Photosynthesis: The Process That Invalidates Evolutionist Ideas of Coincidence

The reduction in size of any device shows that the technology employed for that device has reached a more advanced stage. The size of cameras past and present is one example of this. The process of photosynthesis, which human beings cannot perform even in laboratories, is compressed into such a microscopic structure as a cell—one of the manifestations of Allah's infinite might and the sublimity in His creation.

The theory of evolution, as you know, claims that living things and the complex structures and systems within them came into being spontaneously, under natural conditions. Yet as we have clearly shown up to now, the photosynthetic systems inside even a single plant leaf possess an exceedingly complex design. It is therefore impossible for coincidences to bring these into being, as evolutionists would have us believe.

To show this system could not have come about by chance, let us ask some questions of those who insist on defending the theory of evolution. Who designed this incomparable mechanism established in a microscopically small area? Can we assume that unconscious plant cells, in other words plants, planned such a system themselves? We cannot, of course, hypothesize any such thing, because there is no question of plant cells reasoning or designing anything. It is not the cell itself that makes the flawless system we see when we examine it under a microscope. Then is this system the product of human intelligence, of the only entity capable of rational thought? No human being has constructed the world's most complex facilities in a space one thousandth of a cubic millimeter. Human beings cannot even observe what goes on inside these microscopic facilities.

The theory of evolution maintains that all living things developed in progressive stages, from the simple to the complex. To consider whether that claim is true, assume that we can impose a specific number on the components in the photosynthesis process. Assume that the number of components necessary for photosynthesis to take place is 100 (though the actual number is very much larger). Also, assume that one or two of these components did arise spontaneously, in the way that evolutionists claim, ignoring that such an event is quite impossible. There will be a necessary wait of several billions of years for the remaining components to emerge. Yet even if the components that finally emerge remain together, they can still serve no purpose in the absence of all the other parts. It is impossible for this system to emerge in stages, since its components will serve no purpose if any one is absent. Like the systems belonging to all living things, therefore, the idea that a complex system like photosynthesis came into being over time, with the gradual addition of its component parts, is incompatible with reason and logic.

To see how hopeless this claim is, recall just some of the stages that take place in order for photosynthesis to occur. All the existing enzymes and systems have to be present in the plant cell at the same time. The duration of each process and the quantity of enzymes have to be regulated in the correct manner from the beginning. That is because if the slightest error takes place—for example, the duration of the reaction, or the slightest alteration in the amount of light or raw material entering the reaction—products resulting from that reaction will be damaged and rendered useless. In the absence of any one of these elements, the system will cease to function.

That being the case, how did these functionless components survived until the emergence of the system as a whole came into being? Moreover, the smaller the dimensions involved, the greater the quality of the intelligence and engineering that system requires. As with laptops and cell phones, the shrinking of a mechanism's dimensions shows the sophistication of the technology used to create that structure. Comparing the bulky cameras used in the 19th century with today's cameras only enhances the importance of the immaculate structure in leaves. How is it that, human beings cannot perform photosynthesis in large factories, but plants have been carrying it out in microscopic ones for millions of years?

Evolutionists can give no coherent answers to these and similar questions, but come up with imaginary scenarios instead. They resort to the common tactic of drowning their scenarios in baffling technical descriptions. Using the most opaque terminology possible, they seek to evade the Fact of Creation, which is plain to see in all living things. Instead of responding to such questions as "How?" and "Why?" they hide behind detailed information and technical concepts and then hastily add that all this is a result of evolution.

However, even many of the determined proponents of evolution cannot conceal their amazement in the face of the miraculous systems in plants. By emphasizing the miraculous processes in photosynthesis, the Turkish evolutionist professor Ali Demirsoy makes the following admission:

Photosynthesis is a quite complex mechanism, and it seems impossible to occur in an organelle in the cell. Because the formation of all the phases altogether is impossible, and it is meaningless for them to emerge one by one. 85

Flawless mechanisms in the photosynthesis process have existed in all the plant cells there have ever existed. Even the most ordinary pond scum makes photosynthesis. The same proportions of carbon dioxide and water always enters the reaction and the products emerging are also always the same. Also, the sequence and speed of the reaction never vary. This applies, without exception, to all plants that employ photosynthesis.

It is of course illogical to seek to ascribe reason and decision-making to plants. It is equally illogical to say that this system, which exists in all green plants and works so flawlessly, came into being as the result of a chain of coincidences.

We are therefore faced with a manifest truth: The extraordinarily complex mechanics of photosynthesis have existed since plants first appeared. These immaculate systems inside such a tiny space show the knowledge and might of Almighty Allah, Who created them.

The Oxygen-Producing Photosynthesis of Bacteria

Evolutionists’ claims that single-celled bacteria, are primitive organisms are completely imaginary. Bacteria that achieve photosynthesis are one of the most important refutations of this claim. The cyanobacterium has been performing photosynthesis for 3 billion years, and there are systems in that bacterium whose workings are still not fully understood.

Various species of bacteria don’t use water for photosynthesis; instead they oxidize the organic and inorganic molecules around them. Photosynthesis without oxygen remains a great mystery too, for scientists who have yet fully understood photosynthesis with oxygen.

There is also great wisdom appointed by Allah in creating such different varieties of photosynthesis. Oxygen is indispensable for marine and terrestrial creatures, and He has instituted matchless systems for the production of oxygen in all environments. Moreover, these systems possess such advanced technology that their workings remain a mystery even in the 21st century.

When we examine the other characteristics of bacteria we also witness the fact that Allah has created the world with billions of indispensable interconnected balances. Bacteria constitute the basis of the ecological system and permit the level of gasses in the atmosphere to remain stable. They are one of the first links in the food chain of countless organisms. With their features and functions, living things from the greatest to the smallest, prove the existence of an Almighty Creator.

Algae

Cyanobacterium

Algae are also capable of photosynthesis and are found everywhere on Earth, from the seas to fresh water, from the desert sands to hot springs, even under Antarctic snow and ice. Dispersed all over the world, they come in different forms, from single-celled varieties to giant kelp that can be 60 meters (197 feet) long. In addition to their complex structures, algae have different ways of reproducing and share lifestyles in common with other plants. They also contribute a large part of the oxygen in the atmosphere by means of their photosynthesis.

According to the evolutionist perspective, single-celled organisms are more primitive than multi-celled ones—which they present as evidence that multi-celled creatures evolved from single-celled ones. But as with other evolutionary scenarios, there is no scientific basis for that view. On the contrary, some forms of single-celled creatures exhibit a very complex cell structure. Algae that photosynthesize possess this complex cell structure—and also some of the most delightful geometrical shapes in nature—and provide a large part of the oxygen in the atmosphere. Single-celled algae, too small to be seen with the naked eye, are an average of 0.5 micrometer in diameter. (One micrometer is 1 millionth of a meter.).86

Despite their tiny size, there are unimaginably large numbers of them in Earth. They represent 90% of the living organisms in the oceans. Together with other organisms such as plankton that use photosynthesis, they form the basis of the world’s food chain by producing some 130 million tons of organic carbon each year.87 Each of these creatures is a micro-machine working to provide the world with food and oxygen.

In images obtained by an electron microscope, the stunning beauty of these creatures and their perfect symmetry using all types of geometrical shapes reveal that each one is the work of a supreme Creator. The fact these creatures, each of which consists of only a single cell, and of which there are more than 10,000 species, possess very different shapes from one another, and the way that each cell imparts a shape to this silica structure has only an aesthetic purpose, all leave those who seek to account for these events in terms of coincidence facing a major impasse.88 In addition, when one examines the structures that these creatures—which evolutionists describe as “primitive and simple”—employ to form the cell wall, we can see that they are by no means simple or primitive at all.

Organic polyamine, used for tissue production, is a complicated chemical substance employed by many living things. And in constructing their cell walls, these organisms use the longest polyamine chains in nature.

The creatures’ complexity does not end here. In addition to complex chlorophyll pigments that enable photosynthesis, these organisms also possess the pigment xanthophyll, which imparts a yellowish color. These single-celled creatures, from which fish derive their greatest source of Vitamin D, have complex structures designed for a specific purpose.89 They are part of a specially created system that could not have come into existence by coincidence.

Throughout this book, we have examined two of the most important features of plants, photosynthesis and the extraordinary properties of leaves. The aim behind providing this information is to show that these living things and the features they possess could not have emerged as the result of coincidences.

Plants are organisms without any traces of consciousness and reason such as decision-making or free will. But as you can see from the information provided this far, the processes carried out by plants do require considerable consciousness and reason. Indeed, plants succeed in performing activities that human beings cannot replicate with their conscious knowledge and advanced technology, and in spaces of time as brief as a millionth of a second. So to whom does this intelligence—which human beings come nowhere near approaching—belong?

Since the day they were first created, plants have been behaving in the manner inspired in them by Allah, with His infinite knowledge and intelligence. Every one of the plant’s cells, and even every atom, is told how to behave at every moment. This is revealed in a verse from the Qur’an:

It is Allah Who created the seven heavens and of the Earth the same number, the Command descending down through all of them, so that you might know that Allah has power over all things and that Allah encompasses all things in His knowledge. (Surat at-Talaq:12)

All these miracles we encounter in plants show us that with their design, the actions they perform and the systems they possess, all plants have been created for a specific purpose by Almighty Allah. Infinite knowledge and enormous artistry have been employed in His creation. These belong to Allah, the creator of the worlds. Another verse states:

In the creation of the heavens and Earth, and the alternation of the night and day, and the ships which sail the seas to people’s benefit, and the water which Allah sends down from the sky–by which He brings the earth to life when it was dead and scatters about in it creatures of every kind—and the varying direction of the winds, and the clouds subservient between heaven and Earth, there are Signs for people who use their intellect. (Surat al-Baqara:164)