Evolution

In the 1980s as part of my O Level in Biology, my school organised a trip to the Natural History Museum. This was a time long before mobile phones, the Internet, computers, Google, You Tube….etc etc. So, for us kids it was an exciting opportunity to see something different.

The premise of the trip was to bring a visual aspect to our learning about Evolution.

So, by the end of the trip, what had we learnt?

• The Big Bang
• Primordial Soup
• Natural Selection
• Survival of the fittest

Hmmm, is that really it?
Its worth mentioning here Charles Darwin (1809-1882) Naturalist, Scientist, called the ‘Father of Evolution’. His book Origin Of The Species ¹ introduced the ideas of Natural Selection and later The Survival of the fittest, these ideas were seminal for many years, but how accurate are they?

Now, let me just explain something…. No blog is going to be able to give a detailed understanding of the amazing, complex, awe inspiring process of Evolution….That work you will need to do for yourself…..However, I trust that I can give you an outline and point you in the right direction….. So lets go.

There are, broadly speaking, 3 trains of thought:

• Traditional: e.  people who believe in the literal description of Creation.
• Scientific: For the sake of simplicity I have broadly lumped biologists, chemists, physicists etc all together. However, important to understand that there is much variation and debate between these groups.
• Islamic: Understanding of evolution as learnt from the Holy Quran.

Lets take the first one.

1)  Traditional

How credible is it that God created the heavens the Earth and Man in 7 days.

Is it logical that a God that allowed billions of years to pass, as He purposefully guided the development of Earth and all creatures on it, to suddenly bring Man to life.

Would that God be behaving in a rational, divine manner to circumvent the pathway of Creation and create Man in all his glorious complexity…Heart, lungs, Brain, spinal cord, soul etc. simply by moulding him from clay and ‘breathing’ life into him?

I suspect anyone who can give this enough thought will realise that the time frame is not meant to be taken literally.

However, one thought that the traditional view does have i.e. Man being made from Clay is supported by the Quran on a number of occasions

“He created him (Adam) out of dust” 3:60

 “And surely, “We created man from dry ringing clay, from black mud wrought into shape” 15:27

2) Scientific

I have lumped together all ‘Scientists’ just to be able to give their general point of view.

People like Haldane, Oparin, Urey, Miller, Watson&Crick, Dickerson and so many more, have all contributed to a Scientific understanding of some parts of Evolution.

Most secular scientists view the evolution of creation as a series of physical and chemical events over billions of years.

They have, through their extensive research attempted to determine the exact process of creation and explain that everything has happened because of circumstance, chance, a chain of linked events or even some good fortune.  

However, their research has led to a number of paradoxes which point to the involvement of something other than chance. A case in point is DNA and proteins, one cannot form without the other….. so which came first?

Scientific research has shown that the emergence of life had much to do with water and Clay and in this regard it supports Quranic verses…..revealed 1400 yrs previously. How would this be possible without divine revelation?²

The really important point to take on board is that what science is doing is inadvertently proving that the Holy Quran is accurate in its descriptions on the evolution of life and that there has got to be ‘something’ ‘someone’ an ‘all encompassing supreme being’ that is consistently Guiding the development of life.

The existence of God cannot be left out of the equation as much as secular scientists would wish it.

The Evolution of life is not random, not chance and not luck.

3) Islamic

God has clearly defined the Evolution of Creation in the Quran.³

Life developed over many billions of years with the ultimate creation of Man from “blackened mud” “Dry ringing Clay”. The creation of Man was always the ultimate goal, as Man would be the height of all creation.

Every step of Creation and ongoing evolution to this current point in our lives has been guided by God. It is not a matter of Natural Selection or Survival of the fittest.

Nothing has been left to chance, circumstance or plain luck.

“He it is Who created you from dust then from a sperm drop, then from a clot; then He brings you forth as a child; then He lets you grow, so that you attain your full strength; and afterward become old – though some among you are caused to die before – and that you may reach a term appointed and that you may learn wisdom” 40:68

References:

1. On The Origin of The Species: Charles Darwin
2. The Holy Quran
3. Revelation, Rationality Knowledge and Truth: Mirza Tahir Ahmad