Introduction

Different concepts may come to mind when the theory of evolution is mentioned. Some people, mainly materialists who think that it is a scientifically proven fact, fiercely support it and, equally fiercely, reject all ideas opposed to it.

A second group consists of people who are not well-informed about the theory of evolution's claims. They are not particularly interested in it, since they do not realize the harm that Darwinism has done to humanity over the last century and a half. They see no problem with how it is imposed on people and fiercely defended, despite its scientific invalidity, for they have closed their eyes to what is going on.

Even if they know that this theory has lost all scientific credibility, they cannot take seriously those who still find it important, because they themselves do not consider it important. They consider it unnecessary to explain the theory's invalidity or to publish books and hold conferences on the subject, for in their eyes the theory is already "old hat" or passé.

A third group consists of those who, under the influence of materialist suggestion and propaganda, view this theory as scientific fact and look for a "middle way" between it and belief in God. They accept Darwinism's account of the origin of life word for word, yet try to build a bridge between the theory of evolution and religious belief by maintaining that this account operates under God's control.

In reality, each of these views is mistaken, for the theory of evolution cannot reasonably be portrayed as scientific fact, passed off as unimportant, or adapted to religion. As we shall see throughout this book, the theory's ideological framework consists of anti-religious thought put forward to strengthen atheism and to give it a firm foundation. Moreover, it is fiercely defended by people who have been persuaded by materialism, for it is constructed on materialist philosophy and offers a materialist commentary on the world. From the time it was first put forward by Charles Darwin and right up to the present day, it has brought humanity nothing but conflict, exploitation, war, and degeneration. Given this, it is essential that we acquire a sound understanding of the subject and launch a serious fight against it on the ideological level.

This book replies from a very different perspective to the errors of those believers who still support the theory of evolution. It offers a response to those Muslims who look for common ground between the theory of evolution and the fact of creation, and who even try to find evidence for the theory in the Qur'an. The purpose is not to criticize Muslim evolutionists, but rather to explain that their attitude is mistaken, to assist them on the level of ideas, and to be a means whereby they can adopt a more correct perspective.

Two other facts will be discussed in this book: First, that Darwinism is a theory that lacks any scientific foundation, and second, that its real target is religion. Therefore, it will emphasize how wrong it is for Muslims to take the theory lightly or to underestimate it, and to see no need to wage an intellectual struggle against it.

Believers should avoid defending this theory and its ideological meaning, for both contradict the truths of Islam. Some may support the theory because they are unaware of the disasters that it has visited upon humanity, that it is supported by people who hate religion, and that it rejects the fact of creation. That being the case, those Muslims who have only a little information on the subject should avoid going down that road, for as Allah tells the faithful in the Qur'an:

Do not pursue what you have no knowledge of. Hearing, sight and hearts will all be questioned. (Qur'an, 17: 36)

Exemplary Muslims should research the matter in all sincerity and behave according to the realization that:

... Those who have become Muslim are those who sought right guidance. (Qur'an, 72: 14)

As the above verse commands, Muslims who believe in the theory of evolution must consider this theory carefully, carry out wide-ranging research, and make their decision according to their consciences. This book has been written to help them do so and to shed some light upon the path that they are following.

The men and women of the believers are friends of one another. They command what is right and forbid what is wrong, and establish prayer and pay welfare and charity, and obey Allah and His Messenger. They are the people on whom Allah will have mercy. Allah is Almighty, All - Wise. (Qur'an, 9: 71)

Fossil Research Proves Creation

Given the above facts, scientific advances show that natural selection and mutation have no evolutionary force. Since no evolutionary mechanism exists, no evolution could have taken place in the past. However, evolutionists continue to insist that all living things evolved from one another by means of a gradual process that occurred over hundreds of millions of years. Their error is concealed within this logic, for if their scenario were true, countless transitional forms belonging to the timeframe in question should have emerged. Moreover, we should have found their fossil remains.

For example, evolutionists claim that starfish evolved into real fish over millions of years. According to that claim, there must exist many transitional forms between the two species. However, not one fossil belonging to any such transitional form has ever been found. There are starfish and fish in the fossil record, but no forms between the two.

The evolutionists' illogical claims are apparent in every case. Let's consider the emergence of fish, which evolutionists say evolved from invertebrates, such as the starfish or marine worms. If this were the case, numerous examples of transitional forms must have existed in order to allow a gradual evolution. In other words, we should be able to see the fossil remains of many species having both fish and invertebrate characteristics. However, despite the many fish and invertebrate fossils found by scientists, no fossil of any transitional form that might confirm their claim has ever been found. Such an absence, in turn, means that evolution never took place. (In fact, the first fish on Earth appear in the same geological period with the first known complex invertebrates. Fish fossils go back to 530 million years.15 During that time, known as the Cambrian age, all major groups of invertebrates abruptly appeared on Earth.)

Although evolutionists are well aware of this, they resort to such methods as demagogy and faked evidence to make people believe in evolution.16 Even Darwin knew that the fossil record did not back up his theory; he merely hoped that it would grow richer over time and that the missing transitional forms would be found. Present-day evolutionists, however, are left with no such hope. As even they have admitted, the fossil record is exceedingly rich and of a sufficient degree to reveal the history of life. Professor N. Heribert Nilsson, a well-known Swedish evolutionist botanist from Lund University, says this about the fossil record:

My attempts to demonstrate evolution by an experiment carried on for more than 40 years have completely failed… The fossil material is now so complete that it has even been possible to construct new classes, and the lack of any transitional series cannot be explained as being due to the scarcity of material. The deficiencies are real, (and) they will never be filled.17

T. Neville George, a professor of paleontology of Glasgow University, states that although the fossil record is very rich, the long-sought transitional forms have not yet been found:

There is no need to apologise any longer for the poverty of the fossil record. In some ways, it has become almost unmanageably rich and discovery is outpacing integration... The fossil record nevertheless continues to be composed mainly of gaps.18

Not one fossil of any transitional forms posited by evolutionists has ever been found. Throughout history, fish have always existed as fish, birds as birds, and human beings as human beings.

Evolutionists even go so far as to admit that in addition to denying evolution, the fossil record provides scientific proof for the truth of creation. For example, the evolutionist paleontologist Mark Czarnecki confesses:
A major problem in proving the theory has been the fossil record; the imprints of vanished species preserved in the Earth's geological formations. This record has never revealed traces of Darwin's hypothetical intermediate variants - instead species appear and disappear abruptly, and this anomaly has fueled the creationist argument that each species was created by God…19

As we have seen, evolutionists have suffered a terrible disappointment on the subject of transitional forms. No excavation from anywhere in the world has rendered the slightest trace of any transitional forms since Darwin first proposed them. Those discoveries have all been of a kind as to dash evolutionists' hopes, and show that living things on Earth emerged suddenly, fully developed, and flawless.

However, even though they know that transitional forms never existed, evolutionist scientists refuse to abandon their theory. They offer prejudiced commentaries on a number of fossils. In his work In Search of Deep Time, Henry Gee, editor of the world-famous magazine Nature, describes just how scientific such fossil commentaries really are:

.... we arrange fossils in an order that reflects gradual acquisition of what we see in ourselves. We do not seek the truth, we create it after the fact, to suit our own prejudices... To take a line of fossils and claim that they represent a lineage is not a scientific hypothesis that can be tested, but an assertion that carries the same validity as a bedtime story - amusing, perhaps even instructive, but not scientific.20

That is why believers in God must not be deceived by the word games and falsehoods dressed up in scientific garb. It is a great mistake to believe that people, just because they are scientists, are telling the truth and that they should be believed. Evolutionist scientists have no compunctions about concealing the truth, distorting scientific facts, and even producing forged evidence for the sake of their ideology. The history of Darwinism is full of such examples.

When we consider even the most basic main lines of Darwinism, its invalidity and totally rotten foundations are immediately apparent. When we look at the details, the situation becomes even clearer. (See The Evolution Deceit, Taha Publishers, London, 1999 and Darwinism Refuted, Goodword Publishers, New Delhi, 2003 for more information).

Contrary to what evolutionists claim, we see a great design and planning in the features of all living and non-living things wherever we look. That is a sign that God has created them all. Evolutionists continue to wage their hopeless struggle because they do not want to accept this fact. As truly committed materialists, they are trying to bring a dead body to life.
All of this leads to just one conclusion: Darwinism turns people away from reason, science, and the truth and directs them toward irrationality. People who believe in evolution refuse to follow the path of reason and science, and are taken in by the superstitious nonsense that has come down from the 1800s when Darwin was alive. Finally, they begin to believe that chance can play a divine role, even though the whole universe is full of the signs of creation. It is enough to look at just one of the flawless mechanisms in the sky and the sea, in animals and plants, in order to see this. To say that these are all the work of chance is an insult to reason, logic, and science. What is needed is a confession of God's might and greatness, and a subsequent surrendering to Him.

IT IS A MISTAKE TO THINK CHARLES DARWIN WAS RELIGIOUS

A large part of those religious people who support the theory of evolution suggest that Charles Darwin was religious. However, they are definitely mistaken, for during his life Darwin revealed his negative views of God and religion.

Darwin and the Darwinian Revolution, by the Darwinist historian Gertrude Himmelfarb.

Darwin did believe in God during his youth, but his belief gradually faded and was replaced by atheism during middle age. However, he did not publicize this fact, for he did not want to attract any opposition from his devout wife in particular, as well as from his close relatives and the religious establishment. In her book Darwin and the Darwinian Revolution, Darwinist historian Gertrude Himmelfarb writes: "The full extent of Darwin's disbelief, therefore, can be seen neither in his published work nor even in his published autobiography, but only in the original version of that autobiography."21 Her book also reveals that when Darwin's son Francis was about to publish his The Life and Letters of Charles Darwin, Darwin's wife Emma fiercely opposed the project and did not want to give her permission, fearing that the letters might give rise to a scandal after his death. Emma warned her son to take out those sections that made open references to atheism. The entire family feared that such statements would damage Darwin's prestige.22

According to biologist Ernst Mayr, a founder of neo-Darwinism; "It is apparent that Darwin lost his faith in the years 1836-39, much of it clearly prior to the reading of Malthus. In order not to hurt the feelings of his friends and of his wife, Darwin often used deistic language in his publications, but much in his Notebooks indicates that by this time he had become a 'materialist.'"23

Ernst Mayr

Darwin always bore his family's reactions in mind, and throughout his life carefully concealed his ideas on religion. He did so, in his own words, because,
Many years ago I was strongly advised by a friend never to introduce anything about religion in my works, if I wished to advance science in England; and this led me not to consider the mutual bearings of the two subjects. Had I foreseen how much more liberal the world would become, I should perhaps have acted differently.24

As we can see from the final sentence, if Darwin had felt confident he would have attracted no reaction, he might not have been so cautious. When Karl Marx (1818-83) proposed to dedicate his Das Kapital to Darwin, Darwin firmly refused the honor on the grounds that it would hurt certain members of his family if he were associated with such an atheistic book.25

However, we can still find Darwin's attitude to spiritual concepts and beliefs in these words to his cousin: "I look upon all human feeling as traceable to some germ in the animals."26

Darwin also opposed religious instruction for children out of his belief that they should be freed from religious belief.27

These antireligious views have come down to present-day evolutionists as a kind of legacy. Just as Darwin did not want children to learn about God while they were being educated, modern evolutionists fiercely oppose teaching creationism in schools. They engage in active lobbying all over the world to have creation removed from the educational curriculum.

Even if We sent down angels to them, and the dead spoke to them, and We gathered together everything infront of them right before their eyes, they would still not believe unless Allah willed. The truth is that most of them are ignorant. (Qur'an, 6:111)

DARWIN'S ATHEISM AND EFFORTS TO CONCEAL IT

He makes the following reference to his own lack of belief, "disbelief crept over me at a very slow rate, but was at last complete…"28

The same book describes how Darwin's father took him aside when he was about to get married and recommended that he conceal his religious doubt from his wife. However, Emma was aware of his ever-decreasing faith right from the first. When his Descent of Man was published, she confessed to her daughter regarding the book's anti-religious sentiments:
I shall dislike it very much as again putting God further off.29

In a letter he wrote in 1876, Darwin stated how his belief became weaker:

… This conclusion (theism) was strong in my mind about the time, as far as I can remember, when I wrote the "Origin of Species"; and it is since that time that it has very gradually, with many fluctuations, become weaker…30

At the same time, he found it odd that anyone else should have religious beliefs, and stated that people, who he believed had evolved from primitive animals, could not trust those beliefs:

(C)an the mind of man, which has, as I fully believe, been developed from a mind as low as that possessed by the lowest animals, be trusted when it draws such grand conclusions?31

The fundamental reason why Darwin denied God's existence was pride. We can see this in the statements below:

Charles Darwin's wife Emma

In the sense that an omnipotent and omniscient Deity must order and know everything, this must be admitted; yet, in honest truth, I can hardly admit it.32
In a short hand-written appendix to the story of his life, he wrote:

I feel no remorse from having committed any great sin.33

Darwin's statements denying God's existence and religion actually follow a classical atheist logic. A Qur'anic verse describes how those who deny Allah actually realize that He exists but still deny Him out of arrogance:

And they repudiated them wrongly and haughtily, in spite of their own certainty about them. See the final fate of the corrupters. (Qur'an, 27:14)

The most important point here is this: Darwin's atheism had the greatest influence on shaping his theory. He twisted facts, observations, and proofs in order to maintain his prejudice that life was not created. When one reads The Origin of Species, one clearly sees how Darwin was at pains to reject all evidence for creation (e.g., the complex structures in living things, how the fossil record points to sudden emergence, and facts pointing to the limits of how far living things can differ from each other in nature), and the way he postponed those things he could not immediately explain by saying: "Perhaps this matter will be resolved one day in the future." Had he been a neutral scientist, he would not have displayed such dogmatism. His own style and methods show that Darwin was an atheist who grounded his theory in atheism.

In fact, atheists have supported Darwin for the last 150 years and irreligious ideologies have backed Darwinism precisely because of his atheism. Thus, given the fact of Darwin's atheism, Muslims must not make the mistake of thinking that he was religious, or at least not opposed to religion, and continue to support him, his theory, and those who think like him. If they do, they place themselves alongside the atheists.

Darwin admitted to being an atheist in his letters and autobiography.

DARWINISM HAS LED HUMANITY FROM DISASTER TO DISASTER

At the beginning of this book, we saw how evolutionist Muslims portray Darwinism as a scientifically proven fact and ignore its true face. Darwinism, which provided "scientific" support for fascism and communism, the twentieth century's bloodiest ideologies, has an even darker "true" face.

These ideologies, which reached their violent peaks during the last century, were responsible for communist revolutions and fascist coups d'etat, as well as fighting, conflict, civil war, and the division of the world into two blocs. Such bloody dictators as Lenin, Stalin, Mao, Pol Pot, Hitler, Mussolini, and Franco all left their marks. Some 120 million people died as a result of the cruelty inflicted by communist regimes alone, and the two world wars alone cost some 65 million lives. World War II, which began with Hitler's invasion of Poland in 1939, was a true disaster for humanity. (For details see Harun Yahya, The Disasters Darwinism Brought to Humanity, Al-Attique Publishers Inc., Ontario, 2001 and Fascism: Bloody Ideology of Darwinism, Arastirma Publishing, Istanbul, 2002)

Darwinism can be found at the ideological root of all of these political, economic, and moral catastrophes, for it nourishes and strengthens all of them.

COMMUNISM, FASCISM, AND DARWINISM

Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels, the founding fathers of communism, mentioned in their works how much Darwinism influenced them. Marx showed his sympathy for Darwin by presenting to him a copy of his book Das Kapital, in which he had written a personal note. The German edition even carried the following message in his own hand; "To Charles Darwin, from a true admirer, from Karl Marx."

Darwinism was of such importance to communism that as soon as Darwin's book was published, Engels wrote to Marx: "Darwin, whom I am just reading, is simply splendid."34

The prominent Russian communist Georgi Valentinovich Plekhanov regarded Marxism as "Darwinism in its application to social sciences."35

Lenin Stalin Mao Mussolini Franco Hitler

Hitler's Mein Kampf.

Hitler's most important ideological mentor, the racist German historian Heinrich von Treitschke, said: "Nations could not prosper without intense competition, like the struggle for survival of Darwin,"36 thus indicating the origin of the violence at Nazism's roots. Hitler himself was a Darwinist. Taking his inspiration from the concept of "the fight for survival" employed by Darwin, he called his own famous work Mein Kampf (My Fight). At a 1933 Nuremberg party rally, Hitler proclaimed that: "A higher race subjects to itself a lower race… a right which we see in nature and which can be regarded as the sole conceivable right, because it was founded on science."37 This shows just how much he was influenced by Darwin.

Mussolini, the leader of Italian fascism, also favored Darwinism as a worldview and tried to use it to justify Italy's invasion of Ethiopia. Franco, the Spanish dictator at that time, also reflected Darwinist ideology both in theory and in practice. (See Harun Yahya, Fascism: Bloody Ideology of Darwinism, Arastirma Publishing, Istanbul, 2002)

By saying that life is a fight that the strong were destined to win and that the weak were condemned to lose, Darwin opened the way to brute force, violence, war, conflict, and massacre on a grand scale. Dictators who oppressed people, whether at home or abroad, were so inspired by Darwinism that they dressed themselves in its teachings. In their view, the law of nature demands that the weak be crushed and destroyed and that people do not necessarily have any inherent value, since they had evolved from animals.

DEFENDING DARWINISM FACILITATES COMMUNISM'S SPREAD

Communism is a hostile ideology, both in terms of the materialist philosophy upon which it is based and the historical analysis it proposes. It begins by denying God's existence, and its historical analysis, which describes religion as the "opiate of the masses," calls for the eradication of religion in order to erect its envisioned communist society.

Marx wanted to dedicate his Das Kapital to Darwin.

Thus all communist regimes fight religion, attack religious values, destroy places of worship, and outlaw the observance of religious obligations. Regimes in such places as the former Soviet Union, China, Cambodia, Bulgaria, and Albania have followed policies that are so anti-religious that they border upon, and sometimes lead to, genocide.

Darwinism plays an important role in Marxist ideology's hatred of religion. Darwin provided Marxist atheism with a so-called scientific basis, which explains why Marx and Engels felt such gratitude for him. Engels' praise is particularly striking:

Friedrich Engels, one of the originators of communism.

"He (Darwin) dealt the metaphysical conception of Nature the heaviest blow by his proof that all organic beings, plants, animals, and man himself, are the products of a process of evolution going on through millions of years."38

Conflict lies at the heart of Marxist philosophy (dialectical materialism), which asserts that the universe functions according to the law of clashes between opposites. In other words, Darwin's asserted fight for survival in nature was now applied to human societies. Darwinism was the greatest support for communist ideology, which saw human history as a battleground and prepared the ground for further conflict.
The evolutionist P. J. Darlington explains that violence is a natural consequence of belief in this theory:

The first point is that selfishness and violence are inherent in us, inherited from our remotest animal ancestors…. Violence is, then, natural to man; a product of evolution.39

Marxists believe that societies will accept their ideology if they bring them to believe in Darwinism. They attach so much importance to Darwin's principle that "violence and conflict are unchanging natural laws." This is why all communist-oriented terrorist organizations give their militants months of training in communism, dialectical materialism, and Darwinism. Darwin's theory encourages these people to believe that they are actually animals, and that just like animals, people must fight for survival. Thus many young people become monsters quite capable of killing and even ruthlessly slaughtering children and babies.
In this way, communist ideology led to guerrilla and civil wars and bloody acts of terrorism in numerous countries throughout the twentieth century. That is why the intellectual struggle against Darwinism is so important: If Darwinism is exposed as the fallacy that it is and then collapses, Marxist philosophies based upon it will crumble. Since Darwinism has such an important role to play in anti-religious communist ideology, supporting one means supporting the other.

Trying to justify Darwinism by reconciling it with religion and claiming that God used evolution to create living things means justifying communism. The communists know that religion and Darwinism are incompatible, but remain silent when confronted with religious people who accept evolutionary creation so that both ideologies can spread easily and even further afield. The important thing is to first open a door to the acceptance of Darwinism.

The communists' belief in evolution stems from their blind devotion to their ideology. For instance Robert Shapiro, an evolutionist professor of chemistry and DNA expert, says that the theory's basic claim that inanimate substances organized themselves and formed DNA and RNA is based on no scientific fact at all. He continues:

Robert Shapiro

Another evolutionary principle is therefore needed to take us across the gap from mixtures of simple natural chemicals to the first effective replicator. This principle has not yet been described in detail or demonstrated, but it is anticipated, and given names such as chemical evolution and self-organization of matter. The existence of the principle is taken for granted in the philosophy of dialectical materialism...40

As Shapiro has stated, evolutionists continue to defend the theory of evolution due to their dogmatic adherence to materialist philosophy. This indicates that any support given to this theory also means direct support for materialist philosophy, the spread of which inevitably prepares the ground for communist ideology's entrance into a given society. This link reveals how communist ideology draws its strength from Darwinism.

Muslims who support the theory of evolution need to think about this truth. They must not share a common perspective with communists, who have been and remain the fiercest enemies of religion, and/or support a view that is the "scientific" basis of communism. This becomes even more important when we consider that communism has not died, but is still holding out in authoritarian regimes like North Korea and, most dangerously, still dominating the political system and political culture of China, despite her superficial "capitalist" outlook.

DARWIN'S RACISM

One of the most important and yet least-known aspects of Darwin is his racism: Darwin regarded white Europeans as more "advanced" than other human races. Presuming that man evolved from ape-like creatures, he surmised that some races developed more than others and that the latter still bore simian features. In his book, The Descent of Man, which he published after The Origin of Species, he boldly commented on "the greater differences between men of distinct races."41 In his book, Darwin held blacks and Australian Aborigines to be equal to gorillas and then inferred that these would be "done away with" by the "civilized races" in time. He said:

Racist neo-Nazi movements are spreading to many countries. At the root of such movements is a fascistic hatred of peoples of other nations. Behind this idea lies Darwinism, according to which, the inferiority of some races in comparison to others is very natural.

At some future period, not very distant as measured by centuries, the civilized races of man will almost certainly exterminate and replace the savage races throughout the world. At the same time the anthropomorphous apes... will no doubt be exterminated. The break between man and his nearest allies will then be wider, for it will intervene in a more civilized state, as we may hope, even than the Caucasian, and some ape as low as baboon, instead of as now between the negro or Australian and the gorilla.42

Darwin's nonsensical ideas were not only theorized, but also given a degree of scientific and social respectability that enabled them to provide the most important "scientific ground" for racism. Supposing that living beings evolved in the struggle for life, Darwinism soon was applied to the social sciences. Known as "Social Darwinism," this new ideology contends that existing human races are located at different rungs of the "evolutionary ladder," that the European races are the most "advanced" of all, and that many other races still bear "ape-like" features.

Moreover, Darwinism does not rest with preparing the ground for racist attacks, for it also allows all kinds of separatist and destructive actions. This "life is a fight" principle has created an argument that justifies putting other people living peacefully in the same country into concentration camps, as well as the use of violence and brute force, war, death, and murder.

However, Muslims who realize that Allah has created them and everything else, that Allah has breathed His soul into them, that the world is a place of peace and brotherhood, that all people are equal, and that each person will be punished in the hereafter for whatever he or she has done in this world cannot harm others. Only those who believe that they came into existence by chance, have no responsibility to anyone, will never have to account for their actions, and believe that the world is a place of conflict can engage in such activities.

That is why Muslims should listen to their consciences before accepting Darwinism, and why they should understand the true price of backing a theory that science itself refutes. The damage Darwinism has done to humanity is clear. The tragedies, suffering, and conflict it leads to also are well known. As we have seen throughout this chapter, the way in which people are brought to believe in irrational and illogical ideas and concepts should convince us that Darwinism is a grave danger.

The Science of Allah's Creation

So far, we have examined the grave error committed by Muslim evolutionists who accept the assertion that Allah used evolution to create living things. Unlike other evolutionists, such people do not directly say that life emerged by chance. However, by maintaining that Allah used evolution in His creation, they willingly or otherwise support Darwinism on some points. According to their mistaken perspective, Allah must have used such evolutionary mechanisms as mutation and natural selection.

However, science has demonstrated that neither natural selection nor mutation can create a new species. In other words, they have no evolutionary force. Those who support the idea of evolutionary creation maintain that Allah uses mutations to change a living thing's genetic data so that it can acquire useful organs, or that Allah first creates primitive creatures and then employs natural selection to turn them into more complex ones and to perfect them. In other words, He uses natural selection to add a new organ, lets an already-existing organ atrophy, or do away with it altogether in order to turn one species into another.

It is quite normal for people who are unaware of the latest scientific developments to make such assumptions, particularly if they wish to support evolution. However, such a claim flies in the face of scientific fact. Moreover, as we shall see later, the Qur'an does not mention such a thing.

One thing needs to be made quite clear: Of course Allah could have employed evolution to create living things if He had so willed. Yet the Qur'an contains no sign of evolution and not one verse supports the evolutionists' claim of the stage-by-stage emergence of species. Science also reveals the falsity of such a claim. Since the situation is so clear, there is no way for a Muslim to justify his/her support of it. The only possible reasons for such errors are a lack of information, an inferiority complex when dealing with evolutionists, and the belief that since evolutionists are in the majority they must necessarily be right.

ALLAH CREATED THE UNIVERSE FROM NOTHING

Allah creates everything, in the form and at the time that He chooses, without the use of any model and out of nothing. Since He is exalted above any defect and is rich beyond any need. He has no need of any cause, vehicle, or stages for His creation. Nobody should be deceived by the fact that everything is linked to given causes and natural laws. But Allah is beyond all these causes and laws, since He created them.

Allah, the Lord of the Earth and the heavens, can also do away with these causes if He so wills. For instance, He can create people who do not need oxygen to survive, and therefore do not need any lungs. Given this, why would He "need" to perfect the lung by making it evolve over time or through any other mechanism? It is therefore completely wrong for people to think of Allah's greatness and might as being limited to their own feelings and reason. We can have knowledge only to the extent that He permits.

Allah can use particular stages in His creation if He so wills. For example, He produces a plant from a seed or a human being from the coming together of a sperm and an egg cell. Yet these stages, as we shall see later, have nothing to do with evolution and have no room for chance or coincidence. Every stage in the emergence of a plant, or the turning of a single cell into a human being "in the best of forms," happens thanks to the perfect systems created by His infinite might.

There are signs of Allah's infinite power and intelligence at every stage of a flower's development. It is Allah, the Lord of all the worlds, Who turns a seed into a beautifully colored flower.

Allah willed and created the Earth and the heavens, all that lies between, and all living and non-living things. This is very easy for Him, as indicated in the Qur'an:

He created the heavens and Earth with truth. The day He says "Be!" it is. His speech is Truth... (Qur'an, 6:73)

Our Word to a thing when We will it is just to say to it "Be!" and it is. (Qur'an, 16: 40)

He gives life and causes to die. When He decides on something, He just says to it, "Be!" and it is. (Qur'an, 40:68)

It is Allah's infinite might and wisdom that turns a cell, invisible to the naked eye, into a thinking, speaking, and breathing human being.

Creation is very easy for Allah. As these verses reveal, all He has to do is say "Be!," thereby willing it to be so. Many verses reveal that He created the universe and living things in perfect form. It is a grave mistake for Muslims to adhere to forced explanations in the face of this evident truth and to make such specious claims that Allah employed evolution to create and used mutation, natural selection, and transitional stages between apes and humans. It is quite wrong to put forward such accounts, for which there is no evidence in either the Qur'an or science, in the hope of being accepted by evolutionists.

Allah makes all the laws in the universe and gives them the form He chooses, brings about what He wills and when He wills it, permeates everything in the Earth and the heavens, and rules everything with His power. Yet some people do not fully comprehend His might and thus judge Him based upon their own limited powers. Allah reveals their existence in the Qur'an:

They do not measure Allah with His true measure when they say: "Allah would not send down anything to a mere human being."... (Qur'an, 6:91)

They do not measure Allah with His true measure. Allah is All-Strong, Almighty. (Qur'an, 22:74)

They do not measure Allah with His true measure. The whole Earth will be a mere handful for Him on the Day of Rising the heavens folded up in His right hand. Glory be to Him! He is exalted above the partners they ascribe! (Qur'an, 39:67)

Contrary to what those who believe in evolutionary creation suggest, Allah did not first create apes and then cause them to evolve into humans through flawed transitional forms with missing organs. Rather, as the Qur'an reveals, Allah created man in the most perfect manner: 

We created man in the finest mold. (Qur'an, 95:4)

He created the heavens and Earth with truth and formed you, giving you the best of forms. And He is your final destination. (Qur'an, 64:3)

Ever since the first man, all human beings have been the result of Allah's flawless creation. Throughout history, all human beings have come into being through the stages Allah commanded.

The above verses are some of the proofs that Allah created man in perfect form, in other words, the form that he has now. Of course, man also has several incapacities and weaknesses, all of which remind him of his poverty before his Lord. Deformities and disabilities are the results of a purposeful creation, for they serve as reminders for those who see them and as a test for those who carry them.

As forms and species, Allah created all living things instantaneously and perfectly, with no need for evolution at all. That evident truth is revealed in the Qur'an:

He is Allah - the Creator, the Maker, the Giver of Form. To Him belong the Most Beautiful Names. Everything in the heavens and Earth glorifies Him. He is the Almighty, the All-Wise. (Qur'an, 59:24)

The Qur'an describes how simple creation is for Allah:

Does He Who created the heavens and Earth not have the power to create the same again? Yes indeed! He is the Creator, the All-Knowing. (Qur'an, 36:81)

Your creation and rising is only like that of a single self. Allah is All-Hearing, All-Seeing. (Qur'an, 31:28)

ALLAH'S DIFFERENT FORMS OF CREATION

Another important point ignored by those who believe in evolutionary creation is Allah's different forms of creation. Allah has produced living things that differ significantly from humans and animals, such as angels and the jinn. This matter will be discussed in the following pages.

TWO-, THREE-, AND FOUR-WINGED ANGELS

Angels are beings that always obey Allah's commands. The Qur'an describes their creation as follows:

Praise be to Allah, the Bringer into Being of the heavens and Earth, He Who made the angels messengers, with wings - two, three, or four. He adds to creation in any way He wills. Allah has power over all things. (Qur'an, 35:1)

As we can see from this description, the forms of angels differ considerably from those of human beings. Allah draws attention to the different forms of creation in the above verse.

Verses also show how angels are at Allah's command and obey Him:

Everything in the heavens and every creature on Earth prostrates to Allah, as do the angels. They are not puffed up with pride. They fear their Lord above them and do everything that they are ordered to do. (Qur'an, 16:49-50)

The Messiah would never disdain to be a servant of Allah, nor would the angels near to Him. If any do disdain to worship Him and grow arrogant, He will in any case gather them all to Him. (Qur'an, 4:172)

You who believe! Safeguard yourselves and your families from a Fire whose fuel is people and stones. Harsh, terrible angels are in charge of it, who do not disobey Allah in respect of any order He gives them and carry out what they are ordered to do. (Qur'an, 66:6)

In addition, angels were created before man. In fact, Allah told the angels when He was going to create Adam, the first human being, and commanded them to prostrate before him.

At the same time, Allah gave Prophet Adam, peace be upon him, knowledge that was different from that of the angels, and taught him the names of things. Angels do not possess that knowledge. As the Qur'an states:

When your Lord said to the angels, "I am putting a vicegerent on Earth," they said, "Why put on it one who will cause corruption on it and shed blood when we glorify You with praise and proclaim Your purity?" He said, "I know what you do not know." He taught Adam the names of all things. Then He arrayed them before the angels and said, "Tell me the names of these, if you are telling the truth." They said, "Glory be to You! We have no knowledge except what You have taught us. You are the All-Knowing, the All-Wise." He said, "Adam, tell them their names." When he had told them their names, He said, "Did I not tell you that I know the Unseen of the heavens and Earth, and I know what you make known and what you hide?" We said to the angels, "Prostrate to Adam!" and they prostrated, with the exception of Iblis. He refused and was arrogant and was one of the disbelievers. (Qur'an, 2:30-34)

JINN ARE CREATED FROM FIRE

Like angels, the jinn's appearance also differs from that of man. The verses below show that man was created from clay, while the jinn were created from fire:

We created mankind out of dried clay formed from fetid black mud. We created the jinn before, out of the fire of a searing wind. (Qur'an, 15:26-27)

He created man from dry earth like baked clay, and He created the jinn from a fusion of fire. (Qur'an, 55:14-15

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In the Qur'an, Allah also reveals His purpose in creating man and the jinn:

I only created jinn and man to worship Me. (Qur'an, 51:56)

It is clear from this that although man and the jinn are very different beings, they both were created to worship only Allah by living by the values He prescribed. He has revealed in many verses that both angels and the jinn have some characteristics that differ from human characteristics. For instance, both can transport matter:

He (Sulayman) said, "Council! Who among you will bring me her (the Queen of Saba's) throne before they come to me in submission?" An audacious one among the jinn said, "I will bring it to you before you get up from your seat. I am strong and trustworthy enough to do it." (Qur'an, 27:38-39)

The Qur'an also says that the jinn, just like the angels, were created before man. When He created Prophet Adam, peace be upon him, Allah commanded the angels and the jinn to prostrate before him. After that, He reveals that Satan is one of the jinn:

When We said to the angels, "Prostrate yourselves to Adam," they prostrated, with the exception of Iblis. He was one of the jinn and wantonly deviated from his Lord's command. Do you take him and his offspring as protectors apart from Me when they are your enemy? How evil is the exchange the wrongdoers make! (Qur'an, 18:50)

Creation is a simple matter for Allah, Who can create from nothing and with no previous cause. Just as He created the angels and the jinn in different forms from nothing, He also created man as a separate being from nothing and with no need for evolution. The same applies to other living things, such as animals and plants. Allah created all of these spontaneously out of nothing and without having them evolve - in other words, without turning one species into another. As we saw earlier, the stages Allah uses in this creation which we mentioned before have nothing to do with evolutionist coincidence or random events, for each is the product of the flawless systems Allah's might and sovereignty brought about.

HOW THE BIRD CREATED FROM CLAY BY THE PROPHET 'ISA CAME TO LIFE

Allah endowed Prophet 'Isa, peace be upon him, with metaphysical properties in the life of this world, as seen in: "... 'Isa, son of Maryam, of high esteem in this world and the hereafter, and one of those brought near." (Qur'an, 3:45) He came into the world with no father, spoke while still in the cradle, and cured the sick in a miraculous way.

Moreover, when Prophet 'Isa, peace be upon him, made a clay object in the shape of a bird and breathed into it, the bird came to life by Allah's will. This fact is related in the Qur'an:

As a Messenger to the tribe of Israel, saying: "I have brought you a sign from your Lord. I will create the shape of a bird out of clay for you and then breathe into it and it will be a bird by Allah's permission..." (Qur'an, 3:49)

Remember when Allah said, "'Isa, son of Maryam, remember My blessing to you and to your mother when I reinforced you with the Purest Spirit so that you could speak to people in the cradle and when you were fully grown; and when I taught you the Book and Wisdom, and the Torah and the Gospels; and when you created a bird-shape out of clay by My permission, and then breathed into it and it became a bird by My permission..." (Qur'an, 5:110)

Allah can spontaneously create a living thing in that way. This is one of His miracles, and an important truth that evolutionist Muslims should not ignore.

A similar example mentions Prophet Ibrahim, peace be upon him, and reveals how Allah endows inanimate things with life:

When Ibrahim said, "My Lord, show me how You bring the dead to life." He asked, "Do you not then believe?" He replied, "Indeed I do! But so that my heart may be at peace." He said, "Take four birds and train them to yourself. Then put a part of them on each mountain and call to them; they will come rushing to you. Know that Allah is Almighty, All-Wise." (Qur'an, 2:260)

HOW PROPHET ZAKARIYYA'S BARREN WIFE HAD A CHILD

One example of miraculous creation concerns the joyous tidings received by Prophet Zakariyya, peace be upon him, that his barren wife would give birth to a child:

(Allah said,) "Zakariyya! We give you the good news of a boy named Yahya, a name we have given to no one else before." He said, "My Lord! How can I have a boy when my wife is barren and I have reached advanced old age?" (An angel) said, "It will be so!"... (Qur'an, 19:7-9)

As the verses reveal, creation is a simple matter for Allah, Who requires no previous cause to create. He endowed this Prophet with a child, and by commanding that it should "Be!," this Prophet's wife spontaneously became pregnant. Our Lord reveals in the continuation of the verse:

... Your Lord says, "That is easy for Me to do. I created you before, when you were not anything." (Qur'an, 19:9)

EXAMPLES OF RESURRECTION IN THE QUR'AN

Creation and resurrection are entirely in Allah's hands, and, as is the case with creation, He has no need of external causes when it comes to resurrection. There are many examples of this in the Qur'an.

The Qur'an reveals that after people die and are buried, they will be resurrected on the Day of Judgment:

That is their repayment for rejecting Our signs and saying, "What, when we are bones and crumbled dust, will we then be raised up as a new creation?" Do they not see that Allah, Who created the heavens and Earth, has the power to create the like of them, and has appointed fixed terms for them of which there is no doubt? But the wrongdoers still spurn anything but unbelief. (Qur'an, 17:98-99)

As we have seen, disbelievers do not believe that people will be re-created after dying and becoming one with the soil. This example summarizes the situation as regards the theory of evolution. Our Lord, Who will re-form people's bodies from nothing on the Day of Judgment, also created the first man, Prophet Adam, from nothing. These verses are very important for those who believe in the Qur'an but who nevertheless insist upon believing in evolutionist ideas.

In the words: "You have come to Us all alone, just as We created you at first, leaving behind you everything We bestowed on you..." (Qur'an, 6:94), the Qur'an points to the resurrection of man on the Day of Judgment. It makes it clear that this creation will be like their "first creation." Each person, who will have died and become one with the soil, will be reborn through a re-creation in the hereafter and assume a human form. That is why the first human creation resembles this and happens not stage by stage, but all at once and in a miraculous manner.

There are many examples of resurrection in the Qur'an. For instance, Allah allowed the tribe of Prophet Musa, peace be upon him, to experience it, as He killed them and then brought them back to life. This is described in the Qur'an as follows:

And when you said, "Musa, we will not believe in you until we see Allah with our own eyes." So the thunder-bolt struck you dead while you were looking. Then We brought you back to life after your death, so that perhaps you would show thanks. (Qur'an, 2:55-56)

The Qur'an contains a similar account again involving the tribe of Prophet Musa, peace be upon him. Allah had commanded them to strike a corpse with the flesh of a previously killed cow. As Allah reveals in the verse, He did this to show them that man would be resurrected and to ensure that they had belief. This is clearly a miracle. However, as we shall see in the verse's following part, these people's hearts again grew hard after the miracle took place:

Remember when you killed someone and violently accused each other of it, and Allah brought out what you were hiding. We said, "Hit him with part of it!" In that way Allah gives life to the dead, and He shows you His Signs so that hopefully you will understand. Then your hearts became hardened after that, so they were like rocks or even harder still. There are some rocks from which rivers gush out, and others that split open and water pours out, and others that crash down from fear of Allah. Allah is not unaware of what you do. (Qur'an, 2:72-74)

Allah gives another example:

In this way Allah makes His signs clear to you, so that hopefully you will use your intellect. What do you think about those who left their homes in thousands in fear of death? Allah said to them, "Die!" and then brought them back to life. Allah shows great favor to mankind, but most people are not grateful. (Qur'an, 2:242-243)

The Qur'an relates another example: the situation facing someone who did not believe in resurrection after death. According to the verses, Allah caused the person to be dead for 100 years and then resurrected him. However, even though so much time had gone by, the person thought that he had been dead only for one day or even less. When he was told the truth, he finally believed, as we see in the following verse:

Or the one who passed by a town which had fallen into ruin? He asked, "How can Allah restore this to life when it has died?" Allah caused him to die for a hundred years and then brought him back to life. Then He asked, "How long have you been here?" He replied, "I have been here for a day or part of a day." He said, "Not so! You have been here for a hundred years. Look at your food and drink - it has not gone bad - and look at your donkey so that We can make you a sign for all mankind. Look at the bones - how We raise them up and clothe them with flesh." When it had become clear to him, he said, "Now I know that Allah has power over all things." (Qur'an, 2:259)

Another example concerns the people of the cave (ashab al-kahf). What distinguishes this story from the others is that in this case the community was not killed, but merely fell asleep for longer than a normal human lifespan.

This group consisted of devout young people who had left their tribe and sought refuge in a cave because their tribe had turned to polytheism and idolatry. However, Allah miraculously caused them to sleep for more than 300 years in the cave, as follows:

So We struck them with drowsiness in the cave for a number of years. (Qur'an, 18:11)

They stayed in their cave for three hundred years and added nine. Say: "Allah knows best how long they stayed. The Unseen of the heavens and Earth belongs to Him. How perfectly He sees, how well He hears! They have no protector apart from Him. Nor does He share His rule with anyone." (Qur'an, 18:25-26)

However, after a time Allah awakened them. The description continues:

Then We woke them up again so that we might see which of the two groups would better calculate the time they had stayed there. We will relate their story to you with truth. They were young men who believed in their Lord, and We increased them in guidance. (Qur'an, 18:12-13)

They did not realize they had been asleep for such a long time. They thought they had only been asleep for a day, or a few hours, whereas it had actually been some three hundred and nine years. The verse in question states:

That was the situation when we woke them up so they could question one another. One of them asked, "How long have you been here?" They replied, "We have been here for a day or part of a day." They said, "Your Lord knows best how long you have been here. Send one of your number into the city with this silver you have, so he can see which food is purest and bring you some of it to eat. But he should go about with caution so that no one is aware of you." (Qur'an, 18:19)

Such examples given in the Qur'an explicitly reveal that Allah has no need of any cause in creation.

THE BEHAVIOR OF BEES: AN INSOLUBLE DILEMMA FOR EVOLUTIONISTS

In the Qur'an, Allah reveals that He has inspired the bee and told it what it should do:

Your Lord revealed to the bees: "Build dwellings in the mountains and the trees, and also in the structures that people erect. Then eat from every kind of fruit and travel the paths of your Lord, which have been made easy for you to follow." From inside them comes a drink of varying colors, containing healing for mankind. There is certainly a Sign in that for people who reflect. (Qur'an, 16:68-69)

As we know, bees collect pollen and produce honey by mixing pollen with secretions from their own bodies. In order to store the honey and raise their young, they make hexagonal wax cells, all of which are exceedingly ordered, have the same angle, and are generally identical. They build honeycombs with these. Moreover, bees that leave the hive in search of food and always return to it possess special systems Allah creates so that they can find their way home.

For an insect to know about the angles in hexagons, discover the formula for wax and design the systems necessary for producing it in their own bodies, and then fit such information into its own DNA so that future members of the same species will possess the same abilities are all, of course, impossible.

It is self-evident that bees have been taught all of these things by a higher power. In other words, such knowledge has been inspired in them, as the verses reveal. Allah, Who knows all, describes to the bee what it needs to do, and the bee then acts in the full light of that inspiration. Such conscious behavior is clear evidence of creation.

Your lord revealed to the bees: "Build dwellings in themountains and the trees, and also in the structures which men erect.Then eat from every kind of fruit and travel the paths of your Lord, which have been made easy for you to follow." From inside them comes a drink of varying colours, containing healing for mankind. There is certainly a Sign in that for people who reflect. (Qur'an, 16:68-69)

The study of such properties in animals reveals the flawless design and higher consciousness inherent in living things. Such things allow one to understand once again Allah's incomparable might. He has the power to create whatever creature He wills and with whatever attributes He wills, possesses limitless might, and is the Ruler of all.

However, evolutionists believe that such extraordinary features of living things came about by chance. According to this illogical claim, bees learned to calculate angles and managed to transfer that knowledge to other bees by chance. Chance also led to the emergence of bodily systems for producing wax and honey.

Just a few seconds of thought is sufficient to see that such imaginary scenarios are far removed from reason and science. Allah creates bees and gives them consciousness. Such miracles of creation place evolutionists in a dilemma from which they can never escape.

PROPHET SULAYMAN UNDERSTOOD THE ANT'S LANGUAGE

As touched on in the previous section, evolutionists maintain that living things are the work of blind chance and random events. In their view, and despite the fact that there is absolutely no proof to confirm this imaginary thesis, animals possess no consciousness. There is, however, a great deal of evidence to disprove their claims.

Consider the Qur'anic account of Prophet Sulayman, peace be upon him, and a female ant. According to the verses, he heard and understood the ant's words, as narrated in the following verses:

Then, when they reached the Valley of the Ants, an ant said, "Ants! Enter your dwellings so that Sulayman and his troops do not crush you unwittingly." He smiled, laughing at its words, and said, "My Lord, keep me thankful for the blessing You have bestowed on me and on my parents, and keep me acting rightly, pleasing You. And admit me, by Your mercy, among Your righteous servants." (Qur'an, 27:18-19)

As this verse makes clear, one ant addressed the others. Of course, it is out of the question for a creature supposedly "created" by chance to have a special communication system that allows it to address its own community or exhibit behavior indicative of reason and logic. A creature that comes into being by Allah's will displays conscious behavior in the manner and to the extent that Allah wills. It also is possible to communicate with such a creature, if Allah wills it. 

As revealed in the Qur'an, Allah enabled Prophet Sulayman, peace be upon him, to understand the language of the ants.

Animals, which according to the theory of evolution, are supposed to lack consciousness in fact display evidence of considerable reason, as we have seen in these two examples. Maybe we cannot expect Darwinists to understand the extraordinary nature of this situation (We free from any imputation those who think sincerely and who follow the dictates of their consciences). However, those who say that they believe in Allah's existence and power really must think about such signs, for they clearly disprove evolution. This, in turn, shows that evolution cannot be defended in any possible way.

CREATION IS A MIRACLE

Ignoring the fact that Allah has the power to create and destroy plays an important role in causing some Muslims to believe in evolution. Such evolutionist Muslims are under the influence of naturalism, which asserts that the laws of nature are fixed and unchanging, and that nothing can take place outside of them. Yet this is a great error. What we mean by "the laws of nature" stem from Allah's creating and maintaining matter in a particular form. In no way can they be considered features that stem from within matter itself. As Allah has made clear, He can alter these laws at any time and act outside of their scope.

We call such actions miracles. That the above-mentioned group of the cave remained alive for more than 300 years is a miracle beyond the laws of nature. Those whom Allah killed and then brought back to life are also miracles. Every event occurs because Allah wills it to occur. Those that occur within the bounds of certain laws are "normal," while the others are miracles.

The point that needs to be understood here is that Allah is not constrained by the laws He created. If He so wills, He can totally reverse all the laws of nature. That is easy for Allah to do.

Since Muslim evolutionists have fallen under the influence of naturalism, which forms the foundation of Darwinism, they try to account for the origin of human and other life in terms of natural laws. They believe that Allah brought living things into existence by means of a creation that is limited by natural laws, and thus imagine that creation was brought about by mutation, natural selection, variation, and one species turning into another. It is a grave error, however, for Muslims to accept such "naturalist" logic, for the miracles described in the Qur'an clearly reveal that such logic is ill-founded.

When we look at those verses that discuss the creation of living things and man, we see that this creation took place in a miraculous way and outside the laws of nature. This is how Allah reveals the creation of living things:

Allah created every animal from water. Some of them go on their bellies, some of them on two legs, and some on four. Allah creates whatever He wills. Allah has power over all things. (Qur'an, 24:45)

This verse points to the main living groups on Earth (reptiles, birds, and mammals) and says that Allah created all of them from water. On closer inspection, these groups were not created "out of each other," as "foreseen" by evolution, but "from water." In other words, they were formed separately from a common material Allah shaped.

Modern science also has made it clear that this common material was water, the basic component of every living body. Mammals' bodies are about 70 percent water. Each living thing's bodily water enables contact between cells, as well as inter-cell and inter-tissue contact. It is an accepted fact that nothing can live without water.

And yet some Muslims misinterpret the above verse and try to give it a meaning more in line with evolution. However, it is obvious that the fact of creation from water has nothing to do with evolution, for that theory does not claim that every living thing emerged from water and evolved. On the contrary, it maintains that living species evolved from one another, an evident contradiction of the fact that all living groups were created from water (in other words, that they were created independently).

THE CREATION OF MAN FROM CLAY

In the Qur'an, Allah reveals that man was created in a miraculous manner. To create the first human being, Allah shaped clay, and then breathed a soul into it:

Your Lord said to the angels, "I am going to create a human being out of clay. When I have formed him and breathed My Spirit into him, fall down in prostration to him!" (Qur'an, 38:71-72)

We created man from the purest kind of clay. (Qur'an, 23:12)

Ask them for a ruling: Are they stronger in structure or other things that We have created? We created them from sticky clay. (Qur'an, 37:11)

It can be seen here that man was not created from an ape or other living species, as Muslim evolutionists would have us believe, but from clay, a lifeless substance. Allah miraculously turned that inanimate substance into a human being and breathed a soul into him. There is no "natural evolutionary process" at work here, but rather Allah's miraculous and direct creation. In fact, His words as recorded below show that man was created directly by Allah's power:

He (Allah) said, "Iblis, what prevented you prostrating to what I created with My own two hands? Were you overcome by arrogance, or are you one of the exalted? (Qur'an, 38:75)

In short, the Qur'an contains no "evolutionary" account of the creation of man and living things. On the contrary, it states that Allah created these miraculously from such inanimate substances as water and mud. Despite this, the history of Islam shows that some Muslims were influenced by ancient Greek philosophy, as well as by internal materialist and evolutionary elements, and then tried to adapt that philosophy to the Qur'an. The great Islamic scholar and reformer Imam al-Ghazali (d. 1111) responded to these trends, which emerged in his own day, in his Tahafut al-Falasifa (Incoherence of Philosophers) and other works. However, together with the spread of the theory of evolution during the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, "creation by evolution" theses began to reappear in the Islamic world. The next chapter considers the errors made by those Muslims who defend such theses, and analyzes their comments on the Qur'anic verses that they use to justify their position.