Darwin Must Be Accused of Terrorism and Antisemitism - 25.09.2009 Norway/Dagbladet

On 25 September, 2009, Dagbladet, Norway’s third-largest newspaper with a circulation of 150,000 and that has been published in the country ever since 1869, carried a wide-ranging report concerning Adnan Oktar and his Atlas of Creation. Some sections from the report concerning the global impact of Adnan Oktar’s activities read as follows:

OPPOSITION TO THE TEACHING OF EVOLUTION IN CLASS HAS GROWN SIGNIFICANTLY,                the professor of biology and Darwinist author Richard Dawkins said in an interview with The Times in August that this oppposition mainly comes from Muslim students... Islamic Creationism has grown very much stronger.


DARWINISM IS THE ROOT OF ALL EVIL: Harun Yahya is very powerful in Turkey..

THE CENTER OF ISLAMIC CREATIONISM is the “Science Research Foundation” in Istanbul, under the leadership of Harun Yahya. Real name Adnan Oktar. Under his pen name he says that the theory of evolution seeks to destroy people’s beliefs... He says that Darwin laid the groundwork for such people as Hitler, Stalin, Mao and Pol Pot. He describes how racism, fascism and communism have their origins in Darwin’s theory.

HARUN YAHYA is highly respected in much of the Islamic world and appears in the media from Bosnia to Egypt. He criticizes Western materialism on such channels as Al-Jazeera and Press TV, on which he frequently emphasizes how anti-Semitism and terror are the products of Darwinism.

In terms of their appearance, all animals, plants and insects living today are identical to their fossilized forebears... (Harun Yahya) believes that the theory of evolution is in crisis because it has no known scientific support.

The Atlas of Creation, one of his most showy works... has also come into Richard Dawkins’s possession... Dawkins believes that the way so many people support Creationism in Britain stems from the influence of Muslims.

A CREATIONIST MOVEMENT CONDUCTED THROUGH PUBLICATION IN TURKEY: According to a string of evidence that Harun Yahya produces in his book Atlas of Creation, Darwin’s theories are totally mistaken.

EXACTLY THE SAME: Accordıng to the Turkish ceationist Harun Yahya, who compares fossils with present-day life forms, animals alive today are identical to how they were when first created. He suggests that this 54-37-million-year-old fish has remained completely unaltered.  Reference: Atlas of Creation, BAV

Reuters Affirms That The Vatican Conference Is Anti-Democratic - 04.03.2009 United Kingdom/Reuters

Read the whole article posted in the Reuters blogs which affirms that the conference sponsored by Vatican at the Pontifical Gregorian University is anti-democratic:

"The start of a high-powered Vatican-sponsored acadmeic conference on evolution was anything but fossilized.

The third STOQ International Conference, called Biological Evolution, Facts and Theories, began on Tuesday at the Pontifical Gregorian University (picture right) under the patronage of the Vatican’s Pontifical Council for Culture.

The conference, which has been organised together with the University of Notre Dame to mark the 200th anniversary of the birth of Charles Darwin, had barely gotten underway when charges of censorship and undemocratic and unacademic behaviour began flying.

At the end of the first session Oktar Babuna, a Turkish doctor and collaborator of prominent Turkish anti-Darwin campaigner Harun Yahya,asked for the floor to put forward a question. Babuna, a proponent of the Islamic creationist campaign against evolution, spoke about his view that there were insufficient transitional forms from species to species to support the theory of evolution.

After he began speaking two professors on the dias, Francisco J. Ayala of the University of California at Irvine and Douglas Futuyma of the State University of New York were visibly irritated. Someone in the hall can be heard saying “turn the microphone off” and seconds later two organisers approached Babuna. One of them abruptly took the microphone away from Babuna and another ordered him to go back to his seat. Watch it all here

“After I walked back to my seat someone said “only evolutionists can ask questions,” Babuna told Reuters afterwards. “This is very anti-democratic and very unacademic. If this is a scientific meeting … if you have scientific questions to ask, they should be responded to scientifically, everybody accepts that … if you force people to shut up and don’t let them ask any question … then it is not a scientific theory but an ideology.” The spat was filmed by Babuna’s associate Dr Cihat Gundogdu, who put an edited version on the Harun Yahya website.

Both men attended the conference with English and Italian versions of Harun Yahya’s super-slick mega-book Atlas of Creation (picture left) in hand. We have done numerous blogs on Islamic creationism, its proponents and its opponents. Some of the links are listed below. But what do you think about the debate and, more importantly, do you think officials at the Gregorian University were right or wrong to yank the microphone from Babuna at a scientific conference?

http://blogs.reuters.com/faithworld/2009/02/05/just-before-darwin-day-pew-reviews-faith-and-evolution-in-us/

http://blogs.reuters.com/faithworld/2008/12/24/a-one-stop-shop-for-the-latest-on-islamic-creationism/

http://blogs.reuters.com/faithworld/2008/11/25/harun-yahya-dangles-big-prizes-for-creationism-essays/

http://blogs.reuters.com/faithworld/2008/10/27/richard-dawkins-rips-into-harun-yahya-and-muslim-creationism/

http://blogs.reuters.com/faithworld/2008/06/19/harun-yahya-preaches-islam-slams-darwin-and-awaits-jesus/

http://blogs.reuters.com/faithworld/2008/04/07/harun-yahyas-islamic-creationist-book-pops-up-in-scotland/

The Islamic Personality Award Should Go to Harun Yahya - 01.12.2008 Kuwait/Al Rai

Al Rai, Kuwait’s largest Arabic-language daily, carried praise for Harun Yahya’s struggle against Darwinism in its column page in its 1 December, 2008, edition.  At the same time, Dr. Mohammed Al Awathi, a presenter on Al Rai television, said in his back page column that Adnan Oktar should be given an award for his contributions to Islam and that the works of Harun Yahya should be translated into Chinese for the struggle against Darwinism in China.  The article went on to say the following about the works of Harun Yahya: 

Every year in the month of Ramadan the Dubai government awards a prize to an individual or institution for their services to Islam... Every year, the organizers ask me months in advance for names to whom the Islamic Personality Award might be given. I mentioned the Turkish scholar who writes under the pen name Harun Yahya. Born in Ankara in 1956, he studied in the fine arts department of Mimar Sinan University and in the philosophy department of Istanbul University. Most of the books he has published since 1980 have been about politics, science or faith. Harun Yahya writes about the erroneous nature of the theory of evolution; he discusses the origin of life, how the first cell formed and the invalidity of the theory of evolution. He says there is a link between Darwinism and bloody ideologies. His books have been translated into English, German, French, Italian, Spanish, Portuguese, Albanian, Arabic, Polish, Russian, Indonesian, Bosnian, Tatar and Urdu and have been published in those countries. Harun Yahya sends his books to a great many people, Muslim or otherwise, and irrespective of their age, ethnic origin or nationality.  He explains the existence of God with verses from the Qur’an...
I saw Harun Yahya’s brief programs during Ramadan. His excellently printed books are very impressive, full of colored illustrations and scientific diagrams.  His books include; The Miracle of Hormones, The Miracle in the Cell. Photosynthesis; The Green Miracle, The Design in Nature, Devotion Among Animals: Revealing the Work of God, The Miracle of Creation in Plants, Deep Thinking, Magnificence Everywhere, Timelessness And The Reality Of Fate. Harun Yahya’s films include Islam Denounces Terrorism, The Collapse of Materialism, The End of Darwinism, The Architects in Nature and The Splendor  in the Seas.  Sad to say, I only saw three of Harun Yahya’s books at the book fair, which is due to end on Saturday, and am now looking for a copy of his The Disasters Darwinism Brought to Humanity...

A One-Man Movement in the Cause of Islam - 24.02.2007 India/Prabodhanam

An article introducing Adnan Oktar and his Atlas of Creation, which has elicited such global responses, appeared in the magazine Prabodhanam, published in Kerala, one of the largest of the Indian states. The magazine, published in the Malayalam language, told its readers about Adnan Oktar’s important activities across the world that have been continuing for many years now, under the heading "A One-Man Movement in the Cause of Islam." The issue concerned, which appeared on 24 February, 2007, also introduced its readers to the http://www.harunyahya.com web site.
You can access works by the author in Malayalam HERE.

Creationist Ideas Continue to Expand Their Sphere of Influence - 06.02.2009 Switzerland/Tribune de Genève

Tribune de Genève, the daily published in the Swiss canton of Geneva, once again raised the impact of the Atlas of Creation on 6 February, 2009. Published in French and with a readership of 175,000, the paper referred to the effect of the Atlas of Creation in the words "Switzerland has not been spared this ‘invasion’.” The cover story went to on to describe the heavy blows made Darwinism suffer in Europe:

These days CREATIONIST IDEAS... CONTINUE TO EXPAND THEIR SPHERE OF INFLUENCE... TURKS ARE LEADING THE MUSLIM WORLD (in activities against the theory of evolution). Since 2007, a weighty book (around 8 kilos), the Atlas of Creation, written by a Turk called Harun Yahya, whose real name is Adnan Oktar... seeks to prove with photographs of fossils that evolution never happened. 
A SERIOUS OFFENSIVE AGAINST DARWIN IS TAKING PLACE. This Turkish group leaves nothing to chance. Adnan Oktar, a most extraordinary character, has great strength...
IT IS NOW THE TURN OF EUROPE, which was for long unaffected by these movements, TO BE AFFECTED BY THE CREATIONIST WAVE FOLLOWING THE APPEARANCE OF HARUN YAHYA’S BOOK.  For example, one of these countries is Britain; many conferences have been held in both state schools and universities in Britain.
Creationist views now have the wind in their sails. AND SWITZERLAND HAS NOT BEEN SPARED THIS ‘INVASION’.”  In 2007, creationist theory appeared alongside the theory of evolution for t he first time in school text books... The campaign of the opponents of evolution does not seem likely to end soon. 
European countries unable to withstand the devastating impact on Darwinism of the Atlas of Creation, are one by one surrendering Europe to Creationist belief.  (For details, see The Collapse of Darwinism in Europe)

Darwinism is the root of terrorism, Islam is the antidote - 09.02.2009 Iran/Tehran Times

The Tehran Times, Iran’s first English-language daily, published an interview given by Adnan Oktar to Kourosh Ziabari on 9 February, 2009. The paper, which attracts more than 10,000 visitors to its web site every day is one of the main sources the international press rely on for news out of Iran. (You can read the full text of the interview here.) The interview published in the paper appeared under the title "Harun Yahya: Darwinism is the root of terrorism, Islam is the antidote." Mr. Adnan Oktar's reply to a question about the reasons for the moral collapse taking place in the 21^st century read:

Muslims are generally unaware where the troubles are coming from. In fact, people in the world as a whole are unaware of the essence of the matter. When I investigated it I saw that Darwinism lay at the root of all this suffering, trouble, violence and pain as there would be no materialism without Darwinism.
Darwinism is essential for materialist philosophy and without materialism there can be no communism, fascism, imperialism, savage capitalism, nor immorality nor terror. These are all inter-related, but because people are ignorant of that, they fail to grasp the importance of the intellectual struggle against Darwinism.
“Why is it so important, why do you concentrate on it so much?” they say. Atheism is active right across the world, hurting and literally damning people. But they do not look for the root cause. Yet Darwinism is the foundation of irreligiousness, of all atheist ideologies, and thus of all these troubles. I have gone right to the root of the matter and struck at the root of atheism in my work. It is this that lies at the heart of Darwinists’ own suffering and the savagery in the materialist universe. In other words, by Allah’s leave, I have severed the jugular, the main artery of atheism. As Darwinism has collapsed, materialists have of course lost their respect for their own beliefs. It is no longer possible for people to be materialists. That is why, if Muslims want to fight atheism, they must wage an intellectual struggle against the religion of atheism.
They can make use of the www.harunyahya.com web site for that. They can download all the books, documentaries and articles on the site free of charge and make use of them. They must raise their own knowledge, understanding, culture and reveal the invalidity of Darwinism one by one with scientific evidence. You will then see that all these problems you listed will disappear. The truth will come and falsehood will vanish, insha’Allah.

''At the present time, the most dominant voice is from Harun Yahya'' - 11.02.2009 USA/Religion News

On 11 February, 2009, the Religion News news agency, which concentrates mainly on religious matters, carried the views of a British Darwinist teacher of Pakistani origin on the subject of Islamic Creationism.  Some passages from the interview regarding the impact of Harun Yahya’s works on the rise in belief in Creationism read as follows:

“... in recent visits to his homeland [Pakistan], Hameed, 38, has DISCOVERED A CONTRARY THEORY RAPIDLY GAINING GROUND: ISLAMIC CREATIONISM.
CHAMPIONED BY prolific Turkish author HARUN YAHYA, THIS GROWING MOVEMENT SURPRISED WESTERN SCIENTISTS AND ACADEMICS IN 2007, WHEN THEY BEGAN RECEIVING ... COPIES OF Yahya's colorful, 850-page "ATLAS OF CREATION." ...
Q: How did Islamic creationism come to your attention?
A: When I was visiting Pakistan in the late 1990s, I started seeing Harun Yahya's work everywhere, with special sections in very good bookstores devoted to his books. These are glossy, expensive books, sold very cheaply. ...
We do not have a central pope-like authority, especially in Sunni Islam... AT THE PRESENT TIME, THE MOST DOMINANT VOICE WE HAVE IS FROM CREATIONISTS LIKE HARUN YAHYA, ... LINKING [EVOLUTION] PURELY WITH ATHEISM. ...”

Notes from Andrew Marr's Interview with Adnan Oktar - 22.02.2009 United Kingdom/The Mail on Sunday

On 22 February, 2009, The Mail on Sunday, one of Britain’s most popular newspapers with a circulation of over 2 million, carried a preview of Andrew Marr's BBC2 film "Darwin's Dangerous Idea" to be shown on BBC 2. The presenter on the film, Andrew Marr, set out his ideas that arose before his meeting with Adnan Oktar:

“... Millions of Muslims, as well as Christians - half the people of Britain, according to one survey - reject Darwin's teaching. One author even asserts Darwinists were responsible for 9/11.
... Another place we visited was Istanbul, where TURKISH AUTHOR ADNAN OKTAR has some claim to be AMONG THE MOST INFLUENTIAL CREATIONISTS ON THE PLANET.
He argues that Darwinism is by its very nature a violent creed because of its insistence on the importance of conflict or struggle. For this Muslim, who wants to convert Europe to Islam, the 9/11 terrorists 'were in reality Darwinists'.”
(You can watch the full interview of Mr. Adnan Oktar, here.)