Delusions of grandeur.

Stupid.

Usama Hasan, meanwhile, criticises Muslims for their “childlike” view of evolution, and science in general.

There’s an attempted response by Adam Deen, a Muslim blogger, to Hasan’s views on the need to reconcile evolution with their religious beliefs. Although, I am not sure it is much of a response, and only seems to underline Hasan’s argument about Muslims indulging in bad science…

Update: Abu Hasan in the comments links to another response to Usama Hasan’s article at Ummah Pulse. I don’t think the piece deserves any sort of serious analysis, but at least the author of that piece doesn’t copy and paste snippets of “evidence” found at creationist websites.

And please note: I am not saying Usama Hasan or his views are beyond criticism.

Related: See an earlier Talk Islam post on Richard Dawkins’ views about Muslim creationism and read about the role of the Turkish military establishment in pushing creationism into the mainstream.

Sticking with the evolutionary biologist, Razib has a Sokal-esque dig at his philosophical enemies, following news that Dawkins criticised Muslim parents for “importing” creationism into British classrooms. (Read the interview in full at The Times.)

I don’t have any data or information on Muslim views on ‘creationist science’ in the UK, although there have been some stories in the past reporting concern from lecturers about how Muslim and other religious  students view evolution, especially those studying medicine or science subjects. Muslim media have also reported this dismissive attitude — a 2005 summer edition of Q-News apparently suggested that “Harun Yahya had, in the eyes of most ‘literate Muslims’, effectively defeated the arguments of Darwin”. Based on personal experiences, I would also agree that evolutionary science is probably widely dismissed by Muslim students, with many focussing on the ‘practical’ elements of, say, medicine or pharmacology.

But I don’t know if anyone has carried out any serious research into this area (Muslim views on creationism in the UK). And while I get Razib’s point about seriously considering the data on Turkey*, I just don’t think public champions of science like Dawkins can rest their claims about schoolteachers and Muslim pupils on a visit or two to schools — it’s just not good science.

Then there is the choice of words. For me, use of words like “import” is not dissimilar to David Blunkett’s talk of Britian being “swamped” by asylum seekers. Added to his claim that it is “impossible to say anything against Islam in this country” he is alluding the old argument that People Out There Are Threatening To Destroy Our Way Of Life. In fact, his claim that you can’t say what you want about Islam is, to put it very bluntly, bullshit. You can say whatever you want about Muslims and their beliefs and get it published as front page news; you can even peddle yourself as an expert in the media although you may know very little about the subject under discussion**.

This is not to say Dawkins or anyone else cannot have an open and frank discussion about Islam, or any other belief system, without the threat of legal reprecussions (i.e. freedom of speech) or the threat of violence***. But it is worth nothing that none of these debates — whether on the ‘veil’, or on offensive cartoons, or on works of literature — take place inside a vaccum. They have a context — local, national or global context — in which they can be analysed.

*For more on Turkey’s creationism see an earlier post on Talk Islam.

**This includes trivial mistakes and more serious errors.

***Protection from violence in this context can come under ‘legal reprecussions’ — the state is obliged to protect people who express views from such threats and also punish the perpetrators. How far does this legal protection include protection from social, political and economic reprecussions?

In Turkey, 700 academics have filed a case against the government to stem the increasing presence of creationism in science classes. Teachers and academics are concerned that a powerful creationist lobby is exerting more and more influence on the country’s government [...] And, this war between theology and science is creating some strange bed fellows as US Christian fundamentalists are joining forces with Muslim creationists in an effort to change the teachings in Turkey’s classrooms.

The radio programme discusses the involvement of the American creationists, and in particular The Discovery Institute, involved in the Turkish creationist movement. American creationists see their Muslim counterparts as allies in their battle against Darwinism.

The documentary also highlights how the Turkish military dictatorship in the 1980s intended to use American creationist material to combat left-wing political movements.

(Via an emailer.)

small N’s for some, so be careful about comparing on a fine grained level…but for me the comparison between hindus & muslims is the most interesting. i assume that most of the muslims are south asian immigrants, as are most of the hindu, so you’re eliminating a lot of confounding noise here….