Is it fair to say the Holy Qur’an describes evolution, even though scientific theories keep changing?

Yes. Theories change, but the facts on which they rest remain. That life developed in stages has never been rejected by science, and it is exactly these stages that the Holy Qur’an describes.

The objection sounds convincing at first. If scientific laws are only provisional, how can anyone say that a holy scripture agrees with them? The answer lies in an important distinction between facts and theories.

Facts are what we observe. Theories are the conclusions we draw from them. When the same facts are arranged in a new way, a new theory sometimes emerges. The old one is not simply wrong as a result. It held true for the circumstances and the knowledge it was based on. The facts themselves remain what they are.

It is the same with evolution. What has changed is not the idea that life developed. Since it became widely accepted, it has stayed. What has changed are the explanations of how it happened. At one time great weight was placed on natural selection. That it plays a part is not disputed. What has been rejected is the assumption that it alone brought about all the inner, chemical changes in living things. At that time little was known about the chemistry of life.

The Holy Qur’an does not tie itself to any of these changing explanations. It describes the development of life itself, its stages from the beginning up to human beings, and it speaks of a process of life that continues to this day. The verses above are part of this. That is not a theory that could be overturned tomorrow, and science has never rejected it.