Issue 150 (Nov - Dec 2022)

The idiom “being a child of one’s time,” or rather “being a child of the moment,” offers food for thought. In Islamic mysticism, a seeker of Truth is expected to focus on the moment. The past is gone, and the future is not yet here; one should not waste his or her energy with the sorrows of the pas…

When the sun sets and everyone returns home, a silence envelops the streets from all sides. Everything turns quiet, and the night begins to speak in a way only the people of the night understand. How unique is the letter-less, wordless murmur of nighttime for the people of the night! When the night…

Trust is a concept that is the foundation for everything we do in our lives. We utilize trust to establish and maintain our interactions with our family members, friends, business associates, other members of society, and any information technology we use. In our daily lives, we use statements like…

When the first color TV entered in our lives in the 1980s, it made a huge difference. It was only a few of our neighbors who had one, and we always wanted to go to him to watch cartoons in color, which was much more fun than in black-and-white. Younger generations who are reading this article were…

We learn from the history of religions that Prophets performed miracles, by God’s permission, to convince their people into faith. By God’s leave, Abraham was not hurt when he was thrown into the fire; the sea divided by God’s leave so Moses could lead his people across it; Jesus revived the dead b…

We are witnessing technological advancements far faster than any other time in history. We are able to use many of them in our daily lives: computers, smart phones, and cars come with new features that are meant to serve us with a more pleasurable and safer use. But many of us use them without full…

In the language of Sufism, when used together, sayr u suluk (journeying and initiation) denotes becoming free of bodily and animal appetites to a certain extent within the framework of certain principles, searching for ways to reach God and traveling toward Him by the heart in order to lead a life…

When God Almighty stated that He would place the human as His vicegerent / steward on earth, the angels endeavored to understand the truth of the matter. They asked, “Will You set therein one who will cause disorder and corruption on it and shed blood?” (al-Baqarah 2:30). This verse is followed by…

One may feel inclined to avoid the obvious, but most thinking readers and writers will say that the defining factor of our century is fundamentalism. And yet, there is something that goes hand-in-hand with fundamentalism: the material savage that is raging around our planet. Wasn’t it always, one w…

Sea sheep is a cute and cuddly animal, which could have been appropriately called “leaf sheep,” for it really looks like a sheep among lush green leaves. It is also called the solar periwinkle. What is unique with it is that photosynthesis, an event unique to the plant kingdom, takes place in this…

The liberating document of Vatican Council II, Nostra Aetate, stirred up an enormous interest in interfaith inquiry. One of the distinctive modern Catholic voices belongs to David Burrell (b. 1933), a philosophic theologian and Professor Emeritus at Moreau Seminary, Notre Dame, Indiana. His book, T…

  How can one keep their motivation and sincerity while doing good works and services—and keep it as fresh as at the beginning? What can be done to inspire new generations to devote their lives to lofty goals? It is true that people usually start off with utmost sincerity and devotion in their ac…

How much sleep is good for health? Sabie S et al. Association of sleep duration at age 50, 60, and 70 years with risk of multimorbidity in the UK: 25-year follow-up of the Whitehall II cohort study. PLOS Medicine, October 2022. Sleep is an essential function to help restore, rest and rejuvenate t…