Prof. Dr. Nidhal Guessoum: Islam and Science
Abstract
While science in the Islamic world declined to very low levels, a new and potent 'modern science' emerged in Europe and spread to the rest of the world over the last few centuries. This 'modern science' brought a new 'naturalistic' methodology and new knowledge (theories, facts, descriptions of nature) that sometimes challenged the long-held traditional Islamic worldviews.
In this lecture, I plan to present the different proposals that have been made by Muslim thinkers on how to stand vis-à-vis modern science and its new theories and results. I will also present my own proposal on how modern science must be viewed and reconciled with the Islamic principles and beliefs, an approach which is analogous to Ibn Rushd's harmonization of philosophy and faith/revelation.
I will then briefly focus on the next phase of debates, i.e. the "challenges" that Muslim thinkers must address: the integration of methodological naturalism and evolution (biological and human) in the Islamic worldview, and other important topics.
I will conclude with "the way forward".
Kurzbiographie
Kurzbiographie
Nidhal Guessoum is Professor of Physics and Astronomy at the American University of Sharjah, UAE. Besides Astrophysics, he has made notable contributions in Science & Islam/Religion, education, and the public understanding of science. He has published several well-received books, including Islam’s Quantum Question: reconciling Muslim tradition and modern science (2010), which has been published in English, Arabic, French, Indonesian, and Urdu; The Story of the Universe (in Arabic, 4 editions); and most recently (2019), The Young Muslim’s Guide to Modern Science (English, Arabic, and Urdu).
In December 2020, Prof. Guessoum was named among the Top 100 most influential leaders in space exploration by the digital platform Richtopia. In 2018, he was ranked 22nd among top Arab thought leaders by the Swiss Gottlieb Duttweiler think-tank. He has chaired international task forces on science and education in the Muslim world, and has served on the board of trustees of the John Templeton Foundation and other organizations. In 2022, he was named the Sheikha Nama Majid Al Qassimi Endowed Chair in Education Across Disciplines at the American University of Sharjah, UAE.
He has lectured at many renowned universities (Cambridge, Oxford, Cornell, Wisconsin, Malaya, NYU Abu Dhabi, and others worldwide), been interviewed in many international media, from Al-Jazeera to The Times. He has a very strong social media presence: 130,000 followers on Twitter, 130,000 on Facebook, and 460,000 subscribers to his YouTube channel.
He also writes regularly on the above subjects, for Gulf News, The Huffington Post, Nature Middle East, and other venues. He was recently featured in a full-page article in Science (July 2011).
Finally, he has lectured at many renowned universities (Cambridge, Oxford, Cornell, Wisconsin) and has been interviewedin various international media, including Al-Jazeera, BBC, NPR, France 2, Le Monde, etc.