I think we are all searching for something in our lives. No one seems to know exactly what that something is, but we all are seeking what is greater than ourselves. I think that is how I would define life—a constant pursuit of that which is beyond us. We as humans are eternally stretching out our hands towards the horizon, constantly reaching for what is impossible. This aspect of human nature has propelled us to amazing heights, but even as we are redefining what is possible, we are pushing people behind us in our inexhaustible quest for something indefinable.

The world is constantly changing, developing into new iterations of past versions. In the past few hundred years, though life has changed immensely, some has regrettably remained the same. Revolutions in agriculture, industry, and technology have shaped the world and shifted the very nature of life. The world of today would be unrecognizable to people even ten or fifteen years ago. Though humanity as a whole has advanced much, as always, some people have been left behind. Many people do not have access to any of the amenities that I, as a United States citizen, often take for granted. Running water, electricity, and Internet access are things that others only dream of.  Some people do not even take for granted that they will live to see the next day. Things and situations these people have no control over constantly limit them. I can only hope that the next big revolution in our world will be a revolution in what the daily life of the average person entails.

I cannot imagine what the world will be like in one year, much less by the time I am 100. The future is unfathomable: it is constantly evolving, and the smallest action can trigger enormous changes. I suppose I am writing this letter to myself as a way of opening a window to the future. There is so much I want to know, so much that could help me shape the future. There is so much that will change between now and when I am 100; between 2016 and 2098. In 2098, the world will be on the verge of a precipice, approaching a new century. New ideas and inventions I cannot begin to imagine will be commonplace. Everything possible now will seem insignificant to what is possible in 2098. The way I live my life now will seem antiquated. My generation will have handed over control of the world to the generations after us. It is my hope that my generation will be remembered for what good we did while we still controlled what happened to the world.

All people have an innate desire to be unique: to be the smartest or the prettiest or the best. We all like to believe we are special and that we matter to the world simply because of the fact that we exist. In a sense, I think that this is true. We are all inarguably different. Each of us has specific gifts and talents that make us distinctly ourselves. Yet, unfortunately, whether we matter is not fully dependent on our existence. It is dependent on what we do with that existence.

What do I want to do with my existence? I strive to be more than myself, more than just a voiceless, insignificant teenage girl. At 18, I have already grown tired of labels and judgments. I have grown tired of people subtly telling me who I should be in the same instant as they innocently ask who I want to be. I have grown tired of being confined by expectations. I have grown tired of being silenced. I want to break free from that which limits me. I want to extend beyond what—and who— I am supposed to be.

I want to change the world.  No, I am not one of those naïve, idealistic girls who believes that I matter in the grand scheme of things. I acknowledge my insignificance. I do not believe that I will be the one who cures cancer or creates world peace or becomes the first woman President. I will, however, do my best to change what I can. Whether I will impact millions of people or just a few is left up to the fates. I merely wish to change my personalworld, my tiny corner of reality. I am determined to leave a mark on my world, as clichéd as that sounds.

I cannot imagine what I will be like in the future. So much will have happened by then. What will I have experienced? Who will I have met? Where will I have traveled? There are so many possible endings to my story that I cannot even begin to guess what will happen to me. I barely have an idea of what story has begun, much less what will impact its plotline. Hopefully, at the end of it all, I will have no regrets. Hopefully by then I will have discovered what I was born to do. For now, as François Rabelais once said, “I go to seek a Great Perhaps.”

Best Regards,

The Elizabeth of Times Present and Past

Dearest Elizabeth,

It seems so ironic that memories are so fragile and fleeting, yet they are so integral in defining who we are as humans. The person I was in 2016—the person you are right now—has transformed slowly into who I am now without me realizing that anything was changing. I have been shaped by what has happened to me, shaped by the memories that make up my life. There is so much advice I could impart to you to change what happened in your life, but this would change who you are—who I am. All of the decisions you make and all of the memories you gain will lead up to a final moment one day, a moment I am rapidly approaching now. In that moment, you will have to decide for yourself if you are happy with who you are and who you have been. You will have to determine on your own if your actions were right.  I will not give any specifics about what has happened in your life or what has happened to the world, though I know how much you would like to know. Additionally, if you are looking for a guide to who you should be, you will not be receiving one. The point of life is to discover the point of life.

However, I will impart some wisdom to you that I have learned throughout my life. First of all, only you have the ability to change your life. You are the only one in control of your actions. Though it may seem like the world is conspiring against you to confine you, there is always a choice. You need only to look.

Second, make sure to remember what is truly important. Objects are merely temporary; people can be in your life forever, if you so choose. It is your actions that will determine if the people in your life remain there. Do not forget who has helped you become who you are. Do not forget those beside you in your attempts to help everyone else. Also, remember that what seems to be the most important in your life today may not be the most important tomorrow or the day after that. As you grow, your mind will continue to change what is important in your life. Pay attention to these changes, and readjust your priorities based on them.

Third, recognize the passage of time. A timespan that seems to you like forever will soon become your past. Do not let time go to waste. There are so many things I know you want to accomplish in your life. It seems like you have a lifetime ahead of you to actually do these things, and in a very real sense you do have a lifetime. Trust me, though: a lifetime is not as long as it seems to be. One day you will be 100. One day you will reflect on your life and wonder if you could have fulfilled any more of your dreams. Today is the day you will look back on your life. Today is the day I look back on my life. Try to make sure you have done all you can with what opportunities you were given.

Perhaps most importantly, keep in mind the nature of change. It is so easy to form one image in your mind of what needs to be changed. It will seem like you have an enemy to face, one thing to conquer so that all will turn out well. If you imagine millions of so-called enemies, the world would still be more complicated than that. Change will not be as simple as “winning”. It will be complicated. It will be difficult. It will have unforeseen consequences. You will not be rewarded for it. Often, people will hate you for it. But change is necessary in order for life to continue and advance. Remember that. If you wish to change anything, this is the one thing you need to remember.

You wondered what impact your generation would have on the world. You wondered what impact you personally would have on the world. It is only natural that you wonder these things. Indeed, your generation is one that will profoundly impact the world. Even as the world of 2098 is approaching a tipping point, so too is the world of 2016. Tensions are rising, and problems are increasing. Individual powers are being taken away, even as other individual powers are growing. The rich are becoming richer and the poor are becoming poorer. The world seemingly contradicts itself in all aspects. The world is at a crosshairs. It is your generation that will decide what happens next.

A great war is coming in your lifetime. It is you and others like you who will decide what kind of war this is. Will it be a war against ourselves or will it be a war against what limits us all?

With Love,

The Once and Future Elizabeth

Computers have been compared to human brains in many ways. Computers are extremely fast processing devices, and we generally think they can do things faster than we can, since they perform very complex computations in less than a few microseconds. The fastest supercomputer today is called Tianhe-2, a supercomputer developed by China’s National University of Defense Technology, with a performance of 33.86 petaflop/s (quadrillions of calculations per second) [2].

Although this is almost incomprehensibly fast, current computer technology does not completely imitate the operations of the human brain. In fact, for a computer to approach the processing speed and skill of the brain, it would have to be very bulky, expensive, and power-inefficient. For example, in order to reach its incredible processing speed, Tianhe-2 needs to use 3,120,000 processor cores at the same time, occupying a space of 720 square meters (the equivalent of 10 midsize apartments), and spending 17.8 megawatts of power (enough to power 6,000 homes at the same time). The system has 1.4 million gigabytes of memory and 12.4 million gigabytes of storage. It was developed by a team of 1,300 scientists and engineers, at a total cost of 2.4 billion Yuan (390 Million US Dollars) [3].    

The human brain packs phenomenal computing power into a tiny space (0.01 square meter) and uses only 20 watts of energy (barely enough to run a dim light bulb) [4]. You could pack 72,000 human brains into Tianhe-2, and the supercomputer consumes power equivalent to 890,000 brains. So, one would expect it to be much powerful than our tiny brains. But is it?

Just imagine, for one second, if a supercomputer mimicked the human brain. In Japan, researchers used another supercomputer, named “K,” to simulate human brain activity – for one second [5]. K is currently the fourth most powerful computer in the world, with 705,024 processor cores and 1.4 million gigabytes of memory.

It used the open-source Neural Simulation Technology (NEST) tool to replicate a network consisting of 1.73 billion nerve cells connected by 10.4 trillion synapses [6]. While significant in size, the simulated network represented only 1% of the neuronal network in the human brain.

It took 40 minutes of computing time for this supercomputer to process and simulate the data for just one second of human brain’s 1% activity. Currently there is no computer in existence powerful enough to simulate the whole brain at the level of the individual nerve cell and its synapses [7].

This is because the average human brain consists of about 100 billion nerve cells (neurons) that are linked together by trillions of connections called synapses. As the tiny electrical impulses shoot across each neuron, they have to travel through these synapses, each of which contains about 1000 different switches which route that electrical impulse. In total, one human brain could contain hundreds of trillions of these neural pathways. Each neuron is able to contact any other neuron with no more than six inter-neuronal connections — six degrees of separation. [8]

The human brain is also the cheapest and most compact storage unit you can get. Considering there are around 100 billion cells in the human brain, and that each cell’s DNA can store 1.5 gigabytes of data, the approximate amount of data the brain’s DNA can store is 150 trillion gigabytes (the equivalent of 30 trillion DVDs worth of space) [9].

These unique capabilities of the human brain in terms of computation and data storage continue to inspire the next generation of supercomputer designers. Inspired by the fascinating architecture of the brain, scientists have recently developed a new kind of computer chip that uses no more power than a hearing aid and may eventually excel at calculations that perplex today’s supercomputers [10]. It tries to mimic the way brains recognize patterns, relying on densely interconnected webs of transistors similar to the brain’s neural networks.

The new brain-inspired chip’s electronic neurons are able to signal others when the amount of sensed light passes a certain threshold. Working in parallel, the neurons begin to organize the data into patterns suggesting the light is growing brighter, or changing color or shape. The chip contains 5.4 billion transistors, yet draws just 70 milliwatts of power. By contrast, modern Intel processors in today’s personal computers and data centers may have 1.4 billion transistors and consume far more power — 35 to 140 watts [11]. This is approximately 2000 times more power than the proposed new chip will use. This chip has one million neurons, making it about as complex as the brain of a bee.

Following another recent study, IBM has unveiled a prototype of another brain-inspired computer, which is powered by what is called “electronic blood.” Inspired by the space- and energy efficiency of the brain, IBM developed a “redox flow” system which pumps an electrolyte “blood” through a computer, carrying power in and taking heat out [12].

Their vision is that a petaflop supercomputer that would normally fill half a football field today, will be able to fit on your desktop by the year 2060. Using traditional approaches, this is impossible. If you were going to build a petaflop supercomputer by simply increasing the number of CPUs, you would need an area of 13,000 square meters, nearly two football fields, to host such a computer; and you would require 320 megawatts of electricity to power it, which is equivalent to a medium-sized city‘s electrical consumption.

If we want to fit a supercomputer inside a sugar cube in the near future, we will need a major paradigm shift in today’s electronics technology. To achieve this shift, we need to be motivated by our astonishing brain. As mentioned above, the human brain is tens of thousands of times more dense and efficient than any computer produced with the latest technology. That’s possible because it uses only one extremely efficient network of capillaries and blood vessels to transport heat and energy, all at the same time [13].

According to the scientists working in this area, the future generation of supercomputers can be more efficient in terms of storage space, energy consumption, and performance if they are inspired by our brains. Although engineering computers that can reach and exceed the complexity of the brain still remain a dream for scientists, our miraculous brain continues to inspire them as they pursue new technological discoveries.

What would you trust to remember critical information – your brain, or your computer? If you said your computer, you would be wrong. Even the strongest computers in the world cannot match the human brain’s complexity, memory, and processing speed. The human brain is the world’s greatest computer.

References

[1] Caine, Renate Nummela, and Geoffrey Caine. “Making connections: Teaching and the human brain.” Educational Resource Information Center (1991).

[2] Gholkar, Neha, Frank Mueller, and Barry Rountree. “A Power-aware Cost Model for HPC Procurement.” In the Proceeding of the Twelfth Workshop on High-Performance, Power-Aware Computing (HPPAC’16), Chicago, IL, May 2016.

[3] Zhendong, Pu. “China bytes back with fastest computer”. China Daily (2013).

[4] Versace, Massimiliano, and Ben Chandler. “The brain of a new machine.” IEEE spectrum 47, no. 12 (2010): 30-37.
[5] Helias, Moritz, Susanne Kunkel, Gen Masumoto, Jun Igarashi, Jochen Martin Eppler, Shin Ishii, Tomoki Fukai, Abigail Morrison, and Markus Diesmann. “Supercomputers ready for use as discovery machines for neuroscience.” Front Neuroinform 6, no. 26 (2012): 2.

[6] Diesmann, Markus, and Marc-Oliver Gewaltig. “NEST: An environment for neural systems simulations.” Forschung und wisschenschaftliches Rechnen, Beiträge zum Heinz-Billing-Preis 58 (2001): 43-70.

[7] Moravec, Hans. “When will computer hardware match the human brain.” Journal of evolution and technology 1, no. 1 (1998): 10.

[8] Drachman, David A. “Do we have brain to spare?.” Neurology 64, no. 12 (2005): 2004-2005.

[9] Goldman, Nick, Paul Bertone, Siyuan Chen, Christophe Dessimoz, Emily M. LeProust, Botond Sipos, and Ewan Birney. “Towards practical, high-capacity, low-maintenance information storage in synthesized DNA.” Nature 494, no. 7435 (2013): 77-80.

[10] Hsu, John. “IBM’s new brain [News].” Spectrum, IEEE 51, no. 10 (2014): 17-19.

[11] Damaraju, Satish, Varghese George, Sanjeev Jahagirdar, Tanveer Khondker, Robert Milstrey, Sanjib Sarkar, Scott Siers, Israel Stolero, and Arun Subbiah. “A 22nm ia multi-cpu and gpu system-on-chip.” In Solid-State Circuits Conference Digest of Technical Papers (ISSCC), 2012 IEEE International, pp. 56-57. IEEE, 2012.

[12] Ruch, Patrick, Thomas Brunschwiler, Stephan Paredes, Ingmar Meijer, and Bruno Michel. “Roadmap towards ultimately-efficient zeta-scale datacenters.” In Proceedings of the Conference on Design, Automation and Test in Europe, pp. 1339-1344. EDA Consortium, 2013.

[13] Garimella, Suresh V., Tim Persoons, Justin Weibel, and Lian-Tuu Yeh. “Technological drivers in data centers and telecom systems: Multiscale thermal, electrical, and energy management.” Applied Energy 107 (2013): 66-80.

What a life as a refugee
We gave up all we had, to flee
All left behind
But I don’t mind
At least I’ve saved my family

What a life as a refugee.
My Son, my daughter, wife and me.
Safe at last
The worst is past
Soon we will in Europe be

What a life as a refugee
We try to cross the Turkish sea
We say goodbye
And sink and die
Just when we thought we were safe and free*

Tony Wagner’s powerful stanzas once more reminded me that literature best depicts the existential pains of our very human nature. Literature demonstrates an acute insight into political struggles and the uneasy coexistence between ethics and politics.

Imagine a land that where corpses wash up on a distant shore. A land where hundreds of crowded train shelters are full of thousands of children. How many of them would survive? Even if they survive, will they still have any hope if their beloved family members are already dead?

These questions have always troubled humanity. Facing today’s crisis, we have a responsibility: to raise awareness about every single refugee. We must not forget that we could easily become refugees ourselves. Without empathy and awareness of the pains of others, can we truly have a deeper understanding of what it means to be a refugee and raise both a singular and collective voice for them?

Remember the post-Hurricane Katrina media coverage? There were images of abandoned and impoverished crowds of people – most of them people of color. Were these photos that different from what is now happening in Syria or Afghanistan? Don’t these images tell us that one day, unexpectedly, even in the US, our houses could collapse, dead people could fill our streets, and our cities could become refugee camps? The story of New Orleans reminds us that this is possible.   

“(Refugees) are of special humanitarian concern because they were compelled to abandon the only protections and solaces that can render the harsh vicissitudes of life endurable: the assistance (however minimal) of their own governments and the social supports of their customary communities,” Peter H. Schuck argues. They are the poorest and neediest among us.

Imagine your passport has been canceled unexpectedly and unlawfully by your own government while you are traveling or staying in another country on a temporary visa. What else can you do, but just to be a refugee, if your own government does not allow you to renew your passport?

Nazif Apak, a Turkish columnist, claimed that this is exactly what is happening to the people who the current Turkish government believes linked to the Gülen Movement, known as one of the most peaceful movements in the world, but being scapegoated for over two years to conceal the recent corruption scandals.

“A businessman whose family has been dealing with trade for three generations was faced with a bizarre incident a few months ago. This businessman went to the airport with his children to fly to Turkey, but the officials there told him that his passport had been registered as “lost.” He was shocked. “How could that be possible? I came to your country with this passport, and I want to go to that country,” he replied. “I see, but there is nothing I can do. You have filed a petition, indicating that your passport has been lost,” the official retorted politely.” he writes.

Is that possible?

Yes it is and it is currently happening.

Dislocation is not a new phenomenon. The world has witnessed drastic forced displacements and large-scale dislocations and deportations in the last century. The Armenians and the Jews were forced to leave their homelands during the turbulent times of the two World Wars.

The formalization of the term “refugee” on a global scale, however, emerged in 1950, right after World War II, when the victorious states needed to discuss and define the statues of the refugees left in the war’s disastrous wake. According to the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), a refugee is a person who, “owing to a well-founded fear of being persecuted for reasons of race, religion, nationality, or political opinion, is outside the country of his nationality and is unable, or, owing to such fear is unwilling to avail himself of the protection of that country.”

In his remarkable memoir, Heading South, Looking North, Ariel Dorfman told his extraordinary life story as a refugee in the US after the 1973 coup in Chile, when Allende’s government came to power. Dorfman reveals significant and existential insights about the definition of “refugee.”

“Yes, that definition of refugee might fit me perfectly; but I did not fit snugly into its image, the self it suggested I was to become. It is true that my existence had been swept up in a historic catastrophe which differed only in degree from those that had uprooted and would continue to dislocate millions of others in this miserable century of ours; yes, but I had the means, no matter how slight, to rescue a certain control – or was it the illusion of control? – over my existence, over my self-image.”

The Syrian civil war is now in its fifth year. Almost 300,000 people are dead, half of which were civilians. The entire Syrian populace – 15 million people – has been directly affected by the war. Millions of people have crossed the country’s borders on foot, in the backs of trucks, or in the crowded shelters of trains. They have left everything behind in the pursuit of hope and a new beginning.

Some have even tried crossing the Aegean Sea in small boats, hoping to reach the safety of Greece. Many of them have not survived this journey. How can we forget, for example, the picture of the body of 3 year old Aylan Kurdi, washed up on a Turkish beach?

Europe has decided they do not want to deal with anymore refugees. As The New York Times correctly reported, “more than one million people have passed through Turkey en route to Europe since the beginning of last year. Most were coming from war-torn countries, and about half were Syrians. Under a new agreement, Europe is sending refugees back to Turkey if they enter Greece illegally. In exchange, the European Union offered Turkey 6 billion euros (about $6.8 billion) to help with the crisis.”

Professor David Phillips of Columbia University suggests that the deal is ethically, politically, and practically flawed. Moreover, it violates international law.

He writes, “’Refoulement’ (forcible return) is forbidden by international law. Persons who cross an international border have the right to protection. They cannot be returned against their will. Victims cannot be returned to a country from which they fled.”

Unfortunately, political leaders in both the West and the Islamic world have abandoned their ethical and philosophical values in favor of political expediency. Instead of viewing these refugees as human beings, they view them as a political problem. These humans are labeled refugees, mercenaries, guest workers, outcasts, and deportees. But we must not forget: above all else, they are fellow human beings. There is only one thing they desperately ask for: to be allowed to start a new life in a new land.

Refugees, fleeing the war in Syria, are not a political problem to be solved. They are human beings who need help.

*http://www.poetrysoup.com/poem/a_life_as_refugee_758427

Aydogan Vatandas looks at the tragic refugee crisis in a more agitated style, reminding us of Aylan Kurdi, the three year old toddler washed up dead on the shores of Turkey while he, his family, and many others tried to cross the Mediterranean to Europe, fleeing the war in Syria. Vatandas’ call is to a greater awareness, and for us, as members of the human congregation, to assume responsibility as Lawrence Brazier and his wife did: by offering at least our sympathy, and hopefully more, to those being oppressed, in different ways, all around the world.

Two speakers who attended a recent symposium – “Countering Violent Extremism: Mujahada and Muslims’ Responsibility” – in Brussels have contributed to this issue. Sophia Pandya and Jon Pahl, who left the city just days before the atrocious March 22 attacks, reflect on the concept of jihad, and explain how terrorism and violence have many causes and cannot be explained by a single issue. Pandya examines the minor and greater jihads. Referring to the “fight-or-flight response,” she believes jihad is an important self-healing tool when one feels under threat.

Jon Pahl shares his reflections on the symposium, which brought together more than 300 activists and scholars from around the world in the name of peace. Pahl had an opportunity to visit the neighborhood of Molenbeek, “which has been in the news as a ‘harbor for terrorists,’ after it became known that at least one of the Paris attackers spent time in the neighborhood.” Pahl’s talks with the Councilwoman Shazia Manzoor and the mayor Françoise Schepmans, and the similarities he observed between Molenbeek and the American experience of immigration, are no less interesting than his comments on the symposium.

The lead article of this issue touches upon a core subject: the need for freedom of faith and conscience. While reminding us that it is a universal right for everyone to independently adopt and practice a faith of one’s choice, Fethullah Gülen also points to the fact that this freedom also requires to teach and study one’s faith. For Gülen, “there is no freedom of faith and conscience when restrictions are imposed on religious practice, whether it is in the public or private sphere.”

An ancient herb Nigella Sativa, a flowering plant native to southern Asia, grows to roughly 30 cm in height. But what it lacks in height, it more than makes up in its fruits, which are home to the powerful black cumin seeds. Following a cold-pressing process, the famed black seed oil is extracted from these seeds. Lying within this versatile oil is the primary active ingredient Thymoquinone. As a phytochemical, Thymoquinone is capable of preventing and combating diseases in plants. The extensive history of this herbal medicine has shown that humans are equally capable of benefiting from its majestic healing power. Nearly three centuries ago, ancient Egyptians utilized the black seed oil from Nigella Sativa to rejuvenate the skin and face, as well as to treat digestive problems. Ibn Sina, the renowned Persian physician of the 11th century, wrote of the oil’s ability to revitalize the body’s energy, and to treat common maladies, such as fever and headaches. 5 In the contemporary age, many consume this plant’s blessed seed in combination with honey, as part of a salad, in tea, or as a form of added flavoring.

Touching upon cancer Thymoquinone is well known for its role in promoting the well-being of the immune system. This is all the more important in cases involving cancer in which the bypassing of important check points in the cell-cycle leads to the uncontrollable growth and infinite divisions of unhealthy cells. Often, the circumvented check point lies between the Gap 1 phase (G1) and Synthesis phase (S), where cytoplasmic and DNA conditions are regulated following an external signal, such as a growth factor. Therefore, the discovery that Thymoquinone is capable of halting such a detrimental act is quite important for the future of cancer treatments.1 It is also noted that Thymoquinone has repeatedly displayed the ability to impede damaged-cell functionality through facilitating apoptosis, a natural cell death inflicting little to no harm to nearby cells. It is also believed that a link exists between Thymoquinone and p53, a tumor-suppressor protein, since many more human breast cancer cells entered late apoptotic stages when treated with Thymoquinone.2 In 2016, 1.6 million people worldwide are projected to pass away from lung cancer alone. In the United States, that value checks in at slightly under 160,000 deaths, with nearly 18 Americans dead per hour. Moreover, approximately 1.8 million new cases of lung cancer will arise around the world. In light of these staggering figures, the findings of Al-Sheddi et al. provides a glimmer of hope. When viable human lung cells inflicted with cancer were exposed to Nigella Sativa extract (NSE) for 24 hours, the percent viability of the cancerous cells decreased nearly 65% as the concentration of NSE increased from .25 to 1 mg/ml.3 This cytotoxic effect, coupled with a reduction in size and adhesion capacity of the cancerous cells, is an important step in the right direction towards preventing metastasis and growth. Likewise, Thymoquinone has been identified as an effective role player in treating breast cancer, the second leading cause of cancer death in women. Motaghed et al. report that human breast cancer cells treated with Thymoquinone experienced a nearly 75% decrease in cell proliferation over a 48 hour period as the concentration of Thymoquinone increased from 0 to 300 μM. Not surprisingly, the findings of Motaghed et al. do happen to support those discussed earlier by Al-Sheddi et al. as percent viability of breast cancer cells decreased across all measured concentration levels of Thymoquinone over 72 hours.2 Such data speaks volumes, underlining the extract’s ability to sustain effective, long-term treatments. On a similar note, when human prostate cancer cells were introduced into mice (allowing the tumor to settle), certain mice given an additional injection of 6 mg/day of Thymoquinone were observed to have substantially less growth in tumor size and shape after 15 days of treatment as compared to the mice who were not administered Thymoquinone.4 Furthermore, Yi et al. noted a sharp difference in blood vessel formation from tumor angiogenesis as the untreated mice developed many more vessels. This ability to stymie vessel formation from tumor angiogenesis ensures that tumor growth and expansion into other bodily organs is abrogated.

Into the bloodstream While effective in cancer treatment, the far-reaching impact of Nigella Sativa has also been linked with glycemic control in diabetes, an illness plaguing tens of millions of people in America alone. Diabetics suffer from a considerably high level of glucose in their bloodstream due to the body’s inability to produce enough, or even any, insulin. As a result, many are at risk for eventual kidney failure. With this in mind, Type 2 Diabetics may rejoice upon hearing that similar patients experienced substantially lowered fasting blood glucose (FBG) levels when exposed to 2 gm/day of ground Nigella Sativa seeds in conjunction with current type 2 anti-diabetic medicine. The phenomenal decrease was such that at 4, 8, and 12 week intervals, FBG levels were 45, 62 and 56 mg/dl less than the baseline value. Similarly, after a 12 week duration, measured glycosylated hemoglobin levels were lowered over one and a half percent, returning to a healthy range. Amazingly, the effect of insulin resistance, the defining characteristic of type 2 diabetes, was minimized in patients administered 2 gm/day of ground Nigella Sativa seeds.6 Serviceable in the bloodstream, Nigella Sativa has been pinpointed as an effective tool in regulating cholesterol. Ali et al. exposed a test group of white female albino rats to various dosages of Nigella Sativa seeds. What they found was that after 4, 7, 10, and 14 days, the administered Nigella Sativa dosages (between 200 and 400 mg) were capable of decreasing cholesterol. Furthermore, blood triglyceride values dropped across most dosage levels after the above time periods.7 Such a finding is crucial, considering that excessive triglyceride readings can result in atherosclerosis (clogged, inflexible arteries), high cholesterol levels, elevated LDL cholesterol (responsible for plaque buildup), and lowered HDL cholesterol (which typically cleanses arteries of LDL cholesterol). Interestingly, heightened levels of triglycerides have also been correlated with diabetes, an illness equally treated by Nigella Sativa seeds.8

Unbearable pain Nigella Sativa’s panacea-like effect has also graced tender and swollen joints. Rheumatoid arthritis, an autoimmune disease, occurs as a result of the immune system mistaking joints for foreign substances. Any inflicted joint will swell greatly, causing nearly unbearable pain. As an anti-inflammatory, Thymoquinone is capable of minimizing cartilage reduction and, therefore, pain. This is especially true for females, who are two and a half times more likely to be diagnosed with arthritis. A study in Egypt found that over forty percent of the given female patients in a treatment group suffering from arthritis reported an improvement in their health, with fewer swollen and tender joints, after administration of Nigella Sativa capsules.9

Bless you! The blessed seeds of Nigella Sativa have even demonstrated an ability to alleviate allergic symptoms. The immune system’s inflated response to allergens culminates in the release of histamines, the component responsible for inflammation. As a result, people may develop symptoms such as runny noses, sneezing, watery eyes, and itchy throats. A study carried out by Isik et al. found that when test subjects with predisposed allergies to dust mites were given immunotherapy for a period of time followed by a supplement of 2 gm/day of Nigella Sativa seeds, the immune system received a boost, generating an increased phagocytic and intracellular killing percentage. Moreover, the small group of healthy volunteers who participated in the study also noticed an increase in their body’s phagocytic activity after receiving one month of Nigella Sativa seed supplements.10 Hence, Thymoquinone yet again displayed the ability to minimize the effect of an unfavorable substance in the body.

A standard bearer But despite all of these promising results, has anyone heard of Nigella Sativa? In a health market dominated by pharmaceutical companies worth over $300 billion, word of a truly cost-effective, easily accessible, and safe food item spreads slowly and difficultly. According to the National Cancer Institute, the first year alone of cancer treatment can cost nearly $61,000, for either sex.11 That staggering number coupled with continually skyrocketing medical coverage costs should make alternative therapy, such as Nigella Sativa, appear even more attractive. Five patents for solutions including Nigella Sativa extracts have already been registered with the United States Patent and Trademark Office, covering treatment for illnesses such as diabetes and viral infections, as well as cancerous cell growth.12 The FDA has already recognized Nigella Sativa, or black cumin, as being generally safe.13 And with over 1500 hits for “Nigella Sativa” and “Thymoquinone” on the PubMed website, one can only wonder how much more time will pass before pharmaceutical companies begin to take more drastic measures towards endorsing this natural, herbal medicine, especially considering that it significantly enhances the effect of current chemotherapy drugs Gemcitabine and Oxaliplatin in decreasing the viability of pancreatic cancer cells.14 Will Nigella Sativa become the standard bearer for alternative medicine, known to heal the mind and body through a holistic approach to one’s pain? Will those in line with the modern medical practices acknowledge the benefits of a strongly supported panacea? Many questions abound. However, with the black seed oil reported in a Prophetic tradition to provide healing for every disease except death, one can only hope that its rich history and certain healing methods reach the eyes and ears of all inflicted with illness. * * * a Department of Biochemistry, University of Missouri, Columbia, MO References

• Raghunandhakumar, S., A. Paramasivam, S. Senthilraja, C. Naveenkumar, S. Asokkumar, J. Binuclara, S. Jagan, P. Anandakumar, and T. Devaki. “Thymoquinone Inhibits Cell Proliferation through Regulation of G1/S Phase Cell Cycle Transition in N-Nitrosodiethylamine-Induced Experimental Rat Hepatocellular Carcinoma.” Toxicol Lett 223, no. 1 (Oct 23 2013): 60-72.
• Motaghed, M., F. M. Al-Hassan, and S. S. Hamid. “Cellular Responses with Thymoquinone Treatment in Human Breast Cancer Cell Line Mcf-7.” Pharmacognosy Res 5, no. 3 (Jul 2013): 200-6.
• Al-Sheddi, E. S., N. N. Farshori, M. M. Al-Oqail, J. Musarrat, A. A. Al-Khedhairy, and M. A. Siddiqui. “Cytotoxicity of Nigella Sativa Seed Oil and Extract against Human Lung Cancer Cell Line.” Asian Pac J Cancer Prev 15, no. 2 (2014): 983-7.
• Yi, T., S. G. Cho, Z. Yi, X. Pang, M. Rodriguez, Y. Wang, G. Sethi, B. B. Aggarwal, and M. Liu. “Thymoquinone Inhibits Tumor Angiogenesis and Tumor Growth through Suppressing Akt and Extracellular Signal-Regulated Kinase Signaling Pathways.” Mol Cancer Ther 7, no. 7 (Jul 2008): 1789-96.
• “Black Seed Oil.” Genuine Nigella Sativa. http://huile-de-nigelle.net/en/history.html.
• Bamosa, A. O., H. Kaatabi, F. M. Lebdaa, A. M. Elq, and A. Al-Sultanb. “Effect of Nigella Sativa Seeds on the Glycemic Control of Patients with Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus.” Indian J Physiol Pharmacol 54, no. 4 (Oct-Dec 2010): 344-54.
• Bamosa, A. O., B. A. Ali, and Z. A. al-Hawsawi. “The Effect of Thymoquinone on Blood Lipids in Rats.” Indian J Physiol Pharmacol 46, no. 2 (Apr 2002): 195-201.
• “Good vs. Bad Cholesterol.” American Heart Association. January 12, 2015. http://www.heart.org/HEARTORG/Conditions/Cholesterol/AboutCholesterol/Good-vs-Bad-Cholesterol_UCM_305561_Article.jsp.
• Gheita, T. A., and S. A. Kenawy. “Effectiveness of Nigella Sativa Oil in the Management of Rheumatoid Arthritis Patients: A Placebo Controlled Study.” Phytother Res 26, no. 8 (Aug 2012): 1246-8.
• Isik, H., A. Cevikbas, U. S. Gurer, B. Kiran, Y. Uresin, P. Rayaman, E. Rayaman, B. Gurbuz, and S. Buyukozturk. “Potential Adjuvant Effects of Nigella Sativa Seeds to Improve Specific Immunotherapy in Allergic Rhinitis Patients.” Med Princ Pract 19, no. 3 (2010): 206-11.
• “Cancer Prevalence and Cost of Care Projections.” Annual Costs of Cancer Care. 2011. http://costprojections.cancer.gov/annual.costs.html.
• “Are There Any Current Black Seed FDA Patent Information Available?” Black Seed Products. http://www.blackseedproducts.com/faqs/19-are-there-any-current-black-seed-fda-patent-information-available.html.
• “Substances Generally Recognized As Safe.” CFR – Code of Federal Regulations Title 21. April 1, 2014. http://www.accessdata.fda.gov/scripts/cdrh/cfdocs/cfcfr/CFRSearch.cfm?fr=582.10.
• Banerjee, S., A. O. Kaseb, Z. Wang, D. Kong, M. Mohammad, S. Padhye, F. H. Sarkar, and R. M. Mohammad. “Antitumor Activity of Gemcitabine and Oxaliplatin Is Augmented by Thymoquinone in Pancreatic Cancer.” Cancer Res 69, no. 13 (Jul 1 2009): 5575-83.

Those who consider religion merely a matter of conscience are corrupting religion by way of interpretations that contradict a faith’s Divinely ordained nature; by restricting the practice and wider influence of faith, they are preventing the individual, domestic, and social benefits and prosperity that God promises, but are contingent upon faith. However, religion is not only an inner conviction: it is a whole set of principles – ethical, filial, social, and legal in nature – believers are expected to fully observe. For those who subscribe to the faith, these disciplines are binding, with serious consequences for ignoring them. The principles of religion cannot be ignored, nor are the consequences of ignoring them to be taken lightly. Worldly order and balance, as well as individual and domestic peace and prosperity, depend upon these principles. The fruits of faith are eternal bliss in the world beyond.

Unfortunately, many rulers have ignored or distorted these fundamentals of faith. They have interrupted when believers wanted to practice their faith, and tyrannized people’s consciences, making it impossible for them to live in accordance with their beliefs.

Meanwhile, although some states governed under religious jurisprudence may appear to act liberally towards those who adopt a particular religion, it is almost impossible to say they act the same towards those who believe any religion or system of belief. Throughout history, Muslim rulers, those who have truly practiced Islam, have respected all religions, as well as all other philosophies. They have engaged in dialogue with peoples from all walks of life, and have treated other faiths with kindness.

Unfortunately, there have been other Muslim rulers, those who have misunderstood Islam, and rulers in general, no matter what religion they follow, who have ruled with hostility, hatred, discrimination, and fanaticism. And just as they have shrunk their own personal horizons, they have diminished the heavenly immensity of faith, turning belief into a system of oppression instead of a system of relief. They have employed hatred, anger, and jealousy against their coreligionists, and oppressed the “others” with violence, war, and many other various means of barbarism.

Today, there are many secular and liberal systems in which religion is separated from the state. Although governments under these systems claim to provide religious freedoms, it is no secret that many of them impose disbelief by force and treat religion and the faithful with intolerance. When such oppressive regimes dominate the fate of an entire nation, it becomes commonplace that the peace and stability of the people are threatened, and the society is ruled by intimidation. When people of faith have lived under such leaders, their struggle has been for the freedom of conscience against crude power. This campaign for freedom is an ancient one, and unfortunately, in this fight some clergymen took sides with the power, did not abstain to act like those who were against faith, and oppressed their fellow community.

Throughout history, many communities have suffered from violence and discrimination at the hands of their racist leaders. Divinely inspired faiths, which promise peace and security, have been turned into means of conflict and oppression by these leaders. Such a distortion of faith always resulted in the eventual destruction of the oppressors.

During the Crusades, great crimes were committed in the name of Jesus, peace be upon him. Though there is no doubt those “crusaders” thought they were doing good, by committing atrocities, they were misconstruing Jesus’ message of compassion and love. They claimed to be his followers, but they invented many groups of “others” and marginalized them in an illusory attempt to please Jesus and to be rewarded with heaven. The Crusades, of course, are not the only example of such violence committed in the name of religion. Many people have been murdered, throughout history, for opposing a state’s “official” religion. Such violence and unrest eventually led thinkers and philosophers to take action. Their foundational premise of action was that a religion sent by God would not command people to harm and kill one another. The growth of science helped to bring about reforms, which were quite effective at dividing religious and state affairs. Unfortunately, this split has gone too far, moving from the state, into the personal. The word of God was replaced by the word of humanity, and faith was once again shrunk and imprisoned to the individual’s inner conscience, as if it was just an ordinary theory.

Religious belief, by definition, can only maintain heavenliness when practiced in accordance with the principles prescribed by God, not by the limits defined in any kind of ideology or legal system. Indeed, in addition to the freedom of personally practicing religion, believers need to be free to express their faith, either verbally or in writing or in any other medium, without being punished. There is no freedom of faith and conscience when restrictions are imposed on religious practice, whether it is in the public or private sphere.

At the present, it appears that the Western world has mostly solved its own problems after experiencing long periods of turmoil with regards to secularism or laicism. Nevertheless, secularism, i.e. the separation of church and state was never considered as the one and only irrefutable solution to all the world’s problems, but rather as a means of reconciliation and a warranty for the freedom of faith and conscience. We can argue that in many countries where secularism has been defined as such, both religion and secularism have existed without conflict, even perhaps with some sense of mutual support. In some other countries where secularism is being used to oppress religion and religious practice, this is mainly because these countries fail to bring a scholarly definition to secularism, or that those in power are radically opposed to religion and all of its aspects, or because of other sources of power which strive to generate chaos in the country.

We can all agree that religious believers should not infringe upon the rights of others, but the state should also not infringe upon the rights of believers to practice their faiths. To do so would impact the divinity of religion and will generate false interpretations of religion based on foreign concepts. Such a development has the potential to cause serious problems at the global level.

Muslims believe that Islam is a perfected system of worship and ethics, and a spiritual journey leading to Paradise and eternal bliss. Muslims also believe that Islam lays out guidelines for solving individual, filial, economic, administrative, and social problems. It is not fair to ignore these qualities, which can contribute to social peace and security, as well as to dialogue and understanding among nations. Islam – despite Muslims’ shortcomings in its practice – is a universal faith of perfection and excellence, and undoubtedly one of its most significant aspects is that it recognizes the religions of truth and Prophets of the past. Islam refers to members of all the religions of truth as the “People of the Book”; not only did Islam recognize members of other religions, but also immediately implemented regulations in terms of safeguarding their rights. Since the very beginning, the Prophet Muhammad, peace be upon him, treated members of other religions with extreme tolerance. He was very delicate regarding this matter, and constantly encouraged his followers to behave in the same manner, calling upon them to be a nation that would be an example to others. Muslims always complied with this appeal, and, with the exception of the harsh and fanatical stances of certain illiberal, inhumane individuals during certain periods, have to a large extent acted with tolerance. The Qur’an clearly defines how Muslims should behave: “There is no compulsion in the religion. The right way stands there clearly distinguished from the false…” (Al-Baqarah 2:256).

“There is no compulsion in religion” refers to methods of reasoning while engaging with others. Some scholars even interpret the verse as meaning no aspect of religion can be forced on others. Thus, based on this commentary, religion can never rely on force; it is a matter of personal choice. As opposed to coercion, Islam has always pledged to protect others from oppression and ensured that every group could freely practice their chosen faith. Furthermore, Islam recognized oppression not only as disrespectful to the individual, but also to the spirit of religion; indeed, coercion or oppression is disrespectful to humans, for it infringes upon free will, which is what separates humankind from other creatures. It is also disrespectful towards religion, as faith is based upon sincerity, and a heart freely accepting faith. Belief and religious duties that are not recognized in the heart are not accepted. Indeed, just as belief imposed upon people with force or oppression is not faith, those who express such “faith” are not believers. If anything, such individuals are hypocrites, and the behavior and actions they perform in the name of religious duties are nothing but ostentation.

Religion is a source of prosperity and kindness. It is not an unpleasant thing that people can only accept by compulsion. In this respect, enforcing religion and religious issues rather than explaining the topic of faith in a civil manner may cause antipathy towards religion. In the very same section where the Qur’an prohibits compulsion, it also delineates the right path from the wrong based on the evidence through external and internal proofs, on the divine messages and legacy conveyed by God’s messengers, and on the teachings and guidance of faithful teachers.

Our predecessors who appreciated this used evidence and persuasive methods laid out by religion in an attempt to convey matters regarding faith and religion. They did not try to force others to join their faith, and everyone lived in accordance with their own faith. People were free to express themselves and never encountered any juridical or administrative problems. Amidst this atmosphere of tolerance, no one was subjected to any kind of oppression with regards to freedom of belief. People were not expelled from their homes or countries, or tried by the courts. People followed the religion of their choice, and were under constant protection on the condition that they abided by their pledge and fulfilled their responsibilities as citizens. Those who broke their pledge and did not fulfill their duties as citizens, who attempted to divide and destroy the nation, who openly rebelled against the legitimate rule and committed terrorist attacks, or who oppressed others, were punished according to their crimes. Peace was upheld.

In the Islamic faith, not only did Muslims act in this manner regarding freedom of faith and conscience, they did not also try to coerce people regarding worship or social relations. In fact, even during times of conflict, Islam granted the right of residence to those who agreed to pay the prescribed taxes, and never intervened in another group’s beliefs or religious practices. As for those who persisted in fighting against the Muslims, following their defeat, they were also granted civil rights in return for taxes, and were left to question their own actions. In addition, Islam enforced the same rules for those who were defeated in battle as those who voluntarily came and asked for the protection of the state, and everyone was allowed to benefit from all the privileges of citizenship, on the condition that they would cause no harm to the state or its citizens.

This immense tolerance displayed by Islam in the name of the freedom of belief and conscience is by no means limited to those who sought refuge in its guardianship alone; Islam has constantly guarded the same values throughout the world. It came to the aid of the aggrieved, helped the oppressed, supported those who fell, and continuously enforced the truth. Islam has opposed the oppression of souls everywhere it has reached, and prepared the foundation for the voluntary acceptance of faith in people’s hearts. By virtue of this agreement, it has prevented the people from being forced into following a religion, philosophy, or ideology against their own will, and whenever possible prevented all kinds of oppression. Wherever it has been, Islam has secured the public peace and tranquility among a vast body of various communities, and stimulated respect for the principle messages of all the Prophets.

Islam places a high priority on freedom of conscience and faith due to its history. The rightly guided caliphs gave great importance to freedom of conscience, and since it was granted to minorities during the period of the Prophet, they enforced it with the utmost sensitivity. In later periods, this practice was maintained without any changes or deviations. From the periods of the Umayyads and Abbasids, to the eras of light, and to the Ottoman period – with few exceptions – all Muslim administrations granted minorities the right to practice religion, perform religious rituals, and educate their children as they wished. Minorities were also free to assemble and join various foundations and societies in efforts to maintain their cultures. They could restore their old places of worship and construct new ones, and nothing was demanded from them in return, except that they abide by the general laws and regulations of the country.

In the context of their age, the Umayyads and Abbasids from Damascus, the Andalusian Muslims, and the Ottomans can all be classified as a model in this respect. Paving the way for the Renaissance, they introduced the West to many things in terms of knowledge and insight; they not only fulfilled their duties of faith, but also did not interfere with the beliefs or cultures of others, and for centuries displayed an exemplary form of administrative conduct. But unfortunately, following the destruction of their states, they were slaughtered, and none were granted the right to remain in the region. Their people had to go through invasions, colonization, interventions, embargos, and oppression, in terms of freedom of faith and conscience.

I believe that all of these constitute, and will continue to constitute, a good example of the stance of past civilizations in terms of the freedom of faith and conscience. I am aware that, in the interest of dialogue, we should not inflame passions, but I also believe that while pointing out problems it is also important to emphasize the good aspects of our past. This is especially important today, since oppression continues. Although I am not certain that cautioning against such behavior will awaken the local and international oppressors to their mistakes, I certainly have no doubt that responding to them in this manner is a duty incumbent upon us all.

The conference was sponsored by the Fethullah Gülen Chair at Catholic University in Leuven (gulenchair.com) and Dialogue Platform in Brussels – one of countless think-tanks around the world established by Turkish Muslims inspired by Gülen. Speakers and participants came from 75 different countries. Most were Muslims, but there were a few secularists, Roman Catholics, and Protestants (like me).
Gunnar Staalset, Bishop Emeritus of Norway and Honorary President of Religions for Peace, was among the opening speakers. He stressed the common challenges of interpretation facing Christians and Muslims, and urged conference participants to forge a counter-narrative to “violent extremism.” As examples of elements in such a counter-narrative, Staalset highlighted the Turkish ideal of hoshgoru—usually translated as “tolerance,” and an important theme in the writings of Gülen, and the recent Marrakesh Declaration on the Rights of Religious Minorities in Muslim Majority Nations.
The morning’s keynoter, Professor Rik Coolsaet of Ghent University, contested Staalset’s emphasis on narrative, a bit. His point was that all “violent extremism” is local and contextual. We must acknowledge and address the material and economic drivers of violence in diverse contexts, he argued.    

This tension between theory and practice, theology and social structure, narrative and material reality stretched throughout the two-day event—and of course played out personally in whether or not I accepted my invitation to Molenbeek. A session on “working with Muslim women to counter violent extremism” focused on Moroccan and Egyptian cases, with Prof. Maryam Aid Ahmad of Ibn Tufayl University in Morocco and Prof. Hoda Mahmoud Darwish of Zagazik University in Egypt as presenters.

My own talk highlighted “engaged empathy” and peacebuilding within and across Jewish, Christian, and Muslim traditions, notably in practices of teshuva, metanoia, and tawba—all usually translated as “repentance” (it was Lent, after all) and in the work of individuals such as Rabbi Jonathan Sacks in the UK, Leymah Gbowee in Liberia, and Gülen.
Some of the remarkable diversity within Islam—always a bit surprising to Americans bombarded with monolithic stereotypes of the faith, was evident. The subtopic for the conference was “Mujahada (Jihad) and Muslims’ Responsibility,” and multiple presentations from Asian, Middle Eastern, African, and European scholars differentiated the greater jihad of struggle to obey God and against the ego from the “lesser” jihad of defensive warfare. There was unequivocal condemnation of terror attacks as contrary to Islam. But Professor Muhammad Ibrahim al-Saidi of Umm al-Qura University in Saudi Arabia turned the subtopic on its head, so to speak, by offering a “presentation” that quoted largely without comment or context passages from Torah and the Gospels that overtly recommend bloodshed and even genocide. As Catholic scholar of Islam Scott Alexander put it on Facebook:

“I finally know how Muslims feel in the face of Islamophobic proof texting of their sacred texts. I finally know how it feels to have my own sacred scriptures ripped from their textual and interpretative context, frequently misquoted, … and glibly associated with the very real atrocities committed in the name of my faith.”
Professor al-Saidi did end with a passage nodding toward the peace witness in Christianity, but his point was unmistakable: the problem of religious violence is hardly unique to Muslims.
~
Inspired and encouraged by my fellow speakers, I went to Molenbeek. No jihadi jumped me. In fact, I had a lovely lunch at a Thai restaurant in the central plaza of the municipality with Manzoor, who is the first female Pakistani elected official in Brussels, and Erdem Koç—a former resident of Molenbeek who is now working for Dialogue Platform. We discussed Manzoor’s experiences with racism, and her vision to organize a “Neighbors Day” for the municipality. We then we visited the nearby “service restaurant,” which Americans would recognize as a soup kitchen.
As we walked to the mayor’s office, a group of schoolchildren walked past, holding hands and singing. I snapped a picture.
“Yes, that’s Molenbeek,” Manzoor affirmed.

Over coffee, Mayor Schepmans described a little of Molenbeek’s history and context for me. As a former Midwesterner, it sounded awfully familiar. As Turks, Senegalese, and Moroccans moved into the neighborhood for work, beginning in the 1970s, native Belgians moved out. Industries followed. Jobs dried up. Religion replaced ethnic origin as a source of identity. Mosques blossomed, but crime also grew.
I tried to suggest that similar dynamics, with similar easy associations divorced from actual causes and effects, once marked immigration in America. The church has been a refuge and way-station for Norwegian Lutherans and Italian Catholics, among many others, on the way to becoming Americans. Now mosques might be playing similar roles in Europe. But Schepmans worried that “there is no European identity.” She may be right. Time will tell. And as people search for identity as strangers in strange lands, narratives will no doubt matter. The stories we tell each other can reflect both our worst fears and projections, and the better angels of our nature, as Abraham Lincoln first put it.   

On my last night in Brussels, I shared dinner and caught up with Sevgi Akarcesme, former Editor-in-Chief of Today’s Zaman in Turkey, and now a “journalist-in-exile.” The week before, the government seized her newspaper with a blast of teargas and a phalanx of riot police. It was an effort to silence dissent. I was glad she was safe. But her fragile status as a peacebuilder on the “front lines” gave me pause. Overall, the conference was heartening: I renewed friendships, gained some new friends and insights, and had reinforced my conviction that the vast majority of people of faith – especially Muslims – around the globe want to draw from the deep wells of our spiritual traditions to foster peace. But as I walked past the Belgian militia with assault rifles in the airport; and as I read the stories about the rise of right-wing nationalists across Europe; and as I learned that Donald Trump had won more Republican primaries in the U.S., it became crystal clear to me: what happens in Molenbeek will matter in Milwaukee.
~
Five days after my departure from Brussels, I watched the news with horror as three bombs killed 35 and wounded hundreds in simultaneous terrorist attacks at the Brussels Airport and a metro station. I tweeted my new friends Shazia and Erdem (who works in security at the airport) and was relieved to hear that they were both unharmed.
But we all felt the collective moral injury. The challenge terrorism poses is the temptation to react to evil by mirroring the fear, ignorance, and hatred that stokes it. Our great traditions counsel patience for a reason. As Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.’s teacher, Howard Thurman famously said: “The moral arc of the universe is long, but it bends toward justice.”
Those of us gathered at our conference on “Countering Violent Extremism” share a commitment to the long and patient struggle on a nonviolent path toward greater justice and peace. We don’t draw the attention that a few criminals can attract. But faith is on our side. Hope is on our side. Numbers are on our side. So even as we continue to grieve for those lost to terrorism and warfare around the planet, we still witness springtime come with all of its fragrant and colorful glory across the northern hemisphere, including in Milwaukee and in Molenbeek. And I am reminded of the inspiring vision of Fethullah Gülen, of a spiritual and social “springtime [that] will rise on the foundations of love, compassion, mercy, dialogue, acceptance of others, mutual respect, justice and rights…. No matter what happens, the world will come to this path sooner or later. Nobody can prevent this” (Toward a Global Civilization of Love and Tolerance, p. 232).

With global climate change a serious threat to human existence, saving energy is of crucial importance. Air resistance – or “drag” – is the main force that causes fuel waste. The most important factor in drag is the “drag coefficient,” which is mostly dependent upon the shape of a given object. Objects whose shapes do not sharply contrast the air’s flow lines, and which render the changes in flow lines regular, have lower drag coefficients. In all creatures that move quickly through the air and water, their bodies are perfectly designed to keep their drag coefficients low. Unfortunately, research into these designs is just beginning. Scientists are just starting to study the geometries of certain creatures, in an effort to utilize their shapes to design more efficient vehicles.

The white, or Beluga, whale, has a perfect shape to facilitate its movements in water. Its beaky mouth and characteristic blunt head decrease drag, in spite of its bulky body.

In 1994, Airbus designed a cargo plane to carry very large cargos. As a cargo plane requires an ample interior, it also needs the right design to lower air resistance. In its design, Airbus imitated Beluga whales, which are both very large – and very aerodynamic. As such, the plane became known as the Airbus Beluga. In a major departure from normal plane design, a wider fuselage section, which resembles a bubble or hump, was added to the top of the Beluga. This extra space allows the plane to carry very large loads, such as helicopters, satellites, and plane wings. The plane, which weighs 86 tons when empty, has the capacity to carry loads up to 47 tons.

The Columbus Satellite, being sent from Germany to Nasa, in Florida.

The plane has been so successful that in order to meet increased demand, the company is planning to build a similar but larger plane, the Beluga XL.

The protuberances on the head and flips of a humpback whale.

In addition to the hump of the Beluga whale, designers have discovered that the rounded fins and heads of humpback whales provide a 10% decrease in drag, and a 5% increase in buoyancy (figure 4). They’ve incorporated these features into the design of next-generation helicopter blades. When a helicopter flies, the blade that spins forward is faster than the blade spinning backward. This situation causes the blade moving backward to temporarily lose lift. Together with turbulence, an extra load is brought to the rotor and the controlling rod, and this decreases the speed and maneuvering ability of the helicopter. In order to solve the problem, the back blade needs to be improved. Humpback whales inspired the solution. German aviation researchers placed 186 rubber protuberances, 6mm in width, on each blade. After good results from wind tunnel experiments, they made test flights and obtained recognizable enhancements in performance.

Thanks to the protuberances, the working angle of the propellers increased from 11 degrees to 17 degrees, and the performance increased 40% (figure 5).

Researchers witnessed a similar increase in performance when using the same principles for hydraulic wind turbines.

These are just a few examples of what seem like simple, overlooked qualities in nature that can actually inspire engineers, leading to major technological breakthroughs. We would all benefit from more scientists conducting research on this topic. The wondrous perfection of living creatures allows aircrafts – and our spirits – to soar to new heights.

When designing the next generation of planes, engineers would be wise to look to the sea, where whales offer up a perfect blueprint for decreasing drag and increasing performance.

References

• http://www.gizmag.com/humpback-whales-rotor-blades/21332/
• F. E. Fish, P. W. Weber, M. M. Murray, L. E. Howle, The Tubercles on Humpback Whales’ Flippers: Application of Bio-Inspired Technology, Integrative and Comparative Biology 51 (1), 203-213, 2011.
• T. Gruber, M. M. Murray, D. W. Fredriksson, Effect of Humpback Whale Inspired Tubercles on Marine Tidal Turbine Blades, ASME Paper No. IMECE2011-65436, 851-857, 2011, doi:10.1115/IMECE2011-65436

ICT has facilitated numerous new forms of educational platforms, technologies, programs, and projects. MOOC (Massive Open Online Course) is a new terminology that has been added to our dictionary. MOOC is an online course provided through a website, and which is open to a large number of students. Besides providing study aids like lecture videos, reading materials, and problem sets, it has interactive user forums to enable students to share and learn from each other.

Coursera is a successful MOOC platform which was only launched in April 2012. As of today, it has more than 5 million students registered worldwide. Coursera has signed collaborations with 108 leading universities – not only from the USA, but also from China, the UK, Singapore, etc. It offers more than 640 courses in various disciplines, including management, computer sciences, arts, education, social sciences, and more.

Coursera states that its vision is “a future where everyone has access to a world-class education that has so far been available to a select few. We aim to empower people with education that will improve their lives, the lives of their families, and the communities they live in.”

Under the Global Translation Partners Program, Coursera is partnering with translation companies, non-profits, philanthropic organizations, corporations, and universities from around the world to translate courses into other languages. This will enable non-English speaking citizens to benefit from these courses. At present, complete lectures of selected courses are translated into Arabic, Chinese, Japanese, Kazakh, Portuguese, Russian, Turkish, and Ukrainian.

Another successful MOOC project is edX, which also offers various courses for free. Harvard University and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, the two world leaders in higher education, have come together to develop this free online educational project. This initiative intends to educate 1 billion students.

The calls for free education are growing louder. Today in the US, the outstanding total student loan debt amounts to 1 trillion dollars, which is higher than both auto loan and credit card loan debt. More than 37 million US citizens are indebted with student loans. Some people will be paying off their education until the day they die. Even though there are a good number of community colleges which offer economic programs, many students opt to secure mainstream degrees in reputed colleges, despite the cost. The MOOCs that provide courses free of charge could revolutionize the way people are educated. In terms of real learning experience and exposure, the virtual system is no match for the conventional physical environment. But since human resources are limited, online courses can be valuable to a wide range of target groups. This new trend could bring a lot of socio-economic benefit to marginalized groups. Here are some economic values of free courses for both students and institutions:

1. Opportunity – This is probably the most important benefit of online learning. The student will be enabled to continue his or her day-to-day job and family duties while also pursuing an educational program. Our life is full of opportunities as well as duties; when we start having more duties, we start to sacrifice opportunities. If a person gets married, thinking about a full time Master’s degree becomes challenging. But engaging in online courses reduces this gap, putting forward a wide range of new prospects by bringing down the costs of opportunity.
2. Skill development – As our technology develops, new jobs are created – and these jobs require new skills. Acquiring knowledge from these classes will prepare students to be part of a changing workforce. There are classes available in mobile programming, web technologies, digital marketing, portfolio management, etc.
3. Flexibility – This is one of the distinct characteristics of online learning. Depending on availability, the student can easily track the lectures as he or she wishes. The examination and assignment pattern can be built around the student’s schedule.
4. Overcoming distance – Students can take courses and learn from the comfort of their own home. Students can even take classes from foreign universities. Imagine the costs of traveling to a foreign country! Now, the foreign country can come to you.
5. Saving time – “Time is money.” Online learning reduces the vast amount of time – and money – that is often spent acquiring knowledge. The student won’t need to commute to class, or miss school for an important work meeting. This is not only time saved, but earned. The student can study during holidays and other free time.  
6. Saving miscellaneous expenses – An online course eliminates petty expenses, such as transportation costs, lunch, books, and study materials. These small expenses create an added economic weight for students in a conventional educational environment. For people struggling financially, these seemingly “minor” costs can add up quickly.
7. Career shifts – Free classes are great for someone who feels stuck in their career. They can acquire the new skills necessary for a career shift.
8. No age limit – As people get older, it becomes harder to find the time for an education. They have responsibilities – whether financial, professional, or filial – that prevent them from taking classes. MOOCs enable older students to learn on their own schedules.
9. Taking rare courses – MOOCs enable students to enroll in rare courses. Not all colleges offer courses in Energy, Critical Thinking, or Designing Cities. Coursera offers a wide range of interesting multidisciplinary courses. Having access to such diverse fields of study is exciting for students.
10. Employment – MOOC platforms are also developing partnerships with HR representative at major companies, creating employment opportunities. Good students can be connected with good jobs.
11. Branding – Higher educational institutions collaborating with these MOOC platforms are also marketing themselves. Thousands of students are getting acquainted with these institutions through their eminent professors – and in turn, the students are realizing these are the best learning institutions in the world.
12. Virtual Infrastructure – Conventional institutions have spent millions of dollars for physical infrastructure, including buildings, libraries, laboratories, sports and recreational centers, etc. For online courses, the universities have to acquire technology to build virtual infrastructure. The basic physical infrastructure will be able to cater to thousands of students, as lectures from limited physical classrooms will be broadcast to thousands online.
13. Recorded lectures – When an institution records lectures delivered by professors, these recordings will remain an asset for the institution. These recorded lectures can be accessed at any time.
14. Vast number of enrolled students – The conventional classroom can accommodate a limited number of students. In virtual classrooms, thousands of students can follow an online lecture.

Conclusion

We have not discussed the shortcomings of MOOCs, as our focus is on bringing attention to the possibilities of this platform. The way we learn is changing, and these changes present real opportunities. It is probably too early to calculate the return on investment from MOOCs, as the technology is still developing and is not yet widespread. But the early returns suggest that these kinds of programs will have real economic and social benefits for both students and institutions.