Warning!!! This article is only for those who deeply think about Science in light of the Holy Quran.
I am so intrigued by these ayat:
Have they not considered how Allah begins creation and then repeats it? Indeed that, for Allah , is easy. Say, [O Muhammad], "Travel through the land and observe how He began creation. Then Allah will produce the final creation. Indeed Allah , over all things, is competent.”- (Surah Al-Ankabut 29:19-20)
I have been pondering about it for quite some time but the more I think the deeper I get into the state of intellectual intoxication, awe and humbleness.
Is this pointing to Human evolution? Would there be more evolution of humans? or animals in general? what could be the "final creation"? Let’s explore more in light of Quran and Science.
The creation story in Quran:
How can you disbelieve in Allah when you were lifeless and He brought you to life; then He will cause you to die, then He will bring you [back] to life, and then to Him you will be returned. - Sura Al-Baqara (2:28)
And [mention, O Muhammad], when your Lord said to the angels, "Indeed, I will make upon the earth a successive authority." They said, "Will You place upon it one who causes corruption therein and sheds blood, while we declare Your praise and sanctify You?" Allah said, "Indeed, I know that which you do not know." - Sura Al-Baqara (2:30)
"Do not the Unbelievers see that the heavens and the earth were joined together (as one unit of Creation), before We clove them asunder? We made from water every living thing. Will they not then believe?" - Sura Al-Anbiya (21:30)
"Allah has created every [living] creature from water. And of them are those that move on their bellies, and of them are those that walk on two legs, and of them are those that walk on four. Allah creates what He wills. Indeed, Allah is over all things competent." - Surat An-Nūr (The Light) (24:45)
"He created man from clay like [that of] pottery" Surat Ar-Raĥmān (55:14) (The Beneficent)
“Who created you, proportioned you, and balanced you? In whatever form He willed has He assembled you.” - Sura Al-Infitr (82:7-8)
He 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 [aspects] of the heavens and the earth? And I know what you reveal and what you have concealed." - Sura Al1-Baqara (2:29)
"And He taught Adam the names - all of them. Then He showed them to the angels and said, "Inform Me of the names of these, if you are truthful." - Sura Al-Baqara (2:31)
"They said, "Exalted are You; we have no knowledge except what You have taught us. Indeed, it is You who is the Knowing, the Wise. And [mention] when We said to the angels, "Prostrate before Adam"; so they prostrated, except for Iblees. He refused and was arrogant and became of the disbelievers." - Sura Al-Baqara (2:33-34)
A story to tell and a hypothesis:
Read the below story and thoughts in light of above Quranic ayats.
Adam (a.s.) was pre-planned to send to earth. Allah has declared it to the Angels long ahead of creating Adam. According to Dr. Jeffry Lang, the fruit from the tree was part of training of being able to independently take decisions - i.e. the free-will. Through the training, where Adam (a.s.) made the wrong choice and was prepared for the earth.
Angels already knew that humans cause corruption and blood-shed on earth. How do they know it? Either the likes-of-human are there in the earth who are creating corruption and bloodshed already or Allah has informed them that the Human’s characteristics of doing evil and good. However, Allah also said here that Angels are limited in knowledge. I didn’t find any places in the Quran where Allah is telling the Angels about the evil-doing characteristics of humans. If that’s the case, then the other alternative is that humans (or likes of Humans) are already on the earth. This is an hypothesis.
Every living thing is created from water. Humans are living things. So they are created from water.
Adam (a.s.) was created from clay. Allah has given the metaphor of a potter. A potter creates an object in stages, through evolution, through utmost care, proportions it and prefects it so that the object is fit for the purpose yet beautiful. Humans in the Hominoid chain are best proportioned for superior intelligence - the body’s upright position, proportion of brain volume compared to any other animal in the history of earth’s biology. Humans became ready to accept the responsibility to be the caretaker of the earth because of that superiority. Allah didn’t mention that it took one second or one minute or one million years. So the time lapsed for the proportioned body, brain and intelligence was unspecified.
Allah has breathed into Adam (a.s.) his spirit. Allah has taught Adam (a.s.) names and mankind the writing with pen. These are two unique things that Allah mentioned about Adam and no other creation. What’s the difference that we Humans have that is different from all other animals. We are the only animal on this earth that quests for the purpose of its creation and able to speak language.
Have they not considered how Allah begins creation and then repeats it? Indeed that, for Allah , is easy. Say, [O Muhammad], "Travel through the land and observe how He began creation. Then Allah will produce the final creation. Indeed Allah , over all things, is competent.”- Surah Al-Ankabut (29:19-20)
“Here you are - those invited to spend in the cause of Allah - but among you are those who withhold [out of greed]. And whoever withholds only withholds [benefit] from himself; and Allah is the Free of need, while you are the needy. And if you turn away, He will replace you with another people; then they will not be the likes of you.” sūrat muḥammad(47:38)
Read the above ayats carefully. What caused us to think that we’re the final creation? The Tafseer of the ayats are primarily for different nations like Mongols, Aryans, Arabs, etc. However, once Islam is finalized as the religion for mankind, how does it make sense to be replaced Arabs by Mongols, or Mongols by Chinese? By the phrase “…will not be likes of you”, is Allah pointing to the superficial ethnical or racial constructs? However, Allah has mentioned in the Surah Al-Hujurat that He has divided us into nations and tribes for nothing but to recognize and know each other. So, it’s may not be as simple as the nations, races, and ethnicities to explain by the example - “…will not be likes of you”. This has to be thought deeply in relation to the entire Quran, and hadith.
Traveling through the earth and understanding how we were created. Human evolution from Hominids to Homo sapiens
Homo sapiens is the modern Human, us, that has been evolved through 12 millions year.
Hominid
-> Sahelanthropus tchadensis
-> Ardipithecus ramidus
-> Australopithecus afarensis
-> Australopithecus africanus
-> Homo habilis -> Home erectus
-> Home heidelbergensis (Homo neanderthalensis)
-> Homo sapiens
Hominins (Homo erectus and Homo sapiens for example) were engaged in warfare for hundreds of thousands of years. (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prehistoric_warfare)
Homo sapiens’ brain provided the capabilities to what we call the superiority on other animals primarily because of the superior proportion of the size of the head to hold a large brain. "Humans (Homo sapiens) are the most abundant and widespread species of primate, characterized by bipedalism and large, complex brains. This has enabled the development of advanced tools, culture, and language. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Human
After looking into the Quranic story of origin of life and human evolution and juxtaposing that with the current level of scientific knowledge of human evolution, it's so intriguing that these two are coming closer and closer everyday. I hope this would help others to do more research to understand Allah's word better. Think about the tafseer of the aya in Surah Al-Anbiya (21:30) mentioned earlier. How it was understood by the Muslims a hundred or a thousand years ago? How about this below ayah?
"It is He Who created the night and the day, and the sun and the moon; all (the celestial bodies) swim along, each in its rounded course" (21:33)
No one talked about the Sun’s orbit let alone whether the Earth rotates around the Sun or not until the scientific exploration confirmed the Heliocentric solar system. For almost a thousand year, it was believed that the earth was in the center of everything in this Umiverse and the Sun, the Moon, and the stars are surrounding the earth. Those ayah from Sura Al-Anbiya were always there but we didn’t have the vocabulary to explain them until Science came to the point where the new concepts were introduced and new understandings were solidified. Yes, we should admit that scientists many times prematurely declares many things truth or false and then course correct later on. That is because of the nature of science and scientific method that continuously experiments and prove out right from wrong. By the way, this Scientific Method was pioneered by the famous Muslim mathematician and physicist, Hassan Ibn Al-Haytham during the Golden Age of Islamic Civilization. So we have to be very careful to prematurely declare anything as absolute truth in science but we can’t afford to not to use this wonderful tool that Allah has blessed the Humans with.
I seek mercy and blessing from Allah to allow me to understand His words better and protect me from misguidance and evil.
Disclaimer: The origin of life and the hominids journey of stages will evolve in the long foreseeable future. Because even the Paleontologists and Evolutionary Anthropologists may tell you the story of 100 thousands or a million years of history in an hour as if they have found everything they need to tell the story. Whereas they are at the mercy of discovering the fossils that are just thrown to them by accidents and incidents. It’s like you are standing on the shore of an ocean and there are animals washing to you now and then and you are writing the story of the ocean by analyzing those animals. So, the questions asked in this article or chronology used to understand the Quran better, needs to be always kept with a very wide open mind. If we rush to make our mind by the quick discovery of these fossils, then it would be a grave mistake and will do a disservice to our intellect.
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