‘Is there life beyond earth?’ This question has probably existed for as long as mankind’s existence, spurring debates and discussion in scientific, cultural and religious circles, and spawning films and books that fed, and continue to feed, public imagination.
Lately, the question and its repercussions on religions resurfaced when the James Webb Space Telescope was launched on Christmas Day in 2021. The successor to NASA’s flagship Hubble Space Telescope, the telescope is designed to make detailed observations of nearby exoplanets as well as of distant galaxies, triggering hope that it will also detect life elsewhere in the universe, if it exists.
It was in this context that Associate Professors Dr Jörg Matthias Determann of Virginia Commonwealth University School of the Arts in Qatar (VCUarts Qatar) and Dr Shoaib Ahmed Malik of Zayed University in the UAE organised the online conference titled, Islamic Perspectives on Exotheology.
The event was in partnership with Religion and Astrobiology in Culture and Society (RACS) network, based in St Mary’s University in the UK, and the Lanier Theology Library in Houston, USA, with institutional support from the University of Notre Dame, in Australia and Rice University in the USA.
Are we alone in the universe?
According to Dr Determann, humanity has discovered thousands of planets orbiting stars other than our sun over the last thirty years.
Future advances might thus hold an answer to one of our biggest questions: Are we alone in the universe?
If there are other civilisations out there, we will inevitably ponder how special or unique we are in the cosmos. We might also wonder how universal our world religions are. Our conference has sought to prepare us for such philosophical and theological matters.
The conference was attended by scholars from across the globe and examined questions such as these in reference to Islam:
- What would it mean for existing religions if we find out that there are advanced civilisations with different faiths and belief systems out there?
- Do humans still enjoy a special relationship with God if there are other sentient and perhaps smarter beings?
Theology and astronomy
One of the attendees of the conference was José Funes, an astronomer at the National Scientific and Technical Research Council in Argentina and a professor of philosophy and theology at the Catholic University of Cordoba. Armed with a masters’ degree and a doctorate in astronomy, one of his key areas of research over the past few years has been the Search for Extra Terrestrial Intelligence or SETI. Yet, being an astronomer isn’t the only reason why he attended the conference.
Funes is also a Jesuit priest who spent years exploring theology and astronomy, and the areas that either overlap or diverge in both fields. His qualifications opened opportunities to take up roles that straddle both. In 2000, he joined the Vatican Observatory Research Group as staff astronomer; and in 2006, he was appointed by Pope Benedict VI as the Director of the Vatican Observatory in Italy, a post he held until 2015.
Following his retirement, he returned to Argentina, where he continues his research in SETI. In a Zoom interview, Funes explained why he was interested in the conference, and how it ties in with his interests.
He said that with his background in theology, he was keen to learn how other religions, especially the predominant ones such as Islam, Judaism and Hinduism viewed the question.
That’s when I came across information about the conference. I was drawn to it as I had never attended a conference that looked at the possibility of extraterrestrial life from the perspective of Islam.
Funes says the conference not only gave him a glimpse into how Islam perceives the notion of extraterrestrial life, but it also made him ponder the significance of the conference from a different vantage point.
He said it was encouraging to see how people from various religions came forward to discuss and listen to different perspectives on a topic such as extraterrestrial life.
I learned that in the Quran, God is known the ‘Lord of the Worlds’. I think that this name of God and other names, coming especially from the monotheistic religions, can help us to achieve a better understanding of the Creator beyond discussing the topic of extraterrestrials in the perspective of our exotheology studies.
He added that the conference can motivate similar inter-religious or inter-cultural deliberations on climate change, the environment and world peace. In our capacity as human beings, he said that perhaps the conference is a gentle reminder of the value of life: that we must present a united front in nurturing life on earth, as we search for life outside of it.
Check out Marhaba’s FREE e-Guides for everything you need to know about Qatar.
