Muslim psychologists and psychiatrists recently published an eye-opening book titled Applying Islamic Principles to Clinical Mental Health Care. I had learned about Dr. Rania Awaad and her work in mental health at a talk hosted by Salaam Islamic Center. She is a Clinical Associate Professor of Psychiatry at the Stanford University School of Medicine and the Director of the Muslim Mental Health Lab. Discussing how traditional Islamic texts meet with the modern disciplines of psychology and psychiatry, Dr. Awaad uses the “biopsychosocial” approach; she claims that psychology, mental health, spirituality, and religion cannot be separated. As someone who shares the same understanding, I was deeply impressed with her and her team’s clinical treatment methods and their new book. It is a book about introducing Traditional Islamically Integrated Psychotherapy (TIIP), which is the culminating result of the Khalil Center’s research.

I attach importance to this book because I truly believe in the power of holistic approaches to healing. I am also involved in the Association for Psychological and Spiritual Sciences (APSS), which is similar to the Khalil Center because it also encourages psychologists, psychiatrists, students of medicine, theologians, and researchers of human sciences to discuss and conduct studies to solve many problems of individuals and societies. Additionally, the APSS mirrors the Khalil Center due to its similar work of analyzing conceptual religious and spiritual sources of oriental history with an emphasis on Sufism. Thus, predominantly Islamic sources are discussed to develop universally applicable theories, concepts, and therapeutic strategies.

Two halves of a coin

The recently published book, Applying Islamic Principles to Clinical Mental Health Care, is built upon three profound principles. First, researchers combed through traditional and foundational Islamic texts, such as the holy Qur’an, sayings of the Prophet Muhammad (hadith), actions of the Prophet (sunnah), and other general Islamic guidelines for spiritual and material well-being. Then, this well-established and prosperous literature review was evaluated, and then combined, with modern psychology. Last but not least, practical methods were then synthesized by using traditional Islamic literature in the psychology field and current modern psychotherapy techniques.

The book delivers a detailed and lucid account of the differences between the approaches utilized by modern psychiatry and the TIIP. Contemporary psychiatry is largely based upon “The Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental disorders” (DSM) and “The International Classification of Disorders,” (ICD) which are used for diagnosing mental disorders. The TIIP utilizes these texts and the vast amount of clinical research that they possess, but on the other hand it also takes the Qur’an, hadith, sunnah, and other Islamic spiritual traditions into consideration. The critical difference in between the two is that the TIIP advocates for a more holistic approach to mental health that includes a person’s spiritual well-being, while modern psychiatry does not consider a person’s spiritual pathological character in order for them to require clinical treatment. 

The TIIP’s perspective is that the concept of health and pathology cannot be adequately addressed with current clinical diagnoses. According to Islam, proper psycho-spiritual health is heavily associated with each person achieving a strong understanding of their own unique ethereal purpose, and the proper treatments for gaining and maintaining psycho-spiritual health can be achieved through training. For instance, a person that suffers from an abundance of arrogance, which negatively affects various aspects of their life, does not require modern psychiatric clinical treatment. Since arrogance is mentioned as a spiritual disease in Islamic sources, a TIIP practitioner addresses this condition with a psycho-spiritual integrative approach.

The APSS explains this concept in more detail by arguing that the human being is a vast, profound, and complicated creation that longs for a sense of eternity, permanence, understanding behind creation and life, and connection to one’s Creator. Spiritual health is seen to be equally important as one’s physical and mental health since neglecting one’s spiritual health can have adverse consequences upon many facets of a person’s life. Thus, eternal satisfaction may be gained via spiritual contentment. 

Furthermore, these techniques are not exclusive only to Muslims despite their backing in Islamic theology; they could be applied to non-religious and religious individuals alike, regardless of their belief system, since Islam aims to take a holistic look at life in a way that everyone can relate to in some form.

Our “inner senses” cannot be ignored

Humans have external senses and internal senses. External senses include sight, hearing, smell, taste, and touch, and we communicate with the external world via these senses. On the other hand, internal senses are spiritual senses and are used to communicate with the inner world. They include metaphysical concepts such as the spiritual heart (qalb), soul (ruh), and different modes of cognition (sır), (hafi), and (ahfa), and much more. They are the separate depth of the heart. Humans have a wide range of uses for internal dynamics and mechanisms, and our internal and external senses should work together like two wings on a bird. Just like how we take vitamins to strengthen our physical body, we strengthen our spiritual “body” by honing our inner senses.

All of the chapters of the book are very intriguing, and it has a compelling and inspiring effect on readers to understand and apply TIIP practices. For instance, the whole chapter about “Intellect” and its methodization in Islamic Psychotherapy is remarkable. One of the most impressive indications is that the word “intellect,” which is mentioned about 50 times in the Qur’an and across various hadiths, is referred to the link between intellect and well-being. Thus, the importance of the mind is explained through a different lens. Cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT) looks at our thoughts, feelings, and the roles that they have when it comes to how they affect our behavior. There is a direct correlation in between our thoughts, emotional health, mental wellbeing, and then our actions. The book refers to the writings of Islamic philosopher, jurist, and mystic Abu Hamid al-Ghazali and his modality in Islamic literature. Al-Ghazali offered to implement interventions among stages by addressing faulty thoughts, negative feelings, and actions. For instance, the Islamic ablution, which is often performed once before each of the five daily prayers, is given as an example during two of the stages. Those interventions would help change the focus on faulty thought and shift the state of emotion.

While the TIIP discusses the intellect it also includes three stages of “self” (nafs); the evil commanding lower self and the animalistic impulses (nafs ammarah), self-criticizing blaming stages (nafs lawwamah), and tranquil stage (nafs mutma’innah). These stages are interpreted as the spiritual elevation of the human spirit. A TIIP practitioner aims to achieve a tranquil stage for the client. TIIP gradually works with cognitive science by identifying and challenging a person’s faulty thought and then reconstructing situations, thoughts, and feelings. 

The seven stages of thought progression

In addition to the book’s description of intellect, the APSS mentions seven stages of the mind’s metacognitive dimensions and functioning system that are important information processing steps.

The first one is “imagination” (tahayyul); in this stage, false thoughts occur. The mind starts overreacting by imagining false thoughts, such as worrying about getting sick due to Covid-19 even if a person is self-quarantined and has almost no chance of getting it. In this phase, negative thoughts and apprehension happen. Then, the “envisage” (tasawwur) stage comes. Thoughts are conceptualized and shaped in this stage. An individual could start believing, or perhaps even convince themselves, that they have contracted the virus if they are constantly being exposed to negative news surrounding it. When both the imagination and envisage phases activate then thoughts start to attack an individual’s inner world. Toxic thoughts can begin entering the brain and can wreak havoc on a person in the form of abnormal behavior, anxiety, stress, and obsessive thoughts.

The fourth stage is “comprehending” (ta’aqqul), which also assess our thoughts with the goal of more clearly understanding them. Then, the “approval” (tasdiq) stage comes, and in this stage individuals understand and confirm positive thoughts in their heart. The next stage is foresight (iz’an) which starts where individuals begin to understand themselves very well and act according to their understanding. Next is favoring (iltizam). The last stage is faith (i’tikad), which involves having sincere belief, firmness, and not hesitating to act upon what a person believes to be right. The first two stages, imagination and envisage, compose the thought process and the outcomes of this process. To change faulty thoughts, individuals need to consciously intervene upon the first and second steps by “getting rid of habits.” Directly attacking the source of these negative thoughts allows a person to begin to change their faulty thinking processes. One should start with staying abstinent from being exposed to too much unhelpful information. Habits always need to be replaced in order to fill the void that is consequently made, and it is therefore recommended to engage in otherwise beneficial activities, such as reading the holy book, praying, spending time outside, engaging with people that bring joy and positive emotions, or pursuing a subject or hobby of interest.

Applying Islamic Principles to Clinical Mental Health Care: Introducing TIIP qualifies as a bedside book that every professional working with the Muslim population should read. The book structurally clarifies and demonstrates how Traditional Islamically Integrated Psychotherapy is utilized in therapy by discussing an overview of modern psychology and the traditional Islamic bibliography. Case examples are spectacularly and elaborately explained. After reading the whole concept and its case studies, readers will find answers to their questions. Whether the readers are an emotionally focused therapist, a cognitive-behavioral therapist, a behavioral therapist, or a spiritual therapy practitioner, they will benefit from this book. The book covers all four approaches under the “Treatment of the Domains of the Human Psyche” part. Therapeutic interventions can be practically implemented.

Experiments have proved lack of sleep as a cause of death. Lab mice that are deprived of sleep for three to four consecutive days eventually die. Lack of sleep for a long period of time, especially when combined with excessive fatigue, poses a serious threat to our health.

There are intensive research efforts to understand the mysterious workings of the biological mechanisms underlying sleep. Human beings spend almost a third of their lives in sleep. Yet, the basic sleep mechanism and its functions are still not completely known. Each of many theories proposed for understanding the secrets of sleep provide different evidence, but no guaranteed results have been attained so far. Initially, sleep was considered a rest period. However, although brain activity lowers during sleep, the brain continues actively working. It can be said that the brain rests itself by working during sleep.

Scientists classify a person’s state of consciousness as one of three stages:

1. Wakefulness
2. REM sleep
3. Deep sleep

According to this classification, sleep is divided into deep sleep and REM (Rapid Eye Movement) sleep. During a night’s sleep, there is a loop of REM sleep and deep sleep. Approximately 90 minutes of deep sleep is followed by REM sleep, which lasts between 5 and 30 minutes. Approximately 75% of the total sleep span is deep sleep; 25% is REM sleep. REM sleep happens while slipping into sleep from wakefulness. Just before waking from sleep, a short-term REM is observed.

During the first hours of sleep, REM spans are shorter, and they grow longer during the last hours of sleep. If a person is extremely tired, they experience extremely short REM sleep spans within the first hour of their sleep. They may even slip into deep sleep without REM. Right after mid-sleep, REM sleep periods last longer. If a person is deprived of all or partial sleep – such as the deep sleep or REM – they will need to sleep longer at the next opportunity. If they are deprived of REM sleep or deep sleep for longer periods, they will have longer deep sleep.

REM Sleep

REM (Rapid Eye Movement) is given this name due to the intensive and fast eye movements during this sleep stage. During REM, not only the eyes but also hands, arms, legs, and fingers move. An onlooker may think the sleeper is fully awake. However, scientists are unable to fully explain the reason why it is difficult waking a person in REM, although they are active as if they are awake – this is a paradox. In fact, a person in deep sleep may be awakened easier, by either sound or touch. If it is difficult to wake a person during the REM stages in their sleep, it may also be considered as a paradox for that person to wake from REM sleep.

During REM sleep, contrary to rapid eye movements and gestures, a person’s muscles are extremely relaxed and soft, to the extent of a wrist drop. This is called REM paralysis.

The reasons, mechanisms, and even benefits of REM sleep are not known for certain. The newest theory in sleep research claims the relationship between REM sleep and acetylcholine secretion. Acetylcholine is a brain hormone that triggers movement. Yet, acetylcholine typically causes wakefulness. This, too, appears as another paradox.

Dreams seen during the REM stage are remembered more clearly. The limbic system, including the hippocampus and amygdala, is active during REM sleep, thus it is assumed that it is easier to commit dreams to memory during this stage. The hippocampus is tasked with committing (reinforcing) information.

During REM sleep, a person’s heartbeat and breathing are more frequent and irregular. This also relates to what a person sees in their dream. During this stage, the basal metabolism rate is higher or equal to that of wakefulness. Electroencephalography (EEG) readings register beta waves, which normally show during wakefulness. Alpha waves show during times of calm, when the brain rests during wakefulness, such as at times when one closes their eyes and dispels thoughts. However, when the brain is actively dealing with an issue or when a person experiences an upset, beta waves appear. Beta waves also show during REM stage. This shows that the brain is active during REM stage.

Deep sleep

This stage of sleep is also called low wave sleep or delta sleep. During this stage, movements are at minimum, and the muscle tone is harder. Heartbeat, breathing, basic metabolic rate, and blood pressure are low. Internal organs like the stomach, intestines, urinary tract, and even the liver minimize their activities and slip into an actual rest.

During this stage, dreams and even nightmares may also be seen. However, one cannot remember a majority of dreams when they wake up. It is assumed that the traffic between the cortex and the lower structures of the brain are disengaged during the deep sleep stage. People wake up from nightmares, only to usually remember the last part.

EEG readings during deep sleep stage show delta waves. The presence of delta waves hints at the disengaged traffic between the cortex and the lower nervous system components (thalamus, hypothalamus, brain stem, hippocampus). This condition also shows that the person is in deep rest, free from pain and other bodily stimuli.

Secreted at night, melatonin is a hormone that protects against cancer and slows down the aging process. Melatonin also plays a role in lowering bad cholesterol (LDL) and balancing body heat and blood pressure. Melatonin secretion starts around 10:00 p.m. and reaches its maximum around 5:00 a.m. That’s why, the most ideal sleep is after 10:00 p.m. when melatonin secretion starts. Bedside lamps are not suggested as they hinder the secretion of this night-bound hormone. People should also avoid conditions such as stress, smoking, extreme lighting, lack of adequate daylight, and working at lengthy periods, which lower melatonin level.

The oral cavity is one of the many systems that is perfectly designed while a fetus develops in a mother’s womb

The first event that takes place inside the mother’s womb is the union of sperm and egg to form into a single cell which later takes the shape of an embryo by rapid division and development. This embryological development occurs in three stages.

In the first of these stages (2-5 weeks), the fertilized egg (zygote) proliferates by dividing and planting itself to the womb wall (implantation). During the advance of the zygote towards the womb, some biochemical signals are sent in order to make the mother sense this situation. Via these signals, the mother’s body is prepared to supply the necessary nutrients to this cellular mass. When these biochemical signals reach the ovaries, various hormones are secreted and the ovulation that occurs during monthly periods is ceased.

During the second stage (5-6 weeks), major activities are started inside the cellular mass, which is now in the form of an embryo. The developmental process of organ and system generation from cells begins.

And during the third stage (from the 8^th week until birth), the embryo has become a fetus, and its facial and bodily structures have begun to be immaculately shaped (Figure-1).

How do organs develop?

Tissues and organs of the embryo, which morphologically starts to look like a human, develop from three layers, which are called the ectoderm, mesoderm, and endoderm. While the baby continues to come to life inside the mother’s womb, the cranial and facial regions, along with oral cavity, start to form via the development of cells in the area called the neural crest. This development is the result of perfectly corresponding functions in between the epithelium and outer mesenchyme, which results in the facial skeleton and formation of teeth.

Jaw and facial development occur during the 4-12 weeks in the womb. By the end of the 10^th week, the face can be seen with an ultrasonographic examination.

The nose forms at this point. Mid and lateral nose projections develop. A forehead projection called the “frontonasal protrusion” forms in between the two sided mid nose projections. These projections initially develop towards the lower direction because of the volume of the tongue. Later, after the palate has begun to form, and with the growth of the lower jaw and the downward extension of the tongue, like an open-close bridge, the lower and upper jaw join at the midline by rising upward. This union takes place from front to back, like closing a zipper, stage by stage.

This way, the oral cavity and the surrounding structures (tongue, teeth, etc.) that will enable speech and taste are knit, loop by loop, inside the mother’s womb. (Figure 1-2)

Due to the complexity of this process, if there happens to be any failure in the merging, some anomalies can form, such as split lips or palates. These splits are anomalies present at birth. Such lip or palate splits may arise during this phase of the pregnancy because of various negative factors: they can stem from inter-family marriages, diseases that the mother experiences during the first three months of the pregnancy (especially measles or toxoplasmosis), exposure to radiation, alcohol consumption during pregnancy, or various drugs the mother uses. These anomalies need to be corrected by plastic surgeons, upper respiratory tract specialists, and orthodontists.

Despite these anomalies, most of the time, babies are born with their oral cavities in perfect working order – which is extraordinary given the complexity of the process.

Reference

Oral R. J, Goldman H.M. Thoma’s oral Pathology.The CV Mosby Comp. St. Louis.

Figure-1: Ultrasonographic image of the facial region of a fetus in the mothers womb.

Figure-2: Upper jaw bone

The lead article in this edition describes how a believer is expected to respond in difficult times. Storms are temporal and breezes are eternal in Gulen’s worldview, so thus believers “are neither shaken by the noise and clamor that is being intentionally made around” them, nor do they “panic in the face of the dust that envelopes us.” And for him, believers should trust in God, equip themselves with wisdom, and try to live up to their beliefs, God’s good pleasure, and distinct cultural values.

What would you do if terrorists installed a bomb somewhere in your city and they do not tell you how to defuse it? This is what is called “the ticking time-bomb scenario” and some people believe that under such circumstances torture is legitimate, if as a result the terrorist is forced to speak. Drawing on this scenario, Ayse Meva Nur provides an interesting discussion in this issue and she touches on human rights conventions and what Islam says about torture.

The intense rivalry between the magicians in the movie The Prestige was fatal. For Veli Keskin, the rivalry in the world stage between various power centers is as tragic as that which existed between the magicians; however, the global one has cost millions of lives. Keskin’s analogy has produced an eye-opening essay in which we find both the magicians on the stage in theatre and those on the political scene using similar techniques in shaping the perceptions of their audience.

Imagine you find a gift in your mail box one morning. It is a beautiful shirt perfectly suited to your taste. But who sent you this shirt? How did he or she know what your preferences were? Was the sender a man or a woman? With limited information it is not possible to discover the relationship between the sender and the receiver. But one can easily infer that the sender is someone who loves the receiver and wants to please the receiver. The former perspective, which is positivist, is not sufficient for explaining many things in our lives; but with qualitative inference we can reach some conclusions. Huseyin Coskun gives this and many other examples and explains how “qualitative inference allows one to address the non-physical or metaphysical aspects of the physical phenomena by freeing all of our cognitive faculties.”

The availability of embryonic stem (ES) cells isolated from human blastocysts may open novel avenues for medical treatment of otherwise incurable diseases.⁵ ES cells are pluripotent, apparently able to make any cell, except placental cells, and are also immortal.⁶ However, the generation of human ES cells requires the destruction of early human embryos. This raises the same ethical questions and conflicts that are often heard when the ethics of abortion are discussed: Most people in the pro-life movement regard an embryo to be a full human person with a soul. It has all of the rights of any citizen-including the right to life. Thus any procedure that injures or kills an embryo is seen as murder. However, most people in the pro-choice movement regard the beginning of human personhood to occur much later in pregnancy. Thus, killing a recently fertilized embryo is not seen as the murder of a human person.⁷ What is the status of the embryo when it is several days old? Is the embryo alive? Yes, from its beginning the embryo is cellular and it is alive; no one questions this. But, is the embryo human? If we could catch the embryo before it reaches a stage where it is judged as human, we would be able to take the ES cells without any concern. In an earlier paper⁸ it was argued that human life begins when the newly formed body systems begin to function as a whole, towards the end of the embryonic stage. Seeing that twinning can occur as late as day 14 after conception and that such identical twinning will produce two individuals with different lives, this could be proposed as a pre-embryonic stage, i.e. the stage where the single individual person has not yet been determined. In this respect, The Ethics Committee of the American Fertility Society defines an embryo as distinct from a pre-embryo, based on medical science and legal precedents. According to that report and the Warnock Report, which lay behind the 1990 Human Fertilization and Embryology Act, the pre-embryo stage is considered to last until 14 days after fertilization,⁴ and the pre-embryo is to be respected, but not accorded absolute protection. Today, on the basis of these reports and subsequent legislation, embryo research is allowed up to 14 days of development, up until the formation of the so-called primitive streak, or the beginning of the nervous system, after which the splitting and the forming of twins is no longer possible.

The Christian tradition on this subject is interesting, but can be read in two ways. In that tradition, abortion at any stage has always been regarded as gravely sinful. However, for many centuries the termination of a pregnancy at an early stage carried lesser penalties than a later one. This was related to the view that the human soul did not enter the embryo until 40 days or so after conception, an understanding that was taken over from Aristotle.⁹ Thus, most Christians make a distinction between the moral status of the unformed and the formed embryo, and think of the human person in the full sense, coming only with a delayed ensoulment. For other Christians, however, fertilization is the point at which human life begins. 

Human Life (Personhood) May Begin at around the 9th Week of Development

While we were searching for the time of the beginning of a human individual life, we encountered a statement from God about the time of ensoulment (the infusion of a human soul in biological matter) in His last book.¹⁰ God says in His book (the Qur’an) that, We made out of the “embryo” bones, and clothed the bones in “muscles’” (23:14). This statement indicates that in the embryonic stage, first bones and then muscles form. This is in accordance with embryological development. First the bones form as cartilage models at the 7th week, and then the muscles develop around them from the somatic mesoderm at the 8th week of development. Then We developed out of it another creature. This next part of the statement (23:14) implies that the bones and muscles result in the formation of “another creature.” This may refer to beginning of the personhood (ensoulment) after the end of the eighth week. At this stage, the embryo has distinctive human characteristics and possesses the primordia of all the internal and external organs and parts, and after the eighth week, the human embryo is called a fetus. After He gave it (the embryo) the most appropriate shape, He gave it a soul and then He gave you hearing and sight. This statement (32:9) supports the statement mentioned above (23:14) in that after the embryo takes shape, the soul is infused into the fetus. This statement also indicates that the special senses of hearing and seeing develop in this order, i.e. after the ensoulment; this too which is consistent with embryological knowledge. The formation of the internal ears occurs before the beginning of the eyes, at about the 10th and 11th weeks of development, respectively. Moreover, it is very meaningful that God calls the fetus “you” after the beginning of personhood (ensoulment) (32:9), while the embryo before ensoulment is called “it” (23:14; 32:9) indicating the status of the embryo as only a “thing” or a cell cluster. 10

We suggest therefore that the beginning of a human person as an individual living organism is when the embryo develops into fetus at around the 9th week of development (after the 57th day) after the bones and muscles form, but before the development of hearing and sight. Only at this point do we have a multicellular organism and not merely a mass of living cells stuck together. The soul requires that there is an individuated matter present and prior to this period, that there did not previously exist an individual human organism. A sperm or ovum that exists independently of the other only has a potentiality for human personhood. An embryo which is merely biological material that contains human DNA also has only a potentiality for being human personhood, which implies that it is not yet an actual person.¹¹ Two things may both have only a potentiality to be something else, but one of the two may be closer to actualizing that potentiality than the other. Thus, it could be contended that the embryo is closer to being an actual human person than the sperm or ovum is.¹¹ Therefore, we can say that the informational capacity of the zygote and the early embryo is not sufficient to direct the development of anything personal, and is not sufficient to constitute a genetically stable subject as a human being.

Josef Seifert treats the human body and the soul as two incomplete substances (dualism) that are each completed in human beings as a compositum.¹² This position seems to require that the immortal soul only is infused into material committed to being a human individual, and indeed into a fetus with sufficient cortical development to allow cognitive functions. This view is consistent with our suggestion that the soul is added to the already-existing physical body when the newly formed body parts and systems begin to function as a whole. If the soul takes effect when the biological processes have produced a new human life, neither earlier nor later, then it would follow that ensoulment must occur at the end of the embryonic stage when, with the newly-formed brain acting as the central information-exchange point, the commencement of the functioning of the whole produces a new level of life and enables the processes that lead to personhood to begin. This alternative is compatible not only with the facts of modern medicine but also with the traditional understanding of ensoulment as defended by many Roman Catholic moral theologians, which has its roots in Aristotle. These moral theologians argue that the peculiarly human soul is not incarnated until there is an appropriately organized matter.¹³ However, some Christians believe that Jesus was a human being from the moment of conception and therefore that every human being must come into existence at the moment of conception.⁹ But some others believe that the conception of Jesus is an exception. It is believed that the events which occurred during the conception and development of Jesus will be explained by Jesus himself when he returns.

That the embryo cannot be considered an individual human being has implications for debates concerning the morality of the various uses to which embryos can be put; such as morning-after pills, intrauterine devices which are abortifacient by stopping implantation, the disposal of excess embryos formed in the process of invitro fertilization, and embryo research.¹⁴ Both in the religious context and without it, abortion is difficult to justify at any stage after conception.⁸ But where the question of the possible use of surplus laboratory embryos is concerned, the time of ensoulment does matter, and if this does not occur until late in the embryonic stage of development, there seems no reason why the opportunity of using the embryos may not be taken, provided-as also seems to be the ethical conclusion even before the religious aspect is considered⁸-it is for no purpose less than the relief of human suffering which can not be relieved in any other way.¹⁵ If “ensoulment” does not occur, as we have suggested, until the new organism functions as a whole, then a decision not to make use of laboratory embryos for medical purposes would be a grave responsibility.

The Soul May Have an Etheric Body

Science postulates that all matter is composed of atoms; atoms, however, are composed of protons, neutrons, and electrons, and those in turn are composed of still finer components, until we attain ether.¹⁶ This ether is a universal connecting medium, filling all space to the furthest limits, penetrating the interstices of the atoms without a break in its continuity. So completely does it fill space that it is sometimes identified with space itself, and the universe is built up in this fluid and moves through a sea of ether.¹⁶ The atom, the electrons, and the protons of which it is composed all move in a sea of ether, the very air we breathe, the very bodies we inhabit, all things likewise are moving in this sea of ether, the parent element from which all manifestation has been derived. By a kind of instinct, one feels it to be the home of spiritual existence, and to be the vehicle of both matter and spirit.¹⁶ No experimental data can be sufficient to bring us to the recognition of a soul, but there must be a substance that is the basis of personal identity, for without space-occupying substance, there would be no way to account for the soul’s ability to move the body,¹⁷ and the idea of personality or a soul after bodily death would be inconceivable.¹⁸ It seems possible that the substance of the soul could be ether. The modern concept of science is that ether is the primary form of all substance and that all other forms of matter are merely differentiations of ether; it then seems that the substance of the soul which in this life is linked organically with the body is identical with ether. The etheric (astral) body seems to be a supersensible element in humanity that primarily lives and acts in time, but also works into the dynamics of the life processes in the physical body.¹⁶ The soul is likely to work into the physical body of the human directly via only that etheric body.16

The Limbic System Seems to Be Primarily Related to the Soul in the Brain

Humans have always contemplated the question of the anatomical location of the soul. The early concept that the cerebral ventricles harbor the soul began to break down only in the Renaissance.19 During the Renaissance, the controversy crystallized into those individuals who supported the heart (cardiocentric soul) and others who supported the brain (cephalocentric soul) as the abode for this elusive entity.²⁰ The brain seems to be the organ that harbors the soul, since the function of the brain is fundamentally linked to being human. The brain controls almost all the functions of the body and determines its psychological makeup, such as intellect and, in a theological sense, the soul.²¹ Without the brain, such functioning is not possible, since brain death means the end of human life. Children born with anencephaly can never experience a human life. Human identity, personality, and worth are associated with the functioning of the brain.²¹ Considering the role of the brain in the maintenance of the dynamic equilibrium of the organism, there are compelling reasons for defining the brain as the organ which harbors the soul.

The limbic system is intimately concerned with emotional expression and with the genesis of emotions. The term “limbic system” is applied to the part of the brain that consists of a rim of cortical tissue around the hilus of the cerebral hemisphere and a group of associated deep structures-the amygdala, the hippocampus, and the septal nuclei.²² One characteristic of the limbic system is the paucity of the connections between it and the neocortex (the cortical tissue of the remaining nonlimbic portions of the hemisphere). It is stated that “the neocortex sits astride the limbic system like a rider on a horse without reins.”²² In fact, one of the characteristics of emotions is that they cannot be turned on and off at will. Since the limbic system is intimately concerned with the genesis of emotions and is critically involved in neuropsychiatric disorders,²³ we can attribute the role to the limbic system of being a seat from which the soul can work in the physical body.

The Vomeronasal Organ Seems to Be the Point of Entry for the Soul and the Etheric Body

We thought that while the soul has an etheric component (substance), there must be an open window to the brain for the entrance of the soul with the etheric body. In this respect, the vomeronasal organ (VNO), which is found in the nasal cavity and which has connections with the brain only between the 6th and 13th weeks of human development-a period including the suggested time of ensoulment at the 9th week-seems to be the most appropriate window through which the soul and the etheric body can enter the brain. This suggestion is consistent with statements in the Old Testament (Torah) (Genesis-Bereishith 2:7, 7:22), which state that the life (soul) is infused into the human being through the nose. Actually, the VNO is said to be the place in the body where the nervous system is closest to the external world.²² Axons of VNO cells pass through the tiny foramina in the cribriform plates of the ethmoid bone to enter the brain,²⁴ and to make close connections with the amygdala and limbic system,²⁵,²⁷ the seat of emotional, hormonal, and autonomic control; in short, the seat of the soul.

The vomeronasal organ is a fluid-filled, tubular structure located at the base of the nasal septum that opens into the nasal cavity via a duct at its anterior end.²⁸ It is a chemoreceptive structure with direct axonal connections to the accessory olfactory bulbs in many terrestrial vertebrates.²⁹ Pheromones presumably bind to the vomeronasal organ and exert behavioral or physiologic responses, thereby allowing chemical communication between animals of the same species.²⁹,³⁰ The effects of pheromones are thought to be mediated by signals from the main and accessory olfactory bulbs to the amygdala and hypothalamus.²⁸ The vomeronasal system, which is well developed and functional in adult animals, begins to function before or after birth in these animals.³¹ The human VNO however, seems to be different from that of animals in that it becomes rudimental before birth.³² The VNO in the human embryo contains bipolar cells similar to the developing vomeronasal sensory neurons of other species, but the structure becomes more simplified later in development,³³,³⁹ having no obvious way of communication with the brain. The first appearance of the tubular VNO is in the 6th week of human development.⁴⁰,⁴¹ This is when the human VNO resembles that of primates with functional VNOs.⁴² An examination of the VNO and adjacent tissues suggested that the VNO may lose receptor cells and corresponding vomeronasal nerves and become a ciliated, pseudostratified epithelium at approximately the 13th week.⁴²,⁴³ These observations indicate that¹) all embryonic humans develop a functional vomeronasal organ which is homologous with the VNOs of other mammals between the 6th and 13th weeks of age (a period including the time of ensoulment which occurs at around the 9th week of development),²) the human vomeronasal organ does not degenerate prenatally, but very likely loses the functional components of the vomeronasal complex of other mammals; and³) the remnant of the human VNO persists until birth and beyond.³⁶,⁴²,⁴⁴ These observations strongly support our hypothesis in that the VNO seems to have its main function only during the intrauterine period in humans, especially during the period of ensoulment. The VNO becomes rudimental before birth in humans while it begins to function before or after birth in animals. This difference seems to be very significant, since animals do not harbor any soul, unlike humans, and their VNO is important only after birth, when it allows them to communicate chemically with other animals of the same species. Although no anatomical connection has been demonstrated in humans, Monti-Bloch et al. deduce a physiological connection with the brain, because stimulus delivery to the VNO pit elicited several systemic responses⁴⁵,⁴⁷ such as changes in blood pressure and heart rate, small but significant changes in hormonal levels⁴⁷ and some changes in mood.⁴⁸ Functional brain imaging studies also revealed consistent activation of the hypothalamus, amygdala, and cingulate gyrus-related structures during adult human VNO stimulation.⁴⁵ These findings also support our view in that the VNO is strongly related with the emotional centers that harbor the soul, even in the absence of anatomical connections.

Conclusion

The above considerations make it seem likely that human life (personhood) may begin at around the 9th week of development with a delayed ensoulment, and that the soul has an etheric component. The limbic system seems to be a primary center for the soul, while the soul may enter the brain with an etheric body, possibly through the window of vomeronasal organ, which is functional and has connections with the brain only during the suggested time of ensoulment. Therefore lawmakers, philosophers, scientists and any-one in a related field may consider the beginning of human life in their decisions and procedures as being from the 9th week (after the 57th day) of human development. Before this period, the embryo must be regarded as a cell cluster which is to be respected, but not accorded absolute protection. Our second conclusion is that embryonic stem cells have an enormous promise to benefit mankind-to save lives and cure or treat diseases which generate a very strong moral imperative to explore their potential. Almost all spare embryos in fertility clinics will eventually die, due to operator error or equipment malfunction. Spare embryos are routinely destroyed, by flushing them down a drain, by incinerating them, or by thawing them out and allowing them to die. They might as well have their stem cells extracted so that they can be of some use to humanity. If the above thesis is true, then there is no loss of human persons. What is destroyed in this process is human biological material that has not been infused with a soul. We can therefore explore the potential use of embryos and help people who are now burdened by debilitating diseases. So let us enter into the processes of nature and apply the knowledge so derived to help others, to alleviate pain, and to enhance human well-being.

Footnotes 

1. Aksoy, S., “Personhood: A matter of moral decisions.” Eubios J Asian Int Bioethics, 1997, 7:3-4.
2. Kurjak, A., “The beginning of human life and its modern scientific assessment.” Clin Perinatol, 2003, 30:27-44.
3. Mason, J.K., McCall Smith, R.A., Law and Medical Ethics, London: Butterworths; 1984.
4. Glannon, W., “Tracing the soul: medical decisions at the margins of life.” Christ Bioeth, 2000, 6:49-69.
5. Waite, L., Nindl, G., “Human embryonic stem cell research: an ethical controversy in the US & Germany.” Biomed Sci Instrum, 2003, 9:567-572.
6. Smith, A., Embryonic Stem Cells in Stem Cell Biology, Marshak DR. et al. (Eds.) New York: Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory Press; 2001: 2-19.
7. Heinemann, T., Honnefelder, L., “Principles of ethical decision making regarding embryonic stem cell research in Germany.” Bioethics, 2002, 16:530-543.
8. Shea, M.C., “Embryonic life and human life.” J Med Ethics, 1985,11:205-209.
9. Folscheid, D., “The status of the embryo from a Christian point of view.” Ethics Med, 1994, 10:57-59.
10. Moore, K.L., “A scientist’s interpretation of references to embryology in the Qur’an.” JIMA, 1986, 18:15-16.
11. Eberl, J.T., “The beginning of personhood: a Thomistic biological analysis.” Bioethics, 2000,14:134-157.
12. Seifert, J., Leib und Seele, Salzburg: Universitatsverlag Anton Pustet; 1973.
13. Bedate, C.A., Cefalo, R., C., “The zygote: To be or not to be a person.” J Med Philos, 1989, 14:641-645.
14. Bole, T.J. 3rd , “Metaphysical accounts of the zygote as a person and the veto power of facts.” J Med Philos, 1989, 14:647-653.
15. Shea, M.,C., “Ensoulment and IVF embryos.” J Med Ethics, 1987, 13:95-97.
16. Gonzalez de Posada, F., “Reflections on the ether.” An R Acad Nac Med (Madr) 2001, 118:43-72.
17. Murphy, N., “Whatever happened to the soul? Theological perspectives on neuroscience and the self.” Ann N Y Acad Sci, 2003, 1001:51-64.
18. MacDougall, D., “Hypothesis concerning soul substance, together with experimental evidence of the existence of such substance.” American Medicine April, 1907.
19. Schiller, F., “The cerebral ventricles. From soul to sink.” Arch Neurol, 1997, 54:1158-1162.
20. Del Maestro, R., F., “Leonardo da Vinci: the search for the soul.” J Neurosurg, 1998, 89:874-887.
21. Werning, C., “Is abortion murder?” Med Monatsschr Pharm, 1995, 8:251.
22. Ganong, W.,F., Review of Medical Physiology, Lebanon: Typopress; 1989.
23. Heimer, L., “A new anatomical framework for neuropsyciatric disorders and drug abuse.” Am J Psychiatry, 2003, 160:1726-1739.
24. Moore, K., L., Clinically Oriented Anatomy, 2nd Ed. Baltimore: Williams and Wilkins; 1985.
25. Gottfried, J., A., Deichmann, R., Winston, J.S., Dolan, R.J., “Functional heterogeneity in human olfactory cortex: an event-related functional magnetic resonance imaging study.” J Neurosci, 2002, 22:10819-10828.
26. Halpern, M., “The organization and function of the vomeronasal system.” Annu Rev Neurosci 1987, 10:325-362.
27. Meredith, M., “Sensory processing in the main and accessory olfactory system: Comparisons and contrasts.” J Steroid Biochem Mol Biol, 1991, 39:601-614.
28. Kandel, E.R., Schwartz, J.H., Jessel, T.M., (Eds) Principles of Neural Science, 4th ed. New York: McGraw-Hill; 2000.
29. Zbar, R.I., Zbar, L.I., Dudley, C., Trott, S.A., Rohrich, R.J., Moss, R.L., “A classification schema for the vomeronasal organ in humans.” Plast Reconstr Surg, 2000, 105:1284-1288.
30. Meredith, M., “Human vomeronasal organ function: A critical review of best and worst cases.” Chem Senses, 2001, 26:433-445.
31. Salazar, I., Lombardero, M., Aleman, N., Sanchez Quinteiro, P., “Development of the vomeronasal receptor epithelium and the accessory olfactory bulb in sheep.” Microsc Res Tech, 2003, 61:438-447.
32. Knecht, M., Witt, M., Abolmaali, N., Huttenbrink, K.B., Hummel, T., “The human vomeronasal organ.” Nervenarzt, 2003, 74:858-862.
33. Boehm, N., Gasser, B., “Sensory receptor-like cells in the human fetal vomeronasal organ.” Neuroreport, 1993, 4:867–870.
34. Takami, S., “Recent progress in the neurobiology of the vomeronasal organ.” Microsc Res Tech, 2002,58:228-250.
35. Trotier, D., Eloit, C., Wassef, M., Talmain, G., Bensimon, J.,L., Doving, K.B., Ferrand, J., “The vomeronasal cavity in adult humans.” Chem Senses, 2000, 25:369-380.
36. Moran, D.T., Jafek, B.W., Rowley, J.C., “The vomeronasal (Jacobson’s) organ in man: ultrastructure and frequency of occurrence.” J Steroid Biochem Mol Biol, 1991, 39:545-552.
37. Stensaas, L.J., Lavker, R.M., Monti-Bloch, L., Grosser, B.I., Berliner, D.L., “Ultrastructure of the human vomeronasal organ.” J Steroid Biochem Mol Biol, 1991, 39:553-560.
38. Meisami, E., Bhatnagar, K.P., “Structure and diversity in mammalian accessory olfactory bulb.” Microsc Res Tech, 1998, 43:476-499.
39. Chuah, M.I., Zeng, D.R., “Olfactory marker protein is present in olfactory receptor cells of human fetuses.” Neuroscience, 1987, 23:363-370.
40. Bhatnagar, K.P., Smith, T.D., “The human vomeronasal organ. III. Postnatal development from infancy to the ninth decade.” J Anat, 2001, 199:289-302.
41. Sherwood, R.J., McLachlan, J.C., Aiton, J.F., Scarborough, J., “The vomeronasal organ in the human embryo, studied by means of three-dimensional computer reconstruction.” J Anat, 1999, 195:413-418.
42. Smith, T.D., Bhatnagar, K.P., “The human vomeronasal organ. Part II: prenatal development.” J Anat, 2000, 197:421-436.
43. Witt, M., Georgiewa, B., Knecht, M., Hummel, T., “On the chemosensory nature of the vomeronasal epithelium in adult humans.” Histochem Cell Biol, 2002, 117:493-509.
44. Johnson, E.W., Eller, P.M., Jafek, B.W., “Calbindin-like immunoreactivity in epithelial cells of the newborn and adult human vomeronasal organ.” Brain Res, 1994, 638:329-333.
45. Monti-Bloch, L., Jennings-White, C., Berliner, D.L., “The human vomeronasal system.” A review. Ann N Y Acad Sci, 1998, 855:373-389.
46. Monti-Bloch, L., Grosser, B.I., “Effect of putative pheromones on the electrical activity of the human vomeronasal organ and olfactory epithelium.” J Steroid Biochem Mol Biol, 1991, 39:573-582.
47. Monti-Bloch, L., Diaz-Sanchez, V., Jennings-White, C., Berliner, D.L., “Modulation of serum testosterone and autonomic function through stimulation of the male human vomeronasal organ (VNO) with pregna-4,20-diene-3,6-dione.” J Steroid Biochem Mol Biol, 1998, 65:237-242.
48. Grosser, B., I, Monti-Bloch, L., Jennings-White, C., Berliner, D.L., “Behavioral and electrophysiological effects of androstadienone, a human pheromone. Psychoneuroendocrinology, 2000, 25:289-299.

Gulen’s book promises to show that Path by describing it and through the example of a teacher who personifies the human struggle for perfection. It is no ordinary path that the book under review describes. It is the Sufi path that leads an aspirant to the goal of perfecting oneself by conquering the lower self and orienting it toward the Self: God. Sufism teaches a moral process that must be undertaken by all who seek to be purified and admitted into the state of perfected personhood. Gulen takes the aspirant through this journey of self-discipline to attain the self- hood, in which God reflects His own attributes. This is the journey that is willingly undertaken to become a mirror that reflects Divine qualities as they are lived in human society-compassion and love, forgiveness and magnanimity.

In the chapter on the origins of Sufism, Gulen does not simply delineate the historical development of the spiritual movement in Islam. He also engages the reader, in a style that befits his own position as a practicing master, by anchoring Sufism appropriately in the Qur’an and Sunna and showing the indispensable connection between the Sufism and the Shari’ah. The goals of the Sufi path and the Shari’ah are identical in the sense that Islam, as a religion, inculcates virtues that lead to obedience of the Merciful Creator, with a deeper spiritual and intellectual awareness and commitment. There is a realistic assessment of human religiosity in the section in which Gulen states that Sufis divide people into three groups: perfected ones, aspirants, and lay believers who “cling heavily to the earth.”

The Sufi path, that begins with “turning toward God,” lists all the states and stages in the psychological and spiritual development of the God-loving and human-caring personality of a novice. Whether it is a virtue or a state, Gulen describes it in detail to make it accessible for the one who wishes to understand these stations directly derived from the teachings of the Qur’an and the Sunna. The relevance of each state is underscored by the poems of some Sufi masters, especially those of Rumi, that have captured the essential meaning of these states in human spiritual and moral development.

The arrangement of these stations is not hierarchical, in that they do not require the aspirant to go through the path in the order adopted by Gulen. Rather, the author seeks to provide each station and stage as a point of entry on the path, which resembles a river that can be entered from any point and journeyed to reach the Final Source: God. In a way, Gulen follows Mawlana Rumi in inviting the aspirant at any stage of his or her spiritual development to join the travelers on the path of God’s Love through love for God’s creation and creatures-the life of harmony and peace. The book is a welcome, original addition to the growing literature on the Islamic Sufi tradition.

Abdulaziz Sachedina
Department of Religious Studies
University of Virginia

Therefore, the products existing in nature should be far more sophisticated than ours. Investigating any species of plant or animal whether it be a microscopic or a giant creature, we reach the following conclusions: They have been specially designed to adopt their environment. They own the precise and perfect skills, organs and defence mechanisms, needed for their survival. They are so perfect that none of our engineering skills are enough to produce anything even approaching the quality of these organisms. We need also to mention that products in nature are alive, a concept which has not yet been precisely understood or described despite all our advances in technology and science. Examples supporting the above argument are innumerable, covering all branches of science. I will present only a few for illustration purposes. Fish flow in a medium of liquid. They are exposed to two components of pressure while swimming, the static pressure and the dynamic pressure. The static pressure is directly related to the weight of the water above them and does not vary while swimming at constant depths. However, this is not the case with dynamic pressure. It increases or decreases depending on the velocity of the liquid flow around the body. Researchers have found that the eyes of fish are precisely located on the body so that the dynamic pressure is always zero. This means that vision is not distorted while the fish are swimming at varying speeds. The heart of the fish is located at a point where the dynamic pressure is most negative. This enables the functioning of the heart to be much easier at high swimming speeds. The mouth is placed at the very front of the body where the total pressure is highest. This high pressure makes it easier to take water for oxygen during fast swimming. Consider another example, the octopus, which is one of the more primary creatures in the so-called evolution process.

For thousands of centuries, the octopus has been using the conservation of momentum principle. The octopus takes in water and propels it through a narrow pipe in a direction opposite to its line of movement. This jet propulsion principle has been effectively used in man-made motors only in this century. It should be evident then that these sophisticated designs and techniques cannot be generated by those animals themselves, still less randomly produced by the trial and error of blind (unguided) natural forces. The physical laws and the perfectly adapted designs must originate from the same source, the Supreme ‘Engineer’. This explanation is the most rational and logical. Other explanations, which attempt to attribute design and engineering skills to plants and animals or to blind and deaf nature, make no sense at all. Another example is the development of the embryo. From the manufacturing point of view, this development can only be explained by the term miracle. In engineering practice, the size of each part in a product is predetermined and manufactured separately. Those parts are then assembled together to form the final product. Let us call this type of manufacturing static manufacturing, since the sizes of the parts remain the same during assembling. In the case of an embryo, the sizes of organs are changing with time while a continuous assembling takes place under those conditions. New organs are created inside, without any interference from outside, developing in size over time, yet holding the assembly in a perfect condition at each interval of time. This process is an example of dynamic manufacturing which is, to put it bluntly, quite impossible for us to achieve. In usual manufacturing, the size of a part is smaller than the raw bulk of material from which it is produced, and some of the material is wasted. In some cases, moulds are used to achieve the desired shapes. In the creation of an embryo, however, there are no moulds at all, no spare parts thrown away, no wastage.

These manufacturing techniques are by far beyond the limits of humanity. Note that we have not yet mentioned the events that take place at the micro level inside the cells. Even a general glance at the global events shows us how extraordinary the development of an embryo is. A final example will be given from the mechanics of materials. For birds to be able to fly, they must balance minimum weight with maximum strength. Their bones can be considered as hollow pipes. Calculations reveal that the ratio of the inner radius of the bones to the outer radius is selected in the optimum way precisely so that, with minimum weight, maximum strength is achieved. We have not mentioned the macro creation process (cosmos, galaxies, solar systems etc.) since these topics are more related to pure sciences such as physics, astronomy, chemistry, biology etc. An understanding of creation, even then not comprehensive, requires knowledge of these pure sciences together with knowledge of engineering and design. The Creator of the earth and cosmos describes Himself as ‘the Best of Creators’ (Mu’minun, 23.14). The reader may consider what we have said here as a tiny effort towards understanding this verse. 

First of all, every individual is a traveller and therefore, in some sense, an emigrant. His journeying starts in the world of spirits and continues through the stations of his mother’s womb, childhood, youth, old age and his grave, and from there to a completely new world, Although he is among millions of people, each individual is born alone, lives his own life. endures his own death, and will be resurrected alone, Likewise, each of those men of high stature who throughout history have guided mankind started his sacred mission from his single self, then disseminating light from the torch be carried and illumining the minds and hearts of others, inculcating hope and faith in his followers and transforming the lands once submerged in darkness into pools of light. And each one of these guides had to emigrate from one place to another for the sake of his cause.

Belief, emigration and holy struggle are the three pillars of a single, sacred truth. They are the three ‘taps’ of a fountain from which the water of life flows for the ‘holy ones’ to drink from so that they may convey their message without being wearied, and, when the opposition is too formidable to overcome, set out for a new land without regard for their home, property or family.

However sacred the cause, however useful and original the thoughts or brilliant the message, those who hear it for the first time are naturally bound to question and oppose it. For this reason, the one who wants to arouse the people to new sentiments, new faith, new love and new ideas must, either persist in his mission in his homeland in the face of all kinds of resistance, or set out for new minds and hearts to pour out his inspirations, to offer his message.

Every new idea or message has always been resisted where it has appeared, and those who have offered it have usually been welcomed in new places where their pasts were unknown. It is for this reason that the fate of the ‘holy ones’ is almost the same: they begin with belief and love, followed by struggle against the deviation and error of the masses, and then comes the turn of emigration for the sake of the well-being of mankind, even at the cost of sacrificing their own homes and families.

In every movement of revival, prior to emigration, two stages are of great importance. In the first stage, a man with a cause develops his character, overflows with belief and is inflamed with love, and surpassing his own self, grows into a passionate slave of The Truth, He struggles, in this stage, against the temptations of his carnal self to build his genuine, spiritual character. This is called ‘the major or greater struggle’- al-jihad al-akbar. Then he rises, in the second and stage, to radiate the lights of belief to the world around him, this stage is, in fact, the door to emigration.

Emigration should not, of course, be understood only in the material sense. Rather, a man experiences emigration throughout his life in the spiritual sense. Each inner intellectual or spiritual transformation, from indolence to action, from decay to self-renewal, from suffocation in the atmosphere of sinfulness to exaltation in the realm of spirit, may be regarded as an emigration. It is my conviction that only those who have been able to actualize these inner emigrations can find in themselves the strength and resolution to leave their homes and families for the sake of a sublime ideal. It is almost impossible for those who have not succeeded in emigrating’ from the carnal self to the realm of spirit, from the pomp and luxury of the world to the riches of intellect and spirit, and from the pleasures of selfhood to an altruistic life, to emigrate for the good and welfare of humanity.

Emigration with its two dimensions, spiritual and material, was first represented by the great Prophets, Abraham, Lot, Moses and Jesus, upon them be peace, who shone like suns, on the horizon of humanity, and in its most comprehensive meaning and function, was realized by the greatest of them, namely the Prophet Muhammad, who is the pride of mankind, upon him be peace. The door to emigration has since been open to all those who would walk in his footsteps.

Emigration in the way of Truth and for its sake is so sanctified that the community of holy ones around the Last Prophet, who sacrificed their possessions and souls for the sake of the cause they believed in, and of the matchless representative of that cause, were praised by God as (and have since been called) ‘the Emigrants’. We can see its importance in the fact that the beginning of the sacred era of this holy community was marked, not by the birth of the Prophet or by the first revelation or such victories as Badr or the conquest of Makka, but by the emigration to Madina.

Every individual who has emigrated for the sake of a sublime ideal will always deeply feel the pressure of the ideal which urged him to emigrate and design his life according to that ideal. Secondly, be will be freed from the criticism regarding some faults he might have made in childhood or youth. Whereas, in his own land, be is probably remembered and criticized for past faults, and has little influence upon people because, besides the factors mentioned, he is an already familiar one in his society, in the land he has emigrated to, be will be known for his spiritual brilliance, unadulterated ideas, pure intentions and extraordinary sacrifices. For these and other reasons, it has almost always been emigrants who changed the flow of history and started new eras in the life of humanity.

Toynbee, the renowned British historian, mentions twenty-seven civilizations founded by nomadic or migrant peoples. This is because no one can overcome such dynamic people. They are not habituated to ease and comfort, are ready to sacrifice everything worldly, used to every kind of hardships, and always ready to march wherever their cause requires them to go.

The ‘holy ones’ around the Last Prophet, who were elevated from the darkness of ignorance and savagery to become the founders of the most brilliant civilization in human history and the first teachers of a universal religion, which is still the hope of mankind for a happy future, set the best example in this mater for those coming after them. Those who later walked in their footsteps found ease and serenity in fighting with difficulties, and found vigour and life in despising death and everything worldly, and eternity in constant renewal in thought, spirit and action. They migrated from land to land to convey knowledge, morality and civilization everywhere that they settled.

It is incumbent upon us to save the young generation from indulgence and attachment to the comfort of life, and in doing so to equip them with lofty ideals so that they know how to suffer with the pains and sorrows of mankind. It is only when this is accomplished to a significant degree that our old world will be able to witness an over-all felicity.