The Story of Creation and Change: How an Unchanging God with an Unchanging Message Can Be Adapted to a Modernizing World

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In separate verses, the Quran claims that in the beginning the earth and skies were together in one “unit of creation” which was “cloven asunder” to become a smoke and then reach their current forms (3, Quran 21:30). These verses seem to support the Big Bang Theory of creation, and are coincidentally the verses that are followed by the majority of Muslims. Prior to the 1960’s, when evidence for the Big Bang Theory had not been found via Red Shift, Muslim popular opinion did not include it; instead, the popular scholarly opinion was that Allah sent down the universe from heaven. As soon as the Big Bang Theory gained popularity, however, Muslim scholars reevaluated and reinterpreted the Quranic verses to support it. The unit of creation previously mentioned was acted upon by the verb “fataq” which can be translated to “clove asunder,” “separated,” or “opened” (10, Alkissimmi). Prior to the scientific advancement, most translated versions translated the verb to “opened” as if to imply that the universe was created and sent from the heavens. However, once the Big Bang Theory was accepted scientifically, the verb began to be printed as “clove asunder” in modern translations of the Quran; notice however, that the word fataq was not replaced by a different verb, and is still written fataq. Further, another verse from the Quran states that Allah “built the heaven with (the power of His) hands, and He is the one who expands (it) (3, Quran 51:47).” In 1929, Edwin Hubble discovered through careful calculations involving the red shift of the universe that the Universe must be expanding (11, “The Expanding Universe”). Muslim scholars claimed that this was a miracle of the Quran, to know that the Universe is expanding so many centuries before it was discovered to be true; however, prior to the idea of an expanding universe becoming prominent in the scientific field, it was thought the Arabic word “lamo’see’own” translated to builds or creates, rather than expands. Because of the scientific discovery and the alternative meaning of “expand” that this word has, it was allowed to be changed to further support science and continue to propagate not only that science and faith are not in conflict, but that faith in the Quran will lead to truths about science. Reinterpretations have thus allowed the Quran, and thus the religion, to modernize and progress toward the scientifically approved narrative of creation of the Universe without truly changing a single Arabic word. Thus, due to the homonymic nature of the Arabic language, reinterpretation was possible to support science and avoid claims that science and religion are in conflict (7, Zawadi).

With regard the creation of life, the Quran claims that Allah created every living being from water (3, Quran 21:30). This points to life’s dependency on water, which is considered to be a scientific given. Water is considered necessary to construct organic molecules, which turned to organic macromolecules including nucleic acids and liposomes, which eventually turned to cells (12, “Life’s Origins”). However, to consider this a Quranic miracle would mean to ignore that the Quran also claims that Allah created othere beings from smokeless fire and pure light as well as just those created from water (3, Quran 15:27). From this case, it is evident that Islam has a tendency to place substantially more emphasis on verses that appear to support science.

When the Quranic verses pertinent to the creation of man are arranged to form a stable narrative, it forms a story of creation that follows very similarly to the traditional Judeo-Christian narrative. Just as the traditional narrative, Adam, the first man, is created from “dust of the ground (8, Genesis 2:7)” or “clay (3, Quran 7:11).” This is proposed as evidence in support of a miraculously aware divine revelation. The Quran says that “(Allah is He) who has made everything He created better, and He began the creation of the human (being) out of clay (3, Quran 32:7). Sydney Miller at the University of Miami did a series of tests on the chemical properties of clay. He found that clay has some interesting properties including that it attracts molecules because of its slight charge, the small metal atoms (such as copper, nickel, and zinc) that act as catalysts in biological chain reactions, and its ability to store and release absorbed radioactive energy. This leads scientists to conclude that early life started when the appropriate macromolecules, drawn together due to the charge of clay and catalyzed by the metal atoms in it, were insulated and allowed to form into prokaryotic cells i.e. the first forms of life on earth (12, “Life’s Origins”). However, instead of concluding that the Quran is definitively divine revelation due to only this evidence, it seems more apt to consider other religions and cultures that Islam could have drawn from on this idea. Far from being a novel concept, the creation of man from clay is a very common theme. The Sumerians believed that Enki created man from his own blood and clay (13, Krammer 1963). In Greek mythology, Prometheus created man from clay and Athena breathed life into them (14, “Creation of Man by Prometheus”). Given that these alternative cultures and religions also show the creation of man from clay, it seems more appropriate to claim that the Quranic and Islamic creation stories draw from other cultures as well as if not instead of solely divine revelation.

Abrahamic religions follow the same creation myth of Adam and Eve as the original parents. There are, however, slight differences in the story of the creation of mankind as well. In the Quran, Adam and Eve came into existence in Paradise (3, Quran 7:19) rather than on Earth in the Garden of Eden (8, Genesis 2:8). In the Judeo-Christian account, God first creates Adam and then Eve from his rib or side (9, Anderson 1997) (8, Genesis 2:21-24). In the Quran, however, Allah created “one soul and created from it its mate and dispersed from both of them many men and women (3, Quran 4:1).” The existence of Adam and Eve as the first parents is irreconcilable with human evolutionary genetics. However, because of the way the Quran is written and the fact that it does not mention Adam by name in this verse, modern Muslim scholars have adapted this “one soul” to mean the first prokaryotic life rather than the first man. This would support scientific opinion as the first life forms, prokaryotes, reproduce asexually, and eventually evolved over time to become sexually reproducing cells. This message is expressed again in another verse that states that “He has created for you from yourselves mates with whom you find rest, and He ordained between you love and mercy. In this, there are signs for people who ponder (3, Quran 30:21).” In this instance,