Page 76 - The Importance of Patience in the Qur’an

74 THE IMPORTANCE OF PATIENCE IN THE QUR'AN

single living cell that emerged on the primitive Earth 3.8 billion years
ago. How a single cell could generate millions of complex living
species and, if such an evolution really occurred, why traces of it
cannot be observed in the fossil record are some of the questions that
the theory cannot answer. However, first and foremost, we need to
ask: How did this "first cell" originate?
Since the theory of evolution denies creation and any kind of
supernatural intervention, it maintains that the "first cell" originated
coincidentally within the laws of nature, without any design, plan or
arrangement. According to the theory, inanimate matter must have
produced a living cell as a result of coincidences. Such a claim,
however, is inconsistent with the most unassailable rules of biology.

"Life Comes from Life"

In his book, Darwin never referred to the origin of life. The
primitive understanding of science in his time rested on the
assumption that living beings had a very simple structure. Since
medieval times, spontaneous generation, which asserts that non-
living materials came together to form living organisms, had been
widely accepted. It was commonly believed that insects came into
being from food leftovers, and mice from wheat. Interesting
experiments were conducted to prove this theory. Some wheat was
placed on a dirty piece of cloth, and it was believed that mice would
originate from it after a while.
Similarly, maggots developing in rotting meat was assumed to be
evidence of spontaneous generation. However, it was later
understood that worms did not appear on meat spontaneously, but
were carried there by flies in the form of larvae, invisible to the naked
eye.
Even when Darwin wrote The Origin of Species, the belief that