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Issue 96 (November - December 2013)

Issue 96 (November - December 2013)

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Articles

Being the White Crow

31 October 2013 | The Fountain | Issue 96 (November - December 2013)

Abandoned. Pushed away. Cornered. All alone. Betrayed. Away from home… these are very familiar human feelings, things we've all experienced at various points in our lives. The most grievous of these experiences is perhaps being all by yourself when it seems there are thousands and thousands of othe…

Forlorn Ones

31 October 2013 | M. Fethullah Gulen | Issue 96 (November - December 2013)

"You are a forlorn one in this world Ergo laugh not but cry o heart!" (Yunus Emre) Forlorn ones are only a few; a few heroes of the heart, and unknown holy ones. A forlorn person is one who sighs and groans, whose heart burns and aches. A person who is forlorn is beaten and persecuted because…

The Philosophy of Science

31 October 2013 | Eren Tatari - Yamina Mermer | Issue 96 (November - December 2013)

Science deals with descriptions of phenomena;, it does not deal with the explanation of matters beyond. Explanation is the realm of metaphysics and is known as the “philosophy of science.” Science is the systematic study of the behavior of certain phenomena (that is, regularities, uniformities) in…

Recyling Cellular Trash: A Micro-level Fasting Phenomenon

31 October 2013 | Abdullah Acar | Issue 96 (November - December 2013)

Recycling in the cell (autophagy) is important to generate energy and to produce new cellular units. What is interesting, though, is that autophagy is primarily activated via fasting.

Illness: Friend or Foe?

31 October 2013 | Erdogan Karakaya | Issue 96 (November - December 2013)

How the "Remedies for the Sick" Make a Change in Life Possible Life, illness, and death are basic human conditions. But at the same time, it is a very individual decision which specific meaning you ascribe to these elements. These meanings also affect the behavior patterns of our life and its cons…

When To Eat Fruits?

31 October 2013 | Omer Arifagaoglu | Issue 96 (November - December 2013)

One of the requirements for maintaining life is the balanced consumption of proteins, lipids, and carbohydrates. Carbohydrates (saccharides) are commonly known as sugars. A sugar is a monosaccharide if it is made up of a single sugar molecule; it is disaccharide if it is built by two sugar molecul…

Birds of a Feather: Ibn 'Arabi's Mystical Grounding for Interreligious Dialogue

31 October 2013 | Brenda Elizabeth Pletcher | Issue 96 (November - December 2013)

Mysticism is at the heart of dialogue among religions. Brother Steindle-Rast states, "Never before in history is it more urgent for all of us to learn the language of the mystics than in our time, when division threatens to destroy us" (Steindle-Rast 1996, x). Ibn `Arabi, a twelfth century Sufi mys…

Planet Without Laughter

31 October 2013 | Mustafa Veysi Nural | Issue 96 (November - December 2013)

Though we cannot see humor, like faith, we perceive it all around us. Once upon a time there was a planet in an unknown corner of the vast universe. For a long time, this planet was distinguished by having inhabitants with no sense of humor at all! This sounds like a joke, doesn't it? But I a…

Miraculous Migration of Monarch Butterflies

31 October 2013 | Pinar Celik | Issue 96 (November - December 2013)

Many birds, such as white storks and swallows, have been known to migrate, each year, from one region of the earth to another. Aside from birds, there are also mammals, reptiles, fish, and even butterflies that migrate. Among these journeys, the migration of monarch butterflies (Danaus plexippus) i…

Ashq (Ecstatic Love)

31 October 2013 | M. Fethullah Gulen | Issue 96 (November - December 2013)

'Ashq means intense love of and fondness for perfection, beauty, or physical charm. Sufis usually call this sort of love, for example, love for the opposite sex, figurative or metaphorical love. Real love, the love of the King of eternity, is felt for His Grace and Beauty manifested on the horizon…

One Step, A Thousand Operations

31 October 2013 | Kemal Serce | Issue 96 (November - December 2013)

How good are we aware of the operations of systems and mechanisms that make us walk? Costly research and development efforts are under way in centers throughout the world seeking to build walking robots by mimicking human mobility. After 14 years of research, automotive firms built Asimo, a ro…

(Dis) Honor Killings: How Islam Can Help Prevent Them

31 October 2013 | Kim Soltani | Issue 96 (November - December 2013)

It has been claimed that many crimes against women are carried out in the name of Islam, and that the religion condones the poor treatment of women. For the purpose of this essay, "honor killings" will be examined from both a cultural point of view and from an Islamic perspective. Whilst in some ca…

The Hajj: Its Spiritual Meaning and Aspects of Worship

31 October 2013 | Mehmet Ozalp | Issue 96 (November - December 2013)

As one of the most spectacular religious assemblies in the world, the annual Muslim hajj (pilgrimage) to Mecca is more than just visiting holy lands and connecting with the historical legacy of Islam. There are important spiritual meanings enclosed within the rites of hajj, which has to be performe…

The Quest for a Habitable Planet

31 October 2013 | Murad Nebiyev | Issue 96 (November - December 2013)

A planet outside the solar system was first discovered in 1995. As of 2013, the number of planets outside our solar system has reached more than 850. Within the last two years alone, more planets were discovered than in all the other years combined. A planet that revolves around another star outsi…

I Am Calling You, Friend

31 October 2013 | Niyazi Misri | Issue 96 (November - December 2013)

Oh the beauty in my heart I'm calling you friend, oh friend. Thousand pieces torn apart I'm calling you friend, oh friend. I'm filled with the love of thee Mistaken my piety, Lost my mind in ecstasy I'm calling you friend, oh friend. On the road and on the lane, In the sacred or profane A…

Little-Known Rare-Earth Elements

31 October 2013 | Kadir Can - Mehmet Ramazanoglu | Issue 96 (November - December 2013)

Will there be wars over elements like there have been over petroleum and water? What element have we been using in color televisions? What substance is used to make energy saving, environmental light bulbs? Each of the elements found in the periodic table have their own characteristics. After…

Smoking and Reproduction

31 October 2013 | Mehmet Cihanoglu | Issue 96 (November - December 2013)

Harming our bodies or health is a betrayal against this incredible gift. One of the major ways people harm the body is through smoking cigarettes. Smoking harms human health in countless ways. It is one of the main causes of many diseases, such as lung and throat cancer, along with cardiovascu…

Jihad: What Is It and What Is It Not?

31 October 2013 | Ahmet Tarik | Issue 96 (November - December 2013)

Islam is the name of a religion – it is not a political ideology, nor is it an economic doctrine. However, as a religion, it does embrace a variety of universal principles concerning the fields of politics, economics, and jurisprudence. These universal principles were applied in practical life in m…

How To Respond To Hostile Attitudes

31 October 2013 | M. Fethullah Gulen | Issue 96 (November - December 2013)

Question: How should we respond to hostile attitudes towards believers? Whatever the conditions may be, a believer should not go out of the frame of good manners, civility, and decency, for others ascribe all of their actions to faith. Thus, even in the face of the most grave situations or unyiel…

Science Square

31 October 2013 | The Fountain | Issue 96 (November - December 2013)

Mini "human brain" in a dish Cerebral organoids model human brain development and microcephaly Lancaster et al. Nature, September 2013 A recent study reported the first living model of the developing human brain in a lab dish. Scientists first grew induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs) in condi…

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