Issue 121 (January - February 2018)

Time moves on – and it moves really fast! Busy with day-to-day affairs, many of us live for short-term objectives; the finer details of life become less significant. In this issue, “The Council of the Mute” is a reminder of how refined human beings can be – and actually once were. Unfortunately, su…

Relying upon the air, sun, water, and soil, a seed sprouts and eventually becomes a bud. Soon, this bud has become a full plant with grain-bearing ears. And when the appointed time is up, they bend to one side and return to the soil in whose cradle they were born.

Who doesn't love popcorn! Eating popcorn is fun for everybody especially for kids. James Hörner’s [1] poem below might express feelings of Americans for popcorn that they consume 16 billion quarts annually [2].

“…all cultures are partial and benefit from the insights of others [resulting in a genuine global universalism that] can be arrived at only by means of an uncoerced and equal intercultural [or inter-civilizational] dialogue.” Bhikkhu Parekh Whatever is ill and unjust does not feign amid a worl…

There are some who say Islam and Western capitalism are at odds, but as with any faith or ideology, there are many different strains of Muslim thought on the West. Capitalist modernity emerged in the West out of a conservative and religious past. Society in the Middle Ages of the West was highly i…

Some scholars and poets once formed a group called the Council of the Mute. There were thirty of them, and they did not admit new members. The first requirement for being a member was engaging in deep contemplation and speaking very little.

When we watch science fiction movies, and see all the incredible, futuristic technologies on the screen, many of us wonder when these technologies will be available: flying cars, spaceships, teleportation, and many others... Some of these innovations are just around the corner; however, some of the…

In the language of Islamic Sufism, waqt (time) denotes the time when the Divine gifts pour on a traveler to the Ultimate Truth in accordance with one’s nearness to Him. These gifts invade the inner world with their Divine quality according to the initiate’s capacity to receive them in the frequenci…

Pain is like our sixth sense. Biology classes and textbooks consider pain as a sensation stemming from some injury to cells or tissue, which may have died, so it is wise to pay attention when we feel pain. One may consider pain as the alarm system or fuse installed in our body.

Too often, O God, the terrors of the world seem to overwhelm the promises of Your love. Too often, O God, the smallness of our talents, resources and opportunities dishearten and distract us and make us doubt the promises of Your love. Too often, O God, we do not even think of You, do not even list…

Every nation has something to be proud of. Japan has Mount Fuji, a mountain that proudly stands at 3,776 meters. Although less high than other iconic peaks around the world, it is still a challenge to climb.

Australia is an extraordinary part of the earth, with its scorching sand mountains that stretch across barren plains, rock columns each unique and amazing, labyrinth-like domes that rise like towers, spine-chilling cliffs, misty rainforests, highlands and national parks. A land of dreams for many p…

A pleasing coincidence of mutual thought has occurred because some years ago your correspondent was asked why he had not embraced Islam. My reply was that had Jesus and Muhammad ever met they would have got along splendidly. Here is the book to tell us why. This timely work, which is published dur…

Question: What points should we consider to avoid doing more harm than good while carrying out the duty of “enjoining the good and forbidding the evil”? Answer: The Qur’an outlines that “enjoining the good and forbidding the evil” is a distinctive characteristic of being the best community (Al Imr…

Teaching science is sometimes a challenge, and teachers need to find ways to draw kids’ attention. Young children are naturally interested in the behavior of animals. They especially enjoy making friends with pets and observing birds. Teaching science to kid with examples from animals always work…

Liu, Z. et al. Cloning of macaque monkeys by somatic cell nuclear transfer. Cell, January 2018. After two decades of failures, scientists have finally cloned monkeys using somatic cell nuclear transfer (SCNT), the same method that was used for the first animal clone, Dolly the sheep, over 20 years…