1. A Brief History of Islamic Creationism in Turkey
Science and Religion in Islam
2007
A Brief History of Islamic Creationism in Turkey
Taner Edis
Department of Physics
Truman State University
Taner Edis

2. Science and Religion in Islam
2007
Recent history
Past few centuries dominated by need to catch up to modern, especially Western world.
West has technological advantage  military and commercial power. Need science!
2011
AAAS
Taner Edis

3. Science and Religion in Islam
2007
Importing science
Borrow technology but guard against foreign cultural influences.
Materialist aspects of science (as seen in popular 19th century materialist literature, such as by Ludwig Büchner) undesirable.
2011
AAAS
Taner Edis

4. Science and Religion in Islam
2007
Responding to Darwin
Early response to Darwin and evolution in the context of westernization and elite debates over materialist philosophy.
Largely ignored, or denounced as an offense to religion. Accepted by radical secularizers but not Muslim modernists.
2011
AAAS
Intelligent Design

5. Science and Religion in Islam
2007
Said Nursi
2011
AAAS
Intelligent Design

6. Secularist impositions
Science and Religion in Islam
2007
Secularist impositions
Turkish example: most radical secularist experiment in Muslim world. 1920s, 30s.
Darwinian evolution part of state science education.
But only minor offense to traditional religion, when compared to much more serious injuries.
2011
AAAS
Intelligent Design

7. Underground creationism
Science and Religion in Islam
2007
Underground creationism
Until 1970s Turkey, little public creationism outside of conservative Muslim subculture. (Passive resistance to evolution.)
1970s: Islamists in coalition. Opposition to evolution a culture-wars theme. Indirect way of opposing secularism.
Grassroots modernist movements push pseudoscience.
2011
AAAS
Intelligent Design

8. Science and Religion in Islam
2007
Official creationism
1980: military coup Conservative policy.
Mid-1980s: conservative government, Islamists in Ministry of Education, Nur influence.
Creationism in secondary education. Translations from US literature, distributed to teachers.
Creationist paragraphs in Turkish textbooks, even today.
2011
AAAS
Intelligent Design

9. Science and Religion in Islam
2007
Harun Yahya
In 1997, Harun Yahya literature took Turkey by storm. Creationism central theme.
Borrows from Christian creationists; Adds more traditional Islamic themes.
Uses media very well.
Modern, but religious image.
2011
AAAS
Intelligent Design

10. Successful creationism
Taner Edis
2002
Successful creationism
Scientists (e.g. Turkish Academy of Sciences) publicly oppose creationism. Ineffectual.
Many Turkish academics express skepticism about Darwinian evolution.
Muslim opposition to evolution is intellectually mainstream.
Defense of evolution entangled with a discredited secularism.
2011
AAAS
Intelligent Design

11. Recent public examples
Science and Religion in Islam
2007
Recent public examples
March 2009: Censorship of popular science and technology magazine.
January 2011: Elementary teacher in trouble for answering question about evolution.
2011
AAAS
Intelligent Design

12. Global Islamic Creationism
Science and Religion in Islam
2007
Global Islamic Creationism
Turkish origin (Harun Yahya), but internationally popular.
Grassroots pseudoscience; theme of harmony between science and traditional religion.
2011
AAAS
Taner Edis

13. Science and Religion in Islam
2007
Quran  Evolution?
15:26 “We created man of potter’s clay of black mud altered.”
24:45 “And God created all animals from water: some of them travel on their bellies, some travel on two legs, some travel on four. God creates what God will; God is capable of all things.”
2011
AAAS
Intelligent Design

14. Science and Religion in Islam
2007
Guided evolution
Many accept limited evolution
Common descent somewhat OK, but more problematic where humans are concerned.
Explicitly guided, non-Darwinian process. Creativity cannot reside in the material world.
Attractive as a middle path, but even guided evolution always controversial.
2011
AAAS
Intelligent Design

15. Science and Religion in Islam
2007
Academic creationism
Well-known philosophers of science Seyyed Hossein Nasr (Iran, US), and Osman Bakar (Malaysia, currently US) are creationists.
Darwinian evolution goes against top-down, God-centered view of reality demanded by religion.
“Intelligent design” also finding an audience.
2011
AAAS
Intelligent Design

16. Doctrinal conservatism
Science and Religion in Islam
2007
Doctrinal conservatism
Liberal Muslim views weaker than Christian counterparts.
Reinterpretation, seeing religion as human strongly opposed.
Even modernists, democrats can be cultural conservatives.
Rejecting materialism conditions both popular and intellectual discourse on science.
2011
AAAS
Taner Edis

17. Science and Religion in Islam
2007
Plug
Taner Edis, An Illusion of Harmony: Science and Religion in Islam (Prometheus Books, 2007).
2011
AAAS
Taner Edis