phase often involves the exploration of all possible options or directions with full attention. According to some research, the development of an expertise requires approximately 10 years of preparation through which one can be immersed in specific areas of thought, thus allowing them to make a contribution to this area (Simonton, 1997).

Another 10 year-period may be necessary for greatness (Kaufman & Kaufman, 2007). As seen in the research, preparation can take a really long time depending on the area of investigation and magnitude of potential contribution. The importance of this phase has been underlined by Loiuse Pasteur, who said that “chance only favors the prepared mind.” It could also be possible to interpret the following assertion from the holy scriptures: “And there is not for man except that [good] for which he strives. And that his effort is going to be seen (Qur’an 39:40).”

The passive stage

Preparation, knowledge, and expertise may not be sufficient to develop great solutions. According to Wallas (1926), preparation is followed by a period in which one is disengaged from the active working phase and switches to a resting, free-minded, unconscious mode, in which the problem solver does not actively work on the problem but unwittingly lets his unconscious work on it. In a way, deliberate interruptions and ceasing to work on the problem can let brilliant solutions mysteriously emerge. Interestingly enough, the problem solver is at a passive position during this step, employing defocused attention. This so-called “black box” phase of problem-solving is also known as the “incubation” period.

The incubation period may (or may not) result in “illumination,” which refers to a flash of insight. This fascinating moment is considered a product of a series of connections or associations made in the human mind during the incubation period. Following years of research and thinking on a mathematical problem (the active stage), Poincare found the solution to his problem while dreaming (Miller, 1992). The moments of inspiration for many Sufis can be regarded as an example of illumination. Some Sufis practice 40 days (or longer, depending on the characteristics of the Sufi) of seclusion with limited or no interaction with other people, while also limiting their food intake and time spent sleeping. They often experience a greater level of openness to inspiration and share their inspirations as they “come to the heart” (Eris, 2006).

The lives of the great historical and spiritual figures prove the significance of the incubation period. Moses had an forty-day seclusion on the Mountain. Jesus went into a self-imposed seclusion to fight against Satan. Disappointed by the troubles he faced in his time, the Prophet Muhammad would go into seclusion in the cave of Hira, after which he received the first revelations (peace be upon them).

The power of a pause or interruption has shown its impact quite often in recent history. Nelson Mandela spent 26 years in prison, where he contemplated and refined his thoughts, which led to the success of his movement. Despite years of great reputation and closeness to power circles, Said Nursi, a prominent Muslim scholar, ultimately praised the time he was in exile, where he would dictate his “letters,” which were the seeds for one of today’s most influential and peaceful social movements. Clearly, these great people greatly benefited from their passive, paused, and incubated period.

Creativity and tawakkul

The active and passive stages of creativity underline the importance of hard work, diligence, and persistence followed by moments of patience, pause, and longing. The necessity of the latter entails humility and modesty, because we have no control over the incubation period. One can never know when “the chance comes to the prepared mind” – or if it will come at all. Our skills, abilities, talents, time, and energy are involved in the active stage of creativity, but these do not guarantee the desired outcome.

This reminds us of the limitations of human beings. From this spiritual perspective, creative thinking can be seen as a process of “tawakkul.” Tawakkul is translated as “reliance in God” in English, and refers to “doing all that is necessary to obtain a desired or intended result, and then waiting in expectation for the Eternally-Powerful One to bring about His Will” (Gulen, 2001, p. 67).

The idea of incubation makes the process of inspiration unclear. The moment of inspiration can be best described as a “black box.” Tawakkul, however, views the Divine Knowledge as the source of inspiration. Persistent hard work in the active phase is seen as the operational prayer to God, and the second phase, if it occurs, is the acceptance of that prayer. When the parallel between creative thinking and tawakkul is recognized, creativity is viewed as a spiritual process – and, therefore, creative individuals need to practice tawakkul.

References

• Basadur, M., & Thompson, R. (1986). Usefulness of the ideation principle of extended effort in real world professional and managerial creative problem solving. The Journal of Creative Behavior, 20, 23-34.
• Eris, S. (2006). A religiological comparison of the Sufi thought of Said Nursi and Fethullah Gulen. Unpublished thesis, University of Georgia.
• Gulen, M. F. (2006). Key concepts in the practice of Sufism: Emerald hills of the heart (Vol 1.). Somerset, NJ: Light.
• Gulen, M. F. (2009).Key Concepts in the Practice of Sufism: Emerald Hills of the Heart. : Tughra.
• Kaufman, J. C., & Kaufman, S. B. (2007). Ten years to expertise, many more to greatness: An investigation of modern writers. Journal of Creative Behavior, 41, 114-124.
• Milgram, R. M., & Rabkin, L. (1980). Developmental test of Mednick’s associative hierarchies of original thinking. Developmental Psychology, 16,157-158.
• Miller, A. I. (1992). Scientific creativity: A comparative study of Henri Poincare and Albert Einstein. Creativity Research Journal,5, 385-414.
• Parnes, S. J. (1961). Effects of extended effort in creative problem solving. Journal of Educational psychology,52, 117-122.
• Simonton, D. K. (1997). Creative productivity: A predictive and explanatory model of career trajectories and landmarks. Psychological Review, 104, 66-89.
• Stein, M. I. (1953). Creativity and culture. Journal of Psychology, 36, 311-322.
• Vinge, V. (2004). Technological Singularity. The Transhumanist Reader: Classical and Contemporary Essays on the Science, Technology, and Philosophy of the Human Future, 365-375.
• Wallas, G. (1926). The art of thought. New York, NY: Harcourt-Brace.

With this multilingual welcome I hope to get you in the mood for the subject of my essay: the first documented globetrotters in human history. But before we hurl ourselves into this adventure and follow the trails of Messere Marco Polo and Seyyid Ibn Battuta, I would like to share an observation with you. As for myself, it prompted me to write this article and so I hope that it will arouse your curiosity in these explorers, too.

With the flood of new information offered by social media and the internet, the portrait of the world and its people is constantly changing. The light of cultures that stood in the shadow yesterday may shine brighter tomorrow. The respect and the admiration of certain nations wane or grow strong, dependent on the source that describes these nations. What conventional historical sources have in common is that they represent the everyday life of people and their interactions with one another in a rather dry manner.

In this respect, travelogues, diaries, and the like are much more intimate and personal, but in turn also more subjective in their perceptions. As an example, we might cite here the description of the city of Shiraz (in present-day Iran) and its inhabitants: While Ibn Battuta focused on the boldness and courage of the local population, Marco Polo talked about the beauty of the women. So when we read their reports, there emerges an interesting landscape, which allows us to meet certain cultures and nations and learn to know them.

But what makes such reports even more attractive is the fact that they send us on an adventure. We are not only told about different cultures, but also take an active part in the experiences of these travelers. However, be prepared; everything is to be savored with a pinch of salt!

In this way, history appears as sunlight being refracted through a prism: it reveals nuances that you could not perceive before. And that’s exactly what sparks the enthusiasm for the works of the globetrotters: Thanks to them, history is going through a metamorphosis, transforming itself from a wasteland into a Garden of Eden.

But enough for the advocacy: let’s turn to our two globetrotters now.

Marco Polo and Ibn Battuta were no ordinary travelers. Their travels lasted 30 years and led them from the West to the Far East. They met not only the most diverse languages ​​and cultures, but also occasionally took employment and settled in some places for longer periods of time.

First, I would like to introduce you to Messere Marco Polo, who was born into a merchant family in Venice in 1254. At the time of Marco’s birth his parents were already highly respected figures in Venetian society. Originally coming from Dalmatia, they quickly achieved success in Venice and it didn’t take long until they were included in the “Homo Nobilis”-register. The Polos, in fact, were noblemen. When Marco was five years old, his father Nicolo set out with his brother Maffeo on a journey from which they were to return 10 years later. In the meantime, Marco befriended the port children and even spent some time in prison. Luckily for him, his father and uncle returned just in time to save him and convert his death penalty into banishment from Venice.

Under these circumstances, his father decided to take Marco with him on his next trip to the east, as far as Khanbalik (today’s Beijing), the capital of the Mongol Empire of the Yuan, to visit Kublai Khan, the Khan of all Khans. This is how Marco Polo’s world tour began, and it would take him about 28 years before he saw Venice again.

In his travelogues, he shared interesting facts about the city of Venice. For example, he mentioned the feast of Sensa, the annual marriage of Venice with the sea. On this occasion, the Venetians celebrated with a ceremonial ring toss into the lagoon in the port of San Nicolo, which was understood as a seal between the lagoon and the city.

Marco Polo also described the Venetian law stating that all fish caught during the day must be thrown on the ground in the evening:

They [the harbor children] lived almost exclusively on fish; because if they couldn’t manage to steal other things, they could rush to the fish market at the end of each day, since the Venetian law had the fishmongers at a certain hour throwing all their goods on the ground; this should prevent them from selling fish not really fresh.

Marco Polo has provided us with many interesting insights into the world of his time. We learn that the lingua franca, or Sabir as Marco Polo called it, was the trade language of Europe, up to the Levant. From the Levant to Central Asia, the traders spoke Farsi, and even further east it was Mongolian or the Han language.

The most impressive passages of Marco Polo’s travelogues are definitely his detailed descriptions of towns and places of interest. The bazaar of Baghdad took Polo nearly three pages to describe. What follows is only a brief excerpt:

The cloth merchants proudly stood under reels of thread and rolls of silk and wool and goat hair angora, of cotton and linen, fine camel hair and rough camlet. There were also more exotic fabrics such as muslin from the city of Mosul in Mesopotamia, calico from India, Buckram from Bukhara, and damask from Damascus. The booksellers offered cheap volumes of fine vellum, parchment and paper, delightfully written and decorated with gold leaf…

Marco Polo’s travel reports teem with descriptions, impressions, and experiences, and are thus truly a pleasure to read – if you are ready to overlook the occasional digressions in anti-Semitism, Islamophobia, and arrogance towards other cultures and religions.

About a year after Marco Polo’s death, in 1324, Ibn Battuta embarked upon a similar trip to China at the age of 21. But Ibn Battuta’s route was presumably the most chaotic of any traveler at that time. It took him back and forth across the whole world map.

Not much can be said about Ibn Battuta’s life before his departure, because the only source is his own work. His story began with a pilgrimage to Mecca. He mentioned that he was born in 1304 in Tangier, Morocco, and that his parents were still alive when he left, but that’s it. What we know beyond this is that he was not specialized in a certain contemporary science, but well-versed in many areas.

Thus, Ibn Battuta headed out for Mecca at the young age of 21. On his way, he crossed almost the entire Islamic world, but his curiosity was far from satisfied.

Ibn Battuta’s travel reports are characterized by a very precise description of places, traditions, and cultures. What is striking is the fact that he sometimes presented towns or attractions using poems. If possible, he let several poets come to the fore and used them to speak about the same city. This method can be very amusing at times, as one poet often praises what the other accurses.

Ibn Battuta opened doors to cultures that had remained closed for Marco Polo, in particular doors to the Islamic world, which the globetrotter from Venice had shunned. From today’s perspective, the two globetrotters are close in time, but covered very different routes.

Ibn Battuta described one impressive experience in Damascus as follows:

One day, walking the streets of Damascus I saw a young slave. He carried a porcelain plate in his hands specified by the local people as “Sahan” and dropped it accidentally, and it broke. People gathered around the child and a man said to him, “Brother! Collect the broken pieces and bring it to the principal of the foundation that deals with this work!” The slave gathered the shards up and accompanied the man to the principal. When the principal saw the broken pieces, he estimated the value of the plate and gave the slave a sum of money that compensated for it. What a praiseworthy behavior! Otherwise the owner of the slave boy would have either beaten him or had his heart broken because of the broken plate. […] This foundation has made it its mission to please people and to protect them from blame. May Allah reward those who donate money to such noble purposes!

He also mentioned the funeral rituals of certain groups:

The burial rites of the Indians are also very strange. After the Indians have buried the corpse, on the third morning after the burial they cover the ground around the grave with expensive fabrics. […] In addition, they bring lemon or orange trees and put them on the grave, even if they do not bear any more fruit. They build tents, so that visitors can relax in the shade. Then, one after the other the emirs and the high-ranking officials come […] and sit down. Opposite of them the Huffaz¹ take place followed by the Cüz²-castes. Then the Koran is read by the Huffaz, and prayers are spoken for the soul of the deceased.

Ibn Battuta’s travelogues are full of many such insights, and it is extremely amusing to learn about a rich variety of practices and traditions of the peoples he encountered. On the other hand, he also described very trivial details. Once, for example, he noticed numerous grammatical errors in a Friday prayer’s Hutbe³. So he asked a judge called Hüccetüddin about it and received the following reply:

“In this city (Basra) all the institutions that dealt with linguistics in the past have been shut down, so there’s nobody left now who cares for it or let alone knows how these words are to be read.”

Ibn Battuta commented with regret, “What a pity that here of all places grammar experiences such decline. In this city, foundations of linguistics were once laid!”

On another occasion, Ibn Battuta was astonished about the Turks owning so many horses:

“What with us are the sheep, here are the horses.”

But more than anything else, the situation of Turkish women left him in amazement:

“A strange behavior here is that the men pay their deepest respect to their women. In this country the woman is higher regarded than the man.”

Later on he added another observation:

“Sometimes it turns out that the women accompany their husbands and you catch yourself saying, ‘That man must be a subordinate of this woman!’, because a sheepskin coat and his Küla hat is all he is wearing!”

But now I’d like to leave it to you, dear reader, to discover the worlds of these wonderful globetrotters. I certainly don’t want to reveal too much. Messere Marco Polo and Seyyid Ibn Battuta are eager to tell you their stories and sharpen your view of the people of the Middle Ages!

Thus, it’s my turn now to dismiss you in my mother tongue.

Auf Wiedersehen!

Notes

1. Used here in its general sense: a scholar who knows to recite the Qur’an by heart is called Hafiz. Huffaz is the plural form.
2. A Cüz is a booklet with a 20-page section of the Qur’an, which makes it possible to divide the Qur’an reading between several people.
3. A Hutbe is a lecture given by the imam during Friday prayers with mostly or exclusively religious content.

The Qur’an verses refer to prostration as a sign of being free of arrogance: “Only they (truly) believe in Our signs and Revelations who, when they are mentioned of them (by way of advice and instruction), fall down in prostration, and glorify their Lord with His praise, and they do not behave with haughtiness. (32:15).

Prostration (sajda) is the way to show respect to the Creator – not only for human beings, but also for angels and other creatures: “Before God prostrates itself whatever is in the heavens and whatever is on the earth of living creatures, and the angels (likewise, for) they are not arrogant.” (16:49).

Prostration has been practiced in Judaism and Christianity as well, sometimes with one’s knees and face on the ground, and sometimes as a full-body prostration: lying flat on the ground with the face down and the arms open. Even today in Eastern Orthodox, Roman Catholic, and Anglican churches, and amongst Ashkenazi Jews, these practices continue. This makes sense, for the Qur’an talks about a promise that God took from the Children of Israel to establish the prayer (2:83).

In summary, putting one’s face on the ground as a sign of respect or as a part of worship has been one of the central practices in all Abrahamic religions. The Almighty God wants His servants to make it a frequently observed practice that we bow down and put our foreheads on the ground in worship of Him. The spiritual and psychological impact of a prayer of this form can be immense, particularly in the long term, and should be discussed at length in another essay. Here we would like only to point out the neurological aspect of prostration and its connections.

Another The Fountain article discussed the function of the frontal brain lobe (“The Sinning Forelock,” Issue 51, 2005) and its importance in forming ethical and moral values:

“Frontal lobotomy is the term used for the surgical removal of the frontal lobe in patients with emotional disorders (1). It may be difficult today to imagine that an invasive procedure like destroying a large portion of the brain can be employed as a therapeutic approach. Yet, in 1949 the Nobel Prize in medicine was awarded to Dr. Egas Moniz for his development of the frontal lobotomy technique. (Strange enough, Moniz himself was shot in the spine and partially paralyzed by a lobotomized patient.) Tens of thousands of people were lobotomized following World War II . Although frontal lobotomy did not significantly alter the patient’s IQ or memory functions, some other profound side effects emerged.”

The negative impacts of this surgical procedure on the personality of these patients were so serious that frontal lobotomies had to be abandoned after some years. Instances of local injury to the frontal lobes have clearly demonstrated that after losing parts of the forebrain, a human loses much of their moral values, ethics, and many of the general traits that make them human.

We can see this by looking at the case of Phineas Gage (2). According his doctor, who followed Gage for 12 years after the accident (until his death), “He is fitful, irreverent, indulging at times in the grossest profanity (which was not previously his custom), manifesting but little deference for his fellows, impatient of restraint or advice when it conflicts with his desires, at times pertinaciously obstinate, yet capricious and vacillating … His mind was radically changed, so decidedly that his friends and acquaintances said he was no longer Gage” (2).

It is interesting to note here that it is the forehead (forelock) that is mentioned in the Qur’an as the sinning part of the head: “No indeed! If he does not desist, We will certainly seize and drag him by the forelock; a lying, sinful forelock!” (Alaq 96:15-16).

On a different note, the benefit of exercise and physical therapy has been well established in neural disorders. The main rehabilitative effect of physiotherapy in stroke patients and other neurological disorders is the elevation of neural activity in the spinal cord and the brain, which in turn encourages the neurons to rewire, i.e. form new connections and replace the networks that have been lost due to injury.

If we look at the Hebbian theory of learning, or neural plasticity (3) – which can be summarized as, “neurons that fire together wire together” – we can understand that when a subset of nerve cells in the central nervous system are somehow made to fire almost simultaneously, through exercise or other means, they begin to form connections. As a result, in injured patients, these new connections form a neural network that replaces or substitutes for the functions that are lost after injury.

Recent neuroscience research also shows that the rehabilitative effect is highly correlated with an increase in the blood flow to the brain area that is affected by the injury (4, 5). Contrarily, the blood circulation increases in an area of the brain within a few seconds as a response to increased neural activity because of a heightened demand for oxygen and glucose. Indeed, one of the most successful imaging techniques, the BOLD (Blood Oxygen Level Dependent) fMRI technique, completely depends on this phenomenon. These basic findings in neuroscience teach us that there is a close relationship between the local blood flow in the brain and the neural functioning, and this is a part of the process of eventually forming new networks.

Going back to the concept of prostration, lowering one’s head and putting the forehead on ground can elevate the blood flow to the frontal brain areas simply by the hydrostatic effect. We all know how blood rushes to the head when the legs are raised when lying down in the supine position. The neurological outcomes of hydrostatic blood pressures may not have been studied so far, as suggested by the lack of publications on this topic. However, in light of all the other evidence above, it would not be surprising to find out that the new neural networks form faster under higher blood flows and pressure to a local brain area.

Let us now recall the topics discussed above: prostration in Abrahamic religions, the role of the frontal lobe in forming ethical values, and the effect of blood circulation in forming new neural connections. All of this points us in one obvious direction. Prostration, or sajda, can increase the neural activity and promote new connections in the frontal lobe, a center that is instrumental in forming moral values. And this could be the neural basis of becoming more religious as one practices prostration as a part of his or her prayers. It also makes complete sense that The Creator asks His servants to worship Him with prostration that would make them better human beings, not only because of the spiritual experience, but also by endowing them with brain connections through prostration which will then function as receiving ears to future inspirations.

References

1. Bear, M., F., Connors, B., W., Paradiso, M., A., “Neuroscience: Exploring the Brain,” second edition, Lippincott Williams& Wilkins, Baltimore, Maryland: 2001.
2. Harlow, J.,M., “Recovery from the passage of an iron bar through the head,” Publication of Massachusetts Medical Society, (1868) 2:329-347.
3. Zhang P, Yu H, Zhou N, Zhang J, Wu Y, Zhang Y, Bai Y, Jia J, Zhang Q, Tian S, Wu J, Hu Y.’ Early exercise improves cerebral blood flow through increased angiogenesis in experimental stroke rat model.,” J Neuroeng Rehabil. 2013 Apr 26;10:43.
4. Zheng Q, Zhu D, Bai Y, Wu Y, Jia J, Hu Y., “Exercise improves recovery after ischemic brain injury by inducing the expression of angiopoietin-1 and Tie-2 in rats.,” Tohoku J Exp Med. 2011;224(3):221-8.
5. Hebb, D.O.(1949). The Organization of Behavior. New York: Wiley & Sons.

Another significant contribution to this issue comes from Professor Suat Yildirim, who lays down a comprehensive analysis of two major Islamic concepts, jihad and qital, which are often confused, leading to common misjudgments about Islam. The author briefly mentions the historical context in which Islam has flourished, summarizing how believers suffered oppression, torture, the usurpation of their property, and even death. After years of patient and peaceful resistance to survive, they were compelled to leave their homeland until it became unbearable and the rights of “the oppressed, helpless men, women, and children” (Qur’an 4:75) had to be protected. Yildirim argues that this is not the same thing as the concept of “Holy War,” which does not exist in Islamic terminology. He explains in detail all the possible aspects jihad stands for, and he makes clear that qital, or fighting, has many parameters that ontologically tend towards peace; such fighting is conducted not to impose religion on others but to set people free to choose their faith. Observing fairness, forgiveness of the enemy, accepting peace offers, etc., are also listed in the article as other obligations during qital. Fitnah is another major concept dealt with in the article: when the concept is falsely defined, it may easily provoke violence.

Aydogan Vatandas adds a third contribution on the same theme, wondering “Does Islam Promote Violence?” Looking at scholars from Jessica Stern to John Horgan, and Ahmet Kurucan to Richard Bulliet and Zeki Saritoprak, Vatandas offers evidence from a wide spectrum of thinkers that “religion is essentially irrelevant as a causal force.” He argues that jihadist actors are not actually religious during the course of their radicalization; that terrorist attacks have no justification in the authentic sources of Islam, nor do they protect the honor of Islam; and that ISIS and other terrorist groups are far from the Prophetic methodology and Islam does not need a state or caliphate to flourish.

So, what is the way toward a solution? The Fountain believes in the power of knowledge and dialogue for global peace. Barbara Anderson and Zeliha Celiker explain how they were able to set up a group dialogue with Christian and Muslim women, and how their friendship helped them overcome bias. The story of the Church of Mary, or Kathisma Church, in Bethlehem, Jerusalem, is told by Elif Guler, who argues that the recently discovered ruins show this place of worship was used simultaneously by both Christians and Muslims, exemplifying the tolerance of both religious communities and the peaceful rule of Umar, the second Caliph. In history, we can find examples of hope for the future.