Perhaps the most intractable question in Pakistani educational reform remains how best to reconcile religion and science within the curriculum. This is a serious matter but few are willing to engage with the issue directly, for fear of being branded religious heretics by some or apologists for fanaticism by others. The matter was accentuated for me most recently in viewing, on the web, a video of a debate between physicist and public intellectual Pervez Hoodbhoy and Islamic educator Hamza Tzortzis at the Lahore University of Management Sciences (LUMS) a few months back. The "debate" ended in a huff with both speakers fuming with contempt for each other's perspective that ultimately led to an irrevocable meltdown. Professor Hoodbhoy walked out of the room accusing Mr Tzortzis of innuendo. The episode was soon thereafter put online by Mr Tzortzis's organization claiming that the debate had been won by their protagonist. Many commenters on blogs and Facebook seemed to concur that by losing his cool Mr Hoodbhoy had vindicated the Islamist perspective.

Such a meltdown between religion and scientific epistemologies is inevitable because the underlying assumptions that exist. There is a tendency for many Muslims to atavistically celebrate the accomplishments of tenth-century Islamic mathematicians, while investing little in developing contemporary educational capacity. Where investment is being done, it is focused on instrumental fields such as engineering in the Gulf States, and much less in critical inquiry that could actually lead to discoveries that advance the scientific enterprise.

Far too often, the imams are talking about the etymology of "algebra" coming from Arabic and Avicenna's pharmaceutical accomplishments but do we ask why more of such great scholars have not been seen for a thousand years in Islamic countries? Furthermore, it is important to remember that the golden age of Islam was also its most pluralistic (willing to embrace different interpretations of scripture), and even then there were fundamentalist forces who constantly threatened these scientists. Let us not forget that Madinat-al-Zahra, once a showpiece of Islamic art and learning just outside Cordoba, was destroyed not by any "kuffar" but instead by radical and retrogressive Muslim factions.

Out of more than five hundred Nobel laureates in the sciences, only two have been of Muslim lineage. Pakistan can claim one of them: Abdus Salam, who shared the prize in physics in 1979, and memorably wore a shervani and turban to the award ceremony in Sweden. However, as an Ahmedi, he was spurned at home as a non-Muslim and died in 1996 without fully being able to contribute to science education in Pakistan, despite his noblest intentions. His dedication to improve the plight of Muslim scientists cannot be questioned.

Dr Ahmed Zewail, an Egyptian-American chemist based at the California Institute of Technology, received the Nobel Prize for chemistry in 1999 and is the Muslim world's sole Nobel science star. He is clearly in high demand for this singular status and has also been appointed by President Obama as one of his "science envoys" to the Muslim world. I had an opportunity to meet him recently at the World Economic Forum in Davos (in January 2012) and he noted the difficulty of getting science to be embraced by Muslims because of entrenched and misguided prejudice towards themes like evolution.

Unfortunately, Muslim theologians dismiss evolution as established science with canard theories like "intelligent design," ironically taken from fundamentalist Christian traditions in the Southern United States. Ample scholarship by Muslim scientists has been provided to show that evolution and Islamic theology are compatible but a vast majority of Muslims continue to disavow this because of ignorance on the part of our major clerics (a recent book by Nidhal Guessoum titled Islam's Quantum Question: Reconciling Muslim Tradition and Modern Science, provides an excellent response to these controversies). Without having a basic predication in scientific understanding of the natural world, we cannot develop our intellectual base.

Those Muslims who are educated and proceed to develop successful professional trajectories are often career-centered but would rather not invest in cutting-edge creativity. An interesting example is medicine, in which many Muslims have excelled considerably, particularly within the US. However, most of these brilliant doctors are focused on making money in clinical practice rather than in creative research which would lead to laurels such as the Nobel Prize. Two rare exceptions are Dr Hina Chaudhry a cardiac researcher at Mount Sinai Medical Center in New York and Dr Zeeshan Ozair, a researcher at Rockefeller University, who may well bring such a laurel home.

Some Muslims are quick to indulge in recriminations about Jews being "in control of academia." The reality is they have reached that point because of hard work and a cultural love of learning which has been lost to Muslims in recent years. Most Jews who came to America were just as penniless as Muslim immigrants but their commitment to learning AND differentiating religion from science helped them triumph. Having spent my career in academia, I can say with confidence that they have truly earned that respect and stature and none should resent it but rather learn from them with humility. Muslims must aim for a similar culture of the "scholar-practitioner" that will help to naturalize their behavior.

Such efforts must start at the earliest stage in elementary schooling. Students should not be taught science simply to validate theology (such as what is often done by many teachers to show how particular Quranic verses are ratified by science with somewhat dated and superficial texts like Maurice Bucaille's The Bible, the Quran and Science). Rather, science should be taught as a critical enterprise to better understand the beauty and complexity of Creation. Through such an approach we will begin to see a natural appreciation for planetary processes in congruence with our Faith.

Organizations such as the Khwarizmi Society (which has a strong base at LUMS, and of which I am also a member) have the potential to build bridges between Islam and science but they must approach the matter with care. Scientific empiricism cannot be subservient to preconceived notions or mainstream misrepresentation of theology as we have on the issue of evolution. Most important for this reconciliation between science and religion to take place will be a nonliteral approach to scriptural interpretation in Islam.

Also, those who equate religious evangelism with scientific evangelism in the classroom are making a fundamentally flawed comparison. Scientific methods are meant to be inherently adaptive and self-critical whereas religious evangelism is not. Only with clear proof can scientific theories graduate to become laws whereas such burdens of evidence are not requisite for religious doctrines. It is essential that Pakistan's education not conflate religion and science but rather study both in parallel in what the great scientist Stephen Jay Gould called "non-overlapping magisteria."

Religion can be an admirable guide for personal morality but should not compete with science on matters of empirical inquiry. Let us keep these distinctions clearly in our minds and in our curricula to prevent epistemic conflicts and confusion for generations to come.

Dr Saleem H Ali is professor of environmental planning at the University of Vermont (USA). His books include "Islam and Education: Conflict and Conformity in Pakistan's Madrassas" (Oxford Univ Press, 2009). He can be followed on twitter @saleem_ali

Comments (5 comments)

This is an excellent discussion and one that I will share with the faculty at Edwardes College in Peshawar. The Religion versus Science debate is a familiar one in Christian circles, especially with the advances of Christian fundamentalism in the USA, and it is good to see Salim Ali taking it on in the Muslim context. The Rev Dr Titus Presler Principal, Edwardes College Peshawar

Posted: Monday, March 11, 2013 by Titus Presler from Peshawar, Pakistan

still state in not serious to promote literacy nor Islamic world. unfortunately two Nobel Lauriet that Muslim world produced, were refused to be recognized.

Posted: Sunday, June 03, 2012 by athar mahmood from lahore

Science needs to build no bridges to Islam or any other religion . It should build bridges to study of philosophy , reason , causes and effects and proofs thereof . Religion needs to build bridges to history ,to other religions , peace and tranquility or explaining varieties of religious experience . Two have nothing in common , except a scientific study of the religious experience .Progress of science in the Muslim period of history is again history . The growth of science is like a triangle standing on its head ; there have been quantum leaps in science in the post Islamic , post Christian period of history .

Posted: Sunday, June 03, 2012 by Nadir Ali from Lahore

A third Muslim received the Noble prize is Dr. Adil Najam, current Vice Chancellor of Lahore University of Management Sciences (LUMS). In 2007n he was at Tufts University Fletcher School. DAWN, Karachi Pakistan, October 14th, 2007 Pakistani Scientist in Nobel team By Our Correspondent WASHINGTON, Oct 13: Pakistani professor Adil Najam, now teaching at the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy, Tufts University, US, is amongst the team of scientists and experts in the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change that shares the 2007 Nobel Peace Prize with former US Vice President Al Gore. The 2007 Peace Prize, announced in Stockholm, Sweden, on Friday includes a gold medal and $1.5 million, is to be shared between Al Gore and the IPCC for enhancing the understanding of the science of climate change. The IPCC is a panel of the world�s most eminent and leading scientists working on global warming and it produces its scientific assessment every 4-5 years. These assessments, especially the most recent one, have been influential in moving global climate policy, including changes in US and other country positions on the subject. Prof Adil Najam has served as an expert on this prestigious panel for eight years, and as a Convening Lead Author for its most recent report. Along with other scientists on the panel he helped shape the findings of the IPCC, especially on issues related sustainable development and other developing country interests.

Posted: Saturday, June 02, 2012 by Malik Khan from USA

It's nice idea

Posted: Friday, June 01, 2012 by Hammawa Abubakar from Maiduguri/ Nigeria