Compared
to the other divinely-revealed scriptures, the Holy Quran is the only
Divinely-sent Scripture which has survived the passage of time without
interpolations. It is only the Quran which can be interpreted, without altering
even a vowel sign of its sacred text, in a manner that completely satisfies the
present generation’s sense of inquiry, and approaches its level of intellect,
as it did of the preceding one’s in the past.
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The knowledge contained therein, whether spiritual or scientific is amazing. Allah has revealed such details about His creations that an unlettered man from Arabia or any other would not have known until our times today when advanced technologies, by the grace of Allah, have helped to discern the truth found in this amazing Holy Book.
In the
light of the new science of genetics, researchers at the prestigious American
Universities have concluded in a study that we really are an extremely recent species
on this planet rather than of a million years as theorized earlier. They have
also established that modern humans, notwithstanding their widely different
racial and ethnic characteristics, have the same basic genetic make-up. The
finding proved that the entire human race has a common ancestor. Keeping this
scientific finding in the mind, let us hear what the Holy Quran tells us about
it:
“O
humanity! Be mindful of your Lord [Rab] Who created you from a single soul
[Nafs], and from it He created its mate, and through both He spread countless
men and women.” (An-Nisa 4: 2)
Let
the blessed, pure and truly intelligent ones reflect on this deep truth. Let
them ponder in all honesty and scan their mind and heart and say whether or not
those words of Islam’s Holy Book revealed to an unlettered (Ummi)
prophet in the isolation of sandy tracks of Arabia were true. That great, but
humble and unlettered prophet pronounced the fact that human originated nearly
a millennium and half ago and this has now been corroborated by eminent scientists,
after deep study and experimentation in the best-equipped laboratories of the
world.
With
this as the starting point of the present subject of this sermon, let us
construct the entire chain of mankind’s origin in the light of the insight
provided by the Almighty through revelations preserved in the Quran.
It is
mentioned in the Bible that life originated in water and in the skies (fish and
fowl), perhaps simultaneously and then reptiles, cattle and beast were created
separately on earth later.
The
Quran puts the record right. It states: “And
Allah has created from water every living creature. Some of them crawl on their
bellies, some walk on two legs, and some walk on four.” (An-Nur 24: 45)
It
suggests that animal life originated from water and, perhaps, as dry land
appeared, some of the species of animals, which were amphibians, migrated to
the land and in course of time ruled the continents. It is a well-known fact
that all the species of animals on earth, large or small, including birds and
reptiles, except human beings, are born swimmers because their original habitat
was water at a time when dry land was scarce. This hereditary trait (according to
Mendel’s theory) being strong and permanent, the skill of swimming efficiently
in water has been transmitted by inheritance from generation to generation of
the animals that have since been living on land.
How
the age of the animals - when huge brainless brutes swarmed both in the seas
and on the continents - ended, yielding place to the supremacy of another genus-human
beings is not clearly spelled out in the Quran, as it is not, a text book of
biological sciences. But there are certain cryptic hints here and there, “for
those who reflect” [Ulul-al-Bab]. One such passage in the Quran runs
as follows:
“When the Lord said unto the Angels: ‘I am going to place My
viceroy on earth’, they asked: “Will you place there one who will do evil therein
and shed blood...?” [Al-Baqara 2: 31]
A
little further, the Quran says: “He taught Adam the names of all things,
then He presented them to the angels and said, “Tell Me the names of these, if
what you say is true?” They replied, “Glory be to You! We have no knowledge
except what You have taught us. You are truly the All-Knowing, All-Wise.” Allah
said, “O Adam! Inform them of their names.” Then when Adam did, Allah said,
“Did I not tell you that I know the secrets of the heavens and the earth, and I
know what you reveal and what you conceal?” [Al-Baqara 2: 32-34].
The
Bible does not mention this while narrating the story of creation in the Book
of Genesis. It was long after many kinds of creatures, and myriads of varieties
of animals in water and on land have been created on the earth and they all did
evil therein and shed blood, as has been scientifically confirmed, that God
wanted to send the most superior kind of creature, man, “the best of
creations”, as His vicegerent.
The angels
having already seen how the preceding genera had done evil and shed blood on
earth were skeptical that man would behave as God’s vicegerent and, to convince
them that man will acquit himself well of the task assigned to him, Allah
exhibited to the angels the human superiority over all of His creations,
including themselves, by asking Adam to explain the names of all things; which
the latter promptly did to the utter astonishment of the angels. So it was the
national brain, that powerful machine with which a creature like man was, for the
first time, equipped by the Creator that distinguished him from all the others.
The
Quran also tells us that man was created “after
long space of time had passed during which he was a thing not worthy of
mentioning.” [Al-Insan 76: 2]
It all
sounds so scientific and agreeable to reason in the background of modern
research, mentioned earlier that humans are an extremely recent species on this
planet, i.e. they appeared on the earth ‘after a long space of time had
passed’, as the Quran puts it.
Although
the Quran does not mention that Eve was created of Adam’s thirteenth rib, as
the Bible tells us, it pronounces, as we have just heard, that the first
human’s mate was created from the same soul. The Quran omits the mythical part
of Eve’s creation.
The
Quran unlike the Bible, does not devote part of a chapter to narrate the story
of mankind’s origin, but spotlights various facets and stages of man’s
creation, through bits of information dispersed all over the Book, citing them
as portents, or signs, of Allah’s creative power and majesty and not by way of
narrating a story. By piecing together such passages, or even the cryptic hints
given in various contexts, the sequence of human creation can be constructed
without ambiguity.
Does
the comparative analysis we have just made not lead to the conclusion that the
Quranic concept of creation was a revolutionary improvement on the Biblical
rudiments?
No one
should forget that the Quran confirms that the Bible and the Gospels were from
God as guidance to people before the revelation of the Quran. So, if the latter
agrees broadly (not in details) with some of the Biblical narratives, it should
not surprise anyone.
Some
writers are firmly of the view that the Quranic text should be interpreted in
the light of the latest knowledge acquired by man in the wake of scientific
research, to demonstrate that the Quran is not at variance with any of the
recent findings in the realm of science.
In
fact, like I told you it is only the Quran which can be interpreted, without
altering even a vowel sign of its sacred text, in a manner that completely
satisfies the present generation’s sense of inquiry, and approaches its level
of intellect, as it did of the preceding ones in the past.
Whereas
modern research and findings have falsified the beliefs of other religions, it
is precisely the scientific discoveries that have enabled a proper and fuller
explanation of some of the Quranic statements (verses) which did not easily
lend themselves to a rational interpretation in the past when the horizon of
human knowledge was not as wide and clear as it is now, and as it will progressively
be in times to come, Insha-Allah.
May
Allah guide man to more of such discoveries which will enrich his links to Him
and the Quran, and to show him, i.e. man, His all power and majesty and through
them guide more and more lost souls to the truth of Islam. Insha-Allah,
Ameen.
----Friday Sermon of 28 October 2022 ~02 Rabi’ul Aakhir 1444 AH delivered by Imam- Jamaat Ul Sahih Al Islam International Hazrat Muhyiuddin Al Khalifatullah Munir A. Azim (aba) of Mauritius.