During his university years, he carried out detailed research into the prevalent materialistic philosophies and ideologies around him, to the extent of becoming even more knowledgeable about them than their advocates. As a result of his accumulation of knowledge, he has written various books on the fallacy of the theory of evolution. His dedicated intellectual effort against Darwinism and materialism has grown out to be a worldwide phenomenon. Quoting from the 22 April 2000 issue of New Scientist, Mr. Oktar became an "international hero" in communicating the fallacy of the theory of evolution and the fact of creation. The author's intellectual struggle against materialism and Darwinism has frequently been mentioned in such mainly evolutionist publications as National Geographic, Science, New Scientist and NSCE Reports.

How do you evaluate the current situation of the Islamic world?

When one analyzes the present situation of the Islamic world, which occupies a very wide area and contains 1.2 Billion Muslims, the first noteworthy feature will be that Muslims are divided amongst themselves.

There are deep disagreements and disputes between some Islamic countries. Wars have even taken place between Muslim countries in the recent past, such as the Iran-Iraq War, the Iraqi invasion of Kuwait and the Pakistan-Bangladesh War. Civil wars and conflicts generally due to ethnic and political problems in Muslim countries, such as those in Afghanistan, Yemen, Lebanon, Iraq and Algeria, show that the Islamic world is not as it should be. On the other hand, very different religious interpretations, views and models prevail all over the Islamic world. There is no central authority to determine what is compatible with Islam and what is not, and to show the way to Muslims in general and reconcile them with one another.

Catholics have the Vatican and the Orthodox their Patriarchate, but there is no religious unity and center in the Islamic world. Yet unity lies at the very heart of Islamic moral values. Following the death of our Prophet (saas), the Islamic world was always led by the Caliphate, which served as a guide for Muslims on matters of religion. A contemporary central authority to guide the entire Islamic world can be established in the present day. The foundation of a central Islamic authority and an Islamic Union, based on democratic principles and the supremacy of the law, will be an important step towards resolving the current problems facing the Islamic world. Muslims today are dependent on the West in medicine, scientific research, defense and education.

What are your views on this? What should Muslims' contribution to mankind be? Fourteen centuries ago, Allah sent down the Qur'an as a guide to all humanity. At that time, the Arab society was in a state of complete degeneration, chaos and ignorance. They were a barbarous people who worshipped idols of their own making, believed warfare and bloodshed to be virtuous and were even capable of killing their own children. They had little interest in intellectual matters, let alone a scientific outlook to the natural world. However, through Islam they learned humanity and civilization.

Not only the Arabs but all the communities which accepted Islam escaped the darkness of the age of ignorance and were illuminated by the divine wisdom of the Qur'an. Amongst the faculties the Qur'an brought to humanity was scientific thinking. For a Muslim, taking an interest in science is a very important form of worship. In many verses of the Qur'an, Allah instructs Muslims to investigate the heavens, the earth, living things or their own existence and think about them. When we look at the verses, we find indications of all the main branches of science in the Qur'an and we see that Allah recommends all the sciences to Muslims. When the Prophet Muhammad (saas) began to preach Islam, the Arabs were a community of ignorant, superstitious tribes.

However, thanks to the light of the Qur'an they were rescued from superstition and began to follow the path of reason. As a result of this, one of the most astonishing developments in world history took place and in a few decades Islam provided the stage for a scientific development previously unmatched in history. At a time when Europe was living through the Dark Ages, the Islamic world created the greatest legacy of scientific knowledge seen in history to that date. The sciences of medicine, geometry, algebra, astronomy and even sociology were developed systematically for the first time. Great centers of religious learning were also centers of knowledge and scientific development. The Islamic world created the first universities - and even hospitals - in the world. What allowed Muslims to create such an advanced scientific culture was derived from the faculties of the Islamic understanding. One of them was, as we have noted, the motive to learn about the universe and nature according to the Qur'anic principles.

Another one was open-mindedness. Both the Qur'anic wisdom and the Prophetic teaching gave Muslims a global outlook to the world, surmounting all cultural barriers. The wisdom of the Qur'an first enlightened the Islamic world and then shed light even to the non-Muslim Europe. If something went wrong in the Islamic world, this was because Muslims turned away from the sincerity, wisdom and open-mindedness Allah teaches in the Qur'an. And science will return to its authentic and true paradigm with the search for the discovery and definition of the great creation and harmony in the natural world, the artifact of Allah.

What is the purpose of your books/works that you have produced?

The purpose behind writing these books is to gain the approval of Allah and to call people to Islam, the true religion.

Explaining Islam to people in the finest manner possible, removing various erroneous concepts regarding Islam that have lingered on in some people's minds, relating the facts, and striving for the dissem-ination of religious moral values all over the world are very valuable observances in the sight of Allah. On the one hand, someone reading these books will learn of the existence of Allah, the proofs of His creation and true Islamic moral values; what's more the world view and mental structure of a Muslim who abides by the Qur'an and the Sunnah of our Prophet (saas). The era that we are in is such a period that the atheists, materialists and enemies of religion are showing immense effort to deny the existence and unity of Allah.

On the contrary, Allah has provided us, the believers, opportunities and evidences to demolish these perverted and distorted philosophies of the unbelievers. The primary of these evidences of creation and therefore my books explain facts of Allah's creation as they are based on signs of faith. These books include all types of facts of creation, knowledge and evidence that direct people to faith and give proofs on Allah's existence and unity, in addition display His superior power and art. The biggest deception unbelievers propose against Allah is that everything, living or non-living, has come into being by coincidences. It is very important to destroy this false indoctrination, which the unbelievers try to spread, and to bring into light the miracles of creation they attempt to conceal. Therefore we should investigate the signs of faith around us under the light of modern science and tell about these to the people.

Not being aware of signs of faith leaves one defenseless against the lies of the atheists while knowing, understanding and explaining facts of creation make a believing person intellectually superior to all kinds of disbelieving philosophy. Therefore, these books put forward with evidences that the propaganda of atheist, materialist and Darwinist circles have no scientific basis. Besides, a person who contemplates in great detail and extent over the creation of Allah and who becomes aware of the wisdom and delicacy will witness the infinite knowledge, power and art of Allah and this will strengthen his firmness in faith. On the other hand, when people look at works prepared by Muslims they must see the quality of the understanding of aesthetics and art that Islamic moral values bring with them, and the rationality and wisdom in the explanations provided.

Muslims must set an example to the whole world in that regard, too, and must therefore bring the whole world to admire those values. These books are therefore prepared most scrupulously and carefully. Since these are works prepared with true sincerity and devotion Allah gives them beauty and wisdom and they will, by the will of Allah, have a profound impact. And having all the texts of the books on the Internet websites free for the readers is meant to help out the people who have limited means. We are doing all these works with sincerity in order to communicate morals of Islam to as many people as possible.

What is the real threat that causes people living away from their religious values?

When we look at contemporary societies we see that the damage inflicted by anti-religious ideologies on societies' thought structures heads the list of the main factors that prevent people from living by religious moral values. The most important of these ideologies are atheism and materialism.

The roots of materialism go back to the Sumerians. It acquired a socalled scientific basis with the theory of evolution, proposed by Charles Darwin in the 19th century, and m a t e r i a l i s t s imagined that this unscientific theory would at last allow them to answer the question "how did the universe and life come into being?" which they had been unable to answer for hundreds of years. This perverted belief inflicted grave damage on societies. This superstitious world view, which denies the existence of Allah and religious moral values and propagates the falsehood that human beings have no responsibilities to anyone, led to a huge increase in the number of selfish, opportunistic, aggressive and ruthless individuals.

Even worse, it led to these vices being regarded as justified. Virtues taught by religious moral values, such as solidarity, self-sacrifice, patience and loyalty, were almost entirely eliminated from the life of society. However, developments in the scientific world from the second half of the 20th century on have proved that the theory of evolution is only a myth. Yet there were still those who adopted this unscientific theory and engaged in propaganda on its behalf for ideological reasons. They knew full well that once the invalidity of Darwin's theory had been made apparent, their worldviews would be completely undermined, in other words that materialist and atheistic ideologies would be eliminated. Someone who sees that the universe and he himself are not the work of chance, as Darwinists and materialists would have us believe, will naturally seek an answer to the question of how everything came into existence, and that inquiry will lead him to a single truth: a Mighty Creator brought everything into existence out of nothing. A person who realizes this will naturally shape his entire life according to our Creator's commandments; in other words, he will begin to live by religious moral values.

This, in turns, means an overwhelming defeat for those who have fought against religious moral values for centuries. It is this that lies behind the dogged defense of Darwinism in the present day. At this point, Muslims have very urgent duties. Muslims must first do away with the intellectual pretexts underlying the way that people move away from religious moral values and eliminate this mental pollution in societies. The common foundation of atheism and materialism must be done away with if they are to be intellectually torn down. It is clear that ideologies with no footholds or foundations cannot survive. It is for that reason that the uncovering of the true face of Darwinism, the revelations of all its errors, and explaining that it is devoid of any scientific foundation will free people from a great error and allow them to see the true path.

Still today a great many people who lack the means to study the subject and act in the light of what they hear from others imagine that Darwinism is a valid movement and remain far removed from religious moral values. Explaining to people how Darwinism is a bankrupt ideology will make it possible to prevent this turning away from religious moral values. So Muslims who will communicate the message must first identify those factors which influence societies and cause them to turn away from religious moral values, and then they must wage an intellectual struggle against them.

How do you see the future of Islam in this seemingly troublesome world?

All the developments that occurred after September 11 gave the glad tidings that people will come to know Islam better and abandon their earlier prejudices. The fact that the Qur'an has become a best-seller in Western societies, the increasing number of converts to Islam, speeches by world leaders praising the values of Islam and opinions published in the Western media in favor of Islam are all signs of a very bright future for Islam. By the will of Allah, the 21st century will be the time when people will grasp that the only way to attain peace and happiness is living by the values of Islam. The information provided in certain of the Hadith of our Prophet (saas) and in verses of the Qur'an imparts the glad tidings that, by the will of Allah, the world will be a bright place for Muslims in the very near future.

The establishment of the Islamic Union will accelerate the commencement of this happy time, a brand new age in which not just Muslims but all societies will live in abundance and well-being.

How do you think the conflict between the Western World and Muslim countries will end?

The "clash of civilizations" that certain circles are so determined to keep on the agenda is a scenario that fails to square with the facts. Past experience clearly shows that different civilizations living side by side does not necessarily lead to tension and conflict. A state that harbors different cultures experiences problems, not because of the differences within itself, but because of the way it administers these, or fails to do so. Civilizations that exist side by side choose the path of conflict or of peace and cooperation depending on whether they are tolerant of one another and whether or not they control intolerant elements inside themselves. Today, both in the West and in the Islamic world, there are those who prefer enmity and conflict to tolerance and reconciliation.

That is the reason why certain mistaken ideas and preconceptions regarding Islam and Muslims persist, and this poses various difficulties for the Islamic world. Westerners, on the other hand, feel an unnecessary tension because of various misunderstandings. There is an urgent need for a solution to eliminate all these difficulties. That solution is the Islamic Union. That Union must establish very peaceful and harmonious relations with other countries and civilizations, and must cooperate with the international community and the United Nations on such subjects as the control of weapons of mass destruction, terrorism, international crime and the environment.

Priority must be given to such matters as the protection of the rights of minorities in the Islamic world (such as Jews and Christians) and of foreigners coming to Islamic countries, their security, and respect being shown them. Importance must also be attached to inter-faith dialogue and cooperation, as it must to just and peaceful solutions, involving gains and concessions for both sides, to problems that cause difficulties between Muslims and non-Muslims. The rights of Muslim peoples must be protected, and the problems in question must also be prevented from being made insoluble by certain radical elements in the Islamic world.