Scientific Errors in the Quran: Difference between revisions

Muslims believe that the [[Qur'an]] contains a message from an all-powerful, all-knowing, infallible being. If this is true then it's reasonable to believe that it should not contain any [[Contradictions and Errors|errors, mistakes]], or information that contradicts known facts about the universe, although this statement is in itself a subjective conclusion as scientific fact is a continual search for the truth and not an absolute standard.  Also, '''known facts''' about the Universe might vary due to new research, so the evaluation is against current scientific ''status quo'' and not an actual static measurement.

 

If even one error exists in the text of [[Islam]]'s holy book then the claims of divine authorship and infallibility might be considered not true, if only that error can be established with utmost precision, which is not a current case.  

 

Some western evaluations of the Qur’an have tried to show that it contains numerous [[Islam and Science|scientific]] and historical errors and it reflects a pre-scientific, 7^th century view of the natural world. Just like similar ones for the Christian Bible and the Jewish Torah, this haven't been considered serious by the religious community as they attempt to apply rigorous scientific methodology to texts that have experienced countless translations, transliterations and even alterations during the ages.  Regardless, from a strict literary critique, these conclusions serve as a way to better understand the limitations and cosmology not of the actual ''implied'' Divine message, but of those that transcribe it.

On the other hand, some of the said text apologists have contended that these supposed numerous scientific errors in the Qur'an by appealing to metaphor, alternative meanings, or [[w:Phenomenology (philosophy)|phenomenological]] interpretations of the text. Even if we suppose that alternative explanations were possible in every case, the wording and content of the Qur'anic verses often mimic the popular mythology and unscientific misconceptions of the time in which they were recorded. The author of the Qur’an makes no clear or unambiguous statements that differentiate his understanding of the natural world from the common folklore of the people living in the 7^th century, although this might be due to translation or transliteration error. If we assume that the Qur’an was delivered by an all-powerful, all-knowing being then he would have been able to foresee how such ambiguous and misleading statements would be understood by future generations and the doubts and confusions they would cause. This alone should be reason to reject any claims to its divine authorship, except if those arguments were solely based on wording, transcription or copyright errors.  As such, analysis should be based on concept rather than actual rendering since in no part of the text it is mentioned that it was written by that all-powerful, all-knowing authority, but rather as a message transmitted to humanity via a Messenger (Mohamed).