Serve my spirit chants from the tongues of beyond.

Do so and quench the storms that besiege my heart,

Just like You lend your hand to the hopeless.

You are that compassionate one; to me

Allow a gift and join my way to your land.

In every obscurity, a brightening sign from your presence

Send to my heart; cover my poverty with your gift.

I am spiraling down from one exile to another,

Let the day shine, end the time of darkness,

You are the owner of this grieving heart of mine,

Appear to me, please, like You do to everyone.

As I wait in excitement for a new reunion,

Let the joys of your compassion descend to my heart.

Have my spirit take wings with the flood of your love,

Soothe my afflictions of separation.

Let me feel the moment of your appearance

My perspectives all colored with eternity

I shall see the time when ardor converts to reunion

It matters not if I am engulfed in flames

Let me burn, for that state is my water of life.

Matter dissolved in the bosom of metaphysical

Spirit lies in my heart to ambush your appearance.

Mesmerized sentiments on the horizon of vision.

As nothing can be heard but Him

What reaches ears is the composition of emotions,

Clocks know not tick-tock, nor days rise and fall.

Time and space are the mysterious geometry of the unknown.

Translated from Turkish by Sermed Ogretim

Prophet Muhammad, peace and blessings be upon him, followed the Arab traditions concerning clothing that were prevalent at his time, and he was careful about cleanliness. In fact, he was so clean that all were envious of his clothing.

There are many narrations (reports) concerning beards, and for this reason Hanafi scholars (experts on Islamic jurisdiction) have accepted that growing a beard is a sunna act and advise men to do so. According to Abu Zahra, one of the great scholars of Islam, the beard is a tradition of the Prophet and says that if someone grows a beard with the intention of following his tradition, he will be rewarded by God.There are many more important issues, issues that every Muslim is aware of, such as striving to have a perfect faith, performing the daily prayers, fasting, almsgiving, and the holy pilgrimage; these are what constitute the essentials of Islam. To say that, “it is a sin not to wear a robe or shalvar (traditional loose pants worn in many Islamic countries) or it is a sin not to grow a beard” is incorrect; these things are not essential to being Muslim.

No Muslim would ever oppose someone growing a beard or wearing a loose robe. However, even if we were to evaluate these things as being symbolic of being close to the Prophet, they are not conditional for being a Muslim. We should not forget that every subject in Islam has a level of importance and that it should be interpreted at that level of importance.

There is another matter concerning external appearance. The Prophet styled his hair in different ways, in order not to resemble the pagans in outward appearance. So he combed his hair differently from the way they did. After he made his emigration to Madina, he saw that non-Muslim local people wore their hair so that covered their foreheads. Then he parted his hair in the middle. He stated that if someone tries to resemble a people, he is one of them. This is why he tried to look different.

Among his Companions were those with long hair, and others with short hair, while some even had braided hair. Such people tied up their hair while praying. Once the Prophet saw someone like that during the hajj and advised him to spread his hair on the prayer mat while praying, so that his hair would benefit from the prostration as well.

There is a weak narration concerning Abu Qatada, one of his Companions, whom the Prophet told to shorten his hair. Actually, such a request is not in accord with Islamic discipline, and this narration is not included in accredited hadith books. Even if he had asked such a thing from Abu Qatada, there must have been some reason for it. Otherwise, it would be difficult to understand why such well-known Companions as Abu Bakr and Umar had long hair which they were never requested to cut. After Makka was conquered there were many people who newly converted to Islam. These people were accepted as Muslim, and their dress and hair style was accepted as being Islamic. There was no demand on them to change their apparel or even their names.

In conclusion, Muslims can follow the traditions of the Prophet, they can imitate his clothing and hair styles; they can imitate his eating and drinking habits. By doing this they can turn their daily life into worship. For example, it shows their fidelity when a Muslim combs their hair to resemble the Prophet in remembrance; such behavior causes divine remuneration. Also, wearing a robe while performing daily prayers would increase concentration and it is undeniable that it would be beneficial.

Definitely, it is very clear that following God’s Messenger in his every act from the heart and such a pleasant intention and thought is very well accepted but he always regarded the spirituality of Islam and kept away from such formalism.

Al-Aqsa was fortunate to exist in the same time period as the Kabah. And, just like the Kabah, it emerged from the ground as if bursting forth to comply with orders coming from above. Sometimes it was exalted to the rank of being the niche for devout people, and at other times it served as the pulpit of holy individuals. For centuries, this sacred and blessed place opened its wings to its inhabitants, even at the most pitiless times of disbelief. It let believers breathe security while becoming the paradise of this life.

This sublime temple now looks at our faces with sorrow and exhaustion. Her face has been darkened by suffering, for she is far from what she once was: the source of thousands of holy experiences. When we contemplate al-Aqsa Mosque in this pitiful state, it feels like we are bleeding internally and can no longer breathe. This auspicious niche, this honored pulpit that once had celestial whispers coming to our hearts, now looks like a candle that has been put out, a skeleton about to collapse.

Al-Aqsa Mosque is a victim of injustice and cruelty. Her existence is squeezed in between her friends infidelity and her enemies torture. Once she had her lips at our hearts whispering tranquility, not knowing that in the future she would become a stammering tongue singing a song of sadness.

When I first saw her current appearance, I was deeply saddened. From now on, faithful hearts will not be able to meet and hug each other with love, or to roar Allah’s name among the walls of this place in which Prophet Adam’s voice still echoes, Prophet Abraham’s breaths are still felt, Prophets David’s and Solomon’s cries are still heard, and Prophet Muhammad’s journey to infinity to unite with his Beloved is still known. Alas, these doors will not be able to open wide to believers “ neither slowly nor quickly and without happiness and enthusiasm.

It looks like all of her dreams and fancies are now over, her surrounding lights turned off, the prayers to God heard no longer. It is said that even the rocks and trees have ears. Would that they had tongues too! Yes, for then they could express what they have been through. Perhaps then the people who did this would be afraid and abstain from their evil. Maybe then her faithless companions would come to their senses and rescue her from this tragic slavery.

What is malformation? If a little girl, with six fingers on one hand, says she loves her sixth finger very much, how do we tell her she is malformed?

Blepharoptosis is a condition in which the upper eyelid droops in consequence of paralysis of muscles or nerves. But would we say that having drooping eyelids, eyes with short palpebral fissures, is a malformation? Would we not then have to say that most Chinese and Japanese have somewhat ‘malformed’ eyes?.

If the little girl’s sixth finger causes her no impediment, except for its appearance, would it be right to think of it as a ‘disability’ or a ‘problem’? On that criterion, obesity or anorexia nervosa could also be considered as disability. They are not only disagreeable in appearance but also impair physical and social function. Such impairment must surely be part of any definition of disability.

But this too raises a question. If an abnormality does not cause impairment of function, but only makes a person ugly, do we consider it a disability? Who will judge the level of ugliness, the individual or society? A schoolgirl with polydactylism – more than five fingers or five toes; a young man with alopecia universalis – absence at all hair, on the head and body; a teenage girl with ichthyosis vulgaris (xeroderma) – a severe skin disorder which causes an ugly appearance – if such conditions do not cause any impairment, if people have got used to seeing them, the individuals may not perceive themselves as ugly and therefore not feel distress. But if their appearance does disturb others and they feel distressed as a result, should we describe them as normal or disabled’? A little girl in a nursery school may be afraid of holding up a polydactyl hand; his co-workers may be upset by sharing a workplace with a man suffering from alopecia universalis; a hair dresser may not want to cut the hair or manicure the nails of a girl who suffers from ichthyosis vulgaris.

Plainly, clinical definitions do not define or cover disability. Sociological reflections are also important. Sometimes it is more important to ask how people around a particular individual perceive that individual, than to ask how medical science defines his or her condition.

There are situations where individuals do not feel handicapped and find their lives valuable and worth living, but people around them are upset by them and label them as disabled. In contrast to this, there are some cases, in which, the individual is considered medically ‘normal’, is perceived as ‘normal’ by society, and his or her condition does not cause any impairment, but that individual thinks that a particular part of his or her body is a problem and tries to find a ‘solution’ to it. These ‘solutions’ are an important part of the plastic surgeon’s workload. It is not easy to explain the circumstances which disturb people so much that they take the risk of surgery. But we may infer another factor to define disability namely the psychological state of the individual. The individual may not have any physical abnormality but psychologically he or she feels abnormal. Hospital records abound with such cases.

Among the most difficult ‘abnormalities’ are anomalies affecting the newborn and congenital malformations. There are 200 such ‘disabilities’ (see Goodman and Gorlin 1983). Among them are Downs Syndrome, Spina Bifida and Fetal Alcohol Syndrome. The distress caused by such illnesses has led to attempts to identify cases as early as possible. In order to do this, scientists have established new prenatal diagnostic methods such as USG (ultrasound), amniocentesis, CSV (cholonic villi sampling) and photocopy. 60-65% of malformations can be diagnosed with these methods (Goodman and Gorlin, 1983, p.83). However, we must define our aims clearly to protect humankind from being victims of these improvements. Goodman (1986, pp2l4-17) suggests that prenatal diagnosis is used for monitoring the pregnancy, to localize the placenta, to detect multiple pregnancies, to know fetal age correctly, to monitor probable congenital malformation and to make studies about the genetic, biochemical and chromosomal structure of the fetus. These are all aims which are innocent and for the benefit of humankind. But, like all other new technologies, they do raise moral questions.

Before 1977, prenatal diagnosis was rare in Sweden. The number of late terminations because of fetal abnormality was 34 in that year. By the end of the 1980s, this number had reached 100 per year. 40% of these terminations were because of Downs Syndrome and 15% because of NTD (Neural Tube Defect) (Reid, 1991, p.77). Introduction of the technologies to Portugal, Greece and Germany led to new legislation on the termination of pregnancies (Reid, 1991, p.9).

Despite all measures and methods of elimination, disabled babies continue to be born. Maybe attention should be turned to treatment and rehabilitation. Although it is not always possible to correct impairment completely, quality of life can be improved through a variety of rehabilitation methods.

Almost half of handicapped newborns die in the first year of life and 80% of the rest need corrective surgery or lifetime therapy. For this reason, treatment and rehabilitation are costly options. But after the improvement of surgical sciences, especially plastic surgery in recent years, the remediability of many conditions has increased.

Remediability or irremediability of disabilities is of crucial importance in determining the treatment offered to handicapped newborns. Decisions about remediability or irremediability are made by doctors. The reasoning and judgments of philosophers, theologians, sociologists, other experts (and, of course, parents) are informed by data supplied by doctors. The objectivity of that data is not unquestionable. Dr John Freeman (quoted in Kuhse and Singer 1985, p.63) observed: ‘It concerns me greatly that a given child born in Sheffield has a 75% chance of being dead; that the same child born in Baltimore…has a 95% chance of being alive. And yet this is a decision made by the parents on the advice of either Dr Lorber or myself. That is scary.’

In this discussion of the definition of ‘disability’, we have tried to show that it and related terms cannot be solely the domain of doctors. It is true that scientists are vital in this area but they need to be aware of societal and religious issues. We cannot leave decisions about ‘disability’ to scientists who worship only science.