We invite you to embark on a journey with us to explore some fascinating perspectives that shed a light on our relationship with sound and music.

Dr. Jeffrey Thompson, the Founder and Director of the Center for Neuroacoustic Research in California (www.neuroacoustic.com), is recognized as a worldwide expert in the field of acoustic pacing frequencies that are incorporated into musical sound tracks. A consummate musician and composer in his own right, he has established a method for using modulated sound-pulses that change states of consciousness for optimal “Mind-Body” healing. Dr. Thompson believes that the sounds in nature resonate with us because they take us back to the beginning of our journey and our primary senses.

Matter&Beyond: Why are sound and music so central for us, both culturally and personally?

I don’t think I’ve found a single culture on earth which at some point hasn’t used sound as a prominent technique in healing, in religious rites, or as a means of attaining a change of consciousness in one way or another. I think the tradition probably dates back to the first use of sound as a soothing or healing means for mothers; that is lullabies for babies.

M&B: Is this our earliest experience with sound? Is this what you call primordial sounds?

If you go back to before the lullabies, we’re talking about womb experiences and it’s one of the primal things we all share; this is what I call primordial sounds. Certain type of sounds have the same influence on anyone who hears it, no matter what age you are, what sex you are, what culture you were brought up in, what language you speak; womb sounds fit that criteria.

M&B: Why is it sound, but not the vision?

Because at 16 weeks, when the fetus is very small, the nervous system is developed enough that all the senses are functioning; however it is dark, so the eyes aren’t working, no information is being received and the nose and the mouth are filled with fluids, so there is no tasting or smelling, but sound travels through water five times better than it does through air; therefore the ears are working but amplified by five times, and the largest sense organ we have, the skin, is a huge sense organ for vibrations. Thus, we’re experiencing vibration and sound for nine months in the womb and that sound environment is a very specific type of environment; the amniotic fluid sounds, the watery bubbly sounds, the mother’s heartbeat through the placental artery, respiratory sounds from the diaphragm, noises of the internal organ; it’s a rich complex, three-dimensional sound environment that is exactly the same for everyone of us; we all experienced this in the same way.

M&B: How does the fetus perceive this sound?

Remember the fetus is small and the ear is small; the eardrum is extremely small. If the eardrum was blown up to the size of my eardrum and the mother’s heart was blown up in proportion it would fill this room. So what kind of sound would such a heart make? It wouldn’t be the sound that you would expect it to be listening to the adult’s heart with a stethoscope from the outside; it would be a very large, slow sound, a large thumping sound.

M&B: How is this related to the use of sound in therapy or for relaxation?

Most of us who have gone on vacations and have explored nature feel a peaceful, beautiful return to nature; why?

Because if you take the sounds of the amniotic fluid and you slow those sounds down, they sound a lot like the ocean. The size of the sound waves compared to the eardrum would make these watery sounds sound like they have also slowed down. So many of the watery sounds in the womb sound like other sounds that we can hear later in nature. This can spark a similar kind of primordial recognition which is beyond the control of the rational thinking mind.

So when we build up these kinds of sounds on a soundtrack you can then push the button and the body will automatically go back to what it felt like to have a natural experience; when we combine the sounds of nature with music this makes a relaxation tape. So I would say that the sounds of nature provide secondary primordial sounds, as not all of us would have heard the same natural sounds in our lives.

The idea is to extend the power of the primordial recognizable components of sound in order to create a physical response. The technique is to connect with a primal recognition at a subconscious level; this will tap into experiences that you have had in the womb and at other times.

M&B: You not only use sound for relaxation, but also in order to combat stress. Could you please talk about this?

When a person has a fight-or-flight response, a stress response, we know very precisely what happens physiologically. The very first thing, the most sensitive organ, to respond to stress is the heart and thus when we look at the heart waves we can gain important information.

M&B: Why the heart and not the brain?

The reason for this is that the heart is the perfect system in the nervous system; it is called the autonomic nervous system or the automatic functioning nervous system; it knows how to organize and control my organs and glands and body chemistry and perform biomechanics that I’m not aware of and can’t control.

My rational-thinking brain can control physical body movements and thinking processes, but there’s another section that controls the automatic functioning of how my body runs. There is another control of this autonomic nervous system, which has two large branches of nerves that innervate all the organs and glands; these two branches of the nerves are the sympathetic and the parasympathetic nervous system.

While the sympathetic nervous system switches on, the parasympathetic switches off and mobilizes energy from the higher brain centers, from my digestive system, from my elimination system and from my immune system, it pulls that energy into my muscles to fight for my life.

This is when the brain freezes when you take an exam. You’re frightened about the exam; it is your final exam and you’re frightened that you’re not going to pass it or that you’re not going to do well. That fright causes the sympathetic system to switch on and drain the energy out of your brain; this is a self-fulfilling prophecy. You don’t have a brain left, because all the energy has gone to your muscles. At the moment the sympathetic system switches on, it mobilizes the pituitary which signals the adrenal glands; these fires adrenaline, the adrenaline starts the heart and the respiration and a number of other things. At the same time it suppresses the pancreas and lets loose extra glucose so you can fight for your life more and so what you end up with is the very first thing that happens.

M&B: What is the normal stress response and how do we return to a normal state?

When a person is required to carry out special tasks, like running or fighting for one’s life, then the sympathetic nervous system has to switch on, mobilize the energy from various places and send it to my muscles. If I am injured, but I survive and win, then the parasympathetic system is going to switch on and build up; that energy will be sent to my immune system, healing centers and recuperation areas for my muscles; when this is finished these are basically switched off, because we don’t need this energy anymore. This is certainly the normal way of functioning.

Thus, there are certain normal ways in which the body should function when a person is okay and normal. When the patient comes in and lies down on their back we hook them up and look at what’s happening in the autonomic nervous system. Normally when you lay down for three to five minutes your system should relax. Gravity isn’t affecting you, your heart doesn’t have to do extra work to pump the blood up to your brain; as a result the muscles relax and the sympathetic system and parasympathetic nervous systems should be at a level playing field. Now they can conserve their energy and this state of balance in the autonomic nervous system is known as homeostasis. The best state of health you can have is in homeostasis, where you’re not using energy in an unnecessary way. Homeo means unity, one, within my body, while stasis is a perfect state of rest.

M&B: What are the results of your studies to date? How many of us return back to homeostasis in three to five minutes?

Clinically what I see is maybe two patients with a normal response; I’ve been checking every patient with the real time heart rate variability system now for 7 years. This means thousands of patients; in all of that time I have seen one, maybe two patients with a normal response. I hook the patient up, and see what the response is. Most people’s response is abnormal; what this abnormality says is that after five minutes they have not attained a balance, and they have a good strong, healthy, dominant sympathetic stress response which never stops.

M&B: What do you think is the reason for this?

This state is constant because of the artificial, extremely stressful world that we have artificially created for ourselves. It wasn’t supposed to be like this; you are supposed to wake up in the morning and grab your spear and go catch a rabbit and that’s your workday; when you get there and you see that rabbit the sympathetic system turns on and the heart rates increase, the same thing happens with the rabbit, and it’s all going to be over in a couple of minutes. You’re going to catch the rabbit or he’s going to get away and then everything goes back, the clutch pushes in. Let’s say you get the rabbit, and the clutch pushes in; everything is fine and you are going to go home. Now you hear a growl behind you and there’s a saber tooth tiger looking at you, thinking about dinner; now the sympathetic system switches on, the heart rate is up, and you are running and he is running. It is all going to be over in a couple of minutes and either you are going to get away or you’re not.

But what I’m talking about here is that the nervous system, at its core, and its stress response are both designed for a sprint and not a marathon; but what we have had in the twenty-first century and throughout the twentieth century is a marathon of stress; but these are the kind of stresses that we can’t see, i.e. invisible stresses. They’re electromagnetic frequencies; the walls in this room, television channel frequencies, military frequencies, microwave frequencies, air pollution, food pollution and traffic jams when going to work to a job that doesn’t pay enough money for a boss who has the emotional development of a three-year old are all problems for us. The stress goes and then it’s back again; it’s time to get dinner for the kids and watching 7:00 news. This doesn’t stop; the nervous system’s solution to surviving this is to invent a mechanism of merely stepping on the gas, switching on the emergency sympathetic system on and bulldozing your way through the stress for the rest of your life with great momentum; but at nighttime, when it’s time to go to bed the nervous system doesn’t want to let go of this momentum that it has built up to get through the day.

M&B: And this has devastating effects on our health?

You can’t keep running in high gear for the rest of your life without some horrible consequences; the body’s not designed for it. You can only do this for a few decades before your heart or your brain blows up, the two biggest killers in Western society are heart attacks and strokes – there is also high blood pressure and diabetes. But what can we expect if our sympathetic nervous system is all the time working, which means by definition that our heart pressure is up and the pancreas is suppressed, so there is extra glucose being sent out? So people who don’t have the constitution to handle the stress blow a fuse; they have no way to handle the stress and as a result they have immune system problems, digestive problems, and problems that come from that colon cancer, irritable bowel syndrome, autoimmune diseases, allergies.

M&B: You are using sound in order to help people return to their normal healthy state. How does this work?

I’ve come up with a way to use sound to force the autonomic nervous system to push in the clutch, removing us from a place of high stress from which you can leave by using sound; we do this by using the heart-rate variability to see how bad the heart rate is and then explore various precisely tuned sound frequencies which will actually force the nervous system to push in the clutch. There will be a very specific tone for every person; this is like a glass vibrating if I sing the right note. An opera singer can sing the right note to make the glass vibrate. Well, now let’s imagine that your autonomic nervous system is the glass and we’re going to explore various sound frequencies that are very precisely tuned to find out which one affects your autonomic nervous system function; when we find it the response will be like pushing in the clutch and sending it into a state of relaxation. So we hit the right note and we get the response; this is what I’ve been looking for. Now we can see this phenomenon clinically. Once we’ve got the tone that’s associated with the pushing in of the clutch of the autonomic nervous system we can use that therapeutically through a specially designed sound table that I have made; this consists of low-frequency sound components which drive the low frequencies right into your cells via headphones. This relaxation mode is introduced to your nervous system over an extended period of time. We can burn this sound onto a CD and you can take it home and work with it at home on your stereo; it is like an internal training program. Every time your nervous system pushes in the clutch, the ability to push in the clutch grows, just like working a muscle in a gym.

This is a kind of high-tech stress reduction training program for the nervous system with sound. This is one of the three components I mentioned earlier; there are three parallel processes using sound for healing. This one is the idea of using the physical resonance to cause an effect on the nervous system to relax people.

M&B: This is what is called a sound table, right?

Yes, the sound table I needed had to have specific requirements, which is why I had to make my own to attain the exact clinical results I wanted. The power in the table actually delivered more power to your body than I wanted to be delivered. Therefore, I had to be able to have the sound that was coming from the table split into the right and left speakers, but none of those that were available on the market could do that. So I had to have it specially designed. As a composer, musician and audio engineer I was able to design the sounding board of that table and the transducers so that a lot of free sound could be delivered and spread out, therefore it is much more effective and delivers the sound to your body via headphones. Thus there is a lot going on in that table that you cannot see and this is what makes it work properly.

Interview conducted by Mustafa Tabanli for Ebru TV for the Emmy Award winning television series Matter and Beyond.

Life without me is only silence

Every artist wishes to present his work to admiring eyes. In the whole universe, from atoms to star systems, God shows all the details of His art to you, a conscious being; and among His works, He has installed the most splendid ones in your body. He has given you reason and knowledge so that you can easily see and understand them. With knowledge, you can appreciate the meaning and different qualities of existence. However, you need another tool, your five senses, through which you will look at and learn about the material world around you and then turn this knowledge into an appreciation of the meanings behind God’s creation.

If you were not able to perceive light and color (by your eyes), your knowledge of material existence would be insufficient. Similarly, if God had not placed me in your skull, you would not be able to hear and know the songs of birds, the rustling of trees, the babbling of water, or the whistling of wind, which are each a note in the divine musical harmony throughout the universe. Indeed, everything speaks in its own tongue in order to introduce God to people. You use your eyes to perceive the things that speak with the wavelengths of light. You use me to perceive other wavelengths called “sound,” which is caused by the vibration of molecules.

The wavelength of the sounds that I can perceive ranges between 20 and 20,000 Hertz. I am unable to sense frequencies of sound that are above or below those limits. Indeed, it would be better to call this an advantage given by God rather than an “inability.” If the Creator of everything in the universe had not created me with this limited capacity, you would be facing unbearable pain in your head. If He had made me work with a wider range of hearing, you would be disturbed by the footsteps of a little ant, the moaning of an insect laying eggs, the buzzing of beehives, and the sound of the fluttering birds. Therefore, the fact that I have sufficient sensitivity for you to meet your needs is an advantage and an indication of God’s mercy. After all, my Creator gives everybody exactly what they need in a most suitable way and in the best measurements; He never does anything absurd. Do not ever want to have an ear like that of a bat. I am the best one for you.

Do not ever think that my outer, visible part is too simple. My outer ear, which sometimes turns red when you are nervous, is placed in the best position according to the shape of your head so that it can receive sounds in a most efficient way. Because it is made up of elastic cartilage, my outer ear (A) is very flexible, and it won’t break when you lie on it. The curves on me (known as the helix) and the hairs inside my channel are not made without a reason, either. My cartilages have the perfect shape to channel the sound down towards my middle ear according to the intensity of the sound and the direction it comes from. Because this special shape is formed according to the genetic code of a person, it is different in every person. The hairs in the canal serve to protect me from foreign objects like insects or dust. The canal that connects my outer part to my middle part is pretty wide, but if too much fatty wax accumulates here, I might experience temporary hearing loss.

My outer part is followed by my middle ear, which begins with the ear drum (tympanic membrane) (C). Attached to this thin ear drum are three bones: the malleus (D), the incus (E), and the stapes (F), which are all placed in order. These little bones are jointed to each other at an angle of 105 degrees. With an action like a piston, they amplify even the smallest sound vibration coming from the ear drum and transmit it to the middle ear. My middle ear space is connected to your pharynx by a very thin canal called the Eustachian tube (G). In order to protect my ear drum from rupture, I recommend that you open your mouth during an explosion or an intense sound. In that way, the sound waves that enter through your mouth will balance with the sound waves in my canals so that my ear drum is protected.

My inner part, followed by my middle part, is the most vital and sensitive area. Therefore, it is surrounded and protected by the bones of your skull. This inner part, which is an amazing piece of art and technology, comprises two wonderful receptor components. Those two little parts are placed in the same narrow area inside the temporal bone, but they perform different tasks. One of them is the cochlea (H), which is involved with hearing. The other part is the balance (vestibular) canals, which consist of the semicircular canals (I), the saccule (J), and the utricle (K). This balance organ enables you to stand straight and walk, run, or move without bumping or falling.

Like carved marble or forged metal, those parts are crafted out of bones that form a beautiful and intricate whole. My cochlea is divided widthwise by a bony tube. The upper compartment above the tube is connected to an oval window, which is an outlet to the middle ear. The lower compartment below the tube is connected to a round window. My inner part is a labyrinth of fluid-filled tubes. The fluid in the bony labyrinth, between the bone and the membranes, is called perilymph, and the other fluid within the membranous structure is called endolymph.

Situated on the basilar membrane (L) of my cochlea is a very small and special organ that you call the organ of Corti. The organ of Corti contains the hearing cells (or hair cells), the receptors (M) that are sensitive to sound waves, and other supporting cells. Because the length of the cells in the organ of Corti varies, different parts of my cochlea are sensitive to sounds of different wavelengths.

The sound waves travel via the malleus, the incus, and the stapes and through my oval window, agitating the perilymph of my cochlea. After that, the sound waves cause Reissner’s membrane (N) in my cochlea to vibrate, which then results in a wave movement in the endolymph. The wave movement continues along this membrane until it reaches my organ of Corti. The special receptor cells (or hair cells) of the organ of Corti are the ultimate vibration receptors. Their surfaces consist of very small strands (cilia). Those little strands bend and twist when the sound waves are received. Right at this point, a very important event occurs: it is the movement of these strands which converts the mechanical energy (that is produced by the vibrations of the sound waves) into electrical impulses. Those electrical impulses are then sent to your brain via the auditory nerve (nervus cochlearis) of the brain, where they are perceived as “sound.” The same sound waves continue their way to the perilymph and pass into the round window, the section between the middle ear and the inner ear. The round window pushes out to dissipate the sound vibrations in the perilymph and thus lessens their pressure.

The speed of the hearing depends on the speed of the sound that travels through my membrane and little bones. However, once the sound waves begin to pass to your brain as an electrical impulse along the auditory nerve, the hearing process increases its speed. Then your brain immediately interprets and reacts to the sound waves. You are not aware of all these rapid activities which are done perfectly in fractions of a second. You only say that you can hear something ordinarily. Have you ever thought before about how hearing takes place? Do you think you would have a clue about the sounds and music in the universe if God had not created me as your hearing organ?

Think about it, Peter! God knows exactly what you need for your life and equips your body accordingly. If there were no God, would such a complicated organ as your ear form by itself in your skull? Can it be a simple “coincidence” where some biological mechanisms take place successfully and in order without any plan or project and they produce such a splendid organ as me with all my sections? Like every reasonable and thoughtful person, you now understand that I cannot be the result of simple coincidence but only a creation of our God Almighty, don’t you?

Maintaining your balance

So far, what I have told you about is my duty to hear. Now I must also tell you about my duty of balance, so that you can better understand how miraculous I am.

Have you ever seen an acrobat walking on a rope or a mountain climber in action? Or shall I give a better example that might be more familiar to you? Remember what you do on your bicycle to keep from falling off. At the slightest mistake, the acrobat might topple from the rope, the climber might slip off the cliff face, and you might fall off your bicycle. While you are making unconscious (reflex) movements to keep your balance, have you ever thought about what busy operations are going on in my system? I have been equipped with very sensitive receptors which help you stay stable during your continual, different movements. Those receptors immediately recognize the changes occurring as a result of your slightest motion; they warn your body to adjust to your new position by sending out information to the spinal cord and to the brain about the new situation.

You may wonder how these two processes, hearing and balance, can take place in such a small area of the body, the inner ear. It is our Creator, God, who puts microscopic cells in a narrow place and runs the most sensitive and important operations via those little cells.

How do you feel the sensation of balance and how do you react with the right reflex action? To find an answer to that, you need to re-examine my anatomical structures mentioned before. At the base of my semicircular canals is a bulb-like enlargement which opens to the saccule and the utricle. My three semicircular canals are situated at 90-degree angles to each other in three-dimensional space.

My semicircular canals contain few sensory hair cells but there are plenty of them in the bulb-like enlargement. The strands of these cells, which are placed delicately, have enough elasticity to twist and bend during a movement. The receptors for balance in the saccule and the utricle are covered by a thin membrane which contains a gelatinous layer and tiny calcite crystals (cupula terminalis). Depending on its density, the endolymph fluid in my semicircular canals moves against the direction that your head and body move in. Similar to the uncontrolled movement of passengers in an accelerating or moving vehicle, depending on the speed and the direction, the movement and the speed of the endolymph differs from the general movement of your body. For example, when a car turns right, the passengers move to the left with the turning acceleration, and when a fast-moving car brakes suddenly, the passengers are thrown forward. Similarly, depending on its acceleration and momentum, every change in your movement causes the fluid in my semicircular canals to move. Triggered by the movement of the endolymph fluid, the gelatinous mass with the calcite pieces is displaced, causing the strands of the receptors to twist. Every movement of your head warns the cells of different parts, and via the vestibular nerve (nervus vestibularis) the nervous system is notified of changes occurring in your balance.

Thankfulness and contemplation

You have now seen what amazing works my two compartments, the balance and the hearing organs produce. All through your life, the former serves you by maintaining your balance without missing any of your movements, while the latter enables you to learn about the thousands of types of sounds in the world. Once you consider all of your movements in your life, you will see that my two organs perform their duties perfectly without ever getting tired, giving up, or complaining. We do not ask for any fee from you in return for those benefits, either. In fact, when God Almighty created you, placed us in your skull and set up our connection with the related center in your brain, He did not ask for any fee from you. All He wants you to do is to think about those blessings and be thankful to Him.

If you visited a hospital, you might see a lot of scenes which would lead you to think about God’s blessings on you and thank Him. Serious ear illnesses include middle ear infection (otitis media), which is frequently seen in children; otosclerosis, which is the limited ability of the stapes to transmit sound waves because its base becomes fixed to the oval window; and several hearing disorders which might be present at birth or occur later in life, depending on the level of damage to the auditory nerve. Witnessing the effects of those illnesses, you would understand how important it is to be able to hear and stand straight and balanced, and so see how blessed you are. At every step you take, when you are lying down or standing up, or every time you hear the twittering of birds, a nice melody, or the sweet voice of your parents, you will now appreciate the greatness and the mercy of our Lord God Almighty, who has engraved the meanings of all those sounds in your mind.

Peter! Until now, you have used me to listen to others, but today it was my turn to be listened to while I told you about myself. However, I must admit that I have only been able to explain to you the details of about one-hundredth of the beauties displayed in me and my delicate anatomical structure. If I attempted to present you with all the details about me discovered by developing technology and science and the meanings attached to them, there would not be enough pages in the magazine that you are holding now. Indeed, you do not need that much information either. My main aim here is to draw your attention to me, and thus let you know our God and bring you closer to Him. I hope I am successful in that. From now on, you will hear my ringing occasionally and remember me so that you will be saved from your heedlessness once again.

Irfan Yilmaz is a professor of biology at Dokuz Eylul University, Izmir, Turkey.

The sound of the sun

Sound waves are seismic waves which cause up-down and forward-backward movements. According to some scientists with poetic hearts the sound of the sun is like the sound of the heart beat. When a human’s heart beats, it makes varying sounds by contracting and relaxing, and cardiologists use these sounds to determine if there is a problem with the heart. Like the cardiologists who listen to our hearts, helioseismologists (scientists who research the sun’s seismic waves) listen to the sounds of the sun to learn more about its structure and mysteries. The power produced by these sounds makes the sun oscillate like a bell or tremble like someone suffering from a high fever. Another interesting point is that millions of different sounds have been discovered to emanate from the sun and every sound oscillates on a distinct frequency and displays a different pattern on the sun’s surface. If we compare the sun to a piano, a piano has 88 metal wires which produce sounds with varying tones, whereas the sun produces ten million notes. So the sun is like an enormous piano with ten million notes producing sounds at roughly five-minute intervals which create harmonic acoustics resembling the heart beat.

Scientists are trying to decipher these ten million different sounds, which brings us to another interesting point; we cannot hear the sound frequencies because they are too low (between 1–4 millihertz) for the human ear (the lowest range of human hearing is 20 Hz). 1–4 millihertz equals to a time span of 200–1,000 seconds, meaning that the sun oscillates once every 3–16 minutes. Even if our hearing ability was suitable, the sound would not reach us because there is no air or layer of gas between the earth and the sun to convey sound. If we could increase the sounds of the sun by 20,000–40,000 times, the sound humans would hear would only resemble a whisper. The sun is like a musical instrument that plays a continuous concerto of ten million notes every day in the sky above us, and we do not even perceive it. Can you imagine the astronomical music if we were to include the galaxy’s 200 million stars?

Scientists gather important information about the sun’s core by studying the echoes that appear on the sun’s surface from the energy produced from these ten million notes. The solar oscillations are divided into three categories called the p, g, and f modes. The p mode is the pressure of acoustic waves, g mode is gravity and the f mode refers to the surface-gravity waves. There are ten million of the p and f modes alone and the combination of these modes produce ten million different sounds.

In Bediüzzaman’s Risale-i Nur, his explanation of the letter “Lam” in the verse 36:38 in chapter Ya Sin in the Qur’an, affirms that everybody obtains understanding of this chapter according to his or her own spiritual senses and every chapter of the Qur’an contains thousands of aspects from which everyone benefits according to his or her own depth of understanding, from the common public to scholars, from scholars to the philosopher of the cosmos. In The Words, Nursi goes on to say, “Precise and wise scholars consider li to be causal and adverbial. They understand that since the All-Wise Maker operates behind the veil of apparent causality, He has tied the planets to the sun by His law of gravity and causes them to revolve with distinct but regular motions according to His universal wisdom. To produce gravity, He has made the sun’s movement on its axis an apparent cause. Thus a resting place means that “the sun moves in the place determined for it for the order and stability of its own (solar) system.” Like the Divine laws, that motion produces heat, heat produces force, and force produces gravity. … The sun is a light-diffusing tree, and the planets are its moving fruits. But unlike trees, the sun is shaken so that the fruits do not fall. If it were not shaken, they would fall and be scattered. They also may imagine the sun to be a leader of a circle reciting God’s Names, ecstatically reciting in the circle’s center and leading the others to recite. Elsewhere, I expressed this meaning as follows: ‘The sun is a fruit-bearing tree; it is shaken so that its traveling fruits do not fall. If it rested, no longer shaken, the attraction would cease, and those attracted to it would weep through space” (Twenty-fifth Word).

It is interesting that the sun’s oscillation, which modern science discovered in the 1960s, was mentioned much earlier by Bediüzzaman. In fact he went further and even explained the wisdom and necessity of the sun’s oscillation as a law of gravitation keeping the earth and the other surrounding planets in orbit. This is a subject which has only recently begun to be researched by scientists of the present. If we were to look further into the history of the valuable discoveries of Imam Rabbani, Ibrahim Haqqi of Erzurum, Ulug Bey, and many other scholars, we would be sure to encounter many other scientific facts.

References

1. “Solar Ellipticity Fluctuations Yield No Evidence of g-Modes,” J. R. Kuhn, K. G. Libbrecht and R. H. Dicke, Nature 319, 128 (1986).
2. “The Excitation and Damping of Solar Oscillations,” K. G. Libbrecht, B. D. Popp, J. M. Kaufman and M. J. Penn, Nature 323, 235 (1986).
3. “What do Observations Tell us about the Excitation of Solar Oscillation Modes?” K. G. Libbrecht, Proceedings of IAU Symposium 123, Advances in Helio- and Astroseismology (1988).
4. “Seismology of Solar Oscillation Line Widths,” J. Christensen-Dalsgaard, D. O. Gough, and K. G. Libbrecht, Astrophys. J. Letters 341, L103 (1989).
5. “Frequencies of Solar Oscillations,” K. G. Libbrecht, M. F. Woodard, and J. M. Kaufman, Astrophys J. Supp. 74, 1129(1990).
6. “Advances in Helioseismology,” K. G. Libbrecht and M. F. Woodard, Science 253, 152 (1991).

There is no similarity between the systems through which insects produce or receive sounds. Furthermore, even the frequencies of the sounds they produce or hear may not be the same. The wisdom behind this might be that the receptors of some insects are devised in a way that will enable them to detect sounds produced by their enemies. Moths can be given as a typical example of this. They can detect sounds between 1,000-140,000 Hz. Their sensitivity is best between frequencies of 20,000-40,000 Hz, but interestingly, most moths do not have any organs to produce sounds at these frequencies. In other words, moths do not seem to use their tympanal organs in order to communicate with one another. Discovering the real function of the tympanal organ of the moths has taken researchers quite a long time.

The mysterious relation

Every being in nature is created to assume a role in the ecological balance and no creature has been equipped with a useless organ. Researchers have discovered that the tympanal organ plays an important role in defense. Moths spend the day resting in corners and only become active after sunset. Researchers have come to the conclusion that they are not searching for food, since the nutrition they need is stored in their bodies during the larva stage. Thanks to this blessing, moths do not spend their short life span in search of food. The aim of their night flights is reproduction.

The essential duty of moths is to find the plants where they will lay their eggs and on which their larvae will feed. As slow moving animals, it is almost impossible for the moth larvae to go and find their own food. As all creatures are provided in accordance with their need, these helpless larvae are born on their food. Another amazing fact about their nutrition is that the moth larvae eat their own protein-rich eggshells before eating leaves. Research has shown that those larvae which eat their eggshells are more resistant to environmental conditions.

As the moths try to continue their species by laying their eggs in the darkness, some other creatures try to continue their own existence by feeding on the moths. Bats eat insects and are also active at night. As is well known, bats fly comfortably in the dark thanks to the radar system they have been equipped with. This innate system is perfectly devised to enable bats to pinpoint a tiny insect flying through the darkness, and moths are a prey that is easily spotted by bats. The astonishing fact is that the moths’ sensitivity to the sound waves is perfect for picking up the sounds emitted by bats. The moths are able not only to detect the bats, but also to judge their distance from the frequency of the waves. If the distance is greater than 30 meters, the moth leaves the area immediately. If the bat is closer however, the moth takes a zigzag course or tries to avoid danger by plunging down and staying still.

The balance here is so perfect that while bats are skilled enough hunters to obtain provision, the moths are good defenders and are able to continue their existence. Both species fulfill their roles in balance with creation. Some bats are able to catch some moths, but there is no excess on either side. Nothing is left to blind chance in nature; not only did the Creator equip the bat with a perfect radar system, He did not leave the moth helpless but granted them perfect receptors to rescue themselves from bats. If it were not for the Power that established the mysterious balances in the universe, how would a bat find its way through the darkness and how would moths be protected from extinction?

Every different type of moth which forms another ring in the chain of food in nature lays its eggs on different plants. If moths did not feed on certain fast-growing plants and if their growth is not kept under control, these plants would invade the space of other plants and wipe them out. The moths and other creatures that feed on plants ensure that no one plant is allowed to upset the balance of the chain of nutrition. Similarly, the perfect balance established between bats and moths prove that nothing in this universe is left on its own. When confronted by the perfect order in nature, one cannot help but think about the verse:

You do not see any fault or incongruity in the creation of the All-Merciful. Look yet again: can you see any rifts?

Then look again and yet again, (and however often you do so, with whatever instruments to aid your looking) your sight will fall back to you dazzled (by the splendor of God’s creation), and awed and weakened (being unable to discern any flaw to support any excuse for claiming that there could be any sharing in the dominion of the universe). (Mulk 67:3)

Currently, some religious scholars in the Islamic world denounce music. This paper analyzes the Islamic perspective on music and singing, and concludes that using music as a therapeutic agent in medicine is not forbidden.

Documented evidence shows the power of music can be tapped to heal the body, strengthen the mind, and unlock the creative spirit. Published papers and journal articles offer dramatic accounts of how doctors, musicians, and healthcare professionals use music to deal with everything from anxiety to cancer, high blood pressure, chronic pain, dyslexia, and even mental illness. During childbirth, music can relieve expectant mothers’ anxiety and help release endorphins, the body’s natural painkillers, and thereby dramatically decrease the need for anesthesia.

Exposure to sound, music, and other acoustical vibrations can have a lifelong effect on health, learning, and behavior, for such exposure stimulates learning and memory and strengthens one’s listening abilities. Music has been used as a treatment or cure from migraines to substance abuse.

One thousand years ago, Muslim physicians were in the forefront of medicine and used innovations and therapeutic techniques that are now considered modern. They treated mental illnesses by confining patients in asylums with twenty-first-century techniques of music therapy. In Fez, Morocco, an asylum for the mentally ill was built early in the eighth century, and asylums for the insane were built in Baghdad (705), Cairo (800), and Damascus and Aleppo (1270). In addition to baths and drugs, the mentally ill received kind and benevolent treatment, and were exposed to highly developed music-based therapy and occupational therapy. Special choirs and live bands were brought daily to present singing, musical, and comical performances to patients.

Malik al-Mansur Sayf al-Din Qalawun built the al-Mansuri hospital in Cairo (1284). Its most outstanding characteristic was that, just like today’s advanced hospitals, provisions were made to entertain patients with light music. Professional storytellers were appointed to narrate stories and jokes (radio, TV, and computers perform these functions today). People who called the faithful to prayer would sing religious songs in their melodious voices before the morning call to prayer; so that afflicted patients might forget their suffering. This hospital still renders such services today.

Medical benefits

Music therapy has been lost for more than 1,000 years in the Muslim world and in the West. In the last three decades or so, the West has shown tremendous interest in using music therapy to treat several diseases and ailments. No one knows exactly how music heals, but it looks like our brains are wired to respond to it.

Dr. Clive Robbins, a co-founder of the Nordoff-Robbins Center for Music Therapy at New York University in New York City, says: “There is something intrinsically musical about the brain’s neurological structure and the muscular function of the human organism. At a nonverbal level, music activates our minds, integrates our attention, and seems to help regulate some body functions.”(2) He has treated a child afflicted with cerebral palsy with music therapy in order to teach the child how to balance his body, coordinate his limbs’ movement, and communicate. It has made him motivated and intent.

The right song seems to work in more than one way-distracting us from pain, boosting one’s mood, reviving old memories, and even prompting the body to match its rhythms. Music has long been appreciated for its calming effects, but new research shows it also may have the power to restore and keep us healthy. Soothing sounds, from Tibetan chants to Beethoven symphonies, are being given scientific credit for preventing colds, easing labor pains, and even boosting anti-aging hormones. One study found that surgery patients who listened to comforting music recovered more quickly and felt less pain than those who did not. The International Journal of Arts Medicine reports that infants in intensive care units go home three days earlier, eat better, and gain more weight if the staff talks and sings to them.

Clinical studies and anecdotal evidence from music therapists suggest that the sound of music is soothing and comfortable. For example, music is credited with lowering cortisol, a stress hormone, as much as 25 percent; boosting endorphins, the body’s natural opiates or feel-good drugs; reducing pain after surgery and reducing the need for sedatives and pain relievers; making patients recover from surgery faster and with less pain; possibly preventing colds; raising blood levels of Immunoglobin A (immune system fighter) to a whopping 14.1 percent; and easing labor without drugs. It also seems to help premature infants in intensive care; stimulate the brain’s neural connections and promote children’s spatial ability and memory; lower blood pressure as much as 5 points, reduce heart rate, improve cardiac output, and relax muscle tension; and manage non-pharmacological pain and discomfort.

But these are not all of its benefits, for research shows that music also improves the mood and mobility of people with Parkinson’s, decreases nausea during chemotherapy, helps patients participate in medical treatment, decreases length of hospital stay, relieves anxiety and reduces stress, eases depression, enhances concentration and creativity, brings positive changes in mood and emotional states, increases awareness of self and environment, gives a sense of control over life through successful experiences, provides an outlet for expressing feelings, improves memory recall and thereby contributes to reminiscence and satisfaction with life. In addition, music therapy may allow for emotional intimacy with families and caregivers, relaxation for the entire family, and meaningful time spent together in a positive, creative way.

Exciting new research suggests that our brains respond to music almost as if it were medicine. Music may regulate some body functions, synchronize motor skills, stimulate mind and even make us smarter. According to Suzanne Hanser, D. Ed., a lecturer at Harvard Medical School’s Department of Social Medicine: “There is no set prescription or a particular piece of music that will make everyone feel better or more relax. What counts is musical taste, kinds of memories, feelings and associations a piece of music brings to mind. Some people relax to classical music, others like the Moody Blues. The key is to individualize your musical selections.”(3)

Depression

Research conducted at the Stanford University School of Medicine provides some interesting results. For one group of 20 people aged between 61 and 86, moods rose and depression fell when they listened to familiar music they selected, on their own or with the help of a music therapist, while practicing various stress-reduction techniques. A control group who missed out on the music and the exercises saw no improvement during the 8-week study period. It helps to perform gentle exercises, depending on one’s fitness level, while the music plays. Movements should be light and flowing. Breathe to the music, and gently come to rest when the music ends.

Insomnia

A study from the University of Louisville School of Nursing Research indicates that 24 out of 25 people with sleeping problems nod off more quickly, sleep longer, or get back to sleep more easily after listening to classical and New Age music. The music must be quiet and melodic, have a slow beat and few, if any, rhythmic accents. To be effective, one should skip the after-dinner coffee or tea and avoid telephone calls and TV after 9 p.m. Softer and quieter music should be played as bedtime approaches. Listen to the music in bed with a tape recorder or a CD player equipped with a silent on/off switch. One should lie quietly and take even, deep breaths.

Stress

Many studies have found that soothing melodies can ease anxiety and quiet both blood pressure and heart rate even under very stressful conditions. Everyday stress also responds to music. Select music that grabs your attention and, at the same time, relax your body so that all of your worries slip away. Slow music, like a love song sung by an accomplished singer or a calm instrumental piece may be perfect. If a slow tune gives your mind time to fret or obsess, switch to something livelier. Sit or lie down in a comfortable position and where you will not be disturbed. After a few minutes, perform a relaxation exercise.

Pain

One Yale University School of Medicine study found that people who listened to their favorite music while awake during a surgical procedure needed smaller amounts of sedatives and pain medication than those who did not. Music therapists and researchers say that physical discomfort from post-operative pain to chronic aches can be eased with flowing melodies and distracting rhythms. Dr. Alicia A. Clair, a board-certified music therapist and professor and director of music therapy at the University of Kansas in Lawrence, says that music can bring transitory relief from short-term and long-term pain and discomfort, such as arthritis and osteoporosis. Gentle and soothing stress-reducing music, which can relax and distract the mind, is helpful. Martha Burke, a board-certified music therapist in Durham, North Carolina, says: “Gently flowing music or music with a slow, steady pulse can help promote relaxation, which can then alter a patient’s perception of pain. Soothing music can lower the heart rate and breathing rate, leading to further relaxation, and reduces tension that comes with the pain. We know music is so incredibly complex–it has tempo, rhythm, melody, and harmony. And so it stimulates the brain in many ways at once.”(4)

Brain damage

Samuel Wong, a Harvard-trained physician based in New York City, plays musical instruments to help patients with brain damage (from strokes) and Alzheimer’s reconnect to the world. He is also music director of the Hong Kong Philharmonic and the Honolulu Symphony. “When brain damage (from stroke, Alzheimer’s, etc.) leaves a devastated mental landscape, music ‘builds a bridge’ that allows patients to reconnect with the outside world. The study of medicine has informed my performance of music, and my learning of music has deepened my role in healing,”(5) he says. In 1996, researchers at Colorado State University tried giving 10 stroke victims 30 minutes of rhythmic stimulation each day for three weeks. Compared with untreated patients, they showed significant improvements in their ability to walk steadily. People with Parkinson’s enjoyed similar benefits. Stroke victims and patients with Parkinson’s walked more steadily and with better balance and speed if they practiced while hearing a balanced metrical beat or a piece of music with a powerful, even beat. A musical beat from any genre seemed to provide a rhythmic cue, which has a powerful, organizing effect on the brain’s motor skills—it helps harmonize movement almost at once, according to researchers. Scottish researchers have found that a daily dose of music significantly brightens the moods of institutionalized stroke victims. When daily music therapy was administered for 12 weeks, the patients were less depressed and anxious, and more stable and sociable than other patients in the same building. Music therapy also has proved useful in managing Alzheimer’s and other neurological diseases.

Sounds of healing

Mitchell L. Gaynor, MD, director of medical oncology and integrative medicine at New York’s Strang Cancer Prevention Center (affiliated with the Cornell Medical Center), says: “More doctors are seeing a connection between harmonious sound and health. If we are around very harmonious people and harmonious vibrations and harmonious sounds, we begin to feel better. I have never found anything more powerful than sound and voice and music to begin to heal and transform every aspect of people’s lives. It can really change people’s lives.”(6) “We know that music is capable of enhancing the body’s immune function, lowering heart rate, lowering stress-related hormones like cortisol that raise our blood pressure and depress our immune systems. It also trims complications after heart attack, calms anxiety, slows breathing and increases production of endorphins, the body’s natural painkillers. Eighty percent of the stimuli that reach our brains come through our ears.” (7) “Even before birth, music makes a difference. Hearing is the first sense to develop, when the fetus is only 18 weeks old (Qur’an 32:9). We know that the unborn child hears for literally half the pregnancy and is affected profoundly by what it hears. Studies show that music by Mozart and Vivaldi actually can bring down fetal heart rate, calm brain waves, and reduce the baby’s kicking. Rock music, on the other hand, appeared to drive fetuses to distraction, greatly increasing kicking.”(8) “Our bodies are 70 percent water, and thus excellent conductors for sound and vibration. We do not hear just with our ears, but literally feel vibration’s sound with every cell in our body. Disharmony and noise, whether from traffic, the boss yelling at us about a deadline, or a jackhammer on the street can make us stressed, depressed, and pessimistic–all of which depress our immune systems. That is why disharmony can eventually lead to disease.”(9) “Our own voices are very underutilized healing tools. Singing is a great way to tap music’s healing power. If you are self-conscious, try chanting. Anyone can do it, and you can’t do it wrong. We are just seeing the tip of the iceberg as far as the incredible power of sound to affect every cell and every organ system in our bodies.”(10) The Qur’an says: He fashioned him in due proportion and breathed into him something of His spirit. And He gave you (the faculties of) hearing and sight and feeling (and understanding). Little thanks do you give! (32:9, 16:78, 67:23). Dr. Keith Moore, professor and chairman of the Department of Anatomy at the University of Toronto’s School of Medicine, writes in his most popular textbook on human embryology that the human embryo first gets the ears (hearing), then the eyes (sight), and next the brain (feeling and understanding or mental faculties) in that order, as mentioned in the above Qur’anic verses. On the other hand, very loud music with sounds louder than 90 decibels cause stress and ear damage. Pierce J. Howard, Ph.D., director of the Center for Applied Cognitive Studies in Charlotte, NC, says: “Very loud music creates an altered state of consciousness akin to an alcoholic or drug-induced stupor that can become addictive.”(11)

The Mozart effect

Don Campbell, a composer, music researcher and teacher, healer and the author of The Mozart Effect, learned that he had a potentially fatal blood clot in an artery just below his brain. He shrunk the blood clot from more than 1.5-inch length to one-eighth of an inch by humming quietly for three to four minutes at a time, up to seven times a day. He did this for three weeks before he went back for a second brain scan. In The Mozart Effect, he writes: “You know music can affect your mood: it can make you feel happy, enchanted, inspired, wistful, excited, empowered, comforted, and heroic. Particular sounds, tones and rhythms can strengthen the mind, unlock the creative spirit, and miraculously, even heal the body. Exposure to sound, music, and other forms of vibration, beginning in-utero, can have a life long effect on health, learning and behavior.”(12) In conclusion, one should listen to a piece of music that one finds inspirational and uplifting. Dr. Ahmed al-Kadi of Florida’s Akbar Clinic conducted research on the healing power of listening to Qur’anic recitations. There is an urgent need for conducting more research on music therapy by Muslim physicians in the West and in the Muslim world.

Footnotes

1. Cayce, Edgar, “Readings on Music: Healing.” 1944. A free handout distributed by ARE (Association for Research and Enlightenment, 215, 67th St., Virginia Beach, VA 23451)
2. Nordoff, Paul and Clive Robbins, Therapy in Music for Handicapped Children, London, Gollancz, 1992
3. Cromie, William J., “Treating ills with music, from Anxiety to Alzheimer’s from Pain to Parkinson’s.” Harvard University Gazette, 22 August 2002
4. Burke, M. & Thomas, K., “Use of Physioacoustic Therapy to Reduce Pain During Physical Therapy for Total Knee Replacement Patients Over Age 55,” in Music Vibration and Health, Wigram, T. & Dileo, Ch. (Ed.), Jeffrey Books, Cherry Hill, NJ, USA, 1997
5. Noonan, Peggy. “Take two tunes and call me in the morning” USA Weekend Magazine-Health. Dec. 19, 1999
6. Gaynor, M. L., Sounds of Healing: A Physician Reveals the Therapeutic Power of Sound, Voice, and Music. Broadway Books, 1999
7. Gaynor, quoted by Peggy Noonan, Ibid 8 Gaynor, quoted by Peggy Noonan, Ibid
8. Gaynor, Ibid
9. Gaynor, Ibid
10. Howard, P. J. The Owner’s Manual for the Brain: Everyday Applications from Mind-Brain Research. Bard Press, 1999
11. Campbell, D., The Mozart Effect: Tapping the Power of Music to Heal the Body, Strengthen the Mind, and Unlock the Creative Spirit. New York: Avon Books, 1997

References

• Alvin, J., Music Therapy. Basic Books, Inc. Publishers, New York. 1975.
• Campbell, D., The Mozart Effect: Tapping the Power of Music to Heal the Body, Strengthen the Mind, and Unlock the Creative Spirit. New York: Avon Books, 1997.
• Coleman, J. M. et al. “The Effects of the Male and Female Singing and Speaking Voices on Selected Physiological and Behavioral Measures on Premature Infants in the Intensive Care Unit.” Int. J. Arts Med. 5, no. 2 (1997): 4-11.
• Gaynor, M. L., Sounds of Healing: A Physician Reveals the Therapeutic Power of Sound, Voice, and Music. Broadway Books: 1999.
• Gerber, S., “The Sound of Healing. Every Culture in the World Has Used Sound and Music To Heal. Finally We Are Catching Up.” Vegetarian Times, 247 (March 1998): 68-74. Harrar, S., “Got Pain? Got the Blues? Try the MUSIC CURE.” Prevention 51, no. 18 (1995): 100.
• Howard, P. J. The Owner’s Manual for the Brain: Everyday Applications from Mind-Brain Research. Bard Press: 1999,
• Moore, K. L. and Persaud, T. V. N. The Developing Human: Clinically Oriented Embryology. Philadelphia: Saunders W. B. Co., 1998.
• Syed, I. B. “Medicine and Medical Education.” In Islamic Perspectives in Medicine, edited by S. Athar. Indianapolis: American Trust Publications, 1993, 45-56.