Book Review: Tahseen N. Khan: The Provenance of Man: A Sunni Apologetic of the Original Creation of Adam​​

This book by an obviously erudite scholar of Islamic analytical theology (kalam), exegesis (tafsir) and rhetorics (ʿilm al-bayan) is divided into seven unnumbered chapters with an introduction and a conclusion. Though directed against Muslim evolutionists in general, it especially engages the evolutionist views of the UAE-based Algerian astrophysicist Nidhal Guessoum. 

The basic contention of the book is that the affirmation of biological parentage for Adam by Muslim evolutionists such as Guessoum is irreconcilable with its negation. (p. 5). Whether they realize it or not they are in fact subscribing to the ideology of philosophical naturalism, scientism and positivism when they attempt to construct “a story of human evolution from the Qurʾanic verses that read in total accordance with the modern theory.” (pp. 8-10). Such a stance obviously renders the ever-shifting, provisional inductive conclusions of modern science as the final arbiter over what can or cannot be interpreted from the verses of the Qurʾan, bypassing altogether and even doing violence to the established objective canons and principles of Qurʾanic commentary and interpretation (usul al-tafsir). (pp. 89 ff).
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​Journal of Islamic Sciences, Vol. 16 (Summer 2023) No. 1

Adi Setia

Adi Setia is the founding director of IGE Advisory, which is dedicated to consulting, teaching and researching in the Islamic Gift Economy framework. He is also the co-founder of the Program for Ethical, Appropriate & Regenerative Livelihoods (PEARL).