essay – Fountain Magazine

Reading the Media and the Universe

The Fountain — Sun, 01 May 2011 00:00:00 +0000

“If you don’t read the newspaper, you are uninformed. If you do read the newspaper, you are misinformed,” quoted Barney Zwartz from Mark Twain on April 2 at the University of Melbourne. This short quote was enough to draw laughter and an entertaining start to his speech at the “Media and Values” panel co-organized by the Australian Intercultural Society and The Fountain magazine.

The media continues to influence our lives with an ever growing capacity, for it is no longer solely in print form and thus commands a much larger potential of accessibility in a much shorter span of time and space. For many, the print edition still offers the best experience of the news but with a much smaller frequency, velocity, and flexibility. Such an influence that comes along with the amount of exposure and yet instant mutability of new media forms brings up concerns about the “values” that set the main guidelines for this power and change in media outlets. This was our main topic of discussion this past March and April in Singapore, Jakarta, Melbourne, Sydney, Kuala Lumpur, and Shah Alam. We are thankful to local organizers in these cities for their cooperation. We are especially indebted to Professor Radhi al-Mabuk from the University of Iowa and Professor Jon Pahl from The Lutheran Theological Seminary in Philadelphia, who generously spent their time with us during this tour and gave presentations in each of these cities on our behalf. You will find in this issue brief notes and photos from the “Media and Values” panels, in addition to two other The Fountain Talks events in Austin, TX and Manhattan, NY. We would like to offer our appreciation to the local organizers of these events. For more information, please visit www.fountainmagazine.com.

“An Ardent Prayer” leads the current issue. It is the prayer of a painful heart filled with sorrow for our weakness in responding to the blessings bestowed on us; a heart that is concerned with the troubles of our society and yet hopeful for the divine mercy as he prays to be treated not according to our distance from Him, rather in light of His proximity to all of His creation.

“My Treasure Jars” comes from a lifetime resident of the Appalachian Mountains. Belinda Sturgill shares with us a very thoughtful piece on what a woman, a mother, and a grandmother can leave behind as a legacy to her family, to her nation, and to humanity. This is an award-winning essay from The Fountain Essay Contest of 2010.

Our interview with Dr. Priya Natarajan from Yale University is another “treasure jar” in this issue. She describes her job as “building a story line for the universe.” Who else other than a cosmologist could dare to offer such a description of her work? Or perhaps we should put the question the other way around: who on the face of this earth does not want to learn the story line of the universe?

Beyond the Mountains

The Fountain — Sat, 01 May 2010 00:00:00 +0000

In the morning I checked everything a second time: yes, I had my razors and shaving cream, an extra shirt just in case of spilling tea, and of course lots of socks, for visiting a book fair means a lot of walking. I had prepared my power point presentations the night before, staying up until the early hours. Indeed, I was ready to take off… But I couldn’t, like thousands of other passengers because of the volcanic eruptions over the Atlantic… The last time Eyjafjallajokull had erupted was in 1821, and it lasted for thirteen months. The eruption in April has caused one of the greatest flight disruptions in aviation history. Almost all of European airspace was closed, thousands of flights were cancelled, and passengers were stranded at the terminals. The human family has covered long distances in science and technology, but one “cough” from the earth was enough to remind us how fragile we still are. Another lesson to learn from this event is that volcanic eruptions are not only what they appear to be-disasters that threaten human life; indeed, along with their reminders that we are not immortal, they also have a role to play in the overall ecosystem, especially with their effects on climate change and an increase in the resistance of fault lines.

Just as in the case of this volcanic eruption, Harold Olcese, one of the finalists in The Fountain essay contest 2009, opens a window in this issue enabling us to see the brighter side of events. His essay is an empowering one and will inspire many to survive even the seemingly most tragic of all misfortunes.

However, chaos is more catastrophic not when a volcano erupts, but when individuals and societies “breathe resentment, swallow hatred, curse all that is deemed to be an enemy with a fixed and determined passion, as if programmed for fury.” The lead article portrays the chaotic drama of persistent denial vis A vis the mystical world of faith.

We learn in this issue that mountains-despite occasional explosions of lava from volcanic ones-are indeed the “water towers of the world.” Quoting from the article, 70% of the human population depends on the water originating from the mountains.

The Matter & Beyond interview with Dr. Katherine Marshall from Berkeley Center for Religion establishes the fact that millions of people still live in misery and at extremely low standards of living. According to Marshall, this imbalance can be solved “with a revival of some of the best traditions of spirituality.”

Another mountain involved in this issue of The Fountain is the famous K2, the world’s second highest peak. Bulut reviews Three Cups of Tea, a book which sold millions of copies, written by Greg Mortenson who tried to climb this peak. However, he ended up in a village where he was inspired to write this book telling of his fantastic adventure to build schools.

Please check out the essay contest 2010 announcement at the back of this issue. “What would you do if you were told you had only 72 hours to live?” is the theme of this year’s contest organized in cooperation with Ebru TV.

The Place of Tolerance in Islam

Louima Cunningham — Sat, 01 Mar 2008 00:00:00 +0000

In the aftermath of September 11, Islam’s relation to violence and tolerance have been widely discussed. The critics have generally tried to produce a monolithic image of Islam, which is isolated from diverse and dynamic human experience. For them, Islam is responsible for terrorism conducted in its name. Scholars of Islam, both Muslims and non-Muslims, have challenged the promotion of this stereotype by emphasizing that a) Islam is not monolithic-there are many interpretations of Islam regarding time, geography and other conditions; b) the core values of Islam encourage tolerance, not violence; and c) even if violence is necessary for self-defense or resisting oppression, Islam places certain limits on the use of force. Khaled Abou El Fadl, a professor at the University of California, Los Angeles, is one of these scholars.

El Fadl’s The Place of Tolerance in Islam consists of three parts: the author’s essay on tolerance in Islam, rebuttals to the essay, and El Fadl’s reply. While emphasizing that Islam is a tolerant religion, El Fadl also acknowledges the existence of intolerant Muslims. For him, certain interpretations of Islam, particularly those of terrorists, imply a deviation from the true message of Islam. He stresses that the existence of problematic interpretations is not exclusively a characteristic of Islam. All religious texts provide rich “possibilities for meaning…[T]he text will morally enrich the reader, but only if the reader will morally enrich the text” (p. 15).

According to El Fadl, a major reason for the emergence and popularity of misleading interpretations of religions is the claim to be searching for the “pure” version of religions. Yet, by emptying the Qur’an both of its historical and moral context, the puritan trend ends up transforming the text into a long list of morally noncommittal legal commands” (p. 15). For El Fadl, the self-proclaimed Puritans, such as Osama bin Laden, who claim to “purify” Islam from traditional deviations, misunderstand and misrepresent Islam. For example, they misuse the term jihad. In Islam, war is never holy; it is justifiable or not. Contrary to what the Puritans claim, “the highest form of jihad is struggle waged to cleanse oneself from the vices of heart” (p. 19). Nevertheless, since there is a vacuum of religious authority in Islam, the marginal puritans, may find followers.

The puritan Muslims, El Fadl notes, are intolerant of other religions. That view is against the message of the Qur’an, which says,

“Those who believe, those who follow Jewish scriptures, the Christians, the Sabians, and any who believe in God and the Final Day, and do good, all shall have their reward with their Lord and they will not come to fear or grief” (5: 69, 2: 62).

El Fadl argues that the true message of Islam is open to diversity and tolerance. There is no compulsion in matters of faith in Islam. He refers again to the Quran:

“To each of you God has prescribed a Law and a Way. If God would have willed, He would have made you a single people. But God’s purpose is to test you in what he has given each of you, so strive in the pursuit of virtue, and know that you will all return to God, and He will resolve all the matters in which you disagree” (5: 49).

The rebuttals to El Fadl’s essay are written by several well-known scholars. Two of their critiques are worth mentioning. First, some critics argue that terror can only be explained by socio-economic reasons and El Fadl’s theological discussion is therefore pointless. Second, some other critics also find the theological debate irrelevant, since the real cause of terrorism in the Middle East is historically Western colonialism and currently Western domination in this region. In his “Reply,” El Fadl emphasizes that, although socio-economic conditions are also important, theology is crucial, since Islam “remains central to the dynamics of public legitimacy and cultural meaning” in many Muslim countries. In this regard, a critical view of theology is needed to search for solutions to the socio-political problems of Muslim societies. He also adds that simply blaming the West does not contribute anything to the solution. Muslims should preserve and respect the real message of Islam, even though they have been oppressed by colonizers. Muslims, El Fadl concludes, should avoid political myopia or losing the moral ground by embracing an intolerant interpretation of their religion. Instead, they must go back to the real message of Islam, which calls for tolerance and respects religious diversity.

Results of Writing Competition

The Fountain — Fri, 01 Jul 1994 00:00:00 +0000

As our readers remember THE FOUNTAIN announced in its third and fourth issues a WRITING COMPETITION –The Islamic approach to the modern science,natural,social,and, applied. We invited our readers to reflect on the meaning and final end of the meaning and final end of the world around us with its wonderful variety and usefulness.

It is really pleasing for us that,although THE FOUNTAIN is a new,humble voice among many of its counterparts,we had more entries than expected.

The topic we asked you to address was,we acknowledge,not a simple one. It required deep research ,scholarship,reflection and discernment.

The response showed how scholarly ,expressive and analyctical our readership . Almost all entries were informative,well written and thoroughly researched. It was clear that the writers came from a variety of backgrounds and academic fields. Each entry showing great individuality.

It was extremely difficult to make a preference between such thoughtful essays. We hope our readers and venerable participants will excuse us for having to make a choice from among so many exceptional pieces of work. it goes without saying that any evaluation depends upon the scope of the jury. We do not claim that our jury is infallible or even that they are the most authoritative people on the subject,but we can assure our readers that their judgements are fair and as reliable as possible.

The competitors were expected to compese their reflections into a concise,well-designed essay without going into great detail. They should have concentrated on the quality of science and scientific knowledge,offered a short historical analysis of Muslims`attitude toward science and critically assessed the Western approach to science including mechanistic,materialistic and the “most modern”trends which have been shaped by the latest developments in`Atomic or Quantum physics`. Any critical analysis should have been made from the Islamic perspective. Issues may have included the falsity of western scientism,the excessive role apportioned to science in shaping our minds,the true recognition and comprehension of things and events,and the restriction and inadequacy of human knowledge and efforts.

The Islamic perspective stresses the following points:

-The vicegerency of man on the earth;

-The factors which give man preference over the angels and the meaning of the “names” instructed man by God;

-The existence of two sets of Divine laws one governing the universe which, is the subject matter of sciences; and other governing man’s ‘religious’ life;

-Deductive and inductive reasoning and the fact that Islam lays emphasis on the truths beyond man’s limited senses-the invisible existence and realities-emanating from the principles of faith like belief in the Hereafter,angles and the Unseen World.

-The apparent law of ‘cause and effect’,which God has made a veil before His operations as a requirement of His Grandeur and Majesty;

-The nominal significance of causes and God’s direct disposal of the universe as a principle required by Divine Unity

-The apparent uniformity of the universe,which enables man to lead an earthly life; but ,by contrast,the ever-renewal of the universe by God’s ever-activity;

-Wholistic view of the universe and modern compertmantalization.

The jury,after a strict examination of the entries with respect to content,strength of argument,comprehensiveness,language and composition,declined to give a first rank to any of these essays and made the following graduation.

Second: Dr. Yamine Mermer, with her essay: An Islamic assessment of the modern approach to science.

Third: Abasi Kiyimba, with his essay titled, Modern Science: A Muslim Perspective

Fourth: Riffat Hassan, with his essay, The Islamic Approach To The Modern Sciences, Natural, Social and Applied

Fifth: Abdullatif Bello,with his essay,Islam and Modern Science: A Critique.

Upon all of us to be Gods peace,dear readers.