Largest population of “rare penguins” discovered in Antarctica

Borowicz et al. Multi-modal survey of Adélie penguin mega-colonies reveals the Danger Islands as a seabird hotspot. Scientific Reports, March 2018.

Scientists recently discovered a supercolony of 1.5 million Adélie penguins off the Antarctic Peninsula, which have lived undisturbed for nearly 60 years. An observation in 2014 revealed a substantial amount of penguin droppings on Antarctica’s Danger Islands in NASA imagery of the area. The guano stains in the islands indicated that there must be a big colony of undiscovered penguins in the area. In 2015, groups of scientists from multiple institutions combined their efforts to begin to explore the scene. With the help of a drone, the expedition discovered an estimated 1.5 million penguins nesting in the area. The group of nine rocky islands, which lie off the northern tip nearest South America in the northwest Weddell Sea, housed the third- and fourth-largest Adelie penguin colonies in the world.

Adélie penguin numbers have dropped by about 70% in recent decades. Scientists argue that this sharp decline was caused by global warming, which has resulted in large amounts of sea ice to melt. These findings suggest that the eastern side of the Antarctic Peninsula is likely to remain more stable under climate change than the western Antarctic Peninsula. Adélies are one of five penguin species that live in and around the Antarctic continent. A medium-sized penguin, they grow to about 70 centimeters tall, and weigh 3-6 kg. The Adélie are carnivores that feed on shrimp-like creatures called krill. Most scientists agree that the most surprising and incredible thing in this discovery seems to be that, in this day and age, something so big could have been overlooked for so long. It is difficult and treacherous to get to the Danger Islands to do surveys because of the heavy ice that covers the Islands during most of the year. It is for these reasons that the supercolony went under the radar for so long.

Smartphones and tablet lights before bedtime keeps children awake

Lameese D.  Sensitivity of the circadian system to evening bright light in preschool-age children. Physiological Reports, March 2018.

Electronics usage amongst preschoolers has been rapidly expanding within recent years, and concerned parents are trying to understand the ramifications for their young ones. A recent study showed that exposing kids to bright light including smartphones or tablets can alter their sleeping habits. For the study, researchers measured levels of melatonin, the principal hormone that regulates sleep, in a group of 10 children ranging from ages 3 to 5. The children were first put on a regular sleep schedule for five nights, with researchers monitoring their saliva to measure their melatonin levels. Then, on the sixth and seventh day, the kids slept in lower-light conditions.

Except that for an hour before bedtime, the preschoolers were exposed to bright light, playing on a table emitting 1,000 lux of light, which is approximately equal to the brightness of a bright room to replicate the effects of using a smartphone or tablet. The researchers then measured the children’s melatonin levels again and discovered that their levels had dropped by almost 90 percent and the effects persisted even 50 minutes later after the children returned to lower- light conditions.

A similar study previously performed on adults showed that a one-hour light stimulus of 10,000 lux (10 times that of the current study) suppressed melatonin levels by only 39 percent in adults. Since children have larger pupils and their lenses are more transparent, they are thought to be more susceptible to dysregulation of sleep and the circadian clock. Therefore, for preschoolers, this increased sensitivity to light may not only lead to trouble falling asleep one night, but also to chronic problems feeling sleepy at bedtime. Since melatonin also plays crucial roles in other bodily processes including regulation of temperature, blood pressure, and glucose metabolism, the effects of light at night exposure can definitely go beyond sleep. Studies alarmingly showed that use of electronic media among young children has tripled since 2011. One thing is very clear that parents and clinicians should make informed decisions on children’s light exposure before bedtime.

Lies spread much faster than truths

Soroush V. et al. The spread of true and false news online. Science, March 2018.

A new study demonstrated how easy it is for rumors to spread online along with how simple it is for social media to disburse these falsehoods. Researchers analyzed 126,000 tweet cascades in Twitter between 2006 and 2017 containing rumors and reached the following conclusions:

– It takes true stories about six times as long to reach 1,500 people as it does for false stories to reach the same number of people.

– Falsehoods are 70% more likely to be retweeted than truths.

– Falsehoods reach a cascade depth of 10 retweets about 20 times faster than facts. 

– Twitter bots amplified true stories as much as they amplified false ones suggesting that humans, not robots, are more likely to spread falsehoods.

The study unexpectedly found that a false rumor cascade was more likely to begin with a new, unverified account with a small number of followers. False rumors are also found to contain more novelty and frequently expressed words associated with disgust and surprise. It is no surprise that people do not trust social media platforms. Seven in ten people asked by a marketing firm (2018 Edelman Trust Barometer) this year said they worry about fake news being used as a weapon. “Media” is the least trusted institution in 28 global markets the firm surveyed. But it seems that in a world where fake news dominates, real news is valued more. Overall trust in journalism and journalists increased by 5% and 12%, respectively, despite the population losing trust in social media. At the same time, however, 59% of respondents said that it is getting harder to tell whether a piece of news comes from a legitimate source or not.

Question: Is it possible to live a life without regrets? What needs to be done to live a life free from pangs of conscience?

Answer: If believers do not want to contaminate their lives in this world or the next with exclamations of repentance, they should get to know God first, walk on His path, endeavor to reach Him, and try to make efficient use of all the means He bestowed on His path. In order to achieve this, such believers must always lead an insightful life, never give up self-awareness, always try to correctly discern the meaning of events, and always be aware of their responsibilities and what their positions necessitate.

In different verses, the Qur’an relates the woes of the unfortunate ones who are completely lost in the Afterlife. For example, one verse states that they will voice their regret: “Oh, would that I were mere dust (instead of being a responsible being with consciousness and free will)!” Those who oppressed others and committed all sorts of atrocities in this world will wish to become stones and dust than suffer that punishment.

Another verse relates the woes of those who failed to keep on the straight path and were misguided by following others: “On that Day, the wrongdoer will bite his hands, saying (with remorse), “Oh, would that I had taken a way in the company of the Messenger.” “Oh, woe is me! Would that I had not taken so-and-so for a friend!” (al-Furqan 25:27–28).” A person who wishes to avoid wailing in the next world must live consciously now, determine well whose guidance to follow, and not give up the path of the Prophets whom God sent in order to save people from misguidance.

Actually, God never left people without any guide. Through the blessed Prophets and the saintly personages, who served as a mirror for the Divine, God Almighty has always shed light on our path. However, if people disregard these leaders of deliverance, do not follow their footsteps, and become rudderless, they lose their way and stumble into the pitfall of misguidance. The pitfall in this world transforms into a pitfall of Hell in the next. In the end, that person wails in the pitfalls of Hell with woes of: “If only…”^[1]

Those who had sound considerations here, who adopted constructive action as their main principle, and who always acted righteously, will be given their records from the right and will cheer from the glad tidings they receive (al-Haqqa 69:19–20). As for those who are given their record from the left, they will see that all of their repulsive sins are written there. Since they looked at the sinful, listened to the sinful, walked toward and committed the sinful, and recognized no Divine laws, they will see the record of what they committed; they will regret their sins very much and wail: “If only…” Even before entering Hell they will bend double with the shame of the sins they committed.

In this regard, as human beings were created as a monument by God Almighty, according to the best pattern of creation, and as angels were commanded to prostrate before them, it is essential that they do not immerse themselves in such disgrace for the sake of this passing worldly life or for worldly ambitions and temporary titles, and thus not pollute the blessing of “humanity.” If one fails to retain this Divinely bestowed, dignified position, there is the risk falling lower than the lowliest beings: They are like cattle (following only their instincts)—rather, even more astray (from the right way and in need of being led)…” (al-A’raf 7:179).

Pangs of conscience

However high a rank the human is given, so will be the depth of the pitfalls they will face in the case of falling. As Bediüzzaman stated: “One who destroys this sincerity falls from the pinnacle of friendship. They may possibly fall to the bottom of a very deep pit.”^[2] Likewise, “Difficulty is directly proportional to reward.” That is to say, however much a person is honored with God Almighty’s blessings, the greater is the risk. In the case of ingratitude for the showers of blessings God Almighty pours down, a person might stumble into a deep pit.

Some people commit blasphemy against their own position and the blessing of humanity. Despite being created with the potential for being a loyal friend of God Almighty, they become a follower of Satan. They cannot become conscious of their duty and commit unbecoming deeds that will betray the endowments they are blessed with… Such people will say: “I wish I was condemned to annihilation so that I would not see and hear these!” and even before the real punishment begins, they will feel deep pangs of conscience about what is written in their record.

A person who does not wish to suffer such regret in the Afterlife must be very righteous in this world, take the noble Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, and his Rightly Guided Caliphs as their guides, and try to lead a life like they did. Even when they were state leaders, they did not indulge in comfortable beds, they didn’t wish for luxurious mansions, and they didn’t stoop to gain worldly wealth. When the master of the Prophets demised, his armor was held in pawn by a Jewish broker in return for an amount of debt he had taken in order to support his blessed family.^[3] Similarly, the Rightly Guided Caliphs who followed his footsteps did not leave anything behind as they passed to the eternal realm beyond. They literally showed us the state in which one should leave this world. Since those who live like them will not commit anything they will regret, they will not say “If only” beyond.

Human life is not something to be gambled

In order not to wail “If only,” we should lead such a life that not we but others should be sorry for our departure from this world; as a poet expressed it: “Remember the days you were born? You were in tears, while others would gladden. Lead such a life that your death will be your bliss while others will mourn.” A baby cries after coming to this world but the family rejoices for having a new child. A person must lead such a life that death should be a means of joy for passing to a realm of inner relief and for soaring to the horizons of one’s spirit. If there will be mourning, it should be others who mourn; if there are tears to be shed, it should be others who shed tears for us. Those who rejoiced at the birth must cry this time. Those who lead such a life never say, “If only.” As for those who see this life, which is a capital bestowed on us by God, as something like dice for gambling with and thus waste it, have always wailed their regrets in this world and the next.

In particular, those devoted souls who have dedicated their hearts to serving faith and the Qur’an must completely omit “If only,” which shouldn’t be part of their present day, tomorrow, or Afterlife. They must utilize their worldly life as capital so wisely that when they depart from this world, they should rejoice with the blessings they will enjoy in the Afterlife, and the rest of the world should cry for their absence. Even after decades and centuries, they must always be paid tribute to by later generations. The Qur’an shows us these horizons: “And all those who come after them (and follow in their footsteps) pray: “O Our Lord! Forgive us and our brothers (and sisters) in Religion who have preceded us in faith, and let not our hearts entertain any ill-feeling against any of the believers…” (al-Hashr 59:10).

In this respect, a person must not commit deeds that will be the cause of disgrace and utter shame in the next world; one must always lead an upright life, and pass to the beyond in that way. Particularly, those entrusted with handing the great heritage on their shoulders to future generations should not seek the world but God; they should not let their clothes be stained with the dirt of worldliness and should say, “My God! Please do not condemn me to be without You!” They must always live and die with this consideration. As it is also stated by the noble Prophet, a person dies in accordance with how he lives, is resurrected in accordance with how he dies, and goes to his destination in the next world in accordance with how he was resurrected.

Do Not Forget, Death Comes All of a Sudden!

Bediüzzaman said, “Alas! We have been deceived. We thought that this worldly life is constant, and thus lost it thoroughly. Indeed, this passing life is but a sleep that passed like a dream. This life, having no foundation, flies like the wind.”^[4] With these words, he drew attention to the transient aspect of this world. He also said: “I am mortal, so I do not want the mortal. I am impotent, so I do not desire the impotent. I surrendered my spirit to the All-Merciful, so I desire none else. I want only one who will remain my friend forever. I am but an insignificant particle, but I desire an everlasting sun. I am nothing in essence, but I wish for the whole of creation.”^[5] Thus he pointed out that a person must seek truly great targets and that the worldly things one ambitiously seeks are not really worthy of consideration at all. May God not separate us from the path of such blessed ones, for their path is actually that of the Pride of Humanity, peace and blessings be upon him.

Let us conclude this subject by relating a short poem attributed to Ali ibn Abi Talib:

O poor one who busies himself with worldly pursuits! Always deceived with the hopes of a long life!
Is it not high time you gave up this irresponsible way of yours?
Look, the journey to the beyond is close at hand!
Don’t forget, death comes one day, all of a sudden!
The grave awaits you, the box of your deeds.
Then from the troubles of this world, seek refuge in patience!
Know that your death will not happen unless the appointed hour comes!^[6]

Notes

1. Maryam 19:58–63.
2. Nursi, Bediüzzaman Said,The Gleams, New Jersey: Tughra, 2013, p. 229.
3. Sahih al-Bukhari, Jihad, 89;Sunan at-Tirmidhi, Buyu, 7; Sunan Ibn Majah, Ruhun, 1.
4. Nursi, Bediüzzaman Said,The Words, New Jersey: The Light, 2013, p. 228.
5. Nursi, Bediüzzaman Said,The Words, New Jersey: The Light, 2013, p. 235.
6. Ibn Hajar al-Asqalani,Al-Munabbihat.

Many of us are aware of the controversy surrounding a group of NFL (National Football League) players in the United States who refused to stand during the national anthem. Instead, they chose to kneel. This action, used to protest systemic racism and police violence, gained much more widespread attention in September of 2017, when over 200 athletes kneeled in response to Donald Trump publicly pressuring NFL team owners to fire athletes who took part in this type of protesting.

Some of us may be wondering, “What is going through their minds?” or “What caused them to do this?” Fortunately, psychology can help us understand both why the NFL players decided to take a knee and why some people reacted so strongly towards this seemingly simple gesture.

Let us first consider this from a group dynamics standpoint. In psychology, group dynamics is the study of groups of people and how they interact both with other groups and among their own group members (Backstrom et. al, 2006). Some who are not in the group of NFL players may interpret kneeling as an act of aggression towards the status quo. We also know that all groups end up developing generally expected behaviors for nearly every aspect imaginable, including life, manners of speaking, and behavior. When an NFL player kneels, he is breaking the status quo of standing for the national anthem. This norm breaking signifies that the one doing the breaking does not agree with the current status quo. This disagreement could be an affront to other people who would prefer to keep that status quo as it is, and as a result, strong reactions are unsurprisingly observed.

Some football players in the United States protested violence and discrimination by kneeling during the national anthem. Psychology can give us some clues about the social motivations beneath their calls for equality.

Standing for the national anthem has become a sort of ritual for many Americans. Rituals have been shown to help foster group cohesion and loyalty. When these kinds of rituals are broken by group members it can be perceived as an attack on the integrity of the group itself. Furthermore, kneeling itself is traditionally a non-threatening maneuver that is associated with reverence and submissiveness. Athletes who kneel during the anthem are not intending to show disrespect towards it; if they were, they could have easily used a different gesture, such as turning their backs. Rather, they are intending to make a statement by deviating from the expected cultural behavior, while simultaneously showing respect for the flag and the song.

Another reason why this non-aggressive act may trigger such reactions is that people in positions of relative privilege may be more likely to stereotype others. In this case, white football fans may believe stereotypes that black athletes are aggressive and violent and, because of this, the non-violent act of kneeling may be perceived as a violent act.

Realistic Group Conflict Theory

There are other psychological lenses through which one can view the act of kneeling. One such lens is Realistic Group Conflict Theory. This theory posits that because different groups often have differing goals, conflict inevitably results when the goals of these groups are at odds with each other, in addition to other triggering elements like low levels of cooperation between groups or differences in group interests. In this situation, one group of people feel that to kneel during the national anthem is a sign of contempt for the anthem and the country, while the football players are interested in restoring equality to disenfranchised minorities. If these two groups continue to exist in opposition to each other, then conflict between the groups themselves will likely remain ever present.

Relative Deprivation Theory

Another theory that may help explain the act of kneeling during the national anthem is Relative Deprivation Theory. This theory states that when a person or people is deprived of a social category, conflict may arise. From this perspective, the players kneeling feel that they, and other members of their group, have been denied equality. The act of kneeling is meant to be an action that can resolve this discrepancy and restore equality to their group.

Social Identity Theory

One last theory that can be applied to this situation is Social Identity Theory. In this theory, when a person is evaluating other groups they are aware of both their own personal identity and their social identity. Conflicts can arise in cases where there is an apparent, whether true or not, difference of status between one’s own social group and the group being compared to. In this case, the conflict over kneeling arose because it pits two different social groups against each other. The players who kneel during the national anthem feel that there is a need for change in the status quo to restore equality between minorities and whites, and are comparing their social identity negatively towards other groups.

Although the issue of kneeling can be better understood through psychology, are there any practical solutions such a perspective offers us? Literature in psychology suggests that when groups are in more frequent contact and dialogue with one-another, they achieve a better understanding of their goals and interests, and subsequently are less likely to be in conflict over those goals (Schneider et. al, 2005). In this example, if people who believe that standing during the national anthem is inherently disrespectful were to discuss their viewpoints with NFL players who kneel during the anthem, they would be better able to understand why the players feel compelled to perform this action – not out of disrespect, but as a call to action for better treatment of all groups.

References

Backstrom, L.; Huttenlocher, D.; Kleinberg, J.; Lan, X. (2006). “Group formation in large social networks”. Proceedings of the 12th ACM SIGKDD international conference on Knowledge discovery and data mining – KDD ’06. p. 44.

Schneider, F. W., Gruman, J. A., & Coutts, L. M. (2005). Applied social psychology: Understanding and addressing social and practical problems. Thousand Oaks, Calif: SAGE Publications.

I’m poorly-loving, lazily-longing;
Render me worthy of your loving.
Throw a coal, burn me with desire!
So my horizons light up with fire.

You were near, I was afar,
The form, I thought, was enough for prayer;
Surrounded by slaves to imitation,
I was deceived by what I saw.

Longing had long since died down,
Just talk of existence in nothingness;
A lack of ideal mentors, a letdown,
Detached from God, hearts and minds.

Many lending hands, none of them hold;
Language ruined, systems overturned,
Orphans of love and desire, we were;
Heart, soul, and the sacred all destroyed.

Failing to love You and feel your love,
In isolation, we longed for more;
We could not surrender at your door,
Burned for years with a strange ardor.

Let me be your loving Majnun,
Bestow happiness with your care.
Being without you—a burning fire,
As a mundane mortal in this journey.

Creatures who survive and thrive in the desert have many fascinating characteristics. Just like the cactus, which has a water storage system made up of fluffy hair, the beetles which call the desert home are provided with mechanisms that enable them to extract the water they need from fog.

The creatures inhabiting the extremely arid Namib Desert survive by exploiting fog droplets that move in from the Atlantic Ocean. Believed to be one of the oldest deserts of the world, the Namib has an annual rainfall less than 1 cm, but its air is almost at saturation point, which results in fog formation. Studies into insects in the Namib desert that can and cannot collect water from fog revealed the vital importance of water collecting mechanisms. Subsequent research studies have led to the development of water collecting systems that might eliminate droughts.

Stenocara gracilipes is one of the beetle species that can utilize fog. The microscopic bumps along the surface of its back and wings have diameters of 100-500 microns and are spaced 500-1,500 microns from each other. These bumps are smooth like glass and hydrophilic (water-attracting), while the hollows around the bumps are covered with a waxy substance like Teflon that is hydrophobic (water-repelling). During fog, the beetle stands upside down at an angle of 45 degrees against the wind. Water molecules that hit the back and the wings are channeled towards the bumps, where water is collected. The micro-scale droplets gather, growing to a diameter of 5mm. The accumulation of water continues until the electrostatic gravity is overpowered with wind. When the droplet is heavy enough, it rolls down the bump into the beetle’s mouth.

For solutions to solve droughts, scientists have found an unexpected inspiration in the unlikeliest of place – the desert.

Existing only in the Namib Desert, this beetle and the microscopic structures on its back and the surface of its wings have provided inspiration for technological designs made from hydrophilic and hydrophobic materials. The development of units capable of collecting water from air owes especially to the strategic use of construction materials without having to spend extra energy. Zoologist Andrew Parker, from Oxford University, has stated that tent coverings and roof materials developed from the water collecting design of this beetle can make it possible to get water for drinking and irrigation, even in deserts or areas of drought.

A nanotechnology company has used the same structure to model such products as water bottles, tents, and roofing systems that can collect water in deserts and drought conditions. Depending of the environmental conditions, these products can collect between half a liter and three liters an hour. The system is planned to be used for preventing moisture in homes, producing water during military operations, and growing plants in special greenhouses. Scientists striving to meet the demand for water at the lowest cost in regions where water shortages are prevalent believe that much higher targets can be reached if success is achieved in this field.

Şehmus Özden, a researcher studying nanotechnology at Rice University, has also developed a technological device that can collect water in arid regions. Modeling their device on the Stenocara beetle, Özden and his team designed a mechanism of carbon nanotubes that are as tiny as a millionth of a hair. They used hydrophilic material at one end of the bunch of tubes and hydrophobic material at the other. When the tubes are left outside with the hydrophilic side up and hydrophobic side down, they harvest and store water inside without requiring any external energy. The tubes can also be squeezed like a sponge to take the water out, and the mechanism can be used multiple times.

All these technological developments shed light on the fact that every creature has been brought into existence for many purposes and with precise measurements. It behooves us to look into every creature, including the tiniest beetles, to meditate upon them, and see what wisdoms have been hidden in every corner of the universe.

Interview with Jihad Turk

Bayan Claremont is one of the few institutions offering graduate degree in Islamic studies in the United States. Operating as a division of the Claremont School of Theology in California, Bayan aims to contribute to “a world that understands Islamic values in a modern context,” as the vision statement reads on their website. Under the current climate of phobias, be it against Islam or immigrants, Bayan and other institutions that focus on Islamic studies have a serious role to play – to provide a convenient medium of communication among members of our society. Professor Jihad Turk, the President of Bayan, is surely one of those Muslim leaders in the United States who can keep channels of dialogue open and help shape a Muslim identity that is confidently unified with the Western context. Professor Turk was very kind to accept our request for an interview during a family visit in Cleveland, OH. We could not help but start our interview with what is perhaps so striking about him at first sight: his name, which is a very intriguing combination.

The Fountain: I am sure you have had to answer this question many times, but could you tell us about your name? Given the current circumstances, it must have been an interesting experience.

Jihad Turk: I am an American kid from Arizona. Having a name like Jihad, growing up, you’d think, would be a challenge for me. But I grew up in the seventies. People just thought Jihad was an exotic Mexican name. My father is an immigrant from Jerusalem. He is Palestinian, he was born in Palestine in 1938. He came [to the US] in 1956 as a teenager. He met my mother, who is a Christian American. They got married and had me in 1971. My father chose the names of the two boys and my mom chose the names for girls – I have three sisters. My father told me the meaning of my name when my classmates and teammates in soccer were giving me the nickname Jay for short. He insisted and said, “No, your name is Jihad, and I chose that name because it means something important. It means the struggle to do the right thing. And it is worth the extra effort for people to say the full name. I have always been very aware of the meaning of the name since I was seven or eight. And as for the name Turk, it has to do with my great grandfather who was conscripted into the Ottoman Empire military as an officer in WWI. He was given the nickname Abu Turki, which was cut short when my father emigrated to the US in the fifties.

The Fountain: How much do you feel like that name has shaped your identity and made you who you are?

JT: It was really the experiences of being part of a pioneering Muslim family in Arizona and Phoenix in the seventies and eighties, participating not only in the mosque but also one of the things that my father and mother did was that they sent us to a summer youth camp for Muslims, a family camp that’s been operational since the sixties, called the Muslim Youth Camp. And they sent us to MYNA, Muslim Youth of North America, which was like a Muslim youth leadership training program. There I met other Muslims who became close friends, even though they lived all across the country, far away from me and Arizona. We formed a special bond. Some of the mentors I came to know as councilors or teachers at those programs really inspired me to learn more about the religion. Ultimately when my parents divorced when I was seventeen, it led me to explore more seriously religion in general and Islam in particular; it led me on a journey around the world, where I learned Arabic and Farsi (Persian). I studied in both the Islamic University of Medina and then in the University of Tehran and in Qum. I went on to pursue Islamic studies for my graduate work as well.

The Fountain: You are now the President of Bayan Claremont, a graduate school in Islamic studies. Tell us about the goals and vision of Bayan.

JT: I was fortunate. While I was pursuing my PhD at UCLA in Islamic studies, I was hired as the imam or the religious director at the largest and oldest mosque in LA. It was in that context where I was able to serve a very large, dynamic, and diverse American Muslim community, and interact with imams and Muslim leaders from across the country, where I began to identify some of the major needs of the American Muslim community, plus having a wife and four kids, I saw some of the challenges of raising a Muslim family in the United States. It was through those experiences and through also serving as a counselor at MYNA, the same camp that I grew up in, that I identified a major need: the need to develop leaders for the American Muslim community who were well adjusted in their identity as both American and as Muslim. It might seem like a straightforward idea, but to have a leader who doesn’t see the conflict in being fully American and fully Muslim, and can help young people have a coherent and unified identity, is a major step, I think, we need to take as a community. We need to embrace this approach. Because what I have noticed is that many immigrant families, whether they be from Turkey or the Arab world, Indo-Pakistani or Persian backgrounds, isolate and insulate themselves from society and think that they are passing on the culture and the faith successfully in doing so, until they have a rude awakening when their children go off and sometimes leave the faith and don’t affiliate themselves with the Muslim community. That’s because children growing up with a household that is very cultural and religious within the house; but leaving the house, they have a split personality and were not only just American but also not religious, not respecting the values and traditions of their families outside the household. Having leaders that can help the families and the young people [develop] a unified identity that is fully Muslim but also fully integrated into the modern world and to the United States of America. It is important.

The Fountain: How do you believe the American identity can contribute to being a Muslim in this globalized world? And how can being a Muslim contribute to America?

JT: There are a lot of tropes and themes going back to early encounters with colonialist powers where Muslim intellectuals would visit the West. Some of them, like one Muslim scholar said when he visited western Europe, “Here we have Islam with no Muslims in it, and in Egypt we have Muslims with no Islam.” That’s an exaggeration, of course. But the idea is that there are values in the West that are very Islamic, whether it’s the freedom of speech – something that is challenged in many Muslim lands, including Turkey – freedom to practice religion and to be protected in whatever it is that you believe in and however it is that you worship, [as well as] civic engagement, participation, and governance to ensure that there is not only justice in your local community, but at the national level, and even the opportunity for people to participate in policy making at the international level through elections and the democratic process. It is not perfect; there are many problems with it. That’s where I think being Muslim comes in. Because as Muslims we have values that we can offer to society, try and participate, and exert influence in a way that is positive and constructive to the society in which we live. Given that the system opens its arms to us and welcomes us not only to become citizens but also to participate fully, it would be a dereliction of our moral responsibility to not take up that opportunity and challenge, and offer the beautiful responses inspired by our connection to God through Islam.

The Fountain: While covering different disciplines of science and the humanities, we encourage readers to explore life by exercising both their hearts and minds. This is in part in response to the downgrading of religion to an identity only, in which the faithful, be they Muslims or Christians or members of other traditions, in fact are believers culturally. What would you say about this challenge?

JT: One of the things we have lost as an ummah, internationally speaking, is our rigorous, academic foundations in not only studying our own faith but in studying the natural sciences. There is a lot of debate on “closing of the door of ijtihad” and all of those things; I don’t fall into the category of those who believe that this collapse or downgrading of our intellectual production occurred because of that. Even in that timeframe I think there has been much evidence that there was still significant contribution to various scientific fields up until the last hundred and fifty years or so. But I do think it’s lost for the most part and part of what’s lost is this curiosity, the ability to look with a scientific eye at nature and reality. This is something that’s lost not only in our tradition but also to the West: to be able to do that within the religious framework. So, we have lost the religious framework to look to science, and [how to create] a scientific-minded western world within a religious framework. One of things I think Islam has been better at than most other world religions, historically, is to seamlessly encourage exploration of science to its fullest without any reservations and to do so with a sense of awe and wonder of the Creator of all things, in a way that there has not been a conflict. We don’t have this conflict between church and science that manifested itself in other parts of the world historically that has driven many people away from religion altogether. We have exhortations in the Qur’an to go and explore and understand the creation and the existence. As God says in the Qur’an, “Only those who have true knowledge are in true awe of God” (35:28). So, a standard is set that we should pursue ’ilm, i.e. knowledge, scientific knowledge as well. One of the things we are trying to do at Bayan is to reignite the skill of critical thinking. If you study in a seminary wherever that may be in the Muslim world, you are oftentimes just taught to memorize certain texts that are already established; but you are not taught critical thinking skills and given the ability to apply those skills to the texts to extract from historical tradition the axioms and principles that we can apply in a way that is most relevant not for just Muslims in the West but Muslims in the modern world. Having that scientific frame-of-mind, rekindling that critical thinking skill that we always had historically and has only waned in the last hundred and fifty years or so, we can reclaim that as part of our central identity. Not only would we be well adjusted for modernity, but we would be able to reengage with the scientific world in a way that would allow us to begin to contribute once again in significant ways.

The Fountain: Religious thought in many parts of the world, especially in the Muslim world, today is being used more like an instrument to define relations with the “enemy,” with the “other,” and to respond to the colonizing powers. This is obviously not what a religion is for, which is an expression of an inner feeling and a source of faith and hope. One way of tackling this could be to review our understanding of the world by both scientific and religious references and reach a reconciliation between our hearts. The Hizmet Movement, whose main goal was to promote this sort of education and dialogue throughout the world, is now being persecuted in Turkey, where it was born, and in some Muslim countries where the Turkish government has influence. What are your thoughts about all of this?

JT: One of the things that Hizmet is doing really well is providing high quality education. I am not a member of Hizmet. But from visiting some of the schools here in the United States and around the world, it seems to me that there is great success in education that is focused on science. The scientific focus of the schools is something that will produce students who can be not only successful for themselves but also contribute to the success of their communities, their families, and the countries in which they live. It is a shame that these schools are being forced to close down. Hizmet does three things very well from my perspective as an outsider: provide high quality education, oftentimes in communities that are underserved, sometimes impoverished. So, it is lifting up communities that are marginalized. [Two], Hizmet is focused on charitable work and relief efforts. And [lastly], it is trying to bridge the gap of understanding between cultures, communities, and religious groups. Those misunderstandings often lead to conflict and even warfare in certain circumstances. To have the efforts of this movement undermined not only by systematic persecution at home but also through the curtailing of fundamental modern values of freedom speech, freedom of association, and others is a travesty. It is heartbreaking to see the persecution and undermining of such great efforts that are of benefit to humanity.

The Fountain: The United States is a country where religion is still alive in many ways. However, an extreme secularist worldview is also on the rise, more so in Europe, dominating the politics and philosophy, as well as identities. How do you see the future? Do you think religion will survive?

JT: For sure, you see in Europe a decline in religion much more dramatically than in the United States. You do see growing trends of secularism and atheism. I would say atheism is a kind of materialism. Materialism is sometimes misunderstood as a focus on money and wealth. Materialism is a scientific posture, almost like an anti-theological posture that explains everything through anything but God. It is like an anti-God theology or philosophy. Oftentimes it cloaks itself in the garb of science, when in fact the claims made by materialists who are demonizing religion and vilifying faith are doing so despite the fact that their claims are not backed up by a purely scientific approach. At Bayan we partnered with Claremont School of Theology and we put out a conference entitled “Science between Religion and Materialism.” We explored in that conference the area that is clearly scientific, where science can speak with authority, and where the edges of that are, and where either materialism makes claims that are not scientific, or religion makes claims that are not provable or disprovable scientifically. For example, the claim that God exists. You would not say that there is proof that God exists in pure scientific fashion, nor can you say that God does not exist using a pure scientific method. Both of those claims are made by people of faith in religion and by materialists. Even though they claim they are the scientific-minded folks, they are making non-scientific claims. They try in a very deceptive way to fool the audience, the masses, into thinking that they are more rational and sound, but in fact oftentimes for reasons of interpersonal bitter experiences, they have their agenda that is not rooted in science per se. So, what we can do as an institution is reestablish not only the solid position that science should have but also identify clearly the boundaries that define the scientific realm, and then still have conversations about what faith or materialism does have to offer. Then we can have more honest conversation, and if we can [make them] accessible to the public it will not necessarily create this tension between most people who are scientifically minded and faithful people. Many Muslim and Christian scientists historically do not see that conflict. It has been exaggerated and conflated in recent times by certain individuals, but unjustly so. We can reclaim the complementary relationship between the two and push back against the movement that vilifies faith and religion based on science.

The Fountain: Finally, what would you say about the debate around women and Islam?

JT: To be honest, Islam does not mistreat women. But some Muslim individuals and cultures, quite frankly, might and do. If we are to take our religion seriously, we have to reevaluate our traditional and cultural practices and ensure that what we are doing upholds the role of women in our societies and gives them not only proper rights but also the dignity to participate in creating great communities. At Bayan Claremont we are not only inclusive of women at the level of board of trustees – our chair of our board is a woman – but also we have women in prominent positions of our faculty – the chair of our academic committee is a woman. Many of our faculty members and students are women as well.

The word “Bayan” means – ironically – lady in Turkish. But the name of our school is from the Qur’an, chapter Rahman (55), which means clear, coherent speech reflecting clear, coherent thinking. Empowering women through education and positions of influence in society, we can live up to the Qur’anic and Islamic responsibility that we have to ensure that women are given their full rights and justice.

We are creating a university in the United States that is offering a world class graduate level education and accredited degrees to empower Muslim intellectuals and leaders to help bring communities in the United States and around the world to a position of excellence. We are doing that by not only having a solid foundation on the tradition of Islam but also in the modern world, [founded on] critical thinking and best practices in leadership in order to achieve that lofty goal. Our degree program is in partnership with other faith community institutions of higher education, i.e. a Christian seminary, a Jewish seminary, a Buddhist university, because we feel that there is a lot of common ground in terms of values [Islam shares] with other world religions that we can build upon for the common good. Having our institution work closely with other world religions, their leaders and future leaders, is a recipe for bringing about a more peaceful society in a more peaceful world.

As ordinary as they look, squirrels are in fact wondrous creatures and their tail is exceptionally useful.

Plenty of animals have distinctive features, such as an elephant’s trunk or a kangaroo’s pouch. It is certainly the tail for squirrels.

Watching the spry movements of a scurry of little squirrels seemingly in defiance of their enormous tails, one realizes that this tail, which could get bigger than the animal’s whole body, was created as a balancing and parachuting organ. Squirrels are all around us, but most of us do not know much about these playful animals.

Squirrels belong to the family Sciuridae, with 278 known species. They have a length of 34-43 cm from the top of the head to the end of the tail and a weight of 250-350 gr. Its furry tail is 14-20 cm long. Having a pregnancy period of 30-40 days, these mammals can give birth to three to seven pups at a time and produce young once or twice a year. They live seven years on average.

 Living almost everywhere on earth, squirrels inhabit forests and wooded areas.  They do not hibernate but only sleep a lot during extremely cold winter days.

Experts at climbing and jumping, squirrels spend virtually all their time in trees. They can climb up trees very fast and climb down headfirst.  They build nests in the forks of branches or spherical dens in the cavities made by woodpeckers. Unlike bird nests, the entrances of squirrel nests, or drays, are at the bottom. To protect the pups from predators, the mother covers the entrance of the dray with grass when she goes out. Squirrels make several nests in an area and furnish them with grass, leaves, or moss.

Squirrels feed on nuts, almonds, walnuts, fungi, acorns, fresh bark, insects, baby birds, and snails. To avoid food shortages on cold winter days, they bury seeds and nuts as a precaution, which is a very wise action. Squirrels cannot sometimes find the seeds they bury. Yet, seeds are not wasted; squirrels’ forgetfulness result in another form of life, as seeds develop and blossom into new trees. Squirrels also have a powerful immune system that can protect them against many poisons. The creatures are created to withstand even the yew, which carries twenty different poisons.

The tail: an organ of precision

Thanks to their tail, squirrels can rarely be hunted, which makes them one of the greatest survivors in the world. If a squirrel is attacked by a reptile such as a snake, its blood pressure rises dramatically. The blood floods into the vessels in the tail and enlarges it. The infrared radiation emitted by the warm blood in the tail makes the furry long tail look like a much larger animal for the predator. The infra-red sensors on the heads of snakes are fine-tuned to the body temperature of animals. The expansion of the tail vessels also helps when the squirrel is attacked by a hawk or a weasel.

A careful route planner

A predator can hardly harm squirrels as long as there are trees and food in its habitat. They are extremely alert to any danger. The position of their eyes in the skull allows them to see every angle and to compute the distance between trees and branches for a safe jump. As they keep jumping, they put all four claws to use, allowing them to land safely on the next branch.

An unswerving helm

As squirrels jump between tree branches, they do not change direction mid-air, which is made possible by their long tails. Squirrels can also use their tails as de facto wings, allowing them to fly considerable distances up to five meters. If scaled to human proportions, the jumping distance of a squirrel would be equal to 36 meters. Their tails which function like a parachute make it an easy flight for squirrels to jump from one branch to another at the top of tall trees and prevent hard landings even from a fall of up to 20 meters. They are also light, and their rear legs are as flexible as a steel spring.

Masters of evasion

Pine martens, wildcats, weasels, and raptors are the enemies of squirrels. The agility of squirrels allows them to evade even the fastest birds of prey like the hawk, which gets distracted because of the squirrel’s erratic movements and quits the chase. There have also been instances when weasels fall from trees when hunting squirrels.

Safa, in the language of Islamic Sufism, signifies the state of a heart at peace because it has been purified of all kinds of things that contaminate it, such as sin, feelings of ven­geance, jealousy, and hatred, and suspicion of others. The verse (38:47), They were, in Our sight, among the perfectly purified, chosen ones, the truly good, which expresses the holiness and greatness of some Prophets, stresses purity in the greatest degree. The word mustafa, derived from safa, and which means pure essence, extract or the cream of something, is the special title used to express in particular the rank of our Prophet, due to his being the essence and cream of existence and the master of both worlds—this and the next. So, having a special distinction among all ranks and being a symbol of transcendence among the Proph­ets, it has always been a goal to which the Prophets and the puri­fied, saintly scholars have always aspired.

Purity originates from the purest and most blessed of sourc­es and reaches the pool of the human heart, from which it issues and flows into other hearts to enlighten them on new wavelengths according to the capacity and disposition of each and the requirements of time and conditions. It sheds light on the ways of the travelers to the Ultimate Truth so that they can follow them eas­ily. It purifies their hearts and equips them with sincerity, guid­ing them to the truth of Divinity, causing their spirits to move in ecstasy with the infinite pleasures of supplication and their hearts to move with love, zeal, and yearning for meeting with the All-Beloved. It is usually dealt with in three categories:

The first is purity of knowledge. It occurs when a traveler continues the journey under the guidance and in the light of the knowledge taught by the Messenger, upon him be peace and blessings. The Book and the Prophetic Sunna are followed strictly and with utmost care during the journey, the requirements of doing so being never neglected. With the good pleasure of God as the sole aim of the journey, the traveler faces all hardships and dif­ficulties, without ever losing the resolve to continue on the way.

In other words, purity of knowledge occurs when an initiate who is traveling under the guidance of the sun of Prophethood, puts heart, spirit, and reason under the command of this sun. Following him to the utmost possible in all thoughts, actions, and attitudes, the traveler is annihilated and revived in him, and appeals to his judgment to solve all the problems encountered. The traveler is honored with various favors to the extent of love and knowledge of the supreme goal—God—and zeal and yearn­ing to meet with Him in the footsteps of the pride of Messengers, upon him be peace and blessings. The author of the Gulshan-i Tawhid (“The Rose-Garden of Divine Oneness”)^[1] talks about this rank as follows:

Go and pursue such knowledge that
it can open your heart and solve all your problems.

By contrast, any knowledge that does not inspire in people the true aim of life and, in order to realize that aim, does not equip their sight with the necessary light, their will with strength, their spirits with love and zeal, and their hearts with the desire to reach the realms beyond the heavens, is not promising, even though it may not be a delusion or mere illusion.

The second rank in purity is purity of state. It occurs when the heart constantly beats with the awe of God and love of the truth. It expresses its excitement and anxiety in supplications and entreaties to the Almighty, removing feelings of loneliness and gloom that come between it and the truth, becoming a hill where the breezes of peace blow. Setting itself solely on God alongside all the other faculties, such as the emotions, consciousness, and perception, the heart flings all else except the Almighty into the abyss of nothingness, like a stone, in order that nothing should veil God from it.

When travelers on the way to God attain the state of purity and refinement, their hearts overflow with the manifestations of the truth of Divinity, their spirits are flooded with the love of truth, and enraptured with the real beauty of existence which they observe through the windows that have been opened in them. In this state, they turn to the Realm of the Holy Presence with the most enchanting of supplications voiced with the full force of their sincere feelings, feelings that have begun to speak instead of themselves. They unburden themselves, feel that God is turning to them, and taste the deepest of pleasures. It even happens that in this state they mention and invoke the Divine Names consid­ering the Divine Being Himself called by these Names, and the Divine Attributes in consideration of the All-Merciful (ar-Rah­man)—the primary attributive Title of the Supreme Being Which, like the Name Allah, can be used for Him exclusively. In the rising waves of their feelings, they sense the pleasure that the angels have in worshipping the Almighty, witness the self-pos­session of other spiritual beings, are enchanted with the myster­ies of the higher, incorporeal realms of existence and the beings that inhabit them, and feel as if they transcended the limits of humanity. In the following couplet, the author of al-Minhaj points to this spiritual state, which one who does not experience it cannot grasp:

Sometimes a person is dumbfounded in this state,
without being able to utter a word,
And sometimes only one who experiences it can know what state this is.

Purity of meeting with God, which is the third rank in purity, occurs when the worshipping servants become as nothing or, to put it in other words, feel and know annihilation of their own being, attributes, and actions in the Being, Attributes and Acts of the Necessarily Existent Being, and live immersed in observation of the blazing manifestations of God’s Existence and Knowledge. In other words, the pleasure that the worshipping servant feels in God’s service is combined with and melts away in the duties of servanthood due to His being the Lord (One Who creates, sus­tains, brings up, and protects), and the mysteries of existence become unveiled and come into view on all sides. The manifes­tations of God’s Existence and Knowledge that pour in complete­ly pervade the conscience, and the shadow of the truth, which will become visible in the other world, begins to be seen with the eye of the heart. To paraphrase the state, God declares concern­ing His servants whom He has made near to Him: He hears through Me, and sees through Me, and holds through Me, and walks through Me.^[2] So, such servants observe from their obser­vatories of heart and innermost faculties, such as the secret (sir), the private (khafi) and the more private (akhfa), the Realm of the Transcendental Manifestation of Divinity with some of its mys­teries, and the Realm of the Transcendental Manifestation of Divine Attributes and Names with some of its particularities, and the Realm of the Transcendental Manifestation of Divine Commands with some of its aspects, and the truths originating from the Divine Being. They know the substantial truth behind reali­ties that are evident to everybody, and acquires certainty in their knowledge, and their certainty rises to the degree of certainty that comes from direct experience (haqqu’l-yaqin) according to their capacity. Peculiarities vanish and particular natures melt away in the burning rays of His “Facial” Light, and only His Self-Subsis­tence is felt. In this rank, initiates, who have reached a state of pleasure that pervades the whole being, feel as if a drop has become an ocean, a particle the sun, and everything has turned into nothingness. They feel and know Him only, and begin and end with Him, and work by Him. They may go so far as to con­fuse His Being with His manifestations. Those who are not able to enlighten their feelings, consciousness, and faculties of per­ception with the light brought by God’s Messenger, may make mistakes or be confused in their comments. There are lots of beautiful words that those who have enjoyed this third rank of purity have uttered to express their state. What follows is only one of them:

You have seen the lights of the sun (that is,
you have burnt to ashes in the rays of the Divine “Facial” Light);
and now you no longer exist.
A drop is lost in the waves of the ocean, and you, being a drop,
have been lost in the ocean of mysteries.
You will no longer be able to find the drop.
Though it is not in the capacity of everyone to be lost,
those who are annihilated like me are not few.

If those who try to explain purity of meeting with God use words that suggest incarnation and union in order to convey their states and pleasures, they are apt to be confused in their interpretations. Therefore, they must immediately appeal to the light of Muhammad, upon him be peace and blessings, and correct their confusion. On the other hand, those who adopt an interpretation and attitude that arise from a spiritual state and pleasure simply as a thought system and philosophy, are clearly misguided and are regarded as being in rebellion against God until they enter the way of the Messenger and his Companions.

O God! Show us the truth as being true and enable us to fol­low it; show us falsehood as being false and enable us to refrain from it. O God! We ask You for Your forgiveness, and health, and approval. O God! Guide us to what You love and are pleased with. And bestow blessings and peace on our mas­ter Muhammad, the sun of guidance, and the means of happi­ness, and on his Family and Companions, all of them.

[1] Gulshan-i Tawhid is a Persian mathnawi belonging to Ibrahim Shahidi Dede. Ibrahim Shahidi Dede (1470–1550) was a Mevlevi shaykh who lived in Muğla, a province in Western Turkey. He wrote in Turkish and Persian. (Tr.)

[2] al-Hakim at-Tirmidhi, Nawadiru’l-Usul, 3:81; Ibn Kathir, Tafsiru’l-Qur’an, 2:580; Ibn Hajar, Fathu’l-Bari, 11:374.

“And the king said one day: ‘I saw in a dream seven fat cows being devoured by seven lean ones, and seven green spikes of grain and another (seven) dry.’” (Qur’an: 12:43)

In perfect capital markets, all relevant information is incorporated into stock prices immediately. If a technology company announces a new product today, then its stock price immediately changes and reflects the effect of the new product on the firm’s value. Therefore, the new product has no additional effect on tomorrow’s stock price. Thus, investors cannot predict future stock prices based on current movements in stock returns, and there should be no correlations or trends between current and future stock prices in perfect capital markets. However, we live in a world that is far from perfect. The imperfections in financial markets lead to predictability in future stock prices. In this article, I study the predictability in stock returns in the context of the story of Joseph, peace be upon him, who predicted future changes in crop production and in response dramatically changed his government’s economic policies.

Earnings do not only determine the level of wealth, but also affect people’s risk aversion, which reflects the level of risk tolerance. That is, people with low income are more hesitant to undertake risky investments whereas wealthy individuals are more willing to undertake risky projects, as failures in these projects do not affect their livelihoods as much. For example, a $10,000 loss may devastate the financial wellbeing of an individual who is making $30,000 a year, whereas such a loss may have little or no impact on the consumption of an investor with a net worth of $10,000,000. Therefore, the seasonality in crop production that is mentioned in the story of Joseph, peace be upon him, did not only influence the people’s wealth – considering that the majority of people earned their living by agriculture – but might also have generated variation in the risk aversion of people, which reflected the level of risk tolerance of the society as a whole.

A society’s willingness to undertake risk plays a very important role in returns to assets. Typically, people prefer safe assets to risky assets. Thus, prices of risky assets are lower than those of safe assets with similar cash flows. In a society of high risk aversion, there is an even higher demand for safe assets, and, thereby, the spread in prices between safe and risky assets gets even bigger. Consequently, an increase in risk aversion in society generates higher prices of safe assets while lowering the values of risky assets. This suggests that if you have the information that people will get more risk averse, you can successfully predict the future increase in values of safe assets relative to risky assets. As changes in asset prices determine the returns of investments, the increases in the values of safe assets and the corresponding decrease in the values of risky assets consequently generate predictability in returns.

Robert J. Shiller, Nobel Laureate in Economics in 2013, also argues stock return predictability, in part due to longer-run swings in the risk appetite of investors. Thus, long-run changes in wealth, which affect risk aversion, may generate asset-return predictability. As changes in crop productions in the story of Joseph, peace be upon him, occurred over a long period, so do the variations in risk aversion, which in turn may generate predictability in stock prices in the long run. Thus, the miraculous Qur’an with the above verse, does not only suggest seasonality in commodities (e.g., crops), but may also suggest variation in risk aversion of people in response to changes in their wealth over the long term. This in turn suggests that the changes in risk aversion over a long period may generate predictable variation in asset returns.

The Qur’an also suggests economic fundamentals of the variation in prices. At the time of Prophet Joseph, peace be upon him, a crop was not an end product, but rather was a commodity, a vital input for final products. In contemporary financial markets, input markets play a very important role in the values of financial assets. For example, the recent drop in crop production generated a steep increase in food markets in general and the financial well-being of investors in particular. In addition to drawing attention to the importance of commodities in human life, the Qur’an in this verse suggests the important role of commodities in the formation of commodity prices in particular and financial asset values in general. 

The Qur’an also uses the word “spikes” in describing the periods of fluctuations in crop production. This may suggest that the fundamentals for variation in asset prices may last over long periods and consequent trends in stock prices occur only over the long term; this enables stock price predictability in the long run, rather than in the short run. This is also consistent with the findings of Eugene Fama and Robert J. Shiller. Professor Fama shows that it’s difficult to predict price movements in the short run while Professor Shiller argues that long term stock prices are predictable.  

In response to the economic crisis, Prophet Joseph, peace be upon him, actively took actions to reduce the effect of crisis on his society. This also suggests that free markets may be inadequate in addressing an economic crisis which calls for the timely intervention of government. In the modern financial world, governments have continued to intervene during crises. For example, the U.S. government established the Troubled Asset Relief Program (TARP) to strengthen the financial sector by purchasing assets from financial institutions in 2008. The need for government intervention is even more pronounced for less-developed countries. By suggesting the moderating role of governments in financial and economic markets, the Qur’an encourages governments to be pro-active against a crisis by establishing agencies and gathering resources to purchase and to allocate commodities that are vital for society. As government intervention influences asset prices, anticipating government intervention may also lead to predictable asset prices in the long run.    

Collectively, the story of Joseph suggests the predictability of prices in the long run. To the extent that the prices are predictable, one can forecast times of crisis in financial markets. Thus, the Holy Qur’an calls for the advanced preparation of societies for upcoming economic and financial crises through institutionalization and government intervention in economic and financial markets.

Between February 5 and February 7, I had an opportunity to join approximately 400 other faith leaders at a conference in Washington, D.C. entitled “Alliance of Virtue for the Common Good.” The organization “Promoting Peace in Muslim Societies,” whose president is His Excellency Shaykh Abdallah bin Bayyah, sponsored the conference. In January 2016, Shaykh bin Bayyah issued “The Marrakesh Declaration,” a document signed by more than 250 Muslim leaders and scholars, as a way of supporting efforts towards building peace and coexistence with minority populations living in Muslim-majority lands. At that initial document signing, a handful of leaders from other faiths were present.

The recent conference in Washington brought more of us for two days of speakers, breakout sessions, shared meals, and further dialogue. A partner in the process was the Religious Action Center of Reform Judaism, whose Director Emeritus, Rabbi David Saperstein, a former United States Ambassador for Religious Freedom, tried to ensure that there would be a large contingent of Reform rabbis present for the occasion. Given our synagogue’s involvement in the past few years regarding multi-faith dialogue with members of the Muslim community, and our award winning in “Muslim-Jewish Dialogue for Teens” shared with Peace Islands Institute in 2015, we received a humbling invitation to attend and participate.

At the conclusion of the conference, the “Washington Declaration” was affirmed and signed, representing an effort by the Abrahamic faiths to work together amidst our differences to engage in activities that collectively bring healing to the world. Each of the speakers acknowledged that religion can and should be used as a force for good, not evil. It was very rewarding and heartening to meet people from Israel, the United Kingdom, Mauritania, Italy, Finland, Algeria, Nigeria, the United Arab Emirates, Qatar, elsewhere internationally and throughout the United States, who are engaged in various multi-faith initiatives including dialogue, retreats (for example, between evangelical pastors and imams), aid organizations, academic work, social justice projects, and national organizations who are responding to acts of religious extremism (throughout the Islamic world, too).

A few of the speakers offered some poignant words. Speaking in Arabic through a translator, Shaykh bin Bayyah taught, “Religious leaders are obligated to search their sacred texts to find stronger sources for tolerance. We need to develop and promote a narrative and vision of Islam that calls for peace and tolerance. The distorted perspective of extremists goes beyond the pale of our tradition. Literal interpretation does not employ figurative understandings and results in alternative perspectives. There are irrefutable proofs that our religions are not causes of hate and violence.”

Timo Soini, Finnish Minister of Foreign Affairs explained, “How we practice our religion holds a mirror in front of us.” He reminded his audience, “Freedom of religion belongs to everyone, to people of all faiths. Freedom of religion also entails the freedom to not believe or share in a particular faith. Finally, freedom cannot exist without responsibility. There is no freedom to be intolerant of the faith of the other. On the contrary, we have an obligation to be vigilant in preventing any kind of discrimination on religious grounds. If religion is part of the problem, then it also must be part of the solution.”

Admittedly, this was my first time in the presence of numerous Christian evangelical clergy. Pastor Bob Roberts, who has partnered regularly with Shaykh bin Bayyah, instructed us that to discover common ground, can yield common actions, and ultimately result in a common good. Pastor Roberts has been involved in efforts to build bridges with the Islamic community focusing on clergy becoming acquainted with one another. After a relationship is forged between pastor and imam, the circle expands to include the clergy member’s family (if they have one) and their congregation. In due course, knowing one another leads to opportunities to stand up for another. Going on dialogue retreats together and participating in projects in underdeveloped neighborhoods deepens the process. “We all bleed the same,” he said. “If we quit the hatred, we might learn to love each other.” As Pastor John Jenkins, Pastor Roberts’ colleague, offered, “The imam has the same thing in his heart that I do, but the media won’t tell you that story. We need to get the media to tell the other story.”

While the event predominantly featured Muslims, Christians, and Jews, as well as a few people of other faiths, I am hoping that those who identify as secular, atheist, or do not identify as religious, will eventually be welcomed at this table, too. Thinking that religion has cornered the market on “virtue,” “being a good person” or can speak to everyone’s “common good” is simply not true and this notion of “virtue” needs to also include voices from those who do not identify with a religion or with a faith practice.

Still, it was interesting to be involved, to be a fly on the wall – and even more enlightening to gather awareness of others who are deeply involved in the work of trying to improve our world, day by day. The most critical piece to emerge from the Alliance Conference is making sure that what was discussed in Washington becomes actionable in our own communities.

How remarkable and how disappointing is it that in 2018 we are still preaching lessons and holding conferences on how to talk to one another, how to be in relationship with one another, and how to see the Divine in other human beings and in other communities beyond our own.

If the Washington Declaration is a piece of paper that is ultimately just filed somewhere, then this was nothing but a talkfest. If the experience continues to translate into action, there’s a lot of healing that can be done.

Time to get to work.