ISLAM AND EVOLUTION: A BRIEF REVIEW OF QURANIC CONCEPT AND CONTEMPORARY THOUGHTS

Abstract

Of all the biological theories, the speculation of human evolution considerably poses a noteworthy challenge to the Islamic standpoint because it directly threatens the central position of mankind in this universe.  According to the Qur’anic point of view, the miracle of the creation of man directly belongs to Allah almighty’s intention and His deliberate will. That’s why Human Evolution has turned out to be a hot discussion amongst believers and non-believers, as it can’t be rejected or accepted in one stroke. The Muslim thinkers appeared to be typically hostile and suspicious of human evolution, meanwhile, the evolutionists area unit is busy to prove that homology (similarities amongst species) shows common ancestry of different species. Anyhow, bioscience has rejected this theory as it contains contradictory statements due to some faulty assumptions like it can’t answer a straightforward question: “How did life come into existence on this planet, namely Earth?” But Sacred writing (Qur’an) has created an unambiguous and absolute conception in this regard. The purpose of this qualitative research mainly has two folds. The first is to spotlight the conception of the evolution of man in step with primary sources of Islamic shari`ah (Qur’an and Hadith), and the second is to analyze the theology of the researchers, philosophers, and scholars based on human evolution. However, the theory of evolution is not ideologically appreciated by Islamic groups. In fact, it is considered nothing but a material-based thought. Somebody ought to be very careful to make a final statement concerning human evolution without a deep analysis of Islam and bioscience.