Over time, the pressures that accumulate from our commitments and responsibilities can affect our mental health. Through prolonged periods of stress, cortisol and adrenaline poison our body, which can lead to anxiety disorders. To maintain our emotional and mental health, we must consider the state of our spirituality and be mindful of the metaphysical aura which is in continuous interaction with our physical body.

Our cardiovascular system meticulously delivers oxygen and nutrients to body tissues and in turn removes carbon dioxide and waste products. The average rate of contraction is 75 beats per minute, meaning that a human heart contracts 108,000 times a day, more than 39 million times in one year, and nearly 3 billion times during a 75-year lifespan. However, this magnificent center of our being is not only related to our physical, but also our spiritual, well-being. The blood that our heart pumps contains more than just oxygen and nutrients for the body. It acts as both a radiator of goodness from the spirit (ruh) and evil from our carnality (nafs). The Arabic language has eight different translations for the word “soul,” with each of them accounting for a different element of the soul, including the heart, reinforcing the link between the physical and metaphysical.

Basic cardiovascular physiology denotes that deoxygenated blood returns to the right ventricle, which pumps it into the pulmonary trunk and then to the lungs, where carbon dioxide is released and oxygen is absorbed. Oxygenated blood then travels back to the left side of the heart into the left atrium, then into the left ventricle from where it is pumped into the aorta and subsequently the arterial circulation.

Based on this circulatory system, one may speculate about an interaction between our heart and soul. The right ventricle, where our deoxygenated or “dirty blood” returns, might be the location point of our evil-commanding carnal soul or nafs-al ammara. In contrast, the left ventricle, which pumps clean, oxygenated blood, might be the locus of the presence of our spirit (ruh). Thus, one can think of the heart as a tool of the soul, and the soul as a mirror of the heart [1]. If the mirror is kept clean, one can see. If it is dirty, then we are blinded. In this way, the state of the heart affects the soul; the two are in a directly proportional relationship.

Long before the advancement of modern psychology, emotional and mental well-being were highlighted in the Qur’an. The verse “And We have already created man and know what his soul whispers to him, and We are closer to him than his jugular vein,” (50:16) is a perfect example of the spiritual psychology that is immanent throughout the Qur’an. Not only does it demonstrate the proximity of God to His servants at times of inner turmoil, but it also sheds light on the notion of delusion, or whisperings of the heart (waswasa), and that He is aware and understanding of moods of doubt.

Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) also refers to the relationship between the heart and soul: “Truly in the body there is a morsel of flesh which, if it be sound, all the body is sound and which, if it be diseased, all of it is diseased. Truly it is the heart” (Bukhari). This hadith refers to the close relationship between the bodily organs and the subtle psychic organs of the human soul; the spiritual heart is the center of human consciousness and is interrelated to the bodily, physical heart.

Our conscience, or mind, must acknowledge and make sense of all the thoughts, feelings, and sensations that arise. Muslim scholars describe possible sources for inner voices to be God, the angels, the devil, and the physiological body [2, 3]. With the appropriate depth of perception, self-regulation and spiritual expertise, one can distinguish between them. While waswasa has a negative connotation and usually refers to the whisperings from the devil and our nafs, we can also receive sources of inspiration from other metaphysical beings such as angels [4]. The mind’s ability to see the world through patterns and metaphors are the workings of the heart, and a gift from God to help us see the meaningful connections in life and to learn by reflecting upon experience. In this way, mindfulness provides an innovative approach to treat mental health issues. By having awareness and a clear comprehension, one can pay attention with patience and care to what happens and try to resolve it accordingly.

It is an understatement to say that we have an incredibly complex and dynamic aura, where the interaction of the metaphysical and physical matter that make up the human body are continually interacting. We’re constantly receiving input from other existing beings around us. There are mechanisms of action we can adopt to make a protective shield against these forces, some of which can have a negative impact on our soul.

The most obvious constituent of this shield is being immaculate in performing prescribed worships. These “must-do’s” are a reference point for us. If we slack off in our worship, our protective shield against waswasa is inevitably weakened. The ablutions we take throughout the day, even before we sleep, are another protective mechanism, while in the remembrance of God (dhikr), our hearts will “find tranquility and satisfaction” (13:28). However, even saints have lamented over periods of “dark nights” when the believer is tested by God who, for a short period, withholds from the devotee all delight in prayer and worship. Sufis describe this state of the soul as qabd, literally meaning being grasped by hand. This causes distress and makes one suffer from spiritual blockage. On the other hand, the soul can also reach a state of bast, or openness, expansion, development, or relief, when one is freed from spiritual blockage and develops inwardly. Thus, “God contracts and expands” (2:245) and believers must make both of these states fruitful by being thankful during openness and seeing contraction as an effective remedy for the sickness of the soul.

Trying to solve psychological problems solely with spiritual therapies is a mistake. Mainstream, pharmacological therapy can be necessary, just like in physiological disease. We rarely hesitate to see a doctor when we have an allergic reaction or the flu, but a psychological disease is assumed to be resolved through worship. While prayer is an incredibly powerful metaphysical tool that eases and lessens mental health problems, it might not be enough to completely cure a person of their condition. Psychological problems can be considered a cancer of the soul and should be treated with the appropriate therapy – that is, professionally. While prayer will undoubtedly have an anesthetic effect on the patient, going to see a psychologist would be the active prayer. Only then can you leave the outcome to God, after having done your part of fulfilling both verbal and active prayer.

As Imam al-Ghazali said, “Knowing the definition of these diseases, their causes and their cures, and remedies to fix them, is personally obligatory on every Muslim” (Al-Majmua). Thus, we are obliged to not only realize what is going on in our hearts and our conscious minds, but also to cure ourselves from any of the diseases that may have a negative impact on our mental or physical health.

Notes

1. Aysel, M.; Yavas I.; Akdag, M. 2016. Ruh ve Psikolojisi. (unpublished draft).
2. Nursi, Bediuzzaman Said. 1926, The Words, the Second Station of the Twenty-First Word.
3. Gülen, Fethullah. 2008. Varligin Metafizik Boyutu, Istanbul, 2008, pp. 322-336.
4. Aysel, M. 2018. “The Dynamic Vesvese Model,” Association for Psychological and Spiritual Sciences. (unpublished draft).

Spatial dimensions and unseen reality, important in both science and religion, are areas that have perennially fascinated human beings. The quest for truth, in these and other areas, is best realized when both empirical investigations and divine revelations are wisely utilized. The human race lives in and perceives a three-dimensional world, but the existence of at least one additional (unseen) dimension continues to intrigue humankind. Might not time be a fourth dimension, one that continues alongside the spatial dimensions of height, width, and depth? In terms of relativity, all actions take place not only in the three spatial dimensions but also in the fourth dimension of time; this constitutes the space-time concept.

In 1919, the Polish mathematician Theodor Kaluza (1885-1954) advanced the idea that the universe might have more than three spatial dimensions. He reasoned that there might be a curled-up dimension too small to be seen. Attempts to explain this dimension tend to be convoluted, even when accompanied by illustrations, precisely because it is impossible, in our three-dimensional world, to represent anything in more than three dimensions, even in a sculptured object.

Brian Greene (b. 1963)—a Columbia University physicist, and author of The Elegant Universe: Superstrings, Hidden Dimensions, and the Quest for the Ultimate Theory (Norton, 1999)—not only understands this field of physics, but also has contributed immensely to it. His writing concerning string theory, while admittedly controversial and based on a theory in its formative stages, suggests some interesting perspectives that are being considered. Creative speculation, coupled with critical evaluation, lies at the heart of scientific progress. He spends several pages in his bestseller developing an analogy based on a garden hose stretched across a canyon, with an ant crawling upon it. The hose, which appears different to a human with binoculars than to one without them, and also different to the ant, contains a curled-up space that is invisible to all. To imagine oneself successfully inserting a solid book through a solid mirror is to perceive the illusive fourth dimension. An indirect way to approach the complexity of the fourth dimension is to imagine a world of living things that are, like a drawing on a page, only two-dimensional. Those with 3-D capacity would be able to see a two-D world, but those living in two dimensions would be unable to comprehend the three-dimensional counterpart. The extra dimension that Kaluza worked out involved the amalgamation of electromagnetism and relativity.

What do things look like in a super tiny world with ten dimensions? Imagine a picture (displayed in approximations because it represents a six-dimensional shape on a two-dimensional page) in which a drawing of stairways going nowhere is rolled up into a kind of ball of yarn. The ball shape is no accident, for the additional dimensions posited are curled-up, which renders it as difficult to see as the inside of Greene’s hose stretched across a canyon with a crawling ant on the outside. These six-dimensional spaces exist within the three dimensions we know and see and trust. “String theory” maintains that these gigantically-minute vibrating strings, these multi-dimensional voyagers, actually determine the mass of particles and the charge of forces at the subatomic level, which in turn shapes activity in the real world we inhabit. Obviously, string theory is in its infancy, as is the case with all emerging scientific theories. The general pattern has been that theories partially explain truth, and thereby expand the sum of human knowledge. It is crucial to remember that theories are theories, attempts to advance human knowledge. According to this theoretical perspective, the dimensions beyond 3-D are required for the particular resonances rendered by the strings, similar to how musical resonance varies according to violin wood and shape.

Islamic insights into energy-based, higher-dimensional life forms

Since their genesis, humans have relied on religion to explain things which are true, but nonetheless unseen by the inhabitants of a three-dimensional world. Belief in the unseen, or that which cannot be scientifically proven, is a standard element of religious participation. The Qur’an provides many insights regarding the unseen and the effect of the hidden aspects of reality on human lives. First, it links the creation of life forms to water and other earthy elements: “God created every animal from water” (24:45); “… the heavens and the earth were joined together, then We clove them asunder and We got every living thing out of the water …” (21:30).

The Qur’an also affirms the existence of aspects of creation that are beyond the comprehension of humans: “Glory be to Him Who created the components of couples of every kind: of what the ground caused to grow, of themselves (human beings) and of what you do not know” (36:36). Besides indicating that earthy life forms evolved from water and clay (earthy elements), the Holy Qur’an also mentions another type of life form created from “smokeless fire.” There are 117 identified elements on earth and all the earthy life forms evolved from some combination of these elements, with water playing a fundamental role. While elements have been identified, and are scientifically verifiable, we do not know how many forms of energy exist in the universe, but known forms include electrical, radiant, thermal, sound, motion, gravitational, chemical, nuclear, mechanical, solar, geothermal, hydro, fossil, biomass, wind, and natural gas. Moreover, since, each of these classes of energy has multiple subclasses, it is estimated that there are hundreds of kinds of energy. For example, visible light has various wavelengths representing numerous colors, each representing a different kind of energy within the visible light class. Within light there are spectra that are invisible to us, i.e. UV and IR lights that we utilize for our benefits (taking x-rays and for sterilizing various objects).

If “smokeless fire” is interpreted to refer to a class of energy, then the Holy Qur’an seems to suggest the possibility that certain life forms have arisen from energy sources: “And indeed, We created man from sounding clay of altered black smooth mud. And the jinn, We created aforetime from the smokeless flame of fire” (Qur’an Sura 15, verses 26-27; italics added). It stands to reason that our 3-D-limited vision and linear interpretation of time prevents us from seeing life forms that exceed these dimensions, but many people, from many faiths, have insisted that they have felt their influence.

Based on our knowledge of the speed of light (186,000 miles per second), we would assume that an energy-based life form moving at that speed would clearly be invisible to dimension-limited mortals. Humans cannot see any light beyond a limited visible spectrum, but they can sometimes perceive the effects of such light. Persons who hear their cell phones ring would think it ludicrous to dismiss the existence of sound-causing microwaves on the grounds that they are invisible. Nor would they refuse to acknowledge the heating capacity of microwave ovens simply because they cannot visually perceive the tiny waves. Likewise, x-ray photographs, or sunburned skin, give evidence of that which is unseen but nevertheless real. These effects of energy are routinely felt but not seen. Earlier theoretical postulations and examination have led to developments in these known areas of energy forms. Contemporary theories, including string theories, will, hopefully, result in further breakthroughs.

Perspectives on unembodied entities, often called spirits, abound. They range from deep doctrinal perspectives from theologians to the speculative viewpoints of scholars and persons from all walks of life. What these widely divergent views have in common is their belief in the reality of the unseen, and the idea that the unseen may, under certain conditions, be seen. In Zoroastrianism, the evil spirit Angra Mainyu opposes the leading deity, Ahura Mazda. Descriptions of this evil figure have much in common with the devil or Satan (the counterpart of the Islamic jinn, Iblis), who figures prominently in Judaism and Christianity. In Greek mythology, the Daemones are spirits who influence world conditions. Examples of these numerous spirits, and what they bring to humanity, are Algea (pain), Elpis (hope), Eupheme (praise), Momus (criticism), Nemesis (jealousy), and Phobus (fear) (Theo Greek Mythology: Exploring Mythology in Classical Literature and Art, http://www.theoi.com/greek-mythology/personifications.html). In Hinduism and other religions that teach reincarnation, spirits continue to exist through various iterations of life. Hinduism refers to the soul as the Atman, that spiritual entity that precedes birth and continues after death (Bhagavad Gita, chapter 2, http://www.bhagavad-gita.org/).

Mormons, like Muslims, stress the importance of the Prophet Abraham, peace be upon him, and their “Book of Abraham” (derived from an ancient Egyptian papyrus) reveals that spirits exist prior to gaining a body through mortal birth. These spirits “have no beginning; they existed before, they shall have no end, they shall exist after, for they are … eternal” (Abraham 3:38). Likewise, the Holy Qur’an informs to us that God has created all the souls of humankind before He created Adam and made covenants with them: “When your Lord drew forth the Children of Adam – from their loins – their descendants and made them testify concerning themselves, (saying): ‘Am I not your Lord?’ They said: ‘Yes! We so witness!’ Lest you should say on the Day of Judgment: ‘Of this we were unaware!’” (7:172). Referring to unembodied personages still awaiting birth, Abraham states, “Now the Lord had shown unto me, Abraham, the intelligences that were organized before the world was; and among all these there were many of the noble and great ones” (Abraham 3:22). Abraham learned that he was one of these: “And God . . . stood among those that were spirits, and he saw that they were good; and he said unto me: Abraham, thou art one of them; thou wast chosen before thou wast born” (Abraham 3:23). Christian and Jewish beliefs overlap in the Jewish Tanakh and the Christian Old Testament, which include this teaching from the prophet Jeremiah: “Before I [the Lord] formed thee in the belly I knew thee; and before thou camest forth out of the womb I sanctified thee, and I ordained thee a prophet unto the nations” (Jeremiah 1:5). These passages help us understand the views of other religious groups regarding unembodied spirits, a concept that exists prominently, albeit with significant differences, in Islam, which emphasizes jinn.

The Holy Qur’an states that the Creator has made many non-earthy life forms that are energy-based, and capable of changing shape and form. The two life forms described in the Qur’an (in addition to human beings) are angels and jinn. It depicts angels as having originated from light and as lacking free will; they simply obey. It describes the jinn, created from smokeless fire, as preceding the creation of humankind which was made from mud or clay. Both the Qur’an and related Hadith (words and deeds ascribed to the Prophet Muhammad, peace be upon him) identify the jinn as spirit entities capable of appearing in different forms and of acting according to their own free will to assist humans or lead them astray, as well as to worship God or to deny Him. Islam teaches that the jinns can take the form of various 3-D life forms, including birds, dogs, bees, and humans (Ameen, 2005). In an article describing Islamic medical sciences, Speziale (2003) describes the jinn as “created from fire, who inhabit a subtle world in which mankind is immersed, as into a liquid.” This description corresponds well with Kaluza’s string theory as both deal with a multidimensional world, much of which is beyond our limited sensory perceptions. The Qur’an thus portrays the jinns as occupants of a parallel world of spirits, a doctrinal stance that – as shown above – has its counterpart is many other religions.

The jinn are mentioned in more than forty verses in the Qur’an; one chapter is named (Surat-ul-Jinn) explicitly after them. Further information regarding the jinn, their food, behavior, and capabilities come to us through information regarding the Prophet that has been transmitted over the generations via the Hadith. Among the references to the jinns is the following passage from which we may infer that jinns have the ability and responsibility to choose right over wrong: “‘O you tribes of Jinn and humans, did not messengers come to you from amongst you and relate to you My revelations, and warn you of the meeting of this Day?’ They said: ‘Yes, we bear witness upon ourselves;’ and the worldly life deceived them, and they bore witness on themselves that they were rejecters” (Qur’an Sura 6, Verse 130). A second verse reinforces this conclusion: “I did not create the jinns and the humans except to worship Me alone” (51:55).

The validity of string theory relies on the reality of unseen dimensions, and although we do not purport that the Holy Quran directly endorses this theory, it does support a search for truth. Moreover, a number of Qur’anic passages suggest the reality of more dimensions than meet the human eye, and of human inability to comprehend these additional dimensions: “The seven heavens extol His limitless glory, and the earth, and all that they contain; and there is not a single thing but extols His limitless glory and praise: but you [O men] fail to grasp the manner of their glorifying Him!” (Qur’an Sura 17, verse 44; italics added); “Do you not see how God has created seven heavens in full harmony with one another?” (Qur’an Sura 71, Verse 15; italics added).

Can we see jinns?

As inhabitants of a three-dimensional world, we would presumably be able to see a 2-D world, just as we are able to read the two-dimensional words on these magazine pages. Following this logic, those living in a parallel world, with more dimensions than earth’s inhabitants perceive, would have the capacity to observe 3-D activity while remaining invisible to the lower-dimension world. According to such logic, jinns could see humans but not vice-versa. The Holy Qur’an states, “Lo, he [the devilish Iblis] sees you, he and his tribe, from whence you see him not” (Al-Araaf verse 27). Iblis (the counterpart of Satan, Lucifer, the Devil, etc.) is the leader of the evil jinns.

The following verse from the Qur’an, which sounds like a divine approbation of space exploration, has been intriguing to many: “O assembly of Jinns and Men, if you can penetrate regions of the heavens and the earth, then penetrate them! You will not penetrate them save with a Power” (Qur’an Sura 55, verse 33). The Pakistani Islamic scholar Mawdudi asserts that Qur’anic verses describe the capabilities and limitations of the jinn, specifically their ability to travel rapidly though space: “In surah Al-Hijr: 16-18, surah As-Saaffat: 6-10 and surah Al-Mulka: 5, it has been said that although the jinn can ascend to the heavens, they cannot exceed a certain limit; if they try to ascend beyond that limit and try to hear what goes on in the heavens, they are not allowed to do so, and if they eavesdrop they are driven away by meteorites” (The Alim for Windows).

Ghosts and jinns

Western civilization has generally misunderstood Islamic doctrine concerning jinns and has often erroneously equated ghosts with jinns. In Islam, the jinns are real life forms capable of carrying out behaviors and mental processes. Whereas the ghost of Western traditions tends to be the departed spirit of a deceased mortal; Islam has no such concept per se, but maintains that so-called manifestations of ghosts are nothing more than close encounters with jinns. Countless individuals have insisted that they have seen implausible life forms or other objects that appear to have crossed over into the human dimensions to become visible for a time. Many have affirmed that they have seen loved ones, which they explain as the spirit of the deceased, but Islam would tend to interpret such manifestations as evidence of jinns. Some have gone so far as to maintain that such occurrences are explicable via scientific theory, which may be substantiated by evidence. One theoretical explanation is founded on the presence of energy in human life, and in life from other dimensions. Others have maintained that energy appears when supernatural manifestations occur, including cases of so-called hauntings or paranormal activity. Assuming that jinns are made of energy and give off energy, it has been hypothesized that their presence might be measured by electromagnetic force (EMF) detectors, which can examine and record even the smallest fluctuations in electromagnetic fields. According to this line of reasoning, the human body radiates a limited electromagnetic field; electrical appliances – from low-energy light bulbs to higher-energy televisions and computers – give off even more; and jinns, or so-called ghosts, theoretically, would cause far higher levels of measurable electromagnetic distortion. Some have insisted that these distortions are so powerful that they interfere with the working ability of computer systems, EMF detectors, and audio-visual equipment; and that high levels of static electricity have been detected by sophisticated devices. Like string theory, such theoretical suppositions invite investigation, analysis, and refinement in pursuit of truth.

Yet another theoretical approach focuses on recording temperature changes to scientifically detect the presence of invisible entities. This approach maintains that because fluctuations of more than ten degrees have been recorded in small areas with constant temperatures, it is reasonable to conclude that some energy-altering form has been present. Temperature does not change unless something causes such a change. Further theoretical modeling has revolved around cold spots and hot spots, the former linked to the notion that light does not reflect correctly off ghosts, which gives them a dark form because light is absorbed into the ghost. This theory would explain the claim that, even though ghosts absorb both light and heat energy, the general area around them is several degrees cooler than elsewhere in the room. Hot-spot theorists argue that just the opposite occurs; ghosts reflect light and heat rather than absorb it, thus causing the area to be hot or cold.

One of the most common claims of unexplained objects that become temporarily visible involves unidentified flying objects (UFOs). In many accounts, UFO observers report serious EMF distortions, which may result in an engine stalling or car lights ceasing to function. One can speculate that the ability of giant flying objects to maneuver with amazing speed could be due to the presence of jinns, whether for serious or mischievous motives during their brief crossing into the 3-D terrestrial realm.

The Prophet Muhammad’s traditions inform us that the jinns live, take nourishment, have offspring, enjoy life, and die, although their lifespan is unfathomable to 3-D-limited mortals. Like humans, they create different languages, believe in diverse religions, establish varied civilizations, and may choose to be either good or evil. Islamic belief credits jinns with the capacity to terrify humans, carry out pranks, and take possession of their consciousness. Ameen (2005), in his text The Jinn and Human Sickness, describes the type of sickness caused by the jinn, including physical sickness, hallucinations, creating enmity between people, sexual problems, and psychological disorders (52-3). Symptoms of jinn possession have also been categorized and researched by Ameen and include erratic behavior, seizures with no medical cause, paralysis of limbs, frequent headaches, and barrenness in women with no medical cause, Therefore, Islam, as well as other religions, resorts to some form of exorcism – that is, the expulsion of evil spirits from possessed victims. The ability to expel jinn from the human body has been described in Hadithic tradition. Biblical literature also documents the existence of demon possession and the ability to remove such evil spirits from the human body (see specifically the Gospels of Matthew and Mark). Of course, the symptoms of possession are also common problems that plague many humans due simply to aging, accidents, genetic disabilities, or emotional trauma and should not automatically be attributed to jinn possession without careful medical and psychiatric examination.

In summary, we remind our readers that truth is truth, regardless of where it is found, and ultimately all truth is perfectly correlated and logical. Given the sensory and perceptual limitations imposed by three-dimensional mortality, the dazzling possibilities suggested by string theory and other explanations of the unseen prove tantalizing to humans, who are searching to correlate the truths gleaned from various sources, including science and religion. We trust that the summary of string theory, the citations from the Holy Qur’an, the comparative perspectives from other religious traditions, and the overview of some phenomena that seem logically inexplicable, without the insights of revealed theology, will spark interest in the ongoing quest for truth that renders the human experience both fascinating and meaningful.

Figure 1: One of the ways to explain the multiple Dimensions is “String theory.” Theoretical string theory analyses, in hopes of eventually producing a comprehensive “theory of everything,” have focused not only on strings but also on membranes and have inspired new mathematical advances vis-à-vis Calabi-Yau spaces and knots.

(Adapted from Onpedia http://www.onpedia.com/encyclopedia/string-theory)

As science develops further, the “veils” of the universe are lifted and humanity can explore realms beyond which our senses would normally allow.

We are conscious beings and we seek answers to our existence. People search for answers to questions like, “Who am I and why do we exist?” The sciences reveal that existence is full of meaning and purpose. However, judgmental values and beliefs enter the process; restrictive and ideological approaches lead to confusion during man’s voyage to truth.

Take the question of how we exist. Different perceptions have their own point of view and reach different conclusions. While a materialist person accepts the matter to be eternal, for some the theory of evolution has all the answers; yet on the other hand, a person of faith explains existence with creation. Therefore a materialist, an evolutionist, and a believer struggle to reach a common conclusion.

Human vision is somewhat veiled; the things that are not witnessed are considered unknown. The events of both the micro and macro cosmos are veiled to us. Yet the more our science advances, the more of these worlds we begin to see. We understand how complex existence is, while also appreciating how majestically it has come into being.

Can senses and observations guide humanity to the truth? Our strongest senses are seeing and hearing; however, these senses can only perceive a narrow band of the electromagnetic spectrum. The human eye can see the wavelengths in between 4,000-7,000 angstroms; the ear can hear frequencies in between 16-20,000 Hz. When we rely only on our senses to understand and comprehend existence, the things that are outside our ability to see or hear become absent.

Dimension and distance are very important for vision. The dimension that humans can see with the naked eye starts at the millimeter scale; in perfect conditions, we can barely see beyond 18-25 miles. Things at dimensions much smaller than a millimeter and at considerably longer distances remain out of our visual range. A microscope brings the small dimensions into our visual spectrum and the telescope does the same for long distances. Before the invention of these devices, humankind was not aware of things such as the atom, molecule, galaxy, nebula, or black hole. Today, because of scientific advances, as we get closer to seeing things on the nanometer dimension, we are newly discovering structures at this scale and the laws that are effective here. The inner makeup of the atom has not yet been elucidated; our knowledge is based on certain theories and experiences. Our information regarding the universe is also limited. It is considered that in an expanding universe, according to the expansion velocity of galaxies and gravitational force calculations, the amount of visible matter only corresponds to 4% of the total mass of the universe, the rest estimated to consist of 26% dark matter and 70% dark energy.

When the true nature of things (objects, existence) that are unknown or seem to be simple are explained through science, the truth is found to be very different. From space, the earth looks like a small and pale blue dot. After getting closer, at first the oceans, continents, and major mountain ranges start to appear. There is not any indication of people or other organisms on earth yet. However, after looking closely enough, it is observed that earth is filled with numerous life forms.

We witness the twinkle of countless stars when we gaze at the sky on a dark night. These stars, each shining as a small spot, may seem insignificant. When we turn our telescope towards one of these spots, we face a giant star or a galaxy that houses billions of stars; we become astonished. And when we take a better look at these stars, some of which are colossal, we witness interesting events. In these thermonuclear cauldrons that are utilized like millions of atomic reactors, enormous amounts of energy are released into space after being produced each second under immense pressure at temperatures reaching millions of degrees. Humans should think for a while and be amazed by these things. The power required is immense and they last millions of years.

People can also observe the wonder of the universe by delving into much smaller dimensions (the micro world). Here, we witness the creation of wonderful beings and the employment of tiny creatures in vital tasks, even though this micro world is hidden secret from the naked eye. For instance, in the thousands of small chemical factories fitted in a seemingly plain leaf, sugars are produced from carbon dioxide and water via sunlight; nutrients are synthesized from various minerals in the soil and stored in the fruits, seeds, and roots of plants to serve as nourishment for the living.

The biological structure of a human body is built by the proliferation of a fertilized single cell, called a zygote, through division. More than 200 different cells executing very unique functions in tissues such as the brain, liver, kidneys, muscles, and bones are created from a single cell. Cells have specific structures and tasks according to their types, each housing various work benches and laboratories. For example, the make-up and function of a brain, liver, or muscle cell is very diverse, each shaped for their assigned task. The organelles inside the cells are also specialized; the job of one cell type cannot be completed by another. The molecules, secreted enzymes, and hormones synthesized in cells are different. While a pancreatic cell secretes insulin and glucagon, a thyroid cell releases thyroxine. Various dimensions and models of protein, hormone, enzyme, and antibody molecules are formed with structures called ribosome to be employed in unique processes. The energy that cells need is generated in organelles of mitochondria. In addition, various transmission lines, communication networks, and defense mechanisms are established inside cells.

Organs are not just packs of meat. Billions of cells in each organ are completing their works around a common goal. In each organ and cell, micro factories and laboratories of microscopic dimensions are set up, micro-machines and robots are being utilized, and atoms and molecules are employed like conscious workers.

The entire body is formed by the specialization of this zygote into very diverse cell types during the formation of these organs. The set of tasks in different organs is programmed to sustain the life of a single organism and to serve a common goal. How could one not be amazed by the combination of trillions of cells in a way to serve one purpose, form a body, and distribute tasks to different organs?

It is also important to analyze the composition of atoms and their relations with each other for a better understanding of the facts of creation. Different atoms form with varying numbers of protons, neutrons, and electrons in their atomic structures. A different element is generated when the proton number is changed; an isotope of the same element is generated with the replacement of the neutron number. Millions of types of molecules with unique features can be made via different combinations of atoms. Molecules are the smallest units that determine the chemical properties of matter. While the simplest compound is the hydrogen molecule, formed by two atoms, there are also molecules composed of millions of atoms.

There are molecules of diverse types and sizes present in the universe. Each molecule type is constructed in a three dimensional and unique way. The number, order, and shape of the bonds present among atoms in a molecule, even the angle between atoms, is very important. Because of these differences, despite the fact that they both contain a carbon atom, a diamond and graphite (coal) are distinct substances. The carbon atom can miraculously form 1,700,000 types of compounds on its own. Just as in hydrogen peroxide (H₂O₂,) and water (H₂O) molecules, a change of an atom in a molecule can alter the entire property of that particular molecule. A small change taking place on a single base sequence of the DNA chain may disrupt its condition leading it to be ineffective or cause a disease.

As humans, we only observe the tangible side of such materials. Yet the universe contains multitudes that we cannot detect or know. Just like a software composed of commands is required for computers and electronic devices made up of physical elements, the presence of an intangible world that is dominated by souls and commands undetectable by senses is necessary within the matter where the program of fate is operated.

As mankind accumulates knowledge about the universe and existence, we notice that not only do we have a greater understanding of the nature of things, but also that each dimension in existence is a veil and this veil is lifted with science.

Divine favors that are granted out of God’s will refer to favors that are not dependent upon human willpower and choice. In this respect, everything that we possess may be and should be considered divine favors. That we come into existence from non-existence, that we exist as humans rather than as animals or plants, that we are born into believing families and communities, that we are given a healthy body, etcetera – you can extend the list as long as you want. All these are favors granted to us in return for nothing.

As for its diverse dimensions, we have to consider belief in God Almighty the foremost favor. Belief is a Divine favor. For while there are those who cannot benefit from the most convenient contexts of belief, there are other people in the most unlikely contexts who happen to meet belief and embrace it sincerely. Many examples around us prove that belief or faith is a blessing that comes through as divine grace. Many smart people with brilliant minds live without a compass and without a purpose, for they cannot free themselves from the past baggage of misguided perspectives. It is even harder for those who are in a position to lead their communities, for now they have to speak to their people to tell them that the path they took so far was wrong.

Another dimension of Divine favor is to grow up in a community where one isn’t profiled for their associations or beliefs. If we happen to be in a community where individuals are welcomed regardless of their racial, cultural, or religious identities, where no one is discriminated against because of his family relations or social allegiances, then this is a manifest Divine favor as well. In such a community, other groups are not defamed for their way of life, but on the contrary they are praised for their respective methods of public service and engagement. The opposite would be to narrow down and shrink the otherwise expansive nature of faith that welcomes all and which does not segregate those who are different. Such exclusivist attitudes lead to misunderstandings and raise concerns about religious thought which by definition should be inclusive.

One more favor that is significant and must be mentioned is the feeling of contentment as opposed to seeking benefits and self-interest. Future conflicts that may possibly arise at times of new worldly opportunities can only be prevented when people take a step back in an altruistic spirit, just as in the example of Hasan, the grandson of the Prophet Muhammad, peace be upon him.

Hasan (d. 669) had an opportunity to seek political leadership, and though he had an enormous amount of popular support, he did not wish to risk people’s lives or threaten social stability, and thus did not accept this opportunity. It is important to follow in his track and refuse any worldly gain when others are competing for such gains, and instead be prepared to even retreat into a cave, if this would be to the benefit of the community.

This attitude, which we may call contentment or abstinence, is a priceless virtue for a community. When, during a conflict, one party raises their hand to hit, they will not find a material form before them, for the contented party will already have vanished, avoiding any sort of fight whatsoever. The one who starts a fight is wrong, even if he is absolutely on the right side of the issue.

Perhaps the most important of all Divine favors is the consciousness that these gifts are divinely granted and that our willpower has nothing to do with them. Human willpower is a basic condition that is required for all matters, even for the most important ones. Yet, in the context of divine favors as described above, it is almost impossible to claim the intervention of human willpower. We have been created as human, the most honorable and superior of all creation in the universe. We are born into a world where we are given all opportunities to reveal our full potential to become “the perfect human” (al-insan al-kamil). In this life, we are given a whole infrastructure and the necessary dynamics to reach the horizons of being fully human as the giants of human history did. And these are no doubt “given” to us without us being involved.

What falls on our side is not to treat these favors as if we accidentally bumped into them, but as the most precious property entrusted to us and do our best to deserve their continuous bestowal. Each individual honored with these blessings should take all measures to keep them safe and to offer wholehearted thanks to the One in appreciation for all His favors.

She has conducted research on the psychology of meditation for over 25 years, including investigations on the effects of meditation on heart rate control, general well-being, spirituality, psoriasis and anxiety disorders. Her other (but related) line of research is investigating the role of spirituality in adjustment to serious medical illness. A recently published randomized intervention study documented benefits of a very brief physician-delivered spirituality intervention offered to cancer patients on quality of life, emotional well-being, and satisfaction with care. Current work is investigating how religious and spiritual resources, from the patient’s perspective, may help in adjusting to cancer. Matter&Beyond spoke with her on her research.

Matter&Beyond: Dr. Kristeller, you are doing research on the spirituality of cancer patients. You also developed an intervention technique called OASIS that could benefit the patients who are going through spiritual struggles. What was your starting point for this project?

The OASIS Project stands for Oncology Assisted Spirituality and Intervention Study. In this project, we were exploring how individuals draw on their spiritual and religious resources to deal with having a cancer diagnosis. The other question was how physicians perceived that aspect of their patients’ resources and whether they felt it was appropriate to bring it up in the medical environment. First we went out and actually asked physicians what they thought about the role of patients’ spirituality in dealing with cancer. We actually got back a very positive response. Substantial proportion of the physicians actually felt that it was helpful to their patients; it was something that was valuable to engage within the medical environment.

M&B: Were they able to address the spiritual dimensions of the patients?

What we found out was that they didn’t know how to do that. They were afraid if they brought it up, their patients might get upset with them and they’d be triggering off a reaction perhaps that would require so much time and effort on their part to explore with their patients that it just wasn’t practical. So when we found that out from the physicians we decided that we would systematically look at that from that patient’s side.

What we heard from patients was that they also wished to bring it up in the medical environment but they felt that the physicians wouldn’t want to and that they would bring it up if the physicians asked about it first, and the physicians were saying they’d talk about it if the patients brought it up first. So nobody was bringing it up.

So we moved this onto the next step. What if we taught the physicians a particular approach to bringing up this issue with their patients because we couldn’t sit down and teach the patients how to do it. We decided to take a risk and teach physicians how to bring this up to their patients in a very simple way. And we found a few very brave oncologists who were willing to work with us around this and we designed literally a 5-minute patient centered way of introducing this concept.

M&B: How did you design this approach and what were its characteristics?

In a way, we’re guided by previous research on how physicians can talk to their patients about difficult topics. This is actually research that I had done previously in relation to other difficult topics like smoking and alcohol use. And what we did in those cases was we taught the physician a very neutral, gentle supportive way to introduce those issues with their patients and then we took a look at how we could use that with introducing the questions about spiritual resources. So a physician may say something like “Many patients draw on their spiritual or religious resources to deal with something like finding out they have cancer. As your physician I would like to hear more about whether that is true for you, it may or may not be, how do you feel about that?” And that very gentle open way of introducing it feels very comfortable to the physicians and it feels very comfortable to patients. And what we find again is most of the patients respond very positively to that.

M&B: What if the answer is no and they are not interested in talking about spirituality?

We also taught physicians that if the response they get back from a patient is something like “oh no, I’m not religious or I don’t want to talk about that,” how they should respond to that. They should say something like “really what I’m concerned about is how you’re dealing with this and I’d like to hear more about that. Is that ok?” And that shifts it just a little bit. But for about 90% of the patients, they really open up and they are responsive and they start to talk about it and if they are a little hesitant we then teach the physicians how to draw them out a little bit more. Very simply saying, “Tell me more about that. I’d like to hear more about that. Are there any problems you’re having around that? Who else can you talk to about this?” It’s very important. So being encouraging and thanking them for having the courage to share their feelings with the physician. Asking them a little bit more about how they draw on a sense of inner meaning and peace, because we’ve identified that in research as one of the key elements for moving to a different level of coping with cancer.

To our surprise this actually worked very, very well. What we found was that patients have appreciated it. Over 50% of them actually told us after the fact that they had found that conversation helpful to them in dealing better. And about a month after this very brief exploration, they actually said that they were feeling less depressed and they were coping better in comparison to patients from the very same physicians who didn’t get this, who just go their usual appointment. So we’ve been continuing to work on this line of research to deepen it and to expand it at this point.

M&B: You also discuss that a small number of patients are coping in a negative way with spirituality. How does it happen?

Our research and research from some other groups, for example Harold Koenig’s work at Duke, is systematically coming up with a pattern that shows that individuals who feel angry at God, who feel that they’re being punished by having cancer are not doing very well.

Most people feel that at some point. But what I’m talking about is a sort of enduring ongoing struggle around this. And what we find is individuals who are really caught in that struggle in fact are doing very poorly. They are more depressed, and their relationships are not going as well. We don’t have any evidence at this point to show that it actually affects the course of their disease. That would be a challenging kind of study to take on and we haven’t been able to do that. But certainly it’s affecting their inner struggle and their inner well-being. What we encourage physicians to do if they realize that one of their patients is struggling at that level is to encourage the individual to find somebody else to talk to, maybe a Chaplain for example from the medical environment. We really encourage them to look to that and to try to provide those resources and not take that on themselves.

M&B: Maybe it is difficult to estimate how the constant spiritual struggles affect recovery time, but maybe it is easier to estimate how it affects the quality of life.

The individuals caught up in that struggle have a poorer quality of life in general and the research again is pretty consistent in that. And of course it would be naïve to say that you just turn that off. If somebody is struggling in these deep personal issues, they deserve to be recognized and I think we have to assist the individual to find some way to talk to people in their own personal circle of friends, family, religious community about how to deal with them.

M&B: Regarding spiritual intervention, what is the general opinion of the medical community? Is there a growing interest?

I think we are just shedding some light on this. Given how positively the patients respond to even just 5 minutes, I think that there is a growing awareness that there can be a role for this. Within the care of the whole patient, when you shift into the perspective that the spiritual and religious resources people bring to a medical crisis are actually tremendously valuable, and the more they can bring those to the crisis the better they’re going to be doing then. I feel that that defines within the medical environment in a different way.

One of the issues that often physicians would bring up with us is “I don’t know if I have the same beliefs as my patient does” and “if I don’t have the same beliefs maybe it’s not appropriate to bring this up.” And one of the things we do in our training is to work with them around that. Saying you know it isn’t about the beliefs that you have and whether they match your patients. It’s about listening to your patient; it’s about hearing the underlying feelings and meaning that the patient has.

M&B: In terms of spiritual response to cancer, do you see people going through a spiritual transformation?

Let me give you a little bit of frame on that. We’re funded on the Spiritual Transformation Project. When you think of spiritual transformation you’re actually thinking about a real shift in people’s beliefs and people’s sense of themselves as a religious or spiritual person, their relationship to God, or their sense of relationship to God. We’ve compared our data to data that’s been collected on AIDS patients in Miami. Something like half of the AIDS patients communicated that spiritual transformation happened to them. We had 2 out of 100 cancer patients relate that level of change occurred.

M&B: Fifty percent compared to two percent. That is a huge difference. What is your explanation for that?

A couple of reasons I think, one is that even though cancer is a very frightening disease, it’s nowhere near as frightening as AIDS. The prognosis is much better in truth. The other is that the AIDS patients were really people who were struggling with their lives in general. Most of our cancer patients have really quite well-functioning lives. They’re already members of religious community. They don’t need a transformation. They just need to deepen or engage that religious support more fully or the spiritual side of themselves. So, one of the issues is that transformation isn’t necessary, it isn’t needed for this. Engagement though is what we’re talking about.

M&B: What are the fundamental difficulties in doing research on spirituality?

One of the things that is so challenging about this area is trying to measure, trying to capture very elusive concepts and do it in a way where we can systematically identify them, where we can frankly put some numbers to them. So we can compare individuals, so we can look at the effect, for example, of a stressful life event on something like spirituality. So, one of the other lines of work we’ve been doing here is to develop the framework for measuring what we call religious and spiritual engagement, and it’s very challenging to do that. Within Psychology, there’s a long tradition of trying to capture these psychological processes, something like depression or fear. And we have lots of different measuring tools.

M&B: Is there a widely accepted measure of spirituality and religious participation among the healthcare and medical research community?

When we started working in this area, what we discovered were a couple of hundred different scales to measure what people called religious and spiritual involvement. But most of them had been developed in very small groups of individuals, they hadn’t been put into a larger theoretical model and we knew there were probably not hundreds of different dimensions but we didn’t know whether there were 2 or 4 or 5 or 10 and one of the projects we’ve done here is to identify using a group of these measures that seem to capture different aspects of spiritual and religious involvement like belief, compassion, like sense of growing within oneself. As in mystical experiences, we’ve had several of these projects where we’ve given this set of measures actually over almost a couple of thousand people at this point.

Another dimension is interestingly their willingness to tolerate questions about their beliefs and their spiritual well being. Tolerating those questions seems to be a separate and important element that is linked into doing better, to growing more. Mystical experience is a separate dimension so someone who has a mystical experience may or may not be strong in their belief system. Having that may shift that strength but it’s somewhat separate.

We focused on several dimensions. One of the 5 or 6 dimensions is what we call spiritual struggle and that is a separate dimension and again people might be high or low on their strength of their beliefs. If that dimension is strong or high, you do see a lot of distress not only in that part of the person’s life but often in other areas of their life.

M&B: People often think that hope, love, and compassion are the indicators of spirituality. But you are giving other dimensions as toleration to questions or having a mystical experience etc. Do you choose them because they are easier to analyze?

That’s a very good question. It’s very important to include as a part of someone’s total spiritual well being their ability to feel compassion towards others; their ability to feel hope. One of the challenges now in this area is to understand those dimensions in and of themselves and I see them more as overlapping with spirituality rather than defining it. And I say that partly because there are many people who feel that they are not religious or spiritual perhaps, but they certainly have the ability to feel hope and they have the ability to be compassionate toward other people in their lives. From the perspective of Psychology, we don’t have the answers to this yet but we’re applying tools out of Psychology that we’ve used in other areas of understanding human emotions, personality, and patterns to try to apply them within this arena of understanding something as complex as religion and spirituality.

M&B: You are using tools from both religion and psychology. Are psychologists generally interested in spiritual experiences?

Well. William James who is considered one of the founders of Contemporary Psychology in the 1800s wrote the Varieties of Religious Experience. And he wrote that from a very sophisticated perspective where he said we really do need to look at some of the universal aspects of religious or spiritual experience. At the time he didn’t really have the tools to do that but he introduced the discourse around the value of doing that, the value of understanding those very human experiences from a psychological perspective. And it began with a respect for those experiences rather than discounting them. And I think that that is a very important distinction.

In contrast, when some of the thinking that came out of the Psychoanalytic Schools and particularly Freudian theory tended to pathologize those experiences considering them as an anomaly or like a sickness. In fact one of the differences between Freudian thinking and Jungian thinking was the discounting of those experiences as regressive and pathological. It is an aspect of human experience that could tremendously contribute to the best in human nature. And if understood and cultivated in appropriate ways, this could tremendously increase people’s ability to engage with their fellow human beings to act ethically.

Original Article: Morewedge C.K. et al., Science 330, 1530 (2010).

If you’ve had a chance to visit the Fatih district in Istanbul, then you have probably seen the famous mosque called “As If I Ate” (Sanki Yedim Camii). The history of the mosque is at least as interesting as its name: Kececi Hayrettin Efendi, who lived in Istanbul in the eighteenth century, led a frugal life and used to save the money he could have used for pleasures like good food. Each time he went into a restaurant, he self-suggested “as if I ate” and assumed himself full. Years go by, and one day Kececi Hayrettin Efendi decides to count the money he saved this way. Surprisingly, he realized that he had saved enough money to build a mosque. Research conducted by Carnegie Mellon University behavioral scientists has shown that Kececi Hayrettin Efendi’s “as if I ate” approach might also be a useful way to curb one’s appetite. During the study, a group of volunteers was asked to imagine eating lots of sweets repetitively before eating as many M&Ms as they like, while a second group was asked to imagine inserting coins into a laundry machine. It turned out that the group that imagined eating sweets ended up eating significantly fewer M&Ms compared to the second group. The researchers performed the same experiment with variety of foods and showed that individuals who continually imagined eating a food many times actually ate less of the imagined food than did individuals who imagined eating that food fewer times, imagined eating a different food, or did not imagine eating any food, showing the effectiveness of the “as if I ate” approach.

2- The Brain Confirms: Learning to read knows no age limit

Original article: Dehaene S. et al., Science 330, 1359 (2010).

In this age of science and technology, education affects everyone drastically. Besides getting a better job or a higher social status, knowing how to read has important beneficial impacts on brain functions. In a new study, cognitive neuroscientists identified active regions of the brain in the event of reading. Three groups (illiterate, literate who learned reading at adulthood and literate who learned at childhood) were compared for their brain activities using functional magnetic resonance imaging. The study has not only helped to illustrate the complex neural circuitry of the brain, but has also demonstrated superior brain functions in literate groups, such as responses to visual and spoken stimuli. The real surprise of the study was that people who learned reading in their adulthood had similar brain activities compared to those who learned reading in their childhood. This suggests that literacy can impact the brain at any age. It has always been assumed that the brain becomes less flexible in aging people. Pointing out these new findings, Brian Wandell, a neuroscientist at Stanford University, emphasizes the ability of the brain to adapt and change upon acquiring the ability to read. He says, “Showing that this area is responsive to learning throughout life is a real contribution.”

3- Culturomics: Measuring culture through books

Original article: Michel J.B. et al., Science 331, 176 (2011).

A team of researchers from Harvard University and Google Books Team opened a new quantitative venue for social sciences which they named “Culturomics.” They used a gigantic data set, which was generated by digitizing over 15 million books (published between 1800 and 2008, ~12% of books ever published) in English, French, Spanish, German, Russian, Chinese, and Hebrew. The dataset includes over 500 billion words, and by using a new online tool (http://ngrams.googlelabs.com/) one can easily find out how many times a word was used throughout the last two centuries. The study elegantly demonstrates how human kind has changed in the twentieth century. For example, technological advances in the twentieth century became part of the culture almost three times faster than it used to be in the nineteenth century. On average, people became famous and lost their fame two times faster than in the nineteenth century, and the authors claim that the trend for becoming famous and losing fame will be even faster in the future, at which time “everyone will be famous for 7.5 minutes” on average. The researchers also spotted censorship in Nazi Germany by comparing books published in German and English by comparing the popularity of famous Jewish scientists and authors. It is yet too early to assume that this new approach will entirely change the way social scientists approach their problems, but it will certainly provide an unprecedented perspective into the humanities.

4- The search for extra dimensions is not pseudo-science after all

Original article: Bin-Nun A.Y. et al., Physical Review D 82, 064009 (2010).

The plausibility of co-existing dimensions beyond our 4 dimensional space (3 spatial + 1 time dimension) is nothing new. The attempt to reconcile quantum mechanics and general relativity led to the development of string theory in the late ’60s. M-Theory is a special extension of the superstring theory which predicts that there are 11 dimensions. It is posited that all elementary sub-atomic particles such as electrons and quarks are not 0-dimensional objects, but rather 1-dimensional vibrating “lines” or “strings.” These strings curl in specific patterns to form the subatomic particles, which then combine via nuclear forces to make up atoms and matter as we know it. Although the mathematical basis has long been established for string theory, it has hitherto not been tested due to the lack of observational signatures. A recent study suggests that it may be possible to observe the effects of extra dimensions after all by using supermassive black holes. Black holes, due to their immensely concentrated gravity, curve the space around them. This curvature affects even the light that passes through them. A star directly behind such a black hole may be observed as a warped or brightened astronomical source. It may even be possible to create so called “Einstein rings,” where the background star appears as a ring of light instead. The recent study argues that, if extra dimensions are not as tightly packed, the light that passes through curved space-time may exhibit anomalies which, in principle, can be detectable with very sensitive telescopes.

We certainly fail if we try to consider time as only a matter of determining the hour. It is, in fact, a dimension like depth, height and length. One reason of our difficulty in perceiving time may be caused by the fact that our optical perception is sensitive only to three dimensions, but no others. Many animals cannot comprehend the dimension of depth. Some animals see their environs in two dimensions as in pictures. We have difficulty perceiving other dimensions just as animals which see the world in two colors live without any awareness of other colors.

Humankind, with the most sophisticated aspects, has a very different and privileged position above all creation. In spite of this, we have limited sight, hearing, and other senses. Many a world that is beyond our senses remains imperceptible to us.

Another aspect of time that supports its dimensional feature is that it is in full conformity with and proportional to other dimensions. In terms of its extent, duration of events increases or decreases in parallel with spatial dimensions. Man lives for around sixty to seventy years, while microscopic animals live around one or two days. The life of the sun and the universe which constitute the macrocosmos is expressed in billions of years. On the other hand, the life of subatomic particles is expressed in billionths of a second. Thus, we assume them as being resonances. There is time reduction together with and compatible with space constriction on the sub-atomic scale, and this fact is yet another proof that time is also a dimension.

How shall we understand the other dimensions of space? What does the fourth dimension of space mean? Let alone describing, it is not easy to even imagine this.

If a is the length, a2 is the area and a3 is the volume of a thing, then what is a4? If we see space as a giant plain sheet of paper, that sheet of paper has no depth but only a surface. If we fold crumple it into the shape of a sphere, we obtain “Riemann space.” Just like we perceive the three-dimensional earth as a two-dimensional surface while we are on it, this 3-dimensional sphere made of 2-dimensional paper will be perceived as 2 dimensional by us. We can only talk about the third dimension after we generate a depth, that is, after we step outside the paper and move above and below it.

The fourth co-ordinate of space is a tunnel. Let us suppose that the universe is two-dimensional, that is, it is like a thin sheet of paper, and let us human beings be like pictures with no thickness over its surface just like the pictures on a newspaper. We are free to move in all directions on this sheet of paper. We can sense four directions. But we will never perceive the terms “up” and “down” (or “upper” and “lower”) since we will never leave the surface of this sheet of paper. Such terms will seem unacceptable to us even we are told of them. Accordingly, we will never hear of a third dimension and our vocabularies will never contain such terms as “up” and “down.”

If a three-dimensional object existed above our fictional paper realm and if this object even slit our paper realm and went away, we still would not see it in three dimensions but only the part of it intersecting our paper realm. If such a thing were a sphere, for instance, we would see its projection in a circular form. Its latitudinal sections would gradually expand starting from the poles, reach their largest on the equator line and its ring-like (circular) shape would gradually decrease and finally disappear at the other pole. That is, we would see it only as its cross section or shade. Such a three-dimensional object would seem two-dimensional to us since we would suddenly see its cross section. The sudden appearance, expansion, decrease and final vanishing of that spherical object in our two-dimensional realm would seem quite amazing to us since our shapes are fixed and immovable.

The three-dimensional shade of an extraterrestrial four-dimensional object overshadows our three-dimensional space. We see the linear tunnels in cross-section, not longitudinally, just as we see the sphere as circular. Though the sphere is a simple object, it amazes us.

Let us now imagine a more complex form. Let us, for instance, reflect the shadow of a vase onto a wall and obtain various shades by turning it repeatedly. A fixed and immovable portrait on the wall would regard the shadow and its variations reflected over the same plane with surprise and fear, since that portrait, or that person without depth, sees only what is reflected on the wall, but not us and the vase. The wall is the only realm for him and there is nothing for him beyond and behind the wall even if we say so.

We humans tend to assess events within the narrow limits of space and within certain dimensions, since we are bound within a single space–time cone. The conceptualization of space with its dimensions of height, length and depth is possible for us. However, the fourth dimension, time, is an abstract and metaphysical measure even though it is studied within physics. The tunnel thus seems to us like an incredible dimension.

Our perceptions with the five senses in the visible universe can be considered as the projections of non-physical and multi-dimensional realities (the eighteen thousand realms) to our domain. Clearly, in order to gain a better understanding of those realms, which we do not see but which we feel exist, with the help of the physics, we need to emancipate ourselves from the narrow patterns of time and space in this world of trial. We need to travel toward the horizon of spirit and develop an all-new scientific language which approaches physics and metaphysics together. Finally, we can say, in Bediüzzaman’s words, that the physical and observable universe which is the domain of research for modern physics is an ornamented curtain veiling the world of the unseen.

Osman Cakmak is a professor of chemistry at Gaziosmanpasa University, Tokat, Turkey.

Modern theories of creation are built upon quantum theory and Einstein’s theory of gravity. The question is what happened before the Big Bang? Einstein’s equations break down at the enormously small distances and large energies found at the universe’s origin. At distances 10-33cm, quantum effects take over from Einstein’s theory. For questions involving the beginning of time, one must invoke the ten-dimensional theory. The Big Bang probably originated in the breakdown of the original ten-dimensional universe into a four- and six-dimensional universe. Therefore, the history of the Big Bang represents the breakup of previously unified symmetries, and the split universe was no longer symmetrical. Six dimensions have curled up.

Quantum physics abolishes time close to the Big Bang. How did the universe come into existence? Why does time vanish in the black hole? Did time exist before the universe came into being? These questions and realities point to the existence of a Creator.

Unfortunately, quantum theory and Einstein’s theory of gravity are mutually incompatible. In this new millennium, superstring theory, or simply string theory, resolves this tension. Three particle theorists (Yoichiro Nambu, Leonard Susskind, and Holger Nielsen) independently realized that the dual theories developed in 1968 to describe the particle spectrum also describe the quantum mechanics of an oscillating string. This marks the official birth of string theory in 1970, according to which the marriage of the laws of the large and the small is not only happy but also inevitable. Brian Greene writes in his The Elegant Universe: String theory has the inherent capability to show that all of the astonishing happenings in the universe”from the frenzied dance of subatomic quarks (components of protons or neutrons) to the stately dance of orbiting binary stars, from the primordial fireball of the big bang to the majestic whirl of celestial galaxies”are reflections of one grand physical principle, one master equation.

Fundamental forces

During the past hundred years, physicists have proven the existence of four fundamental forces in nature: Gravitational force, electromagnetic force, the weak force, and the strong force. Gravity, the most familiar force, keeps Earth revolving around the sun and our feet planted firmly on the ground. Electromagnetic force, the next most familiar force, is the driving force for such things as lights, TVs, computers, and telephones.

The strong nuclear and weak nuclear forces are less familiar, because they operate in the atom’s nucleus. The strong force (mediated by gluons) keeps quarks glued together inside protons and neutrons, and keeps protons and neutrons tightly crammed together inside atomic nuclei. The weak force (mediated by W and Z particles) determines the radioactive decay of such radioactive materials as uranium, plutonium, and tritium.

Gravitational force is mediated by graviton (the concept of graviton was introduced in 1974), photons for the electromagnetic force (a photon is the smallest EM force or the smallest packet of energy for light). In Einstein’s day, the strong and weak forces were unknown. For 30 years Einstein sought to unify the two distinct forces of gravity and electromagnetism.

String theory

Matter is composed of atoms, which in turn are made of nucleons (protons and neutrons in the nucleus) and electrons orbiting around the nucleus. Nucleons are made of three quarks each. Quarks are made of string. According to the standard model of particle physics, the universe’s elementary constituents are point-like ingredients with no internal structure. However, this standard model cannot be a complete theory, for it does not include gravity. But according to string theory, atomic and subatomic particles are not point-like; rather, they consist of tiny one-dimensional filaments somewhat like infinitely thin rubber bands. Physicists call these vibrating, oscillating, and dancing filaments strings.

String theory takes its name from this point of view. Unlike an ordinary piece of string, which itself is composed of molecules and atoms, the strings of string theory are alleged to lie deeply within the heart of matter. They are so small”on average about as long the Planck length (10-33 cm, or about 100 billion billion [1020] times smaller than an atomic nucleus)”that they appear point-like even when examined with our most powerful equipment. String theory offers a far fuller and more satisfying explanation than that of the standard model.

Moreover, this theory shows the harmonious union of general relativity and quantum mechanics”a major success. In this new millennium, the excitement in the physics community is that string theory may provide the unified theory of all four forces and all matter. For this reason, string theory sometimes is described as possibly being the theory of everything.

String theory proclaims that the observed particle properties (i.e., mass, charge, and spin) are reflections of a string’s various vibrations. Each preferred pattern of a string’s vibration in string theory appears as a particle whose mass and force charges are determined by the string’s oscillatory pattern. All fundamental particles can be described as resonant patterns of these string vibrations. There is even a mode describing the graviton. The same idea applies to the forces of nature as well. Hence everything, all matter and all forces, is unified under the microscopic string oscillations”the notes that strings can play.

Extra Dimensions

Our universe has three spatial dimensions: length, width, and height. In formulating the general theory of relativity, Einstein showed that time is another dimension. According to the general theory of relativity, space and time communicate the gravitational force through their curvature. The special theory of relativity is Einstein’s law of space and time in the absence of gravity.

In 1919, the mathematician Theodor Kaluza unified Maxwell’s electromagnetism and Einstein’s theory of general relativity by adding a fifth dimension. Thus Kaluza was the one who suggested that the universe might have more than three spatial dimensions.

For example, a garden hose viewed from a long distance looks like a one-dimensional object. When looked at closely, a second dimension, one shaped like a circle and curled around the hose, becomes visible. The direction along the hose’s length is long, extended, and easily visible. The direction circling around its thickness is short, curled up, and harder to see. Hence spatial dimensions are of two types: large, extended, and therefore directly evident, or small, curled up, and far harder to detect. As for the garden hose, the curled-up dimension encircling its thickness is detected either moving closer to the hose or using a pair of binoculars from a distance. If the hose is as thin as a hair or a capillary, its curled-up dimension is more difficult to detect.

In 1926, the mathematician Oskar Klein applied Kaluza’s theory to quantum theory, which is used in modern string theory. Klein showed that our universe’s spatial fabric may have both extended (the three spatial dimensions of daily experience) and curled-up dimensions. The universe’s additional dimensions are tightly curled up into a tiny space, a space so tiny that it has so far eluded detection. These extra dimensions are believed to be minuscule, somewhere between 10-35 meters and 0.3 millimeters in size.

The equations of string theory show that the universe has nine space dimensions and one time dimension. At present, no one knows why the three space and one time dimensions are large and extended, while all of the others are tiny and curled up.

Supersymmetry

Symmetry is a physical system property that does not change when the system is transformed. For example, a sphere is rotationally symmetrical, since its appearance does not change if it is rotated.

In 1971, supersymmetry was invented in two contexts at once: in ordinary particle field theory and as a consequence of introducing fermions into string theory. It holds the promise of resolving many problems in particle theory, but requires equal numbers of fermions and bosons. Thus, it cannot be an exact symmetry of Nature.

Supersymmetry, a mathematical transformation, is a symmetry principle that relates a particle’s properties of a whole number amount (integer) of spin (bosons) to those with half a whole (half-integer or odd) number amount of spin (fermions). Bosons tend to be the mediators of fundamental forces, while fermions make up the matter experiencing these forces. Bosons can occupy the same space and have an integral spin (0,1, .), while fermions cannot occupy the same space and have a half-integral spin ( 1/2, 3/2,.). Bosons transmit such forces as photons, gravitons, W and Z particles, mesons, and gluons. Many bosons can occupy the same state at the same time. Fermions (e.g., electrons, muons, tau, protons, neutrons, quarks, and neutrinos) cannot share a given state at a given time with other fermions. The fact that fermions make up matter explains why we cannot walk through walls: the inability of fermions (matter) to share the same space the way bosons (particles of force or energy) can.

Supersymmetry treats all particles of the same mass as different varieties of the same superparticle. This means that there is an equal matching between bosons and fermions. A supersymmetric string theory is called a superstring theory. The original string theory only described bosons, and hence became known as bosonic string theory (BST). Thus it did not describe fermions or, for example, include quarks and electrons.

Introducing supersymmetry to BST engendered a new theory that describes both the forces and the matter making up the universe: the theory of superstrings. String theorists have shown that all string theories are different aspects of a string theory that has not 10 but 11 spatial dimensions. This was called M-theory. The M might stand for the mother of all theories or mystery, magic, matrix, or membrane. The last two refer to mathematical techniques used in science. There is no space or time in M Theory. Furthermore, our space-time is not four-dimensional after all. M theory unites the four forces of nature (e.g., gravity, quantum mechanics, strong force, and weak force) and, remarkably, is a mathematical and geometrical theory. It is attractive because it can explain gravity and an atom’s inside at the same time and thus resolve the contradiction between current theories.

Summary and Conclusions

String theory gives a theoretical description of elementary particles and treats them as one-dimensional curves (strings). Traditional models of interactions between elementary particles are based on quantum field theory, which treats particles as dimensionless points. Theoretical physicists have not developed a workable theory of gravitation that is consistent with quantum mechanics’ principles.

However, treating elementary particles as strings permits the derivation of a quantum theory that encompasses all four forces. Superstring theory, a combination of string theory and supersymmetry, treats particles as very short (10-33 cm along its single dimension, which is 1020 smaller than a proton’s diameter) closed strings (string loops). All of the masses, charges, and other properties of elementary particles result from the vibration of these superstrings at different frequencies. The complex mathematical basis of superstrings involves 10 dimensions: 9 spatial dimensions, 6 of which are invisible, and time. Since superstring theory provides a unified description of all elementary particles and fundamental forces, it is sometimes called the theory of everything.

Some major unsolved problems of string theory are how to condense, 10 dimensions to 6 (spatial) plus 4 (space and time) dimensions, and what is happening at distances smaller than 10-33 cm. In addition, the experimental verification of the existence of strings in the near future poses quite a challenge. Since they are thought to be less than a billionth of a billionth the size of an atom, we cannot use current technology to detect them directly. An indirect test, however, will be carried out within the next decade or so by the Large Hadron Collider, a huge atom smasher being built by CERN (European Organization for Nuclear Research, located in Geneva, Switzerland). There also is an urgent need to develop new mathematics in areas of Riemann surfaces, algebraic geometry, singular geometries, number theory, and other related fields. 

Footnotes

1. K stands for Kelvin, a measurement of degree relating to, conforming to, or having a thermometric scale on which the unit of measurement equals the centigrade degree and according to which absolute zero is 0A , the equivalent of “273.16A C.

References

• Adams, Steve. A Theory of Everything. New Scientist 161 (20 Feb. 1999).
• Arkani-Hamed, Nima et al. The Universe’s Unseen Dimensions. Scientific American 283 (Aug. 2000): 62-69.
• Davies, P. C. W. and Julian Brown, Eds. Superstrings: A Theory of Everything? Cambridge, UK and New York: Cambridge University Press, 1988.
• Duff, Michael J. The Theory Formerly Known as Strings. Scientific American 278, (Feb. 1998): 64-69.
• Green, Michael M., John H. Schwarz, and Edward Witten. Superstring Theory. 2 vols. Cambridge, UK and New York: Cambridge University Press, 1987.
• Greene, Brian. The Elegant Universe. New York: W. W. Norton, 1999.
• Gribbin, John R. The Search for Superstrings, Symmetry, and the Theory of Everything. Boston: Little, Brown Co., 1998.
• Kaku, Michio. Hyperspace: A Scientific Odyssey through Parallel Universes, Time Warps, and the Tenth Dimension. New York: Oxford University Press, 1994.
• Mukhi, Sunil. The Theory of Strings: An Introduction. Current Science 77 (25 Dec. 1999): 1624-34.
• Peat, David F. Superstring and the Search for the Theory of Everything. Chicago: Contemporary Books, 1988.
• Polchinski, Joseph G. String Theory. 2 vols. Cambridge, UK and New York: Cambridge University Press, 1998.

Abstract: Appadurai’s work offers a very critical and deep analysis of modernity and globalization. He believes that no single theory can describe modernity’s complexity, for he believes that a theory cannot be universalistic, and because societies are much messier than our theories about them. His focus is more on globalization’s cultural dimensions, as opposed to its economic ones. In addition, he looks at globalization in terms of homogenization and heterogenization, for migration and media create both sameness and difference in today’s globalized world. Migrating people and media, particularly television, produce different cultural spheres in different countries. As a result, he looks for irregularities as much as he looks for regularities in the modern or postmodern social world.

Modernity at Large: Cultural Dimensions of Globalization

In Modernity at Large: Cultural Dimensions of Globalization, Appadurai examines new dimensions of globalization, particularly cultural ones. He argues that few theories describe modernity, and that all of them either declare or desire universal applicability. Looking at modernity and globalization from a historical context, he argues that modernity was very much a product of the Enlightenment. However, he is not convinced that the Enlightenment created modernity and made people wish to become modern (p. 1).

Modernism originated in the late-sixteenth century after the rise of capitalism. However, it is not limited to economic dimensions, for it also contains cultural and political ones. Becoming more visible after the Industrial Revolution, modernism eventually became the dominant culture of the West and then of the world.

The understanding and theorizing associated with modernity is very much a part of Western social science, for it was shaped by such leading Western social scientists as Karl Marx (d. 1883), Auguste Comte (d. 1857), Max Weber (d. 1961), and Emile Durkeim (d. 1917). Appadurai sees Western social science as problematic, for it reinforces the sense of a single moment (which he calls the modern moment) serving as a dramatic and unparalleled break between past and present. Western social science has focused on categorizing and typologizing traditional and modern societies, practices that Appadurai argues distort the meanings of change and the past, and assumes that the Western experience of modernity is universal.

Modernity, however, is irregularly self-conscious and unevenly experienced in different parts of the world. This causes Appadurai to disagree with modernization theory’s identification of societies as modern vs. traditional, urban vs. rural, small family vs. large family, and so on, for he sees irregularities within so-called modern and traditional societies. He claims that modernity is experienced differently over space and throughout time. For instance, such modern metropolitan cities as Mexico City, Sao Paulo, and Cairo experience modernity and tradition simultaneously. The same is true of Germany, the United States, or any other modern state in which both traditional and modern ways of life are practiced at the same time in different parts these countries.

Appadurai thinks that the media and population migration are the most important factors defining today’s global world. He explores their joint effect on the work of the imagination, as a constitutive feature of modern subjectivity. Both media and migration create specific irregularities. For example, he analyzes both print and electronic media, while claiming that electronic media, especially television, has been much more influential in terms of modifying cultural spaces and cultural worlds: Electronic media give a new twist to the environment within which the modern and the global often appear as flip sides of the same coin (p. 44). He believes that the electronic media’s ability to transform the sense of distance between viewer and event transforms everyday discourse. It also shapes and reshapes society and the self in all different types of societies and people.

Migration is the second constitutive force. This is not limited to moving or migrating people; rather, he includes within this concept a process of transporting ideas, values, life styles, and everyday lives from the home of origin. As he puts it: When the story of mass-migration is juxtaposed with the rapid flow of mass-mediated images, scripts, and sensations, we have a new order of instability in the production of modern subjectivities (p. 44).

Migrants create diasporic public spheres that confound theories that depend on the continued salience of the nation“state as key arbiter of important social changes (p. 4). For instance, Turkish guest workers in Germany watch Turkish movies and gather together to celebrate religious and traditional festivals. This is an irregularity in modern German society, as different cultural groups lead everyday lives that have nothing to do the dominant culture of the country in which they live.

When discussing migration, one must realize that the young or new generation are the agents of social challenge and change, not the elderly. The new generation experiences and pushes new ways of life, and is people’s minds migrate along with their bodies and produce change.

Appadurai considers globalization as both cultural homogenization and, at the same time, cultural heterogenization (p. 32). He urges us to think of the new global cultural economy in terms of complexity, overlap, and disorder. Moreover, he is unsure if existing center-periphery models can address such complexity and irregularity. Nor is he convinced that traditional models, such as the pull“push migration model or surpluses and deficits, can explain the global cultural economy.

Therefore, he proposes a new framework for understanding the new global cultural economy’s complexity and messiness. This consists of five dimensions of global cultural flows: ethnoscapes, mediascapes, techno-scapes, financescapes, and ideocapes (p. 33). He uses the suffix -scape to point out the fluid and irregular shapes of landscapes. These deeply perspectival constructs are inflected by nation-states, multinationals, diasporic communities, as well as religious, political, and economic groupings and movements confronting such groups as neighborhoods and families.

I am not going to discuss each cultural landscape. Suffice it to say, as Appadurai asserts, that these cultural landscapes are the building blocks for imagined worlds. He quotes this from Anderson’s discussion of imagined communities. These worlds are socially and historically constructed by historically situated people and social groups all over the globe.

Appadurai disagrees with the idea that goods and services end in consumption. Calling it an illusion, he urges us to re-situate consumption in time and place. He especially focuses on history, periodicity, process, and how demand is produced and consumption is achieved. How do people make their preferences? How is demand produced?

Although people seemingly make free choices in their everyday lives, their choices are structured through the market. Everything is commodified, from food and medical care to transportation and housing, from education and leisure to body and knowledge. Everything is bought and sold in the capitalist market. Thus, it is important to know that commodities are socially constructed and humanly produced.

Expanding capitalism allowed scholars and philosophers to rework time and space. New philosophies showed social constructions of time and space. We know that they are not natural; rather, they are human constructions.

I conclude with a few words about knowledge“ relations. Appadurai proves that different cultural landscapes exist. It also is important to realize that all cultural landscapes are socially made, and that we produce those landscapes with our everyday practices, whether intentionally or unintentionally.

Landscapes, maps, and cultural spheres are social products, and their construction reflects ongoing power relations. Appadurai deals with this when discussing how Britain measured its Indian colony (e.g., census and maps) to control it. The resulting knowledge served British imperial interests, not those of India. Maps as social texts were not used for social betterment, but as tools of social control.

As a result, Appadurai urges, if we are to understand today’s cultural, economic, and political globalized world, we need to understand it in those time“ space contexts and knowledge“power relations that have shaped both its homogeneous and heterogeneous cultural, economic, and political realities

• References:
• Anderson, Benedict. Imagined Communities: Reflections on the Origin and Spread of Nationalism. London: Verso, 1983.
• Appadurai, Arjun. Modernity at Large: Cultural Dimensions of Globalization. Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press, 1998.

He is the Lord of the heavens and of the earth, and all that lies between them; He is the Lord of the Lasts. (Saffat, 37.5)

The concept of the Lord of everything is defined in this setting and within the limits of our knowledge. Since the earth, the sky and all else in between have been mentioned, a different reality or a different spatial continuum is not in question. The verse does not end there, however. A new concept is added: ‘He is the Lord of the Lasts.’

So, in addition to the earth, the sky and all in between, we have the concept of ‘Easts’. In Arabic, the plural form is used for three or more things. Therefore, God is the Lord of at least three Fasts, or of many Easts. What kind of scientific concept does this verse introduce? Before seeking an answer to this question, let us call to mind certain facts.

It is a commonplace that we conceive of space in terms of three dimensions. The existence of an object is determined by the space it occupies with respect to the dimensions of length, width and height, in addition to its position.

But is the universe composed of, and space constituted by, these three dimensions alone? Until Einstein’s Special and General Theories of Relativity, scientists believed that the universe consisted of three dimensions. The world-famous physicist, however, determined on the basis of mathematical calculations that there are more than three dimensions and that a fourth, fifth or higher number of dimensions would introduce different concepts of space.

According to Einstein, the fourth dimension is time. Time is not simply a matter of reading a clock, but a dimension of the same order as height, width and length. It is coextensive with the other dimensions. Our visual perception, however, can see in only three dimensions and no more. In fact, some organisms cannot even see the dimension of depth: lizards and snakes see the world in two dimensions, like a photograph or a movie cartoon.

Starting from this milestone of physics, we would have to conceive of spaces other than ours, and in addition to the physical space we observe in the universe at large. In these spaces, velocity is different, time is different, action is different; and so are translation, convergence and regression. This is why the concept of ‘worlds’ introduced by the Qur’an is an expression of such diverse spaces. The world of angelic beings, Heaven, Hell, and the world of spirits all lie in the domain of such spatial continua. Our difficulty in conceiving of them stems from the perceptual deficiencies of our three-dimensional habits.

Having noted this, let us now recall the final part of the verse: ‘He is the Lord of the Easts.

‘East’ is the expression of a direction, a dimension. This expression occurred for the first time in connection with the sun. The word ‘orientation’ or finding one’s bearings implies the Orient or East as the first or primary dimension. Although the expression Lord of the Easts and of the Wests occurs in many verses in the Qur’an, only the Easts are mentioned in this verse. This is why we are dwelling on this point at such length.

The point is that ‘the Easts’ are proclaimed as a set of directions, quite apart from the existents we refer to as the earth and sky. With this verse, God draws our attention to other directions and dimensions, indicating the existence of worlds and spaces composed of dimensions other than the physical world we are familiar with. In a sense, He says I am the Lord of the Easts in order to introduce the notion of infinite dimensions, which contemporary physics is just beginning to discover. But why only the Easts? Because in the definition of dimensions, the first dimension is the East, whereas the West is simply an extension of the Eastern dimension in the opposite direction. We can say that this verse clearly heralds the existence of thousands of spaces and worlds embedded in an infinite-dimensional matrix.

Many other meanings derive from the verse besides the meaning discussed above. I would like to mention two of these.

The meaning ‘births’ can also be derived indirectly from the plural mashariq. In this case the meaning points to a different scientific truth. The East, which is where the sun rises, also symbolizes the direction in which the earth moves around the sun. But, do we have only one East, or only one motion in the universe?

No. While the earth revolves around the sun within the solar system, the sun is also revolving around the Milky Way galaxy together with its family of planets. The Milky Way, in turn, is revolving around the central axis of the supergalaxy or local cluster of galaxies to which we belong. Thus, we may well speak of three different Easts.

This meaning, therefore, is also hidden within the statement ‘Lord of the Easts’ (rabbul-mashariq). The very fact that magharib (Wests) does not succeed mashariq (Easts) in this verse is a confirmation of this. We shall see while interpreting future verses that there are many statements in the Qur’an pointing to the rotation of the earth. For this reason ‘East’ in reference to the earth’s revolution is in the plural, indicating that these rotations occur at many levels.

If we take the verse from the standpoint of a direction on earth, the concept of the East differs for each location on the globe. The east of Turkey is in the east with respect to its western regions, while our east is actually west from the standpoint of Iran, which lies even further east. Therefore, the East concept is different at every point on earth, and these concepts form an ensemble of Easts. This concept geometrically defines the surface of a sphere.

Let us now reread the verse in order to discover another significant scientific observation: He is the Lord of the heavens and of the earth, and all that lies between them; He is the Lord of the Easts (Saffat, 37.5).

The heavens, as we also see from other Qur’anic verses, are very diverse spheres. So what does the expression ‘between the heavens and the earth’ mean? It is known that meteors, stars, even angels and various unknown beings, can be encountered at various levels of the sky. What are ‘those between earth and the sky’? As far as we can tell, they are invisible rays which form the basic building blocks of matter and energy. These rays, earlier lumped together under the generic term ‘cosmic rays’, are differentiated in modern physics within the broad categories of nucleons, haryons, leptons and fermions. These are the subatomic constituents of matter and energy.

With the expression ‘He is the Lord of the heavens and of the earth, and all that lies between them’ God explains that all these energetic particles and rays constitute a vast physical order subject to God’s attribute of Lordship. Modern physics has viewed these incomprehensible energy dissipations and rays with unease, almost seeing them as dangers threatening the destruction of the universe. The Qur’anic verse reveals that, on the contrary, they form a gigantic physical balance under the superintendence of God.