Osman Bakar is a scholar, teacher and author whose writings are known throughout many Islamic countries and by Western scholars of Islam.

Dr. Bakar was born in Temerloh in the state of Pahang, Malaysia. He completed his undergraduate degree with Honors and an M.Sc. in Mathematics (specializing in Algebra) at London University. In 1981, Osman Bakar entered Temple University where he completed an M.A. in Comparative Religion and his Ph.D. in Philosophy of Science/Islamic Philosophy.

Osman Bakar served as the Deputy Vice Chancellor/Vice President of Academics and was the first holder of the Chair of the Philosophy of Science at the University of Malaya (Kuala Lumpur), a post he held until 2001. He is one of the founding members and has also served as President of the Islamic Academy of Science of Malaysia. His research interests include Southeast Asian Islam, particularly Malaysian-Indonesian Islam, contemporary Islamic thought, and religion and science in the Islamic context, both classical and modern.

Many of his essays have appeared in numerous journals, chapters in various books, and in encyclopedias. His books, Classification of Knowledge in Islam, Tawhid and Science, and Civilizational Dialogue, among others, have been translated into Albanian, Arabic, Chinese, English, French, Indonesian, Persian, Spanish, Turkish, and Urdu. In 1994 he was awarded the honorary title of "Dato" by the Sultan of Pahang and by the King of Malaysia in 2000. Dr. Bakar has received additional recognition for his work, including the Fulbright Visiting Scholar at Harvard University. He has also served as a consultant to various agencies such as the United Nations and UNESCO.

Currently, Dr. Osman Bakar is the Malaysia Chair of Islam in Southeast Asia, Center for Muslim-Christian Understanding and is a member of the Center's Academic Council (part of the School of Foreign Service), where he teaches courses on Contemporary Islam in Southeast Asia, Religion and Science in Islam, and Dialogue of Civilizations.

Osman Bakar's essay "The Nature and Extent of Criticism of Evolutionary Theory" is included in the anthology Science and the Myth of Progress .