By Rukiya Dadhiwala

From the moments of first education you’re taught that humans evolved from monkeys and chimpanzees, and that life on Earth started with a single cell, which through mutations over millions of years became the human species. Of course other species still exist but the idea is that every few millennia evolution made a gigantic leap and a sub-species formed within and existing species, which eventually becomes a species in it’s own rights. However, how accurate is this?

Science will tell you that there is no other way, yet religion will tell you this is not the way. As a Muslim I always believed in the Creationist theory, the idea that there is a creator and that humans were created and put on Earth. In my younger days I didn’t believe in the evolution theory because Islam told me not to, but now my arguments have a little more substance because science tells me that the evolution theory is inaccurate. And I’ll try to explain how below.

The evolution theory is built on the following four things:

1. Intelligence – Humans are considered to be the most developed as we have the highest brain-body ratio. Monkeys and chimpanzees have a similar ratio, and similar brains and are able to solve some complex problems.
2. Genetics – It is argued that monkeys share 99% of their genes with humans.
3. Social relationships – Monkeys have a need for social and interpersonal relationships, and are able to create a ‘culture’ just like humans.
4. Physical (medication) – Monkeys can be treated with the same medications as humans as they are physically very similar.

At first glance the above four reasons could be enough support for the evolution theory, however, let’s explore each one further.

Intelligence – monkeys are able to complete complex problems but is this evidence for the evolution theory? Let us look at bees – bees build hives that are geometrically and mathematically accurate for maximum storage, a feat that would take human ‘experts’ to complete. Or how about beavers – they build their homes in the middle of rivers against the current, just the way human ‘experts’ build dams. Or maybe the termites – these tiny creatures build towers with an ‘air-conditioning’ system, special storage chambers and agricultural areas. You also have schwarzula bees that rear livestock; they breed larva for their secretion. And finally you have the ants that collect tree resin and use it as antiseptic to purify their nests of germs. And that’s just a few examples of animals much lower on the evolution chain displaying human traits of maths, geometry, engineering, hygiene and agriculture – traits usually only displayed by ‘expert’ humans.

Let’s look at genetics next. Some researchers have shown that monkeys share 99% of genes with humans, although research at the California Institute of Technology has suggested that the difference between human and monkey is much larger than previously thought. However it’s important to note that 1% of genes is actually a very large amount. It is also important to note here that genetic mutations do not create a new species, in fact, some mutations are fatal.  And not only that some research groups have suggested that humans share 60% of their genes with a lettuce leaf – and going by the evolution theory one must assume that a few million years ago our ancestors were lettuce!

Next, is social relationships. Yes monkeys do need to create bonds, but so do penguins, which mate for life and raise their young in an environment that full of love and loyalty. Just looking at the animal world you see many animals living in social groups, hunting together and rearing their young together – lions, elephants, hyenas and prairie voles to name just a few.

The final argument used by evolution theorists is that monkeys and humans are physically similar and therefore must be related, especially as monkeys can be treated using the same medication as humans – yet we make medication using blood from horseshoe crab, does that make us like horseshoe crabs? Another argument against this is that in the 1960s at Tulane University Dr Reemtsma attempted to transplant monkey kidneys into humans and failed – all patients died, proving we can’t be that similar. Another interesting piece here is during WWI coconut water was used very successfullu in place of human blood in transfusions, suggesting humans are very similar to coconuts, and therefore we must’ve evolved from coconuts!
As illustrated, tiny insects, millions of years away from humans on the evolution chain display much more complex and human-like behaviours than monkeys hopefully it can be seen that science shows evolutionary theory to be an inaccurate account of human history.

Reference: Works of Harun Yahya