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An interesting article about the acceptance of evolution in the Muslim world. Muslims, including in 'secular' Turkey, all reject macro-evolution by a large majority. Where evolution is taught in certain Muslim countries, human evolution is excluded since the belief that humans evolved from lower primates is incompatible with Islamic teachings.

The Koran, besides clearly making it impossible to accept human evolution, also can be interpreted as supporting the belief of creationism - with verses from the Koran saying that Allah himself had formed the creatures that inhabit the earth.

And, as the author points out, where evolution is accepted by a small percentage of Muslims, their 'evolutionary ideas are a far cry from the theory of evolution as accepted by biologists all over the world.'

Some highlights:

Opinions of the General Population
We do not know much about general views
about science in Muslim countries, let alone
on the specific question of evolution. A
recent survey of public acceptance of evolution
in 34 countries did include one Muslim
country, Turkey (7). The study found that
about 25% of adults in Turkey agree with
the statement, “Human beings, as we know
them, developed from earlier species of animals,”
well below the United States (at
40%). The result is all the more worrisome,
because Turkey is one of the most educated
and secular of Muslim countries.
A recent sociological study analyzing
religious patterns in Muslim countries
(Indonesia, Pakistan, Egypt, Malaysia,
Turkey, and Kazakhstan) included a question
about evolution as an example of an
idea that challenges a “fundamental religious
belief widely held by Muslims” (8).
The respondents were asked: “Do you agree
or disagree with Darwin’s theory of evolution?”
Only 16% of Indonesians, 14% of
Pakistanis, 8% of Egyptians, 11% of
Malaysians, and 22% of Turks agree that
Darwin’s theory is probably or most certainly
true (see chart, page 1637). The former
Soviet republic of Kazakhstan, already
showing differences in religious patterns
with other countries in the study, had the
highest fraction that accepted evolutionary
theory. In fact, only 28% of Kazakhs
thought that evolution is false, a fraction
much lower than that of the U.S. adult population
(~40%) (7).

http://helios.hampshire.edu/~sahCS/Hame ... ionism.pdf

Thanks, this is a good paper and does make the point that many Muslims reject the question of evolution because of a misunderstanding of what is being asked.

In fact, the paragraph after your quote above makes the the following points:

These results paint a depressing picture. However, the question regarding evolution relies heavily on the definition of evolution as understood by individual respondents. This is especially a problem when many,
perhaps most, in the Muslim world confuse evolution with atheism and consider it inherently against religion.

And then goes on to quote what the Quran teaches etc.


Now, compare and contrast with

shafique wrote:Ok, I had a look at Gallup and they had a relevant article with stats on the topic of US beliefs concerning evolution:
http://www.gallup.com/poll/21811/americ ... igins.aspx

In 2005 over half, 53% believed that 'God created man exactly how the Bible describes it'.

This earlier set of results shows that the US had the lowest percentage of people believing in evolution in the survey:
http://www.religioustolerance.org/rel_comp.htm

So, whilst Muslims will believe in what is in the Quran and what is in the Quran is accordance with science - the 53% of Christians who reject science's explanations of man's evolution are doing so because of a literal interpretation of the Bible.

Which therefore undermines eh's contention that Christians are more rational when it comes to evolution. The evidence doesn't stack up.


Thanks for linking to the article though - makes some interesting points and clarifies the Islamic stance on evolution pretty well.

Cheers,
Shafique

Thanks, this is a good paper and does make the point that many Muslims reject the question of evolution because of a misunderstanding of what is being asked.

That's an interesting belief the author does not bother to support.

And actually, the author is only guessing that a majority of Muslims actually reject evolution for that reason.

Interesting to see your spin of his own writing.

Hey, you selectively quoted the guy - not my problem you are resorting to the old loon tactic of not believing anything that goes against loon assumptions.

According to Gallup's findings over 50% of your fellow countrymen believe that man was created as described in the Bible - that doesn't leave much room to wiggle. I can see why you need to resort to selectively quoting articles.

Cheers,
Shafique

Hey, you selectively quoted the guy - not my problem you are resorting to the old loon tactic of not believing anything that goes against loon assumptions.

The difference is that I quoted the part of his story that was supported by evidence.

And no, I did not selectively quote the paragraphs - they were quoted in full.

What is interesting, however, is your willingness to believe a rather flimsy excuse to exonerate Muslims. As if Muslims were liberal and enlightened individuals who accept gays, do not support barbaric punishments, such as stoning and limb chopping, and do not literally interpret a 1400 year old story book that says it is 'ok' to beat your wife.

BTW, still hold the kooky belief that humans (and their 'lineage') are separate from all other animals?

Or have you now joined modern biology and accept that humans evolved from lower primates?

So, you admit you had to selectively quote an article to make your point - I guess we can call that progress, you are now out of denial.

Next step is to realise that the Christians in America that dismiss science's explanations for man's creation do it BECAUSE the Bible disagrees with science - over half of your fellow Americans believe the Bible's explanation is literally true. Contrast that with the Quran whose explanations are in accordance with science.

Cheers,
Shafique

shafique wrote:So, you admit you had to selectively quote an article to make your point - I guess we can call that progress, you are now out of denial.

Next step is to realise that the Christians in America that dismiss science's explanations for man's creation do it BECAUSE the Bible disagrees with science - over half of your fellow Americans believe the Bible's explanation is literally true. Contrast that with the Quran whose explanations are in accordance with science.

Cheers,
Shafique

Yes, we already went over the Koran's bizarre belief that the sun revolves with respect to the earth.

That time, as with many other times, on other threads, you simply did not understand what was being said and provided a response that was not relevant to the claims the Koran made - that the sun revolves with respect to the earth (it doesn't).

Yawn.

Just because you have a weird loon interpretation of Islam doesn't change the fact that it is your fellow Christians that have to abandon science to believe the Bible's account of creation.

Cheers,
Shafique

I can understand your frustration in agreeing with Chomsky that America is more fundamentalist than other nations. But, once again, the facts and and a bit of common sense do not support the left wing loon's crazy beliefs.

Imagining things again eh - thanks for sharing.

When you find time to visit planet earth again, you'll notice that the thread below awaits your scientific explanation for the Bible's claim that the sun stood still in the sky for a day.

When you have any evidence to counter Chomsky's statements - let us know and we'll review. However, try and quote real stats and not what you dreamt up.

Cheers,
Shafique