Issue 37 (January - March 2002)

Fethullah Gulen has spent much of his life as a religious teacher in Turkey. He is author of more than forty books, most of them best-sellers in Turkey, and his writing appears regularly in Turkish journals. This article was translated from Turkish by Elvan Ceylan. Religion, particularly Islam…

Those daily events to which we have become accustomed are the ones that least attract our attention and interest. For example, day follows night, summer comes after spring, water flows, a breeze blows, and rain falls. We take these for granted, unaware of the curtain that prevents us from seeing th…

He: A point of Divine Unity* In His Name, be He glorified. There is nothing but it glorifies Him with praise. My dear and faithful brothers and sisters! While reflecting on air during a mental journey, a subtle point related to Divine Unity suddenly became clear to me in the word He in There i…

Over the last couple of years, we have heard a great deal about cloning, a scientific procedure that produces an exact copy of a living organism without fertilization. These discussions began after a team of scientists in Scotland announced, on 27 February 1997, that they had cloned a lamb named Do…

Cognitive science is an interdisciplinary science that draws on many fields (e.g., psychology, artificial intelligence, linguistics, and philosophy) to develop theories about human perception, thinking, and learning. In other words, it is the study of the brains special functions. These special fu…

Bruce B. Lawrence According to the author, Islams response to modernity has passed through three stages: revivalism, reform (including nationalism), and fundamentalism. Each has emerged from the former ones failure: the inability to achieve true independence, self-sustaining economic and scientifi…

Christianity and Islam are the two largest religious traditions. Both are global in scope. Together, the adherents of these two communities of faith comprise almost one-half of the world's population. The ways Christians and Muslims relate to each other in the 21st century will have a profound imp…

O people of belief, now you understand how harmful enmity is. Greed is another great disease, and just as harmful for Islam’s [social] life, for it causes disappointment, sickness, humiliation, deprivation, and misery to arise. The humiliation and misery of those nations who leap at this world more…

Cellular phones have become one of the 21st century's most indispensable tools. They serve a wide range of benefits, from being the fastest way to communicate to saving somebody's life. Now people are trying to design cell phones that will let us control home appliances remotely and even to access…

Light is one of the most important phenomena in the universe. The Creator designed many mechanisms, such as eyes, that use light as a communication tool. Given light's importance, many researchers have studied it. This article introduces one of the most developed applications of light: lasers, an a…

Children with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder Attention Deficit and Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) is characterized by inattentiveness, impulsivity, and excessive activity (DSM IV; American Psychiatric Association 1994), and has a prevalence rate of 3 percent to 5 percent (Pelham, Wheeler…

The origin of the debate The Biblical account, found in Genesis 2:4-3:24, has been fundamental in religious and social life. As a primal depiction of man and woman and their roles and relationships, it functioned as a constitutive element in establishing social and religious concepts as we know th…

Q: In light of recent events, the media is constantly talking about jihad. However, sometimes they do not define this term. Can you please tell us what the Qur'an says about jihad, and how the Prophet and the Companions implemented it in their daily lives? A:Jihad literally means striving or doing…

No matter who perpetrates it and where it comes from, any terrorist act is a great blow against peace, welfare, and prosperity. No matter for what reasons and purposes it is committed, no terrorist act can ever be condoned at all. Terror cannot be a means of gaining freedom or independence. Terror…