What information does the Quran give about the creation stages of man? What are the verses mentioning the creation of Adam from soil?

Dear Brother / Sister,

5-THE CREATION OF FIRST MAN

5.1-THE STAGES OF THE CREATION OF MAN IN THE QURAN*

Tafsir, Hadith and Fiqh are regarded as branches of science according to the Quran; Medicine, Cosmology, History, Geography, etc. are alsoregarded as branches of science. Muslims are obliged to study all branches of science that are beneficial for humanity. A faqih, a mufassir and a muhaddith is considered as a scholar; so is a physicist and a doctor. Indeed, in the context of the verses aboutCosmology, Botany and Zoology, Allah states the following:“Those truly fear Allah, among His Servants, who have knowledge.”¹

The Quran, which invites man to meditate on why and how he was created, mentions two dimensions in order to determine where to start: The creation of Hz. Adam from soil and the formation of man in the womb in stages.

     5.1.1.Creation from Clay

The theory of evolution, which claims that all living beings were derived from a single root, and the creation stages that the Quran informs us, are different from each other in all aspects. Evolution is a theory that was put forward to deny creation and hence a theory that cannot be proved; creation, on the other hand, is a fact that has taken place billions of times for thousands of years. However, some Muslims say that the monkeys and humans may have descended from a common root based on the following verse:²

Evolution is a theory that was put forward to deny creation and hence a theory that cannot be proved; creation, on the other hand, is a fact that has taken place billions of times for thousands of years.

“And well ye knew those amongst you who transgressed in the matter of the Sabbath: We said to them: ‘Be ye apes, despised and rejected’.”³

This verse, which those who claim that the Quran does not reject evolution use as evidence, warned the Jews who were thinking of catching the fish that accumulated on Saturday in the pool they made next to the sea on Sunday and who thought that they obeyed the command of allocating Saturday to worshipping and that they did not flout the ban of fishing and asked them to repent.

The first man and the first prophet, Hz. Adam, was created as a human being; his children married and reproduced for generations.

The Jews who did not obey Allah’s command were suddenly converted into despised monkeys. However, it did not happen over a long time, as evolutionists claim; the people who were converted into monkeys died three days later; none of them could reproduce as monkeys.⁴Besides, evolving is essential in evolution. In the incident mentioned above, the human beings’ conversion into animals is in question.

      The first man and the first prophet, Hz. Adam, was created as a human being; his children married and reproduced for generations. The Holy Quran states clearly declares that Hz. Adam was the only one and he was created from clay. As a matter of fact, Allah states the following:

     “O mankind! Reverence your Guardian-Lord, who created you from a single person, created, of like nature, His mate, and from them twain scattered (like seeds) countless men and women.”.⁵

It is pointed out with the statement ( وَاحِدَةٍنَّفْسٍمِّنخَلَقَكُم) “created you from a single person” in the verse that Hz. Adam was created, with the statement (زَوْجَهَامِنْهَاوَخَلَقَ ) “created, of like nature, His mate” that Hz. Hawwa (Eve) was created from Hz. Adam, with the statement (وَنِسَاءكَثِيرًارِجَالاًمِنْهُمَاوَبَثَّ ) “and from them twain scattered (like seeds) countless men and women” that all humans were derived from  Hz. Adam and Hawwa. In the chapter of az-Zumar, two aspects of creation are mentioned: “He created you (all) from a single person (from Adam),then created, of like nature, his mate.”Then, the following statement follows:“He makes you, in the wombs of your mothers, in stages, one after another, in three veils of darkness.⁶ It is pointed out that Hz. Adam was created from soil but that his children were created in wombs.

The Jews who did not obey Allah’s command were suddenly converted into despised monkeys. However, it did not happen over a long time, as evolutionists claim; the people who were converted into monkeys died three days later; none of them could reproduce as monkeys.

The Holy Quran clearly states that Hz. Adam was created from clay and that his wife was created from him. Accordingly, the stages Hz. Adam went through – until he became a human being – are pointed out in the verses in question and creation is attributed to those stages.

       Allah states that He created Adam from turab/soil,⁷ tin lazib/sticky clay,⁸sulala min tin/ quintessence of clay,⁹hamamasnun/mud molded into shape¹⁰salsal/sounding clay.¹¹

Each of the five words mentioned in the verses corresponds to a stage of creation. It is no different from a person’s saying his house was built of soil, mud or brick. In this statement, information is given about the formation process of the material used in the construction of the house. The type of material used in the construction of the house is soil. Soil turned into mud to become a brick. Brick is the baked clay. As it is seen in the example, there is a development from soil to brick. In that case, it is not wrong to say “the house is made of clay or brick”based on any of the phases of the soil; besides, it will be a wise explanation as it gives specific information about the formation process.

The verses that mention the creation of Hz. Adam from soil are like that too. Allah meant soil,sticky clay, quintessence of clay, mud molded into shape and sounding clay according to the context.

*It was published earlier (ÂdemTatlı, Hasan Akan, İdris Görmez, İsmail Kocaçalışkan. Ayet ve Hadislerin Dilinden Yaratılış.  AkderYayını, Antalya, 2018, p.71-87).
1.Fatir, 28.
2.Ateş, S. Kur’an-ı Kerim’e Göre Evrim Teorisi. Ankara Üniversitesi İlahiyat Fakültesi Dergisi, 1972, Vol. 20, Issue. 1, p. 131.
3.al-Baqara, 65.
4.Muhammad al-Amin al-Harari, Hadaiqur-Rawhi war-Rayhan, Darul-Minhaj, Jeddah, 2009, I, 466.
5.an-Nisa, 1.
6.az-Zumar, 6.
7.ar-Rum, 20. For the other verses, see Taha, 55; Hajj, 5; Fatir, 11; al-Mu’min, 67; ar-Rahman, 14.
8.as-Saaffat, 11. It is stated in the following verses that man is created from clay:  al-An’am, 2; al-A’raf, 12; as-Sajda, 7; Sad, 71, 76.
9.al-Mu’minun, 12.
10.al-Hijr, 26.
11.ar-Rahman, 14. also, al-Hijr, 26, 28, 33.

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