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Evolution and Islam: Difference between revisions
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→Y-chromosomal Adam, Mitochondrial Eve, and the minimum population bottleneck: Added in another source for this which is more up-to-date than the previous (Jerry A. Coyne) one, as well as covers the topic of genetics and human evolution in much more depth.
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m (→Quran 21:30 and 24:45 - All living things made from water: Added in Thales's same belief to show this motif was more widespread in Antiquity.) |
m (→Y-chromosomal Adam, Mitochondrial Eve, and the minimum population bottleneck: Added in another source for this which is more up-to-date than the previous (Jerry A. Coyne) one, as well as covers the topic of genetics and human evolution in much more depth.) |
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One modern interpretation of this verse claims that instead of clay being a building material for the first man, the word "began" refers rather to the earliest pools of water and clay where life began according to one scientific theory (ultimately leading to the evolution of humans). But there is no major model of [[w:abiogenesis|abiogenesis]] which considers clay itself essential for life (as opposed to a replication surface or catalyst). | One modern interpretation of this verse claims that instead of clay being a building material for the first man, the word "began" refers rather to the earliest pools of water and clay where life began according to one scientific theory (ultimately leading to the evolution of humans). But there is no major model of [[w:abiogenesis|abiogenesis]] which considers clay itself essential for life (as opposed to a replication surface or catalyst). | ||
More importantly, the very next verse clarifies that this refers to the first man, since his | More importantly, the very next verse clarifies that this refers to the first man, since his descendants are created from conventional sexual reproduction: | ||
{{Quote|{{Quran|32|8}}|Then He made his seed from a draught of despised fluid;}} | {{Quote|{{Quran|32|8}}|Then He made his seed from a draught of despised fluid;}} | ||
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Some modern Muslim scholars argue that the notion of two ancestral “parents” is consistent with recent scientific findings that show a common female and male ancestor of all modern humans. This results, however, from a confusion with the nicknames (Mitochondrial Eve and Y-chromosomal Adam) by which scientists have referred to human's earliest genetic ancestors. These two individuals, however, are distinct from the Quranic characters as they are simply the last common male and female ancestors of everyone alive today and not of all humans in history. More importantly, whereas the Qur'an describes Adam and his mate (who, notably, was created ''after'' him and from him), Mitochondrial Eve lived some 50,000 to 80,000 years earlier than Y-chromosomal Adam.<ref>[http://biologos.org/blog/does-genetics-point-to-a-single-primal-couple Adam, Eve, and Human Population Genetics: Responses to Popular Arguments] - Biologos website</ref> | Some modern Muslim scholars argue that the notion of two ancestral “parents” is consistent with recent scientific findings that show a common female and male ancestor of all modern humans. This results, however, from a confusion with the nicknames (Mitochondrial Eve and Y-chromosomal Adam) by which scientists have referred to human's earliest genetic ancestors. These two individuals, however, are distinct from the Quranic characters as they are simply the last common male and female ancestors of everyone alive today and not of all humans in history. More importantly, whereas the Qur'an describes Adam and his mate (who, notably, was created ''after'' him and from him), Mitochondrial Eve lived some 50,000 to 80,000 years earlier than Y-chromosomal Adam.<ref>[http://biologos.org/blog/does-genetics-point-to-a-single-primal-couple Adam, Eve, and Human Population Genetics: Responses to Popular Arguments] - Biologos website</ref> | ||
Genetic evidence also overwhelmingly indicates that humans diverged from earlier species as a population rather than as a single couple.<ref>[http://whyevolutionistrue.wordpress.com/2011/09/18/how-big-was-the-human-population-bottleneck-not-anything-close-to-2/ How big was the human population bottleneck? Another staple of theology refuted.] - Why Evolution is True website by Professor Jerry Coyne</ref> | Genetic evidence also overwhelmingly indicates that humans diverged from earlier species as a population rather than as a single couple.<ref>[http://whyevolutionistrue.wordpress.com/2011/09/18/how-big-was-the-human-population-bottleneck-not-anything-close-to-2/ How big was the human population bottleneck? Another staple of theology refuted.] - Why Evolution is True website by Professor Jerry Coyne</ref> As geneticist David Reich notes in regards to the “Mitochondrial Eve", .''.the name has been more misleading than helpful. It has fostered the mistaken impression that all of our DNA comes from precisely two ancestors and that to learn about our history it would be sufficient to simply track the purely maternal line represented by mitochondrial DNA, and the purely paternal line represented by the Y chromosome''.<ref>Reich, David. ''Who We Are and How We Got Here: Ancient DNA and the new science of the human past (p. 10).'' OUP Oxford. 2018. Kindle Edition.</ref> | ||
==Special creation of sustenance== | ==Special creation of sustenance== | ||
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==Quranic verses purported to mention evolution== | ==Quranic verses purported to mention evolution== | ||
===Quran 29:19-20 | ===Quran 29:19-20 (and others) - Repeated creation=== | ||
At least one or some combination of the verses set out in this section are typically quoted by proponents of evolution (or human evolution) in the Quran because they mention that Allah "repeats" his creation. Supposedly, this sounds a bit like evolution. However, this is a distortion of the verses, which are about a future creation of each person after their death. This is so that they can return to Allah after death and be condemned or rewarded. This purpose is most explicit in the first verse quoted below, Q. 10:4. As with some of the other passages quoted in this article, according to classical commentaries these verses are concerned with the future resurrection of the dead. Indeed, the Quran has many other verses aimed at critics who doubted the possibility of resurrection. None of the verses unambiguously mention repeated creation as having occurred in the past on Earth. | At least one or some combination of the verses set out in this section are typically quoted by proponents of evolution (or human evolution) in the Quran because they mention that Allah "repeats" his creation. Supposedly, this sounds a bit like evolution. However, this is a distortion of the verses, which are about a future creation of each person after their death. This is so that they can return to Allah after death and be condemned or rewarded. This purpose is most explicit in the first verse quoted below, Q. 10:4. As with some of the other passages quoted in this article, according to classical commentaries these verses are concerned with the future resurrection of the dead. Indeed, the Quran has many other verses aimed at critics who doubted the possibility of resurrection. None of the verses unambiguously mention repeated creation as having occurred in the past on Earth. | ||