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Scientific Miracles in the Quran: Difference between revisions
Scientific Miracles in the Quran (view source)
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In two verses the Quran states that Allah created every living thing from water: | In two verses the Quran states that Allah created every living thing from water: | ||
{{Quote|{{Quran|21|30}}|Have those who disbelieved not considered that the heavens and the earth were a joined entity, and We separated them and made from water every living thing? Then will they not believe?}} | |||
{{Quote|{{Quran-range|24|45}}|Allah has created every [living] creature from water. And of them are those that move on their bellies, and of them are those that walk on two legs, and of them are those that walk on four. Allah creates what He wills. Indeed, Allah is over all things competent.}} | {{Quote|{{Quran-range|24|45}}|Allah has created every [living] creature from water. And of them are those that move on their bellies, and of them are those that walk on two legs, and of them are those that walk on four. Allah creates what He wills. Indeed, Allah is over all things competent.}} | ||
The key to understanding the meaning is the context apparent in the first verse, 21:30, which is about the creation of the world. Gabriel Said Reynolds notes in his academic commentary on the Quran an earlier parallel taught by the Syriac church father Ephrem (d. 373 CE). He writes, "[...] Ephrem, who explains that God created everything through water: 'Thus, through light and water the earth brought forth everything.' Ephrem, ''Commentary on Genesis'', 1:1-10)."<ref>Gabriel Said Reynolds, "The Quran and Bible:Text and Commentary", New Haven and London: Yale University Press, 2018 p. 553. This is regarding {{Quran|24|45}}, though on p. 508 Reynolds cross references the same parallel regarding the other verse, {{Quran|21|30}}, which is more clearly a statement in the context of the Genesis creation story, like Ephrem's comment.</ref> Ephrem's comment is in the context of the Genesis creation story, much like the first Quranic verse, 21:30. There is also a similarity with the other verse (24:45), which mentions creatures that move on two, four or no legs. Ephrem explains that as well as the "trees, vegetation and plants", the "Scripture wishes to indicate that all animals, reptiles, cattle and birds came into being as a result of the combining of earth and water".<ref>[https://faberinstitute.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/01/Ephrem-the-Syrian-Commentary-on-Genesis-2-3-Brock.pdf Ephrem's commentary on Genesis] - Faber Institute.com</ref> For many more parallels between the Quran and Syriac Christian literature see [[Parallelism_Between_the_Qur%27an_and_Judeo-Christian_Scriptures|this article]]. | |||
birds came into being as a result of the combining of earth and water".<ref>[https://faberinstitute.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/01/Ephrem-the-Syrian-Commentary-on-Genesis-2-3-Brock.pdf Ephrem's commentary on Genesis] - Faber Institute.com</ref> For many more parallels between the Quran and Syriac Christian literature see [[Parallelism_Between_the_Qur%27an_and_Judeo-Christian_Scriptures|this article]]. | |||
Critics of the miracle claim sometimes also point out that the ancient Greek philosopher Anaximander proposed that the first living creatures were made from evapourated water.<ref>[https://www.britannica.com/biography/Anaximander Anaximander] - Britannica.com</ref> | Critics of the miracle claim sometimes also point out that the ancient Greek philosopher Anaximander proposed that the first living creatures were made from evapourated water.<ref>[https://www.britannica.com/biography/Anaximander Anaximander] - Britannica.com</ref> | ||