Many appear to have found God, but many live far from Him. His name rests on the tongues, but hearts often remain largely blind. What is read and learned does not evolve into deep spiritual understanding. Understanding is not crowned with love, nor does it rise to the horizon of longing and passion. Despite bold claims made in the name of religion and belief, only tentative, crawling steps are taken on His path. Not for everyone, perhaps, but when one looks at the overall picture, it is hard to claim that nights are revitalized with depth and sincerity. The heart is silent, and the spiritual core that should illuminate it has grown faint. Against this backdrop, it would be accurate to say that in the name of piety, many lead a stumbling, faltering life that struggles to move towards its true goal.

This is precisely because the spiritual core has fallen quiet, the heart has fallen mute, consciousness and sensitivity have become paralyzed, and the flame of love and fervor has been extinguished. As a result, the stage is left to the tongue and the lips, which fill this void by rambling endlessly and making noise about every subject. The tongue, now in command, starts telling lies, spreading slander, making baseless accusations, and indulging in meaningless or frivolous talk. It becomes engaged in distortion, false narratives, and worthless chatter that benefits no one. Minds that have severed their link with the heart become polluted, and naturally, the words and writings arising from such minds spread corruption throughout society. If you doubt this, just glance at the media of our times—listen to the news, read the articles—and you will understand precisely what I mean.

Make no mistake: I am not referring to people with no connection to religion or faith. I am talking about those who call themselves believers, who pray five times a day, stand humbly before God, bow, and place their foreheads upon the ground. Yet, unfortunately, many have become people with deadened consciences, hardened hearts, and dried-up spirits. As a result, countless individuals openly indulge in idle chatter, employing every potential of the tongue for negativity. Such people have very little to offer the world—and very little to present in the name of religion.

We have always believed that dedicated hearts would revive religious sentiment and understanding, and make it an active force in daily life. We have hoped for an exemplary community which would arise with its own character, and that its resonance would draw others to it. We pray that God will not disappoint us in this hope or cause our trust to be misplaced.

All thanks be to God, despite the tireless efforts of oppressors to utilize every force at their disposal for ruin, God did not allow their vile ambitions to prevail. We pray that, as in the past, He will also frustrate the schemes of today’s oppressors, leaving their aspirations unfulfilled. So it shall be, for no one can extinguish the flame that God Himself has ignited.

From our own perspective, we consider these trials and injustices as a form of “gentle slap” — a warning from God, prompting us to reflect upon how well we have fulfilled the trust granted to us. We recognize that despite the showers of mercy and favor poured upon us, we have fallen short of responding with genuine gratitude, remembrance, and reverence. We have neglected to acknowledge Him as the sole source of every beauty and blessing. We have succumbed to complacency, drifted into forgetfulness, and distracted ourselves with worldly concerns. We have weakened ourselves with fatigue from the long journey, dulled ourselves with the intoxication of apparent success, or fallen prey to the poison of ego and vanity. As a result, when trials and hardships befall us, we try to draw ourselves into account. We regard these moments as warnings, accept that God is refining and teaching us through them, and seek to draw lessons and wisdom from every challenge. We accept every difficulty and disaster as a form of merciful discipline and adopt an attitude shaped by this understanding.

Every event rests in God’s hands. If it is He who delivers the slap, tugs the ear, and gives the warning, then it must be because He intends to guide us towards something beautiful and worthwhile. Everything has its appointed time, its fixed term. When that time arrives, God bestows such blessings upon you and fills your heart with such serenity that you say to yourself, “So this was why I suffered! All those hardships came only so I could one day smile. To be granted such grace was worth every pain I endured.”

We must never forget that we were created for another realm. According to the deeds we carry out and the trials we experience here, we will assume a form and state in the life to come. What we become in the Hereafter will be shaped by the picture we paint for ourselves in this world. Everything we do here will be reflected there, determining the nature of our existence in that realm. In fact, how we respond to trials and calamities—how we pray, fast, and worship—is, in a sense, a decision about the life we will lead in the Hereafter. In this way, every deed performed in this world can be seen as a preparation for the world to come. According to this measure, some will rise to Paradise, some will remain suspended between realms, and others will tumble into Hell.

A believer must live with an eternal perspective, rising above the trials and hardships of this transient world. They must work ceaselessly and faithfully, striving with every breath to be a person of the Hereafter. In an era when one injustice gives rise to another, when countless people suffer cruelty, when honor and dignity are violated, and countless brothers and sisters are wronged, our hearts must quiver for them. We must bow down, press our foreheads to the ground, and pour forth tears like a river, calling upon God with sincerity.

If we approach Him with a single teardrop, He will respond with oceans. Even if our deeds weigh no more than a grain of dust, He will repay them with the brilliance of the sun. The deeds we offer to God, however small and insignificant, will be met with returns as magnificent and boundless as His glory and majesty.

There’s a fear in my heart
A vision on my mind,
That someday I’d be lost.
Walking down the road
Among the ones who are lost.
A fear of ample pride,
A seed which outweighs
A million skies.
A fear of a light,
Which would make
A believer go blind.
Oh, there’s a fear in my heart,
That someday my deeds
Would fall short,
Infront of the one
Who knows what hides
In every heart.

~A.Z

We are born with physical bodies, we live in these bodies, and eventually, we bid farewell to this world, leaving our bodies behind. Our bodies are entrusted to us, and we have to know how to safeguard these trusts, as well as the consequences, both in this world and the other, of breaching this trust. One important aspect of this duty is to take care of both our physical and spiritual wellbeing.

A person’s physical anatomy interacts with his/her spiritual anatomy. Any defect, illness, or distress in one of them will affect the other. In one of his famous quotes, Prophet Muhammad, peace be upon him, notes this interaction with an emphasis on the heart as the center of our both physical and spiritual composition: “Beware, in the body there is a piece of flesh; if it is sound, the whole body is sound and if it is corrupt the whole body is corrupt. It is the heart” (Bukhari, Iman, 39; Muslim, Musaqat, 107).

The word “heart” has two meanings. One denotes the body’s most vital part, which is located in the left part of the chest and resembles a pinecone. With respect to its structure and tissue, the heart is different from all other bodily parts: it has two auricles and two ventricles, is the origin of all arteries and veins, moves by itself, works like a motor, and, like a suction pump, moves blood through the system.

In Sufi terminology, “heart” signifies the biological heart’s spiritual aspect as being the center of all emotions and (intellectual and spiritual) faculties, such as perception, consciousness, sensation, reasoning, and willpower. Sufis call it the “human truth”; philosophers call it the “speaking selfhood.” An individual’s real nature is found in the heart. With respect to this intellectual and spiritual aspect of existence, one is able to know, perceive, and understand. Spirit is the essence and inner dimension of this faculty; the biological spirit or the soul is its mount. [1]

These two dimensions are similar to each other. We can say that there is an immune system in both of them. The experiences we acquire and the way we treat our physical and spiritual beings result in health or illness.

Apoptosis

We are bestowed with a magnificently balanced mechanism to protect our physical bodies. Our immune system works with its enormous army to prevent diseases; damaged cells are immediately removed; and defects are handled through elegant control mechanisms.

Apoptosis is one of these mechanisms, and it is quite remarkable. Apoptosis is the programmed destruction of cells that are or may otherwise pose a threat to the body. For instance, cells that are infected with viruses and any damaged DNA are eliminated through apoptosis. Potential mutations in cellular DNA may result in the development of cancers, and therefore, the destruction of such damaged cells is crucial [2].

Apoptosis plays a major role in a number of pathological and physiological events. The formation and lysis of cells are the most important of these physiological events. In the tissues where cell formation and lysis are fast-paced—such as the skin, intestinal epithelium, blood, and liver—aging cells are destroyed through apoptosis to make room for new cells. Disruptions in the apoptotic balance were shown to be effective in certain cardiac diseases, autoimmune diseases such as diabetes, and neurodegenerative disorders such as Alzheimer’s disease [3, 4].

Thanks to this mechanism, people can lead healthy and balanced lives. Any impairment in this balance may result in diseases and cancers due to the proliferation of damaged DNA. As the burden of cells that fail to function and the rate of damage to our cells increase, the health of our physical bodies will decline.

The wellbeing of our spiritual anatomy is similar to the wellbeing of our physical body. Our spiritual dimension loses its balance and deteriorates because of sins and indolence.

Our immaculate disposition is created so that we can know, be closely acquainted with, and love our Lord. For our spiritual immune system to function properly, we have to lead a life that is compatible with this disposition. As long as we take care of our soul and heart, our spiritual immune system will be strong and well-equipped against any attacks from outside. Yet, if we allow our heart to be hit by arrows of sin, fail to keep away from risky environment, or don’t take proper measures against illnesses, this will pave the way for a deformation of our heart and spiritual life. A person suffering from such a deformation may be re-formed or restored to his/her original disposition only by seeking God’s forgiveness. Each sin banishes the sinner from God, drawing him/her closer to unbelief. Only asking God’s forgiveness can help a person get rid of sins and remove the stains left behind by those sins (Tirmidhi, Tafsir al-Surah (83), 1).

If we can properly handle this mechanism of asking God’s forgiveness, our Lord will cleanse us with His infinite grace, ensuring that we can maintain our spiritual life in a sound manner. “Prayer and trusting God greatly strengthen our inclination to do good, and repentance and seeking God’s forgiveness defeat our inclination to evil and break its transgressions,” [5] wrote Bediuzzaman Said Nursi. Seeking God’s forgiveness is an opportunity for us to cleanse our soul, a means for healing and a shield for protection, just as apoptosis is for our body. Even Nursi notes that the capabilities for committing evil deeds may be replaced with those for committing good deeds through the process of seeking God’s forgiveness [6].

Here, it should be stressed that even if every human being is equipped with the ability to know God in his/her original disposition and conscience, s/he is also endowed with tendencies that can be used for good or evil so that s/he attains perfection through trials and tribulations. In this context, divine commands and prohibitions serve to equip human beings with a “second disposition.” Accordingly, a person can divert those tendencies in his/her disposition to good by complying with God’s injunctions.

Mechanisms for asking God’s forgiveness and apoptosis are divine favors graciously granted to us so that our spiritual and physical health can be ensured. The more we ask God’s forgiveness, the healthier we’ll find our spirits—and maybe our bodies. We should hope that we may prosper both in this world and the next as physicians who, benefiting from both modern and religious sciences, can lead our patients to true healing. Thus, we may deserve to be addressed as “O the physician who can diagnose his/her own diseases” [7].

Footnotes

1. M. Fethullah Gülen, Emerald Hills of the Heart 1, fgulen.com.
2. S. Nagata. Apoptosis by death factor. Cell, 1997, 88:355–365.
3. J. Estaquier et al. Programmed cell death and AIDS; significance of T-cell apoptosis in pathogenic and nonpathogenic primate lentiviral infections. Immunology, 1994, 91:9431–9435.
4. D. McPhie et al. DNA synthesis and neuronal apoptosis caused by familial Alzheimer disease mutants of the amyloid precursor protein are mediated by the p21 activated kinase PAK3. The Journal of Neuroscience, 2003, 23 (17): 6914–6927.
5. Bediuzzaman Said Nursi, Sözler (Words), Istanbul: Şahdamar Yayınları, 2010, p. 509.
6. Ibid. p. 342.
7. Bediuzzaman Said Nursi, Barla Lahikası, Istanbul: Şahdamar Yayınları, 2010, p. 61.

Humans can live relatively long lives; some people can even live a century, or more! A lot goes on in our bodies to keep us alive. But nothing is as tireless as our heart. Starting soon after the first month in our mother’s bellies up until our last seconds on this earth, our heart quietly ticks away. Our heart beats more than the number of seconds we live. How many times is that in 80 years? Ten million? One hundred million? Maybe a billion? The correct answer is closer to three billion (3,000,000,000) beats. These beats may look straightforward at first glance; however, the heart has a lot of precise mechanisms that occur during each and every beat. You would be surprised at how the tiniest of malfunctions can lead to severe consequences. Things can go very wrong in many different ways. But for most of us, they don’t! Keep reading, and I believe you will better appreciate your heart’s architecture and engineering, and marvel at the fact that it keeps beating for as long as it does.

Let us begin with the basics: what does our heart look like and how does it pump? The heart has four rooms inside of it, two on the top called the atria and two on the bottom called the ventricles. The atria take in the blood coming into the heart and empty it into the ventricles, which then pump blood out. The left and right sides of the heart are completely separated from each other. The right side receives blood from the body and pumps it to the lungs. The left side receives blood from the lungs and pumps it to the entire body. There are also valves found at the exits of each of the four rooms. The main function of these valves is to only allow blood to pass in one direction. This is important for many reasons. The heart is a very reactive organ in terms of remodeling. In other words, it changes its structure to compensate for changes in pressure or volume. A backward leak of blood would cause an increase in pressure and volume in the previous compartment. Over time, this leads to that compartment getting larger or thicker. In the short-term, these changes are crucial to preserve its function. However, in the long-term, this leads to lower efficiency of its pumping function, which can ultimately lead to heart failure. Every room, every wall, and every door are masterfully placed in our heart to form the perfect pump.

After learning about our heart’s intricate architecture, let’s look at how this fantastic pump works. Much like any other pump, our heart is electrically powered. Luckily though, it doesn’t need to be plugged into an outlet. Our heart generates its own electricity at the sinoatrial (SA) node, which is located at the very top of the heart. This node serves as both the generator and the pacemaker of our heart. It is what initiates a heartbeat. The electrical pulse it generates travels down through our heart and causes it to quickly contract. However, electricity is very fast. The electric pulse can reach every cell in the heart faster than a blink of an eye. This lightning-fast pulse would cause the entire heart to contract in one large beat. But as we all know, the heartbeat consists of two parts. This two-part beat is essential for the heart to pump blood. This is where heart’s second node, the atrioventricular (AV) node, comes into play. This node serves as a braking system that slows down the electricity passing from the atrial (top) circuit to the ventricular (bottom) circuit. “How long is this delay?”, you may ask. Well, just about one tenth of a second! This tiny delay is the reason we hear the heartbeat as two distinct sounds. It allows for the atria to pump all of its blood into the ventricles (the first sound) before the ventricles pump it into the body (the second sound). Otherwise, the ventricles would pump while half-empty, leaving the body to starve! As the saying goes: “Speed kills”!

Now we have a better understanding of the architecture and electrical engineering of the heart. So, how do doctors tell a healthy heart from an unhealthy one? Just like building inspectors, a doctor has specialized tools at their disposal to check the heart’s infrastructure. The three most popular tools are a good old-fashioned stethoscope, an electrocardiogram, and an echocardiogram.

Stethoscope

One of the hallmarks of the medical profession, the stethoscope has remained relevant even among modern-day medicine’s fancy gadgets. As you all know, it allows doctors to directly listen to the heart. The most common abnormalities that can be found with a good listen are arrhythmias and dysfunctional valves. An arrhythmia is when the heart doesn’t follow a regular rhythm. This usually occurs when there is an issue in the heart’s electrical circuit. In most cases, this can easily be heard directly through a stethoscope. Similarly, dysfunctional valves tend to cause more noise than usual, which are called “murmurs.” An abnormal valve may lead to a “click” when opening or a “whoosh” when blood passes through it.

Electrocardiogram

We previously talked about how electricity is a big part of the heart’s functions. Doctors can diagnose many heart problems just by looking at an electrocardiogram (ECG), which provides a window into the movement of electricity through the heart. Each bump and spike seen on an ECG strip represents the compartments of the heart contracting or relaxing. By looking at an ECG, doctors can tell if electricity is being conducted normally, and if the heart is pumping as it should. The most common problems that can be diagnosed using an ECG include heart attacks, arrhythmias, and other deadly rhythms that require an external electric shock (known as defibrillation).

Echocardiogram

So, we can hear the heart and monitor its electrical activity, but can we see it in action? Absolutely! An echocardiogram shows the heart pumping in real-time. It is great for a comprehensive assessment of the heart and can help identify issues that cannot be identified by a stethoscope or ECG.  This “video” of the heart allows doctors to see exactly how strong each part of the heart is pumping, how much blood it’s pumping, and whether there are any problems with the valves. It is great at diagnosing heart failure, which is when the heart pumps out less than a certain percentage of the blood it receives.

Finally, let’s talk about the infamous heart attack, the silent killer of millions every year. The heart is a generous organ: it delivers blood to every corner of the body. However, it also needs some of this life-giving blood! For this reason, it is fed by three large vessels that hug the heart that supply it with the blood it needs to keep pumping. A heart attack (or myocardial infarction) occurs when one of these vessels gets occluded.  Even though heart attacks are sudden, the disease process behind them usually take years to develop. The vessels feeding the heart slowly get narrower and narrower due to age, high blood cholesterol, or other various factors. Once one of them shuts off completely, that area of the heart stops. Since the heart is so active, a halt in the delivery of blood is extremely dangerous. Every minute counts! That is why patients are rushed to the hospital to have their vessels opened with medications and procedures. Once it’s too late, the muscles in that area of the heart die and the heart becomes permanently scarred. Luckily, the other two vessels are enough to keep the heart going! The heart, being as tireless as it is, will keep beating!

Now we are at the end of this article. While you read this, your heart ticked away a couple hundred more times. It delivered the energy your eyes and brain needed to see and understand this article. It’s deep in your chest and it always has your back. Take a minute to reflect on it, appreciate the work it does, and never forget to count it among your blessings!

How does loneliness affect your brain?

Spreng et al. The default network of the human brain is associated with perceived social isolation. Nature Communications. December 2020.

A recent study found fundamental structural and functional differences in the brains of lonely people. Researchers examined the magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) data, genetics, and psychological self-assessments of over 40,000 middle-aged and older adults in the UK Biobank medical database. They then compared the MRI data of participants who reported often feeling lonely with those who did not. There were several major differences in the brains of lonely people which were primarily found in what is called the “default brain network,” a group of brain regions that are involved in inner thoughts such as remembering, future planning, imagining, and thinking about others. Detailed analyses of these regions showed that surprisingly, the default networks of lonely people were more strongly wired together and their grey matter volume in regions of the default network was greater. Moreover, bundles of nerve fibers called fornix that connects the hippocampus to the default network were better preserved in the brains of lonely people. These findings suggest that since lonely people are more likely to use imagination, memories of the past, or envisioning the future to overcome their social isolation they strengthen memory-based functions of their default networks through internally-directed thoughts and imagining social experiences. Loneliness has been increasingly turned into a major health problem, as other studies showed that older people who experience loneliness have a higher risk of cognitive decline and dementia. As COVID-19 related social distancing continues, isolation and loneliness could affect our society even more dramatically. Understanding how loneliness manifests itself in the brain at the structural and functional level, and how these paradoxical findings translate into late-onset brain pathologies, would be critical to prevent both neurological diseases and related social problems.

Human-made mass is about to exceed total global living biomass

Elhacham et al. Global human-made mass exceeds all living biomass. Nature. December 2020.

Humanity is rapidly approaching a new milestone in the history of our planet. The amount of manmade objects on Earth will soon outweigh all living biomass. A new study finds that each person alive today produces approximately the amount of manmade mass equivalent to their bodyweight every week. Our daily life objects such as roads, houses, cars, and clothes now weigh in at around 1.1 trillion metric tons, which is equal to the combined dry weight of all plants, animals and microorganisms on the planet. The production and accumulation of manmade objects, also known as anthropogenic mass, has accelerated since the early 1900s. The world’s plastics alone now weigh twice as much as the planet’s marine and terrestrial animals.

About 50% of the current anthropogenic mass is concrete. Bricks, asphalt, metals, plastic, and other materials make up about 19% of the total. Three major problems will arise from the outproduction of antropogenic mass. First, manufacturing consumes resources which will not be available for future generations unless objects are recycled or new raw materials are discovered. Second, even if we can achieve 100% recycling, pollution is generated and energy is used during manufacturing, so resources are still consumed. Third, many of the manufactured items will eventually be discarded which will cause serious disposal issues in the future. This is particularly alarming for the future. Nature is not infinite like so many of us would like to believe. If the current trend continues, anthropogenic mass will grow to three times the world’s biomass by 2040. In the next 20 years, we will generate as much waste as from the last 110 years together. These huge waste flows could lead to massive environmental catastrophes. This study demonstrates the brutal scale and impact of human activities on our planet. Humans are modifying the planet to such an extent that we might have already started a new geologic epoch likely called the Anthropocene.

Drug repurposing by artificial intelligence

Liu et al. A deep learning framework for drug repurposing via emulating clinical trials on real-world patient data, Nature Machine Intelligence. January 2021.

Researchers have developed a machine-learning method that analyzes very large datasets to discover which existing medications could work for diseases for which they were not prescribed. This process is called “drug repurposing,” a popular strategy to find new purposes for existing drugs that offers a rapid transition from research to clinical care. Drug repurposing can lower the risk associated with safety testing of new medications and dramatically reduce the time and money required to get a drug into the marketplace for clinical use. However, discovering new uses for existing medications still requires time-consuming and expensive randomized controlled trials to prove that a drug that is effective for one disorder will also be useful to treat another disorder. To overcome this challenge, a team designed a computational framework that works in two steps. First, it searches enormous patient care-related datasets with high-powered computation to arrive at repurposed drug candidates for a given disease. Second, it calculates and estimates effects of those existing medications on a defined set of clinical outcomes. As a proof-of-principle, researchers decided to focus on repurposing of drugs to prevent heart failure and strokes in patients with coronary artery disease. The edge of the machine learning approach is that it can analyze and compare thousands of human differences within a large population that could influence how a drug will work in the body. These confounding factors such as age, gender, race, and disease severity function as parameters in the deep learning computer algorithm on which the framework is based. This information is streamed from “real-world evidence,” which consists of longitudinal observational data about millions of patients captured by various sorts of electronic medical records. The team used insurance data for more than 1.2 million heart-disease patients. The algorithm analyzed each patient’s drug prescriptions and diagnostic tests for every visit and models input for drugs based on their active ingredients. The model yielded a total of 9 drugs with potential therapeutic benefits, three of which are currently in use and six new candidates for drug repurposing. Interestingly, two diabetes medications, metformin and escitalopram, have been found to lower the risk of heart failure and stroke in the model patient population. This study shows how artificial intelligence can speed up hypothesis generation and clinical trial processes. While this study focused on heart failure and stroke, the framework is flexible and could be applied to most complex diseases.

“God contracts and expands.” (2:245)

The heart is a fairly small muscle that beats 100,000 times a day and produces roughly 115,000 Joules of energy, enough to boil a cup of water for some tea. Like a flowing river, deoxygenated blood travels from the right side of our body to the right side of our heart via valves and chambers until passing through our lungs, where each breath we take facilitates the oxygenation of every individual blood cell with 4 molecules of oxygen. The now oxygenated blood, continues to progress, never stopping, now through the left side of the heart, again passing through valves and chambers, eventually being pushed out to the rest of our body with the help of the left ventricle. The left ventricle is the thickest, largest, strongest, and most muscular part of the heart because it has the responsibility of pumping oxygenated blood through the aortic valve and aorta to the rest of our body. If this continual circulation is ever interrupted, it can lead to catastrophic outcomes.

There are several ways this flow can be interrupted, many of which happen before birth and require immediate surgery after delivery. Congenital heart defects (CHD) are some of the most common types of birth defects, but as medical care and treatment have advanced many of the babies that suffer from them usually end up living long and healthy lives. Treatment isn’t required while babies are in their mother’s womb, because the circulation of the heart is different before the baby takes its first breaths, and there is normally a mixing of oxygenated and deoxygenated blood. CHD can be mild, like a hole in the heart between two chambers that allows the mixing of oxygenated and deoxygenated blood. Ventricular septal defects and atrial septal defects (holes in the heart) are some of the most common forms of CHD. Sometimes these defects can be resolved on their own or may not be realized until much later in life, or they may require a “patch” repair if they are larger. VSDs and ASDs are associated with Down’s Syndrome, and maternal risk factors including diabetes, obesity, and smoking. Patent foramen ovale (a hole in the heart that fails to close) is found in up to 30% of the general population. It usually requires no treatment and isn’t discovered unless complications like a stroke occur later in life by having a blood clot form, requiring the blood to then travel through the hole, and then be shot up through the aorta into the brain. All babies are born with patent (open) ductus arteriosus – the ductus arteriosus is a fetal blood vessel that allows flow from the right heart to the aorta, necessary when the baby is in their mother’s womb, but incompatible for life after the baby is born. Within the first few days of life, this blood vessel should close and eventually transform into a ligament that helps tether the pulmonary artery and aorta to each other. If closure fails and the ductus arteriosus remains patent, a continuous machine-like murmur can be heard with a stethoscope, and treatment with indomethacin is started. Untreated, a PDA would result in cyanosis (blue/gray skin) and Eisenmenger Syndrome due to decreased oxygen delivery [1].

The heart’s responsibility is not only to provide oxygenated blood to the rest of the body but to also somehow feed itself. The heart’s muscles exhaust 11.6% of the body’s total oxygen consumption in order to maintain its own contractile activity, coming in 3rd after the liver (20.4%) and the brain (18.4%). During contraction or systole, the heart pumps at 120 mm Hg to provide blood through the aorta and arteries. During relaxation, or diastole, the heart expands and allows for blood to fill into its chambers and also flow through the coronary arteries. These coronary arteries are the arteries that will feed the heart itself. Thus, in order to feed itself the heart must relax and therefore allow its coronary arteries to expand and provide blood to itself. When the heart is contracting and providing blood to the rest of the organs it is too constricted to provide blood to itself. Since these branches are located within grooves of the heart, when the heart is systole the arteries are too constricted for blood flow due to increased tension. This is especially true regarding the arteries supplying the left ventricle since it is larger and more muscular – remember this is where the aorta will branch off, providing oxygenated blood to the rest of our body.

This balance between contraction and expansion may remind some readers of the concepts of Qabd (contraction) and Bast (expansion) in Sufism or Tzimtzum in Jewish mysticism, and how one truly feeds the other thus allowing for growth through this cycle of contraction and relaxation. Tzimtzum is used to explain the process of creation, a contraction of infinity happening to give birth to a finite universe [2]. The Sufi tradition is a personal journey described as “contraction and openness are mysterious ‘bargains’ that have been made without the will or intention of the traveler. The first one blocks his or her way; the second one gives him or her wings to fly to new heights [3].” What is perhaps most interesting is that our physical heart performs this contraction and expansion perfectly so long as we take care of it, whereas our spiritual heart can have lapses in this critical exercise. Maybe, if we understand how to take care of our physical heart, we will also find the answer to keeping our spiritual heart healthy. Prophet Muhammad, peace be upon him, emphasizes this connection as follows: “Verily, in the body is a piece of flesh which, if sound, the entire body is sound, and if corrupt, the entire body is corrupt. Truly, it is the heart.”

Some ways to take care of our physical hearts include incorporating more physical activity into our daily lives, eating less and healthy, and controlling our stress. Perhaps our spiritual health would also benefit from these and similar activities, including regular acts of worship, fasting, controlling our temper, and being kind to others. When we don’t take care of our physical heart, it begins to fail since oxygen ceases to be delivered to our heart and the electrical currents can no longer travel effectively, thus resulting in a heart attack.

Coronary artery disease is the leading cause of death worldwide, and especially in developed countries. The deadliest heart attack occurs if there is a blockage of the left anterior descending coronary artery, which is why it is tragically termed the “widow maker.” Beginning from adolescence, arteries begin to accumulate fatty streaks and progress to an atherosclerotic plaque. This plaque can lead to several disastrous complications such as follows:

• a narrowing or complete obstruction of an artery, impairing blood flow and leaving the heart thirsty for oxygen
• a stroke due to a blood clot caused by decreased movement, breaking off and flowing to the brain
• a weakening of the vessel wall leading to an aneurysm, the vessel bursting

For some patients, a heart attack becomes a wakeup call in order to make the many necessary lifestyle changes that are necessary in order to live a long and healthy life. However, 20% of patients will experience a second heart attack. As the heart gets weaker and weaker it can eventually develop cardiorenal syndrome, a complication that results from the heart being unable to pump effectively resulting in it getting backed up in the heart and the right side of the body. This increase in volume in the body is further exacerbated by the kidneys, which continue to retain fluids and thus cause the body to become overloaded. This leads to edema, or swelling, in the legs that can eventually progress to the lungs and cause congestive heart failure. As the kidneys try to ameliorate the fact that the heart is not pumping effectively, they ultimately worsen the situation leading to end-stage renal disease and stage D heart failure.

Of course, as with almost all medical conditions, these fatal results can be prevented much earlier with lifestyle changes, even before introducing medical intervention with prescription drugs or other procedures. These lifestyle modifications include moderate aerobic exercise at least 3 times a week, a diet rich in vegetables and low in fats, sugars, and carbohydrates, smoking and alcohol cessation, and weight reduction (which would come as a result of these modifications). It is also important for patients that are already dealing with hypertension, diabetes, and hyperlipidemia should keep them well-managed and controlled.

Maybe similarly, some simple lifestyle changes, such as putting aside a few minutes every day to reflect, can be the secret to keeping our spiritual heart healthy. Our heart must remain healthy to keep the rest of our body healthy. Considering the close relationship between our physical and spiritual heart, our spiritual heart must be kept healthy to keep the rest of our spiritual body healthy. Spiritually healthy individuals will further reinforce the health of our community, for Prophet Muhammad, peace be upon him, says, “The believers in their mutual kindness, compassion and sympathy are just like one body. When one of the limbs suffers, the whole body responds to it with wakefulness and fever.”

“As the whole of existence is in His grasp and at His free disposal, it is He Who directs and disposes of all things, from the heavens to the human heart… When God wills, He contracts a heart so tightly for what only He can provide that only He can satisfy it. By contrast, He expands and exhilarates it to such an extent that it needs nothing. Contraction is caused by God’s Majesty; openness is caused by His Grace. (Fethullah Gülen, Emerald Hills of the Heart).”

References

• https://www.heart.org/en/health-topics/congenital-heart-defects
• https://www.britannica.com/biography/Isaac-ben-Solomon-Luria#ref163236
• http://fgulen.com/en/fethullah-gulens-works/key-concepts-in-the-practice-of-sufism-1/qabd-and-bast-contraction-and-openness

Question: While sayings of Prophet Muhammad, peace be upon him, counsel against condemning believers to shame, despising them, and disclosing their faults, they also enjoin not remaining silent and unresponsive before oppression and evil. How is a believer supposed to achieve this balance?

In our previous issue we commented on not subjecting people to shame or scorn, as well as the importance of forgiving their faults. It is important to stress that we do not believe that it is acceptable to remain silent and passive when confronted with mistakes and wrongdoing, and to not take any action against them. “Commending good and preventing evil” is an important responsibility for believers if we take into account the following verse “You are the best community ever brought forth for (the good of) mankind, enjoining and promoting what is right and good and forbidding and trying to prevent evil, and (this you do because) you believe in God” (Al Imran 3/110), it is seen that being a part of the best community, or the one with the most goodness, is dependent upon this fact. Additionally, the noble Prophet ordered a present evil to be eliminated by direct intervention, and if this was not possible then by making verbal warnings, and if this was not possible either then by taking an attitude against it in one’s heart at least (Muslim, Iman 78; Tirmidhi, Fitan 11).

Trying to stop people from committing evil and enjoining them to engage in good behavior is one of the essential attributes of a believer. However, the method, style, and system to be followed in this respect are very important. Such an act cannot be done by embarrassing people and making them turn their faces away in shame. This will make matters worse, particularly so when certain matters rejected in religion such as lying, slander, and libel are also involved in the issue. What really matters here is making hearts genuinely feel the goodness of what is stated as good, and the darkness of what is stated as bad; namely, convincing people that the acts in question are good or bad (respectively), and making them re-orient themselves accordingly. Otherwise, without taking the other person’s condition into consideration, determining the correct manner, or thinking about which method to follow, an unwise approach such as “I say and tell what I believe and do not care about any other factors” has nothing to do with the religious teaching of “commending good and preventing evil.”

If we view the life of the Prophet Muhammad (pbuh), we find many examples of the points mentioned. For example, he counseled repentance to his companion Maiz who had committed fornication when he came to him and confessed his sin, saying that there is no sin God will not forgive. Although he turned Maiz down four times, the noble Prophet had to enforce the legal ruling upon the insistence of Maiz. However, he told people to ask for forgiveness for Maiz and pointed out that he had repented in such a way that if his repentance were to be distributed to the all people throughout the earth then it would suffice to purify everyone (Muslim, Hudud 22; Abu Dawud, Hudud, 24, 25). Thus, the Pride of Humanity prevented his community from continuing to hold a negative opinion about Maiz, for he wished Maiz to be remembered not as a sinner but as a person who was absolved from his sin and who had passed onto God’s divine presence in a purified state.

The noble Prophet neither put anybody to shame nor embarrassed anybody by mentioning their fault to them throughout his exemplary life. It is not possible to find examples in his life where he revealed people’s faults, treating fallen ones with contempt, or responded to evil with evil. On the contrary, he urged believers not to spy into others’ private issues. He always counseled covering faults and his entire life was permeated with forgiveness and tolerance. He made the following address to the people of Mecca, who had inflicted every kind of torment and suffering onto him, after him and his community peacefully took over the city: “No reproach this day shall be on you. Go now, all of you are free.” This mildness and magnanimity of his was one of the most important factors that conquered hearts and got people to enter Islam in droves.

If he had noticed a shortcoming of one of his Companions, he would never reveal it in an embarrassing way. He addressed such shortcomings during his public sermons without pointing the finger at that person, and he ensured that the person concerned also received a share from the teaching. Even in situations of meeting serious opposition where some were in a mood of disobedience, he would gather his Companions to make a general sermon that would not incriminate any one person. Hence, problems were solved without hurting and breaking the heart of anyone, without disgracing them, and without letting any grudge and rage be involved in the issue.

In this regard, it is very important, particularly for people who are at the forefront of dialogue and discourse with others, to undertake certain responsibilities. It is critical to know the people in your company and to not remain indifferent to their mistakes. A teacher must know the general situation of their students; in fact, it is an important aspect of their duty and responsibility. Their goals should be to treat everybody humanely, not to break anyone’s heart, and to try to eliminate evil in the most appropriate way. In other words, while eliminating evils as well, a believer is supposed to act in a way that reflects this character while remaining loyal to the path of the Prophet.

A manner appropriate for each person in question needs to be determined for the sake of not breaking anyone’s heart and not letting any problems escalate further, and each case should be taken into consideration separately as no two people are ever truly identical. Instead of giving an immediate reaction when faced with problems, and talking about them here and there, we must definitely mull over the subject and try to find the most appropriate solution. If you deal with matters in a crude and careless fashion and are as blunt as a kick in the shins, then you may risk hurting people and pushing them away from you. It should not be forgotten that the task of spiritual counsel and guidance requires expertise and sensibility. In a way, we can view it as a task that is best carried out by qualified and learned people.

It should also be known that problems may not always be sorted out by talking. In some situations, speaking over some problems might cause the crisis to get worse. As the saying goes, “a believer’s speaking should be wisdom and their silence should be reflection.” We should speak if we are to say words of wisdom. If this is not the case then we should keep silent and wait for the appropriate time. There are certain conditions where one needs to stop and think, for wisdom develops in the seedbed of deliberation. Otherwise, the blurting out of casual remarks will only produce noise. Just as we know the appropriate time to talk, we similarly need to know when to show patience and wait.

Self-interrogation

In one of his sayings, the noble Prophet stated that every child of Adam errs but the best of those who err are those who repent (Tirmidhi, Qiyamah, 49; Ibn Majah, Zuhd 30) and thus pointed out that human nature is prone to mistakes and sins. Accordingly, some give their willpower its due and narrow down this gap or totally eliminate it, whereas some do not succeed sufficiently in this respect. What matters here is that after experiencing a spiritual stumble, or perhaps even a fall, we work to straighten ourselves up right away and be purified in the washbasin of repentance.

Yes, everyone can fall. However, immediately walking out on, speaking negatively about, and putting to shame a person who is undergoing a spiritual relapse never comply with the virtuous conduct expected in religion nor with the path of the noble Prophet. Instead of busying ourselves with others’ faults we should be concerned with noticing our own faults and busying ourselves with setting those aright because those who cannot see their own mistakes keep looking for faults in others. A person who is fully concentrated on perfecting themself will be much less focused with the faults of others.

Before throwing a stone at someone, we need to take a look at ourselves first. And if we also have similar faults, then we should fear that such a stone may recoil and hit our own head. It is narrated that our master Messiah said the following in an address to a crowd preparing to stone someone to death for punishment: “Let one who is without sin among you throw the first stone…” Naturally, everybody gently lowered the stones in their hands to the ground.

The fact that people do not care about such matters at all and speak about others’ faults and sins in public does not serve as an excuse for us to behave in a similar manner. Even if the entire world engages in such sinful behavior it still does not justify joining them. As it is expressed in a Turkish proverb, “every sheep is hung from its own leg.” Asserting excuses such as “everybody was talking in this manner and I just followed their way” has no validity whatsoever on the Day of Judgment. As it is stated in the verse meaning, “And no soul, as bearer of burden, bears (and is made to bear) the burden of another” (Fatir 35:18) everybody remains alone with the burden of his or her own sins. And if someone defame others with spoken or written statements, that person will also be burdened with the sins caused by those statements, along with other personal sins.

Rather than being crushed under the weight of such sins in the Afterlife, taking our tongue under control while we can in this world and thus not giving way to such very hard to repair problems from the beginning is the wisest way. A person needs to also be careful about the feelings and thoughts that they may hold about other believers in the first place and should work to keep them pure, for what pours from the tongue are simply our thoughts. A person who is focused on the mistakes of others and continually mulls over them in their mind will firstly speak within about these with the inner voice, and then spill them out to others.

A person who is continually busy with others’ faults and speaks about these will definitely deserve punishment in the Hereafter on account of sins such as spying into others’ private affairs, holding negative assumptions, backbiting, and lashing out with insults. It is not possible for such a person to find comfort in this world as well. For a person who pollutes his or her brain neurons with what others did and who keeps talking about these filthy issues all the time, all of those things will turn into a torment.

Literally meaning to separate, abstract, peel away, or to isolate oneself from every occupation and engagement, tajrid (isolation) denotes the state where one isolates oneself from worldly things and abandons all carnal or bodily desires. It also denotes turning away from all else save God and being freed from any attachment to wealth, status or position or any worldly expectations, and setting one’s heart totally on Him without expecting anything in return.

The scholars relate isolation to the Qur’anic statement, Take off your shoes (20:12), and interpret this as the purifying of the heart, which they call the home of God, of all worldly and otherworldly considerations, and preparing it for the visit of the All-Holy Sovereign. Some go a step further and regard this as turning to the Light of Lights with all one’s heart and setting one’s heart totally on Him without leaving any room for anything else in one’s feelings, according to one’s capacity. From another perspective, isolation has been approached as resistance against all carnal or bodily appetites and impulses and against the attractions of the world with whatever is in it. Initiates who have not been able to isolate themselves from carnal appetites, the attractions of the world, the attachment of the heart to anything else save Him, or from any worldly or otherworldly consideration, cannot attain His private company and the spiritual pleasure inherent in this.

Concerning this significant point, the author of al-Minhaj

says:

So long as you do not isolate yourself
from considerations about everything save Him,
You will not be able to reach privacy
with the Beloved in His private room.

Ibrahim Haqqi expresses the same point, as follows:

The heart is the home of God;
purify it of whatever is there other than Him,
So that the All-Merciful may descend into His palace at nights.

Isolation, which, in the words of Sayyid Sharif [1], is cleaning the heart and other innermost faculties from the dirt and dust of attachment to anything save Him, requires that the people favored with a vision of Him should isolate themselves from whatever they see or hear, and that they live immersed in the lights of the Existence of the Eternal Witness. Every initiate feels this and is favored with its gifts according to the individual’s capacity.

When those who are in the initial stages of the spiritual journey find themselves growing in the knowledge of God that is developing in the heart, the information acquired concerning Him gradually fades, and they begin to receive glimpses from beyond things. Then all of their material or bodily necessities, and even the entire world with whatever is in it, gradually lose their importance and value for them and they become polished mirrors to the truth, or function as some misty medium to reflect Him. One who feels this favor sometimes says, like Fuduli,

The way of isolation is a home
requiring full renunciation and sacrifice to settle in,
so abandon whatever worldly things you have,
and do not have a house.

or sometimes cries, like Yunus Emre:

I have found the unique, matchless honey;
Let everybody come and plunder my existence.

One who has reached the final point of the spiritual journey is freed from all considerations concerning other existent beings save God, and is left with no trace that belongs to anything else except Him. If those favored with this degree of isolation do not follow the principles of the Prophetic way or the rules of Shari‘a in their considerations, they may lapse into negating the “reality of things”— the established originals or essences of things in God’s Knowledge. This is a rank where many initiates live in a daze. Whereas, those who strictly follow the signposts and lights of the Prophetic way during their entire journey, though admitting the reality of things, see in everything only He Who is the One, only know the One, only mention the One, only call the One, and only turn to the One in thousands of signs of “dawn,” turning their eyes from all others.

Ahmedi [2] describes this rank according to his feeling as follows:

I have submitted all my being to that Friend, having no home any longer;
And purified my hands of any worldly things I had, being left without both of the two worlds.
For God’s love has come and drawn me to itself: opening the eyes of my heart, awakening me from an intoxicated sleep.
His Unity has become manifest to me, so that I have seen Him with all certainty.
I have driven away polytheism, having no doubt any longer.

As for the state of those who have completed their journey toward God, it is such a deep, indescribable state of pleasure, where efforts toward isolation have ended in perfect isolation and they have all but lost their own being, that those who do not experience it cannot know or describe it. Anybody who attempts to describe it cannot be saved from confusion. Such a relation between the Almighty, Ultimate Truth and an initiate whom He has favored with such a degree of spiritual attainment must be a mysterious gift of secrecy of His to His distinguished servants. What we should do is to feel respect for this gift of secrecy.

O God! Show us the truth as being true and enable us to follow it, and show us falsehood as being false and enable us to refrain from it. And bestow blessings and peace on our master Muhammad, the guide to the truth, and on his Family and Companions, godly, noble and honorable.

Notes

1. Sayyid Sharif al-Jurjani (1339–1413), was one of the leading theologians of 15^th century. He lived in Iran and taught in Shiraz. He visited Istanbul in 1374. Sharhu’l-Mawaqif is his most famous work.
2. Emir Muhammed ibn Emir Ahmedi lived in the same age as Jalalu’d-Din Rumi. He lived in Bayburt, in the Eastern Turkey. He was also the leader of the Ahis (The Brotherhood of Craftsmen and Tradesmen) in the region. (Tr.)

The morning had withheld its sunlight and left only a gray hue to open its doors when the man turned aside to his wife facing him, her Cantu-scented curls waving in his face. The sunlight compliments her already perfect face even though the gray brings gloom to others, but not him. The sounds of breakfast cooking brew an ambience that acts as lenses onto her beauty while her eyes secure her innocence. The appreciation of sunlight comes natural for those who don’t have it, but alternatives are the only option with no availability. As a result, he finds the sunlight captured in her beauty while her eyes take the picture.

“Want some eggs,” she asks, her words softly layered.

“With syrup please,” he replies as his words stick to his mouth.

Her response echoes through the whole house, her laughter bounces off the walls. Her eyes close when she laughs and he wonders what she sees. The sight she sees contains an expression of her love with him at the center of her photograph. In the meanwhile, a whole dictionary was consumed in the process of describing what she feels towards what she sees.

The day passes them by in a swirl of heartfelt emotions. A haze of old music lingers in the house as she takes two steps back while he takes two steps forward.

She asks, “Where did the day go?”                                                                                      

“With you in my arms,” he responds.

“Ha-Ha-Ha,” she says sarcastically.

Her laugh gets softer and softer as he feels the heat escape her body. Her eyes flash red not with pain but with a warning. “Low Battery! Charge Now!” but a recharge isn’t possible, at least not in an electrical sense. With this he holds her memory tightly, tighter than the grip of death itself. He carries her soul in his heart as he steps to the cellar. Her brown hair now twisted with curls, rooted in the insecurities of others. The door creaks open to deliver a gust of contempt for death and a sense of resurrection. Human sized tubes litter the wall. The same face stares back at him at least a dozen times, providing twelve instances of relief. A transaction is made with his heart and mind, and one of the tubes opens. He feels elated but the air still chills around him, and an aura steps out followed by a hand reaching for him.

The morning withholds its sunlight and leaves only the gray to open its doors when the man turns aside to his wife facing him, her strawberry scented hair waving in his face.

Washing our hands has become one major way to protect ourselves from Covid-19. However, ablutions have always had a central place in the practices and beliefs of many religious traditions. Christians perform baptism with water, in amounts varying from small sprinkles to larger vessels, to bring about purification, cleanliness, revival, and rebirth. Jesus’ washing the feet of his disciples as narrated in the Gospel makes the washing of feet an important practice in Christianity to promote cleanliness and is still carried out to this day. The Jewish tradition also has many instances of ablution where water is specifically used to promote cleanliness, including washing hands to reclaim or preserve purity and mikveh in which the feet or whole body is immersed in water.

The Islamic ablution, also known as “wudhu,” contains 24 washing movements to be carried out several times a day for the five daily prayers. If performed for all five prayers, it would consist of about 120 repeated actions as Muslims washed parts of their body.

A lover must undertake the required preparation to cleanse and beautify oneself before meeting with their Beloved. Likewise, a believer is required to wash specified parts of their body to stand before God in supplication, as instructed in Chapter Maidah of the Qur’an, verse 6: “O believers, when you stand for prayer, wash your faces, and your hands up to the elbows, and wipe your heads, and wash your feet up to the ankles. If you are unclean, bathe and purify your bodies fully. But if you are ill or in the middle of travelling or … you cannot find water, then take wholesome dust and wipe your faces and hands with that. For God does not wish to burden you, rather He desires to purify you and to complete His blessing and favor upon you so that, perhaps, you may be grateful” [5:6].

The spiritual cleansing that the act of wudhu provides is highlighted by the Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) in numerous hadiths, or prophetic sayings, which has been collected under The Book of Purification. While water literally cleans the face and limbs, with every pure intention to do wudhu, the water droplets that meet the body also wash away the minor sins that were committed by the hands, mouth, face, ears, and feet. The famous hadith that “cleanliness is half of faith” [Sahih Muslim, 223] can be interpreted as applying primarily to doing wudhu in one translation [Wudhu: Fiqh, Rules, Purification and Blessings, Qadri]. Therefore, to perfect the faith, to be cleansed of our mistakes continuously, God has given us a simple mechanism through which to be purified and recalibrated countless times in a day.

Many of us perform this pattern of washing with little thought. It has become a routine that we seldom consider a medical protection that we apply to our body. Besides its effects on the soul, washing also has wonderful effects on the body. Over fourteen hundred years ago, the Prophet (pbuh) advised ablution before going to bed. Interestingly, yoga experts in recent years have also started to encourage the washing of the legs, hands, arms, eyes, and the mouth before sleep with cool water for a deeper undisturbed sleep. This is not surprising considering the relief that comes with the touch of water on a busy day.

Three of our principal systems benefit from wudhu; the circulatory system, the immune system, and the electrostatic balance of the body. In this way, the health benefits from the ritual of washing are threefold…

Circulatory system

The circulatory system is a magnificent circuit of blood vessels between the heart and the tissues that make up every other system of the body. The systemic circulatory system circulates oxygenated blood from the heart to the tissues around the body and back to the heart, whilst the pulmonary circulatory system transports deoxygenated blood to the lungs for detoxification and returns clean blood to the heart. The correct functioning of the blood vessels, which act as wires that connect our major organs, are essential to the efficiency of this circuit. These vessels divide into thinner branches called arterioles which in turn split into smaller capillaries which surround the cells of the body. The vascular resistance generated by blood vessels is overcome by the blood pressure generated by the heart to enable blood flow. Over time (due to ageing, or a diet high in fat), our blood vessels often harden and become constricted meaning that the heart has to work harder to overcome increased vascular resistance to maintain steady blood flow. The vessels in the limbs are the most peripheral to the heart and thus the most vulnerable to the process of hardening and narrowing over a long period.

The application of water in our daily routine “exercises” these blood vessels by alternately contracting and dilating them. Water can act as an agent of temperature gradients, thereby affecting the thermoregulatory response of the cutaneous circulation. When hot, water ensures that vessels in the limbs dilate, and when cold, that they contract. In this way, water ensures the flexibility of vessels distant from the heart, forcing nutrients deposited in tissues as a result of poor circulation back into the bloodstream through a temperature gradient.

Lymphatic system

The lymphatic system, on the other hand, is probably not the first to come to mind when we think of the body’s organ systems. Yet without this quietly working system our cardiovascular system would collapse and our immune system would be impaired. Our lymphatic vessels transport “leaked” blood fluids into our capillaries to prevent the accumulation of fluid in the interstitial spaces and eventual tissue damage. The vessels of the lymphatic system are much thinner than those of the cardiovascular system, ensuring the circulation of white blood cells which have an essential role in protecting the body against invaders and resisting disease. It is this fluid that we see oozing out when we have a cut or wound.

The optimal functioning of this system and its thin vessels, like those of the circulatory system, can be said to be closely linked with the effect of washing. The phagocytes and lymphocytes, which make up the immune system are housed by our lymphoid tissues and organs, are supported by the act of wudhu. The nasopharyngeal region behind the nose leads to the tonsils, which are small masses of lymphoid tissue that trap and remove pathogens that are entering the throat. Washing the mouth and nose three times with every wudhu therefore helps to remove the bacteria that builds up in the region of the body most exposed to the external environment. Moreover, the act of washing both sides of the neck during wudhu stimulates our cervical lymph nodes – a specialized mass of tissue which houses lymphocytes and particularly helps to protect the body by removing bacteria and tumor cells from lymphatic circulation. Our lymphocytes are arguably the most important component of our immune system, patrolling every point of the body many times a day and destroying cancer cells and pathogens along the way. Considering that the act of wudhu enhances the filtration effect of our lymphoid circulation, one can see the blessings that come with the divine command to “wash…and purify your bodies fully….”

Electrostatic balance

Our physiology is also closely related to the electrostatic balance of the body. While many psychosomatic diseases result from electrostatic imbalance, the most pronounced effect of static electricity is exerted on the subcutaneous muscles located under the skin, mitigating their function and inducing the onset of wrinkles which often start in the face. Maintaining the regular habit of washing the skin – particularly the face which is most frequently exposed to ultraviolet radiation – protects the surface and internal layer of our skin cells by constantly dampening the skin surface with clean water. It is a much simpler alternative to spending hundreds and hundreds of dollars on expensive skin care and makeup products to maintain a healthy complexion.

In regards to how wudhu can benefit our electrostatic balance, the part of the verse which sheds light to tayammum, “if you cannot find water, then take wholesome dust and wipe your faces and hands with that” highlights that the water substitute for wudhu significantly reduces static electricity, like water. This is why when wudhu is performed calmly with care, it often leaves one feeling refreshed and discharged.

The Quran is a grand source containing many prescriptions for good health. While every civilized person may wash their face and hands throughout the day, wudhu ensures that cleanliness and a sense of well-being is sustained by virtue of its association with worship. The worth and significance of wudhu is not limited to the medical benefits discussed here. However, for anyone else wondering why taking a pause on a busy day with wudhu feels so rejuvenating, I hope this humble article sheds some light to a grand prescription from among the many medicines revealed in the Qur’an.