Adam; Quran, Creation and Science: Without Contradictions and Misconceptions

[warner]

And your Lord said to the Angels "I am placing a successor on Earth." ( Al Quran 230)

Generally, followers of the three Abrahamic faiths believe that Adam was the first man on earth and that he was created, right after, the creation of the earth and the heavens in one week; on the 6th day according to the Genesis and on Friday of that same week according to Hadith. Accordingly that will put Adam?s creation about 4.5 billion years ago, considering the scientific dating on the age of the earth.

However, the Quran does not place the creation of Adam, along with the creation of the earth and the heavens nor does it place it immediately after. But what the Bible and the Quran agrees on is the creation of Adam from clay (or mud), thereafter the creation of his female partner (Lets call her Eve, to avoid the long description) and that through them the rest of the humans, making Adam and Eve ?parents to mankind?.

While the Quran mentions about Adam?s creation a few times, in 359 it compares the creation of Adam to the creation of Jesus.

Verily, the likeness of Jesus with Allah is as the likeness of Adam. He created him from dust, and then He said unto him Be! and he is. (Qur?an 359).

The similarity in the creation of Adam and Jesus is, while the rest of the humans originate (i.e. Born) from sexual reproduction between a man and a woman, both Adam and Jesus originated without such contact but at the command of God to ?Be?. (See Al Quran 347 and 1935, on creation of Jesus) Since, generally, all humans originate through sexual reproduction, the creation from clay automatically leads to the implication that Adam was the first man on the face of the earth and religious teachings scorch this position into the hearts of the faithful.

The Quran does not specifically mention, Adam to be the first man on earth, nor does it make, being created to life from clay, exclusive to Adam. According to Al Quran 5109, Jesus creates a bird out of clay and breathes it to life. Just as the creation from clay does not necessitate this bird to be the first bird on earth, creation from clay does not necessitate Adam to be the first man on the earth either. Since, on the face of it, the above statement seems to be in clear contradiction with the Quran, I will try to explain, that there is no contradiction in this position and the Quran, but the apparent contradiction arise from the definition of one important word, ?man? or to be more specific, ?human?.

Even if we rest, the evolution theories and theories on man?s primate beginning, for the moment, we know for a fact, through much evidence, including fossil and skeletal remains, that for some 400,000 years (or more) different branches of human species such as Homo Neanderthals and Homo Sapiens who lay claim to being our ancient ancestors lived on earth. Although most of these guys did not look, think or behave like us, a branch of the Homo Sapiens who lived on earth around 100,000 years ago, looked quite similar to the modern human, in body structure and brain size and therefore termed as Anatomically Modern Humans (AMH). Although these AMH were physically similar to a modern human they were not comparable in behavior. In an attempt to compare the human who lived 100,000 years ago with the modern human, for behavioral modernity and cognitive competencies, it is necessary to identify the time period in which the ancients acquired cognitive abilities in the likes of, but not limited to, perception, awareness, reasoning, memory, symbolic thought, insight, judgment and decision making.

There is considerable debate regarding whether the earliest anatomically modern humans behaved similarly to recent or existing humans. Modern human behaviors characteristic of recent humans include fully modern language, the capacity for abstract thought and the use of symbolism to express cultural creativity. There are two opposing hypotheses regarding the origins of modern behavior. Some scholars argue that humans achieved anatomical modernity first, around 200tya, and only later did they adopt modern behaviors around 50tya. This hypothesis is based on the limited record of fossils from periods before 50tya and the abundance of human artifacts found after 50tya. Proponents of this view distinguish "anatomically modern humans" from "behaviorally modern humans?.http//en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anatomically_modern_humans

So when did the ancient human achieve behavioral modernity and develop cognitive abilities similar to that of the modern human?

According to archaeological evidence the humans towards the end of the last Ice Age/Last Glacial Maximum (about 12,000 ? 15,000 years ago) were physically and probably cognitively indistinguishable from us. This period marks the origin of agriculture and indicates major cultural changes, in which the early humans emerged into farming communities (from the earlier foraging lifestyle) such as the Natufians in the Levant; precursors to the Neolithic Revolution.

But with regard to the preceding period, there is no agreement among experts, about the time frame in which mankind acquired cognitive abilities comparable to that of the modern humans. While estimates differ, according to some experts, that there is a marked increase in evidences of certain cognitive competencies shown by humans for the last 40,000 years (give or take few thousand years) than the period preceding that. But this does not mean these evidences offer, convincing proof of high levels of human cognition as equivalent to that of the recent human. Although archeology can shed light into the physical evolution of man, unfortunately, it cannot expound much about our humanness.
http//ahotcupofjoe.net/2010/05/about-cognitive-archaeology/

Hence the question arises that if we were to compare, Homo sapiens who lived say 100,000, 60, 000 or 40,000 years ago with the humans of today (or for that matter with people who lived say 10,000 years ago) are we comparing two similar humans?

The broad definition of a human will possibly include, anything with a human shape (also as opposed to an animal or an alien) which would probably comprise of Homo sapiens and some of his predecessors and proxies, who lived on earth for some half a million years. Of course, dictionaries will include human qualities such as kindness to describe humans, but surprisingly, these human traits have not been considered, in evolutionary classifications or other definitions of mankind. But what becomes clearly obvious is, if we define humans, based on their cognitive competencies along with the anatomical similarities, probably the more accurate way of classifying, we should be able to identify two separate categories; Cognitively Competent Human (the Modern Human or Recent Human) and the Cognitively Incompetent Human ( Ancient Human or even subhuman).

If we use this classification to define humans, then by all probability Adam would have been a Cognitively Competent Human, since a person would require basic cognitive abilities, to understand God, to be aware of His signs, to abide by the rules, to pass the message of God to the next generation and therefore to possess a language. The Quran uses the words basher, Insan and Nas to describe human, person, people/ mankind, respectively, but it does not define the word ?human?. But it can be reasonably assumed, a human should be considered ?mentally fit? to think, understand, believe, submit, be righteous and very importantly to be tested in this world and to be judged in the hereafter. On the other hand, if we go by anatomical similarities only, Adam should have come to the earth about 200,000 years ago, and began the race of Anatomically Modern Humans, but in all probability, lacked human cognition. A scenario, impossible to agree with.

?There are two main theories regarding when modern human behavior emerged. One theory holds that behavioral modernity occurred as a sudden event some 50 kya (50,000 years ago), possibly as a result of a major genetic mutation or as a result of a biological reorganization of the brain that led to the emergence of modern human natural languages. Proponents of this theory refer to this event as the Great Leap Forward?

Great leap forward

Advocates of this hypothesis argue that the great leap forward occurred sometime between 50-40 kya in Africa or Europe. They argue that humans who lived before 50 kya were behaviorally primitive and indistinguishable from other extinct hominids such as the Neanderthals or Homo erectus. Proponents of this view base their evidence on the abundance of complex artifacts, such as artwork and bone tools of the Upper Paleolithic, that appear in the fossil record after 50 kya. They argue that such artifacts are absent from the fossil record from before 50 kya, indicating that earlier hominids lacked the cognitive skills required to produce such artifacts.
Jared Diamond states that humans of the Acheulean and Mousterian cultures lived in an apparent stasis, experiencing little cultural change. This was followed by a sudden flowering of fine toolmaking, sophisticated weaponry, sculpture, cave painting, body ornaments, and long-distance trade. Humans also expanded into hitherto uninhabited environments, such as Australia and Northern Eurasia.

According to this model, the emergence of anatomically modern humans predates the emergence of behaviorally modern humans by over 100 kya.
http//en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Behavioral_modernity

While the debate continues, on whether mankind achieved cognition gradually or ?all of a sudden?, it would be significant to mention, that the Quran in 231-33 mentions of God teaching names to Adam and Adam repeating them. This may indicate development of language and even development of ?ontological categories?. (The way the human mind routinely employs symbolism, is through the use of ontological categories, which are special mental concepts that allow the human mind to store and categorize vast amounts of information without having to know the details of every single member of a category. http//ahotcupofjoe.net/2010/05/application-of-cognitive-archaeology/)

Also the Quran mentions Adam and Eve after having eaten from the tree become aware of their nakedness and cover themselves with leaves ( out of shame). This is interesting, since scientists researching evolution of morality, cannot tell us clearly, why and how, the ancients became conscious of their nakedness and also when such awareness took place. Although various types of clothing had been used by ancient humans for tens of thousands of years, the evidence suggests clothing was mainly to protect them from the elements, especially from the cold and an ornament and attraction. Adam and Eve suddenly acquiring this kind of awareness imply sudden development of human cognition. Also the distinction between right and wrong, which Adam and Eve learnt from their experience in the garden, an important aspect of human cognition, an experience they would have brought with them to the earth, a human trait which did not exist among the Homo sapiens living at that time. All this may support the theory of sudden emergence of cognition among ancient man. (There is not much variation in the Bible narrative of the above incidents)

Based on our above position, we can presume that Adam appeared on earth, after his expulsion from the garden, within the last 40,0000 years ( and going by the same theory we can assume that he wasn?t here within the last 10,000 years either). Since the Quran does not mention, the timing of Adams creation or his appearance on earth, it does not contradict the Quran, to assume Adam was created and then appeared on earth while other human species (Cognitively Incompetent Humans) were living on earth from whom he succeeded the earth. Also since we understand that creation from clay, does not mean Adam had to pre date all human species on earth, this theory is very much a possibility.

Adding more credibility to this theory is the verse 2 30 in which, God says ? placing a ?Khalifa on earth? meaning a ?successor? on earth . For Adam to be a Successor (or according to some translators, inheritor) there should have been a predecessor on earth and as explained above, Adam succeeded the ancient humans who were living here at that time.

So far we discussed the creation of Adam, the timing of his creation, the definition and the beginning of the modern human race without contradicting the Quran. Based on this position, we can propose, since through Adam and his offspring began the race of Cognitively Competent Humans, he qualifies to become the father of all modern or recent humans. But it?s important to examine if this position contradicts science, that a man of such recent times, in his claim, to be the ancestor of all humans and then contradict the Quran, in its claim, Adam being the father of mankind and Adam and Eve being our parents?
In the quest to find the parents of mankind, fortunately for us, scientists for a while have been bending their backs, in search of our common ancestors. Most of us may think attempting to find someone who is a common ancestor of every human alive today means going all the way back to the beginning of the human race; to a single cell, a chimpanzee or to Adam , depending on where you draw your beliefs from. But scientists using DNA and complex mathematical models are claiming that we share common ancestors (individuals from which all present day humans descend) who lived during recent times (say 5000 ? 15,000 thousand years ago). Genealogists have developed two concepts known as the Most Recent Common Ancestor (MRCA) and Common Ancestral Point (CAP) or Identical Ancestral Point (IAP) which offers interesting results to this intriguing research. These two concepts as explained below makes it possible for Adam and Eve to have lived during the above time frame and still claim the title of, parents to mankind.

On the Common Ancestors of All Living Humans
Douglas L. T. Rohde
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
http//tedlab.mit.edu/~dr/Papers/Rohde-MRCA-two.pdf
(Page 1)

Questions concerning the common ancestors of all present-day humans have received considerable attention of late in both the scientist and lay communities. Principally, this attention has focused on Mitochondrial Eve,' defined to be the woman who lies at the confluence of our maternal ancestry lines, and who is believed to have lived 100,000- 200,000 years ago. More recent attention has been given to our common paternal ancestor, Y Chromosome Adam,' who may have lived 35,000- 89,000 years ago. However, if we consider not just our all-female and all-male lines, but our ancestors along all parental lines, it turns out that everyone on earth may share a common ancestor who is remarkably recent.

This study introduces a large-scale, detailed computer model of recent human history which suggests that the common ancestor of everyone alive today very likely lived between 2,000 and 5,000 years ago. Furthermore, the model indicates that nearly everyone living a few thousand years prior to that time is either the ancestor of no one or of all living humans.

Introduction

Advances in genetics have sparked interest in our common ancestors, the individuals from which all present-day humans descend. Initial interest focused on the topic of Mitochondrial Eve,' who is defined to be the most recent female ancestor from whom all individuals descend along strictly maternal lines (Cann, Stoneking, & Wilson,1987; Vigilant, Stoneking, Harpending, Hawkes, & Wilson,1991). An approximate date for Mitochondrial Eve of 100,000 to 200,000 years ago has been estimated based on the successive mutations in mitochondrialDNA, which are passed down from mother to child. A similar analysis can be performed on the strictly paternal lines of succession, using the Y chromosome, which is passed down from father to son, to determine the approximate date of Y Chromosome Adam.' This date was originally estimated very loosely to fall between 27,000 and 270,000 years ago (Dorit, Akashi, & Gilbert, 1995), a range that was more recently narrowed to 35,000- 89,000 years ago (Ke et al., 2001).

(Page 27)
This paper has sought to investigate an intriguing aspect of the human species, our common ancestry. Based on the results of a series of computer models, it seems likely that our most recent common ancestor may have lived between 2,000 and 5,000 years ago. This is, perhaps, one tenth to one one-hundredth the length of time to our most recent common ancestors along solely male or solely female lines, which have been the target of considerable recent interest. The point beyond which everyone alive today shares the same set of ancestors is somewhat harder to predict, but it most likely falls between 5,000 and 15,000 years ago, with a significantly more recent date for the point at which we share nearly the same set.

The concepts of Mitochondrial Eve and Y Chromosome Adam may seem contradictory to the theory above since Mitochondrial Eve is estimated to have lived at least 100,000 years ago. An explanation would be interbreeding between offspring of Adam and existing Cognitively Incompetent Humans. This assumption clearly puts an end to the debate of incest by Adams offspring. Meanwhile Y Chromosme Adam comes within our time frame.

After the appearance of Adam on earth, it?s possible, the offspring of Adam, had a better chance of survival because of their higher cognitive levels compared to that of the Homo sapiens, whose population already diminished due to the expanding ice ages. Also it is possible the newly adopted cognitive capabilities led to many changes in these particular humans, individually and collectively. (For instance, the development of agriculture based societies which had a better a chance at survival from hunger, cold and disease than the hunter gatherers in the wild). It?s possible due to development of cognitive competencies, which led to improvement in their thinking and behavior, offspring of Adam survived, while the remaining Ancient Humans went extinct over the years.

[Andya_Primanda]

Hmm, I like the idea. How do you understand the concept of "Khalaq" "Creation" by the way? Is it miraculous (supranatural) or natural and open to scientific inquiry?

[warner]

Peace Andya

Inferring from your signature, the verse 2920, IMO seems like an invitation by God for scientific inquiry into creation. It?s a 4.5b years old planet, anything could have happened here. The creator?s intelligent design and signature maybe on every building block of the universe and life itself, but these signs can be so subtle and natural, scientific inquiry will not be able to recognize the creator and the miraculous nature of the creation.

Although personally I believe scientific inquiry is possible, but every now and then it would come across a grey wall which it cannot scale and offer answers to every burning question. To put it simple life itself is a miracle and cannot be explained by science.

My hypothesis above does not challenge evolution and established scientific facts but I should admit my reservations on ( and also my ignorance on the specifics of )natural selection.

I would love to know your position on miracle and scientific inquiry .

[MUNZIR_ALI]

atleast most Muslims aren't young earth Creationists.

[unknownuser]

Great post, I have been through a similar thinking process. What I presently think is that Adam and his wife were on Earth the whole way through (because of 230). The garden referred to is more like a state of pure innocent being that they slipped out of upon touching the forbidden. See 1448 as well, upon judgement everything still takes place on Earth, it's just that this is a fresh one. Another thing to consider, the creator teaches Adam the names but he teaches man language (554).

Without the ability to name we would have to resort to the basic assortments of grunts and groans that our chords can vocalise. As the monkey world shows, it doesn't carry a species very far relatively speaking. The ability to name creates a constant point of reference in the collective mind that can be referred to repeatedly. In essence it's as if God created this giant computer program then gave Adam the ability to declare his own variables in the very same program.

Yet there's no point having the variables without them being used. So then comes language and we have a fully fledged system literally write and rewrite itself over a period of time resulting in the obscene bureaucratic mess we have today.

Hmm, I like the idea. How do you understand the concept of "Khalaq" "Creation" by the way? Is it miraculous (supranatural) or natural and open to scientific inquiry?

Raw creation at its heart is making more information come out of less or no information. Universe back then, exceedingly simple. Universe now, complexity to the ninth degree and then some. I imagine our fingerprints carry more information now than the entire universe did in its earliest instances. Supposing that this is an accurate definition of what creation actually is then surely that makes creation both astoundingly miraculous yet completely natural and open to scientific enquiry. I do believe the universe is open source.