Skip to main content

Issue 43 (July - September 2003)

Issue 43 (July - September 2003)

Subscribe to The Fountain Magazine

Articles

Editorial (Issue 43)

31 March 2003 | Jay Willoughby | Issue 43 (July - September 2003)

The desire to play God remains as strong as ever. We still see depictions of those who believe in their own divinity, although they might not use that exact word. We see ordinary people confer their adoration upon sports and political figures, movie and television stars, and successful people in ge…

Toward Tomorrow

30 June 2003 | M. Fethullah Gulen | Issue 43 (July - September 2003)

The Islamic world continues to squirm in the vicious grasp of error, unable to turn to its own spirit and essence for succor. Two steps forward lead to several steps backwards being taken and then one gets lost. As a result, our world has deteriorated beyond recovery, and the wheels of states and n…

Nanotechnology

30 June 2003 | Dr. Ibrahim B. Syed | Issue 43 (July - September 2003)

Islam encourages the use of science and the scientific method. Acquiring knowledge is obligatory upon every Muslim, male and female. In Islam, science and technology should be used for moral ends and serve humanity's legitimate needs, and be considered as yet another means to understand and see God…

Islamic Gardens: Growing Cosmological Ideals

30 June 2003 | Sara Provins | Issue 43 (July - September 2003)

If a random group of people were asked about their concept of heaven, it is likely that a wide variety of answers would be received. According to Lisa Miller, a recent poll revealed that 76% of Americans believe in heaven, that 71% of those people think of heaven as an "actual place," and that 19%…

The Search for Gravitational Waves

30 June 2003 | Melvin A. Lewis | Issue 43 (July - September 2003)

Gravitational waves released from cataclysmic events in our galactic neighborhood are 40 orders of magnitude weaker than Coulomb forces and are nearly undetectable on Earth. One order of magnitude is a factor of ten. These waves originate in nature as we speak, having been sent on their way, perhap…

Divine Truth and Lessons in Paul and Virginia

30 June 2003 | Dr. Huseyin Ozcan | Issue 43 (July - September 2003)

The French author, Bernardin De Saint Pierre expressed the delicacy and beauty of nature, as well as showing the balance and harmony in the universe in his three-volume work "Investigating Nature." He described how the African natives were treated badly on the island in his Journey to the French Is…

Social Capital: An Important Power Resource For National Progress

30 June 2003 | Dr. Selim Aydin | Issue 43 (July - September 2003)

Each nation or community has the desire and potential to establish a civilization on its own land, one that suits its worldview and displays this to humanity. The realization of this desire depends upon holding sufficient power. When we look at the last 200 years of world history, power of capital…

The Amazing Olive

30 June 2003 | Dr. Musa Saracoglu | Issue 43 (July - September 2003)

People pay attention to other people or things according to the degree of their importance. Thus, if the Lord of the Universe explicitly mentions something in His revelation to humanity, it surely is something upon which we should reflect. The Qur'an refers to olives directly in surahs al-An'am, a…

Transforming Hardship into Mercy

30 June 2003 | Bediuzzaman Said Nursi | Issue 43 (July - September 2003)

In His name, be He glorified! Prisoners, especially those who are young, need the Risale-i Nur as much as they need bread. Young people, following their blind emotions and desires, prefer an ounce of immediate pleasure to tons of future pleasure. However, an hour of dissolute pleasure may result i…

Self-inflation or Self-improvement?

30 June 2003 | The Fountain | Issue 43 (July - September 2003)

A Different Approach to Self-improvement (By M.Fethullah GULEN...) In our contemporary world, our self and our ego have become unbridled, insolent arrogant and inflated, as if the ego knows everything. This becomes apparent when we look at such phrases as "self-respect" and "I did." Developing on…

Painless Love

30 June 2003 | Alphonse Dougan | Issue 43 (July - September 2003)

Love is an innate human trait. To love and to be loved are among the most basic human needs. But while love is probably our greatest source of pleasure, it also has the potential to be our greatest source of sorrow. When thinking about love, one cannot help but ask: "Can we love without experiencin…

Spiritual Absence and Suicide

30 June 2003 | Dr. Besir Altun | Issue 43 (July - September 2003)

My heart misses a beat every time an ambulance pulls up in front of our hospital, tearing the silence of the night. When I see a young person lying still on a stretcher entering through the emergency door, and when his relatives say that it was a suicide attempt, I rush toward him hoping that I can…

How Much Water Should We Drink?

30 June 2003 | Kadir Demircan | Issue 43 (July - September 2003)

Ancient thinkers thought that existence came from four basic elements: water, earth, fire and air. Today, although we are aware of different components as well, our existence still centers around these four basic elements. Water, an indispensable part of our lives, forms 70% of the world, 65-70% o…

Guidelines for Christian-Muslim Dialog

30 June 2003 | Dr. Kenneth Cracknell | Issue 43 (July - September 2003)

Since 9/11, no one can doubt the urgency of our need to understand the Islamic world. But even if that tragedy had not occurred, Christians would still be called upon to learn about the faith and practice of the one billion or more Muslims with whom we share this planet. Both the Christian and Musl…

Islam and Globalization

30 June 2003 | Mona Maisami | Issue 43 (July - September 2003)

The relationship between Islam and globalization has been open to much interpretation and acrimonious debate. At the crux of the current debate is the idea that Islam is somehow opposed to the process of globalization. In this article, I will illustrate why this debate should more accurately be dee…

Why are there differences between Muslims?

30 June 2003 | Hikmet Isik | Issue 43 (July - September 2003)

Q: You say that Islam is a religion of unity, but we see differences - sometimes major differences - even among the Companions. Why is this so? A: In classical Islamic terminology, pluralism means to perceive details in different ways while remaining true to the origin and truth, to understand God…

Living in the Shade of Islam

30 June 2003 | Jay Willoughby | Issue 43 (July - September 2003)

Ismail Buyukcelebi The Fountain, 2003, Paper Back, 422 pages, ISBN 1-932099-21-2 At a time when there is a vast interest in acquiring an accurate knowledge of Islam, this book is a welcome addition. What better way to learn of a religious tradition than having one who knows it intimately write abo…

Most Read in 2023

Climate Change and Our Health

Climate Change and Our Health

Fatih Demirci | Issue 151 (Jan - Feb 2023)

Physiological Effects of Music

Physiological Effects of Music

Sinem Akbulak | Issue 151 (Jan - Feb 2023)

Dunning-Kruger Effect: Audacity Born Out of Ignorance

Dunning-Kruger Effect: Audacity Born Out of Ignorance

Fatma Gunduz | Issue 152 (Mar - Apr 2023)

What Happens After Death?

What Happens After Death?

Betul Gul | Issue 152 (Mar - Apr 2023)

Imbalance in Bowel Movement: Diarrhea and Constipation

Imbalance in Bowel Movement

Naim Yilmaz | Issue 151 (Jan - Feb 2023)

Magic Squares

Most Magically Magical Magic Squares

Hakan Oztunc | Issue 152 (Mar - Apr 2023)

You Are the Placebo

You Are the Placebo

Adam Sahin | Issue 153 (May - Jun 2023)

Our World of Faith or, Being Cool and Peaceful in the Fire

Our World of Faith or, Being Cool and Peaceful in the Fire

M. Fethullah Gulen | Issue 151 (Jan - Feb 2023)