Before concluding this discussion, I would like to explain briefly why, despite the fact that modern European philosophy or the hypotheses of some scientists (irrespective of being right or wrong or the extent to which they are right or wrong) cannot really be grounds for objections to the existence of God, many people in this age are stumbling due to them. Modern European theories have misled people because of two reasons. First, Western researchers posited the idea that matter has an inherent property to transform and evolve from a lower to a higher form and that everything in this world, particularly man, was the miracle of this evolution. Devoid of any spiritual insight concerning God, as they were, suspicions thus arose in their minds about the existence of a God ruling over the world, and they began to think that this world came into being by itself and was moving along and operating as a result of the inherent qualities of matter. Thus, they finally came to believe in this very notion; i.e. that the universe was operating like a machine and all the transformations and the panorama was the result of this internal mechanism, and so on.
This doubt has already been dealt with above. If observed carefully, the nature of industrial law operating in the world itself demands that we believe in a Higher Being, who is distinct and has placed in matter such judicious and most wise laws; and then, matter itself, with all its states and properties, demands a Creator and Master as well. It has also been pointed out that, besides the mechanism, there is also a definite design and purpose (i.e. teleology) in the world. All of this points to an independent Intelligent Designer who is the Creator and Master with a decretive will. This will be elaborated upon later in this book.
Second, modern European philosophy has become a stumbling block for some people, as the theory of evolution has presented the creation of the universe and especially of man in a way that appears contradictory to the formal teachings of the known revealed religions of this age. It is but natural that when the credibility of a revealed religion is called into question by a particular argument and one is unable to defend or counter that argument, then one can develop doubts concerning the existence of God. He starts thinking that what was attributed to God turned out to be incorrect, therefore, all this religious business is false and God too is nothing but a figment of imagination. The people in this age face exactly the same situation vis-à-vis the theory of evolution. The Christians from their priests, the Muslims from their maulavis, the Hindus from their pundits, and others from their religious scholars used to hear that in the beginning it was all smoke or water from which God created all these diverse things, and that God created the heaven, the earth, and all that is between them in six 24-hour days and then he made a body out of clay and breathed into it and thus Adam was created and out came Eve from his rib and the progeny of the two started to flourish, and the human race has existed for seven thousand years. According to some, matter, under Divine direction, assumed the form of an egg, which split into two parts, one of which developed into the earth and the other into heaven, and that man and woman emerged from God, or that God perspired and the universe was created from the drops of His sweat, and so on. With this background understanding of creation, recounted by their clergy, maulavis, or pundits, when people came to appreciate that scientific research had proven all of these stories to be inaccurate—and they also learned that the process of evolution is the basis of the development of this wonderful universe, and the existence of humans is the culmination of the process of evolution over millions of years where lower forms of life evolved into higher forms—this made people disillusioned with religion. They became overwhelmed by new scientific discoveries and renounced their faith in God.
The greatest responsibility for this outrageous insult to religion lies with the Christian priests in the West. Being first to hear about newer philosophical and scientific concepts, the clergy reacted in such a manner that exposed the weakness of their religious concepts to all; disillusioned with the response of the clerics and incapable to counter these arguments for themselves, thousands of people turned to atheism. Aware of the defeat of the clergy against science, other religious nations also found themselves unable to present counterarguments to these concepts, paving the way for one defeat after another. Had the people reflected a little, this indeed was a very simple matter. First, many of the beliefs about the creation of the earth and humanity found prevalent among the followers of different religions today are in fact the commentaries and interpretations of later scholars, and not based on their revealed Scriptures or other authentic texts of these religions. This being the case, such interpretations being proven wrong does not in any way justify the religion to be criticized. Second, some concepts about the creation of the universe became part of religious books because of certain later alterations and mistranslations and were never mentioned in a revealed Book in the first place. Therefore, blaming the teachings of religion is clearly unjustified. Third, some of these ideas are indeed found in revealed Books but have been misunderstood by most people and this misinterpretation has provided modern researchers with the opportunity to criticise.
For instance, it is stated in the Holy Quran that God created the earth and the heaven in six ayyam. Some people have erred in translating it as 24-hour days, whereas the Arabic word ‘yaum’, although meaning ‘a day’, often means just a period of time or a particular era; pre-Islamic Arab poets frequently used the word ‘yaum’ in this sense. However, some people, because of their naivety or lack of knowledge, translated it to ‘six days’ and thence some took it to mean 24-hour days, despite the fact that the context of the verse clearly suggests that the word ‘day’ is not used here to refer to the commonly known day of twenty-four hours. The concept of day as we know relates to the rotation of the earth and its orbit in relation to the sun, whereas the verse refers to the time before the creation of the sun and the earth. God says: We created the earth and the heaven, the sun, the moon, and the stars in ‘six days’. Inevitably, the day herein means the day before the creation of solar days—i.e. an age, epoch, or time. Thus, not only the Arabic lexicon but also the context of the verse proves that ‘yaum’ here does not mean the commonly known day, but an age, epoch, or time. Accordingly, the Quranic verse would mean: We created the universe in six different periods, stage by stage. This is in complete concordance with the scientific point of view, as the scientists believe that this universe evolved to its present condition gradually through several stages and periods.
Likewise, for instance, one hadith states that this world is seven thousand years old and that Adam was created five thousand years before the Holy Prophet, peace and blessings of Allah be on him. Some people wrongly inferred that the human race started only a few thousand years ago, giving the advocates of evolution an opportunity to criticise. The fact is that Islam never claimed that this universe has existed for only a few thousand years and that there was nothing before; to attribute this notion to Islam is absolute ignorance and naivety. According to Islamic doctrine, no Divine attribute is permanently non-functional in any age and each attribute manifests itself in one way or another during all ages. As creation is one of the Divine attributes, it would be absolutely un-Islamic to believe that creation started only five to seven thousand years ago and there was nothing before that. It is certain from this that the above-mentioned hadith cannot imply that the world is only a few thousand years old, but rather, is as the Muslim divines have written, and the reformer of this age and Founder of the Ahmadiyya Movement, the Promised Messiah, may peace be upon him, has elaborated.1
That is to say, this hadith means that the world has passed through several cycles and the present cycle of the human race commenced several thousand years ago; we are unsure how many similar cycles the earth has passed through. A famous Islamic scholar and Sufi, Hazrat Muhyiddin ibn-e-Arabi(rta), writes that once in a vision he was shown that there had been hundreds of thousands of Adams in this world and when a cycle of one Adam came to an end that of the next started. Only God knows how many cycles this world has gone through.2 Therefore, by correctly understanding the meaning of the hadith, there remains no room for any objection. The notion that there was no creation of God on this earth a few thousand years ago and God forbid, God was sitting idle is utterly contrary to the teachings of Islam.
Likewise, the Holy Quran says: We made Adam of clay and then put life into him. Some people have inferred that God made a dummy out of clay and breathed life into it and in this way the human race commenced. But the Quranic verse implies only that there are earthly elements in Adam’s make-up, which is why he inclines easily to material things; that is why God infused an element of spirituality into the nature of human beings, so that his earthly elements do not hinder his spiritual progress. In other words, a very subtle matter, which the Holy Quran characteristically stated in metaphorical language, has been taken in its material sense and thus made the target of criticism. However, even if the verse is taken in the literal sense, I maintain that this verse cannot be faulted in any way. This is because the primary purpose of the revelation of the Holy Quran is to bring about spiritual and moral reformation of the world; to describe the details of the creation of the universe is not the main reason for the revelation of this Holy Book. If required to meet the purpose of its revelation, the Holy Quran mentions certain subjects to a point and no more. For example, it is not the aim of the Holy Quran to explain the details of medical science, because the Holy Quran is not a book of medicine. However, as the health of a person does have an impact on his morals and spirituality, Islamic Shariah touches upon some key tenets of human health that are necessary for safeguarding one’s health. The information given in the Holy Quran about health, however, is limited to that which is needed to meet the real purpose of its revelation. If the above-mentioned Quranic verse is interpreted in the light of this principle, then surely it cannot be faulted. The Holy Quran simply states that God created man from ringing clay wrought from mud and then ordained life into him.3 This means that man is a rational animal who has been created quite distinctly from other animals to make progress with his faculty of reasoning. Second, his body and soul are both created by God in a particular manner. However, the Holy Quran does not specify the type of clay, as all chemical salts are a part of clay. It also does not mention how God created man from clay, over how long a period, and through how many stages, and how many types of stages he was made to pass in order to reach his present state, and so on. Likewise, when God put life into man, whence and how was that done; through how many stages, and types of stages was it inserted in, and how did its development take place? The Quran considered these details as irrelevant to its purpose and, thus, made no mention of these. Therefore, no scientist can find fault with the Holy Quran as it describes the creation of man concisely and fittingly, which does not conflict with any established scientific facts, but serves as a beacon of light for science on fundamentals. If someone adds his own comments on this Quranic statement and his comments conflict with science, then he is responsible for it—Islam cannot be criticised for that.
Likewise, a hadith states that Eve was created from Adam’s rib. From this some have understood that Adam’s body was slit and Eve was created from his rib bone, giving an opportunity to scientists to criticise, whereas, as is characteristic of revealed Books, these words have been used metaphorically. The hadith implies that the woman has been created to be in the company of man and she is an inevitable part of man’s life and his life companion. However, the man must keep in mind that, just as the rib is curved, for certain beneficial reasons, the woman has been created with some inherent frailties; therefore, a man should keep these frailties in mind and treat her with courtesy and understanding. The Holy Prophet, peace and blessings of Allah be on him, has used precisely the same words in another hadith: woman is like a curved rib and that is the beauty of the fair sex; therefore, men should be mindful of woman’s inherent frailty and try not to straighten it to the extent that it breaks and loses the beauty of its gender.
In short, after a careful study of the words used in the Holy Quran or authentic hadith with reference to the creation of the universe or creation of man, these cannot be criticised at all. Those who have criticised them or considered them objectionable, do so because of their own ignorance or lack of understanding. Likewise, I believe, those teachings of other revealed books that have been considered objectionable have been mostly misread and misunderstood. Their true meanings have not been understood. If there is anything objectionable, it is certainly the result of subsequent amendments; unfortunately, none of the revealed Books has escaped this with the exception of the Holy Quran. Even the staunchest adversaries admit that the Holy Quran is preserved in its original revealed form; therefore, we claim that no justifiable objection can be sustained against the statements of the Holy Quran. No scientific fact contradicts any of the Quranic teachings. This is impossible also because the Holy Quran is the Word of God, and nature—science being a description of nature—is the act of God. There cannot be any contradiction between the words and acts of God.
Before concluding this discussion, it is particularly necessary to add that the notorious theory of Darwin is up till today merely a theory and not an established scientific fact, and many scientists have forcefully rejected it. The obituary of a world renowned scientist, Sir John Ambrose Fleming, which was published in newspapers, mentions that while Sir John was a very renowned scientist, he did not deny miracles and regarded Darwin’s theory of evolution as a mere figment of imagination.4
Therefore, raising objections about the existence of God on the basis of this theory cannot be considered reasonable.
1 See al-Hakam, 30 May 1908; Chashma-e-Ma‘rifat, p. 160.
2 See Futuhat-e-Makkiyyah, ch. Huduthud-dunya, vol. 3.
3 Surah al-Hijr, 15:34.
4 Civil and Military Gazette, Lahore, 22 April 1945.