We are all aware of the fact that there is certain rhythm and order in the movement of the sun and the earth, as well as other planets along their pre-assigned orbits. This order has ongoing without a glitch for possibly billions of years. The day and the night become longer and shorter on a schedule, and this is how we can develop calendars by calculating seasons, months, and days.

The movements of celestial bodies impact in multiple ways the biosphere in which we live. Trees shed leaves or bloom, some animals hibernate, and others enter reproduction season.

Time advances not linearly but in cycles. The internal systems by which the metabolisms of living things are organized are made to work according to numerous biological clocks that depend on the cyclical nature of time. These biological clocks are sometimes based on the length of a day and sometimes on long cyclical patterns that may span years. Periods of sunspots followed by explosions on the surface of the sun, for example, cause the reproduction cycles of populations of lynx and hare to peak every 11 years. This cycle is also tied to an increase in the production of wheat and certain species of fish breeding in abundance. The internal clock of the human metabolism is likewise organized during the day.

Scientists have long since noticed and started to research the different reactions of the human body to different time intervals throughout the day. It was realized that pains eased during certain times of day and intensified during others. There are also rising and falling cycles for hormones and the nervous system. These coincided with periods of hunger, meals, and sleep.

It has been found that certain changes occur in the physical and mental makeup of humans during the year, seasons, month and day. Researchers agree that every human has a unique physical and mental clock, but there are generally broad similarities. The scientific field researching these is called chronobiology. Researchers in chronobiology have demonstrated that certain changes occur, according to time periods, in the endocrine and autonomic nervous system as well as the body’s water and salt balance.

Other studies have focused on biological changes with respect to space. The regulation of the body’s biological rhythm is found to be influenced by the movements and positions of the earth on its own axis, the moon around the earth, and the earth around the sun. As the atmospheric environment changes, so do living things.

Towards the end of the 1960s, scientists found that a synthetic corticosteroid drug called methylprednisolone was more reliable for treatment of arthritis and asthma when taken in the morning rather than at other times. “These rhythms might affect responses to cancer treatment,” says Eric Holland, a neurosurgeon at Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center, adding that there are optimal times for administrating radiation in mice.

A forty-three-year-old patient with 27 tumors in her liver whose drug treatment for colon cancer did not work volunteered for a trial and recovered from cancer after rescheduling the administration of her drugs. Oncologist Francis Lévi was so amazed by this effect on the patient that he became a supporter of chronotherapy, or time-cycled treatment. To Lévi, who works at Warwick Medical School in the United Kingdom, timing can prove even more important than dose. In the trial, the patient was first wired up to a device like a clock so that metabolic rhythms could be better monitored. The patient had extremely regular sleep-wake cycles, which Dr. Lévi believed was likely to have contributed to the success of the treatment. This novel understanding did not spread before because researchers could not explain molecular foundations of daily rhythms, or circadian cycles, until 10 years ago, and clinical data was inconsistent.

Lévi and his team randomly divided 186 chemotherapy patients into two groups. They administered medicine to one group in accordance with the participants’ biological clocks and to the other group according to the standard procedure. More than 50% of the former responded well, whereas the rate remained at only 29% for the latter. Another study found that 298 patients who had heart operations in the morning were twice as likely to have unsuccessful operations and develop complications as compared to 298 patients who had operations in the afternoon. To prevent the effects of the surgeon’s selection of patients, the same surgeons operated both in the morning and in the afternoon.

The 2017 Nobel Prize for the field of physiology was awarded to three American biologists, Jeffrey C. Hall, Michael Rosbash, and Michael W. Young, for their study into biological rhythms. Their research presents remarkable insights into the reasons why the biological rhythms of plants, animals and humans are created in coordination with the movements of the earth. The researchers used the fruit fly, an exemplary organism, and found the genes that controlled its daily biological rhythm. Discovering that these genes initiate the secretion of a protein that accumulated overnight and dwindled during the day, the researchers revealed that these proteins caused a mechanism made to work in a certain rhythm when the time was right. It was like a watch had been set inside the fruit flies’ cell.

It is estimated that approximately 80% of our genes follow night and day rhythms (and also possibly seasonal rhythms). Indeed, it has been identified that fits of asthma and epileptic seizures develop according to certain daily rhythms. The products expressed by the genes that are active in most tissues peak early in the day and in the afternoon and reach lows after dinner and before bedtime. All these activities are carried out by the “molecular biological watches” written in our genes. If we can better understand our internal clocks, researchers believe they could discover breakthroughs in the treatment of up to 150 diseases, including cancer.

The time machine

Many tissues in the body have their own time schedules arranged by regular cycles in which numerous innate “clock genes” envelop the body like a net. The timing of all these clocks can have a powerful impact on metabolic activity, the increase in the number of immune cells, and many other things. “The best advice I can offer is don’t mess with your body clock,” says Professor Derk-Jan Dijk, director of the Surrey Sleep Research Center in the city of Guildford, England. [1]

The biological clock is an extraordinary system. A group of neurons in the hypothalamus in the brain, called the suprachiasmatic nucleus, are assigned as the central clock for all these activities in the body. The signals from this region play a role in initiating and finalizing the activities of the genes, which channel drugs to their molecular targets and help produce enzymes that destroy drugs. “Clock” genes are found virtually in every organ and tissue, and they are particularly important during cancer treatments, because interventions performed during such critical processes as the cycle of cellular division and growth and repair of DNA damage become significant for killing cancerous cells.

Cisplatin, an effective drug used for almost 50% of solid tissue cancers, kills malignant cells by binding to their certain parts, yet because the drug is toxic to the kidneys, lungs, and nervous system, efforts have been made to develop less toxic versions. Just as a cell develops cancer due to DNA damage, so is the destruction of the cancerous cell started by damaging the cell’s DNA. For this reason, some drug trials focus on blocking the DNA repair of the cancerous cell.

Observations made on the appearance and repair of DNA damage showed, as expected, that DNA damage was repaired more easily during certain periods of the day, leading to the hope that cancer can be treated through DNA repair if drugs are administered in tandem with this cycle. If optimal periods could be established for numerous normal cells to repair their DNA damage, administration of drugs can both optimize the useful effects of drugs and minimize toxicity of drugs with toxic properties.

The human organism and cells are not static, but dynamic. The behavior of our cells changes dramatically before and after a meal. Similarly, the movement and frequency of numerous materials circulated in our body when we are sleeping are different from when we are awake. Therefore, if the amount of a material doubles after lunch followed by a cup of coffee and if the material negates a drug taken by a patient, then that drug can be administered when this material is at its lowest in the body. For example, if the material is at a minimum at two in the morning, the drug can be given at that time, ensuring that the effect is maximized.

The studies into “man, the unknown” are bound to lead to many more discoveries about both treatments of diseases and the knowledge, power, and wisdom waiting to be found in the creation.

Note

1. https://woolcock.org.au/new-2/why-you-shouldnt-mess-with-your-body-clock-expert

References

• Leder, K., Pitter, K., LaPlant, Q. (2014). Mathematical Modeling of PDGF-Driven Glioblastoma Reveals Optimized Radiation Dosing Schedules. Cell. Cilt 156, Sayı 3, s. 603-616.
• Lévi, F., Zidani, R. & Misset, J.-L. (1997): Randomized multicentre trial of chronotherapy with oxaliplatin, fluorouracil, and folinic acid in metastatic colorectal cancer. Lancet 350, 681–686.
• Peeples , L. (2018). Medicine’s secret ingredient — it’s in the timing. Synchronizing drug delivery with a patient’s body clock can yield clear benefits. But will the data be enough to overcome long-standing hurdles? Nature 556, 290-292 (2018).
• “Why You Shouldn’t Mess with Your Body Clock: Expert,” woolcock.org.au. August 7, 2018.

Astronomers have discovered a planet with the longest known orbital period. Exoplanet Kepler-421b has been identified through the Kepler observatory, a space-based telescope. It circles its star once every 704 days. More than 1800 exoplanets have been discovered so far, but compared to Kepler-421b, those had much shorter orbital periods, like a few weeks or even a few days. The host star for Kepler-421b is much like the sun, but it is little bit smaller and relatively cooler. With an orbital distance of 177 million kilometers, Kepler-421b gets about one-fourth the light from the host star as the Earth receives from the sun, which makes the exoplanet as cold as -100 °C. The unusual orbit places Kepler-421b beyond the “snow line,” which is accepted as the dividing line between rocky and gaseous planets. Outside of the snow line, water condenses into ice grains that stick together to build planets known as “gas giants.” Since gas giant planets are very close to their stars, theorists believe that many exoplanets migrate inward early in their history. However, Kepler-421b is the first example of why such migration may not be necessary.

Sunflowers’ internal clock

Plants are known to grow toward the sun to maximize the amount of energy they absorb. Sunflowers (Helianthus annuus) show the most fascinating behavior during summer, when they follow the sun as it rises in the east every morning and sets in the west every evening. In a recent study, scientists challenged the obvious explanation for this plant’s behavior: are flowers solely responding to sunlight or are there other unknown mechanisms at work? They designed a clever yet simple experiment where they grew sunflowers in chambers with a fixed overhead light that was continuously on. Surprisingly, for several days, the sunflowers under constant light kept moving as if the sun were rising in the east and setting in the west. This unexpected result suggests that sunflowers were not responding only to the direction of the light but also to an internal biological clock. Furthermore, they discovered that sunflowers bend when one side of the stem grows faster than the other. For example, the west side of the stem seems to grow faster to bend the plant towards the east in the morning. Scientists now hope to understand how an internal biological clock in sunflowers has the opposite effects on opposite sides of the stem. Sunflowers are not the only plants performing this diurnal dance; other agriculturally important crops such as soybeans and cotton exhibit the very same behavior. Solar tracking is known to boost plant yield and discovering the mechanisms of how plants track the sunlight might have important implications for improving global agricultural yields.

Friends linked by genes

It is a common observation that close friends look alike. Even centuries ago, Plato noted the tendency that good friends usually have similar appearances. Recently, a group of geneticists took this idea even further and suggest that people on average tend to choose friends who are genetically similar. The study provided convincing evidence that we have more DNA sequences in common with the people we pick as friends than we do with strangers in the same population. Researchers performed a genome-wide analysis of approximately 1.5 million markers of gene variations from 1,932 subjects of the Framingham Heart Study, which is one of the most comprehensive genetic databases. They identified 1300 pairs of non-relative friends and compared their genetic information to each other. The analyses showed that friends share similar genetic variations (around 1% genomewide), to the degree that it is as if they have the same great-great-great-grandparent – in other words, as if they were fourth cousins. Notably, friend pairs seem to have the greatest similarity in the genes that are responsible for a sense of smell and they show the most difference in immunity-related genes. Friendship entails spending a lot of time together and looking out for each other. Odors are strong behavioral cues in human psychology and people with similar olfactory preferences might like to prefer living or hanging out in similar environments. Likewise, it is potentially a big advantage that friends don’t get infected from the same microbes at the same times, so that one of them can take care of the other. As much as these anthropological implications are merely speculations with many caveats – and despite there being many obvious social, ethnical, and cultural factors that help determine friendships – the genetic basis of friendship and other social interactions may hold answers to at least some of the mysteries of human behavior.

Elephants can determine ethnicity, gender, and age from acoustic cues in human voices. McComb et al. February 2014, PNAS.

African elephants (Loxodonta africana) are the largest land animals on Earth and they have been facing the danger of extinction due to habitat loss and illegal hunting for their ivory tusks. Elephants are also known to be very intelligent creatures and a recent study showed that they can even differentiate between human languages. Researchers at Amboseli National Park in Kenya played two different recordings of human voices for elephants. One group of voices belonged to local Maasai men, who happen to have violent encounters with elephants from time to time while herding their cattle. Other voices belonged to Kamba men, who are farmers or employees of the national park, and usually pose no threat to the elephants. In both cases, researchers played the same phrase, “Look, look over there, a group of elephants is coming,” in two different languages. When elephants heard Maasi voices, they demonstrated defensive behaviors, such as gathering together, investigative smelling through their trunks, and moving cautiously away from the stimuli. Interestingly, elephants showed a greater reaction to the voices of Maasi men than Maasi women or boys, suggesting that they can even differentiate the gender and age of humans. In contrast, when they heard Kamba voices, of any gender or age, they did not show any concern. Ability to recognize predators is a crucial skill for many animals, and elephants seem to be capable of pinpointing the ethnicity, gender, and age of a potential predator, perhaps through recognizing acoustic cues in human voices. This ability serves as an early warning system for elephants and it could become very useful, especially when the predator is out of sight.

Set your alarm early to control weight

Timing and intensity of light correlate with body weight in adults. Reid JK et al. February 2014, PLOS ONE

Early sunlight exposure in the morning has been found to lower a person’s body mass index (BMI). A recent study showed that 20-30 minutes of morning light controls approximately 20% of the variation in a person’s BMI. This effect was independent of physical activity, caloric intake, sleep timing, age, or season. Our bodies have an internal body clock called the “circadian clock.” It roughly controls 24-hour cycles of physical, mental, and behavioral activities. Light is the most potent regulator of our circadian clock. It sends strong signals to our brain and body, which in turn regulate our energy balance and metabolism. Previous studies showed that animals with an altered circadian clock gain weight even though they don’t eat more. Similarly, new research with study subjects showed that missing out on the early rays of sun shifts our circadian clock and alters our appetite, satiety, and even the way that our body processes food, which ultimately leads to weight gain. In modern times, we live and work indoors, thus are often not able to get enough light in the morning. While the daylight is the best source, experts think that standing by the windows or even using a strong desk lamp would be sufficient to properly synchronize our circadian clock in the morning.

Mystery of zebra stripes solved

The function of zebra stripes. Caro T. et al. March 2014, Nature Communications

The black and white stripes of zebras have intrigued people for centuries. Scientists have speculated many hypotheses for the purpose of these stripes, such as camouflage, heat management, social implications, etc. A new systematic study analyzed 7 different equid species with stripes on their bodies and mapped their geographic locations. Then, researchers generated a statistical model by comparing the stripe patterns of these animals and their environmental conditions. Strikingly, they discovered a clear overlap between the range of striped animals and where biting flies, like horseflies or tsetse flies, are highly populated. Scientists noticed greater striping among animals in regions where there were more flies. These results suggest that having stripes may protect zebras from biting flies. Zebras, unlike other African hooved mammals living in the same area, are particularly susceptible to biting, as their hair is shorter than the pinchers of the biting flies. A separate work has shown that some flies tend to avoid black-and-white striped surfaces, supporting the hypothesis that biting flies may avoid the striped surfaces of zebras. As much as these results are encouraging, no one actually observed zebras in the wild to see if biting flies avoid landing on them, in part because it’s almost impossible to stay that close to zebras. The next challenge for the researchers is to observe this phenomena live in the wild.

Statements like “God must have createdwith special care” are most inconvenientand disagreeable. Even for the mostsplendid things, God Almightycommands “Be! and it is.”

Imagine yourself in Spain, walking through the Alhambra palace. As you gaze at the artistry and beautiful architecture, you feel an urge to meet the master who built it. When you study other works of art, you see that throughout history, artists have used materials such as marble, iron, stones, wood, and glass, which are all found in abundance throughout our world, scattered in different places. The master architect however, uses the knowledge and willpower granted to him as it is represented in the spirit of a civilization. He transforms these things into living history. In other words, the physical structure and artistry of the Alhambra palace may stimulate a thinking mind to understand the whole of Andalusian civilization.

In the same way, imagine a clock. It is made of various parts: mills, springs, screws, etc. that are all made of materials like iron, nickel, and copper. Again, these can all be found in abundance around the world. An intelligent clockmaker uses these items as he accurately plans, calculates, and measures the correct number and placement of the mills, how they turn, their diameters, and other details that all require very sensitive adjustments. The mastery of craftsmanship contributes to the precision, and thereby to the value of the clock. Although the famous evolutionist Richard Dawkins claimed that such an accurate machine could be made by a “blind clockmaker,” I am compelled to grant the genius of accuracy with a little more respect to suggest that a precise clock requires the attention of a focused eye.

Just as with Alhambra and the clock, the genius of artistry and precision, when we perceive of the human being as work of art, we begin to understand the mastery that lies behind its development. Highlighting the amazing factual data about our physical and chemical structure, in this article, I try to find an answer to the question “what is a human being?” The resulting data reveals the degree to which human beings exist as magnificent works of art. My intent is to illustrate the intention of the Ultimate Master behind human existence.

Here are some basic facts about the approximate numbers, size, and longevity of our cells, the smallest living units in our body:

Facts in total numbers

Cells in a human body: 100 trillion

The variety of cells: 210

Cells dying every second: 50 million

Cells being created every second: 50 million

Red corpuscles: 25 trillion

White corpuscles: 25-100 billion

Neurons: 30 billion

(for a comparison, there are 100,000 neurons in the body of a fly and 10 million in the brain of a mouse)

Neurons in the brain cortex: 10 billion

Neurons in the cerebellar cortex: 10 billion

Synapses of all neurons: 100 trillion

Cells dying in a normal day: 50-100 thousand

Cells activated at a remembering process: 10-100 million

Cells producing gastric acid: male 1 billion, female 820 million

Size of sperms-the smallest cells: 3-5m (1 micrometer=10-6 m)

Size of glial cells in the brain: 5m

Diameter of egg cells-the biggest cells: 100-120 m

Average size of a liver cell: 30-50 m

Diameter of a red corpuscle: 7 m

Diameter of a kidney cell’s nucleus: 6.2 m

Chromosomes’ adjoined width at metaphase: 4.5 m

Diameter of the nucleus of a ganglion cell in the spinal cord: 1.2 m

Diameter of a mitochondria: 0.5-1.2 m

Diameter of a lysosome (enzyme carrier): 0.2-0.5 m

Microvilli on the small intestinal cells: 100nm (1 nanometer=10–9 m)

Diameter of a ribosome:12-20nm

Thickness of a cell membrane: 8.0nm

Diameter of a nexus on a cell membrane: 3.0nm

Diameter of a DNA double helix: 2.0nm

Length of an amino acid molecule: 0.8-1.1nm

Diameter of an atom: 0.1-0.5nm

Longevity of cells

Anal epithelial cells: 4.3 days

Epidermis cells: 19.2 days

Bowel epithelial cells: 10 days

Intestinal mucous cells: 1.4 days

Rectal mucous cells: 6.2 days

Bladder epithelial cells: 66.5 days

Lip epidermis cells: 14.7 days

Sole epidermis cells: 19.1 days

Tracheal epithelial cells: 47.6 days

Alveolar cells: 8.1 days

Gastric cardia epithelial cells: 9.1 days

Pyloric epithelial cells: 1.8-1.9 days

Inner ear epithelial cells: 34.5 days

Red corpuscles: 120days

Neutrophils: 4-5 days

Eosinophils: 10 days

Lymphocytes: 5 days to years

Monocytes: several months

Liver cells : 222 days

Kidney epithelial cells: 286 days

Thyroid epithelial cells: 287 days

Bone cells: 25-30 years

Neurons Lifelong

The cells which do not divide and reproduce:

Egg cells, brain cells, neurons, sweat gland cells, and hair papilla cells.

The human body is thus similar to a massive 3-D jigsaw puzzle; an incredibly complex one with trillions of minute-size pieces. It begins with a collection of 0.1 to 0.5 nanometer atoms that all come together to make up the elements of cells. From these elements-mitochondria and the like-a 100 trillion cells are formed that all come together to form the organs, muscles, tissue, and bones of the human body. All come together in a splendid fashion and all work together as if they are well aware of each other. All of this precision comes to together to form something that is both precise and beautiful.

This is not all. The process is renewed every second as cells wear out, die, and are reborn. In a few years, the body is an entirely new thing. Even more, the longevity of cells varies; some live only 1.4 days (intestinal mucous cells), while others last for months. Your body replaces cells at exact moments with perfect timing. No pause is allowed, and this is supposed to go on for some seventy years. It seems impossible to believe that such a thing can ever happen, that a “blind puzzle-maker” or any other chance-based mechanism could produce such a result. But here we are, living examples of beauty and precision. Somebody has already made us, didn’t He?

The Plaza of Abraham is a place that will host and welcome people of all faiths, especially followers of the Abrahamic faiths. The Plaza is envisioned as being built on approximately ten acres of land. On this land a large circle, called Abraham’s Circle, has been planned. Three places of worship are positioned on the circle. If the circle were a clock, at 3 o’clock there is a mosque, at 7 o’clock a synagogue, and at 11 o’clock a church is located. These will be active places of worship. People will feel safe and comfortable in these places. To illustrate this feeling of safety and comfort for our readers, we would like to them to imagine that they are going to stay in a foreign city, where they do not know the language. They may well prefer to stay in a hotel which is part of a well-known chain. A significant number of people visiting foreign cities would prefer to stay in a well-known hotel, because even though they have come to this foreign city to explore and discover new, fascinating facts of history and geography, even though they are there to visit places, meet people and otherwise live an experience that is novel and different from what their experience at home, they would still prefer to stay in a place that is familiar to them, as a starting point. In the same way do the places of worship on the Circle of Abraham serve as safe and comfortable starting points for people who want to discover other religions. They give the message: Come, you are safe here.

The imams, the rabbis and the priests to be employed in these places of worship are not simply religious leaders; they are scholars as well. They can and are willing to study different religions without any prejudice. They are also guides for other people in the dialogue experience, they serve to protect this effort from falling into a common dilemma: the blind leading the blind. In interfaith dialogue, in efforts where knowledgeable people are not involved, ignorant members of the groups can easily turn the atmosphere into a critical one. In order to prevent such occurrences, these scholarly religious leaders have authority over the people of their faith and there is an internalized approach to dialogue, based on such principles of interfaith dialogue as courtesy, respect, self-critical examination, abandonment of preconceptions and seeking first to understand before trying to be understood.

The plaza will also have a computerized digital library that provides access to digital copies of the main sources for all three religions. Scholars of the different religions will come together to discuss recent issues, and past and possible future interpretations of the religious sources. These efforts focus on searching for interpretations of the sources that foster peace, harmony and mutual coexistence instead of animosity.

A common value to each of these three faiths is hospitality. To bring this common value to the fore, Abraham’s plaza has a feast table covered by a large tent. Once a year a celebration will be held that will last for many days and weeks. Through this event, the People of the Book (as described in the Qur’an) become the People of the Tent. A feast like this is also likely to attract young people. The feast itself and the possibility of making friends from other faiths and nations is likely to be attractive to them.

We envision replicas of Abraham’s Plaza being constructed on all continents of the earth: Europe, Asia, the Americas, Australia and Africa. We envision plazas in major cities, as well as in any small towns where there is a representation of all these faiths. We live in a strange age. We have the best, most widespread and fastest means of communication and transportation to date. Yet the world still faces challenges of misunderstanding and animosity. Projects like the Abraham’s Plaza are needed to get everyday people involved in an interfaith dialogue and in the active pursuit of a more peaceful world.

Reference

• Feiler, Bruce. Abraham, a Journey into the Hearts of Three Faiths. Harper Collins Publishers, 2002.

Before passing on the arguments for the existence of man’s free will, we should point out:

Most of the Western orientalists accuse Islam of being fatalistic. Whereas, except a small sect-Jabriya-no one in the history of Islam has defended fatalism. Almost all the Western philosophies of history are, by contrast, based on the irresistibility of what they call historical laws and therefore fatalistic. The outlines of those philosophies of history may be summed up as follows:

a. Mankind is in a continuous progress towards the final happy end.

b. This progress depends on the fatalistic, irresistible laws of history which are completely independent of man, so a man must, in any case, obey these laws, otherwise he is certain to be eliminated.

c. All the stages, primitive, feudal or capitalistic, through which mankind inevitably pass in the course of time to the final happy end should not be criticized, because mankind have nothing to do other than passing through them.

What is implied concerning the political conditions of time by all such philosophies of history may be this: The present socio-economic and even the political conditions of the world are inevitable, because they were dictated by nature, which decrees that only the able and the powerful can survive. If the laws of history dictated by nature are in favour of the West, the communities that choose to survive must concede to the dominion of the West.

What distinguishes the Qur’anic concept of history from other philosophies is that, first of all, while philosophers of history or sociologists build their conceptions on the interpretation of past events and present situations, the Qur’an deals with the matter from the perspective of unchanging principles. Second, contrary to the fatalism of all other philosophies, the Qur’an lays great emphasis on the free choice and moral conduct of the individual. Although Divine Will, emphasized by the Qur’an, could be regarded as, in some respects, the counterpart of the ‘Geist’ in the Hegelian philosophy and of absolute, irresistible laws of history in other philosophies, the Qur’an never denies human free will. God, according to the Qur’an, tests man in this life so that man himself should sow the ‘field’ of the world to harvest in the next life, which is eternal. For this reason, the stream of events-successes and failures, victories and defeats, prosperity and decay-all are the occasions which God causes to follow one another for mankind, to the end that the good may be distinguished from the evil. Testing must evidently require that the one who is tested should possess free will to prefer between what is lawful and unlawful or what is good and bad. Thus, according to the Qur’an, what makes history is not a compelling Divine Will, rather it is man’s own choice, the operation of which God Almighty has made a simple condition for the coming into effect of His universal will. If this point is understood well enough, then it will be easy to see how groundless are the Western philosophies of history especially with respect to their conception of ‘inevitable end’.

After these preliminary notes, we can discuss the existence of man’s free will:

a. A man feels remorse when he commits something wrong. He begs God’s forgiveness for his sins. If he troubles someone or does someone harm, he begs that person to excuse him. All this shows that man does on his own whatever he does or he himself decides to do something and how to do it. If he had no free will to exercise in doing the actions he does and were compelled to do them by a superior power, why should he become remorseful and beg forgiveness if he has done something wrong or committed a sin?

b. Obviously enough, we choose to move our hands or say something or stand up to go somewhere. We see that there is nothing, no fetters around our necks, to compel us to do or not to do something. We feel free to, for example, read a useful book in our leisure time to sit and watch TV. Nothing or no one makes us pray to God or not by force. None of us move by a remote control in the hands of an invisible superior power.

c. We hesitate, reason, make comparisons, judge the circumstances, choose and decide before doing something. For example, when two of our friends invite us to different places or suggest doing different things, before deciding, we hesitate, make comparisons and finally come to a decision. Likewise, perhaps a hundred times a day, we act in the same way, that is, we think, hesitate, judge the circumstances, make comparisons and then decide, in the face of the opposed appeals of good and evil within us.

d. When we are wronged, we sometimes go to a court and bring suit against him who has wronged us. Neither we nor the court ascribe the wrong done to us to a compelling superior power like Destiny, nor does the one accused attempt to excuse himself by blaming that power The virtuous and wicked, those who are promoted to high ranks in social life and those who waste their time idly, those who are rewarded for their good acts or successes and those who are punished for their crimes-all this shows that everyone acts of his free will, under no compulsion.

e. Only the insane are not held responsible for their acts. Reason and other mental faculties with which man is endowed require that man should be free in his decisions and acts, and actually show that he is so. Without free will, neither human reason nor other faculties have a meaning.

f. Animals have no will power. They act under the guidance of God, which materialistic science calls instinct. For example, a bee always builds hexagonal hives. Since it has no will power to decide on the form of its hives, it never attempts to make, for example, a nest or a triangular hive. However, human beings decide between many alternatives before doing or building something. Also, we are free to change our minds. It usually occurs that we make changes in our decisions in the face of emergencies or new, better proposals. This is also indicative of man’s will power.

The nature of man’s free will

Man’s free will is not something visible like the parts of the body. Nor does it have a material existence. However, that something has no visible, material existence does not mean it does not exist. Everyone has two eyes but we can also see with a third eye we have. We see with our two eyes the things in the external, material world. As for the third eye we have, we see the things beyond events and the physical world with it. The free will is like the third eye of ours, which you may call insight. It is an inclination or an inner force by which man prefers and decides.

Man will and God creates. The project or a plan of a building has no value or use unless you start to construct the building according to it. Actually, it is the building which is visible and serves many purposes for man. However, that building has been built according to its plan. Man’s free will is, in a sense, like that plan, according to which man decides and acts and God creates man’s actions. Creation and acting or doing something are different things. God’s creation means that God gives actual existence to man’s choices and actions in the physical world. Without God’s creation, man cannot do anything.

We can explain the role of man’s free will and actions and God’s guidance and creation by means of an analogy:

In order to illuminate a huge, magnificent palace, we must install in it a lighting system. However, after we have installed the lighting system, the illumination of the palace will still require that we should touch the switch and turn on the lights. Unless we touch the switch, the lights will not be turned on and the palace will still remain in darkness despite the lighting system. In a like way, man is a magnificent palace of God, which is illuminated by belief in God. God has supplied him with the necessary lighting system: He has given him intellect, the powers of reasoning and sensing, and the faculties of learning, making comparisons and preferences between opposite things. Nature and events and also the Divinely revealed religion are like the source of the electricity with which this Divine palace-man-will be illuminated. Nevertheless, man’s illumination with belief requires that he should use his free will and touch the switch. Man’s touching the switch means petitioning God to illuminate him with belief. In a manner befitting a slave at the door of his lord, man must petition the Lord of the Universe to illuminate him and make him thereby a king’ in the universe. When he does so, the Lord of the Universe will behave towards him in a way befitting Himself and promote him to the rank of kingship over the other realms of creation.

In His treatment of man and His acts with respect to man, God takes man’s free choice into account and regards it as the cause for creating man’s deeds. That is, man is not, as some assert, a victim of Destiny or one wronged by Fate. However insignificant it seems, and in comparison with God’s creative acts it is insignificant, man’s free will is the cause of his deeds. God’s way of acting is that He makes huge bodies out of things as small as minutest particles and makes simple means for creating many important results. For example, he makes a huge pine tree out of a tiny seed and makes man’s inclinations or free choice in eternal happiness or punishment in the eternal world.

In order to understand better the part of man, including his will power, in his acts or accomplishments, it is enough to consider his part in the food with which he is fed. Without earth, water, air and the heat of the sun, even a particle of which the whole of humankind are unable to produce or create despite their vast technology, man cannot procure even a single morsel of his food. In addition, the whole of humankind are also unable to produce a single seed of corn. Also, it is not man himself who endows himself with intellect and other mental faculties and power to produce corn. Furthermore, it is not, again, man himself who has created his body and established the relation between it and the food. With all its parts and organs and cells, the body operates not under the control or supervision of man himself. Have you ever thought that if a man had to set his heart like a clock at a fixed time every morning, how long he could continue his life? Obviously, almost all the parts of the universe, which is, like a most developed organism, so complicated, yet so harmonious, a system, cooperate with one another according to the most delicate measures in order that a single morsel of food can be produced. So, in fact, a single morsel is almost the same price as the whole of the universe, which the whole of mankind are unable to pay, and man’s part in the production of that morsel is utterly negligible: it consists of the effort he exerts.

Is it possible for us to give enough thanks to God for even a morsel of food? If only the picture of a bunch of grapes had been shown to us, could the whole of mankind produce it, even if they worked in close cooperation? Whereas God nourishes us with all those bounties of His for nothing and in return demands from us almost nothing. If, for example, He had stipulated that we should perform a thosunad rak‘ahs(units) of prayer in return for a bushel of wheat, in order to survive, we would have been obliged to do that. If, again, He had sent a single drop of rain in return for a rak‘ah of prayer, then we would have been doing nothing but spend all of our lives praying. Supposing you are left in the scorching heat in the middle of a desert, would you not give whatever you had for a single glass of water?

How can we pay the thanks for each limb of our body? When we see the ill and crippled in hospitals or when we are ill, we can understand how valuable health is, and how can we pay the thanks due for our health? The worship which God Almighty orders us to do is, in fact, for our benefit, for our spiritual refinement and a good personal and collective life. Furthermore, if we believe in and worship God, He will reward us with infinite happiness and bounties in an external world, in Paradise.

In sum, we see that almost everything we have is given to us for nothing, our part in the bounties we enjoy in the world is quite negligible. Like this, the will power we have is equally negligible when compared to the consequences which God Almighty creates as a result of our use of it. However weak it is and however difficult it is to understand its true nature, God creates our actions according to the choices and decisions which we make through our will power.

The relation between Divine Destiny and man’s free will

In human history, people have suffered difficulties to distinguish or reconcile Divine Will and human free will. Some have gone so far as to deny man a free will to act and determine his life, while others have attributed to man himself even the creation of his deeds, completely ignoring the role of Destiny in his life. However, Islam is a middle way; as it is in every other issue, what is right in the matter of the relation between Destiny and man’s free will is also following the middle way. That is, Divine Destiny dominates over the whole of existence, including the human realm, while man obviously has a free will by using which he directs his life. In three succeeding verses coming at the and of sura al-Takwir, the Qur’an expresses the true nature of relation between Destiny and man’s free will: This (the Qur’an) is not but a reminder onto the worlds, onto whoever among you wills to walk straight. You do not will, unless God wills, the Lord of the Worlds. (al-Takwir, 27-9) These verses attribute absolute will to God Almighty but does not exclude man from having a will power to exercise in directing or designing his life. In another verse (al-Saffat, 37.96) the Qur’an declares that it is God Who creates us and whatever we do and therefore ascribes creation to God exclusively. In other verses such as Fulfil (your part of) the covenant so that I fulfil (my part of) the covenant (al-Baqara, 2.40), if you help God(‘s religion), He will help you and will make your foothold firm (Muhammad, 47.7), and God changes not the condition of a people unless they change what is in their hearts (al-Ra’d, 13.11), it speaks about a contract or covenant between God and man, openly declares that it is man himself who directs history. Except for the human realm and jinn, who have free will and therefore are accountable for their acts, Divine Destiny is the single absolutely and exclusively dominant factor in existence. In order to reconcile Destiny and man’s free will, the following explanations may be worth consideration: a. Destiny is a title for Divine Knowledge. As explained before, God’s Knowledge comprehends everything within and beyond time and space. If you know beforehand that a certain thing will happen at a certain future time and that things happens at exactly the time you predicted, it does not mean that that thing’s happening was caused by your knowledge beforehand that it would happen. Since every thing and every event in the universe is comprehended in God’s Knowledge, He has written such a thing will happen at such a time and a place, and it does. Although there is not the slightest difference between what God has written for a man and what that man does, this is not because God’s having written it forces man to do it, rather it is because man willed to do that and did it. Consider this example: a train is traveling between Istanbul and Ankara, at a certain speed according to the characteristics of its manufacture and the conditions of the railway, and Istanbul is at a known distance from Ankara.

Also, there are a certain number of stations along the way, at each of which the train stops for a certain time. Taking all these matters into consideration, a time-table is written in advance. The time-table’s being prepared in advance is not the cause of the train’s traveling. Again, the time and duration of such heavenly events as the solar and lunar eclipses are known and written down beforehand through astronomical calculations. This does not mean that the sun or the moon is eclipsed at that certain time because astronomers knew it beforehand and recorded. The truth is exactly reverse: since astronomers knew beforehand when the sun or the moon would be eclipsed, they recorded it. There is the same relation between Destiny and man’s free will. b. Man’s free will is not something excluded from Destiny; rather, Destiny includes man’s free will. For example, one asks you whether the clock in the next room is working or not. You hear its sound and answer that it is working. The one who asks you about the clock will not need to ask you whether the hands of the clock are moving. Because the working of the clock means that the wheel of the clock is working and its hand are moving. In an analogous way, Destiny and man’s free will are not independent of each other.

As regards Destiny, man is neither a dried leaf blown by the wind, nor is he completely independent from Destiny. As Islam follows the middle way in every issue—for example, it allows neither debauchery nor intolerable self-denial, or it neither advises celibacy nor allows illicit intercourses, and so on—it has also established the right way in the issue of Destiny and man’s free will. In other words, Islam has explained the true relation between Destiny and man’s free will. According to its explanation, wills and does a thing, and God creates it. c. Cause and effect are not separable in the view of Destiny. That is, it is destined that this cause will produce that effect. But, from there it cannot be argued that, for example, shooting a man dead should not be regarded as a crime because the dead man was destined to die at this time anyway so he would have died even if he had not been shot. Such an argument is baseless since that man is actually destined to die as a result of being shot. The argument that he would have died even he had not been shot mean that he died without a cause, and in this case we should not be able to explain how he died. It should be remembered that there are not two kinds of Destiny—one for the cause, and the other for the effect. Destiny is one. d. People tend to, excluding themselves from the passage of time, imagine a limit for past time which extends through a certain chain of things, and they call it ‘azel’—past eternity. But to reason according to such an imagination is not right and acceptable.

For better understanding of this subtle point, the following example may help: Imagine that you are standing with a mirror in your hand, that everything reflected on the right represents the past, while everything reflected on the left represents the future. The mirror can reflect one direction only since it cannot show both sides at the same time as you are holding it. If you wish to reflect both directions at the same time, it would be necessary to rise high above your original position so that left and right directions are united into one and nothing remains to be called first or last, beginning or end. As already mentioned, Divine Destiny is in some respects identical with Divine Knowledge. It is described in a Prophetic saying as containing all times and events in a single point, where first and last, beginning and end, what has happened and what will happen, are all united into one. And we are not excluded from it so that our understanding of time and events could be like a mirror to the space of the past. e. Man cannot be the creator of his actions. For if he were the creator of his own actions, then he would himself be the ultimate cause of them, and his will would be cancelled. Since, according to logic, if a thing is not necessary, it will not exist. That means for something to come into existence there has to be a real complete cause, but a complete cause makes the existence of something compulsory so there will be no room for choice. f. Although man’s free will is too inefficient to cause something to happen, Almighty God has made its operation a simple condition for the coming into effect of His universal Will. He guides man in whatever direction man wishes by the use of his free will so that man remains responsible for the consequences of his choice.

As an example, if you were to take a child upon your shoulders, and then leave him free to decide where he would like to go and he elected for you to take him up a high mountain, and in consequence he caught cold, he would have no right to blame you for that. Indeed, you might even punish him because he wanted to go up the mountain. In like manner, Almighty God, the Most Just of judges, never coerces His servants into doing something, and He has accordingly made His Will somewhat dependent on man’s free-will. We may summarize the discussion so far in five points: ^1234567