Introduction: Seeking the Truth in the Case of "Nothing Happens by Chance"
Peace be upon you and the mercy of God. Before we begin, make your intention, my brother and sister, that you are seeking the truth and drawing closer to God by pursuing the truth wherever it may be, without preconceived notions.
The story begins with some brothers during last Ramadan sending me a message saying: Dr. Ahmed Khair Al-Umri has published a book titled "Nothing Happens by Chance: The Possible Relationship Between Faith and the Theory of Evolution." He dedicated many pages of his book to responding to what I presented in the episodes of "Journey of Certainty." I did not pay much attention because I considered that I had clarified Al-Umri's stance with Journey of Certainty in two comprehensive segments, so there was no need to engage with him further.
Then, a friend sent me a clip of a brother responding to Al-Umri's discussion about the episode "Bacteria That Digest Strains" from Journey of Certainty. I watched part of the response and was astonished by the extent of Al-Umri's misrepresentation, and later noticed that several experts expressed their astonishment at how far his book deviates from the scientific methodology.
The Duty to Defend "Journey of Certainty" and the Scientific Methodology
I preferred to prioritize what is beneficial, and I was occupied with Ramadan, the events of Al-Aqsa and Gaza, university teaching, and scientific research, where I published three scientific papers in journals with high impact factors, thanks to God. The time available to respond to those who try to create confusion in our call with falsehood is indeed limited, but nevertheless, I see it as my duty to defend the series "Journey of Certainty" from what is falsely attributed to it, given the blessing and influence it has, thanks to God the Almighty.
The matter is not a personal dispute between two individuals to say "reconcile and understand"; there is a direction from a group that raises the banner of the myth of evolution and other theories of pseudo-science, and they draw a distorted relationship between experimental science and Islam, a relationship based on blind submission to everything attributed to science, whether right or wrong, and then distorting the meaning of religious texts to match what they assumed to be science.
The Story of "Lenski's" Experiment and Bacteria That Digest Strains
I explained in detail in the appendix of episode 22 of Journey of Certainty how the bacterium "Escherichia coli" (E. coli) is known for its inability to use the compound citrate (Citrate) for growth in the presence of oxygen. However, after tens of thousands of generations, some of them were able to produce the carrier protein that allows them to capture citrate in the presence of oxygen, and thus they began to feed on it.
This experiment is one of the most cited by followers of the myth of random evolution to claim that random mutations create complex beneficial structures by chance, and they say that the accumulation of these mutations produced all living organisms. This experiment was used by myth priests like "Richard Dawkins" to confirm that there is no need for a Creator, claiming that new information was introduced into the genome without the intervention of a designer.
What I did in the episode is that I clarified from Lenski's paper itself that the genetic information necessary to produce the citrate carrier (the gene) was originally present in the bacteria, and what happened was the activation of this gene in the presence of oxygen through a subtle mechanism, and no new genetic information was formed that was not originally present.
Exposing Al-Umri's Distortion in Translating Scientific Papers
Al-Umri tried to deny what was presented in the episode and support the idea that Lenski's experiment is living evidence of evolution. To achieve this, he used the "straw man" fallacy and distorted the translation of scientific papers.
Al-Umri said that I claimed there was no mutation in the first place, which is a lie; I proved the existence of the mutation but clarified that it did not add new information. Then, Al-Umri translated a paragraph from Lenski's paper and omitted the most important phrase, which is: "which had been silent" (which was silent), the phrase that indicates that the gene was originally present but not activated.
Al-Umri turned the word "Expression" (gene expression) into "achievement," and distorted "Co-existed" (coexisted) into "arose," to make the reader understand that there are traits that appeared out of nothing. Did all these mistakes happen in one sentence by chance? Or is it "nothing happens by chance"?
Responding to Scientific Fallacies and Confusion of Concepts
Al-Umri reached the peak of comedy when he tried to link Lenski's experiment with what I mentioned in another episode about "genetic similarity" and the process of alternative splicing.
- Alternative Splicing: This is a process at the RNA level in human cells to produce different proteins from a single gene, and it does not change the genetic material.
- Lenski's Experiment: This is the duplication of a gene sequence (Tandem Duplication) at the DNA level in bacteria (prokaryotes) to activate a silent gene.
Al-Umri does not differentiate between DNA and RNA, nor between human cells and bacteria, and yet he accuses us of rigidity and hostility towards science! My hostility is not towards the scientific experiment, but towards its forgery and distortion of its meaning to mislead people.
Responding to Al-Umri's Objections Regarding Adaptation Mechanisms
Al-Umri continues with another objection in which he asks: "If this is adaptation through subtle mechanisms and not evolution resulting from random mutations, why did it not happen with the rest of the bacterial samples?" This question does not arise from someone who knows the basics of microbiology; it is known that adaptive mutations do not occur in all bacterial cells when exposed to a condition that induces mutations, just as when bacteria are exposed to an antibiotic, some of them produce resistance traits and not all of them.
Then, Al-Umri claims that what happened in Lenski's experiment is the "emergence of another type of cells," which is a blatant lie; the E. coli bacteria remained E. coli bacteria after the experiment and did not turn into another organism. Is it reasonable that Al-Umri does not differentiate between the evolution from one type to another and the diversity of cells within the same body? This information is taught in the first year of university, or even in schools.
Distorting the Meaning of "Macroevolution" and the Fossil Record
Al-Umri claims that Lenski's experiment is a "possible first step towards macroevolution," and that it provided an inside look at what happens in evolution. This is similar to his manipulations in his book "To Calm My Mind," where he claimed that the fossil record contains millions or billions of evidence for the myth of evolution.
The truth is that the fossil record is full of fossils of human and animal structures similar to currently known creatures, and the major promoters of the myth in the West did not claim that these similar fossils are evidence of evolution, but they rely on limited fossils that we have shown you repeatedly in detail and from their papers what contradicts their meaning.
The Stubborn Defense of "Dawkins" and "Darwin"
It is surprising to find Al-Umri stubbornly defending one of the major priests of atheism, "Richard Dawkins." In the famous incident of his question about an example of a mutation that came with a new beneficial trait, which Dawkins was stumped by, Al-Umri tries to justify Dawkins' 11-second silence with flimsy excuses taken from atheist magazines like "Skeptic."
Al-Umri also stubbornly defends "Darwin" from the claim of evolution by chance, even though I responded to him with evidence from numerous passages from Darwin's own book. Al-Umri creates his own version of the theory of evolution to defend it, and accuses "Journey of Certainty" of creating a special version to attack it.
Message to the Reviewers and Muslim Youth
Peace be upon you,
I have placed the names of doctors and their degrees as reviewers for the book, and I ask these individuals: Have you actually read the book? If you have read it and did not discover this ignorance and forgery, then that is a calamity meaning that you do not know the basics of the biological sciences despite your degrees. And if you have placed your names without reading, then the calamity is greater because it is complicity in blindness and not scientific integrity.
In conclusion, dear respected individuals, the Lenski team has spent decades cultivating trillions of bacteria, reaching over 70,000 generations, and yet chance has not produced a different type of bacteria, and E. coli remained E. coli. Is this the best that the followers of superstition have?
A final word to the youth: It pains me to delve into these topics because I know that many of you feel confused, but this is the decree of Allah that there remains on earth truth and falsehood. So fear Allah in what you know so that He may enlighten you in what is unclear to you, and hold fast to the understanding of our pious ancestors, and do not be deceived by those who belittle their understanding in the name of science and enlightenment.
O Allah, Lord of Jibreel, Mikaeel, and Israfil, Creator of the heavens and the earth, Knower of the unseen and the witnessed, You judge between Your servants in matters wherein they differ. Guide me to the truth in what they differ about, by Your leave. Verily, You guide whom You will to a straight path.
Peace be upon you and the mercy of Allah.