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Within the context of Islamic discourse about evolution, this is the first study that focuses exclusively on the views of Kamāl al‐Ḥaydarī (b. 1957), a prominent Shīʿī thinker of the contemporary period. Ḥaydarī develops his views from Muḥammad Ḥusayn al‐Ṭabāṭabāʾī (1904–1981), the author of the seminal exegesis The Balance in Interpreting the Qurʾān (Al‐Mīzān fī Tafsīr al‐Qurʾān). Ṭabāṭabāʾī is very...
The problem of evil is one of the most difficult and protracted problems for the trio of Abrahamic faiths that uphold the classical conception of an “omni‐competent God”—omniscient, omnipotent, and omnibenevolent. In its standard formulation in the literature, the existence or character of God is brought into direct contention with the existence of evil. One subset of this problem, reinvigorated by...
Wisdom‐based arguments recognize that God has the power to act or refrain from acting in a certain way, but His wisdom dictates a particular course of action. Such arguments have been applied on both sides of the creation/evolution debate among Muslims. This article analyzes a number of contemporary wisdom‐based arguments for and against evolution in light of how God's wisdom is understood by classical...
Some Muslim thinkers argue against evolution using intelligent design (ID) arguments. One possible impetus for this line of reasoning is the several indications of design mentioned throughout the Qurʾān. Therefore, criticizing ID could be seen as a direct attack on the Qurʾānic outlook. However, this article will argue that this is a false equation. The Qurʾānic design argument, as articulated in...
This article presents a constructive Shīʿī Ismaili Muslim engagement with Neo‐Darwinian evolution. By drawing on Ismaili metaphysics and hermeneutics, I argue that Ismailis can affirm evolution without exceptions due to four features of contemporary and historical Ismaili thought. First, Aga Khan III (d. 1957), the 48th hereditary Ismaili Imam, integrated Neo‐Darwinian evolution with his theological...
Christian theology in general, and Chinese theology in particular, has remained reticent toward the Needham Question originally posed by Joseph Needham in the 1930s. After a brief survey of the Christian response to the theory of evolution introduced into China in 1898, I address the Needham Question from a theological perspective. Then, building on Jürgen Moltmann's trinitarian proposal, which places...
This introduction provides an overview of the significance of the Symposium on Islam and evolution that results from a conference hosted by the Leiden University Shīʿī Studies Initiative (LUSSI) in July 2021. The objective of this conference was to stimulate further research in the area. Scientists, theologians, and philosophers participated in the conference to discuss the topic from various angles...
Popular conceptions of the relationship between science and religion often emphasize the mutual compatibility but segregation of these two authoritative domains. However, along the uncertain border between these two spheres exist many questions that appear to influence and be influenced by both scientific and theological evidence. For biologists, the gruesome details of parasite biology and behavior...
This article will examine the Christian call to love as an invitation to participate in an ongoing evolutionary transformation of humanity. This interpretation recognizes that the ability to love others is both a product and driver of evolutionary change. Through natural selection, humans evolved the neurological capacity to benefit from the cooperation generated by empathy. Additionally, these evolutionary...
Recent social scientific studies have focused on the different ways in which scientists conceive of the relationship between science and religion, conflict, complementary, independent, or some other understanding. However, there is still much less research on scientists’ religious lives outside the United States and the United Kingdom. Drawing on data from participant observation, in‐depth interviews...
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