Did life start from single cell organisms?
I heard somewhere in Quran that Allah created the life from water: "We made from water every living thing".
What about first prophet then? How would this concept be applicable in the creation of the first prophet?
The scientific study of the origin of life is called abiogenesis. Basically, the idea is that (somehow) basic self-replicating molecules came about, and over time they became more complicated and clustered together to form cells, which evolved over time to give a diverse range of organisms.
Which of these molecule clusters was the first living organism is not a too-meaningful question; it depends on what we consider life to be (we also face this boundary problem in extant life, e.g., are viruses alive?). Thus, it's only scientifically correct to say that life started from single-cell organisms if we define the boundary to be single-cell organisms, which is a somewhat arbitrary decision.
Now, as for Islam...
If we interpret evolution as compatible with Islam, then we'd go with the scientific reason above, i.e., it depends on how we define "life".
If we believe that life was created around the time of Prophet Adam (a multicellular organism), then no, Prophet Adam would have not evolved from single-cell organisms (by definition).
See: Is evolution compatible with Islam?
In relation to Qur'an 21:30 "... We ... made from water every living thing ...", the essentialness of water for life is established in biology: All known forms of life depend on water (Water, Wikipedia). So this includes single-celled organisms, and it's currently not scientifically controversial (although, if non-water-based life were to be found one day...).
This seems analogous to saying "we make a cake out of flour", where we interpret flour to be a primary ingredient.
For Prophet Adam, we also have: "... He created Him from dust ..." (Qur'an 3:59). Prophet Adam was human (not just a pile of dust), and would have been composed largely of water like all humans.
I would like to question u back that,r u sure first prophet isn't created by water?now u can question me back that but Allah created first prophet with mud.Agree.ok suppose u r the best student in chemistry.does that mean u can't be the best student in math,eng, history or whatever?Ofc u can.First prophet (Adam peach be upon him) can be created with both.because it's not like fire and water.(Hope u understand, sorry for my bad grammar)
To answer this question, we need to know
a) What exactly is a 'living being'?
b) Did "live" exist before single celled organisms.
In Islam, there are instances of non-sentient beings being also classified as living creatures. For clarification, as per science, an individual form of life, composed of a single cell or a complex of cells in which organelles work together to carry out the various processes of life is defined to be living. If it also has a central nervous system and the capacity to perceive an environment and think through reactions, it is thought to be a sentient being.
But there are various ayahs in the Quran and many Sahih Hadiths where things like rocks, the sun, the moon, Heaven, Hell, the Pen and even our planet Earth are represented as living, talking creatures.
Infact, there is a collection of Hadiths that state that even death will die at the end of time implying it is in some way form of life.
Hence, it is difficult to Islamically classify what exactly is a 'living being'.
Coming to the second part of your question, from the Hadiths, we understand that Angels existed before the creation of our universe (under the seventh sky). So life did exist before the emergence of single celled organisms on our planet.
Also with reference to your comment of being created from water, in the Quran, it is stated that humans are created from a 'nutfah' (a small drop of fluid)
While there is no direct reference to the concept of evolution in Islam, many modern day ulema tend to state the even if evolution is true, it doesn't invalidate any concept of Islam as Allah is capable to both have evolution among all earthly creatures AND also create the Angels, Jinns and Humans directly without evolution.
The story of the creation of Adam is well explained in the Quran. Also the create of Eve and the birth of Prophet Jesus are testament to the Power of Allah
Also look into the this answer by @hkBattousai
No, single cell organisms are too basic to evolve into anything.
About the creation of humans, Allah says that we're created from dust, and elsewhere He says that from water, and elsewhere He says that from clay. The correct description is that with the order of Allah, Prophet Adam - May Allah send peace and blessings on him - was created from the mixture of dust and water and many minerals.
Bacteria are lowly organisms compared to us and Allah tells us that He honored us, so humans don't inherit from any organisms.
As a brief answer, I can say that it could be considered by paying attention to this matter that:
“a single cell organism is made from water as well” (according to a general rule that says everything has made from water)
(I am not professional in the medicine matters, but rationally they(scientists) would agree with this matter that even a single cell organism could be consisted of water (to some extent).
I think the water part is covered by the last answer. and IMO there is no problem with the first prophet (Hz. Adam) cuz you can see the first prophet as the first human that evolved according to darwins theory. But then again this is only my opinion.
The body is made up of some elements and this body is like clothes for spirits. We change our clothes according to our deeds. Sometimes you were a plant, bird, cow or human.
