Question for Muslims-Evolution

[angelny]

Hello I'm a 1st year medical student in the US who is interested in Islam but could use some help. One of the questions I had about the religion was its stance on evolution. I understand that Islam is pretty compatible with the idea that life on earth was evolved over time...but that when you get to the concept of humans things get trickier.

I am asking here because I find its very hard to find a real scientific opinion from Muslims on the topic. Many of the opinions I read online are written by Islamic scholars that do not have a good understanding of evolution. I'm wondering how you guys feel when (if) the topic is brought up in your medical education. For example, in class we were discussing the similarities between a humans arm and a fish's fin. I mean these are real similarities that can't just be dismissed. Any advice on how you, as a Muslim and as a student doctor, "deal" with the theory of evolution would be appreciated.

Thanks!

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[hzma]

Hey! here are some websites that might help you out:

http://www.harunyahya.com/index.php

http://www.ummah.net/directory/menu/science.html

http://www.islamicity.com/science/

Good luck!

 

[Faebinder]

Hello I'm a 1st year medical student in the US who is interested in Islam but could use some help. One of the questions I had about the religion was its stance on evolution. I understand that Islam is pretty compatible with the idea that life on earth was evolved over time...but that when you get to the concept of humans things get trickier.

I am asking here because I find its very hard to find a real scientific opinion from Muslims on the topic. Many of the opinions I read online are written by Islamic scholars that do not have a good understanding of evolution. I'm wondering how you guys feel when (if) the topic is brought up in your medical education. For example, in class we were discussing the similarities between a humans arm and a fish's fin. I mean these are real similarities that can't just be dismissed. Any advice on how you, as a Muslim and as a student doctor, "deal" with the theory of evolution would be appreciated.

Thanks!

Evolution faces the exact same resistance in Islam as it does with Christianity, except that in the countries predominantly muslim, there is a much more lack of understanding about health problems and general sciences amongst the public. Less people know for example about Mental Diseases.

So when you bring up the argument to someone.... "Hey do you believe in evolution?" They will of course refute and argue even when you tell them that they have as many neck bones as a giraff and you share the same exact amino acids as every living known creature in the world.

Does God say exactly how long did He take to make Adam and did He say exactly the material sources? Reading both the original Bibles and the Quran you will note there is no specific materials involved. In Islam you can argue that Big Bang is supported by the Quran... it took thousands of years... so why not Adam being slowly setup over thousands of years to evolve from an animal?

It will take time to open up people to the idea that Adam was not instantly made like instant coffee.

 

[justwondering]

im a convert to islam actually. this is an interesting question. igenerally find that science and islam are pretty compatible. where it APPEARS that it may not be compatibe my view on science and islam is this:

1. revelation is from God and 100% correct. we may or may not understand what it says in entirety.

2. science is important and we should pursue it. it is not 100% correct, and many theories that were taken to be true have been found to be utterly false with the passage of 100 yrs or so.

if it appears that they contradict, no amount of science would change my view that God is our creator and that what He told us is correct. i would think, instead, that either our understanding of the revelation or our understanding of the science is not correct. many things in revelation are general, so it's hard to really say that islam firmly contradict certain things. that wouldnt prevent me from learning about evolution in required classes although i may or may not agree with it. does it really matter anyway?

i disagree somewhat with ppl taking very vague or general verses from the quran and saying "look, this supports science" because the science of today may be seen as the quackery of tommorow.

 

[Faebinder]

im a convert to islam actually. this is an interesting question. igenerally find that science and islam are pretty compatible. where it APPEARS that it may not be compatibe my view on science and islam is this:

1. revelation is from God and 100% correct. we may or may not understand what it says in entirety.

2. science is important and we should pursue it. it is not 100% correct, and many theories that were taken to be true have been found to be utterly false with the passage of 100 yrs or so.

if it appears that they contradict, no amount of science would change my view that God is our creator and that what He told us is correct. i would think, instead, that either our understanding of the revelation or our understanding of the science is not correct. many things in revelation are general, so it's hard to really say that islam firmly contradict certain things. that wouldnt prevent me from learning about evolution in required classes although i may or may not agree with it. does it really matter anyway?

i disagree somewhat with ppl taking very vague or general verses from the quran and saying "look, this supports science" because the science of today may be seen as the quackery of tommorow.

Indeed at a certain point you need to understand where you draw the line and call it faith.... That's why Islam is a religion not a science. Still you have to keep an open mind when it comes to scientific theories... interpretation of the Quran can vary termendously and the worse thing you can do is keep a closed mind about what things should be/are. The best thing in any religion is to investigate the words yourself.... translate the words and see what do you think the phrase ment. Then read different interpretation and judge what makes sense based on evidence and other verses.