Critical Appraisal
of Theories about Evolution of Darwin, the Bible
and the Qur’an
By Dr. Bashir Ahmad
US
A fierce debate is in progress
in America between the creationists, who now have
adopted the theory of intelligent design, and those
who believe in the evolution theory of Darwin.
The proponents of the intelligent design base this
theory on the Old Testament.
“And the Lord God formed man of the dust of
the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath
of life; and man became a living soul.”1
Professor Behe, the staunch proponent of intelligent
design theory, points out the molecular complexity
of the cells in support of the theory. He writes:
“The elegance and complexity of biological
systems at the molecular level have paralyzed science’s
attempt to explain their origin.” For such
systems, he writes, ‘a neo-Darwinian explanation
is implausible because elements serving no function
before full development of the entire system would
not survive’.2
The Qur’anic
Concept of Evolution
The Quran presents the firm concept of God –
The Almighty, The Creator. Translation of a Quranic
Verse:
“Blessed is he whose hand is the kingdom,
and He has power over all things; it is He who has
created death and life that He might try you –
which of you is best in deeds; He is mighty, the
Most Forgiving. The same who has created seven heavens
in stages (Tibaqan). No incongruity can you see
in the creation of the Gracious God; then look again:
Do you see any flaw.”3
This verse very clearly points out that there is
no contradiction in the entire universe created
by God.
The word “Rabb” used in this verse in
variably means someone, who continues to evolve
something from a lower to a higher stage.
The Qur’an speaks of creation in a progressive
step by step stages, which are well provided for,
absolutely rejecting the concept of spontaneous
generation – quite in contrast with the Old
Testament.
Translation
of Another Verse
“What is the matter with you that you expect
not wisdom and staidness from Allah? While He has
created you in different forms and every varying
states.”4
The same theme is repeated in another verse: “That
you shall assuredly pass from one stage to another.”5
It is to be noted that when the Quran speaks of
some earlier forms of creations, it refers to them,
as the creation of man while whatever was created
at that time, had no semblance to him. Those stages
were preparatory for the ultimate purpose in the
creation of humans. The Qur’an is totally
opposed to the biologists believing in the haphazard
evolution, without a preset design.
The Qur’anic
Concept in the Creation of Ancient Organisms
The Quranic verse: “And the jinn We created
before that from blasts of fire.”6
This is a perfect description of bacteria which
appeared about 4 billion years ago, when the earth’s
surface was extremely hot, bombarded by cosmic radiation,
and its atmosphere was free of oxygen. These bacteria
drew their energy from heat and cosmic radiation.
According to the Hutchinson Dictionary of Science:
“. . . The archaebacteria are related to the
earliest life forms, which appeared about 4 billions
years ago, when there was little oxygen in the earth’s
atmosphere.”7
Brown T.A. writes in his book Genesis of Molecular
Approach: “Since 1977 more and more differences
between archaebacteria and other Prokaryotes have
been found, so much so that microbiologists now
favor the term archaea, to emphasize that these
organisms are distinct from bacteria.”8
These bacteria appeared on the planet earth about
4 billion years ago:
Qur’anic Verses:
The verses are “and the Jinn We created before
that (the creation of man) from the blast of fire
(maris-samum).”9
And the Jinn He created from the flame of fire.10
Dickerson inadvertently agrees with the Qur’anic
view when he observes that the most ancient organism:
“ . . . would have lived on the energy of
lightning and ultraviolet radiation . . . ”11
According to The Hutchinson Dictionary of Science:
“. . . the archaebacteria are related to the
earliest life forms, which appeared about 4 billion
years ago, when there was little oxygen in the earth’s
atmosphere.”12
After the end of the most ancient period of jinn,
the following verses of the Qur’an stresses
the point that water is essential for life:
“. . . with water did we create every living
thing.”13
“He created man from dry ringing clay like
pieces of pottery”14
“And surely, We created man from dry ringing
clay made from stagnant blackish mud”15
Clay and silica played an important catalytic role
in the concentration and polymerization of organic
molecules. John Bernal writes in his book The Physical
Basis of Life: “. . . The absorption of clays,
mud and inorganic crystals are powerful means to
concentrate and polymerize organic molecules . .
. ”16
Sidney W. Fox has stressed the same theme: “.
. . Showed that amino acids were capable of polymerizing
fairly easily to yield peptides under various conditions
simulating those which may have prevailed on the
primitive earth. Polymerization may have been induced
by electrical discharges, by heat (geothermal energy
for example) or by contact with certain types of
clay and phosphates.”17
It is worthy to note that the stagnant blackish
mud described in the verse, quoted above, is the
decayed organic mater consisting of dead archaebacteria
which had proliferated over millions of years. This
stagnant black mud, as the Qur’anic verse
describes, has to be made into pottery like plates.
Further drying, clay must have crystallized asymmetrically,
thus becoming laminated into extremely thin layers,
set one upon other, to form plates like pottery.
Lamination increases the surface area of the laminated
layer, with layers of water molecules separating
them. This increases the surface area for absorbing
molecules enormously.
Coyne, University of California, discussing the
role of kaolinite clay in the early stages of chemical
evolution, argues that they can gather energy from
the environment (by radioactive processes), store
it, and then release it when the clay is suitably
disturbed, by wetting and drying.18
Through the interaction of molecules of various
inorganic elements organic compounds are formed.
All the amino acids are the bricks of proteins they
are formed by the strecker’s synthesis, which
involves two steps: the first step is the reaction
of an aldehyde with a mixture of ammonia and HCN
to yield an aminonitrile. The second step is the
further hydrolysis of aminonitrile into amino acid.
But, the problem is that strecker synthesis is reversible,
the consensus among the scientific community is
that a dry stage has to be envisioned.
It is a dazzling brilliance of the Qur’an
that over 1400 years ago it very accurately described
this chemical reaction – which ultimately
led to the creation of man. Let me repeat the translation
of that verse: “And surely, we created man
from dry ringing clay made from stagnant blackish
mud.” Qur’an, 15:27.
Darwin failed to shed light on the limitless intricacies
involved in the scheme of creation and the most
exquisitely executed plan of evolution. All the
same he attributed this most wonderful masterpiece
to chance only.
Molecular
Structure of the Genes
Structure of DNA (Doxyribonucleic acid) was deciphered
by Watson and Crick. DNA together with RNA constitutes
the fundamental bricks of life. It is challenging
to envision the formation of these highly complex
compounds, vital for the sustenance of life.
In a recent issue of Science, 7 April 2006, Jamie
T. Bridgham et al have demonstrated the step-by-step
progression in the creation of new molecular structures
by modifying the existing one.
Charles Darwin wrote in his book on the origin of
species: “If it would be demonstrated that
any complex organ existed which could not possibly
have formed numerous, successive, slight modification,
my theory would absolutely break down.”
Dr. Thorton, Professor or Biology at the University
of Oregon and the lead author of the article, focused
on two hormone receptors, one is a component of
stress response and the other, similar in shape
is involved in the kidney function.
Hormones and hormone receptors are one, like a pair
of keys and locks. The researchers found the modern
equivalent of stress hormone receptor in lampreys
and hogfish, two surviving jawless primitive species.
They also found two modern equivalents of the receptor
in skate, a fish related to sharks. On closer examination
the genes that produced these receptors, it became
evident that they were produced by a single common
gene 450 million years ago, before animals emerged
from oceans onto land, before the evolution of the
bones.
The kidney-regulating hormone is Aldosterone and
in-stress hormone is cortisol.
It turns out that the receptor for Aldosterone existed
before Aldosterone. Aldosterone is found in land
animals, which appeared tens of million years later.
The same is true about cortisol hormone, which appeared
much later.
Evidence for
and against the I.D. Concept
Dr. Thornton said the experiment refutes the notion
of “irreducible complexity” put forward
by Michael J. Behe, a Professor of BioChemistry
at Leigh University.
Holden Thorp Chairman of the chemistry department
at the University of North has refuted the Intelligent
Design Theory on the molecular basis. He writes:
“Since evolution has been the dominant theory
of biology for more than a century, it is a safe
statement that all of the wonderful innovations
in medicine and agriculture that we derive from
biological research stem from the theory of evolution.
Recent exciting examples are humanized antibodies
like Remicade for inflammation and Herceptin for
breast cancer, both initially made in mice. Without
our knowledge of evolution of mice and humans and
their immune systems, we would not have such life
saving and life improving technologies….”22
Intelligent
Design is Religious
A federal judge dealt a major setback to backers
of the idea that some forms of life are so complex
that they must be the products of an “intelligent
designer.” Judge John Jones ruled that it
is unconstitutional to teach the concept in public
school science classes because it is a “religious
view.”23
The challenges to evolution that go back to the
1925 trial, when a Tennessee high school science
teacher was convicted of teaching Darwin’s
Theory that humans and apes evolved from a common
ancestor. Professor Stephen Macedo of Princeton
University in his book titled “Does God Belong
in Public Schools?” writes the following:
“Teaching creationism in the full-blown Genesis
version is teaching religion, even if the material
is taught as creation science, scripture is not
mentioned, and terms like abrupt appearance are
substituted for divine creation. The difficulty
is not that the theory has implication for some
religious propositions, it’s the absence of
any real scientific basis for the theory…..”24
Split between
Human and Chimp Lines Suggested
It is based on the comparison of the human and chimp
genomes.
The analysis was done by David Reich and Nick Patterson
and colleagues at the Broad Institute in Cambridge,
Mass. Based on the study of the fossil skull, the
split was estimated to have occurred 7 million years
ago, but by genetic analysis, the split period was
moved closer to 5.4 million years ago.
Dr. Reich’s team suggests in an article published
on May 18, 2006, in the highly acclaimed scientific
journal Nature, that there were in fact splits between
the human and chimp lineages, with the first being
followed by interbreeding between the two populations,
and then a second split.
Dr. Daniel E. Lieberman, a biological anthropologist
at Harvard, said the following:
“If the earliest hominids are bipedal, it
is hard to think of them interbreeding with the
knuckle walking chimps -- it is not what we had
in mind.”25 & 26
Olivia Judson, a research fellow at The Imperial
College, London, writes the following under the
caption - Affairs to Remember. “. . . By tint
of evolutionary forensics, complex statistical analyses
of DNA sequences, the researchers revealed that
the ancestors of human and chimpanzees exchanged
genes -- they had sex -- a million or so years more
recently than we had thought.
Prudence aside, our ancestors’ antics are
of no particular note. The claim that humans and
chimpanzees started to become different species
but then some individuals got back together for
a final fling –- well, such shenanigans go
on in nature all the time….”27
The story of evolution is fascinating, replete with
struggle and survival, fun and frolic.
Bibliography
1. Old Testament
2 Chapter Genesis Ver 7.
2. Michael J. Behe, “Darwin’s Black
Box: The Biochemical Challenge to Evolution”
(New York: Touchstone Books 1998)
See also Michael J Behe “Molecular Machines;
Experimental Support for the Design
Inference,” in Pennock, Intelligent Design
Creationism,
3. Translation of the Qur’anic Verses 67:2-4.
4. Translation of the Qur’anic Verses 71:
14-15.
5. Translation of a Qur’anic Verse 84:20.
6. Translation of a Qur’anic Verse 15:28
7. The Hutchinson Dictionary Of Science (1993) Helicon
Publishing Ltd. Oxford, Page 37
8. Brown, T-A (1992) Genetic Tloecula v approach.
Champman & Hall London, P. 245
9. The Translation of The Qur’anic Verse—15:28
10. Translation of the Qur’anic Verse 55:16.
11. Dickerson, R.E. (September 1978) Chemical Evolution
and the of Life.
( Scientific Anerica page 80)
12. The Hutchinson Dictionary of Science
( 1993) Helicon Publishing Ltd. Oxford Page 37.
13. The Translation of the Qur’anic Verse
21:23
14. Translation of the Qur’anic Verse 55:15.
15. Translation of the Qur’anic Verse 15:27
16. Barbieri (1985) The Semantic Theory of Evolution,
Harwood Academic Publishers, page 86.
17. Olomucki, M. (1993) The Chemistry of Life
McGraw-Hall, Inc. France, Page 55
18. Carins Smith A.G. June (1985) The First Organism.
Scientific America; page 100
19. Charles Darwin, The Origin of Species By Means
of Natural Selection.
20. Jamie T. Bridghan, Sean M. Carroll, Joseph W.
Thorton,
Evolution of Hormone-Receptor Complexity by Molecular
Exploitation
Science Volume 312; 7th April 2006 page 97-100
21. Kenneth Chang Study in a First, Explains Evolution’s
Molecular Advance.
The New York Times, April 7, 2006 Page A19.
22. Holdon Thorp. Evolutions Bottom Line.
Written by Holdon Thorp. New York Times, May 12,
2006
23. Title; Intelligent Design is Religious, Judge
Says,
U.S.A. Today, 07347456, December 21, 2005.
24. Stephen Macedo, Princeton University,
Does God Belong in the Public Schools? 2005 Princeton
University, Page 116
25. Patterson ET al. (2006) Genetic Evidence for
Complex Speciation of Human and Chimpanzees,
Nature (advance on line publication) DO1:10-1038/Nature
04789.
26. Nicholas Wade, The Split Between Human and Chimp
Lines Suggested.
The New York Times, May 18, 2006
27. Olivia Judson, Affairs to Remember, New York
Times, May 28, 2006
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