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QURAN AND SCIENCE.
1) THE QURAN AND MODERN SCIENCE 2) AL QURAN A MIRACLE OF MIRACLES-AHMED DEEDAT
1.
THE QUR’AN AND
MODERN SCIENCE By Dr.
Maurice Bucaille Edited by Dr.
A. A. B. Philips
Table
of Contents
1)
EDITOR’S
FOREWORD
2)
INTRODUCTION
3)
RELIGION AND
SCIENCE
a.
The Qur’an And
Science
4)
AUTHENTICITY OF
QUR’AN
5)
CREATION OF THE
UNIVERSE
6)
ASTRONOMY
a.
The Sun and
Moon.
b.
Stars and
Planets
c.
Orbits
d.
The Day and
Night
e.
The Solar Apex
f.
Expansion of the
Universe
g.
Conquest of
Space
7)
GEOLOGY
a.
Water Cycle
b.
Mountains
8)
BIOLOGY
a.
Botany
b.
Physiology
9)
EMBRYOLOGY
a.
Fertilization
b.
Implantation
c.
Embryo
10)
BIBLE, QUR’AN
AND SCIENCE
a.
Creation
b.
Age of the Earth
c.
The Flood
d.
The Pharaoh This booklet
by Dr. Maurice Bucaille has been in circulation for the past nineteen
years and has been a very effective tool in presenting Islam to
non-Muslims as well as introducing Muslims to aspects of the scientific
miracle of the Qur’an. It is based on a transcription of a lecture given
by Dr. Bucaille in French. In this
reprint, I decided to improve its presentation by simplifying the
language and editing the text from an oral format to a pamphlet format.
There were also passing references made by the author to material in his
book, The
Bible, the Qur’an and Science, which
needed explanation. I took the liberty of including explanatory portions
from his book where more detail was necessary. A few footnotes were also
added for clarity and a hadeeth which
the author mentioned was replaced due to its inauthenticity. There were
also some corrections made to the historical material on the compilation
of the Qur’an. It is my hope
that these slight improvements will make this excellent work even more
effective in presenting the final revelation of God to mankind. Dr. Abu
Ameenah Bilal Philips
Director/Islamic Information Center Dubai, U.A.E.
May, 1995 On the 9th of
November, 1976, an unusual lecture was given at the French Academy of
Medicine. Its title was “Physiological and Embryological data in the
Qur’an”. I presented the study based on the existence of certain
statements concerning physiology and reproduction in the Qur’an. My
reason for presenting this lecture was because it is impossible to
explain how a text produced in the seventh century could have contained
ideas that have only been discovered in modern times. For the first
time, I spoke to members of a learned medical society on subjects whose
basic concepts they all knew well, but I could, just as easily, have
pointed out statements of a scientific nature contained in the Qur’an
and other subjects to specialists from other disciplines. Astronomers,
zoologists, geologists and specialists in the history of the earth would
all have been struck, just as forcibly as medical doctors, by the
presence in the Qur’an of highly accurate reflections on natural
phenomena. These reflections are particularly astonishing when we
consider the history of science, and can only lead us to the conclusion
that they are a challenge to human explanation. There is no
human work in existence that contains statements as far beyond the level
of knowledge of its time as the Qur’an. Scientific opinions comparable
to those in the Qur’an are the result of modern knowledge. In the
commentaries to translations of the Qur’an that have appeared in
European languages, I have only been able to find scattered and vague
references to them. Nor do commentators writing in Arabic provide a
complete study of the aspects of the Qur’an that deal with scientific
matters. This is why the idea of a comprehensive study of the problem
appealed to me. In addition
to this, a comparative study of similar data contained in the Bible (Old
Testament and Gospels) seemed desirable. Thus, a research project was
developed from the comparison of certain passages in the Holy Scriptures
of each monotheistic religion with modern scientific knowledge. The
project resulted in the publication of a book entitled, The
Bible, the Qur'an and Science. The
first French edition appeared in May 1976. English and Arabic editions
have since been published. There is,
perhaps, no better illustration of the close links between Islam and
science than the Prophet Muhammad’s often-quoted statements:
“Seeking knowledge is compulsory on every Muslim.”
“Wisdom is the lost property of the believer.”
“Whoever follows a path seeking knowledge, Allah will make his path to
paradise easy.” These
statements and many others are veritable invitations to humanity to
enrich their knowledge from all sources. It comes as no surprise,
therefore, to learn that in Islam religion and science have always been
considered as twin sisters and that today, at a time when science has
taken such great strides, they still continue to be associated. Nor is
it a surprise to learn that certain scientific data are used for the
better understanding of the Qur’anic text. What is more, in a century
where, for many people, scientific truth has dealt a deathblow to
religious belief, it is precisely the discoveries of science that, in an
objective examination of the Islamic scripture, have highlighted the
supernatural nature of revelation and the authenticity of the religion
which it taught. When all is
said and done, scientific knowledge seems, in spite of what many people
may say or think, to be highly conducive to reflection on the existence
of God. Once we begin to ask ourselves, in an unbiased or unprejudiced
way, about the metaphysical lessons to be derived from some of today’s
knowledge, (for example our evolving knowledge of the smallest
components of matter or the questions surrounding the origin of life
within inanimate matter), we indeed discover many reasons for thinking
about God. When we think about the remarkable organization presiding
over the birth and maintenance of life, it becomes clear that the
likelihood of it being the result of chance lessens quite considerably. As our
knowledge of science in the various fields expands, certain concepts
must seem increasingly unacceptable. For example, the idea
enthusiastically expressed by the recent French winner of the Nobel
prize for medicine, that living matter was self-created from simple
chemical elements due to chance circumstances. Then from this point it
is claimed that living organisms evolved, leading to the remarkably
complex being called man. To me, it would seem that the scientific
advancements made in understanding the fantastic complexity of higher
beings provides stronger arguments in favor of the opposite theory: that
the existence of an extraordinarily methodical organization presiding
over the remarkable arrangement of the phenomena of life necessitates
the existence of a Creator. In many parts
of the Book, the Qur’an, encourages this kind of general reflection but
also contains infinitely more precise data which are directly related to
facts discovered by modern science. It is precisely this data which
exercise a magnetic attraction for today’s scientists. For many
centuries, humankind was unable to study certain data contained in the
verses of the Qur’an because they did not possess sufficient scientific
means. It is only today that numerous verses of the Qur’an dealing with
natural phenomena have become comprehensible. A reading of old
commentaries on the Qur’an, however knowledgeable their authors may have
been in their day, bears solemn witness to a total inability to grasp
the depth of meaning in such verses. I could even go so far as to say
that, in the 20th century, with its compartmentalization of
ever-increasing knowledge, it is still not easy for the average
scientist to understand everything he reads in the Qur’an on such
subjects, without having recourse to specialized research. This means
that to understand all such verses of the Qur’an, one is nowadays
required to have an absolutely encyclopedic knowledge embracing many
scientific disciplines. I should like
to stress, that I use the word science to
mean knowledge which has been soundly established. It does not include
the theories which, for a time, help to explain a phenomenon or a series
of phenomena, only to be abandoned later on in favor of other
explanations. These newer explanations have become more plausible thanks
to scientific progress. I only intend to deal with comparisons between
statements in the Qur’an and scientific knowledge which are not likely
to be subject to further discussion. Wherever I introduce scientific
facts which are not yet 100% established, I will make it quite clear. There are
also some very rare examples of statements in the Qur’an which have not,
as yet, been confirmed by modern science. I shall refer to these by
pointing out that all the evidence available today leads scientists to
regard them as being highly probable. An example of this is the
statement in the Qur’an that life has an aquatic origin
“And I created
every living thing out of water”
(Al-Anbiyaa’ 21:30). These
scientific considerations should not, however, make us forget that the
Qur’an remains a religious book par
excellence and
that it cannot be expected to have a scientific purpose per
se. In
the Qur’an, whenever humans are invited to reflect upon the wonders of
creation and the numerous natural phenomena, they can easily see that
the obvious intention is to stress Divine Omnipotence. The fact that, in
these reflections, we can find allusions to data connected with
scientific knowledge is surely another of God’s gifts whose value must
shine out in an age where scientifically based atheism seeks to gain
control of society at the expense of the belief in God. But the Qur’an
does not need unusual characteristics like this to make its supernatural
nature felt. Scientific statements such as these are only one specific
aspect of the Islamic revelation which the Bible does not share. Throughout my
research I have constantly tried to remain totally objective. I believe
I have succeeded in approaching the study of the Qur’an with the same
objectivity that a doctor has when opening a file on a patient. In other
words, only by carefully analyzing all the symptoms can one arrive at an
accurate diagnosis. I must admit that it was certainly not faith in
Islam that first guided my steps, but simply a desire to search for the
truth. This is how I see it today. It was mainly the facts which, by the
time I had finished my study, led me to see the Qur’an as the
divinely-revealed text it really is. Before
getting to the essence of the subject, there is a very important point
which must be considered: the authenticity of the Qur’anic text. It is known
that the text of the Qur’an was both recited from memory, during the
time it was revealed, by the Prophet and the believers who surrounded
him, and written down by designated scribes among his followers. This
process lasted for roughly twenty-three years during which many
unofficial copies were made. An official copy was made within one year
after the Prophet’s death at the instruction of Caliph Abu Bakr. Here we must
note a highly important point. The present text of the Qur’an benefited
in its original preparation from the advantage of having its
authenticity cross-checked by the text recited from memory as well as
the unofficial written texts. The memorized text was of paramount
importance at a time when not everyone could read and write, but
everybody could memorize. Moreover, the need for a written record was
included in the text of the Qur’an itself. The first five verses of
chapter al-‘Alaq, which
happen to constitute the first revelation made to the Prophet (S),
express this quite clearly:
“Read (Mohammad) In the name of thy Lord Who createth (1) Createth
man from a clot (2) Read:
And thy Lord is the Most Bounteous (3) He
Who taught (the use of) the pen (4) Taught
man that which he knew not.” (Al-Alaq
96:1-5) These are
surely words in “praise of the pen as a means of human knowledge”, to
use Professor Hamidullah’s expression. Then came the
Caliphate of ‘Uthman (which lasted from the twelfth to the twenty-fourth
year following Muhammad’s death). Within the first two years of Caliph
‘Uthman’s rule, seven official copies were reproduced from the official
text and distributed throughout a large area of the world which had
already come under Islamic rule. All unofficial copies existing at that
time were destroyed and all future copies were made from the official
seven copies. In my book, The
Bible, the Qur’an and Science, I
have quoted passages from the Qur’an which came from the period prior to
the Hijrah (the
Prophet’s emigration from Makkah to Madeenah in the year 622) and which
allude to the writing of the Qur’an before the Prophet’s departure from
Makkah. There were,
moreover, many witnesses to the immediate transcription of the Qur’anic
revelation. Professor
Jacques Berque has told me of the great importance he attaches to it in
comparison with the long gap separating the writing down of the
Judeo-Christian revelation from the facts and events which it relates.
Let us not forget that today we also have a number of manuscripts of the
first written versions of the Qur’an which were from a time period very
close to the time of revelation. I shall also
mention another fact of great importance. We shall examine statements in
the Qur’an which today appear to merely record scientific truth, but of
which men in former times were only able to grasp the apparent meaning.
In some cases, these statements were totally incomprehensible. It is
impossible to imagine that, if there were any alterations to the texts,
these obscure passages scattered throughout the text of the Qur’an, were
all able to escape human manipulation. The slightest alteration to the
text would have automatically destroyed the remarkable coherence which
is characteristic to them. Change in any text would have prevented us
from establishing their total conformity with modern knowledge. The
presence of these statements spread throughout the Qur’an looks (to the
impartial observer ) like an obvious hallmark of its authenticity. The Qur’an is
a revelation made known to humans in the course of twenty-three years.
It spanned two periods of almost equal length on either side of the Hijrah. In
view of this, it was natural for reflections having a scientific aspect
to be scattered throughout the Book. In a study, such as the one we have
made, we had to regroup the verses according to subject matter,
collecting them chapter by chapter. How should
they be classified? I could not find any indications in the Qur’an
suggesting any particular classification, so I decided present them
according to my own personal one. It would seem
to me, that the first subject to deal with is Creation. Here it is
possible to compare the verses referring to this topic with the general
ideas prevalent today on the formation of the Universe. Next, I divided
up verses under the following general headings: Astronomy, the Earth,
the Animal and Vegetable Kingdoms, Humans, and Human Reproduction in
particular. Furthermore, I thought it useful to make a comparison
between Qur’anic and Biblical narrations on the same topics from the
point of view of modern knowledge. This has been done in the cases of
Creation, the Flood and the Exodus. The reason that these topics were
chosen is that knowledge acquired today can be used in the
interpretation of the texts. From an
examination of creation as described in the Qur’an, an extremely
important general concept emerges: The Qur’anic narration is quite
different from the Biblical narration. This idea contradicts the
parallels which are often wrongly drawn by Western authors to emphasize
the resemblance between the two texts. To stress only the similarities,
while silently ignoring the obvious dissimilarities, is to distort
reality. There is, perhaps, a reason for this. When talking
about creation, there is a strong tendency in the West to claim that
Muhammad copied the general outlines mentioned in the Qur’an from the
Bible. Certainly it is possible to compare the six days of creation as
described in the Bible, plus an extra day for rest on God’s Sabbath,
with this verse from chapter al-A‘raaf.
“Indeed, your Lord is Allah, Who created the heavens and the earth in
Six Days…..” (Al-A’raaf
7:54) However, it
must be pointed out that modern commentators stress the interpretation
of the Arabic word ayyaam, (one
translation of which is ‘days’), as meaning ‘long periods’ or ‘ages’
rather than periods of twenty-four hours. What appears
to be of fundamental importance to me is that, in contrast to the
narration contained in the Bible, the Qur’an does not lay down a
sequence for creation of the earth and heavens. It refers both to the
heavens before the earth and the earth before the heavens, when it talks
of creation in general, as in this verse of chapter Taa
Haa:
“(God) who
created the earth and heavens above." (Ta-Ha
20:4) In fact, the
notion derived from the Qur’an is one of a parallelism in the celestial
and terrestrial evolutions. There are also basic pieces of information
concerning the existence of an initial gaseous mass ( dukhaan )
which are unique to the Qur’an. As well as descriptions of the elements
which, although at first were fused together ( ratq ),
they subsequently became separated (fatq). These
ideas are expressed in chapters Fussilat and al-Anbiyaa: “Moreover, He
Comprehended in His design the sky, and it had been (as) smoke. He said
to it and to the earth. "Come ye together, willingly or unwillingly.
They said: "We do come (Together), in willing obedience. "
(Fussilat 41:11)
“Do the
disbelievers not see that the heavens and the earth were joined
together, then I split them apart?” (Al-Anbiyaa’
21:30) According to
modern science, the separation process resulted in the formation of
multiple worlds, a concept which appears dozens of times in the Qur’an.
For example, look at the first chapter of the Qur’an, al-Fatiha:
“Praise be to
God, the Lord of the Worlds.” Al
Faaitha 1:1). These
Qur’anic references are all in perfect agreement with modern ideas on
the existence of primary nebula (galactic dust), followed by the
separation of the elements which resulted in the formation of galaxies
and then stars from which the planets were born. Reference is also made
in the Qur’an to an intermediary creation between the heavens and the
earth, as seen in chapter al-Furqaan:
“God is the
one who created the heavens, the earth and what is between them…...” (Al-Furqaan
25:59) It would seem
that this intermediary creation corresponds to the modern discovery of
bridges of matter which are present outside organized astronomical
systems. This brief
survey of Qur’anic references to creation clearly shows us how modern
scientific data and statements in the Qur’an consistently agree on a
large number of points. In contrast,
the successive phases of creation mentioned in the Biblical text are
totally unacceptable. For example, in Genesis 1:9-19 the creation of the
earth (on the 3rd day) is placed before that of the heavens (on the 4th
day). It is a well known fact that our planet came from its own star,
the sun. In such circumstances, how could anyone claim that Muhammad,
the supposed author of the Qur’an, drew his inspiration from the Bible.
Such a claim would mean that, of his own accord, he corrected the
Biblical text to arrive at the correct concept concerning the formation
of the Universe. Yet the correct concept was reached by scientists many
centuries after his death. Whenever I
describe to Westerners the details the Qur’an contains on certain points
of astronomy, it is common for someone to reply that there is nothing
unusual in this since the Arabs made important discoveries in the field
of astronomy long before the Europeans. But, this is a mistaken idea
resulting from an ignorance of history. In the first place, science
developed in the Arab World at a considerable time after the Qur’anic
revelation had occurred. Secondly, the scientific knowledge prevalent at
the highpoint of Islamic civilization would have made it impossible for
any human being to have written statements on the heavens comparable to
those in the Qur’an. The material on this subject is so vast that I can
only provide a brief outline of it here. Whereas the
Bible talks of the sun and the moon as two lights differing only in
size, the Qur’an distinguishes between them by the use of different
terms: light (noor) for the moon, and lamp (siraaj) for
the sun.
"Did you see
how Allah created seven heavens, one above the other, and made in them
the moon a light and the sun a lamp?" (An-Naba
78:12-13) The moon is
an inert body which reflects light, whereas the sun is a celestial body
in a state of permanent combustion producing both light and heat. The word
‘star’ (najm) in
the Qur’an ( 86:3 ) is accompanied by the adjective thaaqib which
indicates that it burns and consumes itself as it pierces through the
shadows of the night. It was much later discovered that stars are
heavenly bodies producing their own light like the sun. In the
Qur’an, a different word, kawkab, is
used to refer to the planets which are celestial bodies that reflect
light and do not produce their own light like the sun.
“We have
adorned the lowest heaven with ornaments, the planets.”
(As-Saffat
37:6) Today, the
laws governing the celestial systems are well known. Galaxies are
balanced by the position of stars and planets in well-defined orbits, as
well as the interplay of gravitational forces produced by their masses
and the speed of their movements. But is this not what the Qur’an
describes in terms which have only become comprehensible in modern
times. In chapter al-Ambiyaa we
find:
“(God is) the
one who created the night, the day, the sun and the moon. Each one is
traveling in an orbit with its own motion.”
(Al-Anbiyaa’ 21:33) The Arabic
word which expresses this movement is the verb yasbahoon which
implies the idea of motion produced by a moving body, whether it is the
movement of one’s legs running on the ground, or the action of swimming
in water. In the case of a celestial body, one is forced to translate
it, according to its original meaning, as ‘to travel with its own
motion.’ In my book, The
Bible, The Qur'an and Science, I
have given the precise scientific data corresponding to the motion of
celestial bodies. They are well known for the moon, but less widely
known for the sun. The Qur’anic
description of the sequence of day and night would, in itself, be rather
commonplace were it not for the fact that it is expressed in terms that
are today highly appropriate. The Qur’an uses the verb kawwara in
chapter az-Zumar to
describe the way the night ‘winds’ or ‘coils’ itself around the day and
the day around the night.
“…… He coils
the night upon the day and the day upon the night ……..”
(Az-Zumr 39:5) The original
meaning of the verb kis
to coil a turban around the head. This is a totally valid comparison;
yet at the time the Qur’an was revealed, the astronomical data necessary
to make this comparison were unknown. It is not until man landed on the
moon and observed the earth spinning on its axis, that the dark half of
the globe appeared to wind itself around the light and the light half
appeared to wind itself around the dark. The notion of
a settled place for the sun is vividly described in chapter Yaa
Seen of
the Qur’an:
"The sun runs
its coarse to a settled place That is the decree of the Almighty, the
All Knowing.”
(Yaseen 36: 38) “Settled
place” is the translation of the word mustaqarr which
indicates an exact appointed place and time. Modern astronomy confirms
that the solar system is indeed moving in space at a rate of 12 miles
per second towards a point situated in the constellation of Hercules (alpha
lyrae) whose exact location has been precisely calculated.
Astronomers have even give it a name, the solar apex. Chapter ath-Thaariyaat of
the Qur’an also seems to allude to one of the most imposing discoveries
of modern science, the expansion of the Universe.
“I built the
heaven with power and it is I, who am expanding it.” (Ad-Daryat
51:47) The expansion
of the universe was first suggested by the general theory of relativity
and is supported by the calculations of astrophysics. The regular
movement of the galactic light towards the red section of the spectrum
is explained by the distancing of one galaxy from another. Thus, the
size of the universe appears to be progressively increasing. Among the
achievements of modern science is the “conquest” of space which has
resulted in mans journey to the moon. The prediction of this event
surely springs to mind when we read the chapter ar-Rahmaan in
the Qur’an:
“O assembly of
Jinns and men, if you can penetrate the regions of the heavens and the
earth, then penetrate them! You will not penetrate them except with
authority.”
(Ar-Rahman 55:33) Authority to
travel in space can only come from the Creator of the laws which govern
movement and space. The whole of this Qur’anic chapter invites humankind
to recognize God’s beneficence. Let us now
return to earth to discover some of the many amazing statements
contained in Qur’anic reflections about our own planet. They deal, not
only with the physical phenomena observed here on earth, but also with
details concerning the living organisms that inhabit it. As in the
case of everything we have discussed so far, we shall see that the
Qur’an also expresses concepts in the field of geology that were way
ahead of those current at the time of its revelation. At this
point, we must ask ourselves the following question: How could an
uneducated man in the middle of the desert accurately tackle so many and
such varied subjects at a time when mythology and superstition reigned
supreme? How could he so skillfully avoid every belief that was proven
to be totally inaccurate many centuries later? The verses
dealing with the earthly systems are a case in point. I have quoted a
large number of them in my book, The
Bible, The Qur’an and Science, and
have paid special attention to those that deal with the water cycle in
nature. This is a topic which is well known today. Consequently, the
verses in the Qur’an that refer to the water cycle seem to express ideas
that are now totally self-evident. But if we consider the ideas
prevalent at that time, they appear to be based more on myth and
philosophical speculation than on observed fact, even though useful
practical knowledge on soil irrigation was current at that period. Let us
examine, for example, the following verse in chapter az-Zumar:
“Have you not
seen that Allah sent rain down from the sky and caused it to penetrate
the ground and come forth as springs, then He caused crops of different
colors to grow...” (Az-Zumr
39:21) Such notions
seem quite natural to us today, but we should not forget that, not so
long ago, they were not prevalent. It was not until the sixteenth
century, with Bernard Palissy, that we gained the first coherent
description of the water cycle. Prior to this, people believed that the
waters of the oceans, under the effect of winds, were thrust towards the
interior of the continents. They then returned to the oceans via the
great abyss, which, since Plato’s time was called the Tartarus .In
the seventeenth century, great thinkers such as Descartes still believed
in this myth. Even in the nineteenth century there were still those who
believed in Aristotle’s theory that water was condensed in cool mountain
caverns and formed underground lakes that fed springs. Today, we
know that it is the infiltration of rain water into the ground that is
responsible for this. If one compares the facts of modern hydrology with
the data found in numerous verses of the Qur’an on this subject, one
cannot fail to notice the remarkable degree of agreement between the
two. In geology,
modern science has recently discovered the phenomenon of folding which
formed the mountain ranges. The earth’s crust is like a solid shell,
while the deeper layers are hot and fluid, and thus inhospitable to any
form of life. It has also been discovered that the stability of
mountains is linked to the phenomenon of folding. The process of
mountain formation by folding drove the earth’s crust down into the
lower layers and provided foundations for the mountains. Let us now
compare modern ideas with one verse among many in the Qur’an that deals
with this subject. It is taken from chapter an-Naba’:
“Have We not made
the earth as a wide expanse. (6) And
the mountains as stakes”
(An-Naba 78:6-7) Stakes ( awtaad ),
which are driven into the ground like those used to anchor a tent, are
the deep foundations of geological folds. Here, as in
the case of all the other topics presented, the objective observer
cannot fail to notice the absence of any contradiction to modern
knowledge. More than
anything else, I was struck by statements in the Qur’an dealing with
living things, both in the animal and vegetable kingdoms, especially
with regard to reproduction. We should really devote much more time to
this subject, but, due to the limited scope of this presentation, I can
only give a few examples. I must once
again stress the fact that it is only in modern times that scientific
progress has made the hidden meaning of some Qur’anic verses
comprehensible to us. Numerous translations and commentaries on the
Qur’an have been made by learned men who had no access to modern
scientific knowledge. It is for this reason that scientists find some of
their interpretations unacceptable. There are
also other verses whose obvious meanings are easily understood, but
which conceal scientific meanings which are startling, to say the least.
This is the case of a verse in chapter al-Ambiyaa, a
part of which has already been quoted:
“Do the
unbelievers not realize that the heavens and the earth were joined
together, then I clove them asunder and I made every living thing out of
water. Will they still not believe?” (Al-Anbiya’
21:30) This is a
dramatic affirmation of the modern idea that the origin of life is
aquatic. Progress in
botany at the time of Muhammad (S) was not advanced enough in any
country for scientists to know that plants have both male and female
parts. Nevertheless, we may read the following in the chapter Taa
Haa:
“…… (God is
the One who) sent down rain from the sky and with it brought forth a
variety of plants in pairs….” (At-Taha
20:53) Today we know
that fruit comes from plants that have sexual characteristics even when
they come from unfertilized flowers, like bananas. In the chapter ar-Ra‘d we
read the following:
“... and of all fruits (God) placed (on the earth) two pairs…..” (Ar-Rad
13:3) In the field
of physiology, there is one verse which appears extremely significant to
me. One thousand years before the discovery of the blood circulatory
system, and roughly thirteen centuries before it was determined that the
internal organs were nourished by the process of digestive , a verse in
the Qur’an described the source of the constituents of milk, in
conformity with scientific facts. To understand
this verse, it must first be known that chemical reactions occur between
food and enzymes in the mouth, the stomach and the intestines releasing
nutrients in molecular form which are then absorbed into the circulatory
system through countless microscopic projections of the intestinal wall
called villi. Blood in the circulatory system then transports the
nutrients to all the organs of the body, among which are the
milk-producing mammary glands. This
biological process must be basically understood, if we are to understand
a verse in the Qur’an which has for many centuries given rise to
commentaries that were totally incomprehensible. Today it is
not difficult to see why! This verse is taken from the chapter an-Nahl:
“Verily, in
cattle there is a lesson for yon. I give you drink from their insides,
coming from a conjunction between the digested contents ( of the
intestines ) and the blood, milk pure and pleasant for those who drink
it.” (An-Nahl
16:66) The
constituents of milk are secreted by the mammary glands which are
nourished by the product of food digestion brought to them by the
bloodstream. The initial event which sets the whole process in motion is
the conjunction of the contents of the intestine and blood at the level
of the intestinal wall itself. This very
precise concept is the result of the discoveries made in the chemistry
and physiology of the digestive system over one thousand years after the
time of Prophet Muhammad (S). There are a
multitude of statements in the Qur’an on the subject of human
reproduction which constitute a challenge to the embryologist seeking a
human explanation for them. It was only after the birth of the basic
sciences which contributed to our knowledge of biology and the invention
of the microscope, that humans were able to understand the depth of
those Qur’anic statements. It was
impossible for a human being living in the early seventh century to have
accurately expressed such ideas. There is nothing to indicate that
people in the Middle-East and Arabia knew anything more about this
subject than people living in Europe or anywhere else. Today, there are
many Muslims, possessing a thorough knowledge of the Qur’an and natural
sciences, who have recognized the amazing similarity between the verses
of the Qur’an dealing with reproduction and modern scientific knowledge. I shall
always remember the comment of an eighteen-year-old Muslim, brought up
in Saudi Arabia, commenting on a reference to human reproduction as
described in the Qur’an. He pointed to
the Qur’an and said, “This book provides us with all the essential
information on the subject. When I was at school, my teachers used the
Qur’an to explain how children were born. Your books on sex-education
are a bit late on the scene!” If I were to
spend as long on all the details of reproduction contained in the
Qur’an, as the subject merits, this pamphlet would become a book. The
detailed linguistic and scientific explanations I have given in The
Bible, The Qur’an and Science are
sufficient for the person who does not speak Arabic nor know much about
embryology to be able to understand the meaning of such verses in the
light of modern science in more depth. It is
especially in the field of embryology that a comparison between the
beliefs present at the time of the Qur’an’s revelation and modern
scientific data, leaves us amazed at the degree of agreement between the
Qur’an’s statements and modern scientific knowledge. Not to mention the
total absence of any reference in the Qur’an to the mistaken ideas that
were prevalent around the world at the time. Let us now
isolate, from all these verses, precise ideas concerning the complexity
of the semen and the fact that an infinitely small quantity is required
to ensure fertilization. In chapter al-Insaan the
Qur’an states:
“Verily, I
created humankind from a small quantity of mingled fluids….”
(Al-Insan 76:2) The Arabic
word nutfah has
been translated as "small quantity”. It comes from the verb meaning ‘to
dribble, to trickle’ and is used to describe what remains in the bottom
of a bucket which has been emptied. The verse correctly implies that
fertilization is performed by only a very small volume of liquid. On the other
hand, mingled fluids ( amshaaj )
has been understood by early commentators to refer to the mixture of
male and female discharges. Modern authors have corrected this view and
note that the sperm is made up of various components. When the
Qur’an talks of a fertilizing fluid composed of different components, it
also informs us that human progeny will be formed from something
extracted from this liquid. This is the meaning of the following verse
in chapter as-Sajdah:
“Then He made
[ man’s ] offspring from the essence of a despised fluid.” (As-
Sajdah 32:8) The Arabic
word translated by the term ‘essence’ is sulaalah which
means ‘something extracted, the best part of a thing’. In whatever way
it is translated, it refers to part of a whole. Under normal conditions,
only one single cell, spermatozoon, out of over 50 million ejaculated by
a man during sexual intercourse will actually penetrate the ovule. Once the egg
has been fertilized in the fallopian tube, it descends to lodge itself
inside the uterus. This process is called the ‘implantation of the egg’.
Implantation is a result of the development of villosities, which,
like roots in the soil, draw nourishment from the wall of the uterus and
make the egg literally cling to the womb. The process of implantation is
appropriately described in several verses by the word ‘alaq, which
is also the title of the chapter in which one of the verses appears:
“God fashioned humans from a clinging entity.” (Al-Alaq
96:2) I do not
think there is any reasonable translation of the word ‘alaq other
than to use it in its original sense. It is a mistake to speak of a
‘blood clot’ here, which is the term Professor Hamidullah uses in his
translation. It is a derivative meaning which is not as appropriate in
this context. The evolution
of the embryo inside the maternal uterus is only briefly described, but
the description is accurate, because the simple words referring to it
correspond exactly to fundamental stages in its growth. This is what we
read in a verse from the chapter al-Mu’minoon:
“I fashioned
the clinging entity into a chewed lump of flesh and I fashioned the
chewed flesh into bones and I clothed the bones with intact flesh……” (Al-
Momanoon 23:14) The term
‘chewed flesh’ (mudghah) corresponds
exactly to the appearance of the embryo at a certain stage in its
development. It is known
that the bones develop inside this mass and that they are then covered
with muscle. This is the meaning of the term ‘intact flesh’ (lahm). The embryo
passes through a stage where some parts are in proportion and others out
of proportion with what is later to become the individual. This is the
obvious meaning of a verse in the chapter al-Hajj, which
reads as follows:
“……I fashioned
(humans) a clinging entity, then into a lump of flesh in proportion and
out of proportion…...” (Al-Hajj
22:5). Next, we have
a reference to the appearance of the senses and internal organs in the
chapter as-Sajdah:
“... and (God)
gave you ears, eyes and hearts…..” (As-Sajda
32:9) Nothing here
contradicts today’s data and, furthermore, none of the mistaken ideas of
the time have crept into the Qur’an. Throughout the Middle Ages there
were a variety of beliefs about human development based on myths and
speculations which continued for several centuries after the period. The
most fundamental stage in the history of embryology came in 1651 with
Harvey’s statement that “all life initially comes from an egg”. At that
time, when science had benefited greatly from the invention of the
microscope, people were still arguing about the respective roles of the
egg and spermatozoon. Buffon, the great naturalist, was one of those in
favor of the egg theory. Bonnet, on the other hand, supported the theory
of ‘the ovaries of Eve’, which stated that Eve, the mother of the human
race, was-supposed to have had inside her the seeds of all human beings
packed together one inside the other. We have now
come to the last subject I would like to present in this short pamphlet:
it is the comparison between modern knowledge and passages in the Qur’an
that are also referred to in the Bible. We have
already come across some of the contradictions between scripture and
science regarding the creation of the universe. When dealing with that
topic, I stressed the perfect agreement between modern knowledge and
verses in the Qur’an, and pointed out that the Biblical narration
contained statements that were scientifically unacceptable. This is
hardly surprising if we are aware that the narration of the creation
contained in the Bible was the work of priests living in the sixth
century BC, hence the term ‘sacerdotal’ (priestly) narration is
officially used to refer to it. The narration seems to have been
conceived as the theme of a sermon designed to exhort people to observe
the Sabbath. The narration was constructed with a definite end in view,
and as Father de Vaux (a former head of the Biblical School of
Jerusalem) has noted, this end was essentially legalist in character. The Bible
also contains a much shorter and older narration of Creation, the
so-called ‘Yahvist’ version, which approaches the subject from a
completely different angle. They are both taken from Genesis, the first
book of the Pentateuch or Torah. Moses is supposed to have been its
author, but the text we have today has undergone many changes. The
sacerdotal narration of Genesis is famous for its whimsical genealogies,
that go back to Adam, and which nobody takes very seriously.
Nevertheless, such Gospel authors as Matthew and Luke have reproduced
them, more or less word-for-word, in their genealogies of Jesus. Matthew
goes back as far as Abraham, and Luke to Adam. These writings are
scientifically unacceptable, because they set a date for the age of the
world and the time humans appeared on Earth, which most definitely
contradicts what modern science has firmly established. The Qur’an, on
the other hand, is completely free of dates of this kind. Earlier on,
we noted how perfectly the Qur’an agrees with modern ideas on the
formation of the Universe. On the other hand, the Biblical narration of
primordial waters is hardly, nor is the creation of light on the first
day before the creation of the stars which produce this light; the
existence of an evening and a morning before the creation of the earth;
the creation of the earth on the third day before that of the sun on the
fourth; the appearance of beasts of the earth on the sixth day after the
appearance of the birds of the air on the fifth day, although the former
came first. All these statements are the result of beliefs prevalent at
the time this text was written and do not have any other meaning. As for the
Biblical genealogies which form the basis of the Jewish calendar and
assert that today the world is 5738 years old, these are hardly
admissible either. Our solar system may well be four and a quarter
billion years old, and the appearance of human beings on earth, as we
know him today, may be estimated in tens of thousands of years, if not
more. It is absolutely essential, therefore, to note that the Qur’an
does not contain any such indications as to the age of the world, and
that these are specific to the Biblical text. There is a
second highly significant subject of comparison between the Bible and
the Qur’an; descriptions of the deluge. In actual fact, the Biblical
narration is a fusion of two descriptions in which events are related
differently. The Bible speaks of a universal flood and places it roughly
300 years before Abraham. According to
what we know of Abraham, this would imply a universal cataclysm around
the twenty-first or twenty-second century BC. This story would be
untenable, in view of presently available historical data. How can we
accept the idea that, in the twenty-first or twenty-second century BC,
all civilization was wiped off the face of the earth by a universal
cataclysm, when we know that this period corresponds, for example, to
the one preceding the Middle Kingdom in Egypt, at roughly the date of
the first Intermediary period before the eleventh dynasty? It is
historically unacceptable to maintain that, at this time, humanity was
totally wiped out. None of the preceding statements is acceptable
according to modern knowledge. From this point of view, we can measure
the enormous gap separating the Bible from the Qur’an. In contrast
to the Bible, the narration contained in the Qur’an deals with a
cataclysm that is limited to Noah’s people. They were punished for their
sins, as were other ungodly peoples. The Qur’an does not fix the
cataclysm in time. There are absolutely no historical or archaeological
objections to the narration in the Qur’an. A third point
of comparison, which is extremely significant, is the story of Moses,
and especially the Exodus from Egypt of the Hebrews. Here I can only
give a highly compressed account of a study on this subject that appears
in my book. I have noted the points where the Biblical and Qur’anic
narrations agree and disagree, and I have found points where the two
texts complement each other in a very useful way. Among the
many hypotheses, concerning the historical time-frame occupied by the
Exodus in the history of the pharaohs, I have concluded that the most
likely is the theory which makes Merneptah, Ramesses II’s successor, the
pharaoh of the Exodus. The comparison of the data contained in the
Scriptures with archeological evidence strongly supports this
hypothesis. I am pleased
to be able to say that the Biblical narration contributes weighty
evidence leading us to situate Moses in the history of the pharaohs.
Moses was probably born during the reign of Ramesses II. Biblical data.
are therefore of considerable historical value in the story of Moses. A
medical study of the mummy of Merneptah has yielded further useful
information on the possible causes of this pharaoh’s death. The fact that
we possess the mummy of this pharaoh is one of paramount importance. The
Bible records that pharaoh was engulfed in the sea, but does not give
any details as to what subsequently became of his corpse. The Qur’an, in
chapter Yoonus, notes
that the body of the pharaoh would be saved from the waters:
“Today I will
save your dead body so that you may be a sign for those who come after
you……..” (Yunus
10:92) A medical
examination of this mummy, has, shown that the body could not have
stayed in the water for long, because it does not show signs of
deterioration due to prolonged submersion. Here again, the comparison
between the narration in the Qur’an and the data provided by modern
knowledge does not give rise to the slightest objection from a
scientific point of view. Such points
of agreement are characteristic of the Qur’anic revelation. But, are we
throwing the Judeo-Christian revelation into discredit and depriving it
of all its intrinsic value by stressing the faults as seen from a
scientific point of view? I think not
because the criticism is not aimed at the text as a whole, but only at
certain passages. There are parts of the Bible which have an undoubted
historical value. I have shown that in my book, The
Bible, The Qur’an and Science, where
I discuss passages which enable us to locate Moses in time. The main
causes which brought about such differences as arise from the comparison
between the Holy Scriptures and modern knowledge is known to modern
scholars. The Old Testament constitutes a collection of literary works
produced in the course of roughly nine centuries and which has undergone
many alterations. The part played by men in the actual composition of
the texts of the Bible is quite considerable. The Qur’anic
revelation, on the other hand, has a history which is radically
different. As we have already seen, from the moment it was first came to
humans, it was learnt by heart and written down during Muhammad’s own
lifetime. It is thanks to this fact that the Qur’an does not pose any
problem of authenticity. A totally
objective examination of the Qur’an, in the light of modern knowledge,
leads us to recognize the agreement between the two, as has already been
noted on repeated occasions throughout this presentation. It makes us
deem it quite unthinkable for a man of Muhammad’s time to have been the
author of such statements, on account of the state of knowledge in his
day. Such considerations are part of what gives the Qur’anic revelation
its unique place among religious and non-religious texts, and forces the
impartial scientist to admit his inability to provide an explanation
based solely upon materialistic reasoning. Such facts as
I have had the pleasure of exposing to you here, appear to represent a
genuine challenge to human explanation leaving only one alternative:
the Qur’an is undoubtedly a revelation from God.
Added:
THE MIRACLE IN THE IRON
Iron is one
of the elements highlighted in the Qur'an. There is even a chapter named
"al-Hadid", which means "iron". The following
is stated in verse 25 of the chapter of al-Hadid:
“....And we sent
down Iron, in which is great might, as well as many benefits for
mankind....” (Al-Hadid
57-25) The word "anzalna",
used for the formation of iron in the verse means "we
sent down".
However, what we know is that the iron is dug out from the underground.
In our opinion, "we
dug out" should
have been preferred instead of "we
sent down".
However, the situation is not as what we think. With the expression "we
sent down" in
the verse, a very important scientific miracle is pointed out. It is as
follows: For the formation of the mineral of iron, a certain temperature
is needed. This necessary temperature exists neither in the earth nor in
the sun. The sun has a surface temperature of 6.000 degrees Celsius, and
a core temperature of approximately 15 million degrees. However, this
temperature is inadequate for the formation of iron. Iron can only be
produced in stars much larger than the Sun, where the temperature
reaches a few hundred million degrees. When the amount of iron exceeds a
certain level in stars called a "nova" or a "supernova", the star can no
longer accommodate it, and it eventually explodes. These explosions make
it possible for iron to be dispersed into space. All astronomic
discoveries have put forth that the mineral of iron comes from huge
stars of outer space. Not only the
iron in the earth but also the iron in the solar system is acquired from
outer space. For, as we have stated before, the temperature of the sun
is not enough for the formation of the iron mineral. What is understood
from all above is that the mineral of iron is not formed in the earth
but sent down by being carried away from supernovas just as it is stated
in the verse. It is
not possible for this knowledge to be known in the age when the Qur'an
was revealed, that is, 1400 years ago. Since it is not possible, how can
it be explained that this information exists in the Qur'an? Is
there any explanation other than the fact that the Qur'an is the book of
Allah?
Excerpted,
from:
http://www.sultan.org/
2: Al-Quran a Miracle of Miracles - Ahmed Deedat
3: VIDEOS
All non-Muslims will become Muslims after watching
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uo6xrl6-r4E
Video about Quran And Science
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uo6xrl6-r4E
Dr.Maurice and the Pharaoh - Qur'an & Science
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZLINW1pldvs
Dr.Maurice Bucaille ( why i'm muslim), who wrote book
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1zs6z6E_Oik
The Qur'an & The Modern Science - Dr. Maurice Bucaille (1/7)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XaSfE1DW2-w
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