Creationism - National Center for Science Education

the origin of life “based on verifiable scientific facts” (Renaissance Inst. vs. Nat’l Acad.
Sci. 1984:6).
Though some religions adhere to a special theory of creation, Plaintiff, through scientific inquiry, has
independently postulated the various theories of creation in scientific terms, as opposed to religious or
philosophical beliefs... Plaintiff proposes to introduce at trial its proof that the theory of Creation as the
explanation for the origin of life on Earth is scientifically verifiable. [Renaissance Inst. vs. Nat’l Acad.
Sci.: 1984:3]
In 1986 Khalifa made a video Creation or Evolution: The Final Argument, which
is explicitly aimed at the Supreme Court with regard to the Louisiana creation-science
case. In it he presents standard creation-science arguments against evolution, especially
the probability arguments. He proclaims that mathematics, the most rigorous science,
decisively proves evolution false. “A fact is a fact is a fact.” Evolution is the “worst
mistake in the history of science,” and it is a “crime of historical proportions” that we
continue to teach it in our schools when we have proof that it is wrong. In the second
half of his video “Mathematics Proves Creation,” Khalifa presents his Qur’anic
numerology as a “coded message from the super-intelligent Creator”: physical, verifiable
evidence constituting “irrefutable proof” of Creation. He scoffs at creationists such as
Duane Gish who say that creationism isn’t falsifiable or scientific in the strict sense,
asserting that his mathematical code is positive and absolute proof. He also mentions that
a Jewish rabbi first discovered the significance of the number 19 in the Torah some 900
years ago (Khalifa considers Jewish and Christian Scripture God’s Word, but the Qur’an
is His “final” Word, and is the only perfect and inerrant Scripture).
Maurice Bucaille, a French surgeon who learned Arabic and studied Islam
intensively, takes more of a “Bible-science” approach than most traditional Islamic
creationists, appealing to external scientific evidences, like Protestant creation-scientists.
Bucaille’s The Bible, the Qur’an, and Science, which was originally published in French
and has gone through ten editions, is very popular in France and in many Islamic
countries. The Bible is a divine revelation from God, says Bucaille (like Khalif a), but it
has been translated and recorded by fallible humans, and contains errors. The Qur’an is a
later, perfect revelation: God’s words to Mohammed were written down directly. “In
contrast to the Bible,” the Qur’anic text is “none other than the transcript of the
Revelation itself; the only way it can be received and interpreted is literally” (1982:161).
The Qur’an—unlike the Bible—is absolutely accurate scientifically: accurate far beyond
Mohammed’s mere human ability. Thus, Bucaille’s “Bible-science” approach is identical
to Protestant creation-scientists—except that he applies it to the Qur’an, and dismisses
the Christian Bible as flawed and filled with error.
Bucaille presents a detailed case for the validity of “higher criticism” of the Bible,
explaining how research has demonstrated that the various parts of the Bible were written
by different authors at different periods. That there are separate—conflicting—Yahvist
and Sacerdotal sources for Genesis is unarguable, he states. But it is another story
entirely for the Qur’an. Bucaille says that when the Qur’an was written, science had not
progressed since Jesus’s time—yet the Qur’an (quite unlike the Bible) contains no
scientific inaccuracies. Arabic science prior to the Qur’an Revelation was not advanced,
but Islamic science flourished precisely because of the Qur’an [1979:121]. Using his
own translation, Bucaille presents examples demonstrating how modern science is
confirming various Qur’anic passages.