Biography:

Nidhal Guessoum is a Professor of Physics and Astronomy American University of Sharjah (United Arab Emirates). He received his M.Sc. and Ph.D. degrees from the University of California at San Diego (USA) and spent two years as a researcher at NASAs Goddard Space Flight Center. He has had an ongoing collaboration with colleagues at the Centre dEtude Spatiale des Rayonnements in Toulouse, France.

In addition to his technical research, he has also been active in the fields of curriculum development and the dissemination of Science, publishing dozens of articles on general science issues, editing a conference proceedings volume, and co-authoring two general public books, The Determination of Lunar Crescent Months and the Islamic Calendar (two editions) and The Story of the Universe (three editions), both in Arabic. Lately, Prof. Guessoum has been very active in the area of the Islam-Science interface, publishing a number of articles and a book on Islam and modern science in French (Presses de la Renaissance, 2009).

Professor Guessoum has been a member of the Paris-based Science and Religion in Islam project; he took an active part in the 2008 conference on Science, Cultures and the Future of Humanity, which was held in Doha, Qatar; he recently gave two invited lecture series at Cornell University and the University of Wisconsin at Madison and been interviewed by several prominent media, e.g. BBC World Radio, Al-Jazeera, Le Monde, NPR (USA), RFI (France), etc.

Abstract:

Contemporary Attitudes toward Evolution in the Muslim World

Several recent sets of data have come to confirm the existence of widespread rejections of the facts and theory of evolution by Muslims today. Indeed, surveys have shown that only about 15 % of respondents in various Muslim countries (ranging from Tunisia and Egypt to Turkey, Pakistan, and Malaysia) stated that Darwins theory is True or Probably True. Other surveys showed that this hard stand toward evolution is equally prevalent among students and teachers at various levels of education, from high school to university. Most alarmingly, some reports have shown that many science/biology teachers mis-present Evolution (the facts and the theory) and often mix it with religious and ideological discourse (attempting to counter the materialistic connotation so tightly bundled with the scientific theory).

In this talk, I will first review the above surveys, providing data and multiple first-hand experience. I will then show that Evolution is far from necessarily clashing with Islamic beliefs, unless one adopts a literalistic reading of the sacred texts; in particular I will emphasize the fact that many Muslim scholars, from the Golden Age of Islam to today, adopted an evolutionary worldview. I will also attempt to address the deeper reasons for misunderstanding Evolution and, more generally, Science (theories, facts, interpretations, etc.)In particular, I will focus on the serious lack of understanding of the nature and philosophy of science (its methodology, its principles, and its mechanisms for discovering, checking, and ascertaining the uncovered truths). Lastly, I will present a set of recommendations for ways of improving this educational situation and remedying to the above problems.