Religious Literalism and Science‐related Issues in Contemporary Islam

Abstract

The complex relations between Islam and modern science have so far mostly been examined by thinkers at the conceptual level. The wider interaction of religious scholars and preachers with the general public on science issues is an unexplored area that is worthy of examination, for it often is characterized by a literalistic approach. I first briefly review literalism in its various forms. The classical Islamic jurisprudential school of Zahirism, widely regarded as bearing the flag of juristic literalism, is also briefly presented. I then address specific science-related issues currently being discussed in literalistic ways by many religious scholars and preachers in their general-public discourse. I focus on the practical case of the determination of crescent-based Islamic months and holy occasions, the conceptual issue of evolution (biological and human), and the rule for the consumption of meat by slaughter of animals. In the last part of the essay I propose a constructive alternative to the literalistic mode: the Maqasidi (objectives-based) approach. This rather old method has seen some revival lately, mainly among Islamic jurists concerned with solving the new issues of modern times, especially for Muslims living in the West, but this approach has not yet been applied to science-related issues. I present the main ideas of this method and show their relevance and usefulness to science-related topics.

Issues and Agendas of Islam and Science

“…I analyzed and decried this (growing) literalist mindset and its effect on Muslims’ understanding of science‐related issues in a recent Zygon article (Guessoum 2010).…”

“…5 5 Al‐Hayani 2007, 2008; Farimani 2007; Ghaly 2010; Guessoum 2010; Sekaleshfar 2010; Bigliardi 2011; Elshakry 2011. …”

Islam and Bioethics in the Context of “Religion and Science”

“…So far, “Islam and science” has not received much attention within “religion and science.” As for the limited attention given to Islam, an explanation might be that most of the contemporary literature on “religion and science” has its roots in the Christian, humanist, and naturalist discourses of the West, and Zygon: Journal of Religion and Science is no exception to this background. Though the first article on Islam and science, “Science and Traditional Values in Islamic Society” appeared already in Zygon 's second year of publication (al Fārūqi ), it seems that the topic increasingly has attracted attention in recent years (Al‐Hayani ; Bigliardi , ; Elshakry ; Guessoum , ; plus the invited papers discussing Nidhal Guessoum's book Islam's Quantum Question : Bagir ; Brooke ; Dajani ; Guessoum ; Hameed ).…”

Practices, Approaches, and Agendas in Plural

“…Bagir's contribution is part of a larger section on a recent book on Islam and science by Nidhal Guessoum (2011), an Algerian physicist who works in the United Arab Emirates. Zygon has previously published articles by him (Guessoum 2008, 2010). The Jordanian biochemist Rana Dajani concentrates on the resistance to evolution among Muslims, the historical dimension of which was recently treated in Zygon: Journal of Religion and Science by Marwa Eshakry (2011).…”