ABDUS SALAM

A work between science and Islam

Scientific research and religious practice are two fundamental features of Muhammad Abdus Salam’s life.

As a devout Muslim and leading physicist, Nobel Prize in Physics in 1979 for his work pertaining to the unification of the fundamental forces of nature, he inscribes his approach as a researcher in the continuity of Quranic thought and finds in science a way to marvel at nature and ultimately to cultivate religious consciousness.

The connection between science and Islam takes other forms in his life ; the pursuit of the « good of all humankind » through wide access to knowledge and basic economic rights for all is one of them.

A harmonious and fruitful relation between scholarly method and spiritual approach defines an unitary thinking and allows to deal with major subjects such as the scope of science and the nature of religion, and to tackle crucial issues with depth within the context of the global challenges humankind is facing.

Abdus Salam sets his work in the spiritual tradition that he inherited and that shaped him, following the example of other scholars in the history of Islam. As such, the practice of consciousness, intelligence and humanity at the service of humankind is an essential thread of his life.

Ismaël OMARJEE holds a PhD in epistemology, history of science and technology from the University of Paris Diderot (Paris 7). His research themes pertain to the relation between science of nature and metaphysics / religion in the history of thought. He published, for example, works centered around the thought and the work of Isaac Newton and of Georges Lemaître who are, respectively, among the founders of modern science and of modern cosmology.