9. Qur’anic Interpretations on Q.4:1 contd.

Becoming Bani Adam: Exploring Twelver-Shii Discussions on Human Ancestry - Mizan Institute

This episode continues to discusses the scriptural evidence for the idea that Adam (a) is the forefather of all of humanity today. Various Twelver-Shii scholars opine that the literal meaning of this verse, or its dhuhur, indicates that all of humanity today are the offspring solely of Adam and Eve with no third-parties involved. However, there are some mufassirin who posit that though this is the dhuhur or more likely prima-facie meaning, there is still room for other literal possibilities. As such, even though we know that Adam (a) was created in a miraculous unique process outside of evolution, it is possible that there were other Homo sapiens which his offspring mated with, and this idea would explain the existence of the DNA in the current human population showing genetic markers and indicating that we have a mixed ancestry. This possibility however should only be taken in the case that we have definitive empirical data that shows the impossibility that we are only from Adam and Eve if we are to remain true to the hermeneutical principles that we established earlier. We will also discuss what some possible explanations are for the genetic data that we see in the human population today. References: Ayatullah Nasir Makarim Shirazi, Tafsire Nemune, Volume 3, accessed with NOOR Software: Jami al-Tafasir. ʼAyātullah Jawādī ʼĀmulī , Tafsir Tasnīm, Volume 17, accessed on Nashre Esra CD. Ayatullah Jawadi Amuli, Recorded and Transcribed Lectures of the Commentary of Surah al-Nisa, accessed February 20th, 2015, http://www.portal.esra.ir/Pages/Index.aspx?kind=2&lang=fa&skinid=66&id=Nzk4-nik5IJYu24s%3d. “Punctuated Equilibrium,” www.fossilmuseum.net, accessed April 4, 2020, http://www.fossilmuseum.net/Evolution/punctuated_equilibrium.htm. See Allamah Majlisi, Hayat al-Qulub, v. 1 Q.15:28 وَإِذْ قَالَ رَبُّكَ لِلْمَلَائِكَةِ إِنِّي خَالِقٌ بَشَرًا مِّن صَلْصَالٍ مِّنْ حَمَإٍ مَّسْنُونٍ ﴿٢٨﴾ “When your Lord said to the angels, ‘Indeed I am going to create a human out of a dry clay [drawn] from an aging mud.”