DOI: 10.4324/9781003327714-22 14.1 Introduction In 1859, Charles Darwin laid down the initial blueprint for the theory of evolution. Since then, it has been substantiated even further, with several modifcations along the way. Without getting technical, the theory of evolu- tion, as understood today, has three core propositions (Fowler and Kuebler 2007, 28–29): 1 Deep time – the age of the universe and the earth is in the time span of billions and millions of years (also known as geologic time). 2 Common ancestry – all biological organisms are connected through a historical lineage. 3 Causal mechanics – natural selection and random mutations are the primary driving forces of evolution. 1 By contrast, most Muslims have and still generally believe that Adam and Eve were created miraculously and are the sole progenitors of humanity (Jalajel 2009; Malik 2021). In other words, humans have nothing to do with evolu- tion. Thus, common ancestry and the creation narrative of Adam and Eve are the bases for the apparent confict between Islam and evolution. To be clear, there are other apprehensions held by Muslims, but, for the purposes of this chapter, we shall only be concerned with the perceived tension between Islamic scripture, i.e., the miraculous creation of Adam and Eve, and com- mon ancestry. The compatibility between Islam and evolution has been a hotly debated topic (Guessoum 2016). Muslim thinkers have generated ideas which fall all over the spectrum. In my recent work, I divide thinkers into four difer- ent positions diferentiated by what they accept or reject as part of common ancestry (Malik 2021). Table 14.1 captures the gist of these positions. Creationism and the no-exceptions camp are complete opposites of one another. Creationism is the stance that common ancestry is entirely false, while the no-exceptions camp believes the contrary, and thus permits no spe- cial pleading for Adam and humans. Human exceptionalism (hereon referred 14 Adam, Eve, and Human Evolution Is There a Confict? Shoaib Ahmed Malik