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The Prophet Adam and Human Evolution

Sheikh Haitham Al-Haddad

category: Aqeedah

source: islam21c.com

reads: 15009

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The Qur'an clearly states that Adam was created by Allah, and with His own hands, "He said, 'Iblis, what prevented you prostrating to what I created with My own two hands?" [4] In addition, the famous Companion, Abdullah ibn Umar, said, "Allah created four things with His hand: the Throne, the Pen, the Garden of Eden and Adam. To the rest of His creation He said, 'Be!' and it was." [5] This narration clearly shows that the Companions believed that these four things, Adam included, were created in a way different to other animals and creatures. The authenticated ahadith furnish us with further examples that leave no doubt whatsoever that this was an actual act performed by Allah. For example, the Messenger of Allah said that on the Last Day, mankind would go from Prophet to Prophet requesting intercession; they would go to Adam and say, "You are the father of mankind, Allah created you with His hands, had the angels prostrate to you, and taught you the names of all things." [6] If Adam was created from a 'despised drop' and like all other human beings, then what is the point of singling him out as being created by Allah's hands?

"The likeness of Jesus, to Allah, is the same as Adam. He created him from earth and then He said to him, 'Be!' and he was." [7]

This verse is often quoted in isolation from the reasons for which it was revealed, thus, some evolutionists claim that the verse asserts that Jesus and Adam were born in the same way – through the womb of a female. Such an interpretation is deceptive as a brief look into the sabab al-nuzul (causes for revelation) quickly makes clear that the verse was revealed to repudiate the Christian argument that proof of Jesus' divinity is his having no earthly father. The verse states that Adam had no parents whatsoever, being created instead from earth, yet this did not make him divine; the comparison then was between the single parent of Jesus and the absence of parents in regards to Adam.

The Qur'an informs us that Allah "taught Adam the names of all things" [8] and so, we resolutely know that Allah engaged Adam directly. Allah also says,

"O mankind! Be mindful of your Lord who created you from a single soul and created its mate from it and then disseminated many men and women from the two of them." [9]

"It is He who created you from a single soul and made from him his spouse so that he might find repose in her." [10]

"O mankind! We created you from a male and female, and made you into peoples and tribes so that you might come to know each other." [11]

If we were to ignorantly suppose that Adam was born of evolved apes, we would then be positing, according to the verses above, that the creation of Hawwa' was ever so more significant than that of Adam as she was not born but actually fashioned, by God, from Adam. Thus, in negating the instantaneous creation of Adam, the evolutionist is still left having to affirm the instantaneous creation of Hawwa'! And it is this fact, from amongst the many, that exposes the nonsense spewed by evolutionists, for in striving to negate a miracle of God (the creation of Adam), they resort to having to affirm it elsewhere (the creation of Hawwa'), that is, if they can resist the urge to deny the book of God outrightly.

The story of the Sabbath-breakers is well known whereby Allah cursed the disobedient and turned them into monkeys and pigs. [12] How then, can the honoured sons of Adam [13] actually come from that which is considered a curse? Of course, in being honoured, it is only logical to conclude that either humans haven't come from apes, or that we negate the maskh itself and claim that the Sabbath-breakers did not turn into apes and pigs. Even if we were to state, for the sake of argument, that the transformation was metaphorical, the essential point still remains that they were cursed by taking on qualities of monkeys and apes. Correspondingly, there are various contradictions that arise in relation to Adam and Hawwa' when attempting to scripturally justify human evolution. There are various mutawatir texts that confirm that Adam and Hawwa' lived as spouses and that mankind came from the two, indeed the textual evidences regarding this point are particularly decisive. Furthermore, it seems quite an irrational interpretation that Allah mentions Hawwa' as being brought into existence through Allah's direct involvement, yet Adam, the first human being receives no such honour! It is extremely clear that the evolutionists and their deviant ideas refuse to acknowledge the entire textual discourse surrounding the creation of Adam, instead using solitary verses as a justification for evolutionist beliefs. Thus, in order to attempt some form of reconciliation between the two accounts, the evolutionist must adapt the Qur'an to fit the theory, or the theory to fit the Qur'an, or transform both equally, and in every case, each possibility is as preposterous as the others, all serving as evil paths to heresy.

In going beyond the Qur'an, we find that the ahadith are full with authentic narrations concerning the creation of Adam, and in keeping with deceitful intent we find that many liberals and evolutionists completely ignore the existence of such ahadith. Indeed they have to, for the shari'ah of Allah is preserved through the Prophetic narrations and so the evolutionists will do anything to maintain their secular outlook on the Islamic faith. In fact, the notion of evolution is deeply secular as it divorces the involvement of God in creation and attempts to posit Nietzsche's opinion that if there is a god, then he merely initiated creation (which grew on its own) and that god is now non-existent or dead – we seek protection from Allah from such profanity.

We find that Anas ibn Malik relates from the Prophet,

"When Allah fashioned Adam in Paradise, He left him as He willed. Iblis then wandered around him examining him. Upon seeing him as hollow from within, he recognised that Adam had been created with a disposition that he would not have control over himself." [14]

I have not seen any scholar, past or present, who affords science the authority to determine how Adam was created. In cases where scholars do refer to science (in a limited capacity), they tend to provide their conclusions and then either explicitly/implicitly mention that this matter should be dealt with through science. In numerous verses the Qur'an commands mankind to reflect on the various types of creation, the alternation of day and night, and the celestial orbit of planets, but there is no indication whatsoever of an evolved Adam. In fact, the Qur'an describes the process of human creation in the womb but discounts the evolution of humans from monkey-like beings. If it is argued that the lack of evolutionary descriptions in the Qur'an is due to evolution's complex nature, then we retort with the fact that so too is the process of foetal development, yet revelation informs us of it and to its fullest extent.

There are countless texts that can be analysed, but to do so would make this article voluminous. However, even light analysis of the Qur'an and Sunnah makes it exceedingly evident that such heretical beliefs have no place within Islamic thought - the Companions and early Muslims all understood the manner in which Adam was created by Allah and it is preposterous to claim that Allah revealed scripture that was misunderstood by all of the aforementioned, yet the Most High did not rectify their misreading!

Is the creation of Adam a scientific or religious matter?

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