“I want Muslims to question creationism, says the physicist and imam who has had death threats for supporting evolution“
Here , New Scientist interviews physicist imam Usama Hasan, who says that belief in evolution is compatible with belief in the Koran (Michael Bond, 19 April 2011):
Recently you retracted your views because of the outrage they caused. Could you explain?My retraction was saying that I misjudged how to go about explaining these things. Sooner or later someone will have to address the issue of evolution – it’s a no-go area, especially with the clerics – but I’m abandoning my attempt to reconcile it with the Koran until things settle down. I am not willing to risk my life over this issue.
A belief supported only by death threats against unbelievers is poorly supported indeed. It amounts to saying: We can’t convince; we just scare.
Christians like to say: “Test everything. Hold onto what is good.”
And precisely therein lies the problem: What are Muslims signing on to when they are told, “believe evolution”? Three things to know – and understand their implications clearly:
1. Much that is current “evolution” theory is in a state of great ferment, so what you are told is the assured results of evolutionary science today will be disowned by its founder tomorrow. Thus, you must agree to believe wholeheartedly things that even the most ardent supporters do not.
2. Much current evolution theory is so much at odds with any conceivable traditional religion that it is commonly greeted with ridicule even in the countries in which it took root. Darwinian evolutionists are forever wringing their hands over the fact that most of the popuation of North America steadfastly refuses to believe. Why do you think that is?
How about this, for example: Muslim, do you believe that the best way to understand human behaviour is by studying primate apes? Or that information from such sources is useful for counselling? Make no mistake, that is the type of belief that is asked of you. Never mind the scientific misconduct that is hardly a surprise in a discipline aimed at proving that “apes r’ us and we is them” – here’s the Biggie:
3. You must believe that religion is not a revelation from Allah, rather, it evolved: For information, look here and here to start. Evolutionary psychology offers to explain how your caveman brain got so scrambled that you believe that there could even be Allah or religion. Evolutionists put some amazing efforts into trying to demonstrate that proposition.
If all you want evolution to do is explain why we have fossils of trilobites and dinosaurs but no living examples thereof, it will do your faith no harm, and probably some good. Your children will see that the Almighty has made many creatures for his own pleasure in giving life and theirs in receiving it, not just ours in seeing them.
The trouble is, that’s not what modern evolutionism is really about! You’ll soon find that you are being asked to buy into a system that props up atheist materialism. You will be expected, for the sake of advancement, to believe all sorts of nonsense that conflicts with human experience in order to prop up increasingly unbelievable propositions, advanced without shame or fear of contradiction.
So increasingly, you must make critical distinctions. You can enjoy an active and vigorous science education program without signing on to the rubbish. Remember, Test everything. Hold onto what is good.
Also, O’Leary’s maxim: If it sounds unbelievable, don’t believe it, and when in doubt, doubt. And – when dealing with a crazy person, make no sudden movements and back out very slowly. 😉
Denyse O’Leary is co-author of The Spiritual Brain. “