Evolving Creation: An Ismaili Muslim Interpretation of Evolution
Journal Article: Zygon Journal of Religion & Science: New Frontiers in Islam and Evolution Vol 57 Issue 2
Abstract: This article presents a constructive Shīʿī Ismaili Muslim engagement with Neo-Darwinian evolution. By drawing on Ismaili metaphysics and hermeneutics, I argue that Ismailis can affirm evolution without exceptions due to four features of contemporary and historical Ismaili thought. First, Aga Khan III (d. 1957), the 48th hereditary Ismaili Imam, integrated Neo-Darwinian evolution with his theological views. Likewise, the present Imam Aga Khan IV (b. 1936) teaches that there is no conflict between Islam and scientific truth because God's creative act is eternal and continuous. Second, Ismaili Neoplatonic metaphysics is compatible with evolution because it situates all natural processes as guided by the Universal Soul without a need for miracles. Third, the common descent of all life lends further support to the Ismaili belief in an unbroken lineage of hereditary Imams since the origins of life on earth. Fourth, the Quranic story of Adam's creation poses no hermeneutical issue because Ismaili scholars read the Adam story symbolically through esoteric exegesis (ta'wīl).
Author: Dr. Khalil Andani
Link to Full Paper: Academia.edu
On p.10 of "Evolving_Creation_An_Ismaili_Muslim_Inte.pdf", it states:
"Through humanity, the Universal Soul produces human souls that resemble it and share in its telos. Every human soul is created to strive toward spiritual perfection in knowledge and virtue by becoming an image of the Universal Intellect; this process enables the Universal Soul to achieve its own perfection. In the words of the Ismaili philosopher Nās.ir-i Khusraw (d. ca. 1088): “The [Universal] Soul is the architect of corporeal world and it is the Soul which started the movement of this world. The purpose of that activity which it develops is the search for perfection and this is attained in the eminent persons who appear in this world…The object of its producing this world was to produce souls in order that in them the Soul would become perfect.” (Khusraw 1949, 49).2 Thus, the corporeal world is a locus of manifestation of the Universal Intellect produced and continuously governed by the Universal Soul through the mediation of Nature; the corporeal world with its ordered behavior is “intellectual benefits corporealized” (al-fawā’id al-ʿaqliyya al-mujassama) or “embodied intellect” (ʿaql mujassam) (Walker 1993, 92). Every level of being in the cosmic hierarchy functions as a limited reflection of the level superior to it: the corporeal world and human souls reflect the Universal Soul; the Universal Soul reflects the Universal Intellect; and the Universal Intellect is the receptable of God’s creative command. Stated differently, the corporeal world and human souls are “within” the horizon of the Universal Soul; the Universal Soul is “within” the Universal Intellect; and the Uni versal Intellect is circumscribed by God’s command (Walker 1994, 53). reflected within the limits of each level. The Brethren of Purity describe this cosmogony as follows (Ikhwān al-S.afā’ in Ebstein 2013, 49):
The Word of God (kalimat Allāh) is continuously connected to [the world], reinforcing it with abundance (ifād.a) and benevolence in order that it be complete and continue existing. [The Word] begins its flow (fayd.ihā) through its unification with the First Originated Being (al-mubdaʿ al- awwal), the Active Intellect, then, through the mediation of the Intel- lect, [the Word reaches] the Universal Soul, the passive intellect; then through the mediation of the Universal Soul, [it reaches] Prime Matter; then, through the mediation of Prime Matter, the Absolute Body."
The search for perfection as purpose for The [Universal] Soul is problematic as perfection has no absolute state. Perfection is a continuously moving target. What is not possible today may become possible tomorrow. Perfection does not evolve as it is simply an ideal from one moment to the next serving as a measure for consciousness evolution as the only purpose for the self-creating Creation.
Goblet of the Truth (GOTT) Ch.16 p.345 v.6
6) The laws and recommendations of the creation of all things (Creation) are created for the striving towards true love, for the striving towards knowledge and wisdom and for the best possible, moral and virtuous flawlessness (perfection).
GOTT Ch.22 p.383 v.1
1) You human beings, you are part of the universe with its immutable, eternal laws and recommendations of the Creation in which a purpose for existence is also determined for you, the sense of the life which is given in the relatively highest possible evolution of the consciousness.
On p.5 of "Evolving_Creation_An_Ismaili_Muslim_Inte.pdf", it states "The above report indicates that Aga Khan III had reconciled his Islamic belief in God as the creator and sustainer of the Universe with Darwin’s theory."
CR437 (https://www.futureofmankind.co.uk/Billy_Meier/Contact_Report_437) states:
"Billy:
Naturally – how stupid of me. Oh well, I have here yet another question, because someone has asked me for an answer in the bulletin regarding on what Charles Darwin, in 1859, has constructed his theory of evolution, that the human being would be descended from apes. I learned from your father, Sfath, that Darwin falsified an ape skeleton in order to prove his theory, whereby, however, his assertion, being that the human descended from apes, did not even grow out of his own rubbish. In reality, as Sfath explained, Charles Darwin was linked with Tibetan Buddhists, who told him of the Tibetan legend, according to which all human beings would descend from eight different branches of apes. Can I convey my answer in this form? ..."
I find this difficult to believe that a Living Imam would not know about Darwin falsifying evidence to push acceptance of his theory of evolution.
BEAM explains in an 1998 Interview how humans evolved: https://www.futureofmankind.co.uk/Billy_Meier/Interview_with_Billy_%281998%29#How_did_human_beings_on_Earth_originate?_Did_they_really_evolve_from_the_ape?
"The purely terrestrial Man, the one who truly originated on Earth, is a natural product of the Earth's planetary evolution. First came the most primitive forms of flora, the lichen and the like, which exuded material that transformed into amino acids. These, in turn, generated new compounds from which higher plants originated that also embarked on the path of evolution. Ultimately, additional amino acid compounds derived from this process and resulted in yet higher life-forms, such as fauna, the animal kingdom. All continued to develop and were subject to this waxing and waning process just as the plants were. They lived and died and from their remains and subsequent mutations/transformations, still newer amino acid compounds and such resulted, which ultimately led to the humanoid life-form, the human lineage."
So humans did not come from the ape.
The article is extensive answering many questions including "Is there a Creator-God in spite of this?" (https://www.futureofmankind.co.uk/Billy_Meier/Interview_with_Billy_%281998%29#Is_there_a_Creator-God_in_spite_of_this?).
"The term "God" has absolutely nothing whatsoever to do with the creation of the world or the universe, stars, galaxies and the like, for the expression "God" has existed in the vastness of the universe for billions of years, from ancient times to the present, and it represents nothing more than the title of a person. Initially this title was "Ishwish" which means "God" when translated into our languages. But Ishwish, respectively god, is nothing more than another term for "King of Wisdom." It is a purely human title assigned to humans who were particularly knowledgeable, wise, and who possessed great mastery in everything. This term's significance, however, was distorted and falsified by humans on Earth, particularly by the early religions and those experienced in profiting from using the word. The result was that God, as a King of Wisdom, was removed and the people turned him into a Creator-God who, allegedly, had created the Earth, the sun and outer space. "