Islam agrees with the Theory of Evolution?

[Malakoot]

I was reading through the websites to see what people say in respect to evolution and found a Muslim scholar named Ahmad Al-Hassan who believes in evolution and says that only ignorant ones deny it!

Very interesting!


http://www.the-savior.com/home/index.php/81-article/139-evolution

. . .

The matter of evolution, in general, cannot be rejected except by a person ignorant of what it means, for as long as we have differentiation and selection and heredity, then certainly there must be evolution; and this is an issue which is almost self-evident, and almost does not need fossils or comparative anatomy to prove it.

And the genetic differentiation among individuals of one species was and is still existent. And the nature which surrounds the individuals and suits some individuals of one species, those who carry the favored genes, more than it suits other individuals [of the same species] is usually existent. And heredity definitely exists whenever there is reproduction. And if these three, which the earth was never free of ever since life began, are found then there is evolution.

And what some men of religion do, if not due to ignorance regarding the meaning and details of evolution, then mere stubbornness because they believe evolution conflicts with the religious text. And the truth is that they do not even know the meaning of creation and progression, yet you find them responding falsely or denying with utter shamelessness.

Continues . . .

And peace be upon you and the mercy of Allah and His blessings.

Ahmad Al Hassan
Jamadi AlThani 1433 A.H

(Edited to avoid full copy-paste. -- Recusant)

[Recusant]

Interesting piece; thank you for posting it, Malakoot. I have a request of you, however. Would you mind editing your post so that you quote only two or three of the most important paragraphs? People who are interested in reading the entire thing can click on the link. This is because quoting articles in their entirety is generally not a good practice. Some people are very protective of their copyright.

EDIT: Evidently you left shortly after posting this, so I've edited down the quote myself.

[Tank]

Interesting article. But really not a scientific article but an article by an apologist who is attempting to surround reality with mythology in an attempt to 'square the circle' of a creation myth written in a book with what we have observed. It's know as the Texas Sharp Shooter fallacy. In this case his 'bullets' are the parts in Quran that appear by pure coincidence to support evolution that when they were written had nothing to do with evolution whatsoever.

So while the author obviously understands the mechanisms and processes of natural selection (they are self evident if you look hard enough) he is still attempting to fit what he sees with what he believes. He is thus a Theistic Evolutionist. At least from an atheistic perspective it's a step in the right direction for a Muslim to acknowledge that natural selection exists.

[Crow]

However it is still open to interpretation as it isn't so cut and dry. For example there is the theory that the seven parts refers to the individual limbs, torso, head and genitalia (or spirit depending on interpretation), there is also the theory that we are created from 7 main elements, these are heralded by the creationists as it makes more sense in terms of fitting with the story, but evolution doesn't necessarily ring true with the 7 steps (as numeracy is hugely important in Islam) as there are far more stages or less than 7 depending upon how you look at it. Personally I prefer this style of belief over the fundamentalist view as it has room for intelligence, adaptability, and progress.

[xSilverPhinx]

Even though theistic evolution can have its problems when facts and interpretation collide, IMO since this apologist is considering it and not a literal fundie approach of their holy book is a good sign. Opening the flood gates, hopefully.

[markmcdaniel]

Interesting article. But really not a scientific article but an article by an apologist who is attempting to surround reality with mythology in an attempt to 'square the circle' of a creation myth written in a book with what we have observed. It's know as the Texas Sharp Shooter fallacy. In this case his 'bullets' are the parts in Quran that appear by pure coincidence to support evolution that when they were written had nothing to do with evolution whatsoever.

So while the author obviously understands the mechanisms and processes of natural selection (they are self evident if you look hard enough) he is still attempting to fit what he sees with what he believes. He is thus a Theistic Evolutionist. At least from an atheistic perspective it's a step in the right direction for a Muslim to acknowledge that natural selection exists.

I think it might be more correct to to say that he is tailoring his answer to the questioners world view. He may, of course, agree with his own answer. This is akin to a priest or rabbi deciding that God may use evolutionary processes if he wants to. While I do not agree with this type of thinking if it gets people to look at the evidence for evolution it servers the advance of reason.  

[Tank]

Interesting article. But really not a scientific article but an article by an apologist who is attempting to surround reality with mythology in an attempt to 'square the circle' of a creation myth written in a book with what we have observed. It's know as the Texas Sharp Shooter fallacy. In this case his 'bullets' are the parts in Quran that appear by pure coincidence to support evolution that when they were written had nothing to do with evolution whatsoever.

So while the author obviously understands the mechanisms and processes of natural selection (they are self evident if you look hard enough) he is still attempting to fit what he sees with what he believes. He is thus a Theistic Evolutionist. At least from an atheistic perspective it's a step in the right direction for a Muslim to acknowledge that natural selection exists.

I think it might be more correct to to say that he is tailoring his answer to the questioners world view. He may, of course, agree with his own answer. This is akin to a priest or rabbi deciding that God may use evolutionary processes if he wants to. While I do not agree with this type of thinking if it gets people to look at the evidence for evolution it servers the advance of reason.  

Yes. He could be attempting to accommodate evolution within his own world view and/or create common ground with fellow Muslims as a starting point for discussion on the dichotomy of reality vs mythology.