Did the dinosaurs really exist?

In al-Mawsoo‘ah al-‘Arabiyyah al-‘Aalamiyyah it says: The dinosaurs of the Jurassicperiod (138-205 million years ago) include the tallest known dinosaur, namelythe diplodocus, which reached a height of 27 m, as well as other dinosaurs suchas the plated or armoured stegosaurus, the allosaurus, and the camptosaurus.

The dinosaurswere reptiles that lived millions of years ago. The word dinosaur is derivedfrom two Greek words meaning “terrible lizard”. However the dinosaurs were notreally lizards, although the size of some of them was terrifying; the largestdinosaur was the biggest animal that ever lived on dry land, with a weight thatwas many times that of a fully grown elephant. There are a very few types ofwhales that grow to a size bigger than these dinosaurs.

The firstdinosaurs appeared on earth 220 million years ago. These creatures dominateddry land for approximately 150 million years and lived on most continents onearth and in various environments, such as swamps and flat plains. They becameextinct suddenly 63 million years ago. End quote.

There is nothingin the texts of the Quran or Sunnahto confirm or deny the existence of these creatures. In the Holy Quran there are some verses which some scholars haveunderstood to mean that there were creatures that existed on earth before Adam(peace be upon him), such as the verse in which Allah, may He be exalted, says(interpretation of the meaning):

“And (remember)when your Lord said to the angels: ‘Verily, I am going to place (mankind)generations after generations on earth.’ They said: ‘Will Youplace therein those who will make mischief therein and shed blood, – while weglorify You with praises and thanks (Exalted be You above all that theyassociate with You as partners) and sanctify You.’ He (Allah) said: ‘I knowthat which you do not know’”

[al-Baqarah 2:30].

Shaykh Ibn ‘Uthaymeen (may Allah havemercy on him) said: The words of the angels “Will You place therein thosewho will make mischief therein and shed blood?” make it very likely thatthey were successors to some creatures who came before them and that there werecreatures on earth before that who shed blood and spread mischief. So theangels asked their Lord, may He be glorified and exalted: “Will You place therein those who will make mischief therein andshed blood” as was done by those who came before them?

End quote from Tafseer al-Quranal-Kareem, 1/30

The dinosaursmay have been among those creatures.

It is notstrange that there were creatures of this great size. It is proven in the saheeh Sunnah that Adam (peace beupon him)was sixty cubits tall, as was narrated by al-Bukhaari(3326) and Muslim (2841) from Abu Hurayrah (may Allahbe pleased with him), that the Prophet (blessings and peace of Allah be uponhim) said: “Allah created Adam sixty cubits tall, then He said: Go and greetthose angels and listen to how they greet you, for that will be your greetingand the greeting of your descendants. So he went and said, As-salaamu ‘alaykum (peace beupon you) and they said: Al-salaam ‘alayka wa rahmat Allaah(peace be upon you and the mercy of Allaah. So theyadded (the words) warahmat Allah. Everyone who enters Paradise will be in the form of Adam. Mankind continuedto diminish in size until now.”

It also says inthe Sunnah that when the earth’s blessing is restoredto it at the end of time, one pomegranate at that time will be sufficient for agroup of people, and they will seek shade beneath its skin, as was narrated byMuslim (2937) from an-Nawwaas ibnSam‘aan (may Allah be pleased with him): the Prophet(blessings and peace of Allah be upon him) said, when speaking of the descentof ‘Eesa (peace be upon him) and Allah’s destructionof Ya’jooj and Ma’jooj:“Then Allaah will send rain which will not be keptout by any house of clay or hair; it will wash the earth and leave it like amirror. Then it will be said to the earth: Bring forth your fruits and restoreyour blessing. On that day a group of people will eat from a pomegranate andshelter beneath its skin. Milk will be blessed until a milch-camelwill be sufficient for a crowd of people, and a milch-cowwill be sufficient for a tribe of people, and a milch-sheepwill be sufficient for a family of people.”

To sum up: Islamdoes not deny that these creatures existed or that they were of this greatsize, but the fact remains that when they speak of their lifespansand the details of their forms and lives, this is the field of science andspeculation combined. The Muslim should not be preoccupied with that and heshould not waste time discussing it or believe that it is a matter that has anyimpact on his religious commitment or belief, because he knows that the Quran and Sunnah were revealedto guide people and show them the right way; their focus is not history,geography, earth science or biology, although they indicate many facts thathave to do with these fields. There are some kinds of animals that are notmentioned in Quran and Sunnahat all, even though they existed at the time the Quranwas revealed.

And Allah knows best.