From Microbits to Everything: Beyond Darwinism and Creationism: Vol. 3: The Evolutionary Implications

FROM MICROBITS TO EVERYTHING

FROM MICROBITS TO EVERYTHING

Beyond Darwinism and Creationism

Volume 3: The Evolutionary Implications

From Microbits to Everything: Beyond Darwinism and Creationism

Volume 3: The Evolutionary Implications

First Edition

All rights reserved under the International Copyright Convention. No part of thispublication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in anyform or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise,without the prior permission of the publisher, except in the case of brief quotationsembodied in reviews, articles and books.

Copyright ©2009 Nadeem HaqueOptagon Publications Ltd. Website: http://optagon.page.tl/ Author contact e-mail: [email protected]

Library and Archives Canada Cataloguing in Publication

Muslim, M., 1966- From microbits to everything : a new unified view of physics and cosmology / M. Muslim, Nadeem Haque. - 1st ed.

Vol. 2, by Nadeem Haque and M. Muslim, has subtitle: Universe of the imaginator. Vol. 3, by Nadeem Haque has subtitle: Beyond Darwinism and creationism. Includes bibliographical references and index. Contents: v. 1. The cosmological implications - v. 2. The philosphical implications - v. 3. The evolutionary implications. ISBN 0-9699605-1-4 (v. 1).-ISBN 0-9699605-3-0 (v. 2).- ISBN 978-0-9699605-4-6 (v. 3)

1. Cosmology. 2. Relativity (Physics). 3. Particles (Nuclear physics). 1. Cosmologie. 2. Relativité (Physique). 3. Particules (Physique nucléaire). I. Haque, Nadeem, 1960- II. Title.

QC28.M88 2001 523.1 C2001-901287-X QC28

mailto:[email protected]

Table of Contents

Chapter 1: Clay-based Evolution 7

Introduction – The Quran on Clay – Primary Passages on Clay and Man

– Sequence of Creation

Chapter 2: Clay as Catalyst 21

Clay and the Origin of Life – Role of Water – Evolution of

Clay itself

Chapter 3: Outlines of a New Mechanism for Evolution 29

The true nature of information – The Big Bang Origin: Quasi-equilibrium

– A new definition for information – The current shift in biological

thinking – The importance of ‘sync’ in evolution

Chapter 4: Madam I’m Adam 47

The Meaning of Creation from a Single Nafs in the

Quran – The Meaning of Creation from Dust – The dual

function of the word Adam in the Quran – Conclusion

Chapter 5: Status of the New Concept 57

Bibliography 67

Index 71

Chapter 1

Clay-based Evolution in the Quran

Chapter 1

Clay-based Evolution in the Quran

Introduction

It has become somewhat common knowledge that the Quran contains many

verses that pre-empt scientific discovery, such as those pertaining to

cosmology, embryology etc. But what does the Quran say about evolution, if

anything? Indeed, the origin and development of life and human beings is one

of the greatest unresolved mysteries. In this book, we shall examine some

intriguing verses in the Quran which depict macroevolution. It will be shown

that the Quranic verses do indeed reveal biological ‘macroevolution’,

concomitantly leading to the evolution of Homo Sapiens, as being created by a

singular and incomparable God.

The thesis of this book is that the machinery of life began from clay,

which served as a catalyst for the development of enzymes, RNA and DNA.

Life then evolved from these components, from single celled lifeforms to

multicellular creatures, leading up to human beings, through hominids. A new

theory for the mechanism for evolution is also discussed at length. It will be

definitively shown how this view unites physics and biology.

From Microbits to Everything

The Quran on Clay

If we are to understand the verses in the Quran on the subject of origins, we

need a systems view, where the Quran best explains the Quran itself. In

particular, in this connection, the system of Quranic verses is indeed akin to

algebraic mathematical equations that need solving. For example, if we have

an equation: y=2x +z and want to solve for y, then if we know what x and z

are, we can indeed solve for y. We simply plug the values for x and z into the

equation y=2x+z and get the answer for y. Analogously, the Quranic verses

discussed in the next section, that are designated as 1 , 2 and 3, are at the core

of the above-referenced thesis, and are akin to equations that need to be

solved by plugging into the general equation, which is taken to be verse 1, it

being the most general and basic one.

Primary Passages on Clay and Man

Let us use the following Quranic verses as equations, where we have three

primary verses and hence ‘equations’:

1. ….I am about to create man from (min) clay (tiin). (38:71)

2. We began the creation of man from clay. (32:7)

3. We created man from (min) an extract (sulaalatin)from/in (min) clay.

(23:12)

Now when it says in verse 1 that God is going to create man from clay,

10

Clay-based Evolution

all that the Quran is referring to, is the initiation of life, or its origin. However,

we need to factor in verses 2 and 3 to clearly realize this, for if we keep staring

at Equation 1, we will not get any further in our understanding. What happens

when we do this? Plugging in verses 2 and 3 into 1, we get:

We began the creation of man from an extract from clay.

or,

We originated the human being from an extract in clay,

or, yet again, in present scientific parlance:

We originated [the species] homo sapiens from an extract [present] in

clay. Equation 4

It must be noted that when it says that God is going to create man from

clay, it does not mean from the clay itself, but from something in the clay. This

is how the Arabic word min is used here. An example of this type of usage of

the word min is as follows:

We created man min [from] nutfatin amshaajin [the mingled fluid

from both male and female partners]. (76:2)

It is an obvious fact now (post-mid 20th Century C.E.) that we are not created

from such fluid but from the germ cells in those mingled fluids.1

The important clue to the realization that we are not made from clay, but

from some components in clay, is the fact that we are carbon-based entities,

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yet clay is silica based! How did the transformation occur, if we are made

from clay itself? This precludes the theory that some espouse that although

life began in clay, it was also completed in clay; for the verse pertains only to

primal origination. There is another intriguing verse, call it equation 5, the key

to solving the issue of how evolution has occurred, and what organisms were

evolved:

He it is who has created you from clay, and then has decreed a term –

a term known to Him. And yet you still continue to remain doubtful...

(6:2) Equation 5

Now recall that Equation 5 includes Equation 1. But Equation 1 turned

into Equation 4: so now we can substitute Equation 4 into Equation 5 and we

get the following:

He it is who has originated homo sapiens from an extract in clay, and then

has decreed a term - a term known to Him. And yet you still continue to

remain doubtful... (6:2) Equation 6

1. Dr. Maurice Bucaille, in his book “What is the origin of Man?”, on page 173-174, discusses the word sulaalatin, which he says means “one thing extracted from anotherthing”. Bucaille, agrees as do I, with the general concept of the advancement of hominidspecies in terms of physical attributes and that evolution has proceeded because of theemergence of ‘new’ information in the genes; however, where Bucaille goes wrong is inascribing verses 76:28 and 6:133 as proofs of successive hominid species replacing orevolving into one another. These verses, to the contrary, as can be easily evinced by thecontext in which they occur, refer to a decadent civilization or people being replaced byanother after the advent of neolithic societies by social upheavals/wars, cataclysms etc,not one hominid group replacing an older version. See Maurice Bucaille’s, What is theOrigin of Man? The Answers of Science and the Holy Scriptures.

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Simplifying this verse into its essentials, we have: God originated man from

specific component(s) extant in clay and after a long duration, decreed a fixed term.

Now at this juncture one may rightly enquire: What is the meaning of ‘term’?

To know this, one requires an even deeper analysis of the verse:

The first part of this passage (Equation 5) can be divided into three

sections:

1.1 He it is who has created you out of clay.

1.2 ...THEN has decreed a term.

1.3 ...a term known to Him...

Let us analyse 1.1 and 1.2 further:

1.1.1 We have seen that the first part of this verse is a short form for:

He it is who has originated homo sapiens from an extract in clay

1.2.1 The word “THEN”: Thumma. This is a very significant word.

When it is used in embryology (in the Quran) it means a long duration or slow

process relative to the other components of the whole process being

elucidated, and is a ‘time-gauge’ for a transformation process. In the Quran,

when thumma is used it has three properties. Firstly, it denotes a change from

one state to another, in time, from A to B. Secondly, there is a long duration

relative to the processes being discussed; in other words, the transformation

process from A to B is long. Thirdly, then separates A and B, although they

are contiguous processes.

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This is how the verse is to be understood: The transformative process

from A to B is very long. What this verse is saying is that clay is like an ideal

cooking pot that re-organizes matter (chemicals, so as to form enzymes etc.).

The origination process is the development of the machinery of life: the

enzymes, RNA and DNA that got produced. These processes take a long time and

do not happen overnight.

The Quran then talks about duration with other words. The words used

here are qadha ajalan (decreed a term) and waajalun musamman (there is a term

fixed with/known to Him). The word ajala is used many times in the Quran

and with respect to durations of processes/movements in nature. For

example, refer to chapter 13, verse 2.

What is this duration? If man’s developmental process was not complete

in the creation of man from clay, since the verse states that God began the

creation of man from clay, the Quran could not have been talking about

man’s life on earth, resurrection etc., that most older and contemporary

scholars opine when they address this verse in their comments on the

meaning of ‘duration’. For example, Muhammad Asad, in a footnote to his

English translation of the Quran on this verse, states that:

…Some of the authorities are of the opinion that the “term” refers to

the end of the world and the subsequent resurrection, while others

relate it to individual human lives. Other commentators, again, see in

the first mention of this word a reference to individual lives, and in the

second, to the Day of Resurrection; “and there is [another] term…”, etc.

However, in view of several other occurrences of the expression ajal

musamma in the Qur’an, it is best rendered here as “a term set [by Him]”

14


or “known [to Him]” i.e. relating both to individual lives and to the

world as a whole.2

This erroneous view espoused by many commentators arises because

of the position taken by such writers on the Quran in terms of most of them

assuming that man was wholly completed in clay (fully formed). They then

go on to further interpret, based on this flawed interpretation, that when it

says that God decreed a time/period, God is referring to the duration on

earth, whereas others take it to mean the duration until Resurrection.

Let us examine the meaning of “…decreed a term” and also “…a term

known to Him”, even further. Firstly, let us construct a parallel sentence so

that we can understand this verse better. Verse 6:2 is equivalent to the

following statement, in terms of pattern: The process for creating a car (any

group of objects known as a car and not any specific car with a unique license

plate) is initiated by melting iron ore. Then there is decreed period which is

fixed for the development of the car. It is fixed because it is known. Now we

may ask: fixed for what? Following the car production analogy, obviously for

the evolution of the car, that is, through the production of metal and then car

parts and then assembly etc., rather than the following, incorrect conclusion:

that the car is taken to the scrap heap (analogous to resurrection/day of

judgment) which is an end process, once the car is fully formed. Indeed, why

would it be taken to the scrap heap? What about all the intermediate

2. Asad, Muhammad, Translator, (1980), The Message of The Quran, pp. 171-172.

15


processes, especially when the first part of the sentence in the Quran in the

final Equation 6, on page 13, does not, using the analogy of cars, even speak

about the completion of the car, by iron ore, and in fact talks of the beginnings

of the car explicitly and literally!

The duration referred to in 6:2 then, refers to the development of single-

celled creatures that emerged after the creation of DNA etc., leading to

mutlicellular creatures, plants and vertebrates etc., in turn, leading eventually

to the earlier hominids and finally, man. For the individual ‘advanced’

organism, the completion process does not occur in clay but through DNA

etc., in an embryological process. This view then, discounts an evolutionary

view of ‘a first man’ being completely formed within a cocoon of clay, and by

the clay material itself, rather than by the other components found in clay.

It must be pointed out, that in the Quran there is no concept of the

universe having been created in seven, twenty-four hour days as per Christian

Fundamentalist Creationism. Far from it, in the Quran, in numerous passages,

it is pointed out that the Universe was created in six periods. It is well known

that the word in the Quran normally translated as day (yaum) means an

unspecified division of time. It could be a picosecond or one billion years.

These six periods, however, appear to coincide with the six divisions for the

development of earth and life on earth. In the Quran, it states that the first

two periods were spent in the creation/evolution of the earth itself:

Say: What! do you indeed disbelieve in Him Who created the earth in

two periods, and do you set up equals with Him? That is the Lord/

Sustainer of the worlds. (41:9)

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The total timeline is six periods:

Surely your Lord is God, who created the heavens and the earth in six

periods of time, and He is firm in power; He throws the veil of night

over the day, which it pursues incessantly; and (He created) the sun

and the moon and the stars, made subservient by His command;

surely His is the creation and the command; blessed is God, the

Lord/Sustainer of the worlds.(7:54)

The possibility that God created man from clay in a sudden fashion is

ruled out by two factors: It is not the clay from which man is created, but other

elements that are ‘entrapped’ in the clay. The amazing fact is that there is an

even more complex process hinted in Quran 23:12, “…from an extract from

clay” implies that not only is biological life derived from the constituents

within clay, that is, the extract in clay, but that life also develops from something

within the extract itself, the Arabic word “from”, min, being used twice in that

verse. This is a linguistic ‘double derivative’. Keep in mind that the chemical

transitions of the elements to form nucleotides, RNA and eventually DNA

cannot occur overnight.

Sequence of Creation

Since clay-based evolution has occurred, and clay was not isolated on one

spot on the earth, according to the previous analysis of the Quran, life did not

develop on one spot on earth, but throughout the earth. There was not just

17


one ‘primeval pond’ but many on the earth. In 24:45 it is stated that all

carbon-based life began from water after the big bang:

And God has created water-based (corporeal) creatures.

Note that the Quran states that every dabbah is created from water. This verse

is taken to mean both that water is the prime ingredient for carbon-based life

and also that life evolved out of water as a necessary ingredient for evolution.

Since, like clay, water was not only on one spot on earth but universal, it

means that life originated throughout the various parts of earth

simultaneously.

To continue with an analysis of Quran 24:45, the sequence in which the

major current groups of animals: mammals, birds, reptiles and amphibians is

described is as follows:

…. so of them is that which walks upon its belly, and of them is that

which walks upon two feet, and of them is that which walks upon four;

God creates what He pleases; surely God has power over all

things.(24:45)

Here four groups of animals are mentioned. The order of appearance,

according to these verses is: 1. reptiles and amphibians, 2. birds and then 3.

mammals. However, currently, the theory for the emergence of these groups is:

1. reptiles and amphibians, 2. mammals and then 3. birds. In the Quran, it is likely

being stated that birds preceded mammals. In fact, a recent Scientific American

article regarding a discovery made in China pushes back the date of the origin

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of flight – in dinosaurs or birds (the classification is uncertain) – which walk

on two legs. The fossil record shows clearly that the dinosaur/bird had

asymmetrical feathers that are the only ones used for flight such as those

which exist on present day flying birds. I surmise that it will be firmly

discovered that birds originated before mammals.3

3. Prum, O. and Brush, Alan H., (2003), Scientific American, “Which Came First,

the Feather or the Bird?”, pp. 84-93.

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Chapter 2

Clay as Catalyst

Chapter 2

Clay as Catalyst

Recent research is pointing to the Quranic solution that we have been created

from clay and indeed in the manner presented in this book. The general

problem regarding the origin of life has been how DNA, the source of

organisms, has been formed. Since you need RNA for DNA, then how did

that begin in the first place? In Graham Cairns-Smith theory4, it was

suggested that since clay has a crystalline structure, perhaps it formed a

template through which life emerged. Eventually this formed life and the

initial template or scaffolding that assisted its formation has vanished, much

like when a building is being constructed. In other words, at a certain point,

the organic molecules took-over and started replication. However, more

recently, the relation of clay and the origin of life is converging on the view

being presented in this book through the work of James P. Ferris and his

colleagues. Ferris has discovered, as stated in the Quranic verses cited above,

that clay served as a cooking pot which contained, protected, moulded and

synthesized enzymes to produce RNA and thence DNA, that is, the road to

life. In their technical paper, James P. Ferris and Shin Miyakawa state the

statistically phenomenal improbablility for the minimal requirements for the

origin of life based on the RNA world model. They state that:

4. Cairns-Smith, A.G., (1985), Seven Clues to the Origin of Life.


The random formation of two RNAs containing 40 nucleotides would

require the formation of 1048 isomers weighing 1028g, an amount

comparable to the mass of the earth. 5

Clay and the Origin of Life

In the 1990’s, James Ferris, of the Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute discovered

that montmorillonite clay can serve as a catalyst in forming RNA. When

nucleotides were poured onto its surface, this type of clay caused the fusion

of the nucleotides. Up to 50 nucleotides at a time accreted together to

produce a sole RNA molecule. Currently, many chemists, biologists,

physicists, astronomers, and geologists who are researching the origins of life

believe that RNA molecules were capable of performing both enzymatic

activity and self-replication, defining what is known as the “RNA world”

scenario. Today, proteins are built through the use of both transfer and

messenger RNAs; these proteins then can act as enzymes to catalyze a variety

of chemical reactions, including the formation of nucleotides. According to

the supporters of the RNA world concept, there would be no protein

enzymes in existence to form the first nucleotides or catalyze the first

formation of RNA strands because these proteins are only formed by RNA

5. Miyakawa, Shin, and Ferris, James P., (2003), Journal of the American Chemical

Society “Sequence- and Regioselectivity in the Montmorillonite-Catalyzed Synthesis of

RNA”. citing Joyce G.F., Orgel, L.E. from the book In the RNA World: The Nature of

Modern RNA suggests a Prebiotic RNA, pp. 49-77.

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Clay as Catalyst

(the chicken and the egg problem). Therefore, the phosphate, sugar, and base

groups must have bonded through abiotic (non-biological) means. Thus far,

scientists have been unable to bind the phosphate to the sugar and base group

using conditions that were thought to have been present on the early earth;

this is a very active, current field of research. However, once a full nucleotide

unit has been formed, scientists have been able to make extended chains of

RNA, of up to 50 units (mers) in length, which could then fold to perform

catalytic activity, accelerating the ease of synthesis for future molecules and

initiating the RNA world. If free nucleotides are combined in solution, they

do not react at all. Therefore, many scientists have been searching for what

types of activating groups and inorganic catalysts must have been involved in

the polymer bonding process. Dr. Ferris, discovered one inorganic material

which facilitates this reaction: montmorillonite clay. The particular structure

of this clay serves to provide a medium in which the individual activated RNA

units combine to form larger chains. Montmorillonite clay is currently the

only mineral discovered which catalyzes the synthesis of RNA polymers

(containing a minimum of 10 nucleotides) from their single units.

The Role of Water

In verses 21:30 and 24:45 it states that God created every carbon-based/

visible living creature (not jinn or angels) from water. What role would water

have played in conjunction with clay? We know the following facts about the

involvement of water: It has been realized that four ingredients are required

for the origination of life: nucleotides, fatty acids and water and that

25


montmorillonite clay facilitates the two crucial processes that form a

rudimentary vesicle analogous to a cell from these components. Firstly, as has

been described earlier, montmorillonite clay can combine nucleotides to form

RNA; secondly, it is simultaneously able to insert the concomitant RNA into

a vesicle that forms as a result of mixing all these components. The next step

is to produce more complex reactions from within the RNA housed in the

membraned vesicle, in other words, watch a basic level of RNA based

evolution occur before one’s eyes!6 Note the amazing verse 37:11 that links

the creation of man with sticky clay, implying wetness.

The Evolution of Clay itself

The creation of man from turaab (which means “dust” in Arabic) is the

creation of man from the pre-clay situation, because even clay had an

evolution! Remember: the earth was formed from the accretion of gas and

dust which gradually produced a planet replete with rock and mud. But how

did clay form? Most of what we call “dirt” is a mixture of decomposed

organic material and inorganic material; leaves, bark, and insects with rocks

interspersed, for example. Clay forms in a dramatically different manner,

however. When rocks, specifically feldspar, weather by chemical and physical

means, they dissolve into their various elements and compounds. These

molecules often form into mainly organized layers as they settle, based on

charge, weight and other considerations. This is basically how the clays form

their layering and crystal structure, which is based on the charges of the

6. Zimmer, Carl, (2004), Discover, “How did life on earth begin?”, pp. 40-41.

26

Clay as Catalyst

individual molecules. The following verses speak about the creation of man

from dust or clay: 7:12; 17:61; 18:37; 22:5; 30:20; 35:11; 40:67. Other verses

elucidate the evolution of clay from mud:

He [Iblis] said: I am not such that I should prostrate to a human being,

whom you have created from sounding clay (salsaal) of altered black

smooth mud (hamaa masnun). (15:33)

And when your Lord said to the angels: Surely, I am going to create a

mortal out of sounding clay of altered, black, smooth mud. (15:28)

The other similar verses are: 15:26; 23:12 and 55:14.

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Chapter 3

Outlines of a New Mechanism for Evolution

Chapter 3


The true nature of information

To see how macroevolution has occurred, we need a new paradigm based on

new principles. We need to know how the universe is actually structured. We

already know several major things that Darwin was not aware of, such as the

Big Bang, genetics and subatomic particles. We also have the concept of

‘information’. In the new model of evolution being proposed in this book,

‘information’ is central; however, the general perception of ‘information’ in

present day science is not that which is completely accurate. Paul Davies

elaborates on a new, or better, understanding of “information” and

“programming” that is needed to understand how life may have begun:

We now need to explain, not the origin of material stuff, but the origin

of information. Whereas it is good science to seek a physical process to

generate matter, it is regarded as unscientific in the extreme to entertain

a process that generates information. Information is not something

that is supposed to come for free (like cosmic matter), but something

you have to work for. This is really just the second law of

thermodynamics revisited, because the spontaneous appearance of

information in the Universe would be equivalent to a reduction of the


entropy of the universe – a violation of the second law, a miracle. Now,

the fact is that the universe containing information is undeniable

(because it is not in thermodynamic equilibrium). If information can’t

get made, it must have been there at the beginning, as part of the initial

input. The conclusion we are led to is that the universe came stacked

with information, or negative entropy, from the word go.7

Might purpose be a genuine property of nature right down to the

cellular or even subcellular level [and why stop there – right to the sub-

subatomic level!]?8

Let us explore these thoughts further.

The Big Bang Origin: Quasi-equilibrium

To fully understand how evolution has really occurred, let us go all the way

back in history, to the inception of the universe: When the universe was one

piece and was ripped apart during the Big Bang, the ‘explosion’ caused

microbits (the first and smallest indivisible particles) to fly off in all directions

including the microbits criss-crossing each others trajectory, the way the piece

was set to break up. As they coalesced and started forming groups, the net

spin on a ‘grouping of microbits’ (which comprise particular particles) were

7. Davies, Paul, (1999), The Fifth Miracle: The Search for the Origin and Meaning of Life, p. 62. 8. Ibid., p. 22.

32


imparted, with different spins depending on the mode of collision and the

number of microbits coming together; hence the variety of particles (size

difference) and spins (where spin is real rotation in three-space and not a

mathematical abstraction), which in turn, down the line, created other

particles and molecules with left or right handedness and what can be dubbed

quasi-equilibrium, the third type of equilibrium after static and dynamic

equilibrium. It is therefore evidenced that quasi-equilibrium has its origin in

beginning of the universe, that is, to the Big Bang itself. The Big Bang indeed

has had a biological slant. No quasi-equilibrium, no biological evolution, and

no-one writing or reading this book! Quasi-equilibrium can be defined as a

structure that retains equilibrium, though still on the move; once the motion

or the re-organization of elements due to the structure’s internal motion, or

placement of the structure itself, reaches a critical threshold, a new state

emerges. One notices this in everyday life, as for example when a book

suddenly falls from a shelf after ‘seeming to be’ in static equilibrium, due to its

placement without any real static equilibrium. But how does quasi-equilibrium

produce macroevolution? We need to gain a new understanding of

‘information’ and couple it with quasi-equilibrium to understand how

evolution transpires.

A new definition for information

Given that the universe originated from the Big Bang, and as discussed in

Volume 1 of this series, microbits emerged from the origin as it was ripped

apart, information then, is simply our knowledge in terms of human language

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of the motion and position of these microbits, at any level, even the

biological. The ‘hardware’ is the ‘software’ and vice versa, and this hardware

and software experiences quasi-equilibrium. Now since everything originated

from the Big Bang and everything is comprised of the groupings of the

smallest indivisible particle (see From Microbits to Everything, Volume 1), then

everything is simply the combination of that particle into various

conglomerations that have produced all subatomic particles, atoms, molecules

and structures. Genes are made of molecules, and the molecules of atoms,

and the atoms of subatomic particles, and it is the motion at the subatomic

level that governs the change in the genotype (albeit with recursion). An atom

finding itself in a particular environment comprised of other atoms will

remain in its place unless it is no longer in equilibrium in that place. In other

words, a type of molecular structure ‘X’ is in a quasi-optimally stable position

as it keeps shifting in its spatial domain after each generation within the

genome due to inter-particle pressures/forces. In this case, at some level,

several such groups of particles (i.e. the said molecular structure) keep

shifting general (or average) spatial position/orientation. If these groups of

particles, forming part of the genome (i.e. the regulatory or structural genes)

are the ones that regulate body plans, their very own shifting structure causes

a cascade of changes in other parts of the genome when a treshold is reached.

For example, with the discovery of genetic switches which govern body plans,

switches would operate differently under the changed genomic

configurations, thereby altering aspects of body plans. Although this process

is natural and automatic, it is designed and sustained by an incomparable

intelligence, and it is such a process that I refer to as motion based programming.

It is this internal programming that eliminates the God-of-the-gaps. There is

34


no God-of-the-gaps whatsoever, but certainly a God of the beginnings and

ends, that is, the beginning and end of the universe. Therefore, in this system

the environment and the biological organisms act as a unit, in a co-

evolutionary fashion, but again, not the way we are usually taught to think

about this possibility. Since everything follows pathways that are governed by

quasi-equilibrium, it is as if everything is numbered in the universe and has a

sequence. If a particular plant is sequenced to develop at a certain time

because it is best able to survive at that time, and if a creature develops

independently at the same time that is perfectly attuned to the plant, it does

not mean that there is some information feedback flowing through the three

systems of the climate, plant and animal. It just means that they are sequenced to go

‘on’ together, that is all. They indeed co-evolve, but not through pressure from

each other; they are following pre-planned pathways that are in sync with

each other, as planned by a unitary mind that gives the whole process its unity

and synchronization or co-evolution. Or when the climate changes, for

example, the types of plants change, but not through natural selection. When

plants evolve with the environment, then, they have their own inbuilt pathway

of change based on motion based programming, a mechanism also

responsible for the ‘non-biotic’ environmental evolving. Therefore, the plants

are in sync and adapted to the change; they are in perfect lock-step with the

inorganic environment. Those that are not in sync die out. However, this

extinction is planned and enables the domination of other plant species. With

the type of plants existent, they help create a certain mix in the atmosphere

needed and serve as food for other animals down the road (i.e. mammals and

their sub-group, the humans etc.); however, these early large and numerous

plants will need large animals to keep them in check, in terms of

35


consumption; hence dinosaurs. With large plant eating dinosaurs one needs

large carnivorous creatures to keep things in balance, hence the T. Rex etc.

Indeed, the Big Bang was given a biological slant from the outset. It is as

if someone writes a song and then also writes the music that fits the song

perfectly. In this case, the song being life, and the music the astrophysical,

geological and atmospheric environment. The music and the song are the

composition of an infinitely ingenious correlating composer/songwriter.

When things occur in the realm of the Mind, or Imagination of God9, no

separation exists between vertical (constant intentional) control and

horizontal (cause and effect) control.

The current shift in biological thinking

To recap: The view being proposed in this book is based on the concept that

the very particles out of which the universe was originated, lent themselves to

movement in such away that their positioning at the micro level must change

imperceptibly in each generation of species, culminating in a threshold change

that eventually produces new species across the board (not hopeful

monsters). This is because at the micro level, the particles are created/exist in

a state of quasi-equilibrium. It is as if something was almost balanced but not

quite; it creeps and eventually collapses (i.e. experiences sudden change). This

would account for the reason why there is stasis for long periods and sudden

changes. The features that each creature possesses are optimally functional

and purposeful, but there is a change in their purpose for other uses, in the

9. Refer to From Microbits to Everything, Volume 2.

36


course of time. All this also explains why it is that one does not require an

exceedingly long genetic code, written at the beginning; rather, it is the

changes in the physical structure and alignment at the sub-molecular level that

accumulate due to physical forces, which, in turn, create genetic changes, and

hence the macro-transformations in the organism’s structure. In this way,

biological evolution is reduced to physics and there is no natural selection in

operation anywhere, or at any time. Indeed, objectively assessed, the

theorized natural selection cannot explain macroevolution10. Henry Plotkin is

of the view as well, that the dominant force of evolution is the internal

physical change in the genetic structure itself, caused somehow by physical

forces themselves:

Given the complexity of molecular genetic mechanisms, at least some

alteration in gene structure comes about not just through the chance

occurrence of neutral mutations, but as a result of the structural

complexities of the genome, i.e. the entire genetic complement of each

individual, itself. … there are forces that operate as an intrinsic part of

genetic structure that are a source of autogenous change in genetic

form. For example, it has long been known that not all genes assort

independently during the reducing division that occurs in the

formation of sex cells.11

10. Refer to Michael Denton's book, listed in the bibliography.

11. Plotkin, Henry, (1995), Darwin Machines and the Nature of Knowledge: Concerning

Adaptations, Instinct and the Evolution of Intelligence, p. 41.

37


Plotkin elaborates that such linked genes may interact with each other during

chromosome breakage and joining – a process called “cross-over” which

leads to “the frequency of one gene or allele increasing at the expense of

another when the DNA strands become physically intertwined with one

another. With this process, known as gene conversion, changes in gene

frequency occur internally without regard to the external environment of

supposed selection (according to Darwinism).”12 He concludes that:

…my money is on the existence of these internal genetic forces. The

complexity of molecular genetic mechanisms is such that it seems

unlikely that such effects would not exist.”13

Some of the internal forces that are coming into focus now are genetic

switches:

…[The] genetic logic relies on genetic switches at two levels. One set of

switches belongs to the Hox genes themselves. These switches activate

each Hox gene in different zones that will become different modules of

the animal. Another set of switches contain signature sequences that

are recognized by Hox proteins and that control how other genes are

expressed in different modules.14

12. Ibid., p. 41.13. Ibid., p. 41.14. Carroll, Sean B., (2005), Endless Forms Most Beautiful The New Science of Evo Devo, p. 126.

38


It is surmisable that the regulatory genes that form a network for

commanding the construction of body plans, are subtly (imperceptibly) being

repositioned within the chromosomes in each generation which has

undergone the surmised evolution. Their repositioning within the

chromosome changes the language of interaction because the language of

biology is the motion of the structures that comprise bodies (motion based

programming). However, this change cannot happen unless the network, or

perhaps network of networks changes to a critical level.

Switching in the genome is the interplay between the genes and

specialized proteins that turn on and off certain genes that cause

development. The logic of switches forms part of the language of instruction

for development; when the sentences in that logic change, the instructions

change. But logic is information and we showed that all information is based on physical

positioning in biology. The reason why the network changes is because the

chromosomal structures are being changed imperceptibly and generationally

by pressure forces during the early reproductive process. And the reason why

the chromosomal structures change is because of the nature of the molecules

that form the structures are in quasi-equilibrium. They are predisposed by the

nature of the building blocks to be in such quasi-equilibrium all the way down

to the smallest particle (the microbit).

There is a subtle clue in a discovery that shows the possibility of subtle

changes, generationally. Recently, it has been hypothesized that upon the

division of cells, the telomeres keep getting shorter in each species leading

eventually to the extinction of each species or the creation of a new species.

Reinhard Stindl states that:

39


The species clock hypothesis predicts critical shortening of telomeres

after thousands of years depending on the generation time and the

initial telomere length of a species. It is well known that replication-

dependent shortening of telomeres beyond a critical threshold induces

chromosomal instability. If proliferating cells bypass the Hayflick

limit, [where “normal somatic cells have a limited proliferative life

span…related not to elapsed time but to the accumulated number of

cell divisions (Shay and Wright, 2000)”] short and sticky telomeres can

lead to numerical and structural chromosome aberrations by forming

telomere associations, fusions and dicentric chromosomes (Artandi et

al., 2000, Gisselsson et al., 2001). High mortality in the population

induced by chromosomal instability would automatically generate

isolated groups; each of them would give rise to a new species.15

Though more research needs to be conducted on the exact nature of the

telomeres in various species and their reduction, with this new hypothesis of

Stindl, natural selection is not seen as the main source of evolution, but, to the

contrary, an internal biological mechanism is seen to play the role of

extinction and speciation. The similarity between the intelligent design

mechanism (Genomic Network Drift) postulated in this book, and telomere

shortening as playing a major role in evolution, is that there is an emphasis on

purely internal mechanisms for being the driving force of evolution, in terms of the

generational change in the genome due to structural and network changes in its

15. Stindl, Reinhard, (2004), Journal of Experimental Zoology, “Is Telomere Erosion a Mechanism of Species Extinction?”, p. 116.

40


components.

The picture which is very slowly emerging, but which fits in very well with

the entire framework of the theory for macroevolution being propounded in

this book, is that internal changes play a major role via the regulatory genes.

Here is another example: In stickleback fish, the pelvic fins vary substantively.

It has been discovered that although the Pitx1 gene has the same sequence of

the protein coding region in the different stickleback populations, it is the

gene’s expression that is significantly different and that:

the population with complete pelvic loss shows no Pitx1 expression in

appendages but retains patterns of gene activity in other areas, such as

the thymus, olfactory pits and caudal fins … This type of localized

decrease in the activity of the Pitx1 can result in pelvic-fin reduction

without affecting other parts of the body.16

This is because regulatory genes affect the timing and location of gene

activation and not the actual product of the gene. Another significant

conclusion being made, from this example, is that:

Extrapolating these results to other taxonomic groups leads to the

conclusion that major morphological change can evolve rapidly

through regulatory changes in a small number of genes. In addition,

these changes can happen in different populations and species.17

16. Neil H. Shubin and Randall D. Dahn, ( 2004), Nature, “Lost and Found”, p. 703.

41


All of this discussion of the forces of physics structuring genes, leads to the

issue of the nature of randomness versus non-randomness. Lynn Caporale

describes further, the nonrandom aspects of genetics:

It is becoming clearer and clearer that some classes of nonrandom

mutations are very appropriate to the needs of the organism. In this

book, I will discuss recent information that supports this new

understanding of evolution …18

Caporale believes that in order for the organization to survive, genes are

creative in selecting to bind to certain sites that do not cause a disruption in

molecular function, than to others, and it is those genes that will create

evolution.19 While the notion of ‘natural selection’ still echoes through her

views, she is coming close to the idea of “Genomic Network Drift”, as

described in this book, that is, of genetical quasi-structural equilibrium, where

enhancers in the genome are one of the new mechanisms being studied for

this role.

Enhancers control the expression of the gene by acting as key

components of switches that, when they are “on”, for example, trigger the

production of an RNA copy of the gene. The RNA is then read by a

17. Ibid. p. 703. See also: Shapiro, Michael D., et al, (2004), Nature, “Genetic and

developmental basis of evolutionary pelvic reduction in threespine stickleback”, pp. 717-

323.

18. Caporale, Lynn Helena, (2003), Darwin in the Genome: Molecular Strategies in Biological Evolution, p.7.19. Ibid., p. 129. Note that this idea pertains to equilibrium and stability pathways that is the basis of the theory being propounded in From Microbits to Everything, Vol. 3.

42


ribosome, which translates the RNA’s configuration as information into an

amino acid, which in turn folds into an encoded protein. In addition, the

sudden re-organization of the genome, may affect the switches themselves by

changing the enhancers in various ways and creating or eliminating

physiological structures that benefit the creature in its environment.

The new paradigm in evolutionary biology is that of developmental

pathways that incorporate existing genes in new ways, as, for example, through

enhancer ‘mutation’ allowing gene recruitment20. But what is gene

recruitment? Evolutionary biologist David Wilkins explains that:

In contrast to such traditionalist models, the phenomenon of gene

recruitment can explain evolutionary increases in the complexity of

pathways and networks. The process intrinsically involves the

insertion or addition of a “new” gene to a preexisting pathway, either

upstream or downstream… .21

According to Wilkins and Alonso, aside from enhancers, various

other types of regulators may be responsible for macroevolution22 and ‘hot’

research is ongoing to see exactly what these regulators are doing. The

question, however, that these evolutionary biologists are now posing is: what

is the evolutionary relevant mutation? The mechanism explained in this book

attempts to answer that question, by re-interpreting the very nature of the

20. Wilkins, David S., (2002), The Evolution of Developmental Pathways, p. 317. 21. Ibid., 310.22. Alonso, Claudio S., and Wilkins, David S., (2005), Nature Reviews: Genetics, “The molecular elements that underlie developmental evolution” , Vol. 6, No. 9, pp. 709 – 715.

43


word “mutation” in the context of the issue of organic evolution. As the

reader by now would have noted, according to the new model of Genetic

Network Drift being proposed, macroevolution does not involve mutation,

but automated creative pathways based on quasi-balance. In fact,

equilibrium or balance in biological structures can also be viewed in terms of

symmetry and asymmetry. The late Nobel Laureate, Maurice Wilkins, who I

had the pleasure of informally encountering at a cafeteria at King’s College,

University of London, in the early 1980s, and who was very fascinated by the

parity found in all levels of nature, dealt with this issue head on. In, fact, when

I encountered him at the university, he was remarking about the amazing fact

of parity found in nature. In an article, written later on, he concluded that:

There is also a combination of symmetry and asymmetry in the static

structures of many virus particles and other biological assemblies of

protein molecules. … As well as helping structures to be stable,

symmetry can provide a basis for amplification of biochemical changes.

Enzymes ….[are] arranged symmetrically in a group. If one of these

molecules receives a chemical signal which produces a conformational

change in the molecule, the enzyme activity of the molecule can be

switched on. As a result the group of molecules becomes asymmetric.

The forces between the molecules then cause the other molecules in

the group to change their conformation so that symmetry is restored.

Thus one chemical signal switches on the activity of all the molecules in

the group.23

The quasi-symmetrical state is really the quasi-equilibrium state – if we modify

44


Wilkins’ terminology. It is a quasi-symmetrical state that creeps into the

asymmetrical state slowly, until is reaches critical asymmetry, thus leading to a

cascade that causes changes and hence evolution. After this, a more

symmetrical state is achieved (stasis). This, is the real reason for the pattern

of: stasis, change (evolution), stasis, change (evolution) etc., and not the

theory of punctuated equilibrium. Here we see parity, even in process!

The importance of ‘sync’ in evolution

The importance of synchronization in nature is highlighted in Steven Strogatz

book Sync: How order emerges from Chaos in the Universe, Nature, and Daily Life.

This synchronization is integral to the process of quasi-equilibrium and

motion based programming. Strogatz describes synchronization in myriad

aspects of life such as in the flashing of fireflies, the pace-maker cells of the

heart, Einstein-Bose condensate, bridge dynamics, pendulums, traffic jams

etc. The common feature in the sequence among all these phenomena is:

there is information or motion transfer among the various components of

objects being examined, with respect to synchronization; a threshold level is

reached; a new order emerges. Strogatz highlights the fact that:

Aside from its importance and intrinsic fascination, I believe that sync

23. Hiley, B.J. and Peat, David F., (1987), (Editors), Quantum Implications: Essays in

honour of David Bohm., “Complementarity and the union of opposites”, Wilkins, M.H.F.,

pp. 349-350.

45


also provides a crucial first step for what’s coming next in the study ofcomplex nonlinear systems, where the oscillators are going to be

replaced by genes and cells, companies and people.24

Biologist, Brian Goodwin on the new emerging paradigm in biology states

that:

There are no privileged parts [in nature]; everything undergoes flux,

flow and transformation, though it is all organized. And the continuity

of the living state from generation to generation, via this organized

dynamic, results in a view of evolution as also a field of flow and

transformation, subject to both internal and external perturbation.25

This general principle corresponds with the new theory of evolution

presented in this book, based on motion based programming, and the

concept of quasi-equilibrium (or quasi-symmetry), wherein internal

perturbations are the result of a history of internal changes.

24. Strogatz, Steven, (2003) Sync: How order emerges from Chaos in the Universe, Nature,

and Daily Life, p. 287.

25. Hiley, B.J. and Peat, David F., (1987), (Editors), Quantum Implications: Essays in honour of David Bohm., “A science of qualities”, Goodwin, B.C., p. 336.

46

Chapter 4

Madam I’m Adam

Chapter 4

Madam I’m Adam

Thus far, in the microbits series, we have presented a unificatory view of the

universe. However, this unification is also between ‘science’ and ‘religion’.

Does the Quran actually contain knowledge that agrees with macroevolution,

aside from the verses on clay? In Chapter 1, we proved that the human being

was created from clay. But what of ‘Adam’ of the scriptures? We do not know

what Adam first said to Eve, but the above palindrome is certainly quite

fitting! Nowhere in the Quran does it state literally that Adam was the first

man. There are, however, other statements that indirectly lead us to believe

this, erroneously, within the Quran, due to the contextual use of the language

in the Quran being overlooked. We shall soon discuss this in depth. What we

do know is that the angels were told that God is going to create a successor

and vicegerent (the two complementary meanings of khalifah), and they

seemed to know of certain aspects of the future, in that man would commit

bloodshed. In this book, we shall not delve into how they know the future.

However, in the context of evolution, when in the Quran, it talks about

vicegerent, what God is saying is that ‘He’ is going to create a species, as well

as a single specific person. For example: BMW makes the Mini. It is not one

Mini, but a class of cars called a Mini. Later on, God does create an individual

called Adam (i.e. a particular Mini with a unique licence plate) who serves as a

model for the rest of mankind. However, it must be noted that the word


“viceregent” is also applicable to Adam, as an individual.

The Meaning of Creation from a Single Nafs in the Quran

There is a widespread misunderstanding pertaining to the Quranic verse on

Adam:

He created you from a single consciousness (nafs), then from that He

made its mate; and He has provided for you of cattle eight kinds. He

created you in the wombs of your mothers, creation after creation, in a

three layers of darkness. Such is Allah, your Lord. His is the

Sovereignty. There is no God save Him. How then are you turned

away ? (39:6) (see also: 4:1; 6:98; 7:189; 39:6).

Firstly, the above verse is not a reference to God originally creating

humankind from a single body, and from that body, creating its mate. This

verse pertains to consciousness (nafs). Continuing with the car analogies to

understand this point better: Ford manufactures the Ford Taurus and the

Ford Mercury. They look slightly different but the differences are superficial

because they are built of the same frame. Let us assume that people begin to

say that these two cars are ‘mates’. Ford created a car from one frame and

from that frame created its mate. This does not mean that the cars were

created from the same single frame but the same type of frame. That frame is

one and undifferentiated. Also, note that since the Quran is not stating that God

created you from a single body, and that from that body created its mate; God

50

Madam I’m Adam

is talking about consciousness. Similarly the nafs is like a frame which is

essentially the activated and life experienced ruh in space and time and all

humans, male and female are created from that same frame of the ruh/nafs,

that embodies the same framework and has the same origin in the mind of

God, as created entities. The maleness and femaleness is created with creation

of bodies and all the psychology that goes along with that. (In From Microbits to

Everything, Volume 2, we discuss the concept of ruh extensively and describe

exactly what it is). In this verse, as in others that use this phraseology,

emphasis is being laid on the exact equality of male and female, in terms of

their humanity, nothing more. The human male and female have equal

potential to develop their spirituality and morality and, being in essence the

same, due to the same fabric of the nafs, they are to be accorded the same

and/or equivalent rights.

The Meaning of Creation from Dust

Surely the likeness of Isa is with Allah as the likeness of Adam; He

created him from dust, then said to him, Be, and he was. (3:59)

It is not accurate to say that we are created from dust in one step, for we are

created through embryological processes, mostly, hydrogen, carbon, nitrogen

and oxygen which are not the prime components of dust. Verse 3:59

therefore implies that our creation from dust is ultimately from gaseous/dust

in the sense of stellar/planetary formation, and likewise, so is Adam’s

creation, be it the individual Adam or every one of us generically as ‘Adam’.

51


That is, we are from those very same planetary dust particles as the ultimate

source. In other words, Adam was born embryologically the same way we

were and had a mother and father. Jesus was also born through embryological

processes and ultimately from the same cosmic source of planetary dust. The

details of the early stages of Jesus’s embryological creation may have been

unusual, but he was not created out of dust in one step! All of us, including

Jesus and Adam, were created from dust in the sense that this is the first

evolutionary point for the formation of clay. Clay evolves from primal cosmic

dust. The absolute origin of dust is stardust from stellar system formation

processes from which our solar system formed from the accretion of that

ambient dust that formed our rocky planet. No dust, no clay! In fact, in the

Quran, it is pointed out that just as we were all not miraculously sprung

instantaneously from the earth, likewise were Jesus and Adam not

miraculously sprung up from dust.

The dual function of the word Adam in the Quran

And certainly [like Adam] We created you, then We fashioned you,

then (or moreover) We said to the angels: Make obeisance to Adam.

So they did obeisance except Iblis; he was not of those who did

obeisance. (7:11)

The word Adam, which means ‘ground’ from Adamah in Hebrew, is both

used as meaning humanity, or the human, as well as the name of a specific

person in the Quran. The word is used contextually, much like the word samaa

52

Madam I’m Adam

(in the Quran) which means “that which is above”, and can mean the whole

universe, or the sky etc., depending on the context. Verse 7:11, discussed

above, specifically proves that this word has a dual function, in that you, that is

the reader, are Adam, where Adam is used generically to represent ‘Man’. In

other verses, it speaks of Adam as the first person on earth we know of,

(through the Quran) with whom God had direct instructional

communication. Now based on this inference, if someone was named Adam,

he could not have existed before the origin of the Semitic language. This puts

the date of the emergence of the individual Adam around 10,000 years ago in

the Middle East/North-East African area. Obviously, Adam was not the first

man, at that time, and nowhere in the Quran does it state that Adam was the

first human. Iblis’s (Satan’s) refusal to bow down to Adam is symbolic of his

refusal to bow down to creatures made from clay (or originated in clay as we

have shown) and, in effect, he has refused to bow to us as humans, even

though ordered by God to do so, and this is another important meaning of

7:11. His rebelliousness continues and will last till doomsday. The verse should

be read, in terms of understanding, as follows:

And certainly [like Adam] We created you, then We fashioned you,

then (or moreover) We said to the angels: Make prostration to Man.

So they did prostrate except Iblis; he was not of those who did

prostrate. (7:11). A

Why is it NOT stated in the Quran that:

And certainly [like Adam] We created Adam (the historical person),

53


then We fashioned him, then (or moreover) We said to the angels:

Make prostration to him. So they did prostrate except Iblis; he was not

of those who did prostrate. (7:11). B

The reason for this is because more information is given out in a condensed

form, the way the Quran has been structured in A above. Here is how the dual

function of the word Adam is utilized in that structure and in the Quran, in

general:

1. Iblis, in 7:11 was not told to bow just to Adam, the individual who appeared

thousands of years ago, but to the species of homo sapiens, denoted by the word

Adam in verse 7:11, by the pre-juxtaposition of the word “you”.

2. The universal usage of the word Adam, as representing Mankind, also

represents a particularization, that is, the individual Adam in the story of the

garden of Eden on earth, where the word “you” is not used, and only Adam

has been used. This is the true and non-mythological story is recounted which

has a profound message for moral behaviour for all times, as it occurs to two

individuals: Adam and his wife.

Conclusion

In the Quran, it is indeed stated that all present day humanity is one species,

and that we, indeed, all emerged from a line of hominids (the exact details are

yet to be determined; refer to Milford Wolpoff’s book in the Bibliography)

54

Madam I’m Adam

tracing evolution all the way back to clay, billions of years ago. This is denoted

specifically in the Quran, by the statements which include the description of

mankind as “children of Adam” (see Quran: 7:26; 7:27; 7:31; 7:35; 7:172;

17:70; 36:60), where the word Adam, represents humankind or Man, in this

context, given the dual usage of the word “Adam” as shown in the previous

section. Here we must remember that the word Adam is being used

generically, much like the expression Son of Man. The various micro-

evolutionary colours, features etc. then have been pre-programmed to be

adapted to various environments. The larger neuro-cognitive changes

happened through the evolutionary laws that we discussed in Chapter 3. It

was not as if God intervened to create a special brain or physiology. God has

not chosen the method of tinkering to create changes, as also shown in

Chapter 3. With this new development of the human frame, the human being

was able to use consciousness (which is already the pre-existent property of

objectless space – as discussed in the Microbits’ series, Volume 2) in a deeper

and wider way than ever before. Our consciousness was not blown into an

inanimate body suddenly, but arose as the complexity of the neuronal system

evolved in such a way that it was able to access objectless space (see Volume

2) in a more remarkable way than other creatures.

55

Chapter 5

Status of the New Concept

Chapter 5


The Quran, in passage 6:2, which has been discussed in great detail, in

Chapter 1, points to the evolution of all living forms leading to man. God did

not suddenly create Adam out of clay. Adam was programmed to arise after

billions of years of evolution, where ‘programming’ has been described in

detail in Chapter 3. My view is that verse 6:2 is similar to the one that states

unequivocally that the universe is teeming with life; this is verse 42.29, where

it is stated that: “And one of His signs is the creation of the heavens and the

earth and what He has spread forth in both of them of carbon-based corporal

creatures; and when He pleases, He is all-powerful to gather them together.”

In 42:29, the verse deals with respect to extraterrestrial life. Here, we have a

situation in which the Quran clearly states some phenomenon, but we have

not, as of yet, encountered extraterrestrial carbon-based life. On the other

hand, the verse on the Big Bang (21:30) has a different status because we have

concrete and ever-mounting evidences for the Big Bang. I am convinced that

verse 6: 2 will eventually have the same status as 21:30, in terms of the status

of knowledge in nature and in purported revelation. Once the mechanism is

further understood, along the basic lines of the mechanism outlined by

Genomic Network Drift, then the status of the verse will become that of

verse 21:30. It is to be noted that about 1,000 years ago, Al-Jahiz26 is the first

person known, so far, to have postulated macroevolution, in writing, albeit


created by God; it was the Quran that initiated his and his contemporaries’

thoughts about macroevolution. Indeed, we have now come full circle on this

vast subject and there is confirmation in the Quran on the reality of

macroevolution through verse 6:2. As far as microevolution goes, there is

enough genetic variability and flexibility to allow for minor body changes, as

for example the shape of a bird’s beak, which is sequenced to the change in

habitat, through similar principles as macroevolution, but at a lower rung in

the network of the Genetic Network Drift mechanism.

The view of the mechanism of evolution then, being posited in this book,

coincides, in principle, with the record of the fossils and also with new

discoveries being made in genetics. Consequentially, the view of evolution

being presented here, though unique, has elements of the two camps of non-

divine evolution, with proponents such as Richard Dawkins, and

‘creationism’ as espoused by the Intelligent Design group such as Michael

Behe and others. Michael Behe, highlights that there is an “irreducible

complexity” of myriad structures in nature. Behe uses the example of a

mousetrap. All the components in a mousetrap have to be present and work

in a co-operative fashion for the trap to work at all. Similarly, countless

26. Al-Jahiz, Kitab al-Hayawan, (1909), edition. This was published in seven volumes

in Cairo, Vol. 4, p. 23. See also Bayrakdar, M. (1983) The Islamic Quarterly, “Al-Jahiz and

the Rise of Biological Evolutionism”, p. 152. As M. Bayrakdar observes, al-Damiri noted

many of Al-Jahiz’s statements from Al-Jahiz’s Kitab al-Hayawan (Book of Animals). Al-

Damiri’s and many other Muslim scientists’ book were translated into Latin by Abraham

Echellensis (d. Italy 1664) published under the title “De Proprietatibus et Virtutibus

Mecdicis Animalium” in Paris, 1617. This explains why the first evolutionists were from

France as Muslim evolutionary ideas penetrated that region of Europe first.

60


structures in biology are similarly interrelated in terms of the components of

which they are comprised. Behe does not see how intermediate forms could

have arisen because the particular biological structure then would be

incomplete and non-functional.

Those who oppose Behe et al, and are against any teleological arguments,

claim that one can have intermediate structures that can be usefully employed

in nature that are evolving towards the so-called irreducibly complex

structure, and that hence claim that Behe’s arguments have no validity. In

particular, they propound that evolutionary development theory can account

for the evolution of such structures, and, as a result, Behe’s arguments and

case are invalid. The anti-Behe group states that many of the processes have

redundancy. This redundancy may act as scaffolding to produce other

remarkably complex and functional biochemical/biological structures. The

main point to observe in all this counter-argument against Behe is that any

explanation used to counter the intelligent design argument is still a process

that has to be explained. For example, ‘redundancy’ has both a useful

function and is also a process. However, instead of a God-of-the-gaps

explanation, we need a seamless explanation that explains the process through

laws. Behe rightly criticizes the Evo-Devo camp of Sean Carroll, where he

highlights the fact that Hox genes, enhancers etc. cannot work in conjunction

with Darwinian natural selection (through random mutation) to produce

major beneficial changes27. The view of evolution by intention, due to an

Intelligence behind evolution, as described in this book, From Microbits to

Everything, Volume 3, holds that there is a Design and hence a designer of

27. Behe, Michael, (2007), The Edge of Evolution: the Search for the Limits of Darwinism,pp. 183-203.

61


evolution; in other words, evolution has indeed occurred, but the pathways of

biology have been pre-programmed to produce the irreducibly complex

structure through motion based programming or structuring along pathways

through Genomic Network Drift (GND). It is indeed as if an invisible hand

created the mousetrap; it is indeed as if everything knew where to go.

Everything knew where to go because of the concept of Motion Based

Programming (MBP). The principles of Genomic Network Drift and Motion

Based Programming are also the basis of non-biological evolution, for one

cannot split things ultimately into the biological and the environmental, in this

unitary system, as has been stressed.

The view of macroevolution based on GND, also coincides with the

Quranic outlook, in which it is described that the basis of the universe is the

balance of its components. It coincides with the view of the more open

members of the Intelligent Design group that there must exist a Creator and

Designer of the Universe. However, it does not agree with the ‘God-of-the-

Gaps’ scenario, where God has to keep tinkering with the universe to change

things, or that some genetic instructions are latent in the past and are turned

on at particular periods to produce evolution. The plan of God was inbuilt

when He created the Big Bang in that the particles themselves had the nature

to form dynamic pathways that led to biological evolution. Consequentially,

from the mounting evidence in nature, and the analysis of the Quran

presented in this book, biological macroevolution has occurred, but not of the

non-divine type, that is, biological evolution is not based on chance and

randomness, but order and non-randomness.

With this clear evidence from the Quran, and accumulating evidence from

nature itself, it is time, once and for all, to end the false dichotomy of the

62


separation between creation and evolution: Creation and evolution are not

two incompatible processes but are intertwined as one unit and cannot exist

without each other, given that this is the mode by which God has chosen to

structure the universe by divine fiat. This was well concluded by Alfred Russel

Wallace, the independent co-formulator of the theory of evolution by natural

selection, who explicitly acknowledged an intelligence that has been

responsible for the evolution of all life. His last book was called: The World of

Life: A Manifestation of Creative Power, Directive Mind and Ultimate Purpose,

published in 1911, in which he states28:

… the infinite Deity not only designed the whole of the cosmos, but ...

He Himself alone is the consciously acting power in every cell of every

living thing that is or ever has been upon the earth.

Darwinian Natural Selection is a failure, but the evo-devo (e.g. genetic

switches) revolution, for instance, is showing us that control and

development is possible. A total solution has eluded all the current

philosophers and scientists, since they are not aware of the way intelligence,

independent of our conceptions of space and time, must be conceptually

‘fused’ together with the motion of particles for a complete explanation.

Indeed, most new explanations, which posit some type of internal mechanism

for evolution, beg the question of the ultimate cause of that mechanism. A

process cannot cause itself, but if it was caused by another process, infinite

regresses of one type or another would have existed, which shows that the

28. pp. 394-395.

63


cause of the change, an infinite regress away, could not have reached us (see

the “STOP–Analysis”, in Volume 2 of the Microbit series). This, in turn, leads

to a definite origin of the process at a specific time in the past (the Big-Bang),

for if the process cannot cause itself, it must be caused by a non-particled

process – that which is not matter but mind, that is, a non-anthropomorphic

Power, or God. All this is spelled out in Volume 2 of the Microbits series in

great detail and steps.29 If there is a mind that has created the process, then it

is easy to see that the universe follows a trajectory based on laws that govern

biological change, in this case: change from one species to another, ultimately

governed by the property of the building blocks of everything: the microbit.

We have attempted to show how this microbitic trajectory works using the

concepts of motion based programming, critical mass through genomic network drift

and quasi-equilibrium, for it is the ever-important concept of equilibrium that

produces stability or direction based on if/then logic, albeit the logic of

motion, shapes and structures. Such a system of development applies across

the board and includes the evolution of man too. It is interesting to note that

for galactical and geological evolution, the concept of stasis, critical mass and

sudden change appears to be the rule, as for example, in the creation of

rotating gas/disks which form the solar and stellar systems. It is only

inductive common sense that informs us that this too should be the general

process of biological evolution.

This exposition then, has been an attempt to show the framework for a

new paradigm to explain the origin and development life. If there is no

Intention, there is no direction and if there is no direction, there is no

29. Haque, Nadeem and Muslim, M., (2007), From Microbits to Everything: Universe of the Imaginator, Volume 2: The Philosophical Implications.

64


evolution. There has to be an Intelligence that creates life and consciousness;

and this creative evolution gives us greater opportunity to reflect on such an

Intelligence’s existence and attributes, unsurpassable ingeniousness, and on

further exploration to ascertain that Intelligence’s intention for creating the

cosmos. This view of evolution shows us that the creation of the human-

being is goal directed and that there is a destiny and purpose to creation;

everything in nature is goal directed; it is controlled and designed by God,

right from the inception of the universe, through laws based on the motion of

subatomic particles, where the microbits form the base. Furthermore, all

human beings originate from one pair, and were scattered, forming various

tribes and nations. We are, therefore, essentially all related and are indeed one

family. Hence, even from this angle, racism, that plagues humanity so much

to this very day, is the height of absurdity and insanity. All members of the

family must be cared for, and dealt with justly. What is important is the

proper fostering of that consciousness which has arisen in us miraculously

through the laws described in Volume 2. Indeed, the main point is that our

consciousness must recognize the higher Consciousness and thus evolve

morally. Part of that moral imperative can be gained from the concept of

equilibrium, in both the evolution of the universe, and in human relations as

is encapsulated in the Quran:

And He [God] has raised the universe with a balance so that you may

not transgress it. Therefore, weigh things with equity and do not for

fall short of the balance. (55:7)

The starting point for that type of evolution is the acknowledgment that

65


a totally non-anthropomorphic and incomparable God has always been

knocking on our door, but most of humanity has adamantly remained

oblivious to the perennial thudding, attributing it to something else, if even

they hear the sound. However, through absolutely objective-cum-logical

thinking, empirical facts, the Quran, and the consistent remnants of some

other scriptures, we are unequivocally reminded as to who is doing the

knocking. Will we open the door? Will we welcome God, the non-

anthropomorphic God described in Volume 2 of this series, into our lives and

embrace Him? Do we have the AWE? That is the ultimate question we must

evolve to!

66

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“The molecular elements that underlie developmental evolution” , Vol. 6, No.

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Asad, Muhammad, (1980), The Message of The Quran, Dar Al-Andalus,

Gibraltar.

Behe, Michael, (2007), The Edge of Evolution: The Search for the Limits of

Darwinism, Free Press, New York.

Bucaille, Maurice, (1983), What is the Origin of Man? The Answers of Science and the

Holy Scriptures. Seghers, Paris.

Cairns-Smith, A.G., (1985), Seven clues to the Origin of Life, Cambridge

University Press, Cambridge.

Caporale, Lynn Helena, (2003), Darwin in the Genome : Molecular Strategies in

Biological Evolution, McGraw-Hill.

Carroll, Sean B., (2005), Endless Forms Most Beautiful The New Science of Evo Devo,

W.W. Norton and Company, New York/London.

Davies, Paul, (1999), The Fifth Miracle: The Search for the Origin and Meaning of


Life, Simon and Schuster, New York.

Hiley, B.J., and Peat, F. David, (Editors), (1987), Implications: Essays in honour of

David Bohm, Routledge, London and New York.

Plotkin, Henry, (1995), Darwin Machines and the Nature of Knowledge: Concerning

Adaptations, Instinct and the Evolution of Intelligence, Penguin Books, London.

Prum, Richard O and Alan H. Brush, (2003), Scientific American, “Which Came

First, the Feather or the Bird?”, March, Volume 288, Number 3.

Shapiro, Michael D.; Marks, Melissa E.; Peichel, Catherine L.; Blackman;

Benjamin K.; Nereng, Kisten K.; Jonsson, Bjarn; Schluter, Dolph; Kingsley,

David M., Nature, (15 April 2004), “Genetic and developmental basis of

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Shubin, Neil H., and Dahn, Randall D., (15 April 2004), Nature , “Lost

and Found”, vol. 428.

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Telomere Erosion a Mechanism of Species Extinction?”, 302B, pp. 111-120.

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Wilkins, David S., (2002), The Evolution of Developmental Pathways, Sinauer

Associates Inc., Massachusetts.

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Index

AAdam 49-55Al-Jahiz 59-60Alonso, Claudio S., 43, 67Asad, Muhammad 14, 15, 67

BBayrakdar, M. 60Behe, Michael 60-61, 67big bang 17, 31-34, 36, 59, 62Bucaille, Maurice 12, 67

CCaporale, Lynn 42, 67carbon-based life 11, 17-18, 25, 59Carroll, Sean 38, 61, 6chromosomes 39, 40Creationism 16, 60

Ddabbah 18Darwinian 61, 63Davies, Paul 31-32DNA 9, 14, 16-17, 23, 38dust 26, 51-52

EEinstein-Bose condensate 45equilibrium 32-34, 36, 37, 39, 42, 44, 45, 65evo-devo (revolution) 61, 63extraterrestrial life 59

Ffeedback 35


Ferris, James P. 23-25

Ggenome 34, 37, 39, 40, 42, 67Genomic Network Drift 40, 59, 62, 64genotype 34God 9-18, 25, 34, 36, 49-51, 53, 55, 59-66God-of-the-gaps 34. 61, 62Goodwin, Brian 46

HHayflick limit 40hominids, 9, 16, 54Hox genes 38, 61

IIntelligent Design 40, 60, 61-62internal mechanism 40, 63irreducible complexity 33

Kkhalifah 49

Llanguage 33, 39, 49, 53

Mmacroevolution 9, 31-33, 37, 41, 43, 44, 49, 59-60, 62microbits 32, 33-34, 36, 42, 49, 51, 55, 61, 64, 65Miyakawa, Shin 23-24molecules 23-27, 33-34, 39, 44morphological change 41motion based programming 34, 35, 39, 45-46, 62, 64mud 26, 27

Nnafs 50-51Natural Selection 35, 37, 40, 42, 61, 63

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Index

Ppathways 35, 42-44, 62, 69period(s) 13, 15-17, 36, 62plants 16, 35Plotkin, Henry 37-38pressure forces 39

Qquasi-equilibrium 32-34, 36, 39, 44-46, 64quasi-symmetrical 44

Rregulatory (or structural) genes 34, 38, 41resurrection 14-15RNA 9, 14, 17, 23-26, 42Russel, Alfred 63

SShubin, Neil H. 41, 68Stindl, Reinhard 39, 40, 68STOP–Analysis 64Strogatz, Steven 45-46, 68subatomic particles 31, 34, 65sync 35, 45, 66, 68

Tthreshold 33, 36, 40, 45thumma 13

Vvicegerent 49

Wwater 17, 18, 25-26Wilkins, David S. 43, 67, 69Wilkins, Maurice H.F. 44-45

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Yyaum 16

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Documents

From Microbits to Everything: Beyond Darwinism and Creationism: Vol. 3: The Evolutionary Implications