Preface of A Book: The Quran and the Biological Evolution

Written and collected by Zia H Shah MD, Chief Editor of the Muslim Times

Preface

Many biologists now believe that the field of biology does not make sense any more without the paradigm of evolution.  So, as Muslims if we want to believe in a spontaneous creationist story of Adam being created out of a statue of mud, we are going against a very large body of evidence.  Sometimes as devout believers we take shelter in the fundamental belief that the holy Quran is the literal word of All-Knowing God.  That is all well and good and I fully believe that.  Nevertheless, our understanding of the Quran, given our human limitations, can be flawed and is not guaranteed.

This book affirms that God is the Creator of our universe as clearly stated in the last verse of Surah Hashr: “He is Allah, the Creator, the Maker, the Fashioner. His are the most beautiful names. All that is in the heavens and the earth glorifies Him, and He is the Mighty, the Wise.” (Al Quran 59:24) The main focus will be through what natural mechanisms or laws of nature God created the universe and all the nine million species on our planet earth including humans.  After all, the God of the Quran is not only Manifest but is also Hidden.  What does the attribute the Hidden imply? Perhaps a profound verse from Surah Anaam answers the question:

Eyes cannot reach Him but He reaches the human consciousness. And He is the Incomprehensible, the All-Aware. (Al Quran 6:103)

In Surah Hadeed we read:

He is the First and the Last, and the Manifest and the Hidden, and He knows all things full well. (Al Quran 57:3)

In our busy lives we are not meditating on Allah’s attributes the way we should.

A man sat at a metro station in Washington DC and started to play the violin; it was a cold January morning. He played six Bach pieces for about 45 minutes. During that time, since it was rush hour, it was calculated that thousands of people went through the station, most of them on their way to work.

Three minutes went by and a middle aged man noticed there was musician playing. He slowed his pace and stopped for a few seconds and then hurried up to meet his schedule.  A minute later, the violinist received his first dollar tip: a woman threw the money in the till and without stopping continued to walk. A few minutes later, someone leaned against the wall to listen to him, but the man looked at his watch and started to walk again. Clearly he was late for work.

The one who paid the most attention was a 3 year old boy. His mother tagged him along, hurried but the kid stopped to look at the violinist.  Finally the mother pushed hard and the child continued to walk turning his head all the time. This action was repeated by several other children. All the parents, without exception, forced them to move on.

In the 45 minutes the musician played, only 6 people  stopped and stayed for a while. About 20 gave him money but continued to walk their normal pace.  He collected $32. When he finished playing and silence took over, no one noticed it.  No one applauded, nor was there any recognition.

No one knew this but the violinist was Joshua Bell, one of the best musicians in the world. He played one of the most intricate pieces ever written with a violin worth 3.5 million dollars.

Two days before his playing in the subway, Joshua Bell sold out at a theater in Boston and the seats averaged $100.

The details of the above legend may be off in minutiae but the theme is true.

One of the possible conclusions from this experience could be: If we do not have a moment to stop and listen to one of the best musicians in the world playing the best music ever written, how many other things are we missing?

We definitely take all the master pieces of Allah’s creation for granted. The anesthesia of familiarity sets in and we take the marvels of God’s creation for granted, until the best scientists, even if not believers present to us the intricacies and details of cosmology, physics and biology. it reminds us of a short expression from the 23rd chapter of the Quran, the Arabic words are: فَتَبَارَكَ اللَّهُ أَحْسَنُ الْخَالِقِينَ: Glory be to God who is the best of the creators. The whole verse is quoted with the context below:

We created man from an essence of clay, then We placed him as a drop of fluid in a safe place, then We made that drop into a clinging form, and We made that form into a lump of flesh, and We made that lump into bones, and We clothed those bones with flesh, and later We made him into other forms. Glory be to God, the best of creators! (Al Quran 23:12-14)

These verses talk about the development of the fetus, in an age, in the 7th century, when people hardly had any curiosity about the subject. The miracle of mammalian placenta is examined further in a separate chapter.

But, the miracle of the Quran does not only lie in accurate description of yet unknown natural phenomena, rather the whole claim of of Allah being the best of Creators, when we look at the complete creation of humans through guided evolution.

As a physician, the more I see and read about different diseases, the more I marvel at the miracle of a healthy body with thousands if not millions of automated checks and balances to keep the human body functioning amazingly in a variety of situations and circumstances.

The complexity and organization that we come to see through the study of genetics and molecular biology in health and disease is really mind boggling. The conclusion is inescapable that Allah is the best of Creators.

But, like Joshua Bell was ignored, we ignore Allah’s creativity and providence in most moments of our unthinking lives.

This book explores the relationship between the Quran and the scientific theory of evolution, specifically addressing the verses concerning the meeting of Adam with God, angels, and Satan. It proposes a metaphorical interpretation of these verses, drawing inspiration from the evolving understanding of the Covenants in Islamic theology.

This book aims to foster a deeper understanding of the Quran in light of scientific knowledge while remaining respectful of traditional interpretations. It encourages open dialogue and exploration within the Muslim community.

As you familiarize yourself with the table of contents, you will see that there are two chapters about the Muslim theology of the two Covenants.  The two covenants are The Primordial Covenant of All of Humanity and The Covenant of the Prophets.  The mention of a Hadith about the prophet Muhammad, may peace be on him, existing before the prophet Adam, in the chapter of The Covenant of the Prophets, and much more suggest that these covenants were understood to be literal in the early Islamic history. But many learned contemporary theologians take these as metaphorical now.

Likewise, I am proposing that the meeting of Adam with God, angels, and Satan, in the Quran, need not be taken literally, given the discoveries of modern biology and evolution.

I am going to describe to the best of my ability relevant biology and evolution, especially molecular biology nailing common ancestry of all nine million life forms on planet earth, as a scientific fact, but I do not need to be the best teacher in these domains.  Readers could access better sources.  I am going to link two authors here: Richard Dawkins and Kenneth Miller.[i] [ii]

Likewise, I am going to describe theology of the above mentioned two Covenants, how during the last fourteen centuries, the understanding has gradually moved from literal to metaphorical, as theology, philosophy and science have progressed.  Again, the readers can find more eloquent theologians of their preference on the subject.

I have pooled more than 80 verses about the meeting of Adam with God, angels, and Satan in one chapter. The new idea in this book and my main thesis is that all these  verses are best understood metaphorically and my precedent for this is the prior example of the Covenants. 

We can continue to embellish the best ways to show Divine Guidance in evolution but need to completely shy away from traditional creationism.

The discussion about evolution leads to a new window in the understanding of the Quran in a progressive manner, in correlation with biological and other sciences.

This book is primarily intended for the Western Muslims seeking to reconcile their faith with modern scientific knowledge. It may also be of interest to agnostics, atheists, and followers of other faiths seeking a deeper understanding of the Quran and its interpretation in the context of science.

I firmly believe in the Quran as the literal word of God. However, this book argues that seemingly literal interpretations of certain verses, particularly those concerning the creation narrative, can be re-examined in light of scientific advancements.

Feedback and new ideas are welcome.

Zia H.  Shah MD. 

ziahshah@hotmail.com

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[i] https://www.amazon.com/The-Ancestors-Tale-audiobook/dp/B00V501GYI/ref=sr_1_14?crid=2Z8X4WUIZ7BTD&dib=eyJ2IjoiMSJ9.f2F5DpdMSnIHoJEQzEZwH6JYbh29ku-N54N1Ykn7m0QHPFz2bYgRORC5A26Das-ZTizVLLDOQ2IQGOBbBI2_NCJyZw3FuyTmIy-bSp0dkH6C73g-3pUjhg0XXIuulS1hFZCJ9pSHpcRfj4pQeNDMks2OHXdIaUoax4UdP-nZVK7viDdUPsExSyN1xa_yON-hd1rA4iKpMmnM7TuN_X9wFAX1FhO7QLPq_E3nan5P5a5_gsi-RSOuWr8kov7ho1zWuembo3pSwwTo7P7L-UsIVloq5QO6MHJm18Ov0Z2tbYA.hJOhNpHqBHuR-DrHwVj7HevAYzQcOVTW6LtfYaf5vo4&dib_tag=se&keywords=richard+dawkins+books&qid=1709737158&sprefix=richard+dawkins+books%2Caps%2C105&sr=8-14

[ii] https://www.amazon.com/Finding-Darwins-God-Scientists-Evolution/dp/0061233501/ref=sr_1_1?crid=34SRWMNTW0JL0&dib=eyJ2IjoiMSJ9.5IcJ21Zg7C08-bkWgIvXYXaYTnSu5ZkCswvcbAFtir64a50e4Z5_N-ToxxK8iHORq7_pUCAg93XKr9U4dqlt7EUHt9ZXGZViYUgy4qSdQFKJClebNogNE2JraAbdB5kUlnuPioaqfnEVYK4jTk4Fy4VSuO9-dSEm7AFYtkG3Wmiqfh7ir5lIuleCi2GNjfeq_n3mayE70qznXHUtFtzrLGmoTFuAnmYdqUZxa5YLADE.U8U6TS2R1AjoxcP2j6ou0Ur1tipmFrpIK3VvGNeO0fY&dib_tag=se&keywords=kenneth+miller+God&qid=1709737262&s=audible&sprefix=kenneth+miller+god%2Caudible%2C75&sr=1-1