Tuesday, September 11, 2012

9. The Error That The Qur'an Points To Natural Selection


One of evolution's most fundamental claims is the lie that natural selection has an evolutionary force. As we saw in earlier chapters, natural selection is an evolutionist deception that maintains that the strong survive while the weak are eliminated over time.
However, modern science shows that natural selection has no evolutionary force and cannot cause species to develop or new ones to appear. However, these scientific facts, which Darwinists choose to ignore because of their materialist concerns, also are ignored by Muslim evolutionists. Some Muslim circles support this dogmatic Darwinist view and even try to provide extremely forced Qur'anic evidence for it. For example:
Your Lord creates and chooses whatever He wills. The choice is not theirs. Glory be to Allah! He is exalted above anything they associate with Him! (Surat al-Qasas, 68)
This verse reveals those to whom Allah will show the true path and those Prophets He will announce as Messengers. It is a great mistake to say that the verse points toward evolutionary natural selection.
Qur'anic scholars unanimously agree on this interpretation. For instance, Imam al-Tabari offers the following commentary:
Your Lord creates what He wills out of His servants, and selects those He chooses to follow the true path. They have no right of choice in the matter. They have no right to choose to do as they wish…68
The great scholar Omer Nasuhi Bilmen offers this interpretation:
In those holy verses, Allah declares His Power of creation, that He favors and chooses whom He wishes, His Wisdom and Might, His Unity, His meriting praise and splendor, His Divine Command, and that all His servants will be summoned to His spiritual Presence. In other words, no one can prevent the Almighty's favoring and choosing in any way. Whatever His servants choose is not effective on their own. With all due respect, Allah is not obliged to create what they favor and prefer. Allah does not send His prophets upon the preference and opinion of the people to whom He has sent His prophets, but only upon His divine Preference. Only He knows how and by which means goodness and prosperity will manifest. He has no partners, nothing may exist against His eternal Will, and no one's will may be against His exalted Determining and Selecting.69
Hamdi Yazir of Elmali interprets the verse as follows:
Your Lord creates and selects what He chooses. In other words, He creates what He wills and chooses those He wills from whom He has created. He imposes upon them such duties as prophethood and intercession. They have no choice in the matter. Apart from those Allah chooses, they have no right to select other partners or intercessors.70
A second verse that some Muslims offer is:
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. (Surah Fatir, 1)
Such Muslims suggest the verse is evidence for evolutionary development. However, they have to twist the verse's true meaning in order to derive such a meaning. It also conflicts with reason and logic, and is incompatible with the moral values of the Qur'an, for the verse talks about the creation of the angels. Imam al-Tabari interprets the verse as follows: "He can increase the number of an angel's wings to the extent that He wills. He can carry out the same process in all living things. Creation and command are in His hands."71 Omer Nasuhi Bilmen agrees, "He is so powerful that He decides on angels' wings and powers."72

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