User:Saggy/Sandbox - Issues with Quran and Hadith

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Additions proposed and listed by articles.

Scientific Errors in the Quran

Position of the Moon

Link [3]

The following verse is a compounded error since it mentions the position of the moon in the erroneous seven heavens. Verse 37:6 about stars in the first heaven must also be taken into consideration. The word "therein" does not reveal the exact position of the moon but any position above the first heaven would mean the moon is further away from the earth than stars which is not true. The moon is only 384,000 kilometres from earth whereas stars are light years away. Some translations say the moon is in the "midst" of all heavens which is a clear error.

See ye not how Allah has created the seven heavens one above another, And made the moon a light therein, and made the sun a Lamp?
Quran 71:15-16

"Therein" does not generally mean at the bottom or in an edge/corner. Even if the author meant that the moon is in the lowermost heaven, moonlight (reflected light from the sun) is noticeable only from the earth and it is insignificant compared to the much brighter stars which are sources of light. An all-knowing deity should not have termed the moon a light from a "heaven's" point of view.

Ignore it for now. It may require a lot more explanation which is in the link, possibly an article.

Contradictions in the Qur'an and Hadith

Misc Issues

Errors in the Quran

Constellations are Made by Allah

Constellations are essentially human observations of stars which are themselves many light years away from each other and from the earth. Light from a star takes as many years to reach us as its distance from earth in light years. So when we see a star of a constellation, or rather any star, it may not be in that location or it may have even ceased to exist. Thus, this verse reflects an observation by a naive author who simply credits Allah for the pattern of stars. Other translations say towers or mansions of stars instead of constellations but no such towers or mansions exist in the universe.

Blessed is He Who made constellations in the skies, and placed therein a Lamp and a Moon giving light;
Quran 25:61


Pending review

Scientific Errors in the Hadith

Sins of Mankind Darkened the Black Stone

Ibn Abbas narrated that: The Messenger of Allah said: "The Black Stone descended from the Paradise, and it was more white than milk, then it was blacked by the sins of the children of Adam."
"Jami' al Tirmidhi Vol. 2, Book 4, Hadith 877", http://sunnah.com/tirmidhi/9/70. 

Milky Way

'Abbas said, "The rainbow is security for the people of the earth that they will not be drowned. The Milky Way is the door of the heavens and forms a furrow through it."
"Al-Adab Al-Mufrad", http://sunnah.com/adab/33/14.  Book 33, Hadith 767

Temp

Adam from earth

[4] Narrated Abu Musa Al-Ash'ari: that the Messenger of Allah said: "Indeed Allah Most High created Adam from a handful that He took from all of the earth. So the children of Adam come in according with the earth, some of them come red, and white and black, and between that, and the thin, the thick, the filthy, and the clean."

Forgive scholars

[5] It was narrated that Abu Dharr said: "I heard the Messenger of Allah say: 'Everyone in the universe, in the heavens and on earth, prays for forgiveness for the scholar, even the fish in the sea."

Scientific Errors in the Qur'an

Prophets of Islam were Sent to Every Nation

There is no evidence that prophets preaching Islam or similar beliefs were ever sent to China, Japan, Polynesia, Australia, South-East Asia, Central Asia, Scandinavia, the polar regions, most of Africa and the pre-Columbian Americas. Yet the Quran claims that every nation (or community) had a messenger.

And certainly We raised in every nation a messenger saying: Serve Allah and shun the Shaitan. So there were some of them whom Allah guided and there were others against whom error was due; therefore travel in the land, then see what was the end of the rejecters.
Quran 16:36

Inanimate Objects Were Offered to Obey Allah but Feared Punishments

exp. yet to do, check tafsir [6]

We did indeed offer the Trust to the Heavens and the Earth and the Mountains; but they refused to undertake it, being afraid thereof: but man undertook it;- He was indeed unjust and foolish;-
Quran 33:72

Gender of the Baby is Decided After it Becomes a Clot

The Qur'an says that the embryo which is transforms from a sperm to a clot, then it is shaped and then the male or female sex is made. Modern genetics has shown that the sex of a human is decided at the moment of conception.[1] [2]

Was he not a small seed in the seminal elements, Then he was a clot of blood, so He created (him) then made (him) perfect. Then He made of him two kinds, the male and the female.
Quran 75:37-39

Mountains were Created in Four Days

Mountain formation has never happened in four days (or four long time periods). Ranges and lone mountains have each taken different timespans to form. For example, the Ural mountains were formed 250 to 300 million years ago over a period of nearly 90 million years.[3][4][5][6] The uplift of the Alps began 160 million years ago and it is ongoing.[7] The current volcano of Mount Fuji was formed 10000 years ago on top of another 100,000 years old volcano.[8]

He placed therein firm hills rising above it, and blessed it and measured therein its sustenance in four Days, alike for (all) who ask;
Quran 41:10

Fruits are in pairs

Most translations and commentaries of this verse claim that all fruits are found in pairs of male and female. But fruits are formed when pollen fertilizes ovules and they do not have any gender.

And it is He who spread out the earth, and set thereon mountains standing firm and (flowing) rivers: and fruit of every kind He made in pairs, two and two: He draweth the night as a veil o'er the Day. Behold, verily in these things there are signs for those who consider!
Quran 13:3

Some translations imply that all fruits give rise to male and female plants or gametes. There is, however, considerable diversity in the reproductive morphology of plants which involves combinations of male, female or both organs, in same or separate flowers, which can be found on the same or separate plants depending upon the species. A definite "pair" cannot be construed for all fruit-bearing plants.

Shadows prostrate to Allah

Have they not observed all things that Allah hath created, how their shadows incline to the right and to the left, making prostration unto Allah, and they are lowly?
Quran 16:48

Functions of Heart

In several verses, the Qur'an ascribes understanding and thinking to the heart instead of the brain.

Of them there are some who (pretend to) listen to thee; but We have thrown veils on their hearts, So they understand it not, and deafness in their ears; if they saw every one of the signs, not they will believe in them; in so much that when they come to thee, they (but) dispute with thee; the Unbelievers say: "These are nothing but tales of the ancients."
Quran 6:25
Many are the Jinns and men we have made for Hell: They have hearts wherewith they understand not, eyes wherewith they see not, and ears wherewith they hear not. They are like cattle,- nay more misguided: for they are heedless (of warning).
Quran 7:179
They prefer to be with (the women), who remain behind (at home): their hearts are sealed and so they understand not.
Quran 9:87
And We place upon their hearts veils lest they should understand it, and in their ears a deafness; and when thou makest mention of thy Lord alone in the Qur'an, they turn their backs in aversion.
Quran 17:46
Lo! now they fold up their breasts that they may hide (their thoughts) from Him. At the very moment when they cover themselves with their clothing, Allah knoweth that which they keep hidden and that which they proclaim. Lo! He is Aware of what is in the breasts (of men).
Quran 11:5

Existing errors

Non_existent Mosque in Jerusalem

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. See also: [7]

Glory to (Allah) Who did take His servant for a Journey by night from the Sacred Mosque to the farthest Mosque, whose precincts We did bless,- in order that We might show him some of Our Signs: for He is the One Who heareth and seeth (all things).
Quran 17:1

Science and the Seven Earths

Seven Layers of Earth's Atmosphere

Secondly, this claim contradicts the Qur'an. The following verse says that stars are located in the lowermost heaven.

We have indeed decked the lower heaven with beauty (in) the stars,-
Quran 37:07

Stars are not located in the lowest layer of the atmosphere i.e. troposphere but are light years away from the earth.

Seven Universes

Another common apologetic claim is that these seven heavens are actually seven universes which we are yet to discover.

It seems that the huge universe that we live in, the one whose boundaries are not yet known to man, is just one of these heavens (universes) there are seven others, of which we -- with all our scientific developments -- do not know anything about.
"Understanding-Islam.com", http://www.understanding-islam.com/q-and-a/miscellaneous-issues/what-about-seven-heavens. 

The following verse contradicts such a claim since it says rain was made to fall from heaven. Certainly, rain does not come from outer space. The word used for heaven here is sama, the same as that for the seven heavens.

So We opened the gates of heaven, with water pouring forth.
Quran 54:11

Quran and Semen Production

Tahir Ul-Qadri

"So let man think from what he is created. He

is created from a gushing fluid that is issued

from between sacrum and symphisis pubis (86:5-7)"
Arabic words like many other languages often carry more than one meaning of a single word. For instance the Arabic word ‘salat’ has 60 meanings. ... Moreover the seminal passages do indeed lie between the sacrum referred to as sulb in the Qurā’nic verse and the symphisis pubis referred to as tarā’ib.
"Creation of Man: A Review of the Qur'an & Modern Embryology", Minhaj-ul-Qur'an, http://minhajbook.kortechx.netdna-cdn.com/images-books/creation-man/creation-man_1.pdf. 

There is no evidence that tara'ib can be translated as pubic symphisis. Even if Qadri's claim of a single word having a large number of meanings were true, tara'ib would have meant many organs other than the pubic symphisis. Those organs would have no relationship with the place where semen flows. It is a typical Texas sharpshooter fallacy to focus only on similarities between two sets of information and draw a conclusion while ignoring the differences. Qadri also ignores the testicles which produce the essential sperms. They are not situated in the zone he mentioned but below the symphisis.[9]

The Quran and Mountains

Mountains Stabilize the Earth's Rotation About its Axis

The mass of the Earth is 5.97*1024 kilograms. The mass of mountains is of much lower order, hence they have an infinitesimally small effect on the earth's moment of inertia. The earth's rotational speed and axial tilt are affected more by the distance of the moon from earth and w:Post-glacial rebound since the ice ages.

Mountains Absorb Some Waves During Earthquakes

{{Quote|

We investigate the effects of large-scale surface topography on ground motions generated by nearby faulting. We show a specific example studying the effect of the San Gabriel Mountains, which are bounded by the Mojave segment of the San Andreas fault on the north and by the Los Angeles Basin on the south. By simulating a Mw 7.5 earthquake on the Mojave segment of the San Andreas fault, we show that the San Gabriel Mountains act as a natural seismic insulator for metropolitan Los Angeles. The topography of the mountains scatters the surface waves generated by the rupture on the San Andreas fault, leading to less-efficient excitation of basin-edge generated waves and natural resonances within the Los Angeles Basin. The effect of the mountains reduces the peak amplitude of ground velocity for some regions in the basin by as much as 50% in the frequency band up to 0.5 Hz. These results suggest that, depending on the relative location of faulting and the nearby large-scale topography, the topography can shield some areas from ground shaking.
"Effects of Large-Scale Surface Topography on Ground Motions, as Demonstrated by a Study of the San Gabriel Mountains, Los Angeles, California", http://bssa.geoscienceworld.org/content/97/6/2066.abstract. 

Such studies are sometimes quoted by apologists to prove their point. It is clear however, that earthquakes are not prevented. Only the waves are somewhat affected by the presence of mountains as proven in the above simulation. If there were an earthquake larger than 7.5 or if a settlement were situated between its epicenter and a mountain range, there would be widespread destruction anyway.

ref

  1. ↑ Harrison's principles of internal medicine. (17th ed. ed.). New York [etc.]: McGraw-Hill Medical. pp. 2339–2346. ISBN 978-0-07-147693-5, 2008. 
  2. ↑ Rey,Rodolfo, MD, PhD, Josso, Nathalie MD, PhD. (). Chapter 7. Sexual Differentiation. Available: http://www.endotext.org/pediatrics/pediatrics7/pediatrics7.html. Last accessed may 21, 2011.
  3. ↑ Brown, D. and Echtler, H. (2005) "The Urals". In: R. C. Selley, L. R. M. Cocks & I. R. Plimer (eds.), Encyclopedia of Geology, Vol. 2. Elsevier, pp. 86–95.
  4. ↑ Cocks, L. R. M. and Torsvik, T. H. (2006) "European geography in a global context from the Vendian to the end of the Palaeozoic". In Gee, D. G. & Stephenson, R. A. (eds), European Lithosphere Dynamics. Geological Society, London, Memoirs, 32, 83–95.
  5. ↑ Puchkov, V. N. (2009). "The evolution of the Uralian orogen". Geological Society, London, Special Publications 327: 161. doi:10.1144/SP327.9.
  6. ↑ Brown, D.; Juhlin, C.; Ayala, C.; Tryggvason, A.; Bea, F.; Alvarez-Marron, J.; Carbonell, R.; Seward, D.; Glasmacher, U.; Puchkov, V.; Perez-Estaun, A. (2008). "Mountain building processes during continent–continent collision in the Uralides". Earth-Science Reviews 89 (3–4): 177. doi:10.1016/j.earscirev.2008.05.001.
  7. ↑ Geology of the Alps Part 1: General remarks; Austroalpine nappes
  8. ↑ The Birth of Fuji
  9. ↑ See images here [1] [2]
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