Creation as per the bible versus scientific evolution has been the cause of much argument and social turmoil in the largely christian America.
Has evolution been accepted amongst the muslims of the MENA region? What is/was the origin of man/life story for muslims? Is evolution taught in their basic elementary schools?
Christians, Muslims, and Jews all have pretty much the same creation story (the creation story and a lot of other stuff was around long before Christianity or Islam were founded and was picked up by those two, no need to re-invent creation) although I do not know to what extent there are people in the latter two faiths who subscribe to a version of Creationism (i.e., disdain for evolution theory) as do some Christians.
Muslims believe in the same Creation Story as Christians (Adam and Eve, etc). The only differences that I can recall are that Muslims do not believe in original sin, and that Lucifer was not an Angel, but a Jinn. I’m sure there are Muslims on the board who will correct me on this…
Bib
This came up in a thread in 1999. I hope this link works:
http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?threadid=6277&highlight=muslim+AND+evolution
Anyway, as I said then, my girlfriend is Muslim (from Indonesia) and educated (has a Masters’ degree). She and her friends tell me they accept the age of the Earth and the evolution of animals. However, there is a “separation” between animals and humans, and that separation is Allah’s act of creation.
In this, they are not far removed from many mainstream Christian denominations that believe evolution created the body, but God created the soul. (I believe the Catholic church holds to something along these lines.)
According to surveys done for museums planning evolution exhibits, the American public believes something similar: a hogh level of acceptance for evolution for “lower” life forms, but a reluctance to accept evolution as the only factor in the appearance of humans.
– Beruang