The second event The Fountain participated in was the Second Interfaith Conference at Sacred Heart University in Fairfield, CT, US. Aimed to be a friendly conversation among Jews, Christians, and Muslims, the conference was hosted by Fr. Anthony Ciorra of Sacred Heart University and featured speakers from the three Abrahamic faith traditions in each of two panels: “Unity and Peace through Music” and “Love and Dialogue through Literature.” It was a thoughtful event with live and recorded mystic music and where we felt the word’s power  to evoke divine beauty in some of the best works of Rumi, Tolstoy, and Dostoyevsky.

The third event was the book launching of Moon Queen by Katharine Branning. Hosted by the Turkish Cultural Center in Manhattan, Branning spoke about her motivations behind writing this novel about Mahperi Hatun, the wife of one of the most notable Turkish Seljuk Sultans. While the novel’s center is a vigorous woman and her hunger for truth, wisdom, and honor, the book unveils many historical events during a tough period in Asia Minor, when its people were being beaten by the Mongols from the east and the Crusaders from the west. It was also a time which witnessed the birth of spiritual giants like Rumi and Yunus Emre, whose rays of hope still illuminate our world.

“Hope is not a feeling,” said Fr. Ciorra of Sacred Heart University. “It is a manifestation of belief.” In this issue, the story of Hassan Fofana from Togo is one such manifestation. Inspired by the generosity of his devout parents and of the people he met after migrating to America when he was a teenager, Fofana formed a foundation connecting student-athletes in West Africa with prep schools in the United States and Europe.

Karl Marx left an indelible mark in world history with his revolutionary ideas and social theories. Two articles in this issue by Mustafa Uzun explain the foundation of Marx’s ideology, his approach to religious thought, and how his views accurately diagnosed some of our current problems but were mistaken in their solutions. Marx failed to see the hope that a broad world view offers, choosing the narrowness of ideology instead.

Lastly, Mr. Gülen’s lead article reads like a manifesto on the hope offered by education. Gülen’s entire life is living evidence of his fight against ignorance, but in this article, he lays bare the danger ignorance poses to our world – but he also finds possibility in the devoted efforts of teachers to combat ignorance. With such teachers, our hopes for the future will always be high.

A heavenly spectacle happening every 6585.32 days, lasting up to 7.5 seconds, can be seen along a track 300 kms wide but cannot be observed with the naked eye

A solar eclipse is a celestial event that takes place when the moon gets in between the earth and the sun. This event has always caught the attention of mankind since the beginning of time and has always been a matter to ponder upon. For example, why can a lunar eclipse be observed everywhere on earth under the night sky yet seeing a solar eclipse is only limited to a corridor 300 km in diameter? A solar eclipse is dependent upon two conditions: First there needs to be an intersection of a lunar orbit with the earth’s orbital plane; second the phase of the moon at the time needs to be a new moon. Because there are 12 months in a year, one would expect 12 solar eclipses, but a 5 degree difference between orbital planes makes this intersection a less frequent event. The diameter of a lunar shadow on earth during a solar eclipse is only 300 km while the shadow of the earth falls on the moon as wide as 12,000 km in diameter.

The sun and the moon, the brightest objects that are most visible to our eyes, are not hanging up there without any purpose. In addition to their many significant effects on our biological, psychological and social conditions, the sun and the moon offer us incredible reasons to be amazed not least during the eclipse when we observe from the earth their complete overlap: a star as big as almost 1.5 million km and a satellite as small as 3,500 km in diameter. The sun and the moon need to be positioned in their orbits with such a precise calculation that this enormous size difference does not get noticed during a solar eclipse by an observer on the ground. This is only possible when both the sun’s and the moon’s distances to the earth are reversely proportioned to their sizes. This fine balance is called “angular diameter” or “visual angle” by scientists. Therefore, in order for a complete solar eclipse to take place, the sun’s and the moon’s angular diameter need to be equal to each other.

If we have to explain this with mathematical expressions:

Lunar diameter / Moon-Earth distance = Solar diameter / Sun-Earth Distance

If we take numbers as below:

Lunar diameter 3,474 km, Moon-Earth distance 376,000 km, solar diameter 1,400,000 km, Sun-Earth Distance 149,000,000 km

Then we get two similar ratios:

3,474 / 376,000 = 0.009239361

1,400,000 / 149,000,000 = 0.009395973

As seen above, the ratio of the two independent and unrelated numbers turns out to be very similar to each other indicating the management of the universe through fine care, calculated fashion and wisdom. The significance of the angular diameter in this solar phenomenon is oftentimes ignored or covered not sufficiently enough in documentaries, books, and journals, whereas it offers a lot for us to ponder deeply over how the entire universe relates to our lives through many apparently irrelevant events. The sun and the moon and their eclipses are substantial reasons for awareness, appreciation and prayer, as highlighted in a Qur’anic verse:

“And the night and the day, and the sun and the moon (all the phenomena and objects you see in the universe) are among His signs (guiding to His absolute Oneness). Do not prostrate in adoration of the sun or the moon, but prostrate in adoration of God, Who has created them, if indeed it is Him that you worship.” (Fussilat 41:37)

A solar eclipse, as do all other things in our material universe, takes place in a world of causations. Yet, it takes place in such mysterious finely tuned measurements that may become a reason for divine testing, and it has been more so in the past for that matter. The Prophet Muhammad, peace be upon him, gave a warning on this issue for us not to fail this test: “The sun and the moon are two signs of God; they are not eclipsed on account of anyone’s death or on account of anyone’s birth. So when you see them, glorify and supplicate God, observe prayer, give alms.” Thus, it is important to observe the universe and use our intelligence to discover the laws operative in nature and the divine wisdom behind those seemingly supernatural events.

Why do people have to struggle with illnesses and many other hardships during their lives?

How can the All-Merciful God allow harm to be inflicted upon people and other living beings?

We are living in an amazing world undergoing constant changes. There are transformations, restorations, and renewal taking place all around us. Seasons follow one another to bring rejuvenation, the life cycles of animals and plants, water and planetary cycles take us from one condition to another. Land masses move in certain directions to join or form new lands or mountains. Change and renewal are an inescapable reality for all living things. The world is in a constant flux of states which leaves us amazed and mesmerized about it, just as much as do the changes in our social and personal lives too. Societies develop, nations transform, and individuals go through peaks and troughs There are times when we lose our job, times when we become a parent for the first time and times when a loved one passes away. There is no monotone or smooth chain of events following each other. There are always ups and downs in everything that has been pinpointed on a timeline, while some of these events may seem unpleasant to us. There are disasters, calamities and plagues occurring simultaneously alongside apparently pleasant events and miracles in the world. Deaths, separations, or calamities in peoples’ lives evoke sympathy and pity on people.

What is the role of these calamities and disasters that take place in this beautiful world? Why do people have to struggle with illness and many other problems in their lives? How do we reconcile all this change happening in the world with calamities and disasters? How can God Almighty allow harm to be inflicted upon people and other living beings?

To be able to answer these questions we need to have a better understanding of what makes something good or evil. Almost everything good in this world comes with existence and almost all bad things in this world are associated with nonexistence. Goodness, perfection, and maturity require existence of many qualities, and the existence of these qualities require changes. A steady life with no change is not an ideal form of life or living. In such a life, even the greatest pleasures will transform into absolute emptiness. Keeping this in mind, it is as if existence requires calamities, for only with calamities and problems can good things can come into existence. Rejuvenation is the arrival of good events after the departure of nonexistence.

There are many examples from nature that point to revitalization that is induced by change. Take wildfires as an example. Although wildfires damage the habitat of many inhabitants of a forest, they have many benefits as well. Wildfires are great for biodiversity. After a fire, different habitats develop in forest openings. This creates a mosaic of new habitats that encourage new species to enter the area. Wildfires can also improve the health of a forest by removing trees weakened by insects or diseases.1

Storms may sound like another destructive natural event to us but when examined closely, we realize that they are very essential to our planet’s well-being. Up to 25% of the available rainfall is provided by tropical storms. They play a crucial role in maintaining the heat balance of the earth, which is essential to the well-being of all living things. Hurricanes act like the air conditioners of the earth. It moves the cold air masses to places where rain is needed.2 After all, all these events have a purpose that work for a reason.

Human life as a natural and most intelligent participant of this world displays a similar pattern. We suffer pain, endure sorrows, and experience many unpleasant events in our lives. However, most of the time, the true nature of these events are understood only after they are over. The after-shock of events makes us realize things we did not notice before or even during the event. Sickness helps us understand our weaknesses and forces us to develop strategies rather than depending on sheer power. Only with calamities can humans refine their capabilities and talents and attain high virtues. People will recognize that they developed their understanding of their environment after times of difficulties, rather than times of comfort. To put it differently, as William Frederick Halsy, Jr. says: “There are no great people in this world, only great challenges which ordinary people rise to meet.” It is only with challenges that people are compelled to develop new solutions. If we want to advance, we have to change, voluntarily or involuntarily.

These examples are just a few of the countless events happening all around us. In fact, all sciences are the study of these amazing changes. The essential point in all these events is that true evil is the state of no change. It is only with change that we can observe the good outcomes. True evil is in idleness, stagnancy, and inactivity.

There is the well-known saying “every cloud has a silver lining,” that there is a purpose in every event. Nothing is meaningless but since people are short-sighted, they make quick decisions and reach conclusions utilizing poor judgment. Many of the developments in the world require time and consciousness to understand. We need to have a wider and more prudent look into the events. Every event is wonderful in its own way; it is almost impossible to find something meaningless in this world.

Notes

1. For more see, “Yellowstone’s Rebirth by Fire: Rising from the Ashes of the 1988 Wildfires” by Karen Wildung Reinhart, and “Fire Effects on Ecosystems” by Leonard F. DeBano, Daniel G. Neary and Peter F. Folliott.
2. “The Benefits of Hurricanes,” Time Magazine September 24, 1973.

Mosquitoes like climates with high humidity and rainfall. While a single raindrop can weigh 50 times as much as a mosquito, how can mosquitos fly and survive under what seems to be a devastating weather condition for them? Andrew Dickerson and co-workers at Georgia Institute of Technology examined the effects of falling raindrops on the flying mosquitoes using high-speed video capture and found that rain does no damage to flying mosquitoes. Upon impact with mosquitoes, the raindrops do not splash and scatter but they merely deform and hold together. This was calculated to be due to the small diameter and the velocity of the drop. On the other hand, given the relatively small mass of the mosquito, the drop does not significantly alter its speed. A partial hit on the mosquito by the falling drop causes the mosquito to rotate around its flight path. Mosquitoes were found to easily recover and resume their flight immediately after the impact. In the case of a direct hit by a raindrop, the mosquitoes were still able to literally separate themselves from the drop after traveling with the drop for a while without lethal damage and resume flight. The researchers further analyzed the impact force of the raindrops on the mosquitoes and found the direct impact to exert around 80 times the gravitational force. This is an extremely high force for larger organisms however, for mosquitoes with a very strong exoskeleton, this turned out to be a minor fraction of 1500 X g, which the researchers tested the mosquitoes and found them to be still able to fly! The outstanding resilience of such a small organism already inspired scientists to start designing very small robots that may serve as airborne search-and-rescue vehicles. But scientists are still very much limited by the basic factor of how small they can go.

What exactly happened in AD 774?

Researchers in Nagoya University of Japan have recently discovered a cosmic mystery when they were analyzing the growth rings of two cedar trees that are as old as 1200 years. All trees are known to incorporate particles from the atmosphere during photosynthesis. Carbon-14 (C14), one of the exceptional elements in the atmosphere, is generally formed by massive solar flares or by supernovae and it is present in very low percentages. Interestingly, researchers found that the cedar tree ring produced during the growth season of AD 774 had about 1.2% more C14 than in the previous years, that is about 20-times more than the usual range of 0.05%. These results indicate that some cosmic event during AD 774 generated a major influx of radiation leading an excessive amount of C14. Only a massive supernova explosion might have been strong enough to create this much radiation. However, if this was a supernova, we should either be able to catch the traces with modern telescopes, or find historic documents reporting this extraordinary cosmic event. But, we simply have no record of anything unusual happening in our skies in that period. Alternatively, a massive solar flare might have created such a radiation. In fact, 13th-century English chronicler Roger of Wendover mentions a cosmic event that could possibly be a solar flare. However, a flare with that magnitude would have been the biggest solar flare ever recorded by our sun and probably would have destroyed the Earth’s protective ozone layer leading to disastrous ecological consequences. Thus, the flare hypothesis seems also unlikely. By now, scientists are only positive that some very energetic event occurred in 774. But what exactly was it? Frankly, their guess is as good as ours.

As I gave my ears to the speakers, my mind took me all the way back to 1966. I realized that throughout the years I had witnessed many different developments without understanding what they really meant. A historical incident came to my mind: following the discovery of electricity, an exhibition was set up to present it to the public. At the exhibition, a guest asked Benjamin Franklin, “What is this new energy good for?” He replied with a question: “What is a newborn child good for?” It was obvious that human beings could not appreciate innovation very quickly. Yet, today we realize the importance and potential of this wonderful energy source.

Similarly, I had no idea that meeting Fethullah Gulen forty-three years ago would be the turning point of my life. He was a unique teacher who constantly astonished us with his extraordinary ideas. He was a person who did not limit his ideals to suggestions but acted upon them; hence, he was practicing what he taught. Gradually, I realized that his teachings, manners and unique behavior were no different to the teachings of the Holy Qur’an and the Messenger of God. In actual fact it seemed as they were a carbon copy of the Qur’anic doctrines.

Although we were aware of such Prophetic traditions as fasting on Mondays and Thursdays and also staying vigil at night, we had never witnessed anyone practicing these until we met Gulen. He would observe this Prophetic fast even in the tremendous heat of the summer in Izmir. Inspired by his total commitment to Prophetic tradition, we would hand him a list of the names of those of us who also wished to practice their faith as he did. Like an affectionate father, he would wake us up in the night so that we could perform the voluntary prayers (tahajjud) and join him at Suhoor (the pre-dawn meal to sustain us through the all-day fast). It was not easy to control the carnal self but the self-discipline and the feeling of tranquility that originated from this Prophetic tradition made it a unique experience.

During our stay at the boarding facility in Izmir, we also received additional lessons in our dorms. We were supported with supplementary classes which helped our education at local state schools. Our teachers were also experts on Islamic studies. They would work additional hours to help us with our studies, and even during lunch they would sit with us in the canteen to eat. Of course, they were all paid something for their efforts. However, Gulen was different. Salary meant nothing to him because he would spend most of it on students who were so poor that they did not even have pocket money. He refused to take any money for the additional work he did. There were times when he had given ten lessons in a day and then he took on the duty of staying at the dorm throughout the night. We were shocked to find out that he even paid for the food, electricity and water during his stay there. Talking about the notion of self-sacrifice is one thing, but witnessing it with your own eyes was an extraordinary experience which planted many new seeds in our souls.

We were amazed by the way he explained incidents that had occurred over one thousand four hundred years ago. He would explain stories about the Companions of the noble Prophet as if he had been among them at that very moment. His sermons were all about the practical interpretation of the Holy Qur’an. Everything we experienced felt like an original event. It was as if we were hearing the revelations from the Holy Qur’an for the first time in our lives. He was encouraging us to follow the example of the Prophet and his beloved Companions, and we were making the effort to do so. With every effort we made, a new door opened before us. It was as if we were entering into an entirely different realm as we tried to emulate the actions of the Companions. Eventually, there was no room for indolence or lassitude in our lives. As the famous Sufi poet Yunus Emre said, we enjoyed the gratification of being reborn with each new day.

Then came the day when we were encouraged to engage in educational activities that would benefit the whole of humanity. In all of us there was a unique sense that persuaded us to open a new era in the field of education. People who observed our dedication from outside were fascinated by our enthusiasm. One after another they came running to lend a helping hand. Students, teachers, merchants, shop owners and businessmen were all united in the goal of establishing educational facilities. Before long, private schools were established all over Turkey, followed by hundreds of schools all over the world. At the same time we started publishing educational materials, beginning with a bulletin titled Zuhur (Emergence). Eventually, this led to the establishment of magazines, journals, newspapers, radio and TV stations. These efforts, encouraged by Gulen, became so popular that a new horizon had opened before us of a global dialogue between cultures and faiths.

As dedicated volunteers of education and dialogue carried the welcoming smile of Anatolia around the globe, many sincere souls were attracted by its warmth. They began to visit Turkey, the home country of these self-sacrificing educators. Their visits were not like those of tourists. They had come to observe and understand the source of the enormous sincerity and the unique hospitality of the Anatolian people. On returning to their homelands, they explained what they had witnessed. You could see the excitement on their faces even after many months had gone by since their visit. This was another fruit of global dialogue.

As the conference continued at the Catholic University in Melbourne, my memories confirmed the significance of the work that had begun in Izmir many years before. Speakers constantly emphasized the praiseworthy efforts of these extraordinary educators and champions of dialogue. Silently, I said to myself, “What a great distance has been covered.”

One of the speakers was Orhan Cicek, Executive Advisor of the Australian Intercultural Society. He stressed that this conference was a great opportunity to strengthen Muslim–Christian relations. He said that this event, in which prominent academics from Australia and overseas were explaining their views and suggestions in relation to the vision of Gulen, was also paving the way to strengthen the multicultural structure and harmony of Australian society. He concluded with a wish that the event would become an important step towards cooperation that would attend to the common problems of humanity.

It was a wonderful event that gathered academics from Australia, Turkey, the United States of America, the United Kingdom, Germany, Austria and Indonesia. The conference dealt with the different aspects of the Gulen Movement and its practical approach to intercultural and interfaith dialogue.

During my visit to Australia, I also had the pleasure of meeting Barney Zwartz, a renown columnist from one of Australia’s biggest newspapers. In our conversation, he asked me about the future of this education and dialogue movement. He wondered how far it would go. I explained that we wished to reach every human being in the world and become true friends with them. He smiled and asked if such a dream was possible. I replied with an analogy. I said there is a story about an ant that decided to make the holy pilgrimage to Mecca. When they asked him, “How do you plan to reach Mecca with those tiny feet of yours?” the ant answered, “I am aware of the fact that I will never get there, but the least I can do is to die on the way.” On hearing this, Barney asked me, “Can I be your baggage?”

Abdullah Aymaz is an author of numerous books in Turkish. He is also a columnist at Zaman, a leading newspaper in Turkey.

Note

1. On 21 July 2009, Barney Zwartz article analyzing the Gulen movement appeared in The Age newspaper.

When the sky is cleft asunder; And when the planets are dispersed, and when the oceans are poured forth. (Infitar 82:1-3)

The events that are to occur on the Day of Judgment are clearly depicted in the Qur’an. The relevant verses emphasize that the Day of Judgment is not an ending that will only involve the Earth, but one which will also incorporate other planets on a universal scale.

Insofar as causes are concerned, what could be the force that will be able to disperse a robust system, rendering all forces including gravity obsolete and forcing planets and stars out of their orbits?

The following verses seem to imply that this force will also affect “lustrous” heavenly bodies:

When the sun is folded up, and when the stars fall losing their luster; and when the mountains are set moving. (Takwir 81:1-3)

For the word kuwwirat (folded up) in the verse “When the sun is folded up,” the famous scholar Fakhreddin Razi, in concordance with a narration from the third Caliph Umar, interprets this word to mean “to darken by expunging light.” Now, how could Divine Predestination operate on the physical world, in the folding and collection of light? In the past few years, scientists have been pondering the possibility of the gravitational power of black holes in accomplishing such a role. As we know, even light, alongside matter, cannot resist the irrepressible gravitation of the black hole.

The events depicted in the verses given above may be, with the will of the Creator, dependent on the gravitational power of black holes.

It is a fact that we’re sitting on a sphere of fire, as we speak, and the gases that constitute the atmosphere are held above the Earth by the force of gravity. With the impact of the strong force of gravity however, the air we breathe will be the first thing to vanish from the Earth’s atmosphere. Thus, with the disappearance of external pressure on such an occasion, internal pressure will gain ascendance in all creatures, who are composed predominantly of water (70%), causing them to shatter into pieces.

Along with other planets, the gravitational bonds of billions of stars (asteroids, meteors and comets) found on the two asteroid zones of the Solar System, all of which are sustained by Divine Power, will perhaps be torn apart with the force of black holes.

The geometrical gravity balances could perhaps also play a role in setting the Day of Judgment in motion. As can be observed in the General Theory of Relativity, the space-time levelness of the universe could, to quote the Qur’an, be folded and scrunched akin to a piece of paper, in which case, the stars, having been moved out of their places, will plummet from their positions.

Similar to how a cloth or net is elongated or pulled down under the impact of heavy objects, the universe (the net of space-time) will also stretch and yield, and in fact rip and crack, or more precisely be punctured, from the dense objects placed inside it, that is the black holes. The puncture, in this case, denotes the invalidation of physical laws.

It can be assumed that the black holes, placed at the center of the universe, will gradually expand, until the entire galaxy virtually becomes a black hole, and with the unification of every black hole, the whole universe will effectively be rendered a black hole itself.

When the camel goes through the eye of the needle…

Those who deny our revelations and scorn them, for them the gates of heaven will not be opened nor will they enter the Garden until the camel goes through the eye of the needle. Such is how we penalize the guilty! (A’raf 7:40)

A camel going through the eye of a needle calls to mind how the universal bodies will be passed through the singularity, the tiny openings of black holes. This comparison is reminiscent of how a giant sphere that comes within the swallowing vicinity of the black hole, may become stretched out to the point of becoming a virtual string, eventually becoming ingested by an object much smaller than itself.

A star, hundreds of thousands times bigger than the sun, could be reduced to the head of a needle once it begins to be warped by the black holes, phenomena in which space and time themselves are compelled to twist and turn.

The central area where the gravity force of the black hole is at its peak is described as “the event horizon.” The black holes could in fact be passages that allow us to enter other universes. In such a situation, we can hypothetically evaluate what will become of an astronaut who falls into a black hole.

We align our watches in correspondence with the astronaut’s, and bid him farewell towards the event horizon. As the astronaut approaches the event horizon where gravity gradually increases, we notice his watch is starting to operate more slowly. In the vicinity of the event horizon of a black hole the size of our sun, while our watches indicate that 1 second has passed, the astronaut’s watch will show that 3.3 seconds have passed, as time, where he is, flows much slower.

As our astronaut draws near to the event horizon, the 33 seconds indicated by his watch (10 times slower than before) will be equivalent again to our 1 second, and when he eventually and completely enters the event horizon, time will have frozen, halting the disparity between each second.

How would the space traveler perceive this hypothetical journey?

Not only will the space traveler become cognizant of the slower elapse of time, he may also witness an elongation of his body as he draws nearer to the event horizon. Since the force of gravity will take more of a toll on the extremities, that is the head and the feet, by the time the astronaut asks the question “What is happening?” he would already have begun to be extended like a string. The passing second for the astronaut progressively approaching the event horizon, will begin to become one month or one year later in the Universe. A pace away from the horizon the entire future of the Universe will fit into a single second of the astronaut, who, by now, is swiftly being pulled in to the point of singularity, finding himself on the other side. In this area, the Special Relativity Theory, essentially based on the thesis that the velocity of light is absolute velocity, i.e. the greatest velocity in the Universe, loses its validity, in that, as one approaches the singularity, the gravitational force affecting the astronaut or space ship will become so intense that the actual speed will surpass the velocity of light itself. Thus, the tangibility of a velocity greater than that of light will render all principles of causality obsolete, during which a regressive journey in time becomes practically possible. The interpretations of this issue are as such: A person plummeting into the well of singularity may live the whole history of the universe in the blink of an eye. They now have become a time traveler; the present, past, and future are all presented to their vision. As if passing through the eye of a needle, they may have passed through to another universe.

Imam Ghazzali, while interpreting the verses concerning the Day of Judgment, in his epistle Kashf al-Ulum al-Akhirah, puts the accent on Universal cessation:

“When God wills the commencement of the Judgment with the blowing of the Horn, you will see the mountains flying and moving about like clouds, seas amalgamating with one another, the Sun folded and being blacked out, the stars scattering around like beads disengaged from their strings, the sky rotating ferociously like a millstone, the ground trembling terrifyingly, stretching and expanding like leather. In that God will decree the dismissal of the orbits and no living thing will remain alive on earth or in the heavens. The spirited will surrender their spirits. The Earth and Heavens will be availed of their inhabitants.”

Said Nursi, alternatively, lays emphasis on the deterioration of the finely tuned connections, such as gravity, electromagnetic and nuclear forces, etc., attaching universal entities together, depicting the Day of Judgment in the following words:

“Consider the Qur’anic description of the minute and precise interrelationship of the universe’s constituent parts. Consider their sublime and delicate organization into a system. If any heavenly body were told to leave its axis, the universe would be thrown into the throes of death. Stars would collide, planets would be scattered, and the sound of exploding spheres would fill space. Mountains would begin to move, and Earth would be flattened. Eternal Power will bring about the next life in just this way, and the elements of Paradise and Hell will be separated from each other.”1

Regardless of how the Armageddon occurs, Nursi asserts that what has been repeatedly highlighted by the Qur’an will be realized:

“If the universe is not destroyed by an external destructive event, with the Eternal Will’s permission, it eventually will begin to die. Even scientists say this. According to the Qur’an, it will give a sharp cry, and then the following things will happen:

When the sun is folded up, and when the stars fall losing their luster; and when the mountains are set moving. (Takwir, 81:1-3)

When the sky is cleft asunder; and when the planets are dispersed, and when the oceans are poured forth. (Infitar 82:1-3)”2

Our aim here is to evaluate the incredible events miraculously foretold by the Qur’an from the cognitive perspective bestowed upon us by God through contemporary sciences and to gain broader points of view. Only God, however, can know the exact form of present and future events.

Notes

1. Nursi, Said. The Words, The Light, Inc., New Jersey: 2005, p. 546.

2. Ibid, p. 545.

In the preceding verse of the Qur’an (Maida 5:32), God Almighty commands the Prophet “Narrate to them (O Messenger) in truth the exemplary experience of the two sons of Adam…” and draws attention to the first murder committed on the earth.

The first murder and the master of murderers

Most Qur’anic interpreters say that the two sons of Adam are Cain and Abel and they give detailed information about the lives of these two brothers. Actually, their names are not mentioned in the Qur’an; but in the ancient scriptures and narrations the names of Adam’s sons are mentioned as Cain and Abel. It is for this reason that Muslim scholars have not found anything wrong in referring to the characters involved in the event by these names. At the same time, some have interpreted the “two sons of Adam” to be just two men from the Children of Israel. In truth, one doesn’t have to know their names in order to learn a lesson from the parable. What matters is the fact that this event did happen and the expression “in truth” mentioned in the verse shows that this is not a myth, but a true story.

As narrated in the Qur’an, they both offered a sacrifice to God; but only one of these was accepted. The brother whose sacrifice was not accepted told the other “I will surely kill you.” Despite the fact that killing a person, particularly killing one’s own brother, is a great transgression, the murderer, who had lost control due to jealousy, shed the blood of his innocent brother; this brother did not even attempt to struggle against his brother, and he was only a good-intentioned companion.

The first murderer of the earth whose unfortunate end is told in the verse (Maida 5:30) “His carnal, evil-commanding soul prompted him to kill his brother, and he killed him, thus becoming among the losers” became the trailblazer on a horrible path which leads to Eternal Fire; he virtually breached a dam that was to be followed by a great flood. For this reason, when God’s Messenger narrated this sad event he said: “The son of Adam has a share (of sin) from the blood of anyone unjustly killed; for he was the one who started killing the first time.”

After relating this tragic event and reminding us of the first murder, God Almighty sets the relative principle, He commands the following to show what a great sin murder is and how great the importance of human life is:

“It is because of this that We ordained for (all mankind, but particularly for) the Children of Israel: He who kills a soul unless it be (in legal punishment) for murder or for causing disorder and corruption on the earth will be as if he had killed all mankind; and he who saves a life will be as if he had saved the lives of all humankind.”

Killing unjustly and retaliation

The murder stated in the verse as equal to killing all of mankind is limited to “killing an innocent person who did not cause disorder or corruption on the earth.” This means that if a person sheds the blood of innocent people, there can be retaliation and that killer can face a penalty similar to his own crime. If such a person causes disorder on the earth and therefore causes people to die, if the killings follow one upon another without the killer thinking why they had taken a life and if the victims do not know why they are being killed-as is happening in some parts of the world today-the criminal or the group of criminals who cause such anarchy can be executed. The people who start wars against God and His Messenger, who cause disorder on the earth, who habitually transgress against people’s lives, properties, and chastity, thereby disturbing the order of society, corrupting the generation, should be executed or sent into exile in accordance with the gravity of their crime.

However, even if they have committed such crimes, if the transgressors are truly repentant then none of these punishments is to be carried out; rather the case becomes one of a violation of personal rights. That is to say, the people whose relatives have been killed or whose property has been damaged can forgive the perpetrators, or they can ask for retaliation and compensation for the damage if they wish. To express this in modern legal terms, a complaint can be made or it can be withdrawn. In other words, the punishment of intentional murder in this world is retaliation. The heirs of the deceased can withdraw the demand of execution and ask for compensation, or they can forgo this financial penalty as well. However-given that the killer does not repent after the murder and is not granted divine mercy-the punishment of such a great crime in the Hereafter is eternal hellfire.

Eternal torment because of committing murder might seem to be too great a punishment. In fact, the sin committed is also great; for to kill a person who does not cause disorder on the earth, who does not unjustly shed blood, and who does not cause corruption to necessitate their own execution is like killing all of humanity. This is because such a murderer has violated the right to live that is granted by God Almighty alone; the prohibition of shedding the blood of innocent people has been violated, an ugly deed has been initiated, and thereby the way for others to do the same has been paved and encouragement has been provided.

In addition, even if a murderer kills one innocent person, this murder reveals their personality; it shows that they are inclined to shed blood and commit murder. Someone who has committed one murder in practice has a personality that may potentially kill all people and now their identity in general is that of killer and murderer. Therefore, once having committed that fatal sin, killing another person will not be more difficult for them than the first time; in particular after a few murders, killing will become something ordinary and everyday to them. It is from this perspective that a person who has murdered an innocent soul can be viewed as a murderer of all mankind.

Saving a life…

Whoever saves a person’s life by changing their mind about a murder, by forgiving, or by withdrawing the right of retaliation, or by saving someone from danger, for example, from drowning or being burnt alive, or helping another to survive, is like one who has saved the lives of all people and one who has done that favor for all of mankind. The life-saving mentioned in the verse incorporates forgoing retaliation, not killing, or saving someone from disaster; for the one and only Owner of Life is God, He is the Giver of Life. No one has the power to kill or save in the real sense except for God. Human beings can only become a means for someone to live; they cannot be the true cause. In the Qur’an, Nimrod says: “I give life and make to die,” this is expressed with the word ihya (giving life), but his giving of life means only that he refrains from killing and murder.

Now, in this sense, a person who saves another’s life is-if they can-inclined and willing to save the lives of all mankind. In other words, wherever such a person witnesses injustice, they will immediately try to prevent it.

True, in the verse spiritual salvation is not mentioned literally; but if a believer who has faith in God, His Messenger, and the Hereafter speaks about God, His Messenger, and teaches about the faith, this act can in a way be considered to be ihya. Likewise in verses such as: “O you who believe! Respond to God and to the Messenger when the Messenger calls you (in the Name of God) to that which gives you life…” (Anfal 8:24) God Almighty uses the word ihya, in order to express human beings leaving behind the animal life and ascending to the level of spiritual life. Therefore, if a believing man helps a person who is slave to their carnal desires to ascend from a merely material life to a spiritual life, they can be considered to have brought the latter to life. In this respect, a believer who strives to inspire others to embrace the faith and tries to become a means for their salvation, in terms of their potential aim, can be considered as one who is ready to save all of mankind.

The Most Horrible Kind of Backbiting

On the other hand, we know that God made some things hidden among others: the Greatest Names (Ithm al-Azam) are hidden among the beautiful divine names, the acceptance of prayers (Waqt al-Ijaba) is hidden among Fridays, saints among ordinary people, the Night of Qadr among the last ten days of Ramadan, Doomsday within the life of the universe, and the moment of death within a person’s lifetime. Likewise, there are such transgressions hidden among sins and evil that they can suddenly topple one over and lead to disaster. As a result of this secrecy, which serves to make believers constantly alert, to watch their step, and to seek refuge in God, there are such types or degrees of sins in the same category that attract divine wrath which will strike like a poisonous snake.

As you know, talking about a person behind their back and uttering words that will not please them if they were to hear them is known as backbiting (ghiyba). If what has been said is true, then it is backbiting; if what has been said is a lie, then it is both backbiting and slander; this is several times a greater sin. Together with this, there are also different levels of backbiting (like stairs descending), worse and worse as they go downwards. Those close to God consider even an evil thought to be in the same category, calling it “backbiting of the heart.” Indicating somebody by pointing with your finger or making fun of them with facial gestures is also a form of backbiting. Saying such simple things as somebody is short, or their jacket does not suit them is clearly backbiting. Each of these types of backbiting is a sin; they spoil the goodness of this life and they cause trouble beyond the grave.

However, there is type of backbiting that is an incomparably dangerous and destructive sin. It is so great a sin that in a hadith it is stated that this kind of backbiting is a sin that is twenty times greater than fornication. For example saying things about a person who represents a group, movement, or a community is a sin of this kind, for the fate of that person is united with the community they represent. Therefore, saying bad things about such a person is saying bad things about an entire community.

Moreover, if such backbiting is committed not about an ordinary person but, let’s say, about a man of God like Sheikh al-Jilani, or for example, not about a movement or an ordinary community, but a community like the Naqshbandi order and, to make matters worse, if what started as a simple event of saying bad things becomes widespread through the mass media, if this then becomes a great slander campaign, this is such a horrible sin that it might lead to the loss of faith; there are ways in every sin that lead to unbelief. It is such a deadly crime that, if you were to speak against Sheikh Naqshbandi, you would slander the golden chain of saints of the Naqshbandi order. These people, with the light they received from their Sheikh, have enlightened the world since the time they lived up until our time. They have always been spiritual guides for people. Think how evil it is to destroy this light.

And if the transgressor makes the act even worse by labeling the people they are slandering with names that end in –ist… Then it would be very hard for the slanderer to enter Paradise without asking forgiveness from each member of that community; God’s Messenger said “Do not backbite, for backbiting is worse than fornication. If a person fornicates and repents (promising never to do it again) God Almighty accepts his repentance; but the sin of the backbiter will not be forgiven until he is forgiven by the person he has backbitten.” But it is possible that the All-Merciful Lord can grant extra blessings, allowing the transgressors to face the people they backbit and He may say “grant forgiveness to this servant of mine.” But such a fortunate event depends on a surprise blessing; servanthood is not built on extra blessings.

It is for this reason that believers should try to keep away from all kinds of backbiting, so that they will not face such a terrible end. They should free their tongues from such ugly words and purify their minds from evil thoughts and feelings. For the sake of avoiding a disaster worse than fornication, they should avoid even the most trivial negative utterance, saving themselves from committing the greatest of sins without being aware. To avoid having a share of the zaqqum tree in Hell, they should constantly seek refuge in God and be alert against all kinds of disasters of the tongue.

Such a degree of fitna

The same can be said about fitna, which is closely related to our topic. Actually the word fitna has meanings like “deviation, confusion of the mind, differing, falling for something, sinning, unbelief, dazzling beauty, property and children, testing someone, torture, misfortune, or trouble.” In nearly sixty verses of the Qur’an, either this word or another word derived from the same root can be found. While even a disagreement between two people can be called fitna, acts aiming to spread unbelief, turning people from God’s path, and causing terror in society are also categorized as fitna. Making two people dislike each other is fitna and it is an ugly sin; but fitna also has a type so bad that it invokes divine wrath; it cannot be regarded as equal to other types of fitna, for it can instantly make someone fall into a pitfall of Hell and finish their happiness in both worlds. Therefore, in order not to face such a terrible end, we need to keep away from even the pettiest kind of fitna and eliminate the words and actions that may lead to fitna at the very beginning before they become great crimes.

The Qur’an states “fitna is worse than killing…” (Baqara 2:191). That is to say, even if all kinds of fitna are not like killing, there is a type of fitna that is even worse than murder. For instance, trying to spread unbelief through brute force, alienating Muslims from their own values, and making younger generations strangers to their own spiritual values, thereby throwing them into a terrible torment in both worlds are all such grave offenses that they are far more dangerous than murdering an innocent person.

In some murders, there is fitna and murder intermingled. For example, somebody assassinates an important figure and disappears. Then an innocent person or a group is blamed for that murder. Therefore, the situation becomes a blood feud. Both the supporters of the victim and the slandered group suffer. Thus, the murder is not limited to a single event; it is followed by mutual accusations and it becomes a great fitna. Finally, an unstoppable chain of fitnas has been started, and results in a condition of anarchy where thousands of murders are committed.

Unfortunately this kind of fitnas has taken place in the history of Islam and such acts have yielded far worse results than a single murder. For instance, the assassination of the second Caliph, Umar ibn al-Khattab, was not just a simple murder; even more so since, as Hudayfa al-Yamani reported, Umar was a locked door against fitna. After his martyrdom, that door was opened; more correctly, it was broken down. Here we will examine this event in a bit more detail.

One day Umar ibn al-Khattab asked Hudayfa about the words of God’s Messenger describing fitna that surges like the waves in the sea. Hudayfa answered “O the chief of believers, there is no harm to you from this fitna; for there is a locked door between it and you.” When Umar asked “Is that door going to open or be broken down?” Hudayfa answered “It is going to be broken down.” Umar said “Then it will not be locked again until the end of the world.” When one of his friends asked about that door, Hudayfa’s answer was “that door is Umar himself.” In this respect, the assassination of Umar cannot be taken as an ordinary murder; it was the breaking down of the door that blocked against fitna, and the opening of way for fitnas to continue until the end of the world. The Qur’anic statement concerned with the murderer of an innocent person, stating that they will stay in Hell forever, must be concerned with murderers like Umar’s assassin.

What a terrible end!

Ibn Abbas and some of the imams from the generation following the Companions of the Prophet inferred from the following verse that somebody who committed murder will suffer eternal punishment in Hell:

“Whoever kills a believer intentionally, his recompense (in the Hereafter) is Hell, therein to abide; and God has utterly condemned him, excluded him from His mercy, and prepared for him a tremendous punishment.” (Nisa 4:93)

Some interpreters of the Qur’an have made a different comment: In the same way that a murderer deserves to be executed in return for the crime they have committed, the same punishment must be given to one who has killed all of mankind. There is no greater punishment to be given. Likewise, as the punishment of the murderer of a single person is eternal Hell, the punishment of one who has murdered all of mankind must be the same. Therefore, a person who has murdered a single person is like one who has murdered all of mankind.

The divine statement “Assuredly God does not forgive that partners be associated with Him; less than that He forgives to whomever He wills” (Nisa 4:48) limits the meaning of the verse we mentioned above. However, when we look at the issue on the whole, we will see that even if it is not true that every murderer will stay in Hell forever, there is such a type of murder that the one who commits it will suffer eternal torment.

To sum up, as there are degrees of sins, like backbiting and fitna, murder too has different degrees as an offense, depending on the identity and status of the victim, and the results it will bring about. Whoever the victim is, a murder is a grave crime, but assassinating the commander of an army or the head of a state is not the same as killing an ordinary citizen in terms of the chain of events that follow. Again, a murder committed in the Sacred Mosque in Mecca where it is even forbidden to kill an insect or pick tree leaves will not be equal to a murder committed somewhere else. It is for this reason that Ibn Abbas considers killing a Prophet or a leader of believers as equal to killing all mankind. Therefore, those who execute a person whose fate is united with a nation’s fate will have issued an execution decree for an entire nation. Those who poison a man of action who devoted himself to the salvation of all of mankind can be considered to have poisoned an entire nation; we can even say that they have poisoned Prophet Muhammad and his Companions. This is such great an atrocity that even if those who commit it are believers, they can never find their way to Paradise unless they are forgiven by all of mankind.

So, in order not to commit such a great crime, one should keep away from any type of murder. Similar dangers and the same principle still exist for today’s people. When Hasan al-Basri was asked, “is the same principle still valid for us?” he replied: “I swear by God Almighty apart from Whom there are no gods that yes, it is; for the blood of the Children of Israel is not more valuable than our blood.”

In conclusion, all kinds of unjust murders are great sins; but we can talk about different degrees, depending on the time, place, the identity of the victim, and his status.

The Quran calls the attention of human beings to the Divine manifestations on creatures such as the honeybee, ant, gnat and spider and invites them to reflect on and study phenomena like the movements of air, the alternation of day and night and the seasons, and the movements of heavenly bodies. The importance the Qur’an gives to the study of natural events inspired Muslim scientists to undertake investigations using observation and the experimental method – long before these came into use in Europe.

Science passed to Europe through the two centuries of the Crusades, through the universities in al-Andalus and Sicily and the translations made there from Arabic. This was the main factor behind the Renaissance in Europe. Building on (without ever openly acknowledging) the works of Muslim scientists, Western scientists led the way to the birth of modern science. Until correct conclusions were reached about phenomena through observation and experimental methods, the assertions of the ancient Greek philosophers had been accepted as the basic laws of nature. For example, it had been asserted as true without question from the time of Aristotle that the speed of an object’s falling is proportionate to its weight. However, the experiments done by Galileo and Newton proved this to be false. Those experiments showed that- so long as the resistance of air is negligible in proportion to the weight of the object and its vertical cross sectional area – the unhindered movement of an object on the earth is not dependent on its mass. This means that objects of different weight dropped from the same point reach earth at the same time. Such developments in physics led scientists to app rove observation and experiment as a basic rule in establishing natural facts. It was the job of scientists to try to discover the laws and basic truths prevalent in the universe through observation and experiment – empirical methods – while it was the task of philosophers to reflect on and comment on them, in other words, in order to have true conclusions about the universe and the events taking place in it we had to discard all of our preconceptions about them and study nature through empirical methods and then comment on the natural events and the relations between them.

In order to have a clearer understanding of modern science and what it can give us of truth about the universe, let us consider the law of general gravity, which is an undeniably established scientific fact:

Various observations and experiments have shown that any two objects attract each other or exert force upon each other proportionately to their masses and in inverse proportion to the square of the distance between them.

The force of attraction or gravity is the force which is in effect in events such as the falling of an object and the revolving of the earth around the sun. Science presents gravity as if it were the cause of such events. However, what we call the force of gravitation is only a notion which we use to explain those events. That is, there is an attraction observed between objects. In order to explain this attraction, we give it a name like the law or force of gravitation and then think that we have explained the event of attraction.

Science does not know the nature of what it calls the force of gravitation but, starting from the assertion that we have already successfully explained many events whose causes were unknown in the past, claims that it will be explained in the future. Nevertheless, science is unable to explain the real cause of all the events in the universe. What science in fact does is, starting from the recurrence of an event under the same conditions, to make a generalization and call it a law. Then it proceeds to assert that the same event will take place again and again under the same conditions. For example, after observing the falling of objects thrown into the air, it makes a generalization that all objects thrown into the air fall, and expresses this event of falling by a mathematical formula.

It can serve as a simple example to see how science works to calculate and state beforehand how long it takes for an object thrown into the air with a certain force and at a certain angle to fall and at what distance it falls. Since events take place in a cause-and- effect series, knowing what effect or event will take place in the next step does not require understanding why it takes place in that way. Therefore, although we suppose that the law of gravity will be understood as, say, dependent on an exchange between certain particles or the obliquity of spatial time, it will nevertheless remain unexplained through scientific methods why such an exchange takes place or why the spatial time becomes oblique and why that exchange or obliquity occurs according to certain mathematical formulations and thereby objects attract each other. In addition to the fact that why objects attract each other remains unknown, it is also a mystery (and a wonder) that this event of attraction takes place according to a mathematical formula. Because of our familiarity with the events taking place in nature, we ignore the important fact that every thing, every event in nature is a miracle. In order to see why the event of gravitation is a dazzling miracle, we should consider it more closely:

As an example to understand the law of gravity, let us consider the falling of a stone dropped (and then allowed to fall unhindered) from a certain high point. Left unhindered, that stone will realize a certain trajectory as the result of gravity affecting it. It will move faster and faster and finally hit the ground. How the stone will accelerate, how long it will take it to reach the ground and how it will move at every second of its trajectory depends on the stones distance from the centre of the earth, the mass of the earth and the constant of gravity. This means that the stone does not move at random, rather each of its movements during its fall is determined through mathematical formulas. This is an extremely regular movement. From this we inevitably conclude that if the stone does this movement of falling by itself, without an agent directing or determining its trajectory, then the stone must know accurately the constant of gravity, the mass of the earth and its distance from the centre of the earth at each moment of its trajectory, and then move in conformity with that knowledge. Whoever has a bit of intelligence will not attribute to the stone itself such a trajectory, simple in appearance but extremely complex in reality. Indeed, the falling of a stone is so complex a movement that during it all the objects in the universe, every thing with a certain mass, exerts on it certain force of attraction and the stone moves under the influence of all those forces. (Here we do not consider other essential forces such as the electro-magnetic and nuclear ones, which have determining effect on the movement of things. Expressed, again, with certain mathematical formulas, these forces make the movements in the universe even more complex.) That is, in order to determine its trajectory, the stone must know the exact distance between itself and each of about 1080 particles in the universe, calculate accurately at each moment of its trajectory the force of the attraction exerted on it by each of those particles according to the mathematical formula of gravity – a force which changes every moment – and focus all those forces to a single point in consideration of the direction of each. Let alone a stone, even the most advanced computer the size of the universe could not accomplish that. For the position of each of the particles with respect to the stone changes at every moment during its fall. Thus, the simplest-seeming movement in the universe like the falling of a stone requires comprehensive knowledge and mastery of an infinite number of interrelated processes.

Since any event taking place in any part of the universe has connection with each of the particles in the universe and the whole of the universe itself, only one who has perfect knowledge of each of those particles and the universe as a whole, one who sees the whole of the universe with each particle in it, can determine and direct all the movements in the universe. Also, since the law of gravity and all the other physical laws are the same and have the same uniformity throughout the whole of the universe, the one who makes these laws operative in the whole of the universe must be an absolutely powerful one, who dominates each and every thing in the universe. Otherwise, each atom in the universe must have an eye seeing the whole of the universe at the same time, know the position, mass, electrical charge, in short, all the physical features, of each particle in the universe, be aware of all the physical laws and obey the laws itself originated.

Every event and every thing in the universe is interrelated to every other and whatever takes place in the universe takes place according to certain laws. Therefore, it is impossible for even the smallest, most insignificant-seeming event to take place without one with an absolute, perfect knowledge of the universe with all its particles and an absolute power governing it. Said Nursi expresses this fact as follows:

If the existence and operation of the universe is not attributed to God Almighty, then it requires admitting that each particle has the attributes of the Necessarily Existent Being, and that each particle should both dominate and be dominated by all other particles. Again, each particle should have an all-encompassing will and knowledge, for the existence of a single thing is dependent on all things and one who does not own the universe cannot rule a single particle.

After explaining how complex a phenomenon gravitation is, we can go a little further to see the real cause of that phenomenon. The relation sensed between the fall of a stone and the rotation of the moon around the world in a fixed orbit led Newton to discover the law of gravity. Ever since this law received a general welcome, the cause of the falling down of an object thrown into the air has unquestionably been accepted as gravity. However, it is not necessary that the real cause of this movement is the force of the attraction of the earth or the existence of another material cause.

Consider this:

Let us imagine some animate beings living on a two- dimensional table. These living beings are aware of only the table on which they live and completely unaware of the three- dimensional world around them. Someone from the three- dimensional world fires at the table in equal frequencies and makes holes at equal distance from each other. Seeing the holes at equal distances, the animate beings living completely unaware of the three-dimensional world will inevitably conclude that each hole causes another one to be made. Whereas it is some other firing from the outside world who made the holes.

This is how the scientists attributing every thing and event in the universe to the law of causality think about the working of the universe. It is questionable whether the attraction of an object toward another near it (for example, the attraction of a falling stone toward the ground) is because of the objects themselves or there is some other source forcing the objects to such a movement. (The event of attraction is the simplest of the events occurring in the universe. You may consider how a honeybee makes honey or a cow gives milk, events which contain a much greater number of physical interactions, chemical reactions and cause and effect.) In short, since the movement of an object according to the law of gravity is one each moment of which is mathematically described and requires as many masses and distances as the articles in the universe and the distances among them to be known in their mutual, complex relations, there must be One Who is the All-Knowing. This One must also have an absolute will to choose and assign for each event a law out of innumerable ones. The uniformity of the law, that is, all the laws being prevalent throughout the universe calls for the unity of that All-Knowing and All-Willing One, and the obedience of all things, small or great, to those laws demonstrate that that One is also the All- Powerful. Again, the unchangeability or stability of the laws and the magnificent, unchanging order and harmony of the universe show that that One is Self- Subsistent and the All-Subsisting. That means it is that All-Knowing, All-Willing, All-Powerful, Self-Subsistent and All-Subsisting, Single One Who causes a stone to fall. For no one and nothing in the universe has the knowledge, will and power absolutely necessary for the falling of a stone. Every thing and event in the universe is too complex and magnificent for any material cause to bring it about. There is then no way for man other than to admit and recognize the Existence and Unity of God.