Research News: Dr. Guiderdoni, please tell us about your background.

Bruno Guiderdoni: I was born in France and still live there. Although I am a Muslim, I was not born Muslim. I have a Christian family, but I did not receive any religious education. When I became an adult, I realized that I had religious and spiritual concerns.

After some reading and travels in Northern Africa, I became aware of the necessity of following a spiritual path, and I embraced Islam. But the choice of Islam also includes the understanding that all religions of humanity come from God and go back to God. That has become an important element of my conversion. All religions eventually converge to the top of the mountain where God stands. Islam is one of the many religions that have been given by God to humanity.

At the time of my conversion to Islam, I also became a professional astrophysicist. I began working at the National Center for Scientific Research at the Paris Institute of Astrophysics.

My interest is in observational cosmology. More specifically, I work on the way galaxies appeared. With my colleagues and students, I try to understand how structures formed from the first fluctuations, how stars form from gas, how heavy elements are synthesized and so on. The evolution of the cosmos gives an image of our own history.

I also try to make predictions for the observations that will be achieved with forthcoming big telescopes and satellites. In this context, I am involved in various infrared and sub-millimeter observing programs.

RN: Do you fully agree with modern "big bang" cosmology in its present form?

BG: I am not sure what you mean by "fully agree." What I can say is that we cannot explain the large amount of data we see with our telescopes if we do not invoke one of the variants of the hot big bang model. So far this is the only model available that is powerful enough to account for the various observational features.

There are also some dark zones in this model, for instance, the nature of dark matter or the cosmological constant. There are fundamental problems on the physics at Planck time, a tiny fraction of second after the "singularity." But I am confident that we shall shed light on these zones in forthcoming years.

After saying that, I must also add that, as a Muslim, I believe that the physical cosmos is not the whole of reality.

RN: How does modern cosmology resonate with your religious belief?

BG: I see modern cosmology as an extraordinary human endeavor. For the first time in the history of humanity, we are discovering a huge amount of galaxies and stars. And tomorrow we will discover planets on scales of space and time that would have simply been unthinkable in the Middle Ages. We are actually seeing a fascinating beauty in the regularities that rule the cosmos. As a believer, I feel God creates the cosmos. The beauty and harmony of the universe is one of Gods signs. As a consequence, exploring the cosmos is a way of worshipping God.

RN: The world, particularly the Western world, owes a great deal to the Arab world for saving Aristotle and bringing his ideas into the scientific dialogue. Do you consider philosophers like Averroes fundamental to your present cosmology?

BG: Averroes is not only one of the main Islamic philosophers, but also one of the main philosophers of the history of human thought. In the 12th century, he addressed the issue of the interface between science and religion. Unfortunately, his message was not much understood in the Islamic world and rather misunderstood in the Christian world.

There is a treasury of profound insights in the philosophical, theological and mystical tradition of Islam. I do try to be in this stream of reflection and contemplation, and to uncover aspects of Islam that most people, even devout followers, may not be aware of. There are many beautiful things in Islam that remain hidden in the past. But we need to have them understood now and to give a renewed meaning or understanding to the classical legacy of Islam. I try to be faithful to my roots, but I also live in the 21st century.

I participate not only in scientific conferences, but also gatherings in mosques. I try to be in contact with people of my community and not be separated as somebody special.

The idea that God is the "first cause" is one of the metaphysical ideas of the Islamic tradition I try to recall. The idea that "God is present" comes from theology. I believe this idea points to the mystery of the regularities seen in the cosmos. It is this kind of dialogue between physics and metaphysics which is my way of being faithful to my Islamic roots.

RN: When you use a "first cause" argument, and include Aristotelian categories, do you find yourself in the minority at conferences like this, particularly at scientific or astrophysics gatherings?

BG: I understand that for the Science and the Spiritual Quest conference, which has developed in the context of Christianity, it is a perhaps a bit strange to hear my views on the relationship between science and religion. Of course, I also learn when I hear talks given by Christians about how they articulate science and religion. So this kind of dialogue, not only between science and religion, but also between the various faiths about science and religion issues, is fascinating.

This kind of pursuit is not well recognized in the Islamic world. This problem is partly due to the fact that there is not much research or reflection in these countries and partly to the misuse of religion as a tool for keeping or getting the political power.

RN: In the Middle Ages, Islamic philosophers like Averroes were active in the scientific enterprise. Can you pinpoint a reason for the recent lack of scientific activity in the Islamic world?

BG: I think there are many reasons, some of which are due to the current political, economical and social situation of these countries. Fortunately, it is possible to have this kind of reflection and research in the West.

RN: You began a television show called "Knowing Islam." Are you still involved in that?

BG: Between 1993 and 1999, I had the opportunity to participate in a TV show. The state TV channel "France 2" broadcasts a religious show on Sunday morning. The program starts with Buddhism, goes to Islam, Judaism and finishes with Christianity.

The title of my program was "Knowing Islam." On the show I did interviews that show unknown aspects of the Islamic legacy, as well as the current trends in the Islamic world.

RN: What do you mean by "unknown aspects" of Islam?

BG: There are many unknown aspects of Islam, just as there are many layers of understanding in all religions that not all people who are believers know about. I particularly discussed the intellectual and spiritual dimension of religion, which developed during the great period of Islam. Unfortunately, the general audience does not know this inner dimension. The images that appear in newspapers and on TV are the violent aspects of the Islamic world now.

I have been busy with this program for several years. In 1994, I also founded, with other Muslim friends, an Islamic Institute for Advanced Study (the Institut des Hautes Etudes Islamiques).

This institute promotes the spiritual and intellectual aspects of Islam through conferences, lectures and papers. It also attempts to reflect upon the current significance of the presence of Islam in the West. We also reflect on how the Islamic tradition could give the West an opportunity to recover the memory of its own spiritual roots because Islam has a lot of things in common with Judaism and Christianity.

RN: Science and the Spiritual Quest II intentionally recruited scientists from different religious backgrounds. For instance, in your session on cosmology you presented along with a Buddhist and a Hindu. Do you find these conversations constructive? In other words, do you think that through science the world will progress toward "unity," or do you think there will always be different vantage points, different religious traditions, and therefore different scientific interpretations?

BG: I deeply believe in unity. But I also think that unity is a mystery, because we see diversity. Behind the large diversity we see there is an underlying unity that can be approached. However, in a religious prospect, the unity will be reached only in the afterlife, when we will be in front of God.

Presently we live in a world of diversity. The world is very fragmented, which is the main problem of the 21st century. We need a paradigm of unity. By finding links between science and religion, as in the Science and the Spiritual Quest program, we are trying to get closer to unity. It is also necessary to have dialogue between religions. We must find the proper way to articulate diversity and unity, and avoid transforming unity into uniformity!

We should not try to make a kind of mix between science and religion, or between all religions. We have to keep the scientific method when we do science. We have to keep religious rituals and dogma when we do religion. And everybody has to be faithful to his own religious roots.

But we also have to make bridges. It is a necessity for the 21st century to overcome the gap between science and religion, and the gaps between the different religions. Religions are now spread all over the world. In every country there are members of many different religions who are living together, and they need mutual understanding. We must know each other better in order to learn how to live together.