Last, look at the following verses:

{وَهُوَ الَّذِي أَنْشَأَكُمْ مِنْ نَفْسٍ وَاحِدَةٍ فَمُسْتَقَرٌّ وَمُسْتَوْدَعٌ قَدْ فَصَّلْنَا الْآيَاتِ لِقَوْمٍ يَفْقَهُونَ (98)} سورة الأنعام

{And it is He who produced you from a single living being, then a settled [stable] place and storage. We have detailed the signs for a people who [are able to] comprehend} Chapter 6:98

{خَلَقَكُمْ مِنْ نَفْسٍ وَاحِدَةٍ ثُمَّ جَعَلَ مِنْهَا زَوْجَهَا}

{He created you from a one being, then from that (being) He made its pair} Chapter 39:6

{مَا خَلْقُكُمْ وَلَا بَعْثُكُمْ إِلَّا كَنَفْسٍ وَاحِدَةٍ إِنَّ اللَّهَ سَمِيعٌ بَصِيرٌ(28)} سورة لقمان

{Your creation and your resurrection are only as (the creation of) a single being. Allah is Hearing and Knowing} Chapter 31:28

The three verses refer to one Nafs, nafs in Arabic language indicate a living being, and from it the exit of the air as breath, it can refer to a person, like Nafsy and Nafsk: myself and yourself.

The word in the Quran used to refer to the soul as it leaves the body on death, it also a person, human, Angels, Jinn and to Allah Subhanu when He refers to himself. We can take it that Al Nafs could mean a living being.

Now, these verses talking about creation from a one being, then from that (being) God made its other (another one equal and similar). Majority of interpreters took these verses to refer to Adam and from him God created his wife. Taking this from the Israelites, namely from Geneses in the Old Testament. But the verses themselves did not say that.

In the following verse:

{ هُوَ الَّذِي خَلَقَكُمْ مِنْ نَفْسٍ وَاحِدَةٍ وَجَعَلَ مِنْهَا زَوْجَهَا لِيَسْكُنَ إِلَيْهَا فَلَمَّا تَغَشَّاهَا حَمَلَتْ حَمْلًا خَفِيفًا فَمَرَّتْ بِهِ فَلَمَّا أَثْقَلَتْ دَعَوَا اللَّهَ رَبَّهُمَا لَئِنْ آَتَيْتَنَا صَالِحًا لَنَكُونَنَّ مِنَ الشَّاكِرِينَ (189) فَلَمَّا آَتَاهُمَا صَالِحًا جَعَلَا لَهُ شُرَكَاءَ فِيمَا آَتَاهُمَا فَتَعَالَى اللَّهُ عَمَّا يُشْرِكُونَ  (190)}

{He it is Who created you [people] from a single being, and from it He made its mate, that he might reside with her; so when he covers her she bears a light burden, and passed (unnoticed) with it; but when it became heavy, they both prayed to Allah, their Lord: If Thou gives us a good child, we shall be of the thankful. But when He gives them a good child, they set up with Him associates in what He has given them; but high is Allah above what they associate (with Him)} Chapter 7:189

 في تفسير ابن كثير: وأما نحن فعلى مذهب الحسن البصري ، رحمه الله ، في هذا [ والله أعلم ] وأنه ليس المراد من هذا السياق آدم وحواء ، وإنما المراد من ذلك المشركون من ذريته ; ولهذا قال الله : ( فتعالى الله عما يشركون ) :

In Ibn Katheer Interpretation, he said: “We are with the school of Al Hassan Al Basri (Allah have merci on him) in this (Allah Knows best) that it is not meant here to refer to Adam and Eve, but it is meant to refer to the infidels from his descendants.” 

Same was said by Al Qurtoby and Al Tabari, both said that this verse does not refer to Adam and his wife, but to Al Mushrekeen from Adam’s descendants. 

It is worth mentioning here, the Quran did not tell the story of creating the wife of Adam from one of his ribs. If we put aside these verses, which does not really tell such story, there is no verse in the Quran, to indicate that Eve [Hawa’a] was created from Adam. Adam’s wife appeared without any introduction, in the verses when Adam was entering al Jannah. When Adam, not his wife, was lured by the devil to eat from the forbidden tree. If Adam’s wife was created by such miraculous creation as said in the Old Testament, then the Quran would have mentioned it, but the fact that it is not mentioned in the Quran, suggest to us, it is more likely that Adam’s wife creation was ordinary, born from her parents, as the human species were already existing.

So there is no reason why we should refer these verses to the creation of Adam and his wife, we only do so because we have a presumption that Eve was created from Adam’s rib, but if we never heard of this before, we will understand this verse to indicate that the origin of our creation came from a first living being and out of it came its equal. When our science tells us life started from a first cell which divided to produce another one, divided into two parts of a pair, divided creating another exactly similar second, surely we will understand these verses to mean this. What support this meaning is the following verse:

{مَا خَلْقُكُمْ وَلَا بَعْثُكُمْ إِلَّا كَنَفْسٍ وَاحِدَةٍ إِنَّ اللَّهَ سَمِيعٌ بَصِيرٌ(28)} سورة لقمان

The verse addressed to all people: {Your creation and your resurrection are only as [the creation and the resurrection of] one [single] being. Allah is Hearing and Knowing} Chapter 31:28

Meaning the creation of all of you, and the resurrection, is as creating only one being. One living cell, will progress and evolve to produce all living things.

All of us started from the creation of one single being. Yes, we can understand this to mean Adam, but then there are no other verses to support that his wife was created from him, and in all the mentioning of Adam in the Quran, he was not called Nafs, God called him Adam, Bashar and Insan (to be made into Bashar).

On the other hand, if we look at these verses, without any preconception or bias, we simply will understand them to refer to the first living cell that appeared on our planet, which had the ability of multiplying by division. Which is what our scientists tell us how life emerged on Earth some 4 billion years ago.

So the one Nafs refers to the first living cell that appeared on this planet, then it divided into two cells, as the reproduction was in the first stages by division, as is still till today in the case of bacteria, and when the first cell was divided into two cells, it created its other half of a pair, which is identical to the first. This is exactly what happened to the first cell on earth.

As for the reference to the verse:

 {يَاأَيُّهَا النَّاسُ اتَّقُوا رَبَّكُمُ الَّذِي خَلَقَكُمْ مِنْ نَفْسٍ وَاحِدَةٍ وَخَلَقَ مِنْهَا زَوْجَهَا وَبَثَّ مِنْهُمَا رِجَالًا كَثِيرًا وَنِسَاءً وَاتَّقُوا اللَّهَ الَّذِي تَسَاءَلُونَ بِهِ وَالْأَرْحَامَ إِنَّ اللَّهَ كَانَ عَلَيْكُمْ رَقِيبًا(1)} سورة لنساء

{O, mankind! reverence your Lord, Who created you from a single being and from it created its pair and dispersed from them numerous men and women…} Chapter 4:1

We know that between the single cell, and the numerous men and women dispersed in the land, there is a very long time long time which could extend to billions of years, same as the time it took from the first creation from dust till our appearance and spreading of people on earth, as in the following verse: {And of His signs is that He created you from dust; then, suddenly you are human beings dispersing [throughout the earth]} Chapter 30:20

{وَمِنْ آيَاتِهِ أَنْ خَلَقَكُم مِّن تُرَابٍ ثُمَّ إِذَا أَنتُم بَشَرٌ تَنتَشِرُونَ (20)} سورة الروم

{And it is He who produced you from a single living being, then a settled [stable] place and storage. We have detailed the signs for a people who [are able to] comprehend} Chapter 6:98

{وَهُوَ الَّذِي أَنْشَأَكُمْ مِنْ نَفْسٍ وَاحِدَةٍ فَمُسْتَقَرٌّ وَمُسْتَوْدَعٌ قَدْ فَصَّلْنَا الْآيَاتِ لِقَوْمٍ يَفْقَهُونَ(98)} سورة الأنعام

The single living cell, the first cell of which all living things evolved, had in its nucleic acid RNA [later became DNA], the DNA are the most important vehicle of life and evolution. DNA needed for their success to settle in a safe protected place, (Mustaqr مُسْتَقَرٌّ) that was in the core of the cell, which developed a double strong wall to protect the DNA which sets deep in its Nuclei. Scientist called this cell, Eukaryotic cell.

The verse also described it as store, as a stable place where you store things of value, the DNA is kind of a book written in it all the building information of the creature, a precisely scheduled building plan with executive abilities, a record of all important past and new experience, and many more, all stored in a fantastic arrangement of thousands of 4 nucleotide writing all information and data, always in pair (Double helix). 

Conclusion:

It is clear from these episodes that the direct interpretation of the verses that we reviewed do not indicate that the creation of the human species was an immediate creation risen directly from clay. Rather, creation was through a progressive stages that had a start, duration and completion. And these verses can be interpreted – without imposing a specific predetermined meaning on them, such as the creation of Adam directly from clay – could be interpreted with ease in accordance with their straight forward direct meaning, to find that they point to a directed evolutionary creation, in line with the evolution concept in its general outline, and that the human kind, the homo sapience, Al Bashar, were completed by possible direct intervention, which explain our conscious and advanced cognitive abilities.

The Qur’anic marvel on the subject of human creation is evident in the verses that indicates with ease and clarity that the creation of man was evolutionary over a period of time until the appearance of the Homo sapiens species with its ability to reason and communicate through language.

We said that the Qur’anic text is miraculous because it did not follow the prevailing knowledge during the time of its revelation in the 7^th century, and disagreed with the Books that preceded it. if it was from other than God Almighty it would not had differed from the prevailing concepts and would not had disagreed with the religions of those who came before it. It is a miracle, because it preceded the modern scientific advances in the subjects of the creation of life and the creation of the universe.

There was no time to cover the subject of the creation of the universe here in these episodes; however, a detailed study can be found at the website of Almudarabah and in the episodes of “The Qur’an and contemporary science” on this channel, which were published in Arabic language, waiting for translation in the future Insha’Allah.

Allah said in Surat Fasalat:

{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 it become clear to them that this [The Quran] is the truth. Is it not enough that your Lord is witness on all things} Chapter 41:53

صدق الله العظيم

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Creation & Evolution Episode 9 of 9

Now, before we go to the next verses, we need to look at the meaning of some words in Arabic language:
We explained before the meaning of Nutfah as a little water or liquid of mixture which could be understood – depending on the context it is said in – as a primitive organism such as a cell if it come in verses related to the creation of life from clay, and as the sperm or fertilized egg if it comes in verses related to the creation in the womb.
Alakah in Arabic means something hanged on another, i.e., two or more things cling together, one to the other. This indicate that Al Nutfah, the one single life form, the cell, is now hanged with another cell, or with many other cells, so Al 3lakah is a multi-cells organism, the multicellular [which appeared 2.5 billion years ago].
It has become noticeable that the first periods of the embryo development in the womb, follow similar stages as the creation of life from the first cell. That is why we find that the early interpreters found in the progress of the embryos the meanings of the Qur’anic verses which also related to the creation of life from the first cell.
Now, we need to review the Quranic verses to further understand this point:

If we look on the following verse:

{ .. هُوَ أَعْلَمُ بِكُمْ إِذْ أَنشَأَكُم مِّنَ الْأَرْضِ وَإِذْ أَنتُمْ أَجِنَّةٌ فِي بُطُونِ أُمَّهَاتِكُمْ ..} النجم 32

{…..He knows about you, when He created you from the earth and when you were embryos in the wombs of your mother’s…..} Chapter 53:32
In this verse, we find the reference to two different phases of human creation, the first is the creation of the species from the first cell which emerged from the elements of the earth. The second is the development of embryos in the wombs of the mothers.
The distinction between the two is clear in this verse. The other verses related to human creation, each of them refers to one of these two phases, and some may be referring to both. For this we have to be careful when studying these verses to determine which creation the verse is referring to, especially as we know that the stages of the growth in the womb, can be similar to some extent to the stages of life evolving from the first cell.
What makes this distinction need special attention, that we assumed that in some verses, a text intended to refer to the creation of life from the first cell, was composed in a way, so that it allows itself to be understood as the development of the embryo in the womb, until the day that human knowledge advances to a level, that uncovers the concept of creation by evolution or by directed evolution, then people will be able to interpret the verse in light of such concept. And even at that time, the verse may still serve both interpretations.

What said above, is similar to the arrangement applied to the concept of Adam being created directly from clay, to allow such verses to be interpreted in earlier times, when human knowledge was still on the belief that Adam was created directly from dust, the same verses, when human knowledge advanced, became able to describe the emergence of life on Earth from the first cell.
This is how the verses were interpreted in previous times, most mentioning of creation from clay, were interpreted to mean the creation of Adam, and the others which showed progressing stages were understood to refer to the development of the embryo then the fetus in the womb. The text was designed to allow these periodic interim interpretation in order to agree and not to conflict with human knowledge at such early times, even when this knowledge was not correct or accurate. But today, as human knowledge advanced, the same text is able to disclose its intended meaning, which emerges from the interaction between the fixed text and the advancing human knowledge.

Now let us look at verses referring to the creation of the Humans species from dust and the developing of the embryo in the womb:

{إِنَّا خَلَقْنَا الْإِنْسَانَ مِنْ نُطْفَةٍ أَمْشَاجٍ نَبْتَلِيهِ فَجَعَلْنَاهُ سَمِيعًا بَصِيرًا(2)}
مشج (مقاييس اللغة) الميم والشين والجيم أصلٌ صحيح، وهو الخَلْط. ونُطفةٌ أمشاجٌ، وذلك اختلاط الماء والدّم

{We created man from Nutfat AmshaJ to try him [test him]; so We made him hearing and seeing [knowing]} Chapter 76:2
Amshaj (in Maqayees Al Loghah, Ibn Faris] “Mashaj is a mix”
{We created man from little liquid of a mixture [of elements] to try him [test him]; so We made him hearing and seeing [knowing]} Chapter 76:2
In this verse, the creation of the human species, from Al Nutfah is described here to be a liquid mixture of elements, it could be a living organism, cell, RNA, DNA. Or it could refer to the embryo resulting from the sperm and egg, the fertilized egg in case it is referring to the growth of the embryo in the womb. As is referred to in the following two verse:

{وَأَنَّهُ خَلَقَ الزَّوْجَيْنِ الذَّكَرَ وَالْأُنْثَى (45) مِنْ نُطْفَةٍ إِذَا تُمْنَى(46) وَأَنَّ عَلَيْهِ النَّشْأَةَ الْأُخْرَىٰ (47)}

{And that He created the pairs, the male and the female (45) From a Nutfah when emitted (46) And that [incumbent] upon Him is the next creation} Chapter 53
Here, the Nutfah is the sperm when emitted, or the egg when fertilized by the sperm.
Same in the following verse:

{ أَلَمْ يَكُ نُطْفَةً مِنْ مَنِيٍّ يُمْنَى (37) ثُمَّ كَانَ عَلَقَةً فَخَلَقَ فَسَوَّى (38) فَجَعَلَ مِنْهُ الزَّوْجَيْنِ الذَّكَرَ وَالْأُنْثَى (39)}

{Had he not been a Nutfah [little liquid] from semen emitted (37) Thereafter he was 3lakah [clinging clot], then (Allah) shaped and fashioned (him) (38) And made of him the pairs, the male and the female (39)} Chapter 75
These last two verses refers to the creation in the womb.

Now the following verse describe both the creation of human species followed by the creation in the womb:

{يَا أَيُّهَا النَّاسُ إِنْ كُنْتُمْ فِي رَيْبٍ مِنَ الْبَعْثِ فَإِنَّا خَلَقْنَاكُمْ مِنْ تُرَابٍ ثُمَّ مِنْ نُطْفَةٍ ثُمَّ مِنْ عَلَقَةٍ ثُمَّ مِنْ مُضْغَةٍ مُخَلَّقَةٍ وَغَيْرِ مُخَلَّقَةٍ لِنُبَيِّنَ لَكُمْ وَنُقِرُّ فِي الْأَرْحَامِ مَا نَشَاءُ إِلَى أَجَلٍ مُسَمًّى ثُمَّ نُخْرِجُكُمْ طِفْلًا ثُمَّ لِتَبْلُغُوا أَشُدَّكُمْ وَمِنْكُمْ مَنْ يُتَوَفَّى وَمِنْكُمْ مَنْ يُرَدُّ إِلَى أَرْذَلِ الْعُمُرِ لِكَيْلَا يَعْلَمَ مِنْ بَعْدِ عِلْمٍ شَيْئًا وَتَرَى الْأَرْضَ هَامِدَةً فَإِذَا أَنْزَلْنَا عَلَيْهَا الْمَاءَ اهْتَزَّتْ وَرَبَتْ وَأَنْبَتَتْ مِنْ كُلِّ زَوْجٍ بَهِيجٍ (5)} سورة 22

{People, if you are in doubt about the Resurrection, then [consider that] We have created you from dust, then from a Nutfah [little liquid], then from 3lakah [clinging organism], and then from a lump of tissues, continual creatable [evolving] and uncreatable [stopped evolving] – to show you. And We settle in the wombs whom We will for a specified term, then We bring you out as a child, and then you grow till you reach your full strength. And among you is he who will die, and among you he who will grow very old till he knows nothing, after knowing. And you see the earth barren, but when We send down upon it water, it quivers and swells and grows of every beautiful pair} Chapter 22:5

The first part, starts from the creation from dust, into Nutfah (Living single cell of a mixture of elements), then comes Al Alaka, the word alak in Arabic means something to hang and cling to another. Alaka, a noun, indicates many single cells clinging together, to form a Multicellular organism. [A multicellular organism is an organism that is made up of many cells clinging together]. Then from lump of tissues, a being which continue being created, and others stopped, here we find some continue to evolve while others stopped evolving (and also others died out and extinct). What was said was to show people who are in doubt about the Resurrection, that Allah created us in this life from dust, and He will create us again in the next life. Then the verse move to the wonders of the creation in the womb and our growing from a child to reach very old age when our cognitive abilities will deteriorate.
Now let us look at the following verse:

{ وَلَقَدْ خَلَقْنَا الْإِنسَانَ مِن سُلَالَةٍ مِّن طِينٍ (12) ثُمَّ جَعَلْنَاهُ نُطْفَةً فِي قَرَارٍ مَّكِينٍ (13) ثُمَّ خَلَقْنَا النُّطْفَةَ عَلَقَةً فَخَلَقْنَا الْعَلَقَةَ مُضْغَةً فَخَلَقْنَا الْمُضْغَةَ عِظَامًا فَكَسَوْنَا الْعِظَامَ لَحْمًا ثُمَّ أَنشَأْنَاهُ خَلْقًا آخَرَ ۚ فَتَبَارَكَ اللَّهُ أَحْسَنُ الْخَالِقِينَ (14)} سورة المؤمنون

{And We created Al Insan (genus Homo) from Sulalah [lineage – descent or extract] from clay (12) Thereafter We made him into Nutfah [seed-cell] in a strong resting-place (13) Thereafter We created al Nutfah into Alakah, then We created the Alakah into tissue, then We created the tissue into bones, then We dressed the bones in flesh; thereafter We developed him into another creature. So blessed be God, the best of creators (14)} Chapter 23

If we consider Sulalah in the sense of a group of people or animals that descended from certain lineage, then it is possible to say man came from this lineage, the first of which was clay. Then after many stages, at a much later specific stage at the end, another creation was developed, as the verse say: {thereafter We developed him into another creature} and here we find that the verses speak not only of the creation of Al Insan, but also of the creation of another type that came from Al Insan. Al Insan was created from the descendants of the first cell, until he became at the image we know today, and after a long period of time, God developed him into another type, this type is the new human species, which the Quran gave it the name Bashar. See the Almighty saying {thereafter We developed him into another creature}, this correspond with the verse {just as He produced you from the offspring of other people} Chapter 6:133
Now let us look again at the verses, as we may find in them the interim meaning that describes the steps of the evolution of the human creation, starting from clay.
{And we have created man …} That is, we planned and determined what will reach in its end a human being, {from a lineage [descendant] from clay …} That is, it comes from a lineage or a chain of which the first stage of it is from clay. We know from our modern science, the first living cell was formed by a chemical process from the substances found in nature, clay and air, this cell was simple, primitive with the ability to divide, that is, it makes a second cell like it, see the Almighty saying: {He created you from one Nafs [living cell] and thereafter made from it its pair} Thus, these cells multiplied by division, and had no nuclei, it had an outer wall that enclosed a self-replicating RNA (later it became DNA). Bacteria are single-celled organisms of the same prokaryotic type as well as blue-green algae. This cell was found more than 3.5 billion years ago.
The step that followed the prokaryotic cell is the eukaryotic cell, distinguished from the first by that the DNA resides in a nucleus with a strong double wall that protects the nucleus, and protect in it the DNA.
If life is defined as the mechanism of reproduction, then the DNA is this mechanism, and the cell provides two important functions, first it provides protection for the very weak genetic chain (DNA), and secondly provide the suitable place for it to complete the complex biological evolution processes.

The verse said:

{Thereafter We made him into Nutfah in a strong resting-place (13)} 

The verse indicates that Al Nutfah which is a little water which denotes the cell, in it the DNA was placed in a strong deep place, the place is the eukaryotic cell nucleus with its strong double wall, the appearance of the Eukaryotes around 2.0 billion years ago, marked a very important milestone in the evolution of life. (Eukaryotes single cell organisms are algae, amoeba and many other mostly microscopic organisms such as bacteria)

{ ثُمَّ خَلَقْنَا النُّطْفَةَ عَلَقَةً فَخَلَقْنَا الْعَلَقَةَ مُضْغَةً فَخَلَقْنَا الْمُضْغَةَ عِظَامًا فَكَسَوْنَا الْعِظَامَ لَحْمًا….}
{Thereafter We created al Nutfah into Alakah ……}
Then the Nutfah which already had a strong walled protected nuclei, this Nutfah was made into Al Alakah, Alakah in Arabic means something hanging to another, two or more things clinging together, which points to the multicellular organisms, which appeared around 1.5 billion years ago, when two or more of the single cells attached to each other, this was very important milestone in the evolution chain.
The first thing that appeared from the Alakah or the multi cellular organisms is the worms, sponges, and jellyfish.
{..Then We created the Alakah into tissue, then We created the tissue into bones, then We dressed the bones in flesh ;….}
Then the tissue evolved from the Alaka, the tissue is the primitive invertebrate animals.
Then the tissues was created into bones around 600 million years ago, which are the organisms that has an external hard shield such as snails, oysters, mussels and other mollusks. Also the small shelly fauna early skeletal fossils and Cloudinidae were among the earliest animals known to have grown hard, mineralized exoskeletons, which lives during the Ediacaran period.
Then the bones were dressed in flesh which are the vertebras, marine and land animals, when the warm blooded mammals appeared around 540 million years at the Cambrian explosion, after that, and during the past 500 million years, evolved and branched into millions of species, and from one of them came the human Insan.
{thereafter We developed him into another creation},
Thereafter, God evolved Al Insan into new species Al Bashar [the Homo sapiens].
This verses 12, 13 and 14 of Surah 23 described the general outline the main stages of the life evolution from the first cell till the Homo sapiens, us.

To Be Continued in the Next Episode.

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Creation & Evolution Episode 8 of 9

{ وَإِذْ قَالَ رَبُّكَ لِلْمَلَائِكَةِ إِنِّي جَاعِلٌ فِي الْأَرْضِ خَلِيفَةً ۖ قَالُوا أَتَجْعَلُ فِيهَا مَن يُفْسِدُ فِيهَا وَيَسْفِكُ الدِّمَاءَ وَنَحْنُ نُسَبِّحُ بِحَمْدِكَ وَنُقَدِّسُ لَكَ ۖ قَالَ إِنِّي أَعْلَمُ مَا لَا تَعْلَمُونَ (30)} سورة البقرة

{When your Lord said to the angels, “I am appointing a viceroy [Khalifah – Deputy] in the earth”. They said “Are You appointing in it the one who commits corruption and shed blood in it, while we (are the ones who) commemorate Your Name and glorify You?” The Lord said, “I know that which you do not know”} Chapter 2:30

The answer of the angels {Are You appointing in it the one who commits corruption and shed blood in it} suggest their knowledge (as a matter of fact) that such destructive behavior is already taking place or took place on Earth. The early interpreters differed about: How the angels knew that this new creature or its offspring, will cause devastation on earth in a future time? We know that angels do not know the future, nor any body with this regard. Only God knowns the future.

Some interpreters said that the angels have asked God Almighty: What will be of this new creature? God told them that he – or his descendants – will commit corruption and shed blood in earth.

But this assumption could not be right, as God created people to build the earth and among them the good and the bad; God Almighty will not say about all human beings that they will be bad, the time He knows that there will be among them prophets, messengers, believers, faithful, devoted and nations that order the good deeds and forbid the bad.

In addition, the Almighty’s answer to them {I know that which you do not know} shows that He did not tell them anything about this caliph, because if they had asked Him and He answered them, they would have been informed what God knows. But they did not. The fact that God said to them: “I know what you do not know”, clearly shows that He did not tell them anything, because if He told them, they would have known.

Others said: narrated of Ibn Abbas, he said: “The first one who inhabited the Earth were the jinn, so they corrupted it and spilled blood in it, killing each other”. Also Narrated of Ibn Abbas: “The jinn misbehaved in the earth before the children of Adam, so the angels said so, as they compared these with those.” End of quote.

This explanation is also not correct because the verses do not at all provide any hints towards such a comparison. There is no mention of jinn in the story told in the verses. In addition, the comparison is not valid, because there is no relationship or similarity between humans and jinn. Also, most probable that jinn do not have blood to be spilled.

According to this assumption, on what the angels based their comparison? When they had never seen a Bashar before, nor knew anything about him. Rather, they did not know that the one standing in front of them is Al Bashar –the Man- that God told them about him before, in the verse 38:71: {When your Lord said to the angels I am going to create Bashar [Man] from clay (71) So when I have made him complete and breathed into him of My spirit, fall down, bowing before him (72)} Chapter 38.

If the angels knew that the one standing in front of them is Al Bashar, which God ordered them to bow to him, they would have bowed to him immediately, and they would not have said {Are You appointing in it the one who commits corruption and shed blood in it}. Of course they did not know him, and they did not compare him to the Jinn. In addition, the presence of the Jinn on Earth and their war with each other or with the Angels, none of this is mentioned or even hinted upon in any of the verses of the Quran, it is an imaginary story without any base of truth or have any relevance.

That is why we can say with confidence, the Angels did not ask God and God did not tell them, and the Angels did not compare Al Khalifah with al Jinn.

This brings us back to the question: How did the Angels knew that Al Khalifah, the one in front of them, are or well commit corruption and shed blood on Earth?

Rather, why do the angels say: {Are You appointing in it the one who commits corruption and sheds blood in it} and not: (Are You appointing in it the one who will commit corruption and shed blood in it) in the future, because this is what should be the case if they were talking about the sons and descendants of Adam, who did not exist yet at that time, that should be the case if they were talking about a future time involving the human being spreading war and evil on earth. But the verse we are reading is clear, the Angels did not use future tense, they used present tense.

It is worth mentioning here, that many translators translated what the angels said to be in the future tense, “who will commit corruption” the time the verse clearly stated that the Angels said these actions to be in the present tense.

So, the Angels said “Are You appointing in it the one who commits corruption and shed blood in it” all in present tense, why? Because the Angels can see on the earth people who looks exactly like the one who is standing in front of them, Al Khalifah. 

The people who were on earth at that time were Al Insan, they looked like Adam, they were already inhabiting the Earth, they were at war with each other, shedding blood of their own kind, and of other animals, destroying, devastating, as the verse described them { We have created Al Insan in the best [Taqweem]; Then we reduced him to the lowest of the low} Chapter 95/4 This Homo species is what the Angels saw on earth, before God selected Adam and made him complete, taught him the names (ability of using language), gave him conscious and made him Khalifah responsible for the Earth.

As we see, This was a natural response by the Angels based on their observation of what was actually happening at that time on earth, and for this reason the verbs “commits corruption and shed blood” were said in the present tense and not in a future tense, exactly as said in the verse.

Accordingly, we can understand the verses as follows:

{When your Lord said to the angels, “I am appointing a viceroy [Khalifah – Deputy] in the earth}. And Adam was standing in front of the Angels, the Angels saw that he is similar to the people who presently inhibit the earth, and who are involved in destroying earth and killing each other, although land is vast and plentiful, also these people do not worship God nor glorify Him. So the Angels said in bafflement {Are You appointing in it the one who commits corruption and shed blood in it, while we (are the ones who) commemorate Your Name and glorify You?” The Lord said, “I know that which you do not know” As God knows that this is Al Bashar who is chosen to take the responsibility of building and preserving Earth.

From the answer of the Angels, and from their astonishment, we conclude that there were people on earth contemporary with Adam, and they were living, marrying and propagating there. We knew that Adam was not the first human being (first Insan), there were many before him, we can say, Adam was the first Bashar, the first Homo sapiens to use language.

To Be Continued in the Next Episode.

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Creation & Evolution Episode 7 of 9

The following verse provide information about the long time it took the human species to evolve:

{ هَلْ أَتَىٰ عَلَى الْإِنسَانِ حِينٌ مِّنَ الدَّهْرِ لَمْ يَكُن شَيْئًا مَّذْكُورًا (1) } سورة الإنسان

{Has there came upon the human being a long period of time in which he was a thing not worth mentioning?} Chapter 76:1

God Almighty tells us that humans [Al Insan] after their reaching their completeness, meaning the end of their creation process, and for a very long period of time were not a thing worthy to be mentioned, and the term Dhahr in Arabic denotes a considerable long period.

if we take the meaning of the word human [Al Insan] in this verse to mean Adam, assuming he is the first human being created, as all the early interpreters did, then we will face a problem here, because Adam was created and honored in a short time, (because God breathed into him from His spirit, appointed him as khalif and ordered the angels to bow down to him honoring him] so before Adam, there was no long time when he was not worth mentioning.

Also, Adam’s children and descendants, were honored as said in the Quran verse:  {And We have certainly honored the children of Adam and carried them on the land and on sea and provided for them of the good things and preferred them over much of what We have created, with [definite] preference} Chapter 17:70 Accordingly, honoring and giving preference to the children of Adam necessarily made them worth mentioning.

So verse 1 of suraht Al Insan, must refer to a human beings who are not Adam, and are not his children or his descendants, Therefor there must be other humans who are not Adam nor his descendants, who lived before him, or contemporary with him and they, these human beings, lived for a very long time, not worth mentioning.

We know that the human species, who were the product of an evolution process that took billions of years, and even since its appearance as the first homo species in this evolutionary process, nearly ten million years had passed, before it evolved enough till a human acquired a sufficient brain size, when the homo sapiens started appearing around 130,000 years ago, and since then, it took them a considerable long time till the start of the earliest hint of a primitive civilization, during such considerable long time, man was not something worth mentioning, exactly as the verse told us.

وفي قوله تعالى:{ أُولَٰئِكَ الَّذِينَ أَنْعَمَ اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِم مِّنَ النَّبِيِّينَ مِن ذُرِّيَّةِ آدَمَ وَمِمَّنْ حَمَلْنَا مَعَ نُوحٍ وَمِن ذُرِّيَّةِ إِبْرَاهِيمَ وَإِسْرَائِيلَ وَمِمَّنْ هَدَيْنَا وَاجْتَبَيْنَا ۚ إِذَا تُتْلَىٰ عَلَيْهِمْ آيَاتُ الرَّحْمَٰنِ خَرُّوا سُجَّدًا وَبُكِيًّا ۩ (58) } سورة مريم

{Those are the ones upon whom Allah showed favour from among the prophets of the descendants of Adam and of those whom We carried [in the ship] with Noah, and of the descendants of Abraham and Israel, and of those whom We guided and chose. When the verses of the Most Merciful were recited to them, they fell down, adoring and weeping}(58)

Here we find the mention of the descendants of Adam. If Adam was the first and the only human, then all the people will be his descendants, and there will be no need to mention that they are from his descendants, but if Adam was one of many, one of the human species, and he was selected from between them, then his descendants should be mentioned, as the verse did. 

{وَلَقَدْ خَلَقْنَا الْإِنسَانَ مِن صَلْصَالٍ مِّنْ حَمَإٍ مَّسْنُونٍ (26) وَالْجَانَّ خَلَقْنَاهُ مِن قَبْلُ مِن نَّارِ السَّمُومِ (27) وَإِذْ قَالَ رَبُّكَ لِلْمَلَائِكَةِ إِنِّي خَالِقٌ بَشَرًا مِّن صَلْصَالٍ مِّنْ حَمَإٍ مَّسْنُونٍ (28) فَإِذَا سَوَّيْتُهُ وَنَفَخْتُ فِيهِ مِن رُّوحِي فَقَعُوا لَهُ سَاجِدِينَ (29)} سورة الحجر

قال ابن فارس : بشر فى اللغة تدل على ظهور الشىء مع حسن وجمال وسمى البشر بشرًا لظهورهم، ومنه البشرى وذلك يكون بالخير .

أما الإنسان، فقد قال ابن فارس : “أنس أصل واحد هو ظهور الشيء، وكل شيء خالف طريقة التوحش. وجاء في القاموس المحيط: “واسْتأْنَسَ: ذَهَبَ تَوَحُّشُهُ”

{And We created Al Insan (human being) from clay from altered black mud (26) And before that, We created Al jinn from intensive fire (27) And when Your Lord said to the angels: I am creating Bashar (human) from clay from altered black mud (28) So, when I have made him and have breathed into him of My Spirit, fall down to him in prostration (29)} Chapter 15:26-29

We find in these verses two name for the human being, first one is Insan, the second is Bashar.

As of Insan, Ibn Faris in his Mu3jam Maqayees Al Loghah said, “Ans denotes everything which is opposite wildness”. In Al Qamoos Al Muhit: “Ista’anas: means his wildness is gone”. Meaning not wild any more.

As of Bashar, Ibn Faris said: “Bashar in language denotes appearance of something with beauty and goodness, and “Al Bashar” (people) are named so because of their appearance, and from that came Al “Bushara” meaning Good news which is always good.”

Here in the verses of Surat Al Hijr, we find a clear separation between the creation of Al Insan and the creation of Al Bashar. The Quran was clear in showing that the creation of Al Jinn took place before the creation of al Insan. This clarification was required, because the verse of the creation of al Insan was placed before the verse of the creation of Al Jinn, which resulted in separating the verse of the creation of al Insan from the verse of the creation of al Bashar.

Although both creations are from the same elements, their names differed. This could be a separation between two different beings, or a repetition, and if it was repetition, why the different names.

قوله سبحانه وتعالى : { الرَّحْمَٰنُ (1) عَلَّمَ الْقُرْآنَ (2) خَلَقَ الْإِنسَانَ (3) عَلَّمَهُ الْبَيَانَ (4) }

We take it that the verses inform us that they are different, as we can see from the different names, al Bashar is different than al Insan. We know God breathed into al Bashar of His spirit, we also find that al Insan according to the order of the verses was created before al Bashar. All this leads us to assume that Al Insan was created through an evolutionary process which lasted billions of years, and al Bashar is a later stage of this evolution, when Al Insan progressed further to a new species called al Bashar, able to speak, learn and communicate knowledge. The following verse support this assumption: {The Most Merciful (1) Taught the Qur’an (2) Created Al Insan (3) taught him eloquence [speech] (4)} Chapter 55:1-4. Ibn Kathier said: “Al Hassan said: meaning the speech…” Ibn Kathier said: “what Al Hassan said is better because teaching him the Quran meaning make recitation of the Quran easy by facilitating speech and the flow of different sounds and letters from different places in the throat, tongue and lips.” End of quote.

Evolutionists have found that the emergence of the modern humans – which we are from its lineage – coincided with a change in the skull of the first human in terms of the jawbones and throat, which made it easier to pronounce and facilitate the exit of letters, with the size of the brain reaching the current size. That was, al Bashar are the modern humans. And Adam is the first Bashar. And the story of Adam learning all the names, where the names of all things is a metaphor for language, and Adam is the symbol of human beings i.e. the human person, and that God breathed into this creature of his soul.

The story told by the Qur’an about the emergence of the modern man – the homo sapiens – which the Quran called the type “Bashar”, which means appearance of good thing, and the name of the first Bashar was “Adam”, tells us that Al Insan evolved until he advanced, note the meaning of the word Insan as in the early Muajam Al Loghah, means his wildness is gone, meaning he left the wild animal world and started to become somehow social. Thereafter, when he became complete as Insan, he advanced to become another creation that is Al Bashar. This was at the completion of the development of the brain and jaw, which enabled him to think and pronounce, thus possessing the ability to learn and speak, so he learned the language, and he was given a sense of self-conscious and the freedom of choice, then he was made a successor in the land, carrying the responsibility for its preservation and construction.

We understand from these verses that Al Insan was the penultimate [one before the last] stage of evolution and that al Bashar is the last stage, and this is clear because God ordered the angels to prostrate to Al Bashar, not to Al Insan. This is different from what some contemporary scholars said, I disagree with them, because the evidence is clear in these verses which I presented here and in many other verses. So Al Insan is the one who evolved to become Al Bashar, and the first Bashar is Adam and we are the children of Adam, accordingly we are Bashar, but because we came from al Insan, we can be called both name, however, we notice in the Quran, whenever al Bashar is used, in majority of times it is used as good, [all profits are Bashar]. As for the word al Insan, it is used for majority of times as not good. 

To Be Continued in the Next Episode

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Creation & Evolution Episode 6 of 9

Let’s look at another verse:

في قوله تعالى {وَاللَّهُ خَلَقَكُمْ مِنْ تُرَابٍ ثُمَّ مِنْ نُطْفَةٍ ثُمَّ جَعَلَكُمْ أَزْوَاجًا …….}(11)  سورة فاطر،

{Allah created you from dust, thereafter from [Nutfah] little liquid, thereafter He made you pairs (male and female)} Chapter 35:11

Al-Qurtoby said in his interpretation: “The Almighty saying: God created you from dust, then from sperm. Sa3id narrated that Qatada said: It means Adam, PBUH, and he referred to this: He created your origin from dust, then from sperm, he said: meaning that he brought it [the sperm] out from the backs of your fathers. Then He made you pairs, said: marry each of you to the other.” End of quote.

Other interpreters said similar to what Al Qurtoby said. But as thuma was used to connect the three events, their order of occurrence must be as the order in the verse, so the correct order is, first: creation from dust, followed by: creation from Nutfah, followed by: making into pairs, male and female. So al Nutfah cannot be a sperm, because male were not made yet.

If we look in the dictionary for the meaning of Nutfah, we find it means little water. In Muajam Lisan Al Arab, Abu Manthor said: “Arabs name the little water Nutfah, and the lot of water Nutfah, but it is more precise for the little water”. End of quote.

If we look in the verse 8 of Surat Al Sajdah: {Then He made his descendants from lineage of insignificant fluid (8)} Chapter 32. We find that the insignificant fluid is the Nutfah.

Here in the verse: {Allah created you from dust, then from a [Nutfah] little liquid, then He made you pairs (male and female)} Chapter 35:11   We find that Al Nutfah if we take it to mean sperm, it preceded the making of the pairs, male and female, which could not be, so Al Nutfah in this context is not the sperm (or the egg) as it is in other verses related to the embryos in the womb – So it is not the semen, sperm or the fertilized egg, because the male and female were not made yet.

Therefore, the mentioned Nutfah must be an early evolutionary stage of the chain of the creation, which began as a cell from earth elements, and it reproduced according to the verse {Then He made his descendants from lineage of insignificant fluid (8)}. Now, if it did not reproduce by marriage, because the husbands and wives were not made yet, the reproduction must have been by division, and we also conclude this from the verse: (He created you from one Nafs [living being = cell]. Then He made from it its pair) Chapter 38:6  Here Allah created the first living cell and then made it split on itself to create an equal second (its pair), this actually describes the multiplication of a living cell by division.

Therefore, the direct interpretation of the verse indicates the creation from the elements of the earth (the first cell), then from the living cell multiplying by division, and after that reproducing by mating between male and female.

We know that the first creatures came from elements in the earth, it appeared around 3.8 billion years ago, a simple, primitive single cell without a nucleus that multiplies by division. At around 1.9 billion years ago, more sophisticated creatures appeared and although they were single cells, they contained nucleus and devices for storing food and breathing. Around 1.2 billion years ago they evolved into multicellular, thereafter, the started to reproduce by mating rather than dividing. This led to the start of the emergence of new species, and after that, they evolved until the multicellular organisms diversified and branched into many million different species till the homo species appeared a few million years ago.

We go back to the previous verse, and read it in the light of our modern knowledge:

{Allah created you from dust, then from [Nutfah] little liquid, then He made you pairs (male and female)} Chapter 35:11

Notice that this verse listed in sequence the basic stages of the evolution of early living organisms, from dead soil with no life in it to a living cell (unicellular) that multiplies by division, thereafter multiple cells (multicellular) paired into male and female that reproduce by mating.

Verse 59 of Surah Al Omran:

:{إِنَّ مَثَلَ عِيسَى عِنْدَ اللَّهِ كَمَثَلِ آدَمَ خَلَقَهُ مِنْ تُرَابٍ ثُمَّ قَالَ لَهُ كُنْ فَيَكُونُ} سورة آل عمران:59

{To God, the likeness of Jesus is as the likeness of Adam. He created him from dust, then He said unto him: Be! And he was} Chapter 3:59

We know that Isa [Jesus] (A.S.) was not created directly from dust, but the origin of the species was created from dust. As this is one of the likeness between him and Adam, then we can conclude that Adam also was not created directly from dust, and that they are both from the same human species. The verse here also determine that Jesus is from the human race, and this was the answer to the claim which Al Nassara (the Christians in the Arabian Peninsula) raised to the Prophet PBUH.

في قوله تعالى: {لَقَدْ خَلَقْنَا الْإِنسَانَ فِي أَحْسَنِ تَقْوِيمٍ (4) ثُمَّ رَدَدْنَاهُ أَسْفَلَ سَافِلِينَ (5)} سورة التين.

{We have created the human being in the best [Taqweem] upright standing; thereafter we reduced him to the lowest of the low} Chapter 95/4

The word Taqweem, is from Qyam or Qam which means upright standing, stood and stand up.

According the early Arabic Muajam, Maqayees Al Lughah: Taqweem from Qawm, have two basic origins, the first means group of people, the second means to stand upright in strength.

Here the verse tells us that God created humans in the best upright standing posture. This is what we know as there are no other creature or animal who have a better standing posture than the human being, and science tells us that this ability to stand on two legs enabled him to free and use his hands in many useful things, including making stone tools and weapons that helped him outperform other creatures much more stronger than him. And no one doubts that the ability of a person to stand on his feet was a very important stage in the history of his evolution.

When the Qur’an states that man was created in the best Taqweem, i.e., best stand and best standing posture, it emphasizes the importance of this quality that distinguishes man from other creatures. But this step has not yet elevated him to the stage of being the honored creature, but rather this stage made him as we have said, able to make some primitive stone weapons, which, although they helped him to hunt and confront other animals that are stronger than him, he used them against others of his own species, so he killed of his own kind and spread fear and evil in the land, that is why the following verse described him that after he was created in best taqweem –standing-  {Thereafter We reduced him to the lowest of the low} since we do not know of any other creatures on earth, do evil and kill of its own kind like man.

وفي قوله سبحانه وتعالى:   { وَرَبُّكَ الْغَنِيُّ ذُو الرَّحْمَةِ ۚ إِن يَشَأْ يُذْهِبْكُمْ وَيَسْتَخْلِفْ مِن بَعْدِكُم مَّا يَشَاءُ كَمَا أَنشَأَكُم مِّن ذُرِّيَّةِ قَوْمٍ آخَرِينَ (133)} سورة الأنعام

قوله تعالى {كما أنشأكم من ذرية قوم آخرين} نجد هنا معنى هام، إذ نحن – أي النوع البشري – نشأنا من ذرية قوم آخرين، لاحظ هذا الطبري، إذ يقول في تفسيره: “يهلك خلقه هؤلاء الذين خلقهم من ولد آدم {ويستخلف من بعدكم ما يشاء} يقول: ويأت بخلق غيركم، وأمم سواكم يخلفونكم في الأرض من بعدكم، يعني: من بعد فنائكم وهلاككم . {كما أنشأكم من ذرية قوم آخرين} كما أحدثكم وابتدعكم من بعد خلق آخرين كانوا قبلكم” .بينما ذهب ابن كثير الى ان الله تعالى كما أذهب القرون الأولى وأتى بالتي بعدها كذلك هو قادر على إذهاب هؤلاء والإتيان بآخرين، ولكنه لم يتعرض لشرح دلالة لفظ من ذرية قوم آخرين.

The following verse 133 Surah 6 inform us about important step in our creation:

{Your Lord is the Absolute and the merciful. If He wills, He can destroy you and appoint after you whomever He wishes, just as He produced you from the descendants of another people}. Chapter 6:133

In {As He produced you from the offspring of other different people [beings]} we find here a very important meaning, We, the human beings, were raised, produced, from the descendants of other different people.

Al Tabari noticed this as he said in his interpretation: “He destroys those whom He created from the children of Adam and {appoint after you whoever He wishes} and He brings other beings different than you, and nations other than you to take your place in the Earth after you, meaning after your destruction and perish. {As He raised you from the offspring of other beings} As He made you and created you after other creatures (Khalq) [noun] who were before you.” End of quote.

The time Ibn Katheer interpreted this verse, that as God destroyed the old centuries (nations) and brought the ones that replaced them, is able to destroy you and replace you with others, but Ibn Katheer did not interpret or explain {as He raised you from the descendants of another people}.

{ أَلَمْ تَرَ أَنَّ اللَّهَ خَلَقَ السَّمَاوَاتِ وَالْأَرْضَ بِالْحَقِّ ۚ إِن يَشَأْ يُذْهِبْكُمْ وَيَأْتِ بِخَلْقٍ جَدِيدٍ (19)}

If we came from the offspring of the others who were before us, then we are there grandchildren’s, descendants, and will not be called others. The same meaning shows also in the verse {Have you not seen that Allah created the heavens and the earth with truth? If He wills, He can remove you and bring (in) a new creation} Chapter 14:19 Here new creation could mean a new species which is different than us.

The modern human type (the Homo sapiens) from which we are, originated from the offspring of another species that precedes it, we have followed many other earlier human types, including Homo erectus, Neanderthal and others, all of these species became extinct and only us remained, and we and them are all branches of an earlier origin of homo species before all of us.  This is what the verse points to, because although we came from them, although we are their descendants, and they are our ancestors, they were other than us, meaning other species, and the difference here is in the type and not in the lineage.

To Be Continued in the Next Episode

Click on the following title to view this video on the YouTube channel:   

Creation & Evolution Episode 5 of 9

We start with the following verse:

 { وَلَقَدْ خَلَقْنَاكُمْ ثُمَّ صَوَّرْنَاكُمْ ثُمَّ قُلْنَا لِلْمَلَائِكَةِ اسْجُدُوا لِآدَمَ ………..(11)} سورة الأعراف

{And We created you, [thuma] thereafter [Sawarnakum] fashioned you, [thuma] thereafter told the angels prostrate to Adam….} Chapter 7:11

The Arabic word Sawarnakum from sorah (n.) which means picture, like a photograph. So Sawarnakum means, make you on the image you are on. So I translated as fashioned, others translated it as: shaped, gave you shape or form.

يقول الإمام الطبري: “القول في تأويل قوله : {وَلَقَدْ خَلَقْنَاكُمْ ثُمَّ صَوَّرْنَاكُمْ ثُمَّ قُلْنَا لِلْمَلائِكَةِ اسْجُدُوا لآدَمَ فَسَجَدُوا إِلا إِبْلِيسَ لَمْ يَكُنْ مِنَ السَّاجِدِينَ(11)}  قال أبو جعفر: اختلف أهل التأويل في تأويل ذلك. قال أبو جعفر: وأولى الأقوال بالصواب قول من قال: تأويله: (وَلَقَدْ خَلَقْنَاكُمْ)، ولقد خلقنا آدم (صَوَّرْنَاكُمْ)، بتصويرنا آدم، كما قد بينا فيما مضى من خطاب العرب الرجلَ بالأفعال تضيفها إليه, والمعنيُّ في ذلك سلفه، وكما قال جل ثناؤه لمن بين أظهر المؤمنين من اليهود على عهد رسول الله: وَإِذْ أَخَذْنَا مِيثَاقَكُمْ وَرَفَعْنَا فَوْقَكُمُ الطُّورَ خُذُوا مَا آتَيْنَاكُمْ بِقُوَّةٍ ، [سورة البقرة: 63]. وما أشبه ذلك من الخطاب الموجَّه إلى الحيّ الموجود، والمراد به السلف المعدوم, فكذلك ذلك في قوله: (وَلَقَدْ خَلَقْنَاكُمْ ثُمَّ صَوَّرْنَاكُمْ)، معناه: ولقد خلقنا أباكم آدم ثم صوَّرناه.

وإنما قلنا هذا القول أولى الأقوال في ذلك بالصواب, لأن الذي يتلو ذلك قوله: (ثُمَّ قُلْنَا لِلْمَلائِكَةِ اسْجُدُوا لآدَمَ)، ومعلوم أن الله تبارك وتعالى قد أمر الملائكة بالسجود لآدم، قبل أن يصوِّر ذريته في بطون أمهاتهم, بل قبل أن يخلُق أمهاتهم.

Imam Al-Tabari said: Abu Jaafar said: The people of interpretation differed in the meaning of that. Added: Abu Jaafar said: The best which is correct is the saying of the one who said this interpretation: (And we have created you), meaning Adam (we have imaged you), by our depiction of Adam… that is similar to that is the speech directed to the present person, which is actually meant to the ancestor. As well as this in His saying: (And we created you and then we fashioned you), meaning: We created your father Adam and then we shaped him.

Rather, we said this saying is correct, because that was followed with: (Thereafter we told the angels prostrate to Adam), and it is known that God, Blessed and Exalted, has commanded the angels to prostrate to Adam, before he depicted his offspring in the tummy of their mothers, even before he created their mothers.” End of quote

Immam Al Tabari added: “And “thereafter” [Thuma] in the speech of the Arabs, does not come except with the condition that what is [said] before it must occur before what is [said] after it, such as the saying that: “I stood and thereafter I sat down.” So there will not be sitting before the standing.  And that is the rule in all the speaking [which have the letter Thuma between two events]. And if the letter in that was ‘wa’ [and], it is permissible that the action after it was before the one before it, and that is, as the saying: “You stood and sat down”, then it is allowed that the sitting in this sentence have been before the standing and also allowed to be after, because the letter ‘wa’ when used in the speech, it allows what is after it to take place before what is before it. When the verse saying: {We have created you Thuma [thereafter] we have fashioned you}, it can only be interpreted for what we have said.”

Imam al-Tabari added later: “it is not allowable that the order to the angels to prostrate to Adam could have been but only after the creation and fashioning, as we described before.” End of quote from Imam Al-Tabari.

The early scholar’s knowledge that Adam was the first man created, and there were no people before him, dictated on them that the creation and fashioning which came before the mentioning of Adam, must be meant for him.

But they found the speech addressed to all of us in plural, not addressed to Adam.  So they said this is a manner of speech where the address, although it is directed to all of us, it is meant for Adam our great ancestor. But why the verse need to address us [as all the people] and actually mean to address Adam, when Adam is already mentioned in the following sentence by his name.

If we go back to the verse: {And We created you, thereafter fashioned you, thereafter told the angels prostrate to Adam…. (11)} We find that the direct straight forward meaning without forcing the words to imply different meaning than intended, we can simply say {And we created you}: We created you human beings, We created your species, {then we fashioned you}, that is, after we created your species we made you in the image you are today, {Then we said to the angels prostrate to Adam….} then we chose Adam [from the human beings], and we ordered the Angels to bow down to him.

The text is clear, God address all the people, that is, the human beings. We created you people (you started as a cell from clay), then we shaped you (we created you in stages, shapes, and images as we detailed in other verses that we will present later) till you reached the image you are at today, (then – as the Qur’an described in other verses) then when the creation reached its final shape, we chose Adam, and breathed into him from our soul and made him a caliph on Earth, and taught him all the names (all these are mentioned in other verses therefor omitted in this verse)…{thereafter told the angels prostrate to Adam….}

This direct meaning, which the verse indicates, tells us that the creation of the species precedes Adam, which dismisses the creation of Adam directly from clay, and is nearer to the view of the gradual progressive creation.

Let look on another verse:

يقول سبحانه وتعالى: { الَّذِي أَحْسَنَ كُلَّ شَيْءٍ خَلَقَهُ ۖ وَبَدَأَ خَلْقَ الْإِنسَانِ مِن طِينٍ (7) ثُمَّ جَعَلَ نَسْلَهُ مِن سُلَالَةٍ مِّن مَّاءٍ مَّهِينٍ (8) ثُمَّ سَوَّاهُ وَنَفَخَ فِيهِ مِن رُّوحِهِ ۖ وَجَعَلَ لَكُمُ السَّمْعَ وَالْأَبْصَارَ وَالْأَفْئِدَةَ ۚ قَلِيلًا مَّا تَشْكُرُونَ (9)} سورة السجدة

{He [God} perfected everything which He created and began the creation of human being from clay (7) Thereafter [Thuma] He made his offspring from a solalah [extract or lineage] of insignificant fluid (8) Thereafter [Thuma] He made him complete and breathed into him from His spirit, And He gave you [all people] (the faculties of) hearing and seeing and hearts (intellect): but little thanks you show (9)} Chapter 32:7-8-9

If we assumed that God created Adam directly from clay, in the way as in the Old Testament, Genesis 2:7: (Then the Lord God formed a man from the dust of the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man became a living being.) End of quote. Then the meaning of the above Quran verses will be that God created Adam from clay, then made his descendants propagate from a lineage of insignificant water, thereafter –returned back to Adam – and God completed Adam and breathed into him from His spirit and gave him and gave us the senses of hearing, seeing and heart.

This is how the early scholars interpreted these verses as their knowledge was based on the direct creation from clay.

Following are extracts which briefly show their interpretations of these verses:

{He [God} perfected everything which He created and began the creation of human being from clay (7)} 

Ibn Katheer said: “It means the creation of the father of all human beings Adam from clay,” also said like him al-Tabari and al-Qortubi.

(ثُمَّ جَعَلَ نَسْلَهُ مِنْ سُلَالَةٍ مِنْ مَاءٍ مَهِينٍ)(8)  قال أبن كثير: ”أَيْ يَتَنَاسَلُونَ كَذَلِكَ مِنْ نُطْفَة تَخْرُج مِنْ بَيْن صُلْب الرَّجُل وَتَرَائِب الْمَرْأَة“. وقال الطبري: ”يَعْنِي ذُرِّيَّته مِنْ سُلَالَة , يَقُول : مِنَ الْمَاء الَّذِي انْسَلَّ فَخَرَجَ مِنْهُ“. وقال القرطبي: ”مِنْ مَاء مَهِين “ ضَعِيف“.

{Thereafter He made his descendants from lineage of insignificant fluid (8)} Ibn Katheer said: meaning {they propagate from a semen that comes out from man and woman} End of quote. Al-Tabari said: “He means his descendants from an extract. He says: From the water that extracted and came out of him.” And al-Qortubi said: “From insignificant water, weak.” End of extract.

(ثُمَّ سَوَّاهُ وَنَفَخَ فِيهِ مِنْ رُوحِهِ وَجَعَلَ لَكُمُ السَّمْعَ وَالْأَبْصَارَ وَالْأَفْئِدَةَ)(9)

{Then He made him complete and breathed into him of His spirit, And He gave you [all people] (the faculties of) hearing and sight and feeling (and understanding): but little thanks you show (9)}

Ibn Katheer said: “Then he [sawah] completed him” means Adam, when he created him from the dust, He created him upright complete and He breathed into him from his spirit and gave him hearing, sight and heart meaning brain.”

 Al-Tabari said: “Then the human being who started his creation from clay, He completed his creation standing proportioned {and He breathed into him from his soul} so he became alive capable of speech.”

We find that Ibn Katheer and Al-Tabari did not comment on the fact that the “He completed him” refers to Adam. Having Thuma (Conjunctions letter) in the verse necessitate that the completing of Adam creation, took place after he had children and descendants. Which could not be, since how Adam had descendants before he was completed?

We know that this human being is Adam, because he is the one who God breathed into him and ordered the Angels to bow down to him, and we know that all this happened before he had children, Because of this, Adam must be the one referred to in the last verse 9, and not in the first verse 7 as assumed by the early scholars.

If so, the creature which was created from the clay in verse 7 is not Adam, but an early primitive creature, that is why the verse said { ….began the creation of human beings from clay (7)} notice the word ‘began’, the word began indicates that this creation have a start, growth and completion, it is not immediate or instant, if creation was miraculous as described in the Old Testament, it would not have had a beginning and end, it would have been immediate.

This creature propagated through weak insignificant fluid and progressed till it reached the shape of a human being, capable of hearing, seeing and intellect, then God breathed the spirit into him and only then we have the first human being which is called Adam.

The verses clearly points to a creation which begun from clay as a primitive creature which progressed, reproduced and evolved through its descendants till it became complete as a human being, with abilities of hearing, seeing and understanding, at this stage God selected Adam and breathed in him from His soul.

Note the Conjunctions letter used in the last verse 9 is ‘Wa’= ‘and’, which allows the acquiring of the senses to be before the {…. made him complete and breathed into him from His spirit…}.

The verses are easy to understand if we disregard the idea of one time creation and endorse the gradual progressive creation. Read the verses again, considering this, time that Adam is the one mentioned in the last verse (9), when creation is completed, not in the first verse (7):

{He [God} perfected everything which He created and began the creation of human beings from clay (7) Thereafter [Thuma] He made his offspring from a sulalah [extract or lineage] of insignificant fluid (8) Thereafter [Thuma] He made him complete and breathed into him from His spirit, And He gave you [all people] (the faculties of) hearing and seeing and hearts (intellect): but little thanks you show (9)} Chapter 32

The verses tells us that human beings were created starting from clay, thereafter through a lineage of creations of Insignificant water (could be the DNA), till it took the shape of human being, then God breathed into him from His soul.

To Be Continued in the Next Blog.

We summarize the rules that we mentioned before, as follows:

1. The condition of believing in the absence of a conclusive proof which leads to the condition that empirical sensory evidences are not available nor permitted. This applies to the period during and after the revelation of the Quran, it does not apply to religions before Islam, where physical miracles were common practice, the time Islam being the last and final message, was sent to all the people of its time and to all the future generations. The Quran, which is preserved by God, is the living testimony of the truthfulness of the message.
2. The rule that: how the creation of the universe and life came about is comprehensible, and mankind can find out the answers by observation, investigation and research.
3. The principle of verification, which is the compatibility of our knowledge and scientific advances with what is mentioned in the relevant verses in the Quran.
4. Finally, we can only reach the ultimate interpretation of the verses related to the cosmic and to life, after scientific advances reach these facts. In other words, the interpretation of these verses, is the outcome of the interaction between the fixed text and the human knowledge at a specific time.

—–{}—–

Before we begin, we must also clarify the meaning of “creation from clay” which is mentioned several times in the Qur’an. Does such creation means directly from clay, or is it an expression or linguistic term intended to mean that the beginning of the creation of the human species was from clay?

Let us look at the following verse:

في الآية 37 من سورة الكهف { قَالَ لَهُ صَاحِبُهُ وَهُوَ يُحَاوِرُهُ أَكَفَرْتَ بِالَّذِي خَلَقَكَ مِن تُرَابٍ ثُمَّ مِن نُّطْفَةٍ ثُمَّ سَوَّاكَ رَجُلًا (37)}

{His companion said to him while he was conversing with him, “Have you disbelieved in He who created you from dust and thereafter from a Nutfah [little liquid] and thereafter shaped you [as] a man} Chapter 18/37

We understand from this verse that the origin of the creation of the human species, to which this man belongs, was from the soil. We all understand this and none of us said that the creation from the dust in this verse indicates a direct creation of this man from dust. Therefore, we can conclude that whenever this expression is mentioned, we must think about it before ruling, it is either a direct creation from dust Or, that the origin of the creation of the species was from dust, and that a long time passed and many phases took place before the appearance of this specific man.

{هُوَ الَّذِي خَلَقَكُم مِّن طِينٍ ثُمَّ قَضَىٰ أَجَلًا ۖ وَأَجَلٌ مُّسَمًّى عِندَهُ ۖ ثُمَّ أَنتُمْ تَمْتَرُونَ (2)} سورة الأنعام

{It is He who has created you from clay, thereafter determined a term for you, and a term is fixed with Him. Yet you still in doubt!} Chapter 6:2

Here the speech is addressed to all the people, telling them that they were created from Clay. Obviously, we understand that the origin of their creation was from clay, and not that they were created directly from clay.

{ وَاللَّهُ خَلَقَكُم مِّن تُرَابٍ ثُمَّ مِن نُّطْفَةٍ ثُمَّ جَعَلَكُمْ أَزْوَاجًا.. } سورة فاطر

{And Allah created you from dust, thereafter from a Nutfah {little liquid]; thereafter He made you pairs (male and female} Chapter 35:11

Here also although the verse says we were created from dust, it is obvious that it does not mean that we were created directly from dust, again the expression creating from dust is used to indicate that the origin of our species stared from dust. Note that the Al Nutfah [little water / liquid], preceded the creation of male and female, who appeared at a later stage. So the word Nutfah, which was translated by many as a sperm-drop could not be the one that comes out of a male, because male and female were not yet created. So Nutfah which means a little water or liquid, should mean here an intermediate living organism.

:{إِنَّ مَثَلَ عِيسَى عِنْدَ اللَّهِ كَمَثَلِ آدَمَ خَلَقَهُ مِنْ تُرَابٍ ثُمَّ قَالَ لَهُ كُنْ فَيَكُونُ} سورة آل عمران:59

{To Allah, the likeness of Isa [Jesus] is as the likeness of Adam. He created him from dust, then He said unto him: Be, and he was} Surah Al Omran Verse (59)

Here we find that the creation from dust is a likeness between Jesus and Adam عليهما السلام , As we know that Jesus was not created directly from dust, only the origin of his species was, then we can conclude here that Adam –being like Jesus-  also was not created directly from dust.

From all of these it can be said that the Qur’an expression “created from dust or clay”, does not necessarily mean that he was created directly from dust, but rather means that the origin of its species was created from dust.

Khalaq:  If we go back to the meaning of the word Khalaq [create] in the Arabic language dictionaries, we find the following in مقاييس اللغة لإبن فارس (941 – 1004م) معاجم اللغة

خلق (مقاييس اللغة): الخاء واللام والقاف أصلان: أحدهما تقدير الشيء، والآخر مَلاسَة الشيء. 

قدّر (مقاييس اللغة): القاف والدال والراء أصلٌ صحيح يدلُّ على مَبْلَغ الشَّيء وكُنهه ونهايته. فالقدّر: مبلغُ كلِّ شيء. يقال: قَدْرُه كذا، أي مبلغُه.

Khalq: has two original meanings: one is Taqdeer ,

Qadar: is fate, the destiny of something, its future form and nature and its end.

Taqdeer: is to determine the causes and matters by which the thing shall come to be, its nature and its end.

Where ‘Determine’ means decide and fix a definite quantities and measures

وقال زهير: (زهير ابن أبي سلمى) (520 – 609 م)

ولأَنْت تَفْرِي ما خلَقْت وبَعـ    ـضُ القَوم يخلُق ثمَّ لا يَفْرِي

بمعنى أنك تقدّر ثم تنفّذ بينما غيرك يقدّر ولا ينفّذ

Zuhair Ibn Abi Salmi (520 – 609 AD) a famous pre Islam poet said in a poem:

You execute what you created     while others create then do not execute

It is also said that the Arabs called every maker such as the carpenter and the tailor khaleq (noun) because he measure the wood and design it as he wants to make a table. Then he cut it and this (the cutting) is the execution of his creation (planning).

Surah 23, verse 14: {…..So blessed be God, the best of creators (14)} Chapter 23 here we see that God Almighty described himself as the best of creators, this support what we said that Arabs called every maker such as the carpenter and the tailor khaleq.

See also verse {You only worship idols besides Allah and you create a falsehood ……..} Chapter 29:17.  Create falsehood was interpreted as create lies, and as create idols [Asnam] meaning sculpt statues [to worship]

From this we understand that creation is the preparation part, design, the part of planning things to come to existence, and the second part is the execution, is not included or covered by the word khalq.

في لسان العرب لإبن منظور الأنصاري، (ت. 711 هـ)، من أهم وأكمل معاجم اللغة.

خلق (لسان العرب): وأَصل الخلق التقدير، فهو باعْتبار تقدير ما منه وجُودُها وبالاعتبار للإِيجادِ على وَفْقِ التقدير خالقٌ

In Lisan Al Arab (Ibn Manthor Al Ansari), he said

“The origin of [the word] Khalq is the determination, it is to determine all what is required for the object to exist and by this, considering such determination as creation.

To explain further, look at this verse 24 from Surat 59

{هُوَ اللَّهُ الْخَالِقُ الْبَارِئُ الْمُصَوِّرُ ۖ لَهُ الْأَسْمَاءُ الْحُسْنَىٰ ۚ يُسَبِّحُ لَهُ مَا فِي السَّمَاوَاتِ وَالْأَرْضِ ۖ وَهُوَ الْعَزِيزُ الْحَكِيمُ (24)} سورة 59

This should be translated as:

{He is Allah, the Creator, the Maker, the Shaper; to Him belong the best names. All that is in the heavens and the earth glorifies Him. And He is the Mighty, the Wise} Surah 59:24

أبن كثير: وقوله : ( هو الله الخالق البارئ المصور ) الخلق : التقدير ، والبراء : هو الفري ، وهو التنفيذ وإبراز ما قدره وقرره إلى الوجود ، وليس كل من قدر شيئا ورتبه يقدر على تنفيذه وإيجاده سوى الله عز وجل . قال الشاعر يمدح آخر

ولأنت تفري ما خلقت وبعض القوم يخلق ثم لا يفري

أي : أنت تنفذ ما خلقت ، أي : قدرت بخلاف غيرك فإنه لا يستطيع ما يريد . فالخلق : التقدير . والفري : التنفيذ . ومنه يقال : قدر الجلاد ثم فرى ، أي : قطع على ما قدره بحسب ما يريده .

Ibn Katheer said: “the verse:  هُوَ اللَّهُ الْخَالِقُ الْبَارِئُ الْمُصَوِّرُ {Al Khalq Al Bare’a Al Moswer}, Al Khalq is Al Taqdeer, Al Bara’a is Alfarry which is the execution and bringing what was determined and decided to existence, and not everyone who decide [plane] something is capable to execute it and bring it to existence, only God Glory to Him can. The Poet said in praise to another:

You execute what you created     while others create then do not execute

Meaning: you execute what you Khalqt [determined – planed – decided upon], while others who cannot [execute] what they wanted.” End of extract from Ibn Katheer.

In this verse it is clear that Khalq include only the planning and preparation and it does not include the execution.

So Khalaq indicates the act of determining, define in quantities and measurement, and preparation of all what is required of matter and conditions for the created to begin, evolve and progress till its existence, in the shape and nature as predetermined at the time of al Khalq.  and for this reason, we understand: {I am creating a human being from clay} that it could mean creating the human directly from clay, and also it could mean planning all substances and conditions required for beginning the creation from clay and progressing through many phases, till it reach in the end a human being.

Now we need also to show that the Arabic letter Thuma which could be translated as “thereafter” has an important meaning and significance in understanding the verses in which it is mentioned,

Thuma, indicate that the action following it, happens after the action before it, with time in between, that is, if we say you stood Thuma you sat down, then the standing must have occurred first and followed by the sitting. It will not be correct to have been sat first, before you stood.

The time if you have ‘Wa’ translated as ‘and’, if you say I stood ‘wa’ and I sat, either order of activity will be permitted and correct.

Thuma make it a must that the activity before it must take place before the activity after it. Imam al-Tabari will explain this in detail in the verse that we will start with for this reason.

Now, after this long introduction, we look next episode at the verses in which the creation of life was mentioned, to see the meanings contained in these verses.

In order not to make this episodes long, we will not be able to look here at all the verses of creation, this took 18 episodes which extended to more than ten hours in videos, and a book of about 250 pages, both in Arabic language, but I will present here a few verses with regard to the creation of life, that are difficult to explain, if we still assume that God Almighty created Adam directly from clay.

In some verses, we will review parts of the interpretations as written by the honorable early scholars.  Whom we respect and appreciate the great work they accomplished, may Allah subhanu reward them for their great contribution towards Islam.

We must take into consideration, that at their time, and even till less than couple of centuries before today, the whole world believed that God created Adam directly from clay, which was clearly stated in Geneses in the Old Testament, this was the human knowledge till recently, so the early most respectable scholars interpreted the relevant verses to mean this, especially as we know, the verses were compiled in a way to allow, to some extent, for such interim interpretation, but with little difficulty, as we will see later.

 To Be Continued;

{وَتَرَى الْجِبَالَ تَحْسَبُهَا جَامِدَةً وَهِيَ تَمُرُّ مَرَّ السَّحَابِ ۚ صُنْعَ اللَّهِ الَّذِي أَتْقَنَ كُلَّ شَيْءٍ ۚ إِنَّهُ خَبِيرٌ بِمَا تَفْعَلُونَ} (88) سورة النمل

تدل هذه الآية بوضوح، أن الجبال التي نراها مستقرة جامدة، تتحرك بهدوء واستمرار، وهذا يدل الى دوران الكرة الأرضية حول نفسها.  

ولكن هناك الذين يصرون أن هذه الآية تتحدث عن يوم القيامة لما جاء قبلها، وهذا غير صحيح، فالآية تتحدث عن دنيانا التي نعيشها، فلو نظرنا في الآيات الكريمة:

إِنَّكَ لَا تُسْمِعُ الْمَوْتَىٰ وَلَا تُسْمِعُ الصُّمَّ الدُّعَاءَ إِذَا وَلَّوْا مُدْبِرِينَ (80) وَمَا أَنتَ بِهَادِي الْعُمْيِ عَن ضَلَالَتِهِمْ ۖ إِن تُسْمِعُ إِلَّا مَن يُؤْمِنُ بِآيَاتِنَا فَهُم مُّسْلِمُونَ (81) ۞ وَإِذَا وَقَعَ الْقَوْلُ عَلَيْهِمْ أَخْرَجْنَا لَهُمْ دَابَّةً مِّنَ الْأَرْضِ تُكَلِّمُهُمْ أَنَّ النَّاسَ كَانُوا بِآيَاتِنَا لَا يُوقِنُونَ (82) وَيَوْمَ نَحْشُرُ مِن كُلِّ أُمَّةٍ فَوْجًا مِّمَّن يُكَذِّبُ بِآيَاتِنَا فَهُمْ يُوزَعُونَ (83) حَتَّىٰ إِذَا جَاءُوا قَالَ أَكَذَّبْتُم بِآيَاتِي وَلَمْ تُحِيطُوا بِهَا عِلْمًا أَمَّاذَا كُنتُمْ تَعْمَلُونَ (84) وَوَقَعَ الْقَوْلُ عَلَيْهِم بِمَا ظَلَمُوا فَهُمْ لَا يَنطِقُونَ (85) أَلَمْ يَرَوْا أَنَّا جَعَلْنَا اللَّيْلَ لِيَسْكُنُوا فِيهِ وَالنَّهَارَ مُبْصِرًا ۚ إِنَّ فِي ذَٰلِكَ لَآيَاتٍ لِّقَوْمٍ يُؤْمِنُونَ (86) وَيَوْمَ يُنفَخُ فِي الصُّورِ فَفَزِعَ مَن فِي السَّمَاوَاتِ وَمَن فِي الْأَرْضِ إِلَّا مَن شَاءَ اللَّهُ ۚ وَكُلٌّ أَتَوْهُ دَاخِرِينَ (87) وَتَرَى الْجِبَالَ تَحْسَبُهَا جَامِدَةً وَهِيَ تَمُرُّ مَرَّ السَّحَابِ ۚ صُنْعَ اللَّهِ الَّذِي أَتْقَنَ كُلَّ شَيْءٍ ۚ إِنَّهُ خَبِيرٌ بِمَا تَفْعَلُونَ (88)

نجد الأيات الني تسبقها تراوح بين الحياة الدنيا ويوم القيامة،

الآياتان 80 و 81 تتعلقان بالحياة الدنيا،

الآية 82 تتعلق بأحد علامات القيامة،

الآيات 83، 84 و 85 تتحدث عن يوم القيامة،

الآية 86 تعود للحياة الدنيا تبين آيتي الليل والنهار،

الآية 87 تصف أحوال يوم القيامة،

الآية 88 تصف الجبال كما نراها جامدة في الحياة الدنيا.

وعليه فكون الآية التي تسبقها تتحدث عن يوم القيامة لا يدل هذا أنها أيضًا تتحدث عن يوم القيامة، فالنص ينتقل بين الحياة الدنيا ويوم القيامة مرات عديدة.

والدليل أن هذه الآية تتحدث عن اليوم الحال وليس يوم القيامة، لقوله سبحانه وتعالى {وَتَرَى الْجِبَالَ تَحْسَبُهَا جَامِدَةً} أي أننا نرى الجبال جامدة، لا تتحرك، وهذا فقط في الحياة الدنيا. لأننا لن نرى الجبال جامدة يوم القيامة، لأنها ستكون سُيّرت ونُسفت، لقوله تعالى: {ويوم نسير الجبال وترى الأرض بارزة} [ الكهف : 47 ] وقوله تعالى : {يوم تمور السماء مورا وتسير الجبال سيرا}[ الطور : 9 ، 10 ] ، وقوله تعالى {ويسألونك عن الجبال فقل ينسفها ربي نسفا فيذرها قاعا صفصفا لا ترى فيها عوجا ولا أمتا} [ طه : 105 ، 107 ] ، فإن كان هذا هو وصف الجبال يوم القيامة، فبالطبع لن نراها جامدة حينذاك، لأنها ستكون تُسيّر وتُنسف نسفا.

بينما الجبال في الآية المذكرة تنظر إليها وتراها فتحسبها جامدة لأنك تراها جامدة مستقرة، بينما هي في الحقيقة، كما تخبرنا الآية الكريمة، تمر مر السحاب، أي مثل مرور السحاب.

أي أنك تحسبها جامدة لأنك لا ترى ولا تشعر حركتها، وهذا الوصف بعيد عن وصفها يوم القيامة أنها تنسف نسفا.  ولهذا قال الله تعالى عن هذه الظاهرة {..صُنْعَ اللَّهِ الَّذِي أَتْقَنَ كُلَّ شَيْءٍ ۚ إِنَّهُ خَبِيرٌ بِمَا تَفْعَلُونَ} وصُنع الله يعود على الكون الحالي المتزن البديع، وليس على يوم القيامة الذي له أوصاف تختلف تماما.

ولهذا فهذه الآية الكريمة تدل على حركة الجبال، التي لا نراها لأننا نتحرك معها، ولا يمكن تفسير أن الجبال الساكنة تتحرك بهدوء وثبات وإستمرار كمرور السحاب، إلا بحركة دوران الكرة الأرضية حول نفسها.

أي أن الآية الكريمة تخبرنا أن ما نراه ساكنا بالنسبة لنا، هو في الحقيقة متحركا بثبات ونظام واستمرار. وهذا ما تخبرنا به علومنا الحديثة.