Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Modern Science and Conservative Islam: An Uneasy Relationship

  • Chapter
Science, Worldviews and Education

Abstract

Familiar Western debates about religion, science, and science education have parallels in the Islamic world. There are difficulties reconciling conservative, traditional versions of Islam with modern science, particularly theories such as evolution. As a result, many conservative Muslim thinkers are drawn toward creationism, hopes of Islamizing science, or other ways to retain the primacy of faith while continuing efforts to catch up with modern technology. Muslims argue that science and Islam coexist in harmony, but both intellectually and institutionally, the Islamic world harbors many tensions between science and religion.

Based on Edis 2007. All translations from Turkish are the authors. Thanks are due Michael Matthews for the invitation to contribute to the issue.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this chapter

Log in via an institution
Chapter
USD 29.95
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
eBook
USD 129.00
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
Softcover Book
USD 169.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Compact, lightweight edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info
Hardcover Book
USD 169.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Durable hardcover edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info

Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout

Purchases are for personal use only

Institutional subscriptions

Preview

Unable to display preview. Download preview PDF.

Unable to display preview. Download preview PDF.

References

  • AbuSulayman A (ed) (1989) Islamization of knowledge: general principles and work plan, 2nd edn. International Institute of Islamic Thought, Herndon

    Google Scholar 

  • Akbulut Ş (1980) Darwin ve Evrim Teorisi. Yeni Asya Yayınları, Istanbul

    Google Scholar 

  • Altaytaş M (2001) Hangi Din? Eylül Yayınları, İstanbul

    Google Scholar 

  • Atay T (2004) Din Hayattan Çıkar: Antropolojik Denemeler. İletişim Yayınları, İstanbul

    Google Scholar 

  • Ateş S (1991) Gerçek Din Bu (Volume 1). Yeni Ufuklar Neşriyat, İstanbul

    Google Scholar 

  • Aydın MS (2000) İslâmın Evrenselliği. Ufuk Kitapları, İstanbul

    Google Scholar 

  • Bakar O (1987) Critique of evolutionary theory: a collection of essays. The Islamic Academy of Science, Kuala Lumpur

    Google Scholar 

  • Bakar O (1999) The history and philosophy of Islamic science. The Islamic Texts Society, Cambridge

    Google Scholar 

  • Bakar O (2003) The nature and extent of criticism of evolutionary theory. In: Zarandi MM (ed) Science and the myth of progress. World Wisdom, Bloomington

    Google Scholar 

  • Bucaille M (1979) The Bible, The Qur’an and Science. American Trust Publications, Indianapolis

    Google Scholar 

  • Bulbulia J et al (eds) (2008) The evolution of religion: studies, theories and critiques. Collins Foundation Press, Santa Margarita

    Google Scholar 

  • Dennett DC (1995) Darwin’s dangerous idea: evolution and the meanings of life. Simon and Schuster, New York

    Google Scholar 

  • Edis T (1994) Islamic creationism in Turkey. Creation/Evolution 34:1–12

    Google Scholar 

  • Edis T (1999) Cloning creationism in Turkey. Rep Natl Cent Sci Educ 19(6):30–35

    Google Scholar 

  • Edis T (2002) The ghost in the universe: god in light of modern science. Prometheus Books, Amherst

    Google Scholar 

  • Edis T (2003) Harun yahya and Islamic creationism. In: Chesworth A et al (eds) Darwin day collection one. Tangled Bank, Albuquerque

    Google Scholar 

  • Edis T (2004) Chance and necessity—and intelligent design? In: Young M, Edis T (eds) Why intelligent design fails: a scientific critique of the new creationism. Rutgers University Press, New Brunswick

    Google Scholar 

  • Edis T (2007) An illusion of harmony: science and religion in Islam. Prometheus Books, Amherst

    Google Scholar 

  • Edis T, Bix AS (2005) Biology and ‘created nature’: gender and the body in popular Islamic literature from modern Turkey and the West. Arab Studies Journal 12:2/13:1:140–158

    Google Scholar 

  • Euben RL (1999) Enemy in the mirror Islamic fundamentalism and the limits of modern rationalism. Princeton University Press, Princeton

    Google Scholar 

  • Eve RA, Harrold FB (1991) The creationist movement in modern America. Twayne, Boston

    Google Scholar 

  • Guessoum N (2008) The Qur’an, science, and the (related) contemporary Muslim discourse. Zygon 43(2):411–431

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Günbulut Ş (1996) Ortadoğu Din Kültürü. Kaynak Yayınları, İstanbul

    Google Scholar 

  • Hamilton MA (2005) God vs. the gavel: religion and the rule of law. Cambridge University Press, New York

    Google Scholar 

  • Hoodbhoy P (2007) Science and the Islamic world—the quest for rapprochement. Phys Today 60(8):49. doi:10.1063/1.2774098

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kazdağlı G (2001) Atatürk ve Bilim. TÜBİTAK Yayınları, Ankara

    Google Scholar 

  • Keddie N (1968) An Islamic response to imperialism: political and religious writings of Sayyid Jamal al-Din ‘al-Afghani’. University of California Press, Berkeley

    Google Scholar 

  • Kepel G (1997) Allah in the West: Islamic movements in America and Europe. Stanford University Press, Stanford

    Google Scholar 

  • Melnyk A (2003) A physicalist manifesto: thoroughly modern materialism. Cambridge University Press, New York

    Google Scholar 

  • Miller JD, Scott EC, Okamoto S (2006) Public acceptance of evolution. Science 313:765–766. doi:10.1126/science.1126746

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Moghissi H (1999) Feminism and Islamic fundamentalism: the limits of postmodern analysis. Zed Books, London

    Google Scholar 

  • Moreland JP (1994) Theistic science and methodological naturalism. In: Moreland JP (ed) The creation hypothesis: scientific evidence for an intelligent designer. InterVarsity Press, Downer’s Grove

    Google Scholar 

  • Nasr SH (1987) Knowledge and the sacred. State University of New York Press, Albany

    Google Scholar 

  • Nasr SH (1994) A young Muslim’s guide to the modern world, 2nd edn. KAZI Publications, Chicago

    Google Scholar 

  • Özervarlı MS (2003) Said Nursi’s project of revitalizing contemporary Islamic thought. In: Abu-Rabi IM (ed) Islam at the crossroads: on the life and thought of Bediuzzaman Said Nursi. State University of New York Press, Albany

    Google Scholar 

  • Plantinga A (1991) When faith and reason clash: evolution and the Bible. Christ Sch Rev 21(1):8–32

    Google Scholar 

  • Provine WB (1988) Progress in evolution and meaning in life. In: Nitecki MH (ed) Evolutionary progress. The University of Chicago Press, Chicago

    Google Scholar 

  • Rachels J (1991) Created from animals the moral implications of Darwinism. Oxford University Press, Oxford

    Google Scholar 

  • Şahin A (2001) İslam ve Sosyoloji Açısından İlim ve Din Bütünlüğü. Bilge Yayıncılık, İstanbul

    Google Scholar 

  • Sardar Z (ed) (1984) The touch of Midas: science, values and environment in Islam and the West. Manchester University Press, Manchester

    Google Scholar 

  • Seif-Amirhosseini Z (1999) ‘A change in the conception of Muslim women’. Islam21 20:15–18

    Google Scholar 

  • Tatlı A (1990) Evrim İflas Eden Teori. Bedir Yayınevi, İstanbul

    Google Scholar 

  • Tatlı A (2005) Evrim Teorisi Nasıl Anlatılmalı. Zafer 345 (September)

    Google Scholar 

  • Timuroğlu V (1991) Türk-İslam Sentezi: 12 Eylül’ün Eğitim ve Kültür Politikası. Başak Yayınları, Ankara

    Google Scholar 

  • Üşür S (1992) Islamcı Kadınların Yaşam Alanı: Tepkisel İndirgemecilik mi? In: Arat N (ed) Türkiye’de Kadın Olgusu. Say Yayınları, İstanbul

    Google Scholar 

  • Vahide Ş (2003) Toward an intellectual biography of Said Nursi. In: Abu-Rabi IM (ed) Islam at the crossroads: on the life and thought of Bediuzzaman Said Nursi. State University of New York Press, Albany

    Google Scholar 

  • van Raaij B (2005) Darwin is de profeet niet. de Volksrant, April 9

    Google Scholar 

  • Vlaardingerbroek B, El-Masri YH (2006) The status of evolutionary theory in undergraduate biology programmes at Lebanese universities: a comparative study. Int J Educ Reform 15(2):150–163

    Google Scholar 

  • Yahya H (1997) Evrim Aldatmacası: Evrim Teorisi’nin Bilimsel Çöküşü ve Teorinin İdeolojik Arka Planı. Vural Yayıncılık, İstanbul

    Google Scholar 

  • Yahya H (2003) Why Darwinism is incompatible with the Qur’an. Global Publishing, İstanbul

    Google Scholar 

  • Yılmaz İ, Uzunoğlu S (1995) Alternatif Biyolojiye Doğru. TÖV, İzmir

    Google Scholar 

  • Ziadat AA (1986) Western science in the Arab world: the impact of Darwinism. McMillan, London

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Physics, Truman State University, 63501, Kirksville, MO, USA

    Taner Edis

Authors
  1. Taner Edis
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Taner Edis .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Faculty of Arts & Social Sciences, University of New South Wales, Morven Brown Building G1, 2052, Sydney, NSW, Australia

    Michael R. Matthews

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

Copyright information

© 2008 Springer Science+Business Media B.V.

About this chapter

Cite this chapter

Edis, T. (2008). Modern Science and Conservative Islam: An Uneasy Relationship. In: Matthews, M.R. (eds) Science, Worldviews and Education. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-90-481-2779-5_12

Download citation

Publish with us

Policies and ethics

Search

Navigation