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Some people asked after the episode "Origin of Man": "There are skulls that appear to be human, estimated to be hundreds of thousands of years old. So, doesn't this contradict what is said that the age of humanity according to the heavenly books is about six thousand years?"
We say, dear brothers: This determination is not mentioned in the Quran nor in the Sunnah, but rather by the People of the Book. You might be surprised to know that a scholar like Ibn Hazm, may Allah have mercy on him, opposed the People of the Book in this matter and indicated that the texts point to a much longer age for humanity.
Notice, dear brothers, what happens with some Muslims: They take it as a given that Islam limits the age of humanity to a few thousand years, and they take the words of the fossil scientists as a given that the age of these skulls is hundreds of thousands of years, and that they are indeed human skulls. Then, he falls into doubt and says: "So how can I reconcile this scientific fact with Islam's statement that Adam was on Earth a few thousand years ago?"
This is a problem in dealing with the texts of revelation and attributing to them what they did not say, and then a problem in dealing with what is attributed to science and taking it as given, which resulted in a problem in combining the two.
I found an answer to the question on the "Islam Question and Answer" website. I will quote parts of it for you as it is generally well-phrased in a scientific manner. The question in brief: "Since when has the human being existed?" I will read parts of it for you.
The responder said: All praise is due to Allah.
First: The history of the beginning of the existence of man on this earth, as well as the history of the messengers and prophets, peace be upon them, and their peoples, is from the unseen. So, it is unseen.
Second: If you ask, "Is there no way to calculate that and know these dates?" The answer is that this is never possible for two reasons. What is never possible for two reasons to have a way to calculate and know the dates? Never possible for two reasons.
The First Reason: That the news of the messengers and the nations that the revelation has informed us about, despite the fact that the scholars have been able to approximate and arrange them in terms of time by gathering the texts together and analyzing them, the duration of the stay of each nation on this earth, and how much was between each messenger and the other, all of this is mostly unknown, there is no way for us to know it by calculation, and no news has come to us about it. So, think about it, brothers, there is no way to know that.
The Second Reason: That there are unknown historical periods that we do not know about, nor do we know who lived in them or their time duration. For example, the period between Adam and Noah, peace be upon them, we cannot be certain of its extent, nor do we know anything about its condition and the condition of its people. It has been mentioned that this period was ten centuries, but this is not a text specifying it. Then they explained why it is not a text, he said to you, meaning centuries, meaning generations or centuries meaning one hundred years? He said to you, there is no specification.
They said: Likewise, the period between the people of Noah, Ad, Thamud, and before Ibrahim, peace be upon him, is a long period according to the text of the Quran, but we do not know about it. Allah the Almighty said: {And the people of Noah, when they denied the messengers, We drowned them, and made them a sign for the people. And We have prepared for the wrongdoers a painful punishment. And Ad and Thamud and the companions of the Rass and many generations between them.} [Al-Furqan: 37-38]. So, this verse left it open: {And many generations between them.}
Also, the website argued with the saying of Allah the Almighty: {Has there not come to you the news of those who were before you, the people of Noah and Ad and Thamud, and those who were after them? Allah knows them, but you do not know. Their messengers came to them with clear signs, but they put their hands in their mouths and said, "We disbelieve in what you have been sent with, and indeed we are in doubt about what you invite us to, suspicious."} [Ibrahim: 9]. So, notice: {Allah knows them, but you do not know.}
They said: And the Quran has informed us that there were messengers who lived, but we were not informed about them with anything: {And certainly We have sent messengers before you, among whom We have mentioned to you, and among whom We have not mentioned to you.} [Ghafir: 78].
They said: If it is so, then it is impossible to calculate with the existence of these many unknown historical periods, and it is impossible to calculate with the existence of these unknown historical periods, there is no calculation, not even an approximate one.
Ibn Hazm, may Allah have mercy on him, said: "As for the difference of people in history, the Jews say that the world is four thousand years old, meaning it has been four thousand years. The Christians say that the world is five thousand years old. As for us, we do not assert a known number."
Ibn Hazm said: "Whoever claims in this regard seven thousand years, or more or less, has lied, and said what was never said by the Messenger of Allah, peace be upon him, in a word that is correct. Rather, it is authentic from him, peace be upon him, the opposite." He means that he will now tell you that in the hadiths, there is something that contradicts this speech, that the matter is much longer than that.
He said: "Rather, we assert – meaning we are certain – rather, we assert that the world has a duration that only Allah, the Almighty, knows." Allah the Almighty said: {I did not witness their creation of the heavens and the earth, nor of their own creation.} [Al-Kahf: 51]. And the saying of the Messenger of Allah, peace be upon him: "You – meaning O Muslims – are not in the nations before you except like a white hair in a black bull, or a black hair in a white bull." Meaning a small proportion.
He said: "So, this proportion, whoever ponders it and knows the number of the people of Islam and the proportion of what is in their hands of the inhabited earth and that it is the majority, knows that the world has a number that only Allah, the Almighty, can count." This is from his book "Al-Fasl fi al-Milal wa al-Ahwa' wa al-Nihal." Meaning he wants to indicate to you that the number of humanity is very large, and that the time of humanity is ancient, the time of humanity is ancient.
The website said thirdly: "If you ask: Can we not rely on archaeological research and its discoveries to know from them the time of the beginning of the existence of man on this earth?" Meaning what about the research, excavations, discoveries, carbon dating, and so on?
They said: "The answer: The more ancient the artifact, the greater the percentage of error, and it is difficult to know its date."
The Second Obstacle: That the process of combining these discoveries, analyzing them, and the methodology followed to reach the desired results from them, all of this is human efforts, subject to error and correctness, and susceptible to the entry of whims and beliefs into them, and the manipulation of results. And no one from the owners of these methodologies can claim that the results they have reached are absolute scientific facts upon which proofs are based that everyone must submit to.
The Third Obstacle: That what has been reached from theories is subject to change or nullification with every new discovery, and man has not known all that is in the depths of the earth from artifacts.
They concluded: "What the Muslim must believe is what the Islamic texts indicate: that this human has a beginning on this earth, and that Allah created him after he was non-existent, and that the beginning of this human species is Adam, peace be upon him, the father of mankind. As for the time of his existence, it is from the unseen knowledge that we cannot comprehend, and whoever is certain about something from that is casting stones in the unseen and speaking without knowledge. And Allah knows best."
Look, brothers, how beautiful is knowledge, how beautiful is the legal discipline. Some people, as we said, are not lost from all aspects, think that sixty thousand and ten thousand are attributed to Islam, and think that three hundred thousand years and six hundred thousand years are certain numbers. Then they say to you: "Okay, come on, O scholars, reconcile between these numbers, otherwise doubt will enter my heart." My brother, slow down and adorn yourself with knowledge so that you know that there is no contradiction between the command of Allah, the legal, the cosmic, and the predestined, and the speech of Allah, the Exalted. And Allah, the Exalted, knows best.
Peace be upon you, and the mercy of Allah and His blessings.