Slanders On Muslims In History

Spread of the Theory of Evolution in the Empire during the Reign of Sultan Abdul Hamid II

The Darwinist indoctrination that came to a standstill during the reign of Sultan Abdülaziz reached its height during the rule of Abdul Hamid II. Darwinist/materialist papers, books and journals spread across the Empire's lands, and mostly in Istanbul, Lebanon, Egypt, and Syria. Even more worryingly, Darwinism was incorporated into the school curriculum in many places. Darwinist/materialist officers that were removed from their duties by Abdülaziz were not only reinstated, they were promoted to key positions in the Ministry of Education, the State Publishing House and even to grand viziership.

Abdul Hamid II himself ordered that 20,000 copies of the Hamidian Treatise by Lebanese writer Husayn al-Jisr be printed and distributed in Istanbul. The book was full of materialist and Darwinist claims and was intended to sow the seeds of atheistic philosophy in Ottoman society. Interestingly enough, the book was named the Hamidian Treatise, as a tribute to Abdul Hamid II. When the book became popular, al-Jisr was invited by Abdul Hamid II to Istanbul and was received in the Malta Mansion and was given the Fourth Class Order of Osmanieh, in addition to various other gifts. Abdul Hamid II praised him on numerous occasions. He was invited three times by Abdul Hamid II to Istanbul and stayed as the Sultan's guest.

Abdul Hamid II instructed the translation and publication of the Hamidian Treatise in Turkish and asked al-Jisr to compile a book on religious principles for schools.¹¹⁴

Abdul Hamid II indeed showed support for al-Jisr but the truth was al-Jisr and his book were among the main reasons that led to the fall of the Ottoman Empire. Under the personal orders of Abdul Hamid II, the book was widely disseminated across the Empire. In the book, which he dedicated to Abdul Hamid II, al-Jisr claimed –despite the complete absence of scientific evidence to back his point- that mutations could help organisms evolve and that there were many transitional forms. According to al-Jisr, Darwin's theory did not contradict the religion of Islam.

The truth is mutations are deformations that are harmful 99% of the time and neutral the remaining 1% time. As a matter of fact, recent scientific studies showed that even the 1% accepted to be neutral become harmful over time. For this reason, they are now called silent mutations. In other words, science has proven that mutations are 100% harmful. Furthermore, the claim that 'there is a sufficient amount of transitional forms' is one of the biggest deceptions of the theory of evolution. More than 700 million fossils have been unearthed so far and not even one of them belongs to a transitional form. Not even one single transitional form fossil has been found so far showing that living things evolved from another, and it is impossible that any will be found in the future. Each and every one of the hundreds of millions of fossils unearthed so far belongs to complete, perfect, flawless creatures that hadn't gone through any changes. Even Darwin himself admitted in his book that unless transitional form fossils are found, his theory would collapse:

…why, if species have descended from other species by fine gradations, do we not everywhere see innumerable transitional forms? Why is not all nature in confusion, instead of the species being, as we see them, well defined…? But, as by this theory innumerable transitional forms must have existed, why do we not find them embedded in countless numbers in the crust of the earth…? Why then is not every geological formation and every stratum full of such intermediate links? Geology assuredly does not reveal any such finely graduated organic chain; and this, perhaps, is the most obvious and gravest objection which can be urged against my theory.¹¹⁵

Al-Jisr went as far as claiming that this theory, which denied the existence of God, did not contradict the Qur'an. His Hamidian Treatise was full of unscientific and non-Qur'anic explanations like the mistaken claim that Darwin's theory did not contradict with belief in God and that theory of evolution could be interpreted in line with religion and that some verses could be construed that way. He provided an example of those writers and scholars of the time, who sought to spread this lie among religious people. Indeed, his book was translated into many languages, particularly Turkish and Urdu, and quickly became popular among many scholars in modern Syria and Turkey. Some of the scholars in Al-Azhar University, in particular, paid close attention to the book. Al-Jisr was himself a graduate of that university.

Hasan Tahsini, also known as Hoxha Tahsin, was the first rector of the Darülfünûn –the original Istanbul University-, founded by Sultan Abdul Hamid II. Hasan Tahsini was among the first Darwinists in the Ottoman Empire and was appointed to the post of rector of the University by Abdul Hamid II. Grand Vizier Reşid Pasha had personally sent him to Europe to study, from where he returned as a materialist. In his article 'Tarih-i Tekvin' (History of Creation), he was talking about the so-called 'new levels of change that the universe would achieve in the future as a result of the rule of evolution that dominated the entire universe and existence'.¹¹⁶

Hasan Tahsini famously tried to explain the origin of the universe and the creation of man as well as other life forms through the theory of evolution in his book Varoluşun Tarihi veya Yaratılış (History of Being or Creation). He also worked vehemently to spread the Darwinist theory. His staunch devotion to the materialist theory earned him the nickname 'Monsieur Tahsini'. He brought Jamal al-Din al-Afghani, an evolutionist Al-Azhar graduate, to Istanbul and allowed him to carry out evolutionist propaganda at Istanbul University. Afghani was another fervent supporter of al-Jisr's book. Hasan Tahsini raised many students before he was dismissed from his duty on the grounds of 'impairing the faith of the young people he taught'. However, many of his students now were materialists, were already working across the Empire's lands and teaching other young people Darwinism, which made the theory spread like wildfire.

Books and articles of Ahmed Midhat Efendi, another evolutionist, were also widely used as reference texts in the university. Dağarcık (Repertoire) magazine published by Ahmed Midhat Efendi in 1871 heavily propagandized the erroneous idea of evolution while its tens of thousands of copies were widely circulated throughout the Empire. He claimed that 'humans had inherently violent qualities as humans were also sort of animals' as he defended the violence of social Darwinism as follows:

Revenge is a sort of justice, is a violent justice. Evil is done rarely for pleasure, but rather it is pursued for greed, reputation and interests. Then how do we know that the evil behavior, a part of our nature, will harm us? If teazel hurts, it's because it's created that way.¹¹⁷

Similarly, the 'Ottoman Society of Science' founded by Münif Pasha, who was the Minister of Education during the reign of Abdul Hamid II, aimed at spreading materialism and evolution through scientific journals. Their first journal, Mecmua-i Fünûn (Journal of Sciences) was filled with evolutionist propaganda. Sultan Abdülaziz had previously dismissed Münif Pasha due to propagandizing evolution but when Abdul Hamid II ascended to the throne, Münif Pasha was again made the Minister of Education.

Darwinist and materialist inculcation worked, with results becoming quickly visible as the Ottoman intelligentsia began gathering around the so-called New Literature Movement and its publication Servet-i Fünûn (Wealth of Knowledge), which acted as the hub of materialism and positivism. Abdülhak Hamid Tarhan and Recaizade Mahmud Ekrem, the leading poets and authors of the movement, entertained following twisted views that would no doubt impair the moral values of the society: