Evolution or Creation? The greatest debate of all. Two factions collide over the simple matter of man’s origins, Science and Religion, both with varied elaborations and arguments. Yet only one can find victory in truth.
Secular Science attests that man evolved over a stretched-out period of time. The biological structure of man is such that it bears immense similarity to other beings, coming close to ape by a 99%-DNA match. Look back at the article on Epistemology, and we can then argue whether this is indeed true? If it is, how can it be justified? If it can be justified, how can belief be established in anything else?
Now, this is not an article dedicated to the biologics or physics. We will not be discussing the proteins, cells, and DNA correlating in similarity with other creatures. One thing can be ascertained from the Qur’an is that the biological similarity between man and other creatures is as Allah Himself declares;
وَهُوَ ٱلَّذِى خَلَقَ مِنَ ٱلۡمَآءِ بَشَرً۬… (Al-Furqaan 25:54)
He it is who has created from water the human being…
And the He says;
…وَجَعَلۡنَا مِنَ ٱلۡمَآءِ كُلَّ شَىۡءٍ حَىٍّۖ… (Anbiyah 21:30)
…And We made, from Water, everything Living…
The common denominator, water, that serves the foundational inhibitor of biological life must also mean that all biological creatures bear somewhat of a distant or close semblance to the human being. This is logic. However, even though the logic is sound, that does not make it factual. Because there is still a distinction to made, and that distinction comes forth in the human being’s essential existence with intellect, thought, emotion, and an advancement through a life bearing purpose and predestination.
This is where the secular mind faces monumental failure. Why? What is the purpose? Without this question answered, searching the frontiers of the material universe for an explanation of the biological composition is naught but futile and senseless.
The phenomenal statistics of material existence over Time, challenges the atheistic belief that the odds (note the gamble here) of human existence do not even come close to a tangible possibility. There are simply too many variables to account for. This leaves a gaping hole, for without truly understanding why we exist, nothing else can make sense. How does one justify human intellect in the authentication of what we know, without even comprehending where intellect itself comes from?
The Darwinian argument can be debated six ways from Sunday by breaking down the biological composition and tracing back the process. Even then, the inaccuracy outweighs all claims. The Theory of Evolution remains just that… a theory. One cannot help but wonder, where does the drive come from, to endlessly struggle towards justifying biological evolution? If the Creator Himself already provided an answer, why are they pursuing an alternate, implausible thesis?
Denial forms the foundation. Kufr كفر is such that it covers up the truth by using falsehood. To accept an Unseen Creator defies man’s instinctual rationality, because belief itself is not rational. You are mad if you believe in things that cannot be seen. And yet, belief can be comprehended, and even justified. They would look at the world around them, but not really see any essence, concluding everything in existence as ‘accidental’. There is no source origin, and therefore, there is no end. Evolution continues. We can challenge these claims by using simple allegories. Explain how the computer, for example, or that smartphone you so adore, exists? Did it have a Creator? Or did plastic and metal randomly collide and evolve into the object it is?
You see, asking the wrong question will always avail a state of intellectual paralysis. 'What is the human being?' 'How did it come to existence?' These are the wrong questions. Why do we exist… What is our purpose… these questions will provide insight and deep understanding. This article will not look at the process of Biological Creation, rather it will examine the purpose of Creation, by which all else will make absolute sense.
Almighty Allah has declared; (Baqarah 2:30)
وَإِذۡ قَالَ رَبُّكَ لِلۡمَلَـٰٓٮِٕكَةِ إِنِّى جَاعِلٌ۬ فِى ٱلۡأَرۡضِ خَلِيفَةً۬ۖ
And when Allah said unto the Angels, ‘Verily! I will place in the earth a Vicegerent’
This is the foremost descriptive, within which is defined the purpose, not the composition. Not ‘man’. ‘Human’. ‘Body’. Not a ‘biological being’. Not an ‘intellectual thing’. A Vicegerent. A Representative. An Ambassador. A Khalifah.
Of what? Of whom?
The definition of a “Khalifah” is not, and never has been, ‘ruler’. The Khalifah does not just rule. He guides. He leads. He exemplifies. Using a preset structure ordained by the Sovereign ruler Himself. An Ambassador to another realm must advocate the sovereignty of the ruler he represents.
Now, this presents an issue to the secular world. That sovereignty is not ‘man’s right to rule and govern by his own intent.’ We are all but vicegerents of Allah’s sovereignty on earth. But more importantly, Khilafah does not only entail governance. There is more;
قَالُوٓاْ أَتَجۡعَلُ فيها مَن يُفۡسِدُ فيها وَيَسۡفِكُ ٱلدِّمَآءَ وَنَحۡنُ نُسَبِّحُ بِحَمۡدِكَ وَنُقَدِّسُ لَكَۖ
They (Angels) responded, ‘Will you be placing therein one who will sow corruption and bloodshed, while we exalt you with praise and glorify you?’
This is not an ‘objection’ by the Angels. It is curiosity. To understand what their Lord intents. Where previous beings defaulted by amassing corruption and bloodshed, is this new being also going to do the same? This is where the foundational, inherent trait of a ruler comes to question. Will this ruler do as all tyrants and oppressors do? Look back in history… has there never been a ‘ruler’ who did not become tyrannic and oppressive when governance was established on the law of man, and not the Law of Allah?
One must look with a metaphysical lens to truly appreciate the verbal jousting between Allah and the inhabitants of the Heavens. Note that there is already an inherent outlook towards every other Khalifah sent to earth before humanity, whatever form that may have been. Also note that the infamous Iblees is also present. His race preceded man. What must he have been thinking in that moment when Allah revealed His intentions?
The Drama. The tension. The Scene. The Climax.
No one knew what was happening. The Qur’an commands us to ponder over the Ayah, so ponder. Allow your imagination to wander. Visualize the theatrics. The announcement made. The shock and awe. The bewilderment. The emotions.
These are heavenly politics.
So Almighty Allah counters with;
قَالَ إِنِّىٓ أَعۡلَمُ مَا لَا تَعۡلَمُونَ
He Allah said, ‘Verily! I know that which you do not’
Ah… the suspense. The twist in the plot. Something phenomenal is truly afoot. If the Creator Himself is declaring that He is about to do something that no one knows, that no one can truly comprehend, then the dramatics about to unfold can be nothing short of Epic! Allah will be placing on earth a Vicegerent who will be more than a just a leader, sent to fulfill a purpose truly monumental, unknown to all the inhabitants of all the realms, but He the Creator.
And so He created man, and gave him something truly unique;
وَنَفَخۡتُ فِيهِ مِن رُّوحِى…
…I breathed into him (man) of My Spirit… (Saad 38:72)
Meaning, His own spirit. The Ru’h is something very unique. In fact, that is a poor choice of words, because the Ru’h is not ‘some-thing’. But there is no possible way of describing the Spirit of Life. That which gives us the ability to live. To exist. It cannot be scientifically measured or analyzed. It is not tangible in any form of tangibility. When the Jews questioned about the Ru’h, in a bid to test the Holy Prophet (see my book, The Three Questions), he was instructed to respond;
قُلِ ٱلرُّوحُ مِنۡ أَمۡرِ رَبِّى
Tell them that the Spirit is of my Lord’s affair… (Israa 17:85)
This unique integration, first of Body and Soul, then enlivened with the Spirit of Life from the Creator Himself, resulted in the existence of the Khalifah He intended for earth— Mankind.
Did you catch that last bit?
Intended!
It was no accident. It was no sin, nor amercement for one. For the vilest thing one can do is alter the truth of what happened into a version suitable to ones own rationale. While a large part of the religious world that does believe in the Origin of Creation, many among us are of the inaccurate opinion that man’s destination on earth was as a result of the sin of the forbidden fruit.
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