| Origin
of man in Islam: Creation or Evolution
ISLAM
EVOLUTION CREATION
The Christian Bible
says that Adam & Eve were both created here on Earth, less
than 10,000 years ago. The Quran says that Adam & Eve were
created in Heaven, and NOT on Earth. When they disobeyed God,
He expelled them from Heaven, down to Earth. The Quran does not
say when this happened. Also the Quran does not say whether Adam
& Eve were physically transported from Heaven to Earth, or
just their souls were put into the already living homo sapiens.
Muslims believe that
souls are assigned to humans 40 days after the human inception.
The Quran says that angels retrieve human souls on two occasions.
One occasion is when humans die. The other occasion is every time
humans fall asleep. When humans wakeup, the angels release those
souls back to them:
(Quran 39.42) It
is Allah that takes the souls (of men) at death; and those that
did not die, during their sleep: those on whom He has passed the
decree of death, He keeps back, but the rest He sends (to their
bodies) for a term appointed. Verily in this are Signs for those
who reflect.
So, according to
the Quran, humans can be alive, breathing, with fully functional
bodies (hence perfect DNA), but still without souls.
Homo sapiens had
the same bodies and DNA as humans, but what about their souls?
Were the souls of the first humans (Adam & Eve) put into those
evolved homo sapiens? To answer this question, we need more information
about souls and spirits. But Allah clearly bans all information
about souls and spirits:
(Quran 17.85) And
they ask you about the Spirit, say: "The Spirit concerns
only my Lord: The knowledge of which only a little is communicated
to you"
So all the information
that will answer whether or not the souls of the first humans
were put into homo sapiens, is banned. Muslims don’t venture into
this topic simply because God ordered them not to.
However, this is
not the case concerning animals. The Quran agrees with science
that all life started in water, and not on dry land:
(Quran 24.45) And
Allah has created every animal from water; of them there are some
that creep on their bellies; some that walk on two legs; and some
that walk on four. Allah creates what He wills: for verily Allah
has power over all things.
So the Quran agrees
with science on the evolution of animals. But for humans, the
Quran stops short of answering whether it was transportation from
heaven or just homo sapiens with human souls.
DNA research point
to the later scenario; but why couldn’t God use for Adam &
Eve the same DNA as homo sapiens? Isn’t this DNA of His own creation
in the first place? And how difficult is it to copy?
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