Creationism and Islam

Salman Hameed teaches astronomy and religious studies at Hampshire College in Amherst, Massachusetts. He has lectured in Pakistan on reconciling evolution with Islam.

Hameed spoke with New Scientist about the rise of creationism in the Muslim world, what scientists can do to promote evolution there, and why he thinks Richard Dawkins and other atheists will push Muslims away from evolution.

How is evolution perceived in Muslim countries?

If you ask the question of whether you accept evolution or not, we find that a large portion of people, vast majorities, reject evolution. Compared to the US, where 40% are comfortable with evolution, in the Muslim countries that would go down to 10, 15, or 20%. In Turkey, one of the more secular Muslim countries, the level is between 22 and 25%.

Why the low acceptance rates?

Evolution has not been in the public discourse, so it depends on what people believe evolution is. Right now, there is a misperception that evolution equals atheism.

Are there any religious teachings in the Koran or elsewhere that conflict with evolution, as some creationists claim is the case with the Bible?

The Koran itself does not provide a single clear-cut verse that contradicts evolution.

One of the big evolution problems from the US creationist perspective is the age of the Earth. Logically speaking, if you believe in a 6000 or 10,000 year-old Earth, then you have to reject evolution

In the Muslim countries, young Earth creationism is nonexistent. The Koran is very vague about creation stories, specifically regarding the creation of the universe. If you accept an old Earth, then it makes it relatively easier to accept evolution.

Then what is the basis for Islamic opposition to evolution?

In some instances, evolution becomes a symbol for Western dominance and a sign of modernity. Evolution can act as a lighting rod, as a symbol of the West and everything that is bad about the West - usually translated as material culture or materialism.

Al-Rahman, Al-Rahim

Rhode Island: Priest inhibited as a result of her conversion to Islam

[Episcopal News Service] Bishop Geralyn Wolf of the Diocese of Rhode Island has inhibited the Rev. Ann Holmes Redding for publicly professing her adherence to the Muslim faith.

The notice states that the diocesan “Standing Committee has determined that Dr. Redding abandoned the Communion of the Episcopal Church by formal admission into a religious body not in communion with the Episcopal Church. The bishop has affirmed that determination.”

The inhibition prevents Redding from “exercising the gifts and spiritual authority conferred on her by ordination and from public ministry” and is in force until March 31, 2009. In accordance with Episcopal canons, unless Redding “reclaims” her Christian faith, said Wolf in an interview, the inhibition will automatically lead to a deposition, ending Redding’s priesthood.

“In the process of deposition, we shouldn’t dismiss each other easily,” the bishop said.

According to the “notice of inhibition,” dated September 30 and signed by Wolf, “Dr. Redding has acknowledged taking her Shahadah to become a Muslim.”

The Four Turnings

The history of religions is the history of the four turnings of the Wheel of Truth. Each religion has elements of all four turnings, but each religion usually emphasizes one turning or another.

First Turning of the Wheel, the Revelation of Jivanta: The Encounter with Truth

Second Turning of the Wheel, the Revelation of the Buddha: The Incarnation of Truth

Third Turning of the Wheel, the Revelation of the Beloved: The Liberation into Truth

Fourth Turning of the Wheel, the Revelation of the Heart: The Tantric-Eucharistic Union of Incarnation-Liberation

[Inspired by the Three Turnings of the Wheel of Dharma.]

Jivanta Vedas

The Supreme Scriptures of Jivanta include:
Sri Sri Ramakrishna Kathamrita;
I Am That; and
Natchintanai.

The Primal Scriptures of Jivanta include:
Bhagavad Gita;
Il Combattimento Spirituale;
Bodhicharyavatara; and
Discourses.

The Glorious Scriptures of Jivanta include both Jewish and Christian Shruti ("that which is heard") and Smriti ("that which is remembered"):

Yahadut Veda ("The Jewish Bible"):

Torah Samhita ("The Pentateuch"): examples include
Book I: Beresheit ("Genesis")
Book III: Vayiqra ("Leviticus")

Neviim Samhita ("The Prophets"): examples include
Book VI: Yehoshua ("Joshua")
Book VII: Shoftim ("Judges")

Ketuviim Samhita ("The Wisdom"): examples include
Book XIV: Tehillim ("Proverbs")
Book XXIV: Divrei Ha-Yamim ("Chronicles")

Yahadut Veda is composed of 24 (3 x 8) Books.

Christic Veda ("The New Testament"):

Euangelos Samhita ("The Gospels"): examples include
Book I: Maththaion ("Matthew")
Book II: Markon ("Mark")

Historia Samhita ("The Acts of the Apostles"): composed of Book V

Epistolai-Paulou Samhita ("The Pauline Letters"): examples include
Book VI: Romaious ("Romans")
Book VII: Korinthious A ("1st Corinthians")

Epistolai Samhita ("The General Letters"): examples include
Book XIX: Ebraious ("Hebrews")
Book XX: Yakobou ("James")

Apocalypsos Samhita ("The Book of Revelation"): composed of Book XXVII

Christic Veda is composed of 27 (3 x 9) Books.

Within Allah

Within Allah

A: Amma -- "the Divine Mother"

L: vaLLabha -- "the Beloved", as in Sri Krishna's title "Radha-vallabha", the Beloved of Radha

L: Lokavid -- "the One with Perfect Understanding", one of the Ten Titles of the Buddha

A: Ayus -- Sanskrit for "Life"

H: Hu -- the Hidden Sound

Shahadah Universal

The Muslim Shahadah is the profession of faith in Reality and in the Prophet Muhammad:

La ilaha il Allah wa Muhammad Rasul Allah

There is no reality but Reality and Muhammad is the Prophet of That Reality

Since Muslims recognize that the appearance of other Prophets (like Jesus, Abraham, and Buddha), one can place Jesus, Abraham, or the Buddha in the place of Muhammad, and communicate the same basic message:

La ilaha il Allah wa Buddha Rasul Allah

La: No
ilaha: reality
il: but
Allah: Reality
wa: and
Buddha: Buddha
Rasul: Prophet
Allah: Reality

There is no reality but Reality and the Buddha is the Prophet, or Manifestation, of That Reality

Or, if you're Christian:

La ilaha il Allah wa Christ Rasul Allah

There is no reality but Reality and Christ is the Manifestation of That Reality

On Being Christian and Muslim

A little more than a year ago, the Rev. Dr. Ann Holmes Redding [page 9] found herself
at the doorway of a new world, Islam, and wasn’t quite sure how she got there.
As she reflected on her journey, she realized Jesus was her guide. Now both a
practicing Muslim and an Episcopal priest, Redding shares her thoughts on how the
two faiths inform each other.

“The way I understand Jesus is compatible with Islam,” Redding explains, “and
although there are Christians and Muslims who think I must convert from one to
the other, the more I go down this path the more excited I am about both Christianity
and Islam.”

Redding credits her upbringing for early exposure to interfaith relationships. She was
baptized by an African Methodist Episcopal minister but the only Sunday school she
attended was Episcopal. She attended a Unitarian youth group in high school when
the Episcopal group disbanded. She was influenced by a cooperative community near
where she grew up that was comprised of mostly Quakers, Unitarians and Jews. Her
father was a prominent civil rights lawyer whose work brought him and the family into contact with people of many faith backgrounds.

After an introduction to a Muslim prayer practice in early 2006, Redding knew
she had been wrestling with a call to Islam. She approached a Muslim woman and
told her so, and the woman replied, “Christianity has been good to you and you to
it, and you don’t have to choose.” That made all the difference in Redding’s choice to
practice Islam.

“What Islam has done for me is shed this light on Christianity and shown for me
anew what a glorious way Christianity is,” she explains. “We Christians, in struggling to express the beauty and dignity of Jesus and the pattern of life he offers, describe him as the ‘only begotten son of God.’ That’s how wonderful he is to us. But that is not literal,” she continues. “When we say Jesus is the only begotten one, we are saying he’s unique in some way. Islam says the same thing. He’s the only human aside from Adam who is directly created by God, and
he’s different from Adam because he has a human mother. So there’s agreement—this
person is unique in his relationship to God.” Christianity also says that we are all part
of the household of God and in essence brothers and sisters of Jesus. Muslims take
the figurative language of “only begotten,” make it concrete and contradict it: God “neither begets nor is begotten.”

“I agree with both because I do want to say that Jesus is unique, and for me, Jesus
is my spiritual master,” Redding says. “Muslims say Mohammed is the most perfect.
Well, it depends on who you fall in love with. I fell in love with Jesus a long time ago
and I’m still in love with Jesus but I’d like to think my relationship with Jesus has
matured.”

She added that what Islam does is take Jesus out of the way of her relationship
with God, “but it doesn’t drop Jesus. I was following Jesus and he led me into Islam,
and he didn’t drop me off at the door. He’s there, too.”