Quarantine in Islam, and Allah's Decree

By Imam Wahbah az-Zuḥaylī, may Allah have mercy on him 

Al-Madinah

One of the passive means of protection that protects against many contagious diseases and prevents the spread of epidemics like cholera and the plague is to confine the illness to where it is, what is called al-ḥajr as-ṣiḥḥī [i.e. quarantine], even though we have firm conviction that Allah, Glorified and Exalted is He, is the One who cures and causes illness. The Exalted One says, quoting the statement of Ibrāhīm, peace be upon him, “He who gives me food and gives me drink; and when I am ill, it is He who cures me.” [ash-Shuʿarāʾ 26:79-80] He, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, after negating that there is any intrinsic contagion, independent of Allah’s doing, said, {Flee from the leper the way you would flee from a lion.} There is also al-Bukhārī’s narration in at-Tārīkh: {Be wary of the leper the way you would be wary of a lion.} This is part of using the outward means that Allah has commanded us to, and they are from Allah’s predestination. ʿUmar, may Allah be pleased with him, said regarding the Plague of ʿAmwās to Abū ʿUbaydah ibn al-Jarrāḥ, may Allah be pleased with him, ‘Yes, we are fleeing from Allah’s predestination to His decree’, or ‘from what Allah has predestined to what Allah has predestined.’ He, peace and blessings be upon him, in what has been narrated by at-Tirmidhī, said about ar-ruqyah,[1] ‘It is from Allah’s predestination.’ Thus, just as illness is from Allah’s predestination and to be cured is from Allah’s predestination, prevention is also from Allah’s predestination.

[Translated from Qaḍāyā al-Fiqh wa al-Fikr al-Muʿāṣir (Damascus: Dār al-Fikr, 1430/2009) v.2, p.342-343]

…One of the most important ways of protecting the environment is what is called al-ḥajr as-ṣiḥḥī [i.e. quarantine] nowadays, in order to prevent the spread of contagious diseases and dangerous epidemics, in order to contain the illness as much as possible. This is a type of precautionary or protective planning that has been affirmed by Islam from the very beginning. The Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, said, {The one who is ill is not brought into the presence of the one who is healthy.}[2] There is also the ḥadīth in al-Bukhārī: {Flee from the leper the way you would flee from a lion}, and this is a type of protection.

As for precautions and quarantine, this is understood from other ḥadīths, such as his statement, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, {If you hear about a plague in a land, do not enter it, and if it occurs in the land that you are in, do not leave it.}[3]

This planning does not contradict faith in Allah’s decree and predestination, due to ʿUmar’s statement, may Allah be pleased with him, when ʿUbaydah ibn al-Jarrāḥ said to him, ‘Are you fleeing from what Allah has predestined?’: ‘Yes. We are fleeing from what Allah has predestined to what Allah has predestined…’[4]

[Translated from Mawsūʿah al-Fiqh al-Islāmī wa al-Qaḍāyā al-Muʿāṣirah (Damascus, Dār al-Fikr, 1434/2013), v.12, p. 796]

---

[1] (tn): i.e. reciting something from the Qurʾān, or something else that has been related, over the patient or someone else for the sake of protection and cure

[2] Related by Muslim, Aḥmad, and Abdur Razzāq from the ḥadīth of Abū Salamah ibn ʿAbdir Raḥmān ibn ʿAwf

[3] Related by Al-Bukhārī, Muslim, Mālik in al-Muwaṭṭaʾ, and at-Tirmidhī on the authority of Usāmah ibn Zayd, may Allah be pleased with him.

[4] Its source is in the previous ḥadīth. (tn): This is also found in Riyāḍ as-Ṣāliḥīn by Imam an-Nawawī, the chapter on it being disliked to leave a land where there is an epidemic in order to flee from it and it being disliked to enter it. Please see p.563-564 (Jeddah: Dār al-Minhāj, 1427/2006).


Related:
Fatwa on the Closure of Masjids 

Allah Exists

Translated from the book Kubrā al-Yaqīniyyāt al-Kawniyyah (The Greatest Universal Sureties) by Imam Muḥammad Saʿīd Ramaḍān al-Būṭī, may Allah have mercy on him, (Damascus, Dār al-Fikr, 1428/2008), p.77-107

 

 

Divinity
1. The Existence of Allah, Mighty and Majestic is He

Introduction:

Faith in the existence of Allah, Mighty and Majestic, is the foundation of all creedal issues, and from it all other doctrinal matters which necessarily stimulate the intellect to contemplate them and then have faith in them branch out.

In other words, we say all the realities of the universe that you see are only the effect of one great reality, and that is the Essence of Allah, Mighty and Majestic. It is impossible to grasp what the lesser, secondary issues are before grasping their primary source and foundation, thus there is no way to familiarise yourself with the universe without first familiarising yourself with its Creator.

You might say, ‘But I do not believe in the Creator.’ My answer to you would be, ‘Then you must investigate the subject of His existence thoroughly and verify the notion that you do not believe in Him, and that is so that you do not eventually make a mistake in your understanding of the universe and the meaning of your existence therein.’

Let us begin the course by following the method that we have clarified:

‘The existence of Allah, Mighty and Majestic’ is a scientific claim connected to science while at the same time it is not subject to experience and observation.’

Therefore, the path to verifying it is by one of two ways:

The first way is to verify the existence of Allah directly according to the method we have mentioned with regards to scientific matters that are not observable, such that if that is established with us through indisputable proofs, His existence demonstrates to us that He has not created anything in this universe in vain, which in turn shows us the veracity of the Messengers and Prophets with regards to the commandments they were sent with. Faith in the Messengers leads us to faith in the Books and that the Qurʾān is the speech of Allah, Mighty and Majestic. Then faith in the speech of Allah leads us to have faith in everything it contains by way of its various reports, rulings, commands and prohibitions…we call this path the top down path.

The second path is to leave investigating the essence of Allah and start by looking at a report that has been transmitted to us about the reality of this Book that is in front of us and which is called the Qurʾān, such that if we know with indisputable proof that is connected to the verification of transmissions and reports that it has reached us via Muḥammad, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, and he says that it was revealed to him from Allah, Mighty and Majestic, we verify the meaning of revelation as the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, himself has explained it with the scientific proofs that are harmonious with this claim, which are clear circumstantial evidence and analogy in accordance with what we have mentioned and its conditions above, such as thorough investigation and so forth.

Thus, if we have established for ourselves the veracity of the Messenger’s claim, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, and that the revelation is a fact in which the Messenger has no choice and is not something emotional originating from his being, we investigate to see what could be the source of this revelation, using circumstantial evidence based on thorough investigation. Then, if we have established for ourselves by way of examination that no one but Allah, may His majesty be manifest, could have sent down this revelation, this demonstrates to us that Allah, Mighty and Majestic, exists, and with that our faith increases in all the phases that we have already passed in the investigation. We call this way the bottom up way. Let us start by looking at the first way:

The Top Down Way

Every scientific fact, no matter how trivial, must eventually depend on a necessary fact (i.e. self-evident) that is not in need of proof. If not, the researcher remains seeking one proof after another in a never-ending sequence. Thus, ignorance is not removed and knowledge does not take its place.

Thus, what are the self-evident facts that need no proof, and upon which the evidence for Allah’s existence, may His majesty be manifest, rests?

In answering this, we place in front of you a group of instinctive facts and principles which scholars have compiled because they are necessary and because they are proofs in and of themselves, and upon them we establish direct proof for his existence, Glorified and Exalted is He, by way of clear circumstantial evidence, which you have seen in the method of research. These facts are:

The falsity of something being preferred without anyone preferring it
The falsity of infinite regression
The falsity of alternation
The law of causation[1]

1. The proof of the falsity of something being preferred without anyone preferring it:


The meaning of something being preferred without anyone preferring it is that the thing is proceeding in a certain manner and then it changes from its manner and diverts away from it without there being any one to change it or divert it whatsoever. This is a matter that is clearly false. Every sane person knows that the foundation remains upon what it was upon, and in order for it to divert from its previous state there has to be someone to divert it and influence it and impose upon it a new state and abrogate the old one.


If you understand this, then let us apply this proof to the issue of Allah’s existence, Mighty and Majestic is He:


All the matters and forms that are presumed in the mind can only be ascribed with one of three attributes: necessity, impossibility and possibility.

That which is ascribed necessity is that which the intellect deems impossible not to exist. That which is ascribed impossibility is that which the intellect deems impossible to exist. That which is ascribed possibility is that which the intellect deems possible to exist or not exist.

This universe which we see in its entirety falls under the category of possible. In other words, the intellect is absolutely certain that it would not be impossible to presume its non-existence and sees it as possible that the means of its non-existence exist from its foundation, without necessitating anything impossible that the intellect cannot accept. Therefore, the existence of the universe as such is not necessary. It is not indispensable. Everything that has this nature must have an external influencer that prefers one of the two sides of possibility and removes the other. This means that this universe, which from its foundation could equally exist or not exist, must have a force external to it that influences it and has specified it to exist, and that force is the force of Allah, Mighty and Majestic.

If you say, ‘I assume that it was brought into existence by itself without any external force influencing it’, this assumption of yours necessitates that something can be preferred without anyone preferring it, which is false, as you know, and the hypothesis that necessitated it is also false.

We can clarify this issue further and say there is no doubt that there was point in time when this universe was not something remembered, as absolute non-existence was in place of today’s existence. This means that at that time the side of existence was what was preferred, and it continued as such. Then the matter was inverted and the side of existence was preferred over the side of absolute non-existence. If you say that the world was brought into existence by means of an intrinsic force without the need for an originator, then that means that you are saying that the side of existence can be preferred over the side of non-existence and the matter that continuing as such was inverted without there being any factor influencing this preference or unforeseen inversion. This is something that man knows instinctively to be false.

If you went and claimed that you had held a scale by its accurate beam and you had put the same weight on each side without adding anything to either of them, and then, while the two sides were even, all of sudden one of them went down while the other went up without any external influence that the mind could conceive–everyone would abandon you, worrying about your cogitation and intellect. So what if you said to them that you had placed a weight on one of the two sides and while you were holding the scale from its beam and the heavy side was being weighed down, all of a sudden the situation changed: the heavy side went up and the light side sank, despite its lightness?

Indeed, saying the continuous, absolute non-existence suddenly transformed into existence, which interacts and reproduces, without any external cause for this transformation–is no less impossible and strange than the claim of the person with the scale.

However, you know that all of this is based on the presumption that the one who doubt’s Allah’s existence says, as most sane people firmly believe, that the world is contingent, i.e. it was preceded by non-existence, regardless of the age of this prolonged existence.

But what if it were said to us, after this clear, self-evident proof, ‘I presume that the world always existed the way it does now. It has no beginning and it was not preceded by non-existence, and thus there is only one side and you have no proof to make me agree with what you are saying’?

Here we move on to the second instinctive fact:

2. The proof of the falsity of infinite regression

At that point we say, ‘You mean, therefore, that this world is continuing according to the rule of self-procreation that has no beginning. This presumption necessitates infinite regression, and all sane people know instinctively that infinite regression is impossible, and thus the impossibility of the hypothesis that led to it is also made clear.

The meaning of infinite regression is the presumption that all created beings are endlessly reproduced from one another, such that each one of them is caused by what came before it and is the cause of what comes after it without this chain eventually originating from a cause that exists by necessity which grants the effect of reproduction to all the other links in the chain.

This presumption is false. The intellect necessarily deems it impossible, as the chain of possible created beings, however long it may be, its ongoing length cannot escape the fact that its existence is only possible, and possible things, in order form to be preferred to exist or not exist, must have someone who makes that preference, as we have said. This long chain, which you say stretches back into a deep cave that never ends, is comprised of links each of which would not exist were it not for the link before it giving it life and existence, and it itself gives life as well. Therefore, all the links of the chain, none of them have any intrinsic influence, however long the chain may be, and therefore, in order to affirm that it exists, we must wait for the emergence of an external influencer who provided with the chain this life that has been transferred from one link to the next. If not, then we have to decisively affirm one of two matters: either this entire chain does not exist, as the existence of whoever initially gave it life is not established, or it exists but it eventually originates from an essence that exists by necessity and it influences it and is not influenced by it at all. As for the first matter, it is patently false, because perception and observation deny it. The world exists and the reproduction of causes is something seen and witnessed. The second matter remains, and it is that you are certain that there must be an essential source that gave it life and the ability to develop and reproduce. Thus, the abovementioned regression is false.

Let us give some examples of this issue that are smaller than the vastness of the world so that that the matter can be clearer and more self-evident.

If I were to stand in front of you claiming that I know a scientific fact for certain, and when you asked me about the evidence I mentioned to you some proof which itself is a unknown proof that depends on a proof, and when you asked me for the proof of this proof, I brought you a proof just like it that depended on another proof…and so on with no end, i.e. without all these proofs eventually ending up at a necessary reality that is known intuitively, you would deny my claim to certainty regarding this fact. Indeed, you would deny that it exists at all, as there is no proof established for it yet and all the continuous proofs that we had assumed to be endless are nothing but shadows waiting for their original source. If that source does not exist then these shadows themselves do not exist, and thus this claimed fact also does not; exist.

If you see a long mathematical number in which a large number of zeros are joined together, you would quickly look, before anything else, look at the first, essential number that has all the zeros on its right. As long as your eyes have not seen that number, you will not give those zeros any mathematical value. Why?

This is because you know that a zero by itself had no numerical value. It only draws it value from the zero that is next to it, and that zero draws its numerical value from a third zero, and then a fourth, and then a fifth, until the zeros end up at a numerical number like one or more. It is this number that has the essential value inside of it. It is the one that gives life and value to the continuous zeros next to it. If we presumed that the chain of zeros did not end up at a numerical number possessing some essential value, these zeros would be devoid of any value. Indeed, they would be devoid of any meaning of existence, and the presumption of an endless sequence is something that ipso facto never changes and is never given any value.

You see in your friend’s house a place that has beautiful flowers and a pure fragrance. When you ask him where these beautiful flowers come from, he says that they are a branch that he took from a root by his neighbour’s house. When you ask the neighbour, he in turn answers you by saying that what he has is just a part that he took from a friend’s house. Then the third person gives you the same answer the second person gave you, and you get the same answer from the fourth, fifth and sixth. Each one of them answers you by saying that what they have is just a part from someone else, and in vain you follow this sequence looking for the source of this plant and its progenitor that gave it appearance and structure and enabled it to branch out for the very beginning. If it were said to you that the sequence of this branching out and splitting up continues endlessly, what would your intellect conclude with the least amount of thinking?

There is no doubt that you would conclude that this speech is a lie, because branching out, regardless of how much it reproduces and increases, can only be the result of the existence of a source that is established in and of itself and which gives those branches existence or life. If it were said that there is no source for it and we assume the speaker to be truthful, that would mean that it still has not been born, and therefore these claimed branches also have no existence whatsoever. As for if you were to see the plants’ branches with your own eyes that would mean that there is an essential source that gave all these branches existence, regardless of how remote this source and regardless of whether you have thought about it or inquired about it.

Any sane person understands that a sequence of causes that acquire the ability to cause comes from the causes that come before it, such as the sequence of zeros or the sequence of the plants’ branches or the sequence of the abovementioned proofs. Therefore, no sane person can claim that the entire existence of the world is based on nothing other than a reproducing sequence without being preceded by an essential influencer that is external to its reality and exists by necessity. Otherwise, it would be valid to claim that the value of one million is only comprised of successive zeros alternating the value amongst themselves without relying on an essential number coming before them, or to claim that the flowers found in the gardens and houses are originally nothing but branches taken from one another without going back to a source that provided them with the foundation of existence.

In this regard, we say what the majestic scholar, ash-Shaykh Muṣṭafā Ṣabrī said in his lofty book Mawqif al-ʿAql wa al-ʿIlm wa al-ʿĀlim min Rabb al-ʿĀlamīn:[2]


‘If you say to an atheist, “What is the cause of the existence of this existence that needs a cause that brings it into existence?”, he will answer by saying that it is the existence of another existence that preceded it. Then you say to him, “What is the cause of the existence of that existence that preceded it?” He will answer by saying that the existence of a third existence existed before it, and like the second it needs a cause that brings it into existence. This chain of answers in this way will never end, no matter how long it goes on for and how you far you make it in questioning–so know that this antagonist is deceiving you, misleading you and distracting you with his answers as they actually contain no answer whatsoever, just as he is deceiving, misleading and distracting himself before doing so to you. What I mean is that he cannot show you the cause of the existence of that existence whose cause of existence you asked him about first, and thus he flees from answering your question without knowing that he is fleeing. Then he tries to hide the fact that he is fleeing from answering by turning the matter into layers of continuous darkness that have no beginning. He makes you think that there is a cause before a cause and then continues with this delusion until you have a chain of causes that have no beginning, and thus none of it can be a cause as it has no source and it has not existence.’[3]

After all of this is, the presumption of infinite regression is destroyed by perception and observation itself, because we all know that there are specific created beings that have died out and become extinct, and thus if it were true that existent beings were part of an endless chain, such that each link was caused by the link before it and causes the link after it, these existent beings would not die out. How can any of them die out when they are the cause of what comes after them? When perception and observation show us that they die out and they do not continue reproducing, we know that the last link was only caused and was not a cause like the one before it. This is a violation of this claimed chain system and its nature, and is evidence that there is an external influencer influencing the monotonous chain system.

What is Scientific Truth?

Paving the way for another podcast

If Allah so wills, the next podcast on The Foreword channel will cover the nature of reality, and it will be a follow up of this podcast:

It will also be an elaboration of this discussion as well as this post.

And with Allah alone is every success.

Related:
Man's Creation and the Theory of Evolution


UPDATE: The podcast is now available:

 

Man's Creation and the Theory of Evolution

A republication of this article,  which is a translation from Imam Muhammad Saeed Ramadan al-Bouti's book Kubrā Al-Yaqīniyyāt Al-Kawniyyah (Damascus: Dār Al-Fikr, 1998), p.245-272, as the Naseem al-Sham English site is currently under reconstruction.

Al-Kahf 18:51

1.    Man

A Muslim must know the following facts about man and his reality.  Then he must be certain of them within himself and upon them establish his faith in Allah, Mighty and Majestic.

a.    Man is the best and noblest of Allah’s creations.

b.    Man is created, as a species, from the element of earth.  Procreation–as a source–begins with the first man, Adam, may peace and prayers be upon him.

c.     Man is created, from the first genesis, in the most perfect outward form and the best stature. He did not evolve as a species at any point in his history nor did he gradually move from one genus to another.

Let us now consider, in all clarity, these three facts separately.

A.   Man is the best and most noble of Allah’s creations.

This fact is established by two proofs, the first of which has been transmitted to us with truthful certainty while the second is rational proof.

As for the truthful transmission, it is His statement, Mighty and Majestic: “Verily we have honoured the Children of Adam and conveyed them on land and sea and have provided them with good things and favoured them greatly over many we have created” [al-Isrāʾ 17:70]. There is also His statement, Mighty and Majestic: “We said to the angels, ‘Prostrate yourselves before Adam’, and they prostrated, with the exception of Iblīs. He refused and was arrogant and was one of the disbelievers.” [al-Baqarah 2:34]

The proof in both of these verses is clear in proving what is sought, and there is no ambiguity in knowing that man is the best of creation with the exception of the angels. These two verses and many others clearly state this, but there has been some study and research into the generalization of this ruling, even with regards to the angels as well.

The reason for this incertitude and ambiguity is Allah the Exalted’s statement at the end of the first verse that we mentioned: “...and favoured them greatly over many we have created.”  It shows–for whoever takes the evidence of speech[1]–that there are some other creations that man is not superior to; and there is no doubt that this should be referring to the angels, based on what is affirmed in the Qurʾān and the authentic Sunnah clarifying their precedence and their immense rank.

As for those who do not stick to what the speech evidences and find what the text articulates to be sufficient, they have stated that the use of the word “many” (kathīr) is actually a substitute for the word “all” (kull). There is no indication that the opposite of “many” is “a few” and thus the verse, generally speaking, endorses the superiority of man over the rest of creation.

Those who state the absolute superiority of the angels over man include ʿAbdullah Ibn ʿAbbās, may Allah be pleased with him, and it is the opinion of al-Zujāj according to what al-Wāḥidī has narrated[2] and they used for a proof what we just mentioned from the end of the verse as well as His statement, Mighty and Majestic, about the angels: “but they are honoured slaves. They do not precede Him in speech and they act on His command.” [al-Anbiyāʾ 21:26-27] There is also The Exalted’s statement: “...who do not disobey Allah in respect of any order he gives them and do what they are commanded to do.” [al-Taḥrīm 66:6] and the ḥadīth in al-Bukhārī, may Allah be pleased with him: {Whoever remembers Me in a gathering, I remember him in a gathering that is better than His.} Al-Qurṭubī said that this text proves the superiority of the angels.[3]

The position of the majority of Ahl us-Sunnah wa Al-Jamāʿah is that the elite of mankind, from the prophets and the righteous, are superior to the elite of the angels. They are the ones whom Allah has specifically chosen to mention in His Noble Book. The masses of mankind, and they are the pious from amongst the Muslims, are better than the masses of the angels. Their evidence for this includes Allah the Exalted’s statement: “But those who believe and do good deeds are the best of created beings.” [al-Bayyinah 98:7] “Created beings” (al-bariyyah) comprises the angels. They also use the ḥadīth that has been narrated by Abū Dāwūd and others in which the Messenger of Allah, may Allah’s blessings and peace be upon him, said, {Indeed the angels lay down their wings out of pleasure for the seeker of knowledge.} Likewise, they also used as proof the fact that Allah has given man the essentials of legal responsibility from which he becomes deserving of reward and recompense for the obligatory acts that Allah has commanded him to do. It should also be noted that Allah has placed in man various passions and desires and if he fights them and overcomes them he deserves a reward that the angels do not deserve, and this is because their created constitution does not contain any of these passions or desires.[4]

Al-Qurṭubī said, ‘There is no way of decisively proving that the prophets are better than the angels, or a way to decisively prove that the angels are better than them, because the required way is what has been transmitted from Allah the Exalted and His Messenger (i.e. that which has been mass-transmitted and is irrefutable) or the consensus of the Muslim nation,[5] and there is nothing there.’

As for the rational proof, it includes the following points:

The first point is that the human soul is distinguished from all other souls and other existent beings by that amazing and astonishing power, and that power is indeed the intellectual power to comprehend the realities of things and thus it is the key to subjecting many of the universe’s phenomena to man and bringing them under his control.

The peculiarities of this intellectual power include the fact that it is the power that manifests within itself the light of knowing Allah the Exalted and with it the light of Allah’s magnificence is made radiant. The one who possesses this power is prepared to be a worshipful slave of his sublime Creator, manifest is His Majesty. As a result man becomes the first manifestation of Allah’s divinity, Mighty and Majestic.

If this is the case then it is clearly necessary for the human soul to be the most noble of souls that exist in the universe (if we make an exception for the angels due to exceptional considerations concerning them).

The second point is the proofs of the veracity of Allah the Exalted’s statement: “And He has made everything in the heavens and everything on earth subservient to you. It is all from Him.” [al-Jāthiyah 45:13] that we see by way of experience and observation, as you can see that everything from the movements of the celestial bodies to the ordered system of the universe and the various functions of all created things: they are all commensurate with man’s needs and serving him. Thus, in relation to this existence that surrounds him man is like the axis of a circle, in that he draws towards himself various other creations that strive in perpetual and constant revolution in order to weave together for him the best essentials of life and to cater to his various requirements and needs.

One of the necessities of this, as you can see, is that this being, who has this position with regards to all other created beings and they have their position with regards to him, becomes the best of them and  most noble of them without exception.

The third point is the attributes that Allah the Exalted has placed inside man, which, on the whole, are remnants from the attributes of Lordship, such as knowledge, power, arrogance,[6] the desire for authority and domination, and so forth.

When you think deeply, you know that man only believes in Allah, Glorious and Majestic, and fills his heart by exalting Him and revering Him by means of these attributes that have been placed within him, because with his partial, limited knowledge he has an idea of Allah’s vast, unlimited knowledge. With his partial, limited power, he can have an idea of Allah’s power, which holds sway over everything. With the little property that he has, he can have an idea of Allah’s vast dominion, which includes everything that is and everything that ever was. If Allah had not placed within him these samples from His attributes, man would not be prepared to realise the sublimity of Allah the Exalted and the glory of His authority.

If man, in reality, is a repository for shades or remnants of the attributes of the Lord of Might, Glorious and Majestic, then it is preferable for him to be the most noble and honourable of created beings.

In summary, man’s preference over all other created beings (with the exception of the angels), is a decisive and established fact which is proven by mass-transmitted, authentic narrations as well as sound, rational proof. Thus, it is obligatory for a Muslim to believe it.

As for his preference over the angels, this is something that is possible. The proofs are inconclusive and this is why there has been a difference of opinion. Perhaps the safest thing to do would be for us to refer the truth of the matter to Allah’s knowledge, Glorious and Majestic is He.

***

B.   Man is created (in terms of being a species) from earth and multiplied (in terms of a source) from the first man, Adam, peace be upon him.

Know that the proof for this fact is restricted to relying on mass-transmitted, authentic narrations. They are not from matters that are connected to sensations such that they can be subject to empirical or observed proof. Rather, they originate from a transmission that is connected to ancient history, so there is no hope in verifying it beyond verifying the transmission itself.

As for man being created (in terms of being a species) from the element of earth, this has been proven by several clear verses in Allah’s Book, Glorious and Majestic is He.

These include His statement, Mighty and Majestic is He: “From it We created you and to it and we shall return you. Then We shall extract you from it once again.” [Ṭaha 20:55] and His statement, Mighty and Majestic is He: “Indeed we created man from ṣalṣāl which comes from ḥamaʾ masnūn.” [Al-Ḥijr 15:26] and His statement, Exalted is He: “He created man out of dry clay from pottery.” [al-Raḥmān 55:14]

Ṣalṣāl is dry clay and it clatters, i.e. it makes a sound as if it is pottery, i.e. burned clay. The ḥamaʾ is black, altered clay and masnūn means that it is formed in the form of a man.

Thus, ṣalṣāl is what kind of earth it is, and hamaʾ masnūn is what kind of ṣalṣāl it is, similar to you saying: ‘I took this from a man from the Arabs from the Levant.’[7]    

As for him being multiplied from Adam, peace and blessings be upon him, and him being the first man, there are also several, clear verses that prove this in Allah the Exalted’s Book. You can read these verses in the story of Adam’s creation, which is repeated several times in The Clear Book.

Know that at this point it does not concern us to look into how Adam came down from Paradise, and to verify the place on earth that he landed in, or how the progeny of Adam and Eve multiplied afterwards. None of that has anything to with the creed, which is based on established and decisive stipulations.

Rather, discussing these things would merely be for the sake of curiosity as none of these matters are decisively proven in the Book or the Sunnah. This is why, in our worship of Allah, Mighty and Majestic, we are not required to believe in anything specific regarding them.

Beware of paying attention to what some of the Sufis say, those who claim that Adam, peace be upon him, the story of whose creation is mentioned in the Qurʾān,  was preceded by many other ‘Adams’. They then go into detail about the matter and everything they say is based on pure fantasy.

These claims are based on nothing but conjecture. They are not supported by any proof that has come to us by way of authentic, decisive transmission, or any certain evidence that has come to us by way of scientific examination. It is part of etiquette with the Book of Allah the Exalted and the Sunnah of His Messenger that we assign knowledge of what Allah, Mighty and Majestic has not clarified, nor His Messenger, to the knowledge of Allah alone, unless it is subject to the means of research, experience and witnessing, for indeed Allah’s speech has invited us to research the truth and seek certainty therein.

3. Man is created, ever since his first formation, in the most perfect outward form and in the most beautiful stature.

           

The discussion about the first formation of man is another thing that is not subject to empirical proofs or that which is observed and tangible. On the whole, it is a historical discussion in which one cannot use thought or investigation beyond the two proofs of anticipation and retrieval, and they are two delusive proofs, as we have previously clarified. It is impossible for a decisive creed to be based on something from their results.

If Allah, Mighty and Majestic, had not spoken to us about anything decisive in this regard we would not have clung to any ruling and believed in it decisively.

However, when it comes to that which is authentic and mass-transmitted, in which there is no room for any doubt or conjecture whatsoever, we have His statement, Exalted is He: “Indeed we have created man in the best of stature.” [al-Tīn 95:4] The fact that al is added to al-insān (man) means that it includes all of mankind; every individual human being.

An example of this is His statement, Exalted is He: “O Man! What has deluded you in respect of your Noble Lord? He Who created you and formed you and proportioned you…” i.e. made you symmetrical, straight and standing upright in the most beautiful of shapes and forms.

One of the things that confirms what the Qurʾān has established is what has been narrated in the two Ṣaḥīḥ collections from Abū Hurayra, may Allah be pleased with him, who said that the Messenger of Allah, may Allah’s blessings and peace be upon him, said, {Allah created Adam in his form}, i.e. since his creation he has had this essential form, which he continues to have and which he is known by, i.e. he did not emerge by transferring from one form to another. The pronoun ‘his’ in ‘his form’ goes back to Adam.

There is another opinion which says that the pronoun goes back to the essence of Allah the Exalted, and what is meant by form is the attribute, i.e. He created him to have knowledge, will, wisdom, hearing, seeing and so forth, and these are attributes of Allah the Exalted. (See page 137[8] of this book).

Whether the attribute goes back to Adam, as is the majority opinion and is what is understood outwardly from the ḥadīth, or whether it goes back to the essence of Allah the Exalted, the ḥadīth confirms the decisive proofs found in the Qurʾān, which show that Allah honoured Adam from the very beginning of his creation.

And, if that is the case, we must know that man has never transitioned, throughout his entire history, from one species to another in any evolutionary fashion, as it is said that he developed from one genus to another, or gradually evolved from the outward form of one species to have the outward form of another species.

This ruling is the decisive conclusion to the three matters that we have mentioned about man, which are:

He is the best and noblest of Allah’s creations.

He is created from earth and he multiplied from the first man, Adam, peace be upon him.

He is created, ever since his first formation, in the most perfect outward form and in the most beautiful stature.

                           

The Development of the Theory of Evolution When Faced With this Fact

           

As you can see, this decisive fact that every Muslim must believe in completely contradicts what is called the theory of evolution, which adopted another historical assumption about man, which is that he comes from a series of links in a chain of differing species, gradually developing from the simple to the complex, from the primitive to the advanced, in both form and thought. What is the Muslim’s position regarding this contradiction and difference of opinion?

The answer is that his position should be the position that is adopted by any intelligent person when faced with a contradiction between a scientific fact and a theoretical matter. Therefore, there is no doubt that the scientific fact is that which should be destined to remain, and it is inevitable that the theory will be abrogated as long as it contradicts this fact. The theory cannot go together with the fact.