The most common trait that characterizes most Muslims is their inability to think, disability to think, lack of desire to think, absence of fire to think. This trait appeared because most Muslims abandoned the first commandments of their Book: reading and writing mentioned in 96:1, 96:3, and 96:4. (i)
Thinking is equal to reading plus writing. Thinking-reading-writing is fard al-ayn (individual obligation) (ii) and most Muslims neglected it for five centuries. Thinking is about making connections both literally and figuratively because thinking produces new neural pathways and neuronal networks in the brain. (iii) During the last five hundred years natural sciences made enormous progress while Muslims froze in a time capsule, like an ancient fossilized insect in the drop of amber, and by using the winter cold of non-thinking, cryogenically put themselves in a coma-like sleep, and preserved their mindsets and mentalities at the level of the sixteenth century.
Nursi, in his Nineteenth Word, argued there were three sources of evidence that explain God: Universe, Human, and Quran. (iv) The mission of Muslims is to find and make connections between the Universe, Human, and Quran. The universe is the source of natural sciences, human beings are the source of social sciences, humanities, and arts, and Quran and other divine books are the sources of religious sciences. These three make the three-dimensional mental world of culture and civilization. Alas, Muslims abandoned Universe, forgot humans, and betrayed the Quran, and as a result, they now live in zero-dimensional reality whereas other cultures and civilizations live in two-dimensional or one-dimensional realities.
The periodic table of elements has more than one hundred elements and ninety-four of them occur naturally. (v) The periodic table is like an alphabet of the Universe, and everything in the Universe is composed of these letters-elements from the alphabet of the periodic table. For example, organic life forms have the letters CHON in them because they are mainly composed of carbon, hydrogen, oxygen, nitrogen. Similarly, silicon-based life forms (electronics, robots, computers, etc.) are mainly composed of silicon and copper, which means SiCu.
Nursi, in his Tenth Word, contended there are general and universal principles that govern the Universe, and these principles are known as God’s All-Beautiful Names. (vi) According to some traditions, there are ninety-nine of them, (vii) however the Jawshan prayer has about one thousand different names and characteristics of God. (viii) In this article, Glossary of God’s All-Beautiful Names from Ali Unal’s The Qur'an with Annotated Interpretation in Modern English is going to be used.
Next, we can make connections between the periodic table of elements and God’s All- Beautiful Names. For example, hydrogen (H) can be connected to the names Awwal, Ahad, Fard, Wahid because it was the first element to be created and because it has one proton only. Helium (He) and other noble gases might be linked to Baqi and Kafi because they stay the same and do not react with other elements. Neon (Ne) and Xenon (Xe) can be related to Nur because they are used to produce light. Carbon (C), oxygen (O), and nitrogen (N) can be connected to Hayy and Muhyi because life is carbon-based, and oxygen and nitrogen are essential for aerobic organisms. Silicon (Si) might be linked to Khabir, Hakim, and ‘Alim because it is the brain of computers and other electronics. Iron (Fe) might be related to Qadir and Qawiyy because strong structures, power tools, and weaponry are made out of iron. Uranium (U) and plutonium (Pu) might be linked to Mumit, Darr, and Qahhar because they are used to make nuclear weapons of mass destruction. Gold (Au), silver (Ag), and platinum (Pt) can be connected to the names Ghaniyy and Mughni because they are used to accrue and measure wealth.
The realm of hormones can also be linked to the names of God. Hormones are mainly made of CHON, but the difference in the number of atoms makes all the difference. For example, C9H13NO3 and C21H30O5 are hormones composed of the same CHON atoms, and the only difference between them is the number of atoms and the molecular structure. However, the first one is adrenaline which is an alertness hormone and it can be linked to Raqib, and the second one is cortisol which is the stress hormone and it can be linked to Qabid. Next, C8H11NO2, C10H12N2O, and C43H66N12 are the hormones named dopamine, serotonin, and oxytocin; they are responsible for reward and learning, pleasure, and social bonding. This means, dopamine is linked to Hadi and Rashid, serotonin is connected to Jawad and Mu’ti, and oxytocin is related to ‘Atuf, Wadud, Halim, Habib, Hannan. The enormous molecule of insulin C257H383N65O77S6 has a role in metabolism and it can be connected to Razzaq. The molecules that have formulae of C4H5N3O, C5H5N5O, C5H5N5, and C5H6N2O2 are called cytosine, guanine, adenine, and thymine. They are nucleobases; this means they are building blocks of DNA. They can be related to names Hafiz, Hasib, Musawwir because our identity, external appearance, heredity, and many other properties are stored and preserved in them. The next molecules determine feminity and masculinity, and they can be connected to Jamil and Jalil. They are C19H28O2 and C18H24O2, and their names are testosterone (Jalil) and estradiol (estrogen, Jamil).
The difference in one carbon atom and four oxygen atoms (five atoms in total) changes the physiology and psychology of the sexes. Here I want to stop and pay tribute to Said Nursi, who, I think, is the most influential thinker and writer of the twentieth century. His magnum opus, Words, contains the notions of hydrogen, oxygen, carbon, and nitrogen, and he was the rare Islamic thinker who had the courage and capacity to think, write and connect natural, social, and religious sciences.
In a similar way, the spectrum of electromagnetic waves can be linked to the names of God. There are seven types of electromagnetic waves: radio waves, microwaves, infrared waves, visible light, ultraviolet rays, x-rays, gamma rays. Radio waves can be related to Khabir because they are used for communication. Microwaves can be connected to Batin because they are absorbed not on the surface of objects but inside of them. Infrared waves are related to ‘Adl and Muqsit because they are heatwaves of living things, and they are neither freezing cold nor scorching hot. Visible light is connected to Basir and Nur because that is the part of electromagnetic waves that we perceive as light and see it with our eyes. Ultraviolet light is linked to Mutahhir because it is used for food, air, and water purification. (ix) X-rays are related to Batin and Basir because they are used to examine the interior structure of objects. Gamma rays can be connected to Qadir, Latif, and Shafi because they are the most energetic, penetrating and they are used to treat cancer.
The photosynthesis reaction is the reaction by which energy is produced on the Earth; photosynthesis takes dead carbon dioxide gas and liquid water to produce living plants and oxygen for animals and humans. Its equation is
6CO2 + 6H2O + light → C6H12O6 + 6O2
Photosynthesis can be linked-to names Nur, Muhyi, Hayy, Faliqu’l-habb, Fatir, Khaliq, Razzaq, Rahman.
In the human body there are four main systems: digestive (stomach), circulatory (heart), respiratory (lungs), reproductive. The digestive system might be related to Razzaq, circulatory system – Hayy and Muqallibx, respiratory system – Qabid and Basit, reproductive system – Khallaq, Hannan, Habib, Jalil, Jamil.
Similarly, the complex numbers in mathematics can be linked with Alimu’l-ghayb and Batin; Euclidean geometry – Muqaddir, non-Euclidean geometry – Muqtadir, Qabid, Musi, Basit. In physics, the four concepts of space, time, matter, and energy can be connected to the names Musi and Basit, Dahr, Khallaq, and Qadir.
In conclusion, if Muslims do not start thinking, writing, reading, and connecting then they are doomed and damned to exist in a zero-dimensional world devoid of knowledge of the universe, humans, and the Quran. The ability to draw connections between natural, social, and religious sciences has to be cultivated from the early ages; it should be the daily activity and life- long habit of Muslims because their Book orders them to think, to reflect, to connect, to read, to write. So, we listen and we obey, or we listen and we ignore?
2:111 … Say: “Produce your proof if you are truthful!” (xi)
25:30. And the Messenger says: “My Lord! Surely my people have made this Qur’an something worthy of no attention.” (xii)
-İman isteyen münafık
Appendix: Glossary of God’s All-Beautiful Names (xiii)
‘Adl: The All-Just
Ahad: The unique one of Absolute oneness (who is beyond all kinds of human conceptions of Him and absolutely free from having any partners, likes, parents, sons or daughters; one who manifests His certain particular Names on an individual thing or being to give that thing or being their unique individuality)
‘Alīm: The All-Knowing
Ālimu’l-ghaybi wa’shshahādah: The Knower of the unseen (all that lies beyond sense- perception) and the witnessed (the sensed realm)
Awwal: The First (whom there is none that precedes) Bāqī: The All-Permanent
Bāsit: The All-expanding Basīr: The All-seeing
Bātin: The All-Inward (who encompasses the whole existence from within in His Knowledge, and there is none that is more penetrating than Him)
Dārr: The Creator of evil and harm
Fāliqu’l-habb wa’n-nawā: The splitting of the grain and the fruit-stone (so that they germinate by His command)
Fard: The All-Independent, single one (free from having any equals or likes in His essence and Attributes)
Fātir: The All-originating (with a unique individuality)
Ghaniyy: The All-wealthy and self-sufficient
Habīb: The All-Loving and Loved
Hādī: The All-Guiding
Hafīz: The All-Preserving and Keeper of records
Hakīm: The All-wise (in whose every act and decree there are many instances of wisdom)
Halīm: The All-Clement (showing no haste to punish the errors of His servants)
Hannān: The All-Kind and Caring
Hasīb: The All-sufficing as one who reckons and settles the accounts (of His servants) Hayy: The All-Living
Jalīl: The All-Majestic
Jamīl: The All-Gracious and All-Beautiful Jawād: The All-Generous
Kāfī: The All-sufficing Khabīr: The All-Aware Khallāq: The supreme Creator
Latīf: The All-subtle (penetrating into the most minute dimensions of all things) Mughnī: The All-enriching
Muhyī: The one who revives, who gives life to the dead Mumīt: The one Causing to die; the All-dealer of death Muqaddir: The All-determining
Muqsit: The All-dealing of justice Muqtadir: The All-omnipotent
Mūsī: The All-expanding (of the universe and sustenance for His creatures) Musawwir: The All-Fashioning
Nūr: The All-Light
Qābid: The All-Constricting Qadīr: The All-Powerful
Qahhār: The All-overwhelming (with absolute sway over all that exists) Qawiyy: The All-strong
Rahmān: The All-Merciful (who has mercy on the whole existence and provides for them without making a distinction between believers and unbelievers)
Raqīb: The All-watchful
Rashīd: The All-Guide to what is correct Razzāq: The All-Providing
Shāfī: The All-Healing
Wadūd: The All-Tender and excusing; The All-Loving and All-Beloved
Wāhid: The one (having no partners and equals; one who manifests all His Names upon the whole of the universe, or a species, or on a whole)
References:
i Ali Ünal, The Qur’an with Annotated Interpretation in Modern English, n.d., www.mquran.org www.theholybook.org.
ii Oxford Islamic Studies Online, “Fard Al-Ayn (Source: The Oxford Dictionary of Islam),” accessed January 28, 2021, http://www.oxfordislamicstudies.com/article/opr/t125/e624.
iii Dale H. Schunk, Learning Theories: An Educational Perspective, 6th ed (Boston: Pearson,
2012),
https://www.researchgate.net/file.PostFileLoader.html?id=53ad2847cf57d75c068b45c5&assetKey=AS% 3A273549456019456%401442230680395.
iv Said Bediuzzaman Nursi, The Words: On the Nature and Purposes of Man, Life, and All Things, trans. Şükran Vahide, vol. 1, Risale-i Nur Collection, 2008, http://www.sozler.com.tr.
v Wikipedia, “Periodic Table,” in Wikipedia, January 26, 2021, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Periodic_table&oldid=1002771493.
vi Nursi, The Words: On the Nature and Purposes of Man, Life, and All Things.
vii sufism.org, “The Most Beautiful Names of Allah,” The Threshold Society (blog), accessed February 19, 2021, https://sufism.org/ninety-nine-names/the-most-beautiful-names-of-allah-2.
viii Cevsen.de, “Jawshan | Arabic-English (12),” accessed February 19, 2021, http://www.cevsen.de/jawshan-arabic-english-12/.
ix Cevsen.de, “Jawshan | Arabic-English (26),” accessed February 19, 2021, http://www.cevsen.de/jawshan-arabic-english-26/.
x Cevsen.de, “Jawshan | Arabic-English (12).”
xi Ünal.
xii Ünal.
xiii Ünal, The Qur’an with Annotated Interpretation in Modern English.
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