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on Monday, 05 March 2007
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Most people think that Intelligent Design and creationism are specifically Christian phenomena. And they are. Or at least, they were.
In the last couple of weeks there have been disturbing reports in newspapers all over Europe mentioning the efforts of Harun Yahya, a Turkish Muslim scholar, to spread Islamic creationism all over Europe.
It was already common knowledge that Yahya launched a Muslim crusade against Darwinism. However, in 2006, Yahya seems to have doubled his efforts to convince the Western world that Darwinism is morally repulsive and contrary to the peaceful message of Islam.
In the last quarter of 2006, there were some reports of Dutch universities that received copies of the first part of Yahya's The Atlas of Creation, a seven-part encyclopedia that is meant to present an exhaustive overview of all the evidence against Darwinist evolution. Now, in early 2007, Islamic creationist propaganda seems to flood universities all over Europe...
This makes one wonder: what the hell is going on...?
An impressive book
People who have seen the first part of The Atlas of Creation were impressed. The science journalist Marco van Kerkhoven describes it as a wonderful glossy book that tries to debunk Darwinist claims as utter lies. Apparently, creationists know how to create appealing books. The German creationist book Evolution: Ein kritisches Lehrbuch ["Evolution: A critical textbook"] by Reinhard Junker and Siegfried Scherer also is a marvelous piece of work, with lots of pictures and diagrams.
Apparently the book is distributed from Turkey, although it has an international distributor that is located in the UK. Turkey is an interesting country. It is one of the countries that soon will join the European Union, but in many respects it is still considered to be a developing country. Creationism is one of the threats to the intellectual development in Turkey. The Science-survey of last year showed that the United States was the country where Darwin's evolutionary theory was least accepted. However, the survey showed Turkey to be slightly higher than the US, indicating that there is still a long way to go for scientists to get their main paradigm for scientific research accepted. Creatonism is extremely popular in Turkey.
Harun Yahya
But who is the writer of The Atlas of Creation? Who is this Harun Yahya? Apparently it is a pseudonym for Adnan Oktar, a Turkish teacher, born in 1956. If one looks on the internet for pictures of Harun Yahya, one often encounters a picture of a charismatic and impressive figure. Is this Yahya? If one looks closer, Yahya becomes shrouded in mystery. It becomes increasingly clear that Harun Yahya is not a person, but an entire organization that works in mysterious ways. The American physicist (born in Turkey and a self-proclaimed atheist) Taner Edis writes:
Yahya is credited with so many books, articles, videos, and web pages ... that it is hard to believe this is a one-man industry. Plus the intellectual prowess of leaders of religious orders are commonly exaggerated - tales of incredible intellectual productivity serve as a kind of modern miracle story, bolstering the stature of charismatic teachers. So, Yahya is not really a person but the flag under which the most prominent Turkish creationist activities set sail.
(Edis, "Harun Yahya and Islamic Creationism")
In other words, the charismatic Harun Yahya one encounters in the pictures on the WWW is merely a billboard for a largely hidden organization. Inspiring stuff for conspiracy theorists...
An unknown organization
Edis indicates that there is more than meets the eyes with Harun Yahya's organization. One of the striking features is the modern and media-conscious approach of Yahya's organization. They use the most modern technology such as DVD's and computer technology - just take a look at the Harun Yahya website and be impressed - and their books look extremely impressive. It's becoming rapidly clear that there has to be an enormous financial basis for such an enterprise, especially if one looks at the low prices of the products. The money has to come from somewhere! Edis admits that "the organization behind all this, and the sources of its finances, are virtually unknown."
 Another striking feature of Harun Yahya's books, is that much of what he produces seems to be directly borrowed from Western creationist literature, such as that of the Institute for Creation Research (ICR), including the strong 'Intelligent Design'-rhetoric. It is clear that there must be connections. And indeed, Duane Gish and John Morris are frequent flyers to Turkey to give their inspiring creationist ramblings for Islamic audiences. Yet, there is rivalry - the American creationist organizations cannot but dream of the enormous financial sources available to Harun Yahya. There seem to be no financial connections.
That Turkish creationists use ICR materials was already a known fact. Harrold, Eve, and Taylor write:
In Turkey, for instance, the creationist movement makes us of ICR publications and arguments ... but it is resolutely Islamic in tone. Turkish creaitonism bases itself firmly on the Koran, and presents itself as a rallying point for a rebirth of truly Islamic science. It contains anti-Western and anti-imperialist overtones that are foreign to ICR-style American creationism.
(F. Harrold, R. Eve, J. Taylor, "Creationism, American-Style: Ideology, Tactics and Rhetoric in a Social Movement", in S. Coleman and L. Carlin (eds.), The Cultures of Creationism: Anti-Evolutionism in English-Speaking Countries. Aldershot: Ashgate 2004, 76.)
It is utter irony that creationist arguments, provided by Western creationist organizations, are used by Islamic organizations to combat the United States as Harun Yahya's.
Anti-western and ideological mentality
Can one discern strong ideological components in Yahya's work - like in the work of intelligent design creationist such as Nancey Pearcey and Ann Coulter? As far as I can see, there has not been so much study of Yahya's movement. Yet, in Yahya's books, one can encounter all the infamous Muslim conspiracy theories, such as the great Freemason conspiracies or the denial of the Holocaust. Yahya published a book called Fascism: The Bloody Ideology of Darwinism (Istanbul: Kultur 2002), where he explains that evolution is the source of all evil in the world. Yahya here comes close to some ID-ideologists such as Nancey Pearcey, Charles Colson and Ann Coulter, who make similar claims but in relation to American society. In a book Islam Denounces Terrorism (3rd Ed., Bristol: Amal Press 2002) Yahya seems to preach a peaceful Islam. However, in a chapter on the real roots of terrorism, Yahya writes that Darwinism and materialism are the real vilains behind September 11. To stop terrorism worldwide, Darwinism has to be banished, children have to be taught the Koran in schools instead of evolution, and the fear of the Lord should stimulate everyone to act wisely...
Harun Yahya: dangerous?
 Is Yahya dangerous? Yahya's organisation is controversial also in Turkey. The organisation was accused of coercive recruiting, yet continued its activities. Moreover, Yahya's organisation itself gives rise to conspiracy theories, since the organisation behind Yahya is shrouded in silence and mystery, and the funding source behind the enormous financial input in Yahya's organisation also remains unknown.
The scientist Taner Edis expresses his ambivalence as to the emerging creationism in Turkey and the increasing influence of Harun Yahya therein. On the one hand, Edis is optimistic. In the Western world, creationism is a reaction to the strong influence of evolution. The emergence of creationism in Turkey thus can be interpreted as a sign that evolution is becoming increasingly influential.
Yet Edis is more pessimistic than optimistic. Yahya seems to be incredibly succesfull. And in a country that on an intellectual level still remains behind in scientific developments, the science of evolution is vulnerale. Edis thus writes "here we have a creationism which threatens to be successful in iits ambitions to drive evolution out of the culture" ("Harun Yahya and Islamic Creationism"). Harun Yahya thus is an organization that we cannot afford losing out of sight...
Recently a new book by Taner Edis about the relationship between Muslim religion and science was published with Prometheus Press, An Illusion of Harmony: Science And Religion in Islam.
Other books by Edis are The Ghost in the Universe: God in Light of Modern Science and Science and Nonbelief.
Last update: Tuesday, 24 July 2007
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