The possibility of evolution in al-Jāḥiẓ's natural philosophy

In the 9th century (3rd century hijri), al-Jāḥiẓ (d. 255/869), who lived in Basra and was one of the intellectuals of the time, attributed to his teacher al-Naẓẓām (d. 231/845) the statement, "Everything that happens in the universe moves according to its nature," which is one of the most succinct statements summarising the idea of nature. Al-Jāḥiẓ says that every creature created by God in nature has a nature and moves, reproduces, seeks food, hunts and makes a home accordingly. He analyses the evidence of Allah's wisdom, power and majesty in living creatures and gains much knowledge about them. In addition, as a "naturalist" and "ethologist", he analyses the life processes of living creatures. He ponders the reasons for their behaviour and their psychology. He even tests the news he sees, reads and hears about living things by carrying out experiments and observations. His sources of information include Aristotle and other Greek thinkers, medical and pharmaceutical books, Bedouins, animal trainers, hunters, various societies, the Qur'an and the Hadith. Al-Jāḥiẓ wrote all this knowledge, research and analysis in his seven-volume Kitāb al-Hayawān and other books. In this work, al-Jāḥiẓ provides important information about many species of living creatures such as cats, dogs, snakes, lizards, moles, pigeons, ostriches, giraffes, elephants, monkeys, pigs, fish and their different natures. For this reason, al-Jāḥiẓ's views on living things attracted the attention of many researchers working in the field of biology and zoology, and it was argued that he had the mechanisms of evolution developed by Charles Darwin (1809-1882). Therefore, in this study we have tried to trace al-Jāḥiẓ's views on the vital processes of living things, their behaviour in their habitats and the function of their natures in his philosophy of nature in the context of evolutionary mechanisms. The possibility of reading the origins of his understanding of nature through the Stoic pneuma (vital heat, breath) approach was explored. The theory of kümûn (latency) and zuhūr (emergence) attributed to al-Naẓẓām, which suggests that the characteristics given to the natures of living things at the first moment of creation emerge over time according to conditions and situations, is built on this approach, and the projections of similarities and connections between them are examined. On the other hand, what advantages do the vital characteristics in the nature of living things give them in nature? How do they function? The possibility of evolutionary mechanisms (natural selection, artificial selection, sexual selection, kin selection) has been investigated. Thus, as a result of the study, it has been seen that al-Jāḥiẓ touches upon issues such as the struggle for life among living things, the effects of the environment on them, the effects of the vital organs of living things on their survival, reproduction, food chain, adaptation-modification in living things, spontaneous generation and metamorphosis, which are considered within the framework of the natural selection mechanism of evolution. In addition, it has become possible to see traces of other mechanisms of evolution such as artificial selection, sexual selection and kin selection among the living things mentioned by al-Jāḥiẓ. In addition, it has been shown that al-Jāḥiẓ did not express any opinion pointing to the problem of common ancestry. However, it can be said that the possibility of a common ancestor is rationally possible in his natural philosophy based on the theory of kümūn and zuhûr. In addition, al-Jāḥiẓ also mentioned the physical and characteristic similarities between humans and apes. This study has shown that the claims of many researchers and thinkers that there are views in al-Jāḥiẓ that point to a common ancestor are anachronistic and forced interpretations. Keywords: Kalām, al-Jāḥiẓ, Natural philosophy, Pneuma, Latency (kümûn) and Emergence (ẓuḥûr) theory, Evolution.