Islam and evolution biology

This video from the USA says about itself:

Two Creationists take home schooled kids on a tour of a natural history museum filling their minds with Young Earth Creationist Bullshit.

25 June 2011.

On a world scale, the most important opposition to evolution biological science comes from Christian creationists; who are influential especially in the economically and militarily most powerful country of the world, the USA. They claim to draw the only correct conclusions from the comparatively long and detailed creation narrative in the Bible book Genesis.

Less importantly, there is opposition to evolution science from within other religions. In Hinduism, eg, the Hare Krishna organization attacks the “materialistic” theories of Charles Darwin and later biologists. This is not that surprising, as the Hare Krishna organization is rather extreme within Hinduism. The organization developed at first not in India, but in the USA, with influences from US American fundamentalist Christianity.

Much less important also, on a world scale, is Jewish creationism. It has some, though certainly no predominant, influence among Jews in Israel and elsewhere.

Jewish creationists have, surprising as that may be to some people, contacts with Islamic creationism. More specifically, with probably the world’s best known Islamic creationist: the Turkish millionaire businessman known as “Harun Yahya” (real name: Adnan Oktar).

“Harun Yahya” may sound somewhat less anti-science than many Christian creationists, as he does not attack scientific evidence that some fossils of animals or plants are hundreds of millions years old; while Christian creationists tend to claim that life on earth is just a few thousand years old. Nevertheless, “Yahya” is as anti-evolution as American fellow creationism. In Saudi Arabia, important ally of the USA, and theocratic dictatorial monarchy, teaching evolution is illegal.

In Dutch daily NRC Handelsblad of 20 March 2010, Dirk Vlasblom and others argue that neither “Harun Yahya” nor the Saudi state represent the mainstream of Islamic thought on evolution since Charles Darwin published his Origin of Species.

Translated from Vlasblom’s article; about late 19th century Muslim scholars Al-Afghani and Hussein Al-Jisr, quoting Mohammed M. Ghaly, a contemporary Islamic scholar:

Al-Jisr was much better informed about evolution theory than Al-Afghani, Ghaly says:

“Al-Afghani said that evolutionists believe that a flea in the course of centuries can transform itself into an elephant. Al-Jisr said that according to this theory, humans, like other animals, have evolved via natural selection and that it is not impossible that humans and apes have a common ancestor. He gave the evolution theory the benefit of the doubt and concluded that it does not conflict with the Qur’an, as long as space remains within the theory for God as the ultimate Creator. The creation story in the Qur’an is quite brief, said Al-Jisr, and is intended to affirm belief in God, not for scientific information.

This religious opinion (fatwa) was taken over by scholars from Turkey, from Syria and throughout the Arabic speaking world.”

SUPERIOR

Al-Jisr wanted his “approval” of Darwin to show that Islam as a rational religion is the ally of all true science, and that Islamic belief is superior to, in his eyes, dogmatic Christianity. That position was welcomed by the Ottoman Sultan Abdul Hamid

Sultan Abdul Hamid II

who wanted progress for his empire like in other countries. He gave Al-Jisr an important award in 1891.

Al-Afghani changed his mind as well. In his book Khatirat (ideas), he wrote around 1900 that evolution theory is indeed compatible with Islam.

The article says that Al-Jisr’s views are still the mainstream view among Muslims, though conservatives attack them.

Muslim creationists, same as the old creationists: here.