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Muslims and Evolution
- Thread starter Penumbra
- Start date
Starsoul
Truth
We do not believe that humans have evolved from animals, although we do read about the theory of evolution in our science books in school and biology etc, but we read it just like one of those theories which are just theories, and frankly speaking it is very unconvincing currently as well, with the amount of supportive dubious claims it has which have been refuted by reputable scientists several times.
There are some parts of the theory which may be assigned some value, the climatic adaptibility of the organisms, survival of the fittest (to an extent), but the origin of species sounds like a very creative imagination, nothing else. I have read LOADS about it in biology ( medical ) and it still is very unconvincing. Infact I've met so many athiest surgeons who ,after being in the field of medicine realized that Human body is such a genius masterpiece of a highly skilled Maestro, which is totally in control ,pre-designed and fixated with so much system running information,( without the knowledge of humans) that it is just impossible for such a complex and huge amounts of information coded in the human body to have come on its own, or arrived at its own disposal to reach some sort of a perfection.
And the possibility of evolution & mutation simply wrecks havoc with humans since even if a single amino acid on one chain of the DNA molecule gets disrupted, you have a severe abnormality, and compromised survival. Same is with other species, And And you keep finding them expressing that 'well, I guess this has to be some work of a bigger Being here".(most cases of abnormalities, cancers and genetic disruptions observed in the after math of Nuclear warheads/various industrial chemicals used in food items,linked with disrupting the human gene equilibrium) Anyhow, this is a DIR so I'll just stick to what you asked.
Muslims believe Allah Subhanao Talla' ( The Sole Creator) to be the Only One who has created everything in this universe. All organisms were created by Him, and there are basis for that claim in a thousand yr old book, "The Quran" describing about the stages of human fetus development , when science wasn't even in sight, and specifically stating Humans to have been created with Water and clay, which science endorse now and states that human body is made up of 90% water, and the rest is made up of some of the elements of the earth combined.( Nitrogen, Carbon, hydrogen,Ions, organic compounds,inorganic compounds etc)
Now, we do believe in beneficial science, good education and better living, but we do not endorse the fact that the Man and all species were created by the coalescence of unicelleular organisms, which then became multicellular,and then took on different forms before becoming humans on their way to evolution. Our beliefs ( derived from the word of the Creator) clearly state that All species were created different from one another, and for different purposes. Adaptibility to climate does happen to some extent but it still does not support the fact the one species can totally transform into another, that would totally destroy the purpose of creation.
He says in the Quran, that Allah says( similar words) "It is not difficult for your lord to create anything within the shortest spans of one's imagination He says " let it be, and it is done".
And then the story of Prophet Ibrahim (Abraham) narrated(in the 3 or 4th chapter,similar words) who asked Allah (the Creator) 'who will raise us again once we're dead and our bones lie in dust?' The Lord asks him to keep some birds and familiarize with them, and after they were completely familiarized with him,they would fly to him on his prompt voice, Allah asked Ibrahim to kill them all and then cut each one of their body parts little , mix them up and spread them far and wide among the rivers, planes and the mountains, wherever he wished. Ibrahim obliged and then the Lord asked him to call his birds back to him, and he summoned and all the birds came flying back to him chirping as if they had never been touched and were as alive as before," and the narration ends with similar words to
"And this is how we honor our people who choose to believe"
EDIT: please excuse since i made this post in a hurry i could not remember the exact number of the verses, i just remember their meanings, but I can get them for you if you want.
I believe evolution is understanding Allah's,SWT, elegant design. I believe He purposefully "programmed" the beautiful and subtle working of DNA to produce what he willed should be. I think something special ,yet subtle makes us humans. I do believe we our the highest of creation and have dominion over all other creation. I think that that responsibility is what should drive us to treat all creation with the greatest respect and compassion. Even if we don't eat meat, the plants should be treated with respect and seen as a sacrifice from creation for our benefit.
Starsoul
Truth
I have a link which gives some insight about the creation and the relation of the word of Allah to science, you can check it out too,
The Deen Show ~ It's a way of life.
The Deen Show ~ It's a way of life.
SLAMH
Active Member
Well, I can't say that the evolution is completely null, I look at it like any other scientific theory that is exposed to further modification as more evidences are discovered. What I found to be indefensible is trying to use the theory to disprove the theory of creationism as TOE doesn't explain that much about the origin of life. I believe that both could work consistently together, though, I don't deny that it is a probable for it to replace or refute the claim of creationism. However, I find it illogical to claim that it is a fact that the TOE is currently able to wipe off the idea of creationism.
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I would normally refrain from posting a direct statement in a DIR, but I thought it would be a bit silly to artificially make a question out of this.
The Theory of Evolution doesn't really say anything about the origin of life. That is a common misunderstanding, but still a misunderstanding.
If by creationism you mean the idea that life was meant to be by divine will, I can't even imagine how it could possibly be disposed of, much less by scientific findings of any kind. No serious scientist would say such a thing, either.
(Sorry for posting unsolicited and unauthorized in the Islam DIR. I will not make an habit out of it.)
Starsoul
Truth
That is what I think too, evolution regarding, hypertrophy,( more usage of organs leading to more strength and sustenance) and atrophy ( diminished size of organs due to lack of usage, i.e less number of teeth in the subsequent populations, ) seems to have occured in the human race. But according to the basic rule of survival of the fittest, if man did evolve from chimps, chimps shouldn't have been here spontaneously, or should have been really genetically deformed, unfit for survival, and not enjoying themselves as an entirely distinctive species, nurturing perfectly on its own. And if evolution is a continuous natural process, like all other processes of the human body, which go through continuous regeneration and repair, it still should be happening, and it does not. All human biology is based on the intrinsic system of repair and regeneration untill it reaches an equilibrium, the process still go on,till we die, without reaching a mutation, unless we have a nuclear bomb exposure, biologically degenerative and catastrophic chemicals instilled in our artificial environments.( pollution, smoke, radiation etc)
Sizes may have changed, but Human DNA cannot sustain a significant change in alleles ( pairs of genes) leading to a mutation which almost always translates as a deleterious genetic defect, unfit for prolonged survival, and unfit to morph into a functional new species by further mutations, since one defect strongly undermines the chances of being reproduced further.
This article also explains the same about one such example of the supposedly evolved Tree speceis, which was thought to have evolved from another of its ancestor forms by biologists, and then found to have co-existed at the same time, which refutes the possibility of existence of transitionary species and their co-existence spontaneously.
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/08/09/science/08cnd-fossil.html
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Oneatatime
Huh?
It largely depends on which form of creationism is put forward. If you beleive that God got the ball rolling and let evolution take its course then there isn't a major problem between creationism and the theory of evolution. The conflict arises when creationists make claims that God created life in a complex form, God intervened in evolution, or that evolution can't happen because it has unpleasent implications for Gods morality. Evolution is a scientific theory and as such does not tolerate supernatural explanations which most forms of creationism put forward.
In addition to this abiogensis and evolution are going to be very closely linked because without evolution abiogenesis isn't going to go anywhere.
tarekabdo12
Active Member
As you see from the answers, Islam can embrace many ideas and the opinion of Muslims regarding evolution is mostly their personal view rather than something religious because evolutin-if true-doesn't cancel God.
Starsoul
Truth
Yeah it doesn't cancel God, but it also doesn't explain well why then God would describe how He created the Human being in the Quraan from the very basic detail, which were never found untill recently( how the embryo is formed and how it develops, there were no ultra sound scans at that point) he would leave the whole topic for theories and assumption about creation.
The word Creator means Creator, not somebody who sits back and put things on auto pilot, though He can do that too if He wants, but He chooses not to, and That should give some idea of the scope of His powers, He's not somebody who gets tired of doing what He does, for any number of creations that He creates. Evolution still hasn't explained the separate evolution of male and female species in the whole animal kingdom, what it says is just mere assumption..
Apart from that, the changes occuring due to climatic adaptation do stand ground and have been proved, but all organisms being said to have come from a common ancestor and yet only humans having the ability to speak think and write, just doesn't add up. A frog was always a frog, it doesn't know how to be lizard, neither monkeys have ever shown any interest in speaking writing and pursuing careers like humans or show any tendency to develop weapons of mass destruction.
The word Creator means Creator, not somebody who sits back and put things on auto pilot, though He can do that too if He wants, but He chooses not to, and That should give some idea of the scope of His powers, He's not somebody who gets tired of doing what He does, for any number of creations that He creates. Evolution still hasn't explained the separate evolution of male and female species in the whole animal kingdom, what it says is just mere assumption..
Apart from that, the changes occuring due to climatic adaptation do stand ground and have been proved, but all organisms being said to have come from a common ancestor and yet only humans having the ability to speak think and write, just doesn't add up. A frog was always a frog, it doesn't know how to be lizard, neither monkeys have ever shown any interest in speaking writing and pursuing careers like humans or show any tendency to develop weapons of mass destruction.
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Drolefille
PolyPanGeekGirl
I just wanted to apologize for voting in the poll before realizing it was a DIR.
Mea culpa.
Mea culpa.
