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Title: Origin of Life: Based on Darwinism and Quran

Lecturer: Dr.Ibrahim Shogar



CONTENTSCONTENTS

1. Introduction

2. The Origin of Life

• Darwin’s perspective

3. The Origin of Life

• Islamic perspective

4. Comparison between perspectives

5. Criticism

6. Conclusion

7. References





INTRODUCTION

Day by day, a lot of Quranic verses regarding the universe are proven scientifically.

Cosmic questions which linger in our mind were answered perfectly in Quran, which is

divine resource. It also proved that universe has its creator 1. The universe system moves

according to its law which in Islam called Sunnatullah. Even in the Bible; Genesis, Chapter

One and Two did proves that universe and life is created by God2.

However, some of us disagree with creation theory. This idea came into mind when

the faith to the God disappeared with the rise of secular science ideology. They began to

leave religion as they believe in the secular science. The famous theory which is still be used

as a reference nowadays is Darwinian Theory of Evolution. It is also known as the origin of

life.

Darwin, an English scientist believes that organism is created by evolving from the

lowest form of life, and natural selections. This is done purely by observation and

speculation. Man comes from ape and it will evolve in the future towards betterment. We can

say that he is a philosopher because he made the theory without any empirical methods .This

evolution also applies to other form of life. He is an atheist so he believed that there is no

creator behind all these. Nowadays, scientist began to doubt his theory as research was doneand somehow did prove there were many flaws found. People especially the Westerns still

support it regardless the mistakes and doubt in the theory. Many films and scientific theories

were created from it. It is done to influence the people with this kind of ideology, thus in the

future; human will leave religion as they believe God is just a myth.

These two theories have it own strengths, specialities and can be differed from each

other. As a Muslim student; we must analyze these two theories in order to gain more

understanding regarding answers of the ultimate questions. Bear in mind, we will examine

these two theories without any bias. Firstly, we will understand each theory. Later, we will do

compare and contrast between them. Lastly we conclude them all and pick the best theory

regarding all aspect we can look upon. May this assignment bring benefits to all of us and

strengthen our faith by increasing our curiosity in understanding knowledge. InsyaAllah.

__________________________________

1.Al Quran;[10:10]2. Holy Bible;NRSV[Genesis;1-2]

3. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Darwinian_Theory



Origin of Life: Darwin’s Theory

Evolution: a theory which has been fascinated by many scientists who try to find the

answer to our subject in matter, Origin of Life. One in particular that rose to fame because of

his research related to this subject is Charles Darwin. He introduced a theory, which

obviously is named after the person himself, called Darwin’s Theory, which surprisingly, had

its own numerous supporters and those who opposes.

Apes might be the first thing that comes to one’s mind when they hear Darwin’s

theory as it shows the idea that man originated from apes through evolution that took place

throughout the time. However, this is actually a misconception about Darwin’s Theory hence

the word related used in the previous paragraph.

Basically, from what we learnt and understood, Darwin’s Theory states that all

species of organism began with a simple, small organism that eventually will evolve into a

larger and much better version than the previous one through natural selection and the

survival of the fittest 1. Both of these terms can be understood further as Darwin stresses on

variation.

No one organism is identical to one another, even though they might look similar,

their basic molecular information, i.e. the genetic information found in their DNA, is

different. Thus, each organism carries different traits to one another. As these organisms try

to live among themselves, only those who have the “best” traits will survive. In other words,

those organisms that are wiser and stronger and bigger will survive, hence survival of the

fittest. As these better organisms survive, they will pass on their advantageous traits onto

their offspring’s and thus produce a new generation with the better genetic traits than their

previous generation. This is principally what Darwin meant by natural selection.

Many people think that Darwin focused his research on evolution but in actual fact,

even though it seems somewhat similar, Darwin’s theory main focus was more on the natural

selection of species and the question how two different species can have similar traits yet not

being in the species by means of natural selection or how the best genetic traits are kept and

produced.



This can be seen in Darwin’s book titled On the Origin of Species published in 1981.

“Hence, as more individuals are produced than can possibly survive, there must in every

case be a struggle for existence, either one individual with another of the same species, or

with the individual with another of the same species, or with the individuals of distinct

species, or with the physical conditions of life…Can it, then, be thought improbable, seeing

that variations useful to man have undoubtedly occurred, the other useful in some way to

each being in the great and complex battle of life, should sometimes occur in the course of

thousands of generations? If such do occur, can we doubt (remembering that many more

individuals are born than can possibly survive) that individuals having any advantage,

however slight, over others, would have the best chance of surviving and of procreating their

kind? On the other hand, we may feel sure that any variation in the least degree injurious

would be rigidly destroyed. This preservation of favourable variations and the rejection of

injurious variations, I call Natural Selection.”

Clearly from this, we can see no traces of Darwin actually wanting to explain

evolution itself as he was too focused on the matter of natural selection and survival of the

fittest. However, because of many people’s interest in Darwin’s natural selection theory was

logical to their thinking of relating it to evolution, that Darwin’s origin of species theory

became known as the evolution theory.

To summaries, according to Darwin’s Theory, there are variations of genetic traits in

every population of a species which the ones with the best genetic traits will survive as

competition forces the organisms with weaker genetic traits to be eliminated and thus the

offspring of the organisms with the advantageous traits will survive. Moreover organisms

usually produce more offspring than they could actually survive so that the chances of their

genetic traits being expressed are higher. This whole process is called natural selection, a

theory which Darwin claims to be responsible for the evolution of life.



THE ORIGIN OF LIFE: ISLAMIC PERSPECTIVE

The Holy Qur’an is the book given to us by the Creator of the Universe. Allah,

(literally: The God) which is His personal Name, knows us best and is aware that humans can

be very sceptical creatures.

The Quran provides a clear cut answer to the question: At what point did life begin?

In this section, we shall set forth the verses of the Quran in which it is stated that the origins

of life are aquatic. The first verse also refers to the formation of the universe:

Do not the Unbelievers see that the heavens and the earth were joined together, then We

clove them asunder and We got every living thing out of water. [21:30]

The notion of getting something out of something else' does not give rise to any

doubts. The phrase can equally mean that every living thing was made of water (as its

essential component) or that every living thing originated in water. Life is in fact of aquatic

origin and water is the living component of all living cells. Without water, life is not possible.

When the possibility of life on another planet is discussed, the first question is: Is there a

sufficient quantity of water to support life?

Modern data leads us to think that the oldest living beings probably belonged from the

vegetable kingdom: Algae have been found that date from the pre-Cambrian period, the time

of the oldest known lands. Organisms belonging to the animal kingdom probably appeared

slightly later: They too came from the sea.

The words translated here as 'water' is in fact 'ma', which means both water in the sky

and water in the sea, or any kind of liquid. In the first meaning, water is the element

necessary to all vegetable life:

‘[God is the One Who] sent water down from the sky and thereby We brought forth pairs of

plants each separate from the other.’ [20:53]

This is the first reference to a 'pair' of vegetables; we shall cause to return to this

notion later. In the second meaning, which refers to any kind of liquid, the words are used in

its indeterminate form to designate the substance at the basis of the formation of all animal

life. ‘God created every animal from water .’ [24:45]

The statement in the Quran on the origins of life, whether referring to life in general,

the element that gives to birth to the plants in the soil, or the seed of animals, are all strictly in



accordance with modern scientific data. None of the myths on the origins of life that

abounded at the time the Quran was communicated to man are mentioned in the text.

In a Hadith, or saying of the Blessed Prophet Muhammad, we learn,

"When Allah decreed the creation (of the universe,) He set down in His book which is with

Him, ‘Indeed, My mercy is stronger than My wrath.’" [Bukhari & Muslim. Also see 6:12]

Among the proofs given in the Qur’an for us to learn from is a very detailed

explanation of the different features of the universe, how it was made and how the planets

and stars were formed. Allah says that,

"To Him is due the origin of space and the Earth." [6:101]

Of course, most people who lived at the Prophet’s time would never have understood

what those ayahs really meant, but they accepted them anyway and interpreted them as best

as they could. Sometimes they came up with very interesting explanations.

Allah instructs us to accept everything in the Qur’an, even if we don’t yet know how

to understand it. The understanding of the Qur’an grows with each passing generation. As He

said,

"The intelligent people declare, ‘We believe in the book, the whole of it is from our Lord."

[3:7]

As we have learned already, Islamic teachings assume that the Earth and universe are

very old. In addition, the Qur’an states clearly that one of the reasons Allah made us

intelligent and self-aware, or sentient, is so that we can discover the wonders of the natural

world around us. In short, Allah gave us the mission to investigate what He created.

There is so much we don’t know or understand, even about how our own bodies

work. With all these fantastic areas of knowledge to pursue, you would think that everyone

would recognize their Lord. But some still choose to keep their eyes shut. As Allah says,

"He, (Allah,) created humans from a drop of sperm and then the same humans become clear

arguers!" [16:4]

But thankfully, not everyone closes their understanding and the world has many fine

examples of great scientists and researchers who also put their trust in Allah.

In our modern world there are so many discoveries in all fields which are giving us a more

complete picture of the history of the universe. At the same time, our knowledge of Earth’s

past is expanding and revealing some surprising results.



COMPARISON BETWEEN PERSPECTIVES

There are numerous questions about the evolutionary theory that need to be answered.

The first question is how the first living organism appeared on earth. Evolutionists answers

by saying that the first organism was a cell that emerged from inanimate matter by chance.

According to the theory, at a time when the earth consisted of inanimate rocks, soil, gases and

so on, a living organism formed by chance through the effects of wind, rain, and lightning.

This evolutionary claim, however, is contrary to one of the most fundamental rules of

biology: Life comes only from life, which means that inanimate matter cannot generate life. 1

It’s surely means that the universe needs a Divine creator to create it which is Allah SWT.

In addition, Darwin's general theory presumes that the development of life is from

non-life and stresses a purely naturalistic known as natural selection. Natural selection is the

preservation of a functional advantage that enables a species to compete better in the wild.

Natural selection is the naturalistic equivalent to domestic breeding. Over the centuries,

human breeders have produced dramatic changes in domestic animal populations by selecting

individuals to breed. Breeders eliminate undesirable traits gradually over time. Similarly,

natural selection eliminates inferior species gradually over time.2

Today science find proofs that mutations are distortions that took place in the genes of

organisms. They can cause only harm and destruction through external effects such as

radiation. Evolutionists claim that these distortions cause organisms to evolve. Scientific

findings, however, reject this claim, because all observable efficient mutations cause only

harm to living things. All mutations that take place in humans result in mental or physical

deformities. Another reason why it is impossible for mutations to cause living things to

evolve is that mutations do not add any new genetic information to an organism. Mutations

cause existing genetic information to be randomly reshuffled.3 In other words, no new genetic

information is introduced by mutations. So, it can’t be claim that mutation is one of the

evolutionary theories.

Other than that, Darwin writes in his book a descent of man, on the basis of structural

resemblances between man and apes. He noticed resemblances between man and monkey and

concluded that both had evolved from a common ancestor.4 If structural resemblance is the

1 http://www.humanfuture.org/origins_creation_islamic_perspective.php.htm

2 http://www.darwins-theory-of-evolution.com/

3 http://www.humanfuture.org/origins_creation_islamic_perspective.php.htm

4 http://www.islamicvoice.com/march.99/science.htm

http://www./

http://www./



only criterion then we have a good resemblance with many other creatures as well. The wing

of a bat’s, fin of a whale’s and arm of a man’s bone are similar to each other yet these are

totally different from each other and cannot be grouped together. But we are similar to other

creatures in features such as locomotive reproductive, respiratory, endocrine genito-urinary,

cardiac and central nervous systems. It is quite easy to understand that man has similarities

with other creatures in various body systems although it is at variance with different species,

yet man enjoys a unique position. But this does not mean that man and other creatures can be

grouped together with a common ancestor.

Other than that, man is the only species which has such a highly developed brain. We

can communicate with each other with the help of a complete verbal language. The question

is what was the need which made man to develop so fast and evolve in to such a remarkable

intellectual and social creature that he is unmatched by the two billion species which ever

existed on this earth. According to Darwin, monkeys and apes had the same ancestors as

mankind, then why did they not develop into creatures resembling man? Why did they

remain so far behind whereas the environmental conditions and rules of evolution apply

equally to all species?

In fact, from the evolutionary point of view man has shown some negative trends as

compared to these species. For example, if at all man has evolved from a common ancestor of

monkeys and apes, why is a new-born human infant so dependent on his parents for a

relatively much longer time, as compared to the offspring of monkeys who are up and about

in a much shorter time after birth. Remember that evolution is a process which improves the

ability of a species to live in a better manner in an environment. It does not take away the

already existing good features.

This obviously means that man and monkey have no link with each other as far as

their ancestry is concerned. And here we should not forget that scientists hold the opinion that

the human DNA is evolving at a much slower pace than in other species. This is further proof

that man did not evolve as suggested by Darwin but came into being by the will of God.

There is sufficient evidence to suggest that man arrival on the earth was not a gradual

conversion from apes. 5

5 http://www.islamicvoice.com/march.99/science.htm



Criticism

As we stop from our daily activities for once and just look and think carefully about

the things that surrounds us, when we see the evergreen trees, the blue sky, the bright sun thatwe could never really stare into and even when we just observe humans in general, we will

wonder how did this all come into life?

Thus comes in philosophy. Philosophy literally means logical or rational thinking

about certain aspects of life.

When we really, thoroughly and carefully think about all the things that happen

around us, it is only common sense to think that there is a greater force or power out there

that is in charge of the whole being to come into existence. How can a tree become a tree?

What makes a tree grow? If the sunlight and water is taken away, can it still grow as big as it

normally would with them? Why must there be sunlight and water for it to grow? What or

who set these rules so that a tree can only grow so tall with enough sunlight? Why can’t we

just get trees straight away without waiting for years and years before it matures?

If we were to say that humans are the creators of these things then why can’t humans,

especially in the age where technology and scientific methodology is at its peak, just create a

tree that has all the components and benefits of a tree that grows out of the earth? It’s not as

simple as it looks. If people were to say that it’s the nature that is in charge of this matter,

then why can’t nature fight back to protect these trees from being cut down? What then

controls nature?

The only logical explanation there is for us to answer the question of how life

originated is that there is a greater being out there, i.e. God, who is in charge of planning,

creating and maintaining the environment that we humans have a pleasure to live among.

However, people always try to answer this question from two other point of views,

scientifically and religiously and it is a major challenge for us to try and mix these two

together as scientific world view states that all things happen because of materialistic

physical factors in other words, what we see is what we get; meta-physical questions are not

to be tolerated at all when considering the reason behind an experiment or its results.

The scientific point of view that we have discussed so far is of course, Darwin’s

Theory. It is very obvious from studying Darwin’s theory that the conclusion he derived from

his observation and studies has nothing to do with associating the origin of species with a

higher metaphysical creator at all.



He states that all creatures became other greater species through evolution by natural

selection. As mentioned before, this idea is what the critics usually pins down, and we agree

with them, as his book ‘On the Origin of Species’ actually hardly mentions how these

creatures existed. He keeps on saying that the species are known to be as they are today

because of natural selection of evolution from a tiny simple organism into the highest most

intellectual organism there is, the human. He didn’t mention how that tiny simple organism

actually came about to life. That is why many religious figures in Darwin’s time, and some

religious scientists, absolutely rejects Darwin’s theory as it denies the existence of God.

Plus, if we were to consider Darwin’s theory as a scientific discovery then according

to what scientists in this era has experimented on and found is inconsistent with Darwin’s

observation. Life must come from life, as mentioned before wasn’t really emphasized by

Darwin. Thus, like many other critics, Darwin’s theory of evolution is basically Mr. Charles

Darwin’s philosophy about how organisms can be similar and categorized into species. In

other words, if we were to make a philosophy about life, and with a strange miracle, many

educated people would suddenly find our philosophy acceptable, we would have our names

in the history of evolution of life as well.

From the religious point of view, all religions, major and minor in the world, say that

God is the sole the creator of life. From God, come plants, animals and humans; basically

from God is where life itself comes from. God made everything specifically. If a cod fish

were to be a cod fish, then it will stay as a cod fish. If God wanted to make humans, He

would create a human. Evolution is possible as God is Almighty and He can do whatever he

wishes to come true. However, evolution that was meant by Darwin, where one creature can

become a totally different one through natural selection is not possible.

For example, let’s take the influenza virus. When the virus strikes a human being, it is

vulnerable to the scientists as they experiment and research for a cure to kill these viruses.

However, God has made it possible for a virus to be versatile. It somehow has a memory chip

where it stores the information of what can kill it then reproduces itself into a whole new

colony that is resistant to the thing that could kill it before. Thus, the virus is said to have

evolved into a new virus, influenza A virus, also known as H1N1. This cycle will repeat itself

over time, thus evolution. Therefore, from the religious point of view, evolution is possible,

however, it is not possible for a virus to evolve into a dinosaur over time like what Darwin

was trying so hard to emphasize on.



Quoting from the Bible here proves that Christianity believes that life originates from

God:

‘And God said, “Let the waters under the sky be gathered together into one place, and let the

dry land appear.” And it was so. God caked the dry lands earth, and the waters that were

gathered together he called Seas. And God saw that it was good. Then God said, “Let the

earth put forth vegetation: plants yielding seed of every kind, and trees of every kind bearing

fruit with the seed in it. And god saw that it was good.’ Genesis (1-2)

Many quotations from the Qur’an were given before to prove that life originated from

Allah:

‘Verily, the likeness of (this) worldy life is as the water (rain) which We send down from the

sky; sp by it arises the intermingled produce of the earth of which men and cattle eatl unitl

when the earth is clas in its adornments and is beautified, and its people think that they have

all the powers of disposal over it, Our Command reaches it by night or by day and We make

it like a cliean mown harvest, as if it had not flourished yesterday! Thus do We explain the

Ayat (proofs, evidences, verses, lessons, signs, revelations, laws, etc) in detail for the people

who reflect.’ Surah Yunus, 24

Moreover, the Qur’an also mentions what will happen to those who do not believe in Allah’s

revelations:

‘So who does more wrong than he who denies forges a lie against Allah or denies His

Ayat (proofs, evidences, verses, lessons, signs, revelations, etc)? Surely, the Mujrimun

(criminals, sinners, disbelievers and polythiests) will never be successful!’ Surah Yunus, 17.

So in the Qur’an, it is emphasized that life originated from Allah upon His will and

blessings. Not just those, for those who do not believe in His revelations, the consequences

are also stressed upon. Good will rewarded and bad will be punished.

Therefore, for us, where does life originate from? With confidence, we would say

from Allah as stated in the Noble Qur’an. It is not only logical but the statements and

evidences of life created by Him stated in the Qur’an matches with the scientific discoveries

and experimentation that were made in the centuries after the revelation of the Qur’an.



Conclusion

After analyzing both perspectives regarding the origin of life, we can conclude that

Darwin’s theory is purely come from secular science bases. He denied the work of God in

creating life by saying life happens naturally. His evolution claim on creature can evolve into

another different creature is also absurd. His theory is purely done by observation and

philosophy without experimental proves. Ironically, the Western accepts his idea without

asking physical proofs. The impact, many flaws detected and many questions rose as scientist

failed to proof his theory even with modern technologies we have now.

The evidences on life found by scientists currently proved the truth of the statements

revealed in Quran which existed more than 1400 ago. With this, there is no doubt that life has

a creator. The creator is Allah. He shows his signs in many ways. He did exposed science in

the Quran but unfortunately, we did not see it as we got limitations. In the past, human lacked

of technology .Therefore, Muslims interpreted the Quran literally without knowing this

Divine Book contains knowledge that can be revealed experimentally. Science and religion

did go side by side. Quran told us about the creation of the universe, creation of life and even

foetus phases in the womb. It is just us who failed to realize it earlier. Let us just read and

think about this Quranic verse,

‘He created man from sounding clay like clay of pottery .And the Jinn He created

from a smokeless flame of fire. Then which of the blessings of your Lord will you both (man

and jinn) deny?’ [ Ar-Rahman, 15-17]

As a Muslim scientist, we cannot separate science from religion. No matter how we

split them from each other, it is impossible when the scientific proofs lead to evidences

mentioned in Quran. With this, we believe that there is a creator behind the creation of life.

He is the one who made it and make the system in the universe work perfectly. He is Allah,

the Almighty.



REFERENCES

BOOKS

1. The Noble Quran,[10:10],[33:38],[35:43]

2. Holy Bible, NRSV [Genesis;1-2]

3. The History and Philosophy of Islamic Science by Osman Bakar. Publisher :The

Islamic Text Society ,1999.Page 62 - 66

4. What is the Origin of man?; The Answers of Science and the Holy Scriptures, By Dr.Maurice Bucaille, Translated from the French by Alastair D. Pannell and the Author,

Second Edition, Revised. Publisher: SEGHERS, 6 Place Saint-Sulpice, 75006 PARIS

5. The Truth of the Life of this World by Harun Yahya, 1999, page 136 – 147.

WEBSITES

1. Retrieved on 3 May 2010 from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Darwinian_Theory

2. Retrieved on 3 May 2010 from http://www.bbc.co.uk/ history/historic_figures/darwin_charles.shtml

3. Retrieved on 12 May 2010 from http://www.darwins-theory-of-evolution.com/

4. Retrieved on 12 May 2010 from http://www.islamicvoice.com/march.99/science.htm

5. Retrieved on 12 May 2010 from

http://www.humanfuture.org/origins_creation_islamic_perspective.php.htm

6. http://ldolphin.org/islamcreat.html

7. http://www.islamfortoday.com/emerick16.htm

8. http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/darwinism/

9. http://www.spaceandmotion.com/Charles-Darwin-Theory-

Evolution.htm#Evolution.Quotes

10. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/On_the_Origin_of_Species

11. http://www.talkorigins.org/faqs/darwinism.html

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