By Cyril Anderson

Part 2 of 2

There is a mistaken view that evolutionary theory is the same now as it was in the time of Darwin, and that someone can pick up “Origin of the Species,” skim it, and write an article that will supposedly demolish evolution.  But this is a foolish belief.  First of all, Darwin was over a hundred years ago, before knowledge of DNA and genetics, before the theory of continental drift, with less knowledge of statistics, of ecology, of populations biology, and before radioactive dating methods were invented.  Of course this work will show great shortcomings.

 But in the meantime, evolution as a theory has changed, developed, and matured, though admittedly there is much that is still unclear.  It is a complex, multidisciplinary theory, touching on findings from a number of interlaced fields.  Evolution rests on strong foundations, and is a central foundation of biology.  It sits on evidence from a number of fields, including: genetics and DNA analysis,  biochemistry, nuclear physics through radioactive dating,  statistical analysis, climate science, paleontology, and geology.  It is a theory that must be engaged with knowledge and respect.

 Another misconception is the alleged connection in some people’s minds between Darwinism and Marxism.  This is mostly mistaken, although there is an incidental connection.  Marx was inspired by some elements of Darwin’s Origin of the Species, and when Marx published his work Kapital, wished to dedicate his work to Darwin.  Darwin however refused.  Sociological theories such as the so-called “social Darwinism” have no direct connection to Darwin’s ideas, and cannot be blamed on Darwin, as Darwin’s ideas were never intended to be applied to the domain of conscious thought such as human society.  Blaming Darwin for social Darwinism and the Nazis is like blaming Islam for Wahhabi extremists, and it is deplorable that any Muslim would sink to the same low.

 There are a number of verses of the Qu’ran that are either taken to contradict evolution or can arguably be taken to support it:

1. The Qu’ranic reference to man being molded from clay.   Clay as a malleable substance.  Molding something out of clay is a process of change and shaping.  Arguably this could be a metaphor for evolution or for some sort of genetic engineering process. 

2. The Qu’ranic reference to man being created from water.  The origins of life are thought by scientists to be in water.  To be precise, though, evolution is a theory of how life comes from other forms of life, not how life appears.

3. There are verses with angels predicting at the creation of Adam that man would make mischief in the earth.  Why would they say this, unless there were man-like creatures before Adam that had made trouble, and from which the body form of the first humans were possibly shaped?

4. One verse sometimes taken to contradict evolution is the verse that says that “God says to a thing be, it is.”  With the argument being that God would not need to create using evolution, but could simply create all life forms instantaneously.  While it is true that theoretically God has the power to do this, there is the experience we have that any action by God that we are aware of in the universe takes time.  Any change in the universe is a process, and takes place in time.  Besides, the same argument could be raised for other things.  He could have made mountains instantly theoretically.  But geology says they were shaped over time through continental drift.  Most Muslims don’t use the argument to “refute” Alfred Wegener’s influential theory of continental drift..  They don’t use this to argue against geology’s belief that the earth and universe were around 4 billion years before mankind.  They accept that the earth was created slowly over time.  Why not for the forms of life?

 Make no mistake: evolution is an earth-shaking concept that works its way into numerous fields of science.  It changes your perspective on the world, and on life.  But does it threaten Islam?  Is there a choice that has to be made between Islam and evolution?  I don’t think so.  I think they are compatible.

Evolution, taken from a religious perspective views God as continuously exerting Himself in His role as Creator.  Another beneficial aspect of evolution is that it views all living things as somehow related, thereby helping to strengthen our sense of responsibility toward the other creations.

                                            Part One      Part Two