Talk:Islamic creationism

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Teaching of evolution at Muslim universities

In the recent past, the Darwin’s theory of evolution was taught in many universities in the Islamic World. Even today, evolution is taught in universities such as the Moroccan Mohammad V University, the capital’s oldest higher-education public institution. It is still the only one of its kind at a public university. What is remarkable and unexpected is the fact that evolution is offered as elective course within a Master programme in King Abdalla University for Science and technology (KAUST) because teaching evolution is banned in Saudi Arabia.

Evolution theory is also taught in a fragmented way at the undergraduate level in many universities in the Islamic world. In others such as Sudan, where it used to be taught as a full course, is now timidly taught in an integrated manner as a topic in biology. In most cases the theory of evolution is at the center of these topics. Many people do not accept it because they think it does not allow for their belief in Creation. The geological times and fossil records are scientifically acceptable but when it deals with the evolution of life it contradicts with their faith.

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It is very rare though that reference is made to Muslim scholars such as Ibn Khaldun (1332– 1406) and his evolutionary philosophy. In his famous Al Mokaddima, he wrote about the origin of life:

…It started out from the minerals and progressed, in an ingenious, gradual manner, to plants and animals. The last stage of minerals is connected with the first stage of plants, such as herbs and seedless plants. The last stage of plants, such as palms and vines, is connected with the first stage of animals, such as snails and shellfish which have only the power of touch. The word ‘connection’ with regard to these created things means that the last stage of each group is fully prepared to become the first stage of the next group. The animal world then widens, its species become numerous, and, in a gradual process of creation, it finally leads to man, who is able to think and reflect. The higher stage of man is reached from the world of the monkeys, in which both sagacity and perception are found, but which has not reached the stage of actual reflection and thinking. At this stage we come to the first stage of man.”

Science at the Universities of the Muslim World. FuzzyCatPotato!™ (talk/stalk) 02:52, 2 December 2015 (UTC)