Salman Hameed I think you are credible voice even in orthodox circles. Don’t participate in modern cancel culture and trolling.
Ishmael Lincoln This is an interesting issue and I have been grappling with that as well (I told Shehzad Ghias about this dilemma and that I do not want to engage on this). However, this particular issue is not just about astronomy, but about Hubble Space Telescope (many years ago, I also have had the chance to work with its data). In that context, perhaps it is okay to comment and to point out the absurdities in this regard. But point well-taken, and a decision to respond (or not respond) is complicated… 🙂
Salman Hameed I am a photonics engineer who is trying to affiliate with university of Louisiana Lafayette usa. I appreciate the marvel of James Webb Telescope. His background is in sufi psychology so he is not qualified to speak on physics like you do. Quran also advises don’t engage in talking about your lack of expertise.
لا تقف ما ليس لك به علم
Nonetheless I am your best fan forever and I recommend you in orthodox circles so I hope you maintain professional neutrality in toxic social media within Pakistan which will help the cause of progress in the long term. I feel honoured by your attentive reply 🙂
Ishmael Lincoln Thank you!! I appreciate it. This is where it gets complicated: As someone involved in building curiosity and how science works (not just facts), it becomes important to address misconceptions as well – especially when they go viral. Not addressing those can also undercut the very thing we are trying to do. Evolution is one such topic. So is Big Bang. As is Earth being stationary. Here was an attempt to deal with stationary Earth:
Salman Hameed big bang is not problematic in my cosmology due to creation ex nihilo alignment. Evolution can seem intimidating but Quran says We created you in stages which is not just embryonic. Abiogenesis is a bigger biological mystery. And Quran nowhere uses the word sakin for earth. Some sufi circles promote that but like protestant reformation there is internal reform in progress. But again I would say you have the right skills to engage in building curiosity culture without using manipulative stereotypes on both sides of political spectrum. We should agree about primacy of scientific progress as well as greater social cohesion missing across the globe due to polarized rhetoric.
A spiritual Ishmaelite 