Epigraph:

What is the matter with you that you hope not for grandeur and wisdom from Allah? And he has created you in different forms and stages. See you not how Allah has created seven heavens in perfect harmony, and has placed the moon therein as a light, and made the sun a blazing lamp? And Allah has caused you to grow out of earth as a vegetation. Then He will cause you to return to earth and eventually He will bring you forth as a new creation in Hereafter. And how He has spread the Earth out for you to walk along its spacious paths. (Al Quran 71:13-20)

The above is an Urdu video of Jāvēd Ahmed Ghāmidī.

Suggested Reading about ‘Biological Evolution and Religion’ by Zia H Shah MD, Chief Editor of the Muslim Times

This is an age of information and specialization and one scholar cannot be an expert in all areas of human interest.  When the Muslims begin to put one leader on the pedestal in this age of information, no matter how smart, capable or God fearing he or she be, they are vulnerable to be disillusioned and misinformed. 

I suggest that when it comes to Al Shafi attribute of Allah, as to how He heals, we may be better served by a believing physician, who has healed people for a long period of time, rather than a half baked Hakeem and a full time Mullah.

When it comes to judicial subjects we definitely need input from people with judicial back grounds.  Let me just suggest one possible subject here: IHC declares marriages under 18 ‘unlawful’, Islamabad High Court declares 16-year-old girls’ marriage illegal and IHC Justice Babar Sattar rules marriage under the age of 18 as illegal. 

I have often observed that many a Muslim scholars, leaders or theologians have the audacity to suggest 4 eye witnesses for the crime of rape, without any understanding of psychology of rapist, the victim or forensics. They have not even bothered to think how a victim in her vulnerable state is to negotiate with the potential witnesses, while they themselves are imposing strict conditions of Hijab and segregation of sexes. Two articles on this issue should suffice: Reason or Orthodoxy: Which One Should Rule? and As the Muslims debate ‘4 witnesses’ — ‘Rapid DNA’ testing could revolutionize rape investigations ─ if the science holds up.

If you want to learn about Islamic economics you may have to go to the Muslims with expertise in economics and not Mullahs who merely suggest that interest or usury is Haram.

If you need to learn about your experiences and the question of human suffering, an insightful and believing psychologist may do better than a theologian living a life of luxury and success, who has little time for you.

If you have to learn about the futility of materialism, Morgan Freeman, a legendary African-American Hollywood actor may do better than a Mullah craving for material success and feigning as if he does not care: Video of Morgan Freeman: Commentary of Surah Takathur.

I want to carve out an area of expertise for myself which is evolution and God’s creation of our universe and the nine million known life forms on our planet earth.  This is a subject that I have pursued in one form or the other for the last 40 years of my life, so I can at least say that I am not basking in my own ignorance and of my readers.

Jāvēd Ahmed Ghāmidī is my favorite Muslim scholar these days and I consider him one of the best theologians, but here I take the liberty of criticizing him on the subject of evolution. Only in a world that is open to free speech and ideas that we can learn and progress easily without major struggles.

I do not want to use my words to expose the esteemed scholar on the subject of evolution, I will let him do the talking in the above video that I have saved for the posterity, in the Muslim Times as well, below.

Are the Scientists the Better Teachers for Several of the Attributes of God?

Exposing Creationism of Zakir Naik, Tahir ul Qadari, Yusuf Estes and Harun Yahya

Encyclopedia Britannica: Just How Old Is Homo sapiens?

The Single Quranic Verse that Can Convince You about Evolution

Meeting the Quranic Adam with Charles Darwin

TheQuran.Love: Surah Baqara (The Cow): Section 4: Adam and Eve

Charles Darwin: An Epiphany for the Muslims, A Catastrophe for the Christians

Molecular biology: A Checkmate to Creationism

12 Minute Video: Everything You Wanted to Know about Guided Evolution

Videos: Biological Evolution Session of Quran and Science Symposium 2014

Evolution: Natural Selection or Divine Choice?

Two Words for the Christian Apologist Ravi Zacharias: Biological Evolution

The Muslim Times, Perhaps the Only Medium Presenting the Creator God of the Holy Quran

Please also see the comments below for some additional details

Jāvēd Ahmed Ghāmidī (Urdu: جاوید احمد غامدی) (born April 7, 1952^[3]) is a Pakistani Muslim theologian, Quran scholar, Islamic modernist, exegete and educationist. He is also the founding President of Al-Mawrid Institute of Islamic Sciences and its sister organisation Danish Sara.^[4]

He became a member of the Council of Islamic Ideology (responsible for giving legal advice on Islamic issues to the Pakistani Government and the country’s Parliament) on 28 January 2006, where he remained for a couple of years.^[5] He also taught Islamic studies at the Civil Services Academy for more than a decade from 1979 to 1991.^[6] He was also a student of Islamic scholar and exegete, Amin Ahsan Islahi. He is running an intellectual movement similar to Wasatiyyah, on the popular electronic media of Pakistan.^[7] Currently he is Principal Research Fellow and Chief Patron of Ghamidi Center of Islamic Learning in United States. Javed Ahmad Ghamidi was named in The Muslim 500 (The World’s Most Influential Muslims) in the 2019, 2020 and 2021 editions.

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Javed Ahmad Ghamidi, A Great Theologian, Yet Joins the Long List of Scholars, Who are Ignorant about Evolution https://t.co/KeZhLTxjoE pic.twitter.com/MURQYh5ira

— The Muslim Times (@The_MuslimTimes) March 3, 2022

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