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Science and Islam at WLU

'Professor and author Dr. Taner Edis was invited by the Laurier Freethought Alliance (LFA) to talk on the topic of Islam and Science

Source: CordWeekly.com (Wilfrid Laurier University)
Date: October 3, 2007
Author:  Tyler Handley

My annual turkey dinner came a little early this year as I sat down with Turkish-American professor, Dr. Taner Edis, for an interview about Islam, science and the West.

Furthermore, with the intense political drama playing out in Turkey at the end of the summer regarding Islam and secularization, it was fitting to have Dr. Edis, a Physics professor from Truman State University in Missouri, interested in studying the nature of science and religion in the Islamic world, speak at our campus.

Dr. Edis spoke about the setbacks science has faced in the Muslim world. “There are a number of things. Sometimes it’s just basic poverty. It has nothing to do with religious or cultural issues. But in my view at least, current forms of religiosity in the Muslim world are not helping because we have religious movements that promote really egregious forms of pseudoscience that are very popular in the Muslim world, which makes it difficult for science.”

He also spoke about the continuing fear of secularization - separating aspects of life from religious control. “So it would help if more liberal forms of Islam that allow science a wider range of autonomy were to become more influential in the Islamic world. But right now there is not a lot of that going on.”

His talk touched on a number of movements that are trying to incorporate science into Islam. One of those collective efforts is the Nur movement. He explains that the Nur movement is “a modern religious movement based in Turkey and it’s been going since the early to middle of the twentieth century [when Turkey became secular]. They’re a religious movement who are particularly noted for their modern orientation and enthusiasm about technology and capitalist development.”

He described the Nur movement and others like it as organizing their structure of religious authority in a very modern and different way compared to classical Islam.

They are very much interested in trying to bring Islam into the modern world but on their own terms, by preserving all of the doctrinal orthodoxy, which very often motivates them to distort science to a large degree.”

In reference to Bernard Lewis, Cleveland E. Dodge Professor Emeritus of Near Eastern Studies at Princeton University, saying that, “Europe will be Islamized by the end of the century,” Dr. Edis was clear to note that Europe has a growing Islamic minority that will easily reach at least 20 percent of the population by the 2050s.

“Given that this is a minority that has not been integrated and really doesn’t seem to show much interest in being integrated into European society as a whole, Europe is going to have some interesting questions to face,” he said.

One of the most prevalent debates at this point in history is whether a society that prides itself on being secular should fear Islamization. Dr. Edis feels that, “If Europeans value their secular societies they’re going to have to defend it in some ways. The difficulty of course becomes that, especially given European history, how are you going to do this without violating human rights?”

He spoke of the importance of doing so without singling out minorities for persecution. He explained that “there’s a balancing act over here and it’s going to be very difficult for Europeans.”

If there’s any place in the world where the battle between secularization and Islam is being played out, it’s Turkey.

The road towards competing with the west, shown by Turkey’s attempt to join the EU, is tearing at the heartstrings of many Turks as they try to hold onto their conservative religious beliefs.

To compound this schism is the recent election of President Hayrünnisa Gül, who is thought by many Turks to be too sentimental towards Islam. This was the cause of several massive rallies in Turkey at the end of the summer that aimed at promoting the preservation of the secular government.

Since Europe might just see a growing Muslim population in the next several decades, it will be helpful if Turkey is accepted into the EU, noted Edis. This could dissolve some of the tension between Islam and the West, and hopefully make the arrival of a Muslim majority in a secular culture a peaceful one.


This article was retrieved from http://www.cordweekly.com/cordweekly/myweb.php?hls=10034&news_id=958
 

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