The Fountain Explores What a Homeland Stands For
The current edition of The Fountain Magazine features Fethullah Gülen’s thoughts on what a homeland stands for.
For Gülen, a Turkish scholar of Islam who inspired the faith-based Gülen movement, the homeland is a mystical country, and his sense of belonging does not arise simply from its familiarity, or it being his place of birth. "We are bound to our homeland with a deeper connection and fascination — when we are home, it becomes as warm as our mothers' embrace; when we are away, we think of it with a longing for the inner riches, the unique tastes and styles and the magical expanses," Gülen writes in the lead article of the bimonthly magazine's current issue, titled "Our World and Its Inherently Exquisite Mystery."
Another article in the 72nd issue explores the Iberian Peninsula, which was home to many different nationalities and religions when centuries ago it was called al-Andalus. Quoting from Maria Rosa Menocal, Murat Yükseldi notes in his article that "Al-Andalus (711–1492) was a ‘utopian-like' society in which Jews and Muslims lived side by side in peace and cooperation in what is now Spain." There are others who object to this argument, and in this issue Yükseldi presents a panorama of al-Andalus, discussing the differing views of the tolerant policies Muslims held during their sovereignty.
In his article titled "Dawkins' Delusion," Bayram Yenikaya confronts several of Richard Dawkins's arguments that he has put forward in his book "The God Delusion," such as "Is religion evil?" and "Can we prove God's existence and non-existence by scientific methods?"
The November-December issue, which can also be found online on www.fountainmagazine.com , also covers a recent conference held in Cairo and which is part of efforts devoted to exploring Gülen's thought and vision. Titled "Future of Reform in the Muslim World: Comparative Experiences with Fethullah Gülen's Movement in Turkey," the three-day conference, held on Oct. 19-21 at the Arab League headquarters, was a first in the Middle East, the magazine writes.
In her article titled "Physiological Prevention of Cancer," Şebnem Ünlü recounts the universally governing principles which apply in the human body as well as in human behavior. Ünlü explains that cancer cells are constantly being created even in a healthy body, but in a healthy body they are destroyed by specialized immune cells. In a similar way, humans have to correct their mistakes and sins as quickly as possible, without allowing them to grow like cancer, to destroy their moral integrity, she writes.
The Fountain, launched in January 1993 and published by US-based Tughra Books, covers spiritual and scientific matters. The magazine can be found online at www.fountainmagazine.com.
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