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Scientific American has an interesting article in a series they are doing on
evolution and the threat from creationists. This is on the pressures from
creationists in classrooms around the world. Seems the threat to the
scientist is not an isolated, if more extreme, incident.

http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=evolution-education-abroad&WT.mc_id=SA_CAT_EVO_20110307

Evolution Abroad: Creationism Evolves in Science Classrooms around the Globe

Education experts suggest that in some cultural contexts one way to
encourage acceptance of evolution is by *not* shunning religious beliefs






On Mon, Mar 7, 2011 at 4:06 PM, martin weiss <[log in to unmask]> wrote:

>
> http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news/scientist-imam-threatened-over-darwinist-views-2232952.html
>
> This is the most bizarre situation. I think evolution is important, as you
> might guess, but to threaten someone with death over it?
>
> Martin
> The Independent UK
> Scientist Imam threatened over Darwinist views
> By Tom Peck and Jerome Taylor
>
> Saturday, 5 March 2011
>
>
>
> A prominent British imam has been forced to retract his claims that Islam
> is compatible with Darwin's theory of evolution after receiving death
> threats from fundamentalists.
>
> Dr Usama Hasan, a physics lecturer at Middlesex University and a fellow of
> the Royal Astronomical Society, was intending yesterday to return to Masjid
> al-Tawhid, a mosque in Leyton, East London, for the first time since he
> delivered a lecture there entitled "Islam and the theory of evolution".
>
> But according to his sister, police advised him not to attend after
> becoming concerned for his safety. Instead his father, Suhaib, head of the
> mosque's committee of trustees, posted a notice on his behalf expressing
> regret over his comments. "I seek Allah's forgiveness for my mistakes and
> apologise for any offence caused," the statement read.
>
> The campaign is part of a growing movement by a small but vocal group of
> largely Saudi-influenced orthodox Muslims who use evolution as a way of
> discrediting imams whom they deem to be overly progressive or "western
> orientated".
>
> Masjid Tawhid is a prominent mosque which also runs one of the country's
> largest sharia courts, the Islamic Sharia Council. In January, Dr Hasan
> delivered a lecture there detailing why he felt the theory of evolution and
> Islam were compatible – a position that is not unusual among many Islamic
> scholars with scientific backgrounds. But the lecture was interrupted by men
> he described as "fanatics" who distributed leaflets claiming that "Darwin is
> blasphemy".
>
> "One man came up to me during the lecture and said 'You are an apostate and
> should be killed'," Dr Hasan told The Independent. "I want to go back – I've
> been going to the mosque for 25 years. It is my favourite mosque in London,
> and I have been active in the community for a long time. I hope my positive
> contribution will outweigh their feelings towards me."
>
> But the imam's apology seems to have done little to resolve the matter.
> Earlier this week, the group issued a statement saying that Dr Hasan had
> been dismissed from his position as vice-chairman and imam at the mosque,
> and describing his views as a "source of antagonism in the Muslim
> community". Neither he nor his father were present at the meeting that voted
> for his dismissal.
>
> Evolution "is not a matter of iman [belief] or kufr [disbelief]," said Dr
> Hasan, "and people are free to accept or reject a particular scientific
> theory." He also attacked clerics who made pronouncements about science they
> didn't understand, declaring that "any such fatwas about science from people
> ignorant of the subject matter are null and void."
>
> Like Christianity, Islamic opinion is divided over evolution. More than a
> millennium before Darwin, Muslim scientists had posited ideas about species
> survival and generational change that bore striking similarities to Darwin's
> eventual theory.
>
> Most Islamic scholars have little problem with evolution as long as Muslims
> accept the supremacy of God in the process. But in recent years a small
> number of orthodox scholars, mainly from Saudi Arabia – where many clerics
> still preach that the Sun revolves around the Earth – have ruled against
> evolution, declaring that belief in the concept goes against the Koran's
> statement that Adam and Eve were the first humans.
>
>
> __________________
> __________________
> Martin Weiss, PhD
> Science Interpretation Consultant
> mweiss at nyscience dot org
>
>
>
>


-- 
–––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––
Martin Weiss, PhD
Science Interpretation, Consultant
New York Hall of Science
mweiss at nyscience.org
347-460-1858

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