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Issue 95 (September - October 2013)

Issue 95 (September - October 2013)

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Articles

How Much Are We In Control?

31 August 2013 | The Fountain | Issue 95 (September - October 2013)

We are so saddened these days by what is going on in Egypt. People are being killed by their own army, and the world is silently watching. Their silence on Egypt is as deadening as it has been on Syria. What a pitiful situation this is! It is perhaps not fair to expect a world with two faces to re…

Happiness and Virtue: A Prophetic Example

31 August 2013 | M. Fethullah Gulen | Issue 95 (September - October 2013)

Happiness is an ideal for which everybody longs. People endure all kinds of sacrifice for its sake. But what exactly is happiness? Is this question not one of the biggest enigmas bewildering mankind? To some, happiness may be physical love and intimacy; to Caesar, it was fame and glory; to Pha…

Are Genes the Source of Behavioral Disorders?

31 August 2013 | Cezmi Aydin | Issue 95 (September - October 2013)

We learn about a new gene everyday that is specifically associated with a certain human behavior or that causes a certain physical situation. One gene is responsible for crime, whereas another gene is the cause for baldness. This leads us to blame nature and physiology for these faults. Some recent…

Dispersing Hopelessness from the Depressive Thoughts: Is There Any Way?

31 August 2013 | Mucteba Muezzinoglu / Nate Emru Kiydal | Issue 95 (September - October 2013)

Depression is a major medical illness that causes feelings of dispassion and lessens productivity in individuals. It is usually manifested as a feeling of hopelessness and associated with sadness or the lack of pleasure from otherwise enjoyable activities. Depressed people may be irritable, anxious…

Escherichia Coli: Good or Bad?

31 August 2013 | Melissa McPen | Issue 95 (September - October 2013)

“For there is nothing either good or bad, but thinking makes it so,” Shakespeare once wrote in his famous play, ‘Hamlet.’ The philosophical questions “What is good?” and “What is bad?” have been discussed over many centuries, and it seems like humanity will not have a clear answer for it any time s…

Who Owns This Body?

31 August 2013 | Omer Arifagaoglu | Issue 95 (September - October 2013)

“There are numerous perfect mechanisms put to work by our Creator in a fashion that is impossible for us to know; it is equally impossible for us to control each of them.” “This body is mine! Thus, I have a right to use it as I like!” How do we own our body? How much of it belongs to us? Can…

Defining the Universe with Mathematics

31 August 2013 | Nuri Balta | Issue 95 (September - October 2013)

Mathematics is one of the earliest sciences. As the expression of intangible thoughts, mathematics can also be considered an art form like painting or music. From this perspective, the possible use of a developed mathematical theory outside mathematics does not really matter. Interestingly, these s…

Ibn Bajja and A Duel with Duality

31 August 2013 | Berna Berian Baran | Issue 95 (September - October 2013)

Abu Bakr Muhammad ibn Yahya al Saigh or Ibn Bajja (Avempace) is a well-known twelfth century Spanish philosopher.1 Ibn Bajja was something of a renaissance man; while a vizier, a poet, a doctor, and a composer, he was also a scholar of Arabic, literature, medicine, music, mathematical sciences, log…

Why Do We Turn Over During Sleep?

31 August 2013 | Musab Korkmaz | Issue 95 (September - October 2013)

Our skin is not only a means for our body to look nice esthetically, but it also acts as a shield against negative external effects. For instance, it helps protect us from mechanical and chemical injuries or rashes, harmful waves of sun, and virulent microbes. Even though millions of microorganisms…

The Qur'an: An Eternal Journey

31 August 2013 | Nihal Balci | Issue 95 (September - October 2013)

We are at the table together for dinner, having a good time. My husband is eating a beef dish and liking it very much. My younger daughter, who hates beef, is enjoying her noodles. My older daughter is a vegetarian. She is having a salad, picking only the purple cabbages and the turnips from it. I…

Mahabba (Love)

31 August 2013 | M. Fethullah Gulen | Issue 95 (September - October 2013)

Mahabba means fondness, tender and kind feelings, preference, and love. Love that affects and invades one’s feelings is called passion; love that is so deep and irresistible that it burns for union is called fervor and enthusiasm. Sufis have defined love as the relation of the heart with the Truly…

The Camel: A Monumental Creature

31 August 2013 | Ali Fethi Toprak | Issue 95 (September - October 2013)

The camel is a mighty animal and was historically used for transportation in desert lands; thus, it earned the name “the ship of the desert.” Interestingly, a camel’s gait also resembles the rolling motion of a ship. A camel moves both its legs at the same time on one side of its body. They can tra…

Termites and Retirement

31 August 2013 | Nuh Ozdin | Issue 95 (September - October 2013)

We call termites “white ants” because of their appearance; however they are a diverse group of insects, with around 3,000 species. Found mostly in Africa, termites feed especially on wood and other organic substances in tropical and subtropical regions. Termites are 1-2 cm in size, but they live i…

Literature and National Security: The Almajeri Education in Nigeria

31 August 2013 | Ile, Onyebuchi James | Issue 95 (September - October 2013)

Introduction In his The Death of Criticism, Terry Eagleton spoke of the rude shock a clerk in his office might experience if she stumbled upon the thought that her boss is actually paid, and paid very well for that matter, for just reading poetry and prose. If she realises this, and perhaps begins…

The Pure Path

31 August 2013 | M. Fethullah Gulen | Issue 95 (September - October 2013)

One night I had a vision of the future so bright; there was a peaceful silence and was pouring light Things were being done with the precision of a clockwork; centuries of old confusions all disappeared That is the pure path All were respectful to each other water of life was flowing through taps…

Time: What Does the Qur’an Say About It?

31 August 2013 | Firat Celik | Issue 95 (September - October 2013)

All things in the universe, with their specific and suitable outfits obtained from the spiritual world, gain an image and flow in the river of time. The sun and the moon are by an exact calculation (of the All-Merciful) (55:5). He has made the night for repose, and the sun and the moon a means f…

My Brother's Plum Tree

31 August 2013 | Justin Pahl | Issue 95 (September - October 2013)

I often think of my brother during the early summer. When we moved to our home in Philadelphia, my brother, who was always more ethereal, thought we should plant a tree, so that we could watch it grow. We spent a month deciding what kind of tree to plant, going to nurseries and studying saplings. M…

A Conversation Starter

31 August 2013 | Justin Pahl | Issue 95 (September - October 2013)

The question of dialogues between different faiths and cultures is one of the most important questions of our fractured age. How can we reconcile so many, seemingly, vast and diverse viewpoints? What common ground can be found among people who are unhappy with the excess, violence, and poverty of o…

How Collaboration Makes a Difference in Dispute Resolution

31 August 2013 | Alptekin Kavi | Issue 95 (September - October 2013)

Parties in a dispute can resolve their differences in various ways. Oftentimes, at least one party feels a need to compromise in order to reach a resolution. As a result, the compromising party may suffer, or feel unfairly treated. When the dispute involves matters of life and death, reaching a fai…

Drones and the Future of Autonomous Vehicles

31 August 2013 | Halil I. Demir | Issue 95 (September - October 2013)

It’s a bird, it’s a plane… but no, it’s not Superman. It’s a drone. Airborne drones are becoming commonplace, especially in the civilian world. Unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), also known as drones, are aircrafts controlled by a pilot from a remote location on the ground. Drones are increasingly b…

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