Islamic creationism

Islamic views on evolution are diverse, ranging from theistic evolution to creationism. Some Muslim thinkers have proposed and accepted elements of the theory of evolution, while believing in the supremacy of God in the process. In modern times, some Muslims have rejected evolution, and teaching it is banned in some countries. One modern scholar, Usaama al-Azami, suggested that both narratives of creation and of evolution, as understood by modern science, may be believed by modern Muslims as addressing two different kinds of truth, the revealed and the empirical.

The creation of mankind is mentioned several times in the Quran. For instance, it says, "It is He who has created you out of clay" (Surah 6:2), "It was He who brought you into being from the earth..." (11:61), "We first created you from dust, then from a sperm drop, then from a clinging clot, then a lump of flesh, both shaped and unshaped, so that We might manifest to you Our power" (22:5), "He originated the creation of man from clay, then He made his progeny from an extract of a humble fluid" (32:7-8) and, "We made from water every living thing? Then will they not believe?"(21:30)

Muslims scholars do not believe in Young Earth creationism. Islamic views of the Bible vary. In recent years, a movement has begun to emerge in some Muslim countries promoting themes that have been characteristic of Christian creationists. This stance has received some criticism, due to claims that the Quran and Bible are incompatible.

The influential historiographer and historian Ibn Khaldun wrote in his famous book the Muqaddimah or Prolegomena ("Introduction") of the "gradual process of creation":

"One should then look at the world of creation. It started out from the minerals and progressed, in an ingenious, gradual manner, to plants and animals. The last stage of minerals is connected with the first stage of plants, such as herbs and seedless plants. The last stage of plants, such as palms and vines, is connected with the first stage of animals, such as snails and shellfish which have only the power of touch. The word "connection" with regard to these created things means that the last stage of each group is fully prepared to become the first stage of the next group. The animal world then widens, its species become numerous, and, in a gradual process of creation, it finally leads to man, who is able to think and to reflect. The higher stage of man is reached from the world of the monkeys, in which both sagacity and perception are found, but which has not reached the stage of actual reflection and thinking. At this point we come to the first stage of man after (the world of monkeys). This is as far as our (physical) observation extends."

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