On Evolution !

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 I was just watching a series of lectures on Khan's Academy on Evolution. From the very start
I had somehow believed that evolution is a continuous process whereby the entire generation of a specie undergoes small incremental modifications in traits in order to be able to adapt to the environment better.

However Khan explains evolution as "survival of the fittest" which leads to more reproduction of the genetic makeup of the particular specie which has a genetic edge in terms of survival. 

So, if humans needed to stand upright inorder to survive, then amongst apes, due to natural variation that is present in all members of a specie, there would be an ape which due to its genetic makeup was able to survive in a slightly better way as compared to the rest of the apes. Over many generations, this ape's posterity would be growing at a faster rate as compared to the offsprings of the other apes and eventually there would be a time when these apes who stand slightly upright would be better at surviving. Similarly, there would be natural variation amongst these apes that are standing slightly more upright. And the one that is standing more upright than the others would similarly reproduce faster over time spanning eons. This is how the small incremental improvements take place in the genetic makeup of a specie over time. This is called evolution.

However, from the very start, religion has been perceived, perhaps correctly, as being contradictory to science. And the foundation of this contradiction in modern biology comes from differing point of views on Evolution of believers. The creationists (those who believe that life has been brought into existence by the supernatural) have come up with varied perspectives on evolution but these invariably differ from that of the evolutionists. 

The very first question of creationists is how can evolution be termed as science if it is not observable (since the period over which it is considered to have happened involves eons and eons of years). In other words, there is just circumstantial evidence for it so its essentially at best a theory based on evidence. 

Perhaps the closest reconciliation between creationism and evolution is the concept of
Intelligent Design that says that the trait that allows survival is not actually something that happens by chance but rather it is the result of definite purpose.
So if a certain organ in a humans body evolves it has to do so in conjunction with other organs and systems of the human body. And therein lies the
Divine planning and coordination to facilitate natural selection. 

Creationists oflate have also started usinf support of the fact that DNA sequencing has confirmed that all living things share a common origin (source new scientist magazine). Whether this is a validation of the theological perspective will remain up for debate      between the opposing viewpoints.




Eversince Charles Darwin published his work in 1859, this debate has existed and the view points have only diverged. This debate has gotten more airwave in the West than in other parts of the world. As a Muslim I find it quite disturbing that the incompatibility of the two theories means that either my faith is incorrect or science. Both are indispensible for me.

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