Science, Cultures, and the
Future of Humanity Conference
Future of Humanity Conference
Aperiodic tile pattern.
“Science, Cultures, and the Future of Humanity”
Conference held in Doha, Qatar, Summer of 2008
In the
U.S. and Europe, scholarly dialogue between scientists and theologians
can be uneasy and difficult at times. In the Muslim world, it is largely
non-existent, for fear of offending religious traditionalists. An important
step toward remedying this situation was taken in the summer of 2008 in
Doha, Qatar, at a conference titled “Science, Cultures, and the Future
of Humanity.” The gathering was jointly organized by the Al Jazeera Center
for Studies (the think tank of the Arabic television network Al Jazeera)
and the Interdisciplinary University of Paris, whose Science and Religion
in Islam program is a major grantee of the Templeton Foundation.
For Dr. Jean Staune, founder and general secretary of the IUP, the gathering
in Doha was a unique opportunity “to create dialogue and debate between
Muslim experts in science and religion and their Western counterparts.”
No less important was the chance it presented “to make known the research
of Muslim scholars in the Muslim world.” The conference was entirely funded
by Al Jazeera, which also gave the event extensive coverage. All fifteen
hours of the conference were broadcast live on Al Jazeera Mubashir, a public
affairs channel, and three hours of interviews with conference participants
were broadcast on the main Al Jazeera channel, with an average audience
of more than 60 million viewers.
The framework for the meeting was set in the opening session. Staune suggested
that both science and religion “must be exercised with humility.” Roald
Hoffmann of Cornell University, the 1981 Nobel Laureate in Chemistry, told
the attendees that “he did not wish to minimize the differences between
science and religion,” but that both are “ways of trying to understand
the world.” Nidhal Guessoum, an astrophysicist at the American University
of Sharjah in the UAE, spoke about issues in the Arab world. “When Qur’anic
verses are turned into equations and physical quantities are numerically
derived from the Holy Qur’an,” he said, “one must look at such approaches
carefully and critically.” He suggested that the key to a positive relationship
between the two domains was for science “to give up its imperialistic dreams”
and for religion “to be less ‘dogmatic’ and more open to contributions
from other fields.”
To the surprise of everyone present, the opening session of the conference
was attended by Yusuf al-Qaradawi, the host of a weekly program on Al Jazeera
and one of the most influential theologians in the Islamic world. After
the session ended, al-Qaradawi congratulated Guessoum on his remarks. The
conference also won wide coverage and positive notices in the Arab press
and on Arabic websites. Of special interest to Muslim commentators were
the views of Nidhal Guessoum; Dr. Bruno Abd-al-Haqq Guiderdoni, an astrophysicist
who directs the Observatory of Lyon; and Eric Geoffroy, an Arab philologist
and specialist on Sufism at the Université Marc Bloch in Strasbourg.
Other participants in the conference included Charles Townes of the University
of California, Berkeley, winner of the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1964 (and
of the 2005 Templeton Prize); Denis Alexander, director of the Faraday
Institute for Science and Religion at University of Cambridge; Philip Clayton,
professor of religion and philosophy at Claremont Graduate University;
Keith Ward, the former Regius Professor of Divinity at University of Oxford
and a Fellow of the British Academy; Ehsan Masood, a London-based journalist
and contributor to Prospect, Nature, and New Scientist; the Iranian philosopher
and theoretical physicist Mehdi Golshani; and the epistemologist and biologist
Mustapha El Mourabit, director of the Al Jazeera Center for Studies.
One of the most discussed sessions of the conference was a presentation
by Denis Alexander on the relationship between theology and the theory
of evolution, an increasingly sensitive subject in the Muslim world. “Although
evolution itself cannot be used to support any particular ideological position,”
he said, “believers since the time of Darwin have realized that the theory
can be accommodated quite easily within a theistic worldview.” Darwin’s
ideas, Alexander suggested, are “entirely consistent with a Creator God
who has intentions and purposes for the world that He has brought into
being.” The speech was translated into Arabic and posted on the Al Jazeera
website. Another session outlined the many scientific objections to creationism
and intelligent design as alternatives to evolutionary theory.
The conference concluded by issuing the “Doha Declaration,” which proclaims
that “the so–called ‘warfare between science and religion’ is unnecessary
and destructive—to religion, to science, and to the future of our species
and our planet.
Conference held in Doha, Qatar, Summer of 2008
In the
U.S. and Europe, scholarly dialogue between scientists and theologians
can be uneasy and difficult at times. In the Muslim world, it is largely
non-existent, for fear of offending religious traditionalists. An important
step toward remedying this situation was taken in the summer of 2008 in
Doha, Qatar, at a conference titled “Science, Cultures, and the Future
of Humanity.” The gathering was jointly organized by the Al Jazeera Center
for Studies (the think tank of the Arabic television network Al Jazeera)
and the Interdisciplinary University of Paris, whose Science and Religion
in Islam program is a major grantee of the Templeton Foundation.For Dr. Jean Staune, founder and general secretary of the IUP, the gathering
in Doha was a unique opportunity “to create dialogue and debate between
Muslim experts in science and religion and their Western counterparts.”
No less important was the chance it presented “to make known the research
of Muslim scholars in the Muslim world.” The conference was entirely funded
by Al Jazeera, which also gave the event extensive coverage. All fifteen
hours of the conference were broadcast live on Al Jazeera Mubashir, a public
affairs channel, and three hours of interviews with conference participants
were broadcast on the main Al Jazeera channel, with an average audience
of more than 60 million viewers.The framework for the meeting was set in the opening session. Staune suggested
that both science and religion “must be exercised with humility.” Roald
Hoffmann of Cornell University, the 1981 Nobel Laureate in Chemistry, told
the attendees that “he did not wish to minimize the differences between
science and religion,” but that both are “ways of trying to understand
the world.” Nidhal Guessoum, an astrophysicist at the American University
of Sharjah in the UAE, spoke about issues in the Arab world. “When Qur’anic
verses are turned into equations and physical quantities are numerically
derived from the Holy Qur’an,” he said, “one must look at such approaches
carefully and critically.” He suggested that the key to a positive relationship
between the two domains was for science “to give up its imperialistic dreams”
and for religion “to be less ‘dogmatic’ and more open to contributions
from other fields.”To the surprise of everyone present, the opening session of the conference
was attended by Yusuf al-Qaradawi, the host of a weekly program on Al Jazeera
and one of the most influential theologians in the Islamic world. After
the session ended, al-Qaradawi congratulated Guessoum on his remarks. The
conference also won wide coverage and positive notices in the Arab press
and on Arabic websites. Of special interest to Muslim commentators were
the views of Nidhal Guessoum; Dr. Bruno Abd-al-Haqq Guiderdoni, an astrophysicist
who directs the Observatory of Lyon; and Eric Geoffroy, an Arab philologist
and specialist on Sufism at the Université Marc Bloch in Strasbourg.Other participants in the conference included Charles Townes of the University
of California, Berkeley, winner of the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1964 (and
of the 2005 Templeton Prize); Denis Alexander, director of the Faraday
Institute for Science and Religion at University of Cambridge; Philip Clayton,
professor of religion and philosophy at Claremont Graduate University;
Keith Ward, the former Regius Professor of Divinity at University of Oxford
and a Fellow of the British Academy; Ehsan Masood, a London-based journalist
and contributor to Prospect, Nature, and New Scientist; the Iranian philosopher
and theoretical physicist Mehdi Golshani; and the epistemologist and biologist
Mustapha El Mourabit, director of the Al Jazeera Center for Studies.One of the most discussed sessions of the conference was a presentation
by Denis Alexander on the relationship between theology and the theory
of evolution, an increasingly sensitive subject in the Muslim world. “Although
evolution itself cannot be used to support any particular ideological position,”
he said, “believers since the time of Darwin have realized that the theory
can be accommodated quite easily within a theistic worldview.” Darwin’s
ideas, Alexander suggested, are “entirely consistent with a Creator God
who has intentions and purposes for the world that He has brought into
being.” The speech was translated into Arabic and posted on the Al Jazeera
website. Another session outlined the many scientific objections to creationism
and intelligent design as alternatives to evolutionary theory.The conference concluded by issuing the “Doha Declaration,” which proclaims
that “the so–called ‘warfare between science and religion’ is unnecessary
and destructive—to religion, to science, and to the future of our species
and our planet.