Full Description
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.
Contents
Introduction Shoaib Ahmed Malik and Jörg Matthias Determann
1. Theological Information on the Existence of Intelligent Life Outside Our Solar System: Metaphysics, Scripture, and Science Hamza Karamali
2. Does the Qur?an Affirm Extraterrestrial life? A Hermeneutic Analysis of the of Surat al-Na?l (Q. 16:8) Moamer Khalayleh
3. Islamic Sacred Resources on Extraterrestrials and Their Possible Eschatological Implications Mohammad Mahdi Montasseri
4. Extraterrestrials and Moral Accountability: Nonhuman Moral Personhood through the Lens of Classical Sunni Theology and Law David Solomon Jalajel
5. Classical Muslim Thought and the Theological Implications and Possibility of Non-Human Entities Bearing Higher Intelligence Faisal Abdullah
6. Extraterrestrial Intelligent Life and Islamic Beliefs: Investigating Six Potential Conflicts Shoaib Ahmed Malik
7. The Alien in the Lamp? The Jinn and Alien Life in Islamic Theology Richard Playford
8. A Qur?anic Ufology? Seven Exotheological Hypotheses of the Indonesian 'Islamic UFO' Community Ayub and Ilham Ibrahim
9. Exotheology in Contemporary Egyptian Science Fiction - A Comparative Appraisal Emad El-Din Aysha
