by Dr A. Mesut Erzurumluoğlu | Principal Bioinformatician at Bicycle Therapeutics (formerly at Boehringer Ingelheim, and Univs. of Cambridge, Leicester & Bristol) – blogging since 2006. All views mine unless stated otherwise
As an example (using my brilliant Photoshop skills): Dialogue Society Book Lorry
As there is a lot of hostility towards all religions, and especially Islam in Western Societies, it should be one of our primary objectives to inform people of the ‘true face of Islam’ through inter-faith dialogue. I am very impressed with what organisations such as Dialogue Society are doing, but I do not think they are reaching the wider audience as they would like to. They reach out to many academics and VIPs in their respective areas/cities, but struggle to make an impact at the public level.
Hate can blind us all, thus we can’t see the good sides of others. The media/NGOs need to put more emphasis on dialogue and universal ethics
For this reason I would like to suggest designing a ‘Book Lorry’ (inspired from book buses) which will travel all over the UK (and can set an example to similar organisations within the UK and other countries), park their lorry in city centre (or other designated areas) and engage with the public. Interested individuals will enter from one side and leave from the other. The inside will be designed just like book busses, and people can take whatever book they would like (or pay a small fee depending on the book).
I believe this would be a great way to attract public attention (especially if the lorry is designed properly, not like the one above!); and make inter-faith dialogue more fruitful…
Those who are against interfaith and/or intercultural dialogue have also contributed to the disgusting outcomes in #Egypt and #Syria. Talk!
How recent it may seem, when I was a undergrad student (2007-2011) the internet was useless in terms of academic study. Whatever you read from Wikipedia was wrong, all you could do in Youtube was watch some cat videos, and there were no quality resources to access. We had to go to the library to find books (which were mostly outdated) to read out about the subject matter.
Oku! Sen okumayınca, gereksiz bilgilerle doluyor beynin. Sonuç: Duyarsız bir insan. Thousands of free e-books at https://t.co/TsaPho4Muf
Nowadays there are tens of fantastic websites (e.g. Google classes, scientific blogs, past exam papers) and Youtube channels (e.g. Khan Academy, Crash Course) where people have taken the time to organise high-quality courses and/or videos which explain the subject clearly in a relatively short amount of time. Also a lot of the stuff in Wikipedia is top notch nowadays. However what really stands out for me is Coursera. High quality courses for free, tailored to your interest(s) and learning at your own pace; and if you try hard enough you get a certificate (an example below) – which could look good on your CV. I really wish Coursera (and others) was around when I was an undergraduate student.
The point of this post is that youngsters must make the best of the internet nowadays. It has turned into a fantastic resource for learning anything you want! *It just takes a simple Google search most of the time…
Recent research shows we want to keep our families safe online and that we think we’re safe too. But it also shows we have our doubts and in some cases, shows we’re actually unsure about what to do to become safe.
Whirling Dervishes are characteristic of Sufism. The saying below from Rumi melts many hearts as well as mine’s. We need his understanding of Islam more than ever!
The great Islamic scholar Mawlana Jalaladdin Rumi once said:
“Yesterday I was clever, so I wanted to change the world. Today I am wise, so I am changing myself”
(Not comparing myself with Rumi in any way) When I was a kid I also used to think I could and had to change the world. However after 25 years of life experience with 21 years of it as a student since the age of 4 (and counting, as a PhD student), I now feel different. It seems like my dreams have become more realistic (or maybe narrowed down, depending on how you look at it)…
So I now say:
“Yesterday, I wanted to change the world. Today, I’m (concentrating on) writing my thesis” 🙂
“Kalpler, ancak Allah’ı (c.c.) anmakla huzur bulur” (Rad Suresi, 28)
Namaz’a sadece günde 5 defa “yapılması zorunlu bir ibadetmiş” gibi degil de, Allah’ın bize verdigi bir “randevu”ymuş gibi bakmalıyız diye düşünüyorum. Her namaza durdugumuzda “şükürler olsun. O kadar günah/hatama rağmen, Allah beni bu sefer de huzuruna kabul etti!” diye şükretmemiz gerekir diye düşünmekteyim. Namaza (ve diger ibadetlere) böyle bakıldıgı zaman insanın içi gerçekten de huzurla dolu oluyor. Içi huzur ve (tüm yaratılışa karşı) sevgiyle dolmayanın namazında bir sorun var demektir.
“Allah’ın (c.c) nimetlerini saymaya kalkışsanız, mümkün değil bitiremezsiniz” (Ibrahim Suresi, 34)
Insana verilen en büyük nimet, birçok alimin de söylediği gibi, bence de imandır; sonra (bence) akıl, saglık/gençlik, sevdigimiz insanlar, iffet/namus/haysiyet, hürriyet, yüz güzelliği/boy/pos/karizma/konuşma kabiliyeti, güvenlik/adalet/devlet gelir; ve hepsinden sonra da ‘diğer’ zenginlikler gelir (ev, araba, şan/şöhret, para gibi). Akıllı ve deger bilen bir insan, saydıgım ‘diğer’ zenginliklerden oncekilerin birini bile bütün dünyayı verseler degişmez. O zaman bunun bilincinde yaşamalı insan…
One day, the famous Ottoman Sultan Suleiman (aka ‘The Magnificent’) was taking a breather in one of the gardens of Topkapi Palace. Whilst observing the trees and contemplating about them (e.g. what a miracle of God they were!), he realised that one of them was surrounded by ants. He did not like the idea of ants feeding on his trees and thought of poisoning them. However he was a wise man and knew never to act in a hurry; thus he would always seek advice from the Sheikh-ul Islam of the time, Ebussuud Efendi. He expressed his intentions with a short poem (get a Turkish friend to read it for you):
Suleiman:
Meyve ağaçlarını sarınca karınca (When ants invade a tree)
Günah var mı karıncayı kırınca? (Is there permission to kill them?)
His advisor Ebussuud Efendi replied with this:
Yarın Hakk’ın divanına varınca (When the time to meet the Lord comes)
Süleyman’dan hakkın alır karınca. (Suleiman will be made to pay)
And the result was Suleiman, the greatest ruler at the time, could not kill the ants due to his fear of God Almighty. Today, some groups kill innocent people in the name Islam – I guess they understand Islam better than the Ottoman rulers and their advisors. Certainly not! They are deluded people being used by dark forces who want to bring chaos in to countries they’re interested in, serving their ultimate aim of stealing their underground resources and treasures.
Also Suleiman once said: I am God’s slave; and Sultan of this World! Ottoman Sultans took enormous pride from being a devout servant of God. We should take them as role models and not the individuals many teenagers look upon as ‘idols’ nowadays.
Click here to learn something new about another Ottoman Sultan…
“İnsan ölünce, (arkasında bıraktığı) üç şey hariç ameli kesilir. Bunlar: (i) Sadaka-i cariye, (ii) faydalı ilim ve/ya eser, (iii) dua ve istiğfar eden salih evlat.” – Hadis (Müslim)
“Fâniyim, fâni olanı istemem. Âcizim, âciz olanı istemem. Ruhumu Rahman’a teslim eyledim, gayri istemem. İsterim, fakat bir yâr-ı bâki isterim. Zerreyim, fakat bir şems-i sermed isterim. Hiç ender hiçim, fakat bu mevcudatı umumen isterim.” Bediuzzaman Said Nursî (Sözler)
Hayat gayemi soranlara derim ki:
“Benim hayatta birkaç gayem var; bunlar da (yapabildigim kadarıyla) Allah’a iyi bir kul, Efendimiz(s.a.v)’e iyi bir ümmet, anne/babama iyi bir evlat, kardeşlerime iyi bir abi, eşime (olursa!) iyi bir eş/koca, ögrencilerime (olursa!) iyi bir hoca/ögretmen/rol model, çocuklarıma (olursa!) iyi bir baba, arkadaşlarıma iyi bir dost olmaktır; ve vatan(lar)ımın da iyi bir ferdi olmaktır“
Bunların dışındaki hiçbir şeye de (e.g. mal, mülk, makam, gelecek korkusu) kafamı yormam çünkü Ibrahim Hakkı hazretleri gibi “Mevlam gorelim neyler, neylerse güzel eyler” derim. Bugüne kadar nasıl korudu ve kolladıysa, bundan sonra da öyle korur ve kollar.
PS: Hayat kısa; gereksiz/faydasız oyunlara, eğlencelere harcanmayacak kadar kısa! Yapacak iş ve öğrenecek ilim de çok! Bu yüzden bilim-ilim-irfan ehlinin yanına tabir-i caizse “kapak atmaya” calışacagım. Onlar bize bu kısa ömrü nasıl bereketlendirebileceğimizin yollarını göstereceklerdir.
Ben 12 yaşındayken (2000) ailecek İngiltere'ye taşındık ve ingilizcem neredeyse sıfırdı. Bunu duyan (Karen Holman adında) Sınıf Öğretmenim, kendimi evimde hissedeyim diye tüm arkadaşlarıma Türkçe cümleler dağıtmış. Sınıfa girer-girmez arkadaşlarımın hepsi bana "Hoşgeldin" dediler
An ordinary blog by an ordinary bloke 