The Emergence of Life on Earth through the Lens of the Qur’an and Chemistry

The small, mysterious planet that appears bright blue in the boundless expanse among the solar system’s bodies is our home, Earth. According to current findings, this divine gift alone has harbored life, and nowhere else in the universe has anything comparable been discovered. In this connection, the Qur’an -this timeless and comprehensive revealed source- also addresses the emergence of primary life on Earth. Relying on a descriptive-analytical method, the present study first outlines the “nebular” or “Big Bang” theory, which is advanced as a leading explanation for the origin of the cosmos; indeed, certain Qur’anic verses affirm a great explosion at the moment of creation. It then examines and evaluates the challenging and intriguing question of how life arose on our planet, both from the Qur’anic perspective -where the Divine Word repeatedly alludes to life- and from prebiotic chemistry, which demonstrates that life’s origin on Earth arose from non-biological (chemical) beginnings. Overall, the findings of this research reveal that prebiotic chemistry and the Qur’an -this revealed Word that has given rise to many fields of knowledge and occupies the highest value and scholarly standing- jointly offer a satisfactory answer to the profound question of how life originated on planet Earth, a question that has long preoccupied the human mind.