Chapter 13: The miracle and
challenge of the Qur'an
"We shall show
them Our signs on the horizons and within themselves until
it will become clear to them that it is the Truth. Does it
not suffice that your Lord is Witness over all
things?"
The noble Qur'an, Fussilat(41):53.
Muslims are taught that throughout the ages, Allah
Almighty has sent a prophet to every nation as a warner and
a bearer of glad tidings.
"Verily! We have sent you (O Muhammad) with the Truth,
a bearer of glad tidings and a warner; and there is not a
nation but a warner has passed among them,"
The noble Qur'an, Fatir(35):24.
Each prophet was wisely selected by Allah in order to be
the best person for the job. He was then provided by Allah
with miracles as proof of his truthfulness and his message.
These miracles were wisely selected by Allah in order to be
in the same field as that which these people excelled in so
that they could fully comprehend the magnitude of these
miracles.
For instance, the people during the time of Moses
excelled at magical trickery. Their rulers used to surround
themselves with the most powerful of these wizards as a sign
of power. This is why Allah made the miracles of Moses
(pbuh) similar to their magical trickery (changing a stick
into a snake, parting of the sea... etc.) but of a much
greater magnitude than anything they could ever hope to
accomplish. For they were not tricks, but actual physical
miracles.
The people at the time of the prophet Jesus (pbuh)
excelled in matters of medicine. For this reason, his
miracles were of a medical nature (raising of the dead,
healing of the blind...etc.), but of a degree that they
could never hope to imitate. Similarly, one of the major
miracles of Islam was a new and unheard-of type of
literature similar to the Bedouin's poetry but far beyond
anything they could ever hope to match. Although they did
indeed try. This new literature was called "The Qur'an."
The Arabic language, as can be attested to by any of it's
scholars, is a very rich and powerful language. The Bedouin
people of the Arabian desert were, in general, illiterate
people of very little scientific knowledge. The thing that
set them apart, however, was their mastery of poetry.
Spending their days as they did in the desert watching their
sheep graze got quite boring. They alleviated their boredom
by continually composing and refining poetry. They would
spend entire years composing and refining their poetry in
anticipation of a yearly face-down of the poetic
compositions of their peers from all over the country. The
fact that they were illiterate forced them to also train
themselves in the memorization of works of literature to
such an extent that they were able to memorize complete
works from a single recitation. Even in matters of
leadership, one of the major criteria for selecting the
leaders of the various Bedouin tribes was the individual's
prowess in literary composition and memorization.
The Arabian Bedouins took great pains to make their
poetry as compact and picturesque as humanly possible,
constantly expanding the language along the way. A single
word could convey complete pictures. The Qur'an, however,
has put even these great efforts to shame. You will notice
that when a Muslim translates a verse of the Qur'an he
usually does not say "the Qur'an says so and so" but rather
"An approximation of the meaning of what the Qur'an says is
so and so." You really need to know the language to
comprehend this.
In the English language, we find that the words:
"mustang," "colt," "mare," "pony," "stallion," "bronco"...
etc. all refer to the same thing; a horse. Each one of these
words conveys a slightly different mental picture. The
mental picture we get when we hear the word "colt" is
slightly different than the picture we get if we hear the
word "mare." In a similar manner, the Arabic language
progressed in such a fashion as to make it possible to
convey such mental pictures in as concise and picturesque a
format as possible. It is not at all uncommon to find over
three hundred words that refer to the same thing in the
Arabic language. Each one of these words gives a slightly
different picture than the others.
Many centuries of this constant refinement eventually
lead to a very complex and rich vocabulary, and the primary
miracle of Muhammad (pbuh), the Qur'an, was in exactly this
field
In the noble Qur'an we find a challenge from Allah to
compose a literary work on a par with this Qur'an it is
indeed the work of mankind. They could not. The Qur'an
continued to reduce it's challenge until the challenge
finally became: "compose only a single verse comparable to
this Qur'an and you will have won." They still could not.
This in addition to the fairness, justice, and logic of the
Qur'an eventually won them over and slowly more and more
people became Muslims.
"Well then, if the Koran were his own
[Muhammad's] composition other men could rival it.
Let them produce ten verses like it. If they could not (and
it is obvious that they could not), then let them accept the
Koran as an outstanding evidential miracle"
Mohammedanism, H. A. R. Gibb, Oxford University Press, p.
42
"From the literary point of view, the Koran is
regarded as a specimen of purest Arabic, written in half
poetry, half prose. It has been said that in some cases
grammarians have adopted their rules to agree with certain
expressions used in it, and though several attempts have
been made to produce a work equal to it as far as elegant
writing is concerned, none yet has succeeded"
Glimpses of the Noble Qur'an, Muhammad Azizullah,
Crescent Publications, pp. 104-105
"In making the present attempt to improve on the
performance of my predecessors, and to produce something
which might be accepted as echoing however faintly the
sublime rhetoric of the Arabic Koran, I have been at pains
to study the intricate and richly varied rhythms which -
apart from the message itself - constitute the Koran's
undeniable claim to rank amongst the greatest literary
masterpieces of mankind... This very characteristic feature
- 'that inimitable symphony,' as the believing Pickthall
described his Holy Book, 'the very sounds of which move men
to tears and ecstasy' - has been almost totally ignored by
previous translators; it is therefore not surprising that
what they have wrought sounds dull and flat indeed in
comparison with the splendidly decorated original."
The Koran Interpreted, Arthur J. Arberry, Oxford
University Press, 1964, p. x.
"The Koran admittedly occupies an important position
among the great religious books of the world. Though the
youngest of the epoch-making works belonging to this class
of literature, it yields to hardly any in the wonderful
effect which it has produced on large masses of men. It has
created an all but new phase of human thought and a fresh
type of character. It first transformed a number of
heterogeneous desert tribes of the Arabian peninsula into a
nation of heroes, and then proceeded to create the vast
politico-religious organizations of the Muhammadan world
which are one of the great forces with which Europe and the
East have to reckon today."
G. Margoliouth, Introduction to J.M. Rodwell's, The
Koran, New York: Everyman's Library, 1977, p. vii.
"A work, then, which calls forth so powerful and
seemingly incompatible emotions even in the distant reader -
distant as to time, and still more so as a mental
development - a work which not only conquers the repugnance
which he may begin its perusal, but changes this adverse
feeling into astonishment and admiration, such a work must
be a wonderful production of the human mind indeed and a
problem of the highest interest to every thoughtful observer
of the destinies of mankind
Here, therefore, its
merits as a literary production should perhaps not be
measured by some preconceived maxims of subjective and
aesthetic taste, but by the effects which it produced in
Muhammad's contemporaries and fellow countrymen. If it spoke
so powerfully and convincingly to the hearts of his hearers
as to weld hitherto centrifugal and antagonistic elements
into one compact and well-organized body, animated by ideas
far beyond those which had until now ruled the Arabian mind,
then its eloquence was perfect, simply because it created a
civilized nation out of savage tribes, and shot a fresh woof
into the old warp of history."
Dr. Steingass, quoted in T.P. Hughes' Dictionary Of
Islam, p. 526-528.
Many claims have been made against Muhammad in that day
and this. Among them are the claims that he was a lunatic, a
liar, or deceived by the devil. If Muhammad was a lunatic or
a liar then we have to wonder how all of his prophesies came
true?. Further, if he was a deceived by Satan then we are
faced with another problem. For we know that all Muslims are
taught that when reading the Qur'an they must first begin
with the words "I seek refuge in Allah from Satan the
stoned* one." and then follow this up
with the words "In the name of Allah, Most Compassionate,
Most Merciful" So we have to wonder if Satan would
"inspire" a man to teach mankind to seek refuge in God from
Satan? Indeed this is the exact same accusation which was
made against Jesus (pbuh). Let us read how Jesus responded
to this claim:
"But some of them (the Jews) said, He (Jesus) casteth
out devils through Beelzebub (Satan) the chief of the
devils. And others, tempting [him], sought of him a
sign from heaven. But he, knowing their thoughts, said unto
them, Every kingdom divided against itself is brought to
desolation; and a house [divided] against a house
falleth. If Satan also be divided against himself, how shall
his kingdom stand? because ye say that I cast out devils
through Beelzebub."
Luke 11:15-18
It has been the case throughout the ages that with all
previous prophets, their miracle was separate from their
book. Although we may claim that we have the "Torah" of
Moses, still, it is not possible now to bring Moses' (pbuh)
staff and see it perform miracles as it did in his time.
Similarly it is not possible today to see Jesus (pbuh) raise
the dead as he did so many centuries ago. However, since the
message of Islam was the final message of God to mankind,
therefore, the book of Islam itself was made the main
miracle of Islam and it has continued to renew it's
challenge to mankind throughout the ages.
What does this mean? Nowadays, the number of people who
can appreciate the literary content of the Qur'an has
dwindled and this challenge no longer has the same impact it
did fourteen hundred years ago. However, as we have seen in
the verse quoted at the beginning of this chapter, Allah
Almighty has promised to continually renew the challenge of
the Qur'an throughout the ages. So how will it be
renewed?
Recently, a new field of study has opened up to scholars.
People nowadays are fascinated with science. This is the age
of technology and scientific discovery. For this reason,
mankind has begun to study the religious scriptures of
mankind from a scientific point of view in order to
challenge the scientific claims made in these scriptures.
Many works have been published on this topic. In this
chapter I will give a brief taste of these matters and then
leave it up to the interested reader to learn more from any
one of the many books which have been published in this
regard (see list at back of this book).
As mentioned previously, Muhammad (pbuh) lived among
tribes of people who were for the most part illiterate. He
himself was also illiterate. These people used to live
extremely simple lives. Some were traders and businessmen,
others were farmers, and yet others were nomadic
sheepherders who traveled from place to place depending on
where they could find grass for their sheep to graze. When
Muhammad (pbuh) brought them the Qur'an, the believers found
in the Qur'an the command to go out, seek knowledge, and
confirm the presence of their Creator by studying His
creation. Muslims began to fulfill this command of the
Qur'an and this resulted in one of the greatest explosions
of scientific advancement mankind has ever seen. All of this
was going on during a period that the West calls "The Dark
Ages," wherein the scientists of the West were being
persecuted and killed as sorcerers and wizards. During this
period, Muslims scholars introduced into the world such
things as:
* Mathematical evolution of spherical mirrors
* Rectilinear motion of light and use of lenses
* Refraction angle variations
* Magnifying effects of the plano convex lens
* Introduced the concept of the elliptical shape of
cosmological bodies
* Study of the center of gravity as applied to
balance
* Measurement of specific weights of bodies
* Rule of algebraic equations
* Solutions to quadratic and cubic equations
* Work on square roots, squares, theory of numbers,
solution of the fractional numbers
* Solutions of equations of cubic order
* Wrote on conic geometry elaborating the solution of
algebraic equations
* Determined the Trinomial Equation
* Avicenna's "Canon of Medicine." He is know as the
Prince of Physicians to the West
* Wrote the first description of several drugs and
diseases as meningitis.
* Treatment of physiological shocks
* Expertise in psychosomatic medicine and psychology
* Al-Biruni mentions fifty six manuscripts on
pharmacology
* Credited for identifying small pox and its
treatment
* Use of alcohol as an antiseptic
* Use of mercury as a purgative for the first time
* First to describe the circulation of blood.
* "Holy Abbas" was, after Rhazes, the most outstanding
Physician. His works were authoritative till the works of
ibn Sina appeared
* Writings on Cosmology, Astrology, Science of numbers
and letters
* Proved that the earth is smaller than the sun but
larger than the moon.
* Final authorities on Chemistry for many Centuries
* Classified metals into three classifications
* Laid the basis of the Acid Base theory
* Distillation, calcination, crystallization, the
discovery of many acids
* Cultivation of Gold - is a continuation of Jabir's
work
* Theory of Oscillatory motion of equinoxes
* Addition of ninth sphere to the eight Ptolematic
astronomy
* Discovered the increase of the suns apogee
* Gravitational force
* Responsible for the discovery motion of the solar
apsides
* wrote ' On the Science of Stars '
* Determination of latitudes and longitudes
* Determination of geodetic measurements
* Described the motion of the planets
* Solved the problems of spherical trigonometry
* First to study the isometric oscillatory motion of a
pendulum
* Invented the instrument ' Sahifah "
* Responsible for the proof of the motion of the apogee
of the sun with respect to the fixed stars.
* authorities on the theory of the system of homocentric
spheres
* Prepared a calendar that was more accurate than the
Gregorian one in use today.
... and much, much more.
All of this began with a single illiterate Arab from the
desert fourteen hundred years ago. The book that was brought
into the world by such a man cries out to be studied from a
scientific aspect. We will now give you a glimpse of the
results:
"So ask the People of Knowledge if you do not
know"
The Qur'an, Al-Anbia(21):7
Example Number 1: Embryology:
Dr. Keith L. Moore is a Professor of Anatomy and Cell
Biology, University of Toronto, Toronto, Canada. He is a
world renowned scientist and a distinguished researcher in
the fields of anatomy and embryology, he has published more
than 150 research articles, chapters and books in this
field. He is the author of several medical textbooks, such
as the widely used and acclaimed "The Developing Human:
Clinically oriented Embryology" (now in it's fifth edition,
and translated into eight different languages), "Before We
Are Born" and "Clinically Oriented Anatomy." He has also
recently co-authored "Qur'an and Modern Science, Correlation
Studies." Dr. Moore is the recipient of numerous awards and
honors, including, in 1984, the J.C.B. Grant Award, which is
the highest honor granted by the Canadian Association of
Anatomists. He has served in many academic and
administrative positions, including the President of the
Canadian Association of Anatomists, 1968-1970. Let us see
what Dr. Moore's opinion is on the scientific statements
regarding embryology to be found in the Qur'an:
Dr. Moore was contacted by a Muslim scholar by the name
of Abdul-Majeed Azzindani. He was asked to participate in a
three-year study of around twenty-five verses of the Qur'an
and the Sunnah (sayings of Muhammad, pbuh) which speak about
embryology, and to determine the their correspondence to
modern scientific discoveries. Dr. Moore's conclusion
regarding this matter was:
Fig. 12 The human fetus in various stages of
development, at six, eight and 14 weeks
"For the past three years, I have worked with the
Embryology Committee of King Abdulaziz University in Jeddah,
Saudi Arabia, helping them to interpret the many statements
in the Qur'an and the Sunnah referring to human reproduction
and prenatal development. At first I was astonished by the
accuracy of the statements that were recorded in the seventh
century AD, before the science of embryology was
established. Although I was aware of the glorious history of
Muslim scientists in the 10th century AD, and of some of
their contributions to Medicine, I new nothing about the
religious facts and beliefs contained in the Qur'an and
Sunnah. It is important for Islamic and other students to
understand the meaning of these Qur'anic statements about
human development, based on current scientific knowledge.
The interpretations of the "verses" in the Qur'an and the
Sunnah, translated by Shaikh Azzindani, are to the best of
my knowledge accurate."
From the forward of "The Developing Human: Clinically
oriented Embryology," third edition, by Dr. Keith L.
Moore.
The Qur'an and the Sunnah of the prophet Muhammad (pbuh)
provide a very detailed description of the microscopic
development of the human embryo from a mere sperm drop up to
the stage of a completely formed human being. It is well
known that microscopes were not developed until the
sixteenth century AD, and even at that were very crude in
design. Zacharias Janssen is credited with having invented
the compound microscope in about 1590. With it, remarkable
scientific discoveries were made in the 17th and 18th
centuries. The Dutch naturalist Anthony van Leeuwenhoek
produced lenses powerful enough to prove that many tiny
creatures are not spontaneously generated but come from
eggs.
Before this period, theories on human reproduction ran
rampant. Some scientist believed that the menstrual blood
itself developed into the fetus. Later on, a new theory was
developed wherein the sperm drop was popularly believed to
contain a completely developed miniature human (homunculus)
which later grew to the size of a baby. The science of
embryology as we know it today did not discover many of the
detailed aspects of human development which are taken for
granted today until only about twenty years ago, or 1973 to
be precise.
Now we must ask the question: where did Muhammad (pbuh)
get such detailed knowledge of the microscopic development
of the human embryo in the 6th century AD without a
microscope, technical training, a laboratory of any kind, or
even the ability to write his own name? The only logical
conclusion is that it came from exactly where he claimed it
did. From the one who created mankind, God Almighty!
Prof. Moore has since given numerous lectures on the
topic of embryology in the Qur'an. He is quoted in one of
these lectures as saying:
"It is clear to me that these statements must have
come to Muhammad from God, or Allah, because most of this
knowledge was not discovered until many centuries later.
This proves to me that Muhammad must have been a messenger
of God, or Allah."
Prof. Moore was so impressed with the Qur'anic
classification of the stages of development of the human
embryo, that he suggested the adoption of the Qur'anic
system in place of the system currently in use by scientists
today. Prof. Moore said:
"Because the staging of the human embryo is complex
owing to the continuous process of change during
development. It is therefore suggested that a new system of
classification could be developed using the terms mentioned
in the Qur'an and the Sunnah. The proposed system is simple,
comprehensive, and conforms with present embryological
knowledge."
When Dr. Moore first presented his findings in Toronto it
caused quite a stir throughout Canada. It was on the front
pages of some of the newspapers across Canada. One newspaper
reporter asked Professor Moore,
"Don't you think That maybe the Arabs might have known
about these things - the description of the embryo, its
appearance and how it changes and grows? Maybe there were
not scientists, but maybe they did some crude dissections on
their own - carved up people and examined these
things."
Professor Morre immediately pointed out to him, however,
that he had missed a very important point. All of the slides
of the embryo that Dr. Moore had based his study upon had
come from pictures taken through a microscope. He said,
"It does not matter if someone had tried to discover
embryology fourteen centuries ago, they could not have seen
it!." Dr. Moore taunted, "Maybe fourteen centuries
ago someone secretly had a microscope and did this research,
making no mistakes anywhere. Then he somehow taught Muhammad
and convinced him to put this information in his book. Then
he destroyed his equipment and kept it a secret forever?. Do
you believe that? You really should not unless you bring
some proof because it is such a ridiculous theory."
When he was asked "How do you explain this information
in the Qur'an?" Dr. Moore's reply was, "It could only
have been divinely revealed."
Example Number 2: The Universe:
Another example of such scientifically accurate
statements in the Qur'an can be found in the following
analysis:
"And the firmament(sky) We constructed with power and
skill and verily We are expanding it"
The noble Qur'an, Al-Thariyaat(51):47.
(Remember: "we" is the Arabic plural of respect, not the
Christian plural of "Trinity," as seen in Chapter
14).
"Do not the disbelievers see that the heavens and the
earth were fused then We ripped them asunder, and We created
from water every living thing, do they not believe?"
The noble Qur'an, Al-Anbia(21):30.
"Then He settled/equilibrated unto the firmament(sky)
when it was smoke and said unto it and to the earth: come
willingly or unwillingly. They said: we come willingly"
The noble Qur'an, Fussilat(41):11.
Allah Almighty has in these three concise verses answered
questions that it has taken some of the greatest physicists
and astronomers of history centuries to answer. It was only
in this century that they finally found the truth.
Mankind has studied the heavens and the earth for
countless centuries. The Greeks were some of the first
people to attempt to describe various cosmological
phenomena. They gave us many of the very first theories
regarding the universe and it's composition. The major
contribution came with the writings of Plato. Plato claimed
that the universe was created by what he called "The
Demiurge." According to Plato, the universe was the result
of reasoning and planning, it was constructed by the
Demiurge upon precise mathematical and geometrical
principles. Later on, Aristotle, Plato's student, adopted
his teacher's basic concept. Aristotelian cosmology was
based on the concept of an enclosed cosmos comprising a
series of concentric, spheres revolving around a stationary
Earth. Motion was provided by the "prime mover" and,
once initiated, would remain circular, uniform and
eternal.
Both Plato and Aristotle taught that the universe was
eternal, with neither beginning nor end. The universe as a
whole was considered steady and unmoving, and this was the
basis for the later formation of the "steady state
theory." In 1915, Albert Einstein had published the
famous general theory of relativity. Soon afterward he
proposed a static model of the universe, but he would later
declare that it was "one of the greatest mistakes of my
career." Why?, Because in 1925, Edwin Hubble (after whom
the Hubble Space telescope is named) provided the
observational evidence for the expansion of the universe, or
as Stephen Hawking put it "The universe is not static, as
had previously been thought, it was expanding."
Although mankind did not discover these facts till this
20th Century, still, we find that Allah Almighty had
provided the answers for mankind 1400 years ago in the
Qur'an through the agency of His illiterate Prophet Muhammad
(pbuh). During Muhammad's (pbuh) time, the Greeks were
claiming that the cosmos was static and not expanding. So
how did he know that the universe was expanding 1300 years
before the foremost scientist of the West proved this to be
a scientific fact?
However, this is not the only claim that the Qur'an makes
with regard to the universe. Let us study the next two
verses:
At the present time, the Big Bang theory of the origin of
the universe is the cosmological model most widely accepted
by astronomers. It holds that about 20,000,000,000 years ago
the universe began with the explosive expansion of a single,
extremely condensed state of matter ("the heavens and the
earth were fused then we ripped them asunder"). As
mentioned above, a further development of this model, known
as "inflationary theory," describes the original
condensed matter as arising from virtually empty space. It
was only after the development of radio telescopes in 1937
AD that the necessary observational precision was achieved
in order for astronomers to arrive at the above conclusion.
Out of the observations of such scientists has arisen the so
called "Hubble Constant" (Ho) which is quantity currently
used to gauge the rate at which the universe is
expanding. In other words, the issue is no longer whether
the universe is expanding or not, rather, it is only a
question of how fast it is expanding.
The second and third verses presented appear to claim
that the heavens and the earth were once a single mass then
were "ripped asunder," The exact root words used in the
Qur'an are the words "ra-ta-qa" and "fa-ta-qa," or "the
heavens and the earth were 'ra-ta-qa' then we 'fa-ta-qa'
them"
"Ra-ta-qa" is an Arabic word which has the general
meaning of "to fuse, to sew, to mend, to patch up, to
repair." ("Lisan Al-Arab," by Ibn Mandoor, Vol. 10, Dar
Al-Fikr, p. 114, and also "A Dictionary of Modern Written
Arabic," Hans Wehr, Librairie du Liban, p. 325)
Similarly, "fa-ta-qa" has the general meaning of
"To rip, to undo sewing, to unstitch, to tear apart, to
rend, to rip open." ("Lisan Al-Arab," by Ibn Mandoor, Vol.
10, Dar Al-Fikr, p. 296, and also "A Dictionary of Modern
Written Arabic," Hans Wehr, Librairie du Liban, p. 695)
The verse then goes on to say that Allah Almighty created
the heavens and the earth from a celestial "smoke."
Astronomers today have pictures of galaxies being formed by
exactly this process, i.e. the condensation of spiraling
celestial "mists." Isn't it an incredible coincidence that
an illiterate man from the desert, without the aid of
observatories or satellite imaging was making these claims
over 1400 years ago?. Was he just guessing?
Further, the cosmic phenomenon depicted in the following
two figures is commonly referred to by astronomists as a
cosmic "mist." However, if we were to read the second verse
of the Qur'an presented above we will find that the Qur'an
more accurately refers to it as a "smoke." This is because
"mist" implies a cool and tranquil spray of water. However,
"smoke" implies a hot gas containing airborne particles.
This is indeed another example of the literary miracle of
the Qur'an in that it manages to convey to us in a very
concise language a very accurate and detailed description of
the topic at hand.
Fig. 13 The Spiral Galaxy M100 courtesy of the Hubble
Space Telescope
Fig. 14 M100 again. The distance to
the swirling grand design spiral M100 is causing quite a
stir among astronomers. Many believe that the Hubble Space
Telescope's recent distance measurement to this galaxy
accurately calibrates the "Hubble's constant." A scientific
debate involving the actual value of Hubble's constant
titled "The Scale of the Universe" is scheduled to occur in
April 1996 in Washington, DC.
"And those who have been given knowledge know that
that which has been revealed to you from your Lord is the
Truth"
The noble Qur'an, Saba(34):6
"Do they not consider the Qur'an (with care) or are
there locks upon their hearts?"
The noble Qur'an, Muhammad(47):24
Example Number 3: Water and Life:
In the Qur'an we read:
"Do not the disbelievers see that the heavens and the
earth were joined together then we split them asunder, and
we created from water every living thing, do they not
believe?"
The noble Qur'an, Al-Anbia(21):30.
"And Allah has created every trodding creature from
water..."
The noble Qur'an, Al-Noor(24):45.
"It is He who created from water a human..."
The noble Qur'an, Al-Furqan(25):54.
Water is the most common substance on Earth, covering
more than 70% of the planet's surface. All living things
consist mostly of water; for example, the human body is
about two-thirds water (when you cremate a human what
happens to him? Why?). Scientist tell us that all forms of
life known to humanity today require three basic conditions:
Temperature, the existence of water, and the existence of an
atmosphere.
All metabolisms require water to survive, so animals that
exist in arid regions have body mechanisms that protect
against water loss and make maximum use of water (camels for
example). Dehydration in humans results from lack of food,
drink, and from sweating, in addition to other factors. This
loss eventually affects the proper functioning of the heart,
central nervous system, and organs containing smooth muscle.
Finally, intercellular water is lost, which upsets vital
chemical processes in the cells. If water is not restored to
the body, death will usually occur within a few days.
The blood of all living creatures is composed of 55
percent plasma, which in turn is composed of more than 90
percent water. Jan Baptista van Helmont, the first
experimental physiologist, around 1640 AD concluded that
water is the only soil component required for plant growth.
We could go on and on. Again we find ourselves asking the
question: How did Muhammad (pbuh) know that all living
creatures are created from water centuries before mankind
discovered this fact through scientific experimentation? Did
he randomly select an element from the countless billions of
possible choices? Why did he not claim that mankind was
created from air, or from wood, or from light? Why
water?
Example Number 4: Deep sea currents:
In the Qur'an we read:
"Or as darkness on a vast, abysmal sea. There covers
it a wave, above which is a wave, above which is a cloud.
Layer upon layer of darkness."
The noble Qur'an, Al-Noor(24):40.
Mankind began to build submersibles in the seventeenth
century. The first crude craft known to have ventured
underwater was built by Cornelis Drebbel, court engineer to
James I of England, and was demonstrated on the Thames river
in 1620. From then onwards, development of submarines
continued until the twentieth century, or 1954 to be exact,
when the first nuclear submarine became a reality. With
mankind's study of the sea came the realization that the
waters lying underneath the surface waves were not the place
of tranquil calmness they were previously envisioned to be.
Rather, there were underwater currents called deep sea
currents which could at times become such violent storms as
to rearrange sediments in the ocean bottom. How did Muhammad
(pbuh) know about these underwater currents centuries before
mankind invented the tools necessary for underwater
exploration?
"Say: It was sent down by He who knows the secrets in
the heavens and the earth."
The noble Qur'an, Al-Furqaan(25):6.
It is worth mentioning here in connection with the above
verse that some scientists have interpreted the "layer
upon layer of darkness" to be the gradual separation of
the light spectrum within the ocean, one color at a time
until complete darkness is finally achieved. In other words,
at one depth, the yellow bandwidth is suppressed and "yellow
darkness" is achieved. At another depth, the red bandwidth
is suppressed and "red darkness" is achieved, and so
forth.
There are many other scientific statements made in the
Qur'an which were only discovered to be scientifically
accurate many centuries after Muhammad's death. Many of them
have only been discovered in this century. They range over
many fields of science including Anatomy, Chemistry,
Astronomy, Geology, Hydrology, and many other disciplines
which are only beginning to be addressed by scientists
today.
For example, the Qur'an makes reference to the fact that
a human's pain receptors are located in the skin
(Al-Nissa(4):56). That the frontal lobes of the brain are
responsible for lying and sin (Al-Alak(96):16). That
mountains have below them roots that extend deep into the
earth's surface (Al-Naba(78):7). That mountains pin the
earth's crust and prevent it from moving (Al-Nahil(16):15).
That there exists a physical barrier between bodies of fresh
and salt water (Al-Rahman (55):20). There is also
information regarding the formation of milk in cows
(Al-Nahi(16):66). And on and on. So where was Muhammad
(pbuh) getting all of these scientific facts if not from the
Creator of mankind and the universe? Allah Almighty
askes:
"Is this sorcery or is it that you do not
see?"
The noble Qur'an, Al-Tur (52):15.
Prof. Keith Moore is not the only scholar who has been
presented with such verses of the Qur'an. Many other
scholars from all over the world have been presented with
similar statements from the Qur'an in their field of
expertise. Only a few of these people are:
1) Dr. E. Marshall Johnson, Professor and Chairman of the
Department of Anatomy and Developmental Biology, and the
Director of the Daniel Baugh Institute, Thomas Jefferson
University, Philadelphia, USA. Author of over 200
publications. Former President of the Teratology Society
among other accomplishments. After studying the verses of
the Qur'an he came to the following conclusion:
"The Qur'an describes not only the development of
external form but emphasizes also the internal stages - the
stages inside the embryo of its creation and development,
emphasizing major events recognized by contemporary
science... If I was to transpose myself into that era,
knowing what I do today and describing things, I could not
describe the things that were described... I see no evidence
to refute the concept that this individual Muhammad had to
be developing this information from some place... so I see
nothing in conflict with the concept that divine
intervention was involved..."
2) Dr. Joe Leigh Simpson. Professor and Chairman of the
Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology at Baylor Collage of
Medicine, Houston, Texas. He is the President of the
American Fertility Society, and has served in many other
professional, national, and international organizations. He
has received numerous awards including Association of
Professors of Obstetrics and Gynecology Public Recognition
Award in 1992. He has published more than 400 chapters and
articles in journals and books. He says:
"... these Hadeeths (sayings of Muhammad) could not
have been obtained on the basis of the scientific knowledge
that was available at the time of the writer'... It follows
that not only is there no conflict between genetics and
religion (Islam) but in fact religion (Islam) may guide
science by adding revelation to some of the traditional
scientific approaches... There exist statements in the
Qur'an shown centuries later to be valid which support
knowledge in the Qur'an having been derived from God."
3) Dr. T.V.N. Persaud. Professor and Head of the
Department of Anatomy, Professor of Pediatrics and Child
Health, and Associate Professor of Obstetrics, Gynecology
and Reproductive Sciences, University of Manitoba, Winnipeg,
Manitoba, Canada. He is the author and editor of 25 books,
has contributed 31 chapters to publications, and has
published over 180 scientific papers. In 1991 he received
the most distinguished award presented in the field of
anatomy in Canada, the J.C.B. Grant Award from the Canadian
Association of Anatomists. He says:
"Muhammad was a very ordinary man, he couldn't read,
didn't know how to write, in fact he was an illiterate...
were talking about 1400 years ago, you have some illiterate
person making profound statements that are amazingly
accurate, of a scientific nature... I personally can't see
how this could be mere chance, there are too many accuracies
and like Dr. Moore, I have no difficulty in my mind
reconciling that this is a divine inspiration or revelation
which lead him to these statements."
4) After a study which lasted ten years, the famous
French physician Maurice Bucaille addressed the French
Academy of Medicine in 1976 and expressed the complete
agreement of the Qur'an and established findings of modern
science. He presented his study on the existence in the
Qur'an of certain statements concerning physiology and
reproduction. His reason for doing that was that
"our knowledge of these disciplines is such, that it
is impossible to explain how a text produced at the time of
the Qur'an could have contained ideas that have only been
discovered in modern times."
5) Dr. Tejatet Tejasen, Head of the Department of
Anatomy, Faculty of Medicine, University of Chiang Mai,
Thailand. After his study on the Qur'an passages dealing
with embryology:
"From my studies and what I have learnt at this
conference I believe that everything that has been recorded
in the Qur'an 1400 years ago must be true. That can be
proved the scientific way."
Others include:
6) Dr. Gerald C. Goeringer. Professor and Coordinator of
Medical Embryology in the Department of Cell Biology in the
Georgetown University school of Medicine. Washington, D.C.
He has published numerous articles dealing mainly with the
study of teratogenesis.
7) Dr. Alfred Kroner, Professor of Geology, Germany.
8) Dr. Yoshiodi Kozan, Director of the observatory of
Tokyo, Japan.
9) Dr. William Hay, Professor of Oceanography, University
of Colorado, Boulder, Colorado.
10) Dr. Pete Palmer, Professor of Geology, University of
Colorado, Boulder, Colorado.
11) Dr. Sayawida, Professor of Marine Geology, Japan.
12) Dr. Armstrong, Professor of Astronomy, University of
Kansas, Lawrence, Kansas.
13) Dr. Draga Persaud Rauw, Professor of Marine Geology,
King Abdulaziz University, Jeddah, Saudi Arabia
14) Dr. Schroeder, Professor of Oceanography,
Germany.
The response of these scholars when presented with verses
of the Qur'an in their field of specialization, varied. One
thing however was always constant. They all confirmed the
accuracy of the scientific statements made in the Qur'an,
and they all could not explain how Muhammad (pbuh) could
have known with such accuracy the scientific claims to be
found in the Qur'an so many centuries before mankind
discovered them to be scientific truths.
Allah Almighty tells us in the Qur'an:
"Allah did not create (all) that except in truth.
He details the signs for people of knowledge."
The noble Qur'an, Yunus(10):5
"And those who were given knowledge see that which was
sent down upon you by your Lord is the truth and guides to
the path of the 'Exalted' (in Might) the 'worthy of all
praise'."
The noble Qur'an, Saba(34):6.
"Had We sent down this Qur'an upon a mountain, you
would surely have seen it humbling itself and rending
asunder for fear of Allah. Such are the parables We put
forth for mankind that they may reflect."
The noble Qur'an, Al-Hashr(59):21
"Verily! this Qur'an guides to that which is most
upright, and gives glad tidings to the believers who work
deeds of righteousness that theirs will be a great
reward"
The noble Qur'an, Al-Isra(17):9
"And We have indeed simplified [the comprehension
of] this Qur'an for remembrance, so is there any that
will remember [and be admonished]?"
The noble Qur'an, Al-Qamar(54):17
To obtain a more in-depth analysis of these matters
including video tapes containing interviews with many of
these pioneering Western scholars, contact one of the
following (ask for the video tape titled "It is the
Truth"):
- 1) Islamic Academy for Scientific Research.
- 8150 West 111 Street
- Palos Hills, IL 60465
- U.S.A.
- Phone: (708) 974-9151
-
- 2) Islamic Society of North America (ISNA)
- P.O. Box 38
- Plainfield, Indiana, 46168
- U.S.A.
- Phone: (317) 839-8157
-
- 3) Academy for the Miracles of Science in the
Qur'an and the Sunnah
- P.O. Box 5736
- Makkah Al-Mukarramah
- Saudi Arabia
- Phone: (2) 545-1519
Also look for the books:
- "The
Bible, the Qur'an and Science," by Dr. Maurice
Bucaille
- "The Qur'an and Modern Science," by Dr. Maurice
Bucaille
- "An Introduction to Understanding the Qur'an," by
Syed Abdul A'ala Maudoodi
- "The Sources of the Qur'an: A Critical Review of the
Authorship Theories," by Hamza Mustafa Njozi
- "Muhammad's Prophethood: An Analytical View," by Dr.
Jamal Badawi
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