Come the day, I, again, through the parents, wanted to get Ayşe’s reaction to Gülen’s death. “Grandpa has passed away,” she “broke” or “shared” the sad news with me. There are lots of questions lying behind all this: What has been the real difference between Erdoğan, Gülen and their followers? If Erdoğan has all along scared his people and the world of “Gülenists,” could there be “Erdoğanists” for the Turks and the universe to be scared of as well? What does Gülen’s death mean on the ground to Turkey and the world? Who was this Gülen that the world should be moved about his death?

Now the African perspective.

Indigenous knowledge has it that “Enyama mbi tew’aluti ” – literally meaning “bad meat takes long to clear from the barbecue stick.” Why? Nobody rushes for it. Similarly, in the world of organized procedures, it is held: “It’s the exception that proves the rule.” Thus, in the practice of Mathematics: “Any number to power zero is equal to one, except zero itself.” In Chemistry, ions with the same charge repel. In music, non-rhyming sounds subject listeners to cacophony. A frontline rebellion in a battle is a war lost in the making. Examples are inexhaustible.

In Africa we also say: “Alikukumanya niwe akwita” – meaning “it is he who knows you who kills you.” In the biblical Paradise of Eden narrative, the target of the Snake must have been Adam. But to reach him, Eve was the most promising and appropriate tool. She knew him very well and he knew her well as well. When it came to a money trap module to betray Jesus, his disciple, Judas Iscariot, who was the treasurer, was the best choice. After being paid the fee, he assured them: “The one I kiss….”

In the most immediate Turkish history, circumstances crossed the paths of President-to-be Erdoğan and the Muslim cleric and scholar Fethullah Gülen on the promise of a more democratic country and freedoms based on universal standardsWhat could make them part ways unto the grave of one of them and even beyond? Why did Erdoğan go to the extent of demonizing the life ofGülen, when the whole world was mourning the death of a living saint rather than someone who had lived a “dishonorable life and like a demon in human form,” according to Erdoğan? Who was this Gülen that he should be at the base of the controversy in Turkey when humanity ceases to be a factor in the affairs of those in political power? Why should a political leader, and considered believer in one God, for that matter, be inhuman? He jails babies with their Gülen-linked mothers and conducts strip searches on the country’s daughters, mothers and grandmothers?

Here one has to go further, if not dig farther or both. A dip into the Turkish history reveals stories of scholars who stood firmly against oppression until Gülen appears on the stage. These noble individuals go beyond time, becoming travelers who foresee the future, much like Fethullah Gülen has. It’s as if Gülen stood on the watchtower of history, envisioning the future and leaving his notes. His vision heralded a renaissance after a period of darkness, testing both the loyalty of friends and the mercy of foes.

Imam Ahmad ibn Hanbal, a disciple of Imam al-Shafi’i, contributed a lot to the expansion of the territories where Muslims ruled. He was tortured and imprisoned for over two years for rejecting the idea, imposed by Abbasid caliphs al-Ma’mun, al-Mu’tasim, and al-Wathiq, that the Quran was created. He continued to pursue knowledge even in prison. Imam Abu Hanifa was imprisoned and tortured for refusing an offer to be a judge for the Abbasid caliph al-Mansur. Relentless pressure notwithstanding, he never bowed to the caliphates of the Umayyads or Abbasids. He died from poisoning. Imam al-Ghazali was also subjected to pressure from the authorities, who ordered his books burned. For criticizing a ruler of the Kara-Khanid dynasty, Imam Sarakhsi was thrown into a well in Özkent, from where he dictated his famous work, al-Mabsut. Ibn Taymiyyah was persecuted for his views, repeatedly imprisoned, and died in captivity, completely dispossessed.

In modern times, Fethullah Gülen walked this same path. After the July 15th 2016 “cooked coup,” which he condemned and denied any connection, he declared: “If they were to pass a death sentence, I would go smiling to the noose, but I would never apologize to an oppressor, even if they killed me fifty times over.” This statement underscores his resolve in pursuing truth and justice. Gülen’s words reflect the breadth and depth of his vision for humanity. In his work The Messenger of Humanity, he wrote: “Humanity can only draw closer through love, tolerance, and dialogue.”

Gülen consistently advocated for dialogue between the Abrahamic faiths and once brought together leaders of major religions around the same table in Istanbul. He believed that “those who are confident in their beliefs respect others’ faiths. One’s own values are best understood by recognizing others’. Everyone’s faith belongs to them, and no one can impose their beliefs on others.” Gülen reminded us of the shared values of humanity, saying: “Differences among people exist not to divide us but to complete each other.” This perspective is more essential today than ever.

The schools inspired by Gülen’s vision across the world embodied his dream that “Knowledge should flow from Turkey to the world.” These institutions have fostered bonds between diverse cultures and planted seeds of peace and fraternity. His legacy is not just in his written works or founded institutions, but in the indelible mark he left on the conscience of humanity—a bright path for generations to follow.

To come to grips with Gülen’s life, one has to read Said Nursi (1877-1960) a lot. Typical of his life of sincerity, Said Nursi, who is also known as Bediüzzaman – the miracle of time – examined the political life of his day, critically subjecting it to his moral weights and measures standards, leaving the rest of the world countries to find their individual morals index slots. Said Nursi, as a child, was conceived in the womb of the Ottoman Empire to which he was consequently born and on whose milk he subsequently breastfed. Only a few years senior to the founder of the Republic of Turkey, Mustafa Kemal Atatürk (1881-1938), he went through an experience that must have had a bearing on his way of life as a great thinker, author and what I can dare call “genuine Muslim.”

He was around when his age mate Mustafa got the Kemal nickname – meaning “the perfect one.” He saw Kemal and his supporters establish a new Turkish government and capital at Ankara. He witnessed the national assembly abolishing the Ottoman sultanate and Greek forces being driven out, opening doors to the Republic of Turkey to come into formal existence. He bore witness to Kemal assuming the presidency and turning tables on everything, including traditional Islamic religious schools and courts. The president grew more reserved, solitary and remote, moved into the Sultan’s Palace in body and spirit, leading a luxurious life until his death.

To this, Africa indigenous knowledge has many observations. Among them: “You can make a monkey put on a golden ring but that can’t kill its habit of stealing maize from people’s farms. You can boil water to any temperature, but it will never forget its origins (coldness). You can expose an elephant to urban life, but you cannot prevent it from littering streets”.

Gülen never met Said Nursi. He only met his disciples. He understood his mission and took it upon himself to put it into practice. And, like him, he did not harbor political ambitions. Dr. Jon Pahl summarizes the situation rightly in his book on Gülen and the life of Hizmet when he says: “… to focus on events in Turkey in recent years, and Fethullah Gülen’s role as cause, effect, villain, hero, winner or loser would be to reduce the meaning and significance of his life to something like wax; ephemeral relations with a paltry kind of power…”

Said Nursi had all along said it categorically that the real enemies of the Turkish (in fact any) people are none other than ignorance, poverty and disunity. Gülen took it upon himself that the solution revolved on the axis of molding a cohesive and disciplined community through education, mass media and financial networks targeting the establishment of a new power balance of justice, love, respect and equality among people. For which, an environment had to be built whereby one has to see all others as God sees them with the eyes of mercy and compassion. People must be revived; not killed. Today, however, about a quarter of the Turkish people have come to a stage where they wish it were possible for them to live somewhere else rather than under the Erdoğan regime.

Said Nursi warned: “Moral laws are absolute. They are not relative. Effort spent on spicing our actions in the interest of our desires points in the wrong direction. This is why we substitute legal and illegal, right and wrong with attributes. And a State is created along these lines.” In the Seedbed of the Light, Fourth Treatise, Third Part of the Spark, he said: “Happiness and real pleasure lies in forsaking everything, including existence for His (God’s) sake. A drop of water has the same nature as an ocean (both are water) and a river (both are from clouds).

“Whatever is suffered for God is good. It is sweet even if apparently bitter, for it makes you taste the pleasure of supplicating and praying to Him. Every speech unconcerned with Him is idle talk.” Giving us a sort of cardinal self-observation point, he said: “Human beings are usually susceptible to shedding positive knowledge as they go down the learning lane. Instead, we pick and treasure meaningless and sometimes wrong convictions, which eventually lead us astray.”

This was with Gülen until his last breath, enabling him to leave behind a legacy not of material wealth but many shelves filled with the books he authored. His simple lifestyle demonstrates the transitory nature of worldly riches, elevating the significance of spiritual values and the blossoming hopes. I have read his works and works about him by others and reviewed some of them. Following his passing, Tushar Gandhi, the grandson of Mahatma Gandhi, could not have put it better when he expressed his sorrow on social media, saying, “Another voice of peace has fallen silent. A great loss for humanity.”

All said, Gülen was more than the son of Turkey. He belonged to the whole world. From the African perspective, Gülen was “mithili ya zawadi ya sauti ya Mungu iliyozimika” – the symbol of God’s voice gift which has suddenly gone silent.

What makes this event unique compared to other attempts at bringing people together to celebrate our heritages, our cultures, and our languages? For me it is the spirit of the philosophical rationale underpinning the organizers of the event: the Horizon Educational Trust, the Gauteng Provincial Department of Arts, Culture and Recreation of South Africa, the South African-Turkish Business Association, and the Turquoise Harmony Institute. What do they share in common that helps them to run a festival of diversity?

First, the festival is deeply focused on the “the diamonds” of the show: namely, the youth, who are students from a range of Turkish schools across the globe who came to showcase their experiences of dialogue, sharing the riches of their own cultures while embracing the opportunities for self-growth, discovery, and development as they learned to speak a common language of respect and value. Yes, there were the perfunctory speeches from dignitaries and sponsors. Yes, the organizers emphasized the role of Turkey offering not just bilateral South Africa-Turkey relations, but also access into the worlds where Turkish conceptions were sowing seeds across the international community. Yes, there was a nod to providing awards to the Mandela family in recognition of his contribution to world peace. But these speeches did not dominate the program; it was clear that the unexpressed agenda of the organizers was directed not towards scoring political points or grandstanding. The event was an opportunity to learn from others through appreciating difference and viewing “others” not as potential threats, a waging of supremacist ideological battles, or the harmful promotion of political factions. We, as the audience, were spectators of a new world in gestation.

The simplicity and genuineness of the hosts came through on multiple levels, but especially in how they promoted the view that cultural dialogues are easily communicated beyond linguistic specifics. The universal languages of arts, music, and dance speak volumes. The festival program directors marked each individual presentation with an evocative introduction translating the songs they rendered and offering connection with the message of the colors of a rainbow world, enriched by our diversity. Whist they hinted at the countries of origin of the performers, they were careful not to set any one up as “exotic others” against some normative hegemony, or in a competitive ascendancy. Each performance was afforded a dignity in its own right and the young stars rose spectacularly to the occasion with confidence and committed expertise. They exuded that this was a festival, not a competition; a celebration of dialogue of selves, not egoistic performances.

Notably, the program was also consciously planned to bring different performers onto the same stage in simultaneous coupled or multiple-group renditions, showing that it is not uniqueness alone that is to be valued, but one’s ability to stand alongside, and in concert with, other perspectives and points of view. We saw Romanian and Georgian songstresses hold back-to-back performances with South African backing vocals. We were mesmerized by a heartfelt Whitney Houston song, “I Am Nothing Without You” performed by an Australian teenager wearing traditional Islamic dress. We witnessed the choral singing of Turkish and South African songs by enthusiastic students on a full stage. A duo of a lanky African American and a suave South African Durbanite executed a spirited “Stand By Me” performance. An elegant impersonation of Adele’s “Someone Like You” by a Catholic girl from the Philippines sent shivers down one spine and brought tears to most eyes:

I wish nothing but the best for you…

The penetrating, almost operative gusto of “Je t’aime” by a pint-sized French lass celebrated the wonderful potential young people possess. Mozambican sisters, and Netherlander siblings, and Madagascar soloist performers continued to show the spirit of the festival by singing in Portuguese, Dutch, and Turkish. Audience members fervently waved randomly distributed miniature flags from all participating countries. Each member of the audience was randomly assigned arbitrary custodianship of these nationalistic symbols. The “We are the World” popular mantra brought all solo performers alongside the whole starry cast in a memorable display of togetherness. A South African dance group exhibited their pot pourri of traditional Turkish folkdances. Local variations of kwaito music and gumboot dancers culminated in a costumed celebration of all performers: North, South, East, and West in a rousing reinterpretation of the Southern anthem, Shoholoza. A tribute from the whole student group to both Mahatma Gandhi (in Gurathi) and Nelson Mandela (in isiXhosa) demonstrated the lessons of these international icons of harmony and commitment to social justice, through quiet, yet powerful engagement and dialogue. The celebratory pictures of their historical lives, presented in a back-to-back sequence, were a tribute by themselves. What a collage of possibilities peppered with the spice of smiles!

The music genres spanned both traditional and modern forms. It was quite evident that the star performers (ranging in age from early to late teens) were selected as exemplars of exceptional artistry. Each performance was reinforced by graphic slides depicting scenes from the performers’ home countries. Natural fauna and flora, cultural and architectural monuments, and significant people or groups formed the worldwide educational tour via the panoramic backdrop visuals. Some graphics told visual stories of evolving forms and features of the worldwide community. The program saw the presentation of singers performing their own and other cultural languages. They adapted costume styles from different settings outside their home countries. The kaleidoscope that emerged was a festival of variety: where people of different groups exchanged dress styles, languages, and dance choreographs to communicate the possibility for the dialogical space that a new cultural movement can embrace.

South Africans are perhaps skeptical of this kind of multicultural celebration due to apartheid. In such a form of cultural celebration, different cultures are placed alongside each other as enclaved entities, highlighting the “boundaries” of one’s beliefs, a celebration of otherness. Such divergence produced a “multi-cultural” endeavor that promoted a political hierarchy of perspectives which took on racialized proportions with disastrous effects.

In present times however, many proponents of the “new era” of cultural affirmation in post-apartheid South Africa see cultural celebration as an attempt to assert a new regime of hierarchies with one cultural form replacing the previously powerful forms. This is also more often associated with the representations of political power which silence those who differ from the majority perspective, the new master narrative, or dominant worldview. How different is this from multi-cultural apartheid?

By contrast, the Turkish school movement inspired by the international Hizmet philosophy of “service to humanity” is characterized by a worldview that celebrates the interdependent common ground across all cultural expressions. Their outward manifestations may differ, but cultural representations highlight the similitude of our humanity, and our quest for dialogue, love, and tolerance. This is embodied by the writings and teachings of a key founder of the Hizmet Movement: Fethullah Gülen. In this version of “inter-culturalism,” the attempt is to develop individuals who are conscious of their own self and their heritage, but not in service of a protectionist or preservationist agenda. From this firm position of self-strength, one is able to reach out to the world of others. We see in others, too, our agenda for our common quests. Our reaching out is a service to realizing peace and harmony – which is a goal sorely needed in a war-torn, politicized and ideologized world, which often uses religious beliefs as rallying points for promoting hostility, supremacy, and divergence. Sometimes these separatist agendas are disguised econometric plots, too! Cultural affirmation is not a hearkening to a fossilized past, but a recognition that our habits and routines can mutate and extend through dialogue and exchange; our borders can be more inviting and more welcoming.

A third kind of cultural engagement is “juxta-culturalism” which merely tolerates different groups walking alongside each other, never interconnecting. This is sadly the lived experiences of many who pursue only a narcissist nationalistic myopic agenda, seeing only the boundaries of geography and politics as the border of their selfhood. This produces expressions of xenophobia which does not recognize the inherent commonality of all human beings. We are all created equal in the eyes of God. Our nationalist identity is only a man-made demarcation, dividing one set of people from another. It is more commonplace that many individuals in our modern global society, live outside the borders within which their forefathers were born. We may draw our cultural roots from one geographic space, but live in another context altogether.

Human history has been replete with stories of crossing borders, migrations due to the ravages of political, economic, or natural disasters. Not all of these journeys are tales of joy. More likely, the fragile settled communities interpret the visiting migrant culture as undercutting the nationalistic goals of their society. Open hostility is unfortunately sanctioned as the appropriate response to keep the outsiders from penetrating our “safe world.” So, which version of cultural affirmation did the festival of language and culture promote?

I think that a version of “trans-disciplinary culturalism” emerged as the young stars of the show interacted to generate a positive energy of harmony by crossing over to the other side. Their own past matters; they remained rooted on their own river banks. But they were confident enough to swim across to the other side. The young performers were firmly grounded in the here and now of the present 21^st century, with all its influences: technology, media, and new musical and art forms, which they transported across the global village. And they dared us to dream of the possibility of building a new, shared cultural world. Their message was simple: we are simultaneously of the past, in the present, and eager to create the future. This movement across time and space, culture and geography, history and identity, are not threatening but enriching.

One of my lasting impressions was the emotional image of students embracing each other at the end of the show: this was the world in dialogue with each other. They had made a connection with those around them that would live on in their lives for many years. They will become the ambassadors of the new world order. The official festival song reverberates:

I saw a luminous future in my dream one night.
Lights were silent pouring down everywhere.
It was like a harmoniously working clock.
Dark nights had gone away.
A new world!
A new world!
They were building a new world.
Everywhere sparkled like the skies.
They were building a new world.

After the ceremony, I chatted with a young 12 year-old Albanian youth to congratulate him on his commanding and welcoming stage performance. He simply smiled broadly.

“No English. Me speak no English.” He smiled and held my hand, clutching his Albanian costume in one hand, his proud flag in another, and his infectious energy pouring out. Despite his lack of English skills, he was able to communicate via his open-hearted spirit.

What a festival of cultures and languages! Not essentialized, but harmonized. It was an expression of joyous humanity.

And there we found our God.

But now I think: was he from Albania or Afghanistan? Why do I not know these countries and their foreign flags? But does it matter?

His heart sparkled.

Reflections on the “13^th International Festival of Languages and Culture”
www.iflc.co.za
“Colours of the world”
18 March 2015
Nelson Mandela Theatre, Braaamfontein, Johannesburg

Michael Anthony Samuel is a professor of education at the University of KwaZulu-Natal, School of Education, Durban, South Africa.

Combining sports and education, and motivated by faith, Hassan Fofana is helping dreams come true for students in West Africa.

I first met Hassan Fofana in 2006, at a friend’s house in Baltimore, Maryland. Hassan was studying at Loyola College and I was at Temple University. The two of us were an unusual pair. Hassan, who was born in Guinea and grew up in Togo, is nearly seven feet tall; he was a center on Loyola’s basketball team. On my good days, I’m five feet, eight inches tall.

Despite the humor that ensued when the two of us stood side by side, we became fast friends, united by a shared passion for social justice. At the time, my experiences with the larger world were minimal, but at only 21, Hassan was already a worldly man. At the age of 14, when Hassan was still living in Togo, he’d been one of 55 kids to try out for an American basketball coach. The coach was offering one scholarship to a prep school in Massachusetts. It was, Hassan once told me, a hopelessly long shot. And yet, at the end of the try out, Hassan was chosen. Barely a teenager, he left his family and home to enroll at Hargrave Military Academy in Boston. He didn’t speak a word of English.

Despite being so far from home, and in a strange country, Hassan embraced the opportunity. He won a scholarship to play basketball at the University of Maryland, under hall of fame coach Gary Williams, and after that he transferred to Loyola College, where he earned a degree in International Relations and Philosophy.

Throughout his journey, Hassan was shocked by the kindness of people he met along the way – especially the Gibbons family and his mentor, Mike Zona. Generosity wasn’t unusual for Hassan, of course. He grew up with devout Muslim parents, who taught him both the value of an education and the generosity that their faith preached.

“For as long as I can remember, my parents ha(d) always ha(d) 1 to 3 guests in our home. They w(ould) stay there for as long as they like(d) for free housing and food,” Hassan told me.

These lessons, and the continual generosity he encountered, left a deep mark on Hassan. While he was at Loyola, he began to have an inkling that he wanted to spend his life serving others.

Shortly before Hassan and I met in 2006, he returned to Togo for only the second time since leaving for the U.S. The trip, which would change his life, had been made possible by a dear friend and businessman who had asked Hassan what he missed most about his home. Hassan said he missed the sense of community – the way that everyone knew everyone else’s name, and how neighbors watched out for each other – and he missed his family. Hassan has many siblings, and he missed their large, sprawling family meals and the easy camaraderie that brothers and sisters have together.

While back in Togo, Hassan and a friend were watching a group of kids – most of them around twelve years old – play soccer. Hassan still knew most of the kids in his town, and was curious why some children weren’t out there with their friends. His friend told Hassan that many of the children had been taken out of school. Because their families were struggling for money, the boys’ fathers had decided that school was a waste of time. They weren’t playing soccer because they were working – many of them for less than five dollars a day.

Hassan was troubled by this. Sports and education had always been linked in his mind. After all, it was a sport that had allowed him to pursue a higher education in America. Watching that soccer game, Hassan began to get a sense of what he wanted to do with his life. When I met him that fall, he told me that, inspired by his trip back home, he wanted to open schools for athletes in Africa. He wanted to help young kids, just like himself, to get a real education.

“I was convinced that this was my mission on this earth,” he says.

Now, eight years later, Hassan is beginning to make his dream a reality. In 2012, after a few false starts, Hassan formed Time2Ball Foundation, which aims to connect student-athletes in West Africa with prep coaches in the United States and Europe. The hope is that these kids will use their athletics to get the kind of world class education they can’t get in Africa – and through education, open up all kinds of opportunities for themselves and their communities. With the help of donors, educators, coaches, and local community leaders, since 2012, Hassan has brought eleven teenagers from Africa to study at high schools in the United States and Europe.

Though Hassan lives and works in the U.S – and though all his student-athletes are coming to study in the U.S. and Europe – Hassan still has his gaze focused on Africa. He firmly believes that the continent can fix its problems through its young leaders getting better educations. Inspired by his own devout faith, Hassan stresses the need to give back to others. He encourages the student-athletes that he works with not just to pursue their own goals, but to be generous and to help others achieve their dreams, too. Through this intense focus on community and generosity, Hassan hopes that many of Time2Ball’s student-athletes will ultimately return to Africa to help open up more avenues of opportunity in local communities.

I recently spoke with Hassan and asked him what has been the best part of his work. He told me a story about a young man who had dropped out of school in Togo and had found work cleaning roads. Time2Ball was able to connect him with a basketball coach in the U.S., where he’s now a junior in high school, with a B+ grade average and possible college scholarships on the table. As Hassan told me, being able to help someone like this boy achieve his dream of a better life is “a true blessing.”

Despite its early success, Time2Ball still faces plenty of challenges going forward, such as funding and housing for its student-athletes. Because it’s still small, unfortunately, there are many student-athletes Time2Ball hasn’t been able to help. Hassan says that he’s constantly looking for new solutions to these problems. He’s hoping that, in the future, a stable network of donors and schools will allow him to focus more on finding student-athletes. But he’s not there yet, and is looking for all the help he can get.

Even with these challenges, Hassan has big dreams for Time2Ball. Within the next five years, he’d like to expand Time2Ball’s influence by helping athletes in many sports connect with coaches (for now, Time2Ball only works with basketball and soccer players). He’d also like to help aspiring artists in Africa find better opportunities to develop their talents.

The long term dream, though, is still the same as it was when Hassan and I met over eight years ago: he wants to open a series of schools in Togo and West Africa that will utilize kids’ love of sports to improve their access to a quality education. Driven by faith and the generosity of many people he has met along the way, Hassan Fofana is helping dreams come true, one education at a time.

Please feel free to contact Hassan if you have any questions or you would like to contribute to our effort in helping young men and women improve their lives through education and sport. Contact via email: Time2Ballinc@gmail.com or via skype: fhassan16.

Africa has many fresh water sources such as Lake Tanganyika, Lake Victoria, the Zambezi, Nile, and Juba Rivers. Theoretically, Africans should be able to at least, adequately sustain healthy life with this amount of water (Whiteford & Whiteford, 2005). On the other hand, several issues affect the water sources making them either inaccessible, or dangerous to use. Diseases form and spread all through Africa, deteriorating life due to deficient amounts of clean water (Whiteford & Whiteford, 2005).

The reason for the water problems majorly involves dams and deforestation, along with pollution. Firstly, dams provide irrigation and hydropower, but hidden underneath these benefits are the massive and long-term detriments of destroying the well-known system of flood-plain agriculture and deforestation due to incomplete dam projects. Flood-plain agriculture is the classic system of agriculture that was mainly used along the Nile River as well as several other rivers in Africa. These traditional systems of agriculture depend on the annual floods in order to fertilize and water their crops. Water, as well as the silt that once functioned as fertilizer, are now built up behind the dams and are unusable. Secondly, deforestation dries up the land even more because interception and transpiration from trees stop, causing more forest fires and destruction of habitats. Deforested land becomes a dried up desert absolutely unusable by all habitats, especially humans (Jobin, 1999). Thirdly, pollution caused by poor sanitation techniques, in addition to industrial and chemical pollution are major reasons for the decline of life in Africa. Poor sanitation techniques lead to human and animal feces infest water, leading to increase in diseases related to water. The industrialization and urbanization in some parts of Africa leads to high levels of modern environmental health hazards. This results in other severe health problems indirectly related to water. For example, in the Nairobi River Basin in Kenya, there were effluent concentrations of elements such as nickel, copper, and lead, which were 60, 600, and 120 times higher than recommended (Nweke and Sanders, 2009). Another major cause of chemical pollution all across Africa is the use of pesticides in agriculture which have been detected in streams and rivers in different regions. These pesticides contaminate soil, water, air, and food sources, posing serious health threats to Africa’s populations. Endosulfans, as well as more dangerous organochlorines, such as DDE and DDT have recurrently been detected at water sources near agricultural areas in South Africa. This contamination has been confirmed to regularly exceed the “European drinking water standard of 0.1 g/L” (Nweke & Sanders, 2009). This contamination not only poisons potential sources of food, but it also destroys habitats which all have a chain reaction pertaining to the sustainability in Africa. In summary, these factors influence the water quantity and quality in Africa. It also negatively affects people’s habits regarding water usage. If people realize they have little water, they ration it ineffectively. For instance, they will take up water usage reducing habits such as not washing hands, clothes, food products, dishes, themselves, etc. leading to less hygiene and increasing the likelihood of getting disease. If there is plenty of water but it is contaminated, the pollutants in the water source will cause diseases. Therefore, due to poor water management in Africa, diseases related to water have been severely affected.

Water-related diseases differ from waterborne diseases in that the disease is not directly caused by the water consumed. Instead, the vector of the disease uses water as a breeding ground from which the vector then emerges. Common water-related diseases include malaria, yellow fever, schistosomiasis or bilharzia, and onchocerciasis or river blindness (Whiteford & Whiteford, 2005).

Schistosomiasis, also known as bilharzia, is a disease that is highly prevalent along the Nile River as well as all other fresh water resources throughout Africa caused by parasitic worms and snails (Jobin, 1999). The most common parasitic worms that cause bilharzia in humans are Schistosoma mansoni, D. haematobium, and S. japonicium (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 2010). Infection occurs when the larval stage of schistosomes search for a human host while swimming in the water. After parasitizing the human circulatory system by penetrating the skin of an individual in contaminated water, they reproduce in the human gut or bladder by laying their eggs there (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 2010; Jobin, 1999). These eggs pass out of the body by means of human waste and reach aquatic habitats of snails (Jobin, 1999). After the eggs hatch, they develop into larvae which penetrate the snail, developing further and “multiplying by astronomical factors” (Jobin, 1999, p. 66). The parasite larvae then leave the snail continuing the reproduction cycle. As written by Jobin (1999), “bilharzia is a debilitating disease which can cause early death of persons parasitized by large numbers of worms” (p. 68).

Symptoms of bilharzia include developing a rash or itchy skin within days of infection. Within 1-2 months of the infection, symptoms such as fever, chills, cough, and muscle aches may also appear, but people tend to have no symptoms at this early phase. The eggs that travel in the body can also cause inflammation and scarring. As reported by CDC (2010), infected children may “develop anemia, malnutrition, and learning difficulties.” All of these symptoms are reactions of the body to the eggs produced, and not by the worms themselves. Treating schistosomiasis is essentially effortless; you must take a pill 1-2 days (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 2010).

Since the health care systems in some African countries are shoddy, and the majority of these populations cannot afford treatment or drugs, prevention is the most efficient technique to fight disease throughout the continent (Falola & Heaton, 2007). Bilharzia can easily be prevented in Africa by avoiding swimming in fresh water sources, health education, drugs, focal application of biocides to kill snails, and improved water supply and sanitation are also required to stop the spread of the infection. Using feces and urine contaminated water is a major cause of spread of the disease due to the nature of the parasite’s reproductive system, but another equally important issue is intensifying agriculture. Increased agriculture results in runoff with high concentrations of nitrogen and phosphorous, which act as a fertilizer (Peace, 2006). These compounds trigger an increase in aquatic weeds, the ideal habitat for snails, which causes increased bilharzia transmission. In addition, since people wanted to clean the water sources from the weeds, they would manually try to clean the water supply, without taking any precautions. This exacerbated the situation by exposing themselves to the disease (Jobin, 1999).

An example of the relationship between agriculture along with irrigation, and bilharzia as well as malaria transmission can be seen in the Gezira-Managil Irrigation System in Sudan. In 1925, when the irrigation system was first constructed, the overall agricultural intensity increased by 300%, this was because the natural system had been altered with. Naturally, the water should have dried out by April-May, but instead it ran 100% of the time. The Gezira-Managil Irrigation system became the main source of income in Sudan, producing 3/4 of the gross national cotton production. By 1970, the proliferation of agricultural pests, aquatic weeds, snails, mosquitoes and silt in the canal lead to the decline of the agricultural system. As a result, cotton was infested by the white-fly, pathogenic viruses and bacteria multiplied in the water making it unusable. Malaria mosquito populations increased, attacking at night and increasing transmission of disease, since there were no longer dry seasons to destroy their habitat. Similarly, bilharzia snails increased since the unnatural, man-made system had constructed an exceptionally ideal habitat for them, attacking during the day as people waded in the waters, and intensified the transmission of the disease. People who worked on the fields and near the irrigation system got infected, not being able to work on the nearly non-existent cotton fields. The country’s gross income changed from approximately US $228 million to US $76 million by 1981. There was no longer any money, which meant no more facilities for community water supplies and sanitation, increasing disease and unemployment, resulting in even less money in a seemingly endless cycle (Jobin, 1999).

There are many factors that act as obstacles in the way of African well-being. The most prevalent type of disease in Africa is waterborne and water-related. Sheik-Mohamed & Velema (1999) report that “major causes of mortality and morbidity seem to be preventable infectious diseases.” Govender et al. (2011) similarly state that “diarrheal diseases are an important cause of morbidity and mortality in low- and middle-income countries” and that these diarrheal diseases can be prevented simply through improved water quality. Every 8 seconds a child dies from a disease related to having either unclean or not enough water. Diseases linked to water kill more 5 million people each year – ten times the amount of people killed in wars (Whiteford & Whiteford, 2005). These statistics are outrageous. Every human should have the right to have clean water. Every human should have the right to live in a healthy environment and be in good health.

References

• Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. (2010, November 2).
• Schistosomiasis: General Information. Retrieved October 2011, from Centers for Disease Control and Prevention: http://www.cdc.gov/parasites/schistosomiasis/gen_info/faqs.html
• Falola, T., & Heaton, M. M. (Eds.). (2007). HIV/AIDS, Illness, and African Well-Being. Rochester, NY: University of Rochester Press.
• Govender, T., Barnes, J. M., & Pieper, C. H. (2011). Contribution of water pollution from inadequate sanitation and housing quality to diarrheal disease in low-cost housing settlements of Cape Town, South Africa. American Journal of Public Health , 101 (7), e4-e9.
• Jobin, W. (1999). Dams and Disease. London, UK: E & FN Spon.
• Nweke, O. C., & Sanders, W. H. (2009). Modern environmental health hazards: a public health issue of increasing significance in Africa. Environmental Health Perspectives , 117 (6), 863-870.
• Sheik-Mohamed, A., & Velema, J. P. (1999). Where health care has no access: the nomadic population of sub-Saharan Africa. Tropical Medicine and International Health , 4 (10), 695-707.
• Whiteford, L., & Whiteford, S. (2005). Globalization, Water and Health. Santa Fe, New Mexico: School of American Reasearch Press.

We remember Africa today with recent famines and drought, especially in Somalia, Ethiopia, and Kenya, worst in the last sixty years. If one is not watching only wild life documentaries, Africa is one large portion of the old world, home for diverse cultures, a continent rich with natural resources, and this last one has been the major reason why it has become a large battlefield for many centuries.

Nigeria is the most populous country of Africa (seventh in the world), with over 250 ethnicities, over 500 different languages spoken (one of the countries with highest linguistic diversity). Nevertheless, Nigeria has also been the stage for tribal warfare and strife, and bitter incidents of some recent bloodshed still linger in our memories. In this respect, the theme of the conference fits perfectly well in this country, where there are seventeen schools, a university, and a recently established dialogue foundation inspired by Fethullah Gülen.

What other forms of engagement can we offer other than education and dialogue for peaceful engagement? What can be a more lucrative investment for a peaceful future than the one made in education and dialogue? With awareness of this need and commitment to serving all humanity, regardless of race, color, religion, or nationality, growing numbers of volunteers of education and dialogue are establishing schools, hospitals, dialogue centers, and relief organizations all over the world. Humble but selfless efforts of these volunteers who are inspired from thinkers like Fethullah Gülen are now yielding fruits of dialogue in more than 130 countries where children of warring nations are educated side by side, members of different religions enjoy the same meal, and pray for a peaceful future.

The current issue of The Fountain offers essays reflecting this culture of coexistence. The lead article expounds on the unique qualities of being human, reminding us the “know thyself” principle of Socrates, for “the one who has perceived the secrets of his or her own self has also known God.”

“Different Approaches to Interpersonal Conflict” stresses on how vital it is to be familiar with “conflict-related behavioral tendencies” for it “might help in the development of strategies for interpersonal, intercultural conflict resolution or prevention.”

Also in this issue Dr. Kurucan explains Islam’s stance for issues like freedom of practicing and teaching one’s religion, and in what conditions Islam allows war, if it does, in cases of violation of this right.

New Jersey-based Helping Hands Relief Foundation (HHRF) is one of those relief organizations that have quickly responded to the call for help from the Horn of Africa. Many volunteers of HHRF have already taken off to Somalia to deliver donations and food to the victims.

The world is undergoing several major tests. The problems caused by economic crises one after another, terrorism, global warming, and others have to be tackled with immediately. But the emergency of the current famine has no comparison, and we have to act now. It is time to delay our own needs today and rush for help to the victims of the famine. This is the greatest test we as the human family have to be pass.

Around 4–5 billion years ago (bya) my formation began from the remaining matter after the creation of the sun. In time, this matter accumulated and formed the small planetary objects (planetesimals) which were the earlier forms of future’s giant planets. Our collisions continued with the planetesimals that orbited the sun. As a result of these continuous collisions and bombardments, my surface temperature raised to almost 6,000oC. What I am trying to say is that I was an enormous globe consisting mainly of metallic substances that were melted in boiling lava and showered by thousands of meteoroids and comets. God the Creator has hidden many messages of mystery regarding the entire process I endeavored for humans to discover.

When I began to cool down, my surface hardened like a shell, and because I was not yet sufficiently protected by the gaseous shield known to us today as the atmosphere, my shell was destroyed by the ceaseless continuation of the meteoroid bombardment as soon as it began to form. This transformation continued for billions of years. At last when the invasion of the meteoroids began to ease, I started to mature and slowly began the process of cooling down.

4.4 billion years ago

The creation of pieces of land that looked somewhat different than the seven continents at the present began. They were just sections of land floating on my coat of crust. The formation of crust around my surface was subjected to rupture due to the high pressure caused by the intense heat deep down inside me. Over a period of time this crust, which separated into a number of huge fragments (plates), experienced various deformations that resulted in the formation of mountains. This is how the basins of the ocean and the contours of the continents began to emerge. This was the period during which new specimens of rock (granite) and the floor of the ocean (basaltic), consisting of rising magma, formed the core of the continents. Today scientists are studying the oldest granites (billions of years old) that have managed to survive natural disasters and destruction to discover how the first continents were actually formed.

Granite is the rock that forms the cores of the continents (cratons). Cratons are produced by the primary component of the oldest crust. Cratons are light enough to float on my coat of crust; they are a system created in a way that enables the development of continents. These cratons are found especially in central parts of Africa and also in South America, Australia, North America, and Scandinavia.

My surface is made up of integrated fragments called tectonic plates. Even though my crust was created by rock, it was created flexible enough to allow the plates to move a few centimeters every year caused by the intense heat from beneath my surface.

Continents

Ground movement and various changes have occurred over time due to the dynamic structure of the continents and plates attached to the mantle. Discoveries of exactly the same fossils and identical fresh water organisms in two completely different continents far from each other have proved this. The actual reason for the plate’s activity is that my core is much higher in temperature than my surface. The core deep inside me is around 5,500oC. The greater portion of this intense heat occurred in my early days as a result of the collisions and bombardments I faced, and the remaining is related to the disintegration of the radioactive elements which settled particularly in my mantle section. The heat waves which spread from my core were passed on to the next layer of the mantle. The heat melted a section of my mantle layer and magma forced my molten rocks to the surface. The molten rock, which fills the spaces between the cracked plates, enables new rock to develop, and then the plates separate from one another.

Around the same period of the formation of new rocks, my plates and the continents found on them separated. The formation of rocks deep within ocean continues the creation of the range of volcanic mountains even today. The range of under-water mountains continues for about 12,000 miles between the Antarctic and the North Pole and rises above sea level in some places.

The region called Iceland between the North American and Eurasian plates was formed as a result of an enormous volcanic eruption. This is one of the few places where the separation of the continents is clearly visible. The crevasse of Iceland, surrounded by the American plates on one side and the other European plates on the other, is around 3 miles in width. This crevasse is increasing with the formation of new rocks and is expanding the distance between America and Europe. Scientists say that the distance between the continents is increasing by around 1 inch every year, so within a hundred years the distance between America and Europe is expected to increase another 8 feet.

3.4 billion years ago

The main continents were forced together by movement of the tectonic plates forming new continents, and there are still remaining pieces of these continents inside the cratons of Australia and Africa.

2.7 billion years ago

My first super continent is still the ruling territory. But due to the power built up by heat emerging from my core, the tectonic plates are on the verge of separating this continent. Because of the heat from my core, the main land has separated and oceans were formed in my surface. Today these oceans do not exist on my surface anymore; but you can still find their pieces in the continents by a careful look.

1.1 billion years ago

The supercontinent called Rodinia, a continent which contains most of the earth’s landmass, was created. Seven hundred and fifty million years ago (mya), the heat from my core began to break down this supercontinent, and as a result Rodinia was destroyed and a new supercontinent called Pangaea, the origin of all the continents known in the present day, was created.

Two hundred million years later (or five hundred and sixty-five mya): I became acquainted with bacteria, funguses, poriferans (sponges), earthworms, mollusks, segmented worms, and arthropods.

During the time when these creatures lived on me, the climate was moderate. Major volcanic activities occurred during this period when most of the land was covered by shallow seas. The sudden outbreak of the thousands of species of living creatures during this period may seem amazing to you; in fact, this was actually the first period in which complex structural vertebrates were created.

495–435 million years ago

I first became associated with the red and green sea algae. This was also the period in which various fish and sea creatures were created. The enormous landmass of this period called Pangaea gave me a totally different appearance and had a huge impact on the climate. The reason for this was that a large section of the land was so distant from the sea. The climate of the inland regions was showing deep scale signs of change with every season-certain periods of the year were very hot and others considerably cold. During this time, the ocean did not have the effect on the climate like it does today. This is why the climates varied to such an extent. The change of climate played a huge role in the extinction of many species of that period and destroyed almost 90% of the living creatures.

Creation has continued at a distinct magnitude during the millions of years that have passed, and between 270–340 mya larger proportioned variations of vegetation were created. In a short space of time, this vegetation formed into giant trees that covered huge areas of land. The largest deposits of coal were created from the fossilization of these trees, an example of creation that would make your life a little easier in the years to follow.

On the other hand, the territories began to gather together close to the planes of the equator, and this vast land was covered with rain forests resembling the Amazon. These immense lands of greenery were the marshy forests that were home to extinct ferns and the first seeds of the various groups of plant life. The inhabitants of this intense vegetation were mainly insects, centipedes, and scorpions, but much larger than the ones we know today. The plants and forests disappeared suddenly at the end of this period, and towards the end of the same period when the vast lands of Pangaea began to take form, the glaciers expanded, the sea water receded, and the arid climate changed dramatically along with the forestry structure and vegetation. Then the creation of many new creatures occurred.

250 million years ago

The supercontinent Pangaea began to break up, and this separation caused the formation of Gondwana in the northern hemisphere and Eurasia in the south. Throughout the millions of years, South America began to recede from Africa while North America receded from Europe, resulting in the formation of the continents as we know them today. Australia drifted from the Antarctic continent and moved slowly towards more moderate climates. The evolution of the continents continued to form the huge canyons and valleys in America, and the vast range of mountains, including the Himalayas and the Alps. Between 225–190 mya mammals were created, and between 190–135 mya, birds and alga were created, followed in the next period by plantation seeds which almost completed my preparation as a suitable place for you all to live.

100 million years ago

The plan of the present day continents became apparent. Sometimes my land masses would collide in the regions where the plates joined and caused activity like the formation of the mountains. Without this plate movement, there would have been no mountains created on the planet. During this period, the various species of dinosaurs and reptiles became extinct for reasons unknown to humans. Throughout the following 100 million years, the creation of the most significant mountain ranges, like the Himalayas, occurred along with the continuing collisions of the continents. These plates continue to move 5–10 cm every year and still cause collisions today.

Today I am the proud owner of seven continents. Africa-Eurasia is an enormous supercontinent which houses Africa, Europe, and Asia. Beginning from the plateau of Siberia in Russia, it reaches as far as Africa, but Africa-Eurasia is not my only supercontinent. North and South America joined by Panama also have vast territories. If the Bering Strait that separates Russia and Alaska were to freeze, a person who set out from South America could walk as far as South Africa covering a total distance of 25,000 miles.

Although you are may not realize it, the activity of the continents continues today, and my existence that began billions of years ago will continue in the future until the time comes for me to die (you call this doomsday).

There is another aspect of the continental activity that affects you. This occurs in the form of disasters, for instance the earthquake, an event of nature which has occurred for millions of years. This activity of creation occurs as a result of the intersection of the plates, the collision of continents, or the ocean plates submerging beneath the continent. The tsunami disaster in Indonesia in 2004 was the result of a catastrophic movement of these plates.

The exceptionally lengthy process of my creation explains the transformations and progress I have experienced until I reached the condition suitable for the most precious and honorable of all creation: human beings. I hope that every moment and every aspect of the manifestation of science, wisdom, power, and willpower of my life story and creation will be a guide for you in the future and will encourage you to be even more curious about my end and to bow to our Almighty creator in respect of all He created.

HIV/AIDS is one of the most devastating health issues in modern history. Since the first case was reported in 1981, over 25 million people have died of HIV/AIDSrelated causes. Despite a better understanding of the disease, extensive knowledge about virus-human interaction, improved preventive measures, and medical treatment options, most experts agree that the pandemic is still in its early stages and rapidly spreading. According to the World Health Organization, in 2006 4.3 million people became infected with HIV and a total of 2.9 million people died of HIV/AIDSrelated causes. As of 2007, over 40 million people are living with HIV/ AIDS around the world and nearly half of them are females between the ages of 15 and 24.

With a vaccine still perhaps decades away, the best hope for impeding the spread of this deadly disease lies in effective prevention, early diagnosis, and successful treatment. For more than two decades, thousands of researchers from the most prestigious institutions around the globe have been struggling to discover more effective screening, diagnosis, and treatment options against HIV/AIDS, but a great deal has yet to be accomplished. At the moment, the high cost of the current medical treatment options and limited accessibility to HIV testing worldwide remain as additional obstacles to be overcome. Below is a table showing the spread of HIV/AIDS worldwide, based on the best available information provided by WHO in 2006. Additionally, the map below represents the regional distribution of adult HIV/AIDS cases by region based on UNIAIDS 2006 Report on the global AIDS epidemic.

What is HIV/ AIDS?

Healthy human bodies have a wellprogrammed defense mechanism (the immune system) that fights infections and helps prevent the development of cancer cells. Human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) primarily targets vital elements of the immune system, such as helper-T cells, macrophages, and dendritic cells. Due to the damage and destruction of these cells, the human body loses its ability to fight against infections and cancerous developments. This makes the body more susceptible to certain types of cancers, such as Kaposi sarcoma, and to opportunistic infections that would normally be easily defeated, such as pneumonia (Pneumocystis carinii) and Cryptococcal Meningitis. These infections might result in severe damage or the death of the patients. Therefore, it is not the Human Immunodeficiency Virus that causes death in HIV(+) individuals, but opportunistic infections or cancerous developments that a weakened immune system cannot repel. Hence, the later stages of HIV infection are called Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome (AIDS).

In spite of many obstacles, in industrial countries there has been a remarkable improvement in the medical care of HIV/AIDS individuals as a result of testing for HIV on a regular basis, particularly among high risk groups. This facilitates early diagnosis and therefore an early start in medical treatment, which allows HIV(+) individuals to live for decades after diagnosis. However, worldwide, particularly in developing countries, 90% of those carrying HIV have not been tested or do not have access to adequate treatment for the disease. Furthermore, every year a considerable number of HIV(+) individuals in developing countries die without even knowing what HIV is and leave thousands of orphans behind who do not have any idea what took their parents away. The number of people living at critical poverty levels in some of these hardest-hit regions, such as sub- Saharan Africa, has reached over 43 percent in recent years. Women encompass 80 percent of those who are living on less than a dollar a day. For people who live in such abject poverty, neither treatment for an HIV+ /AIDS individual (which normally costs around $25,000 annually) nor routine HIV screening seems realistic. On the other hand, even though testing and medical treatment options are available in developed countries, the economic burden on the health care system is becoming greater with every passing day.

HIV and children

As of 2007, over 2.3 million children are suffering from HIV/AIDS worldwide. A small percentage of these children were exposed to the HIV in medical settings, due to unscreened blood transfusions or reused or insufficiently sterilized equipment. Pediatric HIV outbreaks in Romania in 1989 and in Libya in 1998 are two devastating examples of the consequences of negligent or insufficient precautions taken by medical personnel in hospitals. Currently, health care professionals are required to take strict precautions when cleaning and sterilizing medical equipment, while blood banks are monitored closely to ensure the careful screening of blood. These precautions seem to have led to a significant reduction in the number of HIV infections which are acquired in hospital settings. However, motherto- child transmission still constitutes 90% of pediatric HIV cases. An HIV (+) mother has about a 35% risk of transmitting the virus to her child during her pregnancy, child birth, or nursing. This risk can be reduced by administering AZT (an antiretroviral drug) to the mother during the last trimester of pregnancy, delivering the child by C-section, giving one dose of prophylactic antiretroviral therapy to the baby after birth, and by avoiding breast-feeding the infant. As a result of widespread screening and the use of prophylaxis for mother-to-child transmission, the rapid spread of HIV among the pediatric population in industrial countries is relatively under control.

Sadly, not all nations have benefited uniformly from the recent advances in our knowledge about the prevention of transmission. Mothers and infants in developing countries face a different scenario than those in the “modern world.” In places like sub-Saharan Africa, where the majority of HIV/AIDS cases are due to mother-to-child transmission, the number of new infections is rapidly increasing; it seems that ensuring the abovementioned precautions are in place is extremely difficult due to several limitations. These limitations should be discussed in another paper, however to give a brief idea to the reader, one of these instances can be examined. It is a fact that if an HIV(+) mother avoids breastfeeding her newborn baby the risk of her infecting the child with HIV is dramatically reduced. Although this sounds like a wonderful way to combat HIV infection in infants, it poses many problems to mothers in sub-Saharan Africa. Every year, more than one million babies die in the first 28 days of their life in Sub- Saharan Africa. Most of these deaths are due to malnutrition and infections. In most situations breast-feeding is the only clean source of nutrition a mother can offer her child. It also provides natural immunization against most of the infectious agents to which a newborn can be exposed in the later days of his/her life. Babies who are not breastfed have almost no other alternative source of clean nutrients and stand little chance against infections. An HIV(+) mother in Sub-Saharan Africa has to face this dilemma every single time her baby cries from hunger: either take the risk of infecting your baby with HIV or let your child die of malnutrition or infections which kill approximately 3,000 African children every day.

Another issue concerning children in the hard-hit HIV regions is the loss of one or both parents or primary care-givers at a very early time of their life. So far in Africa, HIV/AIDS related deaths have left 14 million orphans. The United Nations estimates that the number of orphans will reach 25 million by the year 2010. Only in rare cases do these children have access to clean water, food, shelter, and education. Furthermore, the orphans who have been infected with HIV by their parents do not have access to adequate treatment options. The number of orphans is so high and resources are so limited that unfortunately most of these children fall through the cracks of society, succumbing to poverty, abuse and even death. Some of these orphans are relatively lucky and have healthy grandparents to care for them. It is not uncommon to find 75-80 year old grandparents who are already living under the critical poverty level taking care of three or four AIDS orphans, and wondering who will care for their grandchildren when they pass away.

Education

Success against the HIV/AIDS epidemic cannot be accomplished only with scientific and medical means. Preventive education plays a key role in the battle against HIV/ AIDS. The first step in preventive HIV/AIDS education is to inform individuals about the disease and answer their questions, such as, “What causes AIDS?”, “How is HIV/AIDS spread?”, “What are the preventive measures to be taken?” If one is already infected with HIV then one must ask “What are the treatment options?”

Preventive education for risk groups who are not aware of HIV/ AIDS and the consequences of the infection helps to decrease the overall number of new infections, particularly those in developing countries. However, another issue appears as education level increases: according to current studies, the number of people who continue risk-taking behavior is increasing in spite of the knowledge they have about HIV/ AIDS prevention and the consequences of the disease. This suggests overthat effective HIV/AIDS prevention should include not only education about the facts of the illness, but also education that focuses on teaching people to avoid behavior that puts them at high risk. It is also worth noting that the widespread dissemination of information by governmental organizations may not be effective on its own, and that different types of intervention may be necessary by groups with the potential to motivate people on a personal level. In other words, it is important to individually instill a sense of consequence and personal responsibility within those at risk, rather than broadly reminding them of the dangers that they face. As a result of recent thinking along these lines, various institutions, professional groups, and government organizations have realized the need for strong collaborative efforts and have aligned themselves in order to begin taking the steps necessary to effect this type of change.

Working together

Around the globe, government agencies have been initiating and sponsoring several efforts aimedat HIV-prevention. However, the complexity of the HIV epidemic and the involvement of many sociologic and behavioral factors require a shared commitment among government agencies and civil society organizations. For example, the Center for Disease Control (CDC) is the leading federal agency in HIV prevention in the United States. In their strategic plan for HIV prevention in 2005, the CDC admits that the HIV epidemic is not a matter that can be handled by only one agency, group, or organization. Therefore, for success in HIV prevention the CDC recognizes the need for other domestic partners, such as:

~ Other federal agencies;

~ State and local health and education departments;

~ HIV prevention community planning groups;

~ Community-based organizations;

~ Academic institutions;

~ The private sector;

~ Faith-based groups and

~ Foundations and nonprofit groups

(Centers for Disease Control and Prevention HIV Prevention Strategic Plan Through 2005)

In addition to domestic partnership, worldwide cross-cultural and cross-faith collaborations are establishing a strong global response to eradicate HIV/AIDS. People from all over the world should contribute, in whatever capacity and with whatever resources they can, to the solution; their involvement is critical. The World Health Organization, UNICEF, UNESCO, and similar organizations are doing their parts to bring multinational aid to the hardest hit regions. Additionally, many faith-based national and international organizations around the globe have started working in collaboration towards the eradication of HIV/AIDS. Among these faithbased efforts there are recent examples of interfaith partnerships. The Africa HIV/AIDS Faith Initiative, a successful example of this type of collaboration, has been active since 2001 in five African countries: The Ivory Coast, Kenya, Nigeria, Tanzania and Zimbabwe. One of their noticeable accomplishments is promoting interfaith dialogue in these countries where ethnic and religious variations often cause serious clashes. A report from The Global Health Council lays the power of Interfaith partnership before our eyes:

“In Kenya, the Supreme Council of Kenya Muslims, the Anglican Church of Kenya and the Pentecostal Churches of Eastlands, a low socioeconomic community outside Nairobi, have teamed up to reach bishops, pastors, men, women, youth, children and people infected with HIV/AIDS through education and service initiatives. In Tanzania, the national staffs of the Episcopal, Christian and Muslim HIV/AIDS offices meet monthly to exchange ideas and plan together for the effective development, implementation and coordination of HIV education and service interventions.

But it is in Nigeria, with its welldocumented history of religious conflict and recent violence, where the partnering of Christians and Muslims is most remarkable. Observing the establishment of separate offices in each of the four other countries, Nigeria’s religious leadership said “it won’t work here,” and charged The Balm In Gilead to set up the Interfaith HIV/AIDS Coalition of Nigeria. Christian and Muslim clerics going out on the street together can draw curious crowds, and “people will come into the office just to see us working together,” said one reverend.

Nigerian faith institutions involved in this historical decision included the Episcopal Conference of Nigeria, Christian Association of Nigeria, the Christian Health Association of Nigeria and the Supreme Council of Islamic Affairs. This interfaith approach in Nigeria is being seen as a model that can be replicated by other countries. The Kenyan Muslim leaders have already requested that it be presented as a best practice model and replicated in other parts of the continent.” http:// www.globalhealth.org/reports/ text.php3?id=194

Conclusion

We have witnessed many harsh discussions, questions and speculations about HIV/AIDS such as, “How and where did HIV/AIDS start?”, “Whose fault was that?”, “Why don’t people simply stay away from risky behavior and put a stop to it?”, “What are the roles of faith traditions, family values and public wisdom in terms of preventing and fighting against HIV/AIDS?”, “If I am not involved with certain risky behavioral elements am I safe? Are my children safe from HIV?”, “Is contributing to the solution for HIV the same as trying to legitimize the life-style preferences which are the primary cause of the spread of HIV in the first place?”

As a matter of fact, how this epidemic started, whose fault it was, why precautions were not taken on time does not matter that much anymore. What matters is that hundreds of people are dying, thousands of children have been orphaned, and millions of mothers are crying in desperation everyday. We do not have the luxury to sit back in our comfortable seats and be the judge who decides who is right and who is wrong in this drama. We are all human… we are citizens of the earth… we breath the same air, sleep under the same sky. When we cut ourselves, our blood runs red, our tears are salty. Pain is pain… a cry is a cry… desperation is desperation…No matter where we go, what language we speak, or how we live our lives… We are obliged to put the differences to one side and to become a part of the solution…to think about it… to talk about it… to do something about it… or at least with a sore heart cry and pray for our HUMAN sisters and brothers who are suffering from HIV/AIDS… who might not be able to do much for themselves.

Did the Companions of the Prophet go to America?

Research conducted in the West during the twentieth century has proven the existence of Muslims on the American mainland approximately seven centuries before Christopher Columbus. Similarly, archeological excavations, linguistic, and philological analyses of languages and settlement names in the region, the fact that coins, household tools and other utensils were discovered there that were similar to those of the Abbasids in the eighth and ninth centuries are all justifications of the theory that Muslims, beginning from 650 CE, made their way to the continent for settlement, during which time they erected mosques and schools, leaving a prolonged impact on the natives, i.e. American Indians.

The Islamic sources carry no information as regards Muslim settlement in America, although research undertaken by Professor Barry Fell of Harvard University confirms that Muslims reached the continent at the time of Uthman, the third Caliph, concomitantly indicating the significant possibility that some of the Companions could have arrived there as well.

Many Western researchers acknowledge the famous map of Piri Reis as proof of Muslim presence in America long before the endeavors of Columbus, as it minutely comprises the map of America, as well as extremely accurate measurements of the distance between America and Africa.

According to Salvatore Michael Trento, former director of the Center for Archeological Research in Middletown, New York, before embarking on his first voyage to America, Columbus had read the book of Roger Bacon of Oxford University, which comprised information, compiled from a variety of Arabic resources, about geographical regions on the other side of the Atlantic; hence Columbus’ previous knowledge of the islands in the Atlantic Ocean and other places.1

Proofs in Western sources

1. Professor Barry Fell, retired lecturer from Harvard University and also a member of the American Academy of Science and Arts, the Royal Society, the Epigraphy Society and the Society of Scientific and Archeological Discoveries, is adamant about the arrival of Islam in America in the 650s,2 predicating this argument upon the Cufic calligraphy belonging to that era found in various diggings across America. If the words of Professor Fell have truth-value, then the Muslims had arrived in America during the era of Uthman, or at least that of Ali, the fourth caliph. Such information, however, is not found in Muslim sources.

Professor Fell again uses the results of various archeological diggings undertaken across many regions in the states of Colorado, New Mexico, and Indiana to assert the construction of Muslim schools during 700-800 CE. Writings, drawings, and charts inscribed on rocks discovered in the most remote and untainted terrains of Western America are relics bestowed by the elementary and intermediate systems of Muslim education at the time. These documents were written in the old Cufic letters of North African Arabic, covering subjects such as reading, writing, arithmetic, religion, history, geography, mathematics, astronomy, and navigation. The descendants of these settlers are thought to be the current native tribes of Iroquois, Algonquin, Anasazi, Hohokam, and Olmec.

2. The second evidence offered by Professor Fell is that the inscription of “In the Name of God” (picture 1), found on a rock during archeological work in Nevada, belongs to the seventh century, when the haraka sign system had not yet been developed. Likewise, the stone bearing the inscription “Muhammad is the Prophet of God” (picture 2) is pertinent to the same era. As seen by comparison of the two pictures, the inscriptions are not in the style of Modern Arabic; conversely they are in a Cufic style relevant to the seventh century.3

The Arabs, according to the findings of Professor Fell, settled in Nevada during the seventh and eighth centuries. The earlier existence of a school, which taught Islam and science, particularly navigation, has come to light following the archeological investigation undertaken by Professors Heizer and Baumhoff of California University around site WA 25 in Nevada. The excavations in Nevada have uncovered writings in Naskhi Arabic and Cufic style that are inscribed on rocks which carry information about this school (picture 3). The application of the mathematical formula “five diamonds equal an alif” (alif is the first letter of Arabic alphabet) may be seen in this picture (pictures 3b and 3c). The Arabic letters in pictures 3b and 3c, found amid excavations in Nevada, are in exactly the same style as North African Arabic. Again similarly, another rock was found in Nevada bearing the name “God”, the style of which is yet again reminiscent of the prevalent technique of seventh and eighth-century North Africa. The calligraphical similarities between various writing styles of the Prophet’s name over diverse periods, particularly those relating to Africa and America, found during archeological investigations are striking indeed. Figure A of picture 4 was found in al-Ain Lahag, Morocco and figure B in East Walker River; both are currently at the University of California. Figure C was discovered in Nevada and figures C and D were located in Churchill County and are also currently preserved at the University of California; likewise figure F was discovered in al-Haji Minoun, Morocco, while figure G, inscribed on ceramic, was revealed in al-Suk, Tripoli, Libya and figure H, at the University of California, was discovered at Cottonwood Canyon, while finally figure I was located on the border of Morocco and Libya. All these inscriptions belong to the eighth and ninth centuries, clearly illustrating the resemblance in style between North America and North Africa, as well as overtly suggesting a migration that occurred from Africa to America.

3. In the twelfth century the Athapcan Tribe, comprised of native Apaches and Navajos, raided the area inhabited by the Arabs, who either ended up fleeing or were exiled toward the South. These illiterate natives were spellbound by the schools founded by the Arabs, and, perhaps with the assistance of captives, attempted to imitate the same subjects, transforming the geometrical shapes into mythical beasts, which carried on for centuries.

4. Picture 5 is the Cufic writing found in 1951 in the White Mountains, close to the town of Benton on the border of Nevada. The words Shaytan maha mayan, i.e. the Devil is the source of all lies, have been written in a Cufic style peculiar to the seventh century.

5. Once more, a rock inscription belonging to post-650 CE, bearing the Cufic letters H-M-I-D of the word Hamid (picture 6), is another Arabic script discovered on the Atlata rocks in the Valley of Fire in Nevada.

6. While traveling from Malden to Cambridge in the state of Massachusetts in 1787 (on what is now RT. 16), the Reverend Thaddeus Mason Harris noticed some coins discovered by workers during road construction. The workers, not putting much value on these coins, presented him with a handful. Consequently, Harris decided to send these coins to the library of Harvard College for examination (picture 7). The study yielded that these were in fact Samarqand dirhams from the eighth and ninth centuries. As can be seen in the picture, the coins manifestly display the inscriptions La ilaha ill-Allah Muhammadun Rasulullah (There is no deity but God, and Muhammad is His Messenger) and Bismillah (in the name of God).

7. Picture 8 shows a piece of rock discovered in a cave in the region of Corinto in El Salvador, bearing the inscription Malaka Haji mi Malaya; this has been identified as belonging to the thirteenth century, suggesting a possible arrival of Muslims in South America, perhaps coming from somewhere near Indonesia.

7. During his second voyage, Columbus was told by the natives of Espanola (Haiti) of black men who had appeared on the island before him and they showed him the lances that had been left there by these Africans to support their assertions. The tips of the lances were of a metal, an alloy of gold, which they called guanin, a word which is semantically remarkably similar to the Arabic word ghina, meaning richness. Columbus had in fact brought some of this guanin back to Spain, recording that it was composed of 56.25% gold, 18.75% silver and 25% copper, ratios that were prevalent in African Guinea as standards for the processing of metals.

8. On his third voyage to the New World, Columbus visited Trinidad, where the sailors noticed the symmetrically patterned cotton and colorful handkerchiefs of the natives. Afterward, Columbus realized that the handkerchiefs, which the natives called almayzar, were all much the same in color, style, and use as the headscarves and waist bands used in Guinea. The word almayzar is Arabic, and denotes a cover, tie, apron, or skirt, and is a component of the regional costumes of the Moors, Arabs and, Berbers of North Africa, who had conquered Spain in the eighth century. Columbus observed that the local women wore cotton garments and wrote in astonishment that they had learned of the concept namus, i.e. chastity. In much the same vein, Hernan Cortes, another Spanish explorer, later recorded that the clothing of local women consisted of long veils and skirts decorated with ornaments that were similar to those of the Moors. Ferdinand, Columbus’ son, was also quick to notice the resemblance between the cotton dresses of the natives and the ornamented shawls fashioned by Moorish women in Granada. The cradles used by the natives, furthermore, very closely resembled those of North Africa.

9. Columbus recorded on 21 October 1492 that he had noticed a mosque on top of a mountain while sailing around Cibara on the northeast coast of Cuba. Relics of mosques carrying Qur’anic inscriptions on their minarets have been found in Cuba, Mexico, Texas, and Nevada since these times.

10. Leo Weiner, a well-known Harvard historian and linguist, stated in his book The Discovery of Africa and America, written in 1920, that Columbus was aware of the existence of Mandinka, an ethnic group of West Africa, in the New World. The same book also affirms that Columbus was aware that West African Muslims were living across North America, including the south, middle regions and Canada, as well as in the Caribbean, and that they had marital and commercial ties with the native tribes of Iroque and Algonquin.

11. A preponderance of the voyages embarked upon by Columbus and other Spanish and Portuguese explorers toward the other side of the Atlantic were undertaken only in the light of the geographical and navigational knowledge prepared by Muslims. Al-Masudi’s (871-957 CE) work Muruj’uz-Zahab, for instance, was written with this sort of data compiled by Muslim traders from across Africa and Asia. Two of Columbus’ captains on the first voyage, in actual fact, were Muslims: Martin Alonso Pinzon was in charge of the Pinta, while his brother Vicente Yanez Pinzon was the designated captain of Nina; both were from the Moroccan Marinid dynasty, descendants of Sultan Abu Zayan Muhammad III (r. 1362-1366). Formerly well-to-do ship riggers, they assisted Columbus in organizing his voyage of exploration, preparing the Santa Maria, the flagship, and covering all its expenses.

12. Christopher Columbus has recorded the custom of nose piercing, which used to be and still popular in the Middle Eastern and Arab countries, as being prevalent in some islands across the Atlantic also mentions the writing of letters in Arabic.

13. In the account of sixteenth century missionaries in America, the local copper mines, found particularly in Virginia, Tennessee, and Wisconsin were not operated by the natives, but instead by people from the Middle East, towards whom the natives nurtured a profound sympathy.

14. A sum of 565 names, 484 in America and 81 in Canada, of villages, towns, cities, mountains, lakes, rivers and etcetera, are etymologically Arabic, designated by locals long before the arrival of Columbus. Many of these names are in fact the same as names of Islamic places; Mecca in Indiana, Medina in Idaho, Medina in New York, Medina and Hazen in North Dakota, Medina in Ohio, Medina in Tennessee, Medina in Texas, Medina and Arva in Ontario, Mahomet in Illinois and Mona in Utah, are just a few noticeable names at the outset. A closer analysis of the names of native tribes will immediately reveal their Arabic etymological ancestry; Anasazi, Apache, Arawak, Arikana, Chavin, Cherokee, Cree, Hohokam, Hupa, Hopi, Makkah, Mohician, Mohawk, Nazca, Zulu, and Zuni are only a few.

House and building Structures

Archeological excavations conducted throughout North America and North Africa reveal a corresponding architectural resemblance between ninth century buildings. The structure of a Berber house of the Atlas Mountains, Morocco (picture 9), for instance, is exactly the same as that of a house in New Mexico (picture 10). The same similarity can be traced between the Castle of Montezuma discovered in Arizona and the remnants found in Mesa Verde in Colorado and the general structure of Berber buildings (picture 11-12).

The research undertaken by Professor Cyrus Thomas of the Smithsonian Institute shows that a small cabin built from piles of rock found in Ellenville, New York is virtually the same as the cabin, again of rock, found around Aqabah, Southern Arabia, both of which are thought to have been built around the start of the eighth century (picture 13).

Arabic words prevalent among natives prior to the arrival of Europeans

The pervasiveness of many Islamic words across the continent prior to European influx is verified by the following terms discovered in the regions currently known as New England and Nova Scotia, in America and Canada respectively. Fell pointed to some words as example of Arabic influence on Native Americans. All of the words listed below are derived from the Arabic language. However, time had eroded their original meanings and most are not used in Arabic today.

The last Muslim stronghold in Spain, Granada, fell just before the Spanish Inquisition was established in 1492. Non-Christians were forced to either convert to Catholicism to save themselves from the tyranny of the Inquisition or were exiled from the country. Documents exist which prove the existence of immigrant Muslims in Spanish America before 1550. In 1539 an edict from Spanish King Charles V was put into practice which forbade the immigration of Muslims to settlements in the West. This edict was later expanded to expel all Muslims from overseas Spanish colonies in 1543. The existence of Muslims in overseas islands and regions was known along with the fact that the Spanish king issued such an edict. Again, in many Islamic sources, it is noted that Muslims living in Spain and North Africa made overseas voyages during the Andalusia period. Scientific research on this subject will bring out many documents into the daylight, documents which have escaped the notice of both Muslims in America and those throughout the world, which will perhaps serve, in the future if not immediately, as a starting point for a re-evaluation of the history of America.

Notes

1. Trento, Salvatore Michael. The Search for Lost America, p.15 Penguin Books, New York: 1978.

2. Fell, Dr. Barry. Saga America, p. 190, Time Books, New York: 1980.

3. ibid. p. xiv.

4. ibid. pp. 332-333.

5. ibid. pp. 333-334.

6 ibid. p. 182.

7. ibid. p. 243.

8. ibid. p. 26.

6. ibid. p. 276.

7. Teacher, John Boyd. Christopher Columbus, p. 380, New York: 1950.

8. Columbus, Ferdinand. The Life of Admiral Christopher Columbus, p. 232 Rutgers Uni. Press, 1959.

9. Obregon, Mauricio. The Columbus Papers, The Barcelona Letter of 1493.

10. The Landfall Controversy, and the Indian Guides, McMillan Co., New York: 1991.

11. Weiner, Dr. Leo. Africa and the Discovery of America, Vol.2 p. 365-366 Philadelphia: 1920.

12. Obregon, 1493.

13. Trento, 1978, p. 23.

14. ibid. p. 29.

15. ibid. p. 65.

16. Fell, 1980. 250-252.

17. Trento, 1978, p. 15.

18. Fell, 1980. p. 400-403.

Little did the famous Muslim geographer Ibn Battuta know that about 22 years after his historic visit to China, the Mongol Dynasty (called the Yuan Dynasty in China) would be overthrown. The Ming Dynasty (1368-1644) would begin, and a Muslim boy would help a Chinese prince. That prince would become the emperor, and the boy would grow up to be the Admiral of the Chinese Fleet.

His name… Zheng He. The ships that he would sail throughout the Indian Ocean would retrace some of the same routes taken by Ibn Battuta, but he would be in huge boats called junks. He would go to East Africa, Makkah, the Persian Gulf, and throughout the Indian Ocean.

Speak of the world’s first navigators, and the names Christopher Columbus or Vasco da Gama flash through a Western mind. The remarkable feats of a Chinese Muslim who helped transform China into the region’s, and perhaps the world’s, superpower of his time, Zheng He’s (1371-1433) adventures are little known and were accomplished decades before those of the two European adventurers.

In 1405, Zheng was chosen to lead the biggest naval expedition in history up to that time. Over the next 28 years (1405-33), he commanded seven fleets that visited 37 countries throughout Southeast Asia to faraway Africa and Arabia. In those years, China had by far the biggest ships of the time. In 1420, the Ming navy dwarfed the combined navies of Europe.

Ma He, as he was originally known, was born in 1371 to a poor ethnic Hui (Chinese Muslim) family in Yunnan province, southwest China. His grandfather and father once made an overland pilgrimage to Makkah. Their travels contributed much to young Ma’s education. He grew up speaking Arabic and Chinese, learning much about the world to the west and its geography and customs.

Recruited as a promising servant for the Imperial household at the age of ten, two years later Ma was assigned to the retinue of Duke Yan, who would later usurp the throne as Emperor Yong Le. Ma accompanied the Duke on a series of successful military campaigns and played a crucial role in the capture of Nanjing, then the capital. As a result, he was awarded supreme command of the Imperial Household Agency and was given the surname Zheng.

Emperor Yong Le tried to boost his damaged prestige as a usurper by displaying China’s might abroad, sending spectacular fleets on great voyages, and bringing foreign ambassadors to his court. He also put foreign trade under a strict Imperial monopoly by taking control away from overseas Chinese merchants. Command of the fleet was given to his favorite, Zheng He, an impressive figure said to be over eight feet tall.

A great fleet of large ships, with nine masts and manned by 500 men, each set sail in July 1405, half a century before Columbus’ voyage to America. There were great treasure ships over 300 feet long and 150 feet wide, the biggest being 440 feet long and 186 feet across, capable of carrying 1,000 passengers. Most of the ships were built at the Dragon Bay shipyard near Nanjing, the remains of which can still be seen today.

Zheng He’s first fleet included 27,870 men on 317 ships, including sailors, clerks, interpreters, soldiers, artisans, medical men, and meteorologists. On board were large quantities of cargo, including silk goods, porcelain, gold and silverware, copper utensils, iron implements, and cotton goods. The fleet sailed along China’s coast to Champa close to Vietnam and, after crossing the South China Sea, visited Java and Sumatra and then reached Sri Lanka by passing through the Strait of Malacca. On the way back, it sailed along the west coast of India and returned home in 1407. Envoys from Calicut in India and several countries in Asia and the Middle East also boarded the ships to pay visits to China. Zheng He’s second and third voyages, taken shortly after, followed roughly the same route.

In the fall of 1413, Zheng He set out with 30,000 men for Arabia on his fourth and most ambitious voyage. From Hormuz, he sailed around the Arabian boot to Aden at the mouth of the Red Sea. The arrival of the fleet caused a sensation in the region, and 19 countries sent ambassadors to board Zheng He’s ships with gifts for Emperor Yong Le.

In 1417, after two years in Nanjing and touring other cities, the foreign envoys were escorted home by Zheng He. On this trip, he sailed down the east coast of Africa, stopping at Mogadishu, Matindi, Mombassa, and Zanzibar. He might have reached Mozambique. The sixth voyage, in 1421, also went to the African coast.

Emperor Yong Le died in 1424, shortly after Zheng He’s return. Yet, in 1430 the admiral was sent on a final seventh voyage. Now 60 years old, Zheng He revisited the Persian Gulf, the Red Sea, and Africa, and died in 1433on his way back while in India.

Zheng He’s junks

Zheng He’s flag treasure ship was 400 feet long ” much larger than Columbus’. In this drawing, the two flagships are superimposed to give a clear idea of the relative size of these two ships. Columbus’ ship the St. Maria was only 85 feet long, while Zheng He’s flag ship was an astonishing 400 feet long.

Imagine six centuries ago, a mighty armada of Zheng He’s ships crossing the China Sea, then venturing west to Sri Lanka, Arabia, and East Africa. The fleet consisted of giant nine-masted junks, escorted by dozens of supply ships, water tankers, transports for cavalry horses, and patrol boats. The armada’s crew totaled more than 27,000 sailors and soldiers.

Loaded with Chinese silk and porcelain, the junks visited ports around the Indian Ocean. Here, Arab and African merchants exchanged the spices, ivory, medicines, rare woods, and pearls so eagerly sought by the Chinese imperial court.

Seven times, from 1405 to 1433, the treasure fleets set off for the unknown. These seven great expeditions brought a vast web of trading links ” from Taiwan to the Persian Gulf ” under Zheng He’s imperial control. This took place half a century before the first Europeans, rounding the tip of Africa in frail Portuguese caravels, discovered the Indian Ocean.

His humble tomb

Zheng He (1371-1433), or Cheng Ho, is arguably China’s most famous navigator. Starting from the beginning of the fifteenth century, he set out seven times. For 28 years, he traveled more than 50,000 km and visited over 37 countries, including Singapore. Zheng He died in the tenth year Ming emperor Xuande’s (1433) reign, and was buried in the southern outskirts of Bull’s Head Hill (Niushou) in Nanjing.

In 1983, during the 580th anniversary of Zheng He’s voyage, his tomb was restored. The new tomb was built on the site of the original tomb and reconstructed according to the customs of Islamic teachings.

At the entrance to the tomb is a Ming-style structure, which houses the memorial hall. Inside are paintings of the man himself and his navigation maps. To get to the tomb, there are newly laid stone platforms and steps. The stairway consists of 28 stone steps divided into four sections, with each section having seven steps. This represents Zheng He’s seven journeys to the west. Inscribed on top of the tomb are the Arabic words Allahu Akbar (God is Great).