The author of The God Delusion and The Selfish Gene, whose new book, The Greatest Show on Earth, is serialised in The Times next week, has topped bestseller lists all over the world but never in a predominantly Muslim country.
None of Professor Dawkins’ books, on evolution as well as religion, has ever been translated into Arabic, and his work has been heavily censored in Turkey. In an interview with The Times, he said that popularising evolution in the Islamic world, where creationist beliefs are strong, was a challenge he is keen to take up. “To be a bestseller in a Muslim country would be a personal triumph,” he said.
Times online
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I'm stunned to learn than not one of his books has been translated to Arabic. When I was growing up in Lebanon I used to read, in Arabic, far more challenging books..So many things have changed!!
Yes, there used to be a time when the West shunned the volumes written by Muslims on a myriad of subjects, calling them "demonic." However they were far advanced in their content, containing theory light years ahead of thw West's backwards views at the times. At first learning was the province of the elite in the West, than after they were absorbed they were stripped of their origin and made to look like they came from the students.
ReplyDeleteLet us hope that this same curiosity and pioneer spirit in thought arises again in the land. It is long overdue and there are teeming masses who wish to advance. It should be translated in to the common language of the people.