Islam and Science: Difference between revisions

This article discusses and refutes the claim that the Qur'an's description of altitude sickness in verse 6:125 is somehow miraculous, scientifically accurate, or prophetic. If we take the verse figuratively, then it is not miraculous at all, since it is describing a phenomenon that would have been well-known to the wandering Arab nomads long before the revelation of the Qur'an.  

If we take the verse literally, then it is scientifically inaccurate. There is no “tightening” of the chest. The constrictive sensation experienced at high altitudes is simply a result of having less air to breathe into your lungs, in addition to the gas already there actually expanding. In fact, when we take modern scientific knowledge into consideration, problems with a literal interpretation are two-fold since it has been postulated that human adaption has lead to people born and raised in high altitudes (exceeding 3000 meters) to have enlarged chests which "could allow for increased lung volumes and thereby increase oxygen uptake."