Professor Richard Dawkins recently said that most Muslims were creationists, and their children are taught that the theory of evolution is wrong, which causes a huge problem in schools.
He’s largely correct, and the Muslim world desperately needs to debate the matter properly without fear, since science can neither prove nor disprove God. Whereas the Christian world, where Charles Darwin first proposed his thesis, has had a century and a half to come to terms with the theory of evolution, it has only begun to be taught rather recently in the Muslim world, where faith and religious practice is still relatively strong.
No wonder then that the theory is opposed by some religious elements, especially those that are ignorant of science. Snazzy websites, videos and books produced by fundamentalist Muslim “creationists” such as those at www.harunyahya.com, are obscuring clear scientific thinking.
Creation or evolution? Many believers in God have no problem with an obvious solution: that God created man via evolution. Here is some explanation of this view from a Muslim perspective.
I have a background in physical sciences, not biological ones, but there are parallels. Just as we can see clear evidence for the fact that planets, stars and galaxies evolved very gradually over the last 13 billion years since the big bang and weren’t just beamed into existence by God, it would seem intuitive that life in its breathtaking variety on Earth also arose through a gradual evolutionary processes. There are plenty of Muslim biologists who have no doubt about the essential correctness of evolutionary theory.
The Qur’an teaches that humanity began with Adam, whose wife Eve was made “of like nature”. The raw materials from which Adam was created are variously described as dust, clay and water, ie a mixture of water and minerals found on earth and in its soil. God completed the creation of Adam, breathed his spirit into him and taught him the names of everything. Since the angels were ignorant of these names, he commanded them to bow down to Adam, to symbolise human superiority over angels due to our free will, intelligence, capacity to understand and express ourselves in eloquent language.
One problem is that many Muslims retain the simple picture that God created Adam from clay, much as a potter makes a statue, and then breathed into the lifeless statue and lo! it became a living human. This is a children’s madrasa-level understanding and Muslims really have to move on as adults and intellectuals, especially given the very serious scientific heritage of the medieval Islamic civilisation.
Another objection that is sometimes posed is the following: doesn’t evolution denigrate and insult all humans, but especially the prophets of God, by insisting that we all originate from apes? I reply that the theory doesn’t insult anyone, but does remind us of the humble origins of our created form. This is nothing new or blasphemous, since numerous Qur’anic verses remind us that we are all created from “dust” via sexual discharges: “despised drops of water”. Those verses clearly do not insult the prophets. Meanwhile, our spiritual form remains the most exalted, since it is from the spirit of God breathed into Adam: we exist for the most noble purpose of knowing and loving God, freely and after having been given a choice.
Another irony in this whole debate is that several medieval Islamic thinkers had ideas that were broadly similar to the theory of evolution. The 10th-century Persian philosopher Ibn Miskawayh may have had ideas about the natural world that were, broadly speaking, evolutionist. The 14th-century philosopher Ibn Khaldun wrote:
One should then look at the world of creation. It started out from the minerals and progressed, in an ingenious, gradual manner, to plants and animals.
Although Ibn Khaldun wasn’t speaking directly about evolution in the modern sense, I don’t think he would have had a major problem with Darwin’s theory, judging from the passage above. But it is precisely the loss of the heritage of people like Ibn Khaldun that has led to the current, appalling state of science in the Muslim world and the Muslim consciousness.
By Usama Hasan, published in The Guardian, September 11th 2008.
"Mwanamke mmoja wa Uingereza, Richard Dawkins, alisema hivi karibuni kwamba ""Waslamu wengi ni waumini wa uumbaji, na watoto wao wanafundishwa kwamba nadharia ya mageuzi ni mbaya, na hilo husababisha tatizo kubwa katika shule.""" Yeye ni kwa kiasi kikubwa sahihi, na ulimwengu wa Kiislamu desperately anahitaji kujadili suala hilo vizuri bila hofu, tangu sayansi haiwezi kuthibitisha wala kupinga Mungu. Ingawa ulimwengu wa Kikristo, ambapo Charles Darwin alianzisha nadharia yake, umekuwa na karne moja na nusu ya kukubali nadharia ya mageuzi, imeanza kufundishwa hivi karibuni tu katika ulimwengu wa Kiislamu, ambapo imani na mazoea ya kidini bado ni nguvu. Haishangazi kwamba nadharia hiyo inashutumiwa na watu wa dini, hasa wale wasiojua sayansi. "Kama vile tovuti za ""Snazzy,"" video na vitabu vilivyotengenezwa na Waislamu wa msingi ""waumbaji"" kama vile wale walio kwenye www.harunyahya.com, vinaficha mawazo ya kisayansi ya wazi." Uumbaji au Mageuzi? Watu wengi wanaomwamini Mungu wanaamini kwamba Mungu aliumba mwanadamu kupitia mageuzi. Hapa kuna ufafanuzi fulani wa maoni haya kutoka kwa mtazamo wa Kiislamu. Mimi nina historia katika sayansi ya fizikia, si sayansi ya kibiolojia, lakini kuna ulinganifu. Kama vile tunavyoweza kuona ushahidi wa wazi wa ukweli kwamba sayari, nyota na galaksi zilijitokeza hatua kwa hatua katika miaka bilioni 13 iliyopita tangu Big Bang na hazikuanzishwa tu na Mungu, inaonekana kuwa inaeleweka kwamba maisha katika aina yake ya kuvutia duniani pia yalitokea kupitia mchakato wa hatua kwa hatua. Kuna wanabiolojia wengi wa Kiislamu ambao hawana shaka yoyote juu ya usahihi wa nadharia ya mageuzi. Qur'ani inafundisha kwamba ubinadamu ulianza na Adamu, ambaye mkewe Hawa aliumbwa "kama asili". "Vitu vilivyotengenezwa Adam vilifafanuliwa kwa njia mbalimbali kama ""vumbi, udongo na maji,"" yaani mchanganyiko wa maji na madini yaliyopatikana duniani na katika udongo wake." Mungu alimaliza uumbaji wa Adamu, akampuliza roho yake ndani yake na kumfundisha majina ya kila kitu. Kwa kuwa malaika hawakujua majina hayo, aliwaamuru kumwinamia Adamu, ili kuwakilisha ubora wa binadamu juu ya malaika kwa sababu ya hiari yetu, akili, uwezo wa kuelewa na kujieleza kwa lugha ya ufasaha. "Msingi wa imani ya Kiislamu ni kwamba Mungu alimumba Adamu kwa udongo, kama vile mfinyanzi anavyofanya sanamu, kisha anapumua ndani ya sanamu hiyo isiyo na uhai na ""kuona!""" akawa mwanadamu aliye hai. Hii ni ufahamu wa kiwango cha madrasa ya watoto na Waislamu kweli wanapaswa kuendelea kama watu wazima na wasomi, haswa kwa kuzingatia urithi mkubwa wa kisayansi wa ustaarabu wa Kiislamu wa enzi za kati. Mkataa mwingine ambao wakati mwingine hutolewa ni ufuatao: je, mageuzi hayawadharau na kuwadhalilisha wanadamu wote, lakini hasa manabii wa Mungu, kwa kusisitiza kwamba sisi sote tumetokana na nyani? Mimi kujibu kwamba nadharia haina kumtukana mtu yeyote, lakini haina kutukumbusha ya asili ya unyenyekevu wa fomu yetu iliyoundwa. Hii si kitu kipya au cha kuchafua, kwani mistari mingi ya Qur'ani inatuwakumbusha kwamba sisi sote tumeumbwa kutoka kwa "vumbi" kupitia matoleo ya kingono: "matone ya maji yaliyodharauliwa". Kwa wazi, mistari hiyo haidhuru manabii. "Kwa wakati huo huo, umbo letu la kiroho linabaki kuwa la juu zaidi, kwa kuwa ni kutoka kwa roho ya Mungu iliyopumua ndani ya Adamu: tuko kwa kusudi la juu zaidi la kumjua na kumpenda Mungu, kwa uhuru na baada ya kupewa chaguo. """ Jambo jingine la kushangaza katika mjadala huu wote ni kwamba wasomi kadhaa wa Kiislamu wa enzi za kati walikuwa na mawazo ambayo yalikuwa sawa na nadharia ya mageuzi. Mwanafalsafa wa karne ya kumi wa Uajemi Ibn Misrawi aliandika kitabu chake cha kwanza cha ki-Evolution. "Mwanafalsafa wa karne ya 14 Ibn Khaldun aliandika: ""Mtu anapaswa kuangalia ulimwengu wa uumbaji." Ilianza kutoka kwa madini na kuendelea, kwa njia ya ubunifu, hatua kwa hatua, hadi kwa mimea na wanyama. Ingawa Ibn Khaldun hakuwa akizungumza moja kwa moja juu ya mageuzi katika maana ya kisasa, sidhani kama angekuwa na tatizo kubwa na nadharia ya Darwin, kwa kuhukumu kutoka kwa kifungu cha juu. Lakini ni haswa kupoteza urithi wa watu kama Ibn Khaldun ambayo imesababisha hali ya sasa ya kutisha ya sayansi katika ulimwengu wa Kiislamu na ufahamu wa Kiislamu. Usama Hassan, The Guardian, Septemba 11, 2008