RT Article
T1 Old Texts, New Masks: A Critical Review of Misreading Evolution Onto Historical Islamic Texts
JF Zygon
VO 54
IS 2
SP 501
OP 522
A1 Malik, Shoaib Ahmed
LA English
PB Wiley-Blackwell
YR 2019
UL https://ixtheo.de/Record/1669075028
AB With the increasing interest in Islam and evolution, some Islamic thinkers have vehemently rejected evolution, while others have eagerly embraced it. However, those seeking to embrace evolution sometimes err in their interpretation of historical writings. Indeed, there are texts written by famous historical scholars of Islam who seem to suggest that humans have evolved from lower forms of species. These include Ibn Khaldūn, Jalāl ad-Dīn Rūmī, al-Jāhiz, and The Brethren of Purity (Ikhwān al Safā). Although this may be true, such readings are a mistaken interpretation of the aforementioned authors who are actually referring to some form of the scalae naturae (the Great Chain of Being). This reference to the Great Chain of Being is unknown to some contemporary readers who mistakenly believe these writers to be discussing an evolutionary or a proto-evolutionary theory. This article demonstrates how and why these historical records do not actually represent any notion of evolution as it is currently understood, in the hope of avoiding any further erroneous claims that seem to be proliferating among modern thinkers.
K1 Great Chain of Being
K1 Ibn Khaldūn
K1 Ikhwān al Safā
K1 Islam
K1 Muslims
K1 Rūmī
K1 al-Jāhiz
K1 Evolution
DO 10.1111/zygo.12519