Misconception: The Quran rejects evolution

The Quran describes a sequence of events that could be incorporated within an evolutionary process, but with God as the initiator and sustainer, with mankind being given unique qualities at a point in time when ready. Some examples are shown below:
21:30 ...We made out of water every living thing...

11:61 ...He produced you from the earth/land...

76:1 Was there not a time when mankind was nothing to even be mentioned?
76:2 We have created mankind from a mixed exudate...

71:17 God made you grow from the earth as a growth/plant

23:12 And We have created man from an extract from clay.
23:13 Then We made him a drop in an established lodging.

71:14 "And indeed He created you in stages...

6:38 There is not a creature in the earth, or a bird that flies with its wings, but are communities like you...

6:133 ...He raised you from the seed of another people.

22:5 ...We have created you from dust, then from an exudate/drop, then from a clinging substance, then from a fetus developed and undeveloped...

32:7 The One who perfected everything He created and He began the creation of man from clay.
32:8 Then He made his progeny from an extract of a humble liquid.
32:9 Then He evolved him, and blew into him from His spirit...

29:20 Say, "Roam the earth and observe how the creation was originated...

To conclude, it seems The Quran does not confirm nor rule out the evolutionary process.
It may be interesting to note that the basic theory of evolution can be found in early Muslim works and was not considered controversial. Perhaps the most well known example of this was in the work 'Al Muqaddimah' ('the introduction') by Ibn Khaldun (1377), written more than 400 years before Charles Darwin. Quote:

"One should then take a look at the world of creation. It started out from the minerals and progressed, in an ingenious, gradual manner, to plants and animals. The last stage of minerals is connected with the first stage of plants, such as herbs and seedless plants. The last stage of plants, such as palms and vines, is connected with the first stage of animals, such as snails and shellfish which have only the power of touch. The word 'connection' with regard to these created things means that the last stage of each group is fully prepared to become the first stage of the newest group.
The animal world then widens, its species become numerous, and, in a gradual process of creation, it finally leads to man, who is able to think and reflect. The higher stage of man is reached from the world of monkeys, in which both sagacity and perception are found, but which has not reached the stage of actual reflection and thinking. At this point we come to the first stage of man"


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