Iman Threatened over Evolution

A prominent British imam has been forced to retract his claims that Islam is compatible with Darwin's theory of evolution after receiving death threats from fundamentalists.

Dr Usama Hasan, a physics lecturer at Middlesex University and a fellow of the Royal Astronomical Society, was intending yesterday to return to Masjid al-Tawhid, a mosque in Leyton, East London, for the first time since he delivered a lecture there entitled "Islam and the theory of evolution".But according to his sister, police advised him not to attend after becoming concerned for his safety. Instead his father, Suhaib, head of the mosque's committee of trustees, posted a notice on his behalf expressing regret over his comments. "I seek Allah's forgiveness for my mistakes and apologise for any offence caused," the statement read.

Talking of fundamentalists, a Gallup poll has shown that 40% of Americans still believed in Creationism.

More worryingly, According to a recent study, a majority of high school biology teachers in the States don't take an active stance on evolution, and 13 percent of teachers actually advocate creationism in the classroom. Only 30 percent of biology teachers took a solidly pro-evolutionary stance, a trend that may emerge from teachers' desire to avoid conflict.