Why Should Islam Oppose Evolution Which Is Backed Up By So Much Evidence?

12 March, 2019

Q How do I know there is a God? Salam, I’m currently losing faith in God but now I’m at the lowest point of it. I just seem to choose now that I can’t believe in God. A few months back (6) everything was fine, praying 5 times a day, fasting, etc. But now I’ve been beginning to question Islam and God. My main problems are, one, evolution, we can’t just deny it because our religion says so but it also has much evidence to back it up, us just saying no, it’s fake is ignorant. Next our lives, why would God want children to starve, and for genocides, natural disasters to happen? It seems so cruel that God would want his creations to suffer. Finally, I don’t u defat and why God would want my friends, who are Muslim to suffer in hell. My friends would do anything for me to thrive, they’d do literally anything for me, and I can’t understand why God would send them to hell just for not being Muslim even though the lived really good (didn’t commit many sins) lives. Thank you for reading this and I hope to get a response, I hope I can get back on track of Islam again as it helped me a lot. Thank you so much and sorry for maybe asking to much, thank you, salam.

Answer

Short Answer: Humans are beings that have the freedom and the ability to plan projects, transform matter, build intricate structures and machines as well as create beautiful works of art. Reason tells us that such beings endowed with intelligence and other creative capabilities must have come out of the infinite intelligence and creative capabilities of a Super Planner or Creator. The view that such beings are the product of nothing but fortuitous explosions, chance combinations, random mutations etc. challenges commonsense, to say the least.

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Part 2

Salam brother,

Thank you for your question and for contacting Ask About Islam.

We are very sad to hear that you have been sliding away from the path of Islam for the last six months or so. But it is a happy thing that you have sent us an account of the reasons that made you do so. This means that you are in your heart of hearts a sincere believer, though you do not acknowledge as much. May Allah Almighty forgive you, and help you and guide you back to the Straight Path of Islam!

Please read the following attentively and think over them meditatively with prayers:

God is the Reality behind appearances

First of all, we need to understand that God is the original source and the ultimate goal of our life. There is nothing that can exist without God, no matter we acknowledge Him or not. Nothing comes out of nothing, so the universe must have come out of something which has existed always, or which had no beginning: Islam teaches that the universe is the creation of an Almighty God, who willed it into existence.

Humans are beings that have the freedom and the ability to plan projects, transform matter, build intricate structures and machines as well as create beautiful works of art. Reason tells us that such beings endowed with intelligence and other creative capabilities must have come out of the infinite intelligence and creative capabilities of a Super Planner or Creator. The view that such beings are the product of nothing but fortuitous explosions, chance combinations, random mutations etc. challenges commonsense, to say the least.

It is true we cannot prove the existence of God the same way we prove the existence of a physical object. This is simply because God is not a physical object. We can see, hear, smell, touch or taste a physical object. Indeed most of the questions raised by atheists against theism are based on the premise that God, if He exists, must be subject to the five senses of man.

As God is a Transcendental Being, that is, a being that exists on a level surpassing our sensual experiences, our five senses cannot perceive Him. The claim that something does not exist because you haven’t seen it or heard it etc. is untenable. When we consider the limitations of our sensual perception and of our reasoning powers, it is not necessary that we understand everything.

What we can do in the present context is to point out facts which lead to a constant and inescapable awareness of the presence of God. If we ponder over the phenomena of the world around us and over the complexities of our own existence, we are bound to conclude that God is the Reality behind all appearances.

Revelation – a valid source of knowledge

Coming to the question of scientific theories like evolution, one need to first understand the Islamic position about Reality as such:

Islam teaches that Reality has two dimensions – one is accessible to human perception (called the shahadah); and the other is inaccessible to human perception (called the ghayb). We may arrive at knowledge of the shahadah or of the perceptible world using reason and observation: This is the arena of science. But only a small fraction of the knowledge of the ghayb or the imperceptible world, we can hope to attain. This we get from the scriptures revealed by God to His prophets: This is the arena of religion. From this point of view, revelation is a valid source of knowledge as regards Reality beyond the confines of the physical world.

The foregoing means human knowledge is the sum total of what we gain through the God-given channels of the five senses and our reasoning faculties (i.e science), as well as through Divine Revelation.

May Allah guide us along the right path!

And Allah knows best.

I hope this helps.

Salam and please keep in touch.

Please continue feeding your curiosity, and find more info in the following links:

In Islam It’s OK to Ask Questions

Why Is There Room for Interpretation in Islam?

What Are the Limits in Asking Religious Questions?