Nearly forty years ago, a posh Texas department store sent her a catalogue of items totally unnecessary for a young Minnesota wife and mother. She had dreamed her way through that glossy book, looking for something she could afford, looking for something unique, glamorous, and new. She wanted something to make her feel special and valuable. There was little in that catalogue that she really could afford to buy. But there was something that looked like it might meet the rest of her needs: a watermelon towel! To her it seemed cheap at any price, but that towel cost more than forty toddler tee-shirts from the Nearly New Thrift Store. It cost more than twenty sticky sweets from Bob’s Corner Dairy Dip. It cost more than ten of the small recipe magazines she thumbed through at the grocery store. It was twenty dollars.

Yet, despite the cost, the towel was ordered, it came in the mail, and it was huge! It was a bold graphic print of a slice of juicy hot pink and cool green watermelon. It felt like velvet. It was hers and no one else could touch it!

Not much of anything else was all hers in those years of new marriage, old house, and young kids. Her children climbed in the bathtub with her because it was so much fun. When she closed the door and sat down on the toilet they cried because they were lonesome. They scribbled in her books. They tried on her shoes. They played with her car keys and lost them. They pulled on her arm when she talked on the phone because they were impatient. They ate from her plate because they were hungry. If she was sleeping, they woke her up when they were awake and ready to start their day. In general, her children invaded her body, occupied her mind, and stole her heart. Mostly it was normal and natural. It made her happy. But her life was often tiring, even exhausting. And then she felt used, and used up.

One cold Minnesota morning, she watched her five year old daughter and three year old son playing in the snow outside while she folded laundry near the window. Suddenly the back door flew open and both of them rushed toward her, red-cheeked and wet. They smiled at her and she beamed back at them. Then one put her icy hands under her mother’s shirt, on her warm stomach, to thaw them. The other leaned forward affectionately, she thought, and then wiped his runny nose on her shoulder. Out they ran. She sighed and pulled the watermelon towel from the wash basket. Because her children couldn’t have it, the watermelon towel was very attractive to them. After a bath, or after a swim in the lake, they asked for it. Later, going to a sleepover or away to camp, they pleaded for it. When all the other towels in the house were dirty, they demanded it. But she never shared her watermelon towel.

Politely but firmly, she refused all requests for it, no matter what the circumstances. She would simply state, “This towel is mine and it is very special to me. I like it very much. It is just not something I want to share.” That answer eventually satisfied them. Little by little they came to accept, to respect, and to understand her need for the watermelon towel. She was reasonable and generous. She knew that. They knew that. She would not be moved and she never felt guilty, not when it came to the watermelon towel.

The watermelon towel was carefully packed and moved with the family from Minnesota to Massachusetts to Wisconsin. It moved with the woman through forty years of change and growth in a marriage, in a family, in a community. Sometimes the watermelon towel was used often, sometimes hardly at all. It became a little worn, a little stiff, and perhaps just a little less colorful. It acquired blotches and bleach spots in the laundry room during the years when teenagers were alternately dyeing or fading their clothes. It went to the bottom of a big raggedy stack of beach towels.

Once when her son and daughter were in college and her husband was working, the woman treated herself to a professional conference before beginning a new job. She sat by herself at the hotel pool after the business part of the day was over.  She sat by herself on her watermelon towel, watching and thinking about the young families all around her.

“This watermelon towel has stood for an important part of who and what I am, and what it means to me to live in a family,” she thought. “It has stood for that part of myself which is uniquely mine. In a warm, close, and loving family, especially when children are young, it can be hard not to give all of yourself away,” she thought. “It can be desperately hard to see and to hang on to what you need for yourself when others need so much from you.”

When children are growing up they have to see and to separate what is uniquely their own and what belongs to everyone else. They need some of what everyone needs. If parents can hold them close and still keep a little distance, children will learn to do this, too. The woman’s children grew up able to respect who they were and what they must do with their lives. Her son and her daughter married and each had four children of their own. They both have kept their own “watermelon towels”: his is the old tenderly cared for Jeep he fusses with; hers is the quiet yoga classes she never misses. 

The woman’s days are mostly peaceful now, and she doesn’t need to protect her space, her belongings, or even her time. That doesn’t feel strange or unsettling to her; it feels comfortable. She’s not sure where the towel is these days and thinks she might have given it to a young neighbor who was expecting twins. The woman is glad she has had some preparation and practice for this stage of her life, and that she has learned to be generous to herself as well as to others. Her days are full of both contentment and anticipation. She is looking forward to the next visit of her grandchildren and thinks she must remember to tell them about the watermelon towel.

This study is a part of the burgeoning field of neuro-cardiology. It began when Armour and Ardell discovered a web of neurons in the heart. This web is described as being like a small scale brain, and it is endowed with functions like learning, data processing, remembering, and cognition – and it performs these independent of the central nervous system. These neuron cells in the heart both maintain communication with the brain and regulate the heart’s functions. Thus, a two-sided information transfer between the heart and brain is realized. In 2010, research conducted in different centers demonstrated that more information is sent from the heart to the brain, than vice versa.

Specific findings (McCraty, 2002, 2010; Haspel, 2009) have drawn particular attention to the relationship between the heart and brain, and they reveal that the heart communicates with the brain in four different ways:

1. Neurons (the neurological way)
2. Hormones and neurotransmitters (the biochemical way)
3. The pulse waves produced by blood pressure (the biophysical way).
4. The mutual transaction of electromagnetic fields. 

The heart’s two-sided communication network with the brain and other bodily systems is one of the most complex communication systems known to humankind.  While the brain has abstract, analytical, and logical intellects as well as functions like thought processing, data storing, and remembering, the heart is endowed with the intellects of feeling and communication. It is the center where feelings are first produced, and these emotions are then conveyed by the limbic system. In addition, the brain’s response to these emotions not only impacts all cells, but also the heart and brain waves of other people in the same vicinity.

Each heartbeat pumps blood, but it also sends and receives data to and from the entire body via neurological, hormonal, and electromagnetic means.

The same research from 2010 showed though the heart is the root of these functions, it also has functions relating to judgment, decision making, data-processing and remembering, just like the brain. The science of neuro-cardiology seems likely to radically change how we perceive the human body and soul.

The beating heart’s influence on our lives

The time that passes between heart beats is described as “heart rate variability.” Heart rate variability (HRV) reflects whether electric signals by the sinoatrial node (a group of nerve cells responsible for the electric current in the heart) is healthy or not. As HRV measures the heart’s ability to respond to the signals coming from and going to the brain, understanding the variability ratios of the heart has gained importance in recent years.

HRV is not always constant. The research conducted by Thurber et al (2010) studied HRV’s influence on a person’s mood, and it yielded interesting findings. According to their study, if HRV is consistent, all the body’s systems are positively influenced, or negatively if the HRV is inconsistent.

Depending on the emotional state of the individual, the heart influences the brain stem, amygdala, and cortex via the data it sends by means of heart rate variability. All of these findings indicate that the heart is not only given the duty of pumping blood, but also of being an administrative signal center that regulates the entire operation of the body in rhythm. When individuals experience different emotions like rage, joy, fear, or despair, the rhythmic patterns in HRV also differ.

For example, if a person is experiencing positive feelings like gratitude, appreciation, love, or mercy, the heart rate variability is consistent; but if the person is experiencing negative feeling such as fear, anxiety, despair, depression, or the like, the HRV becomes inconsistent. In addition, if the person is experiencing positive feelings, the heart perceives other positive feelings with more ease; and if not, the perception of such feelings becomes more difficult. Thankfully, the research conducted by McCraty et al (2009) and Halpel indicated that it is possible to intentionally evoke positive feelings in a person. External factors play a major role in our moods.

The electromagnetic field of the heart and its influence on our lives

The human heart is a reactor where the strongest and widest electromagnetic field in the body is produced. The bio-electromagnetic field produced in the heart has been measured to be 50-70 cm wide by magnetometers with a base of superconducting quantum interference device (SQUID). According to McCraty’s measurements of the heart’s electric field, which can be measured with an electrocardiogram (EKG), it is, on average, 100 times greater than the electroencephalogram (EEG) recorded in the brain – and the magnetic component is an average of 5,000 times stronger than the one produced in the brain.

The changes in blood pressure, sound pressure, and electromagnetic waves – all of which are produced by the rhythmic activity of the heart – are perceived by every organ and cell in the body. For instance, electromagnetic waves sent from the heart affect brain waves. Recent research by Haspel as well as Bedell and Kaszkin-Bettag suggest that the heart is where emotional states originate – the brain is simply sensing these feelings.

For instance, when the heart rate variability is 0.10 hertz, there is complete harmony between our body and spirit. In this state of harmony, it was observed that the waves from the two lobes of the brain are in the same phase and they turn into a single wave. In other words, the two lobes of the brain begin to work in perfect harmony. In addition, it was observed that at this state the brain secretes a serious amount of endorphins, which are the source of the feeling of pleasure.

Science is beginning to show that if the waves formed by HRV and brain waves are harmonious, a person will be physically and psychologically healthy. If the two sets of waves are not harmonious, the person is likely to be ill. This indicates that the changes observed in pulse patterns over time are a key measure of the balance between the brain and heart.

At the same time, this balance varies according to our mood. Attaining harmony only happens only when we experience feelings such as compassion, love, affection, appreciation, forgiveness, and thankfulness (Thurber et al, 2010; McCraty and Reese, 2009). A great deal of this harmony is realized through electromagnetic communication, which also strengthens our senses, concentration, and ability to generate new ideas. And physically, our immune system is strengthened, stress is reduced, and we are overall healthier. The equation is simple: good moods equal good health.  

In addition to all of these benefits, a 2002 study by McCraty showed that a magnetic area of influence that surrounds the body is formed with every beat of the heart (figure 2). While the heart influences the functioning of our bodily systems with the data it sends to all cells and to the brain, it also influences other people’s hearts and brainwaves by sending out external data. In many instances, we witness that being close to certain people may both influence our heart (feelings) and brain (thoughts and decision making processes). This explains how parents and educators who constantly share the same environment with children can have a great impact in their lives. For this reason, all people, but particularly parents and teachers, must be very careful about what passes from their heart. It is ultimately our body’s functions turned into external action that have the greatest influence on those around us.

The following statements from the Prophet Muhammad, peace be upon him, summarizes this issue well:

• “God does not look at your bodies nor your forms, but He looks at your hearts and your actions.”[1]
• “There is lump of flesh in the body, the nature of which is that when it is sound, the entire body is sound, and when it is corrupt, the entire body is corrupt—it is the heart.”[2]

[1] Sahih al-Muslim, Birr, 33.

There is love that passes through generations,
a mere candlelight, each person a candle,
their flame bewitching others
and enlightening them with a delicate radiance.
This flame is eternal only if one is willing to share
the warmth across future generations.

There is love that passes through windows of the soul
as a simple breeze;
whether harsh, soft, or in the form of a tornado,
it manages to brush upon skin,
and never constant, nor still,
it pierces through the heart with wind,
leaving only debris.

There is love that passes through the closest and purest veins
embedded within hearts,
embroidered in societies and personalities.
This is love that is Truth,
greater than the salted night sky
more vast than the knee-deep river,
origin of itself.

My forehead touches the first ray of sunlight
after the subtle diminishing fog in the morning,
fingertips reaching for everything
black holed pupils recording and absorbing.
I hear the caged soul yearning
This,
This is love,
living in the presence of the Beloved.

Works Cited

“Charles Bukowski on What Love Is.” Brain Pickings. January 30, 2012. Accessed December 25, 2015. https://www.brainpickings.org/2012/01/30/charles-bukowski-on-love/.

Can you briefly describe your work and studies?

I grew up in India and my initial training was in atomic physics and chemical physics.  After my Ph.D., I came to Long Beach, California, to teach physics at California State University, some 35 years ago.  In my first year of teaching, I realized the plight of minorities in America and felt a need for improvement in the societal expectations from these students.  Also, I noticed a gender-based difference in societal expectations for the sciences.  I decided to do something about it. 

I got involved in several programs to promote a culture of science and technology among underprivileged and minority students.  Some of these programs were supported by the National Science Foundation.  I also decided to intellectually understand the reasons behind these low social expectations for the under-represented populations in the science community.  This is how I became interested in the history of science and found that science texts are essentially Eurocentric.  I raised this question: Why did the non-Western civilizations not contribute to science?  Later, I learned that I was not the first person to raise this question.  This question is popularly known as Needham’s question, raised by Joseph Needham, a British historian.

Joseph Needham, after a visit to China, recognized Chinese excellence in science and technology, and raised this question: “Why did modern science develop only in the Western world?”  He raised this question to demonstrate that this is indeed not the case and pointed out significant omissions in science texts, with specific examples from China.  He called these omissions in science texts “deeply unjust to other civilizations.  And unjust here means both untrue and unfriendly, two cardinal sins which mankind cannot commit with impunity.”  He also answered his famous question by publishing a multi-volume book, Science and Civilization in China.

I decided to answer Needham’s question by documenting the non-Western contributions to science, primarily focusing on India first.  This is how my first two books were published: (1) Science in the Medieval World, and (2) Sciences of the Ancient Hindus: Unlocking Nature in the Pursuit of Salvation. 

Tell us about your recent book. What are your aims with this book?

After publishing two successful books, I decided to focus on all global cultures, including non-Western cultures. This led to my recent book, A History of Science in World Cultures: Voices of Knowledge, which I wrote with Scott L. Montgomery.  

Covering ancient Egypt, Mesopotamia, India, Greece, China, the Islamic world, and the New World, this new book discusses the scope of scientific and technological achievements in each civilization and how the knowledge they developed came to impact the European Renaissance.  Themes covered include the influence these scientific cultures had upon one another, the power of writing and its technologies, visions of mathematical order in the universe and how it can be represented, and what elements of the distant scientific past we continue to depend upon today.  Topics often left unexamined in histories of science are treated in fascinating detail, such as the chemistry of mummification and the Great Library of Alexandria in Egypt, jewelry and urban planning in the Indus Valley, hydraulic engineering and the compass in China, the sustainable agriculture and dental surgery of the Mayans, and algebra and optics in the Islamic world. 

With specific examples, we showed that science is multicultural by nature.  Science does not belong to one particular culture or gender, it belongs to all who want to unfold the mysteries of nature.  In history, science was never confined to any one era, culture, or geographic region. Modern science certainly did not spring into a completely evolved form abruptly with the Renaissance in Europe.  Influences came from various parts of the world, like streams from many different sources join to form a river.

Have you seen any “common thread” among the many contributions made by different civilizations?

There are several common threads among the many contributions made by different civilizations.  First, there were no islands of science.  Major civilizations were never wholly self-created but depended on scientific and technological influences from other societies for their dynamism and growth.  As a result, there have always been scientific exchanges among cultures, even during ancient periods.  This is the reason why so many Greek philosophers went to Egypt, why Islamic philosophers learned from India, and how the European Renaissance was caused by the developments in the Islamic Middle East.  In the same spirit, Prophet Mohammad asked his followers who were students to even visit China — China being a far off land from the early medieval perspective. 

Second, every people or group of peoples who succeeded in building a major civilization, from ancient Sumer to Renaissance Europe, did so by advancements in science and technology.  These advancements brought materialistic benefits to its citizens and also made them prosperous and powerful.  This is what happened in India, Egypt, China, the Middle East, and Europe at different times for different durations.  As a result, the modern scientific pool of knowledge is global in origin.  For example, the number system came from India, many algebraic and arithmetical techniques came from India and the Middle East, astronomical observations were made in most cultures (many terms used in astronomy are Arabic in origin), etc.  Over time, those scientific cultures that made the most progress were those that remained open to new influences from outside and/or put significant resources into growing science and technology.  Civilizations require intellectual nourishment, including science and technology, for their continued existence.

Are these contributions looking for the “truth” or “purpose of life,” or just to be the supreme power of their time?

All of the above.  Throughout history, new sciences were developed to fulfill religious and social needs.  These social needs included material prosperity and social stability. All major religions ask us to think about the creator and the creation.  Thinkers throughout history observed, experimented, and contemplated about the creation to get insights about the creator.  Thus, mathematics, astronomy, geometry, physics, and medicine were all considered sacred sciences throughout the ancient and medieval periods, at least in different regions of the world.  People became scientists to understand religion.  For example, Newton in England, Aryabhata in India, and al-Biruni in the Middle East did just that.  In my mind, a religious country naturally must have a large number of scientists and technologists.  This, in turn, should lead them to be prosperous and powerful.
Religious codes were defined in ways that urged innovations in both knowledge and institutions. Astronomy, medicine, and mathematics were all considered as sacred understandings in early Islam and among the ancient Hindus. Under the Abbasids, for example, knowledge of the heavens was used to locate the new capitol, Baghdad, built as a great circle to reveal God’s plan for humanity, and as a new model metropolis of tolerance, learning, and beauty. Among its innovative institutions were its many hospitals, libraries, and the Bait al-Hikma, or “House of Wisdom,” where Greek, Persian, and Sanskrit texts in the sciences were rendered into Arabic to help fulfill Islam’s destiny as the one true faith, able to gather and improve upon humanity’s best works.
In India, the great Aryabhata, in his 5th century book on mathematics and astronomy, stated that understanding the diurnal motion of the Earth could do nothing less than reveal to one’s mind the divine plan and thus lead to liberation: “Whoever knows the ten verses describing the movements of the Earth and the planets…passes through the paths of the planets and asterisms and reaches God.” Hindu medicine, Ayurveda (“knowledge of life”), especially that developed by Susruta, taught many forms of advanced surgery, but also that therapy should first employ religious acts, natural drugs, and training of the mind in ways that obeyed the divine structure of the world. Europe, then, inherited large portions of this knowledge via Islam in the 12th and 13th centuries. European authors, such as Robert Grosseteste and Roger Bacon, were dominantly men of the church.  They adapted this material to a Christian worldview, rendering it a key ingredient in the rise of the universities, at the time one of Europe’s most inventive new institutions. 
Even with such clear examples as these, science texts continue to downplay the centrality of religion.  The schism between the “religious” and the “scientific,” which became orthodoxy only in the second half of the 19th century, still has an unfortunate hold on contemporary discourse. There is a tendency, as well, to secularize the past whenever major scientific advances are noted.  Thomas Huxley’s effort to pose religion as “organized superstition” against science as “organized common sense” remains with many of us. This is the trend we have tried to amend by providing an alternative in our book. In taking historical account of past discoveries, the religious culture in which they took place, and the innovations in society they brought, we have weaved a series of narratives that are richly cross-disciplinary and that go beyond conventional instruction in this important area.

What was the role of belief in an ultimate intellect/reason throughout history?

Belief in ultimate cause/intellect/reason has always been very prominent in all societies of the past, as it is today.  Most civilizations of the past did strongly believe in God, the ultimate cause/intellect/reason.  Whether it was Plato (Greece), Aryabhata (India), Said al-Andalusi (Spain), Newton, or al-Khuwarizmi, they all believed in an Almighty God.  They lived in different periods, in different locations, followed different religions, and, yet, believed strongly in God.  Like I shared before, the science texts of today do not correctly portray the true nature of discovery by separating science from other domains of knowledge.

Is there anything in history which separates one religion or civilization from others in terms of their contribution to knowledge and science? 

Perhaps not.  Although not all civilizations contributed equally to science, this was due to multiple factors.  All religions ask their followers to follow intellectual pursuits, whether the religion is Hinduism, Buddhism, Islam, or Christianity.  It does not mean that the followers of these religions followed the path prescribed by their scriptures.  For example, it is sad to observe that, in history, libraries were burnt, females were subjugated and discouraged from following intellectual pursuits, and sufferings were inflicted on scholars as well as average citizens in the name of religion.  This happened during the third-century B.C. in China, during the fourth-century in Egypt, during the thirteenth-century in Baghdad, during the fifteenth century in Spain, and during the twentieth-century in Germany, to mention just a few instances.  Invariably, in all cases, the societies lost their prosperity and glory. 

Usually people suggest that science and religion are contradictory to each other? What do you think about this from a historical perspective?

The contentions between science and religion are well publicized in history, with the examples of Galileo, Bruno, and others. As a result, it is commonly assumed that the sciences and religion are innately in conflict. The truth is that, for the great majority of our history, in most cultures, religious beliefs and scientific work supported each other and no barrier existed between the “scientific” and the “sacred.” The idea that the eternal struggle exists between science and religion dates from the modern period, and is fiction.  In contrast, astronomy, medicine, and mathematics were all considered as sacred understandings among the ancient Hindus, and in medieval Islam and medieval Christianity.  Readers may find this fact interesting: the Royal Society of London, formed in 1660, dedicated its work “to the glory of God the Creator, and the benefit of the human race.” This is a part of its charter even today.

In India, Aryabhata, a fifth century scholar, in his book Aryabhatiya, suggests people learn mathematics, geometry, and astronomy, to achieve liberation. It is these efforts to achieve liberation that led to the growth of geometry and arithmetic, including the invention of zero and infinity, in India. Elsewhere, in Europe, Roger Bacon, a thirteenth century scholar, considered mathematics essential to learning about the celestial world that controlled terrestrial events: “Of these sciences the gate and key is mathematics, which the saints discovered at the beginning of the world . . . and which has always been used by all the saints and sages more than all other sciences.” Bacon considered mathematics to be the first discipline that should be taught to children, even before singing or the alphabet.  In Islam, Muslims needed to establish the correct coordinates (latitude and longitude) of their cities so that they could determine the direction of Mecca (qibla) for prayer. Muslims from all over Africa, Europe, the Middle East, and Asia used their astronomical and mathematical knowledge to solve this problem.  Astronomy, spherical geometry, algebra, and other scientific disciplines prospered during the golden period of Islam.  Perhaps the only generalization is that the history of religion and the history of science cannot be separated.

What are you working on as your next book?

Currently, I am working on two projects.   The first project deals with the way we remember facts.  Retention of knowledge is a serious issue for most science educators and students.  This is an important issue at an individual level; this is also equally crucial at the societal level.  All of us remember information by association.  Sentences are easier to remember than words in a random order.  Stories or poems are easier to remember than abstract texts.  I want to write a science text that collects scientific information in stories that a young mind can retain.  This book will use age-old practices that the Native Americans, Indians, and other oral cultures used to preserve their knowledge in going from one generation to another. However, in my case, we are interested in preserving the scientific heritage in the minds of our young generation long after they leave a school environment. 

The second project deals with the central role of religion in the progress of science and in the advancement of society and human affairs.  As I mentioned before, religions encourage humans to think about the creator and the world’s creation.  Learning about the physical world is a necessity for all religious people.  It is no coincidence that in medieval Europe, the church promoted four subjects (quadrivium) in the university curricula, and three of the four were geometry, arithmetic, and astronomy.   This is the reason that Roger Bacon, a thirteenth century scholar, considered mathematics “absolutely necessary to sacred science.”  Similarly, Aryabhata, in fifth-century India, considered astronomy, mathematics, and physics as sacred subjects, necessary to achieving salvation.

Anything else you would like to add for our readers?

The history of science is not the history of events; it is the history of cultures, intentions, and human minds.  It tells us how various cultures recognized issues that they found crucial, and how they resolved them.  Such knowledge is important in dealing with the unknown future we face.  Knowing what we were in the past helps us to understand what we are in the present, and who we will be in the future. If you don’t know your history, then you are like a limb that doesn’t know it is part of a tree. Further, all countries celebrate their great heroes, including the great scientific and mathematical minds of the past and present. Greece had Aristotle and Pythagoras, Italy had Galileo and Leonardo Fibonacci, England had Maxell and Newton, France had Laplace and Fourier, India had Kanada and Aryabhata, and the Middle East had al-Khwarizmi and al-Razi.  Just imagine erasing the name of Pythagoras and Aristotle from the current philosophy texts because they are ancient history and, therefore, irrelevant.  Would that be just and fair?  The answer is a clear and emphatic “no”.  However, this is exactly the case when we unjustly ignore heroes from the non-Western world.  We must correct this situation and my recent book is a step in this direction.  A lot more work is needed to take care of this issue.

Many respected thinkers claim that a new era based on artificial intelligence (AI) will follow and ultimately succeed us as the primary inhabitants of our planet [www.bbc.com/news/technology-30290540]. Their main rationale is that AI will exceed our limited human intelligence, and machines will ultimately transcend us in their capabilities. AI has already entered our lives with our smart phones (e.g., voice recognition software, like Siri), Google’s search predictions, Netflix’s movie recommendations, your major bank’s fraud-detection algorithms, and many other ways. In the very near future, we will likely see self-driving cars on the streets, drone-based delivery of online purchases, and ‘smart’ machinery for our households. It’s certain that AI based algorithms will substitute or at least help humans in performing certain tasks. In fact, they already have. But will advances in artificial intelligence research eventually allow humanoid robots to surpass us, not only in specific tasks, but in all ways?

A little history

The Industrial Revolution, in the early nineteenth century, and subsequent socio-economic developments, inevitably pushed the course of human culture towards a computerized future. In the Victorian era, financial institutions had started to carry out millions of transactions per year. Large populations needed to be surveyed and governmental censuses required the processing of millions of records. Increases in manufacturing and trade required constant bookkeeping. Such tasks were manually carried out by employed clerks. However, the advent of large-scale data required a much more efficient and effective means of data processing.

It was this need that caused an engineer named Herman Hollerith to develop a mechanical system for data processing in the late nineteenth century. Hollerith commercialized his invention by establishing the Tabulating Machine Company, in 1896, which later gave birth to IBM.

Such mechanical devices carried out specific tasks very efficiently and replaced error-prone human computers (clerks) in processing large amounts of data. But more importantly, they attracted mathematicians’ interest in defining what a “task” is and what was computable by such devices. This led to the rigorous formulation of the “algorithm,” the task or process a machine carries out, in the early twentieth century. Several tools and celebrated theorems were introduced during these years to describe computability: the Lambda-calculus, Church’s thesis, the Turing machine, Godel’s incompleteness theorem…

The pioneering work of Claude Shannon’s A Mathematical Theory of Communication, in 1948, laid the foundations of digital communication. With the invention of the transistor, data was transferred into a digital format, and digital machines or “computers” based on the Turing machine model were developed. Electronic productions were becoming cheap, ultimately enabling computers to be affordable for the public. Apple was established in the 1970s to sell personal computers (PCs). During this same era, Microsoft was also founded as a company providing software solutions for the newly emerging PC market. With the commercialization of the Internet in the 1990s, the need for content search engines was on the rise. As such, Google was founded by two PhD students from Stanford.

Today, the aforementioned companies are among the largest in the world. One common pattern in all of them is that their founders were successful in reading the global trends and aware of the course of scientific developments. With tenacity and talent, their companies were able to rise to the top of the financial heap in a short amount of time.

The era of AI?

There is a recent trend in investing in AI. Google has recently acquired many of the world’s leading robotics firms, including Boston Dynamics. Amazon, Facebook, and Microsoft are all investing in machine learning, with the hope of pushing their businesses into the future. The number of AI startups has exploded in the last few years, capitalizing on over 300 million dollars from investors in 2014, up more than 20-fold compared to four years prior [www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2015-02-03/i-ll-be-back-the-return-of-artificial-intelligence].

Many scholars point out that an AI revolution is taking place and that staying relevant in tomorrow’s world requires acting today. Of course, some philosophers and scientists are arguing that AI poses a threat to our very existence. Could machines inherit our human capabilities and replace us as the predominant, intelligent form on Earth?

According to Said Nursi, the progress of human civilization and scientific development is God’s desire in humankind “to make manifest and display in the view of the people the majesty of His rule… the wonders of His art, and the marvels of His knowledge, and so that He could behold His beauty and perfection.” In achieving this, God has created mankind as the vicegerent of the earth, and He has bestowed us with remarkable abilities. As a manifestation of this, humankind has established civilizations by using our social-cultural advancements and dominion over our natural environment. Thus, knowingly or not, humanity has excellently displayed and made known the miraculous art and divine-attributes of our Maker.

From a religious viewpoint, does this forecast of intelligent machines surpassing human abilities contradict the purpose of humankind as the vicegerent of the earth? Does it also contradict humanity’s status as the most superior creation of God? What does science tell us?

We know that the Turing machine, on which modern computers are based, has serious limitations. In 1900, the famous mathematician David Hilbert published a list of problems which was unsolved at the time. The tenth problem asked for a general algorithm to determine whether a given Diophantine equation with integer coefficients has an integer solution. We now know that no such algorithm exists. Similarly, in the 1930s, Turing himself put forth that the halting problem (whether the Turing machine halts or not) is undecidable – i.e., it is impossible to construct an algorithm that always leads to a correct yes-or-no answer.

At the time, many also argued about whether the Turing machine was the ultimate mathematician. The question was: given a list of axioms and some rules of logic, will a Turing machine be able to prove every mathematical statement? The rationale behind the idea was that, since all theorems are derived from a set of axioms and logic rules, the machine can eventually enumerate all possible theorems and thus validate the correctness of a given statement.

The question was answered just a few years after. The celebrated Godel’s incompleteness theorem simply states that in a consistent system, where statements are not true and false at the same time, we will have statements that we cannot decide the correct answer to. This theorem seriously dampened the enthusiasm of people overly excited about the capabilities of these new machines. Ever since Godel’s discovery, the computability theory has been used to research the limits of computation. It is well known that the current computing models, such as Turing and Quantum machines, have their ultimate limits.

Differing from computability theory, artificial intelligence is more concerned with developing algorithms that learn or adapt to their environment, allowing them to perform a particular task. Though such algorithms inherit the ultimate restriction of the computing model they operate on, computers can still be taught to perform certain tasks, such as visual/speech recognition. The technological advances in the last decades are mind blowing, as algorithms that perform certain tasks, such as human/face detection, already show great accuracy. However, we’re still far from the kind of robots we see in certain sci-fi movies or shows.

The question remains whether we can see progress in the near future of AI that will eventually allow machines to surpass humans in their skills. But what makes humans, well, human? The computability theory first requires defining, mathematically, what an algorithm is before developing machine models that function as instructed by such an algorithm. The lack of an answer to the question of what makes humans human thus contributes to the ever-continuing discussion of AI vs. humans. Denying our spiritual side will most likely cause people to continue to see AI as the next evolutionary step; whereas, given the undeniable spiritual capacity of humans, it is not wrong to state that although AI will increasingly dominate our lives, it will never fully replace us.

Bayram Kara – PhD Candidate studying in the areas of Machine Learning.

The interplay of both factors in determining one’s development has been agreed upon by many Muslim scholars who have contended that factors such as genetic predispositions, education, and spirituality play complementary roles in behavior. For instance, reports from the early Islamic period records Prophet Muhammad to have advised many times about making wise decisions when choosing a partner, as a marriage will influence the development of a newborn (Abdullah, 2011). On the other hand, the Prophet has also been cited regarding his emphasis on the role of the environment around a newborn and how this will impact them later in life.

Related to spirituality, the concept of the soul is important in the Islamic debate of nature vs. nurture (Abdullah, 2011). In Islam, humans are comprised of both the physique and the soul. The soul (nafs), according to the religion, is what differentiates humans from animals; it allows humans to use reason and intellect, whereas animals can only follow their natural instincts. Humans are capable of higher cognitive functions, which may result from education and spirituality, and are made possible by the existence of the soul.

In Christianity, the debate of nature vs. nurture does not end at just two divisions. The more Biblically accurate contextualization of human behaviors, according to the religion, comprises four divisions (Powlison, 1995). These divisions are creation-nature, sin-nature, sin-nurture, and grace-nurture. Basically, these divisions acknowledge that nature can be created by God (creation-nature) and by humans’ tendency to sin (sin-nature), while sinning can also be encouraged (sin-nurtured), just like behaviors that comply with what God wants (grace-nurture) can be encouraged.

While semantically Christianity’s stance in relation to the nature-versus-nurture debate is complex, it is practically similar to Islam, where spirituality (as in the concept of God) is one of the vital pillars in understanding the roots of human behaviors.

In Buddhism, spirituality is also seen as the focal point of human behaviors (The Neurobiologist’s Guide to Buddha, n.d.). However, spirituality, as conceived by Buddhism, comes from one’s mind, and it seems that very little of the Buddhist philosophy is associated with the image of God (Olson, 2002). This is how the concept of spirituality in Buddhism differs from the one in Christianity and Islam: Buddhism emphasizes the role of the mind, especially in the state of enlightenment, which is when worldly characteristics such as desire, anger, and passion are eliminated.

The interaction between nature and nurture is explained in one disease model called the Diathesis Stress Model (Zuckerman, 1999). This model asserts that every individual is born with a certain level of vulnerability to certain diseases (though this level does not mean they have the disease). This level can be high or it can be low. Then, the influence of the environment – or the interaction between person and surroundings – will influence the likelihood of a person actually getting such diseases. Mental health experts have attempted to explain schizophrenia, depression, and other diseases through this lens. Some scientists claim that everyone is born with a risk to become schizophrenic. If their tendency towards schizophrenia is low, then a high degree of influence by stressful external factors is required for the symptoms of schizophrenia to manifest, and vice versa.

Crime is another important issue in the nature versus nurture debate. When discussing crime, we can rarely escape discussing aggression. Aggression is a trait in almost all individuals, and it can be influenced by both nature and nurture. Some factors leading to aggression are levels of aggression-related hormones, such as testosterone, or the existence of certain forms of genetic code that are deviant from normal structures. Various studies have shown that there are particular genetic codes that are more prevalent among arrested offenders (e.g. McDermott, Tingley, Cowden, Frazzetto, & Johnson, 2009; Tiihonen, et al., 2015). This shows that some people can be born with the inclination towards being aggressive, but it is also undeniable that aggression can be developed through external influences.

In a well-known experiment, Bandura, a psychologist, tried to explain that children can be taught to be aggressive (Bandura, Ross, & Ross, 1961). The experiment involved putting children in a room with a television where the television showed a model doing something to a doll named Bobo. The children were split into three groups: in group one, the children watched the doll being hit; in group two, the children saw the doll being played with non-aggressively; and in the last group, the children saw nothing (this served as a control group). Then, all three groups were led to a room where there was a similar doll, and the researchers observed what the children did to the doll.

The findings showed that aggressive imitation was observed to be high in group one, suggesting that behaviors could be learnt upon observations. This group’s behaviors were similar to how the aggressive models behaved towards the doll, while the other groups manifested little aggressive behaviors towards the doll. This study supports the theory that environmental, or external, factors shape the development and acquisition of at least certain behaviors.

Intelligence is another hotly debated subject in the nature vs. nurture debate. Earlier presumptions favored the role of nature in being the most influential factor in determining an individual’s intelligence (Leahy, 1935). However, as scholars further investigated the topic, they found that intelligence is not as simple as once thought. While some argued that both nature and nurture have an equal level of influence (Holzinger, 1929), others observed that external factors such as culture may play a bigger role (Kan, Wicherts, Dolan, & van der Maas, 2013).

One of the most important implications of the debate about nature vs. nurture is the implication of accountability. While accountability can be a different issue altogether, many have argued that determining the root cause of human behavior entails determining if humans are accountable for their actions. Take the example of an offender who has the genetic markers prevalent among offenders: does this make the offender not accountable for the crime he/she has committed? Is someone with low intelligence doomed to possess that level of intelligence for the rest of their life?

In conclusion, nature and nurture both influence how humans work and acquire certain characteristics and behaviors. Since science has spent a considerable amount of effort in resolving the debate, it can be concluded that the answers are not simple. Just as human dynamics are variegated, the issue of nature and nurture also reflects the complexity of the human world. Further systematic research into the issue should be conducted, as the debate has implications for many aspects of life. Further studies could provide invaluable benefit to humanity.

References

• Abdullah, F. (2011). Human behavior from an Islamic perspective: interaction of nature, nurture and spiritual dimension. The American Journal of Islamic Social Sciences, 28, 87-105.
• Bandura, A., Ross, D., & Ross, S. A. (1961). Transmission of aggression through imitation of aggressive models. Journal of Abnormal and Social Psychology, 63, 575-82.
• Engel, G. L. (1977). The need for a new medical model: A challenge for biomedicine. Science, 196, 129-136. Holzinger, K. J. (1929). The relative effect of nature and nurture influences on twin differences. Journal of Educational Psychology, 20, 241-248.
• Kan, K., Wicherts, J. M., Dolan, C. V., & van der Maas, H. (2013). On the nature and nurture of intelligence and specific cognitive abilities: The more heritable, the more culture dependent. Psychological Science, 24, 2420 –2428. Leahy, A. M. (1935).
• Nature-nurture and intelligence. Genetic Psychology Monographs, 17, 236-308. McDermott, R., Tingley, D., Cowden, J., Frazzetto, G., & Johnson, D. (2009).
• Monoamine oxidase A gene (MAOA) predicts behavioral aggression following provocation. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 106, 2118.
• Olson, R. P. (2002). Religious theories of personality and sychotherapy: East meets West. Psychology Press. Powlison, D. (1995).
• Anger part 1: Understanding anger. The Journal of Biblical Counseling, 14. Rowland, J. H., & Baker, F. (2005).
• Introduction: Resilience of cancer survivors across the lifespan. Cancer, 104, 2543–2645.
• The Neurobiologist’s Guide to Buddha. (n.d.). Nature or nurture? Retrieved from The Neurobiologist’s Guide to Buddha: http://www.biojuris.com/buddha/topics.html
• Tiihonen, J., Rautiainen, M. R., Ollila, H. M., Repo-Tiihonen, E., Virkkunen, M., Palotie, A., . . . Paunio, T. (2015). Genetic background of extreme violent behavior. Molecular Psychiatry, 20, 786-792.
• Zuckerman, M. (1999). Vulnerability to psychopathology: A biosocial model. Washington: American Psychological Association.

Once considered a beacon of hope for the Middle East, Turkey has been rapidly backsliding on issues of democracy, freedom of the press, and human rights. One would have thought this downfall hit bottom on July 15, when a bloody coup was attempted, leaving behind more than 250 dead. We mourn with the Turkish nation for those who lost their lives and wholeheartedly condemn this violent action. Yet, many questions are still hanging in the air about this weird attempt, which was, at best, unfavorably démodé and useless on all fronts – and at worst, dangerously foolish. To provide one glaring example, the plotters shut down the state-run TV network and one other private channel while there were still hundreds of other local and national networks broadcasting live. This tactic worked in 1980, when the Turkish chief of staff appeared on the only available network and made the coup announcement, but it failed terribly in 2016, when nearly every country in the world has access to hundreds of channels – not to mention the internet. This failure would have been laughable, were it not for the very real tragedy that followed the amateurish attempt. 

Whatever the tactics, the coup is over; democracy, if what Turkey has is a democracy, is back. So, what is the deal with The Fountain?

The coup was followed by an immediate response from Turkish President Erdogan, who announced in the first few hours, while the coup was still underway, that Mr. Fethullah Gülen and the Hizmet movement inspired by his teachings were the actors behind the plot. The President did not present any evidence implicating Mr. Gülen or Hizmet, but Mr. Erdogan has blamed Hizmet for nearly every problem he’s encountered over the previous three years – though he has never once provided any evidence in support of his charges.

There is not space in this editorial to detail all the reasons behind Erdogan’s hatred of Hizmet, but what is clear is that his crackdown on the movement started in December 2013, when he and his close circle of ministers and family members were implicated in a massive corruption scandal. Blaming Hizmet for revealing his own government’s corruption, President Erdogan began cracking down on those he considered to be his enemies – journalists, academics, judges, and more – all under the guise of “purging” Hizmet members from civil service organizations. No evidence of wrongdoing has ever been provided; suspicion, or perhaps a mean Tweet, was enough to ruin a person’s livelihood.

After this most recent coup attempt, the crackdown took a new turn as Erdogan ordered the closure of thousands of schools, hospitals, dormitories, and charities; fired tens of thousands of teachers, doctors, and public servants; and arrested tens of thousands of citizens who, it would seem, had already been listed as associated with the movement before the coup attempt. Many newspapers, TV channels, and other publications have been ordered to close in Turkey, including The Fountain.

The President declared a state of emergency, which will last for at least three months. This has allowed him to suspend universally binding laws and conventions. Already there are reports of torture, disappearances, deaths in custody, and arrests by association. Erdogan’s witch hunt has led to large scale defamations against a group of people, and it has infringed upon the right of thousands, perhaps millions, of people to live their lives freely. Not only have free speech and the rule of law been suspended, but so has the freedom to practice business. Law abiding companies have been seized as “spoils of war.” These are not episodes of a dystopian drama, but what is being “proudly” reported by the Turkish state-run media as “democracy.” This media, like the government, is under the control of one man: President Erdogan.

The government’s crackdown has been as primitive and bloody as the coup attempt was amateurish and anachronistic. Yes, silencing The Fountain and other media outlets in Turkey may serve as another point scored against the Hizmet movement, but what is the cost of that “victory”? It runs completely against the basic principles of democracy – for democracy is not only about elections, but about freedom of speech, the rule of law, and the basic right of all law-abiding citizens to pursue a livelihood of their choosing. This kind of true, healthy democracy is dead in present-day Turkey.

Here we are, walking at the seaside… On one side, we are watching seagulls soar with the wind; and on the other, we are passing people fishing. We’re struck with this realization: though many people do not have the patience for a few minutes of prayer and contemplation, they can spend hours sitting still while fishing or watching a movie. As we go along, we see a person who is doing certain basic exercises and stretches. He looks concentrated, and rather abstracted from everything around him. He does not look like he needs to lose weight. We approach him to chat for a little while. “You look like you exercise regularly. It is a must for staying healthy, isn’t it?” “I try to do it as much as I can. But not just to stay healthy.”

“For what else?” “Regular exercise keeps the memory strong. Thus, it helps me memorize my prayers. Sports also make the physiological foundation of an innovative mind. To catch original ideas, to make extraordinary observations and assessments, you need sports. Exercise is also an effective medicine for habituation, which can impair a person’s thankfulness towards God and inhibit remembrance of Him. For example, one way to comprehend and feel the meanings of certain attributes of God is to try gymnastics. By trying to stand on a single foot, but always in a different position, you can experience God’s presence as being The Lord, One who perfects, One who adjusts, One who starts and maintains. By engaging in ever more challenging positions and durations, you can observe God as He grows the talent seeds that He planted in your body. Thus, you can better appreciate the equilibrium of existence with every fiber of your muscles.”

We leave this person to his “worship” and decide to have a seat at the café behind him. As we wait for our tea and cookies, our eyes are drawn to the paintings on the wall. After a few minutes, our order comes, and we start chatting with the waiter:

“The paintings on the wall are rather interesting. Where did you get them?” “They are not purchased. They are my own work. Everyone working at this café is an artist, too. The music in the background, for example, is a recording made by some of my coworkers. If you look at the chairs, none of them has the same carvings as another. Each of them, again, the handiwork of one of our employees. The designs on the tiles on the floor have been worked on individually, and none of them is the same as another.”

Upon hearing these words, we are pleased to be in an exquisite and rare place like this – but we are also a little embarrassed for having stepped and sat on such art work! “If you opened an exhibition or commercialized these, you could make some real money.”

“Maybe! But our purpose in making our art isn’t for trade or proving something to others. We make art because the flourishing and fruition of the talent seeds embedded in us please the real Owner of our talents. We are making this art so that those who look upon them can reflect on the originals in nature and, thus, can appreciate the real Artist, who is also our Creator. And in creating art, we feel like we are witnessing that real Artist at work.”

Following these words, the waiter leaves us alone with our servings. As we take a bite, we catch a glimpse of a small truck waiting outside. Looking at the cement and tiles in its trunk, it’s clear it is there for maintenance or some minor construction. However, there is nothing around that needs maintenance. We stop the waiter again and ask:

“Excuse me for a minute. What are these materials in the back of the truck for?” “Part of our café is going to be demolished, and in its stead, there is going to be an addition to another part.”

“Why? I cannot see anything wrong with what is already here.” “It is not because something is wrong. The land on which this café is established is constant, but the location of the café is continuously changing. By demolishing one side and adding to another side, the café is shifted little by little every year. There is a fifty-year cycle over the entire land. This means that our customers fifty years from now are going to be able to sit at the same place again. But even then, they are not going to find the same café, because the tiles are going to have different designs, and the songs will have changed.” Faced with such an extraordinary answer, we are shocked. But still, there is a question unanswered:

“But why?” “Because we are afraid of becoming a veil before the eyes of the people due to the constancy of our works.” “This much sensitivity may be okay, but how do you fund such works?”

“This café is not just a café. At the same time, it is a venue for exhibitions and concerts. It also serves as a model, and pictures of it are often taken and published in books or magazines. This place also functions as a rehabilitation center, and the patients prefer this setting over the depressive atmosphere of the hospital corridors. Aside from these, there are also contributions of those who support this effort.” “What do you mean? People are contributing to something that is going to be demolished the following year?”

“Why does it surprise you that people are donating to a sincere and spiritually guided project, when you don’t feel surprised that they are investing in a worldly life that is certain to end at an uncertain time?” This answer, once again, fixes us in our seats. Behind the smile on our faces, our brains freeze and boil at the same time. Right then, the waiter steps aside a little, and orders another cup of tea for us with a voice that hardly differs from a whisper. But that voice echoes everywhere. The acoustic design inside leaves us in waves of awe. All of a sudden, a miracle happens: a window opens from the wall next to our table, and we are served a fresh, hot cup of tea. When that window closes, we realize a feeling that is creeping into our minds. Are we going crazy, or is there something strange going on here? As we are about to turn our inquisitive gazes towards the waiter, we find out that she is not there anymore. The volume of the music in the background also fades out. That truck that had parked outside so silently makes a great roar and starts moving away. Then we see that little paper on our plate: the bill. We cannot save ourselves from the guilt that is caused by the suspicion that those inquisitive thoughts a minute ago might have caused the unique experience to end.

We leave quickly after paying. In order to secure some distance and to be able look back, we walk towards the bus stop ahead. But still, there is a question in our minds: if we returned, would we see the same extraordinariness, or would those inquisitive looks of ours follow us? At the bus stop, we start staring at that café. Unlike our expectation, we were not hallucinating; it is still there! Then, we are distracted by an announcement posted on the glass:

“Are we inventing math or discovering it?” The poster has visuals about the applications of pi, e, and the golden ratio. They act as if mathematics is the discovery of an already existing order by humans. This is just like the art at the café: they were meant to be an instrument for the discovery of the art already present in nature! We are engulfed in a joy of discovery. We head back to the café to donate to the project …

The etymology of these crises that encompass our people and our world like an incubus reaches to the post-Renaissance period of the West, in which spiritual values were mocked in derision, the past was condescended, and the metaphysical was chased away from houses of knowledge. Carnal desires were idolized, self-interest and egos were motivated, the soul was sacrificed for the body, the heart for the throat, and thought for demagoguery, and humans were turned into material beings.  These were not the vices of the Renaissance itself; rather, they came about through its misuse and and the misuse of every independent thought that were born out of it. As such, the masses were, day in and day out, turned into ego-centered heaps devoid of any scope. They  were oriented towards mere the material comfort of the physical world and strayed away from  spiritual and humanistic values.  Such a schism means disconnecting a person from their very essence. This is a break that causes a person to become a mess of problems.

Because of all this, nations are in twists and turns. Individuals and families are tangled in a web of disintegration; democratic “mass organizations” are helpless and panicked. Important measures are overturned. At the epicenter of these terrifying tremors, families and their youth are miserable, their beliefs and ethics damaged. Many people’s hopes have been consumed by malediction. Others are driven solely by corruption, and the desire to defame and darken the hopes of the faithful.
In this environment, evil is free to roam about.  Society is bent double and is hemorrhaging blood.  Those who are in a position to give directions are lost in a state of indolence.

Hearts are merciless, emotions are ragged, desires are servile.
The meaning that flows from gazes is full of contempt for the servants of God. (Mehmet Akif)

While society waits for competent hands to offer solutions to its problems, these problems and hardships are being used by certain groups to attain certain things and to reach certain positions; they are used to defame and dispose of groups not wanted by those in power. A great deal of national suffering is being used for political gain.  Beside all these, it can be said that there are certain positive efforts being made; however, they are limited to the individual strivings of a small group of intellectuals alongside the passive reaction of a few others.  On the other hand, a great majority of people expect everything from the hands of the government or are indulged in the wishful thinking that everything will be sorted out by an amazing hand of favor.

In reality, however, alongside the government and rulers, many responsibilities fall upon volunteer organizations and, in fact, upon every single individual. In this regard, fighting against ignorance, challenging certain wrongs through education, enlightening thought through modern science and knowledge, and enabling souls to connect with God by representing and suggesting the truth of religion in its originality are the vital points that must be focused on to remedy all of our social ills. Presently, the general situation is bound for an immediate movement of spiritual reconstruction and development.

Harvesting the fruit of such a blessed movement will always be possible to the extent that the elite, the distinguished intellectuals –  the learned and prominent figures of society – help and support its advance. This movement of distinguished individuals, directed completely towards values of faith, society, and ethics, will certainly reach its goal, one day or the other, and our society will break free from despair.

It all comes down to our intellectuals taking advantage of every means, from education to media, to infuse the fabric of our society with our essential spiritual and historical values. Indeed, it will be enough for those architects of thought, who will reconstruct our future, to channel our material and machine-locked worlds a little towards spiritual life, and the metaphysical and spiritual values contained therein. True suffering is being starved for these values, and until this hunger is sated, it will be impossible to truly become satisfied. That is why, if the individual is not fed with the truth that comes about from their nature and their past, he or she will continue with negative pursuits and will search for solutions in the least possible places, delve into legends and superstitions, and, all the while, everything that he or she encounters will increase their despair.

It is in this sense that, as a society, we must not give way to excessive materialism, the domination of materialistic thought over our people, the erosion of the truth of religion, or the elimination of our cultural traditions.  While we must, on one hand, stand firm and serious about this matter, we must also, on the other hand, always keep our interpersonal relations alive; starting from within, and expanding it to the whole world, we must always take deep breaths of tolerance and call others to dialogue. We must accept differences with forbearance, respect every thought and idea, concentrate on education, and must not draw back from any self-sacrifice in this cause. Not only that, we must, once more, look over the sources which nurture our system of thought, and, by reinterpreting our times, over and over, through the spectrums of reason, experience, and revelation, we must construct a new society that is open to advancement, a society that is a believer in knowledge and wisdom, and full of respect for the conscience.

Such a vital formation is, of course, going to be in need of certain heroes, heroes that are civilized and precious enough to be able to act selflessly for the sake of the cause they believe in. Every change and transformation is like stepping from one sphere onto another, like jumping over an insurmountable precipice, and such an attempt can certainly not be without danger. Even the smallest and ordinary attempts carry certain risks, let alone the risks associated with efforts of  great measure. After all, we did not come to this world to realize and live out our own bliss. If we do bear such intentions, we must certainly break free of it; in order to be able to promise bliss to those around us, especially the future generations, we must say “farewell!” to the personal pleasure of life and must awaken in ourselves a love of keeping others alive. This is the most sacred purpose of our existence. We are indebted, even if only a little, to those who came and went before us, the heroic representatives of God’s good favor and grace, who jumped into danger time and time again in order to build such a world for us. We are indebted for the values, assets, and things which we hold sacred and cherish today. And, naturally, it is our obligation to take all the values we have been handed from those before us and, as trustworthy human beings true to their trust, pass them on to those who will come after us, even if it means at the expense of our own lives.

Every civilization, to this day, has been the work of a couple dozen heroes. And, henceforward, it will always be so. Our world today, broken apart by various storms and diseases, will reach the old rose-colored days, the full-mooned nights, the future that effervesces with clouds of love where revivals will take place one after another; it will all be reached by the virtue of such heroes.

Answer: When a believer experiences some fiascos on the path he walks, faces some allegations and slanders that taint his honor and reputation, or experiences some failures in certain activities that seemed likely to succeed, he should view each of these events as a Divine warning and use self-criticism to revise his relationship with God and servanthood to Him.

The cost of centuries-long negligence

We fail to “read” the meaning of events, as they sometimes are not favorable with what we desire. We fail to discern, and thus cannot establish, the connection between events and our deeds. As beings immersed in a world of causality, we mostly think in accordance with the cause and effect principle and say; “The punishment for that event must have been so and so.”  However, things happen in accordance with the mystery of Divine testing. In this regard, if one does not view events with the keen eye of wisdom, one fails to discern their connection with people’s deeds.

What falls to us is to be respectful of God’s decrees and judgments, to see the troubles and misfortunes that befall us as our just desserts, and to accept them with patience and resignation. In fact, we are supposed to view events in this way and question ourselves in the face of every trouble we experience by saying; “I wonder what kind of a fault I have that God has sent me this trouble?”  This does not signify a rebellious attitude against Divine destiny to insolently say; “I did not commit any wrongs to deserve all this!” As the former signifies viewing events as Divine warnings and straightening oneself out, the latter signifies an implicit rebellion against the decree of Divine destiny in a mood of weariness in order to escape difficulties and troubles. What really matters for a real believer is being able to think; “Which fault and sin of mine may have given precedent to such trouble?”

Concerning a football match for example; if you are not present in the parts of the field you are supposed to be as much as you should, namely, if you do not have any presence near the goal, nor in the midfield or sides, then you do not have any right to say; “How come they keep scoring goals all the time?” In order to be saved from this situation, firstly you need to see your flaws and determine whether you really deserve this result or not.  If you did not assign your players to the right places, if you did not plan what kind of a game to play through them, and did not play your part accordingly, then it means you are receiving your just desserts.

In the same way, as representatives of rectitude and honesty, if you have neglected different areas of life and left them to others’ hands, then you must criticize yourself first in the face of certain troubles that befall you. If you are not present everywhere in terms of rectitude and uprightness, then you cannot put a stop to the spread of corruption. If you are not present anywhere, you will be completely surrounded and obliged to live in subjugation. Even though you think you are living in a free society, you will actually be living in manifold captivity. You can neither act freely as an individual, nor maintain peace in your family within the frame of the values you believe, nor can you raise your children in the way you desire.

If we view the issue worldwide and evaluate the present miserable condition of Muslims today, we see with the same perspective that they cannot play the game as required by the rules and cannot fulfill the duties that fall to them. God willing, by avoiding complaining and by pinpointing the source of the problem correctly, this suffering will be a compensation for the sins of all of us. In this regard, misfortunes have this aspect of being a blessing in disguise. Manifestations of God’s general and particular mercy reveal themselves there as well.

The spiritual guides that interpret the meaning of events

Although we say, “believers are responsible for ‘reading’ the meaning of events correctly,” we need to accept as a reality that it is not possible for all believers to have insight into an issue to the same degree and depth, or to fully comprehend them. For this reason, it is very important for there to be spiritual guides who can view and interpret unfolding events with a comprehensive perspective, with relation to the actual causes and effects. They must analyze very well the reasons for the troubles being suffered, approach matters with the consideration of causality, reckon very well what kind of negative consequences could be suffered from the mistakes that have been made, and give people the right guidance on these issues.

By looking at the conditions of the time that he lived and his available means, it is seen that he was put under serious pressure and was impeded from taking action. However, despite all of these difficulties, he did what needed to be done and evoked in people a serious concern and excitement for the sake of Islam. It is not possible to take action without such excitement. You cannot realize anything for the sake of your ideals with stagnant people. Nevertheless, it is also necessary to moderate excitement within the proper framework of religious teachings. In other words, on the one hand, it is necessary to evoke excitement in people like roaring floods, but on the other hand, it is also necessary to set boundaries to balance this excitement and turn it into something beneficial; it is necessary to build proper canals and dams.

Negligence

The devoted souls in our time extend to the four corners of the world for the sake of their noble ideals and make efforts for the sake of realizing a new resurrection. However, this time people who act with a feeling of rivalry and envy have begun to obstruct them on the path they walk. Instead of finding a way of their own and walking accordingly, these people who act with a feeling of rivalry cause problems for the devoted souls on the path they walk and give way to traffic problems. Without letting others survive, they greedily want to exist in all fields. Thus, they wish to hamper in such ways a movement that has reached our time with its defects and shortcomings.

By the way, let me point out that it is also very important for believers to present behavior that is becoming to them against the rude and ugly acts of such transgressors. For it may not always be possible to maintain balance in the face of such oppression and violations. You might lose the uprightness of your feelings and thoughts at least. For example, some people become fixed on doing you harm and continually try to dig a pit for you. However, a day comes in the end and, even if you have no part in the issue, others dig a pit for them and cause them to fall down into it. In the face of such a situation, it is not becoming for you to say; “It serves them right! They have received their just desserts.” Also, if you depend on such a consideration, console yourself with it, and neglect the tasks you are supposed to carry out, then it means you are breaching the essential human values of our path and failing to keep up your rectitude of character.

The Qur’anic verse with the following meaning actually points to this fact: “…Do not let those who lack certainty (of this truth) shake your firmness” (Rum 30:60). By expounding on the meaning of this verse, we can say: Some casual behaviors of those who lack certainty in faith as an outward reflection of their character must not cause you to act casually as well; they should not divert you from the way you follow, not cause you to present certain negative attitudes against them in return, and not cause arrhythmia in you. As it happens with the heart, once the rhythm of societal life is upset, it is not possible to correct it without the effect of a shock. Sometimes even shocks do not suffice, but the body cannot tolerate arrhythmia and collapses. For this reason, it is necessary to act cautiously on this issue from the very beginning.

It is necessary to make one’s best effort for the sake of establishing the unity of social spirit and maintaining society-wide concord and unity. Note that the means of receiving Divine support is having concord and unity. In this regard, it is very important for people with different dispositions and affiliations to meet on common ground and give support to one another. At least, they should not turn against one another, should not accost one another with negative things, and should not try to bring one another down. Having done that, they should seek ways of acting together, realizing some projects in cooperation, and defending others as well to a certain degree, just as they support those who share the same opinions as them. Namely, they must find a reasonable and logical way of agreement to enable coming together. This depends on people giving their willpower its due and suppressing some negative feelings that arise within. It should never be forgotten that such an endeavor will gain people blessings as if they observed worship. Even if the other side lacks understanding of this issue, we should do what falls to us, without harming the collective we are included in. In the words of Bediuzzaman, a person’s seeing his own path as a good one and loving it much does not necessitate showing enmity to others.