The Qur’anic “come to know each other” can serve as an instructive interpretation of the deeper meaning of education. The main ambition of this essay is to show the beautiful synergy between this verse and the concept of education by referencing further, largely Qur’anic-inspired interpretations. Understanding education as “coming to know each other” is important because, although it is a noble goal, it is also an elusive one, as evidenced by the continuous strife and violence between different groups of people. Reflecting upon the deeper meaning of education may serve as a small, but crucial step towards a new understanding of difference that fosters peace and avoids strife.

This essay will proceed by describing the deeper meaning of ‘education’. Then, in the sections “Divine Differences” and “Human Manifestations,” I submit that many of our differences are God-given, yet we misappropriate them too often towards conflict. The section “Our Minds and Our Souls” describes how our own mind or soul can condition us towards this conflict. In “Jihad and Transcendence,” I show how the often misunderstood Islamic concept of jihad is to overcome these inclinations and transcend human differences.

Education

Most of us understand education the way a Merriam Webster dictionary does: as “the knowledge, skill, and understanding that you get from attending a school, college, or university.” This accepted definition demonstrates a collective mentality of instrumentalism and goal orientations; at the same time, it perpetuates instrumental (and superficial) mentalities. The result is an increased alienation from our ideational and spiritual mentalities – and from each other.

True education is about something much different. The origin of the word ‘education’ is Latin, composed of the prefix ‘ex’ (in words like ‘exit’, meaning ‘out’) and the verb ‘ducrere’ (in words like ‘conducting’, meaning to lead). Put together, ‘ex-ducere’ translates into “leading oneself out of oneself.” While for many this journey of leading oneself out of oneself may suffice as an aspiration in itself, as it enables perspective-taking, others may ask: “Where shall one lead oneself to?” There can be various answers, but one worthwhile one is: To Aime Cesaire’s “rendezvous of victory” which the Martinique writer describes in his Notebook of a Return to My Native Land:

[T]he work of Man is only just beginning, and it remains to man to conquer all the violence entrenched in the recesses of his passion. And no race possesses the monopoly of beauty, of intelligence, of force. And there is a place for all at the rendezvous of victory.

Cesaire was writing about colonialism and limited himself to referencing “race,” but we may feel at liberty to agree that also no nation, ethnicity, tribe, nor any other grouping has “a monopoly of beauty, intelligence and force,” and that there is “a place for all humans at the rendezvous of victory,” regardless of their particular identity.

Cesaire’s poetry is simple, yet shattering. With one stroke he defeats our want for being better and more deserving than others. With the same stroke he introduces us to a new humanity and dismisses our instincts to indulge in the false boundaries that have given a sense of belonging, but pitted humans against each other throughout history. The rendezvous of victory is not a locale of limited resources for which a particular race, nation, or tribe ‘wins’ at the expense of others. It is a place for all.

True education is not about something instrumental, but about something ideational and spiritual. It is about a journey in which, as the Qur’an says, we shall “come to know each other” with the purpose of transcending how we understand differences. It is this new understanding that will help us reach Cesaire’s rendezvous of victory. Yet, education can be still more. The purpose may also be a journey towards the Islamic realization of al-Tahwid, which beyond its meaning of the oneness of God, also induces the consciousness of a spiritual kinship among all of humanity.

Divine diversity

The destinations of ex-ducere are good, but the paths are arduous. Transcending our understandings of difference is not easy, as the world is host to a plethora of differences among people – and many of them have divine purpose. The Qur’an states, “And among His signs is the creation of the heavens and the earth and the variations in your language and your colors” (30:22). It states further, “and so amongst men … are they of various colors,” which contributes to the different nations and tribes (35: 28). And as humanity came to inhabit different areas across the globe, it developed different customs, traditions, and cultures. In a religious reading of the world, these differences are divinely sanctioned.

In interpretations of the Qur’an, we read about God’s intentions in creating a world with differences: It is our distinctiveness that gives vitality to society, making us interesting and attractive to each other. It makes our interactions mutually enriching, and thereby compels compassionate competition towards the (divine) good. Yet, although the Islamic faith rejects all national, racial, ethnic, tribal, and other segregations, these seem to be the reality we live every day. Too often, people of difference do not come to know each other through respect and love. Instead of racing each other for the good, they are committed to ugliness or violence against each other. The noble destinations of ex-ducere are too often too far away.

Human manifestations

How can one understand the divinity in the creation of differences and their apparently associated conflicts? One answer lies in what various social sciences teach: While there is divinity in the origins of many of our differences, their manifestations are often void of divinity. God has created distinct nations, races, and tribes, but nationalism, racism, and tribalism are man-made. The same applies to many other exclusionary “isms” and ideas. We are socialized into these.

Socialization is a necessary experience, but it also bears aspects of indoctrination. Our families and friends, the schools we attend, the media we consume: all socialize us into particular beliefs and perspectives. We find ourselves embedded in a certain cultural environment, a certain socio-economic environment: an environment that emphasizes certain truths and dogmas and ignores others. Socialization is often about categorizing and particularism, and not about universalizing and holism. Here we can see hurdles to the Qur’anic mandate of “coming to know each other” and obstacles to the aspirations of ex-ducere.

Our minds and our souls

Yet, the socializing of human association lies at the foundation of the Qur’an’s positive vision of human diversity. Moreover, our particularism is cognitively conditioned and its workings are also divinely sanctioned. The cognitive sciences teach us that the process of particularizing is fundamental to cognition. It serves a basic function – the organizing and the structuring of our knowledge about the world. Humans have a need for cognitive parsimony, and without a process of categorization, the world and its vast array of people, objects, and events would present itself too complex and cognitively overwhelming.

Our particularized world becomes meaningful through our practice of labeling and the connotations that labels bring. To assume readily retrievable meaning, categorizations need to be labeled and these create content and value-laden identities for whoever is categorized. It is through the process of labelling that we come to “grasp” others. Categorizing and labeling are cognitive necessities. Categories order the environment, labels make it meaningful. These traits are imbued in us by God because of His infinite wisdom. They have many functional benefits, including the facilitation of our general orientations, as well as our daily decision-making.

Yet, our particularism is also the fertile ground for aforementioned isms and exclusionary ideas, and for the human desire to be better than the other. As individuals we want to be better than other individuals; as groups, we want our group to be better than other groups, whether we understand these to be tribes, races, nations, or other associations. In Islamic theology, the first instance of arrogance was committed by Iblis. He refused to grant his respect to Adam, reasoning that he was better than him. As the Qur’an accounts the scene, after God finished his human creation, He “bade the angels bow down to Adam, and they bowed down; not so Iblis; He refused to be of those who bowed down.” God asked, “What prevented thee from bowing down when I commanded thee?” He said, “I am better than he: Thou didst create me from fire and him from clay” (7:11-12).

The traits of envy and arrogance did not remain reserved for the devil only. Subsumed by the Arabic term kibir, they became a human temptation and they are anchored in our inner self: our soul, our nafs as it is referred to in the Qur’an. After God condemned Iblis, the latter pleaded, “Give me respite till the day they are raised up” (7: 14). God responded, “You are of those allowed respite,” and since this day Iblis is engaged in tempting the lower wants in our nafs.

To be sure, the nafs has a fundamental duality to it: it can incline towards the good and towards the bad. “And [by] the soul and the One who proportioned it; then He inspired it [to discern between] its iniquity and its righteousness” (91: 7-10).

It is our experiences of socialization, and the necessary but also compromising functioning of our minds, that condition us away from the ideal of ex-ducere and dispose us to exclusionary thinking. However, the ultimate culprit is the intangible nafs and its defilements. It is these that dispose us towards envy and arrogance. The outcome is, all too often, not only exclusionist thinking, but also the establishment of apparently irreconcilable racial, cultural, ethnic, political, ideological, or other barriers.

Jihad and human transcendence

Yet, given the ongoing strife in the world it remains a divine duty to educate ourselves; to lead ourselves out of ourselves so as “to come to know each other” as the Qur’an prescribes. This journey of ex-ducere is enabled through a purification of the nafs and, for Muslims, this is the challenge of jihad, the highest form of which is the struggle to cleanse oneself from the vices of the soul. This particular jihad is known as jihad-al-nafs. Accordingly, the Qur’an states, “By the Soul, and the proportion and order given to it; and its enlightenment as to its wrong and its right – Truly he succeeds [who] purifies it” (91: 7).

Conventionally understood, jihad-al-nafs is concerned with the suppression of the ‘bad’ in one’s self. What is not recognized as often about jihad-al-nafs is that it is also a cultivation of the ‘good’ in one’s self. While we have been imbued with a temptation for envy and arrogance, we have also been imbued with the capacities for self-reflection and deliberate intention, which, in turn, lend us a unique capacity for freedom of action. Through these capacities we are able to control, we call upon the good in ourselves while suppressing the bad.

In Islamic exegesis there are many reasons why those who purify their souls will succeed. One reason becomes evident when equating the process of purification with a process of emancipation, which is essentially a process of ex-ducere. In this process of leading ourselves out of ourselves, we are emancipated from the boundaries that we’ve been socialized into; they start to crumble and are eventually erased. Hurdles to “coming to know each other” are being overcome and the fertile grounds for the temptations of the nafs are withdrawn.

As true education leads us out of ourselves and as we come to know each other, we are venturing towards Cesaire’s rendezvous of victory, which is a state of mind more than a locale. We start to understand difference in a more nuanced, rich way than we are intuitively inclined to. As the famous Persian poet of the 14th century, Shabistari, put it: Zuhur-i jumla-yi shya bi diddast – “The manifestation of all things is through their opposite.” Whatever our identities are, they become meaningful only through the existence of otherness. Otherness is not something to be feared or shunned; it is something to be embraced. Whether these realizations can be attained through mere intellectual understanding or whether it requires something more, like love, is a question that must be answered.

Yet, the journey of ex-ducere can go further. It can lead us towards the Islamic realization of al-tahwid. Although al-tahwid in its ordinary sense refers to the theological conviction that there is only one God, it is its metaphysical or ontological meaning that is of relevance here. In these understandings the term denotes meanings such as “the act of making one or integration,” or “union”; it helps us to understand God’s creation as emanating from a single source—from the Divine. The Qur’an states, “O mankind! Be careful of your duty to your Lord Who created you from a single soul and from it created its mate and from them twain hath spread abroad a multitude of men and women” (4:1).

It is with such verses that the Qur’an engages in a narrative of an inherently interconnected humanity. Implicit is that every single human being has a shared spiritual origin and existence. The acclaimed Muslim mystic Rumi takes this realization to a beautiful conclusion in the following poem:

Beyond our ideas of right-doing and wrong-doing, there is a field.
I’ll meet you there.
When the soul lies down in that grass,
the world is too full to talk about.
Ideas, language, even the phrase ‘each other’
doesn’t make sense any more.

This realization seemingly does require love. It is grounded in a further realization, namely that all of us originate from the same Source. While each person remains an autonomous and accountable individual, we nevertheless realize our spiritual oneness. And this is what love is – the disappearance of boundaries that distinguish “self” from “other.”

Towards peace

The task of education, when we understand it as leading ourselves out of ourselves and “coming to know each other” as the Qur’an dictates, is to embark on a journey of emancipation where we transcend how difference is understood, reach the rendezvous of victory – and perhaps journey further, towards seeing our inherent kinship with other humans. These new understandings of each other will enable us to compete not against each other, but compassionately with each other for the good, as the Qur’an asks us to do. This is the path towards peace.

Life springs from streaming waters,
Melodies rise from swans,
And rivers wishing a reunion,
Warble from mountains towards seas…

Everywhere is opalescent like artful carpets,
The harmony phantasmic
Languid mornings enjoy the freedom of blue.
As valleys, highlands and golden brooks,
Compete with Paradise in dreams.

Coy trees rise their heads to the heaven,
Sounding the melodies “Hu, Hu” at their highest tone;
A specific tune of prayer is heard every other moment,

Water and soil are knit together by life,
Leaves flash smiles on flowers;

This wheel of life rotates within a joy
Dimples are seen along the lovesick horizons.

Here where love and enthusiasm seethe,
Souls sail to reunion bit by bit;

Within every desire a different joy is felt,
By those who sense the divine truth in conscience every moment.

Nerve cells that fail to establish connections with other cells (nerve, muscle, or secretion gland) within the initial 6-12 month period following birth are destined for a programmed cell death (apoptosis). For example, if the eyes of newborn animals are kept shut for a couple of weeks, vision-related neurons in the brain cortex die and the animals become blind. If the initially present neurons cannot perform their duties or are not used properly, they are terminated. This situation is expressed as the “use it or lose it” principle.

The notion that there is no recuperation for injured or dead nerve cells or tissues, in addition to the recovery of bodily functions related to the damaged neural tissues, was dominant in the medical field for years. Even though this is the case for adult individuals, at least most of the time, it has been proven that this is not true and applicable all the time, especially for children. It has been discovered that lost brain functions can be recovered, even if only partially, and this potential for recuperation is present at birth. This is called the neuronal plasticity or regeneration (renewal) capacity.

Neuronal regeneration is the auto-healing process of nerve tissues that have lost their integrity, functions, or been damaged due to trauma, oxygen deprivation (ischemia), infection, or many other reasons. For example, in patients with polio, certain arm-leg nerve fibers become dead and the muscle stimulated by that nerve suffers a stroke. However, neighboring nerves manage to recover the paralyzed muscles by extending new arms. This situation may resemble the installation of a parallel phone line from your apartment to your neighbor when the old line is cut, which benefits both units with the same line. Certain short projections can grow from the root of a damaged or broken nerve fiber (axon), and in some cases healing may be achieved by this growth. According to the neuronal plasticity theory, the brain is a dynamic, flexible organ, and is open to changes. It is not static, and it can adapt to new conditions. Based on this theory, a brain that has lost an ability, such as vision or hearing, can regain these functions; an individual can hear or see again. However, there is still more research to be done on this matter.

Regeneration is a mechanism that supports the plasticity theory. The proliferation of stem cells is triggered by plasticity. The reassignment of the tasks of the dead nerve cells to other cells occurs; the surviving nerve cells are induced to develop new branches (dendrites or axons). With the discovery of the plasticity and regeneration processes, some diseases that have been considered untreatable have shown signs of being treatable. For instance, during cerebral palsy in children, imperfections take place regarding motor movements, perception, and intelligence, depending on the oxygen deprivation experienced in the brain tissue before, during, or after birth. The brain goes through an adaptive process to execute the missing functions. Especially during the early stages of life, it is understood that the brain cortex is created with extraordinary reorganization abilities after an injury.

Plasticity not only manifests itself via an increased neuron count, but also with an increase in the number of axons and dendrites, in addition to an abundance of synapses among nerve cells. Nonetheless, the onset of all the positive changes on the neurons requires a stimulator or a trigger. In recent years, certain drugs were developed for this purpose. The laboratory works showing that neuronal plasticity and regeneration were successful for polio also give hope that adult brain disorders might be treatable. Brain recuperation via neuronal plasticity is not only dependent on drugs, but also can be achieved by alternative methods like acupuncture, touching, and massage therapy. Apart from these, sports like swimming and horseback riding are known to stimulate and trigger regeneration in damaged neurons.

The studies briefly explained here have proven wrong the belief that the central nervous system cannot heal and recover to its normal mode of functioning. Mechanisms that have been established in the system (the genetic structure) are being newly discovered by mankind. New studies are needed to find out what other aspects of human biology can be discovered as the science advances. Such discoveries remind us of what a remarkable creation human beings are.

The calmness of our surroundings masks the bellowing of our souls. We raise our hands high, cuffed together, reaching for the sky. Tapping on the door of salvation, we await in humility, being conscious of You, so that You grace us with your Mercy (6:155). The past, present, and future folded within each other, a moment of timelessness with the Eternal One.

During the moments in our lives when we have gone astray, we appeal to attain my Sustainers’ forgiveness and a paradise as vast as the heavens and the earth (3:133). For every moment – including this one – He has blessed us with, each worth millions in gold, we give thanks for the honour, for all honour belongs to You (63:8). Following the map of our destiny which You have knowingly drafted, we ask for guidance as You are fully aware of the needs of Your creations (17:30).

Though what we ask may seem selfish, it is a starting point for us to dovetail into the most exciting and fulfilling part of our supplication: what You adorn within us in one day, although we are unworthy, would take thousands of lifetimes for us to recite and acknowledge. In our weak and impotent state, You have made all of creation subservient to us for our survival. You provide us with such expensive and expansive gifts, though we are unworthy and ungrateful beings. Nonetheless, we are created in the best form (95:4).We are beheld by the beauty of Your Divine names manifested within our eyes. You have bestowed great treasures into our hearts, minds, and souls. These are treasures with both tangible and intangible qualities, manifested from all around, like an aura visible only through the eyes of belief. And this belief ascends us to a platform surpassing even the angels, who worship and exalt You, every millisecond of every day. These subjects do not deny You, my Lord, for the favours you provide (55:13).

This dialogue which You so compassionately offer us reluctant subjects is not just a one-way communication. You speak to us more than we care to listen. You are heard internally; You are heard externally. We stand in awe and reverence of Your Glory (21:28).As we call out Your Exalted, Dominical, Divine, Pure, Glorious names, You grace us with the benevolent words, “I am here!” (labbayk). Your Majestic, Loving, and Compassionate attributes respond to all our needs in such a nurturing and soul caressing manner that we, at times, feel like spoilt and incapable children asking for something from a parent. However, Your caressing Hand is more Merciful, a million fold: You are the best Sustainer of our needs (5:114).

All our needs are constantly being met, with or without our knowledge, remembrance, or gratitude. We are in admiration of your grandeur and we are humbled by all your offerings and blessings. All we ask, my Lord, is for forgiveness and for You to guide us to the straight path (1:6), which we anticipate will eventually lead us to our salvation. We ask, beg, and hope that You may consider us – for we have no other Lord to turn to. Besides, You are renowned for forgiveness – it suits You so well, my Lord. This notion gives us the courage and hope to hold onto Your promise, the promise of forgiveness and bounties (2:268).

Indeed, the greatest reflections of Your Divine Names and Attributes have been personified by tens of thousands of Messengers, which is further evidence of Your Compassion and Grace to us poor, lost souls. Each had their distinctive duties, events, and characteristics, and helped lead the way to the salvation we seek. All their missions culminated in the presence and calling of those masters of determination, Noah, Abraham, Moses, Jesus, and Muhammad (peace be upon them), who were guides to their nationsand beacons of mercy to all the realms (21:107).

If not for Your Mercy, oh God, by gracing us with Your beloved Messengers (peace be upon them), what would have become of us? They are the embroiderers of the fabric of our hearts, and allow our minds to become mirrors absorbing and reflecting Your collective and beautiful names. Their efforts were not in vain. Their divinely inspired characters and behaviours have outlasted all the trials and tribulations of time, as well as all governing systems, cultures, and societies. Their Messengerships will echo throughout eternity.

As our dialogue draws to a temporary close, let us reflect on this beautiful experience. My body is permeated by a sense of relief, but also tinged by a hint of sorrow. With my supplication concluding, which I anticipate You have accepted, I reluctantly lower my arms with a sense of a momentary despair: the despair of turning back to the realm of earthly grief. However, I am quickly relieved by the sensation of the realization of Your all-encompassing Compassion, which invites me to this sanctuary, till my last breath – my prayers each and everyday!

Lay not on us a burden greater than we have strength to bear. Blot out our sins and grant us forgiveness. Have mercy on us. You are our Protector (2:286).

Prayers in this essay are inspired from the referenced verses in the Qur’an.

The sad summary of the past year is that we humans are still very prone to violence be it in the Middle East or the American mid-west; the Nigerian countryside or Parisian cafés; at the workplace or at home. Deep down there are core human weaknesses inherited from Cain: jealousy, frustration, racism, “might is right,” etc. What is heartbreaking is that religion is being abused as a source of motivation in many acts of violence.

In the Middle East, the region’s map is being redrawn in favor of a power-hungry few. The situation seems clear to outsiders: the killers are Muslims (at least this is how they identify them- selves), the victims are overwhelmingly Muslims, and Islam is the root cause. What a win-win situation for the beneficiaries! Islam is being slaughtered at the hands of some cannibals, while millions of Muslims are being killed for no discernible reason – other than being the victims of a fight over the energy sources they happen to be living on.

Violence is not only a reality in the Middle East. Mass shootings in the US have almost be- come a daily item in the news, as an average of one mass murder takes place every day. Thou- sands of people are being killed or wounded. In fact, far more Americans are killed at home than at war. Age-old American problems, like racism, have played a role in some of the shootings, including the tragic massacre at a black church in Charleston. Women remain the overwhelming victims of mass murders (81% of the victims are women and children), and are also the major victims of violence in the home.

There’s no need to give further details on the scale of violence around the world. The solution is not easy, but it is also not as difficult as it appears. It is a matter of rephrasing our perspective, just as in Philip Clayton’s approach to science and religion. A renowned theologian and philosopher, Dr. Clayton offers to reformulate these two major concepts from “science or religion” to “science and religion” which can pave the way for “peacemakers” who “prioritize partnership over war” and will “develop constructive relationships.” Dr. Clayton’s three solutions can serve as a starting point in our efforts to solve all sorts of conflicts around the world.

The “Like Dissolves Like” piece in this issue speaks of a universal rule in which matters with only similar chemical properties can dissolve in the other to make a uniformity. Perhaps, this is a prescription to our global problems – if we humans can realize we have more similarities than differences, and that our concerns and interests are common, then we can dissolve in one another and become one global community.

The first step toward that level of awareness is self-interrogation. We must review our actions before blaming others. That is a new year’s resolution we can all agree on.

Second, revealing our potential requires upright conduct. It is possible to believe by convincing oneself theoretically, yet a person can only fully feel the weight of faith through practice. Those who claim to have faith should enlighten their nights by staying up in vigil and conducting their prayers with sincerity. This is how one’s heart and spirit can experience freedom from the boundaries of the body. This should be an ongoing practice. Some medical treatments will yield positive results only after a certain time; some even take many years of uninterrupted application. Just like this, the practice of faith needs time to produce its graceful outcomes. Of course, while on this path it is always possible that one can falter and commit mistakes. What really matters in such situations is whether the person endeavors to maintain his or her contact with the All-Merciful One. Such persistent contact will enable them to stand back up on their feet quickly after their slip-up.

Kant argues that God is a “postulate of practical reason,” which in a way could be considered the conscience. If faith is a torch kindled by God, its endurance depends on our persistence in practice. One may not see anything extraordinary in the presence of those spiritually elevated ones, but their conscience can feel a lot of things. Reading the scripture and prayers can nourish your inner faculties, even though you may be unable to understand the words literally.

Third, living a life free from sins will enable believers’ potential to flourish. A famous scholar, Imam Sha’rani, said he could not take delight in his prayers when he had to spend time with someone completely uninterested in faith.

Fourth, it’s important to practice remembrance of God, with His Beautiful Names and Attributes, to seek His guidance to raise the veils between us and what lies beyond matter, and to ask for His mercy. How often a person should remember the Divine depends on their spiritual capacity, but what is most important is to have confidence in our hearts as we commit ourselves to these devotions and prepare for eternity.

Fifth, believers should be very careful with the food they consume. They have to ensure that they eat only within the legitimate boundaries of what has been prescribed. Our spiritual capacity is certainly affected by what we consume.

Sixth, visiting cemeteries and hospitals can be a useful tool that helps to increase our feelings of compassion, love, and sympathy, and serves a reminder to be thankful.

Escape the feeling of autumn and transform into a green meadow with birds flying around above you; be a spring so all those with burning souls come running to you; spread light like candles so those in darkness can see and make their way to you. Embrace others with affection and sincerity like a mother embraces her child, so even those afraid of your anger will throw themselves into your arms with no hesitation. Distribute whatever God has granted you to others; altruism is the most effective, most mysterious formula which brings people close to others, close to Paradise, and close to God. If you are successful in ascribing this formula to your own soul, one day even the most abrupt souls, whose beliefs are based on revenge, resentment, and hostility, are sure to form queues and wait in anticipation of entering your environment.

Every moment, you should be like the clouds, and obstruct the burning heat of the sun; ignoring the various seasons, you should extinguish the thirst of everyone and everything, just like a heavy downpour of rain and caress their arid hearts and souls. Be a spring available to everyone who is thirsty; may your water be sweet and delightful. When you speak and echo the inspirations of your soul, allow your ink to become the spiritual psalms that revive the pages of books. When the harmful daggers of your fury, anger, resentment, and hostility are tempted, you must be a protector. You must be a friend of the deprived and homeless; a friend of even the most rampaging souls who seek refuge in you. Do not disappoint those who run to the security of your guardianship.

As in the case of the present, even when certain individuals destroy the paths and bridges which bring us together as a nation, thus making it impossible for us to progress, it is our duty to establish and promote new paths and bridges of spirituality. We must strive to progress and reach every point we can reach, and we must never be deceived by a desire for retaliation. Even if you face death, be sure to fulfill the duties required of a believer: transform any stones cast at you into light, like the meteors which melt in the atmosphere, and relish the display of radiance spreading like fireworks in the heavens. It is your duty to modulate the sounds of anger and violence, and transform these into anthologies of love; and while doing so, do not speak about bridges being destroyed, and do not give in to resentment and hostility.

This path is the path of the Prophets and the most secure bridge towards becoming a person of perfection. None who choose this path have ever experienced disappointment; and in addition to never experiencing disappointment, they never change their stance when confronted with disrespect or abuse. If a person is conscious of his humanness, things like resentment, hostility, disrespect, or any other kind of crudeness will never affect their thoughts or behavior; and this is how it should be. There may be some who do change direction and ideas when they are confronted with certain difficulties – however, these are the immature souls who, in terms of emotions and thought, are still unsettled. When confronted with difficulty, these undeveloped souls respond with rashness. This is one of the main reasons for the frequent disputes between different cultures.

Modesty, submission, and tolerance are the invariable aspects of those who have reached spiritual maturity and stability. Whatever the conditions, such individuals are as extensive as the skies, as vast as the oceans, as glorious and sturdy as the mountains, and as humble as the earth. They are never influenced by things which occur in their environment, never corrupted by their social relationships with others, and never submit to the compelling challenges they face; on the contrary, they display humbleness, and protect everyone, and everything, around them. They are like gold which is melted down to its original purity, and even if they were placed in ovens capable of melting granite, their unblemished characters would never change. They suffered so much pain that no longer does the blaze of affliction effect them; they will never succumb to any flames of anguish.

O ego! You must sense and experience the grievances of others so deep in your conscience that nobody ever has to anticipate your support. You must sense their pain so deep in your soul that you shed tears. Through your sorrow, the tears of all those around you dry and fade away. You share their affliction and misery so their souls find relief in your presence.

When a fortunate person is successful in arranging their life accordingly, it is virtually as if they have experienced the best of all pleasures. The person is commemorated on the earth and in the heavens as one granted the honor of being a vicegerent of God.

The human nature is intertwined with both delight and sorrow; the perfect person is, on the one hand, a dungeon keeper who can imprison his sorrow behind the bars of his willpower; on the other hand, at the time of delight he is a bird keeper who sets free his messenger pigeons, sending them to the farthest distances to spread the good news. The perfect person knows what to tie up and what to let loose. Indeed, controlling our whims and desires through willpower is an achievement, but expanding our hearts to the extent that we are capable of welcoming everyone is an act of outstanding bravery.

O ego! Always be brave and support bravery! Use your conscience as a touchstone while criticizing yourself; and constantly smile at others conveying the beauty of your heart that is as pure as gold! And when you smile at others, always remember to be cautious and discern well who is who! By nature, you are exposed to all kinds of manners, and the clearest evidence of this was your first adventure in the heavens. While the angels rocked your cradle and sang lullabies of admiration, devils were conducting ceremonies of jealousy. Even on that very first day you had to confront extreme envy, as well as dumbfounding looks of admiration. We do not know for sure whether you were touched by the evil eye or not; there is no doubt that you stumbled at first even if eventually you have soared up high. When you miscalculated time and stretched your hand to the forbidden fruit before it was due – which is quite a normal act for ordinary people, but a falter in the league of noble souls – it resulted in your incarceration in this dungeon of the world. No, no! Not in the dungeon, but in the heart of this earth, which serves as the birthplace of the beloved ones. The true wisdom of the tree of life came with the beloved, the first fruit of your seemingly unpleasant fate, the fruit that was sweeter than any other.

Indeed, if you remained in Paradise you would have continued to exist as a fruitless tree, unable to develop, and would have never attained awareness of the potential abundance. Whereas when you set your pavilion in this world, this land of dust and soil was transformed into a garden of roses…and this worn-out realm to which you were expelled became the garden of the exiled Prophets and saints. Eventually, the angels have excelled in their admiration, and the jealousy of the devils revolved and penetrated their own hearts like a spear.

Therefore, guard your own values! Strive to benefit from this exile, for it is considered as the path to reaching the pleasure of God. Do not miss this opportunity to come close to the Divine and do not distance yourself from Him. Abstain from pleasing Satan by falling into the traps of resentment, hostility, anger, ambition, and jealousy! If one day you stumble and deviate beyond your own boundaries, behave as the Prophet Adam did: rise, compose yourself, and confess to your crime. Turn towards God’s door, which is constantly open to everyone, and do not give your sins and errors the chance to exist, not even for a moment! Revive the nature of humanity, which was corrupted by sin and altered, with the elixir of repentance, and guide humanity towards the pleasure of God! And while doing so, remember that humans, by nature, are the same, so forgive others because just as you sinned, there is always the possibility that they too can make mistakes. In fact, when these individuals succumb to their desires, have compassion for them whenever possible, embrace them and assist them in any way you can. Never assume that you have the right to question the sins of others. If occupying yourself with sins and mistakes amuses you, then use this hobby to rectify your own mistakes so the tiny blemishes of others will not make you forget your own greasy black spots.

Call upon everyone like the breeze carrying the scent of roses. Burn like a candle and enlighten others, but never attribute this great sacrifice to your own interests. Turn like a wheel and groan, and extinguish the flames of all the suffering souls, but never consider your own suffering. Burn away inside, but spread a pleasant scent into your environment, and never complain. Always be humble, and never boast about the favors granted to you by God; on the contrary, consider this as an advance granted to the needy, and feel the embarrassment of obtaining your reward in advance. If you consider your services and efforts to be a favor to others, then you will eventually begin to expect compliments. The cure for this disease is very difficult. It is a disease that will scare everyone away from you, and if you persist, then every day, to the contrary of your expectations, you will experience blows and drive people away… But if you aspire to peace, you will find it in abstinence, humbleness, self-deprecation, and contentment. Even if they are on the path of bliss, those who consider themselves superior to others, those who claim to have extraordinary abilities, those who expect compliments from everyone, those who act with rage and anger, will eventually face misery.

O ego! Spit in the face of your inner malice if you have the courage! Eliminate disloyalty from your life. Overthrow oppression, and destroy shamelessness – remember that God is present everywhere; contain the emotions of evil with faith in divine retribution; strive to remain on the path of God’s pleasure, and not on the path of whims and desires. Never forget that God sees you at all times. Tremble like the leaves on a tree and cast away your sins, the shortcomings and evil acts that corrupt your nature and are unfamiliar to your soul and a great burden on your heart. Every effort you make to escape such sin is classified as a form of jihad and will bring you closer to God. On the contrary, if you distance yourself from God, you will undergo the most painful of separations, and will suffocate amidst loneliness. There will be no rewards in your record of good deeds; you will be in a state of spiritual darkness and gloom. Therefore, awaken and recover from this darkness. Guard your human values, and do not sacrifice the Paradise you once lost due to impatience.

Every attempt to regain what was lost is like planting new seeds to be sown in the earth: when the time comes, the fruits of this crop are sure to multiply. Therefore do not hesitate; spread kindness, favor, and excellence to the whole world. Purify your emotions focused on evil, and live your life based upon the eternal happiness of others! But while doing so, free yourself from the confinement of your personal accounts and interests that destroy the soul. Take all the burden on yourself and spread ease to those around you. Listen to others and groan with their grief, but always strive to be a source of strength and relief to others. Open your heart to others with love, so that anger and hostility perish, and the victims of their own ego run to your embrace.

Cascade like a river of prosperity into the souls of others. Embrace everything and everyone with your radiance day after night like the sun and the moon. Whenever a person turns to you with some kind of expectation, never contradict the good opinion they have of you. Always lead while serving others and displaying kindness, and strive to be last when rewards come; avoid depending on worldly benefits for acts performed for God as you would avoid a poisonous snake. Even if you find your feelings unintentionally inclining for rewards, view this deviation as the worst kind of impurity, and immediately purify yourself.

Live with kindness and convey grace to others. The feet which tread on the path of goodness and grace are superior to the head, and the hearts which beat with generosity and kindness are as sacred as the Ka‘ba. Basically, your nature is an abode of divinity, your goal is God’s pleasure, and your path in life is a circumambulation of sacredness upon which you constantly travel on the course to God. For as long as you guard this path, your glory will be praised beyond the heavens, and your name will be aligned with lofty spirits. Therefore, increase your steadfastness on this path; increase it because we need this diligence just as we need water and bread, in a world in which human values are degraded. Think well, speak well, and constantly pursue acts of goodness.

Flags always appear to be more gracious draped from the shoulders of those in motion. Bees are classified as beneficent for as long as they produce honey. The march is more imposing than standing still. So rise and carry the flag, fill your hive of spirituality with honey, and never lose your charm and kindness. Always be willing to serve others and be prepared for the journey to the world beyond! Although it is not certain when the command of death will come, this is a decree which is both indisputable and inevitable. Therefore, always be alert, purify yourselves from sin; open the door to the undetermined call and wait…

Wright DJ et al. Three planets orbiting Wolf 1061. Astrophysical Journal Letters, December 2015.

Astronomers from Australia have discovered the closest potentially habitable planet outside our solar system. They named it Wolf 1061c. It is four times the mass of Earth and only 14 light years away (126 trillion kilometers). The closest exoplanet discovered so far was Gliese 667c, which is 22 light years from earth. Wolf 1061c is located in the constellation Ophiucus and is one of three planets that orbit around a red dwarf star, Wolf 1061. Scientists find this discovery particularly exciting, because all three planets have low enough mass to have potentially solid rocky surfaces, unlike gaseous planets, such as Neptune. The one orbiting closest to Wolf 1061 would be too hot and the furthest one would be too cold. But the one in the middle, Wolf 1061c, is potentially optimum for generating temperatures just right for the formation of liquid water and, ultimately, life. Red dwarfs are known to be very active with X-ray bursts and super flares, which doom the possibility of any life. However, Wolf 1061 seems to be a quiet star, and very similar to our sun. The next challenge for scientists is to develop a method to study the atmosphere of Wolf 1061c to conclusively say whether it is conducive to life.

Most cancers are found to be avoidable

Wu S. et al. Substantial contribution of extrinsic risk factors to cancer development. Nature, December 2015.

It has been long recognized that cancer is caused by a mix of factors, including genes, lifestyle, and environment. However, the relative contributions of each factors have never been settled. A recent study found that the risk of developing most cancers is more correlated to lifestyle and environmental factors than genes and DNA mutations. The biggest risk factors are diet, sun exposure, UV radiation, tobacco, alcohol, the human papilloma virus, and hepatitis B and C. They make up between 70% and 90% of several types of cancer, including lung, colorectal, skin, and cervical. Researchers particularly focused on people who move from a low-risk cancer area to a high-risk cancer area, and found that migrated people soon developed diseases at significant rates consistent with new risky environments. They also analyzed a comprehensive set of specific mutations associated with certain cancers. Ultraviolet light, for example, creates a signature of mutations in DNA. When cross-compared, spontaneous mutations during cell division rarely reaches the frequencies of producing cancer mutations, even in tissues with high rates of cell division. In almost all cases, the research team found that some exposure to environmental factors would be needed to trigger the disease. So if you smoke or are overweight or tan for hours under the sun, you dramatically increase your odds getting cancer. You can do a lot to reduce your cancer risk; you can’t just blame “bad genes” for getting sick.

Mutant mosquitos to stop malaria

Gantz VM et al. Highly efficient Cas9-mediated gene drive for population modification of the malaria vector mosquito Anopheles stephensi. PNAS, December 2015.

The tiny mosquito is one of the deadliest weapons in human history. Malaria is thought to be the oldest and deadliest disease. Despite intense efforts at treatment and eradication, it still is a reason for the death of approximately half a million people per year. So researchers have changed their tactics and tried to treat mosquitos instead of humans. Researchers used the revolutionary gene-editing technique CRISPR-Cas9 and generated a new breed of malaria with two genetic modifications. The first modified gene released antibodies against the malarial parasite and rendered its host immune to the parasite. The second modified gene, called “the gene drive,” would copy and paste the malaria-resistant genes into another mosquito, when mated. This two-gene system has the potential to spread malaria resistance across a wild population in just 10 generations – in other words, a single summer. Experts think that further research is needed before conducting a field trial. One potential problem would be to create a “hole” in the eco-system by changing the balance of malaria-carrying mosquito species. However, since the approach does not kill mosquitos rather make them resistant to the parasites, only a small amount of ecological damages are expected.

The process of dissolution occurs when a solute (solid, liquid, or gas) is placed in a solvent (also solid, liquid, or gas) and dissolves to form a solution which is a homogeneous mixture. A homogeneous mixture is uniform in composition and properties throughout. Pure substances, whether they are elements or compounds, are rarely found in nature. Most materials we encounter are mixtures of two or more substances. A mixture of sand and salt is not homogeneous, while a mixture of salt and water forms a homogeneous mixture (or solution) when enough water is added to dissolve all of the salt present. Likewise, gases dissolve in liquids to form solutions. Fish can survive in water by using their gills to extract the dissolved oxygen. Much of the world around us is made up of aqueous solutions. The oceans and our blood are only two of many examples.¹

Aqueous solutions are the solutions in which water is the solvent. Water is called the “universal solvent” because it dissolves more substances than any other liquid. The kidneys and water’s solvent properties play an essential role in keeping us alive and healthy. The kidneys are responsible for filtering out substances that enter our bodies from the foods and drinks we consume. However, the kidneys have to get rid of these substances when they accumulate. This is where water helps out: being such a great solvent, water washing through the kidneys dissolves these substances and sends them on their way out of our bodies.2

Polarity is the property whose job is to ensure water to be such an excellent solvent. Water molecules have a polar arrangement of oxygen and hydrogen atoms—one side (hydrogen) has a positive electrical charge and the other side (oxygen) has a negative charge. This allows the water molecule to become attracted to many polar molecules as well as less-polar molecules. Water can become strongly attracted to a polar compound, such as salt (NaCl); this allows it to disrupt the attractive forces that hold the sodium and chloride ions in the salt compound together, and, thus, dissolves it.²

Similarly, glucose, which is a carbohydrate and the most important simple sugar, dissolves in water because polar water molecules attach to the glucose molecules. The six O-H (hydroxyl-) groups in glucose are the polar centers of a glucose molecule. The oxygen in each -O-H has a slight negative charge, and the hydrogen end of the -O-H has a slight positive charge. They are attracted to the water molecules by dipole-dipole forces. When the attractive forces of the water molecules for the glucose exceeds the attractive forces between the glucose and its neighboring glucose molecules, the water can pull the sugar molecule out of the crystal. It is said that water has “dissolved” the sugar molecule. This process continues until either the sugar is completely dissolved or the unattached water molecules are exhausted; in other words, when “the solution is saturated.”³

“Like dissolves like” is an expression used by chemists to state that polar solvents dissolve polar solutes; non-polar solvents dissolve non-polar solutes.For example: water is polar, oil is non-polar. Water will not dissolve oil. Water is polar, and table salt (NaCl) is ionic, which is extremely polar. According to the rule of thumb, like dissolves like, and polar dissolves polar; thus, water dissolves table salt.⁴

Polar water molecules are attracted to ions (atoms or groups of atoms with a charge) where “cations” are ions with a positive charge and “anions” have a negative charge. Most ionic compounds have high solubility in water, which means that large concentrations of those compounds can dissolve before the capacity for water molecules to isolate the ions is exceeded. The point at which Na+ and Cl-, for example, would begin to precipitate a salt in seawater is termed “saturation.” For NaCl (the mineral “halite”), this only occurs when seawater evaporates and is reduced to about 10% of its original volume. Besides Na+ and Cl- ions, which account for over 85% of the total dissolved solids (salts), seawater contains other important ions such as Mg2+, Ca2+, K+, Sr2+, B+3, SO42-, HCO3-, Br-, and F-, where the positive and negative charges are balanced. As a sign of mercy in its creation, seawater is electrically neutral; otherwise, the flow of current from the sea would be shocking!⁵

All other dissolved substances in seawater are at very low concentrations (parts per million or billion, ppm or ppb: 10-6 to 10-9). This includes important nutrients such as phosphate and nitrate that are cycled by organisms (ions called “bio-limiting”) and essential for life. Metals are also found in trace concentrations. There are about 9 million tons of gold dissolved in seawater, which is about equal to all the gold mined on earth throughout history.5

The evaporation of about 81-96% of the mass of seawater produces a predictable sequence of mineral salts (as minerals become saturated at a certain point) such as CaCO3 (calcite), CaSO4 (gypsum), NaCl (halite), and the K+ and Mg2+ salts (w/ SO42- and Cl-). There is enough salt in the ocean to cover the earth’s land with a layer 170 meters thick. Such natural deposits from ancient oceans are called “evaporites.”

Even though most ionic compounds are highly soluble in water, there are some that are insoluble (or very slightly soluble). Soluble substances can form a solution of at least 0.1M (0.1 moles per liter) at 25 C while insoluble substances cannot.For an ionic substance to dissolve in water, there are two competing factors that determine the enthalpy of the solution ΔHsol, which is the enthalpy (energy) change when a solute is dissolved in a solvent (which is water, in this case):

1. The lattice energy LE, or the energy of the formation of the crystal between infinitely separated ions. LE is proportional to the charges of its ions. This value is always positive, as energy is required to separate the ions.
2. The hydration energy of gaseous ions, which is the enthalpy change when gaseous ions dissolve in sufficient water to give an infinitely dilute solution. These values are always negative, as energy is released upon the hydration of ions.

As an example, the LE of calcium carbonate (CaCO3, or calcite), which is insoluble in water, is so large, a great amount of free energy would be required to break the strongly attracted ions apart, and this energy has to come from the enthalpy of hydration. However, the enthalpy of hydration is not large enough to overcome the large lattice energy, hence it does not dissolve in water and exists as a solid (a precipitate form).⁶

It would be very hard to predict whether a precipitate is formed in an aqueous reaction if there were not a number of patterns in the data obtained from measuring the solubility of various salts.These patterns form the basis for the solubility rules⁷ which can guide predictions of whether a salt will dissolve in water. This sense of order and harmony in creation is an exceptional gift to human beings, for it makes our lives much easier.

References

1. http://dwb.unl.edu/Teacher/NSF/C09/C09Links/www.chem.ualberta.ca/courses/plambeck/p101/p01181.htm
2. http://water.usgs.gov/edu/solvent.html
3. http://www.800mainstreet.com/9/0009-002-process.htmls
4. http://www.kentchemistry.com/links/bonding/LikeDissolveslike.htm
5. https://www.e-education.psu.edu/earth540/content/c3_p4.html
6. http://chemistry.stackexchange.com/questions/17089/why-doesnt-calcium-carbonate-dissolve-in-water-even-though-it-is-an-ionic-compo
7. http://www.chem.sc.edu/faculty/morgan/resources/solubility/

The world has never been more reliant on the fruits of science. Yet the tree of knowledge that produces this fruit is often viewed as suspect. Around the world, it’s often religious people whose condemnations of science are the most vocal.

Religious people in much of the world are actively pushing back against what they call “the worldview of science.” Many question the methods, the practices, the assumptions, and the funding priorities of science. But the same people bring no such skepticism to the fruits of science. People want good cell phones, good cars, state-of-the-art hospitals, safe food, modern cities, stable bridges, and the most modern technology.

Religion versus science. Interpreted in the context of warfare, science exists as a challenge to religion, and the duty of religious persons is to protect their tradition against the dangerous encroachments onto their territory by scientists and their theories. Both sides must be ready to fight at a moment’s notice.

This, at any rate, is the dominant view in our day. This is how we’ve been conditioned to behave: we defend the group we feel closest to and attack its enemies. We see science or religion – not science and religion.

But then there are the peacemakers — the ones who seek other solutions to conflict; the ones who prioritize partnership over war. I believe that it’s possible to develop constructive relationships between science and each particular religious tradition. Harmony will be found in the opening of specific religious traditions to the world of science. Until we acknowledge the vastly different challenges faced by the different religions, genuine progress is unlikely.

Before we get to the differences, however, let’s see how much common ground we can find.

Partnerships more urgent than ever

One obvious area of partnership is global climate change. But the environmental crisis is not the only area of common ground: science-religion partnerships are crucial across a wide variety of areas. Medical ethics and assessments of the patient’s quality of life profit from religious input. Moral outrage at the design and use of atomic, biological, and chemical weapons is often fueled by religious intuitions about what is unacceptable for one human being to do to another. The rapid expansion of technology inevitably raises ethical dilemmas. Yet there are relatively few religious thinkers who are well enough versed in the scientific details and nuanced enough in their judgments that they can make useful recommendations for when and how technology should be used.

Cutting-edge scientific research also raises some of the most interesting conceptual questions that humans have ever encountered. Physics raises fundamental questions about the birth of the universe and its distant future. Since the time of Darwin, philosophers and theologians have speculated whether biological evolution is guided in some way, or whether evolution is random.

Finally, the rapid advances in the neurosciences, fueled by greatly enhanced imaging techniques, raise urgent questions about the nature and causes of consciousness and cognition, of rationality and morality. Does the power of neuroscientific explanation prove that we are (as Francis Crick once wrote) “nothing but a pack of neurons”? Does it force us to conclude (as another neurologist put it), “Wires and chemicals, that’s all we are — wires and chemicals.” Many religious (and non-religious) scholars stand opposed to this view. They make the case that we are somehow more, that our conscious experience is unique among the species on this planet. They stand much closer to the response by the secular Jewish scientist Melvin Konner:

I suspect that we are seeing [in this example] the most rudimentary form of the key to being human: a sort of wonderment at the spectacle of the world, and its apprehensibility by the mind; a focusing, of the sheer purpose of elevation; an intelligent waking dream. In that capacity, perhaps, we find our greatest distinction, and it may be our salvation.

The questions I have just summarized are among the fundamental questions about human nature and the cosmos that are posed for us by this age of science. These questions arise naturally, compellingly, at the boundaries between recent scientific developments and the world’s most significant philosophical and religious traditions. Some of them are metaphysical questions. But they are also existential questions — questions about meaning, the construction of meaning, the search for meaning. Because they are about the creation of meaning, social sciences such as psychology, sociology, and anthropology play important roles in researching them.

To aid in a dialogue, scientific scholars should not let their reports delve into highly technical prose, written for a narrow circle of academic specialists. The best scientists express the complex dilemmas and provocative possibilities that emerge at the ever-expanding intersections of science and religion, yet they do so in ways that are broadly accessible. Our audience is every person who seeks to understand the implications of being part of a single web of life that is becoming conscious of itself, its origins, and its ultimate future.

A new dialogue

What would be the signs that we are working constructively together on overlapping topics characterized by common questions and assumptions?

I suggest three.

1. A core set of agreed-upon data and assumptions, however minimal.
2. Clear and honest formulation of disagreements. Can we clearly name the issues that threaten to tear us into warring factions? For example, for one research group all valid explanations must be naturalist explanations, of the sort accessible to contemporary science; for another group, if explanations do not include some reference to God’s supernatural actions, they cannot be valid.
3. Constructive proposals to bridge differences. Scholars must help us to analyze differences, to formulate the underlying assumptions of the other side, and to construct theories that might synthesize opposing positions.

Back to the frontiers

The birth of religion and science as a field is often cited as the 1960s; it’s sometimes connected with the 1966 publication of Ian Barbour’s Issues in Science and Religion. I can remember the early work in the 1980s and ’90s, when there was a clear excitement about sharing these discussions with one’s religious and scientific friends. There was a clear sense that a real partnership was emerging.

I wonder what it would be like to recover some of that open spirit of inquiry that characterized those early years — that sense of exploration and discovery. What would it take?

My list would include some of the following qualities:

1. willingness to compromise
2. a sense of journeying, learning, and exploring together
3. an interest in new data, in new things humans are learning about the world, and about ourselves
4. Everyone, including religious people, would admit they don’t know all the answers in advance.
5. We would see an excitement about differences, with the conviction that pursuing these differences can lead to deeper understanding

Let’s consider this last point for a moment. What does it point to, and what does it reveal?

Irreconcilable differences

When two people file for divorce in the United States, they often cite what they call “irreconcilable differences.”

In certain cultures, and at certain periods in the past, the marriage between science and religion was seen as a healthy and productive one. Today, many commentators are speaking of “irreconcilable differences” and are claiming that a complete divorce is the only solution.

Many of us hold a different view. We believe that declaring a complete divorce between science and religion would be a tragedy. The partnership that they have had could and should be continued. It is essential for the good of humanity. Those of us who identify as Muslim, Jew or Christian, as Hindu, Buddhist, Sikh or Jain, feel that we must speak up when our co-religionists dismiss science as an enemy of our religion. We want them to understand that this divorce is not necessary.

Those of us who are scientists argue the same way with our fellow scientists. Sure, we say, some religious people are fundamentally opposed to science, and some religious beliefs are incompatible with science. Still, religion as such is not our enemy. We can learn to build useful bridges between our science and their religion. Indeed, we argue, we have already found some neutral territory, and even some places of harmony. We are convinced that the actual and potential partnerships between science and religion are valuable enough that it would be a tragedy to declare that the two sides are irreconcilably at war.

Sciences and religions as a new paradigm

Predictions of secularists notwithstanding, religion is not “withering away”; globally, it is expanding faster than ever. And yet religious language is used by some to promote dogmatism, the rejection of science, and even violence.

There is some encouraging data, however. In most cases, extremism in religious communities is inversely correlated with the degree of their engagement with science. To the extent that we can promote a serious and ongoing engagement with the methods and results of the sciences, we decrease the probability that religious communities will turn toward fundamentalism.

Our challenge is, each tradition makes its peace with science in different ways. Until we as scholars in this area learn to understand and acknowledge the vastly different ways that the various traditions engage with science — what each tradition wants, what it needs, and what it fears — we will continue to misunderstand and misrepresent the other as if it shared the same concerns that define our own tradition.

Let’s consider some examples. I begin with two religious traditions that have been able to live in a mostly non-conflictual way with science: Judaism and Buddhism.

The Jewish intellectual tradition has been able to incorporate modern science with relative ease. The reasons lie deep in the Jewish tradition — in midrash, in the Rabbinical tradition, and in the destruction of the Jerusalem Temple in 70 CE. Although all of Tanak, the Hebrew Bible, reveals the nature of the Almighty, the first five books (the Torah) have the highest authority for Jews. Observance of the Mitzvot, the 613 commandments in the Torah, stands at the center of Jewish observance, and hence Jewish identity. Because the actions of observance are most important, the interpretations that one offers about the commandments, and even the beliefs that one holds about God, come second.

Over the centuries, Jewish thinkers were able to draw on a wide variety of philosophical schools to express emerging understandings of Jewish identity and Jewish views of reality. Rabbinical discourse valued multiplicity, difference of opinion, and debate. When modern science arose, the sphere of debate was simply expanded to include the new theories. Jewish communities valued the growth of knowledge, and many observant Jews became leading scientists.

Over the last decades Buddhism has also evolved to become one of the most science-friendly religions in the world. As always, there are personal and political reasons behind this phenomenon. The 14th Dalai Lama has promoted and personally sponsored a wide variety of projects in religion and science. His famous comment is often repeated: “if scientific analysis were conclusively to demonstrate certain claims in Buddhism to be false, then we must accept the findings of science and abandon those claims.”

Still, the reasons for the Dalai Lama’s support of science lie deep within Buddhist thought and practice. He speaks for much of the Buddhist tradition when we writes, “The … dimension … of basic spiritual well-being — by which I mean inner mental and emotional strength and balance — does not depend on religion but comes from our innate human nature as beings with a natural disposition toward compassion, kindness, and caring for others.”

“Buddhism, like Judaism, places the major emphasis on practice. Meditative practices are central, along with certain types of experience and states of consciousness that meditation can produce. In Mahayana Buddhist in particular, achieving the state of compassion, and expressing it in action, is the highest goal; metaphysical concepts are important only to the extent that they promote this outcome. Compassion simply means the desire “to alleviate the suffering of others and to promote their well-being.”

This approach leads to an avid interest in certain areas of science, which Buddhist practitioners, like many Hindu practitioners, view as natural allies to their own spiritual quest. They look to science to support traditional claims about the benefits of meditation and to verify the unusual physiological achievements of advanced meditators. Many practitioners are willing to distance themselves from ancient metaphysical teachings in the belief that what is most important to Buddhism will find scientific support and confirmation over the long term.

While Judaism and Buddhist offer the most unambiguous cases, many other traditions have openings to science that are currently being emphasized and explored.

In my opinion, of these various traditions that we are considering, none is more important globally today than the engagement of Islam with science.

In 2008, the Islamic Forum of Science, Cultures, and the Future of Humanity adopted a declaration which stated, with reference to Islam, that “the so-called ‘warfare between science and religion’ is unnecessary and destructive—to religion, to science, and to the future of our species and our planet,” and that it “is possible in this century to bridge the gap between the cultures of science and religion. Succeeding in this task will require greater openness to contributions from all fields of knowledge…” They also stated that they “encourage an interdisciplinary approach to the discussion of science, culture, and religion. Yet this discussion must be conducted with discipline and intellectual rigor by people with the requisite expertise.”

It is not my place as a non-Muslim to specify how Islam should make peace with science. To find solutions, Muslim scholars and imams are engaging in deep study of the Holy Qur’an, the classic tradition of Islamic philosophy and theology, and of course scientific theories and the history and philosophy of science. We as non-Muslim scholars can offer resources in these fields, and we can share solutions that our traditions have found useful. And of course we can share our confidence that solutions can be found, that Islam does not face an either/or: either reject modern science, or question the words of God’s Prophet.

Many scholars are focusing on the most pressing issues in the Islam-science dialogue: Qur’anic support for the pursuit of knowledge of the natural world; how to connect natural causes with God as the final cause of all beings and all phenomena; natural knowledge and revealed knowledge; the apparent randomness of the evolutionary process versus God’s direction of all creation; the uniqueness of human beings; naturalism versus God’s supernatural acts; and, of particular importance, how to read the Holy Qur’an so that it does not become a direct competitor with science, while still allowing the Holy Book to function as the authoritative record of the teachings of the Prophet, on whom be peace.

When it comes to my own tradition, I am obliged to speak not just of the strengths of Christian engagement with the sciences, but also of where we have fallen short.Some of the most extensive literature comes from Christian authors, and virtually every topic of Christian theology has been brought into dialogue with the sciences. One finds conservative and fundamentalist answers that reject science in toto as incompatible with Christianity, or that argue that Christian beliefs actually constitute better science than the natural sciences. At the other end of the spectrum, one finds Christian doctrines interpreted in purely scientific terms, so that no supernatural elements remain. In between these two extremes Christian authors have explored a vast variety of science-inspired interpretations of their tradition.

This radical pluralism is a strength: Christian scholars propose, for each other and for other traditions, a great number of ways that compatibilities and incompatibilities with science can be expressed and incorporated.

Conclusion: Finding common cause across differences

As scholars study relations at the various intersections of science and religion, we develop a shared body of knowledge.

I hope that we will be able to express differences without being dogmatic. I continue to be inspired by the examples of Muslim, Jewish, and Christian scientists who have accepted the call to productive scholarship, and thus have been able to make progress even in areas where there is real conflict. Deep scholarship involves deep listening. Where will we find that common foundation of respect today, without which we cannot succeed?

We do best when we connect with affection and interest across the two cultures of science and religion — when we find common cause, common interests, common challenges.

I believe that certain common values characterize our work. We value empirical data and seek to apportion our beliefs to the evidence. Because we recognize that specialization can lead to fragmentation, we value interdisciplinary scholarship and the crossing of boundaries. We know that the natural sciences, although crucial for knowledge of the world, do not tell the entire story, for the techniques and conclusions of the social sciences also play an important role. And both are supplemented by the humanities — by philosophy, ethics, and religious studies.

It is with a call to compassion and action that I wish to conclude. For the first time in the history of humanity, humans now face a truly global crisis, one for which we, ultimately, are responsible. We have upset the natural rhythm of the planet. The effects of human-induced climate change are already producing mass migrations, starvation, deaths, and extinctions of species. No one will be able to understand the crisis and take appropriate actions unless they listen carefully to science — to climatologists, environmental theorists, ecologists, and others. Yet science alone will not be sufficient to motivate the necessary response: a global turning toward a sustainable, ecologically based civilization is also necessary.

Fortunately, humanity does have resources that can supplement scientific knowledge and technological ability: we have the call to compassion, and the reminder of the sacredness of all life, that resounds across the world’s great religious traditions. These values, brought to bear on what may be the biggest crisis that humanity has ever faced, can make the crucial difference. If the decision is separation — “science or religion” — then I do not think that humanity will be able to marshal the moral and spiritual resources that it needs to slow the pace of climate change. If the decision is integration — “science and religion” — then we have a chance, a fighting chance.

We live in a time of deep division: will the coming years reveal an increasing number of partnerships between science and religion, or will we see a battle to the death between the two?

The world has never been more reliant on the fruits of science. Yet the tree of knowledge that produces this fruit is often viewed as suspect. Around the world, it’s often religious people whose condemnations of science are the most vocal.

Religious people in much of the world are actively pushing back against what they call “the worldview of science.” Many question the methods, the practices, the assumptions, and the funding priorities of science. But the same people bring no such skepticism to the fruits of science. People want good cell phones, good cars, state-of-the-art hospitals, safe food, modern cities, stable bridges, and the most modern technology.

Religion versus science. Interpreted in the context of warfare, science exists as a challenge to religion, and the duty of religious persons is to protect their tradition against the dangerous encroachments onto their territory by scientists and their theories. Both sides must be ready to fight at a moment’s notice.

This, at any rate, is the dominant view in our day. This is how we’ve been conditioned to behave: we defend the group we feel closest to and attack its enemies. We see science or religion – not science and religion.

But then there are the peacemakers — the ones who seek other solutions to conflict; the ones who prioritize partnership over war. I believe that it’s possible to develop constructive relationships between science and each particular religious tradition. Harmony will be found in the opening of specific religious traditions to the world of science. Until we acknowledge the vastly different challenges faced by the different religions, genuine progress is unlikely.

Before we get to the differences, however, let’s see how much common ground we can find.