Christianity has repeatedly denied the theory of evolution, instead focusing on Creationism. God created man and the planets and there has been no evolution. However, this outright refusal opens up a lot of problems for Christians. For starters they rigidly believe in what the Bible states; the world was created in 6 days (God then needed a rest on the 7th day) and he created Adam and Eve. All this took place 6,000 years ago - hence they argue that the Earth is 6,000 years old. Unfortunately for them, there is indisputable evidence that the Earth is much older, in fact it's about 4.5 billion years old.
For Christians it appears to be Creationism or Evolution. Both cannot co-exist. Therefore many Christians are happy to deny the Theory of Evolution, claim Creationism as fact and keep their heads buried in the sand. It's not as easy as that. Luckily I'm not a Christian, but what does Islam have to say on the topic? Recently, there have been a couple of blogs left on the Guardian "comment is free " website discussing this very topic (see here and here), and as this is a topic which interests me a great deal, I thought I'd add my own thoughts on the subject.
As far as I can see, following Islam neither contradicts or approves the Theory of Evolution. The idea that creatures, including man, have evolved from different species has sound principals and is not something I am going to debate at this stage. However, by referring to the Quran, it is clear that all humans have come from Adam and Eve: “O mankind! We have created you from a male and a female, and made you into nations and tribes, that you may know one another." (Surah 49, Verse 13) - the male and female referenced here are Adam and Eve. God also states “O mankind! Be careful of your duty to your Lord Who created you from a single soul and from it created its mate and from them twain hath spread abroad a multitude of men and women.” (Surah 4, Verse 1). If for arguments sake we follow the Christian idea that Adam and Eve appeared on Earth 6,000 years ago and Islam clearly states that mankind came from Adam and Eve, how does the Theory of Evolution fit in?
The Earth clearly existed before the arrival of Adam and Eve and was inhabited by various creatures, plants and organisms. Paleontologists have studied various fossils showing the existence of dinosaurs, animals and also creatures with human characteristics - known as hominid fossils. Fossils have been discovered of skulls similar to that of humans and skeletons with a similar shape to humans. The fossils have been dated to over a million years old. So, clearly species with human features existed before the arrival of Adam.
Evidence has also been found of tools that could have been used by these species, suggesting that they had some level of intelligence as well. We've all seen the classic picture showing man's evolution from ape to homosapien (see below), and there is nothing in Islam which suggests that this hasn't taken place and neither is there anything which confirms it.
The issue arises as to what science believes happened from the moment Adam arrived on Earth. Science cannot prove that Adam did not arrive on Earth, neither can it prove how mankind progressed from that point. Islam clearly teaches us that we have all come from Adam and Eve, therefore it makes sense to assume that from the arrival of Adam and Eve, man has stopped evolving and has remained the same.
My personal opinion, and this is not based on any scientific fact, mainly cause there isn't much to begin with, is that if the Theory of Evolution is true, then for humans, it must have taken place before and up to the arrival of Adam and Eve on Earth. For other species, other animals, it has continued to this very day, but for humans, it stopped with Adam and Eve's arrival. To a atheistic scientist, that may not be good enough, but for me and perhaps other Muslims (or people with a belief in God) it is a suitable explanation to help understand the role of evolution in human life.
Further support for this opinion is provided in the Quran. God states that "...I am about to create man, from sounding clay, from mud molded into shape. When I have fashioned him (in due proportion) and breathed into him of My spirit, fall down in obeisance unto him." (Surah 15, Verses 28-29). Adam was created from mud and Allah breathed his Spirit into him so it became a living, flesh-and-blood human being. There is no mention of this happening to any of God's creations before Adam, hence we must believe he was the first to be blessed by God and from him and Eve we have all been created.
This leads neatly into another discussion. Mankind started from Adam and Eve, but how we're the first children born from Adam and Eve's children? There are two options, either the children of Adam married each other and produced offspring or the children of Adam married humans who already existed on Earth at the time of their arrival. For the first option, it means that brother and sister got married and although that sounds wrong, at that time, that was the only option. God in his infinite wisdom lifted the rule of not being allowed to marry your sibling - it was a unique situation which required a unique action. The Quran backs this view, “O mankind! Be careful of your duty to your Lord Who created you from a single soul and from it created its mate and from them twain hath spread abroad a multitude of men and women.” (Surah 4, Verse 1). This verse indicates that mankind came only from Adam and Eve, no-one else was involved.
For the second option, although there is no support in the Quran, it is a possibility as humans existed on Earth prior to Adams arrival. However, in all likelihood, it is probably the first option that took place at that time to allow the creation of mankind. It doesn't make sense for us to have been created from Adam and some other human who God did not bless with his Spirit.
Finally, all of this makes interesting discussion, but the most important thing is that no matter what theories or findings scientists come up with, they only go to prove God's existence and how in his mercy he has given us the ability to study all his creations. He sums it up best when he states:
“Allah is the Creator of all things and over all things He hasTake care all,
authority.” (Surah 39, Verse 62)
Thoughts just flow, when do they have to make sense?
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1 comment:
Nice post - and another good title. I wonder where you got the subject idea from? :-)
I personally think Islam can be reconciled with evolution, as with all scientific developments throughout history (many of which have come from Muslim scientists like Jabir ibn Hayan and ibn Sina).
As for the hominid fossils, there is a hadith (saying) from the sixth Shia Imam, and great-great-grandson of the Holy Prophet, Jafar as Sadiq:
"Before this Adam, there were a thousand Adams."
Islam can live with the idea of pre-homosapien beings from which we homosapiens evolved. In fact, the Quran even talks of man being created 'in stages'. Natural selection anyone?
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