Issue 152 (Mar - Apr 2023)

Faith, we can fairly argue, is whole when it is affirmed with full conviction in one’s soul, mind, and body. Something feels missing if any of these three dimensions is not in the equation. Devotion in the heart must be supported with reason, so faith does not become blind dogmatism. Approaching fa…

No month of the year can sail along with as much joy that never fades and everlasting pleasure and love, as the month of Ramadan. Presenting the spirit, essence, and true meaning of all the gentle seasons of the year, the days and nights of Ramadan embrace hearts with their exclusive bliss, charm…

No science teaches the harmonies of nature more clearly than mathematics. In arithmetic we explore a universe of figures by counting; in geometry we discover another universe by drawing lines and laying down definite directions in the conceptual field of the imagination; in algebra we produce magni…

Every day of our lives is a spot on our map. It can be a success, a failure, a turnaround, or maybe even simpler it could be traced by a smile, a frown, a sign or a memory. A day can be a witness of our splendor and glory; a day can also be forgotten amidst the pages of our diary or deliberately d…

2023 marks a full decade since the beginning of the unprecedented persecution of the Hizmet movement started in Turkey, the movement’s home country. Its institutions were confiscated, its volunteers purged, and tens of thousands of associates were arrested—many of whom are still under arrest. Despi…

In November 2022, New York University announced startling research led by researchers at Grossman School of Medicine and elsewhere. Some 25 hospitals in the United States and the United Kingdom participated in the study which involved 567 men and women whose hearts stopped beating while hospitalize…

There's a fear in my heart A vision on my mind, That someday I'd be lost. Walking down the road Among the ones who are lost. A fear of ample pride, A seed which outweighs A million skies. A fear of a light, Which would make A believer go blind. Oh, there’s a fear in my heart, That someday my deeds…

In the eyes of those who have reached the stage of the soul at rest, all things, all colors and forms disappear with their peculiar features. They continuously think of and utter the truth of “There is no deity save God,” and while doing so, they feel only Him as the true Self-Existence, they live…

My lover is dying. We met late, both forty-two, both Elvis diehards, both into hiking through spectacular scenery in remote locations. The Inca Trail was endless shambolic staircases, an acute episode of food poisoning, and the coming together of two akin spirits. The priceless reward for such a b…

“The fool’s heart is on the tip of their tongue; the wise’s tongue is in the extreme bastion of their chest.” M. Fethullah Gülen [1] Throughout human history, numerous writers, philosophers, scientists, and religious scholars across different eras, geographies, and cultures have arrived at a commo…

Consider this scenario. A 60-year-old Muslim patient with diabetes makes an appointment with his physician to come up with a plan for adjustment to his usual insulin dose for the next month. “I won’t be eating anything in the hours between dawn and dusk for the next thirty days,” he explains. Th…

Let’s close our eyes for a second and imagine a food court in a shopping mall during peak hours. It would not be that difficult in our imaginations to place some toddlers holding tablets or teenagers checking social media feeds. While such a narrative directly cautions our protective behaviours aga…

Those who “rely on God, embrace the struggle, and yield to wisdom” will eventually be victorious. Victory will come to them sooner or later, in this world or the next. Yet, humankind is, by nature, impatient, and people wish that all good things they yearn for should be fulfilled at once and all th…

Bees learn and teach new lessons Bridges AD et al. Bumblebees acquire alternative puzzle-box solutions via social learning. PLOS Biology, March 2023. A recent study showed that bumblebees can learn to solve puzzles from each other, and this behavior can quickly spread throughout a colony, suggest…