Darwin’s theory of evolution caused considerable controversy among conservative Christians, but his ideas were not immediately available to Muslims. The first Arabic excerpts of Darwin’s work were made in 1876 by a Syrian Christian who was influenced by pro-creationist Protestant missionaries. This article provides a brief historical overview of the debate among Muslim scholars about...Read More

Let me begin with a word of gratitude, for the members of the Taskforce on “Islam and Science – The Big Questions” and their work. As an external advisor I had the pleasure to meet a group of highly intelligent, informed and committed people, to attend their discussions and read their papers, and thus to...Read More

I am going to reflect on the historic theological engagement of al-Ghazali (d. 505/1111) with the scientific tradition of the medieval Islamic world, and this relates to a set of works that were discovered in the beginning of the twenty-first century. These concern a number of manuscripts attributed to al-Ghazali, called the Madnun. This is...Read More

The concept of “soul” (al-rūḥ) has always occupied a significant position in the Islamic tradition and has been hotly debated within a wide range of disciplines including linguistics, theology, philosophy and Islamic law (fiqh). One of the main characteristics common to the debates that took place within these disciplines is the elusiveness of this concept,...Read More