Quick or Slow Creation - The Implication of 'Kun Fayakun'

We all know that the Qur'an, at various places, says that Allah created the

heavens and the earth in “six days”. On the other hand, in 2: 117 the

Qur'an also says:

“The Originator of the heavens and the earth! When He decreeth

a thing, He saith unto it only: “Be!” And it is.”

Mr. Jochen Katz in, one

of his articles writes about the “six days” statement of the

Qur'an:

Many Muslims in recent days try to become modern in their

interpretation and bring the six days into line with cosmology and its

currently proposed 15 billion years as age of the universe. So, they claim

that the word for day does not only mean day, but can mean period, or even

eon. And they even claim that the Qur'an is on this very much in line with

science in this regard. Even though the earlier commentators took it to be

literal days.

and then, about the “Be and it is” statement of the Qur'an, Mr.

Katz writes:

Does this aya (i.e. 2: 117) not say that God creates instantaneous?

Does this really leave room for billions of years of development?

Six days are still pretty quick and acceptable in the range of “Be!

And it is” given the massive size of the universe and the complexity of

life …, but wouldn't it be quite a stretch to translate Sura 2:117 as

“When He decreeth a thing, He saith unto it only: Be! And it finally came

to pass after about 10 billion years.”?

And he said to Adam: “Be! And as evolution went its way, after about 3

billion years, Adam emerged.”

In the article that follows, I shall try to present my point of view about

the apparent contradictions pointed out by Mr. Katz.

The Interpretation of Traditional Muslim Scholars

Before presenting my point of view (interpretation) of the statement “Be

and it is”, I would like to give a short comment on Mr. Katz's remarks that

“Many Muslims in recent days try to become modern … . Even though the

earlier commentators took it to be literal days.”

I have presented adequate evidence from the pre-Islamic authorities on the

Arabic language in one of my other

responses to another one of Mr. Katz's criticisms that the the Arabic word “Yawm”

is used to imply a particular period of time (whether specified or not) and also

the 24-hour interval of time that we call: a “Day”.

The traditional Muslim scholars who, obviously were not exposed to the modern

day research in the fields of Archeology etc. took the word “yawm” to

mean a 24-hour time interval that we call a day. But as man, on the basis of his

study, observation and research estimated that the process of creation could not

have involved “days” but “eons”, the Muslim scholars were

faced with the problem of lack of consistency between the Qur'an and

Archeological estimations. Thus, they looked again at the words of the Qur'an

and found that it was quite consistent with the words used by the Qur'an to say

that the related verses of the Qur'an could be taken to mean “six

periods” or “six time intervals”. The Muslim scholars of old

could have been mistaken, like any other human being, because of their lack of

exposure to the scientific and Archeological data that was only made available

to man at a very later stage in time. Moreover, in my opinion, they must have

also been influenced by the opening passages of the Bible, for it was their

principle that if the Qur'an did not contradict the Bible, the Bible in those

instances could be presumed to be correct. I think it would not be without

interest for my readers to have a look at the related portions of the first book

of the Bible (Genesis), where the total process of creation has been explained

in the following words:

In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. Now the

earth was formless and empty, darkness was over the surface of the deep, and

the Spirit of God was hovering over the waters.

And God said, “Let there be light,” and there was light. God saw

that the light was good, and he separated the light from the darkness. God

called the light “day,” and the darkness he called

“night.” And there was evening, and there was morning-the first

day.

And God said, “Let there be an expanse between the waters to separate

water from water.” So God made the expanse and separated the water under

the expanse from the water above it. And it was so. God called the expanse

“sky.” And there was evening, and there was morning-the second day.

And God said, “Let the water under the sky be gathered to one place,

and let dry ground appear.” And it was so. God called the dry ground

“land,” and the gathered waters he called “seas.” And God

saw that it was good.

Then God said, “Let the land produce vegetation: seed-bearing plants

and trees on the land that bear fruit with seed in it, according to their

various kinds.” And it was so. The land produced vegetation: plants

bearing seed according to their kinds and trees bearing fruit with seed in it

according to their kinds. And God saw that it was good. And there was evening,

and there was morning-the third day.

And God said, “Let there be lights in the expanse of the sky to

separate the day from the night, and let them serve as signs to mark seasons

and days and years, and let them be lights in the expanse of the sky to give

light on the earth.” And it was so. God made two great lights-the

greater light to govern the day and the lesser light to govern the night. He

also made the stars. God set them in the expanse of the sky to give light on

the earth, to govern the day and the night, and to separate light from

darkness. And God saw that it was good. And there was evening, and there was

morning-the fourth day.

And God said, “Let the water teem with living creatures, and let birds

fly above the earth across the expanse of the sky.” So God created the

great creatures of the sea and every living and moving thing with which the

water teems, according to their kinds, and every winged bird according to its

kind. And God saw that it was good. God blessed them and said, “Be

fruitful and increase in number and fill the water in the seas, and let the

birds increase on the earth.” And there was evening, and there was

morning-the fifth day.

And God said, “Let the land produce living creatures according to

their kinds: livestock, creatures that move along the ground, and wild

animals, each according to its kind.” And it was so. God made the wild

animals according to their kinds, the livestock according to their kinds, and

all the creatures that move along the ground according to their kinds. And God

saw that it was good.

Then God said, “Let us make man in our image, in our likeness, and let

them rule over the fish of the sea and the birds of the air, over the

livestock, over all the earth,B and over all the creatures that move along the

ground.”

So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him;

male and female he created them.

God blessed them and said to them, “Be fruitful and increase in

number; fill the earth and subdue it. Rule over the fish of the sea and the

birds of the air and over every living creature that moves on the

ground.”

Then God said, “I give you every seed-bearing plant on the face of the

whole earth and every tree that has fruit with seed in it. They will be yours

for food. And to all the beasts of the earth and all the birds of the air and

all the creatures that move on the ground-everything that has the breath of

life in it-I give every green plant for food.” And it was so.

God saw all that he had made, and it was very good. And there

was evening, and there was morning-the sixth day. Thus the heavens and the

earth were completed in all their vast array. By the seventh day God

had finished the work he had been doing; so on the seventh day he rested from

all his work. And God blessed the seventh day and made it holy, because on it

he rested from all the work of creating that he had done. This is the

account of the heavens and the earth when they were created. (Genesis 1: 1 - 2:

4)

The reader should especially note the words:

• And there was evening, and there was morning-the first day. (Genesis 1:

  5)

• And there was evening, and there was morning-the second day. (Genesis 1:

  9)

• And there was evening, and there was morning-the third day. (Genesis 1:

  13)

• And there was evening, and there was morning-the fourth day. (Genesis 1:

  19)

• And there was evening, and there was morning-the fifth day. (Genesis 1:

  23)

• And there was evening, and there was morning-the sixth day. (Genesis 1:

  31)

The especial and repeated emphasis on “And there was evening, and there

was morning…” obviously does not allow us (linguistically) to interpret

the word “day” in these verses to mean any thing but the 24-hour

interval that we call a day. Although the “Expert Commentary”

(included in the Compton's Interactive Bible, CD Edition) says:

“Some say that the creation days [as mentioned in the above stated verses]

were 24-hour days, others that they were indefinite periods”, but as we can

see that the phrase: “And there was evening, and there was morning…”

does not allow us to take the word “day” in any other meaning besides

“24-hour days” unless it is linguistically proven otherwise.

Thus when the Qur'an said that “Allah created the heavens and the earth

in six days”, the traditional Muslim commentators, although they were aware

of the fact that the word “yawm” could be used to imply “a period

of time”, interpreted it to mean 24-hour days, for, besides other reasons,

in my opinion, they could have been mistaken because of the words used by the

Bible in this respect.

The Qur'anic Phrase “Be and it Is”

Now let us turn to the real point raised by Mr. Katz which actually relates

to the meaning of the phrase “Kun fayakoon” of the Arabic

language, normally translated as: “Be and it is” (although, as anyone

who knows the Arabic language, even at a basic level shall testify that it can

also be translated as: “Be, and it happens”). Mr. Katz's real

objection is that this phrase implies that God creates instantaneously. While at

other places the Qur'an says that God created the heavens and the earth in six

“days” or in six “periods” of time. His basic objection is

presented in the following words:

Does this aya (i.e. 2: 117) not say that God creates instantaneous?

Does this really leave room for billions of years of development?

Mr. Katz, as the readers can see, has been kind enough to present his

objection in the form of a simple question. My answer to Mr. Katz's question is:

“NO, this ayah does not say that God (ONLY) creates instantaneously, and

YES, it does really leave room for six 'days' or six 'periods' of

development”. If we closely look at the phrase “kun fayaku'n”

(Be and it happens), as it has been used in the Qur'an, we can easily ascertain

that the meaning in which it has been used is not always (not even generally)

that which is understood by Mr. Katz. I shall try to present my view point with

particular reference to some of the verses in which the phrase has been used.

Let us begin with 3: 45 - 46. The Qur'an says:

Bring to mind when the angels said: “Mary, God gives you glad

tidings of a “word” from Him; his name shall be the Messiah,

Jesus son of Mary; he shall be noble in this world as well as in the

hereafter; and he shall be amongst those who are close [to God]; he shall

preach to people, while in his cradle and while in the prime of manhood; and

he shall be a righteous man.” She said: “Lord, how can I bear a

child, when no man has [even] touched me?” He replied: “Even so it

shall happen as told. God creates what He wills; when He decides a thing, He

needs only say 'Be', and it happens.”

The reader is requested to note that the phrase “kun fayaku'n”

in the above mentioned verses has clearly been used to imply that 'God does not

need any help or assistance from anyone or anything to carry out His plans'. The

phrase “kun fayaku'n” has been said in reply to Mary's

question: “how can I bear a child, when no man has [even] touched

me?”. Obviously, if the phrase “kun fayaku'n” only meant

“instantaneously”, it should not have been given as an answer to the

question asked by Mary. The relevant question should have been: “How could

I have a child so quickly?”. The context in which the phrase has has been

used in the above verses clearly indicates that it can also be (and generally

is) used to imply that God, like us humans, is not confined by natural laws

while carrying out His plans.

Verse 2: 117, in which this phrase has been used and which has also been

quoted by Mr. Katz, if considered in its context also does not imply

instantaneous creation. Let us have a look at it (in its complete context):

They say that He has taken for Himself a son. [No.] He is clear of

all imperfections. Rather, All that is in the heavens and the earth is His.

The inventor of the heavens and the earth. When He decides about something,

all that He says is “Be”, and it happens. (2: 116, 117)

Once again the reader is requested to closely follow the context in which the

phrase has been used by the Qur'an. The real topic here is the negation of the

belief that God has made for Himself a son. The first thing that has been said

in reply is: “No, He has not taken any son for Himself, He is clear of all

and any imperfections”. This, as I understand it, is basically a reference

to the imperfections which are inherrent in man, due to which he is in need of

children. When God is clear of all such imperfections, why should He require a

son for Himself? Another point that has been given to negate this idea is that

why would He make for Himself a son, when the fact of the matter is that every

thing that has its existence, whether in the heavens or the earth is God's. He

is the sole owner of all that exists. Why then would He be in need of a son? The

third point given for the negation of this idea is that when God invented the

whole structure of all that exists, out of nothing and without the help and

assistance of anyone else, why would He now be in need of a son?

As we can see, like 3: 45 - 46, the context in which the phrase “kun

fayaku'n” has been used in 2: 117 also shows that it does not imply

“instantaneous” creation, but creation which is not dependent on any

external help.

The same is the case with 3: 59. The Qur'an says:

[The creation of] Jesus, in the sight of Allah, is like [that of]

Adam. He created him from clay and then said to him 'Be' and he was.

Once again the context in which the phrase has been used does not allow us to

take it in the meaning of “instantaneous” creation, but creation

without dependency on external factors.

The same is the case in Al-Nahl 16: 40, Maryam 19: 35, Yasi'n 36: 82.

In view of the above explanation it is quite obvious that Mr. Katz has been

mistaken by the phrase “kun fayaku'n” due to which it appeared

to him that two statements of the Qur'an are mutually contradictory. Whereas the

actual meaning of the phrase from which Mr. Katz has derived that according to

the Qur'an God creates “instantaneously”, on the contrary, is that God

is not dependent upon external variables to carry out His plans. He creates

whatever he wants to, and the way He wants to, wherever and whenever He wants

to. If he wants to create instantaneously, nothing can stop Him, and if He wants

to create something through a process covering billions of years, nothing can

stop Him. All that He does in either case is to say “Be” and the thing

is created if He wants to create it instantanoulsy or the process is initiated

if He wants to create it through an evolutionary process.

May the Lord show us all the path that He would like us to follow.

© Copyright December 1998. All Rights Reserved with the Author