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Template:QuranRelated

See Scientific foreknowledge in sacred texts for the belief that the Qur'an scriptural foreknowledge prophesied scientific theories and discoveries - known as Ijaz al-Qur'an

The Qur'an has been interpreted as encouraging of scientific investigation. According to the Qur'an, natural phenomena comprise a large portion of the divine signs; nature itself praises Allah , and Allah proclaims that he will show humankind his signs on the furthest horizons as well as deep within themselves . The scientific signs claimed to be in the Qur'an exist in different subjects, including astronomy, the animal and plant kingdoms, and human reproduction. Scientific investigation is viewed as the process of discovering these signs.

Scientific exegesis of the Qur'an

Scientific exegesis of the Qur'an is the assumption that many findings of the modern natural sciences have been anticipated in the Qur'an and that many references to these can be discovered in its verses. Many Islamic authors, classical and modern, believe that all the sciences are contained in the Qur'an. The practise of tafsir 'ilmi, or scientific exegesis, which was almost forgotten, has been revived in modern times; the classical attempt to incorporate all streams of human knowledge into the Qur'an has been updated with a special focus on the natural sciences.

Some authors have criticised this method of scientific interpretation . Some classical Muslim commentators and scientists, notably al-Biruni, assign to the Qur'an a separate and autonomous realm of its own and hold that the Qur'an "does not interfere in the business of science nor does it infringe on the realm of science." These medieval scholars argued for the possibility of multiple scientific explanation of the natural phenomena, and refused to subordinate the Qur'an to the laws of science.

Embryology

In the Qur’an reference is made to fetal development and growth, explanations of these verses express the view that "semen" and "safe lodging" refer to sperm within the uterus, corresponding to the modern terms used to explain mammalian reproduction: spermatozoon, ovum, fertilisation and zygote.

The Qur'an says: “Man We did create From a quintessence (of clay); Then We placed him As (a drop of) sperm In a place of rest, firmly fixed; Then We made the sperm Into a clot of congealed blood; Then of that clot We made A (foetus) lump; then We Made out of that lump Bones and clothed the bones With flesh; then We developed Out of it another creature. So blessed be Allah, The Best to create!”

Prior to fertilization, sperm bind to the zona pellucida or outer covering of the ovum. Following such lines of interpretation, clot could be a reference to this, i.e. to sperm clinging to the ovum. However, clot is also interpreted by some exegetes as blood clot and taken to refer to "something that clings" to the uterus. For those modern commentators who then extrapolate this interpretation scientifically, the blood clot could be taken to represent the fertilized ovum or early embryo implanting itself in the endometrium or uterine lining. Some modern interpreters combine these verses with , seeing in the reference to the “three veils of darkness” a reflection of the three anatomical layers that protect the fetus — the abdominal wall, the uterus wall and amniotic sac.

Creation and evolution

The Qur'an contains many verses describing creation of the universe; God created heavens and earth in six heavenly days (approx. six million on earth), the earth was created in two days, and in two other days (into a total of four) God furnished the creation of the earth with mountains, rivers and fruit-gardens . Then heavens and earth formed from an integrated disk-shaped mass which had to be split , the seven heavens were created from smoke , forming layers, one above the other . The angels inhabit the seventh heavens. The lowest heaven is adorned with lights , the sun and the moon (which follow a regular path) , the stars and the constellations of the Zodiac .

Expansion of Universe

Verse says in one translation "And the sky was built by Us with might; and indeed We are the expanders" , and in another "We will continue to expand it." Some have interpreted it to be a reference to what is now know as the metric expansion of space. However, the clause is more commonly translated as "for it is We Who create the vastness of space", or "We it is Who make the vast extent (thereof)", or "We are the makers of things ample." " "The heaven, We have built it with power. Verily. We are expanding it."'Heaven' is the translation of the word sama' and this is exactly the extra-terrestrial world that is meant. 'We are expanding it' is the translation of the plural present participle musi'una of the verb ausa'a meaning 'to make wider, more spacious, to extend, to expand'Others sense the meaning, but are afraid to commit themselves: Hamidullah in his translation of the Qur'an talks of the widening of the heavens and space, but he includes a question mark. Finally, there are those who arm themselves with authorized scientific opinion in their commentaries and give the meaning stated here. This is true in the case of the Muntakab, a book of commentaries edited by the Supreme Council for Islamic Affairs, Cairo. It refers to the expansion of the Universe in totally unambiguous terms."

According to Zakir Naik "In 1925, American astronomer Edwin Hubble, provided observational evidence that all galaxies are moving away from one another, which implies that the universe is expanding. The expansion of the universe is now an established scientific fact. This is what the Qur’an says regarding the nature of the universe: “With power and skill did We construct the Firmament: For it is We Who create the vastness of Space.” The Arabic word musioon is correctly translated as ‘expanding it’, and it refers to the creation of the expanding vastness of the universe.

In critisism to it Dr William Campbell said "The fact that the universe is vast is prosaic and obvious. There is no mention of expanding universe in this verse. Any illiterate man could look around himself and see the world is vast. To the ancient people even the Earth looked vast. To us it looks very small. Some modern translators of the Quran have tried to give a scientific spin to the Quran and have translated the word continuity stating that the universe is expanding. This is not true. The word مُوسِعُونَhas no such connotation"

Stephen Hawking mentioned in his book a brief history of time- It was also on the London Sunday Times best-seller list for more than four years. that

"The discovery that the universe is expanding was one of the great intellectual revolutions of the twentieth century". 

"Some may say that the presence of astronomical facts in the Qur’an is not surprising since the Arabs were advanced in the field of astronomy. They are correct in acknowledging the advancement of the Arabs in the field of astronomy. However they fail to realize that the Qur’an was revealed centuries before the Arabs excelled in astronomy. Moreover many of the scientific facts mentioned above, such as the origin of the universe with a Big Bang, were not known to the Arabs even at the peak of their scientific advancement. The scientific facts mentioned in the Qur’an are therefore not due to the Arabs’ advancement in astronomy. Indeed, the reverse is true: they advanced in astronomy, because astronomy occupies a place in the Qur’an".

Movement of mountains

says "And you see the mountains, thinking them rigid, while they will pass as the passing of clouds. the work of Allah, who perfected all things. Indeed, He is Acquainted with that which you do. Some people have interpreted as what we know as Continental drift and Plate tectonics. In a book written by Maurice Bucaille it said, "According to modern ideas, the dominating factor in the formation of the land that emerged was the development of mountain ranges. The evolution of the land, from the primary to the quaternary era, is classed according to 'orogenic phases' that are themselves grouped into 'cycles' of the same name since the formation of all mountains reliefs had repercussions on the balance between the sea and the continents. It made some parts of the land disappear and others emerge, and for hundreds of millions of years it has altered the surface distribution of the continents and oceans: the former at present only occupying three tenths of the surface of this planet. In this way it is possible to give a very rough outline of the transformations that have taken place over the last hundreds of millions of years.".

However in another Verse ,, "Modern geologists describe the folds in the Earth as giving foundations to themountains, and their dimensions go roughly one mile to roughly 10 miles. The stability of the Earth's crust results from the phenomenon of these folds. So it is not surprising to find reflections on the mountains in certain passages of the Qur'an, such as the following: --sura 79, verse 32: "And the mountains (God) has fixed them firmly." --sura 31, verse 10: "(God) has cast into the ground (mountains) standing firm, so that it does not shake with you." The same phrase is repeated in sura 16, verse 15; and the same idea is expressed with hardly any change in sura 21, verse 31: "We have placed in the ground (mountains) standing firm so that it does not shake with them."

"But, in fact, this is false. Earthquakes are common events associated with the forming of mountains.

Since these verses present a definite problem, after quoting several of the above verses about mountains Dr. Bucaille says,

In an argument to Bucaille's "Modern geologists describe the folds in the Earth as giving foundations to the mountains, and their dimensions go roughly one mile to roughly 10 miles. The stability of the Earth's crust results from the phenomenon of these folds."

But is this true? Commenting on Dr. Bucaille's statement, Professor of Geology, Dr. David A. Young says,

"While it is true that many mountain ranges are composed of folded rocks (and the folds may be of large scale) it is not true that the folds render the crust stable. The very existence of the folds is evidence of instability in the crust."

In other words, Mountains don't keep the earth from shaking. Their formation caused and still causes the surface of the earth to shake."

While Bucaille concludes that, "These verses express the idea that the way the mountains are laid out ensures stability and is in complete agreement with geological data."

Criticisms of consistency

Not all thinkers agree that the Qur'an really contains many of the alleged scientific discoveries. Taner Edis, author of An Illusion of Harmony: Science and Religion in Islam, describes this point.He argues that Muslims are more likely to view the Qur'an as the direct word of God, and so it must be reconciled with their growing respect for science and technology. Edis suggests that Muslims often have a vested interest in finding passages whose interpretation can be stretched to describe modern understanding. He warns that reading into books like this can be misleading, since the method can be used to support any number of contradictory facts.

See also

• Ahmadiyya views on evolution
• Qur'an and miracles
• Maurice Bucaille
• Zaghloul El-Naggar
• Islamic creationism
• Criticism of the Qur'an
• Relationship between religion and science

References

1. ^ Ahmad Dallal, Encyclopedia of the Qur'an, Quran and science
2. Ian Richard Netton, Nature as Signs, Encyclopedia of the Qur'an
3. ^ Wielandt, Rotraud. "Exegesis of the Qurʾān: Early Modern and Contemporary ." Encyclopaedia of the Qurʾān.
4. ^ Jansen, J. J. G. (1974). The Interpretation of the Koran in Modern Egypt. Brill Archive. p. 35.
5. E.H. Waugh , Blood and Blood Clot, Encyclopedia of the Qur'an
6. Abul Fadi Mohsin Ebrahim, Biology as the Creation and Stages of Life, Encyclopedia of the Qur'an
7. Agwan, A. R., N. K. Singh. L - O. Volume 3 of Encyclopaedia of the Holy Qurʼân. Global Vision Publishing Ho, 2000. ISBN(9788187746003) p. 243
8. Angelika Neuwirth , Cosmology, Encyclopedia of the Qur'an
9. Khalifa, Rashad. Quran: The Final Testament, Authorized English Version. Suleman Imdad, 1992. ISBN(0979345901)
10. Bucaille, Dr. Maurice (1977). The Bible, the Qur'an, and Science: The Holy Scriptures Examined in the Light of Modern Knowledge. TTQ, INC.f. p. 173. ISBN 187940298X, 9781879402980. {{cite book}}: Check |isbn= value: invalid character (help)
11. Abdul Karim Naik, Zakir. The Quran And Modern Science Compatible Or Incompatible. Islamic Books. p. 16.
12. Sina, Ali (2006). World’s Greatest Showman Ali Sina on Zakir Naik: A review of The Qur’an and the Bible in the Light of Science.
13. "Hawking's briefer history of time". news.bbc.co.uk. 2001-10-15. Retrieved 2008-08-06.
14. W. Hawking, Stephen (1996). The illustrated a brief history of time. Random House of Canada,. p. 52. ISBN 0553103741, 9780553103748. {{cite book}}: Check |isbn= value: invalid character (help)CS1 maint: extra punctuation (link)
15. Abdul Karim Naik, Zakir. The Quran And Modern Science Compatible Or Incompatible. Islamic Books. p. 16.
16. "http://islam.thetruecall.com/modules.php?name=Quran&func=goto&gotoparam=27%3A88&at%5B%5D=999&at%5B%5D=5
17. Bucaille, Dr. Maurice (1977). The Bible The Quran And Science. TTQ, INC.f. p. 190. ISBN 187940298X, 9781879402980. {{cite book}}: Check |isbn= value: invalid character (help)
18. Bucaille, Dr. Maurice (1977). The Bible The Quran And Science. TTQ, INC.f. p. 192. ISBN 187940298X, 9781879402980. {{cite book}}: Check |isbn= value: invalid character (help)
19. Campbell, William. The Qur'an and the Bible in the Light of History and Science. Middle East Resources. p. 356.
20. Bucaille, Dr. Maurice (1977). The Bible The Quran And Science. TTQ, INC.f. p. 192. ISBN 187940298X, 9781879402980. {{cite book}}: Check |isbn= value: invalid character (help)
21. Edis, Taner (2007). An Illusion of Harmony: Science and Religion in Islam. Prometheus Books. p. 265. ISBN 1591024498, 9781591024491. {{cite book}}: Check |isbn= value: invalid character (help)
22. Reasonable Doubts Podcast: Islam, Science and Modernity

External links

• Misplaced Pages neutral point of view disputes from May 2011
• Qur'an
• Islam and science
• Miracles