Scientific Errors in the Quran: Difference between revisions

The Qur'an states that milk is produced in the body somewhere between excretions and blood. The mammary glands, where milk is produced and stored, are, however, not located near the intestines, which is where excrement is stored. Many kinds of cattle and goat milk needs processing or pasteurization before they can safely be consumed; the milk is often infected with bacteria and other micro-organisms. A significant number of  humans are lactose intolerant and unable to digest milk without experiencing abdominal bloating and cramps, flatulence, diarrhea, nausea, or vomiting. These realities appear to challenge the Qur'anic notion that milk is 'pure' and 'agreeable'.

In the verse below, as also in {{Quran|13|3}} and {{Quran|50|7}}, the Qur'an uses a verb (''madadna'') that meant to extend by drawing or pulling, stretch out, expand.<ref>[http://www.studyquran.org/LaneLexicon/Volume7/00000223.pdf Lane's Lexicon مدد]</ref>

The Qur'an describes a time in the future when mountains will be removed. {{Quran|18|47}} uses an Arabic word (''baarizatan'') that means "entirely apparent" to describe the Earth at this time.<ref>[http://www.studyquran.org/LaneLexicon/Volume1/00000224.pdf Lane's Lexicon بَارِزَةً]</ref> {{Quran|20|106}} uses words (''qa'an'' and ''safsafan'') that mean a level plain.<ref>[http://www.studyquran.org/LaneLexicon/Volume8/00000248.pdf Lane's Lexicon قَاعًا], [http://www.studyquran.org/LaneLexicon/Volume4/00000418.pdf Lane's Lexicon صَفْصَفًا]</ref> This description implies the Earth is flat and level and that it is the mountains which give it shape.

When a fresh water river flows into the sea or ocean, there is a transition region in between. This transition region is called an estuary where the fresh water remains temporarily separated from the salt water. However, this separation is not absolute, is not permanent, and the different salinity levels between the two bodies of water eventually homogenize. The Qur'an, by contrast, suggests that the separation between the two types of water is absolute, permanent, and maintained by some sort of divine barrier placed between them.  

Modern geology has discovered that large plates in the crust of the earth are responsible for the formation of mountains. Called plate tectonic, these massive plates meet and the pressure between them pushes up the crust forming mountains while also causing earthquakes and faults in the Earth's surface. The mountains found on Earth's surface today are thus largely the result of destabilizing (earth-quake inducing) tectonic activity. The Qur'an, by contrast, holds that mountains rather play a crucial role in stabilizing the Earth.

Mountains are usually formed through the movement and collision of lithospheric (tectonic) plates. The Quran, by contrast, states that the mountains on Earth's surface were cast down upon it by God. The imagery is clearly when one considers the other verses in the Qur'an which describe the Mountains as 'pegs' which stabilize the Earth (which is itself compared to a carpet and bed roll).

The word 'he has cast' is ''alqa'' (lam-qaf-ya), which in this form means to throw or cast down and is the same word used in {{Quran|12|10}} when the prophet Yusuf is cast down into the well, and in {{Quran|20|20}} when Moses casts down his staff, which becomes a snake.<ref>[http://www.studyquran.org/LaneLexicon/Volume8/00000266.pdf Lane's Lexicon أَلْقَىٰ]</ref>

===Chests contract with altitude===