Areeq Hasan ’20… Theistic Evolutionism in Islam: Syncretiz ing Darwinism & Qur’anic Ontology

Theistic Evolutionism in Islam: Syncretizing Darwinism & Qur’anic Ontology

Areeq Hasan ’20

The quest to establish an ontological narrative that wholly explains the natural phenomena of the observable universe has long driven intellectual development across many cultures. In this epistemological endeavor, however, the notions of inductive reasoning and deductive reasoning are frequently conflated as means to resolve questions of the same nature. This fallacy has driven many to adopt scientific theory, as an alternative to philosophical frameworks and religious paradigms to ineffectively derive meaning by inductive, objective means despite the notion that meaning can only be assigned deductively. This issue of conflation manifests in the centuries of controversy surrounding the philosophical implications of accepting the Darwinist paradigm, as it seemingly conflicts with various religious ideologies such as those of Christianity and Islam. Despite increasing creationist and anti-Darwinist sentiment present in contemporary Islamic thought, the Qur’an establishes a theistic evolutionary framework by which Darwinian evolution can be syncretized with the Islamic ontological narrative. In order to determine the means by which the Darwinist paradigm and Islamic ontology intersect, it is necessary to establish the assumptions of each ideology. Darwin’s argument posits the Lamarckian notion of a zerosum limitation of resources in an ecosystem in his definition of the carrying capacity, the maximum population size for a species in its environment. Such limitations lead to a “struggle for existence,” (Darwin 54) or competition among the members of a population. In addition, Darwin claims the existence of hereditary variations among the characteristics of the members of a population, the laws of which, he argues, are “infinitely complex and diversified,” (21) which we now ascribe to genetic mutations arising out of random, chance processes that may be advantageous or disadvantageous to an organism’s reproductive success in the context of its environment. The combination of limited resources and hereditary variations results in the “preservation of favourable variations and the destruction of injurious variations,” a mechanism Darwin refers to as natural selection (78). This process of selection causes a gradual divergence of a species from its common parent that eventually becomes significant enough for humans to classify as a distinct species out of convenience. Thus, it logically follows that life originated from “one” or “a few forms,” regardless of whether the origin 24

Makers of the Modern Mind of these primordial forms are explicable by natural selection (425). Thus, Darwinism outlines a mechanism that relies on variation and competition to gradually diverge species from ancestors by maximizing reproductive success. It is important to distinguish between this maximization of reproductive success as a mechanism by which evolution functions (a process that can be determined by inductive means) and the goal of evolution (a purpose that can be only determined by deductive means). Darwin’s theory states that maximizing reproductive success is a mechanism of evolution, but leaves room for infinite possibilities of evolutionary teleologies as it does not and fundamentally cannot make the claim that maximizing reproductive success is the ultimate goal of evolution. Such a question of whether evolution is purposefully directed is unanswerable in Darwin’s inductivist theory, given that this would be a question of telos or purpose. Darwin himself, despite his agnostic and atheistic views, acknowledges his theory’s compatibility with theism by discussing the perfection and beauty in the products of natural selection, wondering whether “nature’s productions” were “far ‘truer’ in character than man’s productions” and “infinitely better adapted to the most complex conditions of life…, plainly bear[ing] the stamp of far higher workmanship” such as that of divine power (Darwin 80).

The ontological narrative presented in the Qur’an, while intentionally vague in order to preserve the applicative universality of the text, presents an origin for all life on Earth as well as a distinct ontology for human life and specifies a gradual means for change in creatures over time, allowing for a compatible understanding of theistic evolution as founded in a Darwinist framework. In regards to the period prior to the creation of humans, Allah states that there was “a period of time” in which there was “nothing worth mentioning” regarding “man” implying that, for a time, either humans did not occupy the Earth or humans of unremarkable characteristics occupied the Earth (Qur’an 76:1). Both the notion that humans did not exist at the inception of the universe and the notion that unremarkable humans, interpretable as the parent ape species, existed for a time prior to the creation of humanity are consistent with the single evolutionary chain postulated in the Darwinist paradigm. In Surah An-Nisa, Allah further states that humanity was created from “from a single being,” another idea consistent with the Darwinian understanding of the common ancestor of all life (Qur’an 4:10). Even the modern understanding that life originated in the ocean finds basis in Surah An-Nur where Allah states that He has “created every animal from water” (Qur’an 24:45).

Frequently, opponents of theistic evolutionism in Islam posit the ex25

ceptionality of the creation of humanity in Qur’an as antithetical to the exceptional unexceptionality of natural selection. However, the Qur’anic description of the creation of Adam in the context of the body-self dualistic paradigm in Islam appears to be a spiritual, non-material creation that is manifest physically in a distinct process. Allah states, in Surah Al-Hijr, that Adam was brought to life in the heavens, not on Earth, when Allah “had a spirit of [God’s] creation breathed into” Adam after which Adam was given Ma’rifa, knowledge of the Divine, and taught the nature of things (Qur’an 38:72). As such, this narrative depicts the spiritual creation of Adam. In order to syncretize this ontology with the material existence of Adam, we must re-evaluate the notion of variation that is central to Darwinian evolution. Genetic variation and mutations are attributed to the mechanism of chance which is seen as random-- intrinsically unpredictable. Nonetheless, chance is a mechanism with no objective, inductively without ascribable direction and purpose. That task lies with deductively-reasoned teleological frameworks, such as a predeterminist paradigm that supposes God as an agent instrumentalizing the mechanism of chance itself in order to exercise omnipotence such as exemplified by the concepts of Qadr & Qada in Islam. Hence, the genetic variation and mutations central to Darwin’s theory of natural selection can be said to be driven by the agency of God. If we understand God’s spirit infusing into Adam’s material body as described in the Qur’an as materially rendered as a hereditary mutation resulting in intellectual development that allows for the rise of consciousness, or receptiveness to Ma’rifa in humans, then we have effectively syncretized the Qur’anic ontology of the human soul with the Darwinian notion of the common ancestor of all life.

Despite controversy regarding anthropological origins between the Islamic ontological and Darwinist framework, the Qur’an clearly establishes theistic evolution as the nature of life in a manner compatible with natural selection. In Surah Fatir, Allah states that He “made angels messengers with two, three, four [pairs of] wings,... [and] He adds to creation as He will” meaning that Allah not only adjusts and modifies his creation, but specifically increases the complexity as indicated by His increasing the number of wings on angel messengers, causing them to become more efficient at their task of delivering messages (Qur’an 35:1). This notion of an increase in complexity to the benefit of a species is a Darwinian concept at the crux of natural selection. Furthermore, in Surah Nuh, Allah states that He “has created… in diverse stages,” and that He has “caused [creation] to grow from the earth a [progressive] growth” (Qur’an 71:14-15). The Surah continues to say that He alone has “strengthened [the] forms [of creation]” and 26

Makers of the Modern Mind “can change their likenesses with [complete] alteration,” meaning that creation occurred gradually, which aligns with Darwin’s posited geologic time scales for natural selection as well as with the biodiversity and vast range of the characteristics of species that Darwin discusses in The Origin of Species (Qur’an 76:28). Moreover, In Surah Al-Infitar, Allah refers to “creat[ion],... proportion[ing]..., and… balanc[ing]” as separate processes with a temporal separation between each, further reinforcing the notion that the process of creation as a whole has spanned a long period of time (Qur’an 82:7). Allah also refers to Himself as “al-Bari” in Surah Al-Hashr, meaning The Fashioner, with the connotation of creating out of pre-existing matter that can be interpreted as “The Evolver” (Qur’an 59:24). As such, clearly the Qur’an establishes a form of theistic evolution that is compatible with Darwinian natural selection.

It has become commonplace in modern society to adopt scientific theory, an instrument for the analysis of pure mechanism by which meaning cannot be derived, as an alternative to philosophical frameworks, instruments for the metaphysical analysis of phenomenon, ineffectively attempting to derive meaning inductively even though meaning can only be ascribed deductively. It is as a direct repercussion of this that theistic ontologies are found to seemingly conflict with the mechanisms constituting scientific theory such as Darwinian evolution. It is only by rejecting this fallacy, and ascribing the mechanism of genetic variation and mutation a purpose through deductive, teleological frameworks, such as a predeterminist paradigm, that we can effectively syncretize the Islamic ontological narrative and Darwinist framework.

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