Ishmael: Universe and Creation Myth Essay

Submitted By Bascent1
Words: 1026
Pages: 5

Ishmael

While reading this book I've came across a couple of things that made me think about the different ways that people live and other beliefs they might have, different cultures, how agriculture began and population problems. But I chose to explore creation stories

In the book it was stated that life evolved from bacteria to amphibians to reptiles to mammals than came man. “species followed species and finally Man appeared”.
I know different people have different beliefs and that it mainly depend on their culture and background and they have different ways of explaining it.

My entire life i've known one thing. God created everything in this world. He created the heavens and earth. He created angels,the sun, the moon and the stars. And one day God created Man. The angels were ordered by God to go to earth and bring seven handfuls of clay from which God will create a man in the best model so he would always be connected to earth. God breathed life into what would be the first man who is Adam. God taught adam all the names of the creatures and commanded all the angels to bow down before him but one angle refused that was Iblis known as Satan. Then he created eve from Adam's side. Then they were placed in paradise and told that they can do and eat whatever they want except the fruit of the forbidden tree, but they did. When god knew that he was disobeyed, he sent them to earth. Which was created in six days to give them all they needed food, drink and shelter.

This is an outline of what what I know from my religion and culture.

O mankind, be careful of your duty to your Lord Who created you from a single soul and from it created its mate and from them has spread a multitude of men and women. 4:1 AL NISA'

Allah is He who has made everything He created better, and He began the creation of the human being out of clay.32:7

Then He shaped him in due proportions , and breathed in him of His Spirit, and made for you hearing, sight, and hearts; little thanks you give. 32:9

We created the human being from stinking, smooth, and wet clay. 15:26
Allah created you from the earth soil, then from a nutfah (union of a father’s sperm and a mother’s egg), then He made you pairs. 35:11

These are some verses of the Qur’an that provide me proof of my beliefs.1

I understand that there are several interpretations of how life started in different religions and cultures.

For example a chines creation myth is that the universe was a black egg and that heaven and earth are one thing. Pangu was living in that egg but he felt suffocated so he cracked it with an axe. The clear part formed heaven and the heavy part formed earth and he was in the middle. When Pangu died his features became things that we see everyday today like his breath became the wind and the clouds, his eyes the sun and moon. His hair and beard became the stars in the sky, and more. 2

Another creation myth which I find very interesting is the Hindu creation myth. It says that there was no earth no heaven. Only a vast dark ocean which a giant cobra floated on. There was lord vishnu, lord Shiva and lord Brahma who created them.
The lotus flower came from the core of lord Brahama. Lord Brahama splits himself into male and female out of boredom. Everything was a part of his body. A normal day for us is supposed to be longer than four thousand years, every day the the lord sleeps the world is destroyed and created again each morning. This is a cycle that is continued forever that's called Yugas.3

I chose these because the are