Surah al-Hijr (The Valley of Stone) 15 : 26

Overview (Verses 26 - 27)

The Origins of Man’s Creation

“Indeed We have created man out of sounding clay, out of black mud moulded into shape, whereas the jinn We had created before him out of the fire of scorching winds.” (Verses 26-27) At the outset the difference in the two natures is clearly stated. The dry clay which gives off a sound when knocked and which is originally black mud given a specific shape is totally different from the fire described here as scorching, blowing fiercely. We learn later that another element is added to man’s nature, namely, the breathing of God’s spirit into it. Satan’s nature, however, remained that of the fire of scorching winds.

These verses start with God’s address to the angels. When, where and how He said all this are details that we have no way of knowing. We simply have no clear statement in the Qur’ān or the Ĥadīth which answers these points. Since these details belong to the realm of what lies beyond human perception, we have no way of knowing them. Hence any attempt to provide answers is futile. The same applies to man’s creation out of a dry clay, moulded into shape, and infused with God’s spirit.

We may refer to other statements in the Qur’ān concerning this point, particularly verse 23: 12, “We create man out of the essence of clay,” and verse 32: 8, “He causes him i.e. man] to be begotten out of a line of a humble fluid.” We may say on the basis of these statements that man and life itself originally come out of the earth’s clay. The basic constituents of this clay are found in the physical constitution of man and all living organisms. There are several stages between the original clay and man’s creation, and to these the term, line’, refers. That is all that may be said on the basis of the texts we have. Any addition is no more than an overload added to the text, which the Qur’ān does not need. Scientific research may proceed with whatever means available to it. It may advance theories which are then either confirmed by hard evidence or amended if they cannot be proven. It cannot, however, make conclusions that are in conflict with the facts stated in the Qur’ān, which tell us that the line of creation started with the elements of clay, and to which water was later added.

How has this clay been elevated from its original constituent nature to the horizon of organic life and then to the more sublime horizon of human life? That is a secret no human being can explain. Indeed the secret of life even in the basic organism or the initial cell remains unknown. No one claims to have fathomed it. Then there remains the secret of a human’s higher life with all its special features of perception, feeling and inspiration that distinguish man from all other animals. Different theories may try to explain this secret, but they have been forced to acknowledge that man has his own distinctive features and characteristics that single him out right from the very inception of human life. They cannot prove any direct relationship with any creature that lived before man, even though some theories claim that man evolved from other creatures. Nor can any of these theories disprove the other premise that different species have emerged separately, even though some are higher than others. Man thus emerged as a separate, new species.

Overview (Verses 26 - 27)

The Origins of Man’s Creation

“Indeed We have created man out of sounding clay, out of black mud moulded into shape, whereas the jinn We had created before him out of the fire of scorching winds.” (Verses 26-27) At the outset the difference in the two natures is clearly stated. The dry clay which gives off a sound when knocked and which is originally black mud given a specific shape is totally different from the fire described here as scorching, blowing fiercely. We learn later that another element is added to man’s nature, namely, the breathing of God’s spirit into it. Satan’s nature, however, remained that of the fire of scorching winds.

These verses start with God’s address to the angels. When, where and how He said all this are details that we have no way of knowing. We simply have no clear statement in the Qur’ān or the Ĥadīth which answers these points. Since these details belong to the realm of what lies beyond human perception, we have no way of knowing them. Hence any attempt to provide answers is futile. The same applies to man’s creation out of a dry clay, moulded into shape, and infused with God’s spirit.

We may refer to other statements in the Qur’ān concerning this point, particularly verse 23: 12, “We create man out of the essence of clay,” and verse 32: 8, “He causes him i.e. man] to be begotten out of a line of a humble fluid.” We may say on the basis of these statements that man and life itself originally come out of the earth’s clay. The basic constituents of this clay are found in the physical constitution of man and all living organisms. There are several stages between the original clay and man’s creation, and to these the term, line’, refers. That is all that may be said on the basis of the texts we have. Any addition is no more than an overload added to the text, which the Qur’ān does not need. Scientific research may proceed with whatever means available to it. It may advance theories which are then either confirmed by hard evidence or amended if they cannot be proven. It cannot, however, make conclusions that are in conflict with the facts stated in the Qur’ān, which tell us that the line of creation started with the elements of clay, and to which water was later added.

How has this clay been elevated from its original constituent nature to the horizon of organic life and then to the more sublime horizon of human life? That is a secret no human being can explain. Indeed the secret of life even in the basic organism or the initial cell remains unknown. No one claims to have fathomed it. Then there remains the secret of a human’s higher life with all its special features of perception, feeling and inspiration that distinguish man from all other animals. Different theories may try to explain this secret, but they have been forced to acknowledge that man has his own distinctive features and characteristics that single him out right from the very inception of human life. They cannot prove any direct relationship with any creature that lived before man, even though some theories claim that man evolved from other creatures. Nor can any of these theories disprove the other premise that different species have emerged separately, even though some are higher than others. Man thus emerged as a separate, new species.