Fatwa ID: 05105

Answered by: Maulana Naieem Mohammad

Question

Was there a civilization of different species before Hazrat Adam

As we are now we know that he was the first human that Allah had created and put upon the world.

And glaciers that have frozen eukaryotes

You know how they have fossils and remains of different fish and bacteria from millions of years ago

For example dinosaurs

Could animals and bacteria have existed before the prophet was created?

After Allah created the world, was there a certain period of time of which he did not do anything to if, and in that period of time could evolution have occurred with the process of geological change?

In the name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful

Answer:

The above is a very simple matter. Our father Adam (a.s.) was indeed the first man, but the Earth and the Universe were created before him to serve him.

There is a narration by Abu Huraira (r.a.) that once the Prophet (s.a.w.) took hold of his hand and said,” Allah created the Earth on Saturday, then He created the Mountains on Sunday, then He created the trees on Monday, He created Evil on Tuesday and He created Light on Wednesday, He spread the animals throughout the Earth on Thursday and He created Adam after Asr on Friday as the last creation, he was created in the last moment from the hours of Friday between Asr and nightfall.”[1]

This Hadeeth tells us a few important facts:

• All creatures were created before Adam
• Adam was the last of all creatures to be placed on the Earth
• The exact details of creation were not given
• The length of each Day was not mentioned
• What took place between each stage of creation is not mentioned

There are creatures that we do not know about, evidence for their existence may not be available but only Allah knows what they are and whether they are now extinct or are yet to be discovered by man. Animals such as Dinosaurs may have existed if the fossil evidence is accepted as proof, but whether we believe in them or not it would have no bearing upon our Imaan.

There is no moment that Allah almighty is idle. His commands are always being carried out throughout the universe. Whatever processes that may have occurred to link one stage of creation to the next such as a type of evolution or adaptation or even the shifting of tectonic plates, etc. is not mentioned. The main focus is to believe that all of it happened by the permission of Allah and in his wisdom. There are many processes that occur at present in the universe especially on the Earth, from these processes we should observe the Qudrat of Allah almighty and this should be a means of increasing our Imaan.

A Muslim ponders upon the wonderful world that surrounds us to see the favors of his Lord, but such pondering should be done with the intention of increasing our Imaan and not just a simple empty wandering of our minds.

For further details, you are advised to join one of Darul Ilm’s courses on Aqeeda which may discuss the Creation in detail.

Only Allah knows best

Written by Maulana Naieem Mohammad

Checked and approved by Mufti Mohammed Tosir Miah

Darul Ifta Birmingham

[1] This is the narration of Muslim, recorded in Bidaaya wan Nihaaya of Ibn Katheer, vol 1 pg 18