Sulayman Nyang

Sulayman S. Nyang

Scholar of African and Muslim affairs

"On Faith" panelist Sulayman S. Nyang teaches in the Department of African Studies at Howard University in Washington, D.C. A scholar of African and Muslim affairs, Nyang, who is a native of the Republic of the Gambia, also served as his homeland's deputy ambassador to seven Middle Eastern and North African countries from 1975-78. Except for those three years, Nyang has taught at Howard since 1972, serving as acting director of the African Studies Program from 1973-75 and from 1986-1993, as chairman of the Department of African Studies. In 1993, he became senior consultant on the African Voices Project of the Museum of Natural History of the Smithsonian Institution..In 1997, Nyang became the first scholar to be named the Henry Luce Professor for Abrahamic Religions at the University of Hartford and Hartford Seminary. From 1999 to 2002 Professor Nyang served as a principal investigator and co-director of the Muslims in the American Public Square (MAPS) project sponsored by the Pew Charitable Trust and housed at Georgetown University's Center for Muslim-Christian Understanding. Now a U.S. citizen, Nyang has written extensively on African, Islamic and Middle Eastern affairs .His most widely-known book is Islam, Christianity and African Identity. He has also authored or co-edited Religious Plurality in Africa, with Jacob Olupona; A Line in the Sand: Saudi Arabia's Role in the Gulf War, with Evans Heindricks; and Islam:Its Relevance Today, co-edited with Henry Thompson. Nyang also wrote Islam in the United States of America (1999). His latest work is Muslims' Place in the American Public Square. Hopes, Fears, and Aspirations (2004), jointly edited with Zahid Bukhari and John Esposito of Georgetown University, and Mumtaz Ahmad of Hampton University). Nyang, who holds a doctorate in government from the University of Virginia, also serves on the advisory boards of several national African and Muslim organizations and was the first American Muslim president of the Interfaith Conference of Metropolitan Washington, D.C. Close.

Sulayman S. Nyang

Scholar of African and Muslim affairs

"On Faith" panelist Sulayman S. Nyang teaches in the Department of African Studies at Howard University in Washington, D.C. A scholar of African and Muslim affairs, Nyang, who is a native of the Republic of the Gambia, also served as his homeland's deputy ambassador to seven Middle Eastern and North African countries from 1975-78. more »

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Faith in a Fruitful Conversation

I think bio-sociologist E.O. Wilson was correct and cautious in his assertion that: "An alliance between science and religion, forged in an atmosphere of mutual respect, may be the only way to protect life on earth." There are several reasons for supporting this statement.

The first and more powerful argument is that science and religion have singular and collective interest in their definitions and understandings of the world we live in. Science cares about the nature of the world and its activities have enabled us to understand and appreciate much of life and death on this planet. With science the human being has made tremendous progress in the long and endless journey to the deciphering of the physical, chemical and biological realities of our material universe. Men and women of our age have come to understand and appreciate the animal world and the linkages and subtle distinctions between Man and the rest of the animal world. Even though science now tells us that the chimpanzee matches 97% of our DNA, this new revelation has affirmatively underscored what we have learned many Millenia ago about human origins. This convergence between science and religion with respect to the common origins of human beings on this planet deserves some careful consideration.Monogenesis is the mantra of Creation and both science and religion dance to it.

I expect some dialogue between theologians and priests who are interested in the world of science without developing any nasty and prejudiced antagonism against advocates of the two groups.

The second reason I would give about the need for a dialogue between religion and science on the said matter lies in my belief that the two fields of knowledge are looking at different worlds. Religion deals with people occupying this material world but they also embrace the worldview that there is a Higher Being in the universe and they have a right to live in this world and to worship and serve Him.

In response to the question whether such an alliance is necessary, I have this to say.
Both religion and science cater to many of our existential needs. Their collaboration is necessary if members of society do not secure the state and polarize the advocates of these two branches of human knowledge about this world and about life beyond the grave. The fact that the two systems of thought and mode of living in this material universe are separate and different in their understanding and interpretation of the universe, makes it imperative for the leaders in these two fields of knowledge to work together without expecting one to surrender to the other ways of knowledge and living in this life.

Living in the United States of America and in the West has created the necessary environment for many Muslims and others to live and let live their counterparts in the other world religions. Through such an argument of respectability and hospitality, chances are the pastors and their scientific co-partners would make a difference in the dialogue between science and religion.

I look forward to a better day when scientific breakthroughs are joyously embrace by all thinking human beings. Professor Wilson was right in warning us about the dangers of polarization between decision makers in the field of religious leadership and their secularly oriented scientific rivals. If modern religious leaders and their scientific counterparts stay aloof from one another, chances are their effectiveness in the dialog between the members of these communities would be limited. In light of this reasoning I would argue here that alliances are welcome but they are unwelcome in the realm of state power.

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Posted by Sulayman Nyang on October 29, 2007 6:33 AM

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