Why are Muslims against Evolution?!?

[goddamniamsoawesome]

Re: Why are Muslims against Evolution?!?

@BarbieCue

Ok so there’s more muslim believers of evolution than I expected which makes me think am I missing out on some important facts?

I would like the muslim posters to give a short, concise, simple answer to this question so I can finally make up my mind about evolution: Does evolution contradict Islam? Give reasons, preferably facts. If it doesn’t, I’m all for it. If it does, I’d rather get beaten up by all ye evolutionists than favour Darwin over Allah swt.

Evolution/Natural Selection does not contradict Islam except in the case of human evolution where things get a bit interesting.

Science - Humans evolved just like everything else on this planet. This view is hard to reconcile with my faith. It does not leave room for a special creation of man.

Science says we evolved from single celled organisms to what we are today based on our competition and cooperation with the world around us. Now that is very likely and the Quran does not disagree except in the case of human evolution where its a bit murky. This scientific idea is the most likely scenario observed all around us. Species fighting and working together for survival where the best characteristics have a higher probability of surviving. Its just how life works. Now the scientific view that we have evolved from humanoids who have evolved from more primitive organisms seems most likely but I find it comforting to say perhaps humans have had a separate path as destined by Allah. It helps me feel better about my faith. I don’t know for sure and Allah knows best so I put my faith in Him. I have lost my religion and come back to it after some of the most difficult times in my life and hence I believe in the logic, reason and philosophy of Islam (Even though it may be difficult at times, looking at the bigger picture I am appeased) and I believe it does not have to contradict science.

Faith - Humans were created by Allah at the beginning specifically as humans. At least this is what comes across until we find a better interpretation. Allah knows best.

Now Muslims were at the forefront of sciences, languages and culture while the whole world was a dark and depressing place. We were the renaissance of knowledge. The Church rejected and punished anyone who came up with ideas borrowed from the work of Muslims; work that ultimately proved to be true. Why are we suddenly so afraid of science? We seem to have fallen into the trap of siding with the Biblical Creationists while at the same time we reject the bible as accurate. We take their arguments and spew them forth while giving each other congratulatory MashaAllah’s, yes I’ve seen it in university debates. We fail to understand the logical fallacies in those arguments. We need to develop and investigate ourselves to find a route that does not contradict the Quran or perhaps understand the Quran better. The Quran has so far given us a green light to everything science has proved (Within the texts of the Quran). So why do we feel so threatened by all this talk of Natural Selection (Which is a proven and observable phenomena in nature)? I don’t know, everyone needs to ask that question to themselves, I cannot do it for you and you cannot do it for me.

A selection of Quranic verses and Ahadith that leave enough room to support Evolution.

Do they not see how Allah begins the Creation, then repeats it? That is easy for Allah (to do) (Al-'Ankaboot, 29: 19).

Say: “Travel through the Earth and see how He began the Creation. Then, Allah makes the latter Creation. Allah is capable of (doing) everything” (Al-'Ankaboot, 29: 20).

24.45 . Allah has created every animal out of water . Of them (is a category which) walks upon its belly, ( another which) walks upon two legs, and ( a third which) walks upon four . Allah creates what He wills. Allah is Able to do everything (he wants).

32.7. (Allah is He) who has made everything He created better, and He began the creation of the human (being) out of clay.

6.2. He is Who has created you from clay, then He spent a term of time (away from you), and (it is) a specific term He determined. Yet, you doubt (His ability)!.

15.26 . We created the human being from stinking, smooth, (and wet) clay.

71.17. And Allah has caused you to grow out of the earth like plants.

82. 7. It is He Who created you, fashioned you perfectly, and made you with the right proportions.

30.22 . And of His signs is the creation of the heavens and the earth, as well as the difference of your languages and colors. In these, there are signs for people of knowledge.

The above verses leave plenty of room for scientific interpretation of the Quran. We shouldn’t fall into the trap of picking and choosing science or faith. Both can work together. What is plausible is plausible, we cannot deny that Allah may have willed everything so. We should never be so stubborn.

Prophet Muhammad (SAW) said: “Allah created Adam from a handful of dust taken from different lands, so the children of Adam have been created according to the composition of the land. Therefore from mankind we have white, red, black and yellow ones; we have good and evil, ease and sorrow, and what comes in between them.”

Now you could interpret it as saying we have been created to the best of our surroundings. The method of creation is not a hard and fast definition which leaves room for scientific interpretation; something that is in disagreement with other non-Islamic Creationists.

Prophet Muhammad (SAW) said: "Allah created Adam from dust after He mixed the clay and left him for some time until it became sticky mud, after which Allah shaped him. After that Allah left him till it became like potter’s clay. Iblis used to go past him saying ‘You have been created for a great purpose.’ After that Allah breathed His spirit into him. The first thing into which the spirit passed was his eye and then his nose. He sneezed. Allah said: "May your Lord have mercy upon you, O Adam! Go to those angels and see what they would say.’ So Adam went and greeted them. they replied saying: “Peace be upon you and the mercy and blessings of Allah.” Allah said: “O Adam! This is your greeting and that of your offspring.”

Again, this does not give a hard and fast process. Plenty of room to fit scientific proposals.

@psyah

You wrote above everything else decreases in order because that is the way the universe or nature tends to … that is not an explanation. It’s like saying the reason why I go to work is because that is what I tend to do. That is not a reason. Why should the universe want to tend to do anything?

Maybe because Allah wills it so? You seem to think when I dispel the arguments on entropy I somehow say there is no God. I believe in Allah, AlhamdliAllah.

Everything tends to disorder because that is so. We are ordered because we eat plants and animals which get their energy from the sun. Entropy can be maintained because our open system allows for additional sources. The net result however is pretty much an increase in entropy. We will decay, time moves forward. From an Islamic perspective nature is ordered chaos. Perhaps Allah has designed it to display such tendencies.

The following verse relates to Souls but does it not stand true of everything?

21.35 Every soul must taste of death, and We try you with evil and with good, for ordeal. And unto Us ye will be returned.

@princessjojo

I have a question for you GIDSA (and even Topo if she has similar ideas) since you are pointing at evolution being a God directed phenomenon.

How do you reconcile that belief with the commonly accepted ideas of Adam and Eve, them being expelled from heaven for disobeying God etc. If we take Adam and Eve to truly be the first humans and also evolution to be true, what happened to Adam’s immediate ancestors? Were they not subject to this test of life which ultimately is supposed to end in hell or heaven? If we cannot explain this, then do we relegate these things in the Quran to the figure of speech bucket?

I’m not on one side or another although I do incline toward evolution…well because the facts are there…at least within each species.

I have mentioned above that I do find it hard to reconcile my faith and science on that one aspect; human evolution. Allah knows best but perhaps humans have a separate line of evolution? That is one tough area for me as a Muslim to understand right now. Science tells me it happened. Religion isn’t TOO clear on that. Maybe that’s a good thing though. Like I said we don’t have hard and fast yet erroneous examples and arguments such as the bible. The Quran leaves room for a lot more interpretation. Perhaps as time goes on and with better fossil records we might uncover something that helps me say both things are true. Allah knows best.

@diwana

Evolution is claimed to be an event occurring on its own, going from lower to higher organized organism. Simpler to complex organisms.

That contradicts thermodynamics.

Things left alone, are bound be disorganized. External force is required to keep organization.

You need to walk out of this thread because you are making my head hurt. You fail to understand fundamentals and seek to debate this topic? How arrogant and asinine can you get, no really.

You talk in such a lofty way, then the thermodynamics… What about it? Its been discussed and debunked. Please try again.

How many times must I repeat entropy increases overall. The sun’s radiation gives us heat and light. An unlimited (For now) source of energy that we can use to remain organised ourselves. There’s a reason living things cannot survive in complete darkness. Death and disease.

Please excuse yourself from this thread.

@psyah

http://www.gnmagazine.org/booklets/E...ies-darwin.asp

Bru, species developing together is very likely. Allah can will whatever He wants. For your argument to be true the argument that things that cannot exist independently cannot survive should be true too. It makes sense. But no, that argument falls through as well. In fact evolution very comfortably exists in the presence of symbiotic relationships.

Species A and B may or may not have a symbiotic relationship. They might be two things that never interact.
A evolves with a variation into A1 while B evolves with a variation into B1.
Now A1 may have a feature that it cannot use on B so it may rely on a beneficial feature on B1.
A1 and B1 may or may not form a symbiotic relationship.
If they do and it is profitable, they may carry on and may or may not evolve further.

I’m not sure if I have explained that part in a very comprehensible manner but the jist is very obvious, or should be.

Allah is the best of planners. We cannot discount any possibilities; more so in the face of very scientific observations. Please do not fall into the trap of Biblical Creationists and their arguments.