Mu' meneen Brothers and Sisters,

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One of our brothers/sisters has asked this question:

Dear brother,

Can you explain to me about the prophet Adam, where he and Howah lived on this planet and how long ago that was.  I am interested to know also that since they were the first people on earth then how do islam explain the fossil evidence of primitive humans?

Thank You

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Answer:

Fossils of Primitive humans

In the name of Allah, We praise Him, seek His help and ask for His forgiveness. Whoever Allah guides none can misguide, and whoever He allows to fall astray, none can guide them aright. We bear witness that there is no one (no idol, no person, no grave, no prophet, no imam, no dai, nobody!) worthy of worship but Allah Alone, and we bear witness that Muhammad(saws) is His slave-servant and the seal of His Messengers.

Q-1: Can you explain to me about the prophet Adam, where he and Howah lived on this planet and how long ago that was.

There is nothing in the Quran and Sunnah whereby one could decisively conclude where exactly did Hadrat Adam (a.s.), and Hadrat Hawwa (r.a.) stayed on this planet earth. Neither did the companions of the Messenger of Allah (saws) ask him, nor did he ever give the geographical location of where did Hadrat Adam (a.s.) and Hadrat Hawaa (a.s.) decend. Therefore, the knowledge of their exact geographical location of descent is in the knowledge of Allah Subhanah Alone. Had it been important for the guidance of mankind in any way, Allah and His Messenger (saws) would have informed the believers about it.

It has been claimed in the early books of the Israelites, that Hadrat Adam (a.s.) descended in what is presently India/Sri Lanka, and Hadrat Hawwa (a.s.) descended on what is presently the city of Jeddah, in Saudi Arabia. Since the Quran and Sunnah are silent about the subject, there is absolutely no way for the believers to either confirm or deny the Israelite claim. Allah Subhanah Alone knows best the exact location of the decent of Hadrat Adam (a.s.) and Hadrat Hawwa (a.s.) on this earth.

Q-1A: how long ago that was.

Again, there is absolutely nothing in the Quran and the Sunnah regarding the lapse of time between one Prophet of Allah and the other, nor is there any indication whatsoever about when exactly was Hadrat Adam (a.s.) sent down on this earth. If the timing of the descent of Hadrat Adam (a.s.) was important for the guidance of mankind in any way, Allah Subhanah and His Messenger (saws) would have definitely informed the believers about it. The perfect knowledge of when Hadrat Adam (a.s.) lived on earth is in the knowledge of Allah Subhanah Alone.

According to the best guesstimates amongst the doctors of law of the Israelites, they have dated the death of Hadrat Ibraheem (a.s.) at between 6000BC and 7000BC. If one were to guess the calculation of the years of the reigns of the Prophets of Allah before Prophet Ibraheem (a.s.), ie. Hadrat Nooh (a.s.) whose mission was about 950 years, Hadrat Idrees (a.s.) or Enoch, who according to the Bible lived for 365 years, and Hadrat Adam (a.s.), who according to the Bible died at the age of 930 years. If one were to make a guess of the time period between the Israelite’s records of the dates between the death of Hadrat Ibraheem (a.s.) and the death of Hadrat Adam (a.s.) according to the dates given in the Book of Genesis in the Bible, one would at best guess say it could not have been more than 13,000-14,000 years. Thus the best guess offered according to the Bible of the descent of Hadrat Adam (a.s.) would be about 20,000 years BC. And Allah Alone Knows Best.

We reiterate again, that these are nothing but guesstimates according to the Israelites books of history. Because Allah and His Messenger (saws) have not informed the believers about it, we can neither confirm the claim of the People of the Book, nor can we deny it. Allah Subhanah Alone has the perfect Knowledge of all things.

Your Question: I am interested to know also that since they were the first people on earth then how do islam explain the fossil evidence of primitive humans?

There is absolutely no concrete fossil evidence to support the ‘ape-like man’ or ‘primitive-man’ theory, whose image is unceasingly indoctrinated by the media and the in evolutionist circles There is absolutely not even an iota of truth in their ‘evolution’ theory, which incidentally is thought of and propagated as a ‘scientific fact’, although it is nothing but a now scientifically disproved and imagined ‘theory’ based on a bunch of erroneous assumptions. And the only reason these materialist evolutionists ardently prescribe to their ‘evolution’ theory is, because if they declare what scientific findings have already declared as false and baseless, they would have to accept the inevitable fact that there is a Creator of all things; which these atheists would never ever accept!

With brushes in their hands, evolutionists produce ‘imaginary’ creatures, yet the fact that these drawings have no matching fossils constitutes a serious problem for them. One of the interesting methods they employ to overcome this problem is to ‘produce’ the fossils they cannot find! The “Piltdown Man’ is one of the biggest scandal in the history of science, where the evolutionists ‘produced’ an ‘ape-man’ with bone and teeth specimens, where the jawbone was more ape-like, and the teeth and the skull were like a man’s.

A well-known doctor and also an amateur paleontologist, Dr. Charles Darwin came out with an assertion that he had found a jawbone and a cranial fragment in a pit in Piltdown, England in 1912. Even though the jawbone was more ape-like, the teeth and the skull were like a man. These specimens were labeled the ‘Piltdown Man’ and alleged to be 500,000 thousand years old, and were displayed as an absolute proof of human evolution in several museums. For more than 40 years, many scientific articles were written on the ‘Piltdown Man’, many interpretations and drawings were made, and the fossil was presented as an important evidence of the human subject.

In 1949, a gentleman named Kenneth Oakley from the British Museum’s paleontology department attempted to try the method of ‘flourine testing’, a then new test used for determining the date of some old fossils. A trial was made on the fossil of the ‘Piltdown Man. The result was astounding! During the test, it was realized that the jawbone of the so-called ‘Piltdown Man’ did not contain any fluorine. This indicated that it had remained buried no more than a few years! The skull, which contained only a small amount of fluorine, showed that it was only a few thousand years old.

The latest chronological studies made with the fluorine method have revealed that the skull is only a few thousand years old. It was determined that the teeth in the jawbone belonging to an orangutan had been worn down artificially, and that the primitive tools discovered with the fossils were simple imitations that had been sharpened with steel implements states Kenneth Oakley, William Le Gros Clark & J.S. in the journal named ‘Piltdown Meydan Larousse’, volume 10, page 133.

In the detailed analysis completed by Weiner, this forgery was revealed to the public in 1953. The analysis revealed that the skill belonged to a man buried 500 years ago, and the mandibular bone belonged to recently dead ape! It also revealed that the teeth were thereafter specially arranged in an array and added to the jaw and the joints were filled in order to resemble that of a man. Then all these pieces were stained with potassium dichromate to give them a dated appearance, which began to disappear when dipped in acid. In the wake of all this study and disclosure of forgery of the ‘Piltdown Man’ fossils, the specimen was removed from the British Museum where it had been displayed for more than 40 years!

But in the span of 40 years since the discovery of the forgery, the Darwinist evolutionists, propagated the now widely held theory that the modern man of today evolved from some kind of ape-like creatures! During this alleged evolutionary process, which is supposed to have started 4-5 millions years ago, it is claimed that there existed some ‘transitional forms’ between the modern man and his ‘primitive’ ancestors! According to this completely ‘imaginary’ scenario, four basic categories were listed:

1. Australopithecine
2. Homo Habilis
3. Homo Erectus
4. Homo Sapiens

The evolution theory was based on a series of flawed assumptions, and the ‘imaginary’ scenarios created by these evolutionists have been proven by modern sciences that either resemble fossils of the ‘ape’ or a ‘human’, but never the ‘ape-man’ or ‘primitive-man’ which is so widely propagated by these atheists.

All the Scriptures of the Abrahamic faiths confirm that God created Hadrat Adam (a.s.) and Hadrat Hawwa (a.s.) and the complete human race is a descendant of these sole parents of mankind.

Allah Says in the Holy Quran Chapter 4 Surah Nisaa verse 1:

O mankind! Reverence your Guardian-Lord Who created you from a single person (Adam), created of like nature his mate (Hawwa), and from them twain scattered countless men and women.

Whatever written of Truth and benefit is only due to Allah’s Assistance and Guidance, and whatever of error is of me. Allah Alone Knows Best and He is the Only Source of Strength.

Your Brother in Islam,

Burhan