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misreading evolution onto historical Islamic texts pdf

MISREADING EVOLUTION ONTO HISTORICAL ISLAMIC TEXTS
Book Title Misreading Evolution Onto Historical Islamic Texts
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misreading evolution onto historical Islamic texts Old texts, new masks:

misreading evolution onto historical Islamic texts Old texts, new masks:

Introduction

In Chapter 3, we reviewed all the relevant Qurʾānic verses and h ̣adīths that are relevant and discussed in the context of evolution. In Chapter 4, we examined the various ideas that people have brought forward when discussing the (in)compatibility of Islam and evolution.

But a thorough review of how Muslims perceive evolution cannot be complete without evaluating how some contemporary Muslim thinkers suggest that historical Muslim thinkers were actually thinking and writing about evolution (or a proto- evolutionary theory) as it is understood today.

The motivation behind this chapter is to demonstrate that this is an anachronistic reading. In fact, it can be stated at the onset said that all the thinkers we shall review here do not discuss evolution, but are rather speaking under the broad framework of scalae nature or what is known as the great chain of being (GCB).1 Before we begin, it will help juxtapose the GCB with the modern conception of evolution to make the differences between these two frameworks as clear as possible.

The GCB is a metaphysical framework derived from Plato and Aristotle’s works, and particularly flourished in Neoplatonism as a spiritual and philosophical account of reality (Lovejoy 2009, 61–63).

 It was incredibly influential in Islam and Christianity because it established an ontological hierarchy of all beings, a principle and worldview that was theistic-friendly (Wildberg 2016).

 When the GCB was introduced into the Muslim world, it was appropriated to fit under an Islamic rubric, though not necessarily with any homogeneity, which is why we sometimes see differences amongst Muslim thinkers (Twetten 2017).

This is being stressed because it establishes that this idea was prevalent in the collective Muslim psyche, and it was a major frame reference at the time (Kruk 1995, 31). Broadly speaking, at the top of the chain was God (or the Absolute Good, The First Principle, or

The One depending on the adopted account), which represented the highest level of perfection. After God, it was simply a downward degradation to lesser perfect beings. These included various tiers (such as the Universal Intellect or the Soul), angels/demons, celestial bodies, man,

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