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The Earth existed in emptiness and silence for billions of years. No creatures were walking around on it, hunting, making noises or eating. The only entities on the planet were bacteria and other single-celled organisms. After millions of years passed with only micro-organisms, small, soft-bodied multi-cellular invertebrates entered the equation.
A great activity then began manifesting itself on Earth. A large part of the globe was filled with marine organisms, each one very different from that rest, many of which possessed complex characteristics similar to those of organisms today. These walking, hunting, seeing, feeling creatures dominated the Earth. So different were they from one another that none had the same features as any other. The differences were so great that one could not be categorized with the others.
It took a mere 5 million years for this enormous variety to appear. Some of the species then disappeared, leaving only their fossilized remains under the sea.
It is a great miracle created by Allah for any organism to leave all its characteristics on a rock. On occasion, an organism that died and was swiftly buried in sand or silt would sometimes leave all its features mineralized, from its digestive system to its nerve endings. Proof of its existence remains in rocks millions of years old. Allah reveals His glorious creation and creative artistry in whatever manner He chooses. He has provided some of the greatest proofs of this flawless artistry in the fossils of Cambrian life forms.
Say: “Allah’s is the conclusive argument. If He had willed He could have guided every one of you.” (Surat al-An‘am, 149)