Evolution

[LaSorcia]

Is there a theological position in Islam about creation and/or evolution? Are the two seen as mutually exclusive, or is evolution seen as a method by which God could have created the universe?

I'm assuming Muslims don't believe that life just happened by accident.

[Little_Lion]

The theological position is that we are created by Allah, as is the world, the skies, and everything that walks and crawls and swims between them. That being said, there is a lot of difference of opinion as to how much "evolution" took place in the Creation. Many Muslims interpret the six days as six periods, and that these periods were very long. Within these periods, there is much interpretation in the light of modern science as to whether Allah said "Be" and it was instantly, or did Allah say "Be" and it became so over time. I have heard Muslims of all levels of scholarship with differing opinions on things like did birds evolve from dinosaurs, or were dinosaurs a separate creation, did the dinosaurs exist at the same time as Adam (peace be upon him), and many of the same arguments that can be heard between creationists and evolutionists. But one thing that does make it different is that even if a Muslim thinks that evolution is the way it happened, is that there is no doubt that it was still creation​, as Allah is the creator of all and all can only come from Allah.

[drac16]

We're definitely creationists. The Qur'an doesn't say how old the Earth is or how old Mankind is. All we know is that we are descendants of prophet Adam [peace be upon him]. God created Adam out of clay, which leads me to my next point. We don't believe that man evolved out of a more primitive form of primate. There's no doubt that there are similarities, though.

There is evidence in favour of evolution of other creatures (through speciation, for example). It's likely that horses and donkeys share a common ancestor. They can breed together. It's not that a horse suddenly gave birth to a donkey or vice versa-- but they are species that evolved into different branches over time. It started as a horse-like creature; horses evolved one way, donkeys evolved another way. In my opinion, it would be foolish to ignore this kind of evidence (there are muslims who do, but quite frankly, I find that position to be irreconcilable with evidence for something like speciation).

So can you be a muslim and believe in evolution? yes and no. Yes, you can believe that non-human creatures evolved over time. No, you can not believe that man came from apes-- you have to believe that humans were created by God. Adam and his wife were fully human.

[greenhill]

I don't know how many times this topic has come up in the few years I have been here. I guess the search engine is not up to scratch... I have tried and find it useless.. maybe I am clueless.

After a while I see it this way.

Allah says "Be" and it is. It is as what Allah would command. Nothing restricts. No laws. Except Allah's.

Now, we (humans) try to find order to these things, we called it science, or whatever... and divide it into areas of study. We try to set the rules. Only, we don't truly understand. We try.

What we know is what Allah allows us to know. What we remember too.

:peace:

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[LaSorcia]

Allah says "Be" and it is. It is as what Allah would command. Nothing restricts. No laws. Except Allah's.

Now, we (humans) try to find order to these things, we called it science, or whatever... and divide it into areas of study. We try to set the rules. Only, we don't truly understand. We try.

What we know is what Allah allows us to know. What we remember too.

:peace:

I agree.

[LaSorcia]

I was only asking because some Christians say that only creation OR evolution is possible, and I wanted to know what Muslims thought as well. My view is that God did it. How God did it is something we will probably never fully understand. I also think that it's complete hubris when we figure out through science a little bit of what God did, and think therefore that there must be no God. I never understood that position.

[anatolian]

I believe Allah created the universe and everything in it. I accept the evolution. I think it is a form of Allah's creation.

I have some points for this from Quran but I dont have time for now..I may bring it up later, inshallah.

[Scimitar]

I was only asking because some Christians say that only creation OR evolution is possible,

Creation, evolution, micro-evolution, adaptation... lol.

The atheists love to blur the lines don't they? then they claim us "dogmatic types" can't do science... I scratch my head at this, because they claim that while pretending they know science because "gray areas" :D

Theirs, is the argument from ignorance.

It makes me laugh... very much, actually.

Scimi

EDIT:

check out the mathematical probablitliy of a peptide bond successfully building into chain of amino acids necessary to form life - via random chance... you will find the mathematical probability so ridiculously out there that you will realise its impossible - especially when factoring that that the probability is actually more stretched than the number of seconds lapsed since the big bang til today.

Not only can't the atheists do science - they suck at math too.

Scimi

[greenhill]

It is not a question of can't do science or sucking at maths. I think it is bigger than that. I believe it is agenda driven and unscientific.. despite the near impossibilities, they still claim it as a probable fact, deliberately misleading work.


:peace: