Did God Use Evolution to Create the Universe?
By Harun Yahya
Posted: 18 Shawwal 1422, 2 January 2002
The basic tenet of Darwinism holds that living
beings came into being spontaneously, as a result of coincidences. This view is completely
contrary to the faith of Creation. |
In our day, some circles hold the view that Charles Darwin's theory of evolution does
not contradict with religion, and that those who renounce the theory of evolution
unnecessarily promote it. This view, however, includes many misconceptions. It is the
result of a failure to grasp the main tenet of Darwinism and the extremely dangerous
outlook it mandates. That is why, for those who have faith in the existence of God, the
mere Creator of all living-beings, yet carry the conviction that "God created living
beings through evolution", it would be quite useful to primarily review the
fundamental tenets of the theory. In this essay, in an endeavor to warn believers who have
this misconception, some essential scientific and logical explanations regarding why the
theory of evolution is not compatible with Islam and the fact of Creation it introduces to
mankind, are provided.
The basic tenet of Darwinism holds that living beings came into being spontaneously, as
a result of coincidences. This view is completely contrary to the faith of Creation.
The most important misconception of those who think that the theory of evolution does
not contradict with creation is their assumption that the basic assertion of the theory of
evolution is that living beings came into existence through evolving from one another.
Accordingly, they comment: "There is no reason why God did not create all living
beings by making them evolve from one another; so what is the rationale to raise objection
to it?" However, there is a very important point here which is ignored: the essential
difference between the advocates of evolution and creation is not based on the question of
whether "living beings appeared individually or through evolving from each
other." The main question is "whether living beings came into existence by
chance and as a result of natural events, or were they consciously created?"
That life is an arbitrary by-product of the
compound formed by time, matter and coincidence is nonsense. |
The theory of evolution, as known, claims that inorganic chemical compounds came
together by chance and as a result of randomly occurring natural phenomena, they formed
first the building blocks of life and ultimately life. Consequently, in its core, this
claim accepts time, inorganic matter and chance to be creative powers. Even the layman,
who is somewhat acquainted with the literature of evolution, is aware that this is the
basis of the claims of evolutionists. Not surprisingly, despite being an evolutionist
scientist, Pierre Paul Grassé, acknowledges the implausibility of the theory and
summarizes what the concept of "coincidence" means for evolutionists:
"…Chance becomes a sort of providence, which, under the cover of atheism, is
not named but which is secretly worshipped." (Pierre Paul Grassé, Evolution of
Living Organisms, New York, Academic Press, 1977, p.107)
That life is an arbitrary by-product of the compound formed by time, matter and
coincidence, on the other hand, is a nonsense unacceptable by those who have faith in the
existence of God as the sole Creator of all living beings. Believers should assume the
responsibility to save societies from such perverted and unreal beliefs and warn them.
The claim of "coincidence" put forward by the theory of evolution is denied
by science.
Another significant fact that deserves a special consideration about this subject is
that scientific discoveries also definitely refute the evolutionist claims that "life
emerged as a result of pure coincidences and natural phenomena." This is because
there are extraordinarily complex examples of design in life. Even the cell of a living
being is a great wonder of design that totally annuls the concept of
"coincidence".
This superior design and plan in life are certainly indications of God's unique and
matchless creation, of His eternal knowledge and might.
The efforts of evolutionists to explain the origins of life with chance are rejected by
science in the 20th century and today, in the 21st century, they met a total defeat. (See
Harun Yahya, Blunders of Evolutionists, Vural Publishing) Indeed, the reason why
they deny Creation although they see this fact is their blind adherence to
irreligiousness.
God did not create living beings through an evolutionary process.
Since the existence of creation, in other words, a conscious design, is obvious, the
only question that remains is "through what kind of a process the living beings were
created." The misconception of some faithful people emerges right at this point: The
wrong reasoning that "Living being could have been created by evolving from one
another" is actually related to how the process of creation occurred.
Indeed, had God willed, He could have created living beings through an evolutionary
process from nothingness, as the abovementioned individuals propose. And had science
proved that living beings evolved from each other, we could say, "God created life
through evolution." For instance, if there were any evidence available that reptiles
evolved to form birds, then we would say, "God transformed reptiles into birds with
His command 'Be'!". Ultimately, both these living beings individually possess bodies
overflowing with examples of perfect design, which cannot be explained away by chance.
Transformation of these designs into one another -had such a thing really happened- would
surely be another evidence for creation.
The main question is "whether living
beings came into existence by chance and as a result of natural events, or were they
consciously created?" |
However, the situation is not so. Scientific evidence (especially the fossil record and
comparative anatomy) point to the contrary; there is not a single evidence on earth that
an evolutionary process took place on it. The fossil record clearly indicate that
different living species did not appear on earth through evolving from one another by fine
gradations, but that on the contrary, distinct living species appeared on earth suddenly
fully formed and without any preceding ancestors similar to them. Neither birds sprung
from reptiles, nor fish transformed into land-dwelling animals. Each living phylum is
created individually with its traits particular to its kind. Even the most renowned
evolutionists had to accept this fact and confess that this provides an evidence for
Creation. For instance, evolutionist palaeontologist Mark Czarnecki confesses as follows:
"A major problem in proving the theory (evolution 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. (Mark Czarnecki, "The Revival of the
Creationist Crusade", MacLean's, 19 January 1981, p. 56)
Especially during the last fifty years, developments in various scientific fields such
as palaeontology, microbiology, genetics and comparative anatomy, and new discoveries show
that the theory of evolution is untrue and living beings appeared on earth all of a sudden
in their distinct and perfect forms. Therefore, there is no reason to suggest that God
employed the process of evolution in Creation. God created every species individually and
at one moment, with His command of "Be!" This is a certain and explicit fact.
Conclusion
It is of vital importance for people of faith to be alert and cautious against the
ideological systems committed to struggle against God and religion. For 150 years,
Darwinism provided a so-called scientific ground for all anti-religionist ideologies that
caused misery to mankind, such as fascism, communism, and imperialism and legitimized the
merciless practices of those who adopted these philosophies. Hence, it would not be right
to ignore the inner truth and the real purpose of such a theory. For every Muslim of
conscience, it is a major responsibility to disprove every anti-religious ideology
rejecting the existence of God with a thought struggle and to demolish falsehood with
truth.
Further Reading: The Evolution Deceit
General Articles