WhiteKnight
Junior Member
Peace and God's blessings be upon you...
Sorrowfully, non Muslims who believe in the theory of evolution (which states that humans were evolved from apes) claim that Islam is a primitive and ignorant religion whose story of creation contradicts with modern science. In this thread, we'll discuss the theory of evolution in the light of Islam.
What is the theory of evolution?
Evolution is defined as the change in the characteristics of the biological populations over successive generations. English scientist Charles Darwin was the first to formulate a scientific argument for this theory. According to the theory of evolution, all living organisms descended from a ''last universal common ancestor'' whose characteristics are unknown till now. The more common characteristics living organisms have, the closer in relationship they are. In other words, humans and apes are descended from the same ancestry and the same to tigers and lions, wolves and dogs…etc. There are many evidences that prove the validity of evolution theory. However, there are some alleged contradictions between it and the Abrahamic religions – contradictions that made countries like Saudi Arabia and Sudan, and 14 states in the USA ban studying this theory at their schools.
Does the theory of evolution really contradicts with Islam, or the Islamic scholars 'misunderstood' the Holy Quran and the story of creation in Islam??
The creation story in the Holy Quran
First of all, we should know that when God said in the Quran that He had created the universe within six days, He didn't mean that those 'six days' are like the solar days on our planet. To God, a day is equivalent to some million - and even billion- solar years. Secondly, God didn't say that He created the living organisms on earth individually. So why some Islamic scholars claim that the Islamic version of creationism ''hinges on the special creation theory", which makes the scientifically-valid theory of evolution wrong in Islamic perspective as some may claim???.
Special creation theory is a scientific theory which states that all the living organisms on earth were created individually, not by ways of evolution (e.g cats were created alone, not descended from the common ancestry). That theory was proven wrong long time ago. Does that mean that the Islamic creationism ''is out-of-date"??
Of course not, there is not even a single verse in the Holy Quran or a single Hadith which states that God created living organisms individually. To put it another way, evolution was the mechanism through which God created all the living organisms, except for human.
How were the humans created, from Adam or apes?
The postulates of the theory of evolution lead us to the hypothesis that humans were descended from apes, while Islam tells us – along with Judaism and Christianity - that all the humans were descended from Adam whom had been created by God from clay.
Let's say that Islam is wrong scientifically, the evolutionary theory is 100% right and the humans are created from apes. Can anybody tell me why humans in particular are sensible and have the ability to create, innovate and think? Did the nature and evolution choose the humans as ''the bearers of thinking minds'' among all the living organisms?
Philosophically and logically, the ''unthinking nature'' that lacks the ability to think cannot bestow upon humans particularly thinking minds . So why are humans specifically appealing in shape, thinking and have feelings. They can love and hate, they think and create. Further, they have dominion over all the creatures of the earth. Can nature choose humans to be ''the masters of the earth", and leave their relatives the other living organisms without sensible brains??
The aforementioned paradox contradicts with both the principles of science and philosophy. ''you cannot give what you don't have", so how had the unthinking nature given humans thinking minds? Or there is a master who controls the evolution and ''stopped'' it miraculously and temporarily in order to create thinking humans who are dignified and far better and greater than the other organisms of the earth?
The evolution theory is completely right and valid in Islam, but the only contradiction between them is that humans were created by nature from unthinking apes. In other words, ''Adam'' was an exception to the rule. God created Adam and bestowed upon him and his generations thinking minds that the evolution lacked; so that the humans can take over the world.
God disabled the laws of physics temporarily when he parted the red sea for Prophet Moses and the Israelites. And the same to Adam, God disabled the laws of biology and evolution temporarily when he created Adam (peace be upon him)
Finally, I'd like to say that there are not any contradictions between Islam and science. Undoubtedly, humans should be created by a Supreme Being who had given them thinking minds and dominion over the whole world, they cannot be created through evolution that lacks thinking
The End
Sorrowfully, non Muslims who believe in the theory of evolution (which states that humans were evolved from apes) claim that Islam is a primitive and ignorant religion whose story of creation contradicts with modern science. In this thread, we'll discuss the theory of evolution in the light of Islam.
What is the theory of evolution?
Evolution is defined as the change in the characteristics of the biological populations over successive generations. English scientist Charles Darwin was the first to formulate a scientific argument for this theory. According to the theory of evolution, all living organisms descended from a ''last universal common ancestor'' whose characteristics are unknown till now. The more common characteristics living organisms have, the closer in relationship they are. In other words, humans and apes are descended from the same ancestry and the same to tigers and lions, wolves and dogs…etc. There are many evidences that prove the validity of evolution theory. However, there are some alleged contradictions between it and the Abrahamic religions – contradictions that made countries like Saudi Arabia and Sudan, and 14 states in the USA ban studying this theory at their schools.
Does the theory of evolution really contradicts with Islam, or the Islamic scholars 'misunderstood' the Holy Quran and the story of creation in Islam??
The creation story in the Holy Quran
First of all, we should know that when God said in the Quran that He had created the universe within six days, He didn't mean that those 'six days' are like the solar days on our planet. To God, a day is equivalent to some million - and even billion- solar years. Secondly, God didn't say that He created the living organisms on earth individually. So why some Islamic scholars claim that the Islamic version of creationism ''hinges on the special creation theory", which makes the scientifically-valid theory of evolution wrong in Islamic perspective as some may claim???.
Special creation theory is a scientific theory which states that all the living organisms on earth were created individually, not by ways of evolution (e.g cats were created alone, not descended from the common ancestry). That theory was proven wrong long time ago. Does that mean that the Islamic creationism ''is out-of-date"??
Of course not, there is not even a single verse in the Holy Quran or a single Hadith which states that God created living organisms individually. To put it another way, evolution was the mechanism through which God created all the living organisms, except for human.
How were the humans created, from Adam or apes?
The postulates of the theory of evolution lead us to the hypothesis that humans were descended from apes, while Islam tells us – along with Judaism and Christianity - that all the humans were descended from Adam whom had been created by God from clay.
Let's say that Islam is wrong scientifically, the evolutionary theory is 100% right and the humans are created from apes. Can anybody tell me why humans in particular are sensible and have the ability to create, innovate and think? Did the nature and evolution choose the humans as ''the bearers of thinking minds'' among all the living organisms?
Philosophically and logically, the ''unthinking nature'' that lacks the ability to think cannot bestow upon humans particularly thinking minds . So why are humans specifically appealing in shape, thinking and have feelings. They can love and hate, they think and create. Further, they have dominion over all the creatures of the earth. Can nature choose humans to be ''the masters of the earth", and leave their relatives the other living organisms without sensible brains??
The aforementioned paradox contradicts with both the principles of science and philosophy. ''you cannot give what you don't have", so how had the unthinking nature given humans thinking minds? Or there is a master who controls the evolution and ''stopped'' it miraculously and temporarily in order to create thinking humans who are dignified and far better and greater than the other organisms of the earth?
The evolution theory is completely right and valid in Islam, but the only contradiction between them is that humans were created by nature from unthinking apes. In other words, ''Adam'' was an exception to the rule. God created Adam and bestowed upon him and his generations thinking minds that the evolution lacked; so that the humans can take over the world.
God disabled the laws of physics temporarily when he parted the red sea for Prophet Moses and the Israelites. And the same to Adam, God disabled the laws of biology and evolution temporarily when he created Adam (peace be upon him)
Finally, I'd like to say that there are not any contradictions between Islam and science. Undoubtedly, humans should be created by a Supreme Being who had given them thinking minds and dominion over the whole world, they cannot be created through evolution that lacks thinking
The End