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Issue 72 (November - December 2009)

Issue 72 (November - December 2009)

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31 October 2009 | The Fountain | Issue 72 (November - December 2009)

Home is special for everyone. For many, it is where they were born and raised. For others it is where they earn their living. For yet others it is a combination of both. Many emigrate to other lands in search of prosperity, or at least to attain modest standards of human life. Some of these emigran…

Our World and Its Inherently Exquisite Mystery

31 October 2009 | M. Fethullah Gulen | Issue 72 (November - December 2009)

Despite blurred realities, many fair-minded thinkers still regard our “world” as a center of attraction. Personally, it would not be an exaggeration to say that this “world,” with its four seasons, night and day, climate and habitat, people and rich culture, as well as its material and spiritual at…

Dynamic Programs in Cells

31 October 2009 | Hamza Aydin | Issue 72 (November - December 2009)

The molecular and genetic diversity in the environmental adaptation mechanisms found in the cells of living beings establishes the ground for fundamental changes in our knowledge about the cell and the sustainability of life. Scientists are astonished by the replication and regulation of genomes in…

Dawkins' Delusion

31 October 2009 | Bayram Yenikaya | Issue 72 (November - December 2009)

Many articles and books have been published to refute Dawkins’ opinions, but most of them focus merely on defending the author’s own religion or sect of religion. I would like to take a different approach: pass Dawkins’s claims through the test of reason without invoking any religious references…

Social Reform and Fethullah Gulen: the Cairo Perspective

31 October 2009 | Hakan Yesilova | Issue 72 (November - December 2009)

In Egypt the impression of Turkey in recent times has been shaped by the fantastic goal the soccer player Hasan sas scored against Brazil in the 2002 World Cup. “Yavas yavas Hasan sas” is the first thing an Egyptian says when meeting a Turk-at least those Egyptians who want to sell souvenirs in Giz…

Al-Andalus

31 October 2009 | Murat Yukseldi | Issue 72 (November - December 2009)

Maria Rosa Menocal (2002) argues that Al-Andalus (711–1492) was a “utopian-like” society in which Jews and Muslims lived side by side in peace and cooperation in what is now Spain. This view has been criticized by others, who claim that the Jewish population was in fact subject to persecution and r…

The Heart of a Child

31 October 2009 | Jon Schuck | Issue 72 (November - December 2009)

Caught in a child’s hand, the seashell becomes treasure, a catalyst of daydreams. Tunes hummed by innocence reach the seagull nearby who gives up flight to breathe in this fresh air. An air that only they can bear, that we forget through years of aging hearts. The sand still has memory of…

Honoring Our Parents

31 October 2009 | Fatih Harpci | Issue 72 (November - December 2009)

Our parents are the people who provide the most care for us in this world. Unfortunately, most of us often fail to show them the respect they deserve. There are many days set aside in societies to honor and appreciate parents; Father’s Day and Mother’s Day to name just two. Such days appear to be m…

An Epic from the Epoch of Qur'an and Epical Deeds

31 October 2009 | Abdullah Bin Mubarak | Issue 72 (November - December 2009)

I was on my journey to Hajj. Travelling through the lands of Iraq and Syria, I came across an old woman all on her own. I greeted her and she answered me with the verse, “Peace! is the word from the Lord All-Compassionate” (Ya Sin 36:58). “What are you doing here?” I asked her. She replied, “Whomev…

Steadiness in the Language of Mathematics

31 October 2009 | O. Faruk Gulduren | Issue 72 (November - December 2009)

Many people think that walking two meters is easy, as the interval between the start and the finish is so small. Anyone who can walk half a meter with every step can cover this distance in four steps, and anyone who can walk a quarter of a meter can complete this in eight. However, it is possible t…

Ebru or Water Marbling

31 October 2009 | Dr. Musa Saracoglu | Issue 72 (November - December 2009)

After the “Sacred Word” was expressed in writing, it met with the refined taste in art. As a result of this meeting, some arts such as ebru, tezhip or illumination, and binding came into being. Reaching maturity in the sixteenth century, when Ottoman civilization was in its brightest period, these…

Muraqaba

31 October 2009 | M. Fethullah Gulen | Issue 72 (November - December 2009)

Muraqaba has been defined as watching, supervising, controlling, and living in the consciousness of being controlled (by God). Sufis take this further, by defining it as setting one’s heart solely on God, abandoning any attachment to that which is other than Him, denying to one’s carnal self all th…

Nucleation

31 October 2009 | Cendel Tuna | Issue 72 (November - December 2009)

Every day we boil water in our homes for tea, cooking and various other reasons, and during the summer months we usually ensure that there is a constant supply of cold water in the fridge. While some of us can drink cold water direct from the refrigerator, others can only drink it lukewarm. In our…

The Islamic Conceptualization of the Sciences

31 October 2009 | Ali Sebetci | Issue 72 (November - December 2009)

We believe it is not emphasized today as much as it should be that traditional conceptualizations of sciences, whether Islamic or not, were very different from the way modern sciences are currently conceptualized. Most of us assume that humankind is continually improving in its knowledge of existen…

Mary

31 October 2009 | Ahmet Cetinkaya | Issue 72 (November - December 2009)

Maryam, or Mary, is the only woman mentioned by name in the Holy Qur’an. She is mentioned in twelve chapters of the Qur’an, a total of thirty-four times. But even more important than the number of times her name is used is the fact that she was mentioned in verses of the Qur’an from different perio…

Physiological Prevention of Cancer

31 October 2009 | Sebnem Unlu | Issue 72 (November - December 2009)

The fine balance and order seen in living beings provides us with clues and directions as to which behavior is most appropriate. Socially acceptable behavior may differ from one culture to another; however, there are universal principles and values which are part of a balanced behavior and attitude…

Schooling Islam

31 October 2009 | Jeannette Okur | Issue 72 (November - December 2009)

Moroccan preschoolers acquiring the basics of reading, writing and Qur’an memorization in state-funded kuttabs… Turkish high school students meeting with mentors in private homes after school to prepare for science, math and tafsir (Qur’anic interpretation) competitions… Students at Indonesia’s Sta…

It's me Peter, your Skin!

31 October 2009 | Irfan Yilmaz | Issue 72 (November - December 2009)

Peter! For some time now you have been hearing from the organs in your body who have been telling you about themselves, their importance, and about how miraculously they have been created. However, their main goal, in addition to telling you about themselves, was to draw your attention to God Almig…

Desire To Retreat

31 October 2009 | Hikmet Isik | Issue 72 (November - December 2009)

This transient material world attracts us greatly with the kind of life it imposes upon us, the many opportunities it presents, and its overwhelming daily engagements. As a reaction to these attractions, one may feel inclined to become isolated from society; a desire to retreat may surface. What sh…

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