Read the following excerpt from the English section of the September 2001 issue of the Hebrew-English Israeli popular science journal "Ha-Mada Ha-Yisraeli B'Angleet V'Ivreet." Then read the comments below.
TEL AVIV, ISRAEL - At the recent Israeli colloquium on science and religion, Dr. Shlomi Lesser of Hebrew University, and the Chairman of the Hofesh V'Mada Society (a stalwart for deeply skeptical Israeli scientists), led a heated debate between biologists and ultra-orthodox Rabbis on the origins of life. Many of the spectators, including those of a deeply religious stance, came away with the feeling that the Rabbis had not done very well against their "Epicurean" counterparts.
The hi-light of the evening came when Dr. Lesser engaged in a one-on-one question exchange with Rabbi Dovid Brown of Yeshiva University. At one point Dr. Lesser asked R. Brown how tall the first man was, to which the esteemed Rabbi replied "he was roughly the size of an average man according to chazal [Jewish sages]." From there Dr. Lesser revealed that genetic research has revealed that the human race coming from a single pair of parents is impossible in light of the biological bottle-neck [a term for the strain put on successive generations by inbreeding] they would have to travel through.
"Our research, in conjunction with the research of other respected institutions around the world, has demonstrated that the entire human population descending from a single pair of human ancestors is highly unlikely." stated Dr. Lesser. "It would seem that the traditional view of groups, not individuals, evolving has been corroborated; the only way man could descend from a single pair (rather than from an entire group of transitional hominids) is if the original pair were literally giants in the pre-nutrition age."
As Dr. Lesser pointed out, prior to the breakthroughs in nutrition that took place in the 17th and 18th centuries, genetic evidence revealed that man would have been shrinking if he came from a single human ancestor. His calculations revealed that in order for the human race to reach the state it was in during the 17th century, the "Adam and Eve" story would only be plausible if the first man was 90 feet tall (which is fantastic to say the least). "There is no other way man could traverse the genetic bottleneck" Dr. Lesser again said. "If Adam was the size of any other man according to the learned Rabbis of the Jewish religion, this demonstrates an obvious absurdity to this myth."
This is interesting to me because while the biologists think they crushed Judaism, they actually confirmed Islam! The scientists came up with genetic research that led them to calculate the size a first man would have to be if the story was true. They came up with 90 feet. Note that 1400 years before these learned men came to this conclusion, the Prophet (peace be upon him) said something similar:
Sahih Bukhari Volume 4, Book 55, Number 543:
Narrated Abu Huraira: The Prophet said, "Allah created Adam, making him 60 cubits tall. [snip]"
Two cubits is a yard, so one cubit is a foot and a half. So for some reason, the Prophet (peace be upon him) thought that Adam was 90 feet tall when he was created. It is a belief of Islam that man got smaller as life went on. How did the Prophet (peace be upon him) and his companions (May Allah Almighty be pleased with them) know about the effect known as "bottleneck," where animals get weaker if they have genetic exchanges that are too closely related?
Note: Adam was created on Earth. Adam was the first human being on Earth. Earth didn't receive two humans (i.e., Adam and Eve) at first. Eve was later created from Adam's rib. So the scientific theory above that suggests Mankind was unlikely created from a pair of humans does not contradict Islam.
By Peacetv: A Call Towards Islam
