{"id":4229,"date":"2023-03-12T12:21:18","date_gmt":"2023-03-12T08:21:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/mcmmediahub.aus.edu\/?p=4229"},"modified":"2026-05-11T12:59:37","modified_gmt":"2026-05-11T08:59:37","slug":"astrophysicist-embraces-modernity-science-islamic-tradition","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/mdcmediahub.aus.edu\/index.php\/2023\/03\/12\/astrophysicist-embraces-modernity-science-islamic-tradition\/","title":{"rendered":"Astrophysicist embraces modernity, science, Islamic tradition"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

By Salma Ghalwash<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Twenty years.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

That is the time Dr. Nidhal Guessoum, an astrophysicist and professor at the American University of Sharjah, has spent harmonizing the relationship between Islam and modern science. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI wanted to show young people that all of the science you learn today does not necessarily conflict with your religious identity or with the things you learned at home, in mosques and through our society and culture,\u201d he explained.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Guessoum notes that his \u201cside expertise\u201d adds to his research in high-energy astrophysics. This subfield of astrophysics focuses on powerful phenomena in the universe, which produce high-energy radiation like gamma rays or x-rays. As large stars produce energy, they run out of fuel and collapse. These stars\u2019 lifetimes end with an explosion. Big explosions are called \u201csupernovas\u201d or \u201chypernovas.\u201d When two dead stars collide, they cause a smaller explosion called a \u201ckilonova.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For the past five years, Guessoum has involved undergraduate students in his research on understanding and observing these atypical stars. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIt’s a very pleasing line of research,\u201d he says, referring to his students’ excitement and pride when they have produced, presented and published papers internationally. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Guessoum expects that astronomy in the Arab Muslim world will soon flourish. Previously, he has urged Arab Muslim countries to reclaim their golden past with an \u201castronomy renaissance.\u201d With more astronomers and more observatories in the region, he is glad to report that research is making progress.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n

\u201cA lot of people think, \u2018Oh, science and religion, they are different and separate.\u2019 I try to show that you don\u2019t have to give up one or the other,\u201d says Dr. Nidhal Guessoum.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

Although his schedule is busy with research, lectures and seminars, he always finds time to connect with his students. According to Guessoum, who has published four books and more than a hundred papers, this is simply the \u201clife of a professor.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Born and raised in Algiers, the capital of Algeria, Guessoum was surrounded by hundreds of books on language, literature and philosophy at home. At that time, there was also a rise in Algerian national sentiment for advancing science and technology. He credits his intellectual development to growing up in an environment with a rich mix of disciplines. He had an \u201cinterest in literature,\u201d which allowed him to consolidate his love for the Arabic language. Despite his parents’ encouragement to read stanzas by the Abbasid Arab poet Al-Mutanabbi or books by Egyptian writer Taha Hussein, he and his siblings chose science.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Before specializing in physics, he originally wanted to pursue math. For Guessoum, math was akin to playing a \u201cvideo game\u201d or solving a puzzle, where each question grew in complexity and intrigue. In his first year at university, he took courses in chemistry and physics. Guessoum became fascinated with learning about atoms and molecules, calculating gravity and orbits. In physics, he could see math applied to reality, from the smallest to the largest of scales.<\/p>\n\n\n

\n
\"\"
Guessoum has involved students with his research on atypical stars.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

In the following years, he went on to complete his doctorate in astrophysics in the United States. He learned a third language, English. Soon after, he spent two years researching at NASA.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cGoing to the U.S. was a life-changing moment,\u201d the professor says.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Recently, he released a short book with Cambridge University Press about \u201cIslam and Science.\u201d Guessoum wrote it with his colleague, a non-Muslim Italian friend who teaches in Morocco. It addresses topics like artificial intelligence, genetic engineering, consciousness and cosmology. In around 75 pages, the booklet succinctly explains current and future topics as well as their impact on religious viewpoints.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cMy society around me is full of religion, full of Islam,\u201d he says, \u201cbut at the same time, science has become so dominant in our lives.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Guessoum points out that our interview through Google Meet would not be possible without science or satellites. Space technology, i.e. satellites, is used daily for navigating with GPS, watching TV channels that are relayed by satellites, getting weather maps and other such useful applications, added Guessoum.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Algerian astrophysicist is a high-profile advocate for not only embracing technology but also situating astronomy, physics and science in people\u2019s broader knowledge. Today, Guessoum has over 481,000 subscribers on YouTube and has made around 220 episodes. He aims to make it accessible for Arabs to understand a wide array of concepts in their native language. It all started nine years ago when a student, who took his astronomy course, suggested starting a series titled \u201cAl Kawn\u201d meaning \u201cthe cosmos\u201d in Arabic. Once Guessoum has a set narrative, the camera rolls and he records the video in one take.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cEducation needs to evolve and we need to fully adapt now as we have new tools,\u201d he explains, hoping that people find a way to further their knowledge about Islam and science in a rapidly-changing technological landscape.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI tell people to try to befriend science, learn it, enjoy watching videos on it, practice it as a hobby, etc. Science should be an integral part of our life and culture.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By Salma Ghalwash Twenty years. That is the time Dr. Nidhal Guessoum, an astrophysicist and professor at the American University of Sharjah, has spent harmonizing the relationship between Islam and modern science.  \u201cI wanted to show young people that all of the science you learn today does not necessarily conflict with your religious identity or […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":4230,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[28],"tags":[33,32,30,17,27,25,49],"class_list":{"0":"post-4229","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-features","8":"tag-aus","9":"tag-campus","10":"tag-cas","11":"tag-community","12":"tag-international","13":"tag-sharjah-uae","14":"tag-technology"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/mdcmediahub.aus.edu\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4229","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/mdcmediahub.aus.edu\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/mdcmediahub.aus.edu\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mdcmediahub.aus.edu\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mdcmediahub.aus.edu\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4229"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/mdcmediahub.aus.edu\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4229\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mdcmediahub.aus.edu\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/4230"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/mdcmediahub.aus.edu\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4229"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mdcmediahub.aus.edu\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4229"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mdcmediahub.aus.edu\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4229"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}