Muslims have generally always adopted a positive approach towards science. There is no such thing like battle between science and Islam in the entire Islamic history. However some Muslims scholars found it difficult to reconcile evolution with Islamic narrative and hence gave a Fatwa that belief in evolution entails Kufr (unbelief). It is evident from one of the popular Muslim website, Islam online states; “it is a plain fact that what the Darwin theory wants to prove runs in sharp contrast to the divine teaching of Islam, and even to all the teachings of all heavenly revealed religions. The claim that man has evolved from a non human species is unbelief, even if we ascribe the process to Allah or to nature because it negates the truth of Adam's special creation that Allah has revealed in the Quran”.

This paragraph represents the world view of majority of Muslims. Regarding evolution Muslims are not homogenous rather there is a spectrum of opinions. Some Muslims fully reject evolution, some accept its theistic version while some belief in Darwanian version. Most of the Muslims do not know the basics of evolution and mix it with Atheism that both amount to the same thing. It is the narrative of “New Atheism” that you must either be a believer or evolutionist.
The central concern in the debate on Islam and evolution is the position of Adam and Eve in Heaven. Allah has mentioned in the holy Quran that Adam was created in the best of moulds, that was fashioned by GOD himself. This suggests Adam and Eve have an elevated status above the rest of entire creation. How can such kind of noble entity be produced from random process and imperfect ancestors. Similarly in Hadith Adam is referred to as the first human being without any parents. On one hand Quran and Hadith point towards creation narrative while on other hand stepwise and gradual evolution points towards the Darwanian narrative. These two narratives seem to be contradictory due to which Muslim scholars has given Fatwa against evolution that belief in it takes one out of Islam. But is it really true? Not at all. One can be a Muslim and evolutionist simultaneously. Quran has mentioned only Adam and Eve because they were born miraculously but it does not deny the existence of humans before Adam. Miracles lie outside the scientific realm, that is why Adam is not a part of proper scientific investigation.
Classical theology works divide theological topics in three categories; matters pertaining to belief in God (Ilahiyyat), matters pertaining to belief in prophets(Nubuwwat) and matters pertaining to belief in unseen things that can only be known through revelation(Sami'yyat). The third category deals with everything that Muslims are supposed to believe like events on the day of judgement, angels ,paradise and Hell etc. All these things cannot be verified by history or any other empirical evidence. Similarly the creation of Adam and Eve also falls in the category of unseen(Samiyyat) because there is no historical or archaeological evidence for the creation of these two individuals. The one and only source is holy text. The same text is silent on what living organisms existed on Earth at the time of Adam and Eve. Therefore theologians not have grounds to claim that homo sapiens as defined by biologists were absent in the world before Adam. The idea that the story of Adam explains human biological origins is only an assumption people read in the text, not something the text indicates. The story of Adam must be kept separate from the question of biological origins of homo sapiens. From a scriptural standpoint, it is not possible to determine precisely when Adam and Eve made their appearance on Earth nor whether they may have met any pre-existing hominid species. There could have been species prior to Adam or coexisted with Adam and inter married with descendants of Adam. Scripture does not rule out this possibility. One of Ash'ari scholar Ramadan al-Buti explains:
Know that we have, in this matter, no business investigating how Adam descendant from Garden, the precise location of his descent on Earth and how Adam and Eve's progeny multiplied after that, since none of this has a place in matters of creed.
In Doctor Asrar Ahmad's view it is reasonable to think that one advanced member of the Homo species was chosen within whom the soul was infused and became Adam. Some scholars differentiate between “Bashar” and “Insan”. The former is synonymous with either homo or hominids prior to the creation of Insan having no sophisticated mental capabilities while the latter is modern human being(Homo sapien).
Dr David Jalajel writes that the classical scholars would have to make Tawaqquf about human evolution occurring before Adam’s appearance, since the texts are silent on it. This separates the story of Adam from the question of human biological origins. Thus, it no longer matters whether Adam had parents or not, because he does not have to be the first biological human specimen. If one adopts this position, one can comfortably be a Muslim and believe in human evolution because they are logically consistent with one another.
From this discussion we may conclude that one can accept the idea that biological organisms classified as Homo sapiens might have evolved from earlier hominids while still upholding the belief that Adam and Eve were created without parents and that all human beings on Earth today are Adam and Eve's descendants.
Caner Taslaman in his book “Can a Muslim be Evolutionist” writes:
No statement in the Quran contradicts the theory of evolution. Therefore a Muslim can believe in evolution. Since the theory of Evolution is not in conflict with Islam, Muslim thinkers can relax and approach the topic with open mindedness, scrutinizing evolution in the light of scientific findings and philosophical evaluation and there by arrive at their own conclusion about evolution.

Writer is a Student of Science, Philosophy and Theology

Email:-----arafatfani439@gmail.com