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8/3/2019 CounterCurrent Issue 4
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8/3/2019 CounterCurrent Issue 4
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COUNTERCURRENT - ISSUE 04
Mission
The aim of CounterCurrent is to engender God-consciousness and spirituality in a mate-
rial-oriented world. It particularly aims to present the true picture of Islam and doaway with the false negativity that has been associated with it. It is not a business venture
and relies solely on donations and individual sponsorship. In order for the magazine
to be issued more frequently, and distributed more widely, it requires funds. If you wish
to be part of this noble cause, please contact us. For now, we are available only through
email [stated below].
Availability
CounterCurrent is currently available for free at major public outlets and some smaller
establishments. For personal subscription please contact us through our email.
Disclaimer
The opinions and views expressed by contributors are their own, and do not necessarily
express CounterCurrents viewpoint or position. CounterCurrent does not accept responsi-
bility for views expressed in articles that appear in its pages.
Contribution of Articles
We welcome your articles for publication in the magazine. We do however reserve the right
to edit them or not publish them at all. Articles should be of a standard quality and
with a positive message. They should be written preferably in Microsoft Word and for-
warded with the contact details of the writer to our email address below. Worthy articles
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Copyright Notice
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sion from the editor. Please contact at the email address below.
E-mail: [email protected]
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The so called civilized human being of themodern age is not so civilized when it comesto moral issues; and he has indeed surpassed
the most brute of his predecessors in his treat-ment of fellow humans. A sense of supremacy,lust for power and crass materialism seems tohave devoured the spirit of men, leaving be-hind husks that perceive nothing but wealthand lust and are prepared to go to any lengthin pursuit of these illusory means of pleasureand success.
Such a condition, no doubt, owes its exis-tence to the severing of relationship betweenman and his Creator. Mans prime need and
ultimate goal was to seek the love of God andreunite with Him. The void left by Divine Lovewas bound to be lled with sensual pursuitsand a mirage of happiness. It is imperative thatwe retrace our steps and nd our way back toGod.
To help us tread this path of spirituality, weare in need of men of God, the likes of Maw-lana Jalal al-Din Rumi (1207-1273). It is my
pleasure to briey introduce Mawlana Rumihere, and dedicate an article to him in this is-sue.
The message of Rumi, projecting the quali-ties of love, peace and tolerance, indeed has asmuch to offer to our modern society today as ithad to his contemporaries.Rumis intense love and burning desire for theDivine came to him from his spiritual mas-ter Shams Tabrezi, initially a total stranger toRumi, and who had begged God to take him toa soul worthy of receiving this priceless trea-sure of Love. The subsequent companionship
between the two took Rumi to new heights in
spirituality. It was not long before the masterdisappeared from Rumis life, leaving himwandering in the bewilderment. This may have
editorialbeen a blessing in disguise, as it was this incidentthat was to introduce Rumi to another realm ofexperience, for all his inspired works, poetic andotherwise, were to be compiled now.
For those fortunate to have read the works ofRumi, would know of the abounding treasures that
lie within, and for those who have not, we can onlysuggest they do.As surprisingly as it may seem, this thirteenth
century poet is currently one of the most popularand best-selling poets in the United States. TheChristian Science Monitor had reported in 1997that Rumi was the top-selling poet in the country,and since, his popularity has just expanded.Moreover, in celebration of the 800th anniversaryof his legacy, UNESCO has named 2007 the In-ternational Year of Rumi.It is impossible to do any justice to the grand per-sonality of Rumi in such a brief article; hence Iconclude with some touching words of Rumi andleave the readers to fathom for themselves theoceans of love where Rumi resides.
Give as though no one is watching,Love as though youve never been hurt before,Sing as though no one can hear you,Work as though you dont need the money,
Live as though heaven is on earth.
Gamble everything for [Divine] loveif youre a true human being.
If not, leave this gathering [of Lovers].Half-heartedness does notreach into Majesty.You set out to nd God,but then you keep stopping
for long periodsat mean-spirited roadhouses.
The truth about life is too subtle for the intellect
of a philosopher or the one of a scientist to catch;only the pure heart of a poet full of love can under-
stand it as it is.
3
Contents
Editorial..... Page 3 - Reason & Revelation..... Page 4 - Why I shed My Bikini for Niqab....
Page 6 - The Expanding Universe..... Page 8 Profound Compassion.... Page 9 -
Alcohol & Alcoholism.....Page 10 - Mawlana Jalal al Din Rumi.... Page 13 -
Children & Computer Games.... Page 18 - The Reed Flute.... Page 20
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American economist Rob-ert Samuelson recently
made an interesting obser-
vation about the American
society in his Newsweek
column: Americas glories
and evils are tightly fused
together. Quoting soci-
ologist Seymour Lipset, he
asserts that Americas eco-
nomic vitality and prog-
ress come from the same
source as do crime, fam-
ily breakdown, inequality,
and vulgarity. Freedom and
individualism have red
economic advance, yet
have also inhibited social
control. But why the quali-
ties that bring the best ina nation also should bring
the worst in it? Is humanity
doomed by having its vices
and virtues so intricately
mixed?
Samuelson does not probe
the issue. Instead he seems
to be happily resigned to it.
We are burdened as wellas blessed by our beliefs,
he says. Economics, we
may be reminded, is the
dismal science.
Actually the world is not
doomed by design. Samu-
elson comes very close
to the truth but he con-
fuses approaches or toolswith attributes. A tool that
works great in one area is
REASON AND REVELATION
also being used in anotherfor which it was never de-
signed. The problem lies
with the user who keeps on
insisting on its use in the
second area citing its suc-
cess in the rst. To put mat-
ters simply, its the free use
of reason and intellect that
is behind most of Amer-
icas (and Wests in gen-
eral) phenomenal scientic
and material progress. Its
the use of the same tool in
moral, and religious life
that has caused its equally
phenomenal moral degen-
eration!
Every tool has a designated
area of application. Outside,it will fail to work. A 4 bit
computer is good for some
elementary math involv-
ing whole numbers. It may
multiply 2 by 20 and give
the correct answer instantly.
But burdened with complex
calculations involving sev-
eral decimal digits, it willgive the WRONG answers.
A weighing scale meant
for gold will not work for
iron and vice versa. Their
resolution and capacity are
inappropriate for those ap-
plications.
Same with the tools we
use for learning about theworld. Our senses and intel-
lect are wonderful things.
Science and technologyare all about their use. Cer-
tainly it was free inquiry
driven by reason that led to
so many of the discoveries
of science. It happened at
an accelerated pace during
the past four centuries and
the results are everywhere
around us to be seen.
But a tool that is so great
in one area may be totally
useless, even dangerous, in
another. Pure reason, un-
informed by Divine Guid-
ance, is a defective tool for
deciding purpose of life
or suggesting its values.
What is Right and what is
Wrong? These questionsrequire knowledge beyond
what we can acquire by us-
ing our senses and reasoned
analysis. As a direct result,
everyones reasoning is dif-
ferent. That is why philoso-
phers have never been able
to agree upon what should
be the goal of life. Happi-ness? Survival? Pleasure?
Love? Self-fulllment?
You name it. In addition, it
is impossible for us to sep-
arate our reasoning in these
matters from our feelings.
Pure or uninformed reason
becomes just a tool to jus-
tify what we desire.Today the Wests problem
is that it has accepted the
4
By Khalid Baig
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wrong tool for developing
its moral compass. Prob-
ably the majority of its
people abhor many forms
of immorality that are pol-
luting their society. Theymay believe that they are an
abomination and evil. Yet
today such indecencies are
getting legal sanction, and
they are helpless in trying
to stop its advances. Why?
Because they cannot argue
that it is wrong based on
pure reason. It is easier to
make a case against smok-
ing in public places, than
against the worst forms of
immorality. Such is the re-
sult when pure reason be-
comes the accepted arbiter
of right and wrong.
There is nothing modern
about this either. Several
centuries ago, Obaidullah
Hasan Qirwani, a leader
of the renegade batani cult
declared it foolish for a
brother to marry his beauti-
ful sister to a total stranger,
while trying to be content
with a less qualied wife --
another stranger. She would
be much more suited to bewife of her own brother,
with whom she may be a
lot more compatible, he
argued. His argument is,
no doubt, sickening. But is
there a counter argument
based on pure reason?
Certainly mankind needs a
superior tool for determin-ing the values and purpose
of life. A source of guid-
ance that is based on certain
knowledge, not conjecture.
One that can inform our
desires rather than being
subservient to them. Thisis what all of Gods Proph-
ets, peace be upon them all,
came with. They claimed
to have access to the higher
source of knowledge, the
Divine Revelation. Those
who accepted them used
reason and observation to
verify their authenticity
and character. But they ac-
cepted Divine Revelation
as a SUPERIOR source of
knowledge! That is why a
son can tell his father:
O my father! To me has
come knowledge that had
not reached you. So fol-
low me. I will guide you
to a Way that is even and
straight. (Quran, 19:43).
All this is obvious, except
in implications. We accept
this is Right and that is
Wrong because the Revela-
tion told us. What is wrong
with usury? Gambling?Pork? Alcohol? Revela-
tion told us that they were
wrong. Why is hijab nec-
essary? Because God Al-
mighty instructed it. What
are the rights of men and
women? Those given to
them by God and His Mes-
sengers. The attribute of thetrue believers is that they
listened and followed
(Quran, 2:285). It is not
that they listened and ques-
tioned, and argued, and in-
vestigated and then if they
felt like it, they followed.[Of course, they veried
the authenticity of the Mes-
senger rst]. That is also
the message of Prophet
Ibrahims sacrice, a den-
ing event of history. For the
Quran describes the mo-
ment when the father and
son were ready for the ul-
timate sacrice by saying:
When they surrendered
(37:103). For pure reason
could have raised a million
questions about the com-
mand for that sacrice.
Normally it is difcult for
us to say I dont know.
It is even more difcult for
nations to admit a weak-
ness in their celebrated
tools of inquiry. That is
the dilemma of the modern
world, which sees so much
wrong with itself but can-
not bring itself to admitting
the problem with its basic
approach. But a true be-
liever is the person who has both the wisdom and the
courage to surrender before
the higher source of knowl-
edge and guidance. For
him Revelation informs his
reason and his reason con-
trols his emotions. Such is
the person who is blessed,
but not burdened, by hisbelief.
5
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ensuing barrage on Islam, Is-
lamic values and culture, and
the infamous declaration of
the new crusade, I started
to notice something called
Islam. Up until that point,
all I had associated with Is-
lam was women covered in
tents, wife beaters, harems,
and a world of terrorism.
As a feminist libertarian, and
an activist who was pursuing
a better world for all, my pathcrossed with that of another
activist who was already at
the lead of indiscriminately
furthering causes of reform
and justice for all. I joined in
the ongoing campaigns of my
new mentor which included,
at the time, election reform
and civil rights, among oth-
ers. Now my new activismwas fundamentally different.
Instead of selectively ad-
vocating justice only to some,
I learned that ideals such as
justice, freedom, and respect
are meant to be and are essen-
tially universal, and that own
good and common good are
not in conict. For the rst
time, I knew what all peo-
ple are created equal really
meant. But most importantly,
I learned that it only takes
faith to see the world as one
and to see the unity in crea-
tion.
One day I came across a
book that is negatively stere-
otyped in the West - The Holy
Quran. I was rst attracted by
the style and approach of theQuran, and then intrigued by
its outlook on existence, life,
creation, and the relationship
between Creator and crea-
tion. I found the Quran to
be a very insightful address
to heart and soul without the
need for an interpreter or pas-
tor.
Eventually I hit a moment of
truth: my new-found self-ful-
lling activism was nothing
more than merely embracing
a faith called Islam where I
could live in peace as a func-tional Muslim.
I bought a beautiful long gown
and head cover resembling
the Muslim womans dress
code and I walked down the
same streets and neighbour-
hoods where only days earlier
I had walked in my shorts,
bikini, or elegant Western
business attire. Although the people, the faces, and the
shops were all the same, one
thing was remarkably distinct
-Iwas not - nor was the peace
at being a woman I experi-
enced for the very rst time.
I felt as if the chains had been
broken and I was nally free.
I was delighted with the new
looks of wonder on peoplesfaces in place of the looks of
a hunter watching his prey I
had once sought. Suddenly a
weight had been lifted off my
shoulders. I no longer spent
all my time consumed with
shopping, makeup, getting
my hair done, and working
out. Finally, I was free.
Of all places, I found my Is-
lam at the heart of what somecall the most scandalous
place on earth, which makes
Why I Shed My Bikini for Niqab
6
By Sara Bokker
I am an American woman
who was born in the midst
of Americas Heartland. I
grew up, just like any other
girl, being xated with the
glamour of life in the big
city. Eventually, I moved
to Florida and on to South
Beach of Miami, a hotspot
for those seeking the glam-
orous life. Naturally, I didwhat most average Western
girls do. I focused on my ap-
pearance and appeal, basing
my self-worth on how much
attention I got from others. I
worked out religiously and
became a personal trainer, ac-
quired an upscale waterfront
residence, became a regular
exhibiting beach-goer andwas able to attain a living-
in-style kind of life.
Years went by, only to real-
ize that my scale of self-ful-
llment and happiness slid
down the more I progressed
in my feminine appeal. I
was a slave to fashion. I was a
hostage to my looks.
As the gap continued to pro-gressively widen between my
self-fulllment and lifestyle, I
sought refuge in escapes from
alcohol and parties to medita-
tion, activism, and alternative
religions, only to have the lit-
tle gap widen to what seemed
like a valley. I eventually re-
alized that it was all merely a
pain killer rather than an ef-
fective remedy.By now it was September
11, 2001. As I witnessed the
The New Symbol of Womens Liberation
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it all the more dear and spe-
cial.
While content with Hijab I
became curious about Niqab,
seeing an increasing number
of Muslim women in it. I
asked my Muslim husband,whom I married after I con-
verted to Islam, whether I
should wear Niqab or just set-
tle for the Hijab I was already
wearing. My husband simply
advised me that he believes
Hijab is mandatory in Islam
while Niqab is not. At the
time, my Hijab consisted of
head scarf that covered all myhair except for my face, and a
loose long black gown called
Abaya that covered all my
body from neck to toe.
A year-and-a-half passed, and
I told my husband I wanted to
wear Niqab. My reason, this
time, was that I felt it would
be more pleasing to Allah, the
Creator, increasing my feel-
ing of peace at being more
modest. He supported my de-
cision and took me to buy an
Isdaal, a loose black gown
that covers from head to toe,
and Niqab, which covers all
my head and face except for
my eyes.
Soon enough, news started
breaking about politicians,
Vatican clergymen, libertar-ians, and so-called human
rights and freedom activists
condemning Hijab at times,
and Niqab at others as be-
ing oppressive to women,
an obstacle to social integra-
tion, and more recently, as an
Egyptian ofcial called it - a
sign of backwardness.
I nd it to be a blatant hypoc-risy when Western govern-
ments and so-called human
rights groups rush to defend
womens rights when some
governments impose a cer-
tain dress code on women,
yet such freedom ghters
look the other way when
women are being deprived oftheir rights, work, and educa-
tion just because they choose
to exercise their right to wear
Niqab or Hijab. Today, wom-
en in Hijab or Niqab are being
increasingly barred from work
and education not only under
totalitarian regimes such as in
Tunisia, Morocco, and Egypt,
but also in Western democra-cies such as France, Holland,
and Britain.
Today I am still a feminist,
but a Muslim feminist, who
calls on Muslim women to
assume their responsibilities
in providing all the support
they can for their husbands
to be good Muslims. To raise
their children as upright Mus-
lims so they may be beacons
of light for all humanity once
again. To enjoin good - any
good - and to forbid evil - any
evil. To speak righteousness
and to speak up against all
ills. To ght for our right to
wear Niqab or Hijab [which-
ever we chose] and to please
our Creator. But just as impor-
tantly to carry our experiencewith Niqab or Hijab to fellow
women who may never have
had the chance to understand
what wearing Niqab or Hijab
means to us and why do we,
so dearly, embrace it.
Most of the women I know
wearing Niqab are Western
converts, some of whom are
not even married. Others wearNiqab without full support of
either family or surroundings.
What we all have in common
is that it is the personal choice
of each and every one of us,
which none of us is willing to
surrender.
Willingly or unwillingly,
women are bombarded withstyles of dressing-in-little-
to-nothing virtually in every
means of communication
everywhere in the world. As
an ex non-Muslim, I insist
on womens right to equally
know about Hijab, its virtues,
and the peace and happiness
it brings to a womans life as
it did to mine. Yesterday, thebikini was the symbol of my
liberty, when in actuality it
only liberated me from my
spirituality and true value as a
respectable human being.
I couldnt be happier to shed
my bikini in South Beach
and the glamorous West-
ern lifestyle to live in peace
with my Creator and enjoy
living among fellow humans
as a worthy person. It is why
I choose to wear Niqab, and
why I will die defending my
inalienable right to wear it.
Today, Niqab is the new sym-
bol of womans liberation.
To women who surrender to
the ugly stereotype against
the Islamic modesty of Hijab,
I say: You dont know whatyou are missing.
Sara Bokker is a former ac-tress/model/tness instructor
and activist. Currently, Sarais Director of Communica-
tions at The March For Jus-tice, a co-founder of The
Global Sisters Network, and
producer of the widely knownShock & Awe Gallery.
7
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8
single point. The calcula-tions showed that this sin-gle point that harboured allthe matter of the universeshould have zero volumeand innite density. Theuniverse had come aboutfrom this single point withzero volume. A great ex-
plosion was assumed that
marked the beginning ofthe universe, and the theorycame to be known as theBig Bang theory.It has to be stated thatzero volume is a theo-retical expression used fordescriptive purposes. Sci-ence can dene the conceptof nothingness, which is
beyond the limits of hu-man comprehension, only
by expressing it as a pointwith zero volume. In truth,a point with no volumemeans nothingness. Theuniverse has come into be-ing from nothingness. Inother words, it was created.
The theory showed that inthe beginning all the objectsin the universe were of one
piece and then were parted.This fact, discovered byscientists just recently, wasstated in the Quran 14 cen-turies ago, when people hada very limited knowledgeabout the universe:
Continued on Page 12 ...
universe constantly ex-pands.To better understand, theuniverse can be thought ofas the surface of a balloon
being blown up. Just as the points on the surface of a balloon move apart fromeach other as the balloon isinated, so do the objects
in space move apart fromeach other as the universekeeps expanding.In fact, this had been theo-retically discovered evenearlier. Albert Einstein,who is considered thegreatest scientist of the cen-tury, had concluded afterthe calculations he made intheoretical physics that theuniverse could not be stat-ic. However, he had laid hisdiscovery to rest simply notto conict with the widelyrecognised static universemodel of his time. Later on,Einstein was to identify hisact as the greatest mistake
of his career. Subsequent-ly, it became denite byHubbles observations thatthe universe expands.What importance, then, didthe fact that the universeexpands have on the exist-ence of the universe?The expansion of the uni-verse implied that if it could
travel backwards in time,the universe would proveto have originated from a
Harun Yahya
In 1929, in the CaliforniaMount Wilson observatory,an American astronomer bythe name of Edwin Hubblemade one of the greatestdiscoveries in the historyof astronomy. While he ob-served the stars with a gianttelescope, he found out thatthe light from them was
shifted to the red end of thespectrum and that this shiftwas more pronounced thefurther a star was from theearth. This discovery hadan electrifying effect in theworld of science, becauseaccording to the recognisedrules of physics, the spectraof light beams travellingtowards the point of obser-vation tend towards violetwhile the spectra of thelight beams moving awayfrom the point of observa-tion tend towards red. Dur-ing Hubbles observations,the light from stars wasdiscovered to tend towards
red. This meant that theywere constantly movingaway from us.Before long, Hubble madeanother very importantdiscovery: Stars and galax-ies moved away not onlyfrom us, but also from oneanother. The only conclu-sion that could be derived
from a universe where eve-rything moves away fromeverything else is that the
The Expanding Universe
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By Cetin, M.
To consider the good, the
welfare and happiness of oth-
ers and to prefer them above
ones own, to feel compas-
sion for their misfortunes
as if they were ones own,
to take on the responsibility
for the problems of all man-
kind and to pray continually
for their salvation - these
are virtues of the Prophets.Yet some people, while not
Prophets, do attain the high-
est ranks in the estimation of
Allah because of the depth
of the grief they feel at the
loss which others have in-
icted on themselves.
Bayezid Bestami gives an
account from his experi-
ence:
In my time there were
thousands of saints. They
prayed intently, and trained
and disciplined themselves
in the way of Allah, living
an austere routine; some had
even been workers of mira-
cles. But the leading saintof the age was a blacksmith.
There seemed to be nothing
extraordinary about him. He
had been doing nothing but
shaping metal, hammering
at his anvil to make his liv-
ing. I asked myself how such
a person could be a qutub,
the leading saint, of theage. Out of curiosity, I went
and visited him in his shop.
When he saw me he became
extremely happy, held my
hands, kissed them repeat-
edly, and begged me for a
special prayer for himself.
Since he did not enter that
realm where miracles are
possible or experience any-
thing of it, he was unaware
of how great a saint he was.
When I earnestly asked him
to pray for me, he replied: Icannot be relieved from my
own worries and troubles
by praying for you. When
I asked for an explanation,
he said, I wonder at and
am troubled about how the
people will manage when
they are to give account of
their lives before Allah on
the Day of Judgement; I am
deeply concerned and sor-
rowful for those who will not
easily be able to do so. Other
than this, I have no worries
or troubles. Even as he
said this he burst into tears.
His demeanour and sincer-
ity caused my own tears to
ow too. And I heard a voicewithin my self, proclaiming,
This man is not of those who
say my self, my self but of
those who say my people,
my people,. And then I
understood why he was so
great and why he was the
leading saint of the age. He
seemed to me to be directlyon the path of the Prophets.
But the people, the account
they give of themselves, and
their chastisement, these are
not your burden. I said. He
answered: The most in-
ward part of my being, the
very nature of my self, was
kneaded by compassion. I
can only be happy and free
from the burden of worries
and troubles if all people are
forgiven by the Almighty. I
sat and conversed for hourswith the blacksmith in his
shop. He knew only enough
verses of the the Quran
to perform the obligatory
prayers. However, I realized
while in his presence that I
received such Divine Bless-
ings and attained such a sta-
tion as I had been unable to
acquire for years. I also real-
ized that being a qutub was
not a matter of only prayers,
knowledge and asceticism,
but also a matter of such
profound understanding,
and depth of feeling and de-
pendence upon the blessings
of Allah.
How fortunate are those who
show concern for, sensitiv-
ity to, and understanding of,
the sufferings of all man-
kind. And how blessed are
those who suffer on account
of others sufferings. How
lucky too are those who try
to be with such people andshare in their feeling.
9
Profound Compassion
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By Dr. Zakir Naik
Alcohol has been thescourge of human society
since time immemorial. It
continues to cost countless
human lives, and causes
terrible misery to millions
throughout the world. Al-cohol is the root cause of
several problems facing so-
ciety. The statistics of soar-
ing crime rates, increasinginstances of mental ill-
nesses and millions of bro-
ken homes throughout the
world bear mute testimonyto the destructive power of
alcohol.
1. Prohibition of alcohol in
the Quran:
The Glorious Quran pro-
hibits the consumption ofalcohol in the following
verse:
O ye who believe! Intoxi-
cants and gambling, (dedi-
cation of) stones, and (divi-
nation by) arrows, are an
abomination of Satanshandiwork; eschew such
(abomination), that ye may
prosper. [Quran, 5:90]
2. Prohibition of alcohol in
the Bible:
The Bible prohibits theconsumption of alcohol in
the following verses:
a. Wine is a mocker, strong
drink is raging; and whoso-
ever is deceived thereby is
not wise. [Proverbs, 20:1]b. And be not drunk withwine. [Ephesians, 5:18]
3. Alcohol inhibits the in-
hibitory centre:The human beings pos-
sess an inhibitory centre in
their brains. This inhibito-
ry centre prevents the per-
son from doing things that
he considers wrong. Forinstance a person does not
normally use abusive lan-
guage while addressing his
parents or elders. If he hasto answer the call of nature,
his inhibitory centre will
prevent him from doing so
in public. Therefore he usesthe toilet.
When a person consumes
alcohol, the inhibitory cen-
tre itself is inhibited. That
is precisely the reason that
an inebriated person is of-
ten found to be indulging inbehaviour that is complete-
ly uncharacteristic of him.
For instance the intoxicated
person is found to use abu-
sive and foul language and
does not realize his mistake
even if he is addressing hisparents. Many even urinate
in their clothes. Their man-
ner of talking and walk-ing is also affected, not to
speak of numerous other
embarrasing acts.
4. Cases of adultery, rape,
incest and AIDS are found
more among alcoholics:
According to National
Crime Victimization Sur-
vey Bureau of Justice (U.S.Department of Justice) inthe year 1996 alone every-
day on an average 2,713
rapes took place. The statis-
tics tell us that the majorityof the rapists were intoxi-
cated while committing the
crime. The same is true in
cases of molestation.
According to statistics,
8% of Americans com-
mit incest, i.e. one in every
twelve to thirteen personsin America is involved in
incest. Almost all the casesof incest are due to intoxi-
cation of one or both the
persons involved.
One of the major factors
associated with the spreadof AIDS, the most dreaded
disease, is alcoholism.
5. Every alcoholic was ini-
tially a social drinker:
Many may argue in favourof liquor by calling them-selves social drinkers.
They claim that they only
have one or two pegs and
they have self-control and
so never get intoxicated.
Investigations reveal that
every alcoholic started as asocial drinker. Not a single
alcoholic or drunkard ini-tially starts drinking with
the intention of becoming
an alcoholic or a drunkard.
Very few social drinkers
can say that despite takingalcohol for several years,
due to my self control, I
have never been intoxicated
even a single time.
6. One embarrasing act can
mar the entire life:
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Alcohol and Alcoholism
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If a person is intoxicated just once and commits
something shameful, it will
remain with him for a life-
time.
Suppose a social drinker
loses his self-control justonce. In a state of intoxica-tion he commits rape or in-
cest. Even if the act is later
regretted, a normal human
being is likely to carry the
guilt throughout his life.
Both the perpetrator and
the victim are irreparably
and irreversibly damaged.
7. Alcohol prohibited in the
Hadith:
The nal Prophet of God,
Muhammad (pbuh) said:
a. Alcohol is the motherof all evils and it is the
most shameful of evils.
[Sunan Ibn-Majah, Hadith
No.3371]
b. Anything which intoxi-
cates in a large quantity isprohibited even in a small
quantity. [Sunan Ibn-Ma-jah, Hadith No.3392]
Thus there is no excuse for
a nip or a tot.
c. Every association withalcohol has been cursed.
It was reported by Anas,
that the Prophet Muham-
mad (pbuh) said: Gods
curse falls on ten groupsof people who deal with al-
cohol. The one who distills
it, the one for whom it has
been distilled, the one whodrinks it, the one who trans-
ports it, the one to whom it
has been brought, the onewho serves it, the one who
sells it, the one who utilizes
money from it, the one who
buys it and the one who
buys it for someone else.
[Sunan Ibn-Majah Hadith,No.3380]
8. Diseases associated with
alcoholism:
There are several scientic
reasons for the prohibition
of consumption alcohol.
The maximum number of
deaths in the world related
to any one particular causeis due to the consumption of
alcohol. Millions of people
die every year only because
of the intake of alcohol. I
need not go into the details
of all the ill-effects of alco-hol since most of them are
commonly known. Below is
a simple list of some of the
alcohol related illnesses:
1. Cirrhosis of Liver is the
most well known alcoholassociated disease.
2. Others are Cancer of Oe-
sophagus, Cancer of Head
and Neck, Cancer of Liver
(Hepatoma), Cancer of
Bowel, etc.
3. Oesophagitis, Gastritis,
Pancreatitis and Hepatitisare linked with alcohol con-
sumption.
4. Cardiomyopathy, Hyper-
tension, Coronary Arthro-
sclerosis, Angina and
Heart Attacks are linkedwith heavy alcohol intakes.
5. Strokes, Apoplexy, Fits
and different types of Pa-
ralysis are linked with alco-hol intake.
6. Peripheral Neuropathy,
Cortical Atrophy, Cerebel-lar Atrophy are well-known
syndromes caused by alco-
hol consumption.
7. Wernicke Korsakoff
syndrome with amnesia of
recent events, confabula-tions and retainment ofmemory to old events with
different types of paralysis
are mainly due to thiamine
deciency due to excessive
alcohol intake.
8. Beriberi and other de-
ciencies are not uncommon
among alcoholics. Even
Pellagra occurs in alcohol-ics.
9. Delirium Tremens is a
serious complication that
may occur during recur-
rent infection of alcoholics
or post operatively. It alsooccurs during abstention as
a sign of withdrawal effect.
It is quite serious and may
cause death even if treated
in well equipped centres.10. Numerous Endocrine
Disorders have been as-sociated with alcoholism
ranging from Myxoedema
to Hyperthyroidism and
Florid Cushing Syndrome.
11. Hematological ill effects
are long and variable. Folic
acid deciency, however,
is the most common mani-festation of alcoholic abuse
resulting in Macrocytic Ane-mia. Zieves syndrome is atriad of Hemolytic Anemia,Jaundice and Hyperlipid-emia that follows alcoholicbinges.12. Thrombocytopenia andother platelet abnormalities
are not rare in alcoholics.13. The commonly used tab-let metronidazole (agyl) in-
11
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teracts badly with alcohol.14. Recurrent infection isvery common among chronicalcoholics. The resistance todisease and the immunologi-cal defense system are com-
promised by alcohol intake.15. Chest infections are no-torious in alcoholics. Pneu-monia, Lung Abscess, Em- physema and PulmonaryTuberculosis are all commonin alcoholics.16. During acute alcoholicintoxication, the drunk per-son usually vomits, the cough
reexes which are protectiveare paralyzed. The vomit canthus easily pass to the lungcausing Pneumonia or LungAbscess. Occasionally, itmay even cause suffocationand death.17. The ill effects of alcoholconsumption on women de-serve special mention.Females are more vulnerable
to alcohol-related Cirrhosisthan men. During pregnancyalcohol consumption has asevere detrimental effect on
the foetus. Foetal AlcoholSyndrome is being recog-nized more and more in themedical profession.18. Skin diseases are also re-lated to alcohol indulgence.
19. Eczema, Alopecia, NailDystrophy, Paronychia (in-fection around the nails) andAngular Stomatitis (inam-mation of the angle of themouth) are common diseasesamong alcoholics.
9.Dening Alcoholism:Medical doctors have now
turned liberal towards alco-holics and call alcoholism adisease rather than an addic-tion.
If alcohol is a disease, it isthe only disease that:
- Is sold in bottles- Is advertised in newspapers,magazines, on radio and tele-
vision- Has licensed outlets tospread it
- Produces revenue for thegovernment- Brings violent deaths on thehighways- Destroys family life and in-creases crime
- Has no germs or viral cause
Alcoholism is not a disease -It is Satans handiwork.God in His Innite Wisdomhas warned us against thissnare of Satan.Islam, the natural religion ofMan and a culmination ofguidance revealed to thou-
sands of Prophets prior, callsalcohol intake an abomina-tion and a blemish on theface of humanity. All its In- junctions are aimed at pre-serving the natural state ofman, and alcohol is a devia-tion from this natural state,for the individual as well asfor society. It degrades manto a level below that of the
beasts he claims to be supe-rior to. Hence the consump-tion of alcohol is prohibitedin Islam.
12
Continued from Page 8 ...
Do not the Unbelievers
see that the heavens and
the earth were joined to-
gether (as one unit of crea-
tion), before We clove them
asunder? We made from
water every living thing.
Will they not then believe?[Quran, 21:30]
As stated in the verse, eve-rything, even the heavensand the earth that were not
yet created, were createdout of a single point, and
shaped the present universeby being parted from eachother.When we compare the state-ments in the verse with theabove theory, we see thatthey fully agree with eachother. However, the scien-tic theory was introducedonly in the 20th century.
The expansion of the uni-verse is one of the mostimportant pieces of evi-
The Expanding Universe
dence that the universewas created out of nothing.
Although this fact was notdiscovered by science untilthe 20th century, Allah hasinformed us of this real-ity in the Quran revealed1,400 years ago:
It is We who have built
the universe with (Our
creative) power, and, ver-
ily, it is We who are stead-ily expanding it.[Quran, 51:47]
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13
travelers on their paths. He
was and continues to be theperfect heir of the Prophet.Jalal al-Din Rumi, a man ofGod, hastened toward Godon his own spiritual jour-ney; but in addition to thishe evoked similar journeysin countless others - jour-neys marked by an eagerstriving toward God. Hewas a balanced man of ec-
stasy who sprang alive withlove and excitement; he didthis to such an extent thathe inspired in others thesesignicant feelings; and hecontinues to do so. In addi-tion to his passion for God,along with his knowledgeand love of Him, Rumi isfurther renowned as a hero
in terms of both his respectand fear of God.His life provides real evi-dence of the Truth. At thesame time as he spoke tothose of his own times inan effective manner, Rumiwas even more inuential inthat he made his voice and
breath, which reected thevoice and breath of ProphetMuhammad, pbuh, continueto be heard for centuriesafter. He spoke with suchan enchanting voice that hewas able to guide not onlyhis blessed contemporaries,
but also people of our time,centuries removed from his
physical existence. God be-stowed upon him this hon-
our. For this purpose, Godblessed him with impeccableinner and outer qualities so
Mawlana Jalal al-Din Rumi
There are some signicant
personalities who with thehelp of their voice and breath,their love and excitement,and their promise for hu-manity always remain freshand alive over the course ofcenturies. Time evidentlyfails to make these charac-ters obsolete. Their thoughts,analyses, explanations, andspiritual messages, which
will never be lost, represent,ever anew, alternative solu-tions and prescriptions fortodays social problems, ingreat variety and diversity.Rumi is one such personal-ity. Despite the fact that helived some centuries ago,he remains spiritually aliveamong and with us today.
He is a man of lightonewho receives his light fromthe spirit of the Master ofHumanity (Prophet Muham-mad, peace and blessings beupon him), distributing thislight in a variety of mannersto just about everywhere.He was chosen to be one ofthe worlds saints and to be
pure of heart; a blessed onewhose words are outstandingamong those of the heroesof love and passion. He wasand continues to function asIsral [the angel assigned to
blow into the trumpet signal-ling the Last Hour]; blowinglife into dead spirits. He didand continues to provide thewater of life to the barren
hearts of many; a spiritualirrigation. He was and con-tinues to provide light for the
By fethullah Gulen
that he would prove success-
ful in this undertaking. Hisheart was full of the Divinelight. As such, his essenceis marked by his wisdom,which shines like a light re-ected through a preciousgem. His inner-most self wasenveloped with Divine mys-teries. His inner eyes wereenlightened by this speciallight.
Rumi embodies the charac-teristics of the lamp of saint-hood, taking its light fromthat of the truth of the Proph-et [pbuh]. Many of Gods
blessed creatures are instinc-tively attracted to light; Ru-mis light has attracted hun-dreds of thousands spiritual
butteries; they are drawn
to the light. He represents aguide for humanitys questfor the perfection of humanqualities. Rumi was a carefulexegete of the truths present-ed in the Quran. A uent in-terpreter of love and zeal forProphet Muhammad [pbuh],Rumi was able to use a mys-terious language to guideothers to the love of God.Those who enter his sphereare able to reach an ultimatesense or feeling in the pres-ence of God. Those whoexamine the Quran by hisguideposts undergo changessimilar to those witnessed
by the people who lived inthe era of the Prophet [pbuh]himself. When the verses of
the Quran were interpretedby Rumis closest associates,all hearts beneted from the
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illumination provided byhis wisdom; it was as if allof heavens mysteries wereopened by his wholeheartedrecitation of that one word- God.
Rumis love for God was aery one, with a constantmoaning and longing forthe mysteries of God. Heexperienced a love and pas-sion both in his solitary as-ceticism and his activitiesin the community. It was inhis solitariness that he be-came most open to the truest
union with God, and it wasin such cases of separationfrom all things except Godthat he became like a ball ofre. And while such a senseof burning would prove dif-cult for many to bear, Ruminever showed any sign ofdiscontent. Rather, such a
burning was considereda requirement for pas-
sion, and refraining fromcomplaint was seen to bein the tradition of loy-alty. For Rumi, those who
profess a love of God mustnecessarily accompany theirstatement of I love witha sense of furious burning- this is the price one mustwillingly pay for being
close or in union with God.Additionally, one must en-gage in behaviour that is toa large extent ascetic, suchas moderated eating, drink-ing, sleeping, and a constantawareness and orientationtoward God in ones speech,and one must inevitablyexperience bewildermentwhen endowed with Gods
bounties.Rumi cannot understand
how a lover can sleep inan immoderate way, as ittakes away from the timethat can be shared with theBeloved. For him, exces-sive sleep is offensive to the
Beloved. As God instructedDavid, saying, O David,those who indulge in sleepwithout contemplating Meand then claim to be in loveare liars so too did Rumistate; When the darknessfalls, lovers become in-tense. Rumi continuallyrecommended this not onlyin words, but also in his ac-tions.If the spirit of the anthologyof Rumis poems, which arethe essence of love, passion,Divine presence, and excite-ment, were to be extracted,what would exude are thecries of love, longing, and
hope. Throughout his lifeRumi expressed love, andin turn, he believed he was
beloved because of this.Accordingly, he spoke ofhis love and relationshipwith God. When he did so,
he was not alone - he tookalong with him many bless-ed individuals who werehis audience. He assumedit to be a requisite of loy-alty to offer, cup by cup, thedrinks presented to him onthe heavenly table to oth-ers who were in his circleof light.Rumi had tasted real Di-
vine love. Those who donot experience it cannotknow. Those who do not
taste cannot feel. Those whoare capable of feeling in thismanner generally do not di-vulge such secrets, as theyoften nd them to be abovethe level of the comprehen-
sion of most people. As thefamous Turkish poet ShaykhGhalib said, The Belovedscandle has such a wonderfullight, its light does not t intothe lamp glass of Heaven.The love, relationship, andwarmth toward all creationas expressed by Rumi is a
projection of a deeply-rootedDivine love. Rumi, whosenature was intoxicated bythe cup of love, embracedall of creation with a pro-
jection of that love. He wasinvolved in a dialogue withevery creature, and all ofthese were a result of noth-ing but his deep love of God
and his relationshipwith the Beloved.
I believe that thesedisordered and some-what confused ex-
planations are far from ade-quate to describe Rumi. Thisdisorder is an inevitable re-sult of my search for a rela-tionship with him. A dropletcannot describe the ocean,nor can an atom describe theSun. Even so, I would like tosay, within a few sentences,some words about Jalal al-Din Rumi.Rumi was born in the cityof Balkh in 1207, at a timewhen all of Asia was suf-fering from social, political,and military problems. Hisfather, Muhammad Baha al-Din al-Siddiqi, was part of
the tenth generation of thedescendants of Abu Bakr
14
Rumi cannot understand how a lover can
sleep in an immoderate way, as it takes
away from the time that can be shared
with the Beloved.
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al-Siddiq, the rst caliph ofIslam. According to Tahiral-Mevlevi, Rumis motherwas also from the descend-ants of the Prophet [pbuh].He was the blessed fruit of a
hallowed family tree. Beingknown as the Sultan al-Ula-ma (the Leader of Scholars),his father was a man of truthand an heir of the Prophet[pbuh]. Like many friendsof God, he was persecutedand eventually compelled tomigrate. Accordingly, he leftthe land of Khawarzm, where
he was born, and underwenta lengthy journey that en-compassed various destina-tions. First, he and his familyvisited the Holy Land, thecities of Makkah and Madi-nah. From here, he traveledand remained for some timein Damascus, where he metmany pious persons, suchas Ibn al-Arabi, and ex-
changed spiritual enlighten-ment with them. Accompa-nying his father, the youngRumi, six or seven years inage, witnessed these andother events; his inquisitivesenses enabled him to expe-rience all of these with re-markable clarity. The youngRumi was able to understand
his environment even at sucha tender age and he was ableto penetrate into the secretworld of Ibn al-Arabi. Asan endowment of his pres-ence with Ibn al-Arabi, thechild received kindness andfavours. Despite the unfor-tunate circumstances sur-rounding their migration andthe many difculties that ac-companied them, the fami-lys journey provided them
with a variety of favoursand inspiration. Rumi wasable to continuously ndthese blessings and favours.Welcoming what fate gavehim, he became a receiver of
numerous bounties providedby God.The journey took this bless-ed family to the city of Er-zincan, and later to that ofKaraman. It was during histime in the latter city thatRumi studied, for a short pe-riod, in the Halaveye School.In addition to this school, he
studied Islamic Sciences inseveral religious schools inDamascus and Aleppo. Af-ter graduating, he returnedto the city of Konya, whichhe considered his hometownand a place of special regard.It was there that he marriedGevher Khatun, the daugh-ter of Shams al-Din Sa-marqandi. After some time
Rumis father, Sultan al-Ul-ama, died, returning to God.Under the supervision ofBurhan al-Din al-Tirmidhi,Rumi began his long spir-itual journey. After severalyears, at the suggestion ofRukn al-Din Zarqubi, Rumimet with Shams-i Tabriziwho was then on a visit to
Konya. It was through hismeeting with Shams thathe furthered his spiritual
journey and eventually de-veloped into the person whois now known the worldover for his spiritual depth.What has been mentionedso far, in fact, represents anattempt to open a few smallwindows on the life of an ex-ceptional personality whosecapacity is open to the lofty
world. This is also an attemptto present the life of an im-
portant representative of theMuhammadi spirit (i.e. the
practice of the Sunnah) - dis-playing several snapshots of
a man determined to dedicatehis existence to the world ofthe afterlife.It is not my intention to stirthe waters that comprise thelives of such remarkableand pure personalities withdebates and questions thatultimately will only agitateand obscure. However, one
must wonder whether Rumiopened the horizon of Shamsor whether Shams took Rumito the world of the unseen.Who took whom to the real-ity of realities - the peak oflove and joy? Who directedwhom to the real Besoughtand the real Beloved? An-swering these questions is
beyond the capacity of most
ordinary people. One cansay, at least, the following:During this period of time,two skillful and acute spir-its came together, like twooceans merging into one an-other. By sharing the Divine
bounties and gifts receivedfrom their Lord, they bothreached peaks that most
people would not be ableto envision easily. Throughtheir spiritual cooperation,they established camps onthe peaks of knowledge,love, compassion, and joyfor God. As much as they en-lightened those of their ownage, they also inuenced allcenturies to follow; an effectthat is still present today. Thespring of sweet water whichthey represent continues to
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nourish the thirsty. Theyhave been continuously re-membered over the centu-ries for their beautiful con-tributions to countless lives.Here it is important to note
that Rumi was informed bynumerous sources in theow of ideas, including hisfather, the great master ofscholars. During his journey,he seemed to leave many ofhis contemporaries behind- his love and compassionowed like the waters ofthe worlds oceans; so
much so that while con-tinuing to live physicallyamong humans, he man-aged to become ever closerto God. It seems he neverelevated himself above oth-ers except through his writ-ings, both during his life andafter his entering the life ofeternity; he provides a starof guidance that echoes the
spiritual life of the nalProphet of God, Muhammad[pbuh]. Accordingly, he isamong the few people whohave exerted a great inu-ence through both space andtime.Rumi, the Master, was not a
pupil, a dervish, a represent-ative, or master as is known
amongst traditional Sus.He developed a new methodthat was coloured with re-vivalism and personal inde-
pendent reasoning by takingthe Quran, the Sunnah, andIslamic piety as his pointsof reference. With a newvoice and breath, he suc-cessfully brought both thoseof his generation and those
of times to follow to a newhorizon of Divine love. Asfar as his relationship with
16
God is concerned, he was aman of love and passion. Asfor those who turn to him forthe sake of God, he repre-sents a compassionate bearerof Gods Divine cup of love.
Yes, as the rains of mercyfall forth from the clouds ofthe sky, if the collections ofhis poems were to be wrungout, Gods love and the love
of His Messenger wouldgush forth in showers. HisMesnevi, exuberant with hisspirit, a book which is in partdidactic and was put in theform of a book by his disci-
ple Husam al-Din Chelebi,
represents his largest, mostmonumental treatise. Whileit stems from his involve-ment with the oods of ahigh level love and passion,it was presented in smallerwaves so that their essencemight be understood bya larger part of humanitywho did not share the same
capacity. His other work,Divan-i Kabir, is both in-formed by and presented inthis higher level of love and
passion and better representshis own abilities.In the Mesnevi, feelings andthoughts are put in such away that they do not confuseour intelligence and in sucha style that it does not sur-
pass our understanding. Asfor the Divan-i Kabir, eve-rything is like an erupting
volcano. Its meaning is noteasily understood by most.A careful investigation willshow that this great book ofRumis thought will explainsuch concepts as baqaa bil-
laah maallah (to live byGod with God) andfanaa l-lah (annihilation in God) inthe context of a larger under-standing of the world of theunseen. Those who are capa-
ble of realizing this excite-ment in Rumis Divanwill nd themselves inextreme bewilderment
before a ood of loveand ecstasy that is com-parable to an erupting vol-cano. In these poems of themaster, which are not easilyaccessible for most people,the limits of reason are sur-
passed, the meanings of the poems are elevated abovethe norms for humanity,and the eternal nature of the
unseen world shadows theephemeral colors and formsof what one encounters intheir physical being.Jalal al-Din Rumi was nour-ished by the fruit of numer-ous sources of ideas, includ-ing religious seminaries, Sulodges, and Su hermitagesassociated with strict Su
asceticism. Rumi attainedan understanding of the Ulti-mate Reality. He was a heroof the spiritual world. Heread carefully what he sawand evaluated well what hefelt. He never displayed or
participated in any improper behaviour during his jour-ney to God. Even though thenumbers were vast, Rumi
never lost any of the boun-tiful gifts he received fromthe world of the unseen.
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Like many of his predeces-sors, he voiced these Divine
bounties through his poetryin an impressive manner. Heoften voiced his love andexcitement in seemingly
magic words which resem- bled the nest of preciousgems. Within the vaguenessof the poetry, he masteredthe art of explaining his am-
biguous statements in waysthat opened their meaningto friends, but remained ob-scure to outsiders.These statements which
were at times both clear andambiguous are the voice andbreath of his own horizon -he was not acquainted withother pens or the wells ofink which supplied them.Although one can nd afew foreign words or worksfalsely attributed to him,Rumis anthology repre-
sents a warmth, the music ofhis own heart, a music which
brings all who hear it underits inuence with a captivat-ing control.Rumi possessed a very deli-
cate disposition, often ap-pearing more compassionatethan a mother to her child. Inshort, he was an exceptional
personality, particularly inhis projection of the spiritof Gods Messenger in hisown time. This is illustratedin his collected works, in-cluding Mesnevi, Divan-i
Kabir, some collected lettersassociated with familial rela-tions, and his special behav-iour with friends. Those whowitnessed this were greatlyexcited to see the perfectheir of the Prophet [pbuh]and would say with greathumility and respect, Thisis a grace from God. He
gives it to whom He wants.[Quran, 5:54]Rumi was a man of genu-ine sincerity and loyalty.He lived by what he felt inhis heart as long as it did
not contradict the teachingsand laws of religion. Whilemaking his faith the focus ofhis life, and while showingthe others the way of life,his heart was burning withlove and longing; it had al-ways ached and moaned likethe monotone ney [the reedute]. Those who were not
aching could not understandhim. Those who were rudeand tactless could not feelwhat he felt. He said, I wanta heart which is split, part by
part, because of the pain ofseparation from God, so thatI might explain my longingand complaint to it.
Say: He is Allah, the Oneand Only. Allah, the Eternal,Absolute. He begets not, noris He begotten. And there isnone like unto Him. [Quran,112:1-4]
No vision can grasp Him but
His grasp is over all vision:He is above all comprehen-sion, yet is acquainted withall things. [Quran, 6:103]
There is nothing whateverlike unto Him, And He is theOne that hears and sees (allthings). [Quran, 42:11]
If there were, in the heavens
and the earth, other gods be-sides Allah, there would have been confusion in both! but
glory to Allah, the Lord of theThrone: (High is He) abovewhat they attribute to Him![Quran, 21:22]
No son did Allah beget, noris there any god along withHim: (if there were manygods), behold, each god wouldhave taken away what he hadcreated, and some would havelorded it over others! Glory toAllah! (He is free) from the(sort of) things they attributeto Him! [Quran, 23:91]
Allah forgives not that part-ners should be set up withHim; but He forgives anythingelse, to whom He pleases; toset up partners with Allah isto devise a sin most heinousindeed. [Quran, 4:48]
And if all the trees on earthwere pens and the ocean(were ink), with seven oceans
behind it to add to its (sup-ply), yet would not the wordsof Allah be exhausted (in thewriting): for Allah is exaltedin power, full of wisdom.
[Quran, 31:27]
O men! Here is a parableset forth! Listen to it! Thoseon whom, besides Allah, youcall, cannot create (even) ay, if they all met togetherfor the purpose! And if the yshould snatch away anythingfrom them, they would haveno power to release it from
the y. Feeble are those whopetition and those whom theypetition! [Quran, 22:73]
The Almighty Speaks
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Suddenly he got up fromwhere he was sitting and
started to shout. He was furi-ous just because he couldntkill the man who was ringat him. He sat down and triedagain. He was hopping mad
just to get rid of the man op- posite him. He gave greatdamages to his rival. Whenthe man opposite him waslying in a pool of blood, hemercilessly laughed. He re-
peated all these actions againand again. He was violentlyghting and was trying allhe can to harm his enemies.Although his mother calledhim a few times for dinner, hedidnt move from his desk. Hewas so much plunged into thegame, he was not able to thinkanything else.
Such sceneries are very com-mon now in many houses andinternet cafes. Children andyouth are spending most oftheir times playing computergames. While parents favorcomputers as necessities ofmodern age and as assistantsfor their childrens home-work, children mostly con-sider them as toy boxes. They
initially start with innocentintentions, but in time theylose their original purpose.Uncontrolled use of comput-ers, the common problem ofmany parents, is also a mattervery difcult to solve for theexperts.How do computer games af-fect the childrens subcon-scious and their future lives?
Do games with positive ef-fects have an appealing pre-sentation?
Computer games can begrouped under two categories.
First are the games that helpdeveloping talents, under-standing the life experimentsand ethical values by using anentertaining method; Secondare the games that do not con-tribute anything to the childsimagination and thinkingabilities and inciting violentand immoral behavior. Forthe game to positively affectthe childs intellectual, physi-cal and spiritual developmentdepends upon both the contentand the duration of the game.This period of playing timeshould neither be too short,nor too long. To be able toobtain a proper balance in thismatter, we should rst equipthe child with an education of
using the time wisely. Chil-dren wasting their time foruseless activities, can also beinsensitive to effective use oftime when they grow up. Con-cisely, children must acquirethe consciousness of valuingtime. Wasted time in front ofcomputers cause children andyouth to get passive. This in-creases the stress experienced
by the children. Especially inactive boys, this inactivenesscauses an energy accumula-tion which negatively affectsthe childs behaviors. The useof excessive energy by waysof different sports is very use-ful for the physical and men-tal development and raising ofa social conscious. Moreover,spending time in front of com-
puters, deprives children andyouth from cultural activitieslike playing group games,
studying together and engag-ing with a sports activity.
Many of us complain that ourchildren cannot express them-selves properly and are notclear at communicating withtheir environment. When weask a question to our child,either we get a very brief or aroutine answer. Times elapsedaimlessly in front of comput-ers have a signicant effect onthis.We see that violence increasein each level of any new com-
puter game. The game pro-ducers consider every type ofmethod as permissible just to
be able to attract children tothe screen. Scenes which arenot suitable for the age formthe subconscious of a child.Children who have been
exposed to several violentscenes are mostly inclined toaggression, anxiety and panicand they are generally furiousand quick-tempered and con-sider violence as an ordinarymatter. Reactions of childrenwho watch violent lms and
play erce and crimson com- puter games change in timeand start applying more and
more force to people and chil-dren around them. They tendto hit and kick others evenafter a slight disagreement.Being affected from destruc-tive violent scenes, childrenreveal problems like overanxiety, sleep disturbancesand behavioral disorders.Since the causes and effects of
behaviors affected by the ve
senses are not questioned somuch in pre-school children,abnormalities mentioned ear-
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Children and Computer GamesBy Aydinli Hasan
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lier can be seen more on them.We can give these as example:A three year old child whowatched violent lms, appliedwhat he watched on TV andstabbed and killed his little
brother with a knife. Anotherchild who thought himselfto be a pokemon (a cartooncharacter), threw himselffrom the seventh oor withthe intention of ying. Andanother child in France whocould not win any computergames became epileptic be-cause of having too frequentand excessive anger ts due
to the unsuccessful playingsessions. Unfortunately weoften hear such news. In orderto illuminate the subconsciousof our children with beauties,favors, affection, and altru-ism, we should offer themalternative useful and educa-tional games.Harmful games also preventchildren to learn their own
culture, thus cause a culturalcorrosion. Such games takeour children to a world ofweird clothes and hairstyles,weapons being the accesso-ries. In this virtual world, novalues exist except for mightis right. Children who areseized by the computer games
become alienated to their en-vironment. Having difcultyto make friends around them,children become enslaved
by the computer and isolatethemselves from the society.The only friend of the childis the computer, and in spiteof elapsing the time, childstill feels great loneliness in-side. Hence, parents should
provide suitable activities for
their children and reasonablyarrange the time spent forcomputer games.
Many bad characters shownon computer games also have
perverse effects upon thechilds personal development.It is denite that messagesgiven by these games like be-
ing strong and unchallenge-able, inconsideration of otherpeoples lives, killing for thesake of living, disdainingethical values, despising other
peoples feelings, disrespect-ing the person addressed,categorizing the people,negatively affect the childs
personal development. Suchgames also impose unfavor-
able impacts upon learningabilities and awareness of thechild. Scenes that are rapidlychanging on computer screendistract the child greatly, makehim confused and disturb hismind. This triggers a difcultyin concentrating when learn-ing. Besides, excessive lightchanges may cause epilepticts for some children.
Conclusively, computergames inspire children thatthe life is only a game andlead children to think toomuch about the characters inthe game and mentally and
physically to be with them allthe time. Children playing toomuch computer games, carrythe same concepts in the gameto their relations with theirfamily and friends, cause thechild to confuse between thereality and imagination andeventually, the time spent to-gether decreases and unsocial
behaviors settle in the childspersonality.Surely, we cannot underes-timate the benecial sides ofthe computer which is a must
in modern age. But the idealis to benet from the positiveservices of the computer and
to ensure a protection againstits harmful usage. The playingtime which is essential for thechilds healthy growth, should
be distributed fairly betweenvirtual games and real group
games. For this, we must pre-fer games;
in which they can play an ac-tive role, that are suggested by spe-cialists and other experts, which can provide nationalawareness and cultural iden-tity, which support comprehen-
sion and intelligence of thechild, which contribute to virtueslike sharing, team spirit, car-ing for others, honesty, anddiligence, which instigate curiosity andmake learning fun, which include parents intothe game, which infuse consciousness
of performing duties and re-sponsibility, which help developingimagination, thinking ability,exploring and inventing ca-
pability.
If eyes, ears and other organsthat are bestowed upon us bythe All-Compassionate Cre-ator are engaged with onlyentertaining computer games,then they are being used out oftheir innate purposes. There-fore, the vital responsibilityof parents is to be very carefulfor guiding their children touse their sight, hearing, feel-ing, judging faculties in theright direction and to preparean environment that provides
the child a rich learning back-ground and to bloom his men-tal abilities.
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