Scientific Miracles in the Quran: Difference between revisions

[[Category:Miracles]]

[[Category:Islam and Science]]

In the eyes of historians, the Quran's author(s) almost certainly made no pretensions about predicting modern science. In support of this perspective, there is no Islamic scripture that actually claims that the Quran (or Islamic scripture in general) contain allusions to future scientific discoveries. Consequently, where the Quran makes mention of what are today perceived as topics of scientific interest (such as the wonders of the day and night sky, fauna and flora, or the human spirit), historians suggest that these passages were originally intended to simply inspire awe in their audience by orienting that audience's attention towards the world's many marvels and especially those marvels accessible to individuals living in the harsh, arid, and rocky environment of early 7th century Arabia.

The most popular Islamic voices who have argued for the existence of scientific miracles in the Quran in the West include [[Harun Yahya]], [[Zakir Naik]], I.A. Ibrahim, and Hamza Tzortzis. Notably, in 2013, Hamza Tzortzis published an essay withdrawing his case for scientific miracles in the Quran and stating that the entire endeavor to prove such miracles "has become an intellectual embarrassment for Muslim apologists" and "has exposed the lack of coherence in the way they have formulated" their arguments, noting that "many Muslims who converted to Islam due to the scientific miracles narrative, have left the religion".<ref>{{Citation|author=Hamza Andreas Tzortzis|url=https://www.hamzatzortzis.com/does-the-quran-contain-scientific-miracles-a-new-approach/|publication-date=8/21/2013|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20190416194024/https://www.hamzatzortzis.com/does-the-quran-contain-scientific-miracles-a-new-approach/|chapter=Does the Quran contain scientific miracles?}}</ref> Zakir Naik's preaching has been banned in India, Bangladesh, Canada, the UK, and Malaysia under anti-terrorism and anti-hate laws.<ref name="lmzn2">{{cite web|work=Livemint|title=Zakir Naik's colourful, controversial past|url=http://www.livemint.com/Politics/nEgC4RcrRkydW33OMxbvdN/Zakir-Naiks-controversial-past.html|accessdate=16 July 2016|date=7 July 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160710003129/http://www.livemint.com/Politics/nEgC4RcrRkydW33OMxbvdN/Zakir-Naiks-controversial-past.html|archive-date=10 July 2016|url-status=live|df=dmy-all}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|work=NDTV|title=Foreign Media On Zakir Naik, 'Doctor-Turned-Firebrand Preacher'|url=http://www.ndtv.com/india-news/foreign-media-on-zakir-naik-doctor-turned-firebrand-preacher-1431875|accessdate=16 July 2016|date=15 July 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160716133126/http://www.ndtv.com/india-news/foreign-media-on-zakir-naik-doctor-turned-firebrand-preacher-1431875|archive-date=16 July 2016|url-status=live|df=dmy-all}}</ref> On January 11th, 2020, Harun Yahya was sentenced to 1,075 years in prison for, among other charges, operating a sex cult, sexual assault, blackmail, and money laundering.<ref>{{Citation|chapter=Turkish court sentences TV preacher to more than 1,000 years in jail - state media|newspaper=Reuters|publication-date=1/11/2021|url=https://www.reuters.com/article/turkey-court-preacher-idUSL4N2JM23C|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20210131004740/https://www.reuters.com/article/turkey-court-preacher-idUSL4N2JM23C|editor=Reuters Staff}}</ref><ref>{{Citation|url=https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2021-01-11/turkey-sex-cult-chief-sentenced-to-more-than-1-000-years-in-jail|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20210111124141/https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2021-01-11/turkey-sex-cult-chief-sentenced-to-more-than-1-000-years-in-jail|publication-date=1/11/2021|newspaper=Bloomberg|author=Taylan Bilgic|chapter=Turkey Sex Cult Chief Sentenced to More Than 1,000 Years in Jail}}</ref>

==Methodology of Islamic theologians==

A variety of theological methods are employed by modern Islamic scholars in making the case for any given scientific miracle in the Quran. These methods include what can be described and categorized as dehistoricization, pseudo-correlation, reinterpretation, disambiguation, elective literalism, elective esotericism, and data mining. While there exist any number of alternative approaches and combinations thereof to making the case for any given scientific miracle, the aforementioned methods are, in roughly descending order, the most common. These methods are not mutually exclusive and tend to employed in conjunction with one another in order to strengthen the case being made.

==Purported scientific miracles==

Below are the most-often discussed of the many so-called scientific miracles of the Quran

Some modern Muslims scholars are of the opinion that the Quran had already told that universe has been constantly expanding even before this was discovered by modern science.   

20th century.” The Qur’aan mentioned the expansion of the universe, before man even learnt to build a telescope!}}

Thus the earlier Quran translators translated it as:

'''Sahih International:''' And the heaven We constructed with strength, and indeed, '''We are [its] expander.'''</br>

This is seen in the following verses:

Critics also point out that exactly the same grammar has been used in the next verse 51:48.

{{Quote|{{Quran|51|48}}|'''Yusuf Ali:''' And We have spread out the (spacious) earth: ''How excellently We do spread out!''}}

Critics also point out that according to science, the universe consists of space and galaxies are travelling away from each other in this space and thus it is considered as an expansion of the universe.  

And according to the tradition in {{Bukhari|4|56|557}}, prophets are residing upon these solid heavens along with their nations, and solid things don't expand.

===Black holes and pulsars===

'''Daryabadi:''' So when stars are effaced.}}{{Quote|{{quran-range|86|1|3}}|By the Sky and the Night-Visitant (therein);- And what will explain to thee what the Night-Visitant is?- (It is) the Star of piercing brightness;-}}

===The speed of light===

===Seven heavens, seven earths===

{{Main|Science and the Seven Earths}}Some modern Islamic scholars have argued that {{Quran|65|12}} contains a scientifically-sound insight in its statement that there exist seven heavens and seven entities 'like' the Earth. Various interpretations to this effect include the reading of the 'seven heavens' as descriptive of atmospheric layers and the reading of the 'seven earths' as descriptive of the layers of the Earth's surface or the number of continents. Critics have pointed out that no classification of the layers of the Earth's atmosphere holds there to be seven layers, that no classification of the Earth's layers holds there to be seven layers, that the seven-count of continents is moreso a cultural/historical artifact than anything grounded in geographical or geological fact (with Eurasia, for instance, being a more geologically-sound candidate for a continent) , and that the 'seven earths' spoken of in the Quran in all likelihood reference the seven stacked disks of which Earth is the top-most that are described extensively in many places scattered throughout hadith literature and the sayings of Muhammad's companions.{{Quote|{{quran|65|12}}|Allah (is) He Who created seven heavens and of the earth, (the) like of them. Descends the command between them that you may know that Allah (is) on every thing All-Powerful. And that, Allah indeed, encompasses all things (in) knowledge.}}

===The descent of Iron===

Some modern Islamic scholars and voices, including Harun Yahya, have argued that {{Quran|57|25}} provides a scientifically-sound description of the origin of the iron that is present on Earth. Historians have pointed out that the myth regarding the heavenly-descent of iron vastly predates Abrahamic scriptures and can be found some three millennia prior to the advent of Islam among the ancient Egyptians who describe Iron as '''ba-en-pet''<nowiki/>' or 'metal from heaven'. Similar descriptions have also been found among the even more ancient people of Mesopotamia.

Some Islamic scholars have also argued that the occurrence of the word 'iron' in the 26th verse of the surah is miraculous, given that Iron's atomic number is 26. Critics have argued that this nothing more than a coincidental product of numerological datamining and have asked why the surah number could not also have been 55 or 56, rather than 57, to also match Iron's atomic weight, which is 55.845.{{Quote|{{quran|57|25}}|Certainly We sent Our Messengers with clear proofs and We sent down with them the Scripture and the Balance that may establish the people justice. And We sent down [the] iron, wherein (is) power mighty and benefits for the people, and so that Allah may make evident (he) who helps Him and His Messengers, unseen. Indeed, Allah (is) All-Strong All-Mighty.}}

===Chest-tightening in hypoxic environments===

Many modern Muslims scholars have argued that {{Quran|6|125}} contains a scientifically accurate description of Hypoxia, altitude sickness, or the general phenomenon of lower oxygen levels in the air (thus called 'hypoxic air') at higher altitudes. Critics have pointed out that any Arab living in the general vicinity of Muhammad would have been familiar with the difficulty involved in breathing at higher altitudes, and that Muhammad particularly would have been aware of this phenomenon if accounts of his regularly climbing mountains just prior to proclaiming himself a prophet are to be trusted. Critics have also argued that if one takes the verse literally, the description provided is inaccurate, as the difficulty breathing at higher altitudes is not due to the constriction of one's chest, although this is what one may think based on the sensation of shortened breath which is experienced in hypoxic environments. Indeed, in the lower air pressure of higher altitudes, gasses and air actually expand, and it is also the case that one's chest would expand a very small amount in this environment as there is less atmospheric compression being applied to your body (as opposed to someone, say, at the bottom of the sea, who would instantly be crushed). Persons born and raised in higher altitudes have actually been recorded to have enlarged chests which compensate for the hypoxic environment by allowing the individual to breath in larger quantities of air in order to acquire the necessary quantity of oxygen.{{Quote|{{quran|6|125}}|'''Corpus:''' So whoever wants Allah that He guides him - He expands his breast to Islam; and whoever He wants that He lets him go astray He makes his breast tight and constricted as though he (were) climbing into the sky. Thus places Allah the filth on those who (do) not believe.<br>'''Daryabadi:''' So whomsoever Allah willeth that he shall guide, He expoundeth his breast for Islam; and whomsoever He willeth that he shall send astray, He maketh his breast strait, narrow, as if he were mounting up into the sky, thus Allah layeth the abomination on those who believe not.}}

===Mountains stabilize the Earth===

{{Main|The Quran and Mountains}}Many modern Islamic scholars have argued that the Quran's description of mountains as 'pegs' that have been 'cast down' into the Earth's surface in order to 'stabilize' it contains a scientifically-sound insight related to the phenomenon of isostasy. Relevant verses include {{Quran|31|10}}, {{Quran-range|78|6|7}}, and {{Quran|15|19}}. Isostasy is the phenomenon where some mountain exist atop a similar accumulation of crust underground. Both the mountain and the underground accumulation of crust form when tectonic plates collide, with some crust matter being propelled upward (becoming the visible mountain) and, sometimes, a similar quantity of crust matter being propelled downward.

Critics have pointed out that while there is at times an underground accumulation of crust-matter below mountains, scientists have pointed out that this phenomenon does not in any way stabilize the Earth's surface. Indeed, modern science has discovered that mountains (and their underground underbellies) are in fact a direct product of the instability of the Earth's surface, which form when tectonic plates collide and generate destructive earthquakes. Critics also point out that there is no sense to the idea that mountains have been 'cast down' into the Earth as 'pegs', for mountains have not descended from the sky. However, they continue, this formulation does make sense in the context of [[Cosmology|Islamic cosmology]], which holds that the Earth is just the top-most of seven terrestrial disks stacked atop the back of what is known as [[The Islamic Whale|the Islamic Whale]]. The instability of the non-stationary whale, it is said, causes the terrestrial disks to be unstable, which must then be fastened to the back of the whale using mountain-pegs.{{Quote|{{quran|31|10}}|He created the heavens without pillars that you see and has cast in the earth firm mountains lest it (might) shake with you, and He dispersed in it from every creature. And We sent down from the sky water then We caused to grow therein of every kind noble.}}{{Quote|{{quran-range|78|6|7}}|'''Corpus:''' Have not We made the earth a resting place? And the mountains (as) pegs,<br>'''Daryabadi:''' Have We not made the earth an expanse. And the mountains as stakes?<br>'''Yusuf Ali:''' Have We not made the earth as a wide expanse, And the mountains as pegs?}}{{Quote|{{quran|15|19}}|'''Corpus:''' And the earth, We have spread it and [We] cast therein firm mountains and [We] caused to grow therein of every thing well-balanced.<br>'''Daryabadi:''' And the earth! We have stretched it out and have cast thereon mountains firm, and We have caused to spring up thereon everything weighed.<br>'''Yusuf Ali:''' And the earth We have spread out (like a carpet); set thereon mountains firm and immovable; and produced therein all kinds of things in due balance.}}

===Diminishing land===

Some Islamic scholars and authorities, including Dr. Al Zeiny, PhD, have argued that {{Quran|13|41}} and {{Quran|21|44}} contain a scientifically-sound insight in their supposed implication that the quantity of land is continually diminishing due to the movement of tectonic plates. Critics have pointed out that there is no scientific evidence that suggests the ongoing diminishment of the quantity of land. They point out, for instance, that over the past billion or so years, land has not diminished, and that, for instance, whereas 29.1% of the Earth's surface is presently land, 200 million years ago, at the end of the Permian Period, the supercontinent Pangea covered only about a quarter of the Earth's surface. Historians have also objected and argued that these verses should not be read literally and that they should only be understood in their historical context and in their plain sense where what is described is simply the reduction of the territory possessed by Muhammad's opponents due to his ongoing conquests.{{Quote|{{quran|13|41}}|'''Corpus:''' Did not they see that We come (to) the land, reducing it from its borders? And Allah judges; (there is) no adjuster (of) His Judgment. And He (is) Swift (in) the reckoning.<br>'''Yusuf Ali:''' See they not that We gradually reduce the land (in their control) from its outlying borders? (Where) Allah commands, there is none to put back His Command: and He is swift in calling to account.}}{{Quote|{{quran|21|44}}|'''Daryabadi:''' Aye! We let these people and their fathers enjoy until there grew long upon them the life. Behold they not that We come unto the land diminishing it by the borders thereof? Shall they then be the victors?<br>'''Yusuf Ali:''' Nay, We gave the good things of this life to these men and their fathers until the period grew long for them; See they not that We gradually reduce the land (in their control) from its outlying borders? Is it then they who will win?}}

===Clay humans===

{{Main|Creation of Humans from Clay}}Some Islamic scholars and voices, such as Harun Yahya, have argued that the Quran's statement regarding the creation of Adam, the first man, from clay contains a scientifically-sound insight regarding the chemical composition of the human body. Relevant verses include {{Quran-range|38|71|72}}, {{Quran|37|11}}, and {{Quran|23|12}}. Critics and historians have argued that where the Quran describes the formation of the first man from clay, it is merely repeating the common ancient myth widespread throughout the Earth well before Islam. Critics have also argued that the description in the Quran is not scientifically-sound because whereas the Quran says that the first human was made from clay, modern science holds that clay only 'match-makes' the RNA and membrane vesicles involved in the production of living organisms and does not form a building block.{{Quote|{{quran-range|38|71|72}}|When said your Lord to the Angels, "Indeed, I am going to create a human being from clay. So when I have proportioned him and breathed into him of my spirit, then fall down to him prostrating."}}{{Quote|{{quran|37|11}}|Then ask them, "Are they a stronger creation or (those) whom we have created?" Indeed, we created them from a clay sticky.}}{{Quote|{{quran|23|12}}|'''Corpus:''' And indeed, We created the humankind from an essence of clay.<br>'''Daryabadi:''' And assuredly We created man of an extract of clay.<br>'''Pickthall:''' Verily We created man from a product of wet earth;<br>'''Yusuf Ali:''' Man We did create from a quintessence (of clay);}}

===Semen production===

===Embryology===

Critics have time and again responded to the various attempts made by Islamic scholars and doctors sponsored by the Saudi government to reconcile modern science with Islamic scriptures. ''The Daily Telegraph'' reported in 2010 that Bucaille's "assertions have been ridiculed by scientists".<ref>Sameer Rahim (8 October 2010). [https://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/books/bookreviews/8048372/Pathfinders-The-Golden-Age-of-Arabic-Science-by-Jim-al-Khalili-review.html "Pathfinders: The Golden Age of Arabic Science by Jim al-Khalili: review"]. ''The Telegraph''.</ref> Beyond the various scientific errors within Islamic scriptures compared to the findings of modern science that critics have pointed out, historians have generally accepted that the incorrect embryological ideas present in the Quran largely derive from ancient sources including, most prominently, the works of Galen, a 2nd century Greek physician whose ideas had widespread and lasting influence.{{Quote|{{quran|22|5}}|O Mankind! if ye be in doubt respecting the Resurrection, then We have created you of the dust, then of a drop, then of clot, then of a piece of flesh, formed and unformed, that We might manifest unto you Our power. And We settle in the wombs that which We will until a term determined. Then We bring you forth as babes, then We let you reach your maturity. And of you is he who dieth, and of you is he who is brought back to the most abject age, so that after knowing he knoweth not aught. And thou beholdest the earth withered up, and when We send down thereon water, it stirreth and swelleth, and it groweth every luxuriant kind of growth.}}{{Quote|{{quran-range|23|12|14}}|And certainly did We create man from an extract of clay. Then We placed him as a sperm-drop in a firm lodging. Then We made the sperm-drop into a clinging clot, and We made the clot into a lump [of flesh], and We made [from] the lump, bones, and We covered the bones with flesh; then We developed him into another creation. So blessed is Allah, the best of creators.}}{{Quote|{{quran|40|67}}|He it is Who created you of dust, and thereafter of a drop, and thereafter of a clot, and thereafter He bringeth you forth as an infant, and thereafter He ordaineth that ye attain your full strength and thereafter that ye become old men-though some of you die before-and that ye attain the appointed term, and that haply ye may reflect.}}

*[https://www.answering-islam.org/authors/katz/haman/bucaille.html AnsweringIslam: The Haman Hoax]

==References==