nother similarity between the beliefs of modern evolutionists and those of past pagan societies is that both are based on sun worship. Sun worship goes back to the earliest periods of history. People knew the sun provided them with light and heat, so they felt indebted to this celestial body and considered it a god. In the past this deviant belief kept many people away from Allah's true religion. The Qur’An touches on this subject telling how the people of Sheba worshipped the sun in Solomon's time:

"[The hoopoe said], 'I found her and her people prostrating to the sun instead of Allah, and Satan has made their deeds pleasing to them and averted them from the [right] way, so they are not guided. And they do not prostrate to Allah, who brings forth what is hidden within the heavens and the earth and knows what you conceal and what you declare.'" 23

It is true that the sun provides the world with light and heat, but the one who deserves credit for this is Allah, who created the sun. The sun is a material mass without consciousness; there was a time when it did not exist, and there will be one when its fuel will be exhausted and it will be extinguished. Perhaps Allah will destroy it even before that day. For He created the sun from nothing, like all heavenly bodies, and therefore it is Allah who should be praised and glorified for their existence. In one verse the reality is expressed in these words:

"And of His signs are the night and day and the sun and moon. Do not prostrate to the sun or to the moon, but prostrate to Allah, who created them, if you should worship Him." 24

It is interesting that modern evolutionists recapitulate the basic beliefs of the old sun worshippers by proclaiming that they owe their existence to the sun. When the beginnings of evolution are considered, the sun is acknowledged as the source of every living thing in the world. According to evolutionists, light from the sun caused the appearance of the first living things on the earth. Later it was the sun's energy that caused the formation and mutation of living species. The approach of evolutionists in this regard was best summed up by the American atheist evolutionist and enemy of religion, Carl Sagan. In his book Cosmos, Sagan said, "If we must worship a power greater than ourselves, does it not make sense to revere the sun and stars?" In the same book, he wrote, "Our ancestors worshipped the sun, and they were far from foolish."25

Carl Sagan's teacher, the evolutionist astronomer Harlow Shapley, is known for saying, "Some piously record, 'In the beginning, God...' but I say, 'In the beginning, hydrogen.'" Shapley believed that the first element that existed was hydrogen and that this gas, in the course of time, developed by itself into human beings, animals and trees.

At the root of all these nonsensical evolutionist ideas lies the divinization of material things and of nature; evolutionist religion worships material things and nature. But anyone using his intelligence can understand that the universe is not a product of lifeless and unconscious matter; on the contrary, he will see in every de­ta­il ext­ra­or­di­nary in­tel­ligen­ce, artistry and intent. He perceives the existence of Allah through His perfect and precise creation. But today some people are blind to this reality and continue to worship material things as did the people of Sheba.

"And Satan has made their deeds pleasing to them and averted them from the [right] way, so they are not guided."26