By T.O. Shanavas, New Age Islam

13 September 2024

Darwin’s theory marked a significant scientific advancement in biology. Muslim scholars were among the first to propose the concept of evolution. The contributions of Muslim thinkers to the theory of evolution were known in the West long  before Charles Darwin. John William Draper accurately highlighted this when he stated:

“The intellectual movement of Christendom has reached that point which Arabism had attained in the tenth and eleventh centuries; and doctrines which were then discussed are presenting themselves again for review; such are those of Evolution, Creation, Development” (italics by author).  (Ref: John William Draper, *Conflict between Religion and Science*. New York: Appleton and Company, 1875, p. XV.).

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Also Read: Darwinism is Consistent with Qur’anic Insights on Man’s Origin

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Who was Draper? John William Draper (1811-1882) was an English-American scientist, philosopher, physician, chemist, historian and photographer. Draper made significant contributions to scientific photography, including producing one of the first clear photographs of a human face in 1839-40 and the first detailed photograph of the moon in 1840. He was the first president of the American Chemical Society (1876-77).Draper wrote several influential books, including “History of the Intellectual Development of Europe” (1863) and “History of the Conflict between Religion and Science” (1874), which popularized the conflict thesis between religion and science. At the famous 1860 British Association meeting in Oxford where Darwin’s theory was debated, Draper presented a paper titled “On the Intellectual Development of Europe, considered with reference to the views of Mr. Darwin and other.“ This paper by Draper initiated the discussion that led to the famous exchange between Bishop Wilberforce and Thomas Huxley about Darwin’s theory. Draper was thus a contemporary of Darwin and played a role in early discussions and debates about evolutionary theory, though he is often overlooked in popular accounts that focus on Huxley and Wilberforce. (Ref: Gould, Stephen Jay. “Knight Takes Bishop?” Natural History, (May 1986), p. 18; and Lucas, J. R. Historical Journal, XXII (1979), p. 102).

According to Draper, 

“[Christian] (t)heological authorities were therefore constrained to look with disfavour on any attempt to carry back the origin of the earth to an epoch indefinitely remote, and on the Mohammedan theory of evolution [italics by author] which declared that human beings developed over a long period of time from lower forms of life to their present condition.“ (Ref: Draper, John William. The Conflict between Religion and Science, p. 188.).  “Sometimes, not without surprise, we meet with ideas with which we flatter ourselves with having originated in our own times. Thus our modern doctrine of evolution and development were taught in their [Muslim] schools [italics mine]. In fact they carried them much farther than we are disposed to do, extending them even to inorganic or mineral things.“ (Ref: Draper, John William. The Conflict between Religion and Science. p. 118.)

Today, we recognize that Darwin’s theory of evolution has roots in earlier Muslim theories of evolution. It is difficult to believe that European scientists, who were neighbours to the Muslim world, were unaware of these ideas, especially when an American scientist and contemporary of Darwin, John William Draper, acknowledged that the theory originated among Muslims. Is it plausible that Europeans, who heeded Roger Bacon’s advice to “learn Arabic and Arabic science for progress,“ (Ref: Briffault, Dr.Robert. The Making of Mankind, p. 201. ) were unaware of the Muslim contributions to evolutionary thought?

Western historians have acknowledged that books of medicine written by physicians during the Golden Age of Islam served as standard textbooks in European medical schools until the eighteenth century (Ref: Durant, Will. *The Story of Civilization*, Vol. 4, pp. 246–249). Therefore, it is undeniable that Charles Darwin’s grandfather, Erasmus Darwin (1731–1802), and his father, Robert Darwin (1766–1848), both physicians, were influenced by these textbooks written by Muslim scholars.

Abu Bakr Ibn Tufail, a prominent Muslim physician and philosopher, authored *The Story of Hai bin Yaqzan* (also known as *The Journey of the Soul*), a philosophical tale notable for its themes related to evolution, presented centuries before Darwin’s theory. This work gained significant popularity in Europe, with the first Latin translation published in Oxford in 1671 by Edward Pocock, Jr., followed by multiple editions between 1671 and 1700. The first English translation by Simon Ockley was published in 1708, and Dutch, German, and French translations followed in the 18th and 19th centuries. (Ref: The Story of Hai bin Yaqzan (The Journey of the Soul) by Edward Pocock, Jr. pp. vi-vii.).

The widespread publication and translation of this work across Europe suggest it was highly influential. Given its popularity, it would be unlikely that Charles Darwin, his father, and his grandfather, a philosopher, were not familiar with it.

Now review and compare the poems written by Jalaluddin Rumi and Erasmus Darwin who encourage his grandson, Charles Darwin to quit Christian seminary for the study of nature.

Rumi wrote Masnawi:

“Hundreds of thousands of years I was flying (to and fro) involuntarily, the notes in the air.

He came first to the inorganic realm.

and from there stepped over to the vegetable kingdom.

Living long as a plant.

He has no memory of his struggles in the organic realm.

Similarly rising from the plant to the animal life

he forgets his plant life

retaining only an attraction for it which he feels

especially in the spring 

Ignorant of the secret and cause of his attraction

like the infant at the breast who knows not why he is attracted to the mother. . . .

Then the creator draws him from animality to humanity.

So he went from realm to realm

until he became rational, wise, and strong.

As he has forgotten his former types of reason (every stage being governed by a particular type of reason) so he shall pass beyond his present reason.

When he gets rid of this coveted intellect, he shall see a thousand other types of reason.“ (Ref: Hakim, Dr Khalifa Abdul. The Metaphysics of Rumi, p.37).

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