The Fountain is a composition, one in which each and every member of the human family can hear his or her conscience’s calling, a reflection of what is not always visible to the eye, or a response to the yearning deep in the heart and mind; a response that sometimes finds its definition best expressed in a poem, and at other times in a journey into outer space or through the veins of the human body. It is reading the universe, the major book of creation, and making sense out of it by way of the manual of Divine guidance.

The Fountain is an effort to try and see the reality through the veils of apparent causes and to obtain our share from each phenomenon, each of which is a letter enclosed with a message addressing us.

The Fountain covers the following themes:

• analytical articles on religious and scientific topics
• reviews for books about new and contemporary issues
• answers for frequently asked questions

The Fountain prefers to publish articles which:

• encourage scientific discovery that is in the service of humanity,
• popularize scientific topics for average readers, rather than addressing to a field-specific audience,
• promote altruism and devotion to positive action,
• adopt a multicultural approach, aiming to find a consensus on universal human values,

• serve to break the stereotyped images in minds about different cultures and faiths, and provide guidance in a world of cultural diversity,
• accept everybody as they are, encouraging dialogue in society and preventing the idea of the other,
• underline that terror has nothing whatsoever to do with religious faith,

• do not deal with temporary agendas, like politics, but promote actuality instead.

Note: The explanations above aim to exemplify the type of topics with which the magazine is concerned in order to help brainstorming. Please do not feel restricted about writing on any other topic that may be suitable for the magazine.

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Please send your submissions to editorial@fountainmagazine.com.

On the last day of summer

Ten hours before fall…

….My grandfather took me

Out to the Wall.

For a while he stood silent

Then finally he said,

With a very sad shake

Of his very old head,

“As you know, on this side of the Wall

We are Yooks.

On the other side of the Wall

Live the Zooks”

Thus, The Butter Battle Book, written by the well known author, Dr. Seuss invites the young reader to the world of Yooks and Zooks. The colorful illustrations of the book show from the first two pages that Yooks and Zooks are creatures quite alike in appearance with the only difference that Yooks dress in blue while Zooks are dressed in orange. Hence one cannot grasp at the beginning why a wall stands between them. Yet, the following words of the grandfather introduce to the reader another “important” difference without delay.

Then my grandfather said

“It’s high time that you knew

Of the terrible, horrible thing that Zooks do

In every Zook house and in every Zook town

Every Zook eats his bread

With the butter side down!”

“But we Yooks, as you know,

when we breakfast or sup,

spread our bread,” Grandpa said,

“with the butter side up

That’s the right, honest way!”

Grandpa gritted his teeth.

“So you can’t trust a Zook who spreads bread underneath!

Now, I see you smile at the “horrible” crime Zooks commit but don’t dismiss it as a funny little story. Rather try to remember how your own parents, your teachers, or even books you read shaped the way you looked at others. How much of this acquired knowledge and experience caused prejudice, fear, and hostility? Or if you please, take a greater challenge and ponder on how you interact today with people that are different from you. Do you erect walls or do you build bridges?

As you reflect on yourself and your life consider how the grandfather Yook delivers an important warning to his grandchild.

Every Zook must be watched!

He has kinks in his soul!

That’s why, as a youth, I made watching my goal,

watching Zooks for the Zook-Watching Border Patrol!

In those days, of course

the Wall wasn’t so high

and I could look any Zook

square in the eye

If he dared to come close

I could give him a twitch

With my tough-tufted

Snick Berry Switch

Isn’t it interesting that the difference between Yooks and Zooks instead of becoming a reason for curious attraction toward each other became a pretext for hostility and suspicion? Then again, this is no novelty to us, is it? When fear and hostility join hand, the clash is sure to come.

For the Yooks the clash began when one day a Zook named Van Itch slingshot the Grandfather’s “Tough-Tufted Prickly Snick-Berry Switch.” The Yooks then developed a machine with three slingshots interlinked, called a “Triple-Sling Jigger.” This gun worked once (Van Itch got scared and ran off), but the Zooks counterattacked with their own creation: The “Jigger-Rock Snatchem,” a machine with three nets to fling the rocks fired from the Triple-Sling Jigger back at the Yooks’ side “just as fast as we catch ‘em.”

Page by page the conflict between the two sides escalates and leads to a long arms race for bigger and better weapons to outdo the other, which unsurprisingly brings the Yooks and Zooks on the scary threshold of mutual destruction.

The Butter Battle Book was written during the Cold War era, and many critics think that the book reflects the concerns of the time, especially the perceived possibility that all life on earth could be destroyed in a nuclear war. The book’s apparent position regarding the arms race could be one of the reasons why The Butter Battle Book was once removed from the shelves of public libraries during the Cold War. Another reason could have been educators’ worries about the inappropriateness of introducing the idea of annihilation to young children.

The Butter Battle Book has also been seen as an enjoyable satirical work, with its depiction of a deadly war based on a senseless conflict over something as trivial as a breakfast food. The book’s delightful illustrations and its tongue twisting rhymes make the book fun to read.

Let’s go back to the book because meanwhile, both the Yooks and the Zooks have come to the end of their race. Both sides have developed the same equally powerful destructive bomb: “the bitsy big boy boomeroo.” On the last page of the book grandfather and Van Itch stand still about to drop the bomb and we hear the grandchild’s fearful cry:

“Granpa!” I shouted “Be careful! Oh Gee!

Who’s going to drop it?

Will you…? Will he…?”

“Be patient,” said Granpa. “We’ll see.”

“We will see…”

You may feel unsatisfied with the inconclusive ending, yet some literary critics deem it perfect for provoking discussion on how Zooks and Yooks might develop alternative ways to solve their problems. In fact, this entire book could be an excellent manual for peace studies educators to incorporate conflict resolution on both small and large scales.

On the other hand a National Review article published in July 27, 1984 (shortly after the book came out in print) draws attention to the idea that the inconclusive ending of the book could do damage to the cause Seuss is professing. The article claims that: “By ending inconclusively, with neither side having fired a serious shot and with each side wary of the nuclear weapons of the other, Seuss reminds us that nuclear weapons have kept the peace for nearly forty years now.” According to this article children may as well conclude that the surest way to achieve peace is to remain strong albeit strong at times might translate into inventing and possessing weapons of mass destruction.

Parental or teacher guidance during the reading of this book could be of great help in this case. Thought provoking questions can be addressed such as: Can the non-existence of war be considered real peace? Is a cold war the most peace that can be achieved?

Conclusion

Because history seems to repeat itself The Butter Battle Book and its message are far from obsolete even today, two decades later. As we hear with dread news of wars and ongoing nuclear armaments, as the map of the world is marked with more “hot spots,” we get the gut feeling that maybe we are living in the land of Yooks and Zooks. We feel that it is imperative to promote peace and prevent the infamous prediction of the so called clash of civilizations.

If we, people of this world, should wage a war why not wage one to eradicate poverty, ignorance and hostility? If we should take up arms can’t they be sound education, tolerance, love, and mutual understanding? With the situation as it is, it seems like we don’t possess the luxury to lay back and say: “We’ll see…. We will see…”

It brings hope to see that many people think likewise and have already rolled up their sleeves for the noble cause of peace making. The opportunities to get involved in this noble cause for peace are limitless starting from nonprofit organizations promoting tolerance and peacemaking to small groups that act against prejudice and discrimination. If you feel you are too insignificant to make an impact, then here is something simple to do; read The Butter Battle Book with a child and talk about all the beauties that come with peace.

Mirkena Ozer pursues creative writing at University of Georgia, Atlanta.

References and notes

1. http://www.thefreelibrary.com/The+Butter+Battle+Book.-a03363441.

Hypertension is one of the most widespread dangerous diseases of this century affecting the young as well as the elderly. It can lead to other, more dangerous conditions, coronary and brain diseases among them.

The two main causes of hypertension are stress and being overweight conditions associated with the life-style of the materially wealthy, industrialized nations. (We may note in passing that Islam forbids excessive consumption whether in or in goods, and it requires the believers to halt their daily routines at least five times a day for prayer – and prayer, standing or sitting in the presence of the All-Mighty, gives due proportion to all human affairs, enabling the worshipper to obtain or recover calm of body and mind.) .

Doctors nowadays recommend patients with hypertension to eat less salty foods, to avoid becoming overweight and to keep fit by doing light but regular, frequent exercise. But; before that, doctors ask them to give up drinking and smoking if they indulge in these habits. (Again, we note in passing that the life-style being recommended makes up a prescription as familiar to Muslims as the Qur’an and Sunna.)

Hypertension adversely affects blood pressure; to keep the pressure at normal level, the blood vessels constrict. That constriction may, in turn, cause damage when it passes beyond certain limits. It can overload the heart, soon leading to coronary vascu1ai diseases. On the other hand, excessive blood pressure not reduced by constriction of the blood vessels may damage the vessels and, subsequently, lead on to brain and liver diseases.

The first measurement of human blood pressure was taken in 1834. An apparatus like the type most commonly used today was introduced in 1896, with some operative improvements in 1906 (Weinstein, 1976). We meet the first accurate descriptions of what we now know as ‘essential hypertension’ in a series of clinical papers by F. A. Mohammed between 1874 and 1881 (Page, 1988).

It comes as a surprise to learn that hypertension was first recognized as a serious health problem only in the late 1930s. During the 1920s, the textbooks used in leading medical schools throughout the world made no mention of hypertension as a problem, let alone as a disease. The association of hypertension with stroke, heart failure and renal failure was still nebulous (Page, 1988).

A research group under Irvine Page were trying to demonstrate the connection between hypertension and coronary heart diseases and to convince the authorities of the time about the importance of treatment for hypertension. When this group announced, with another group of researchers, that they had found a hormone which is very important in the regulation of blood pressure, there was little or no interest. Page’s group had named the hormone ‘angiotonin’, while the others had named it ‘hypertension’. The two groups got together and agreed on the name ‘angiotensin’ for the hormone. Page suggested that angiotensin was one of the important factors in blood pressure regulation. The active form of this hormone, Axigiotensin-2, caused the blood vessels to constrict so that the blood pressure could be kept at a certain level. Therefore, hypertension could be relieved by preventing the synthesis of this hormone.

As the years passed, the number of researchers and organizations working in the field (as well as funding) increased dramatically. Drugs like ‘captopril’ and ‘enalapril’ were developed, which would block the production of angiotensin and hence give some temporary relief to sufferers of hypertension. Today, hypertension is a major medical research area usually carried on under the broad category of brain and cardiovascular research.

When Dr Ibrahim Benter, A Muslim chemist and doctor, came to the Cleveland Clinic to work as a research scientist. Dr Ferrario was the head of the brain and cardiovascular research department. Having worked with Irvine Page at the Cleveland Clinic earlier, Dr Ferrario had been interested in angiotensin for several years.

He had previously shown that Angiotensin 1-7 a trimmed version of the hormone Angiotensin-2, was synthesized in various sites in the human body. However, he was somehow unable to show its effects via live-animal experiments. Despite his reputation, his articles on this particular subject were rejected everywhere. One reason for this was the consensus of the research community that submolecules of Angiotensin-2 were ineffective. After several years of fruitless research, Dr Ferrario had begun to lose hope.

The story of Angiotensin 1-7 attracted Dr Benter’s interest. He had a simple and sound principle: ‘The All-Mighty would never create something that is useless.’ Since angiotensin was synthesized in various places in the body, it should have a definite function. He decided to do some experiments in his own lime during his stay in the Cleveland Clinic. When he mentioned his idea to colleagues some of them smiled and told him not to waste his time. Briefly, they were saying ‘We spent several years and got nothing out of this research; you should not make the same mistake.’ Everybody seemed to have convinced themselves that Angiotensin 1-7 was useless.

However, Dr Benter was determined. He began his experiments using his own set-up and techniques in the expectation of turning up something missed or neglected in previously used methods. Dr Ferrario, having noticed Dr Benter’s efforts, visited him from time to time to see if anything new had turned up. When several trials yielded no positive findings, Dr Ferrario gave up all hope. Not so Dr Benter. I us determination was grounded on his belief that all scientific research is like a prayer to the All-Mighty, and that discoveries are part of the results of the acceptance of these prayers. Since God is the One who makes all progress possible our duty is to work with faith in a systematic way.

Shortly afterwards, he received the reward for his patience, faith and determination. Angiotensin 1-7 was not useless at all. It was a hormone with a function of profound importance – it was just that certain mechanisms in the body hid its effects from being easily observed. When he determined those mechanisms and disabled them, he clearly observed the effects of Angiotensin 1-7. The results were very significant. When acting alone, Angiotensin 1-7 lowered the blood pressure considerably; it could therefore be used as the basis For a new medicine against hypertension, one with fewer side- effects (sec Renter. 1992).

On learning about Ibrahim Benter’s findings, Dr Ferrario gathered all the researchers in the department in Ibrahim’s lab: he wanted them all to see the results. As his colleagues watched the gauges with awe and surprise. Ibrahim was silently thanking his Lord for the success He had bestowed.

They quickly prepared an article, sent grant proposals to relevant institutions and requested support for further research. The response was positive. They were given a research fund of approximately 1.5 million dollars to continue their study. When the official from the funding institution visited them, he said privately to Ibrahim Benter ‘without your findings, this grant would not be possible’.

Dr Ibrahim Benter is probably even now continuing his research on Angiotensin 1-7. When interviewed on the subject, he explicitly asked the following comment to be made public:

This achievement, for which many other more experienced and skilled researchers worked fruitlessly was made possible only by God’s help.’

The story we have just told, is perhaps one example among countless others which demonstrate the role of faith and determination in achievement. If it was successful in bringing an important fact to our attention, or refreshing our confidence in it, then our telling the story has served its purpose. 

REFERENCES

• BENTER IBRAHIM (I 993) ‘Cardiovascular Actions of Angiotensin 1-7’, Peptides, Vol.14. pp.679-89
• PAGE, Revise n. (1988) Hypertension Research: a memoir. Pergamon Press. NewYork.
• WEINSTEIN, MILTON C. (1976) Hypertension: A Policy Perspective. Harvard University Press. Cambridge MA.