In secular Europe, the veracity of modern science is almost always taken for granted. Whether they think of the evolutionary proofs of Darwin or of spectacular investigation into the boundaries of physics conducted by CERN's Large Hadron Collider, most people assume that scientific enquiry goes to the heart of fundamental truths about the universe. Yet elsewhere, science is under siege. In the USA, Christian fundamentalists contest whether evolution should be taught in schools at all. And in Muslim countries like Tunisia, Egypt, Pakistan and Malaysia, a mere 15% of those recently surveyed believed Darwin's theory to be "true" or "probably true." This thoughtful and passionately argued book contends absolutely to the contrary: not only that evolutionary theory does not contradict core Muslim beliefs, but that many scholars, from Islam's golden age to the present, adopted a worldview that accepted evolution as a given. Guessoum suggests that the Islamic world, just like the Christian, needs to take scientific questions -- quantum questions -- with the utmost seriousness if it is to recover its true heritage and integrity. In its application of a specifically Muslim perspective to important topics like cosmology, divine action and evolution, the book makes a vital contribution to debate in the disputed field of "science and religion."
Islam's Quantum Question
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“With his blend of charisma and keen sense of how to navigate the tricky terrain between modern science and Muslim faith, Guessoum is emerging as one of the key figures in public debates about Islam and science.” -- Chronicle of Higher Education
"This book is essential reading for all those who wish to understand the relationship between Islam and science from both historical and contemporary perspectives. From Averroes to al-Ghazzali, and from Iqbal to Nasr, the author provides a well-informed survey and critique of the very different ways in which Islamic philosophers and scientists have contributed to the scientific enterprise. Muslims and non-Muslims alike will find that this fascinating overview fills a gap in the current literature on science and religion. Firmly committed to mainstream science, the author gives short shrift to those who attempt to find scientific truths hidden in different verses of the Qu’ran. Instead Prof. Guessoum sees the theistic framework as providing the basis for the intrinsic rationality and coherence of the universe, a framework within which the scientific enterprise can continue to flourish in a way that is consonant with religious belief." —Denis Alexander, Director, The Faraday Institute for Science and Religion, St. Edmund’s College, University of Cambridge
About the Author
Nidhal Guessoum is Professor of Physics and Astronomy at the American University of Sharjah, United Arab Emirates. He has published widely on the mutual compatibility of science and the Islamic tradition. His book Reconcilier L'Islam et la Science Moderne was published in France in 2009.
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5 of 7 people found the following review helpful
By Awe struck
Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase
Author is a respected astrophysicists who has a an excellent command of science, Islam and their histories together.
But more than just talking about the big bang and evolution (and how easily Muslims could accommodated both with obvious verses), this book has an excellent, comprehensive, textbook like, primer on the Islamic philosophies, history of western scientific interpretation/philosophy and current contemporary views on science from the Muslim world.
Author is objective and thorough. Calls out bs where he believes it evident, sites directions in which the Muslim world needs to move in going forward and presents his opinions on the matter as well.
A must read for anyone remotely interested in Islam & science. If you haven't read this book then you probably shouldn't open your mouth.
But more than just talking about the big bang and evolution (and how easily Muslims could accommodated both with obvious verses), this book has an excellent, comprehensive, textbook like, primer on the Islamic philosophies, history of western scientific interpretation/philosophy and current contemporary views on science from the Muslim world.
Author is objective and thorough. Calls out bs where he believes it evident, sites directions in which the Muslim world needs to move in going forward and presents his opinions on the matter as well.
A must read for anyone remotely interested in Islam & science. If you haven't read this book then you probably shouldn't open your mouth.
1 of 2 people found the following review helpful
By Reader Rick
Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase
This book provides an interesting overview of science as it is regarded in the Muslim world as well as a proposal by a Muslim scientist to reconcile his culture with a what is perceived by Muslim orthodoxy as a Western, materialist study. The book is worthwhile reading for anyone interested in the struggle between orthodoxy and secularism although it is not particularly well written.
1 of 9 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase
"Islam's Quantum Question: Reconciling Muslim Tradition and Modern Science" by Nidhal Guessoum (2011). The Muslim author believes that most Muslim-oriented countries are not as technologically advanced as Western countries. The author believes that for Muslim countries to improve their impoverished economies that they need to study `Western science'. Essentially, the author wants Muslims to study western science by reading books or magazines discussing western science. However, the author believes that conservative, fundamentalist Muslim theologians [who like many fundamentalist Christians] fear Muslims reading Western science books will abandon Islam. [Not to go into many details, but I forget whether it is in the Quran or the ahadith, but these writings contend that the Muslim Prophet Mohammad said that (1) the bad-disease on the right wing of a fly found in one's soup can be offset by the good-medication on a fly's left wing will offset the bad wing: hence, mix both wings together; and (2) earthquakes are caused when Allah himself reaches down and rattles mountains that are like pegs in the earth: mountains exist so that Allah can rattle them to produce earthquakes to punish man for his/her sins. This is what is called `Islamic science' - stuff that comes from either the Koran or the ahadeeth.] So to overcome this anti-science mentality the author has scrounged through the al-Coran in finding dozens and dozens of ayat that seem to suggest that Muslims should read non-Islamic (science) books. The author sort of tosses out all of these ayats to see what will "stick to the wall" - a Muslim's mind - in hopefully enticing a Muslim to read Western science books or articles (like `National Geographic' or `Scientific American' magazines) - a really scandalous, `bida' (innovation) idea. The author discusses Charles Darwin and evolution lightly, he suggests that concepts of evolution can be pulled from the Quran. This book is an exasperating attempt by a thinking Muslim who urges that Muslims who want to expand beyond the shallow end of the gene pool need to start reading European scientific magazines. This is a book that needs to be translated into Arabic. However, something tells me that this book will never become required reading at the progressive al-Azhar University in Egypt. Essentially, this book is not great `cutting edge' Western science (it really doesn't reveal much modern science), but it is a worthy attempt to `get the camel's nose' through the fundamentalist Muslims' tent-door in shinning enlightening thinking into a closed mental chador. (The author is Professor of Physics and Astronomy at the American University of Sharjah.) [Compare this book with "The Book That Made Your World" by Vishal Mangalwadi. Also: "The Closing of the Muslim Mind" by Robert Reilly;
"The Truth About Muhammad" by Robert Spencer; & "Decline of Muslim States and Societies" by Misbah Islam.]
"The Truth About Muhammad" by Robert Spencer; & "Decline of Muslim States and Societies" by Misbah Islam.]
