The Approach of Armageddon:

Questions from my 6 year old

Posted on January 30, 2013 by Shaykh Gibril Fouad Haddad

Question:

Asalaamu Alaykum Wa Rahmatullahi Wa Barrakaatu,

I hope you are well Sidi and in high Imaan, Can I please ask you these are questions from my 6 year old son which I cant answer for him:

Q1: What is the ruling on dinosaurs in Islam?
Q2: How did the skin colouration change (ie;negro, asian, anglo etc)?
Q3: At what period did man begin to not be so tall and how, (ie; Nabi Adam being over 70 ft tall) & living longer etc. compared to now?
Q4: UFO’s?
Q5: How long after earth being made was man placed on earth (Adam & Hawah)?
Q6: Any good sites for kids, etc?
Answer:

Alaykum Salam,

1) and 5) Shaykh Hisham Kabbani writes in his book The Approach of Armageddon:

Today’s scientists say that there were once different species of huge creatures inhabiting the earth called dinosaurs. If one accepts that in the past dinosaurs lived on earth, then one must also ask, why they are no longer in existence today? Today one no longer sees any such dinosaurs on earth, so one must wonder what became of them. From an Islamic point of view, their time ended. Allah took them, and they became extinct. …

When dinosaurs roamed the earth, they thought themselves great and powerful, even though there was a probability that they would all be destroyed and made extinct. Even if the probability was small it still existed for them. No matter what way they actually became extinct,that event occurred. Although they were so magnificent in size and strength, they completely disappeared from the face of the earth. After them other species have come, also not expecting to be made extinct, although the probability exists for them to be rendered extinct just as it did for the dinosaurs. …

If we want to take a scientific or probabilistic approach to the question of man’s life on earth, there is a chance that the human race will end. Dinosaurs also faced a probability of extinction and this came to pass. According to paleontologists, there were five massive extinctions throughout the history of the world. Moreover, biologists fear that as many as half of all living species will become extinct within the next century. A recent report of the United Nations predicts that within 30 years almost a quarter of the world’s mammals will be in danger of becoming extinct.[1] If so many species are becoming extinct, who is to say that other mammals like human beings will not also one day face extinction? Using probability and logic we may infer that as dinosaurs and other species have came to an end, so too is there a probability that the human race will one day end.

As there was a probability of dinosaurs becoming extinct and it happened, so too for humans there is a very real possibility of their extinction also occurring. Clear evidence of human existence on earth dates back to around 5,000 to 7,000 years ago, and the oldest evidence of apparently human existence is only 50,000 years old. The creatures who existed 50,000 years ago were different from today’s humans, and there are no clearly human relics until the Stone Age 5,000 to 7,000 years ago. Where are the relics from the creatures of 50,000 years ago and why did they disappear so suddenly? Humans have lived on earth for a few thousand years, so our probability of disappearing is much higher than it was for the dinosaurs who survived for millions of years.

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[1] Global Environment Outlook-3 (Geo-3) report of the United Nations Environment Programme (Unep) Earthscan Publications Ltd, London, 2002.

2) A hadith states that human beings were created from earth from different parts of the globe, hence their differences in complexion.

3) A hadith states that it was a gradual process through time.

4) The Qur’an states that Allah created many creatures we do not know about.

Hajj Gibril Haddad