A Question without an Answer
Do you know what has been one of the most complex questions in the history of humanity? A question that, despite the efforts of many scientists, still remains unanswered! Undoubtedly from the beginning of history until now, the human has discovered much about his environment and the creatures that inhabit it. He has made many inventions and discoveries and has gained an acceptable level of knowledge and technology. At times he has lived alongside animals for years in order to learn about them or has engaged in lengthy research to discover the laws of nature. He has closely studied minute creatures such as bacteria and viruses so that he can treat illnesses and has even sent probes to other planets in the hope that one day he will be able to live on them. However it is strange if we hear that the human with all this power of thought with which he has been able to understand many of the wonders of the world, has lived alongside a creature for many years; has eaten within it, slept with it and interacted with it, yet cannot fully understand this being. What is this creature that the human as yet has not been able to fully comprehend? You have guessed correctly that this unknown creature is the human himself And, despite all the efforts undertaken to identify man, still, success has not been achieved. Though, have you ever thought until now why human abilities have remained unknown? If you look at history you will be aware that many scholars from the east and west have endeavoured to provide a complete description for the human, but none have accepted what has been proposed as a complete description. Why?
The Mysterious Complexity of the Human Being
What has led to humans being an unknown creature? Some actions emanating from humans are not fully explainable by empirical sciences. Therefore the question comes to mind, from what hidden power within the human do these actions originate? Here are some examples of mysterious actions of humans:
The mysteries of dreams
Pharaoh saw in a dream that seven thin cows are eating seven fat cows and seven ears of corn are replaced with shriveled ones. Pharaoh called all of his dream interpreters to interpret this dream but they all failed to interpret it. Thereafter he called for Joseph and asked him to interpret his dream. Joseph said that its meaning is there will be seven wet years followed by seven years of drought and therefore in the first seven years a part of the produce should be stored so at the time of drought the people will not suffer from starvation. This story appears in Genesis within the Bible and also in the chapter Yusuf of the Qur’an. Until now have you asked yourself what a dream actually is? Is it possible that humans can unconsciously be aware of the future? What truth lies behind these historical events? In dreams, we go on journeys, deal with people, make friends and enemies, and gain or lose things. More or less, people witness these scenes in their dreams. Some of our dreams are an interpretation of the future and what we have seen in our dreams takes place in the real world. Who causes future events to be shown in our dreams and informs us of happenings that we would never have imagined? Discovering the reality of dreams can help us in understanding the human and present a new dimension to the life and existence of the human. Much has been written and said about dreams. The human has always experienced dreams and because it was found by experience that dreams cannot be unrelated to his life, he has always sought to discover their meaning. Dreams seem to be an inseparable part of our existence. The studies of academics have reached to a conclusion that all people, even those who deny it, experience dreams. The existence of dreams is as obvious as the existence of breathing. Neil Carlson, a famous psychologist, writes: “Some people insist they do not experience dreams; these people are mistaken. Everyone sees dreams but the majority of dreams are forgotten. If a person does not wake up during a dream, or immediately afterwards, the dream will not be remembered. When most people who imagine they have not experienced a dream for years are awoken in a laboratory whilst experiencing a dream, they are momentarily shocked at the vividness of their dream.”
Telepathy
Has it ever happened that one of your friends has called you at the moment you were thinking of them? Many have testified that there are people who have the ability to receive messages or images from a far distance without making use of the five senses and are also able to transmit messages or images to remote locations. Although the transfer of thought or images between normal individuals is possible, this phenomenon mainly occurs under the condition that between the two people there is a strong emotional bond, such as between a mother and child or between two very close friends.
Scientists have performed a great deal of research on the telepathy, or sixth sense, of twins. This research has shown that twins can be in contact with each other without the use of speech, even when there is a distance of miles between themselves. The reality, that a human can understand things that is not possible through material means and the five senses, is confirmed by many eminent scientists of the world who interpret it as being inspiration and illumination.
Hypnosis
Maybe it has happened to you that when you have been driving or walking, you have suddenly come to your senses and wondered how, without being aware, you have travelled through the streets. At the time, you were certainly in full control and performed the appropriate actions, but you were, in fact, in a mild state of hypnosis. On whether hypnosis can be regarded as a state of sleep or not, it should be said that hypnosis cannot be a state of sleep. Even though a person who is under hypnosis looks as though they are asleep, but under hypnosis, in addition to the ability to think, they also are able to talk completely normally and logically, make judgments and perform various tasks. Although on most occasions people under hypnosis recognise that their behaviour is under the control of the hypnotist, the hypnotist is not able to force his subject to perform actions that do not conform to his values and principles. In studies done on this aspect of hypnosis, volunteers refused the unethical demands of the hypnotist or came out from the state of hypnosis. What power exists beyond the material and physical power of the human that creates such extraordinary happenings? Can it be said that all these wonders relate only to the body of the human?
Scientific Evidence for the Existence of the Soul
Some people only follow the results of scientific methodology and because they have trust in the integrity and objectivity of scientific exploration they often eagerly accept their findings. It is perhaps for this reason that scientists have given themselves a new mission and extended the realm of their research to human metaphysics. In the last twenty years hundreds of books have been published by medical scientists exploring the near-death experiences of hospital patients or by psychiatrists making use of hypnosis that support the existence and permanence of the soul and the matter of the subsequent life of humans. As an example, the book Life After Life by Raymond Moody, which has been a best-selling book, shows that the souls of some hospital patients who have undergone operations have temporarily left their bodies. This has meant that they have witnessed their own operations or they have visited their homes and families and been aware of their current situations. Scientists have researched the subject for many years, of whether the existence of the soul can be proved through experimental science. The existence of phenomena such as hypnosis, telepathy and the unconsciousness of those undergoing operations have enabled scientists to perform research on this subject and write many books based on their own and clients’ experiences, which testify to the existence of the soul.
Intellectual Proof for the Existence of the Soul
Many proofs have been offered by scholars to prove the existence of the soul, which include intellectual as well as empirical proofs, such as from psychology. Philosophers have given ten intellectual proofs for the existence of the soul, only one of which we will mention here: • A study of the human body shows to us that many different organs and systems of the body are affected by two critical processes: absorption of materials from outside and their conversion to energy, which within a few years, leads to their renewal and replacement. A constant and permanent transformation occurs in the molecules and particles of bodily parts. Old cells are obliterated and by way of the nutrition, new cells are created in their place. During a lifetime, the cells and parts of the body are many times destroyed and replaced. • Despite these developments and changes in our physical and material being, we always remain the same being and person. We can, throughout our lives, say ‘I’ and this refers to our unchanging self, even though we may live for over a hundred years. • From the sum of these two premises, it is natural for us to come to the conclusion that within ourselves, other than changeable matter, there exists another permanent reality that does not change. This cannot be a part of the body because the body is constantly in the process of change and so it must be something immaterial in order to not be affected by change. This immaterial existent is what is referred to as the ‘soul’. The name of this argument is the argument of the unity of personality. This is because this argument refers to the fact that throughout the lifetime of people, including their childhood, adolescence, youth, middle age and old age, their bodies undergo much change. However, with all these changes, their personal identity remains the same.
The Story of Evolution
Sailing on the ship lasted for five years. Charles Darwin, the famous English biologist, was deeply under the influence of the glory and wonders of nature for which he had much respect. He spent most of this time engaged in geological surveys and the study of fossils as well as living organisms. He gathered thousands of specimens of living organisms from South America, most of which at the time were unknown to Western scientists. All this, and the detailed notes he made of his observations, were used by him to form his future theories. He wrote in his memoirs: “The birds live on the island; they are of only one breed but there are different types. The way of life of the reptiles, birds and other animals varies from island to island, but a principle of similarity between all of them can be seen. If all of creation occurred at one time, the question arises: why are differences observable between the types of living creatures?” One year before Darwin’s journey, a controversial book by Lyell had been published with the name ‘Principles of Geology’. Darwin brought a copy with him. In this book the author claims that change on the Earth's surface is caused by gradual processes and the transformation of the Earth's crust has been a uniform process of nature throughout history. He explains that every living organism initially grew from a centre and then spread out from that point and that they survived some time until they gradually disappeared and were replaced by other types. Hence he concludes that the emergence of new types of organisms has been a steady stream throughout the history of Earth. This theory was contrary to the common belief of the time and caused a stir within academic circles. Darwin, by examining the layers of rock and fossils in different parts, found much evidence to support the theory of Lyell. On different islands he found very close but not quite identical fossils of living organisms. He observed that turtles living on each island had slight differences with turtles living on adjacent islands and finches living on different islands also had differences between themselves. In his opinion, the best explanation for these differences was that the different types of organisms have undergone change while having a common ancestor. Thus, the evolution theory of Darwin began to take root in his mind. In his belief, the differences he was observing between different types of organisms were due to them having undergone changes. But, what factors caused these changes and how did they happen? This question remained in his mind until he studied an essay on population written in 1838 by the famous British economist, Malthus. Malthus believed that the human population is growing but that food supplies are dwindling. From this research paper he concluded that the human race must prevent excessive population, if not the population on Earth would be more that what the food supply could sustain. This theory attracted the attention of Darwin and he understood how and why organisms could change from generation to generation. He believed that human beings could breed domestic animals to have the attributes they desired. Accordingly, those which did not have the desired traits would have their reproduction restricted and those having the desired attributes would undergo breeding leading to an increase in their population. However, he observed that different species of wild animals also had differences among themselves. So then, he asked the question, how did these differences occur without the assistance and intervention of humans? Malthus’s theory again aided Darwin in his thinking. Man is forced to acquire food in order to survive. In order to carry out this essential task, he must battle against his environment in order to overcome it. Wild animals are also in this situation. If the availability of food is not sufficient for them, the only animals able to survive will be those that are ardent opponents of nature, i.e. those able to develop the appropriate traits and eliminate undesirable traits. Thus, the only creatures that live in this struggle for existence are those with properties allowing them to overcome nature. Darwin called this process “natural selection”. This process causes features that are useful to become more widespread and, over many generations, a population can obtain that many new features that they then become a new species of organism. This process of change in life forms over time and across generations is also called “evolution”.
Darwin published his theory in 1859 in the book "On the Origin of Species". According to this theory, all life on Earth is the result of a natural ongoing process. This theory requires that all living organisms on Earth to have a common ancestor. The nineteenth century, due to the resulting effects of Darwin’s theory of biological evolution, has been named Darwin's century.
Darwin and the Theory of the Descent of Humans from Monkeys
Charles Darwin wrote much about the origin of humans in his book, The Descent of Man. In this book, Darwin denied all the basic differences between humans and animals and regarded all the physical and mental qualities of humans as having been evolved from other animals. He said that the human brain is at a more perfected stage than the monkey brain and that primitive man was the intermediary between advanced monkeys and humans. The existence of hair on the body of the humans and animals is an attribute common between them and all the differences in humans such as standing on two feet, the shape of the face, movement of the hands and such mental traits as imagination and illusion are partially observable in monkeys. Characteristics in humans such as sacrifice, affection and altruism have been brought about through "natural selection". Darwin concluded that there is no reason to see human beings as being fundamentally different from all other animals. Thus man, who up to that time, was considered sacred and divine was relegated to the realm of natural laws and was evaluated within the same categories that other animals were evaluated. Thus the English biologist and Darwin supporter, Thomas Huxley (1825-1895) declared that there are fewer differences between humans and the highest monkeys than there are between the highest and lowest monkeys.
Darwinism and Disorder in Creation
As noted in the discussion on the argument of design for the existence of God, creation, with all its wonders, has a special design. Since it was demonstrated that the creator of this design is wise and all his actions are performed with wisdom, therefore all creation came into being for a specific purpose. However Darwinism, although it accepts the existence of design in creation, at the same time it says that evolution is a law of nature which plays a random and unbounded role in the development of species. In other words, changes are essentially random and nothing but environmental pressures and the struggle for survival, direct the evolutionary process.
The Main Foundation of Darwin’s Theory T
he two principle claims on which Darwin’s theory is based: • There is order in the universe however the appearance of this order was the effect of coincidence and natural laws, not because of the existence of a wise creator and regulator. • All organisms are evolving and this course of evolution has resulted in changes within species. For example, humans had initially been monkeys.
That which Darwin stated in regards to the theory of evolution differed from that said by some proponents of the theory who had their own aims. Darwin himself believed in God and was religious and never wanted his theories to be used to reach the conclusion that there is no God. As Darwin had said, the world is highly regulated and we are witnesses to gradual evolution within creatures, but what some supporters of Darwin have said, which is more controversial, is that there is no need for a regulator. What the supporters of Darwin have use to dismiss the proof of design for the existence of God, can, in the words of Āyatullah Mutahharī, be used to affirm this proof for the existence of God. The followers of Darwin assumed that if the evolution of various creatures and the governing of this process by the laws of nature are proved, then there is no longer a need for the existence of a regulator. This is while the existence of natural laws which cause change and evolution within creatures is not only compatible with the existence of a wise regulator, it even affirms the necessity for the existence of a wise regulator. When Darwin says nature selects the fittest, this selection is a cause for an organism to move towards improvement and perfection. This matter shows to us that there is a wise design behind this selection which guides organisms towards perfection and that this selection is not incidental. The order that we observe in this world is the result of this selection and wise guidance, which emanate from a supernatural power.
Darwin's Theory and its Influence on Human Thought
Although this new theory was influential in the fields of biology, geology, and particularly medicine, and after his death led to the discovery by other scientists of genes, chromosomes and ultimately DNA, however, on the other hand, it became a model for ethical theorists and brought about the emergence of "Darwinist morality”. But the greatest influence of Darwin's theory can be regarded as being in other academic fields, such as the social sciences, philosophy, ethics and theology, and the empirical sciences (sciences that are solely based on information received through the senses) of that time. The View of Biologists The reality is that the theory of evolution and the origin of species are still at the level of hypothesis and theory and no definite proof exists to prove it. Many questions and ambiguities surround this theory. Scientists have different opinions on the validity of this theory. Opponents are largely in agreement with the principle of evolution within organisms; however they have questioned the development of new species. Scientific arguments have been brought against the theory, some of which we will examine here: The famous geneticist, Jianzhi Zhang, and colleagues at the University of Michigan in the United States of America, compared the DNA of humans and chimpanzees together. Zhang’s group found that nearly 6 million years ago, chimpanzees and humans were separated from their common ancestor: 233 genes of chimpanzees in relation to the common ancestor had changed, but only 145 genes of humans had changed from the common ancestor by natural selection. This finding was inconsistent with what many evolutionary biologists considered to be true because the result of this investigation shows that the chimpanzees of today have undergone more genetic change than humans. In other words, the common ancestor underwent less change in becoming human and underwent much more genetic change in becoming a chimpanzee. In conclusion, the chimpanzee of today is more evolved than the human. As you have read, scientists have discovered that chimpanzees are more evolved than humans whereas the theory of evolution tells us that humans are more evolved. The scientists, who supported Darwin's theory, loudly claimed that they did so. However the problem, as stated by some of the scientists, is that between the fossil evidence of animals that lived in the past and related animals existing today, no intermediate fossils exist; it is as if suddenly the earlier animals evolved into the animals of today.
Darwin also realised the flaws in his hypothesis, but believed that one day intermediate fossils would be found. In explaining this problem, scientists who believe in evolution have proposed that evolution occurred with such speed that no fossils remain. However, biologists who are opposed to the theory of Darwinism state that no scientific evidence exists for this claim. The idea of change within species of animals is accepted by biologists but the part of the evolution theory that says all organisms have one common ancestor is opposed by a number of scientists: two reasons for their opposition were mentioned above. Although many arguments have been made against this part of the evolution theory, however they are mostly technical and only those who are expert biologists would be able to understand them.
Abrahamic Religions and Gradual Creation
In Genesis of the Torah, as well as in the Qur’an, it states that man was created in his current form and with complete intelligence and wisdom, not in the form of an animal such as a monkey which lacks human intelligence and wisdom. Accordingly, between this part of Darwin’s theory (that humans were not created in this form from the beginning and are the outcome of an evolutionary process) and holy religious texts, no compatibility exists. ‘Allāmah Tabātabā‘ī writes in Tafsir Al-Mizan: “The verses of the Qur’an imply that modern man descended from a specific man and woman and in the Qur’an that man has been called Adam. That man and woman were not born from a mother and father; rather they emerged from soil, clay or baked clay, or earth. Therefore the creation of humans was instantaneous and not over the course of time.”
The disagreement of ‘Allāmah with Darwin’s theory had not only been due to its incompatibility with the apparent meaning of the Qur’an’s verses; in his view, this theory had not reached the border of certainty and was still a hypothesis which had been proposed to explain some matters. Therefore it is completely speculative and cannot stand up against the Qur’anic truth that the human is distinguished from other types of animal and did not evolve from them.
Another scientific reason for Tabātabā‘ī’s rejection of Darwin’s view of evolution is that the generational continuity of humans and monkeys is not able to be observed; so far we have not seen that one type of being has changed into another type of being. Hence, it has never been witnessed that a monkey has changed into a human. Some academics in the West have also raised similar objections.
The reality is that the evolution of different organisms is a scientific principle and has been proven; however with the meaning that the possibility of genetic change within organisms is possible. Depending on differences in weather and geography and due to the passing of time, changes within species occur. However to say that all organisms or animals have a common ancestor is a theory that has not been scientifically proven and also has many opponents. Darwinist Morality It is said that, because the struggle for survival and selection of the fittest is the law of nature, people in society should also be like this. In accordance with this ruthless law, the strong are entitled to eliminate the poor. A system in which the weak are eliminated by the strong was considered to be of value. Any move in the opposite direction against the evolutionary survival of the fittest was considered negative. If this is so, then what role do humanitarian and ethical principles have? According to this principle, war and violence in human societies, like other animals, is inevitable. The human species, like other types of organisms, due to the effects of the reproduction of many generations will be subject to a shortage of food followed by conflict with the aim of survival. This struggle leads to the effective selection of the fittest. As a result, such acts as helping the poor, the vulnerable and the sick are all considered evils. Words such as love and affection, intimacy and a sense of brotherhood and helping your fellow man lost their real meaning. It is obvious that such a moral system is completely incompatible with a religious moral system that urges the helping of the poor. The capitalist class, seeing themselves as being in social competition, and based on this principle, regard themselves to be the most successful. Becoming more worthy is achieved through the accumulation of wealth and social power. Humanity has witnessed two world wars, in which the most heinous crimes and killings took place to achieve wealth and power.