A survey on the stand of Muslim thinkers on Darwin's theory of evolution from 19th century to the contemporary era

Darwin's theory of evolution caused a great challenge between science and religion firstly among the Christians and aftermath Muslims. As a result, Muslim thinkers were forced to express their approach on this controversial issue. In this article, an attempt has been made to collect the stands of Muslim thinkers from late 19th century to the contemporary era in order to observe the possible changes in their stands towards the Darwin’s theory of evolution. There have been different approaches towards the theory throughout less than a couple of centuries that can be divided into three categories:• Those who completely rejected the theory of evolution finding it in a total contradiction with Islam • Those who have not accepted it absolutely having serious criticisms of it, meanwhile believing that there is way to accept the theory with some exceptions• Those who have fully accepted the theory and find no contradiction between the Darwin’s theory and IslamSurveying these opinions and stands during the mentioned period shows that: Firstly, the debate on Darwin's theory is still going on and currently there is no absolute hegemony of one of the above mentioned stands on others. Secondly, as moving towards the contemporary era, more Muslim thinkers are preferring the second point of view, believing that there is a way to accept the theory with some exceptions of course.KeywordDarwin's theory of evolution, evolution, Muslim thinkers, science and religion, Islam and religion