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Monthly Archive

2017

Welcome to our Archives page. On this page you will find a total of 121 of our articles broken down into Months and Years.
Issue 116 (March - April 2017)
Sophia Pandya
8872

Schoolgirls Kidnapped in Nigeria!

Introduction On the night of January 13, 2017, eight people were kidnapped at gun point in the Ogun State of Nigeria,[1] by masked members of a group calling itself “The Delta Militants.” Those kidna... read more..

Issue 116 (March - April 2017)
M. Fethullah Gulen
3709

A Spirited and Active Life of Service

Question: What are the essentials to remain constantly spirited and active, both in our individual and social lives? Answer: Stagnancy or complacency must not have any room in a believer’s worldview.... read more..

Issue 117 (May - June 2017)
The Fountain
6436

Editorial: The Rise and Fall of Civilizations

Many past civilizations believed – and in fact many still believe – that a solar eclipse was an omen of a great event, be it for evil or good.Some believed the eclipse happened because a deity swallow... read more..

Issue 117 (May - June 2017)
M. Fethullah Gulen
7516

Another Eclipse Is Over

Never despair, keep your willpower alive If you can, be a source of hope for all Our society is currently being challenged by a spiral of problems – problems of a rare kind. We are troubled by co read more..

Issue 117 (May - June 2017)
Daniel Hummel
4518

Religious Values and Public Service

Religion has been an important part of human civilization. Anthropologists have theorized that after hunter-gatherers settled down and began farming and forming communities the need to reduce tensions... read more..

Issue 117 (May - June 2017)
Osman Senkaya
8594

Sweet, Sour, Salty, Bitter, and Umami

We are taught that there are four basic tastes. But what taste best describes chicken soup, mushrooms, or pastrami? An NPR story recently explored how the line between specific tastes is actually quit... read more..

Issue 117 (May - June 2017)
Thomas Michel
7553

The Gülen Community: Who to Believe – Politicians or Actions?

On July 15, 2016, while President Erdoğan was vacationing in the Mediterranean coastal town of Marmaris, Istanbul and Ankara were shaken by an attempted coup d’état carried out by certain members of t... read more..

Issue 117 (May - June 2017)
Adam Penale
13126

Timbuktu: A Lost Center of Education and Trade

Located in the modern-day West African nation of Mali, the city of Timbuktu was once a bustling Islamic metropolitan center well known to traders and academics throughout Africa and the Middle East. W... read more..

Issue 117 (May - June 2017)
Atif Yorulmaz
7504

Healing through Animals: Zootherapy

We have a good deal of literature on herbal medicine, which is even recognized, within a certain frame, in Western medicine. However, most people thinking of herbal medicine think of herbs – perhaps l... read more..

Issue 117 (May - June 2017)
M. Fethullah Gulen
6832

Ghurba (Separation)

Literally meaning the state of being a foreigner, homelessness, loneliness, separation, and being a stranger in one’s own land, ghurba (separation) has been defined in the language of Sufism as renoun... read more..

Issue 117 (May - June 2017)
Madelaine Landry
6399

Between a Rock and a Hard Place

The Biblical book of Exodus tells of being a stranger in a strange land. It has universal resonance. To fully grasp the experience of terra incognita, recall a time you entered a place you’d never bef... read more..

Issue 117 (May - June 2017)
Dilara Guvercin
6948

The Ethics of Human Experimentation

Taking risks is an inevitable necessity when trying to achieve a breakthrough in modern science, technology, or human understanding. A moral dilemma, however, emerges when the risks threaten human liv... read more..

Issue 117 (May - June 2017)
Alice Bolton
18886

Ibn Khaldun on Luxury and the Destruction of Civilizations

“At the beginning of the empire, the tax rates were low and the revenues were high. At the end of the empire, the tax rates were high and the revenues were low.” Former US President Ronald Reagan read more..

Issue 117 (May - June 2017)
Mary Lahaj
7746

Praying with God-consciousness

At the acute-care, big city hospital where I trained as a Muslim chaplain, I was called to support a family who had been visiting their loved one, when he suddenly died. To personalize the patient, I ... read more..

Issue 117 (May - June 2017)
Ted Keene
6126

Slender But Strong Dragonflies

Many scientists have been conducting studies examining the natural world for clues that will hopefully improve human flight engineering. One of the studies they launched explored the miraculous design... read more..

Issue 117 (May - June 2017)
Sam Plat
6389

Technology Inspired by Wheat Stems

Human beings have made significant developments in technology. Better designs are emerging by the day. The dizzying speed of development hasn’t just brought serious technological progress, but serious... read more..

Issue 117 (May - June 2017)
M. Fethullah Gulen
6324

Love and Obedience

Question: “Love should be learned from Satan and obedience from Adam.” What does this statement, which is originally attributed to Hallaj al-Mansur, mean? Hallaj al-Mansur was inspired by the philoso... read more..

Issue 117 (May - June 2017)
The Fountain
5765

Stem cells as an arthritis vaccine

Stem cells as an arthritis vaccine Brunger JM et al. Genome Engineering of Stem Cells for Autonomously Regulated, Closed-Loop Delivery of Biologic Drugs. Stem Cell Reports, April 2017. Arthritis is ... read more..

Issue 118 (July - August 2017)
The Fountain
5046

Science as a Product of Faith

In his newly released novel The Prisoner of Al-Hakim, Bradley Steffens tells the story of Alhasan Ibn Al-Haytham, one of the greatest minds in the history of science. Ibn Al-Haytham is known for his p... read more..

Issue 118 (July - August 2017)
M. Fethullah Gulen
5920

The Travelers of Light

The travelers of light have always endeavored to surpass mere corporeality. Their attitude has always manifested in a determination to bid farewell to ordinary, human feelings. Voicing their heart and... read more..

Issue 118 (July - August 2017)
Noah Weaver
6235

The Last Elements And The Building Blocks Of The Physical World

The announcement of the discovery of the last four elements of the periodic table, at the International Association of Pure and Applied Chemistry (IUPAC) on December 30, 2015, was met with enthusiasm ... read more..

Issue 118 (July - August 2017)
Lawrence Brazier
5934

I am an Immigrant

I really am an immigrant. I am British and I (rather favorably) married an Austrian girl and we have lived in Austria for 36 years. There has been scarcely a hint of Ausländerfeindlichkeit (hostility ... read more..

Issue 118 (July - August 2017)
Rumeysa Yazar
11881

Sea Cucumbers and Their Extraordinary Defense Systems

Sea cucumbers are soft-bodied invertebrates from the Holothuroidea class of thorns.  Although they are usually a long cylindrical structure reminiscent of worms, some of them are also spherical.  They... read more..

Issue 118 (July - August 2017)
Billy von Raven
5481

The 21st Century: The Holistic Age

“The whole society becomes visible to itself as an imperishable living unit. Generations of individuals pass, like anonymous cells from a living body; but the sustaining, timeless form remains.” - J read more..

Issue 118 (July - August 2017)
Ali M. Kahveci
7270

One Cup of Tea, Please!

An apple a day keeps the doctor away – or so the old adage goes. Can the same be said about tea? A sufficient number of studies confirm that a strong inverse correlation exists between consumption of ... read more..

Issue 118 (July - August 2017)
M. Fethullah Gulen
4961

Ightirab - Doubled Separation

Ightirab (doubled separation) is a feeling resembling that which arises from falling into error after reform, or night following day, or the darkness of distress that surrounds the heart after exhilar... read more..

Issue 118 (July - August 2017)
M. Fethullah Gulen
4708

The Faithful

I felt Your Infinite Mercy in my soul, While wrapped all around With the divine fear’s glowing coal. As my hopes overflowed my heart My aspirations faded with Your Majesty. So many times I become a M... read more..

Issue 118 (July - August 2017)
Noah Weaver
4937

The Vital Tasks of Trace Elements

Most living things, including the human body, are made up of only 11 elements. We know the major elements, like hydrogen, oxygen, and carbon, but what about the lesser known trace elements? They, to read more..

Issue 118 (July - August 2017)
Allen S. Maller
5108

Minorities Opposing Oppression: Hanukah and Jihad

In Arabic, the word Jihad is a noun meaning the activity of "striving and/or persevering.” According to Prophet Muhammad there are two types of Jihad: minor and major. The Prophet referred to this whe... read more..

Issue 118 (July - August 2017)
Justin Pahl
6842

Take Up the Pen, Not the Sword

Bradley Steffens’ fine work of historical fiction, “The Prisoner of Al-Hakim,” begins quietly, with two friends sitting in a study, talking about mathematics. One of these friends is Ibn al-Haytham, o... read more..

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