Islamic Theology and Extraterrestrial Life - by Jörg Matthias Determann & Shoaib Ahmed Malik (Hardcover)

About the Book

"Over the last thirty years, humanity has discovered thousands of planets outside of our solar system. The discovery of extraterrestrial life could be imminent. This book explains how such a discovery might impact Islamic theology. It is the foundational reference on the subject, comprising a variety of different insights from both Sunni and Shi'i positions, from different Muslim contexts, and with chapters that compare and contrast Islamic perspectives with Confucianism and Christianity. Together, they address some of our biggest questions through an Islamic lens: What makes humans unique in the cosmos? What are the ethics of dealing with other sentient beings? And how universal is salvation? Given the accelerating advances in exoplanet research and astrobiology, the book is at the frontier of science and Islamic thought. Contributors include a range of leading experts from Muslim theologians, scholars of comparative religion and philosophers, to historians, social scientists and natural scientists"--

Book Synopsis

Over the last thirty years, humanity has discovered thousands of planets outside of our solar system. The discovery of extraterrestrial life could be imminent. This book explains how such a discovery might impact Islamic theology. It is the foundational reference on the subject, comprising a variety of different insights from both Sunni and Shi'i positions, from different Muslim contexts, and with chapters that compare and contrast Islamic perspectives with Christianity. Together, they address some of our biggest questions through an Islamic lens: What makes humans unique in the cosmos? What are the ethics of dealing with other sentient beings? And how universal is salvation?
Given the accelerating advances in exoplanet research and astrobiology, the book is at the frontier of science and Islamic thought. Contributors include a range of leading experts from Muslim theologians, scholars of comparative religion and philosophers, to historians, social scientists and natural scientists.

Review Quotes

"This landmark interdisciplinary volume fills a huge gap in our discussions of the theological impact of the discovery of extraterrestrial intelligence. Heretofore the focus has been on Christianity, but for the first time we have multiple scholarly views of the potential impact on Islamic theology and the Earth's two billion Muslims. This is a substantial contribution to the new and growing field of astrotheology, and should be read by anyone interested in the future evolution of religions on Earth." --Steven J. Dick, Former NASA Chief Historian, Former Baruch S. Blumberg NASA/Library of Congress Chair in Astrobiology

"The Qur'an meets exotheology. This is a most informative, comprehensive, and reflective compilation of Islamic thinking about the prospect of sharing God's cosmos with other intelligent creatures on exoplanets. Now, aliens do not seem so alien any more." --Ted Peters, Co-Editor, Theology and Science

"This is a fascinating collection - due both to the intrinsic interest of the topic, and to the richness and creativity of the Islamic philosophical, theological, and literary traditions engaging with it. Out of this world." --Stephen Bullivant, Professor, St Mary's University, UK,

"As realisation grows that we are a global community across the earth, researchers have increasingly considered the question of whether we are alone. What would the encounter with an extra-terrestrial mean for our assumptions about the nature of reality, of the human, of gods, and for some of the most fundamental theological and ethical questions that follow, concerning goodness, recompense, and the life of the soul? It also reminds us of the importance of philosophical and theological questions raised by sci-fi that is also worth pursuing to make sense of Muslim futurism. This pioneering volume - and there is little doubt that it not only is the first but potentially seeks to open up a broader field of the intersection of Islamic studies and exotheology - attempts to address these by looking at the resources and possibilities within the Islamic traditions (one should emphasise the plural here) in order to create positive theologies for the future. An exciting turn in the literature on religion and science." --Sajjad Rizvi, Professor, University of Exeter, UK

"The discovery of extraterrestrial life, if made, will likely impact all cultures, societies and religions. It is important to assess such an impact as James Webb Space Telescope is searching for bio signatures in exoplanet atmospheres, there are rovers currently on Mars, and the SETI program is actively looking for signals from technological civilizations in our Galaxy. This eclectic collection of essays fills in a crucial gap in literature, and provides a glimpse into potential Islamic theological and jurisprudential responses to such a discovery." --Salman Hameed, Charles Taylor, Professor, Hampshire College, USA

"Islamic Theology and Extraterrestrial Life takes one small, but significant, step as a pioneer work in exotheology, but potentially representing one giant leap for a forthcoming discipline.
Through a series of thought-provoking chapters that span various disciplines, including Islamic theology, jurisprudence, and Christianity, this work delves into hitherto relatively uncharted scholarly territories. It explores scholarly, complex and intellectually intriguing questions, such as how the discovery of extraterrestrial life forms aligns with religious beliefs. Do these forms of life possess souls and spirituality? How do we ethically and spiritually relate to them?
This volume offers a captivating journey into unexplored realms of religion and science, inviting readers to contemplate the mysteries of the cosmos." --Mohammed Ghaly, Professor, Hamad Bin Khalifa University, Qatar

About the Author

Shoaib Ahmed Malik is Visiting Researcher at St Mary's University, UK.. He is the author of Islam and Evolution: Al-Ghazali and the Modern Evolutionary Paradigm (2021) and various peer-reviewed journals. He specialises as an interdisciplinary researcher in the field of Islam and science.

Jörg Matthias Determann is Professor of History at Virginia Commonwealth University, Qatar. He is the author of four books published by I.B. Tauris: Islam, Science Fiction and Extraterrestrial Life (2020); Space Science and the Arab World (2018); Researching Biology and Evolution in the Gulf States (2015); and Historiography in Saudi Arabia (2013).