For a book carrying the subtitle “Science and Religion in Islam,” one would reasonably expect the author to be well-versed in three subjects: science, religion, and Islam. However, Taner Edis readily admits from the very beginning of An Illusion of Harmony that he is no expert in Islam. He cites having grown in a Muslim land, […]
Tag Archives: Atheism
03
Apr
Apr
The Egyptian scholar Mohammed al-Ghazali (1917-1996) said: “إن نصف الكفر في العالم يحمل وزره متدينون بغضوا الله إلى عباده” “Verily, the weight of half of the disbelief in the world is carried by religious people who made God detestable to His servants.” God is not Great by Christopher Hitchens should be assigned reading for all […]
26
Dec
Dec
In his book The Experience of God: Being, Consciousness, Bliss, the American Christian theologian and philosopher David Bentley Hart provides an account for what traditional theology has put forth on what the term God means and what it entails. It is interesting to note that this work can arguably be considered to be more directed at […]
08
Oct
Oct
On September 15th, 2017 I was invited by the Muslim Student Association at the University of New South Wales in Sydney, Australia to participate in a discussion panel the Peter Slezak, a philosopher of science. The general theme was the question “If God Exists, Where is He?” We spoke for close to 3 hours on […]
21
May
May
Our modern age is one purported to elevate rationality above everything and everyone. Religious belief is considered a deficiency in reasoning capacity, and the education system promotes this idea most strongly at the college/university level. It is practically taken for granted that for one to have an objective about a religion, they must be an […]
23
Apr
Apr
The Muslim nostalgia for the past and feelings of inferiority in the presence can sometimes lead one to project modern understandings and presuppositions about what is considered rational and intellectually respectable onto past scholars living during what is known as the Golden Age of Islam. However, a reading of works by those scholars, such as […]
21
Dec
Dec
The Creed of Deliverance is a short poem composed by the great Moroccan scholar Imam Muhammad ibn Ja’far al-Kittānī. It contains the basic foundations of creed that were typically taught to young Muslim children as a premier text before they delved into more complex theological matters if that was the path they wanted to take. […]
16
Dec
Dec
The spectrum of human experience entails different modes of examination to gain an understanding of what makes us human and how to lead and live a life worth living. Appreciating this point sheds light on the essential futility of the debate between science and religion, which assumes a fundamental incommensurability between them. However, rather than an either/or dichotomy, recognizing what type of […]
07
Dec
Dec
Note: This vignette originally appeared as a topic of discussion in Andalus Book Club. The Western mind has been intellectually conditioned through the education system to by and large equate science with rationality and religion with mythology and superstition. The appeal of this set up lies in the idea that science deals with tangible material objects, whereas religion […]
28
Nov
Nov
The “Science vs. Religion” debate appears to be more of an issue for monotheistic religions than it is for those of the Far East. The claim that the universe was created by a God who is beyond the universe, coupled with what appears to be at times scientifically irreconcilable claims in sacred scriptures about the natural world, including human beings […]
05
Oct
Oct
One of the most often cited reasons for leaving religion appeals to science. More specifically, Pew Research Center reports that many American “nones” lost their faith after they went away to college and learned about evolution. Contrary to the fields of physics and chemistry, biology stands apart in its impact on religious belief. This may […]
11
Aug
Aug
The following is an excerpt from Islam Between East and West by ‘Alija ‘Ali Izetbegović (1925–2003), which was first published in 1984. I shared a previous excerpt here titled The Meaning of Humanism. The best remark that can be made about this book is one that I came across in a review posted on Amazon in 2011 by Julia Simpson: […]
27
Jul
Jul
The following is an excerpt from Islam Between East and West by ‘Alija ‘Ali Izetbegović (1925–2003), which was first published in 1984. The best remark that can be made about this book is one that I came across in a review posted on Amazon in 2011 by Julia Simpson: “This is a heady distillation of intellectual Muslim thought, demonstrating […]
17
Mar
Mar
Neil Postman’s book Technopoly remains as relevant today as it was when he published it in 1992. I’ve been contemplating and reading for a while now about the impact of the public’s reception of technoogy on their perception of science. It appears, at least to me, that it’s often the case that when those who are […]
27
Oct
Oct
CJ Werleman’s latest book The New Atheist Threat: The Dangerous Rise of Secular Extremists acts as a nice companion to Chris Hedges’ 2008 book I Don’t Believe in Atheists. In his latest treatise, Werleman takes the reader on an account of his emotional transformation from an atheist with a “live and let live” attitude about religion to a […]
08
Aug
Aug
Philosophy matters. Yet, we find some people steeped in self-assured ideologies, whether it is scientism or zealous religion, continuing to declare that philosophy is a waste of time. Both sides cry out for practicality, and claim philosophy has no real-life applicability. Hence, they declare it a form of idle mental exercise that leads to obfuscation […]
06
Jul
Jul
“The most dangerous prison is the one where you can’t see the bars.” Dr. Tariq Ramadan These are confusing times. A short reflection on what one stands for and what they believe in is bound to generate a self-induced state of anxiety. This is especially the case for many of those raised in traditional households […]