Islam gives
us an explanation of our existence, that we were created for the purpose of
worshipping God:
“I have created the jinn and humankind only for my worship.”
(Quran, 51:56)
Evolution
offers an explanation of where we came from that in its conclusion implies that
we are an accidental development in the course of a changing universe and we
have no divine purpose for our existence.
How do we
resolve the differing ideas and the confusion that may arise in the conflict of
such ideas? One of these ideas has to be false- how do you convince the mind? By
demanding that we believe blindly in the Islamic explanation while being
confronted with scientific claims for evolution will lead to confusion as believing
in something that does not make sense to it will dissatisfy the human mind.
This will lead to a wavering personality since such a fundamental idea about
life naturally influences our identity and our purpose in this world.
Firstly, the
argument between the Islamic view and the evolutionary view of creation is no
different to any other clash of ideas that contradicts the Islamic explanation
for our origin. For example, this could be the philosophy of Christianity or
Hinduism. Today, the (so-called) infallible doctrine is that of science and the
priests of science are deemed to know all.
However,
putting aside the problems of the philosophy of scientific method, the key to
sifting the truth from falsehood is being able to use the mind in the correct
fashion in order to judge the difference between the two.
If we do
not have a way of judging if an idea is correct, then we can believe
anything. I could believe that aliens from another universe brought us into
existence and that they will return one day to claim this world!
So how do we
understand what is a correct idea?
Truth, by its definition, is what cannot be denied- no-one
can disagree with it or claim that it is false. This is the description of any
statement that is true.
So, what is the criteria for truth that no-one can deny? Everyone can agree
upon the criteria of using the reality around us. Even if someone tried to claim
that they cannot trust their reality, ultimately when it comes to everyday living,
everyone uses it otherwise they would not survive.
For example, if someone were to cross the road while seeing
and hearing a car coming towards them due to claiming that there was a
possibility the car wasn’t actually there, they would get hit and realise very
quickly that they cannot live in this world without using their reality to make
judgements!
If we use this criteria of reality as a measure for correctness, then when we
study the reality around us (i.e. anything we sense within the universe) we
will come to know that nothing has the quality or characteristic of being able
to create either itself or other things. What is meant by create is to
bring into existence from nothing, rather than just a manipulation of form from
already existing things. For example, making a can from metal extracted from
the ore that already exists in rocks is not considered as creating a can.
Moreover (although science is not a criteria to judge truth) the
aforementioned point is even established according to the scientific law of thermodynamics that within the observable universe: "energy cannot be created or
destroyed but can only be changed from one form to another" (U_{T} = U_{i} + W + Q) and energy is
related to matter through the law E=mc2. So even scientifically, it is
established that within the universe something cannot appear or
disappear into nothing.
So, if nothing within the universe could have created itself
then where did everything come from? It must have come from something that is
not within this observable universe since from our reality nothing within the
universe has the power to ‘create’. This is the rational belief in a
creator.
Now, to know anything about this creator by just thinking about it would not
lead to any certain knowledge and it would all be speculation. This is because
we can only give a correct judgement based on what we can sense in our reality
as mentioned above. As this creator is not directly sensed by us then we cannot
make any judgements about it using our mind- it would all be guesswork full of
doubt.
But as we have demonstrated, you do not need to see it
directly to know that it exists, and it is completely correct to believe in a
creator as it is a conclusion based upon the sensed reality. This is similar to
the following situation:
You hear a knock on the front door of your house.
You know from reality that doors do not have the power
to knock themselves.
You link this information to the sensed reality and
conclude that there is something on the other side of the door, however you
cannot describe what this thing is that is outside your door because it is out
of your sensed reality- is it a man, woman, boy, girl, a stone that was thrown,
or a branch from a tree that fell? The only way to know is if you could open
the door and check or if someone outside could tell you.
Now, when it comes to understanding how we got here on this earth- did we get
created in the way that we are (i.e. our human form) or did we evolve? This is
not something directly observable so for the mind to form any conclusions based
on non-observations would be doubtful.
Any type of fossils that are used to show transitions of human beings do
not mean that the humans of today have come from those fossilised beings- they
could have been different species. Any interpretations of these fossils are
open to alternative explanations - they are theories with much room for doubt
and speculation.
So, the question remains: were we created with intelligence and a mind able to comprehend the existence of a creator, or are we just an accidental development in the evolution of creatures?
One route to this answer involves speculation and doubt based on theories of
fossils and evolution as mentioned above.
Another route to knowledge would involve verifying it from
the creator itself as to how we appeared within the universe
Another route to this answer involves verifying from the
creator itself whether we were created by it or not.
Assuming that we have verified the miracle of the Quran to be the communication
from the creator, then we now have the words of the creator to inform us of
knowledge in which we are limited due to our incapability of sensing the
beginning of our creation (the beginning of creation is not in our observable
universe and thus out of our reality). For an explanation on the miracle
of the Quran then please see the related article.
This knowledge is referred to as transferred knowledge
(naqli) as it is transferred from the source that has knowledge of the unseen- the
creator who created everything, from what we humans observe to what we do not.
It is only because of the Quran, the communication from the
creator, that we know anything about the creator including its name-
"Allah"- and how it refers to itself as "He".
So, any knowledge that the creator of the universe reveals to us is going
to be correct and so must be accepted over any of our doubtful,
contradictory and limited understanding of our past.
Allah informs us that He created mankind deliberately and it was not an
accident of evolution:
And
God said to the angels:
“‘Verily, I am going to place mankind generations after
generations on earth.’ They said: ‘Will you place therein those who will
make mischief therein and shed blood, while we glorify you with praises and
thanks and sanctify you.’ God said: ‘I know that which you do not know.’”
(2:30)
Allah
created Adam [a.s.] from dust/clay, as He says (interpretation of the
meaning):
“Verily,
the likeness of ‘Eesa (Jesus) before Allah is the likeness of Adam. He created
him from dust, then (He) said to him: ‘Be!’ — and he was” (3:59)
When your Lord said to the angels, "Indeed, I am going to create a human being from clay." (38:71)
Also,
Adam [a.s.] (the first human) was created as an intelligent being, capable of
language and communication, not by chance was the development of his mental
faculty:
“He taught Adam all the names of everything.” (2:31)
Allah gave Adam [a.s.] the ability to identify
and designate names to everything; He taught him language, speech and the
ability to communicate. After Adam had learned the names and uses of all
things Allah said to the Angels:
“‘tell me the names of these if you are truthful.’ They
answered ‘Glory be to you, we have no knowledge except what you have taught
us. Verily it is you the All Knower, the All Wise.’” (2:31-32)
Allah
turned to Adam [a.s.] and said:
“‘O Adam! Inform them of their names,’ and when he had
informed them of their names, He said: Did I not tell you that I know the
unseen in the heavens and the earth, and I know what you reveal and what you
have been hiding?” ( 2:33)
The
above verses tell us that the first man, Adam [a.s.], was created by Allah and
it was not an accident of evolution. Moreover, we are told that Adam [a.s.] had
the mental faculty to communicate and form language.
This
contradicts the theory that humans evolved from non-intelligent ancestors and
so this doubtful theory would be rejected in favour of the knowledge that
has been given to us by the one who has knowledge of the past for He is the
creator of the past. When it comes to interpreting any fossil remains that have resemblance
to humans, any conclusions formed should fit into the knowledge that Allah has
already provided us with so that we do not fall foul of rejecting Allah's
revelation.
In
terms of the evolution of other creatures and whether this contradicts the Quran,
the scope of this article is not to look for contradictions between science and
Islam. That topic is linked to understanding the different types of knowledge,
which is discussed in another article.
The point of this article was to address only the idea of the
evolution of human beings which implies the accidental existence of humans and
therefore the removal of any divine purpose or aim in the human being’s
life.
The issue of purpose and aim for the life of a human has
been explicitly defined in the Quran:
Allah
Almighty says in the Quran: “Did you think that we had
created you in play (without any purpose) and that you would not be brought
back to us?” (Quran 23:115)
This clear, structured
way of thinking in establishing the purpose of mankind is in contrast to the view
that is formed on doubtful theories and confused thinking about what is true.
This clear
thinking throughout society is what made the Muslims very sure and determined,
in the past, to achieve great accomplishments as they were very clear in the
purpose of their existence. Thus, they were driven to seek Allah’s pleasure
through the implementation of His Divine commands.
Imad Shoubaki
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