Islamic views on evolution

Last updated

Islamic views on evolution are diverse, ranging from theistic evolution to Old Earth creationism. [1] Some Muslims around the world believe "humans and other living things have evolved over time", [2] [3] yet some others believe they have "always existed in present form". [4] Some Muslims believe that the processes of life on Earth started from one single point of species [5] with a mixture of water and a viscous clay-like substance. [6] [7] Muslim thinkers have proposed and accepted elements of the theory of evolution, some holding the belief of the supremacy of God in the process. Some scholars suggested that both narratives of creation and of evolution, as understood by modern science, may be believed by modern Muslims as addressing two different kinds of truth, the revealed and the empirical. [8] Others argue that faith and science can be integrated and complement each other. [9]

Contents

History

Pre-Modern views

In Kitab al-Hayawan ('Book of the Animals'), the 9th-century Muslim scholar al-Jāḥiẓ references several facets of natural selection, such as animal embryology, adaptation, and animal psychology. One notable observation al-Jāḥiẓ makes is that stronger rats were able to compete better for resources than small birds, a reference to the modern day theory of the "struggle for existence". [10] Al-Jāḥiẓ also wrote descriptions of food chains. [11]

Animals engage in a struggle for existing, and for resources, to avoid being eaten, and to breed... Environmental factors influence organisms to develop new characteristics to ensure survival, thus transforming them into new species. Animals that survive to breed can pass on their successful characteristics to their offspring.

— Al-Jahiz, Book of the Animals

In 10th century Basra, an Islamic Encyclopedia titled Encyclopedia of the Brethren of Purity , expanded on the Platonic and Aristotelian concept of the great chain of being by proposing a causal relationship advancing up the chain as the mechanism of creation, beginning with the creation of matter and its investment with energy, thereby forming water vapour, which in turn became minerals and "mineral life", and has been proposed to be the earliest attested evolutionary framework by Muhammad Hamidullah. [12] However, the Brethren text has been largely dismissed as a reading on pre-Darwinian evolution theory. [13]

According to Sami S. Hawi, the 11th-century Persian scholar Ibn Miskawayh wrote about the evolution of man in his Fawz al-aṣghar. [14]

Jalāl al-Dīn Muḥammad Rūmī ( 1207 – 1273) Maturidi theologian (mutakallim) connects the process of evolution and the afterlife. He draws an analogy from the empirically knowable process of evolution as constant emergence of life and annihilation wherof, and the idea of transformation of the individual after death, concluding the existence of the afterlife by asserting live's eternity. [15] As evident from his interpretation of a hadith, according to which Adam evolved over a time-span of 40 days, Rumi implies that human's creation was not at once, but a process. [16]

The 14th-century influential historiographer and historian Ibn Khaldun wrote in the Muqaddimah or Prolegomena ("Introduction") on what he referred to as the "gradual process of creation". Some of Ibn Khaldun's thoughts, according to some commentators, anticipate the biological theory of evolution. [17] Ibn Khaldun asserted that humans developed from "the world of the monkeys", in a process by which "species become more numerous". [18] He believed that humans are the most evolved form of animals, in that they have the ability to reason. He also stated that the Earth began with abiotic components such as "minerals". Slowly, primitive stages of plants such as "herbs and seedless plants" developed and eventually "palms and vines". [19]

Shoaib Ahmed Malik has pointed out that Ibn Khaldun's theory, while remarkable for its acceptance of the kinship between monkeys and humans, should be understood in the context of the late antique and medieval concept of the great chain of being. This theory postulates a linked hierarchy between all entities in creation but is not properly a theory of evolution. [20] The system of the great chain of being implies a graded similarity between the various stages in the hierarchy from minerals to plants, animals, humans, angels, and God, but not a temporal process in which one species originates from the other. While according to some mystical interpretations individual souls may move up the 'ladder' in order to reunite with the divine, the species (or 'substantial forms', in the language of Aristotelian and Neoplatonic ontology) themselves are eternal and fixed. [21] Malik also notes that the Muqadimmah is often quoted without proper regard for context. [22] One widely cited quote is taken from a section called The Real Meaning of Prophecy, which argues that prophets occupy a place in the great chain of being just beneath angels. In Ibn Khaldun's view, this explains why individual prophets may temporarily ascend to the rank of angels and share with them in the knowledge of the divine, which they may then bring back to humanity in the form of revelation. According to Malik, interpretations that see in this an early form of scientific evolution theory ought to explain how angels, prophets and the upwards ascent of the soul fit into that theory. [23]

Modern views

19th and 20th centuries

Evolution was an accepted fact among some Islamic scholarly circles. [24] In his 1874 book titled History of the Conflict between Religion and Science, John William Draper, a scientist and contemporary of Charles Darwin, criticized the Catholic Church for its disapproval of "the Mohammedan theory of the evolution of man from lower forms, or his gradual development to his present condition in the long lapse of time". [25] However, Draper's book has been criticized by more recent scholars as lacking historical accuracy. [26]

In the 19th century, a scholar of Islamic revival, Jamal-al-Din al-Afghānī agreed with Darwin that life will compete with other life in order to succeed. He also believed that there was competition in the realm of ideas similar to that of nature. However, he believed explicitly that life itself was created by God; [27] Darwin did not discuss the origin of life, saying only "Probably all the organic beings which have ever lived on this earth have descended from some primordial form, into which life was first breathed." [28]

A contemporary of Al-Afghani, Ottoman-Lebanese Sunni scholar Hussein al-Jisr, declared that there is no contradiction between evolution and the Islamic scriptures. He stated that "there is no evidence in the Quran to suggest whether all species, each of which exists by the grace of God, were created all at once or gradually", and referred to the aforementioned story of creation in Sūrat al-Anbiyā. [29] [30] [31] [32]

The late Ottoman intellectual Ismail Fennî, while personally rejecting Darwinism, insisted that it should be taught in schools as even false theories contributed to the improvement of science. He held that interpretations of the Quran might require amendment should Darwinism eventually be shown to be true. [33]

In Kemalist Turkey, important scholars strove to accommodate the theory of evolution in Islamic scripture during the first decades of the Turkish Republic; their approach to the theory defended Islamic belief in the face of scientific theories of their times. [34] The Saudi Arabian government, on the other hand, began funding and promoting denial of evolution in the 1970s in accordance to its Salafi-Wahhabi interpretation of Islam. [35] This stance garnered criticism from the governments and academics of mainline Muslim countries such as Turkey, [36] Pakistan, [37] Lebanon, [38] and Iran, [35] where evolution was initially taught and promoted.

21st century

In the contemporary era, a significant minority of Muslims who support evolution exist, but evolution is not accepted by mainstream scholars of the post-colonial Muslim world. However, Abdulla Galadari argues that evolution is compatible even with a literal reading of the Qur'an. [39]

Although evolutionary concepts, including natural selection, are presented in the curricula in many Muslim countries, explicit discussion of human evolution is often missing. With the exception of Pakistan, though, religious references are not common in evolutionary science curricula. [40]

Khalid Anees, of the Islamic Society of Britain, discussed the relationship between Islam and evolution in 2004: [41]

Islam also has its own school of Evolutionary creationism/Theistic evolutionism, which holds that mainstream scientific analysis of the origin of the universe is supported by the Quran. Many Muslims believe in evolutionary creationism, especially among Sunni and Shia Muslims and the Liberal movements within Islam. Among scholars of Islam İbrahim Hakkı of Erzurum who lived in Erzurum then Ottoman Empire now Republic of Turkey in the 18th century is famous for stating that 'between plants and animals there is sponge, and, between animals and humans there is monkey'. [42]

Contemporary Islamic scholars Ghulam Ahmed Pervez, [43] Edip Yüksel, [44] [45] and T. O. Shanavas in his book, Islamic Theory of Evolution: the Missing Link between Darwin and the Origin of Species, [46] say that there is no contradiction between the scientific theory of evolution and Quran's numerous references to the emergence of life in the universe.

While Muslim scholars reject Young Earth creationism, [47] and claim the story of creation in the Book of Genesis was corrupted, [48] a movement has begun to emerge recently in some Muslim countries promoting themes that have been characteristic of Christian creationists. This stance has received criticism, due to claims that the Quran and Bible are incompatible. [49] [50] [51]

According to the Guardian newspaper, some British Muslim students have distributed leaflets on campus, advocating against Darwin's theory of evolution. [49] At a conference in the UK in January 2004, entitled Creationism: Science and Faith in Schools, "Dr Khalid Anees, of the Islamic Society of Britain stated that 'Muslims interpret the world through both the Quran and what is tangible and seen. There is no contradiction between what is revealed in the Quran and natural selection and survival of the fittest'." [41]

Adnan Oktar, [52] also known by his pen-name Harun Yahya, is a Muslim advocate against the theory of evolution. He has been referred to as a "charlatan" by a joint declaration of Muslim scholars, and his representative at a conference on Islam and evolution in January 2013 was ridiculed during and after the conference. [8] [53] Most of Yahya's information is taken from the Institute for Creation Research and the Intelligent Design movement in the United States. [54] Oktar largely uses the Internet to promote his ideas. [55]

Maurice Bucaille, famous in the Muslim world for his commentary on the Quran and science, attempted to reconcile evolution with the Quran by accepting animal evolution up to early hominid species, and then positing a separate hominid evolution leading to modern humans. However, these ideas differ from the theory of evolution as accepted by biologists. [54]

Zakir Naik, a contemporary preacher of Islam and advocate of creationism rejects evolution on the basis that it is only a theory and not a proven fact. [56] Seyyed Hossein Nasr, a prominent Iranian religious scholar, is also a supporter of creationism and refuses evolution for the "chance-like mechanism embedded in the process", the inconsistencies present within, and for the emendations that the theory had undergone since its inception; this view is similarly held by a former pupil of Nasr's, Osman Bakar. [56]

Nuh Ha Mem Keller, a scholar of Islam, is a proponent of the human exceptionalism view of evolution; he believes that evolution is possible only for non-human species, and that humans cannot be viewed through the lens of evolution due to man having been created by Allah with such creation being afforded a special consideration and thus separates man from the evolutional path other living beings go through. [57]

Contemporary scholar Yasir Qadhi believes that the idea that humans evolved is against the Quran, but says that God may have placed humanity perfectly into an evolutionary pattern to give the appearance of human evolution. [53]

Modern scholar Usaama al-Azami later argued that scriptural narratives of creation, and evolution as understood by modern science, may be believed by modern Muslims as addressing two different kinds of truth, the revealed and the empirical. [8]

Another scholar, Muneer Al-Ali, argues that faith and science can be integrated and complement each other in explaining the complexity and mysteries of existence. [9]

David Solomon Jalajel, an Islamic author, proclaims an Adamic exceptionalism view of evolution which encourages the theological use of tawaqquf; a tawaqquf is to make no argument for or against a matter to which scripture possesses no declarations for. [58] With tawaqquf, Jalajel believes that Adam's creation does not necessarily signal the beginning of humanity as the Quran makes no declaration as to whether or not human beings were on Earth before Adam had descended. [59] As a result, Jalajel invokes tawaqquf which insinuates that it is possible for humans to exist or not exist before the appearance of Adam on earth with either belief being possible due to the Quran, and that it is possible that an intermingling of Adam's descendants and other humans may or may not have occurred. [59] Thus, the existence of Adam is a miracle since the Quran directly states it to be, but it does not assert there being no humans who could have existed at the time of Adam's appearance on earth and who could have came about as a result of evolution. [59] This viewpoint stands in contrast to creationism and human exceptionalism, ultimately declaring that evolution could be viewed without conflict with Islam and that Muslims could either accept or reject "human evolution on its scientific merits without reference to the story of Adam". [59]

A research paper published in 2016 by the Yaqeen Institute for Islamic Research wrote that there is not a consensus among scholars on how to respond to the theory of evolution, and it is not clear whether the scholars are even qualified scientifically to give a response. [60]

In 2017, Turkey announced plans to end the teaching evolution before the university level, with the government claiming it is too complicated and "controversial" a topic to be understood by young minds. [61]

Rana Dajani, a university professor who teaches evolution in Jordan, wrote that almost all of her students tend to be hostile towards the idea of evolution at the beginning of the class, but by the end of the class, the majority accept the idea of evolution, except when it comes to humans. [62]

Statistics

A 2000 study conducted by a researcher of the University of Oklahoma found that 19% of participants believed that Islam's tenets were not at odds with Darwin's theory of evolution while 81% believed there to be some form of conflict between Islam and Darwinism. [63] One of the participants, an Islamic teacher, stood in opposition to the theory of evolution although was willing to accept certain aspects that were proposed by it. [64] The participants who believed there to be no conflict between Islam and Darwin's theory of evolution were split as it pertained to the possible relationship between primates and humans with only 6% of participants seeing no issue with the assertion. [65]

As per a 2008 report, evolutionary biology was included in the high-school curricula of most Muslim countries. Science foundations of 14 Muslim countries, including Pakistan, Iran, Turkey, Indonesia, and Egypt, recently signed a statement by the Interacademy Panel (IAP, a global network of science academies), in support of the teaching of evolution, including human evolution. [54]

A 2009 survey conducted by the McGill researchers and their international collaborators found that 85% of Indonesian high school students and 86% of Pakistani high school students agreed with the statement, "Millions of fossils show that life has existed for billions of years and changed over time." [1] However, in Indonesia, creationism is common among older residents, even among biology teachers and biology education professors. [66]

According to a 2013 Pew study, the numbers of Muslims who support evolution appear to be increasing slowly but steadily. For instance, a large majority of people accept human evolution in Kazakhstan (79%) and Lebanon (78%), but relatively few in Afghanistan (26%) and Iraq (27%), with most of the other Islamic countries somewhere in between. [4]

Ahmadiyya views of evolution

The Ahmadiyya community's view of evolution is that of universal acceptance, albeit divinely designed. The movement actively promotes god-directed "evolution". Over the course of several decades the movement issued various publications in support of the scientific concepts behind evolution. [67]

Teaching of evolution

According to Rana Dajani adopting new ways of thinking to pursue the knowledge is a core tenet of Islam. [68] Dajani says interpretation of Quran being a fluid and ongoing process of human exercise can, always, be revisited to clear contradictions, if any arise during pursuits of scientific knowledge. [68] According to Dajani interaction with modernization and globalization has imported some problematical hostile attitudes towards science like rejection of the theory of evolution into Muslim societies. Dajani says the negative attitudes among Muslims towards evolution came post twentieth century associating Darwin with western colonialism materialism and racism, but actually rudimentary theories of evolution were proposed by Muslim scholars right from ninth century even up to 1880s. [68] Dajani says while some Muslim students think accepting theory of evolution means denying existence of God, but that need not be so rather after initiation of God, universe can evolve according to principles of science and logic. [68] Dajani says usually a detailed explanation of natural evolution of plants, artificial breeding, antibiotic resistance, development of modern medicines and vaccines, helps Muslim students accept evolution still some reservations remain in accepting human evolution; here Dajani says Muslims are warned against arrogance and need to understand humans are part of rest of the creation. [68] Dajani says, as a scientist, Charles Darwin contributed to human understanding of the emergence and diversification of life on the Earth and that evolution is right mechanism to explain diversity and the development of species. [68] Dajani says discussion of controversial topic of evolution helps Muslim students avoid blind acceptance of status quo and question even other aspects of their lives. [68]

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Creationism</span> Belief that nature originated through supernatural acts

Creationism is the religious belief that nature, and aspects such as the universe, Earth, life, and humans, originated with supernatural acts of divine creation. In its broadest sense, creationism includes a continuum of religious views, which vary in their acceptance or rejection of scientific explanations such as evolution that describe the origin and development of natural phenomena.

<i>Fiqh</i> Islamic jurisprudence

Fiqh is Islamic jurisprudence. Fiqh is often described as the style of human understanding and practices of the sharia; that is, human understanding of the divine Islamic law as revealed in the Quran and the sunnah. Fiqh expands and develops Shariah through interpretation (ijtihad) of the Quran and Sunnah by Islamic jurists (ulama) and is implemented by the rulings (fatwa) of jurists on questions presented to them. Thus, whereas sharia is considered immutable and infallible by Muslims, fiqh is considered fallible and changeable. Fiqh deals with the observance of rituals, morals and social legislation in Islam as well as economic and political system. In the modern era, there are four prominent schools (madh'hab) of fiqh within Sunni practice, plus two within Shi'a practice. A person trained in fiqh is known as a faqīh.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Islamic philosophy</span> Philosophical tradition in Muslim culture

Islamic philosophy is philosophy that emerges from the Islamic tradition. Two terms traditionally used in the Islamic world are sometimes translated as philosophy—falsafa, which refers to philosophy as well as logic, mathematics, and physics; and Kalam, which refers to a rationalist form of Scholastic Islamic theology which includes the schools of Maturidiyah, Ashaira and Mu'tazila.

Early Islamic philosophy or classical Islamic philosophy is a period of intense philosophical development beginning in the 2nd century AH of the Islamic calendar and lasting until the 6th century AH. The period is known as the Islamic Golden Age, and the achievements of this period had a crucial influence in the development of modern philosophy and science. For Renaissance Europe, "Muslim maritime, agricultural, and technological innovations, as well as much East Asian technology via the Muslim world, made their way to western Europe in one of the largest technology transfers in world history." This period starts with al-Kindi in the 9th century and ends with Averroes at the end of 12th century. The death of Averroes effectively marks the end of a particular discipline of Islamic philosophy usually called the Peripatetic Arabic School, and philosophical activity declined significantly in Western Islamic countries, namely in Islamic Spain and North Africa, though it persisted for much longer in the Eastern countries, in particular Persia and India where several schools of philosophy continued to flourish: Avicennism, Illuminationist philosophy, Mystical philosophy, and Transcendent theosophy.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ibn Khaldun</span> Arab historiographer and historian (1332–1406)

Ibn Khaldun was an Arab sociologist, philosopher, and historian widely acknowledged to be one of the greatest social scientists of the Middle Ages, and considered by many to be the father of historiography, sociology, economics, and demography studies.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Maliki school</span> School of Islamic jurisprudence

The Maliki school or Malikism is one of the four major schools of Islamic jurisprudence within Sunni Islam. It was founded by Malik ibn Anas in the 8th century. The Maliki school of jurisprudence relies on the Quran and hadiths as primary sources. Unlike other Islamic fiqhs, Maliki fiqh also considers the consensus of the people of Medina to be a valid source of Islamic law.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Theistic evolution</span> Views that religion is compatible with science

Theistic evolution, alternatively called evolutionary creationism, is a view that God acts and creates through laws of nature. Here, God is taken as the primary cause while natural causes are secondary, positing that the concept of God and religious beliefs are compatible with the findings of modern science, including evolution. Theistic evolution is not in itself a scientific theory, but includes a range of views about how science relates to religious beliefs and the extent to which God intervenes. It rejects the strict creationist doctrines of special creation, but can include beliefs such as creation of the human soul. Modern theistic evolution accepts the general scientific consensus on the age of the Earth, the age of the universe, the Big Bang, the origin of the Solar System, the origin of life, and evolution.

The social effects of evolutionary thought have been considerable. As the scientific explanation of life's diversity has developed, it has often displaced alternative, sometimes very widely held, explanations. Because the theory of evolution includes an explanation of humanity's origins, it has had a profound impact on human societies. Some have vigorously denied acceptance of the scientific explanation due to its perceived religious implications. This has led to a vigorous conflict between creation and evolution in public education, primarily in the United States.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Creation and evolution in public education</span> Status of creation and evolution in public education

The status of creation and evolution in public education has been the subject of substantial debate and conflict in legal, political, and religious circles. Globally, there are a wide variety of views on the topic. Most western countries have legislation that mandates only evolutionary biology is to be taught in the appropriate scientific syllabuses.

The Transmutation of species and transformism are 18th and early 19th-century ideas about the change of one species into another that preceded Charles Darwin's theory of evolution through natural selection. The French Transformisme was a term used by Jean Baptiste Lamarck in 1809 for his theory, and other 18th and 19th century proponents of pre-Darwinian evolutionary ideas included Denis Diderot, Étienne Geoffroy Saint-Hilaire, Erasmus Darwin, Robert Grant, and Robert Chambers, the anonymous author of the book Vestiges of the Natural History of Creation. Such ideas were associated with 18th century ideas of Deism and human progress. Opposition in the scientific community to these early theories of evolution, led by influential scientists like the anatomists Georges Cuvier and Richard Owen, and the geologist Charles Lyell, was intense. The debate over them was an important stage in the history of evolutionary thought and influenced the subsequent reaction to Darwin's theory.

Naskh is an Arabic word usually translated as "abrogation". In tafsir, or Islamic legal exegesis, naskh recognizes that one rule might not always be suitable for every situation. In the widely recognized and "classic" form of naskh, one ḥukm "ruling" is abrogated to introduce an exception to the general rule, but the text the ḥukm is based on is not repealed.

The historiography of early Islam is the secular scholarly literature on the early history of Islam during the 7th century, from Muhammad's first purported revelations in 610 until the disintegration of the Rashidun Caliphate in 661, and arguably throughout the 8th century and the duration of the Umayyad Caliphate, terminating in the incipient Islamic Golden Age around the beginning of the 9th century.

<i>Encyclopedia of the Brethren of Purity</i> Book by Brethren of Purity

The Encyclopedia of the Brethren of Purity also variously known as the Epistles of the Brethren of Sincerity, Epistles of the Brethren of Purity and Epistles of the Brethren of Purity and Loyal Friends is an Islamic encyclopedia in 52 treatises (rasā'il) written by the mysterious Brethren of Purity of Basra, Iraq sometime in the second half of the 10th century CE. It had a great influence on later intellectual leading lights of the Muslim world, such as Ibn Arabi, and was transmitted as far abroad within the Muslim world as al-Andalus.

Muslim scholars have developed a spectrum of viewpoints on science within the context of Islam. Scientists of medieval Muslim civilization contributed to the new discoveries in science. From the eighth to fifteenth century, Muslim mathematicians and astronomers furthered the development of mathematics. Concerns have been raised about the lack of scientific literacy in parts of the modern Muslim world.

<i>Muqaddimah</i> Book by Ibn Khaldun, written in 1377

The Muqaddimah, also known as the Muqaddimah of Ibn Khaldun or Ibn Khaldun's Prolegomena, is a book written by the historian Ibn Khaldun in 1377 which presents a view of universal history. Some modern thinkers view it as the first work dealing with the social sciences of sociology, demography, and cultural history. The Muqaddimah also deals with Islamic theology, historiography, the philosophy of history, economics, political theory, and ecology. It has also been described as a precursor or an early representative of social Darwinism, and Darwinism.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ahmadiyya views on evolution</span> Ahmadiyya Movement in Islam universally accepts a process of divinely guided evolution

The Ahmadiyya Movement in Islam universally accepts the process of evolution, albeit divinely guided, and actively promotes it. Over the course of several decades, the movement has issued various publications in support of the scientific concepts behind the process of evolution and frequently engages in promoting how religious scripture supports the concept.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">History of evolutionary thought</span>

Evolutionary thought, the recognition that species change over time and the perceived understanding of how such processes work, has roots in antiquity—in the ideas of the ancient Greeks, Romans, Chinese, Church Fathers as well as in medieval Islamic science. With the beginnings of modern biological taxonomy in the late 17th century, two opposed ideas influenced Western biological thinking: essentialism, the belief that every species has essential characteristics that are unalterable, a concept which had developed from medieval Aristotelian metaphysics, and that fit well with natural theology; and the development of the new anti-Aristotelian approach to modern science: as the Enlightenment progressed, evolutionary cosmology and the mechanical philosophy spread from the physical sciences to natural history. Naturalists began to focus on the variability of species; the emergence of palaeontology with the concept of extinction further undermined static views of nature. In the early 19th century prior to Darwinism, Jean-Baptiste Lamarck (1744–1829) proposed his theory of the transmutation of species, the first fully formed theory of evolution.

Criticism of <i>hadith</i> Critique of the classical Islamic consensus on the collection and use of hadith

Criticism of ḥadīth or hadith criticism is the critique of ḥadīth—the genre of canonized Islamic literature made up of attributed reports of the words, actions, and the silent approval of the Islamic prophet Muhammad.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Dawud al-Zahiri</span> Muslim scholar, jurist, and theologian (815–883)

Dāwūd ibn ʿAlī ibn Khalaf al-Ẓāhirī was a Sunnī Muslim scholar, jurist, and theologian during the Islamic Golden Age, specialized in the study of Islamic law (sharīʿa) and the fields of hermeneutics, biographical evaluation, and historiography of early Islam. He was the eponymous founder of the Ẓāhirī school of thought (madhhab), the fifth school of thought in Sunnī Islam, characterized by its strict adherence to literalism and reliance on the outward (ẓāhir) meaning of expressions in the Quran and ḥadīth literature; the consensus (ijmāʿ) of the first generation of Muhammad's closest companions (ṣaḥāba), for sources of Islamic law (sharīʿa); and rejection of analogical deduction (qiyās) and societal custom or knowledge (urf), used by other schools of Islamic jurisprudence. He was a celebrated, if not controversial, figure during his time, being referred to in Islamic historiographical texts as "the scholar of the era."

Although biological evolution has been vocally opposed by some religious groups, many other groups accept the scientific position, sometimes with additions to allow for theological considerations. The positions of such groups are described by terms including "theistic evolution", "theistic evolutionism" or "evolutionary creation". Of all the religious groups included on the chart, Buddhists are the most accepting of evolution. Theistic evolutionists believe that there is a God, that God is the creator of the material universe and all life within, and that biological evolution is a natural process within that creation. Evolution, according to this view, is simply a tool that God employed to develop human life. According to the American Scientific Affiliation, a Christian organization of scientists:

A theory of theistic evolution (TE) — also called evolutionary creation — proposes that God's method of creation was to cleverly design a universe in which everything would naturally evolve. Usually the "evolution" in "theistic evolution" means Total Evolution — astronomical evolution and geological evolution plus chemical evolution and biological evolution — but it can refer only to biological evolution.

References

  1. 1 2 Chang, Kenneth (2009-11-02). "Creationism, Without a Young Earth, Emerges in the Islamic World". The New York Times. ISSN   0362-4331 . Retrieved 2017-04-24.
  2. ↑ "Bülent Şahin Erdeğer | Evrim, İslam ile çelişir mi?". Independent Türkçe (in Turkish). 2020-06-12. Retrieved 2021-05-06.
  3. ↑ "Evolution In Quran". Evolution In Quran. Retrieved 2021-05-06.
  4. 1 2 "The World's Muslims: Religion, Politics and Society" (PDF). Pew Research Center. April 30, 2013.
  5. ↑ Review of Religions eGazette November 2008
  6. ↑ Taslaman, Caner (2017). Bir Müslüman Evrimci Olabilir Mi?. Destek Yayınları. ISBN   9786053112082.
  7. ↑ Taslaman, Caner (2016). Evrim Teorisi Felsefe ve Tanrı. Istanbul Yayınevi. ISBN   9789758727049.
  8. 1 2 3 al-Azami, Usaama (2013-02-14). "Muslims and Evolution in the 21st Century: A Galileo Moment?". Huffington Post Religion Blog. Retrieved 19 February 2013.
  9. 1 2 Al-Ali, Muneer (2013). A scientific Tafsir of Qur'anic verses: interplay of faith and science (2nd Ed.). North Charleston, S.C.: CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform. ISBN   978-1480169968 [ self-published source? ]
  10. ↑ Zirkle, Conway (1941). "Natural Selection before the "Origin of Species"". Proceedings of the American Philosophical Society. 84 (1): 84–85. JSTOR   984852.
  11. ↑ Egerton, Frank N. (April 2002). "A History of the Ecological Sciences, Part 6: Arabic Language Science—Origins and Zoological Writings" (PDF). Bulletin of the Ecological Society of America . 83 (2): 142–146. Retrieved 2014-10-28.
  12. ↑ Muhammad Hamidullah and Afzal Iqbal (1993), The Emergence of Islam: Lectures on the Development of Islamic World-view, Intellectual Tradition and Polity, p. 143-144. Islamic Research Institute, Islamabad.
  13. ↑ Ahmed Malik, Shoaib (2019). "Old Texts, New Masks: A Critical Review of Misreading Evolution Onto Historical Islamic Texts". academia.edu. p. 515-518. Retrieved December 8, 2022.
  14. ↑ Bakar, Ibrahim Abu (1989). "Some Aspects of Ibn Miskawayh's Thought" (PDF). Islamiyyat: The International Journal of Islamic Studies. 10: 116. ISSN   0126-5636.
  15. ↑ Ahmad, Imtiaz. "The Place of Rumi in Muslim Thought." Islamic Quarterly 24.3 (1980): 67.
  16. ↑ Shah, Muhammad Sultan. "Pre-Darwinian Muslim Scholars’ Views on Evolution." (2017). p. 13
  17. ↑ Katsiaficas, George (2001). "Ibn Khaldrun: A Dialectical Philosopher for the New Millenium". In Kiros, Teodros (ed.). Explorations in African Political Thought. Routledge. p. 55. ISBN   9780415927673.
  18. ↑ Katsiaficas 2001, p. 55.
  19. ↑ Rosenthal, Franz (1969). Ibn Khaldun: The Muqaddimah . Princeton University Press. ISBN   978-0691017549.
  20. ↑ Malik 2021b , pp. 160–162.
  21. ↑ Malik 2021b , pp. 155–156.
  22. ↑ Malik 2021b , p. 159.
  23. ↑ Malik 2021b , p. 162.
  24. ↑ Taslaman, Caner. Bir Müslüman Evrimci Olabilir Mi?
  25. ↑ Draper, John William (1874). History of the Conflict Between Religion and Science (PDF). p. 126.
  26. ↑ Malik, Shoaib Ahmed (2021b). "Old texts, new masks: misreading evolution onto historical Islamic texts". Islam and Evolution: al-Ghazālī and the Modern Evolutionary Paradigm. London: Routledge. pp. 155–176. doi: 10.4324/9780429345753 . ISBN   9780429345753. p. 157 (previously published as Malik, Shoaib Ahmed (2019). "Old Texts, New Masks: A Critical Review of Misreading Evolution onto Historical Islamic Texts". Zygon. 54 (2): 501–522. doi:10.1111/zygo.12519. S2CID   241654249. p. 504)
  27. ↑ "al-Afghani, Jamal al-Din (1838-97)".
  28. ↑ Charles Darwin and Evolution Archived August 29, 2013, at the Wayback Machine
  29. ↑ Adra, Jawad. "Political inheritance-Absent entirely within the Shia'a community, dwindling within the Maronite and Sunni communities and omnipresent within the Druze". Monthly Magazine. Archived from the original on 20 July 2020. Retrieved 20 July 2020.
  30. ↑ Iqbāl, Muẓaffar (2007). Science and Islam. Greenwood Publishing Group. p. 157. ISBN   978-0-313-33576-1.
  31. ↑ Majid, Abdul. "The Muslim responses to evolution." Science-Religion Dialogue (2002).
  32. ↑ Varisco, Daniel. "Darwin and Dunya: Muslim Responses to Darwinian Evolution." Journal of International & Global Studies 9.2 (2018).
  33. ↑ Bilgili, Alper (2015). "The British Journal for the History of Science V48:4". The British Journal for the History of Science. 48 (4): 565–582. doi:10.1017/S0007087415000618. PMID   26337528.
  34. ↑ Kaya, Veysel (April 2012). "Can the Quran Support Darwin? An Evolutionist Approach by Two Turkish Scholars after the Foundation of the Turkish Republic". The Muslim World. 102 (2): 357. doi:10.1111/j.1478-1913.2011.01362.x.
  35. 1 2 Burton, Elise K. (May–June 2010). "Teaching Evolution in Muslim States:Iran and Saudi Arabia Compared" (PDF). Reports of the National Center for Science Education. 30 (3): 25–29. ISSN   2158-818X. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2018-02-19. Retrieved 2014-01-13.
  36. ↑ "Turkish academics tell ministry that evolution theory excluded from curriculum 'only in Saudi Arabia'". Hürriyet Daily News. 1 March 2017. Retrieved 24 April 2017.
  37. ↑ IAP Member Academies (June 21, 2006). "IAP Statement on the Teaching of Evolution". IAP . Trieste, Italy: The World Academy of Sciences. Archived from the original on 2011-07-17. Retrieved 2014-06-20.
  38. ↑ Vlaardingerbroek, Barend; Hachem-el-Masri, Yasmine (23 October 2006). "The Status of Evolutionary Theory in Undergraduate Biology". International Journal of Educational Reform. 15 (2). Rowman & Littlefield: 161–162. ISBN   9781475816457.
  39. ↑ Galadari, Abdulla (2017). "Creatio Ex Nihilo and the Literal Qur'ān". Intellectual Discourse. 25 (2): 381–482.
  40. ↑ Asghar, Anila; Hameed, Salman; Farahani, Najme Kishani (2014-01-01). "Evolution in Biology Textbooks: A Comparative Analysis of 5 Muslim Countries". Religion & Education. 41 (1): 1–15. doi:10.1080/15507394.2014.855081. ISSN   1550-7394. S2CID   144369606.
  41. 1 2 Papineau, David (2004-01-07). "Creationism: Science and Faith in Schools". Guardian. Retrieved 2008-07-18.
  42. ↑ Erzurumi, İ. H. (1257). Marifetname
  43. ↑ "Quran and the Theory of Evolution". Archived from the original on 2011-08-31. Retrieved 2011-03-22.
  44. ↑ Are evolution and religion compatible? Archived 2013-04-17 at the Wayback Machine , aljazeera.com, accessed April 12, 2013
  45. ↑ Edip Yuksel, Blind Watch-Watchers or Smell the Cheese Archived 2013-03-25 at the Wayback Machine , 19.org, accessed February 17, 2013
  46. ↑ David Yonke, Adrian doctor to lecture on evolution, The Blade, accessed March 7, 2013.
  47. ↑ "The Origin of Life: An Islamic perspective". Islam for Today. Archived from the original on 17 July 2012. Retrieved 2007-03-14.
  48. ↑ Morris, John D. (2003-08-01). Is the Big Bang Biblical?. New Leaf Publishing Group. p. 92. ISBN   9781614581840.
  49. 1 2 Campbell, Duncan (2006-02-21). "Academics fight rise of creationism at universities". Guardian. Retrieved 2008-07-19.
  50. ↑ Sayin, Ümit; Kence, Aykut (1999). "Islamic Scientific Creationism: A New Challenge in Turkey". National Center for Science Education. Retrieved 2009-11-12.
  51. ↑ Koning, Danielle (2006). "Anti-evolutionism amongst Muslim students" (PDF). ISIM Review. 18: 48. Archived from the original (PDF) on 19 March 2009. Retrieved 2007-03-14.
  52. ↑ "Seeing the light -- of science". salon.com. Archived from the original on 2009-01-14. Retrieved 2009-01-06.
  53. 1 2 Hameed, Salman (11 January 2013). "Muslim thought on evolution takes a step forward". The Guardian. Retrieved 25 January 2013.
  54. 1 2 3 Hameed S (2008). "Bracing for Islamic creationism". Science. 322 (5908): 1637–8. doi:10.1126/science.1163672. PMID   19074331. S2CID   206515329.
  55. ↑ Darwinism's Contradiction with Religion [ permanent dead link ], Why Darwinism is Incompatible With the Qur'an [ permanent dead link ], Harun Yahya
  56. 1 2 Malik 2021a , p. 114.
  57. ↑ Malik 2021a , p. 124.
  58. ↑ Malik 2021a , pp. 133–134.
  59. 1 2 3 4 Malik 2021a , p. 135.
  60. ↑ Youssef Chouhoud (2016). "Modern Pathways to Doubt in Islam". Yaqeen Institute for Islamic Research. Retrieved October 26, 2016. What these varied responses point to is a lack of consensus around not just the best way to tackle this issue, but whether the leaders charged with addressing it are qualified to do so.
  61. ↑ Kazeem Shaheen (23 June 2017). "Turkey schools to stop teaching evolution, official says". The Guardian . Retrieved 25 June 2017.
  62. ↑ Dajani, Rana (April 22, 2015). "Why I teach evolution to Muslim students" (PDF). Nature. 520 (7548): 409. Bibcode:2015Natur.520..409D. doi: 10.1038/520409a . PMID   25903591. S2CID   4447536 . Retrieved October 27, 2016.
  63. ↑ Ali, Yacob Mohammed (2000). Perceptions of Islamic educators about the conflict between conservative and secular Muslims regarding Islamic education and the teaching of science, philosophy, and mythical stories to Muslim students (Thesis). Ann Arbor, MI: Bell & Howell Information and Learning Company. pp. 94–95. hdl:11244/6022.
  64. ↑ Ali, Yacob Mohammed (2000). Perceptions of Islamic educators about the conflict between conservative and secular Muslims regarding Islamic education and the teaching of science, philosophy, and mythical stories to Muslim students (Thesis). Ann Arbor, MI: Bell & Howell Information and Learning Company. pp. 95–96. hdl:11244/6022.
  65. ↑ Ali, Yacob Mohammed (2000). Perceptions of Islamic educators about the conflict between conservative and secular Muslims regarding Islamic education and the teaching of science, philosophy, and mythical stories to Muslim students (Thesis). Ann Arbor, MI: Bell & Howell Information and Learning Company. pp. 99–100. hdl:11244/6022.
  66. ↑ Aini, Rahmi Qurota; Rachmatullah, Arif; Harliadi, Muhammad Dika; Ha, Minsu (2020-06-05). "Indonesian Pre-service Biology Teachers' and Biology Education Professors' Views on Evolution". Science & Education. 29 (3): 713–741. Bibcode:2020Sc&Ed..29..713A. doi:10.1007/s11191-020-00127-5. ISSN   1573-1901. S2CID   219925614.
  67. ↑ Jesus and the Indian Messiah – 13. Every Wind of Doctrine Archived 2010-05-09 at the Wayback Machine
  68. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Dajani, Rana (2015-04-23). "Why I teach evolution to Muslim students". Nature News. 520 (7548): 409. Bibcode:2015Natur.520..409D. doi: 10.1038/520409a . PMID   25903591.

Sources

This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.