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The
following is an edited version of a presentation given by IslamOnline.net’s
Health & Science Editor, Nadia El-Awady, at the 4th World
Conference of Science Journalists in a
session on science and religion. The presentation was titled, “How Can Science
Journalists Work in Societies Highly Influenced by Religion.” The conference
was held in Montreal, Canada between October 4 and 8.
When
I was first given this topic by our conference organizers, I experienced a minor
panic attack. Why are our conference organizers considering this a question that
needs to be answered, a problem that needs to be solved?
One
of the first things I did when I was asked to give this presentation was to
contact one of my writers who is also a close friend, Lalitha Sridhar, a Hindu
science journalist living in India. “Lalitha,” I said, “look at the topic
they are asking me to talk about!” Lalitha replied, “Nadia, that question is
so Western! We are very content with our science and our gods.”
What
my panic attack, and what Lalitha’s very eloquently stated sentence reflect is
that the common Western assumption that there is an inherent conflict between
science and religion is not applicable as a generality to other societies and
cultures. Science journalists working in Islamic societies do not encounter any
significant problems in communicating their science as a result of religion. The
opposite might actually be true in some cases.
In
order to assess whether or not science journalists working in societies highly
influenced by religion experience any difficulties as a result, IslamOnline.net
carried out two surveys: one of its audience and one of science journalists
working in the Arab world. I’ll get to the results of both surveys after
giving you a brief overview on the Islamic outlook on science.
Islam
and Science
Islam,
since the very beginning of its revelation as a religion unto the Prophet
Muhammad (peace be upon him) some 1400 years ago, has placed a strong emphasis
on learning, education, observation, and the use of reason. In fact, the very
first verses of the Noble Qur’an to be revealed unto the Prophet reflected
this emphasis:
Read:
in the name of thy Lord who created. Created man of a blood-clot. Read and thy Lord is the Most Generous. Who taught by the pen. Taught man
that which he knew not. (96: 1 – 5)
People
who seek knowledge were also given an elevated status by Islam. Reads the Noble
Qur’an:
Are
those who have knowledge and those who have no knowledge alike? Only the men of
understanding are mindful. (39: 9)
The
Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) is also reported to have said: “Envy is
permitted only in two cases: A man whom Allah gives wealth, and he disposes of
it rightfully, and a man to whom Allah gives knowledge which he applies and
teaches it” [Al-Bukhari and Muslim].
The
Prophet is also reported to have said: “Allah, His angels, the dwellers of the
heaven and the earth, and even the ant in its hole and the fish (in water)
supplicate in favor of those who teach people knowledge” [At-Tirmidhi].
These
teachings of Islam are what transformed what was once a scientifically primitive
Bedouin society into a scientifically advanced civilization that produced such
prominent Muslim scientists as Al-Khawarizmi (d. 850), who laid down the
foundations of modern algebra; Al-Battani (d. 928), who measured the solar year
as being only 24 seconds longer than the currently accepted value; and Ibn Sina
(d. 1037), better known as Avicenna, whose Canons of Medicine was the
standard medical text in Europe for some 800 years. It also resulted in the
institution of Islamic civilization’s first hospital (c. 707) in Damascus; the
first observatory in the world, the Shammasiyah observatory (c. 828) in Baghdad;
and the world’s oldest university, Al-Azhar (c. 988) in Cairo, Egypt.
IslamOnline.net
and Science
It
is with this understanding of the importance of science that IslamOnline.net
launched its science pages with the Web site’s inception in October 1999.
Since then, the Web site’s English Health & Science page has published
more than 965 articles. The page has 65 writers in 27 countries spanning four
continents. Notably, 48 percent of the page’s writers are not Muslim. The page
also received in the period between January 2003 and January 2004 the highest
page views – excepting two months – relative to the other editorial pages of
the Web site; a good indicator of the importance its visitors give to the Web
site’s science content. The page views in that time period ranged between a
low of 32,000 and a high of 78,000.
IslamOnline.net’s
Arabic Science & Technology page received even higher page views during the
same time period, ranging between a low of 71,500 and a high of 165,500. Even
higher yet were the page views of the Arabic Web site’s Medical Consultations
page which ranged between a low of 145,000 and a high of 253,500 during the same
time period.
One
of the main reasons for the success of IslamOnline.net’s science coverage is
the equal treatment is has received relative to the Web site’s other pages and
sections regarding financial funding and human resources. The Web site’s
science sections were also all launched either with the initial launch of the
Web site in October 1999, or only a few months thereafter; a good indication of
the importance given to science by the Web site’s founders and editorial
staff.
Another
possible reason for the Web site’s success in its science coverage is the fact
that it is tailored for a large audience with varying backgrounds, religions and
ideologies.
What
Does the Audience Think?
Now
back to the two surveys that I told you about in the beginning of this
presentation.
A
survey titled ‘Religion, Science and the Media: What are your views?’ was
published on IslamOnline.net on August 23, 2004. Results were tabulated 26 days
after its launch, with a total of 633 participants involved. The age groups
involved in the survey were as seen here:
And
the religions of the participants were as follows:
The
participants involved in the survey originated from 87 countries of the world.
Among the 633 participants, 94.5 percent said that religion is important in
their lives; an indication that this particular audience is, in general, highly
influenced by religion.
Due
to the fact that this survey resulted in the production of more results than
could be summarized in one presentation, a comparison was made for this
particular presentation between the answers of Muslims, Christians and atheists
to assess how their views differ on how religion and science should interact in
the media.
Briefly,
the results of that comparison for each of the questions were as follows:
-
Science
generally strengthens the faith of Muslims and Christians in religion while
it weakens the faith of atheists in religion.
-
A
majority of Muslims in particular felt they were not properly informed by
the media about the ethical/moral implications of scientific research.
This
could indicate one of two things: either that the media in the Islamic world
is not doing a good job in covering these issues, or that discussions, if
any, among religious scholars and Muslim scientists/academics are not
reaching the public domain.
-
Only
Muslims as a majority felt that religious scholars should play a more direct
role in decision-making related to scientific research.
-
Again
only Muslims as a majority felt that scientists should be more observant of
religious/moral values while making research decisions. These last two
results might indicate the importance that Muslims give to religion in the
various aspects of their lives.
-
Both
Muslims and atheists felt that more than one of scientists, the public,
government and religious scholars should be involved in making decisions
about ethical issues related to science, while a majority of Christians felt
that such decisions should be left in the hands of scientists alone.
-
All
three religious groups felt that religious scholars do not receive enough
information before forming opinions on ethical issues related to science.
-
A
majority of Muslims and atheists felt that they want more science news that
focuses on the moral/ethical implications of scientific research, while
Christians expressed less interest.
-
Only
a majority of Muslims said they would be offended if their local media
reported positively on a scientific issue that is prohibited by their
religion.
-
And
finally, again, only a majority of Muslims said they would be more proactive
about the environment if the media refers to its importance in their
religion. This could indicate that incorporating religious references in
some science stories could have a positive developmental effect on the
Islamic world.
Perceptions
of Media Professionals
A
second survey was given to 25 science journalists residing in seven Arab
countries. 19 out of the 25 journalists live in Egypt.
Briefly,
when asked whether their science reporting was influenced by the fact that they
live in a society highly influenced by religion, 52 percent said it was
positively influenced, 12 percent felt it was negatively influenced, and 36
percent felt it was not influenced.
Asked
whether their religious beliefs influence, in any way, the science topics they
choose to cover for their media platform, 32 percent felt they did, 24 percent
felt they did not, and 44 percent felt they did sometimes.
44
percent of the journalists surveyed said that they had, at one time or another,
removed information from a press release, from agency news services, or from a
correspondent’s report, that they thought might be offensive to the religious
beliefs of their audience.
And
92 percent of the journalists surveyed said that they have never published or
reported on research that sheds a positive light on issues that are indisputably
shunned by their or their audience’s religion. Interestingly enough, when I
went back to the audience survey, only 60 percent of Egyptians – although a
majority – (note that the journalists involved in the survey were mostly
Egyptian) said that they would be offended if their local media reports
positively on a scientific issue that is prohibited by their religion. This
might indicate that although sensitive, Arab audiences might not be as sensitive
to this issue as Arab science journalists would seem to think!
The
Real Issues
While
conducting the survey of Arab science journalists, most journalists approached
found the subject matter strange, indicating their general impression that
science and religion are not major influencing factors on their work.
Arab
science journalists do, however, face many concerns in their work totally
unrelated to religion. Some of these problems include:
-
Science
in Arab media is hidden in small weekly science sections or is aired far
from prime-time scheduling on radio and TV
-
Poor
financing of science coverage in Arab media
-
Unimaginative
presentation of science stories with minimum local relevance
-
Mostly
translated material, again with a result in minimum local relevance
-
Poor
networking between journalists and Arab scientific institutions
-
Poor
use of modern technologies
-
Lack
of academic training in science journalism
In
conclusion, science journalism in the Arab and Islamic worlds deserves more
attention. Audiences have expressed that they are interested in science stories,
and that they feel they need to be better informed on ethical/moral issues
related to science. Arab science journalists need to be made aware of this
interest, and need to be trained on how to properly provide it. Research must be
done to determine how more financial resources can be allocated towards science
reporting in the Arab and Islamic world media. Most notably, incorporating
religion into some science issues in the media can be a strong tool towards
development of Islamic and Arab societies.
*
Nadia
El-Awady
is
IslamOnline.net's Health & Science Page editor. She has a bachelor's degree
in medicine from Cairo University and is currently studying for a master’s
degree in journalism and mass communications at the American University in
Cairo. You can reach her at: ScienceTech@islam-online.net.
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