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The Everlasting Scientific Miracles of the Holy Quran
The Quran is definitely not a Science book, but since the Quran is intended to be an eternal miracle, revealed to make science and learning blossom among human beings, it is also a scientific miracle. It has expounded, in the most eloquent fashion, truths of a physical nature together with everything that touches. Although those who are not acquainted with the scientific truths cannot fully appreciate its miraculousness, they can perceive the miraculous nature of the meanings and truths it contains.
a) Holy Quran is everlasting Miracle
The limitation in time of the miracles performed by the earlier Prophets was an indication of the impermanence of their religions and the laws that they brought. By contrast, the miracle attesting to the prophethood for the Prophet of Islam cannot be temporally limited, because his message is universal and represents the culmination of all preceding religions; his prophethood requires an eternal miracle, a brilliant and eloquent proof of its immortality embedded with the ongoing scientific discoveries.
A permanent message must display to mankind a permanent and everlasting miracle, one which advances with time, so that just as it offered convincing proof to people of the past, it may do the same to people of the future. A short-lived miracle that is imperceptible to later generations cannot be a source of reference or judgment for the future.
For this reason, the Quran is presented as a permanent and everlasting miracle, the final manifestation of God's revelation. The Quran itself says: "The true and well-formulated message of your Lord has now been completed, and none is able to change it." (6:115)
For Muslims, the miraculousness of the Quran is not only a matter of religious belief, but for scholars and researchers it is a matter of scientific belief. The Quran possesses a remarkable comprehensiveness and richness, with respect to its worldview and scientific content, and its ability to guide not only the individual and society in spiritual aspect, but also in the realms of natural environment and mysteries of life. There are still many matters contained in the Quran that call for investigation and await discovery by further research.
b) Holy Quran is in total agreement with modern scientific data
Throughout ages, mankind has undergone numerous changes, and passing through repeated stages of development and growth, it has attained a more comprehensive awareness of the mysteries of creation. Nonetheless, the Quran has at all times retained its proud and dignified presence on the stage of human history and scientific discoveries.
Dr. Maurice Bucaille, the French scientist, writes as follows: “A crucial fact is that the Quran, while inviting us to cultivate science, itself contains many observations on natural phenomena and includes explanatory details which are seen to be in total agreement with modern scientific data......
“These scientific considerations, which are very specific to the Quran, greatly surprised me first. Up until then, I had not thought it possible for one to find so many statements in a text compiled more than thirteen centuries ago referring to extremely diverse subjects and all of them totally in keeping with modern scientific knowledge. ..... A thorough linguistic knowledge is not in itself sufficient to understand these verses from the Quran. What is needed along with this is a highly diversified knowledge of Science. ..... The hypothesis advanced by those who see Muhammad as the author of Quran is quite untenable. How could a man, from being illiterate, become the most important author, in terms of literary merit, in the whole of Arabic literature? How could he then pronounce truths of a scientific nature that no other human being could possibly have developed at the time, and all this without once making the slightest error in his pronouncements on the subject?
“The ideas in this study are developed from a purely scientific point of view. They lead to the conclusion that it is inconceivable from a human being living in the seventh century A.D. To have made statements in the Quran on a great variety of subjects that do not belong to his period and for them to be in keeping with what was to be known only centuries later. For me, there can be no human explanation to the Quran”.
c) Holy Quran encourages seeking of science and knowledge
No other revealed book praises and encourages science and knowledge as does the Qur'an and it is for this reason that the Qur'an names the age of the desert Arabs, together with their pagan cultures, before Islam as the "age of ignorance." In over a hundred verses reference is made to science and knowledge in a variety of ways; and many of these verses praise the value of scientific knowledge.
In Quran, God indicates the favour he has done man by bringing him out of his state of ignorance. "He teaches man what he did not know." (96:5)
Likewise, we read in Quran, "God will exalt those who believe among you and those who have knowledge to high ranks," (58:11); and Allah (swt) also says, "Are those who know equal to those who do not". (39:9).
Besides the many verses in the Qur'an concerning knowledge, there are also countless traditions of the Prophet and the Imams on this subject which rank second only in importance to the Qur'an.
In verses too numerous to mention, the Qur'an invites one to reflect upon the signs Of creation: the heavens, the shining stars and their astonishing celestial movements, and the cosmic order which rules over them all. Similarly, the Qur'an urges one to reflect upon the creation of the earth, the seas, the mountains, the desert, and the wonders contained below the surface of the earth, the difference between night and day and the changing cycle of seasons. It urges mankind to meditate on the extra ordinary creation of the plants and the order and symmetry governing their growth, as well as the multiplicity of the animal kingdom.
The Qur'an invites one to witness the interdependence of beings and how all live in harmony with nature. It calls upon man also, to ponder on his own make-up, on the secrets of creation which are hidden within him, on his soul, on the depth of his perception, and on his relationship with the world of the spirit.
The Qur'an commands man to travel in the world in order to witness other cultures and to investigate the social orders, history and philosophies of past people. Thus it calls man to a study of the natural sciences, mathematics, philosophy, the arts and all sciences available to man, and to study them for the benefit of man and the well-being of society.
The Qur'an strongly recommends the study of these sciences on the condition that it leads to truth and reality, that it produces a correct view of the world based on an understanding of God.
Knowledge, which merely keeps a man occupied and prevents him from knowing the reality of his own existence, is equated with ignorance. Allah (swt) says in Quran :"They know only some appearance of the life of one world and are heedless of the Hereafter" (30:7).
"Have you seen him who makes his Desire his goal, and God sends him astray purposely and seals up his Heart and sets a covering on his Heart. Then who will lead him after God (has condemned him)." (45:23)
However, one important point which should be considered while discussing the scientific miracles in Quran is that: Scientific interpretations are always unstable due to the instability of the hypotheses and the theories adopted by the theoreticians. Since no hypothesis is the last one, every new invention requires a new theory for its interpretation or explanation. Therefore, scientific theories are subject to change. Like the Einstein's theory of relativity that changed the Newton's physics, the results of archaeological studies cannot be taken for granted to be the definite meaning. Of course, this possibility also helps us to solve some of the obscurities to some extent.
Some brief examples of Scientific data in the Holy Quran
a) The Earth and Heavens were joined together
All scientific circles in the world today agree that the planets were originally composed of a mass of Sodium gas and that first the heavens and the earth were joined together as a single entity and then they separated from each other. Centuries ago, the Quran referred to this scientific theory.
It says when describing the creation of the heavens: “Then God turned to the creation of the heavens (the planets), when they were but a smoky substance.” (41:11)
“Do the unbelievers not see that the heavens and the earth were joined together before we separated them, and that We brought all living things into existence from water? Why do they still not believe in God?” (21:30)
Thus the Quran unveils one of the great mysteries of nature: the planets were originally composed of smoky substance (mass of Sodium gas), and the separation of the planets from a huge object and then their separation from each other. Since at the time of revelation of the Quran, the general level of knowledge and science was extremely low, does this not constitute a proof of the heavenly nature of the Quran?
b) Expansion of Universe
One of the most subtle discoveries in science concerns the expansion of universe, its tendency constantly to extend its boundaries. This was something completely unknown to the human being until the last century. This mystery is, however, mentioned by the Quran in the following terms, which again bear witness to its remarkable profundity when discussing such matters:
“We created the heavens with Our strength and power, and constantly expand them”. (51:47)
c) Force of Gravity
We know that before the time of Newton, that great scientific personality, no one was aware of the force of gravity. Newton proved that the falling of objects to earth, the rotation of the moon and the Venus, the motion of the planets, and other instances of attraction are all subject to the single law, the law of universal gravity.
The Quran describes the above mentioned gravitational force as ‘invisible pillars’: “God it is Who raised up the heavenly bodies to invisible pillars .....” (13:2).
In conveying this scientific truth, the Quran has used an expression that is comprehensible for the men of all ages. Are these ‘unseen pillars’, which prevent the planets from colliding with each other or falling, anything other than the mysterious and invisible force of universal gravity, a law to which the Creator of the universe has subjected all of the heavenly bodies?
d) Production of Milk in animals
The Quran describes the factors which give rise to milk in animals in a way that is entirely compatible with the data of modern science.
This is what God’s book has to say: “There is in truth for you a lesson in your animals and flocks. We give you to drink a pure milk derived from that which is contained in their bodies, from the merging of what is held in their intestines with blood. The drinking of that is then made easy for those who drink it.” (16:16).
Dr. Bucaille writes in his book: “From a scientific point of view, physiological notions must be called upon to grasp the meaning of this verse. The substances that ensure the general nutrition of the body come from chemical transformations which occur along the length of the digestive tract. These substances come from the contents of the intestine. On arrival in the intestine at the appropriate stage of chemical transformation, they pass through its wall and towards the systemic circulation (of blood)...... This very precise concept is the result of the discoveries made in the chemistry and physiology of the digestive system. It was totally unknown at the time of the Prophet Muhammad and has been understood only in recent times.”
e) In Pairs
It is only recently that researchers have come aware of insemination in plants and learned that every living being including plants comes into existence as the result of the merging of a male and female parts.
In verses that are totally free of ambiguity, the noble Quran, sets forth clearly the principle of gender in the gender world, together with the existence of male and female parts even in plants. “Do they not look at the earth, where we created the plants in pairs”. (42:7).
f) Role of Wind
The Quran also mentions the role and operation of an important factor in the bringing of things to fruition: the wind. “We have sent the winds as a means of insemination and impregnation, and then sent down rain from the heavens.” (15:22).
In this verse, the Quran unveils another a great mystery of creation, the fundamental role played by the wind in the fertilization of plants.
g) Light in the Moon is merely a Reflection
It is known that the sun is a star that generates intense heat and light by its internal combustion, and that the moon which does not give off light itself, merely reflects the light received from the sun.
The Quran testifies the above fact: “Blessed is the One Who placed the constellations in heaven and placed in it a lamp (SIRAJ) and a moon, giving light (MUNIIRA)”. (25:61)
Here the moon is defined as a body that gives reflection of light (Muniira), while the sun is compared to a blazing lamp or torch (Siraj).
h) High Altitude
It is infact a highly common place reflection on the discomfort experienced at high altitude, which increases the higher one climbs, that is expressed in the Quran verse 125, sura 6:
“Those whom God wills to guide, He opens their breast to Islam. While those whom He wills to let straying, He makes their breath closed and constricted, as if they had to climb up the skies”.
Who informed the Prophet that by climbing up in the skies, the pressure increases and breathing becomes difficult?
i) Honey Bees
Concerning bees, the Quran says: “Your Lord inspired the (female) bee, choose your dwelling in the hills, in the trees and in what (man) build. Eat of all fruit and follow the ways of your Lord in humility. From within their bodies comes a liquid of different colours where is cure for men”. (16:68-69)
Quran refers that the worker-bees who are searching for food are females. The verbs used in Arabic refer to female bees. This is very amazing. For all along, until only recently, people imagined that the “soldier-bees” were males.
j) Development of the Embryo
The Quranic description of certain stages in the development of the embryo corresponds exactly to what we today know about it. After ‘the thing which clings’, the Quran informs us that the embryo passes through the stage of ‘chewed flesh’, then tissue appears and is clad in flesh:
“We fashioned the thing which clings into a chewed lump of flesh and We fashioned the chewed flesh into bones, and We clothed the bones with intact flesh”. (23:14).
It was only during the nineteenth century that people had a slightly clearer view of this question.
All the afore mentioned and many other modern scientific concepts found abundantly in the Glorious Quran, that was revealed 14 centuries ago, with utmost accuracy and free from any error, prove beyond any iota of doubt the divine source of its revelation.
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