Scientific Errors in the Quran: Difference between revisions

There is a big picture that is missed by apologists when they contest the various types of scientific errors in the Qur'an by appealing to metaphor, other possible meanings for a word (many of which claims are inaccurate), or phenomenological language. Even supposing that another interpretation was possible in every case, the wording and content of these verses often reflect the popular mythology and misconceptions of the time, and are such as you’d expect if that was what the author had in mind, with no clear attempt to make it distinct from the mythology or misconceptions. Take collectively the many verses that suggest geocentrism, for example. Such statements, very avoidably, reinforced false notions that people had at the time and later provided plenty of reason to doubt the claims of a divine origin.

This in itself is a major weakness that a human author would avoid if he knew better, let alone the concept of a divine author whose work would be beyond any weakness, let alone such a comprehensive weakness over an extensive revelation. Such a being would be able to entirely foresee how such statements would be understood and the doubts they would cause later.

Evolution

The Qur'an advocates creationism. It is incompatible with the thesis of human evolution from simpler life forms and natural selection.

First, evolution is not proven science based on empirical evidence. Evolution is a theory that attempts how life could have come into existence without God. Second, Islam does not refute the idea of natural selection and that populations can adapt to their environments, but these changes have been shown to not necessarily always occur through mutations, but rather through epigenetics, showing an even more complex and intelligent design than previously imagined. The finches that Darwin observed have been shown to adapt within just a few generations, not the thousands or millions of years that he postulated. Islam maintains that God did not creat

Human created from clay

The scientific hypothesis postulates that clay merely 'match-makes' RNA and membrane vesicles - and therefore does not form a building block. This is contrary to the Islamic faith which postulates that human beings were created from clay, implying clay was a building block.

Islam says that humans were created from a single human being which was created from "teen," and Arabic word which can mean clay, molder's clay, or just plain soil. God says elsewhere in the Quran that he created him from "turab," which can mean soil, dirt, or dust. What we can understand from this is that Adam was shaped from dirt/soil/dust/clay that was mixed with water. The descendents of Adam, human beings, eventually decompose into soil when they die. We all actively decompose even as we are alive into dust as we shed skin cells into our environment. The ayah does not in any way imply that we are made of building blocks of clay, as if we are brick houses. Our creation is not so primitive. In other ayahs, the Quran states that man was made from clay, and then from a "nutfah," a sperm-drop. Are our bodies made from millions of drops of sperm? No, but a single sperm is responsible for half of our existence even though it is barely a whole cell.

Humans were created from a single being

Some apologists will claim this is consistent with modern scientific knowledge because scientists refer to individuals labeled as Mitochondrial Eve and Y-chromosomal Adam. This is a bad misunderstanding since these are the terms for the last common male and female ancestors of everyone alive today, not of all humans in history. Incidentally, the Qur'an clearly states Eve was created later than (and from) Adam. Mitochondrial Eve lived some 50,000 to 80,000 years earlier than Y-chromosomal Adam. More to the point, genetic studies indicate that humans diverged from earlier species as a population, not a single couple. See [1] and [2].

Islam does not contest this except that we diverged from an earlier species. Modern humans are all descended from a small population; Noah (PBUH) and his 10-80 followers, the survivors of the great flood which occurred around 2000 years after Adam was sent to Earth. The Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) says in Sahih Bukhari, "The period between Adam and Noah was ten centuries," and the Quran states that Noah preached for 950 years. At any rate, genetics is really a study of statistics, and it is not possible to prove the origin of humanity through it because we do not know that genes worked the same way for Adam and Eve as they do for us. They could have, but God could also have given them several copies of genetic code in order to populate the Earth without having a very shallow gene pool. Since we cannot know the nature of Adam (PBUH) and Eve's (RA) genetic code, we cannot use genetic studies based on the premise that their genes were like ours.

Creation of humans happened in an instant

There is no text here except for the ayah below, so I guess the original poster decided that the topic spoke for itself. Humans were not created in an instant, and this ayah does not suggest that they were. Adam was shaped from clay and left like that for a long time before God blew a soul into him. If God had chosen to do so, He could have said, "Be," and he would have been, but that is not what he did. It is not what he did with the heavens and the earth either, which were created in 6 "ayam," which can either mean days or periods of time, and He did not rest or feel tired on the seventh day as suggested by Jews and Christians. It is the day he ascended to his throne above the seven heavens and the jannah.

Astronomy

The sun set into the murky water

The Qur'an propagates a popular myth from that time and region that a man visited the places where the sun sets and rises and found that the sun goes into a muddy spring.

That is not at all what this ayah means at all according to the authentic interpretations of the Quran. This is either a blatant lie or a gross misunderstanding. Dhul-Qarnayn was a great leader that worshiped God and went on expeditions to spread Islam and improve the situation of the people. Reaching the setting of the sun means that he traveled so far west that he reached a place where he could not continue walking because there was a body of water which the sun was setting over, similar to when the sun sets over an ocean. This is not a modern interpretation that seeks to make sense of the ayah, but rather the original understanding used by the famous early interpreters of the Quran who interpreted it according to the authentic sayings of the Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) and his followers.

Geocentricism

The Qur'an mentions numerous times that the Sun and the Moon travel in an orbit, but does not mention once that the Earth does too. This is consistent with the beliefs that were prevalent prior to the 16^th century that the Sun revolved around the Earth.

The moon and the sun orbit the earth.

Fixed.

Fixed.

Sun and moon orbit around the earth.

Sun orbits the earth.

The sun moves, the earth is still.

The shadow moves because of the sun's movement, not the earth's movement.

Everything in the universe goes around us.

The stars are small enough to drop on us.

Stars or planets rising and setting?

This verse clearly implies the sun goes around the earth.

Shooting stars are missiles for devils

Meteors appear to be missiles to shoot the devil away. This was a prevalent myth in Arabia. As we now know, meteors are simply masses of particle debris which brighten up after entering the earth's atmosphere.

How many planets in the solar system according to the Quran?

This verse claims there are seven planets. However, according to astronomers, there are eight ordinary planets and five dwarf planets, which leaves the grand total at thirteen.

Tafsir Ibn Abbas explains they are all flat planets

The paternal cousin of Muhammad and conspicuous expert on tafsir (interpretation of the Qur'an) writes that Allah means that all 7 are flat planets.

The Moon is further away than the stars

The moon is located in the middle of the universe.

But stars are in the nearest/lowest part of the universe.

Night time cold is caused by the Moon

The Qur'an's author assumed by what he observed because the Moon does not affect Earth's temperature in any manner.

The moon is "Noor", which emits light too

The moon does not emit light. The Arabic word for reflected (in`ikaas) does not appear in this sentence.

The word "Noor" here also means an entity that emits light.

Moon split in two

There is no evidence whatsoever that the moon has ever split into two. The absence of historical record from other civilizations, contemporary of Muhammad about the moon being split substantiate to this fact.

The universe, earth or its atmosphere consists of 7 layers

The universe consists of trillions of galaxies with billions of stars each. There is no such thing as seven layers to the universe.

There are only 5 not 7 principal layers to the Earth's atmosphere, and likewise only 5 not 7 major layers to the Earth itself.

The Sun is not a star

According to Islam, the Sun and stars are two completely different things. Modern science tells differently:

Where does the sun rise?

The sun rises equally upon every human on earth on a daily basis, except in the poles. However, the Qur'an advocates the geocentric idea and flat earth concept in the verse below:

Earth created in six days

The earth took billions of years to form after Big bang.

The earth existed before the universe

There was no planet during or before the Big Bang.

The earth was created prior to the heaven.

The Universe is contracting

Firstly, inanimate objects can't speak. Secondly, we have recently come to know the universe is expanding, not contracting.

The sun is a flat disk

This verse suggests that the Sun is flat and can be folded up.

Earth has invisible pillars keeping up the sky

This originated from the ancient Greek myth.

This shows a lack of knowledge of astronomy. There is nothing in the heavens or sky to "raise", with or without pillars.

Sirius as a single star

The singular form used in this verse negates the fact that Sirius is actually a double star.

The sky is concrete and impenetrable

The asteroid and meteorites penetrated the atmosphere to hit the earth throughout the course of history, there is no guardian whatsoever to prevent the incidents from happening.

There are no black holes

The evidence of Black Hole indicates certain degree of instability in the galaxy. Black holes absorb stars and even galaxies in regions of space where from which no entity, including light, can escape.

Allah is ignorant of the North and South Poles

In polar regions, the longevity of day and night vary during summer and winter. Muhammad didn't know about this and he only repeated earlier geocentric ideas:

Thunder is an angel

The Qur'an author was superstitious about thunder and regarded this natural phenomenon as an angel

Tafsir Ibn Abbas

When we turn to the Muslim sources which explain this verse, it is rather apparent that the author of the Qur'an believed that thunder wasn’t simply an impersonal force, but an angel:

What causes the movement of shadows?

The Qur'an says its the Sun's movement. This is false. The earth revolves around the sun and cause the movement of shadow.

The sky can fall down, the earth can swallow down

The Qur'an author thought that the sky is like a ceiling that can fall on someone while the earth can swallow someone too.

The Sky is made of rocky material

Biology

Sperm comes from between the spine/backbone and ribs

The Qur'an author was ignorant of the actual scientific facts except rehashing a prevalent scientific error of his contemporaries. Today we know sperm comes from the testicles, not from between the spine and ribs.

The embryo is initially formed out of semen

Verse 77:21 refers to the liquid that is placed in a firm lodging (qararin makeen) for a known extent. The verse is complimentary to verse 23:13, which refers to the semen (nutfah) that is placed in a firm lodging (qararin makeen). Verse 80:19 suggests that the embryo is created from the drop of seed (nutfah, which means a small quantity of liquid). This reflects the contemporary, but incorrect view that the embryo is initially formed out of semen stored in the womb. The same view appears in hadith. In fact, semen is the vehicle for the sperm cells, one of which fuses with a woman's ovum in her fallopian tube, and the resulting cell divides and travels back into the womb for implantation.

Only Allah knows what gender the baby is

Current technology, such as sonography, has enabled observation of baby's gender through ultrasonic imaging. There are also sex selection clinics that allow gender determination.

Ovum contributed by female is not mentioned

The Qur'an author did not mention the role of the ovum due to his sole observation of the sperm during intercourse. This verse fails to mention the important role of the female egg in the reproduction of humankind.

Asexual creatures are absent in the Quran

Not every creature procreates or reproduces through male and female sexual relationship. The whiptail lizard in the U.S. Southwest, Mexico, and South America, which consists only of females who reproduce by parthenogenesis. Allah does not know anything about the biological process by which new individual organisms are produced. Today we know you can find an organism which creates a genetically-similar or identical copy of itself without a contribution of genetic material from another individual. There's also hermaphrodites.

The blood-clot stage in human reproduction

There was never a stage of blood clot during the formation of humans inside the womb.

Womb (belly) has 3 layers

The word butun (بطن) means belly/abdomen/midriff, though some Muslim translators like to use the more specific word "womb". There are many more layers such as endometrium, myometrium, perimetrium, peritoneum, besides the cervix uteri, corpus uteri, abdomen (with walls), placenta (with layers). Perhaps this is the idea of 3 membranes around the fetus (chorion, allantois, and amnion) taught by the highly influencial Greek physician, Galen.

Bones are formed before flesh

The Qur'an elaborates that the bones are formed and wrapped up with flesh. The first muscles are formed before the bones, and the rest are formed simultaneously though.

Milk comes from between excrement and blood

The mammary glands where the milk is produced and stored are outside the body, while the excrement is in the intestines which is way inside the body. the two are nowhere near each other. Also, certain cattle milk needs processing, pasteurization, micro-filter, creaming and homogenization.

Do humans think with their heart or with their brain?

The author of the Qur'an assumed that humans think with their heart, while in reality we utilize the brain for that purpose.

Jinns created from fire

In the past, people used to believe everything was made from 4 elements; Earth, wind, fire and water. However, fire is not a substance, but rather a reactionary chemical process.

Geology and Meteorology

Earth has seven atmospheres

In reality, there are five principal layers in the atmosphere determining temperature. Within these layers, there are four layers determined by other properties.

Earth is still

21^st century astronomers tell us the Earth goes around the Sun. The Qur'an gives these views:

Tafsir Ibn Kathir

Different seas have an impenetrable barrier between them

Distinct salinity levels in one sea eventually become homogenized with the other sea. However, the Qur'an failed to include this subtlety.

The concept of a flat Earth

Earth is level

The Qur'an tells all mankind to face the direction of Mecca, but this would only be possible on a flat Earth. Since the Earth is spherical, it's not possible to bow down towards the direction of Mecca when you are in these places like Hawaii and LA which are on the opposite side of the earth.

Earth is flat

Tafsir al-Jalalayn

Note that N J Dawood's translation renders this verse as "The earth, how it was made flat?", and Tafsir al-Jalalayn agrees with him.

Earth is like a couch

The earth was shaped like a couch while the sky shaped as dome, this substantiate the flat earth concept in Qur'an:

Tafsir Ibn Kathir

Earth is like a carpet

Earth shaped as "wide"

Earth spread out

Tafsir al-Jalalayn

Earth is flatter without mountains

Earth without mountains.

Mountains prevent earthquakes

Plate tectonic boundaries usually situated at the mountainous areas are highly unstable. The landmass of the earth has changed throughout history. But the Qur'an propagates the idea that mountains are crucial in stabilizing the earth.

Allah dropped down/cast mountains

Mountains are usually formed and produced by the movement of lithospheric plates, either orogenic movement or epeirogenic movement. They are not thrown downward like pegs.

Breasts contract with height

This verse says that your chest cavity gets smaller with higher altitude when in reality the opposite is true.

Earthquakes are for non-Muslims only

Some of the highest death tolls from natural disasters this millennium were in Muslim countries. In fact, natural disasters do not differentiate between Muslim or Non-Muslim nations.

Hurricanes/blizzards are punishments for Non-Muslims

Two of the deadliest blizzards in history happened in Muslim countries. However, the Qur'an regards those natural disasters as violent punishment from God.

Pure rainwater

The Qur'an says rainwater is pure, even though it has an average PH of 5.6. In some industrial areas rainwater can also be toxic.

Rain from the sky grows plants

The Qur'an fails to mention evaporation or the photosynthesis process because the Arabs uttered what they observed on the desert in which the plant will grow immediately after raining.

Allah didn't know about Water Cycle

Every verse about rain in the Qur'an implies that rain comes either directly from the sky or from God. The evaporation of water into the air was conveniently not mentioned because the author of the Qur'an was unable to observe it.

If Allah sends rain in "due measure" then how do you explain floods? Or perhaps, living in waterless deserts, the author of the Quran has been unaware of the concept of torrential and destructive rainfall.

Hail comes from mountains on the sky

Hail forms in cumulonimbus clouds when supercooled water droplets freeze on contact with condensation nuclei. However, the Qur'an mistakenly ascribed the hail's formation to the imaginary mountains on the sky.

There's an extreme east and west

Dhul-Qarnayn went to the most extreme corner of the earth on one edge, and then moved to the other edge. This attested to the flat earth concept propagated by the Qur'an. Tafsir Qurtubi also accepts this interpretation and even claims only Zul Qarnayn has seen the "supporting pillar mountains".

Zoology

Sinful animals

According to Allah, all animals will join us in the hereafter to be judged for their sins. So basically, in the hereafter, chicken, mankind, insects, and lions will stand side by side waiting our trial from the All Mighty lord Allah. This despite the fact that animals are not as self-aware as humans and work on instinct.

Bees eat fruit

Bees feed on nectar and pollen. However, Muhammad and his companions thought that bees consume fruit.

Horses created for our transportation

It took thousands of years of domestication, evolution and cross-breeding. Horses were domesticated approximately 4,000 years ago in East Europe or Central Asia. Prior to this, horses were wild and need to be tamed, the Qur'an apparently neglect this important fact. Never mind the fact that we create our own transportation now with cars, planes etc.

Allah makes the bird fly

The aerodynamic shape of the bird's wing function as an essential factor so that the difference in the air pressure between the lower and upper part of its wing able to push the bird upward. The wings evolved over millions of years to acquire this feature. But the Qur'an described this ability in the simplest religious way.

Quranic science on classification of creatures

The Qur'an author observed creatures of the desert using their bellies (snake) or two legs (human) or four legs (lizard) to move. However, he failed to include creatures such as Millipedes that have a thousand legs.

There are only eight types of cattle

In actual fact, there are more than a dozen kinds of cattle. The word "of cattle" in 39:6 is al-ana'ami, meaning pasturing (i.e. grazing) animals. The word azwajin ("kinds" in the translation of 39:6 below) generally means mate or member of a pair. Quran 6:143-144 clarifies that these refer to male and female pairs of sheep, goats, oxes and camels. This neglects other types of cattle from the regions outside of Arabia such as reindeer, which are important to people in northern latitudes.

Allah is negligent about disabled creatures

Apparently Allah is unaware that he creates disabled animals and humans too.

Allah left out poisonous sea creatures in his dietary advice

A lot of sea creatures are deadly for example the puffer fish, poison dart frog, marbled cone snail, blue ringed octopus and stonefish. But Allah says we can eat all types of seafood.

Birds fighting elephants

Birds and elephants have never been recorded fighting each other in nature.

History

Christians worship Mary

Mary was never worshipped by Christians as part of the Trinity. On the other hand, the Qur'an reiterated Muhammad's misunderstanding on the concept of the Trinity:

Noah's Ark for every species

How was it possible to accommodate each species of male and female from all over the world inside an Ark?

Pharaoh or Pharaohs

Geographically, the Coptic land of Egypt was adjacent to Arabia. Thus, most Arabs were aware of the preservation method applied by the ancient Egyptian to their Pharaohs. There were so many Pharaohs ranging from numerous dynasties, many of them were preserved intact. But the Qur'an merely narrated one Pharaoh that was preserved.

Jews say Ezra is the son of Allah

Historically, there was not a single Jew who held such a view. The Jews were historically strict monotheists. But the Qur'an accused them of polytheism. Maybe the Sahaba couldn't think of anything wrong with Judaism so they made something up.

Destroyed cities are punishment from Allah

The Qur'an author thought that outside the vicinity of Arabia there were cities and tribes destroyed by God. He acquired this hearsay from Arabian folklore as well as Jews and Christians sources. Those cities and tribes probably were destroyed by natural disasters or wars. For Muhammad, it's always God's way to deal with human.

Humans sleep for three-hundred years

A human never sleeps for more than two days, unless he or she is in the state of comatose. However, the Qur'an incorporated this myth from Arabian and Christian folklore of the Seven Sleepers.

Humans living for a thousand years

There has never been recorded in actual history about human with such massive age. Moreover, science has never attested to this based on the fossil records. Nevertheless, the Qur'an is replete with this unsubstantiated myth.

Muhammad sees an imaginary mosque?

Muslims claim that Al-Aqsa mosque is mentioned in the Qur'an as the furthest mosque. Even though there was obviously no mosque in Jerusalem during Muhammad's time.

Sociology

Allah was not aware of the Eskimos

Muhammad was apparently unfamiliar with polar regions in which there are six months without sunlight and six months perpetual night during winter and summer. This injunction is arguably not observable by Eskimos. Could it be that God is ignorant about the night and day inequality phenomenon in the poles? The Qur'an claims that one should fast from sunrise till sunset.

Same circumstances with the five daily prayers. How are Eskimos going to pray sunset prayers all year round? Allah forgot to mention it or Muhammad and the Sahaba didn't know? The universality of the Islamic message is debatable here.

Muslims are protected in Mecca

False promise by Allah. Juhayman al-Otaybi and Abd-Allah ibn al-Zubayr, and Abu Tahir al-Janabi killed thousands of Muslim pilgrims in Mecca. Moreover, Yazid Bin Muawiya sent a battalion of army to attack Mecca and desecrated the Kaaba. The safety of Mecca is debatable here as there is no historical evidence pointing to that effect.

There was no "Abaabil" bird to strike and halt them when they perpetrated bloodshed in Mecca.

Non-Muslims are deaf, dumb, and blind

Muslims call non-believers "deaf dumb and blind" but all the science and technology in the Muslim world is almost exclusively purchased from the non-Muslim world. Computers, TV's, space shuttles, helicopters, media players, nuclear bombs, cameras, satellites, birth control pills, vaccination for smallpox, telephones, radios, light bulbs, microchips, CDs, games consoles, refrigerators, microwaves, stainless steel, plastic, aluminium, x-rays, polio-vaccine, anti-biotics, heart-transplants etc. were all invented by non-Muslims.

All animals live in communities

Some animals or living beings such as the jaguar or leopard or spiders are well known for being solitary loners. They are certainly not in communities.

Islam is only for people who speak Arabic

The total number of languages in the world is between 5,000 and 10,000. However, It is incumbent upon Muslims to pray in Arabic, recite the Qur'an in Arabic and understand hadith and tafsir in Arabic.

The heavens and earth rejected the "Trust"

Heaven and Earth were afraid of the "Trust", in contradistinction with human. But mountains are just geological physical features without emotions.

Supernatural Tales

Humans supernaturally transform into apes and pigs

Sabbath breakers are transformed into apes.

Mythical werewolves will roam the Earth

The modern satellite GPS system failed to trace the location of Ya'juj and Ma'juj. According to the Qur'an, these two beast tribes concealed themselves behind a metal wall.

Delicious buffet magically appears from the sky

No human ever experience food falling from the sky to feed their hunger.

A stick miraculously transforms into a serpent

Solomon with his army of genies and birds

Throughout history, kings and emperors had commanded huge and small amount of armies. None was ever recorded to possess armies that entirely consists of birds and genies. This is unique to the Qur'an.

He spoke with a Hoopoe bird and wanted to punish it for a small error.

The Hoopoe bird was in fact busy eavesdropping on a beautiful female ruler, Queen Sheba.

Jonah performs repentance prayer inside a fish

How can a human lived inside a fish and perform prayer of repentance in the stomach? Prophet Jonah according to the Qur'an did just that.

Humans and ants can communicate with each other

In fact, ants communicate with each other using pheromone, a chemical signal. However, King Solomon was able to do so.

Muhammad flies on a winged horse called Buraq to heaven

It took one week to travel from Mecca to the Farthest Mosque by camel. But the Buraq did that in a matter of minutes:

Body parts can rebel against the host

The limbs are controlled by the brain that conveys electrical signal through the nervous system. But the Qur'an believes that the limbs can talk and testify against the host:

The ocean split into half

Moses and the Israelis crossed the split ocean.

Solomon can control the wind

King Solomon had the authority to manipulate the wind at his command.

Ibn Kathir translation

A dead man testified against his killer

Scientifically, a man who has died for a few days can never be resurrected. But with scripture, the supernatural overrules the natural world.

A monster speaks to humans

Beastly creatures advising human about the truth.

Magical Hand in the Qur'an

The hand that possesses shining power.

Mountains and birds can sing human song

Prophet David the singer and metal welder.

Others

Mathematical error in hereditary laws

• wife: 1/8 = 3/24,
• daughters: 2/3 = 16/24,
• father: 1/6 = 4/24,
• mother: 1/6 = 4/24,
• total = 27/24=1.125

The total does not equal to 1. This error can never be reconciled in any way. For more detail, please see the Answering-Islam website.

People use the forehead to lie

Brain wave technology shows us electrical activity happens in the entire brain when deceitful. On the contrary, Muslims ascribed scientific knowledge even to this verse of torture below.

Space flight is impossible

Space travel was pioneered by Non-Muslims fifty years ago. With current technology, mankind has already explored the end of the solar system. This verse however, implies that space travel is impossible without the consent of Allah. With dozens of atheist astronauts, you have to ask why an omniscient Deity made such an erroneous prophecy.

See Also

• Contradictions and Errors - A hub page that leads to other articles related to Contradictions and Errors
• Responses to Scientific errors in the Quran (work in progress)