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Please note that this paper DOES NOT present in any way the Christian Creationists position on humankind's origin.
The Koran does not set a time of 6000 years for the creation of the world, neither does it support the unscientific ideas
in the Bible.This analysis is not creationist propaganda. It is based on established scientific facts and critical rationalism.
The experts cited are authorities in their field and NONE of them with the exception of one, is a Muslim. Propaganda, like
Richard Dawkins presents, in his books fits in the same category as creationism, which is pseudo-science!It does more harm
to science and the scientific system than good. As the Koran states, "Truth is clear from falsehood", consider the contents
with an open mind!
Charles Darwin was a graduate of Christ College in
Cambridge. He was a clergyman with no previous background in biology or medicine. On December 21, 1831, Darwin sailed from
Plymouth, England on the Beagle. His traveling in the earth to discover the origin of species was originally planned for two
years but lasted five.
This voyage transformed the cleric into an independent and adventurous scientist who then proposed
and embraced the idea of transmutation of species. Darwin's approach to discover the origin of species was a start in the
right direction, but the pseudoscientific theory that he constructed based on it, has proved to be a leap backwards in what
was to follow in biology.
"Say: travel in the earth and see how God [Allah]
originated creation..." Koran 29:20
To date:
I) No unequivocal scientific evidence exists in favor of evolution by natural selection changing
specie types on a grand scale.
II) Darwin himself in his letters confessed that his theory cannot be demonstrated
scientifically in any case [i.e. one species evolving into another] but it helps explain a lot of things [even the explanations
he sought in the light of modern discovery are faulty especially concerning rudimentary organs].
Evolution is a pseudoscientific
and not a scientific theory according to the very definition of a scientific theory. According to the Oxford Dictionary, for
a theory to be classified as scientific, it must embody in itself facts within a framework of general laws.
The History:
In the 6th Century B.C., Anaximander of Miletus introduced the notion of evolution in the Animal Kingdom.
In the century after, Lucretius, in his book, "On Nature," seemed to favor a notion of natural selection that preserves the
strongest species. Buffon (1707-1788) supported evolution but being afraid of challenging the established ideas of the day
retracted. Lamarck in 1801, before Darwin, outlined his theory of evolution in his book, "Zoological Philosophy [La Philosophie
zoologique] (Bucaille 1987)."
Lamarck theorized that the environment has a tremendous influence on living organisms
as a result of which they change to adapt. The change he said is hereditary and is passed on to the next generation. The change
would be of growing complexity when it was favorable and when an organ was not used it would atrophy (Bucaille 1987).
Lamarck
was incorrect in his theorizing about the hereditary nature of newly acquired characteristics, however, his ideas provided
Darwin with something to work on. Thus, Lamarck and not Darwin is the actual "Father of Natural [materialistic] Evolution
[as against directed evolution] ." Darwin was also influenced by Malthus and bought into the theory of geometric increase
in population. He makes mention of it in the introduction to the second edition (1860) of, On the Origin of Species
(Bucaille 1987).
Biologists long before Darwin grouped animals together according to some similarity and relationship.
Taxonomists, for example, before Darwin classified whales and bats as mammals and not fish and bird because in "essence" they
had features of mammals. The difference between pre-Darwinian taxonomists and Darwin was that they attributed the similarity
to a "blue print" existing with God and Darwin attributed it to a natural gradual change from one to the other. Thus Darwin’s
theory explained (without empirical evidence) the similar structures employed for classification i.e. homology (Johnson 1993).
Evolution by Natural Selection happens in slow steps?
A slow mechanism of
evolution as envisioned by the Theory of Evolution by Natural Selection necessitates innumerable transitional forms. This
was acknowledged by Darwin:
That natural selection generally
acts with extreme slowness, I duly admit.... As natural selection acts solely by accumulating slight, successive, favorable
variations, it can produce no great or sudden modifications; it can act only by short and slow steps (Darwin).
When objections arose as to why we don't find the intermediary forms in fossil records, the
only answer Darwin and his supporters could give was that they are present but haven't been dug up yet. While it might have
carried some weight in his day but today with so much paleontological excavations, whenever a new find is unearthed it belongs
to a well developed isolated class or a class we are already well aware of, and can in not even one instance be classified
as an intermediary that the theory of evolution would predict.
The isolation of classes in all of paleontology and
in the observable natural world are absolute and transitions to particular characteristic traits are abrupt and the phenomena
of discontinuity is universal throughout the living kingdom. Darwin's theory of Evolution failed in its attempt to predict
reality.
Darwin's theory can’t be termed as a scientific fact. It deals with unique events, i.e. the origin of
life, the origin of intelligence, the origin of higher species etc. Unique events like the ones evolutionary theory deals
with are unrepeatable and therefore can never be subject to scientific experimentation.
However when theories like
evolution become the "in-thing" in society they are given a very high "status" and it is expected that people accept them
just at "face-value" even though empirical proof has never been presented or substantiated. The theory as such becomes a metaphysical
dogma, an ideological norm. Questioning such a theory becomes akin to apostasy and is met with hate and emotion rather than
scientific evidence. Consider for example the faith that Dawkins, the author of The Blind Watchmaker, has in Darwin's "church":
The theory (of evolution) is about as much in doubt as the earth goes around
the sun (The Selfish Gene, page 1, 1976).
This is an atrocious claim. Darwin acknowledged that empirical evidence
did not exist in support of his theory whereas empirical evidence exists in support of the earth going around the sun.
Richard
Dawkins, the author of The Blind Watchmaker, by playing with his 64K computer, envisions proving evolution. It is amazing
to note his ideas about "biomorphs" producing figures, which to his mind resembled insects and bats (out of a million zillion
garbage figures). I can find a bat or an insect in a blotch of ink too if I look close enough. Do you know about the Rosach
Ink blot test? I can even see a man in a patch of ink. The imagination fills in the gaps. The only thing the whole discussion
on "biomorphs" proves is a vivid imagination and a force fitting of it to a theory.
Dawkins also overlooked, rather
conveniently, the fact that any program involves the existence of a programming intellect that provides the information necessary
to operate the system. The laws of evolution could not have originated the laws of evolution since even according to the theory
they require a specific order and entities governed by that order.
Evolutionists and Neo-Darwinians classify cells
as evolved. This is not true: 99% of cellular structures all across the species are identical. This figure is 100% for DNA.
The only difference between cells is the "program" which instructs them on how to function. Darwinists have not shown to date
how the cell with its irreducibly complex features could have evolved through successive corrections. Thus evolutionary theory
fails at the basic cell level.
Every cell is programmed to function in a specific way. Even the ordinary computer user
knows that a computer, with all its complex structures [hardware], will only function if it has been programmed. A fact that
implies the existence of a programming intellect that provides the information required to operate the system [software].
This should surely lead one to consider the role of the Creator in life's existence.
"He [Moses] said [to Pharaoh]: `Our Cherisher (God) is He who gave to everything
its creation then guided it." Koran 20:5
There's a genuine enigma, an ignorance
faced by the medical and biological community throughout the world, the origin of the genetic code. It has not been demonstrated
yet how the "increase in data," contained in the genes leads to complex structures.
"Say:
`Is there any of your associates [whom you hold equal to God], one who produces creation then reproduces it?' Say: `Allah
(God) produces creation then reproduces it. How, then are you mislead." (Koran 10:34)
The One who originated the genetic code has the power to reproduce it, to add to it or take away from it,
which can be defined as DIRECTED evolution, and not Natural Selection. Whereas "Micro-evolution" is seen to operate
in nature and which Darwin documented in his voyage on the Beagle, it operates within the same species. For example the variation
in Finches that Darwin documented as well as the darkening of the color of the wing of the moth after the industrial revolution
(i.e. pollution) so that it can better escape predators.
However this small scale cannot be applied to the whole class
of living organisms with the conclusion that everything in nature has a common ancestor, i.e. primitive soup cell which was
created by chance with no intelligence involved. There is complete lack of empirical evidence to support the notion that Macro-evolution
works in nature based solely on natural selection. There is no evidence whatsoever which can prove that Natural Selection
has transformed one species into another on the "grand scale (bigger than the intelligently directed separation of fruit flies,
which nature didn’t change but human intelligence did)" of the natural world.
The flaw in Darwin's conjecture
was that he translated evolution working within species without empirical evidence, into the concept of his General Theory
of Evolution by which he sought to explain the origin of life on this planet. The mechanism operating within birds, to change
their beak sizes for example, or the color of the wing of the moth are minute and microscopic compared to a change, say in
cell to form a human brain. Natural Selection could never have achieved that even by a wild swing of the imagination. In a
letter to Asa Grey, which Darwin wrote on September 5, 1857, he says,
" Ones imagination
must FILL UP the very wide blanks."
Another thing, which Darwin overlooked, being really
impressed with the new theory in Geology, of gradual change in the surface of the earth, was that Micro changes
don't always translate into Macro changes. For example, the days to day weather changes that we experience are
caused by different reasons than the Macro changes in climate, caused by the earth's journey around the sun. Also consider
Geology, the Micro changes caused by weathering, sedimentary deposition, volcanic activity are different to the Macro changes
caused by Plate Tectonics.
Consider an argument from language: In order to change this simple word "SAT" into a fairly
complex sentence, "HE **SAT** ON THE MAT," we need an addition to information which is not contained in the word SAT. Natural
selection cannot explain the origin of the new information. The origin of the genetic code and how it increases in information
is an enigma to all biologists, Darwinian or non-Darwinian ( and there are many modern biologists who don't buy Darwin's ideas
but there are NO modern physicists who don't buy into the fact of the earth going around the sun).
Explaining the addition
to the information needed to transform a simple word to a very simple sentence cannot be explained by Natural Selection. Even
to change the sentence: "He sat on the mat," to "He stood on the mat," we would need not a step by step change but a simultaneous
change to keep the sentence stable given the criteria of English.
Step by Step Change:
He
**SAT** on the mat
He **ST** on the mat
He **STO**on the mat
He *STOO**on the mat
He *STOOD**on
the mat
Now count the transitory unstable "species" in the transformation. They come to a minimum of 3. Note also that
sentence 2-4 are non-functional compared to sentence 1 and 5. According to the very definition of Natural Selection, which
is supposed to preserve beneficial changes, the transitory forms don't work. Further in all the excavations of paleontology
there is no shred of evidence of numerous intermediary forms, the number of which should be millions of times more than stable
species according to the theory.
The facts support a simultaneous and coordinated change, the addition in information
coming from an "intelligent" source, the originator of the Genetic code. As an example consider the evolution of the horse
which took place on different continents under different conditions which would have yielded different results according to
Natural Selection and not the uniform result we see.
Consider what the natural world shows:
Biologists
today know that every organized being forms as a whole, by itself a unique and perfect system the parts of which correspond
and function mutually. None of the parts can change one at a time as Natural Selection predicts without the whole changing
or there is no harmony, the kind of harmony we see in nature. The isolation and distinctiveness of species and the existence
of clear discontinuities in nature are self-evident. Paleontology doesn't find any evidence of innumerable intermediaries
between species leading up to the perfectly adapted final. All they find is thousands of identical individuals that are distinct
and isolated and functionally adapted and cannot be termed as intermediaries. Natural data supports the notion of gaps and
jumps in the organization and complexity of species, and not unstable intermediaries.
The fossil record in the natural
world consistently shows two things. Johnson quotes Harvard Professor Stephen J. Gould, a well-known evolutionist, when he
explains this:
Stasis: Most species exhibit no directional
change during their tenure on earth. They appear in fossil record looking pretty much the same as when they disappear; morphological
change is usually limited [like in microevolution] and directionless.
Sudden appearance [as against the gradual
improvement and appearance]. In any local area, a species does not arise gradually by the steady transformation of its ancestors;
it appears all at once and "fully formed. (As cited in Johnson 1993:50)"
Both these facts, well documented contradict evolution by natural selection. What keeps Darwinism alive and
well in the hearts of modern day scientists is what keeps Christianity alive in the hearts of Christians, i.e. faith. There
is no empirical evidence, no verification by scientific facts to back the theory.
Neo-Darwinians sometimes site the
example of the Lung-Fish, which has the gill structure of the fish but a heart of an amphibian as an intermediary. This however
is incorrect because of two reasons: i) Their theory doesn't point to just one but a million intermediaries. So there is not
only one missing link but zillions of missing links ii) The lung fish cannot be termed as an intermediary because it is a
perfect system: the gills/respiration works like a perfect fish and the heart like a perfect amphibian. There is no unstable
intermediary "thing" in the lungfish which natural selection will correct via its zillions more intermediary stages. Neither
do the gills show anything that is a transition between the fish and an amphibian.
Concerning the fish story, P.P
Grasse, the eminent French Zoologist states:
What makes us particularly unwilling to accept the story of the
little fish- the ‘Magellan of evolution’- is the fact that the boleophthalmidae and periophthalmidae (mud skippers)
perform this very experiment [of trying to explore dry land, as the Darwinian story goes]. They scuttle across the mud, climb
the roots of mangrove trees, and raise themselves on their pectoral fins, just as if the limbs were short limbs. They have
lived in this way for millions of years, and although they never stop leaping about- awkwardly or not- their fins insist on
remaining as they are, rather than transforming themselves into limbs. These animals are not really very understanding [of
Darwin]" (as cited in Bucaille 1987: 56).
Consider
the fact that nature's distinctions are clear. The group-type mammals for example, the Kangaroo, the mouse and the man all
have the basic mammalian characteristics of hair and mammary glands and due to these and other common features stand distinct
from other vertebrate (those having back bones) species. If Macroevolution were the case and a fact like Dawkins states then
nature's divisions would not be so distinct but blurred just as evolutionary theory predicts. This is exactly what we don't
find in nature or the fossil record.
How do you explain "Pan chronic" species:
If Natural Selection
was a fact, just like the earth going around the sun, as Dawkins states, then how can you explain certain species which have
failed to evolve at all even though they undergo mutations like all other species? The Pan chronic species stand as a challenge
to Neo-Darwinism.
As examples:
1. Bees from the tertiary period are the same as today's bees. Consider the
bee's sting which ensures its death (not survival). If Natural Selection was the law, why did not the bee sting evolve into
something that did ensure survival and not death?
2. The coelacanth, caused great excitement when it was first discovered.
It dates from the Cretaceous period, 130 million years back. They were thought to be extinct but one live specimen was discovered
in 1938, which is the same as its ancestors. When it was dissected, its internal organs showed no sign of being pre-adapted
to a land environment and gave no clue as to how it could develop into an amphibian (Johnson 1993: 76)
3. In plants,
there is a living plant fossil known as gingko that has leaves unlike that of any modern tree.
4. The Lampreys are
jaw-less fishes. If developing jaws was such a big advantage according to evolutionary theory, how come these jaw-less, lower
stage fishes do so well? How come the intermediary stage between jaw-less and jawed fish died out (with no fossil evidence)
but the original primitive jaw-less fish survived?
5. Bacteria although they reproduce and hence mutate faster should
have evolved more if Natural Selection was the case. However fossil bacteria going back to 3.5 billion years are identical
with today's modern forms.
6. Blue Algae, have been in existence for over one billion years, and are the same as today's
algae. Also the opossum, which has been around for millions of years without evolving. Sponges and cockroaches, are good examples.
7.
Fish lacking vision and also fish possessing sonar [sonic radar] systems and fish that "see" by electric fields live side
by side at the bottom of the ocean. If evolutionist were correct then the blind fish should have been replaced long time ago
by the other two yet they have survived side by side for millions of years.
"And how many an animal there
is that bears not its own provision! Allah [God] provides for it and for you. He is the Hearer the Knower." Koran 29:60
Biologists
state that evolution in fishes and humans have come to a stand still. If we seek an answer from Darwin's theory we fail to
find one.
Excessive Evolution by Natural Selection?
If Natural Selection was a fact, then
how come certain animals show excessive "evolutionary"
development if you accept the premise of evolutionary theory,
that calls for better adaptation. For example:
i) The Irish elk with its excessive
antlers which causes a hindrance rather than an advantage to the animal in question. Evolutionists say that the development
of antlers was an "chance" benefit of Natural Selection. Why didn't Natural Selection correct it and prevent it from being
excessive in the case of the Irish elk?
ii)There are Mollusks living on coral
reefs the shells of which have become so over- thickened that they can hardly open them to feed.
It seems like in
their case as in the many other cases that Natural Selection died as a natural law. However, the law that makes the earth
go around the sun is uniform in all regions of the universe as regards bodies which move relative to each other. So much for
Dawkins' physics.
Lack of Features?
Whereas the evolutionists are fast to explain why certain
features appear in species, they never explain the lack of those features or why they don't appear in some. As examples, consider
the cilia (motile hairs) which are absent in spiders and eel worms while they occur in a wide range of other creatures ranging
from protozoan to man. Why are pigmented cells, which affect color changes to protect certain animals, absent from all warm-blooded
animals. They would indeed be of as much advantage to them as to cold-blooded animals?
Variety:
If
Natural Selection were the blind case then everything would have developed in one direction only. Just look at even the sizes
of everything: Lizards- big like crocodiles and small; cats small and big like the lion; pigs, the guinea pig and the wild
boar. Indeed the variety within species that doesn't serve any adaptive advantage has always proved challenging for evolutionists
to explain away.
"And of His
[God's] signs is the creation of the skies and the earth and all the variety of beasts that he has dispersed in them. And
He is able to gather them whenever He wills." Koran 42:29
Variety suggests intelligently directed change:
That so many diverse forms of life and basically
dissimilar body plans have in fact been actualized during the course of evolution on earth, supports the concept that the
evolutionary tree of life on earth was generated from a unique PROGRAM embedded in the order of nature, and that was
specifically arranged to generate through a myriad of unique and intricate transformations, the fullest possible plentitude
of natural biological forms (Denton 1998:320)
Indeed,
We created you according to the best organizational plan (taqweem) Koran 95:4
Artificial Selection
is not the same as Natural Selection:
Darwin linked Natural Selection to artificial selection
practiced by man, in influencing certain characteristics in farm or other animals [selective breeding]. Modern Neo-Darwinists
use the same analogy. However there is are serious flaws in this analogy [as cited in Bucaille (1987) and Johnson (1993):
1.Artificial selection does not create new species, as is claimed for Natural
Selection.
2.Artificial
selection does not create new functional organs or a new organization or a new genus, as Natural Selection is supposed to
in the "minds" of the Darwinists
3.Artificial Selection does not work using "blind" nature and chance but intelligence.
4.When animals altered by artificial selection are returned
to the natural environment the "highly specialized breeds" die out and not the "weaker" ones that occur in nature.
Natural
selection, which implies "Survival of the Fittest", is a circular argument that applies a tautology [a way of saying the same
thing twice]. The theory predicts that the "fittest" will produce the most offspring, and the definition of "fittest" is the
one that produces the most offspring. Thus what the theory is saying is: "The one that produces the most offspring [fittest]
will produce the most offspring."
It is like asking someone, "Why does it rain," and the response being, "It rains
because it rains." How this holds up as science is amazing!
Mathematical Challenges:
Mathematically:
evolution via blind Natural Selection is an impossibility. For a worm to be formed from an amoeba, the alterations needed
in its genetic code, would take 10 Trillion years to produce at the of 1 change per second (this is 500 times the age of the
observable universe). The number of alterations in genetic code needed for an ape to evolve into a man amount to 3 X
10520changes. This is such a big impossibility that for example consider the volume of the entire universe
in terms of the diameter of ONE ELECTRON-one tiny electron much smaller than an atom is 10124 [Paul
S Moorhead and Martin M Kaplan, Mathematical challenges to the Neo-Darwinian interpretations of evolution. Philadelphia,
Wistar Institute Press].
The mathematician D.S Ulam argued that it was highly improbably that the
eye could have evolved by the accumulation of small mutations because the number of mutations would have to be so large and
the time available not nearly long enough for them to appear…a French Mathematician named Schutzenberger concluded that
" there is a considerable gap in the neo-Darwinian theory of evolution, and we believe the gap to be of such nature that it
cannot be bridged with the current conception of biology (Johnson 1993:38-39)."
The Finch’s
Beak:
A blind process like Natural Selection cannot explain adaptation itself. Any automatic system, which
alters itself based on any stimuli, exists only if a need was previously recognized by a "recognizer" and apparatus to deal
with it were provided. The ability to adapt is ingrained in the species by an intelligence that pre-recognized that such conditions
could be faced by that species.
Go around a garden in the spring and see all the flowers growing and occupying the
same niche. Some of them would have four or five or six petals. How can you prove the advantages of having four instead of
five petals and so on? Why do they all flourish if natural selection ensures the survival of the fittest?
On one of
the Hawaiian Islands, there are 300 species of Drosphilia, compared with only a half a dozen species in the neighboring Island.
What this suggests is not slow sluggish natural selection but an "abrupt" genetic change quite different to the accumulation
of minute changes as proposed by Darwin and his modern disciple Dawkins.
Competition or Non-competition:
The
picture in nature of competition that Darwin envisioned is faulty also. His example of competition was that of a wolf. The
wolf he said, that ran faster would kill more effectively and get the meat as compared to other wolves. Coming from a naturalist
this conclusion is completely misleading. Wolves, it has been observed, hunt in packs and SHARE the meat. It is also a well
known fact to naturalists that competition in the natural world is rare and animals have mechanisms like specialization of
diet and defining of territories to avoid competition. Examples exist of fishes of various different species, recorded and
video taped, which feed on the same coral reef in close proximity to each other without any conflict whatsoever. P.P Grasse,
the French biologist studied butterflies and found no competition among them.
Evolutionists suggest that "wings" got
developed as an advantage. If flight was such an advantage why do we see penguins trying to give up that advantage and return
to its ancestral marine life, from which they emerged according to evolutionary theory?
Other valid questions that
arise are: Who evolved from whom? In terms of color and art, the butterfly is much superior to the human. In terms of memory
retention as a function of brain weight, the Dolphin exceeds all. The termite, smaller than an ant , in terms of warfare and
the poison that it produces is much more effective than bigger-so called higher stage in evolution- animals. In terms of radar
vision, the bat is unsurpassed.
"O humankind, an example is struck so pay attention to it: ` Those on whom you call
besides God will never be able to create a fly even though they combine together for the purpose..... So weak are the seeker
and the sought."
Koran 22:73
Self-destruct?
It
is a well-known fact that certain conifer plants produce chemical compounds that irresistibly attract coleoptera which then
devour them. The production of these chemical compounds is therefore responsible for the death of this plant. This process
has been going on for millions of years. Where has natural selection vanished in the case of this poor plant. There are species
of the antelope whose hoofs contain glands which secrete a particular odor, which as the antelope runs is left on the ground
and makes the attacking carnivore track it. Thus, here is another case of Natural Selection taking a vacation.
Catastrophe
or Gradual Extinction?
Evolution by Natural Selection implies a gradual extinction. The fittest survive and
the weak are gradually wiped out. As a result it predicts the multiplicity of fossils showing intermediaries between the various
stages of evolution [the famous "missing links"]. Not only does the fossil record not show gradual evolution as envisioned
by Darwin, it shows sudden extinction that is a problem from Darwinism.
There appear to have been a number of mass extinctions in the history of the earth, and debate still
continues about what caused them. Two catastrophes in particular stand out: the Permian extinction of about 245 million years
ago, which exterminated half the families of marine invertebrates and probably more than 90% of all species; and the famous
"K-T" extinction at the end of the Cretaceous era, about 65 million ago, which exterminated the dinosaurs and a great deal
else besides, including those ammonites whose disappearance Darwin conceded to have been wonderfully sudden (Johnson 1993:57).
"If God wills He can destroy you and produce a new creation. That is not
difficult for God (Koran)"
Homology as Proof of Macro-evolution: Not!
Darwin concluded that since similarities exist in organisms belonging to different species regardless of
their habits of life, therefore all species MUST have a common ancestor. Indeed, homology, as he defined it, was what he took
most comfort in defending his theory.
What he might not have realized is that the above is "his" interpretation of
homology and not a strong scientific conclusion. If I see the Mercedes insignia on all different models of Mercedes, would
I conclude that they all have a common ancestor? No, I would conclude that they have the same manufacturer, who builds them
according to a blue print and leaves and signs his name. Darwin's conclusion was at best subjective. I could say that the
Creator has a pattern or method of creation, his signature that proves one as against many creators. Why would my conclusion
be wrong?
Invoking homology is taking refuge in a philosophical argument. If Darwinism is to be seen as a science,
it has to provide empirical evidence. Long before Darwin, taxonomists had recognized the idea of homology, their philosophical
explanation was different but philosophically it was as sound as Darwin’s explanation. We need empirical evidence to
take a theory from the realm of philosophy to the level of science. Darwin acknowledged that empirical evidence was missing
in the case of his theory but then when objections arose he resorted to rhetorical rebuttals, having nothing to do with empirical
scientific evidence.
The homology that Darwin pointed out was based on the pentadectyl (5 fingers) pattern of the hind
limb, showing similarities in the early embryo of the Kangaroo, who uses these for jumping, in the Koala who uses them for
leaf eating and others. Darwin had no idea of genetics, advances in which were made much after his passing away. If it was
shown that homologous genes specified homologous structures and if embryological research showed that homologous structures
followed similar development patters then he might have had a case. However, it has been clearly shown today that homologous
structures are inspired by non-homologous genetic systems. The origin of homologous structures is not homologous at all. In
embryology the difference between the division of egg to the blastula and the blastula itself is very different when compared
between amphibian, reptile and mammal. Also the way in which the gastrula gets formed. If classification was done solely on
embryology then these structures could never have been termed homologous since they are arrived at by different routes.
Consider
another example from botany: Conifers and Angiosperms are considered as homologous but they differ markedly in the way the
ovule and the endosperm forms. Darwin was completely wrong when he suggested in his definition of homology as, "relationship
between parts which result from their development from corresponding embryonic parts (The Origin of Species, 492)."
De
Beer, British embryologist and the Director of the British Natural History Museum, in his article, Homology the Unresolved
Problem (1971:15) writes:
Homologous structures need
not be controlled by identical genes and homology of phenotype doesn't imply similarity of genotype.
Almost every gene that has been studied in animals has been found to affect more
than one organ system. A multiple effect known as PLEIOTROPY. What really kills Darwinism and his homology argument is that
PLEIOTROPHIC effects are invariably SPECIES SPECIFIC. Also according to basic biochemical design no species can be thought
of as being primitive and ancestral with respect to any other species. How biochemical systems evolved remains a mystery and
a "area of silence" for Darwinians. There is almost complete silence in biochemical literature and journals discussing the
evolutionary pathway leading to the development of biochemical systems (Behe 1996).
Although it is true that vertebrates
all pass through an embryonic stage at which they resemble each other, in fact they develop to this stage very differently.
After a vertebrate egg is fertilized, it undergoes cell divisions and cell movements characteristic of its class: fishes follow
one pattern, amphibians another one, birds yet another, and mammals still another. The differences cannot be explained as
larval adaptations, since these early stages occur before the larvae form and thus are apparently not exposed to natural selection
(Johnson 1993:73)
Darwin's subjective argument concerning homology (which he
considered one of his strongest cases for evolution by natural selection) is further disproved by the existence of homologous
phenotypes that can by no stretch of the imagination be attributed to a common ancestor via Natural Selection. Consider the
forelimb, which in the early development is also based on the pentadectyl patter and cannot be distinguished from the hind
limb. Yet it cannot be said that the hind limb evolved from the fore or vice versa. According to evolutionary theory, the
forelimb arose from the pectoral fin of the fish and the hind from the pelvic fin, and also the final structure in adults
of the fore and the hind are markedly different.
Evolutionists tend to judge overall similarity on terms of skeletal
anatomy [especially when they suggest the evolution of the mammals from reptiles, Therapsida]. This however is faulty. There
is for example an almost identical convergence between the marsupial and the placental dogs of Australia. They are incredibly
similar in gross appearance and skeletal structure, teeth, skull etc. So similar in fact that only a skilled zoologist can
distinguish between them. Yet in terms of their soft anatomy, there is an enormous difference between the two. Also consider
the case of the whales, fish and ichthyosaurs, the similarity of forelimb of mole and the insect mole cricket, the design
of the eye of the invertebrates and cephalopods and the cochlea in birds and mammals. However these small similarities do
not imply any close biological relationship at all!
There is not one iota of evidence to suggest that one species of
hominid evolved into another via Natural Selection. The existence (of some hominid species) has been determined, one species
disappears and the other SUCCEEDS it. There is however no scientific evidence to defend the theory that man [Homo Sapiens]
are descended from the lineage of the great apes, via blind Natural Selection.
"If (God) wills, He destroys
you and in your place appoints whom He wills as successors just as He brought you forth from the descendants of other
peoples." Koran 6:133
"Indeed, We created them and strengthened them. And when We willed, We replaced them completely
by people of the same kind." Koran 76:28
The waves
of hominids appear as SUCCESSORS one of the other. They represent stages [or phases] in succession each one
showing a progression in intelligence and psychical powers- an increasingly sophisticated organization of the brain.
"And He [God] created you in stages [or phases]." Koran 71:14
Neo-Darwinians claim that birds evolved from reptiles. However the facts point out that whenever we have ever uncovered
the first representatives of a group for example the bird, the fossil records show a construction which is highly specialized
and completely characteristic of the whole group. The fact is that every single flying bird from the Archaeopteryx on has
possessed highly developed aerofoil (flight wings) containing fully developed flight feathers. It shows that the one who designed
these has a full awareness of the laws of aerodynamics. Blind, natural selection based on survival of the fittest could never
achieve this. The sudden origin of the angiosperm for example and the first animals in Cambrian rocks has baffled biologists.
So
big is the gap between species, that not only is there no empirical evidence linking the species but also transitional hypothetical
intermediary groups cannot even be constructed by Neo-Darwinians. Considering these facts it is a surprise that the scientific
community even listens to them. But it has become a ideological matter to them, so they have to listen.
Evolutionists
say that the purpose of evolution is to attain survival adaptation. Adaptation, without any intelligence involved, based on
random chance doesn't make any sense at all. The concept of what is "functional" has to be defined [using intelligence] and
then strides towards reaching that goal made. Without putting "intelligence" in the picture, this journey to perfect adaptation
makes no sense at all.
As an example, take the claim that birds evolved from reptiles and the reptile scale led to
the development of the highly specialized wing of the bird. Some Darwinians suggest that the wing developed out of an intermediary
structure of "gliding" device. They don't realize however that according to their theory a need must be met for "further"
improvement by natural selection to ensure survival. It was a gliding device, then to be a good gliding device it had to have
as a principle air trapping by making the surface area big. Any fraying of the reptile scales in a move towards wings would
make them pervious to the air and much less useful as gliding devices. Being aware of this problem some Darwinians have suggested
that the wing developed out of insect eating reptiles having a need to "net" the insects with their scales, which led to the
formation of wings. Any net however has to be pervious to air for it to be useful. Any wings pervious to air would be useless
for flight. You cannot have it both ways.
Evolutionists pointed to organs, which they termed as useless in the human
body as evidence of remains from a lower evolutionary form. However those same organs that they pointed to as being useless
[Thymus, pineal gland, Tonsils, the appendix] have all been shown to be very useful in the human body according to modern
research, playing a big role even in the human body's fight against cancer[For further information see Asadi 1992: 73-74].
Darwin Falsified:
On Page 182 of the Origin of Species, Darwin writes:
"If it could be demonstrated that any complex organ existed which could not possibly
have been formed by numerous successive slight modifications, MY THEORY WOULD ABSOLUTELY BREAK DOWN".
Consider a modern day disciple of Darwin, Dawkins, on page 91 of his book, "The
Blind Watchmaker," writes,
"I do not believe that such a case (of a complex organ that
can't be produced by slight modification) will ever be found. If it is..., I shall cease to believe in Darwinism.
Now consider these examples among the numerous that exist:
The flight feather of the Bird:
"Have
you not seen the Birds that are subjected (to God's command) in the air of the sky? Surely in this are signs for a people
who confirm." (Koran 16:79)
Each wing of every species of bird consists of a central shaft
carrying a series of barbs, which are positioned at right angles to the shaft to form a vane. The wing is designed by someone
who is well aware of the laws of aerodynamics and the problems that might arise during flight. One of the problems of all
aerofoils is turbulence, which reduces lift and causes stalling. Turbulence is cut down by providing slots in the aerofoil
to let through part of the air stream and smooth the flow. Aero-engineers use this same principle in designing airplanes.
Surprisingly enough, the wings of the birds have this already built in. Consider the flight of the hummingbird to appreciate
how complex the properties of the feathered aerofoil really is.
Just how the scales of reptiles led to the development
via blind natural selection, to such a complex structure as the wing remains an enigma to biologists. No one has come close
even to describing the stages (intermediary) and what functionality they would serve and how they would arise. We are thus
at an absence of even a theoretic basis for such a 'fantastic' idea.
Bird Respiration
Not only
is the wing that is unique and uniform throughout all species of birds, they have another unique feature and that is their
respiratory system. In all vertebrates (those having backbones), air is drawn into the lungs via branching tubes which end
in air sacs. Therefore air flows in and out through the same passage. In birds however, the flow of air is unidirectional.
The bronchi break down into para-bronchi, which permeate the whole lung and reconnect again to form a complete circulatory
system. How such a system could have evolved via natural selection is simply impossible. The slightest alteration in functioning
of respiration leads to immediate death. The system appears uniform in all birds in a fully functional form. We have yet to
see any Darwinian set up a theory even of how this modification took place from the reptile. In the absence of even a theory
on how it happened and absolutely no empirical evidence, we are justified to state that Darwin and Dawkins have been falsified.
The
Bones:
Consider the construction of bones. Without them many terrestrial creatures couldn't support themselves
against the drag of gravity. Their construction shows a unique design of spaces left for blood vessels and bone making cells.
The major bones contain a cavity lined with a sheath, which generates blood cells. Without newer cells being made all the
time we would die, as human blood cells have a life of only 120 days. The joints are another wonder with a lubricant, the
synovial fluid. Nothing as complex as this structure can arise due to accumulation of chance mutations. It would require a
burst of DIRECTED mutations, all integrated to a single end. Natural Selection cannot explain this or any other similar complex
structure.
Immune and Blood Clotting Systems:
The immune and blood clotting mechanisms in organisms whereby foreign intruders are detected
and the organism is saved from bleeding to death respectively, can truly be defined as "Irreducibly complex" systems. Just
like a mouse trap wont work if any one of its parts is missing or is improperly placed, the system of chain reactions in blood
clotting for example wont work if any part of the mechanism is crude.
Blood clotting works by turning on and off of
proteins at precisely the correct spot at the correct time. If anything goes wrong in the process if the proteins are crudely
made or improper inhibitors present, the organism would either bleed to death or his whole blood would clot and kill him or
the clot would form at the wrong spot and block circulation and cause heart failure. How such a system could have arisen out
of blind natural selection remains an enigma to this date to biochemists.
"By irreducibly complex I mean a single system composed of several well-matched, integrating parts that contribute
to the basic function, wherein the removal of any one of the parts causes the system to effectively cease functioning (Behe
1996:39)
Transcription System:
The protein
manufacturing system of all cells requires the integrated activity of nearly 100
different proteins, all carrying out
different but specific steps in the assembly of a new protein molecule. If only a small proportion of these were "crudely
made" as evolutionists would suggests in the earlier stages of the cell, it is practically impossible for any protein to ever
be manufactured let alone with a specific configuration of molecules capable of performing specific functions.
The
translation system in a cell is completely dependent on accurately made proteins and an imperfect protein synthetic system
is hard even to theorize. It would sound like an unintelligent and absurd hypothesis to a geneticist. Just how efficient enzymes
could have been manufactured before an efficient translation system (as evolutionists claim) remains an enigma to them to
this day and sounds like gibberish to the objective geneticist.
The bigger problem, even bigger than the one above
is that the protein synthetic system cannot work in isolation but only in conjunction with other complex subsystems of the
cell. Thus the origin of the replication mechanism cannot be envisioned via natural selection.
Behe concludes (1996):
Molecular evolution is not based on scientific authority. There is no publication
in the scientific literature- in prestigious journals, specialty journals, or books- that describes how molecular evolution
of any real, complex, biochemical system either did occur or even might have occurred…., absolutely NONE are supported
by pertinent experiments or calculations… (Behe 1996:185)
THE ORIGINATOR OF THE GENETIC CODE MAKES THE CHANGE:
"...The standard established order. There's no changing
what Allah [God]natures. That is the established standard system (in nature), but most among humankind know not (Koran 30:30)."
Genetic
engineering distorts or repairs what has been distorted of a given system. It cannot change species on a grand scale. It operates
within the boundaries contained in the system. There is "intelligence" involved and not Natural Selection.
The results of these cumulative efforts [to uncover the complexity of the cell] at the
molecular level- is a loud, clear, piercing cry of "design?" The result is so unambiguous and so significant that it must
be ranked as one of the greatest achievements in the history of science (Behe 1996:232-233)
Directed Evolution and not Natural Selection:
"He is Allah (God), the Creator, the Evolver
(Koran)."
The fact that all living organism are now known
to be specified in the linear DNA sequence…has presented science with a new and utterly different representation of
the organic world. These discoveries imply that not only is DNA remarkably fit for its hereditary role, it is also remarkably
fit in a number of different ways for directed evolution (Denton 1998:275).
Modern biochemistry routinely
designs biochemical systems, which are now known to be the basis of life. Therefore we do have experience in observing the
INTELLIGENT DESIGN of the components of life (Behe 1996: 219)
Nature’s
Destiny:
…the conclusion to design is not based on evidence that the laws of
nature are adapted to some degree for life (to emerge) but rather on the far stronger case that the cosmos is optimally adapted
for life so that EVERY constituent of the cell and EVERY law of nature is uniquely and ideally fashioned to
that end (Denton 1998:385)
One
statement captures it all, centuries earlier:
Do they [the disbelievers] not see that God has subjected for them WHATSOEVER is in the
heavens and the earth...? (KORAN 31:20)
There are many modern-day biologists who do not accept Evolution by Natural
Selection as a fact because they recognize that empirical evidence is missing and that there are too many flaws and "missing
links," and bad reasoning. Frustrated by the evidence, Francis Crick, the co-discoverer of DNA envisioned life arriving on
earth from a different planet [as the origin of life on earth cannot be explained by leaving God out of the picture]. His
theory is called "directed panspermia." This general idea seems to be based on the comic character Superman. An advanced civilization,
facing extinction sent primitive life forms to earth in a spaceship. The primitive forms appear "suddenly" on earth.
Whereas,
we can construct a theory to "fit" some of the facts, this theory [about spacemen] cannot be tested just like Natural Selection.
The "home planet" is extinct according to the theory and the "spacemen" are just as invisible as the "missing links" in the
evolutionary chain of Darwin (Johnson 1993:110).
It's unfortunate that based on blind materialism we base our
entire knowledge of the origin of species, biology and medicine on the "fairy tale", termed Evolution by Natural Selection.
I end with what Johnson writes:
When a scientist
of Crick’s caliber [the co-discoverer of the structure of DNA] feels he has to invoke invisible spacemen, it is time
to consider whether the field of pre-biological evolution has come to a dead end.. (Johnson 1993:111)
"The most of them follow nothing but conjecture. And surely, conjecture can never take the place of truth.
Indeed, Allah [God] is aware of what they do." Koran 10:36
Copyright
© Muhammed Asadi 1997 (revised 1999/2001)
Notes:
1. "O
Humankind what has deceived you concerning your Cherisher (God), Most Bountiful, Who created you, then fashioned, then proportioned
you. Into whatever form He wills He makes you.." Koran 82:6-8
2.God, the Genetic Code and the Koran:
By the Glorious Koran! Nay, but they are amazed that a Warner of there own has come unto them.
And the rejecters say: ` This is a strange thing: when we are dead and have become dust (shall we be made alive again)? That
would be a return most distant.' We know that which the earth takes of them, and with Us is a protected transcription [or
writing- Kitaab]. Nay, but they have denied the truth when it came to them, therefore now, they are in a troubled case..."
Koran 50:2-5
What is this protected transcription?
The protected transcription
from which the human being can again be recreated [the context of the verse] after his/her death is the genetic code. Russian
scientists recently discussed reproducing an extinct species of elephant by the use of a microscopic unit of a long dead gene
material. No one said that such an attempt was unreasonable. It is perfectly logical, yet they haven't been able to do it.
However,
when it comes to the Koran, and when the same terminology is used, centuries ago, the rejecters say it's unreasonable! It
may be unusual but it certainly isn't unreasonable. Indeed, such evidence in the Koran, considering the time of its revelation
proves it, in accordance with its claims, of originating with the One who has knowledge of creation.
Clone: a group of genetically identical cells or
whole organisms derived from a single cell or organism. Clones arise naturally in a number of ways. The body of an adult animal
or plant is typically a clone of cells having arisen by mitosis from a single cell, the fertilized egg.... The cloning of
mammals, including man is theoretically possible, but it is more difficult to achieve because of the smaller size of mammalian
egg and the more complex conditions required for normal embryonic development. [From Encyclopedia Americana, volume 7, 1993]The Koran, over 1400 years before the above article was written compared
the stages of human embryology [before the discovery of the microscope] to the resurrection of the long dead on the last day
for judgment [a concept involving cloning]:
"What, does humankind think that they will be left aimless? Was he [she] not a drop ejaculated? Then he was
a leech like structure. And He [God] created and formed. And made of him a pair, the male and the female. What, is He not
then able to quicken the dead?" Koran 75:36-40
The above verse questions those who reject the notion of the resurrection of the dead. Which
is the more difficult task: That you were created from an insignificant drop, which was so small that it couldn't be seen
without a microscope, or that some day you will be formed again from your remnants? A comparison between human embryology
and cloning is also made just as the above article from Encyclopedia Americana.
"Your creation and your resurrection [on the last day]
is as a single unit [nafs- one substance or essence]." Koran 31:28
Cloning involves
the derivation of a group of genetically identical cells or whole organism from a single [Waahid- in the verse above] original
cell or organism.
"Say:
If the sea were to become ink for the words of my Cherisher (God), indeed the sea would be used up before the words of my
Cherisher (God) were exhausted, even though we brought the like of it [i.e. another sea] to its aid." Koran 18:109
Literally:
At the moment of conception, when
a sperm and ovum (egg) unite, an incredible number of personal features and growth patterns are determined. It is estimated
that the genetic information carried in each human cell would fill thousands of 1000- page books- and that's in fine print
(Coon :366).
A recent editorial in the "Science" journal, titled, "Hints of a language in junk DNA (Nov 25, 1994),
describing the work of Eugene Stanley of Boston University, who used statistical techniques borrowed from linguists and found
evidence that much of the non protein coating DNA has informational characteristics resembling those of human language (Denton
1998:290)
The above Koranic verse is proven true literally if we consider all the
cells making up creation. If all the information contained in all the cells were to be written down, surely: "...the sea
would be exhausted before the words of the Cherisher (God) are exhausted." Consider this: one cell
can fill up thousands of 1000- page books and that in fine print!
EXPERTS CITED:
Hubert Reeves. Professor at University of Montreal.
Joel De Rosnay. Ex-Director of
Pasteur Institute in France.
Yves Coppens. Professor, College de France (co-discoverer of Lucy).
Dr. Haluk Nurbaki.
Oncologist. Turkey.
Dr. Maurice Bucaille. Surgeon, French Academy of Medicine.
Michael J Denton. Research
Fellow, Molecular Genetics, University of Otago, NewZealand.
Michael Behe, Professor of Biochemistry at Lehigh University,
Pennsylvania.
Others are listed within the article.
This paper DOES NOT present in any way the Christian Creationists position on humankind's
origin. The Koran does not set a time of 6000 years for the creation of the world neither does it support the unscientific
ideas in the Bible. The Koran does not validate the Bible nor the scientific errors contained in the Bible
BIBLIOGRAPHY:
Asadi, Muhammed A. Koran:
A Scientific Analysis. Lahore, Pakistan 1992
Behe, Michael.Darwin’s Black Box. 1996. The Free Press.
Bucaille,
Maurice. What is the Origin of Man. Seghers. Paris 1987.
Coon, Dennis. Introduction to Psychology. 5th Ed, West Publishing
Co. 1989.
Denton, Michael. Evolution: A Theory in Crisis.1984: The Free Press
Denton, Michael J. Nature’s
Destiny. 1998. New York: The Free Press.
Darwin: The Origin of Species.
Dawkins, Richard. The Blind Watchmaker.
W.W Norton & Co. 1996.
Johnson. Phillip. Darwin on Trial. 2nd ed.1993. Inter-varsity Press: Illinois.
Nurbaki, Haluk Dr. Verses from the Koran & Facts of Science. Ankara, Turkey 1989
Taylor, Gordon Rattray.
The Great Evolutionary Mystery. Harper & Row, NY 1983
Koran- Translation from the original Arabic.
Encyclopedia
Americana, vol 7, 1993.
Please
continue down. Thanks!
KORAN AND THE ORIGIN OF HUMANKIND
The "mitochondrial eve" theory of the origin of mankind (i.e. homosapiens like us) is
based on genetics and a statistical analysis of mitochondria that is passed only through the mother. They trace the origin
of modern man to one woman among a small group in the middle east where paleontologists are agreed that homosapiens originated.
It is the most scientific of all theories presented so far and has striking similarities with the concept in the Koran
of mankind originating from a NAFS e waahid, one NAFS, the aya in the Koran 4:1. The zawj or pair of the woman would then
be the first male child she gave birth to. Adam might refer to the first group of isolated and independent homosapiens since
the plural and not the dual is used for them in the Koran. Consider the comparison of Jesus with Adam in the Koran:
"The example of Jesus with Allah (God), is as the example of Adam. He created him from dust..."(Koran)
This doesn't face the incest and other problems posed by the
"one Adam and one eve" theory. It struck me almost like revelation when I was reading this book by Leaky on the origin of
humankind and the various theories presented.
Further evidence on this is that Neanderthals and homosapiens lived
side by side for around 60,000 years and then the Adam:
(i) would be the first group of independent and isolated homosapiens)
became successors over them, just like God says, I'm going to create on earth a successor.
Another point, language
has been termed as the one factor which led to the isolation and development of the homosapiens, a point that God demonstrates
to the angels as narrated by the Koran (chapter 2).
(ii) The angels objection makes sense only if they had witnessed
previous "successors"like the Neanderthals shedding blood
and doing mischief on earth.
Another point for the multiple fathers and not one Adam and eve is the term in the Koran with which God reminds us
of the people who are our FIRST FATHERS (aabaakum ul awwalieen). It is the FATHERS the plural and not father the singular.
CLAY: THE BEGINNING OF HUMANKIND
".....Indeed we created them (humankind) of BINDING (laazib in Arabic) CLAY." Koran
37:11
"...We BEGAN (emphasis-mine) the creation of humankind from clay (Koran 32:7).
"...We created humankind of dry clay of altered black mud (Koran 15:26)
Only in
the presence of clay which is alternately dried and then becomes moist again (Koran 15:26) do long chains of organic molecules
combine with each other to form nucleic acids.
Clay also acts like a binding magnet (Koran 37:11); clay ions attract
matter and incite it to react. The trace elements we see today are the result of the evolution of just such ions. In clay
and binding sticky mud, carbon and nitrogen atoms have negative valences C-4 and N-3. Oxygen, phosphorous and hydrogen occurring
naturally in the soil can only combine with negatively charged carbon and nitrogen to form the basic constituents of the human
body.
Clay also acts as a desiccator, removing water so that large organic molecules can be formed. Via God's will
intelligent life evolved out of clay (Koran 32:7)
Acknowledgements:
1.Hubert Reeves. Professor at University
of Montreal.
2.Joel De Rosnay. Ex-Director of Pasteur Institute in France.
3.Yves Coppens. Professor, College
de France (co-discoverer of Lucy)
4.Dr. Haluk Nurbaki. Oncologist.
5.Dr. Maurice Bucaille. Surgeon, French Academy
of Medicine.
JANUARY 1998
Muhammed Asadi
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