Talk:Islamic views on evolution

Wiki Education Foundation-supported course assignment

This article was the subject of a Wiki Education Foundation-supported course assignment, between 23 August 2021 and 18 December 2021. Further details are available on the course page. Student editor(s): Whatamieven, Dexterguinea.

Above undated message substituted from Template:Dashboard.wikiedu.org assignment by PrimeBOT (talk) 00:54, 17 January 2022 (UTC)

A note on Islam vs. Muslims

This article is about Islam, which is different than Muslims. Islam is defined solely by Quran and authentic Hadith. However, Muslims are defined by Muslims, and can have all diverse opinions they want, and this includes some ancient scholars that had opinions on the matter where they rejected evolution by using wrong definitions of evolution, or by adding their own extra assumptions beyond Islamic scripture (Quran/hadith). For more information about this abuse also read this subsection.

Since this article is discussing Islam, 100% of its claims must be supported by citations from Quran or authentic hadith. A scholar simply claiming something is not a proof that this is Islam's opinion. The job of a scholar in Islam is to present to us the proof by showing the Quran and Hadith that support his claim. If a scholar claims without supporting it with Quran/Hadith, then his claim is meaningless, since the scholar is not a prophet (scholar cannot originate new law on his own. Even Qiyas has its rules that binds it to Quran/Hadith, and a scholar that uses Qiyas must justify it).

This is an aspect that makes Islam different than some religions, such as Catholicism. With Catholicism, the Church is by itself an entity that can declare religious teachings as it claims to be the inheritor of some holiness that entitles them of such tasks. I.e. Catholicism is not sola scriptura. Islam, on the other hand, is not like this, and closer to "sola scriptura" where "scriptura" is Quran (Allah's literal words; as Islam claims) and authentic Hadith (Mohammad's literal words).

For example, based on my experience the vast majority of non-poor Muslims are pretty wasteful (e.g. luxury). Such waste is a sin in Islam, and having majority Muslims commit such mistake will not make it part of Islam, but rather will only make the majority of Muslims sinners.

If anyone wants to discuss Muslims' opinions on evolution, I suggest to use a separate article titled Muslims views on evolution. Or at least a separate section in this article. But conflicting Muslims and Islam is technically incorrect, since Islam is not defined by Muslims. Islam is defined solely by Quran and authentic Hadith.

--5.107.184.220 (talk) 04:16, 10 September 2020 (UTC)

Claiming that this article must rely 100% on citations from Quran and hadith reveals a profound ignorance of how an encyclopedia works. We don't cite primary sources here. We don't engage in original research to interpret what those primary sources say. Ideally, 100% of the claims in this article must cite the research and interpretations of recognized reliable secondary sources, both journalistic and scholarly. ~Anachronist (talk) 13:38, 10 September 2020 (UTC)

First, yes you do cite primary sources. Second, this has nothing to do with whether the source is primary, but is strictly related to the correctness of the claim of this article. Islam is Sola Scriptura and is defined by the scripts (scripts being Quran and authentic Hadith). Using texts other than the Scriptura is simply not supporting the claim, because Islam is not defined by non-Scriptura. Even Qiyas is required to be based on the Scriptura. This also includes the less popular Shia Islam, or Suffism, except that they extend the Scriptura by texts from certain special Imams. What this article is doing is not much different than claiming that Catholicism permits polygamy simply for having a priest announce that polygamy is permitted (which is false logic since Catholicism is defined by higher ranking individuals in the Church such as the Pope, while the priest mostly executes Church's law without modifying it) --5.107.184.220 (talk) 04:19, 12 September 2020 (UTC)

Again, you don't understand how an encyclopedia works. We emphatically do not interpret scriptural passages. We cite scholars who do that. ~Anachronist (talk) 18:49, 6 November 2021 (UTC)

Muslims don't even agree on what constitutes "authentic" hadith. Therefore, there is no meaningful definition of Islam, and views on evolution must be based on views of Muslims as influenced by whatever flavor of Islam they follow. ~Anachronist (talk) 13:38, 10 September 2020 (UTC)

Not entirely true, and the proposed consequence that you offer is false (details in this paragraph). First, even amongst various sects in Islam, such as Sunni and Shia, they agree on many authentic Hadiths as "authentic". Sure, they disagree on the authenticity of some, but the solution is not to conflict the concept Islam against the concept Muslim; the solution is to rather discuss how different Islamic sects disagree on the authenticity of Hadith, and how such disagreement affects their sects statement about evolution. There is no workaround this, since Islam is Sola Scriptura (even Shia, it's just that Shia consider that Scriptura to include the statements of some special "Imams" as sources of religion). --5.107.184.220 (talk) 04:19, 12 September 2020 (UTC)

If this article can't have the views of Muslims against evolution why can it have the views of Muslims who supported evolution? I propose that the historical views of Muslims on evolution be moved to a seperate article entitled "Historical Muslim Views on Evolution" Can someone please create this page as I'm not up to scratch on creating pages?Daniel De Mol (talk) — Preceding undated comment added 09:49, 30 January 2021 (UTC)

Bible vz. Quran as a ground for dismissing Christian Creationism's influence on Muslim

Before my recent edit, the section 21st century contained the following (apparently sourced) claim:

This stance has received criticism, due to claims that the Quran and Bible are incompatible.

However, the claim seems not to be sustained by the sources. (IMHO, it also is rather dubious, as regards the opinion of Muslims, since the opinion that the Bible and the Quran should be incompatible may be widespread in some Christian groups, but nothing I've ever heard about as a Muslim point of view.)

I browsed the history, and found what I believe is the explanation. The three sources were present since 2007, supporting the (essentially preserved) claims preceding the dubious claim. However, in 2009, @Velanthis added the following statement, before the three sources (instead of after, as had been the logical action):

A few oppose this citing the lack of compatibility between the two and that the Quran contradicts the Bible in numerous passages.

(My guess is that Velanthis actually referred to opposition to the idea that Muslim Creationism could be inspired by Christian Creationism, not to any Muslims opposing Creationism on these grounds. I also found no such opposition in the two sources I've been able to access, but instead rather much support for such an inspiration.) Then, in 2012, @Mann jess changed Velanthis's formulation to essentially the present one, still leaving it between the sourced claims of this and their three sources:

This stance has received some criticism, due to claims that the Qur'an and Bible are incompatible.

Finally, @Lipsquid removed the {{who}} in 2016, and @TriadicRelation98 removed "some" in 2017, within a general overhaul. (Unhappily, none of these edit accounts seems still to be active.)

In view of this, I now make two changes:

1. I place the dubious claim after the sources about the influence of Christian Creationism.
2. I add demands of both clarification and of sources at the dubious claim.

Actually, I find it quite possible that that claim indeed may be true, with reference to some Christian Creationists not believing that their opinions could have anything to do with Muslim dito. I find it less likely that Muslim Creationists have expressed such a claim (especially since in Muslim faith the Bible and the Quran ultimately are inspired by the same and only god, "The God"); but, of course, I may be wrong. However, anyhow, the statement must be sourced; or should be removed. (If it were just an observation based on a supposed opinion by Velanthis about the incompatibility of the two faiths and/or their sacred scriptures, then it of course should be dismissed already by WP:OR.) Thus, I leave the statement for now, but will remove it sometime later, if no fundamental edits have been made, or sources added. JoergenB (talk) 18:15, 2 December 2025 (UTC)

Why is Cambridge platforming Islamic creationism?

• Why is Cambridge platforming Islamic creationism? --The Spectator

An academic project hosted by Cambridge University platforms creationism, the belief that the world was created by God in seven days. It promotes an academic paper demanding that schoolchildren be taught to 'actively resist' the science of evolution. At Charles Darwin’s old university, where a college is named after him, Darwin’s discovery is now described by one Cambridge researcher as an example of 'potential challenges posed by Eurocentric monoculture' ."

--Guy Macon (talk) 23:50, 15 August 2026 (UTC)

Having read the paper and Gilligan's article on the same I have to say about the only thing we can draw from it is that Andrew Gilligan isn't a strong reader of philosophy of science. This is the undue opinion of a non-expert who is so obviously out of his depth that the fish have little lamps on their heads. Simonm223 (talk) 16:29, 19 August 2026 (UTC)