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Issue 86 (March - April 2012)

Issue 86 (March - April 2012)

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Articles

Love for Truth

29 February 2012 | M. Fethullah Gulen | Issue 86 (March - April 2012)

Truth means the essence and reality of a thing. It is to know clearly what a thing is, what it means, and what it signifies beyond its appearance and cognition. What is the essence and reality of the human being, the universe, and all things? What do they mean, both as individuals and as a whole? W…

Guarding Queens of the Cellular Strongholds

29 February 2012 | Ali Fethi Toprak | Issue 86 (March - April 2012)

Cells are the main building blocks of living organisms. Our body is composed of average one hundred trillion cells. We undergo continuous replenishment by a special reservoir of cells called stem cells. Stem cells are crucial for regeneration after injury and tissue renewal as being the source of t…

Compatibility of Modern Psychology and Muslims

29 February 2012 | Sumeyra Tosun | Issue 86 (March - April 2012)

"Surely God changes not the conditions of a people, unless they change what is with their selves." Qur'an (13:11) In the twentieth century, like other religious communities around the world, Muslims had to come to a resolution regarding the compatibility of their religion with science. Today, at l…

Story in Progress

29 February 2012 | Seth Mette | Issue 86 (March - April 2012)

Every year, 12 to 25 million people attempt suicide worldwide, and 1 million of them achieve what they are aiming. That means that every 30 seconds, one person is dying by suicide on our planet. Be it a child, an elderly, or an adult, suicide has victims from all ages. Fred (not his real name) is…

Can Spirituality Help Recover From Cancer?

29 February 2012 | Mustafa Tabanli | Issue 86 (March - April 2012)

Dr. Jean Kristeller is Professor of Psychology and the Director of the Center for the Study of Health, Religion, and Spirituality at Indiana State University. She has conducted research on the psychology of meditation for over 25 years, including investigations on the effects of meditation on hear…

Character Education for Academic Achievement

29 February 2012 | Namik Top | Issue 86 (March - April 2012)

This article explores whether character education has an impact on preventing school violence through the virtues that it provides, and whether character education influences the achievement of children in schools. Character education has been a valuable asset in prevention-based strategies. Preven…

Rumi: Faith, Knowledge, Reason, and Love

29 February 2012 | Donald Casey | Issue 86 (March - April 2012)

During a trip to Turkey in the summer of 2009, I had an opportunity to visit the tomb of the 13th century Sufi mystic and prolific author, Mawlana Jalal al-Din al-Rumi, known more commonly as Rumi (1207-1273). He was a contemporary of St. Thomas Aquinas (1225-1274), a well-known Christian theologia…

Another Side to Water

29 February 2012 | Ceyda Sablak | Issue 86 (March - April 2012)

Water plays a crucial role in maintaining the balance between life and death on Earth. It can either instigate health, or be a deadly disease vector (Govender, Barnes and Pieper 2011). Although the effects of water on human health can widely be seen throughout the globe, it is most amplified in Afr…

Abu Bakr: An Epitome of Truthfulness

29 February 2012 | Harun Gultekin | Issue 86 (March - April 2012)

Arabia ... a desert as huge as almost three thousand square kilometers. A desert, but one from which humanity souls have been revivified repeatedly over the course of history, from Adam to Abraham, and to Muhammad, peace be upon them all. As recounted in the Qur'an (14: 34–41), Abraham left his wi…

Qast and Azm (Decision And Resolution)

29 February 2012 | M. Fethullah Gulen | Issue 86 (March - April 2012)

Qast means confidence, determination, choosing, and advancing straight toward a destination, thinking and reasoning moderately and deliberately, and living a moderate and balanced life. For Sufis, this term represents an initiate's pursuit of love and the pleasure of God, the Truly Beloved One, and…

For the Sake of Autism...

29 February 2012 | Kimberly Parker | Issue 86 (March - April 2012)

The courtyard vibrated at the sound of the school bell. Immediately the playground burst into life as children began to stream out of the classrooms and into the warmth of the afternoon. Like kittens released from a cage, they began to scatter - heading in all directions towards awaiting parents an…

Divergent Thinking and the Religious Texts: The Case of Islam

29 February 2012 | Zekeriya Ozsoy | Issue 86 (March - April 2012)

The concept of divergent thinking was first mentioned by prominent psychologist J. P. Guilford (1950), who defined it as "thinking in multiple ways." Divergent thinking has been regarded as one of the most important components of creativity. A person with a high divergent thinking ability is the on…

Liberating Theology from Alphabetic Writing's Reductionistic Reign

29 February 2012 | Jonathan Camery-hoggatt | Issue 86 (March - April 2012)

The words on this page are squiggly black ink pressed onto white paper. You could run your fingertips across these letters and feel their slick texture, but the ink you touch as you read is separate from the keys I click as I write. It would be impossible to tell - from these letters alone - whethe…

Our Sole Duty Is to Communicate the Truth

29 February 2012 | Hikmet Isik | Issue 86 (March - April 2012)

Question: Given that God may cause us to act as a means for guidance of people to truth, will we be held responsible because of failure to convey the truth? What will be their responsibility in this regard? There are two main points to this question – this matter has aspects that relate both to th…

The Great Ocean of Truth

29 February 2012 | The Fountain | Issue 86 (March - April 2012)

"I do not know what I may appear to the world, but to myself I seem to have been only like a boy playing on the sea-shore, and diverting myself in now and then finding a smoother pebble or a prettier shell than ordinary, whilst the great ocean of truth lay all undiscovered before me." Isaac Newto…

Time to Say New Things

29 February 2012 | Jalal Ud-din Rumi | Issue 86 (March - April 2012)

How good it is to migrate every day! How beautiful it is to stop somewhere every day! How nice it is to flow without freezing and getting muddy! What word that belongs to yesterday, Is gone, my loved one, with yesterday, Now is the time to say new things.

Science Square (Issue 86)

29 February 2012 | The Fountain | Issue 86 (March - April 2012)

1- Impressive Design and Strength of Spider Silk's Web Original Article: Cranford, S.W. et al., Nature 482, 72 (2012). Spider silk has been a symbol of durability and strength, but the role the design of a web plays or contributes to the strength was unknown. Researchers from Massachusetts Instit…

The Best of Creation

29 February 2012 | Orhan Kaba | Issue 86 (March - April 2012)

In a harsh, corrupt and unforgiving land, came a mercy and salvation. Warring tribes and fierce factions, he united into one nation. And to the women at the bottom of the tribal castes, he brought liberation. He was. The best of creation. A people so lost in ignorance, they required a complete t…

Quest to Solve the Mystery of Life

29 February 2012 | Ali Fethi Toprak | Issue 86 (March - April 2012)

The quest to solve the mystery of life seems to be continuing. Where did we come from? What’s matter and what’s beyond it? Where and how did life originate? What about Adam and Eve of other organisms? Obviously, we were not allowed to witness either the creation of universe or the beginning of life…

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