Before reviewing the Quran verses which refers to the creation, we should address the basics and principles which are stated in the Qur’an, and should be considered in our interpretation of the said verses, which we will briefly state in the following:
The first rule: the condition of believing in the absence of a physical and conclusive evidence.
One of the conditions is to belief in the absence of physical and empirical evidence. God Almighty disallowed us ever reaching a definitive evidence, and left us with the logical evidence that, although convincing, it must not be conclusive, and the subject of accepting or rejecting faith is optional that people decide upon based on their un-influenced free will.
This condition points to us an important conclusion that we have to pay attention to. The condition of believing with the absence of conclusive evidence, necessarily indicates that we will never find a conclusive evidence of the existence of God, or Angels or life after death among many others. Such as the evidence of intelligent design, because such evidence, if it was conclusive without a shadow of doubt, it will breach the condition of believing in the absence of a proof, and such breach is not permitted.
So we can conclude that we will not find any conclusive proof of the existence of God in any of our experimental natural sciences, or others. Because although God Almighty left us many logical and circumstantial evidences to see and feel, conclusive evidences were not permitted and are hidden from us. The following Quran verses support this notion:
في قوله تعالى في أول كتابه الكريم بعد الفاتحة: {الم (1) ذَٰلِكَ الْكِتَابُ لَا رَيْبَ ۛ فِيهِ ۛ هُدًى لِّلْمُتَّقِينَ (2) الَّذِينَ يُؤْمِنُونَ بِالْغَيْبِ وَيُقِيمُونَ الصَّلَاةَ وَمِمَّا رَزَقْنَاهُمْ يُنفِقُونَ (3)} سورة البقرة.
in the first Surat of Quran after Al-Fatihah, it reads: {This is the Book whereof there is no doubt, a guidance unto those who fear Allah (2) Who believe in Al Ghaib and perform Prayers, and spend out of what We have provided for them (3)} Chapter 2
Al Ghaib is the Unseen, it is what is outside the reach of our senses, the absent, the verse say, “they believe in the unseen”, such as God, Angels, Paradise… etc., in the absence of any sensory evidence of their existence. Because if sensory or physical evidence are found for their existence, they will not be Ghaib.
Al-Taher Ibn Ashour [a respected scholar] says, “What is meant by Al Ghaib (unseen) is what is not perceived by the senses, from what the Messenger, peace be upon him, told explicitly that it has occurred or will occur like the existence of God, his attributes, the existence of angels, ……….etc.,”
It is clear from this verse that belief must be in the absence of conclusive physical evidence, and this is expected, if we accept the concept that human existence in this life is in a kind of test or trial phase. Now if we all observe physical irrefutable evidence of the existence of God, then the idea of being subject to a test and judgement doesn’t work, and life becomes meaningless immediately after a definitive proof appears. In Quran, we find what supports this notion:
{Are they [the unbelievers] waiting for Allah and the Angels to come to them in the shadow of the clouds? Then [if Allah came to them] judgements will be already determined} Chapter 2:210,
هَلْ يَنظُرُونَ إِلَّا أَن يَأْتِيَهُمُ اللَّهُ فِي ظُلَلٍ مِّنَ الْغَمَامِ وَالْمَلَائِكَةُ وَقُضِيَ الْأَمْرُ ۚ وَإِلَى اللَّهِ تُرْجَعُ الْأُمُورُ (210)} البقرة 210،
and the same notion is stated in:
{……If Allah willed, He would have defeated them, but He wants to test some of you by means of others…..} Chapter 47:4
{ … وَلَوْ يَشَاءُ اللَّهُ لَانتَصَرَ مِنْهُمْ وَلَٰكِن لِّيَبْلُوَ بَعْضَكُم بِبَعْضٍ ۗ …} سورة محمد 4
And in the verse 6:8
{They say: If only an angel is sent down unto him. But if We sent down an angel, then all would be determined; and no further time would be allowed [for them to repent]} Chapter 6:8
{وَقَالُواْ لَوْلَآ أُنزِلَ عَلَيْهِ مَلَكٌ ۖ وَلَوْ أَنزَلْنَا مَلَكًا لَّقُضِىَ ٱلْأَمْرُ ثُمَّ لَا يُنظَرُونَ} (الأنعام – 8)
These verses, and many others in the Quran, do indicate that our earthly life is a phase where we are tested and we will be judged in the afterlife according to our conducts and deeds, and that a conclusive evidence is not allowed in this phase.
Accordingly, proof is kept beyond the limits of Human abilities and reach, and for this, even the Qur’an itself, which is the word of God Almighty, is not supposed to be conclusive evidence, as the hearts of the non-believers can be blinded from seeing such proof.
God Almighty says, addressing His Messenger PBUH:
{[Muhammad] And as their [the unbelievers] denials is too hard for you [to bear], [to the point] that you are wishing if you were able to find a tunnel in the ground or a ladder up to the sky, so you may bring them a miracle, the time if Allah willed, He could have brought them together unto the true path, so [Muhammad] do not be one of Al-Jahileen [the uninformed – the ignorant]} Surat 6:35
{وَإِن كَانَ كَبُرَ عَلَيْكَ إِعْرَاضُهُمْ فَإِنِ اسْتَطَعْتَ أَن تَبْتَغِيَ نَفَقًا فِي الْأَرْضِ أَوْ سُلَّمًا فِي السَّمَاءِ فَتَأْتِيَهُم بِآيَةٍ ۚ وَلَوْ شَاءَ اللَّهُ لَجَمَعَهُمْ عَلَى الْهُدَىٰ ۚ فَلَا تَكُونَنَّ مِنَ الْجَاهِلِينَ (35)} سورة 6
Therefore, the mechanism and the phases of evolution – if true – will not be inevitable, that is, it will not show a clear –beyond any shadow of doubt- an intelligent design which by necessity will lead to an intelligent designer. But the evolution will have a random part, which is what some call a coincidence, and for this, although we will find a design and a plan, but it will not be inevitable or an absolute proof. Isn’t this is what we find today? Evolution of the universe and of life, both strongly point to a plan and design, but not conclusively, allowing many of our scientist to avoid such conclusion, and insist on the randomness nature of such evolution, in spite they needed massive number of failed universes to justify their choice.
The second rule is that the creation of the universe is comprehensible in general terms, as we can conclude from the following verse (which we mentioned before):
Verse 29:20: {Say, Travel in the land and find out how the creation began…..}
{قُلْ سِيرُوا فِي الْأَرْضِ فَانظُرُوا كَيْفَ بَدَأَ الْخَلْقَ ۚ ثُمَّ اللَّهُ يُنشِئُ النَّشْأَةَ الْآخِرَةَ ۚ إِنَّ اللَّهَ عَلَىٰ كُلِّ شَيْءٍ قَدِيرٌ (20)}سورة العنكبوت
As said before, this verse strongly direct us towards a creation, the mechanism of which could be understood and uncovered by observation and research. This will leave out the miraculous creation and strengthen the evolutionary concept, which, to a reasonable degree, could be traced and comprehended. However, such creation, should not clearly, and without a shadow of doubt, pointing to an intelligent design and therefor a Designer. Because if it did, it will undermine the first rule which stipulate the absence of proof.
So, how can creation be comprehensible and yet, does not point to a plan and intelligent design, a good question, perhaps we cannot answer it with our human reasoning, except that, this is what we find around us today. Yes, we can understand evolution to a reasonable degree, in both the creation of the universe and of life, we can see the intelligent design in it, However, we have not been able to determine with certainty the inevitability of this explanation, instead, we resort to the hypothesis of probabilities to explain its occurrence by the means of a blind chances.
The choice to take this explanation or not to take it, remains a matter of belief rather than a scientific one. Although the new Darwinian evolutionists do not have the answers to many of the questions that faces them, they believe they will find such answers in the future, and they adhere to their modern theories as if it is a religion and faith, and although years and decades passes, and the unanswered questions increases the more science advances, and the complexities of the cell and the body workings keep getting more complex, and the vastness of the universe and the strangeness of the quantum keep increasing, they remain faithful to their belief in blind evolution, and this is good, because it incites them to research and achieve more scientific advances, which ultimately will lead to the development and preservation of our planet, a task and duty instructed in the Quran.
As for the third rule, God Almighty did not leave us thus confused between metaphysical or philosophic faith and inconclusive evidences. As there is the principle of verification, according to it, we know, that God Almighty will show people signs in the horizons (meaning the universe) and in themselves (meaning life) in order for them to be certain that the Qur’an is the truth, and why the Qur’an, what is the relationship of the Qur’an to the creation of the universe and life. The Qur’an contains verses related to the creation of the universe, its attributes and the way it will end, and verses related to the creation of life, and the creation of the human species.
In the verse 53 of chapter 41:
{سَنُرِيهِمْ آيَاتِنَا فِي الْآفَاقِ وَفِي أَنفُسِهِمْ حَتَّىٰ يَتَبَيَّنَ لَهُمْ أَنَّهُ الْحَقُّ ۗ أَوَلَمْ يَكْفِ بِرَبِّكَ أَنَّهُ عَلَىٰ كُلِّ شَيْءٍ شَهِيدٌ} (53) سورة فصلت
{We will show them Our signs in the horizons and within themselves, until they become clear that this [The Quran] is the truth. Is it not enough that your Lord is witness on all things} Chapter 41:53
And:
{وَقُلِ ٱلْحَمْدُ لِلَّهِ سَيُرِيكُمْ ءَايَٰتِهِۦ فَتَعْرِفُونَهَا ۚ وَمَا رَبُّكَ بِغَٰفِلٍ عَمَّا تَعْمَلُونَ} (سورة النمل – 93)
{And say “[All] praise is [due] to Allah. He will show you His signs, and you will recognize them. And your Lord is not unaware of what you are doing.”} Chapter 27:93
If someone says: if modern science is mentioned in the Qur’an, then why not extract science from it instead of waiting for thousands of years and spending money and effort in research and experiments, when we can obtain such scientific knowledge from the Quran.
We say that the significance of these verses can only be interpreted after human knowledge reaches these facts through science research and advances, for God Almighty said: {We will show them our signs in the horizons and within themselves until it become clear to them that this [The Quran] is the truth} that is to say that we will first see these signs and facts in the horizon and in ourselves, meaning we must discover such facts first, then after that we will be able to understand and find that the relevant verses in the Quran, do agree with these discoveries and do not contradict, clash or be at odd with such facts. We will find that these facts were already mentioned in the Qur’an, and when we find this, we will be more certain that the Quran is the truth.
That is why it is not correct to say that we can extract science from the Qur’an. Rather, the miracle here is that the verses that were revealed one thousand four hundred years ago correspond to and do not contradict any of our modern science, something no other holy book can claim.
And see the following verses:
{لَا تُحَرِّكْ بِهِ لِسَانَكَ لِتَعْجَلَ بِهِ (16) إِنَّ عَلَيْنَا جَمْعَهُ وَقُرْآنَهُ (17) فَإِذَا قَرَأْنَاهُ فَاتَّبِعْ قُرْآنَهُ (18) ثُمَّ إِنَّ عَلَيْنَا بَيَانَهُ} (19) سورة القيامة. أي أن الله تعالى سوف يبينه لنا في زمان مستقبلي، حيث أن “ثم” تفيد التراخي الزمني.
{Do not move your tongue quickly to hasten it (16) We are responsible for its collection and its recitation. (17) So when We have recited it, then follow its recitation. (18) Thereafter We shall be responsible for its interpretation (19)} Surat Al Qyamah
Meaning that God will direct us to its interpretation at some time in a future, where ‘Thuma’, which means ‘Thereafter’ refers to a time in the future, could be far in the future.
In addition to above, further reason why we cannot obtain scientific knowledge from the relevant verses, is explained in the following last condition.
Finally, there is the condition that the Quran shall not influence or effect mankind natural scientific advancement. This will demand that the text which is dealing with any scientific fact shall agree with the accepted human knowledge at any period, even when such knowledge, although accepted during a particular past time, will be proven wrong at a later time. This is to ensure that the correct science which disagrees with early people’s knowledge, will not confuse them and cause disturbance to the natural advancement of human knowledge.
I have explained this in details in previous articles, accordingly we conclude that there should be, and there are -in fact- a periodic interpretation of the fixed text, in which, the meaning of the text comes out of the interaction between the fixed text with the accepted knowledge for each era. We find that the text is compiled in a way which permit it to yield interpretations in line with human knowledge in different periods. I find in this more astounding than if it just yielded the meaning which agrees with the ultimate advanced sciences, but conflicted with human knowledge throughout past histories, when such knowledge was utterly wrong.
To give an example, people till few centuries ago believed that god created man from clay or dust, although the relevant Quranic verses could be interpreted to indicate this to somebody who only knew this, same verses will yield an evolutionary creation starting from a first cell from mud. As we said the meaning of a verse, is what is yielded from the interaction between the fixed text and the human knowledge at a particular period of time, when our human knowledge advanced, the text was able to advance with it. We will show in this essay the supportive evidence of this statement.
To Be Continued in the Next Article
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