Sleep and Dreams, Article by Kenza (online member)

Here is an article written by our online club member, Kenza, about sleep and dreams, which we discussed in Session 35.

Dreams come in three stages: light sleep, deep sleep and REM. During REM (Rapid Eye Movement), our eyes roll around rapidly under our eyelids. During deep sleep, we have almost no contact with the real world. And if we wake up naturally, we’ll be in light sleep until we actually awaken.  

When we dream, we don’t know we’re dreaming. In our dreams, we often think the world around us is reality even if the things that appear in front of us are absolutely unreal. The reason for this is that our frontal lobes (the part of the brain at the front) aren’t acting much. However, they are when we’re awake, and at those times we’ll know for sure that we’re definitely not dreaming. 

While dreaming, we have no sense of time. We don’t even know how long our dreams last - they might only last an hour. But still, according to a fact in What Makes Me Me? by Robert Winston, you’ll spend around five years of your life in dreams. And another that states, the average person dreams about 1,825 times a year. 

Furthermore, you won’t copy the motions you make in your dreams; for instance, you won’t start running a marathon if that’s what you’re dreaming about! This acts as a barrier to stop you copying the movements you make whilst dreaming. This is because your brain signals to your muscles to move (to correspond with the motion you make in your dream) but your spinal cord ignores these signals. 

According to some people, if you want to remember your dreams well, lie your pillow flat before you sleep. This helps keep a good recollection of your dream, because your blood circulates better this way. 

To sum up, dreaming is an interesting topic that even scientists can’t completely understand. And maybe some of it will always remain a mystery.


By Kenza, Online Club Member

I think my dream came true.

Report: Thinkers' Club Session 35

Date: 24th May, 2015
Session # 35
Attended by: 10 participants
Report written by: Fatima Salman

This session started with a round of introduction as many of the members had come after a long time. Instead of the usual style of introduction, this time we had to introduce ourselves by telling about a mistake we made in our lives and we learnt something important from that mistake. Everyone had to think for a couple of minutes and then tell them. We all make many mistakes in our lives, and that is how we grow. We continuously make mistakes and then we realize our mistakes and improve them. For example, was our first attempt to say something perfect? Of course not! Each of us made mistakes in the beginning, and then learnt from the mistakes to eventually become perfect.
If we learn from our mistakes, then they are good for us, and if we don't, then they are a loss for us. We all make mistakes, and we should learn from them, otherwise, we will continue to make the same mistake again.

Then we were asked what we would like to talk about and if we have any questions. Some of the members wanted to talk about Dreams. We talked about dreams, and how they are often related to certain things in our life. 
The dreams we see are often some visuals which were stuck to our mind, and then we see the same visual in our dream. Sometimes, we see something in our dream which we have actually experienced in life. 
Dreams can also be our thoughts, or can be reflecting our thoughts. They can be of something we have been thinking a lot about, and we see or experience the same thing in our dream.
Dreams can also be of our imagination. What we see might not have happened, and might never even happen, but is something we are only imagining about. Dreams can also be fantasy.

Or, dreams may contain a message from God. Sometimes, Allah wants to tell us something prior to its happening, for some reason. We can see it in our dream. Usually, the people who see true dreams are very pious and good people.

We usually forget our dreams within a few minutes of waking up. The dreams we remember are usually our great fears, which we experience in our dreams, or great wishes which we experience in the dream. We also remember the dream we have talked about a lot, or narrated to many people.

We ended up talking about sleep. Sleep is an experience of death. We will talk on this topic in the next session. Meanwhile, if anyone wants to, they can do some research or make a presentation about Sleep and Dreams.

Thank you.

Report: Thinkers' Club Session 34

Date: 17th May, 2015
Session # 34
Attended by: 8 participants
Report written by: Fatima Salman

In this session we were joined by two new girls. First, we did a recap of the previous sessions, and then we told the new participants about what Thinkers' Club is. 

Then we recalled and listed the topics we have worked on, which include How our mind works, How animals think, Migratory Birds, Finding our way through Stars, Poetry,Poets, and many more. Then we were asked what topics we could do in future. Someone said that we could discuss and work on the topic 'Time', so we will probably talk about 'Time' in the next session.

We talked about 'Salam' in this session. The words 'Assalam o alaikum' are a greeting and dua we give to others, which means 'Peace be upon you'. The complete salam which is 'Assalam o alaikum wa rahmatullahi wa barakatuhu', which means that we are asking from Allah for that person three things; Salam, Rehmat, and Barkat. Salam means peace, Rehmat means mercy, and Barkat means blessings. So we are praying for the person's peace, his mercy and blessings from Allah.

Normally, salam is taken as a greeting, and we don't even think about it that we are actually praying for that person we are saying salam to. We also get rewarded when we say salam, so we have our own benefit in it as well. And when the person replies with 'Walaikum assalam', he is praying for peace for us as well, so we have our own benefit in it.

However, most of the time we say salam just because it is expected from us. Or even worse, sometimes the reason for saying salam is that if we don't say salam, it would look rude, or people would think we are ill mannered or arrogant just because we aren't saying salam to them. So the actual reason, that salam is actually a blessing and prayer for the person, is totally forgotten.

This was our main discussion in this session. 

One of the members, Muaviyah, has written some Facts about Salam which are on his blog. You can visit it to learn more facts about salam.

Thank you.

Needs and Wants, Article by Kenza (online member)

Our needs and our wants play important parts in our life. Our needs consist of things we need to live and our wants consist of things we want in life. Without our needs, we most likely wouldn’t live very long. Without our wants, some of us wouldn’t be very happy, or in another case, we might not even achieve the goal we want in life.  
We need the substances we use every day to survive. These substances commonly include water, food, clothing, shelter, sanitation and more. 
Our wants can be necessary or unimportant. Necessary wants may include equipment such as, stationery, books, bags and containers, phones/mobiles, computers, transportation, and so on. Unimportant wants, however (even though we still want/have some of these) may include jewellery, video games, music, magazines, and so on. 
Anyhow, just because our wants are classified into necessary and unimportant, doesn’t mean we should or shouldn’t have them. It just means we can live without them (even if we struggle without our necessary ones). 
The important thing is to appreciate what you have, be thankful, and not waste anything. Some people are so used to using their everyday equipment that they forget it all plays an important part in their life. Just imagine what it would be like if you didn’t have the cutlery in the kitchen anymore or that toothbrush you use to brush your teeth twice a day: any of those essential needs. Or even a glass of water! Life would be hard, wouldn’t it? 

Needs and Wants

Below is an article about needs and wants written by Zainab Salman, based on the points discussed in Session 33.

We rarely think about them, but Needs and Wants are an important part of our lives. Lots of things in our lives like shopping and buying things depend upon it. Our needs and wants gradually become part of our thinking.

Needs are very important things that are necessary to have in order for us to survive. Wants can be anything-anything that we want for ourselves. Often, we forget and buy stuff without thinking whether they are our needs or wants.

Needs and Wants are divided into these categories so that they are easier to understand:

Primary Needs:

Basic: Like clothes to wear.

Functional: Things that are necessary for the Need to work-like the clothes to be stitched -so that the need can be functional.

Secondary Needs:

Things that we consider as our needs but are not our basic needs, as we can survive without those. Examples include toothbrushes, furniture, and things that are a part of our home without any apparent reason

Wants: Things that we want- can be anything, wants have no criteria for being a want

There are five basic things that we should be thankful to God for, or more specifically, that we need to be thankful for. These five things are mentioned below:

He has given us our basic needs in abundance

Avoid Wasting and share with others!

He has given us more than our needs

Don’t make them your needs!!! 

He supplied us everything without being asked for them

Don’t consider them as your rights!

We can never thank him enough

Continue to be thankful, feel obliged to him!

He has given us lots of things which we have not worked for/earned

Believe in your lord, he will continue to give!

Lots of things are part of our lives and we sometimes forget to thank God for them. Needs and Wants are such small things that we sometimes forget and learning how to differentiate between them is a great skill.

Report: Thinkers' Club Session 33

Date: 3rd May, 2015
Session # 33
Report written by: Fatima Salman

In this session, we continued the discussion of needs and wants. We did a recap of the previous session and then further discussed our wants and needs. We talked about how we deal with our needs and wants. 

We discussed many things about them. All the important points and ideas we discussed in the session will be compiled in an article, which will be shared on the blog soon.

Thank you.

Report: Thinkers' Club Session 32

Date: 26^th April, 2015

Session # 32

Attended by: 9 participants

Report written by: Fatima Salman

In this session, we discussed what our needs and wants are. Our needs are the things that are essential for us. Our needs include food, water, oxygen, clothes, etc. Our wants are things that are not essential for us. Examples of wants are cars, gadgets, accessories, etc. We talked about our wants. First, we had to think of what our wants were a year ago. Everyone had to think and note them down, and then share them with others. Most of those wants had been fulfilled, while some had not. Then we had to think and note down our current wants. Then we shared our wants with everyone. Our wants were written down on the board. We were told that our wants are in our hearts. We use our minds to check our wants.

After recalling all our current wants, we classified them in three categories: Good wants, Unclear wants, and Not so good (or bad) wants. Good wants are the wants that have a meaningful purpose in them. Unclear wants are wants that we are not clear about, or the wants that don’t make much sense. Not-good or bad wants are the wants that have no real meaning or purpose. We classified our wants according to their purposes. For example, if a child wants to go abroad to visit his\her relatives, this is a good want. However, there is always a cost of the want. Like going abroad may cost a lot of money. It will also require a passport, and visa of that country. It will also take time. The cost of the want is divided into three aspects: Time, money, and energy. In this way, we classified all the wants. A common want some people shared was to have their own room. We talked about the cost of the want. Like if there’s a house with three rooms, and six people living there, one person wanting his\her own room is unfair for the rest.

This way, we sorted the wants into good, unclear, and not good wants. We also figured out the cost of the want. The cost was not just about money, but also about time and energy, 

which were equally (or even more) important.

There are three things everyone must consider about their wants:

1. Know your wants
2. Check – are they good or not
3. Calculate the costs of your wants

We should pursue our good wants, if we are able to afford them. We shouldn’t go after our bad wants, even if they are cheap and do not take much time and energy. We are governed by our wants. We must follow our good wants, only if are able to do so. If we have a good want, and are able to pay the cost for it, we should definitely pursue it.

After this discussion, talked briefly about our needs. We have Primary needs and Secondary needs. Our Primary needs include Basic needs and Functional needs.

As there wasn’t any time left, we will continue the discussion in the next session. In the meantime, we can do the home task: we have to make a presentation or write an article about our wants. In it, we can tell about the types of wants, their costs, and more. It can include the examples shared, and things we learned about our wants in this session. These 

things will be shared in the next session.

Everyone enjoyed this session, and we all learnt a lot in it. We will continue the topic in the next session, Insha Allah.

Thank you.

Philosophical Questions and their Answers, by Kenza (online member)

What is Time (and do you think of Time the same way I do)?
If you looked for an ordinary definition of time, you’d be given something like, the indefinite continued progress of existence and events in the past, present, and future regarded as a whole. But what exactly IS Time? And how can we think of it? Can we even go forwards/backwards in time? 
I think Time is of course our experiences in life, what’s happening to us now in the present, and what will happen in future (assuming we will still be there). We count Time as it goes by, just as we count numbers. But the mind-numbing thing is that if you go further and further than a millisecond, it’s infinite, and it’s hard to believe how this still goes on as we go by in the present today. Many believe that you can go forwards in Time if you go faster than the speed of Light. But many wonder how this beyond-the-mind thing works. I’ve come up with a theory, but it still doesn’t quite explain how Time works. 
If you look at the stars in the night sky today, you may have heard from someone or from an information book, that the stars that are out there today may have already died millions and millions of years ago. But there’s a reason for this of course; Light is slower than the speed of time, just as Sound is slower than the speed of Light (you’d notice this when there’s lightning). And that’s also the reason why light from the sun takes eight minutes to reach us, since the sun is so far away. So, from this theory, you can tell that Time is faster; the reason is because the stars that you see in the night sky may have already died… with Time! 


What are Colours?
If you were trying to explain to someone who’d been blind all their life, what colours are, you’d have a bit of difficulty. Only a person who’d not been blind at first would understand this matter properly. If you look up an ordinary definition, you’d be given something like, the property possessed by an object of producing different sensations on the eye as a result of the way it reflects or emits light. But this wouldn’t be useful for a blind person, because they don’t understand light, either. 

Instead, you could say that colours can also be expressed as heat or emotions. Like, red for hot, angry or dangerous and blue for cold, calm or sad. And then, of course, yellow for happy, which is also quite common.

Can you step in the same River twice? 
Yes; if I were stepping in the Thames once, stepped out, and stepped in again, I’d still be stepping in the Thames. 
No; the water of the river I’d stepped in the first time would have flowed past, by the time I’d stepped in the second time. Thus, it would be impossibly difficult to step in in exactly the same position as I’d last done, with the water in exactly the same place too. 

Does society need Greed?
Yes; If no-one had a greedy ambition, we’d probably never get anywhere. No-one would want to be leaders. Capitalism wouldn’t exist at all, and there would be no in between. 
No; If we didn’t have greed, we’d have more love and kindness for each other. There would be a lot more friendly people on the planet, and we’d be sharing things a lot more. The rainforests wouldn’t be cut down, and we wouldn’t use others. 
Personally, I believe some need a bit of greed for the world to work, but not too much. I mean, cutting down all the rainforests is over the top, but if we didn’t have greed at all, we probably wouldn’t even have ambitions, a competitive spirit, and we would be weak. 

Why does the same thing make one person Happy and the other Sad?
Different people may see different things in different ways. For example, say one child took a toy from another. In one perspective, the child would be really annoyed and demand it back. But in another, the child would be really happy that the other wanted to use their toy. 
It really depends which personality you have. If you’re a greedy or selfish character, you might be really annoyed if someone took one of your belongings from you. But if you’re a kind and sharing type of character, you’d be quite happy for someone to use one of your belongings. In some ways, you may be classified as an optimist, realist, or pessimist; like in the half-full, half-empty cup example. 

Report: Thinkers' Club Session 31

Date: 5th April, 2014
Session # 31
Report Written by: Zainab Salman

Today was the 31^st Session of the Thinker’s Club. Our topic today was: “What is a good life?”

First, everyone wrote their answers to the question. We came up with the following points, and listed them on the board:

• A good life should have an aim and a meaning.
•  A good life is when your parents are pleased and satisfied with you.
• A good life is, when you are self aware and God conscious.
•  A good life is, when you work for a good education.
•  A good life should lead to a better life in the hereafter.
•  A good life should be focused on to achieve its goals.

We discussed each of the points, briefly, to understand their meaning. Then, we wrote on the topic: “Why is my life a good life and what do I need to make my life good?

We came up with lots of points and shared them with each other. Then we picked the point “Make your parents happy with you” and we all listed ways to make our parents happy.

Here are some of the points:

• Do as they say and follow them.
• Help them in their work and chores.
• Make a card or write a letter for them when they are sad or angry with you.
• Give them water when they ask for it.
•  Help them tidy the house.

We ended the session by discussing the points we had listed. This session was meaningful, as we uncovered our perceptions of a good life.

Emotions: Artwork by Zainab Salman (club member)

Here is an artwork by Zainab Salman, depicting different emotions.

Report: Thinkers' Club Session 30

Date: 15th March, 2015

Session # 30

Report written by: Fatima Salman

In this session, we discussed various topics. 

First, we talked about this dua, and its meaning. In this dua, by 'truth', it means the right (true) things, and by 'false', it means the wrong things. When we recite this dua, we are asking for four things from Allah: (1) Enable us to see the truth (right things) as truth, (2) Give us the ability to follow the right things, (3) Show us the falsehood (wrong things; sins) as false, (4) Give us the ability from refrain from the wrong things.

We were also shared a quote. This quote was shared and we agreed about how true it seemed. It shows that today we are giving more value to Internet access, than oxygen! We talked about it for a while, and then the discussion turned to other things, like the environment, and other topics.

In this week, we have to think of questions that come to our mind on any topic, think about them, and share them in the next session.

Thank you.

Artwork by Nameera Faisal

Here is some artwork submitted by Syeda Nameera Faisal.