Can one be a Muslim and accept the Theory of Evolution?
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Islam: Can one be a Muslim and accept evolution
- Thread starter Jayhawker Soule
- Start date
I was a Muslim and accepted evolution because it was true. I interpreted the creation described in the Quran as metaphorical, though this brings about it's own problems for human origins. Adam is described as living in Paradise before being sent to Earth (to Arabia no less!), it's difficult to interpret that metaphorically. Perhaps one could intepret it to mean that it was Adam's soul that was sent to Earth to inhabit a body that evolved, that's really stretching it though. In truth it's not something I much concerned myself with.
I don't understand why most Muslims insist on being so literalist in their Quranic interpretations.
I don't understand why most Muslims insist on being so literalist in their Quranic interpretations.
Response: If you've been taught that ToE is true as a muslim and accepted without knowing that it's not true, then yes you are still a muslim. However, when it is shown from Allah that it's not true and you accept it anyway, it is an act of disbelief...and no you are not muslim, because you chose to deliberately accept disbelief of Allah. Every deed is judged by it's intent.
That being said, your poll can not show justice either, because we don't know the person's intent behind their selection.
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maro
muslimah
We interpret the quran literally unless there's a very good reason ,provided by the quran itself , to think of the verses as a possible allegory...otherwise ,it will be a mess...and everyone will end up interpreting whatever he likes the way he likes
As for evolution , i have no problem with it..
Allah says :
[29:20] Say: "Travel through the earth and see how Allah did originate creation; so will Allah produce a later creation: for Allah has power over all things.
it's clear that the verse refers to the creation as something that has left its impact and visible signs on Earth...!!
So .Except for the direct creation of Adam that was literally mentioned in the quran ...i have no problem with evolution as a scientific approach of studying Allah's creation....
And if anyone claims that evolution is capable of providing 'solid evidence ' about the origin of Man..and wether or not he is an Ape descendant..i'll be happy to hear that from the experts....I am not an evolution expert after all
The creation of Adam might be out of the system (ie evolution) like the creation of Jesus, the Qur'an even makes a similarity between the creation of both.
Jesus was a miracle, not subjected to the knows laws of the universe and the creation of Adam might be the same.
And when Jesus was created, he was a human being like that who could be brought about by the way of sexual intercourse. Almost the same result, again this could be the case with Adam. Moreover, in my post in the thread of Adam being the first man: http://www.religiousforums.com/forum/1602816-post3.html
"I called them not to witness the creation of the heavens and the earth, nor (even) their own creation" Al Kahf
Jesus was a miracle, not subjected to the knows laws of the universe and the creation of Adam might be the same.
And when Jesus was created, he was a human being like that who could be brought about by the way of sexual intercourse. Almost the same result, again this could be the case with Adam. Moreover, in my post in the thread of Adam being the first man: http://www.religiousforums.com/forum/1602816-post3.html
I guess the creation of Adam this way gives him and us a special place above all the other creatures but we weren't there anyway...
"I called them not to witness the creation of the heavens and the earth, nor (even) their own creation" Al Kahf
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Yes the comparison made by the Quran is between the miraculous birth of Jesus who was born without a father and the creation of Adam without a father or mother. That's one of the strongest statements in the Quran against a naturalistic view of human origins. I can see why most Islamic scholars specifically reject human evolution.
Another problem in reconciling the Adam story with evolution is that humans descend from a population rather than one couple, to interpret Adam and Eve as a population is quite a stretch!
maro
muslimah
I guess i have read something similar before ,not4me...Here :The Quran: An Attempt at Modern Reading _ Mostafa Mahmoud
Although i enjoyed Dr Mostafa's reflections on the verses...i found them to be mere speculation as you said...ijtihad that might or might not be true....but all i can say is that i appreciate the man and his ijtihad and i don't think we should be close minded to it
Islam has no problem with accepting facts and any *solid* information provided by Science. Many Muslims do believe in it, yeah. I think your question was more into whether it's against Islam or not. I believe that the evolution try to provide an explanation for nature, human beings, etc, and as Muslims, we accept from it what doesn't contradict with Quranic teachings because it's still a theory, not a fact. I'm aware also that there are certain things which will be known only as theories for the lack for further evidence, so we accept from it what was based on solid findings and proofs as what my brothers and sisters said before me.
Gharib
I want Khilafah back
evolution is a made up story to deceive people from giving credit to Allah (swt) for our existence.
it claims that life started with bacteria well the amino acids and right up to now it has ended with us humans or the homo sapiens (note: evolutioninsts claim that evolution is still happening but i'm just using us as the end of this theory).
with that in mind all the other creatures are a result of bacteria. meaning that we are no better creatures than the rest of them. we do change slightely, but not in the way that evolution states. dinosaurs becoming birds. that is total nonsense and there is no proof what so ever to support that. it has been 150 years since these claims came to be and scientists are yet to find any solid evidence to support this, and by evidence i mean a transitional form that is hal bird half reptile. adn that goes for all the other claims of evolution such as water creatures leaving the water and becoming reptiles or land creatures, as well as apes and humans having one common ancestor.
and to the muslims, please take some time to read up on evolution from our scholars. a great start would be Harun Yahya. @ Harun Yahya - An Invitation to The Truth
it claims that life started with bacteria well the amino acids and right up to now it has ended with us humans or the homo sapiens (note: evolutioninsts claim that evolution is still happening but i'm just using us as the end of this theory).
with that in mind all the other creatures are a result of bacteria. meaning that we are no better creatures than the rest of them. we do change slightely, but not in the way that evolution states. dinosaurs becoming birds. that is total nonsense and there is no proof what so ever to support that. it has been 150 years since these claims came to be and scientists are yet to find any solid evidence to support this, and by evidence i mean a transitional form that is hal bird half reptile. adn that goes for all the other claims of evolution such as water creatures leaving the water and becoming reptiles or land creatures, as well as apes and humans having one common ancestor.
and to the muslims, please take some time to read up on evolution from our scholars. a great start would be Harun Yahya. @ Harun Yahya - An Invitation to The Truth
A-ManESL
Well-Known Member
I consider evolution as a scientific fact. The wealth of evidence in its favor makes it a scientific fact. The reason I don't regard it as a theory because as I understand the idea of science itself (and by science I mean empirial sciences like physics, chemistry, biology and not formal sciences like mathematics, logic) there is no such thing as something which can be 100% proved in science. There are epistemological issues involved in science which will never permit us to prove anything with a 100% degree of surety. Hence scientific facts are not facts in the objective sense of the word. The term scientific facts mean any hypothesis for which there is overwhelming evidence. Hence I consider evolution as a scientific fact. That, of course, does not preclude the possibility that it might be false.
As far as my being Muslim and believing in (the immense probablity of the truth of) evolution I certainly don't see any conflict. The Quran itself says that there are many allegorical verses in it.(Quran 3:7) Also many other verses too seem to support evolution. Most importantly for me, belief in the validity of a scientific fact seems to me to be entirely disconnected with the aims and ideals of Islam (or any religion in fact).
Regards
As far as my being Muslim and believing in (the immense probablity of the truth of) evolution I certainly don't see any conflict. The Quran itself says that there are many allegorical verses in it.(Quran 3:7) Also many other verses too seem to support evolution. Most importantly for me, belief in the validity of a scientific fact seems to me to be entirely disconnected with the aims and ideals of Islam (or any religion in fact).
Regards
fullyveiled muslimah
Evil incarnate!
I haven't voted yet but I will offer my thoughts. Firstly, I'd like to say that I believe in the concept of evolution overall. Allah does allude to that in a verse quoted earlier in the thread. I do believe He caused the Earth and the conditions on Earth to evolve over long periods of time. I have no problem looking at the creation of Allah through a more scientific lens, and I find no dispute between them.
There is so much evidence for what could be some form of evolution that I do not dismiss it out of hand. However, Allah's word is true, and I do not wait for science to verify anything that Allah says about His own creations.
To me this begs the bigger and more persistent question of whether or not belief in religions, particularly the Abrahamic faiths, can coexist with a belief in scientific findings. I don't believe they are mutually exclusive at all. Just because Allah says He created something doesn't automatically mean there was no process to its creation. There is no magic wand Allah waves, although He has the capability of instantaneous ex nihilo creation. I believe science looks at the process of creation, and that does not make me call into question the veracity of Allah's statements. In fact it reaffirms them in my mind. We humans are only researching and studying what is apparent, and the methods of Allah's creation is apparent. Therefore we attempt to learn about our world and ourselves, using a method we have come to know as science. I have no problem with that at all, and I believe Allah encourages such evaluations and research simply because He gave us the intelligence to learn these things. If Allah was trying to hide behind the idea that His creations are nothing more than smoke and mirrors, used only to fool us into not thinking and blindly following, Allah would never command us to think and ponder deeply over His creations all over the world.
There is so much evidence for what could be some form of evolution that I do not dismiss it out of hand. However, Allah's word is true, and I do not wait for science to verify anything that Allah says about His own creations.
To me this begs the bigger and more persistent question of whether or not belief in religions, particularly the Abrahamic faiths, can coexist with a belief in scientific findings. I don't believe they are mutually exclusive at all. Just because Allah says He created something doesn't automatically mean there was no process to its creation. There is no magic wand Allah waves, although He has the capability of instantaneous ex nihilo creation. I believe science looks at the process of creation, and that does not make me call into question the veracity of Allah's statements. In fact it reaffirms them in my mind. We humans are only researching and studying what is apparent, and the methods of Allah's creation is apparent. Therefore we attempt to learn about our world and ourselves, using a method we have come to know as science. I have no problem with that at all, and I believe Allah encourages such evaluations and research simply because He gave us the intelligence to learn these things. If Allah was trying to hide behind the idea that His creations are nothing more than smoke and mirrors, used only to fool us into not thinking and blindly following, Allah would never command us to think and ponder deeply over His creations all over the world.
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suumi
New Member
I believe in evolution, the big bang theory, and established scientific facts because none of these things negate the existence of Allah, who created all and caused all to evolve. The fact that not everything is precisely spelled out for us implies that we are invited to use our brains and figure these details out through science and the acquisition of knowledge. When I learn science and watch scientific programs on TV I always feel it brings me closer to the Lord of creation, rather than driving me away. We were given such a complex, mysterious and beautiful world to be custodians of.
The Qur'an describes mankind's evolution from single "clot" or more simple organism. Generally interpreted to mean life in the womb, it can be applied to evolution of the species. Things in creation reflect one another in simlitudes, so the growth of the fetus in the womb is similar to the evolution of mankind from a simple to complex being. Unlike the Bible, the Qur'an does not give us a timeline for the process of creation, so this process could be refering to millions of years. Allah is said to have 'perfected His creation,' which implies an evolving nature. "We made every living thing from water," (Al-Anbiyaa' 21:30) , scientifically it is confirmed that life any planet is only possible due to the presense of water.
All non-human living beings follow the laws of nature set for them by Allah. A cat behaves like a cat due to its inherent nature, due to instincts. Mankind is unlike animals in that we are given a special role amongst creation, which is facilitated by a higher intelligence, the unique characteristic of creativity, the ability to gain, keep & transmit knowledge from one person and one generation to the next. We have the characteristic of free will, while beasts more or less are limited to following their natural instincts. We are free to obey or disobey divine command while animals are not. Therefore animals do not sin in the way mankind does, and they can be neither punished nor rewarded in the Hereafter. This is what makes us different from all other creations.
Of course this is all just my opinion and I'm neither a scientist nor a religious scholar.
The Qur'an describes mankind's evolution from single "clot" or more simple organism. Generally interpreted to mean life in the womb, it can be applied to evolution of the species. Things in creation reflect one another in simlitudes, so the growth of the fetus in the womb is similar to the evolution of mankind from a simple to complex being. Unlike the Bible, the Qur'an does not give us a timeline for the process of creation, so this process could be refering to millions of years. Allah is said to have 'perfected His creation,' which implies an evolving nature. "We made every living thing from water," (Al-Anbiyaa' 21:30) , scientifically it is confirmed that life any planet is only possible due to the presense of water.
All non-human living beings follow the laws of nature set for them by Allah. A cat behaves like a cat due to its inherent nature, due to instincts. Mankind is unlike animals in that we are given a special role amongst creation, which is facilitated by a higher intelligence, the unique characteristic of creativity, the ability to gain, keep & transmit knowledge from one person and one generation to the next. We have the characteristic of free will, while beasts more or less are limited to following their natural instincts. We are free to obey or disobey divine command while animals are not. Therefore animals do not sin in the way mankind does, and they can be neither punished nor rewarded in the Hereafter. This is what makes us different from all other creations.
Of course this is all just my opinion and I'm neither a scientist nor a religious scholar.
Gharib
I want Khilafah back
no sister this is wrong.
the theory of evolution came from darwin. in 1851 he became agnostic, leaving christianity, and thus he made up the story of evolution 9 years after becoming agnostic. he was a man who had never gone outside his country before, let alone spend about 6 weeks or months on a expedition where it would be normal that one would see many different creatures. in order to satisfy himself of the emptyness he had about not believing in anything, he made this redicilous assumption that creatures just "evolved" into something else. he was a racist man, in his book he has made a comment saying that black people are the slaves of white people, he was a man that caused harm. and Allah (swt) states "do not cause miscief on earth" but guess what.
agnostics are almost brothers with atheists, so ofcourse he would make this up. never in any of his writtings does he say that god is behind this. but these days, due to scientists knowing very well that nothing can exist without god, they say evolution does not contradict the beliefe in god, this is his work. totally contradicting darwin and his fake tales. scientists have issues, especially evolution scientists. they would sell their own teeth just for something stupid.
thats why they have gone to extreemes lately to "try" and prove that life came about by chance. thats what all the thing in europe is about. they want to collide an electron and a positron because they think thats how life started, and by doing this ,well if successfull which i am convinced will be a miserable failure, some new life form or universe will the result of that "seccessfyl" collision. just as our present universe was the result of their make belief story of the big bang which was caused by chance.
it is all about taking god out of the picture. these are all lies and propaganda.
darwinists state that we are all one creature, all the descendants of bacteria. what the hell is bacteria?
i'm no expert but from what i could tell, Allah does not speak of what evolutionists say about their dogmatic tales.
29:19 What! do they not consider how Allah originates the creation, then reproduces it? Surely that is easy to Allah.
29:20 Say: Travel in the earth and see how He makes the first creation, then Allah creates the latter creation; surely Allah has power over all things.
the reason why i think these verses do not speak about evolution, is due to this being the only vers of it's kind. and contrary to this, there is the verse where a man passes by a ruined town/city and says how will allah recreate this? then allah takes his life for 100 years, then shows him how Allah recreates things by using the mans donkey as an example
this is the verse;
2:259Or (take) the similitude of one who passed by a hamlet, all in ruins to its roofs. He said: Oh! how shall Allah bring it (ever) to life, after (this) its death? but Allah caused him to die for a hundred years, then raised him up (again). He said: How long didst thou tarry (thus)? He said: (Perhaps) a day or part of a day. He said: Nay, thou hast tarried thus a hundred years; but look at thy food and thy drink; they show no signs of age; and look at thy donkey: And that We may make of thee a sign unto the people, Look further at the bones, how We bring them together and clothe them with flesh. When this was shown clearly to him, he said: I know that Allah hath power over all things.
and there is the example of prophet Ibrahim (as) when he also asks Allah (swt) how he creates things and Allah (swt) tells him to kill 4 birds and make them to peices and place peices of each on the tops of mountains and to call the birds.
2:260 When Abraham said: Show me, Lord, how You will raise the dead, He replied: Have you no faith? He said Yes, but just to reassure my heart. Allah said, Take four birds, draw them to you, and cut their bodies to pieces. Scatter them over the mountain-tops, then call them back. They will come swiftly to you. Know that Allah is Mighty, Wise.
there are many verses that are in favor of Allah (swt) creating things without evolution. and thats why i don't recon that the verse quoted by sister maro, is in favor of evolution. it probably is speaking of examples such as that of creating prophet Adem (as) and then repeating the process of populating the earth with prophet Nuh (as).
but i don't really understand it in order to say precisely what it speaks of.
yes i believe Allah (swt) used volcanoes, to make the earth evolve.
islam has no problem with accepting scientific evidence. Allah (swt) encourages us to discover things, thats why he mentiones the sun, the stars, the universe, the clouds, the oceans, the mountains, the formation of the child, etc. i don't see any other reason for their use. and this is where i think the problem with evolution lies. if it was from Allah (swt) and i am not saying that he has no such powers, then Allah (swt) would have made it clear for us that that really is how it all happened, there would not be such a huge gap for people to apply all sorts of interpretations to it. take for example all the brothers and sister on this thread who have said that evolution is true (to some extent) they have all claimed that evolution is wrong when it comes to how man came to be. why? because Allah (swt) tells us how man came to be. and just because the other creatures are not mentined, they say we believe these parts of evolution due to having no contradiction with the quran.
so if darwinists were wrong about one thing, well that just proves everything.
but Allah (swt) would have made it clear i recon, not leave it for interpretation by who ever thinks they've got a rain that might work.
sorry for the long reply, half the stuff i've said probably isn't related to your post.