The Qur’an: The Creation of Human from Components

By T.O. Shanavas, New Age Islam 28 April 2025 The Qur’an presents the creation of human beings as a deliberate, multi-stage process, involving both material elements and divine guidance. Far from describing an instantaneous act of creation, the Qur’anic narrative emphasizes gradual development and a purposeful unfolding of life. Who created (Khalaqa) you, then fashioned (Fa’sawwaka) you, then proportioned (Fa’addalaka) you? Into whatever form He willed, He assembled (Rakkabaka) you. — Qur’an 82:7–8 This verse emphasizes the deliberate and purposeful nature of human creation. If humans had been created ex nihilo in a completed form without any developmental history, the Qur'an would not have highlighted the sequential acts of creation (Khalaqa), fashioning (Sawwaka), and assembling from components (Rakkabaka). The choice of these verbs suggests a process involving successive stages of formation and refinement. The Arabic verb Rakkaba (رَكَّبَ), according to Edward William Lane’s Arabic-English Lexicon means “to create something from components; to set one part upon another.”1 Thus, the Qur'an conveys the image of human creation as a composite act, where interdependent elements are meticulously assembled, each stage forming a prerequisite for the next. If human beings had appeared in a perfect and fully completed form instantaneously, the invocation of verbs such as Sawwaka (to proportion) and Rakkabaka (to assemble) would be superfluous. However, the Qur'an’s linguistic precision precludes redundancy, implying that human creation involved a progressive, multi-stage process culminating in their perfected form. Classical exegetes interpreted Rakkabaka with nuanced emphases: Tafsir al-Tabari (d. 923 CE) (Jāmiʿ al-Bayān, Vol 24, p. 161): قال أبو جعفر: يعني بقوله: (فِي أَيِّ صُورَةٍ مَا شَاءَ رَكَّبَكَ) في أي شبه من أبويك من ذكر أو أنثى، من حسن أو قبح، طُول أو قصر، بياض أو سواد، وسائر الألوان، وما بين ذلك، ما شاء جلّ ثناؤه ركّبك. Meaning in brief: “God assembled you in whatever resemblance He willed — whether male or female, beautiful or ugly, tall or short, white or black, or in-between.” 2. Tafsir al-Qurtubi (d. 1273 CE) (Al-Jāmiʿ li-Aḥkām al-Qur’ān, Vol 20, p. 24): أي صوّرك فركب بعضك في بعض، وشكلك على ما أراد من حسن أو قبح، وطول أو قصر، وسَلامة أو عاهة. Meaning in brief: “He shaped you, fitted your parts together, and formed you according to His will — with beauty or ugliness, tallness or shortness, soundness or deformity.” 3. Tafsir Ibn Kathir (d. 1373 CE) (Tafsīr al-Qur’ān al-ʿAẓīm, Vol 8, p. 307): أي، في أي صورة شاء الله عز وجل، ركبك، قال مجاهد: في صورة أب أو أم أو خال أو عم. وقال الحسن: شاء جعلك قائماً، وشاء جعلك راكباً، وشاء جعلك سميعاً بصيراً. Meaning In Brief: “In any form Allah wished, He assembled you — whether resembling your father, mother, uncle, or aunt; making you standing, riding, hearing, and seeing.” • Al-Ṭabarī (d. 923 CE) explains that God assembled each individual according to whatever resemblance He willed—whether male or female, beautiful or unattractive, tall or short, white or black.2 • Al-Qurṭubī (d. 1273 CE) interprets it as God shaping and fitting bodily parts together, forming individuals in health or deformity, beauty or otherwise.3 • Ibn Kathīr (d. 1373 CE) asserts that God assembled individuals according to His will, endowing them with faculties such as sight and hearing, and causing them to resemble their familial lineage. 4 Thus: • Al-Ṭabarī emphasizes physical resemblance (physical traits, race, beauty), • Al-Qurṭubī highlights structural composition and symmetry(body fitting and symmetry, healthy or disabled), • Ibn Kathīr focuses on functional abilities alongside physical form(appearance + functional faculties) . While the classical scholars stressed external appearance and physical faculties, we, current scientific readers, might see in rakkaba an allusion to the molecular assembly of life through deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA). Contemporary genetics reveals that the biological foundation of all life rests upon the combination of four nucleotides—adenine (A), cytosine (C), guanine (G), and thymine (T)—whose specific sequences and arrangements give rise to the vast diversity of living organisms. Furthermore, the fusion of two ancestral ape chromosomes to form human chromosome 2 stands as compelling genetic evidence of a structured, stage-based emergence of Homo sapiens.5 Thus, the Qur'anic language, rich in layered meaning, invites both traditional and contemporary readings that converge on the idea of deliberate, composite, and progressive human creation under divine guidance. ----- 1 Lane, An Arabic-English Lexicon, Part 3, p. 1142. 2. Al Tabari, Jāmiʿ al-Bayān, Vol. 24, p. 161. 3 Al Qurtubi. l-Jāmiʿ li-Aḥkām al-Qur’ān, Vol. 20, p. 24). 4. In Kathir. Tafsīr al-Qur’ān al-ʿAẓīm, Vol. 8, p. 307. 5. The Creation/Evolution Of Human Species | T.O. Shanavas, New Age Islam | New Age Islam | Islamic News and Views | Moderate Muslims & Islam ----- T.O. Shanavas is a native of Kerala, but is now based in the USA.He is the author of “Islamic Theory of evolution of Evolution The Missing Link Between Darwin and The Origin of Species.” Co-author of the book, And God Said, "Let There Be Evolution!": Reconciling The Book Of Genesis, URL: https://www.newageislam.com/debating-islam/quran-creation-human-components/d/135340 New Age Islam, Islam Online, Islamic Website, African Muslim News, Arab World News, South Asia News, Indian Muslim News, World Muslim News, Women in Islam, Islamic Feminism, Arab Women, Women In Arab, Islamophobia in America, Muslim Women in West, Islam Women and Feminism