Professor Robert Morrison of Bowdoin College Presents the 2014 Sheikh Lecture: Is Science Part of Islam?

The Prophet Muhammad is reported to have said, “There is no act of devotion like contemplation (la ‘ibada ka-’l-tafakkur).” The Qur’an refers to the natural world as evidence for God’s power and providence. This lecture will examine how scientific contemplation of nature has related to other dimensions of Islam historically and in the present. Questions to be explored include: Can science affect Muslims’ understanding of Islamic texts? What are some contemporary conversations between Islam and science? What is Islamic about Islamic science?

Robert G. Morrison is Assosicate Professor and Chair of the Religion Department at Bowdoin University in Brunswick, Maine. His research has focused on the role of science in Islamic and Jewish texts, as well as in the history of Islamic science. Professor Morrison has contributed the chapters on Islamic astronomy to the New Cambridge History of Islam and the Cambridge History of Science.

This event is made possible by the Hajja Razia Sharif Sheikh endowment in Islamic Studies and Co-Sponsored by the Department of Near Eastern Studies and the Islamic Studies Program