Evolution mentioned in the Quran 1400 years ago
2:19
13 Jan 2012
Evolution
Yusuf Estes
Shabir Ally
This compilation, apparently created by Atheism—Keeping it Real, shows a variety of Muslim speakers suggesting that evolution is compatible with the Qurʾān.
The speakers portrayed (although they are not all identified in the video), are: Yusuf Estes, Abdur-Raheem Green, Safiyyah and Shabir Ally, Osama Hasan.
Evaluation:
The clips of the various speakers in some cases present their ideas out of context. The negative comments about Islam at the beginning of the video are not useful.
There is little science presented here, but what there is conforms to contemporary understandings of scientists.
There is insufficient historical material on which to base an evaluation.
About Yusuf Estes
Yusuf Estes, born Joseph Edward Estes in 1944, is a Muslim convert who became a popular Islamic speaker. Born into a fiercely Protestant Christian and musical family, Estes became a part of the Disciples of Christ Church in 1956 and worked as a musical minister and owner of several music stores from the 1970s through the early 1990s. He also delved into local politics with his father in Texas. In 1991, a few months after meeting an Egyptian Muslim and watching a family friend who was a Catholic priest at the time convert to Islam, Estes himself converted to Islam.
Estes is now known for traveling the world and giving lectures on topics relating to Islam. According to his autobiography, he served as a chaplain for prison inmates and as the Muslim delegate to the United Nations World Peace Summit for Religious Leaders in August 2000. Estes claims to have received higher education in Islamic theology, a Ph.D. specifically, and to have studied under various Islamic teachers, yet it is unclear where he received this degree, and no information about his education has been corroborated. Estes frequently appears on Peace TV, Guide Us, and various other Islamic TV channels.
As of 2015, Estes operates a personal website (though he claims to operate close to 3000 websites), and a Facebook page with around half a million followers.
Selected Bibliography:
“Biography of Yusuf Estes.” Yusuf Estes And the Quran. WordPress, 25 Aug. 2012. Accessed 18 June 2015.
Estes, Yusuf. Facebook. Facebook, n.d.
Estes, Yusuf. “Yusuf Estes Biography.” Yusuf Estes Blogspot. Blogspot, n.d. Accessed 18 June 2015.
Estes, Yusuf. Yusuf Estes. N.p., n.d. Accessed 18 June 2015.
About Shabir Ally
Shabir Ally is a Muslim scholar who specializes in religious debates, specifically on Islam v. Christianity. He received an undergraduate degree from Laurentian University in Ontario, Canada in religious studies and also holds a M.A. and Ph.D. in Qurʾānic exegesis from the University of Toronto; the Muslim Debate Initiative notes his dissertation’s completion in 2012. As of 2018, Ally is the president and Imam of the Islamic Information and Dawah Centre International in Toronto, Canada in addition to appearing on the TV show Let the Quran Speak. The organization also runs a Facebook page.
For more information, and a collection of Ally’s work, see his site on Islamio. He also updates a Facebook page regularly. Some videos of his lectures may also be found on Let the Quran Speak’s YouTube page.
Selected Bibliography:
“Dr. Shabir Ally.” Islamio. Islamio, n.d. Accessed 13 June 2015.
“Shabir Ally.” Facebook. Facebook, n.d. Accessed 13 June 2015.
“Meet Dr. Shabir Ally!” The Muslim Debate Initiative Blog. N.p., 15 Nov. 2012. Accessed 13 June 2015.
“Shabir Ally.” Veritas. W3 Creatives, n.d. Accessed 13 June 2015.