There has yet to be a serious debate in the Muslim world about the compatibility of evolution and Islam, but that will soon change. Rising education levels, access to the internet, and exposure to evolution-creation debates in the US and Europe are bringing the issue of evolution to the fore – and opinion among Muslims will solidify in the coming years.

Can we avoid a mass rejection of evolution in the Muslim world?

There are subtle differences in the way Muslims and Christians approach evolution. For example, the age of the Earth is not an issue for Muslims. The account of creation in the Qur'an, like its Biblical counterpart, involves six stages or 'days'. The length of each period, however, is not specified in the Qur'an. In one passage, the period is defined as "in a day the measure of which is a thousand years of what you count" (32:5) and in another as " ... a day the measure of which is fifty thousand years" (70:4).

The resulting ambiguity leaves open the possibility of a very old Earth. Indeed, so-called young Earth creationism – which asserts that the planet is between 6000 and 10,000 years old – is wholly absent in the Muslim world and a universe billions of years old is commonly accepted.

In addition, there are religious scholars who find evolution to be compatible with Islam. For example, Dr Israr Ahmed in Pakistan believes that God works through the process of evolution. Similarly, south Asian poet and philosopher Mohammad Iqbal, writing in the early 20th century, accepted evolution and even credited the idea to Muslim philosophers of the 9th and 11th centuries. So there are voices within Islam that do not find evolution fundamentally opposed to religion.

How should scientists respond to the rising challenge of creationism in the Muslim world? Despite surveys showing hostility towards evolution, there is also an overwhelmingly pro-science attitude. This is particularly true for sciences that have practical and technological benefits. The message about evolution in the Islamic world therefore needs to be framed in a way that emphasises practical applications and shows that it is the bedrock of modern biology. This is the approach advocated in the US in the recent National Academy of Sciences publication Science, Evolution, and Creationism.

The arguments for evolution will have to be framed differently in each country. The national academies of Muslim countries can tailor the specifics of the message according to the political and cultural realities of their respective communities. For example, while evolution is included in the high school curricula of both Turkey and Pakistan, the challenges faced by schools in secular Turkey are very different from those in highly religious Pakistan.

Crucially, if a link between evolution and atheism is stressed, as some prominent scientists in the west have been advocating, this will undoubtedly cut short the dialogue and the vast majority of people in the Muslim world will choose religion over evolution. Muslim creationists know this and they have been stressing this link in their anti-evolution works.

It is not simply a matter of presenting evidence. Even in the US, a survey by the Pew Research Foundation has found that among those who reject evolution, only 14% cite lack of evidence as the reason for their rejection. Religion in the Muslim world plays a much larger role in the social and cultural landscape, and thus, our tactics for combating creationism in these countries need to take that into account.

I am not advocating suppressing or shying away from hard problems at the interface of science and religion. Evolutionary ideas addressing human origins, for example, may face serious obstacles and may turn into a major fault line in Islam. But a peaceful accommodation is possible, like that achieved within the Catholic Church.

As scientists we should present, without compromise, the best available science, but avoid stressing those metaphysical consequences that may surely lead to a widespread rejection of an established scientific theory in parts of the world already lagging behind in science.

At present, the dominant voice shaping the evolution-creation debate in the Muslim world is that of Turkish creationist Adnan Oktar, who uses the pen name Harun Yahya. Scientists, especially biologists, should write for newspapers and magazines read by a Muslim audience and seize back the initiative from creationists like Yahya.

Salman Hameed lectures on science and religion at Hampshire College in Massachusetts