101 Reasons Why We Left Islam – Chapter 3: Islam and Science – Reason 39
This reason for leaving Islam is linked to the previous reason [Reason 38: Debunking Iron falling from sky as a scientific miracle of the Quran.] However, there is more to the linguistic claim of sending ‘down’. So, in the midst of social media carnival celebrating the scientific research that claimed “Iron came from outside the planet”. ExMuslims, and even honest Muslims, pointed to the fact that in another verse, the same word is used to say Allah ‘sent down’ something to us yet, this is inconsistent with science.
Quran 39:6 https://myislam.org/surah-zumar/ayat-6/
Translators:
Yusuf Ali: He created you (all) from a single person: then created, of like nature, his mate; and he sent down for you eight head of cattle in pairs…
Muhsin Khan: He created you (all) from a single person (Adam); then made from him his wife [Hawwa’ (Eve)]. And He has sent down for you of cattle eight pairs.
Dr. Ghali: He created you of one self; thereafter He made from it its spouse, and He has sent down to you of the cattle eight pairs.
This is in contrast with other translators who decided not to translate the word for word but rather the meaning that would make this not a scientific problem. So, they decided to translate it as He ‘created’, ‘gave’, ‘provided’, or ‘produce’. All in an attempt to deflect from the real word ‘sent down’.
Why is sent down a problem?
First, this claim contradicts science that has proven that all cattle evolved on Earth. It also has serious theological implications that are difficult to explain. The claim was always that Adam and Eve were the only two send down from Heaven. Animals were already created and roaming the Earth. So, you can see how even classical Islamic scholars would have had an issue with this verse whereby some of the tafsir tried to deflect from the term.
What is more, the verse claims part of the creation, Allah sent 8 pairs of cattle heads. Some of the scholars, such as Muhsin Khan, speculated that these are: sheep, goats, oxen, and camels in pairs of males and females. The Quran leaves the reader wondering, why only 8 pairs? Where did chicken, buffalo, horses, donkeys, deer and other cattle and no-cattle animals come from?
Archaeologists can see evidence in human settlements as to when humans started to domesticate these animals from the wild during the early Neolithic era (10,000 years BCE). It is believed that first came dogs, then sheep, goats, and pigs. Cows and camels came much later.
Issue 39.1: The verse claims that all souls came from one single soul, whereas Allah sent down four types of cattle. This is yet another fairytale story we get from the Quran that contradicts science. Furthermore, both evolutionary science and archaeology point to the evolutionary process of the animals and the process by which they gradually got domesticated. No one ‘sent down’ these animals, and more so, no one ‘provided’ or ‘created’ them in the way we see them now!
Islamist Excuses:
Issue 39.1: Arabic is a language whereby a word can have many meanings. Sending down can mean providing or creating to provide. It can have other meanings as well. We still do not know where everything came from. And if we are to reconcile evolution with Islam, one can claim the verse did not specify how the animals were provided. It is possible that animals still evolved to different geologies and environments. Finally, there is no indication if these animals were created/sent down domesticated or not. These are assumptions on your behalf.
Our response: Sent down is sent down in Arabic. As an Arab I know what the word means. Even Quran.com website who choose to use the word ‘created’, if you click on the actual Arabic word (see the meme), the actual translation is ‘send down’.
As explained earlier, there were many issues with the way the verse was presented long before the Theory of Evolution came about or got confirmed. Everything else in the response is speculations and assumptions that are intended to deflect from the fact the Quran has yet another scientific problem that needs out of this world explanation.
Final Thoughts:
Beyond all this, we should not forget that genetics shows that sheep and goats, as well as horses and donkeys, had at one point a common ancestor whereby they share between 90% to 98% of their genes. In addition to everything we mentioned, the evolution of these animals is also proven by DNA analyses. As hard as you try to reconcile the science of evolution with Islam, it is this and many creationist verses that leave a person questioning if the Quran is really from a God or most likely written by a desert dweller.