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Quran and Human Evolution
By Dr. Ahmed Afzaal
First published in "The Qurani Horizons"
!uly#eptember $%%&' (olume $. ) *o. +
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Evolution is ,enerally onsidered to be totally inompatible -ith the slami
understandin, of reality. This' ho-ever' happens to be a superfiial /ud,ment. 0pon
deeper refletion' the idea of evolution' and of ,radual development and pro,ress
from one sta,e to the ne1t' omes out as entral to the slami -orldvie-.
Althou,h the idea of evolution sprouts from the Holy Quran itself'$ many of the
presentday 2uslim sholars find this notion hard to s-allo-' partiularly -ith
referene to biolo,ial evolution. The reason for their abhorrene is probably the fat
that the very oneption of evolution brin,s up in their minds the appallin, ima,e of
an ape s3uattin, in mans family tree' somethin, -hih they onsider as diametrially
opposed to the Qurani onept of human di,nity. Ho-ever' -e shall try to sho- in
the present artile that it is 3uite possible to believe in the universal phenomenon of
evolution' inludin, the evolution of man from lo-er animals' -ithout havin, to
surrender the faith in the reative ativity of Almi,hty Allah 4#5T6 and -ithout
subsribin, to the de,radin, philosophy of Dar-inism. This is possible beause of thefollo-in, reasons) n the first plae' evolution is not synonymous -ith Dar-inism7
seondly' althou,h evolution is a universal fat 8 -hih an be established throu,h
the study of omparative morpholo,y' paleontolo,y' embryolo,y' anthropolo,y' and
,enetis 8 the theory -hih is ommonly propounded to e1plain its mehanism' i.e.'
*atural #eletion' is by no means a seure and sientifially proven fat7 and' finally'
beause the slami onept of human di,nity is based on the presene in man of a
nonphysial soul and has nothin, to do -ith his physial body.
The immediate response of the orthodo1 2uslim sholars to the idea of human
evolution' -hen it first arrived from the 5est in the 2uslim -orld durin, the late
nineteenth entury' -as one of outri,ht and total re/etion. The onflit bet-een the
shools of Deoband and Ali,arh in British ndia imitated a some-hat similar frition
in the 5estern -orld bet-een the #ientifi9:ationalist and the
:eli,ious9Traditionalist shools of thou,ht. Ho-ever' it is our ontention that no
inherent dihotomy e1ists bet-een the rational and the reli,ious' partiularly the
Qurani' -orldvie-s' other than an artifiial and temporary disrepany -hih
arises out of either the launae in the available sientifi ;no-led,e or a
misinterpretation and misunderstandin, of the ;no-led,e revealed by Almi,hty Allah
4#5T6.
Reason and Revelation
The olossal amount of aademi -or; -hih -as done by our learned anestors in
the field of Qurani e1e,esis is hi,hly valuable' but these tafaseer 8 on aount of a
pauity of sientifi ;no-led,e in that era 8 often ontain errors in the e1planation
of the Qurani allusions to natural and physial phenomena. The human errors in
e1e,esis should never be mista;en for "errors" in the Divine te1t. nstead' our
interpretations of the Qurani referenes to natural proesses 8 for e1ample' the in
utero development of the fetus and the appearane of first man on earth 8 need to be
arefully reonsidered and revised in the li,ht of modern sientifi ;no-led,e.
:eli,ion and siene are' in fat' lose allies in the searh for truth and not adversariesor anta,onists. Both strive to reah the ultimate realities of e1istene. Ho-ever' -hile
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siene uses a old and dry indutive method and an' by definition' arrive only at
partial truths re,ardin, the observable universe' reli,ion uses an intuitive and diret
approah to ;no-led,e and arrives at the -hole truth' -hih inludes the invisible
and transendent realities. Furthermore' sine the material and the spiritual' or the
physial and the metaphysial' are t-o aspets of the same reality' at least some
de,ree of overlap bet-een sientifi and reli,ious ;no-led,e is inevitable. Thus' thefats unovered by siene an help us understand more learly the truths revealed by
reli,ion' and' in the same -ay' various reli,ious insi,hts an help supply the missin,
piees in the puzzles of sientifi ;no-led,e' thereby pavin, the -ay to a more
holisti' oherent' and inte,rated vie- of reality. n the present artile -e shall apply
this approah to the problem of human evolution.
5ithout sho-in, any disrespet or irreverene to them' it may be pointed out that our
reli,ious sholars have' durin, the last ouple of enturies or so' restrited themselves
-ithin a rather narro- irle of ativity' -hih is essentially onerned -ith
defendin, the do,mati and ritualisti frame-or; of slam. 5hile this in itself is a
valuable servie' -hat is really needed is revival and reonstrution of differentaspets of the slami ideolo,y in ontemporary idiom. A proper reonstrution of
slami theolo,y' for e1ample' -ould re3uire a thorou,h study of the developments in
the sientifi and philosophial thou,ht' espeially durin, the last 5ith referene to osmi and human evolution' as -e
shall see' the ri,ht position is to aept as true the ,eneral notion of pro,ress and
development in the universe as -ell as the idea of the evolution of human bein,s from
lo-er lifeforms' but to re/et and refute the theory that all this happened as a result of
blind and purposeless "fore" of *atural #eletion.
The Darwinian Revolution
The idea of ,radual and orderly han,e 8 or evolution 8 an be traed to thebe,innin, of ?ree; philosophy' -hen Heralitus said that everythin, moves and
everythin, han,es. Aristotle not only tau,ht the idea of evolution' but also provided
a theory of its auses. The :oman poet @uretius ,ave the theory of ,radual
development of animal life from the simplest first be,innin,s to more omple1 forms.
Ho-ever' in modern times' it -as the Frenh naturalist !. B. @amar; 4$$C>%6
-ho formulated a omplete theory of speies transformation. Aordin, to him' in
any livin, reature' or,ans improve in effetiveness if used and deteriorate if not used'
and this improvement or deterioration -ill be passed on to its offsprin,. E1plainin,
his vie-s' @amar; said that all life has an innate drive for perfetion -hih leads to
evolution of or,anism. n order to deal -ith han,ed environmental onditions' the
animal brin,s about a han,e in its habits' involvin, the ,reater use of some or,ans4resultin, in their ,ro-th6' and redued use of some other or,ans 4ausin, their
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de,eneration6. #uh modifiations or a3uired haraters are inherited by the
offsprin,' leadin, to the proess of transformation. This theory' thou,h simple and
onvinin,' -as based upon a flimsy foundation' as the notion of the inheritane of
a3uired haraters ould not be proved.+
Durin, the middle of nineteenth entury' -e find the idea of or,ani evolution 3uiteommon in Europe' thou,h a solid mehanism of its ausation -as still la;in,. 2en
li;e 5illiam 5ells' Edmond Blyth' atri; 2atthe-' and Alfred 5allae -or;ed on
the idea of evolution after @amar;. t is interestin, to note that many naturalists
durin, the seventeenth and ei,hteenth enturies -ere ler,ymen' and that they tended
to see the study of nature as a sure -ay to a ,reater appreiation of the Divine
reative ativities. The enmity bet-een reli,ion and siene had not yet entered the
field of biolo,y. The prevalent idea -as that the atheist has to be -illfully blind to
i,nore the lear si,ns of ?ods e1istene every-here in the livin, -orld. t -as
,enerally believed by the naturalists that the e1istene of ?od an be inferred from the
evidene of the e13uisite desi,n in nature' inludin, the fat that or,anisms are so
perfetly adapted to their environment. Even -hen some of the biolo,ists of s;eptialtendenies ould not a,ree -ith all of the dotrines of the established hurh' they
-ould still remain' more or less' -ithin the boundaries of theism. All this han,ed'
of ourse' -ith the advent of Dar-in.
harles Dar-in -as born in #hre-sbury' En,land' in the year $C=%' and ame from a
prosperous and eduated family. n $C>
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variations -ould be unable to reprodue themselves in suffiient numbers and -ill'
onse3uently' perish. The phrase #urvival of the Fittest atually ame from
philosopher Herbert #pener 4$C>=$%=+6' -ho had speulated on evolution -ell
before Dar-ins theories beame ;no-n' and had pouned ea,erly on Dar-ins
thesis. n addition to #pener' Thomas Hu1ley and Ernst Hae;le also played
si,nifiant roles in preparin, the ,round for Dar-ins seond boo;' in -hih theauthor proposed that man is a desendent of apeli;e reatures.
There -ere serious errors and ma/or ,aps in the Dar-inian hypothesis of *atural
#eletion' as a result of -hih most early ritiisms -ere based on sientifi
ar,uments. #ome of the ,aps in Dar-ins theory -ere filled by others in the period
follo-in, his death in $CC>. ?re,or 2endel 4$C>>$CC6 had disovered the la-s
relatin, to inheritane as early as $C&
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did try to reonile Dar-ins vie-s -ith the teahin,s of the #riptures' but' in
,eneral' the reation from the hurh -as vi,orously hostile. Thomas Hu1ley 4$C>
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The fundamental error involved in this type of thin;in, is sometimes desribed as the
hypothesis of "?od of the ,aps." The development of siene in Europe ourred in
an intelletual environment -here the onept of a reator or a Desi,ner -as often
employed only for the purpose of fillin, the launae in human ;no-led,e. An "at of
?od" -as somethin, you ould not e1plain on the basis of available sientifi data.Thus' the presene of innumerable speies of plants and animals and their marvelous
adaptation to their environments -as e1plained as bein, the "-or; of ?od." Ho-ever'
as more and more la-s of nature -ere unovered' the need to invo;e a deity -ent on
dereasin, by the same proportion. #iene' -hih is essentially the study of the
reative ativities of Almi,hty ?od' -as thus turned into a substitute for ?od. This
fallay is still found in modern sientifi -ritin,s. For instane' arl #a,an' the
famous astronomer and popular siene -riter' laims in his television series and
boo; osmos that the idea of evolution throu,h *atural #eletion has suessfully
replaed the old hypothesis of an allpo-erful reator)
The idea that every or,anism -as metiulously onstruted by a ?reat Desi,nerprovided a si,nifiane and order to nature and an importane to human bein,s that
-e rave still. A Desi,ner is a natural' appealin, and alto,ether human e1planation of
the biolo,ial -orld. But' as Dar-in and 5allae sho-ed' there is another -ay'
e3ually appealin,' e3ually human' and far more ompellin,) *atural #eletion ...$$
bviously' the idea of evolution desribes a fundamental fat of the universe and
*atural #eletion is a valuable method of study' but they annot e1plain the -orld on
their o-n. Evolution is the desriptive interpretation of the ori,in and history of life
on earth7 it does not in itself neessitate any partiular mehanisti or atheisti
attitude. Ho-ever' in the hi,hly har,ed and polarized intelletual milieu of the
seond half of nineteenth entury' those -ho -ere already inlined to-ards atheism
thou,ht that they have found' in the form of Dar-ins theory' the oup de ,rKe for
reli,ion. Thus' Friedrih En,els -rote to his omrade Garl 2ar1 in $C
Dar-inism -as enthusiastially adopted and developed on purely materialisti lines
by the intelletuals of atheisti disposition' in the hope that it -ill demolish the
foundations of all reli,ious belief. The ori,in and evolution of man -as no- bein,vie-ed as resultin, from pure hane' ma;in, obsolete all spiritual and moral
onerns. This provided the perfet e1use to the philosophy of moral relativism and
absolute liberalism. 2an ame to be vie-ed as nothin, more than a sophistiated
brute' onsiousness -as e1plained a-ay in terms of eletrohemial and mehanial
proesses in the brain' and the uni3uely human phenomenon of reli,ious e1periene
-as disarded as a mental aberration or a result of -ishful thin;in,.
The Friction between Reason and Revelation
t is not surprisin,' therefore' that reli,ious sholars in the 2uslim -orld reo,nized
the demons of atheism' immorality' and permissiveness that -ere lur;in, beneath theapparently innoent faade of a sientifi theory. Their re/etion and ondemnation of
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Dar-inism -as e3ually e1peted. This re/etion inevitably resulted in a serious
division and disord bet-een the teahin,s of the #hool and those of the 2os3ue.
Loun, 2uslims -ere espeially vulnerable to the perple1ity aused by the onflit
bet-een the more rational and more redible urriulum offered by the lar,ely seular
shools on the one hand' and the traditional reli,ious instrutions reeived at home on
the other. This onfusion has e1isted in one form or another till the present day.
5e an no- appreiate that a lot of fallaious thin;in, and unfortunate mi1up of
theory and fat -ere involved in this dilemma7 but then' those -ere the days of
olonialism. The siene that had arrived alon, -ith the European rulers -as not to
be hallen,ed. n fat' the dazzled and a-estru; "natives" -ere in no position to
3uestion anythin, -hih -as even remotely onneted -ith the rulers. ur anestors
belon,in, to the #ir #ayyid shool of thou,ht' -ho adopted an attitude of total
a3uiesene and intelletual sub/u,ation to rationalism and the ne- "enli,htenment"'
-ere not ,uilty of any -illful -ron,doin,7 they -ere simply stupefied in the fae of
an over-helmin, opponent. n the other e1treme' our reli,ious sholars or ulama
adopted a ne,ative attitude and refused to aept anythin, that -as even remotelylin;ed -ith the rulers. This resulted in a serious dihotomy bet-een the "-orldy" and
the "reli,ious" se,ments of our soiety' somethin, -hih has ontinued to intensify
despite numerous attempts to find a middle path.
Today' -e are in a muh better position' relatively spea;in,' beause -e feel
intelletually free and onfident to distin,uish ri,ht from -ron,. 2oreover' the
onstany and absolute dependability of the sientifi vie-point has also disappeared'
,ivin, -ay to the merurial manner in -hih theories ome and ,o. Today' -e find
ourselves on a muh stron,er footin, to ar,ue that evolution and Dar-inism are t-o
different thin,s. That evolution is a natural and ubi3uitous la- of nature is a fat
based upon our daytoday observations as -ell as sientifi in3uiry and philosophial
onsiderations. At the same time' the theory of *atural #eletion is /ust that 8 a
theory' and not a very ,ood one at that. *atural #eletion is ertainly appliable in
many ases' but it is far from bein, proved as the sole or even a ma/or ause of
biolo,ial evolution as it too; plae on earth.
Evolution: Descriptive and Instructional
The ideas relatin, to the proess of evolution an be divided into t-o separate
ate,ories) Desriptive and nstrutional. 5hat is meant by desriptive evolution is
that lifeforms have under,one innumerable han,es durin, the ourse of the last fourbillion years' that hi,her and more omple1 or,anisms have evolved from simpler
ones' and that all speies an be traed ba; to the simplest forms in -hih life
initially appeared. nstrutional evolution' on the other hand' onsists of the various
theories that are propounded to e1plain the mehanism of evolution' Dar-ins *atural
#eletion bein, one suh attempt. n other -ords' desriptive evolution deals -ith the
3uestion of -hat' -hereas instrutional evolution tries to ans-er the ho- part.$+ t is
of fundamental importane that -e ;eep this ruial distintion in our minds' as any
mi1up bet-een the t-o an prelude our efforts to reah the truth and to find a
meetin, point bet-een siene and reli,ion.
5hat is most si,nifiant here is that there are hardly any doubts onernin,desriptive evolution 8 that is to say' biolo,ial evolution did ta;e plae on earth. n
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the other hand' a tremendous debate is still ,oin, on re,ardin, the instrutional
evolution 8 that is to say' the mehanism by -hih evolution too; plae has not yet
been settled. ur ontention is that the fat of evolution an not only be reoniled
-ith the teahin,s of the Quran' but that it fits perfetly in the overall sheme of
?ods reation as desribed in the Holy Boo;. n the ontrary' the theory of *atural
#eletion is basially an atheisti interpretation of evolution -hih is not only at odds-ith the spirit of reli,ion but -hih is onsidered 3uite flimsy even in the sientifi
irles. #everal alternate theories have so far been presented to e1plain the proess of
evolution' one of the most oherent of -hih is desribed belo-)
ierre ?rassM' a prominent Frenh biolo,ist' delares that the e1planatory dotrines of
evolution do not stand up to an ob/etive' indepth ritiism. He asserts that evolution
as -e ;no- it is 3uite obviously dependent on a proess of suessive additions of
,eneti information over the ourse of time. Fortuitous mutations do not ade3uately
aount for the emer,ene of ma/or variations' as they are unable to reate ne- forms
-ith modifiations that affet several or,ans in a oherent manner. His theory of
"reative evolution" has its roots in prototype forms7 all the ma/or or,anizationaltypes -ere laid do-n at a very early sta,e' follo-ed by a period of aentuation of
these phenomena' -hih -ere rounded off by a phase durin, -hih events slo-ed
do-n and the reation of ne- types finally ,round to a halt. Aordin, to ?rassM'
evolution and morpholo,ial variations an only our as a result of the reation of
ne- ,enes alon, -ith han,es in the e1istin, ,enes of an or,anism. *e- information
-hih materializes and inte,rates itself permanently into the ,eneti ode in the form
of se3uenes of nuleotides an only arise from prelimanry intraellular reaions'
resultin, from an orderly development that ta;es plae over suessive ,enerations.$
This theory is' in our opinion' muh more ompatible -ith a theisti understandin, of
evolution than *eoDar-inism.
Follo-in, is an overvie- of some of the ma/or shortomin,s of *eoDar-inism)
$6 There are a number of "panhroni speies" inludin, o;roah' oeloanth' lamp
shell' and horseshoe rab' -hih remained pratially unhan,ed for millions of
years. *atural #eletion annot e1plain this la; of evolution.
>6 5hen natural disasters stri;e' it is not al-ays the fittest -ho survives7 often it is the
most fortunate. #udden han,es in the environment brin, death and mass e1tintion
-hih does not neessarily ma;e a distintion bet-een the less adapted and the more
adapted speies.
+6 5hen animals fi,ht' it is not al-ays the best e3uipped -ho -ins the battle'
similarly the female does not al-ays hose the stron,est male7 in these ases the role
of individual irumstanes and pure lu; should not be overloo;ed.
6 n ertain animals' some harateristis ontinued to develop even after they had
beome deleterious' leadin, to the e1tintion of the speies. Thou,h' aordin, to
Dar-in' unfavorable haraters are not supposed to evolve.
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reahed. t is obvious that life has ta;en a muh ris;ier and adventurous path' sho-in,
that survival by adaptation -as not the sole purpose of evolution. The inreasin, level
of omple1ity of livin, or,anisms indiate that evolution is not a haphazard proess'
but seems to have a drive to-ards perfetion.
&6 *atural #eletion annot ta;e into aount any lon,ran,e onsiderations' beause'in the stru,,le for e1istene' every ne- variation must be immediately useful to the
or,anisms survival or it -ill be disarded. This means that *atural #eletion annot
e1plain the emer,ene of omple1 or,ans' eah of -hih is made of a very lar,e
number of parts that must have developed independently throu,h thousands of
,enerations' as they -ould have no utility durin, all that time.$$=+> E6' the author of
Fauz alAs,har' -ho -rote about the evolution of man from inanimate matter to
plants and then to the animals' and mentioned the lose relationship bet-een man and
ape.$% n addition' -e find the idea of evolution e1pressed in various forms by Al
2asOudi' AlBairuni' !alaluddin :umi' and bn Ghaldun.
2ore importantly' -e need to realize that the Holy Quran ,ives t-o ontrastin,
pitures of man. n the one hand' the Quran says that man is the hi,hest and the
most honored of ?ods reations>= and' on the other hand' it says that man isun,raious' -ea;' ,reedy' and full of haste.>$ These t-o onflitin, pitures of man
an neither be reoniled nor their true meanin, ,rasped e1ept by realizin, that
human bein,s have a dual nature) There is a nonmaterial mind or spirit or e,o -hih
e1ists side by side -ith mans orporeal body.>> Aordin, to a tradition -hih is
narrated by Hadrat Abu Huraira 4:AA6 and reported by mam Bu;hari 4:A6 and
mam 2uslim 4:A6' rophet 2uhammad 4#A56 has said) "He reated Adam in His
o-n ima,e"' and it is -ell;no-n that the Bible says the same thin,) "?od reated
human bein,s in his o-n ima,e7 in the ima,e of ?od he reated them7 male and
female he reated them." 4?enesis $)>6 This' of ourse' refers to mans spirit and not
his body. ndeed' the teahin, of most reli,ions is that mans essene is to be found in
his spirit' and that this spiritual essene must dominate his lo-er instintual impulses.The hadith 3uoted above also implies that mans true superiority over the rest of
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reation' inludin, an,els' is not beause of his physial body' -hih he shares -ith
other animals' but is atually due to his spiritual soul -hih truly distin,uishes him
and sets him apart from all other livin, reatures.
The si,nifiane of understandin, this soulbody dualism is as follo-s) The main
reason -hy the idea of biolo,ial evolution does not seem to be harmonious -ith thereli,ious outloo; is not the fat of evolution per se' but the aompanyin, vie- that
man is nothin, more than -hat it loo;s li;e' i.e.' a sophistiated animal. The only
solution' therefore' is to understand that the real essene of a human bein, is his
spiritual soul' and that he is not merely a physial form. The proess of evolution
onerns only the physial body of man7 it has nothin, to do -ith his :ooh. This
understandin, is absolutely essential if -e are to reonile the fat of evolution -ith
the teahin,s of reli,ion.
The idea of human evolution an be effetively divored from its apaity for
produin, atheism' immorality' and permissiveness one -e inorporate in it the
Qurani onept of the dual nature of man. The reason for this is 3uite easy toappreiate) f a person believes that he is a mere animal' then he is li;ely to behave
li;e one7 on the other hand' if he believes that his real self is of Divine ori,in' his
entire outloo; as -ell as his ondut in life -ill onse3uently be dominated by
spiritual and ethial onerns rather than mere material and arnal ones. n other
-ords' -e need to establish that man is omposed of both a material body of
terrestrial ori,in as -ell as a spiritual soul of elestial ori,in' and to emphasize that
this Divine #par; is muh more important than mans animal or physial self. As
suh' there is nothin, unslami in the belief that mans physial body is formed by
means of or,ani evolution' provided -e ;eep in our minds the distintion of body
and soul' as desribed in the follo-in, para,raphs.
The Physical and the piritual
The mindbody problem has been a ma/or onern for philosophers throu,hout the
history of speulative thou,ht. t has impliations for suh reli,iously si,nifiant
issues as freedom of -ill and the possibility of life after death. The nonphysial
identity of the human self is denied by the materialist in order to invalidate the
onept of the immortality of soul and its survival beyond death. :eduin, the human
self e1lusively to the physial body also inevitably leads to an e1planation of human
ations in term of stimuli and response instead of free hoie. The fundamental
position of Desartes 4$
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a uni3uely human privile,e' and it is not possible to e1plain them in terms of the
properties ommon to material ob/ets' li;e size' shape' olor' -ei,ht' et.'
neessitatin, a separate and distint e1istene of mind. Furthermore' there is an
immense amount of evidene onernin, syhi phenomena' inludin, telepathy'
preo,nition' retroo,nition' psyho;inesis' and e1trasensory pereption' -hih
proves that there are human faulties -hih ,o beyond the realm of physiale1istene' and even beyond the limitations of time and spae. t is obvious that none
of these faulties an be e1plained in terms of mehanial proesses.>C The mysterious despair of loneliness
and separation that is felt by the more sensitive amon, us' and -hih is so often
emphasized by E1istentialist -riters' is atually a manifestation of the ravin, of the
human spirit for intimay -ith the Almi,hty' poi,nantly e1pressed by :umi in the
initial ouplets of his 2athna-i)
@isten to the reed ho- it tells a tale' omplainin, of separations
#ayin,' "Ever sine -as parted from the reedbed' my lament hath aused man and
-oman to moan.
-ant a bosom torn by severane' that may unfold 4to suh a one6 the pain of my
lovedesire.
Every one -ho is left far from his soure -ishes ba; the time -hen he -as united
-ith it.>%
The Quran alludes to the fat that it is this very spiritual soul infused into man that
made a human bein, out of an animal' made him apable of reeivin, Divine
:evelation' and elevated him to the position of vie,erent of ?od' superior even to the
an,els. Aordin, to the Quran)
5hen your @ord said to the an,els) " am verily ,oin, to reate a human bein, from
fermented lay dried tin,lin, hard7 And -hen have fashioned him and breathed into
him of 2y #pirit' fall do-n' prostratin, yourself before him." 4AlHi/r $C'>%6
The Quran desribes that' in the be,innin,' Almi,hty Allah 4#5T6 reated the
spiritual souls 4or Ar-ah6 of all human bein,s that -ere destined to be born up till the
Doomsday' and it seems that this reation too; plae even before the reation of the
material universe 8 before the be,innin, of time itself. Almi,hty Allah 4#5T6 then
endo-ed these human spirits -ith their sense of identity and the faulty of speeh'and assembled them all to,ether so that a ovenant ould be ta;en from them' as
mentioned in the Holy Quran)
And reall -hen your @ord brou,ht forth desendants from the loins of the sons of
Adam' and made them -itnesses a,ainst their o-n selves' as;in, them) OAm not
your @ordJ They said) OLes' -e do testify. 4AlAOraaf )$>6
Aordin, to an authenti tradition' -hih is narrated by Hadrat Abdullah bn 2asOud
4:AA6 and reported by mam Bu;hari 4:A6 as -ell as mam 2uslim 4:A6' rophet
2uhammad 4#A56 is reported to have said that Almi,hty Allah 4#5T6 sends an
an,el to every e1petin, mother after $>= days of ,estation' and that this an,el theninfuses a spiritual soul into the unborn hild. Earlier interpretation of this hadith had
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e3uated the soul -ith life7 this -as an obvious error' sine the fetus and even the
zy,ote before it is already alive' and there is no point in ,ivin, life to an already
livin, or,anism. The real meanin, of the hadith an be appreiated only -hen -e
onsider the spiritual soul 4or :ooh6 as distint from life. The infusion of spiritual
soul in the human fetus at a partiular point in its development 4at a ,estational a,e of
months6 is also su,,ested by the Holy Quran 4Al2ominoon >+)$>$6.
As far as the physial aspet of a human bein, is onerned' it is indeed a produt of
,radual biolo,ial evolution. This fat appears to lash -ith the reli,ious outloo; only
-hen -e interpret the Divine at of reation as a sin,ular event ourrin, in remote
past. This interpretation is' of ourse' not a orret one. The Quran teahes us that
Almi,hty Allah 4#5T6 is al-ays atively en,a,ed in reation. The priniple of
,radual han,e and development from the lo-er to the hi,her sta,es is an inte,ral part
of the material -orld. onsider the proesses in the natural or physial -orld 8 the
intrauterine develpment of a fetus' the ,ro-th of a tree' the han,e of seasons' the
birth and death of stars 8 and you shall find that' althou,h some proesses are faster
than others' all of them our by means of ,radual han,e. t is neither lo,iallyimpossible nor reli,iously sinful to oneive that Almi,hty Allah 4#5T6 brou,ht the
human physial form into e1istene throu,h a proess of ,radual development. n the
other hand' -e need to ;eep in mind that the spiritual soul in man belon,s to an
alto,ether different realm' a realm -here the notions of time and spae have no
relevane at all. There is absolutely no ,ro-th or development for the spiritual soul'
nor is there any time element involved in its apaities and funtions.
The dual nature of man represents the duality of ?ods reation. Thus' #hah
5aliyullah Delhvi has disussed' in his ma,num opus Hu/atullah alBali,ha' the t-o
types of Divine reative ativity. There is AlAalam AlGhal3' the -orld of Allahs
"ordinary" reatures that all of us ome aross in our day to day observation and in the
study of nature. Everythin, that happens in this realm ta;es time. The universe too;
appro1imately $< billion years to develop from the Bi, Ban, and the primitive
,aseous state to its present ondition. A fertilized ovum ta;es forty -ee;s to ,ro- into
a fully developed human baby. #imilarly' life on earth be,an in the primordial oean
and too; at least billion years of usually slo-' but at times rapid' evolutionary
development to reah its lima1 8 the reation of the perfet animal or the Homo
sapiens. But then there is AlAalam AlAmr' or the domain of Divine reative Ener,y'
that is a diret manifestation of His 5ord or "lo,os"' i.e.' His ommand of "BeP"
There is absolutely no time fator involved in this realm' and thin,s happen
instantaneously) He says) "BeP" and it beomes.+=
The initial at of the reation of matter out of nothin, represents a diret ommand or
Amr of Almi,hty ?od' and' li;e this at of reation e1 nihilo' the Quran su,,ests to
the disernin, reader that the an,els' human spirits' and the phenomenon of Divine
:evelation 4or 5ahee6 also belon, to the AlAalam AlAmr.+$ The human physial
form too; a lon, proess of evolution to reah its present state of maturity beause it
is a part of AlAalam AlGhal37 the spiritual soul' ho-ever' -as reated instantly in a
sin,le at of Divine ommand as it belon,s to the -orld of ?ods reative Ener,y or
AlAalam AlAmr.
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The #ri$in and Evolution of %ife
There are numerous su,,estions in the Holy Quran -hih point to the fat that mans
physial form is' in fat' a produt of the earth' and' unli;e his spiritual soul' his body
is not a forei,ner or an alien in this planet. For instane' onsider the follo-in, ayaat)
And Allah has aused you to ,ro- as a ,ro-th from the earth. 4*uh $)$6
He brou,ht you forth from the earth and settled you therein. 4Hud $$)&$6
Thereof i.e.' from the earthR 5e reated you' and thereunto 5e return you' and thene
5e brin, you forth a seond time. 4TaHa >=)>)6
#o as; them if they are more diffiult to reate' or the rest 5e have reatedJ ndeed'
5e reated 4man6 from fermented lay. 4Al#affat +)$$6
He reated man of fermented lay dried tin;lin, hard li;e earthen -are. 4Al:ahman
6
t is He -ho reated man from -ater ... 4AlFur3an >
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enzymes. t has been postulated that' at the shore of the primordial oean' the soil
ated as a atalyst by ausin, small moleules 8 espeially amino aids and nulei
aids 8 to ome loser' and traes of metals li;e in and *i;el aelerated their
polymerization' untill a omple1 or,ani moleule -ith the apaity for self
repliation ame into bein,' eventually leadin, to the formation of a uniellular
or,anism. Thereafter the on-ard marh of evolution be,an' and' after passin, throu,hinnumerable sta,es and phases' it finally ulminated -ith the advent of man.
The fossils of the first bipedal anthropoids 4apeli;e animals -al;in, on t-o feet6 8
alled Australopitheines 8are appro1imately one to +.& million years old.
#ubse3uent fossil reord sho-s the appearane of inreasin,ly humanli;e forms'
inludin, Homo habilis' Homo eretus 4!ava 2an and e;in, 2an belon, to this
,roup6' Homo sapiens neanderthalensis' and finally Homo sapiens sapiens 4-hih
inlude the ro2a,non 2an6. The fossils of this last mentioned form are as old as
+
n the li,ht of the Qurani narrations' -e are inlined to believe that -hen the
proess of biolo,ial evolution reahed its ,oal and the final form of man appeared on
the earth' Almi,hty Allah 4#5T6 seleted a sin,le pair 8 a male and a female 8 and
endo-ed them -ith their spiritual souls. t is not entirely inoneviable that all other
members of this speies died out and beame e1tint' and that all of us are' therefore'
desendants of this primordial human pair' Adam and Eve' as alluded to in the Quran
4AlHu/urat %)$+6. The Quran' ho-ever' ,ives us no lue as to -hen this happened'
thou,h the hronolo,y based on the Biblial ,enealo,ial data plaes the first human
pair in a timeframe of appro1imately C'=== B..++
n this onte1t' the si,nifiane of the infusion in man of his spiritual soul must not be
overloo;ed7 in the absene of these Divine foi of selfonsiousness and spirituality'
the Homo sapiens -ould have remained nothin, more than intelli,ent brutes.
onsider the Qurani ayaat ,iven belo-' and note ho- the referene to man suddenly
shifts from third person to the seond follo-in, the infusion of a spiritual soul)
4Allah is the one ?od6 5ho made all thin,s He reated e1ellent7 and He be,an the
reation of man from lay. Then He made his offsprin, from the e1trat of base fluid7
then He fashioned him and breathed into him of His #pirit7 and ,ave you hearin, and
si,ht and the faulty of inferrin,. And yet ho- little are the than;s you offerP 4Al
#a/da +>)%6
"o&in$ of '$e in 'l()annah
The Quran has narrated in detail the story of the primordial human pair' ho- they
lived in perfet bliss in "the ?arden" before bein, sedued by #atan the aursed. Theonventional renderin, of the story of Adam and Eve assumes that all this happened
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as atual historial events' and it is ertainly oneivable that this literal interpretation
is a orret one and that the story does desribe atual events /ust as they ourred.
Ho-ever' it is also possible to e1plain the relevant Qurani verses in terms of a
metaphor or a parable' beause' as Allama 3bal has pointed out' it is ommon style of
the Holy Boo; that it fre3uently ma;es use of metaphors and parables in order to
ma;e omple1 and abstrat realities easily omprehensible.
t ,oes to the redit of 3bal that he sueeded in reinterpretin, the -ell;no-n
Qurani story of the ori,in of man;ind in ontemporary lan,ua,e' deipherin, its
underlyin, meanin, and eluidatin, its si,nifiane for the modern man' and' in so
doin,' he remained -ell -ithin the slami tradition. The follo-in, interpretation is
,iven by 3bal in the +rd leture of his :eonstrution of :eli,ioius Thou,ht in slam
4"The oneption of ?od and the 2eanin, of rayer"6.
3bal points out that there is no reason to believe that the -ord !annh 4,arden6' as
used in the Quran -ith referene to Adam and his -ife' means the supersensual
paradise that -ill be the eternal abode of the ri,hteous. 2an is not a stran,er on thisearth' and the -ord !annh in this Qurani onte1t atually means a primitive state in
-hih man is pratially unrelated to his environment and onse3uently does not feel
the stin, of human -ants' the birth of -hih alone mar;s the be,innin, of human
ulture. Aordin, to 3bal' the purpose of the Qurani le,end of the "Fall" is to
indiate mans rise from a primitive state of instintive appetite to the onsious
possession of a free self' apable of doubt and disobediene. And' as -e have stressed
in the fore,oin, para,raphs' this selfonsiousness as a uni3ue and free individual
an only indiate one thin, 8 the presene of a spiritual soul.
Aordin, to 3bal' the le,end of the "Fall" is a ommon motif amon, different
human ultures. The Quran has adopted this theme and presented it in a novel
manner for teahin, us a number of fundamental truths about the nature of man and
his position in the universe. Thus' -e see that the Quran has split up the le,end into
t-o distint episodes 8 the one relatin, to "the tree" 4desribed in AlBa3arah
>)+
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;no-led,e and Adam yielded' not beause he -as eternally -i;ed' but beause
bein, "hasty" by nature he sou,ht a short ut to ;no-led,e. The only -ay to orret
this tendeny -as to plae him in an environment -hih' ho-ever painful' -as better
suited to the unfoldin, of his intelletual faulties.
The seond episode of the Qurani le,end is meant to su,,est the irresistible desireof life for lastin, dominion' an infinite areer as a onrete individual. As a temporal
bein,' fearin, the termination of its areer by death' the only ourse open to it is to
ahieve a ;ind of olletive immortality by selfmultipliation. 3bal interprets the
eatin, of the forbidden fruit of the tree of eternity as lifes resort to se1differentiation
by -hih it multiplies itself -ith a vie- to irumvent total e1tintion. The ori,inal
se1ual at is su,,ested by the mention' in the Quran' of the birth of the sense of
shame that aused Adam and his -ife to over the na;edness of their bodies.+
As mentioned above' in addition to this alle,orial interpretaion' it is e3ually possible
to desribe the Qurani narration of the "Fall" as atual' historial events. The
primordial human pair -as temporarily ;ept in a ,arden 8 ri,ht here on earth+< 8 inorder to impress upon them the fat that #atan is mans bi,,est enemy. Almi,hty
Allah 4#5T6 deided to test His -ouldbe vie,erents on earth' and for this purpose
He seleted a tree and told Adam and his -ife not to approah it. Ho-ever' they -ere
both led astray by #atans allurement and did e1atly -hat they -ere forbiddin to do.
As soon as they realized their sin' Adam and his -ife 8 unli;e #atan 8 did not
persist in disobediene but -anted to return to a state of obediene' thou,h they -ere
unable to find -ords to offer their repetene. Aordin, to the Quran "Thereupon
Adam learned from his @ord some -ords and repented and his @ord aepted his
repentane ..." 4AlBa3arah >)+6 0nli;e the hristian dotrine of "ri,inal #in"' the
Quran ma;es it very lear that Adam and his -ifes repentane -as aepted by
Almi,hty ?od' and after-ards they -ere as;ed to leave the ,arden 8 a plae -here
they -ere not disturbed by hun,er' na;edness' thirst' or e1posure to the sun+& 8 and
to live on their o-n. This -as not a punishment from Almi,hty Allah 4#5T6 but a
si,n of His onfidene in the abilities of His vie,erent 4or Ghalifah6 on earth.
Evolution and Purpose
ne the nonphysial nature and the Divine ori,in of human soul is reo,nized' and
its properties of freedom and immortality aepted' the idea of evolution and its
atheisit interpretations ease to have any erosive influene on reli,ious belief.
ndeed' our understandin, of the proess of evolution' if properly understood' anbeome an immene soure of faith and ,nosis.
n this respet' it may be pointed out that the most fundamental point of ontrast
bet-een the theisti and the atheisti versions of evolution is provided by the notion
of "purpose." The Dar-inian vie- is that the proess of evolution is essentially blind'
-ith no preestablished ,oal or aim7 this implies that the advent of human bein,s is
stritly a hane ourrene -hih resulted from the random interation of aimless
fores of nature. A theisti understandin, of evolution' on the other hand' is based on
the belief in the profound purposefulness of the universe. The ma/esti beauty in the
overall order of nature and in the advent of a rational bein, apable of ponderin, his
o-n ori,in and destiny is' -ithout a doubt' the si,n of an intelli,ent 2ind at -or;.The history of the evolution of life on earth sho-s that it -as far from bein, random
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or aimless7 from the very be,inin,' biolo,ial evolution had proeeded in suh a -ay
as to lead' ultimately' to the emer,ene of human bein,s.
n ontrast to the a,nosti or the outri,ht atheisti biolo,ist' -ho is someho- satisfied
in his belief that there -as no diretion -hatsoever behind the entire phenomenon of
evolution' -e find numerous philosophers and even sientists -ho believe thatevolution had a definite purpose. They subsribe to -hat is ;no-n as the dotrine of
Teleolo,ial Evolution' the notion that evolution has been ,uided by a transendetal
fore aimin, to ahieve ertain predetermined ,oals. ne of the most influential
sholars amon, them -as ierre Teilhard de hardin 4$CC$$%
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spirit of the Quran than any other e1planation of evolution. Dr. :afiuddin believes
that the desire or -ill of the reator is the atual ause of the evolution of universe7 it
is flo-in, in the osmos as a urrent of onsiousness' han,in, and transformin, the
universe so as to brin, it to the state of its hi,hest perfetion' as desired by the
reator. Biolo,ial evolution -as only one phase of the ,rand overall proess of
,ro-th and development. The transformation of one speies into another 8irrespetive of -hether it oured ,radually or abruptly 8 -as aused not by *atural
#eletion but -as' in fat' a manifestation of the -ill of Almi,hty Allah 4#5T6. The
-hole proess of the evolution of osmos an be understood as havin, several sta,es'
as follo-s)
The first sta,e -as that of physial evolution' -hih lasted from the reation of matter
out of nothin, up to the time -hen simple hemial ompounds ,re- into omple1
or,ani moleules' leadin, to the emer,ene of life on earth. This sta,e of purely
physial han,e -as direted by the Divine urrent of onsiousness that
ontinuously runs throu,h all matter' ausin, it to behave in speifi -ays 4-hat -e
desribe as the "la-s of nature"6. The seond sta,e -as that of biolo,ial evolution'-hen the same urrent of onsiousness too; the form of an ind-ellin, lifefore
-hih direted the proess to-ards the reation of the perfet animal' the Homo
sapiens. The third sta,e -as that of human intelletual evolution' -hih started -hen
selfonsiousness developed in man' and the Divine urrent too; the form of an ur,e
for Beauty and erfetion' e1pressin, itself in human thou,ht and behavior as the love
of an ideal. !ust as the biolo,ial phase of evolution -as haraterized by sudden
appearanes of ne- speies at variable intervals -hih aelearted the proess of
biolo,ial evolution' in the same -ay the intelletual phase of evolution -as
haraterized by the phenomenon of prophethood' the purpose of -hih -as to
aelerate the intelletual evolution of man;ind. rophethood ended after reahin, its
ultimate perfetion in the person of rophet 2uhammad 4#A56' -ho also represents
the zenith of the human searh for the ultimate ideal. At the moment -e are ,oin,
throu,h the fourth sta,e of osmi evolution' that of the soial evolution' -hereby
humanity as a -hole is movin, to-ards the realization of the values and ideals -hih
have already been ahieved at an individual level in the life and teahin,s of rophet
2uhammad 4#A56' and at a olletive level in the politiosoioeonomi system
that -as established by the rophet. This phase of evolution is ,oin, to ulminate in
the ,lobal domination of the only true deal' other-ise ;no-n as slam' at all levels of
olletivity.+%
The fat that the on,oin, soial evolution of humanity -ill ulminate in the ,lobaldomination of slam is not mere -ishful thin;in,' but this has been emphatially
foretold by rophet 2uhammad 4#A56 in various traditions. Furthermore' sine
rophet 2uhammad 4#A56 -as appointed messen,er of Almi,hty Allah 4#5T6 to
the entire humanity' and sine the purpose of his advent -as to ma;e the Deen alHa3
dominant over all manmade systems of life' it follo-s that ,oal of rophet
2uhammads advent -ill be fulfilled only -ith the establishment of the asendany
of slam over all man;ind' all over the -orld.
Evolution *eyond Death
Teilhard de hardin has said that the -orld is interestin, only -hen one loo;sfor-ard. As far as the human individual self is onerned' it seems that there is only
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death to loo; for-ard to. But -hat is the meanin, of "death"J f -e identify the real
human self -ith the spiritual soul that is Divine in ori,in' there is no 3uestion of its
annihilation alon, -ith the death of the physial body. ur bodies deay and
de,enerate' they die and turn to dust' but our souls move on to another -orld in order
to fulfill their destiny. The human evolution -ill ontinue after death' but it -ill our
on a plane -hih -ill be very different from all the previous ones.
3bal has tau,ht us that -e are livin, in an unfinished universe. Everythin, around us
is ,ro-in,' developin,' pro,ressin, from one sta,e to the ne1t' maturin, to-ards its
ultimate perfetion. Therefore' human evolution too needs to be understood in its
proper' -ider onte1t. ndeed' the very nature of the self as desribed by 3bal
neessitates an e1tremely dynami and vi,orous areer. The ru1 of the matter is this)
?od needs me as muh as need Him. 2y ultimate deal of Beauty and erfetion is
the essene or person of Almi,hty ?od' and the deal of ?od is the full realization of
the potentialities -ith -hih He has endo-ed the finite e,os' or the spiritual souls of
human bein,s. 5e' finite e,os' are stru,,lin, to reah our Beloved' and in this
stru,,le -e are also helpin, ?od to realize His deal. The entire physial andbiolo,ial evolution of the osmos -as to prepare for the omin, of man7 its
intelletual and soial evolution is meant to ma;e him more and more onsious of his
o-n ultimate deal 8 ?od the Almi,hty. All this is happenin, on suh a ,rand sale
that' obviously' death annot stop this proess of ,ro-th in the least. The physial
body of terrestrial ori,in -ill ,o ba; to the earth' but the evolution of the soul -ill
ontinue. Aordin, to 3bal)
The theory of evolution ... has brou,ht despair and an1iety' instead of hope and
enthusiasm for life' to the modern -orld. The reason is to be found in the un-arranted
modern assumption that mans present struture' mental as -ell as physiolo,ial' is
the last -ord in biolo,ial evolution' and that death' re,arded as a biolo,ial event'
has no onstrutive meanin,.=
n the ontrary' death is nothin, more than our transfer from this -orld to the ne1t'
perhaps into a different dimension -ith a totally ne- set of rules. The first station on
our -ay to the Hereafter is alled the Barza;h' a state a;in to -hat -e sometimes
e1periene in this life -hen -e are mid-ay bet-een sleep and full -a;efulness. This
is a state in -hih the spirit -ill ath a ,limpse of the really :eal' and -ould ;no-
as to -hat -ill be its immediate future. Then' after the resurretion of the entire
humanity' all of us shall enter the state alled the Hereafter or AlAa;hira' -here the
e,os or spirits -ould emer,e for their final aountability before their @ord.$
The belief in the re-ards of the Heaven and the punishments of Hell is an inte,ral part
of the slami -orldvie-' but the point to be onsidered here is -hether or not the
aradise and the Hell are eternal. Aordin, to the orthodo1 slami beliefs' both the
aradise and the Hell are eternal' but there are a number of Qurani allusions as -ell
as ahadith -hih have been interpreted by some eminent 2uslim sholars 8inludin,
Hafiz bn Qayyam 4:A6 and 2aulana #ayyid #uleman *advi 4:A6 8 as su,,estin,
that althou,h the aradise is forever' the Hell may not be so.>
:efletin, on the Qurani verses from a philosophial perspetive' one is inlined to
the follo-in, onlusion) As far as the narro- and limited perspetive of us finitee,os is onerned' both the aradise and the Hell shall last forever' but their eternity
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-ill only be a sub/etive e1periene7 on the other hand' from the infinite perspetive
of Almi,hty Allah 4#5T6' neither the aradise nor the Hell is eternal. The evolution
of the human souls -ill ontinue after death' in the sense that the punishments of the
Hell -ill ,o on diminishin, and the pleasures of the Heaven -ill ,o on inreasin,
until the e,os -ill reah their perfetion as desired by their reator. bviously' the
spirits -ho had failed to realize their real deal in the -orldly life' and -ho -ould'therefore' be sufferin, the torments of the Hell as a means of purifiation and
pur,ation' -ould ta;e a muh lon,er time to reah this sta,e of perfetion. Thus
-rites 3bal)
Time annot be -holly irrelevant to the development of personality. harater tends
to beome permanent7 its reshapin, must re3uire time. Hell' therefore' as oneived
by the Quran' is not a pit of everlastin, torture inflited by a reven,eful ?od7 it is a
orretive e1periene -hih my ma;e a hardened e,o one more sensitive to the
livin, breeze of Divine ?rae.+
0ltimately' there -ill be somethin, more beautiful and more pleasurable than all thedeli,hts and /oys of the aradise 8 the ommunion -ith Almi,hty Allah 4#5T6. 2an
-ill approah ?od -ith the irreplaeable uni3ueness of his individuality' and his
ultimate union -ith the nfinite E,o -ill be more li;e that of a pearl' not a drop'
mer,in, -ith the oean. The perfeted finite e,os -ill live' forever' as ideas in the
2ind of ?od' -hih -ill be their ultimate aradise. The same idea is e1pressed by Dr.
:afiuddin in the follo-in, -ords)
At the death of the 0niverse' sine the ation of every self -ill ome to a final end
there -ill be a re;onin, of the net pro,ress of humanity on aount of -hih the total
and ultimate share of every self in the evolution of the -orld as a -hole -ill be
refleted in an immediate deterioration or improvement of its position in Hell or
Heaven. This final re;onin, -ill be follo-ed a,ain by a ourse of evolution in -hih
the Hell of humanity -ill rise ,radually into a aradise and the aradise -ill ahieve a
hi,her and hi,her perfetion till the reator -ill realize His ideal ompletely and turn
his attention to the reation of the ne1t 0niverse. ... 5hen -e have reahed our
hi,hest evolution -e shall live as realized ideas in the mind of the reator forever.
The ahievement -ill be a soure of permanent /oy for us as -ell as for the reator7
He -ill be pleased -ith us and -e shall be pleased -ith Him and this -ill be an ever
lastin, aradise.
The reunion of human spirits -ith the 0ltimate Divine :eality is a ommon theme inslami mystial -ritin,s and poetry. Ho-ever' Allama 3bal has pointed out that the
finite e,o' in spite of its immensely stron, ur,e to reunite -ith its reator' an never
truly beome one -ith the Divine. This means that irrespetive of ho- lose they ,et'
the finite e,os -ill al-ays remain distint from the nfinite E,o' and' in this sense' the
proess of evolution -ill never reah its lima1 but -ill ontinue forever. 3bal has
repeatedly emphasized in his poetry that total satisfation and fulfillment is the death
of love' and eternal life is meanin,ful only if it is oneived as an everlastin, /ourney
to-ards the Beloved. t is better to ontinue burnin, forever in the fire of love than to
be ompletely onsumed in it.
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Here annot but yield to the temptation of 3uotin, the follo-in, piee of
e1eptionally movin, poetry from !alaluddin :umi' desribin, the reative and
evolutionary funtion of death)
died as a mineral and beame a plant'
died as a plant and rose to animal' died as animal and -as man.
5hy should fearJ 5hen -as less by dyin,J
Let one more shall die as man to soar
5ith an,els blest7 but even from an,elhood
must pass on7 all e1ept ?od doth perish.
5hen have sarified my an,el soul
shall beome -hat no mind ever oneived.
h' let me not e1ist. For none1istene
rolaims in or,an tones) "To Him -e shall return."< -hen a hi,hshool biolo,y teaher in Dayton' Tennessee' -as har,ed and found ,uilty for
brea;in, the state la- -hih forbade the teahin, of evolution. 2any te1tboo;s
made little or no mention of evolution till the early &=s' -hen siene urriula -ere
thorou,hly revised throu,hout the 0nited #tates' and the onflit -as revived a,ain
-ith the publiation of The ?enesis Flood' a boo; /ointly -ritten by Henry 2orris
and !ohn . 5hitomb' !r.
$= A prominent reationist asserts that it is the idea of evolution -hih has promoted
apostasy' atheism' seular humanism' libertinism' and ethial relativism. f. Huse'
#ott. 2.' The ollapse of Evolution 4?rand :apids) Ba;er Boo; House' $%C+6
$$ #a,an' arl.' osmos.4*e- Lor;) :andom House n.' $%C=6 p.>%.
$> Quoted in Gopp' !oseph (.' Teilhard de hardin) A *e- #ynthesis of Evolution.
4?len :o;' *e- !ersey) aulist ress' $%&6
$+ o-e this e1planation of the distintion bet-een "desriptive" and "instrutional"
evolution to the hi,hly interestin, artile "T-o Evolutions" by Huston #mith'
inluded in his boo; Beyond the ost2odern 2ind 4*e- Lor;) Theosophial
ublishin, House' $%C%' seond edition6 pp. $&$$C+. Another si,nifiant distintion
that must be ;ept in mind is that of evolution and evolutionism) The former is asientifi idea -hih does not say anythin, about the e1istene or none1istene of
?od' -hereas the latter is a naturalisti ideolo,y that speifially e1ludes the
possibility of any Divine intervention.
$ ierre ?rassM has desribed his theory of evolution by means of an orderly inrease
in ,eneti information in his boo; @Evolution du vivant 4The Evolution of @ivin,
r,anisms6 and rMis de biol,ie ,MnMrale 4Handboo; of ?eneral Biolo,y6 For
details' f. Buaille' 2aurie.' 5hat is the ri,in of 2anJ The Ans-eres of #iene
and the Holy #riptures 4aris) #ei,hers' $%C>6
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$< Buaille' 2aurie.' op.it S #mith' Huston.' op.it. t may be noted that a number
of ar,uments' put for-ard by the reationists in their attempt to refute evolution'
atually apply to *atural #eletion rather than to evolution itself.
$& For details of the theory of "untuated E3uilibrium" f. ?ould' #tephen !ay.' The
andas Thumb 4*e- Lor;) 5.5. *orton' $%C=67 #tanley' #teven.' The *e-Evolutionary Timetable 4*e- Lor;) Basi Boo;s' $%C$67 and Hithin,' Franis.' The
*e; of the ?iraffe 4*e- Heaven) Ti;nor and Fields' $%C>6.
$ f. 2or,an' . @loyd.' Emer,ent Evolution.' 4*e- Lor;) Henry Holt and
ompany6
$C f. 5allae' Alfred :ussel "Dar-inism as Applied to 2an" in :epresentative
Essays in 2odern Thou,ht 4*e- Lor;) Amerian Boo;' $%$+6 Alfred :ussel 5allae
4$C>+$%$+6 -as a ontemporary of Dar-in' and' -or;in, independently' he arrived
at the same onlusion about the evolution of life as -ere reahed by Dar-in himself.
The t-o sientists had presented a /oint paper at the @innean #oiety in $C= f. AlQuran) AlTeen %$ f. AlQuran) Al*isaa )>C' Alsra $)$$ S &' AlTeen %C 4introdution67
:yle' ?ilbert.' The onept of 2ind 4@ondon) Huthinson and o. @td.' $%%67 and
Dannett' Daniel.' onsiousness E1plained 4Boston) @ittle Bro-n' $%%$6
> Althou,h -ords li;e Omind' Osoul' Ospirit' Oself' and Oe,o have subtle
differenes in their respetive onnotations' -e have treated them as synonyms for thesa;e of simpliity.
>< #ir yril Burt -rites in the !ournal of arapsyholo,y 42arh' $%&6)
"arapsyholo,y appears fully to onfirm the vie- upheld by Ber,son' !ames' Eles
and others 8 that the brain is 4in #herrin,tons pre,nant phrase6 simply Oan or,an of
liaison bet-een mind and the physial -orld." Quoted in !ohnson' 2iles Beardsley.'
Four Questions 4alifornia) larion ubliations' $%C& The idea of mind or self as a nonphysial and nonmaterial entity is defended in
ampbell' .A.' n #elfhood and ?odhood 4@ondon) ?eor,e' Allen and 0n-in.'
$%
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2artins ress' $%C67 and Ahmad' Dr. Absar.' The onept of #elf and #elf dentity
in ontemporary hilosophy 4@ahore) 3bal Aademy' $%C&6
> t may be pointed out that modern mans ,ro-in, sense of alienation is atually a
result of his materialisti mindset' -hih has eliminated any possibility for believin,
in unseen realities 8 inludin, his o-n inner self. As a result' he is 3uite -illin, andeven happy to see himself as an animal.
>C f. Ahmad' Dr. srar.' Ha3ee3ate:oohensani 4audio assette no. A0==&'
2ar;azi An/uman GhuddamulQuran @ahore6
>% :umi' !alaluddin.' The 2athna-i of !alaluddin :umi. Translated by :. A.
*iholson 4@ahore) Gazi ubliations' n d6 (ol $. p )$$' Aalemran +)' La#een +&)C>' Al2omin
=)&C' AlQamar ' AlHi/r $%' AlQadr %)
+> 5illiams' 5ar-i;' Dyson' and Bannister.' 4editors6 ?rays Anatomy 4Edinbur,h)
hurhill @ivin,stone' $%C%' +th Edition6 pp. < S $$
++ n the ld Testament "the appearane of man upon the earth is set forth as the
result of a diret reative at of ?od' -hih too; plae at least over '=== years B..'
and perhaps as early as seven or ten thousand years B.." f. 0n,er' 2errill.' 0n,ers
Bible Ditionary 4hia,o) 2oody ress' $%&&' third edition6 p. >=
+ 3bal' Dr. 2uhammad.' op. it. .&&=.
+< 5hat -as the loation of "Al!annah" -here Adam and his -ife -ere ;eptJ #ome
of the ommentators of the Quran have su,,ested that it -as in the heavens' others
are of the vie- it -as some-here on the earth. Even 2aulana Abul AOla 2aududi'
-ho re/eted the idea of biolo,ial evolution' -as inlined to-ards the latter opinion.
f. :isailo2asail 4@ahore) slami ubliations' $%%$' nineteenth printin,6 vol..'
pp.$%' >=. The Bible' ho-ever' is very lear on this point' and plaes the "?arden of
Eden" some-here in the Ti,risEuphrates ountry' probably in the eartern part of the
Fertile resent. f. The Boo; of ?enesis >)$=$
+& AlQuran) Ta Ha >=)$$C' $$%
+ f. Teilhard de hardin' ierre.' The henomenon of 2an 4*e- Lor;) Harper S
Brothers ublishers' $%
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+C f. Ber,son' Henri.' reative Evolution 4*e- Lor;) Henry Holt and ompany'
$%$$6
+% f. :afiuddin' Dr. 2uhammad.' deolo,y of the Future 4@ahore) #hei;h 2uammad
Ashraf' $%&6 and The 2anifesto of slam 4@ahore) #hei;h 2uhammad Ashraf' $%+'
#eond Edition6
= 3bal' Dr. 2uhammad.' op. it. .%.
$ The possibility of bodily resurretion is a ontroversial sub/et in theolo,y.
ontrary to the hristian interpretation of lifeafterdeath' -hih is a purely spiritual
one' the slami understandin, is that the Qiyamah 4or :esurretion6 -ill be
haraterized by a reunion of eah spiritual soul -ith a physial body. Althou,h the
e1at nature of the bodies that -e shall be provided in the Hereafter is learly beyond
the realm of in3uiry or ima,ination' they are li;ely to resemble our present physial
forms' at least in appearane.
> f. *advi' 2aulana #ayyid #uleman.' #eeratun *abi 4@ahore) *ashiraneQuran
@td.' $+%< A.H6 (ol . pp. &=%> t may be noted that the over-helmin, ma/ority of
2uslim sholars have supported the vie- that both the aradise and the Hell are
eternal.
+ 3bal' Dr. 2uhammad.' op. it. p.%C
:afiuddin' Dr. 2uhammad.' deolo,y of the Future 4@ahore) #hei;h 2uhammad
Ashraf' $%&6
< :umi' !alaluddin.' The 2athna-i of !alaluddin :umi. Translated by :.A.
*iholson. Quoted by Dr. 2uhammad :afiuddin in The 2anifesto of slam' p. $