Issue 127 (Jan - Feb 2019)

Circular motions are all around us. Some are visible or perceptible, while many are not. In a contemplative piece in this issue, Jacob Hardy, a dear friend, writes about this fantastic phenomenon that permeates the universe: “Circling in the Universe.” From the smallest forms of existence at the at…

There was once a time when we enjoyed mutual love and respect. We had started to relate to one another. That was when everything looked different and cozy across the land. Even if some inappropriate and disturbing voices were occasionally heard, almost every segment of society was experiencing the…

In our previous article where we discussed the mind-boggling complexity of our eyes’ retinas. We learned about the ten separate layers of cells, but we did not elaborate on the intricacies of their creation. We also learned how the substance in the cone cells, called rhodopsin, is destroyed on expo…

Have you ever seen a rainbow? Until recently, I had looked at many rainbows, but had never truly seen a rainbow. In his writings on faith and logic, religious scholar Bediuzzaman Said Nursi maintained that looking and seeing are two different things. In his book, The Words, he says: “The eye is a…

The September 11th terrorist attack was traumatic for many people. At that point in my life, I had been studying Islam for thirty-six years: first as a student, then as a professor of Islamic history and archaeology at the university level. My professional colleagues and I felt that we had been qui…

"It is He who created the night and the day, and the sun and the moon; all (the celestial bodies) swim along, each in its orbit with its own motion.”  (Quran 21:33) Almost everyone – depending on his or her age, experience, and education level – is aware of certain facts about nature. We know…

Alzheimer’s disease is “an irreversible, progressive brain disease that slowly destroys memory and thinking skills, eventually even the ability to carry out the simplest tasks” according to the Alzheimer’s Association. Alzheimer’s affects mostly senior citizens, and symptoms first appear in most pe…

Tajalli (manifestation), which has almost the same meaning as showing itself, display, and appearance, in the language of Sufism means being favored with God’s special gifts. It also denotes that the Divine mysteries have become apparent in the heart of the seeker by means of the light of knowledge…

We are all aware of the fact that there is certain rhythm and order in the movement of the sun and the earth, as well as other planets along their pre-assigned orbits. This order has ongoing without a glitch for possibly billions of years. The day and the night become longer and shorter on a schedu…

Hizmet Movement (aka Gülen Movement) has always been given different names, which rely on and point to divergent underlying ontologies and understandings. Cemaat (Community), Hizmet (Service), Gonulluler Hareketi, (A movement of volunteers), and Gülenciler (Gülenists) are just a selection of terms…

It was 3:45 pm. I was sitting crossed-legged with twenty other seven-year olds under a wall of flat glass windows. An eerie calm had settled outside, where a short time before there had been whipping winds and a sky as green as Kermit the Frog. My mom whisked into the building, her sensible yet fas…

“There was a footpath leading across the fields to New Southgate, and I used to go there alone to watch the sunset and contemplate suicide. I did not, however, commit suicide, because I wished to know more about mathematics.” -Bertrand Russell, Nobel Laureate and Mathematician It is mystical w…

As I sit and wait for my day of judgment, I ponder the future. Can I continue to live my life as I dream and desire? Or will I remain doomed to a lifetime of cries and days of gloom? People say that I am arrogant and full of myself. I say that if you really know me and my life, you would understa…

Divine manifestation (tajalli) is the attainment of inner light as a result of special Divine gifts. This is experienced by travelers on the way of Truth who are committed to prayer. Tajalli is not only the manifestation of Divine mysteries under the lights of Divine knowledge (marifa), but also th…

A new Artificial Intelligence (AI) approach to translate brain waves into speech Akbari et al. Towards reconstructing intelligible speech from the human auditory cortex. Scientific Reports January, 2019. In a recent study, researchers demonstrated that brain signals from the human auditory cortex…