Biological Evolution - An Islamic Perspective

[Abraham]

Biological Evolution – An Islamic Perspective

|Prepared by the Research Committee of IslamToday.net under the supervision of Sheikh `Abd al-Wahhâb al-Turayrî|

Many Muslims wonder about the theory of biological evolution – the theory that living species on Earth today are descended from others in the past, and that the present diversity of living species we see is a result of descent with modification over the course of numerous generations.

Muslims also wonder about one of the main processes that evolutionary theory proposes to explain how evolution takes place – the process of natural selection. This is the idea that the individuals within a populations of living organism vary in their individual traits – they are not exactly alike – and that the organisms which are most successful at leaving descendants will pass on their unique traits to the next generation at the expense of the traits possessed by less successful organisms in the population, thereby contributing to a long-term gradual change in the suite of traits found within the population.

To start with, it is not our intention in this article to discuss the scientific implications of evolutionary theory. We wish to explore the issue from the perspective of Islamic teachings.

We as Muslims must ask:

Does the theory of evolution – and likewise the theory of natural selection as a mechanism of evolution – conform to Islamic teachings or conflict with them?

Is a Muslim allowed to believe in evolution as a scientific theory as long as he or she accepts that Allah is behind it?

Is a Muslim allowed to believe in human evolution? If not, how can we explain the fossils of upright, bipedal, tool-using apes with large brains that have been discovered?

We wish to re-emphasize that our concern here is not with examining the scientific merits of the theory of evolution. What we want to know is what Islamic teachings have to say about the idea. Whether evolution is true or false scientifically is another matter altogether.

When we look at the sources of Islam – the Qur'ân and Sunnah – we see that, with respect to human beings living on the Earth today, they are all descendants of Adam and Eve.

Allah also says: "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. Verily, the most honorable of you with Allah is the one who is the most God-fearing." [Sûrah al-Hujûrât:13]

The Prophet (peace be upon him) identified the "male" mentioned in this verse as being Adam. He said: "Human beings are the children of Adam and Adam was created from Earth. Allah says: '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. Verily, the most honorable of you with Allah is the one who is the most God-fearing'." [Sunan al-Tirmidhî (3270)]

We also see that Allah created Adam directly without the agency of parents.

Allah says: "The similitude of Jesus before Allah is as that of Adam; He created him from dust, then said to him: 'Be' and he was." [Sûrah Âl `Imrân: 59]

We also know that Eve was created from Adam without the agency of parents.

In the Qur'ân, Allah states clearly: "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." [Sûrah al-Nisâ': 1]

Therefore, the Qur'ân tells us that Adam and his wife were the father and mother of all human beings living on the Earth today. We know about this by way of direct revelation from Allah.

The direct creation of Adam (peace be upon him) can neither be confirmed nor denied by science in any way. This is because the creation of Adam (peace be upon him) was a unique and singular historical event. It is a matter of the Unseen and something that science does not have the power to confirm or deny. As a matter of the Unseen, we believe it because Allah informs us about it. We say the same for the miracles mentioned in the Qur'ân. Miraculous events, by their very nature, do not conform to scientific laws and their occurrence can neither be confirmed nor denied by science.

What about other living things, besides the human beings living on the Earth today? What about plants, animals, fungi, and the like?

When we turn our attention to this question, we find that the Qur'ân and Sunnah do not tell us much about the flora and fauna that was present on the Earth before or at the time of Adam and Eve's arrived upon it. The sacred texts also do not tell us how long ago Adam and Eve arrived upon the Earth. Therefore, these are things we cannot ascertain from the sacred texts.

The only thing that the Qur'ân and Sunnah require us to believe about the living things on Earth today is that Allah created them in whatever manner He decided to create them.

Allah says: "Allah is the Creator of all things and over all things He has authority." [Sûrah al-Zumar: 62]

Indeed, Allah states specifically that He created all life forms: "And We made from water all living things." [Sûrah al-Anbiyâ': 30]

We know that "Allah does what He pleases." Allah can create His creatures in any manner that He chooses.

Therefore, with respect to other living things, the Qur'ân and Sunnah neither confirm nor deny the theory of biological evolution or the process referred to as natural selection. The question of evolution remains purely a matter of scientific enquiry. The theory of evolution must stand or fall on its own scientific merits – and that means the physical evidence that either confirms the theory or conflicts with it.

The role of science is only to observe and describe the patterns that Allah places in His creation. If scientific observation shows a pattern in the evolution of species over time that can be described as natural selection, this is not in itself unbelief. It is only unbelief for a person to think that this evolution took place on its own, and not as a creation of Allah. A Muslim who accepts evolution or natural selection as a valid scientific theory must know that the theory is merely an explanation of one of the many observed patterns in Allah's creation.

As for the fossil remains of bipedal apes and the tools and artifacts associated with those remains, their existence poses no problem for Islamic teachings. There is nothing in the Qur'ân and Sunnah that either affirms or denies that upright, brainy, tool using apes ever existed or evolved from other apelike ancestors. Such animals may very well have existed on Earth before Adam's arrival upon it. All we can draw from the Qur'ân and Sunnah is that even if those animals once existed, they were not the forefathers of Adam (peace be upon him).

And Allah knows best.

http://www.islamtoday.com/showme2.cfm?cat_...&sub_cat_id=792

[Beth]

Abraham, you wrote:

Allah says: "The similitude of Jesus before Allah is as that of Adam; He created him from dust, then said to him: 'Be' and he was." [Sûrah Âl `Imrân: 59]

We also know that Eve was created from Adam without the agency of parents.

In the Qur'ân, Allah states clearly: "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." [Sûrah al-Nisâ': 1]

Therefore, the Qur'ân tells us that Adam and his wife were the father and mother of all human beings living on the Earth today. We know about this by way of direct revelation from Allah.

The direct creation of Adam (peace be upon him) can neither be confirmed nor denied by science in any way. This is because the creation of Adam (peace be upon him) was a unique and singular historical event. It is a matter of the Unseen and something that science does not have the power to confirm or deny.

First of all, it is absolutely true: Adam and Eve were not created through the agency of human parents, but this was not a 'singular historical event'.  

I agree wholeheartedly that 'Adam' was created out of the 'dust of the ground', but not as a one time historical event, but rather, as a literary wordplay/pun.  In Semitic, it was the proper noun/proper name Adam that was created from 'dust' because the noun for 'dust' is 'adamah'.  Thus, the name 'Adam' was 'created out of adamah'.  In very simple terms, drop the 'ah' in 'adamah' and you have 'Adam'.

Likewise in the myth, Adam gave his wife the name 'Eve' (Chavah in Semitic) because 'she would be the mother of all life'.  The proper name Eve/Chavah was then created as a proper noun usage of the verb 'to give live to'.  The Greek LXX also shows this to be a Greek wordplay: Adam named his wife 'Zoe' because she would be the mother of all life.  In Greek the verb 'to give life to' is 'zonton'.

All of the Biblical names were created as wordplays/puns.  Even the character 'Jesus' was a wordplay:  In Semitic this proper name--'Yeshua'--is derived from the verb 'yeshu' which means 'to save' which is at the root of the nouns 'salvation' and 'deliverance'.  Likewise in Greek, the name of Jesus is 'Iousous' and is derived from 'sos' which means 'safe' and shares the root of 'soter' which means 'savior' or 'deliverer'.

Bottom line, biblical charcters were not real people--but rather, they were all literary characters created by very clever ancient writers in order to tell stories about a monothesitic god, and how that monotheistic god could have interactive relationships with humanity.

The first few books of Genesis are merely myths that provide a starting point for the existence of humans.  The creation of the character Jesus and all the other NT characters were merely part of the ongoing stories that built upon the epic myths that preceded them.  Later, the Qur'ân and Sunnah used these myths as reference material for a more updated message, but that does not change the fact that the material referenced was mythological.  

Did the writers of the Qur'ân and Sunnah know that the biblical material was mythological?  I cannot say, for I do not know. All I can say for sure is that the Qur'ân and Sunnah find their fundamental resource material in ancient myth.  

The importance of 'myth' in our lives cannot be underestimated.  Myths are fictional creations that tell us how things might have been, but not about what actually happened.  Ancient myths--including those that were collected in the Bible and Quran--were created to entertain and to provoke mature human thought, but not to record actual history.

What you have posted here is a modern day interpretation of ancient religious texts that is attempting to show that the religion behind it can be used in response to scientific theories.  By nature, myths will always reflect some nuggets of real history, and even evidence of some real science, but the nature of myths is to talk about-- not to figure out.  

It truly saddens me to have to be the bearer of such bad news, but Abraham, the Hebrew Bible, the Christian Bible and the Qur'ân and Sunnah are not history books nor are they scientific theories.  

So, these are my 'proofs' and they are 'truthful'.  I think Allah would approve.

~Beth

[Abraham]

Thank you for your polite response Beth.

The argument that you are trying to put forth is that because the names of such 'biblical characters' are word plays, then that means they are not people but rather mythological figures.

That is a bold statement. In reality, many names in 'real life' are word plays, or were derived from other words to make certain points. It is not surprising that Eve would be given the name "life" by God to stress that point, and it does not cancel out the fact that she was a real figure.

The Prophet Muhammad (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) reported that Adam asked Allah who the woman was that Allah created for him. Allah responded that she was eve. He asked then why was she named that and Allah responded: "because she was created from something living"


Likewise simply becuase Adam's name may have came from the word "dust" possibly to stress a certain point in no way contradicts with the fact that he was a single figure. To fully  reject revelation because of such conjecture is simply a rejection of the concept of revelation in itself.

The Qur'an claims and fully announces itself as a revelation from t he Creator of all that exists, informing us of the unseen matters( such as the past), and guiding us to the straight path, not as a simple "jest". The first claim the Qur'an makes about itself is:

"This is the Book (the Qur'an), whereof there is no doubt" [Surah Al-Baqarah verse 2]

Likewise the Qur'an never wavers in this and exclaims:

"Falsehood cannot come to it(the Qur'an) from before it or behind it (it is) sent down by the All-Wise, Worthy of all praise (Allah) [Surah Al-Fussilat aayah 42]

The Qur'an commands mankind to reflect on the life of the Prophet Muhammad(peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) which has been historically documented in a very scientific fashion and things from his sayings, his actions, his manners, etc. have all been recorded and well-documented(if not more documented than any other figure in history):

Say (to them O Muhammad ): "I exhort you on one (thing) only: that you stand up for Allah's sake in pairs and singly, and reflect (within yourselves the life history of the Prophet ): there is no madness in your companion (Muhammad ), he is only a warner to you in face of a severe torment."  [Surah Saba aayah 46]

So I suggest you read the Qur'an, read the history of hte Prophet Muhammd(peace be uppon him) life and his ahadeeth(sayings, actions, statements, etc.) and you will realize if you are sincere that he is not a liar, a forger, a magician, or a madman, but a Messenger from the Creator of the heavens and the earth.

"O mankind! Verily, there has come to you a convincing proof (Prophet Muhammad ) from your Lord, and We sent down to you a manifest light (this Qur'an). " [Surah An-Nisa ayah 174]

"But Allah bears witness to that which He has sent down (the Qur'an) unto you (O Muhammad ), He has sent it down with His Knowledge, and the angels bear witness. And Allah is All-Sufficient as a Witness. " [Surah An-Nisa ayah 166]


"And this Qur'an is not such as could ever be produced by other than Allah (Lord of the heavens and the earth), but it is a confirmation of (the revelation) which was before it [i.e. the Torah and the Gospels and a full explanation of the Book (i.e. laws and orders, etc, decreed for mankind) - wherein there is no doubt from the the Lord of allc reation." [Surah Yunus ayah 37]

So I suggest that you and whoever is reading this, read some authentic material about the Qur'an adn the Prophet Muhammad(peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) which have been preserved for the past 1400 years. Put aside your biases about the Prophet and Islam, your hatred towards Islam, and read for yourself if you rtruly are sincere in finding the truth.

-Abraham

[Beth]

Abraham,

Ah....first and foremost....

I do not....I repeat....I do not have any feelings of hatred for Islam.  I have read about the history of the Prophet, and I have studied Islam from an academic/religious studies perspective, and one of my old professors was very studied in the topic.  I have also studied Sufism on my own.

I am a biblical scholar Abraham.  I study it everyday...and have for well over 10 years.  The Quran (and Surah) are TOTALLY dependent upon the Jewish and Christian Bibles for its primary resource material, and without the Bible the Quran would never have been written.  

I also think you should know that I think the Quran is a beautifully written and wonderful book!  Much more poetic and well written than the two bibles that precede it...but that does not mean that what any of the books say is TRUTH.

As far as my research into the biblical wordplays is concerned, I only gave you three examples, but the book I am soon to publish shows many, many more.  There are over 3,500 proper names in the Bible and they all are created for the sake of the literary genre, and the theological message, but not for historical recording.  

Watch for links in this section for a PDF version of my book that you can purchase and download on your computer for your own personal study.  You can then judge for yourself the proof of my claim.  Yes, the claim is definately bold.  The evidence is shocking.  I have been working with it since August of 2001, and I am still amazed!!   But ... bold and shocking that it is ... it is still the truth of the matter.  

In addition to my book, when it is ready, I suggest that you read something in addition to the Quran, such as the history and development of the near/middle eastern world during the centuries before and after the rise of Islam.  This will give you a better idea of the social clime during the period that Mohammed wrote his works....

One final note: Even if the Surah claims that the Quran is 'true' and cannot be refuted, it does not mean that it is...or that it cannot be.  That is a classic circular argument...think about it.   Christianity makes the exact same claim and argument about their bible...

~Beth

[NickJW]

Ha. Are you kidding me the book of Genesis  dosen't have an ounce of truth in it. Humans (Homo Sapiens Sapiens) did in fact evolve from toll using apes and we can see this through transitionary fossils and that is a proven fact. There is no 'theory' of evolution, just the fact of evolution.

[Ryuji]

abraham just one question might be small but important for me

We as Muslims must ask:

do you speak for all muslims at once or your opinion ?


Blessings,
Ryu

[pip]

LOL , at first i suggest you to study the genesis of the bible  

[Ryuji]

NickJW

Ha. Are you kidding me the book of Genesis dosen't have an ounce of truth in it. Humans (Homo Sapiens Sapiens) did in fact evolve from toll using apes and we can see this through transitionary fossils and that is a proven fact. There is no 'theory' of evolution, just the fact of evolution.

you mave come from an ape but i came from a dragon  

blessings
ryu

[Donal]

Ha. Are you kidding me the book of Genesis  dosen't have an ounce of truth in it. Humans (Homo Sapiens Sapiens) did in fact evolve from toll using apes and we can see this through transitionary fossils and that is a proven fact. There is no 'theory' of evolution, just the fact of evolution.

No, it will always remain just a theory. What we find has been examined by the intellect of human beings, thus there is always room for fault. Nothing is certain in the universe, a insect would examine such fossils and not see anything in them, we examine them and see what we see, but a more advanced life-form (Alien for example) could look and see something in it we can't see, or even come to think about.

All we know in the physical world, including evolution, is based on our five senses and our limited range of thinking, we are not an all-knowing God, we do not know all.

Evolution may be "true" within it's own little box, but what value does it happening hold within the grand scale of things in the universe?

[Layla]

Abraham, you wrote:

Allah says: "The similitude of Jesus before Allah is as that of Adam; He created him from dust, then said to him: 'Be' and he was." [Sûrah Âl `Imrân: 59]

We also know that Eve was created from Adam without the agency of parents.

In the Qur'ân, Allah states clearly: "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." [Sûrah al-Nisâ': 1]

Therefore, the Qur'ân tells us that Adam and his wife were the father and mother of all human beings living on the Earth today. We know about this by way of direct revelation from Allah.

The direct creation of Adam (peace be upon him) can neither be confirmed nor denied by science in any way. This is because the creation of Adam (peace be upon him) was a unique and singular historical event. It is a matter of the Unseen and something that science does not have the power to confirm or deny.

First of all, it is absolutely true: Adam and Eve were not created through the agency of human parents, but this was not a 'singular historical event'.  

I agree wholeheartedly that 'Adam' was created out of the 'dust of the ground', but not as a one time historical event, but rather, as a literary wordplay/pun.  In Semitic, it was the proper noun/proper name Adam that was created from 'dust' because the noun for 'dust' is 'adamah'.  Thus, the name 'Adam' was 'created out of adamah'.  In very simple terms, drop the 'ah' in 'adamah' and you have 'Adam'.

Likewise in the myth, Adam gave his wife the name 'Eve' (Chavah in Semitic) because 'she would be the mother of all life'.  The proper name Eve/Chavah was then created as a proper noun usage of the verb 'to give live to'.  The Greek LXX also shows this to be a Greek wordplay: Adam named his wife 'Zoe' because she would be the mother of all life.  In Greek the verb 'to give life to' is 'zonton'.

All of the Biblical names were created as wordplays/puns.  Even the character 'Jesus' was a wordplay:  In Semitic this proper name--'Yeshua'--is derived from the verb 'yeshu' which means 'to save' which is at the root of the nouns 'salvation' and 'deliverance'.  Likewise in Greek, the name of Jesus is 'Iousous' and is derived from 'sos' which means 'safe' and shares the root of 'soter' which means 'savior' or 'deliverer'.

Bottom line, biblical charcters were not real people--but rather, they were all literary characters created by very clever ancient writers in order to tell stories about a monothesitic god, and how that monotheistic god could have interactive relationships with humanity.

The first few books of Genesis are merely myths that provide a starting point for the existence of humans.  The creation of the character Jesus and all the other NT characters were merely part of the ongoing stories that built upon the epic myths that preceded them.  Later, the Qur'ân and Sunnah used these myths as reference material for a more updated message, but that does not change the fact that the material referenced was mythological.  

Did the writers of the Qur'ân and Sunnah know that the biblical material was mythological?  I cannot say, for I do not know. All I can say for sure is that the Qur'ân and Sunnah find their fundamental resource material in ancient myth.  

The importance of 'myth' in our lives cannot be underestimated.  Myths are fictional creations that tell us how things might have been, but not about what actually happened.  Ancient myths--including those that were collected in the Bible and Quran--were created to entertain and to provoke mature human thought, but not to record actual history.

What you have posted here is a modern day interpretation of ancient religious texts that is attempting to show that the religion behind it can be used in response to scientific theories.  By nature, myths will always reflect some nuggets of real history, and even evidence of some real science, but the nature of myths is to talk about-- not to figure out.  

It truly saddens me to have to be the bearer of such bad news, but Abraham, the Hebrew Bible, the Christian Bible and the Qur'ân and Sunnah are not history books nor are they scientific theories.  

So, these are my 'proofs' and they are 'truthful'.  I think Allah would approve.

~Beth

They aren't history books or Scientific theories. The Quran is the book written by teh Angels of what God says. And the actualy real copy of it is safe in Saudia Arabia.

[James S]

"The Quran is the book written by teh Angels of what God says."

Funny, Isn't that what the Christians say about the Bible?

[Vilkate]

No, we actually admit, that people wrote the Bible. God only dictated some of the first chapters.

[CFTraveler]

Excuse me about redirecting this to biblical (or Quranic) quotation:  I have seen mentioned Adam and Eve as the parents of mankind.  Yet they ignore Lilith, etc.  (I do know enough about the Old Testament to know that the works which mention her and her children (and the other people in the pre-edenic world) are in apocryphal writings)- however, I do not know how the Quran handles her identity.  If Adam and Eve were the 'first humans', then who was Lilith and why was she created?  What are the Muslim ideas about her?