Quran: Discuss Scientific Discoveries

When the Quran says that those who do not utilize their mental faculties are living like animals, firstly it brings to light the power and importance of human intellect, and secondly, it gives insight into the history of creation and evolution. According to the Quran, as supported by modern scientific discoveries, life (not the life of an individual or a species) started with the creation of a single cell. This single cell, through evolutionary processes reached the human form. In this evolutionary journey of life there are two points worth noting:

* Any species that shuns the struggle of life at a particular stage of its evolution remains at that stage and does not evolve any further. Goats can only reproduce other goats like itself. In other words, when a species stagnates at a particular stage of evolutionary life, its life ceases to be evolutionary and it becomes cyclic.

* Every species that evolves into a higher form obtains more mental capability that it had in its previous form. When a species ceases to evolve, the growth in its power of thinking comes to a halt as well. When life evolved into human form, its mental capability was termed thought or imagination. The capability to reason and reflect is a human trait. Animals do not have this capability, this is why people who do not use their God Almighty given mental abilities are considered worse than animals, animals have not been given creative thought, they use instinct.