Origin Of Mankind
By Mujlisul Ulama
RECENTLY THERE WAS a heated debate in Israel on the question of the origin of mankind on earth. Dr. Shlomi Lesser of the Hebrew University and chairman of a society of atheist Israeli scientists had engaged ultra-orthodox rabbis on the issue of the origin of mankind.
Dr. Lesser: “How tall was the first man?”
Rabbi Brown: “Roughly the size of an average man according to Jewish sages.”
Dr. Lesser: “Genetic research has revealed that the human race coming from a single pair of parents is impossible in light of the biological bottleneck (a term for the strain put on successive generations by inbreeding) they would have to travel through. Our research, in conjunction with the research of other respected institutions around the world, has demonstrated that the entire human population descending from a single pair of human ancestors is highly unlikely. It would seem that the traditional view of groups, not individuals, evolving has been corroborated. The only way man could descend from a single pair is if the original pair were literally giants in the pre-nutrition age. Genetic evidence revealed that man would have been shrinking if he came from a single human ancestor. In order for the human race to reach the state it was in during the 17th century, the Adam and Eve story would only be plausible if the first man was 90 feet tall. There is no other way man could traverse the genetic bottleneck. If Adam was the size of any other man, it demonstrates an obvious absurdity to this myth.”
Surprisingly, the Rabbi supposedly an expert of the Torah and Yahudi religious history, was unable to debunk the myth and fallacy of the atheist scientist. In fact, the scientific theory which the atheist had propounded confirms the truth of mankind’s origin from a single pair of human beings. The scientist acknowledged, albeit grudgingly, that the “Adam and Eve story was plausible only if they were 90 feet tall”. This is exactly what Islam contends – that Hadhrat Aadam (alayhis salaam) was 60 cubits tall.
Hadhrat Abu Hurairah (radhiyallahu anhu) narrated that Rasulullah (sallallahu alayhi wasallam) said: “The height of Aadam was sixty cubits. ….Everyone who will enter Jannat will be in the form of Aadam (alayhis salaam) and his height will be sixty cubits. Then (i.e. after his creation) people continued decreasing (in size) until this time.” [Musannaf Abdur Razzaaq, etc.]
A cubit is an ancient measurement of 18 inches or one and half feet. Thus 60 cubits equal 90 feet, exactly as the atheist scientist had calculated in terms of their scientific ‘bottleneck’ theory.
The scientist also expounded that according to genetic evidence man would have been shrinking if he came from a single human ancestor. This is precisely stated in the Hadith that after the creation of Aadam (alayhis salaam), man continued shrinking until he reached his present size.
The ‘obvious absurdity’ could be directed to the claim of the Yahudi Rabbi who had erroneously said that Hadhrat Aadam’s height was the size of today’s average man. The error of the Rabbi served a good purpose. If the Rabbi had been aware of the history of the Ambiya, he would have stated the correct height of Aadam (alayhis salaam). The scientist would then have resorted to chicanery and would have blindly and irrationally rejected the claim as a myth. But, now the scientist on the basis of his own scientific ‘bottleneck’ theory is stuck in a bottleneck.
The scientist now has no scientific theory to dismiss as a myth the religious version that mankind originated from Aadam and Hawwaa (alayhimas salaam). Any rejection will be emotional and irrational, not scientific. Science has substantiated the veracity of the religious claim.
Islam Reigns 