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Islam's Encounter with Modern Science

A Mismatch Made in Heaven

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  22 November 2023

Taner Edis
Affiliation:
Truman State University

Summary

Within Muslim populations, debates about the compatibility between science and religion tend to be framed by the long-standing competition between modernizing reformers, particularly westernizers, and theological conservatives. Much like their liberal Christian counterparts, reformers propose to embrace technical knowledge and reinterpret traditional beliefs undermined by modern science. Conservatives are more open to challenging the content of science, especially when science appears to support materialist views. Islamists promote an alternative, non-western style of modernity, nurturing a more pious professional class that contrasts with westernized elites. By scientific standards, westernizers appear to have the upper hand, especially as conservative apologetics is drawn toward distortions of science such as creationism, or fruitless attempts to Islamize science. But conservatives can also point to some success in defusing tensions between scientific and religious institutions without adopting the full secularization of science seen in post-Christian countries.
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Islam's Encounter with Modern Science
  • Taner Edis, Truman State University
  • Online ISBN: 9781009257473
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Islam's Encounter with Modern Science
  • Taner Edis, Truman State University
  • Online ISBN: 9781009257473
Available formats
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Islam's Encounter with Modern Science
  • Taner Edis, Truman State University
  • Online ISBN: 9781009257473
Available formats
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