Sleep is a period of renewal that prepares us for the new day and enables our brain and body to perform duties that they cannot while awake.

Growing numbers of businesses are including good sleep in their wellness programs for their employees. Many of them now have sleep pods in their offices to improve productivity. In addition to diet, weight, exercise and smoking cessation, sleep wellness is now becoming part of our tools to prevent health problems; and this is a good thing.

Sleep is a period of renewal that prepares us for the new day and enables our brain and body to perform duties that they cannot while awake. Having a sufficient amount of high-quality sleep is vital for us to be healthier and to feel better during the day. Yet the number of people experiencing sleeping problems is on the rise.

The duration of healthy sleep varies from person to person. If the night’s sleep lacks quality –say, for instance because of frequent interruptions for the need to go to toilet – the total duration spend in bed extends. The craving or need for more sleep as a result becomes a sleep problem.

Sleep deprivation prevents certain brain functions that are enabled only during sleep. Sleep is necessary for learning and memory. Moreover, healthy sleep is crucial for appetite regulation, so insufficient sleep may result in weight gain.

In the general sense, sufficient and quality sleep is also essential for overcoming diseases and disorders. Therefore, many patients in the intensive care unit, especially those suffering from cerebral bleeding, edemas, or a heart attack, are put to sleep with drugs. Studies have shown that sleep is crucial for fast recovery of post-operational scars. It is essential that long hospital visits should be avoided so that the patient can have the much needed sleep.

Because metabolism slows down during sleep, all the bodily energy is redirected towards curing the brain and the body. Sleep is the time for repairing any part damaged during the day. Sufferers of sleep problems run a higher risk of developing illnesses such as Alzheimer’s and dementia. The number of neurons is important for memory as well. Their number decreases with age, weakening our memory. Age-related memory impairment stems from a breakdown of the brain’s communication network and can be prevented by healthy sleep. In addition, sleeplessness correlates with depression and cancer, too. The immune system also deteriorates in people experiencing sleep deprivation because it cannot be renewed and strengthened during sleep.

Coffee, tea, energy drinks, and other substances containing caffeine can prevent sleep for as long as six hours. That is, black coffee or strong tea you have in the afternoon may make it difficult for you to fall asleep at night. Similarly, if you have food that is high in fat and protein at a late dinner, you may experience problems drifting into sleep.

Working hours

Some people have to work at night so they can sleep during the daytime. People doing night shifts, for example doctors, nurses and police officers, frequently develop serious heart and brain problems. Our brains are created so as to stay asleep at night and awake during the day, so people who go to bed late at night experience more health problems. Sleeping during the day after a sleepless night leads to sleeplessness the following night. However, a nap (siesta) in the afternoon is extremely useful in that it virtually enables renewed morning freshness thanks to re-regulation of hormones.

Our body clocks are influenced by sunrise and sunset. Modern people are exposed to less sunlight during day and more artificial light at night, which has an impact on the time we fall asleep. Increased exposure to the morning sun and decreased exposure to artificial light (especially from phones and computers) can help our body clock readjust to a normal sleep schedule and hence help us sleep earlier.

Fixed waking hour

One of the most critical conditions for healthy sleep is to have a fixed waking hour. You should wake up at the same time no matter what time you went to bed the previous night. In fact, as a rule of thumb, you should get up from your bed at the same time in the morning whether it is weekend or weekday, work day or holiday, so that you can have a good sleep the following night.

The more tired you are when you go to bed, the harder it gets to drift into sleep. You should therefore avoid vigorous physical activity within a few hours before bedtime.

Contrary to widespread belief, reading books in bed, watching TV, or spending time on the mobile phone or computer makes it harder to fall asleep. Such activities should be done out of bed in another room, if possible, and the bed should be used for sleeping. In fact, sleeping somewhere other than your bed may also harm your healthy sleeping cycle.

Residents in big cities generally wake up very early to arrive at work or school on time and get back home quite late due to traffic. Sleeping late during the weekdays and waking up too early lead to an accumulation of sleeplessness, which needs to be made up for. Some research studies also have shown that late risers run higher health risks than early risers.

Certain regulations can be put into effect to help reduce sleep problems. For one thing, flexible working hours would enable more employees to start work later but more refreshed. Moreover, some businesses can arrange work schedules of their employees according to their body clocks. As a result, the performance and efficacy of the employees could be improved. Buildings can be made to let in more sunlight and thus dependence on blue light can be reduced.

Our need for sleep, daily and weekly, is more or less stable. This need is also related to your age. Sleep duration increases with your age: it peaks in your twenties and then your body clock tends to move back as you get on in years. As you get older, you need less sleep.

Sleep for physical formatting

Sleep used to be considered to be a time of rest until recently. Today, however, sleep is accepted as a time for restructuring and physical formatting. Snoring, sleep apnea, and frequent visits to the toilet prevent high quality sleep.

Growth hormones are produced the most during deep sleep. We should therefore be particularly careful about ensuring that children get enough and healthy (deep) sleep schedules.

Position

Sleep position is important, especially for the elderly. A position should be chosen that is least painful. For instance, the heart is believed to be more at ease when one sleeps on the right side. In this position, breathing takes place more through the left nostril rather than the right, enabling the sympathetic system to rest and the parasympathetic system to take over. When the parasympathetic system starts to work, drifting into sleep becomes easier and the duration as well as the quality of sleep increase. Sleeping on the right has been reported to be the tradition of the Prophet Muhammad, peace be upon him.

When you lie in bed, gaps remain between the bed and our neck, waist and knees. These gaps may need to be filled particularly for the elderly and those who suffer from pain in one’s back or neck. Herniated discs have become more common in employees doing desk jobs. A pillow can be folded slightly to support the neck, or special pillows that take the shape of the head and neck can be used. It may not always be necessary to fill in the gaps but if you have backache or hernia it might be necessary to support the waist. The support of a small pillow can be helpful in some cases of knee problems. In other cases, a soft pillow placed between the knees can be helpful.

Numerous studies in recent years have reported that cupping (hijama) and foot reflexology therapy can increase sleep quality. These two methods reportedly help discharge excessive static electricity and psychological stress that have accumulated in the body and thus make it easier to drift into sleep.

Oversleeping is as dangerous as sleep deprivation. It has been found that people who sleep more than eight hours a day have a higher risk of heart failure. A Norwegian study has shown that sleep that is more than eight hours or less than four hours increases the risk of heart failure. Conducted at the Norwegian University of Science and Technology, the study included 50,000 subjects aged 20-89 whose sleep patterns were monitored for 11 years. According to the results, people who slept more than eight hours or less than four hours had a 35 percent greater risk of dying from heart failure than people who sleep between six and eight hours. People who slept less than four hours were reported to have a 34 percent higher propensity for dying from heart failure.

It is important to make sure we have enough amount of sleep for both our physical and spiritual health; not more, not less. Having a siesta for 1-1.5 hours during the day can also prove useful. Oversleeping numbs the human mind, may bring gloom to the heart, and may cause us to lose our ability to make good judgments. Going to bed immediately after eating and drinking may also be a cause for various illnesses, including obesity.

References

1. Munshi, Neil. “Sleeping on the job can improve your work.” Financial Times, September 13, 2017.
2. Laugsand LE, Strand LB, Platou C, Vatten LJ, Janszky I, “Insomnia and the risk of incident heart failure: a population study”, Eur Heart J. 2014 Jun 1;35(21):1382-93. Epub 2013 Mar 5.

Don’t most people think that being happy is the most important thing? Isn’t eating one of the most accessible pleasures we have? Why should people limit their culinary pleasures? More outrageous, why should we afflict ourselves by fasting? Why do Islam and Judaism restrict their adherents from the simple pleasure of food each year? For the entire month of Ramadan, Muslims fast from first light until sundown, abstaining from food, drink and marital relations. The Qur’an says, “Oh you who believe! Fasting is prescribed to you as it was prescribed to those before you, that you may (learn) self-restraint” (2:183). Why should the Torah decree for Jews a day of fasting (Leviticus 16:29, 23:27) when for twenty-four hours adult Jews (in good health) are supposed to trouble their bodies by abstaining from eating, drinking and marital relations? Both religions teach us that what we do not eat may be even more important than what we do eat.

All animals eat, but only humans choose not to eat some foods that are both nutritious and tasty. Some people do not eat meat for religious or ethical reasons. Jews and Muslims do not eat pork for religious and spiritual reasons. On fast days such as Yom Kippur—the Day of Atonement and the ninth of Av (a day of mourning like the Shi’a observance of Ashura on the tenth of Muharram)—Jews do not eat or drink anything at all, and abstain from marital relations for twenty-four hours. Fasting results in many different outcomes that help bring us closer to God.

First of all, fasting teaches compassion. It is easy to talk about the world’s problem of hunger, easy to feel sorry that millions of people go to bed hungry each day. But not until one actually feels it in one’s own body does the impact truly hit home. Compassion based on empathy is much stronger and more consistent than compassion based on pity. It is a feeling that leads to action. Fasting is never an end in itself; it has many different outcomes. But none of the other outcomes are of real moral value if compassion is not enlarged and extended through fasting. As the prophet Isaiah said, “The truth is that at the same time you fast, you pursue your own interests and oppress your workers. Your fasting makes you violent, and you quarrel and fight. The kind of fasting I want is this: remove the chains of oppression and the yoke of injustice, and let the oppressed go free. Share your food with the hungry and open your homes to the homeless poor” (Isaiah 58:3-7).

Second, fasting is an exercise in will power. Many people think they can’t fast because it’s too difficult, but actually the discomfort of hunger pangs is relatively minor. A headache, muscle soreness from too much exercise, or a toothache are more severe than the pain temporary hunger produces. I have on one occasion fasted for three days, and found that after the first twenty-four hours the pain decreases slightly, as the stomach becomes numb. The real reason it is challenging to fast is because it so easy to break the fast, since food is almost always in easy reach — all you have to do is take a bite. Thus the key to fasting is the will power to decide again and again not to eat or drink. Our society has increasingly become one of self-indulgence; we lack basic self-discipline. Fasting opposes our increasing “softness” in life; when people exercise their will power to fast, they are affirming their self-control and celebrating mastery over themselves. We need continually to prove to ourselves that we can do it, because we are aware of our frequent failures to be self-disciplined.

The third outcome of fasting is improved physical health. Of course, one twenty-four hour fast will not have any more effect than one day of exercise; only prolonged and regular fasting promotes health. The annual fast on Yom Kippur can, however, awaken us to the importance of how much and how often we eat. For many years, research has shown that when animals are slightly underfed, receiving a balanced diet below the normal quantity for maximum physical health, their life spans were prolonged from 50 to 100 percent. With all the additives placed in food these days, a reduction of total food intake is healthful. More important, since our society has problems with overabundance, fasting provides a good lesson in the virtue of denial. Illnesses caused by overeating are increasing in affluent Western countries, such as the incidence of diabetes. Sixteen million people in the United States have diabetes, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Diabetes can lead to blindness, kidney disease, heart disease, nerve damage, amputation and sometimes death. The prevalence of the disease is related to high rates of obesity and sedentary lifestyles, which increase the risk of developing the disease. More than half of adults in Los Angeles are overweight, and 60 percent do not get regular exercise. One-fifth of all those who are obese will develop diabetes. Thus going without any food, or even water, for a twenty-four hour period challenges us to think about the benefits of the spiritual doctrine “less is more.”

Fourth in our list of outcomes is that fasting is a positive struggle against our dependencies. We live in a consumer society, and are constantly bombarded by advertising that tells us we must have this or that to be healthy, happy, popular, or wise. By fasting, we assert that we need not be totally reliant on external, material things, even essentials such as food. If our most basic need for food and drink can be suspended for twenty-four hours, how much more may we learn to limit our needs for all non-essentials? Judaism and Islam do not advocate asceticism as an end in itself; in fact, it’s against Jewish and Muslim law to deny ourselves normal physical pleasures. But in our overheated consumer society, it is necessary periodically to turn off the constant pressure to consume, and forcibly remind ourselves that “Man does not live by bread alone” (Deuteronomy 8:3).

Fifth, fasting serves as a penance. Though self-inflicted pain may alleviate some guilt, it is much better to reduce one’s guilt with offsetting acts of righteousness. This is why charity is an important part of Yom Kippur, and the same is true for Muslims during Ramadan. Indeed, Judaism teaches that fasting which doesn’t increase compassion is ignored by God. The concept of fasting as penance helps us to understand that our hunger pains can be beneficial. Contemporary culture desires happiness and comfort above all else. Any pain or suffering is seen as unnecessary, even evil. Though we occasionally hear people echo values from the past that suffering can help one grow, or that an existence unalloyed with grief would lack certain qualities of greatness, many today think that the primary goal in life is to always be happy and free from all discomfort. The satisfaction one derives from the self-induced pain of fasting provides insight into a better possible reaction to the normal, external suffering we will all experience throughout our lives. Taking a pill is not always the best way to alleviate pain, especially if by doing so we allay the symptoms without reaching the root cause.

Sixth, fasting is good for the soul. It often serves as an aid for spiritual experiences. For most people, especially those who have not fasted regularly before, hunger pains are a distraction. People who are not by nature spiritual or emotional individuals will probably find that a one-day fast is insufficient to induce an altered state of consciousness. Those who have fasted regularly on Yom Kippur might like to try a two- to three-day fast (liquids permitted after the first 24 hours). It is best to go about daily activities and devote late evening or early morning to meditation and prayer. Having already fasted for Yom Kippur, one may simply extend the fast another thirty-six to forty-eight hours. We are prohibited to fast prior to Yom Kippur; eating a good meal prior to Yom Kippur Eve is a mitzvah (religious duty), because Judaism, like Islam, opposes excessive asceticism.

The seventh outcome of fasting is the performance of a mitzvah, which is the one fundamental reason for fasting on Yom Kippur. We do carry out mitzvot (religious duties) in order to benefit ourselves, but because our duty as Jews requires us to do them. Fasting is a very personal mitzvah, with primarily personal consequences. Fasting on Yom Kippur is a personal offering to God, from each and every Jew who fasts. For more than 100 generations, Jews have fasted on this day; fasting is part of the Jewish people’s covenant with God. The principal reason to fast is to fulfill God’s commandment, but the outcome of the fast can be any of a half-dozen forms of self-fulfillment. But simply knowing that one has done one’s duty as a faithful Jew is the most basic and primary outcome of all.

Finally, fasting should be combined with the study of Torah (the five books of Moses specifically, or Scriptural texts in general). A medieval text states, “Better to eat a little and study twice as much, for the study of Torah is superior to fasting.” Indeed, the more one studies, the less one needs to fast. Fasting is a very personal, experiential offering. However, though study is also a personal experience, it takes place with a text and/or a teacher. The Divine will is often more readily and truly experienced in study or in spiritual dialogue with others than in solitary meditation.

May our fasting become a first step toward the removal of the chains of self-oppression and narrow-mindedness that enslave us, our neighbors, and our world! May future years of shared fasting by Muslims and Jews lead to a greater understanding and respect through increased acceptance of religious pluralism. May we always be part of those organizations and movements that are fully committed to contributing to world peace, and who are equally committed to respecting both our own religion and our neighbor’s.

Muslim scholar Fethullah Gulen points out that the Abrahamic faiths (Judaism, Christianity, and Islam) and some non-Abrahamic faiths (Hinduism) accept that there is only One source for all religions, and pursue the same goal. Gulen states: “As a Muslim, I accept all Prophets and Books sent to different peoples throughout history, and regard belief in them as an essential principle of being Muslim. A Muslim is a true follower of Abraham, Moses, David, Jesus, and all other Prophets. Not believing in one Prophet or Book means that one is not a Muslim. Thus we acknowledge the oneness and basic unity of religion, which is a symphony of God’s blessings and mercy, and the universality of belief in religion.” Gulen’s description of universal religion as a symphony is an excellent illustration. One cannot have harmony if everyone plays the same notes; and one cannot have symphony if everyone plays the same instruments. Individual conductors and composers are different, but the source of musical creativity is One. According to a hadith narrated by Abu Huraira, Prophet Muhammad said, “The prophets are paternal brothers; their mothers are different, yet their religion is one (because they all have the same father)” (Bukhari, Book 55, Hadith 652).

Allen S. Maller is the former Rabbi of Temple Akiba in Culver City, California. He has authored several books and is currently the editor of a series of prayer books for the Jewish High Holy Days.

This is the Winner essay of our 2010 writing contest conducted in cooperation with Everest Productions. Participants were asked to write down to live out what truly mattered to them most assuming they were told they had only three days left in this life.

Time-our most precious commodity-may seem infinite, but it is also unrecoverable. Once a moment is spent, it is gone forever. This is because we are linear beings. We are born into this world at Point A-our Arrival-and then move forward from there, making some detours along the way. We wander-sometimes aimlessly-to Point B, taking a spouse, perhaps, or throwing ourselves into our careers. Later, we meander to Point C, which is trying to enjoy our lives on the way to old age. But ultimately we all arrive at the same destination, which is Point D-our Death. There are no exceptions to this rule, and it is not an arguable point. We cannot sue God to recoup the losses of our misspent youth, and the universe has one iron-clad policy regarding time: YOU WASTE IT, YOU’VE LOST IT. So, with this information firmly in mind, I ask myself: “What would I do if I had only 72 hours left to live?” It is an interesting question that is difficult to answer because I have spent the majority of my adult life in prison. Which, incidentally, is where I am now.

I am currently serving a 6-year sentence and have no way of knowing if I will ever see the streets again. I am forty-five years old and healthy, but as we all know-tomorrow is promised to no one. So this question of 72 hours intrigues me on several levels, the first of which is: “What would it be like to die alone in prison?” I rarely speak with my family, and while I do have a couple of good friends, they are not here. So here I would die, and alone it would be. The implications of that statement have shaken me in a way that until a few days ago I would have thought impossible. I can barely imagine lying here on my prison bunk, knowing that soon I would close my eyes, never to open them again. I have accomplished nothing of importance in my life, and with 72 hours to live there would be virtually no chance of me doing anything to benefit this world or anyone in it. Sure, I have written five novels, but much like me, they are lying dormant doing nothing to benefit anyone. The thought that they would never be published makes me want to cry. In fact, I can feel that thought wrenching my heart as I write this very sentence. Nevertheless, all of that is a very selfish way of thinking, but it is with that self-centered attitude that I am most comfortable. Due to my addiction and abuse of alcohol, I have led a very selfish life. I rarely gave more than a passing thought to the feelings or well-being of others. Now, however, I will admit this: I feel quite remorseful of the way I have treated others. I am not a heartless person; I just had to close my heart to combat the pain of addiction, and then the emptiness of long-term incarceration. I wasn’t always like that, of course. I was even in love once-a long, long time ago. I remember it like it was yesterday, but that is only because nothing of importance has happened to me since. It’s funny now, more than twenty years later, but I can still remember the way she kissed. I still miss her sometimes. If I had only 72 yours left to live, I would probably think a lot about her. It was the last time that I was truly happy.

But happy memories are self-indulgent, and with my life-clock ticking down, I believe that the time would have finally arrived for me to make peace with myself. I have never forgiven myself for wasting the talents and gifts that God has given me. I am not a stupid man: I know for a fact that I could have helped others. I could have made a difference. I could have shown people how to avoid walking down the same lonely roads that I have traveled. I could have shown them how important it is to be able to smile at yourself in the mirror, and how empowering it is to thank God every day for all that has occurred-good or bad. But I didn’t. Instead, I spent my life at the bottom of a vodka bottle, doing nothing but feeling sorry for myself. What a waste. What a complete and shameful waste.

So here, now, lying on a prison bunk contemplating the prospect of having 72 hours to live, sadly, I suppose, that for me it would all come down to regrets. The biggest of these would be that I never had children. Not because I don’t like them-because I do-but because I grew up without a father, and I could never bring myself to inflict that kind of pain on my own child. And since I was unable to stop drinking, it was a certainty that I would always be in prison. Nevertheless, I have to say that just once in my life it would have been nice to get a big goodnight hug along with an, “I love you, Daddy.”

But in the end I suppose that I would use my last few hours searching for the meaning of life. Not in some universal sense, but in a very personal-and, as usual-selfish way. I would like to say that I would put aside my life-long obsession with gratifying my own immediate desires, but the truth is – I have no idea how to do that. Selfless acts seem a mystery to me, yet I don’t know why. Even in the past when I’ve done the smallest of kindnesses, such as giving spare change to a homeless person, I am sure that somewhere in the back of my mind I was thinking, “Did you see that God? When you get a chance, could you jot that down on my scorecard?”

And-yes-I do believe in God. So in those last few hours I would be constantly calling Him on His cell phone, asking Him to forgive me for my past indiscretions. He would forgive me, being the loving and merciful God that He is, and maybe that is what my entire existence here on earth would boil down to those last few moments in which I realize that I have done nothing to be worthy of God’s mercy and grace, but will receive it anyway.

So again-here, now-lying on this prison bunk, it’s difficult to find any one thing that I could do to make a difference. I am open to any revelations or epiphanies that God might like to place on my heart because after having caused so much pain on my brief journey through this world, I would dearly love to “shuffle off this mortal coil,” believing that I have left this place a little better than how I found it.

It’s a lovely thought.

It is an interesting question.

Which is why I find it so disturbing that in an infinite universe full of limitless possibilities, I am still unable to offer a satisfactory answer.

It is possible to ask many more such questions. Astronomer Neil F. Comins, from Maine University, explained in his book, What If the Moon Didn’t Exist, the scenarios humankind would have faced if the Moon hadn’t existed. According to Comins, one of the millions of reasons why Earth is the only planet (known to us) to have life is the delicate balance between the Earth and the Moon. No occurrence in the universe is a coincidence, thus the Moon has been created as a balance factor. This balance is so sensitive that it is possible to say that there would be no life on Earth if it weren’t for the Moon.

The Moon, a sphere that has no atmosphere, and has a surface covered with craters, dust and rocks, is the Earth’s only satellite. The radius of the Moon is about one fourth of that of the Earth’s, its volume is about 1/50 of the Earth’s, and its mass is about 1/81 of the Earth’s. The Moon is around 240,000 miles from the Earth’s center and it takes 29.5 days to complete its orbit around the Earth. Even though we do not know for sure how the Moon came into being, the currently accepted theory asserts that a planet about 10 times lighter than the Earth, which astronomers call “Thiea,” crashed into Earth and a part of that planet broke apart and fell into space. This part (having lost its shape and most of its mass) crashed into Earth again after orbiting the Earth. In this second crash, the metal center of “Theia” fused into the center of the Earth while the outer shell’s light rocks scattered into space. In time, these little rocks fused to form the Moon. At first, the Moon orbited the Earth with a distance of only 14,000 miles, but in time this distance increased into an average of 240,000 miles.

The Moon’s largest effect on Earth is the tide. According to the law of universal gravitation, any two objects in the universe pull each other, and the force of this pull is in direct proportion to the objects’ masses and in inverse proportion to the square of the distance between the objects. The gravitational pull between the Earth and the Moon causes the seas and the oceans on Earth to either rise or subside. This effect is called the tide, which changes between high tide and low tide according to the Moon’s position. One third of all tide effects on Earth are caused by the Sun’s pull and the rest is caused by the Moon’s.

The Moon gets 1.57 inches farther from the Earth every year due to the tide. It is known that the time taken for the Earth to turn around its axis completely (1 day) increases by 0.02 milliseconds every year so that this distancing effect can be countered and the angular momentum of the Earth and the Moon can be sustained. It is also known that the time taken for the Earth to turn around its axis was 8 hours when the Moon was first created, and that it increased to 24 hours since then. If the Moon had not been created, there wouldn’t have been any tide and because of that, one day would still be 8 hours. That would mean that the Earth would be spinning around its axis about 3 times faster than its current speed. A greater spinning speed of a planet might mean stronger winds on its surface. For example, Jupiter and Saturn spin around their axes very fast and have about ten hours in a day. This causes winds with speeds up to 300 miles/hour at the east-west direction on their surfaces. The dust storms that occur in the atmospheres of these planets are caused by these winds and can be seen from the Earth with a telescope.

Without the Moon, the Earth would have spun faster, causing a faster heat exchange among the air, seas and land. This, in turn, would have caused hurricanes in the east-west direction on the face of the Earth with speeds up to 100 miles/hour. Such conditions would have been very inconvenient to all complex life forms including human beings. Even simple tasks like speaking or listening could have been very difficult or even impossible. Since a day would have been eight hours, this would have caused a mismatch between the biological clock of living things – including human beings – and the flow of the day, resulting in biological complications. Without the Moon, the high tide would have been very weak, again causing a very inconvenient environment for sea creatures.

The Moon also has a role in keeping the Earth’s axis at a 23.5 angle. It is known that the seasons result from this and allows the right amount of sunlight to the equator and the poles, creating a climate appropriate for life. Another known effect of the Moon on the Earth is that it reflects the Sun’s light and heats up the Earth by 32.36°F (0.2°C). The Moon also serves as a shield against space rocks, and if it had not been for the Moon many more rocks and meteors would have hit the Earth.

Most of the cosmic rays that come from space are neutralized by the Earth’s magnetic field. Few of these rays reach the Earth and causes chemical reactions. Without the Moon, the core of the Earth would have spun faster along with the Earth itself. With the core of the Earth spinning faster, the magnetic field would have been much stronger. This would have caused huge changes in the atmosphere. Besides, some bacteria and animals that use the magnetic field to find their way (such as sea turtles, salmon, eels, pigeons, and migratory birds) would have been negatively affected. Consequently, many ecosystems, as we know them today, would have been different.

Another significant service of the Moon to our lives is that, like the Sun, it has been used as a calendar throughout human history. Muslims today observe their Ramadan fast according to their hijri calendar which is based on lunar measurement of time.

The Moon is the largest satellite that we know, in proportion to the size of the planet it is attracted by (the Moon’s mass measures 1.23 % of the Earth’s mass). The size of the Moon plays a critical role in the sensitive balance of our ecosystem. When the relationship between the Earth and the Moon is examined carefully, one could easily conclude that the Moon has been created specially for the life on Earth by the One Who “has made the heavens high and set up the balance” with a gentle measure, a great cause and benefit, and was given to the service of humankind.

Notes

1. Neil Comins. What If the Moon Didn’t Exist? Voyages to Earths That Might Have Been, New York: HarperCollins, 1993.
2. “The Sun and the Moon are by an exact calculation” (Quran 55:5).
3. Marcus Chown. “The Planet That Stalked the Earth,” New Scientist, August 14, 2004, pp. 27–30.
4. Paul D. Spudis. “Moon,” World Book Online Reference Center, NASA, 2004.
5. Tony Phillips, “What Neil & Buzz Left on the Moon,” Science, NASA 2004.
6. Richard Ray, “Ocean Tides and the Earth’s Rotation,” IERS, 2001.
7. Comins 1993.
8. Paul J. Henney, www.astronomytoday.com
9. John Gribbin, “A Mysterious Monthly Temperature Cycle,” New Scientist, pp. 18, January 28, 1995.
10. “We have obscured the sign of the night, and We have made the sign of the day illuminating to see, that you may seek bounty from your Lord and that you may know the computation of (time) the years and reckoning…” (Isra 17:12). This verse has been interpreted as to refer to the moon and the sun. “… He has made the night for repose, and the sun and the moon a means for reckoning (the divisions of time)…” (An’am 6:96) also refers to this fact. See Ali Unal, The Qur’an with Annotated Interpretation in Modern English, Tughra Books, 2008, p. 294, 570–71.
11. Quran 55:7.

It wasn’t…

Worse than that, in the third grade we had to learn about “conversion of units.” I figured it was good source of test problems. So I couldn’t escape from learning it. I admit it was difficult in the beginning. “The strange rule” said if we are to measure with a bigger scale, then we had to divide the number by ten and vice versa. Why was 120 cm equal to 1.2 m? If we knew that it was 120 already why did we bother to say it was also 1.2 in another unit? I got confused whether I should multiply the number by ten or divide by ten? (At least it was easy to multiply or divide by ten instead of another number, so I kept silent.)

In time, I realized that people used the unit to measure almost anything. Length is measured in meters, mass is in kilograms, time is in seconds. Wherever there was quantity, there was also a base-unit associated with it. Of course I never asked what a “second” was, because our teacher said everyone accepted this unit of time. Since it was a world-accepted “standard measure,” I subconsciously got the impression that the universe had a clock* and that people calibrated their time accordingly. In the same way, one kilogram was an absolute quantity in my mind by which every other mass can be measured.

As we grew up, more and more types of measures and units entered our lives: Volt, Joule, Ampere, Newton, and many others. Dealing with the “old” units of length and time was a piece of cake then. However, my faith in “standard measures” as universal remained unchanged until high school.

I was quite surprised in high school when our chemistry teacher told us that our very fundamental units of measures were actually not absolute. They were not fundamental in the sense that they, too, were defined in terms of other quantities. In fact, there is a history of “what to define as a unit” and “how to measure it.”

Let’s take time, for instance. We measure years by days and days by hours. Have we ever thought about why a year is 365 days and one day is 24 hours? Can’t we divide a year into 400 days or a day into 25 hours? Is this an artificial choice or a natural timing? It all depends on how we define a year and a day. We can identify a year by a full rotation of the earth around the sun. Also we can distinguish the beginning of day and night clearly. These are definite intervals of time dictated through our observations, and so there is not much choice other than setting one year at 365 days. Is there a similar fact behind the relation of day to hours? Not at all! It was in ancient Egypt, around 2000 BC, that days for the first time were sliced into 24 pieces of time. In the age of Babylonians, however, a day was designed to be 60 hours. Perhaps the reason for such division of the day (into 24 or 60) hours was that 24 or 60 are nice numbers which are divisible by many integers; the same reason why a full-angle is 360 degrees instead of 2π.

In the Middle Ages, for Muslims, measurement of astronomical phenomena was a very serious affair. They were very concerned about accurate timing. Determining the changing time of the five daily prayers and the beginning and ending of the month of Ramadan was more than a custom, it was a religious duty. And such calculations required high precision. This precision was exemplified in year 1000 AD by the Muslim scholar al-Biruni who gave the times of the new moons in terms of days, hours, minutes, seconds, thirds, and fourths after noon Sunday.

In the West, the first accurate time measurements were made by Roger Bacon in thirteenth century. In 1657, Christian Huygens invented the pendulum clock, which uses swinging weights to keep time. Later, Hyugens and William Clement refined the design so that clocks were accurate up to seconds. Another problem with older clocks was that although they worked fine in the local region, they lost accuracy at different parts of the globe and were thus unsuitable for navigation. The reason for the lack of accuracy was that earth’s rotation around the sun on its axis (which definitely affects the period of the pendulums) was not uniform. Several adjustments were made in the nineteenth century for better accuracy by improving the design to compensate for thermal expansion of the metal rods and air drag, which globalized the measurement of time. In 1956, the “second” was redefined in terms of the earth’s revolution around the sun, according to data gathered in year 1900. As the scientists were not completely satisfied, they re-defined the second (as the atomic second) a decade later. In 1967, the Thirteenth General Conference on Weights and Measures defined a second of atomic time in the International System of Units as:

The duration of 9,192,631,770 periods of the radiation corresponding to the transition between the two hyperfine levels of the ground state of the caesium-133 atom.

Measuring the length was another important task for ancient peoples. Among the earlier civilizations, the most accurate system was developed by Indus Valley Civilization. While their contemporaries were using parts of the body for measurement, as early as 2600 BC, the Indus civilization had a much finer unit system that accounted even for millimeters. Most societies continued to use their own length scale until eighteenth century.

As early as seventeenth century, with the advances in the accurate measurement of time, pendulum motion was suggested to measure standard length. In the eighteenth century, there were two main approaches for measuring the standard unit of length. One suggested defining the meter as the length of a pendulum with a half-period of one second. The other suggested defining the meter as one ten-millionth of the length of the Earth’s meridian along a quadrant, which is the distance from the equator to the North Pole. In 1791, the French Academy of Sciences selected the choice based on the meridian. After several changes in the definition in 1960, the International Bureau of Weight and Measure organized the 11th CGPM (General Conference on Weights and Measure), during which the meter was redefined as 1,650,763.73 wavelengths of the orange-red emission line in the electromagnetic spectrum of the krypton-86 atom in a vacuum. The final decision came from the 17th CGPM as: “a meter is defined as 1/299,792,458 of a light-second.”

Figure 1. Historical International Prototype Meter bar, made of an alloy of platinum and iridium, was the standard from 1889 to 1960.

As for the measurement of mass, the situation is even more complicated since scientists cannot even agree on what mass is. There are mainly two different understandings of mass based on its features. One is called inertial mass (related to the quantity of a material); the other is gravitational mass (related to gravitational pull and acceleration). Whether these two concepts are equivalent or not is still in debate though in modern theories like Einstein’s general relativity, these two definitions are equivalent. We can, therefore, leave these philosophical discussions about the concept of mass to the scientists and go back to its measurement.

Just like the measurement of time and length, scientific mass measurement gained a boost after the French Revolution. At first, a gram, defined as the absolute mass of 1 cm3 of water at 0o C, was chosen as the standard. In 1799, scientists made a slight modification to the unit of mass by re-setting the definition at 4oC since it is the temperature at which water is most stable. Later, officials noticed that this unit was too small to be a standard of everyday commercial materials, which usually appear in large amounts. In 1889, the International Prototype Kilogram (IPK), made of an alloy of 90% platinum and 10% iridium (by weight), was designed to define the standard mass (Figure 2). After the first production, several more stable replicas of IPK have been produced to replace the older ones. Today every government who subscribes to this standard must have an exact copy of IPK, and these replicas must be returned to Paris periodically as they may get rusted or dirty with time.

Figure 2. Shown above is a computer-generated image of the International Prototype Kilogram (IPK). The IPK is made of a platinum-iridium alloy and is stored in a vault at the BIPM in Sèvres, France.

These facts may sound very odd to some, as it did to me when I first heard of them. I asked myself: If all these measures are defined in terms of something else, what is the point of defining them in the first place? For example, if we can agree to use the second as some interval of time, why do we bother to count the number of oscillations of Cesium. The answer is: We cannot agree unless we use a reference time which is geography-free, climate-free, and politics-free. Only then we will be sure that I, here in Western Pennsylvania, a person on the top of Everest, or a person in a submarine under the Pacific Ocean will call the same interval of time a “second.” In other words, the oscillation of the cesium isotope was believed to be free from all possible deficiencies that are results of physical location (Australia or America), environmental change (the Amazon Forests or the Sahara Desert), and politics.

In short, sand-clocks for measuring time (think of what kind of sand in what shape of glass tube) or the arm of a king as a length unit (imagine a king who seized the throne at 13 and died at 60), or weighing with iron cylinders (common in small grocery stores in some countries) is too unreliable, too unstable, too local, and of course, inaccurate to create a standard. Especially in this age of globalization, a consensus on measurement is absolutely necessary.

It seems a bit ironic that a simple-looking concept of science, measurement, could cause such controversy. A simple way to keep track of numbers that belong to different kind of quantities evolved into an area of serious research through time. Perhaps then, I should have not worried that much about my bad math grades on a subject which troubled the scientist themselves. After all, my grades were just my teacher’s own measurement.**

O. S. Caglayan has a PhD in mathematics. He is a freelance writer. He lives in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.

* This famous quotation attributed to Newton was opposed by Leibnizian view of time: “The universe is the clock.” The scientist as philosopher, Friedel Weinert, Springer; 1 edition (May 27, 2004)

** The author is indebted to his dear elementary school teacher Muazzez Ozalp for instilling in him the love of science.

References

1. G. J. Toomer. Ptolemey’s Almagest (Princeton, New Jersey: Princeton University Press, 1998)
2. The History of Time (Leofranc Holfrod-Strevens).
3. al-Biruni (1879). The chronology of ancient nations: an English version of the Arabic text “Vestiges of the Past”. London: W.H. Allen, 147-149. OCLC 9986841.
4. Matthew Bennett, Michael F. Schatz, Heidi Rockwood and Kurt Wiesenfeld, Proc. R. Soc. Lond. A 2002 458, 563-579.
5. Ian Whitelaw. A Measure of All Things: The Story of Man and Measurement, St. Martin’s Press, 2007.
6. http://physics.nist.gov/cuu/Units/meter.html
7. www.bipm.org/eng/home

Management of time and work is one major area where many of us perform very poorly. Being hardworking and self-sacrificing is fine and believers should strive to be as such, but for some reason, many of us are indifferent to organization of our lives and live in a disorderly way. In addition to their lack of penchant for scheduling their work, they cannot systematize the idea of doing service to humankind as the primary purpose of their lives despite the fact that they already make so many sacrifices. A person should refrain from allocating only a small or limited part of his or her time to the mission of doing services in the path of God, but try to make their mission permeate to every fragment of time during a day, keeping his/her purposes or goals in sight, and leading a well-scheduled life.

There are some points that must be discussed in this context. First, a person will make the idea of doing service to God part of his or her life if s/he has sincere faith in it and is prepared to suffer to this end. If a person is painfully diligent for service, s/he will be equally meticulous about managing his or her time. S/he will make slices out of his or her day based on the prayer times such that there will be a time slice between the dawn prayer and the mid-day prayer, another between the mid-day prayer and the afternoon prayer and the sunset prayer, another between the sunset prayer and the night prayer, and s/he will say, “If I fail to labor for the sake of my mission for service during any of these time slices, then all the time slices of my life will be deemed as wasted.” Indeed, time is relative and it has no real body.

The thing that gives value, vitality and liveliness to time is what is done within that period or, in other words, its contents. When we refer to the Age of Happiness, we hail not a certain age or period of time, ipso facto, but the people who lived during that span of time as well as the deeds they performed therein. Time only takes on color in relation to what happens then and it becomes a rainbow. A moment of time lived fully in this way is worth centuries of other time. Therefore, giving real essence and value to time or putting it to good use is directly proportional to what one can do during the passage of that time.

Secondly, we have a capital of twenty-four hours. If we remember the possibility that these twenty-four hours may be the last twenty-four hours of our life and if we schedule this period of time according to our daily prayers and if we try to perform good deeds during every time slice separated by prayers, then we will attain the true value of time and our life will start to flow in a luminous manner and in a way that will fully deserve eternity.

If a person can put his/her time to good use in this way, then this means that s/he really appreciates the importance of time and the points raised in the question are automatically dealt with. Thus, the idea of doing service to humankind will be visible not only throughout our day, but also throughout our week. And these will combine to form a luminous month and an illustrious year consisting of these enlightened months.

If only our people as a whole knew how to organize time and use it to their advantage! However, doing this fully is dependent on their fully believing in our philosophy of service to others. Indeed, without this dedication, nothing can be done or ensured through compulsion. Repetitive acts of servanthood toward God faith becomes a second nature. The same applies to our case.

When time management becomes a second nature in our consciences, then we will concentrate on it and try to decorate every part of it with the wealth of our spiritual world and we will not allow any flat moment to pass. Actually, by inserting precious stretches of time such as prayer times into a day of twenty-four hours, God intends to spread the luminosity of these moments to the entire time and make sure that we can feel the passage of time as we live through it. God illuminates the week with Friday which contains in it the propitious moment. If during that sacred and most esteemed moment, people can raise their hands in supplication and turn toward God girded ready for worship, they will witness so many surprises in their lives.

Similarly, Almighty God illuminates a month with four Fridays, and a year of 365 days with Ramadan. There are sources of light scattered by God over time such as these and one can find them not only within a day or a week or a month, but also within a year or during one’s own life. In doing so, God intends to teach us how to make an efficient time management. By taking advantage of these small pieces of time, from the past to the present, people with common sense have been successful in living their whole lives in light.

Almighty God has so many favors over us and the gracious favors of our Lord are like clouds hanging overheard. But, whether we reach out and pick these favors or walk in the shade of them is up to us as we are free to use our will to do so.

May God help us succeed in using our free will to manage our time and put our time to good us!

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

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

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

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

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

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

The starting date of a month in the Islamic lunar calendar is very important in the Islamic world as it determines the essential religious days, like the first and last days of fasting, and Muslim holidays.

The Moon

It takes about 27 days and 8 hours for the Moon to complete one revolution around the Earth. At the same time, while revolving around the Earth, the Moon rotates around itself. Because of this, we always see the same side of the Moon. In the picture below, we see the phases of the Moon. For simplicity, the sunlight is fixed, but this is not a problem as the Earth and the Moon are revolving around the sun together. The position of the Moon with the Earth according to sunlight determines how we see the Moon.

The Moon’s position does not change greatly in one day relative to that of the Earth, but the Earth’s rotation around itself changes our position a great deal. One might ask then why do we see the Moon as the same shape throughout the night. As the figures below suggest, the distance from the Moon to the Earth is much greater than the diameter of the Earth. While the closest distance of the Moon to the Earth is around 350 thousand kilometers, the diameter of the Earth is around 13 thousand kilometers. Because of this huge difference, we see almost the same shape of the Moon anywhere in the world- this “almost” will cause many problems, when we determine the dates in lunar calendar. On the other hand, the place where we see the Moon in the sky depends on our parallel on the Earth. In other words, the northern observer sees the Moon at a lower place in the sky, while the southern one sees the Moon at a higher place in the sky. This is because the Earth is round and our horizon changes if we go to the north or the south.

Now, let’s examine another point. We have just said that the Moon completes one revolution around the Earth in 27 days and 8 hours. However, the time between two New Moons is around 29 and a half days. How does this happen? The reason is not very hard to understand. While the Moon is revolving around the Earth, the Earth revolves around the Sun. Hence, when the Moon completes one full revolution around the Earth and comes to the same point from where it had started, the position of the sunlight changes and the Moon’s shape, as we perceive it, has changed.

The Moon completes one full revolution around the Earth and comes to the same point from where it had started, the position of the sunlight changes and the Moon’s shape, as we perceive it, has changed.

Now, let’s make some computations. How much does the angle of the sun change in 27 days and 8 hours? The Earth completes one revolution around the Sun in 365 days, so there are 365 days in one year. So the angle change should be about 27 days /365 days x 360 ~ 27 degrees. So, how long does it take to complete 27 degrees in the revolution of the Moon around the Earth? One complete revolution takes 27 days and 8 hours. Hence, 27 days x 27/360 ~ 2 days. So, we add 2 days to 27 days and 8 hours, we get about 29 days and a half. Therefore, in this time period, the Moon comes to the same position as the Earth according to sunlight, and we see the same shape of the Moon in the sky. When we do an exact calculation, we get 29 days, 12 hours, 44 minutes, and 3 seconds for the time period between two new Moons.

The Islamic lunar calendar

The earliest calendars in human history were based on the phases of the Moon. Historically, this was used by southern Europeans, as well as Jewish, Chinese, Muslim, and African civilizations. Some of these civilizations are still using semi-lunar calendars, but the Muslim calendar is the only purely lunar calendar in widespread use today. In the Qur’an, there are many references to the moon as a means of measuring time (see Rahman 55:5, Yunus 10:5; Baqara 2:189).

In a lunar calendar, a month is the period between the two consecutive new Moons. Since the exact period between two new Moons is 29 days, 12 hours, 44 minutes, and 3 seconds, a month in a lunar calendar is either 29 days, or 30 days, depending on the appearance of the Moon at night.

Now, let’s examine another point. We have just said that the Moon completes one revolution around the Earth in 27 days and 8 hours. However, the time between two New Moons is around 29 and a half days. How does this happen? The reason is not very hard to understand. While the Moon is revolving around the Earth, the Earth revolves around the Sun. Hence, when

The Islamic calendar was introduced in 632 by the Prophet, peace be upon him; however the beginning of the Islamic era for the count of Islamic years was considered and discussed in 639, during the time of the fourth year of the Caliphate of Umar. For the Islamic lunar calendar, the time that a month started was decided according to the following hadith. The Prophet said: “Fast when you see the Moon and break your fast when you see the next Moon. But if you cannot see it, then complete the 30th day [of fasting].” Hence, in the Islamic lunar calendar, the first day of a month is the day after the first night on which you can see the new crescent Moon. Since the Moon’s orbit around the Earth is 29 days and a half, Islamic months are either 29 or 30 days long. If there is doubt or if the new crescent Moon is not sighted due to clouds or other atmospheric conditions, then it has been agreed upon by Muslim scholars that the previous month is completed after 30 days.

The controversy

Now, let’s turn to the controversy in determining the first day of a new month in the Islamic lunar calendar. There are essentially two main issues, which are “Local vs. Non-local Sighting,” and “Naked Eye Observation vs. Astronomical Data.”

i. Local vs. non-local sighting

Since the cycles of the Moon and the sun are not completely synchronized, the new crescent Moon might not be observed everywhere in the world on the same night. As we mentioned above, the shape of the Moon is seen almost the same anywhere in the world, but not exactly same. On the same night, Spain might observe the new crescent Moon while Japan might see nothing in the sky. The only thing we can say about these observations is that if one city observes the new crescent Moon, than any city to the west of the original one should be able to observe the same on a clear night, as the Earth rotates about itself from west to east. This means the new crescent Moon can be observed on different nights in different places in the world. There are essentially two different opinions on which Moon sighting should be taken as the basis. The first opinion asserts that all Muslims in the world should begin the new month if the new crescent Moon is sighted in any Muslim country, and the second one says that the new month starts only with a local Moon sighting.

The scholars defending the non-local Moon sighting give evidence from other Islamic practices. They claim that all Muslims should start the fasting and the Eid on the same day, as many practices of Islam suggest that the unity of Muslims is important in Islam; hence Muslims should celebrate these days in unity. So, according to this view, if the Moon is sighted, for example, in Saudi Arabia, all Muslims should start fasting. This is the common opinion among the followers of the Sunni Hanbali school. On the other hand, some other Islamic scholars assert that the starting day of a month in the Islamic lunar calendar might be different depending on local observations. Those scholars derive this result from the principle of simplicity in Islam. All people should be able to perform the practices of Islam by themselves without the need of any outside input. In other words, a Muslim should be able to decide by themselves when Ramadan starts by observing the Moon. A Muslim in Brazil might not get the information of the sighting in Mecca, and this contradicts the simplicity of practices in Islam. A Muslim can determine the prayer times by observing the sun’s position in the sky, and similarly, therefore, they should be able to decide about the starting time and ending time of the fast.

So, the first controversial point in Moon sighting is about whether it is local or non-local. The second issue is about how we make the observations.

ii. Naked Eye Observation vs. Astronomical Data

We are living in the 21st century, and astronomy is a very well-developed science. Man can go to space, observe the distant galaxies, and even observe the expansion of the universe. Hence, at such a time, calculating the times of the visibility of the Moon for a given location should be very straightforward for astronomers. So, why is still there an ambiguity about the starting date of a month in the Islamic lunar calendar?

In the Islamic lunar calendar, the month starts with the visibility of the Moon, not the scientific phase of the Moon. In other words, “Theoretical Visibility” is not the same as “Real Visibility.” If the Moon was a perfectly round sphere with a perfectly flat surface, if the atmospheric conditions were always very clear and did not affect our vision, or if there were no other physical conditions affecting the Moon sighting, then “Theoretical Visibility” would be the same as “Real Visibility,” and we would be able to compute the exact times when we could sight the new crescent Moon by using astronomical data. However, there is an important difference between theory and real life; hence, the problem lies in this difference. Even though the astronomical data tell you the positions of the Moon, the Earth and the Sun, the visibility of the Moon from the Earth depends on many different factors.

This difference between “Theoretical Visibility” and “Real Visibility” is the origin of the second controversy about the starting day of a month. Some Muslim scholars interpret the theoretical visibility as being sufficient to start the month, and as they determine the dates of the lunar calendar by using astronomical data, they do not bother with sighting the Moon. That is, they know the dates for Ramadan for the following 100 years, and they practice according to this calendar depending only on the astronomical data. However, some other scholars assert that people must be able to sight the new crescent Moon with the naked eye for the month to start. Since astronomical data and naked eye observation are not always in sync, some Muslims might start fasting in Ramadan on a different day from other Muslims.

Now, let’s return to the question as to why astronomical data and naked eye observation are not in sync. Scientifically, there are two main factors affecting the visibility of the Moon other than atmospheric conditions or clouds. The first one is the Moon’s altitude measured from the horizon. The second one is the age of the Moon, that is, the time after the new Moon (when the Sun, Earth, and Moon are in line). To see the Moon in the sky, it should be “high” enough above the horizon, and it should be “old” enough (the crescent should be sufficiently pronounced).

The first important factor is the Moon’s altitude above the horizon. If the thickness of the crescent is sufficient, but if it is not sufficiently above the horizon, then it cannot be seen. This happens in the month of September and October in the UK and the USA, when the Moon is in the southern hemisphere, therefore, it cannot be seen from northern hemisphere. If the Moon is above the horizon, but close to it, falling within the glare of the Sun, then it may not be visible. A crescent within an altitude of 10 degrees is usually not visible.

The second important factor is the age of the Moon. When the New Moon has moved away at least about 7 degrees and it is about 20 hours old, then it becomes visible. Until this angle becomes 7 degrees, no light of the sun reflected by the Moon can come to the Earth, because the mountains on the surface of the Moon block the sun’s light. This angle must be about 10-12 degrees for sufficient sunlight to reflect off the Moon and come to the Earth, making a thin crescent which can be seen. Sometimes, this crescent is very thin and very low on the horizon, so it will not be seen, as it fades due to the glare of the sun, even though it may remain above the horizon for 20-30 minutes after sunset. There are many other factors involved in visibility. Without going into technical details, due to other factors, even a 36 hour old Moon may not be visible. Therefore, human knowledge so far has not reached the stage at which it can inform us of the Moon’s visibility in different countries with an accuracy of minutes and seconds, but calculations can be made within a few hours difference.

So, these facts show that astronomical data provide a good means for estimating the starting day of the new month, but it cannot tell us exactly when it begins. There are some Muslim experts who are working on this problem. By using data from the past, they are trying to calculate more accurately the times of the visible Moon for all locations in the world.

On the other hand, this uncertainty of the starting day makes Muslims more aware, and keeps their attention on Ramadan and other festivities. In many countries, Muslims go to hilltops to observe the new crescent in the night, watching the Moon-sighting news on the internet, or calling their friends about it to welcome Ramadan. Hence, the uncertainty of the day causes the Muslim community to be more aware about Ramadan. There are some Muslim experts who have been working on this problem. By using data from the past, they are trying to calculate more accurately the times of the visible Moon for all locations in the world. Finally in 2006, they released an algorithm which can detect the visibility of the Moon by using astronomical data; ISNA (the Islamic Society of North America) has adopted this method to determine the starting day of the Islamic Lunar month. This algorithm makes use of several thousand controlled observations, collected over a period of 150 years in different locations of the world. Moreover, these visibility calculations have been confirmed by observations of the Moon made every month since 1993. Again, this algorithm does not depend upon purely astronomical data, but rather the observational data of the last 150 years. The researchers, Khalid Shaukat et al., used these observations, and comparing them with the astronomical data of the same time were able to attain information about the degree of the Moon and at which geographical position of the Earth the Moon became visible. For more information, please visit www.Moonsighting.com.

To sum up, we have provided an overview of the controversies about the starting day of the month in the Islamic lunar calendar. There are essentially two points of controversy which are “Local vs. Non-local Sighting,” and “Naked Eye Observation vs. Astronomical Data.” We have attempted to show that these controversies are not as simple as many people might think. So, if there are different starting days for Ramadan, or different celebration dates for Islamic holidays for different Muslim communities, we should not see this situation as a huge controversy caused over a small issue. As the Prophet Muhammad said: “The difference of opinion among my followers is a mercy.”

References

1. Dr Jamie Love, The Phases of the Moon, http://www.synapses. co.uk/astro/Moon2.html

2. Syed Khalid Shaukat, What is Islamic Calendar, http://www. Moonsighting.com/islamcal.html

3. Syed Khalid Shaukat, The Science of Moon Sighting, http:// www.ummah.net/Moonsighting/science/Moonscie.htm

4. Zahoor Niazi, The Question of Moon Sighting, http://www. Moonsighting.com/question-rooyat-hilal.mht

5. The Moon, http://www.enchantedlearning.com/subjects/astronomy/ Moon/index.shtml

6. Moon Calendars, http://www.riverocean.org.uk/lunarcalendar/ calendar.htm

Can a person live without sleep?

Sleep is known as one of the basic needs that are necessary to sustain life in addition to eating, drinking, and respiration. There have been some studies about the endurance of people to sleeplessness. The period that a normal person can do without sleep is three or four days on average. At the end of this period, some problems arise such as absent-mindedness, irritability, not knowing the time, hallucinations, stammering, not understanding what is said, trembling of the hands, inflammation in the body, pain, and defective vision. The longest one of these experiments was carried out on an American undergraduate student. After 11 days of sleeplessness, the experiment was ended when his health was under serious threat.

How much sleep does a healthy person need?

Various studies on sleep show that the period of sleep we need for a healthy and balanced life is between 4-10 hours for an average person, depending on genetic factors. It is about 6-8 hours for adults. On the other hand there are some studies that show that we do not have to sleep eight hours a day, on the contrary six, five, even four hours can be sufficient.

What are the consequences of too much or too little sleep?

Those who sleep too much or very little tend to face health problems as compared to those who enjoy regular sleep. In a long-term study, more than 71,000 women were observed over ten years and two important points were determined: firstly, long hours of sleep increased the risk of heart disease; secondly, those who slept too much faced as many health problems as those who slept very little. Sleeping too much can cause obesity, diabetes, high blood pressure, a decrease in muscle volume, a reduction in the immune system function, and depression.

What kind of relationship is there between the amount of sleep and rest?

We can see in our own experiences and that of others that there is no direct proportion between the amount we sleep and the amount we rest. A person who sleeps little can feel rested more than one who sleeps too much; the former one has had a restful sleep that is sufficient.

What should be done to enjoy quality sleep?

There are some important points in daily life and prior to sleeping that need to be focused on:

– One should have a light meal in the evening, at least two hours before sleeping. Heavy meals carry risks for those who have problems with snoring and respiration. Drinks that have stimulating effect, such as tea, coffee, and cola delay sleeping.

– The sleeping atmosphere is important. The ideal atmosphere for quality sleep requires low light, quiet, and a warm room with a bed which is not too hard or too soft.

– One should have a regular sleeping habit. One of the conditions for enjoying quality sleep is to sleep and wake up at the same hours. It is particularly important to have regular sleep on week days. The disruption of this regularity at the weekend is one of the stumbling blocks standing in the way of a quality sleep.

– One should lie on the right or left side. Lying flat on one’s back or lying prone can bring certain problems. Snoring or interruption of respiration only occurs while lying flat on one’s back. The most suitable position for sleeping is to turning to the right or left. A person unconsciously moves and changes position 10 or 15 times during his sleep as a result of Divine Mercy. Here one remembers the verses of the Holy Qur’an about the sleeping positions of the “people of the cave”: . . . We caused them to turn over to the right and the left… (Kahf 18:18). It is striking that there is no expression of lying flat on one’s back or lying prone. Moreover lying on one’s right is also the tradition of the Prophet Muhammad, peace and blessings be upon him.

During which hours should we sleep?

In order to determine the ideal hours for sleeping it is important to know the events that occur in the human body during sleep at different periods. We should know that the pineal gland is installed in the human body as a system. Located in the mid-lower part of the brain, this gland has to secrete certain hormones. One of them is melatonin. God eases sleep with this hormone and regulates the cycle of sleep and waking. The secretion of melatonin begins in the evening and goes on until it peaks at two or three o’clock. That means a system was innately installed in the human body that makes sleeping easy in the evenings. On the other hand, being exposed to extreme artificial light, watching television at midnight, and external effects, such as electromagnetic fields, decrease the production of melatonin and is harmful to the running of the system.

Further research has shown that sleep plays an important role in bringing the TSH hormone under control. TSH helps control our metabolism and, indirectly, our levels of energy. Therefore, nowadays those who have low TSH level, that is about 25 or 35 %, are recommended to wake up during the night. This new scientific research is completely in accordance with the habit of the Prophet; he used to sleep shortly after Isha prayer (earlier than most people sleep nowadays), and wake in the very early morning hours (sometimes as early as midnight) again to pray. This sleeping system takes its resource from Holy Qur’an. God orders the Prophet in the Qur’an as follows:

O you enwrapped one! Rise to keep vigil in the night, except a little; Half of it, or lessen it a little; Or add to it (a little); and pray and recite the Qur’an calmly and distinctly (with your mind and heart concentrated on it). We will surely charge you with a weighty Word (and with applying it in your daily life and conveying it to others). Rising and praying at night impresses (mind and heart) most strongly and (makes) recitation more certain and upright.” (Muzammil 73:1-7)

There are also some facts about napping. The best time for a nap is midday according to the experts. A half-hour siesta consisting of a deep and slow period is equal to two hours of nighttime sleep. Therefore when one sleeps at midday, they will need less sleep at night. Midday is known as being the least efficient period of day and human beings have the tendency to sleep at this time. By having a short siesta, one spends other periods in the day more energetically and efficiently. This sleep is frequently practiced in hot climate zones. In some companies in Japan, certain places are allotted in order to encourage people to sleep at midday.

The day time nap is a sleep that the Prophet Muhammad practiced and advised, which is known as “qaylula.” This sleep lasts from mid-morning to just past noon. This sleep is part of the Prophet’s tradition as it allows a person to rise at night to pray. In this way one is prepared for midnight prayer.

There are two more periods of time in the day and it is not recommended to sleep at these times. The first one is “ghaylula.” This is from pre-dawn to forty minutes or so after the sun has risen, the time when prayer is allowed, but not recommended. Sleep at this time is contrary to the practices of the Prophet. The time most appropriate for preparing to work for one’s livelihood is when it is cool. When this time has passed, lethargy descends. It has been established through numerous experiences that just as this is detrimental to that day’s labor and indirectly to one’s livelihood, so also is it the cause of unfruitfulness. In a hadith, the Messenger of God said: “The early morning has been blessed for my Community.”1 As a matter of fact, when the Prophet was about to send an army, he sent it at an early time of the day. Sahr ibn al-Wada, the conveyor of above-mentioned hadith, was a merchant and used to begin his travels very early in the morning. Therefore, he became rich and he had much property. It is also a known fact that the best time of working for sustenance is the early morning.

The other sleep that is not recommended is “faylula.” This is from the afternoon prayer till sunset. This sleep leads to a diminution of life, that is, it makes the life of that day shorter and makes it pass in a state of semi-sleep due to drowsiness, thus causing a physical deficiency. So too, in an immaterial aspect, since most of the results of that day, material and immaterial, became apparent after the afternoon prayer, to pass that time in sleep is as if one has prevented the results of one’s action and makes the day feel as though it has not been lived.

In brief, the “sleep” mentioned in the Holy Qur’an is a great bounty for human beings. However as with all bounties, it is important to find the middle course in sleeping if we want to live a balanced life and to benefit from this bounty during the recommended hours and in the recommended ways.

Note

1. Abu Dawud, Jihad, 85; Tirmidhi, Buyu, 6.

References

• Nursi, S., The Flashes Collection, Sozler Publications, Istanbul: 1995.
• Kaynak, H., Uyku (Sleep), Turk Uyku Arastirmalari Dernegi (Turkish Sleep Research Society), http://www.tsrs.org.tr/
• Burns, K., MH, ND, “Studies Show Fajr Prayer is Healthy,” http://www.islamonline.net/
• “Sleep, Blessed Sleep,” http://media.wiley.com/

Can we control time?

Some people say yes, we do, some say possibly, but the reality is we do not and we cannot! Time flows without interruption or interception. We grow, we change, we suffer; time laughs at us. And then comes our end, but time never ends… Controlling time could be possible if we were the creator of time. We make watches, clocks, and bell towers to keep track of time, but none of us is capable of stopping it for a second. Time is beyond our dimensions.

Time management methods

Currently there exist several methods to manage time. Everybody, including Dale Carnegie, suggests several different ways of planning for the best agenda.1-3 One of them¹ is to start with a “personal time survey,” and this helps you with a “study-hour formula,” asking you to prepare a daily schedule on a poster board, or some other surface, while suggesting practicing critical behavior:

“Don’t be a perfectionist”

“Learn to say no”

“Learn to prioritize”

“Combine several activities”

And here we give a “personal time survey” which has been presented as a means to oversee your current usage on an hourly basis:

1. The number of hours of sleep each night

________ X 7 = _______

2. The number of grooming hours per day

________ X 7 = _______

3. The number of hours for meals/snacks per day – including preparation time

________ X 7 = _______

4a. The total travel time, weekdays

________ X 5 = _______

4b. The total travel time, weekends

________

5. The number of hours per week for regularly scheduled functions (clubs, worship, get-togethers, etc.) ________

6. The number of hours per day for chores, errands, extra grooming, etc.

________ X 7 = _______

7. The number of hours of work per week

________

8. The number of hours in class per week

________

9. The number of average hours per week socializing.

Be honest! ________

Now add up the totals: ________

Subtract the above number from

168 – ________ =________ 1

What’s wrong with these systems?

Dale Carnegie passed away tragically. Something was missing in his life, leading him to commit suicide, despite being one of the time management experts for a better life. So, what was really important and what was it that he failed to notice?

The most valid explanation is that the spiritual nature of human beings was not taken into account. Such experts seem to think that if we put things in order externally, our lives will be organized and consequently we will be happy. But evidently, we cannot progress without spiritual satisfaction.

Below are the key concepts in perfect time management:

• Priorities

• Careful organization

• Spiritual needs

Priorities

Since time is immutable, we have to adjust ourselves to the speed of time. We have to list what is important for us and categorize them to see if there are possible combinations for extra time savings. It is truly important in such a concept to know our short term and long term goals, without excluding our needs and any dependants. The first priorities list may not work properly, but sooner or later, we will arrive at the optimum schedule.

Careful organization: A successful agenda

Regardless of our professional lives, every one of us needs sufficient time to relax. Thus, a cleverly organized day is what we should work towards first. Most studies show that a morning-afternoon-evening type division is insufficient to prevent the tediousness of long working hours. Counting every minute is the other extreme, if one desires to be fully organized. There should be some other way to divide up the day in the best way to ensure full-capacity performance.

So glorify God when you reach evening and when you rise in the morning; for all praise is His in the heavens and on earth, and towards the end of the day and when you have reached noon. (Rum 30:17-18).

This succinct daily plan mentioned in the Qur’anic verse above would be a good program if it can be applied (it is important to note here that this verse is not concerned with time management per se).

Bediuzzaman Said Nursi, in his 9th Word,⁴ talks about the meaning of this verse, including how to glorify God. And also he mentions the parts of the day and their corresponding meaning with spiritual insight. He basically divides the day into five parts. A day starts with “early morning,” continues with “just past midday,” “afternoon” follows, and “sunset” leads you onto “nightfall.” By dividing one’s day into spiritual sections, it is possible to review the day and the progress between these parts.

Spiritual needs

Human beings are not animals. They feel, they choose, they live as they want. And they are free to go in any direction. They have a soul that guides their way of living. There are plenty of stories that have unhappy endings solely due to an ignorance of a spiritual life. Time management, of course, is directly related to the spiritual life of the individual; the choices people make are formed in their souls. They desire, they plan, and they implement. Thus, people also need time for their desires, and due to the large number of wishes people have to manage their time. An individual sets their priorities to achieve their goals. But due to the external effects (mostly other people) the schedule of this person changes to the best-suited model. Some people like such changes, but the majority do not. This is actually not very surprising, as human beings have different personalities and characters arising from their spiritual background. Therefore, anything that has an impact on spiritual life has to be important in managing our time.

To have the ability to control our life and to manage our time, we have to look within ourselves and discover what is in our hearts. For example one of my close friends told me that he had been able to experience a highly-ordered daily life when he left home after having read some verses from the Qur’an. He added that in a busy day, with tons of work, he still manages to handle all of it if he reads from the Qur’an at the beginning of the day. But if he doesn’t do this he loses control and everything becomes confused, and his mind jams. What is happening here is that perhaps he is able to clarify his mind by taking a spiritual shower that gives him strong support throughout the whole day.

Once we get into a spiritual flow we will be able to realize that everything has a harmonic rhythm that will help to build our schedule on the path we have anticipated. The key concept is, then, keeping our spiritual life balanced in a way that does not let anything interfere. My friend found the perfect key; this should also be possible for every one of us.

Action plan

Knowing that priorities, careful organization, and spiritual needs are key concepts in time management, one should find the best way for them to succeed. Below is a possible to-do list:

1. Identification of priorities: What is really important for me?

2. Planning the time: How do I like to do things?

3. Feeding your spiritual self: What can help my mind to be perfectly clear?

4. Reviewing the status: Where I am?

To start or give feedback if you have been carrying out a feasible plan you must be able to observe your present course. Prof. Rustu Kalyoncu suggests a plan with 15 MINUTES slices at this point: “Write down what you’ve done for every 15 MINUTES (for a couple days) and criticize how efficient you have been. I promise you’ll find lots of free time waiting for you…”

Notes

1. www.gmu.edu/gmu/personal/time.html
2. www.see.ed.ac.uk/~gerard/Management/art2.html
3. www.tsuccess.dircon.co.uk/timemanagementtips.htm
4. Bediuzzaman Said Nursi, The Words, (translated by Sukran Vahide), Sozler Publications, 1998.