# Are the stories in the Quran true but not historical, like the story of Adam?

*Quran stories as true but not historical? Adam, the tree and the cognitive revolution*

- URL: https://muftiabulayth.org/r/8xuhmcz2n3u/s/12/
- Date: 2021-04-13 · Kind: question · Transcript tier: machine · Recording: Monday Nights with Mufti #210 | Q&A Unscripted & Unrestricted! 😉 | Mufti Abu Layth (47:50–50:26)
- Status: general teaching
- Watch from the start of the segment: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8XuHMCz2N3U&t=2870s
- Recording page: https://muftiabulayth.org/r/8xuhmcz2n3u/

**Topics:** Adam and the creation of humans; Quran and evolution; Spiritual experience and psychedelics

**Question as asked:** What do you think of those stories in the Quran being simultaneously true but not historical, for example the nature of evil being demonstrated, the contrast of Adam, one committing a wrong and rationalising and the other repenting?

**Summary (not a quotation; machine-made, unchecked):** Mufti Abu Layth says Adam was the father of humans with modern cognition, and that the tree, which the Quran never calls a fruit or apple, may have been a psychedelic plant that sparked the cognitive revolution.

**Checked position (checked by two independent reviews, not by the channel):** Mufti Abu Layth says he holds that Adam was the father of humans with modern cognition and that the forbidden tree may have been a psychedelic plant that triggered the cognitive revolution, the Quran mentioning a tree rather than a fruit.

**Evidence, his words at 49:11:** “adam alaihi salam i believe would have been the father of you know of of humans today with this modern cognitive explosion and having consciousness the way we do” (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8XuHMCz2N3U&t=2951s)

## Longer summary

A viewer asks what he thinks of Quranic stories being true but not historical, such as the nature of evil being demonstrated through Adam and the contrast between one who does wrong and rationalises and one who repents. Mufti Abu Layth says he has videos on this and that evolution and the story of Adam were on his list of hard questions. He says his view on the fruit developed over the years: he first thought it might be metaphorical, and now holds, in line with what he calls the stoned ape theory [?], that modern human consciousness was edging forward and that Adam was the father of humans with today's cognition. He says what triggered it may have been a psychedelic plant, and that the Quran speaks only of a tree or bush, not a fruit or an apple as in the Bible, and that this triggered the whole cognitive revolution.

## Sources and names cited

- Adam
- stoned ape theory [?]

## Transcript (machine tier, 47:50–50:26)

[47:46] but so much of the work has been done for people who are now you know coming to this arena of islam and you know they want to understand it and they can build on it you know i mean i'm not saying um you know they they may be able to take those examples and build on them you know improve them so right let's um abu safura you're doing it you're too oh right you know

[48:32] salaam mufti what do you think of those stories in the quran being simultaneously true but not historical eg the nature of evil being demonstrated the contrast of adam at least one committing of wrong and rationalizing and the other repenting all right well i have got videos on these and i and these two are questions which i answered one of the things at the time was evolution i answered that the story of adam was also one on my list which i did answer and the fruit was a question which i admit over years i developed in my view on that so first i thought it may have been

[49:11] metaphorical then i do actually feel i know it's i've got a whole clip on it explaining in line with what psychologists call the stone date theory that human beings may have been kind of modern humans would have been the consciousness would have been edging forward and forward as in they would have been having some developments but not quite the way we are today with this kind of cognition and adam alaihi salam i believe would have been the father of you know of of humans today with this

[49:50] modern cognitive explosion and having consciousness the way we do and i feel that what may have triggered it was a psychedelic um whether you know whether you want to say fruit or plant or or whatever it was and and in the quran it doesn't mention it was a fruit by the way it just mentions reference to a kind of bush or tree and this is what it's being referred to and it's unlike the the bible there's no such thing as an apple or stuff like this so i do feel that the you know that's what i eventually kind of gravitated towards

## Cite

Mufti Abu Layth Archive, segment 8XuHMCz2N3U/s/12. https://muftiabulayth.org/r/8xuhmcz2n3u/s/12/

Not a fatwa: these answers were given to specific people at specific times. Ask a qualified scholar about your own situation.