The Arrival of Islamic Creationism
16 Sep, 2007
- Now, however, there is a new contestant in this battle among
the `intellects': Islam. On July 17th, The New York Times
published a piece on a vociferous and stirring figure, Adnan Oktar,
who maintains the site Harun Yahya. He is an Islamic creationist
of Turkish origin who argues that evolution is a deception of the
truth and has been responsible for fascism, communism, and
terrorism. In addition to the site, he has composed an `Atlas of
Creation' which has been distributed to academic institutions and
congressmen across the entire USA.[1]
The multitude of evidences is always there and the duality
between fact and theory is a serious one, not so often reducibly
explicable. To contend the Darwinist viewpoint of the world relies
on strictly empirical questions with implicit relevance to a couple
of important points that are to be raised, however. First, from a
scientific perspective, Mr. Oktar's unsubstantiated vilification of
evolution is aggressively disserving towards the advance and
progress of humanity's scientific pursuits. Since the discovery of
Darwinian biology, the technological industry has gone through a
tremendous shift. The development of the antibiotic, for example,
has been elegantly perfected through mastering its application upon
populations of bacteria. The ability to calculate successive results
was only promised by considering the implications of
micro-mutational natural selection, which is something observably
expressed by these microbial pathogens. Another innovation which is
arising is in cancer research. Scientists are beginning to map out a
moderately coherent explanation of why cancer survives the defense
lines of human cellular machinery. It turns out that cancer-causing
mutations can actually favor the reproduction and proliferation of
certain pockets of cells over others; cancer adapts through natural
selection. Additionally, it has also been found that over manifold
generations of hominid-evolution, certain cancer-causing genes have
actually been credited with the production of particular proteins
that specify important functions of life.[2] This is a very powerful
realization and offers important hindsight into the future of
medical advancement.
The prospect of searching for intelligence elsewhere in the
cosmos, within the threat-zone of such stagnating ideologies akin to
Oktar's, renders serious questions for the 21st century pioneers of
science. The very aspiration in exploring the universe for potential
life is based on a deeply rigid understanding of the natural
processes that allow bio-habitability to evolve and stabilize in the
first place.
Secondly, one might be intrigued, even entertained, by Oktar's
accusations of fascism, communism, and terror. This unfounded
incrimination offers one insight into Oktar's mind-set and
consequentially affords one the chance to ask critical questions of
the same magnitude: can Mr. Oktar show it was evolutionary theory
that unleashed the attacks of 9/11? Is it evolutionary theory that
has caused the suicide bombings, decapitations, and indiscriminate
killings of tens and thousands of Iraqis? Does evolutionary theory
bare responsibility for the cruelty of Sharia Law in Iran and reduce
the status of the women to ½ of male intelligence (in accordance
with Iran 's testimony laws)?[3] Does evolutionary theory degenerate
the Bahais as being unclean kuffar? Did evolutionary theory wreak
upon Bangladesh the genocide of more than 1 million people? Was it
evolutionary theory which propagated the 15-year Lebanese civil war?
Was it evolutionary theory which caused Saudi Arabia to revert to a
culture of cavemen? If anything this is what I call evidence of
devolution and it is the influence of religion (Islam in particular)
which has promoted fascism and terrorism across the entire world.
In comparison science has been greatly beneficial to the Muslim
world. The author of the popular internet blog, Healing Iraq [4],
wrote an excellent article on the historical roots of Iraqi
secularism. During the early century, following the Ottoman reforms,
an educated elite emerged called the efendiyya who had challenged
the dogma and superstitions of the Iraqi religious clergy. To quote
directly from the article:
The efendiyya in Iraq introduced and promoted many secular and scientific theories that were shocking to the clergy – such as Darwin 's theory of evolution and natural selection, Einstein's theories of relativity and quantum physics, Marxist dialectical and historical materialism, Freudian psychology, and socialist political theories [5]
After moderate-minded families saw the benefits offered by
education and science, they wisely abandoned the empty words of the
religious right and fruitfully embraced reason. Children received
the proper tools they needed to become successful businessmen,
engineers, technocrats and scientists rather than recline in the
low-status positions reserved for the uneducated sector of the
populace. Even gender-equality was promoted within the work field.
Where the religious clergy failed in their unfulfilled promises,
science and reason delivered manifestly positive results. Indeed,
this same trend occurred throughout the Arab world contemporarily
with the transition from religion to science.
It is just perplexing to think that Mr. Oktar could not shuffle
up any other words from the entire vocabulary besides `fascism,
communism, and terrorism.' The paradoxical implications are just
staggering. Was it Charles Darwin who boasted: I have been made
victorious with terror?'* Was it Darwinists fueled by fascistic
anti-Jewish sentiments who mobilized their own Islamic SS unit (the
Mufti from Palestine ), in subservience to Hitler? Was it
`communistic Darwinists' in Iran who synthesized Islamic precepts
with Marxism during the 60's (Mujahedeen-e-Khalq), which transformed
them into one of the most destabilizing militant organizations of
the region?
Even when taking a glance back in history during the golden days
of the Muslim world, it was secular leaders who adopted reason and
tolerated the scientific endeavor of the existing intelligentsia at
the time. The less Islam was involved, the less terrorism and
violence surfaced, and greater degrees of scientific achievements
transpired. The Caliph Al-Mamun, who built the House of Wisdom
during the 8th century in Baghdad , implemented policies that were
often in conflict with the religiously orthodox Muslims of the day.
He built a modern school dedicated to learning and driven by the
search for higher truths rather then enforcing old-school dogma. It
was a Middle Eastern enlightenment. This led to the construction of
great edifices of knowledge, such as libraries and observatories,
managed by intellectual circles of astronomers, philosophers,
mathematicians, and scholars in many other important fields. Among
these intellectual strata was the more prominently known genius of
al-Khawarizmi, who revolutionized mathematics in Baghdad. It was
even recorded that during Mamun's period of rule, women held the
most respected professional roles, not to be seen for a long time
afterwards.[6]
Another marker which might catch the eye is that Mr. Oktar is a
staunchly anti-Zionist ideologue in contrast to the fervently
pro-Israeli nature of the Christian evangelical community. It is a
bit strange that these factions with such unshakeable convictions
regarding universal truth almost always carry some sort of earthly
political baggage with them. Is it not they who claim that the
foresight of human beings should transcend all the `trivial' earthly
relishes such as material, politics, and personal greed? One might
find more irony, than sense, from the whole notion.
Ergo, in conclusion, a rational spectator might give Adnan Oktar
a sharp reply which reveals the contradictions in his own ludicrous
hypothesis that evolutionary science has been responsible for
fascism, terrorism, and communism. In retrospection of history, it
becomes quite implicative that when the Muslim world followed
scientific reason and enlightenment, prosperity and happiness
bloomed. Conversely, when uncritically paying heed to the very
letters of Islam, Muslims have only found themselves in a reduced
state of despair, poverty, and war. The aura of Islam paralyzes the
mind from functioning; it fogs the clarity of rational vision. It is
when the agents of freethinking begin to condense and buffer the way
for the intellect that the rational self becomes an independent
entity like a bird liberated from a cage.
Muslims are imprisoned by their subordination to Allah. They need
to be shown that nothing is above the dictum of the individual
conscience. This is an inviolable maxim and Islam is the existential
fabrication profaning it. It is a machine of lies and its time to
challenge it before the consequences become irreversible.
Sources:
[1] Islamic Creationist and a Book Sent Round
the World, NY Times, July 17th, 2007
[2] Evolution and Cancer, Scientific American,
January 2007 issue
[3] http://web.amnesty.org/web/wire.nsf/March2007/Iran
[4] Healing Iraq Blog
[5] http://www.iheu.org/node/1179
[6] http://www.dinarstandard.com/innovation/AlMamun122505.htm
* Narrated Abu Huraira: Allah's Apostle said, "I have been sent with the shortest expressions bearing the widest meanings, and I have been made victorious with terror, and while I was sleeping, the keys of the treasures of the world were brought to me and put in my hand." Abu Huraira added: Allah's Apostle has left the world and now you, people, are bringing out those treasures. (Sahih Bukhari 4.52.220)
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Name: vbv
Date: Sunday September 16, 2007
Time: 04:01:26 -0700
Comment
Islam has copied all of its mythology from the old testament,so also the creation bullshit with Adam&Eve crap. So there is nothing worth while or new in its creation fairytale! It is just childish ,inconsistant and incoherent!
Name: Casper
Date: Sunday September 16, 2007
Time: 04:55:29 -0700
Comment
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peppered_moth_evolution I thought everyone learned about this most striking example of rapid evolution in biology class.--obviously not so in Turkey.
Name: The Quran vs. the Bible
Date: Monday September 17, 2007
Time: 01:24:40 -0700
Comment
On the subject of man, as well as the other topics mentioned earlier, it is not possible to find any corresponding data in the Bible. Furthermore the scientific errors contained in the Bible - such as those describing man's first appearance on earth, which, as we have seen, may be deduced from the Genealogies that figure in Genesis are not to be found in the Qur'an. It is crucial to understand that such errors could not have been 'edited out' of the Qur'an since the time they first became apparent: well over a thousand years have elapsed since the most ancient manuscripts and today's texts of the Qur'an, but these texts are still absolutely identical. Thus, if Muhammad were the author of the Qur'an (a theory upheld by some people), it is difficult to see how he could have spotted the scientific errors in the Bible dealing with such a wide variety of subjects and have proceeded to eliminate every single one of them when he came to compose his own text on the same themes. Let us state once again, that no new scientific facts had been discovered since the time the Bible was written that might have helped eliminate such errors. In view of the above, it is imperative to know the history of the texts, just as it is essential to our understanding of certain aspects of the Bible for us to be aware, of the conditions in which it was written. As we have noted earlier, experts in Biblical exegesis consider the books of Old and New Testaments to be divinely inspired works. Let us now examine, however, the teachings of Muslim exegetes, who present the Qur'an in quite a different fashion. When Muhammad was roughly forty years old, it was his custom to retire to a retreat just outside Mecca in order to meditate. It was here that he received a first message from God via the Angel Gabriel, at a date that corresponds to 610 A.D. After a long period of silence, this first message was followed by successive revelations spread over some twenty years. During the Prophet's lifetime, they were both written down and recited by heart among his first followers. Similarly, the revelations were divided into suras(chapters) and collected together after the Prophet' death (in 632 A.D.) in a book: the Qur'an. The Book contains the Word of God, to the exclusion of any human additions. Manuscripts dating from the first century of Islam authenticate today's text, the other form of authentication being the recitation by heart of the Qur'an, a practice that has continued unbroken from the time of the Prophet down to the present day.
Name: Casper
Date: Monday September 17, 2007
Time: 03:17:26 -0700
Comment
I would still like to know the GPS co-ordinates of the place where the sun sets into a muddy spring (Koran 18:86) where, according to hadith, the heat of the sun descending into the murky water causes the mud to boil and bubble.--if anyone can tell me where to go and witness this phenomenon, and having confirmed the miracle, I will then convert to Islam forthwith. --If the "creator" of the universe says it is so, then I'm sure this place must exist.--A Malaysian Muslim is about to go into space during this ramadan, so, perhaps with such a good vantage point, he will be able to indentify the location and report back to us.
Name: vbv---"The Quran vs. Bible"
Date: Monday September 17, 2007
Time: 03:19:59 -0700
Comment
You state that the Bible has scientific errors ,so has quran which has adopted and distorted the biblical mythology ,something like 'Bollywood' movies plagiarising and distorting 'Hollywood' movies ! There is no science in Quran or any other religious books. Science is the result of the dedication and hardwork of scientists to delve into the mysteries of the Universe and arrive at the "truth". Religion is to make false claims ,bamboozle the gullible,and subjugate people,stifle commonsense and free-thinking! This is more so for the Abrahamic religions,which are fanatical ,bigoted and highly intolerant! Mohamed was a shrewd individual who saw the shortest way to assume absolute power ,which is why his religion's brand name is "submission" and not "ENLIGHTENMENT". You have to submit to him and his Allah unquestioningly like an abject slave,or face the cosequences of the most horrible death! No compassion,forgience,love,caring,and such other finer feelings in Islam! It is only submit or die! What ca you expect of an illiterate moron Mohamed! Therefore do not try to push lies such as Quran is the word of 'god' and it has all the science the world has discovered and also the science the world has yet to discover. Its geography is poor.It has no knowledge of the continents of the Americas, Antartica, Australia, East Asia, the Far East,etc.Its knowledge of cosmology=zero! Did it have any idea of electricty,Electric lamps,automoblies, mobile phones,computers,microwave ovens,etc. Therefor don't insult human intelligence with such a stupid and lousy religious scriptures/mythologies! There is nothing called divine just as there is no god , no heaven, no hell ,or any of those stupid superstitions!
Name: Reza AF
Date: Monday September 17, 2007
Time: 10:05:45 -0700
Comment
There is nothing special about the Quran's replication of Biblical tales. There are relatively just as many Quranic errors as there are Biblical. According to the Quran: - The heavens and earth were once united (error) - The stars are fixed in the sky for us to see (error) - The earth was created before the 'seven firmaments' (error) - Man emits a fluid from between the backbone and ribs (error) The list goes on. Muhammad lived in Mecca, where he interacted with Christians and Jews all the time. These stories were available to him as they were to any other human at the time. There is nothing special about the Quran at all.
Name: To Reza AF
Date: Tuesday September 18, 2007
Time: 01:15:57 -0700
Comment
“Do not the Unbelievers see That the heavens and the earth Were joined together (as one Unit of Creation), before We clove them asunder?” [Al-Qur’aan 21:30] The striking congruence between the Qur’aanic verse and the ‘Big Bang’ is inescapable! How could a book, which first appeared in the deserts of Arabia 1400 years ago, contain this profound scientific truth?
Name: To Reza AF
Date: Tuesday September 18, 2007
Time: 01:18:55 -0700
Comment
“It is not permitted To the Sun to catch up The Moon, nor can The Night outstrip the Day: Each (just) swims along In (its own) orbit (According to Law).” [Al-Qur’aan 36:40] This verse mentions an essential fact discovered by modern astronomy, i.e. the existence of the individual orbits of the Sun and the Moon, and their journey through space with their own motion. The ‘fixed place’ towards, which the sun travels, carrying with it the solar system, has been located exactly by modern astronomy. It has been given a name, the Solar Apex. The solar system is indeed moving in space towards a point situated in the constellation of Hercules (alpha Layer) whose exact location is firmly established.
Name: To Reza AF
Date: Tuesday September 18, 2007
Time: 01:26:13 -0700
Comment
“Now let man but think From what he is created! He is created from A drop emitted – Proceeding from between The back bone and the ribs.” [Al-Qur’aan 86:5-7] In embryonic stages, the reproductive organs of the male and female, i.e. the testicles and the ovaries, begin their development near the kidney between the spinal column and the eleventh and twelfth ribs. Later they descend; the female gonads (ovaries) stop in the pelvis while the male gonads (testicles) continue their descent before birth to reach the scrotum through the inguinal canal. Even in the adult after the descent of the reproductive organ, these organs receive their nerve supply and blood supply from the Abdominal Aorta, which is in the area between the backbone (spinal column) and the ribs. Even the lymphatic drainage and the venous return goes to the same area.
Name: Last Message For Reza AF
Date: Tuesday September 18, 2007
Time: 01:43:57 -0700
Comment
What Quranic errors are you talking about Mr. Reza AF. I guess you and other editors on this website can write so much having no knowledge on the real subject, only to trash the only thing that worth while. It will not matter any way since most of readers are those who are already anti Islam. I say keep up the good and inshAllah you will have no recourse once it is too late.
Name: Miracles of the Quran
Date: Tuesday September 18, 2007
Time: 03:58:26 -0700
Comment
Consider the following Qur’aanic verses: “He has let free the two bodies Of flowing water, Meeting together: Between them is a Barrier Which they do not transgress.” [Al-Qur’aan 55:19-20] In the Arabic text the word barzakh means a barrier or a partition. This barrier is not a physical partition. The Arabic word maraja literally means ‘they both meet and mix with each other’. Early commentators of the Qur’aan were unable to explain the two opposite meanings for the two bodies of water, i.e. they meet and mix, and at the same time, there is a barrier between them. Modern Science has discovered that in the places where two different seas meet, there is a barrier between them. This barrier divides the two seas so that each sea has its own temperature, salinity and density. 7 Oceanologists are now in a better position to explain this verse. There is a slanted unseen water barrier between the two seas through which water from one sea passes to the other. But when the water from one sea enters the other sea, it loses its distinctive characteristic and becomes homogenized with the other water. In a way this barrier serves as a transitional homogenizing area for the two waters. This scientific phenomenon mentioned in the Qur’aan was also confirmed by Dr. William Hay who is a well-known marine scientist and Professor of Geological Sciences at the University of Colorado, U.S.A. The Qur’aan mentions this phenomenon also in the following verse: “And made a separating bar between the two bodies Of flowing water?” [Al-Qur’aan 27:61] This phenomenon occurs in several places, including the divider between the Mediterranean and the Atlantic Ocean at Gibralter. But when the Qur’aan speaks about the divider between fresh and salt water, it mentions theexistence of “a forbidding partition” with the barrier. “It is He Who has Let free the two bodies Of flowing water: One palatable and sweet, And the other salty and bitter; Yet has He Made a barrier between them, And a partition that is forbidden To be passed.” [Al-Qur’aan 25:53] Modern science has discovered that in estuaries, where fresh (sweet) and saltwater meet, the situation is somewhat different from that found in places where two seas meet. It has been discovered that what distinguishes fresh water from salt water in estuaries is a “pycnocline zone with a marked density discontinuity separating the two layers.” 8 This partition (zone of separation) has salinity different from both the fresh water and the salt water. 9 This phenomenon occurs in several places, including Egypt, where the river Nile flows into the Mediterranean Sea.
Name: vbv
Date: Tuesday September 18, 2007
Time: 05:01:38 -0700
Comment
It is rather amusing that the primitive "babble" in Quran are dressed up as "big bang " theory,etc. I am surprised that an incoherent babble here or there is contrived as modern science! Quran has just adapted the creation theory of the Old Testament, the embriology and other guesses of the greeks, all of which pre-existed islam by atleast a millenium, and brazenly claim originality! It is a joke that the scientifically advanced Arabs moved on foot/camels/horses well into the beginning of the 20th century till the West gave them all the modern scientific and technological conveniences! These muslims would like us to believe that the Quran is a science-manual, whereas it is nothing but a mafia manual of cruelities,massacres,tortures ,murders and the like that the world has never seen before!
Name: Reza AF
Date: Wednesday September 19, 2007
Time: 14:10:00 -0700
Comment
'“Do not the Unbelievers see That the heavens and the earth Were joined together (as one Unit of Creation), before We clove them asunder?” [Al-Qur’aan 21:30] The striking congruence between the Qur’aanic verse and the ‘Big Bang’ is inescapable! How could a book, which first appeared in the deserts of Arabia 1400 years ago, contain this profound scientific truth?' First of all, Big Bang does not postulate that the earth and heaven were 'joined together', in fact this could not be further from the truth. We dont even know what actually happened at the precise moment of the Big Bang. All we know is what we think happened right after. However you decide to look at it, there is no mention of the cosmos and earth being somehow coalesced together into a single volume of matter. There was no explosion 'ripping' them apart. It was more like an implosion of space-time, requiring an infinite magnitude of energy where the earth would not appear until several billion years later. And furthermore, the Sumerian and Egyptian mythology is accredited with the earth-heaven separation story, not the Quran. So then I ask you: how did the Sumerians and Egyptians know several thousand years before Islam that the earth and heaven were once united?
Name: Reza AF
Date: Wednesday September 19, 2007
Time: 14:26:30 -0700
Comment
'Consider the following Qur’aanic verses: “He has let free the two bodies Of flowing water, Meeting together: Between them is a Barrier Which they do not transgress.” [Al-Qur’aan 55:19-20]' Once again, the Pagans beat Islam to it. In the ancient epic Enuma Elis ('When Above'), Tiamat (who represents the cause of creation) transfers her 'life-giving' waters to Apsu (another deity) and remains with the salt waters, which are prescribed with setting boundaries. She is represented as the diametric opposite of Apsu, who personifies the sweet waters. The implication of boundary, between the sweet and salty bodies of water, is quite obvious here. And as I reiterate: how is it that the ancient Pagans of Babylon knew such a thing? According to Muslim logic, that would qualify the Pagans of Sumeria and Babylon as being 'divinely' inspired for knowing such information that would not be discovered until thousands of years later by science.
Name: Reza AF
Date: Wednesday September 19, 2007
Time: 14:28:55 -0700
Comment
'“Now let man but think From what he is created! He is created from A drop emitted – Proceeding from between The back bone and the ribs.” [Al-Qur’aan 86:5-7] In embryonic stages, the reproductive organs of the male and female, i.e. the testicles and the ovaries, begin their development near the kidney between the spinal column and the eleventh and twelfth ribs. Later they descend; the female gonads (ovaries) stop in the pelvis while the male gonads (testicles) continue their descent before birth to reach the scrotum through the inguinal canal. Even in the adult after the descent of the reproductive organ, these organs receive their nerve supply and blood supply from the Abdominal Aorta, which is in the area between the backbone (spinal column) and the ribs. Even the lymphatic drainage and the venous return goes to the same area.' The last time I checked, there is no 'drop' which proceeds between my backbone and ribs. This is faulty hypothesis suggested by the Greeks, which was later disproved.
Name: Marie
Date: Thursday September 20, 2007
Time: 12:51:47 -0700
Comment
The creation story in the Bible and the so-called are not the same. Muhammed borrowed elements from the Biblical creation story and distorted and corrupted them to fit his own version of how life began. Nothing in the Quranic story of creation makes any sense.
Name: Reza AF
Date: Thursday September 20, 2007
Time: 15:14:17 -0700
Comment
'“It is not permitted To the Sun to catch up The Moon, nor can The Night outstrip the Day: Each (just) swims along In (its own) orbit (According to Law).” [Al-Qur’aan 36:40] This verse mentions an essential fact discovered by modern astronomy, i.e. the existence of the individual orbits of the Sun and the Moon, and their journey through space with their own motion.' Apparently my system froze and crashed when replying to this earlier, which didnt allow it to post. Anyways, my argument here is very simple: is it so inconceivable for a man (or group of people) 1400 years ago observing the day and night, to assume during the day that the sun 'follows its own path' (which is visually obvious) and that during the night the moon 'follows its own path' (which is visually obvious)? Of course not, even a child can see this. What is the 'scientific miracle' here? If I were to be a little more brutal, I would also incriminate the Quran in this particular verse for being so ignorant of the solar eclipse phenomenon (which actually allows the pathways of the sun and moon to catch up with eachother). But for the sake of granting Muslims the benefit of the doubt, I will just contend that the verse alone is nothing spectacular nor does it require any extraordinary source of knowledge to realize what its saying.
Name: Sigvard von Brevern
Date: Friday September 21, 2007
Time: 09:35:38 -0700
Comment
Cosmology according to vbv - As he so adamantly insists, religion is a lot of bullshit, wrong in all aspects, and ignorant to the highest degree. Scientists are the saviours of mankind and know exactly how we got here. The truth however is, in spite of all their knowledge and gathering of more learning, they are still proving themselves wrong over and over again, as even vbv has to admit himself. So, nobody yet has proved that there is no creator. That is only a personal opinion. On the other hand no-one has been able to prove evolution, which remains a theory(Greek) and means we think. We can think black is white, however this is not a fact. In spite of this evolution is still presented as a fact by some, but not all scientists. Until such time that this guessed subject is not proved a hundred per cent, creation which can be plainly observed, remains the better choice. After all every living being still reproduces after it`s own kind, as it always has been Of course there are little dogs and small dogs, black dogs and white dogs plus the cutest varieties all that by human interfering, therefor do not have the atrocity of calling this evolution. To end this little observation please vbv, refrain from calling other people`s opinions bullshit Until such time that this subjecs proven to be 100555555555....
Name: Sigvard von Brevern
Date: Saturday June 28, 2008
Time: 07:26:44 -0700
Comment
To vbv, an ardent believer in evolution, in Charles Darwin, Richard Dawkins and people of the same "famous" calibre I shall name only a few samples of their teachings that have entered the text-books of higher institutions of learning One tooth that was found by evolutionists was that of now extinct(obviously)Nebraska-Man, but proved to have been the tooth of a Nebraska pig.- Lots of embarrassed,red faces amongst famous evolutionists. Did not Charles Darwin discover the PiltDown Man?? Again entered the text books of the intelligentsia. Charles Darwin was proved to be a forger-er and no one who is a serious and reputable scientist puts their trust in him any longer. There are more well known cases that I could name, but I will let vbv. come up with them as he obviously just takes their word in blind faith as he has proved. came up with them.