@Ruh
As-Salāmu ‘alaykum.
You claim that the Qu’ran supports the notion that humans: ‘…..evolved gradually from a non-human race’; and by way of justification, you translate sūrah Al-An‘am 133 thus (my emphasis):
‘And your LORD is wealthy who is the Possessor of mercy. If HE wills HE can take you away and grant succession after you to whatever HE wills as HE
evolved/raised you from the descendants of another/different tribe/
species’.
Seventeen English translations of this verse are available on a site called ‘Tanzil Navigator’. In addition, I possess two more: Professor M.A.S. Abdel Haleem’s – in his ‘The Qur’an’; and Shaykh Seyyed Hossein Nasr’s – in his ‘The Study Qur’an’. None of these translations use ‘evolved’ or ‘species’. That, of itself, does not make your translation incorrect (or inappropriate). However, it certainly increases the possibility (probability, one might say) that it is. Why should yours be the one to trust?
Here is Al-An‘am 133, as translated by Professor Haleem (my emphasis):
‘Your Lord is self-sufficient and full of mercy. If He pleased, He
could remove you and put others in your place, just as He
produced you from the offspring of other people.’ (‘The Qur’an’).
Shaykh Nasr renders verse 133 thus (again, my emphasis):
‘Thy Lord is Self-Sufficient, Possessed of Mercy. If He will, He can remove you, and in your place appoint whomsoever He will to succeed you, just as He brought you into being from the
progeny of another people.’
No doubt you will have watched a soccer or rugby match; and you will know that any player can be removed from the field – by the authority of his coach – and replaced with another. In effect, Al-An‘am 133 is describing this process – except that the field is now existence itself; the players are now the human race; and the coach is now the Almighty (as some believe they are). Each one us is the offspring of another; and so on through many generations. Where in Al-An‘am 133 does it say – or even imply – that the first of our ancestors were other than human?
Shaykh Nasr writes:
‘God is the “Necessary Being” (wājib al-wujūd), and in relation to Him all else represents “contingent being” (mumkin al-wujūd) and therefore has no existence of its own. In this sense, all being and reality can be said to belong ultimately to God, as the Quran repeatedly asserts, unto Him belongs whatsoever is in the heavens and on the earth (e.g., 2:116, 255; 4:171).
‘In the present verse, human existential dependence on God and God’s independence of human beings are conveyed in the reminder that if God wills, He can remove you, that is, from earthly life or existence altogether and appoint others to succeed you. See 11:57, where the Arabian prophet Hūd warns his people that if they do not heed the message he brings, God will cause them to be
succeeded by a people other than themselves; and 4:133, where it is said that if God wills, He can remove you altogether . . . and bring others (in your stead).’ (‘The Study Qur’an’).
You also reference the following verses:
‘It was We who created you: will you not believe? Consider (the semen) you eject – do you create it yourselves or are We the Creator? We ordained death to be among you. Nothing could stop Us if We intended to change you and recreate you in a way unknown to you. You have learned how you were first created: will you not reflect? Consider the seeds you sow in the ground – is it you who make them grow or We? If We wished, We could turn your harvest into chaff and leave you to wail, ‘We are burdened with debt; we are bereft.’ Consider the water you drink
– was it you who brought it down from the rain-cloud or We? If We wanted, We could make it bitter: will you not be thankful? Consider the fire you kindle – is you who make the wood for it grow or We? We made it a reminder, and useful to those who kindle it, so (Prophet) glorify the name of your Lord, the Supreme.’ (Al-Waqi‘a: 57-74 – ‘The Qur’an’).
You render Al-Waqi‘a 61 (my emphasis): ‘Or that
we change your forms/likenesses/shapes and produce you in what you do not know.’; and then write: ‘In the above set of verses ALLAH, the Almighty wants us to ponder upon our primitive way of creation and connected it to the change of our forms/shapes. Isn’t it the first pillar of evolution?’
Your translation is misleading. Allāh (subḥānahu ūta'āla) says (my emphasis): ‘Nothing could stop Us if We
intended (
nashāu) to change you and recreate you in a way unknown to you.’ (‘The Qur’an’).
As you know, sūrah ‘Al-Waqi‘a’ (‘That Which is Coming’) refers to the Day of Judgement. It begins: ‘When that which is coming arrives, no one will be able to deny it has come, bringing low and raising high.’
The sūrah reveals how on that Day people shall be divided into the humiliated and the richly rewarded.
Verse 61 does not speak of the past, but of the future. Once the context of the sūrah is understood, the message of this verse becomes clear: The Exalted is not asking us to ‘ponder upon our primitive way of creation’ but to consider that which
may happen, according to His will (
nashāu).
Allāh (subḥānahu ūta'āla) does indeed cause things – all things – to change. No doubt about that. The Qur’an says: ‘He is God: the Creator, the Originator, the
Shaper (
al-Muṣawwir). The best names belong to Him. Everything in the heavens and earth glorifies Him: He is the Almighty, the Wise.’ (Al-Hashr 24; my emphasis).
However, evidence for the notion that humans are the latest link in a chain that began with some form of eukarya is not supported by the Qur’an. To claim otherwise is merely eisegesis – the process of interpreting a text in such a way as to introduce one's own presuppositions, agendas or biases into it.
Here’s a striking example of this process, courtesy of a Dr Inam Khokhar. In his book ‘Allah’s Creative ‘Noor’ and Evolution’ Dr. Khokhar presents two verses, which I now reproduce, exactly as presented:
First:
‘And when I have proportioned him and breathed into him of My (created) soul, then fall down to him in prostration.’ (Al-Hijr: 28-29).
You will know – of course – that parentheses are not found in the Qur’an itself. They exist only in translations, and serve as clarifications of the text – or as expressions of the translator’s personal opinion, or prejudice. The word ‘created’ in Dr. Khokhar’s translation is an example.
Here is Professor Haleem’s translation: ‘When I have fashioned him and breathed My spirit (
rūḥī) into him, bow down before him.’ (’The Quran’). The words ‘breathed My spirit’ are a metaphor for the act of giving life to that which is inanimate.
Next:
‘Then He fashioned him and transferred into him from His Commandments; and made for you hearing and sight and hearts. Small thanks give you! (Al-Sajda 9).
And here is Professor Haleem’s (more accurate) translation: ‘Then He moulded him; He breathed from His Spirit (
rūḥihi) into him; He gave you hearing, sight, and minds. How seldom you are grateful!’
I invite you to contemplate Dr Khokhar’s translations very carefully; and then ask yourself – in the name of integrity and honesty – why should anyone agree with him when he writes:
‘An overall review of the above verses provides the following information: The physical body of human beings evolved as a result of biological process starting from some species that came into existence from mixture of clay and water (and that) at a later stage this special species evolved into human like animals (and that) from these human like animals Allah (swt) picked up Adam.’ (‘Allah’s Creative ‘Noor’ and Evolution’).
Continued:
