From a Gaseous Mass to the Heavens and the
Earth
The Fusing and Separating of the Heavens and the Earth
Avoiding the Mistakes of Genesis
Six Days of Creation or Six Periods?
How Old is the Earth?
Interstellar Galactic Material
How Many Earths are There?
Organization of the Universe
What Holds up the Sky?
Comparing Apples and Oranges
The Sun & Moon and Their Orbits
The Sun & Moon Move With Their Own Motion
What Shape is the Earth?
From a Gaseous Mass to
the Heavens and the Earth
The Qur'an was revealed in the seventh century. Many statements pertaining to
physical phenomena are dispersed throughout the Qur'an. These are there in the
Qur'an to draw the attention of people to the wonders of Allah's creation.
Any other seventh century book making statements about the physical universe
would surely contain mistakes. Our knowledge of physical sciences in the
twentieth century is far advanced beyond the imagination of people living the
seventh century. What will come as a surprise to many people is that of all the
numerous statements about scientific matters found in the Qur'an, not one of
those have proved contrary to the established facts of science. On the other
hand, many of those statements have already been verified by modern scientific
studies, and we confidently expect that as various fields of knowledge advance,
other Quranic statements will likewise prove true.
Let us look at some of the statements which science has already verified.
Concerning the creation of the heavens and the earth, the Qur'an says that prior
to the creation, the Heaven was smoke. God then commanded it and the earth to
come into being and they came willingly (see surah 41:1 1). How does that
compare with modern scientific explanations? Let us hear a scientific
explanation and then judge for ourselves.
The French scientist Dr. Maurice Bucaille in his book called The Bible, the
Qur'an and Science explains: "At the earliest time it can provide us with,
modern science has every reason to maintain that the universe was formed from a
gaseous mass principally composed of hydrogen and a certain amount of helium
that was slowly rotating" (p.147).
Didn't the Qur'an say that the Heaven was smoke before its creation? Dr.
Bucaille explains the connection between his description and that of the Qur'an
as follows: "Smoke is generally made up of a gaseous substratum, plus, in more
or less stable suspension, fine particles that may belong to solid and even
liquid states of matter at high or low temperature" (p. 143).
He therefore sees no contradiction of the Quranic use of the Arabic word dukhan
(translated smoke) and a modern interpretation of that word as a gaseous mass
with fine particles when speaking of the formation of the universe.
We notice here two remarkable features of the Qur'an. The first feature is that
it expresses scientific truths that will be verified many centuries later. The
second feature is that the Qur'an expresses those truths using terms and
expressions that would avoid confusing its first readers in the seventh century.
The seventh century reader of the Qur'an can easily relate to the image of
smoke, and the twentieth century scientist can easily interpret the word as a
gaseous mass.
The Fusing and Separating of the Heavens and the Earth
How do modern scientists explain the formation of the universe? Dr. Maurice
Bucaille explains it in his book, The Bible, the Qur'an and Science, as follows:
"The basic process in the formation of the universe . . . Lay in the condensing
of material in the primary nebula followed by its division into fragments that
originally constituted galactic masses. The latter in their turn split up into
stars that provided the subproduct of the process, i.e. the planets" (p. 149).
Does the Qur'an say anything about this condensing and separation of the primary
material to result in the formation of our universe? Let's have a look. Our
creator, Allah, says in his final book: "Do not the unbelievers see that the
heavens and the earth were joined together, then we clove them asunder . . ."
(Qur'an 21:30). This could also be translated as follows: "Do not the
unbelievers see that the heavens and the earth were fused together, then we
separated them . . ." (Qur'an 21:30).
Dr. Bucaille sees this as "the reference to a separation process of a primary
single mass whose elements were initially fused together" (p.143).
Thus the Qur'an gives an accurate account of the formation of the universe to
call upon humankind to recognize the power of their creator.
This raises an interesting question: How could a man living in the seventh
century invent these ideas which could not be confirmed until modern times? And
how could he in so doing avoid the mythical and fanciful ideas prevalent in
human history?
Dr. Bucaille mentions some of these myths for contrast: "When, as in Japan, the
image of the egg plus an ___expression of chaos is attached to the above with
the idea of a seed inside an egg (as for all eggs), the imaginative addition
makes the concept lose all semblance of seriousness. In other countries, the
idea of a plant is associated with it; the plant grows and in so doing raises up
the sky and separates the heavens from the earth. Here again, the imaginative
quality of the added detail lends the myth its very distinctive character" (p.
152).
In contrast to those myths, the Qur'anic statements are "free from any of the
whimsical details accompanying such beliefs; on the contrary, they are
distinguished by the sober quality of the words in which they are made, and
their agreement with scientific data" (p. 152).
It must be that the Qur'an is not the product of any human or humans, but a
revelation from Allah. The Qur'an says: "The revelation of the scripture whereof
there is no doubt is from the Lord of the Worlds" (Qur'an 32:2).
Avoiding the Mistakes of Genesis
As we saw in chapter 2, both the Quran and modern science confirm that the
heavens and the earth were created simultaneously, having been separated from a
primary nebula. It is important to understand that the Bible, the most famous
record of the creation prior to the Quran gives a sequence for the creation of
the heavens and the earth that is today found unacceptable from a scientific
standpoint. If the Quran was the work of human beings it is difficult to imagine
how they could have avoided the human errors so firmly fixed in the minds of
people from the previous records.
In the Bible, in Genesis, chapter 1, we read that God created light which He
called day, and separated it from the darkness which He called night (see v. 3).
Today we know that the alternation of day and night is caused by the earth's
movement in relation to the sun. But, according to Genesis, the sun was not
created until the fourth day (see v. 16). So how could day and night alternate
before that?
A related problem is that vegetation is created on the third day (see vv. 11-12)
whereas the sun which is necessary for sustaining vegetation does not appear
until the fourth day.
"What is totally untenable" says Dr. Bucaille, "is that a highly organized
vegetable kingdom with reproduction by seed could have appeared before the
existence of the sun" (The Bible, the Quran and Science, p. 42).
We have already seen that the Quran states, and modern science confirms, that
the heavens and the earth were formed together. Dr. Bucaille explains as
follows: "Earth and moon emanated, as we know, from their original star, the
sun. To place the creation of the sun and moon after the creation of the earth
is contrary to the most firmly established ideas on the formation of the
elements of the solar system" (p. 42). By giving a sequence in which the sun and
moon are created after the creation of the earth, the Genesis account proves
erroneous. On the other hand, the Quran, by speaking of the simultaneous
creation of the heavens and the earth, has judiciously avoided the errors of the
Genesis account.
Could the Quran have been authored by a human? No! Dr. Bucaille asks: "How could
a man living fourteen hundred years ago have made corrections to the existing
description to such an extent that he eliminated scientifically inaccurate
material and, on his own initiative, made statements that science has only in
the present day been able to verify?" (p.151).
Six Days of Creation or Six Periods?
Today we know that the creation process can be measured in billions of years.
The priestly editors or the Bible could not have known this. In their eagerness
to enjoin Sabbath observance on others they wrote that God rested on the very
first Sabbath day after finishing up his work of creating the heavens and the
earth.
The six days of creation in the book of Genesis, then, are clearly like six days
of any seven-day week. The Priestly editors have made it clear that a day is
meant a period from one sunset to another. Six days meant from Sunday to Friday.
They believed that the reason the Sabbath day became holy is that God Himself
had rested on that day. Thus the editors tell us:
"By the seventh day God had finished the work he had been doing; so on the
seventh day he rested from all his work. And God blessed the seventh day and
made it holy, because on it he rested from all the work of creating that he had
done" (Genesis 2:2).
If that is not far enough, the editors took the idea that God rested farther
still when they wrote as follows: "In six days the Lord made heaven and earth,
and on the seventh day he rested, and was refreshed" (The Holy Bible, King James
Version, Exodus 31: 17).
The idea that God rests like humans and gets refreshed like humans had to be
corrected by Jesus, on whom be peace, when, according to John, he declared that
God never stops working, even on the Sabbath day (see John 5:16). God clarified
the matter in His own words when he declared: "And verily we created the heavens
and the earth and all that is between them in six days, and naught of weariness
touched us" (Quran 50:38 see also v. 15).
The above quranic verses clearly refute the idea that God rested. God, according
to the Quran does not get tired. Neither slumber nor sleep overtakes him (Quran
2:255).
But how about the period of creation? Was that six days in the Quran too? In the
above quotation from the Quran the term translated 'days' could mean, according
to Dr. Maurice Bucaille, "not just 'days', but also 'long periods of time', an
indefinite period of time (but always long)" (The Bible, the Quran and Science,
p. 139).
Dr. Bucaille notes that the Quran also speaks of "a day whereof the measure is a
thousand years of your reckoning" (Quran 32:5). The Quran also speaks of a day
whereof the measure is 50,000 years" (Quran 70:4).
Dr. Bucaille also points out that long before our modern ideas of the length of
time involved in the creation, commentators of the Quran understood that when
the Quran speaks of six days of creation, it does not mean six days like ours,
but rather six periods. Abu al Su'ud, for example, writing in the sixteenth
century, understood it as six events (see The Bible, the Quran and Science,
p.l39).
Again, we see that the Quran has avoided repeating an error which was
established in a previous book an error that will not be discovered until modern
times. In view of this, can anyone insist that the Quran is the work of a man?
How Old is the Earth?
The Bible provides a chronology of history that extends back to the creation of
Adam and Eve and to the creation of the earth. From this chronology it is
possible to determine the date of the creation and hence the age of the earth.
Archbishop Ussher of Armagh (1581-1657) had calculated the year of creation to
be 4004 BC If that was not precise enough, Dr. Lightfoot of Cambridge worked out
that the exact time when God completed His creation was 9 a.m. on Friday,
October 23, 4004 BC (see the book 7whinking about God by Sr. R. W. Maqsood, p.
63).
Many religious groups and sects have used this date in predicting precise dates
for the end of the world, but all such predictions have so far proved erroneous.
The one fact against them is that the world is still intact and we are very much
alive. One reason al1 of those predictions failed is that they are calculated
from a false date of creation. If 4004 BC was the year of creation, that would
make the earth less than six thousand years old. No scientist can accept this
today.
Modern scientists estimate that the earth is 4.5 billion years old with a
maximum error of 2.2 % (see The Bible, the Quran and Science, p. 148). Knowing
this, many educated people lost faith in religion. They naturally felt that the
Word of God should not contain errors of this kind. Others maintain that the
Word of God was meant to teach only that truth which God wanted put into the
scriptures for our salvation It if therefore immaterial if the book contains
historical or scientific errors. As the scientist Galileo put it, the Bible is
there to teach people how to go to heaven; it is not there to teach people how
the heavens go. Some maintain, therefore, that it is understandable that the
book will contain some historical and scientific errors since it was written by
human beings who lived a long time ago and did not share our modern knowledge.
The Quran, on the other hand, does not contain any historical or scientific or
any kind of error. God challenges us to test this claim by examining the book
for ourselves (see Quran 4:82).
The Quran does not repeat the incorrect biblical chronology we have seen above.
The Quran does not give a chronology since its purpose is not to provide us with
the details of history, but only to teach us the lessons arising from specific
events in history.
The Quran does, however tell us that God measured the sustenance of the earth in
four periods (Quran 41 :10). As to what could be the significance of these four
periods, Dr. Bucaille comments as follows: "One could perhaps see in them the
four geological periods described by modern science, with man's appearance, as
we already know, taking place in the quaternary era. This is purely a hypothesis
since nobody has an answer to this question" (The Bible, the Quran and Science,
p. 150).
How did the author of the Quran avoid the mistake in chronology committed by so
many others, and believed in by so many others even up to our present day? Could
a man in the seventh century have known that the earth was much more than six
thousand years old? How could he come by this modern knowledge unless God was
revealing knowledge to him?
God tells us that the Quran is His book and not the work of any man (see Quran
10:37).
Interstellar Galactic Material
The Quran mentions a rather curious category of created things, namely things
between the heavens and the earth. Dr. Bucaille observes that this mention in
the Quran "may surprise the twentieth century reader of the Quran" (The Bible,
tl1e Quran and Science, p. 144). For example, one verse says as follows: "To Him
(God) belongs what is in the heavens, on earth, between them and beneath the
soil" (Quran 20:6; other verses include 25:59, 32:4 and 50:38).
What is that between the heavens and the earth? Dr. Bucaille explains as
follows: "The creation outside the heavens and outside the earth is a priori
difficult to imagine. To understand these verses, reference must be made to the
most recent observations on the existence of cosmic extragalactic material, and
one must indeed go back to ideas established by contemporary science on the
formation of the universe . . ." (p. 145).
Scientists tell us that a primary nebula condensed, then divided up into
fragments. These fragments, these galactic masses, further split up into stars
and their sub-products, the planets. Each time such a division or split
occurred, there remained extra material apart from the principal elements newly
formed. The scientific name for these extra materials is 'interstellar galactic
material'.
Is this extra material significant? Yes. Experts in astrophysics are quite aware
of such material which have "a tendency to interfere with photometric
measurements" (The Bible, the Quran and Science, p. 149). The extra material is
so rarefied that they may be referred to as dusts or smokes or gases. Yet they
altogether occupy so much total space that they may correspond to "a mass
possibly greater than the total mass of the galaxies" (p. 149).
Again, we must face up to the implication of all this. How could a man living
fourteen hundred years ago have known about interstellar galactic material? Was
Muhammad, on whom be peace, well versed in modern astrophysics? Or is the Quran
nothing but the Word of God? Allah, the only true God, declares in His book:
"The revelation of the scripture is from Allah, the Mighty, the Wise. Surely We
[Allah] have revealed the scripture unto you [Muhammad] with truth; so worship
Allah, making religion pure for Him (only)" (Quran 39:1-2).
How Many Earths are There?
If you open the Quran to the first surah, you will notice it begins as follows:
"In the name of Allah, the Beneficent, the Merciful. Praise be to Allah, Lord of
the Worlds." Worlds? Not just one? Yes . . . worlds! There is the physical
world, the spiritual world, the world of bacteria, and so forth. That,
obviously, is one sense in which we can understand 'worlds'.
Another verse of the Quran, however, makes it clear that there are many earths
(see Quran 65:12). Is it possible that there may be other earths out there?
No one expects to find another earth within our solar system. But scientists say
it is likely that in our galaxy there are many earths outside the solar system.
They say that approximately 50 billion stars in the Milky Way rotate slowly, as
does the sun. This characteristic indicates that those stars are surrounded by
planets that are their satellites. The Bernard Star, for example, is believed to
have at least one planetary companion. (see The Bible, the Quran and Science, p.
148). Dr. Bucaille quotes P. Guerin as follows: "All the evidence points to the
fact that planetary systems are scattered in profusion all over the universe.
The solar system and the earth are not unique" (p. 148-9).
In a recent article published in the Toronto Star, two scientists advanced
evidence that there may indeed be many earths waiting to be discovered. The
headline read: "Earths may be dime a dozen out there."
The Quran also uses the symbolic plural number 7 to indicate the existence of a
plurality of heavens (see Quran 2:29, for example). Dr. Bucaille comments that
this is "confirmed by modern science due to the observations experts in
astrophysics have made on galactic systems and their very large number" (p.
150).
Once again we find that the Quran says something and scientists later discover
it to be true. Can we resist believing in this book of God? God says: "Those who
disbelieve in the Reminder when it comes unto them (are guilty), for indeed it
is an unassailable Scripture. Falsehood cannot come at it from before it or
behind it. (It is) a revelation from the Wise, the Owner of Praise" (Quran 41
:41-42).
Organization of the Universe
What the Quran mentions about the organization of the Universe is important
because "these references constitute a new fact of divine Revelation" (The
Bible, the Quran and Science, p. 153). The Quran deals with this matter in depth
although this is not dealt with in the previous scriptures.
Dr. Maurice Bucaille also points out the important fact that the Quran does not
contain "the theories prevalent at the time of the Revelation that deal with the
organization of the celestial world" (p. 153). If the Quran was authored by any
human being, he or she would have naturally included the ideas prevalent at the
time. But many of those ideas were later shown to be inaccurate. How did the
author of the Quran know enough to exclude those ideas, unless the author is God
himself.
Those who say that Muhammad authored the Quran think that the Arabs were very
knowledgeable in the field of Science, and Muhammad was or course one of them.
But this explanation is based on the incorrect assumption that the Arabs knew
Science before the Quran was revealed. As pointed out by Dr. Bucaille, the fact
is that Science in Islamic countries came after the Quran, not before. "In any
case", writes Dr. Bucaille, "the scientific knowledge of that great period would
not have been sufficient for a human being to write some of the verses to be
found in the Quran" (The Bible, the Quran and Science, p. 1 53-1 54)
Modern astronomers are aware that the stars and planets are kept within ranges
of precise distances from each other. Had it not been for this fact, collision
between them would be inevitable. The author of the Quran was also aware of
this. In the Quran we read "the sun and the moon (are subjected) to calculations
(Quran 55:5).
Again, we read: "For you (God) subjected the sun and the moon, both diligently
pursuing their courses" (Quran 14:33). The phrase 'diligently pursuing their
courses' is a translation of the Arabic term daa'ib which here means 'to apply
oneself to something with care in a perseverant, invariable manner, in
accordance with set habits' (The Bible, the Quran and Science, p.l55). And that
indeed is how the sun and moon behave.
Another verse in the Quran says, "the stars are in subjection to His command"
(Quran 16:12). Order in the universe is essential for its preservation. God, who
subjected them to that order knew about it before any scientist.
What Holds up the Sky?
Today scientists speak of gravitational forces that hold the heavenly bodies
apart from each other and prevent them from colliding with each other. How was
this to be conveyed to the first readers of the Quran? God tells us in the Quran
that He is the One Who raised the sky (Quran 55:7) and that he holds it back
from falling on the earth (Quran 22:65). But how exactly does God do this?
If the author of the Quran was a human being, it would have been very easy for
the author to copy the answer to this question from the Bible. But today no one
will believe that answer.
In the New American Bible, a picture is drawn to show how the authors of the
Bible imagined the world to look like. In that picture, the sky "resembles an
overturned bowl and is supported by columns" (The New American Bible, St.
Joseph's Medium Size Edition, pp. 4-5). The earth in that picture is flat, and
is also supported by pillars. After describing the picture at length, the
editors of that Bible conclude by calling that idea of the world a "prescientific
concept of the universe."
At the time when the Quran was being revealed, anyone could have easily believed
this description which was already found in the Bible. It is only in modern
times that people would know better. How did the author of the Quran avoid this
mistake?
God says in the Quran that He created the heavens "without any pillars that you
can see" (Quran 31:10). Again, the Quran says: "God is the One Who raised the
heavens without any pillars that you can see" (Quran 13:2). Dr. Maurice Bucaille
comments: "These two verses refute the belief that the vault of the heavens was
held up by pillars, the only things preventing the former from crushing the
earth" (The Bible, the Quran and Science, p. 154).
To be able to avoid that prescientific error, the author of the Quran must have
been either a modern scientist, or God Himself.
Comparing Apples and Oranges
The sun and the moon are different from each other not only in terms of size,
but also in terms of function. The sun generates light, but the moon does not.
The moon merely reflects the light coming from the sun. Every high school
student today knows this.
A man or woman in the seventh century, however, would not have known about this
fine distinction between the sun and the moon. To such a person, the two would
appear as a greater light and a lesser light. Such a person would observe that
the greater light lights up the day and the lesser light lights up the night.
And this indeed is how the sun and the moon were described in previous books.
The Bible, describing the creation, says: "God made two great lights the greater
light to govern the day and the lesser light to govern the night" (Genesis 1:
16). The author of the Qur'an however, was aware that this comparison between
the sun and the moon is not adequate. Therefore the Qur'an does not refer to
them as being a greater and a lesser light.
The Qur'an says: "God is the One who made the sun a shine and the moon a light"
(Qur'an 10:5).
Commenting on this, Dr. Bucaille says: "Whereas the Bible calls the sun and moon
'lights', and merely adds to one the adjective 'greater' and to the other
'lesser', the Qur'an ascribes differences other than that of dimension to each
respectively" (The Bible, the Qur'an and Science, p. 156).
Similarly, the Qur'an says: "Blessed is the One Who placed the constellations in
heaven and placed therein a lamp and a moon giving light" (Qur'an 25:61).
Here again, the difference between the sun and the moon is noted. The sun is
called a lamp, and the moon is called an object giving light.
Again in the Qur'an God says that He "made the moon a light" and "made the sun a
lamp" (Qur'an 71:15-16).
Furthermore, God calls the sun a "blazing lamp" (Qur'an 78:12-13). This term
which is used for the sun is never used for the moon in the Qur'an.
In all of these verses, God expresses the notion that the sun and the moon are
"not absolutely identical lights" (The Bible, the Qur'an and Science, p. 156).
Dr. Bucaille draws his conclusions from what he found in the Qur'an about the
sun and the moon: "What is interesting to note here is the sober quality of the
comparisons, and the absence in the text of the Qur'an of any elements of
comparison that might have prevailed at the time and which in our day would
appear as phantasmagorial" (The Bible, the Qur'an and Science, p 157).
In short, "There is nothing in the text of the Qur'an that contradicts what we
know today about these two celestial bodies." (The Bible, the Qur'an and
Science, p. 157).
The Sun & Moon and Their Orbits
Today we know that the Moon revolves around the earth in approximately 29.5
days. The sun also revolves in its own orbit. To understand the sun's orbit, Dr.
Bucaille says that the position of the sun in our galaxy must be considered, and
we must therefore call on modern scientific ideas (The Bible, the Qur'an and
Science, p. 162).
Our galaxy, the milky way galaxy, includes one hundred billion stars situated in
such a formation that the galaxy is shaped like a disc. This disc turns around
its center like a gramophone record. Now, it is obvious that when a gramophone
record turns, any point on the disc would move around and come back to its
original position. Similarly, every star in the galaxy moves as the galaxy
rotates on its axis. Therefore the stars that are away from the center of the
galaxy orbit around the axis. The sun is one of those stars.
Dr. Bucaille explains that modern science has worked out the details of the
sun's orbit as follows: "To complete one revolution on its own axis, the galaxy
and the sun take roughly 250 million years. The sun travels roughly 150 miles
per second in the completion of this" (The Bible, the Qur'an and Science, p.
162).
After describing this, Dr. Bucaille comments: "The above is the orbital movement
of the sun that was already referred to in the Qur'an fourteen centuries ago."
(The Bible, the Qur'an and Science, p. 162)
And yet this is a new finding. As Dr. Bucaille says, the knowledge of the sun's
orbit is an acquisition of modern astronomy (The Bible, the Qur'an and Science,
p. 162).
Two verses in the Qur'an refer to the orbits of the sun and moon. After
mentioning the sun and the moon, God says: "Each one is travelling in an orbit
with its own motion" (Qur'an 21:33; 36:40). How did the author of the Qur'an
know of this? Even after the Qur'an was revealed, early commentators could not
conceive of the orbits of the sun and moon. The tenth century commentator Tabari
could not explain this so he said, "It is our duty to keep silent when we do not
know" (XVII, 15 quoted in The Bible, the Qur'an and Science, p. 161).
Dr. Bucaille comments: "This shows just how incapable men were of understanding
this concept of the sun's and moon's orbit." (The Bible, the Qur'an and Science,
p. 161).
From this it is clear that if the Qur'an was here expressing an idea already
known to the people, the commentators would have easily understood it. But this,
as Dr. Bucaille explains was "a new concept that was not to be explained until
centuries later" (The Bible, the Qur'an and Science, p. 161)
This confirms what God said to his prophet, on whom be peace: "This is of the
tidings of the Unseen which we inspire in you (Muhammad). Neither you nor your
people knew it before this" (Qur'an 11:49).
The Sun & Moon Move With Their Own Motion
The Qur'an makes the following statement about the sun and the moon: "Each one
is travelling in an orbit with its own motion" (Qur'an 21:33; 36:40).
Why did the Qur'an say that the sun and moon move with their own motion? And, if
that is true, where did the author of the Qur'an get this information?
The fact is that the sun and moon rotate on their axes and are in part animated
by this rotating motion. The phrase "travelling with its own motion" in the
verses quoted above is a translation of the Arabic verb 'yasbahoon'. This could
also be translated 'they swim.' In that case, the verse would read that the sun
and the moon, "Each swim in its own orbit." Those who translate the verse this
way explain that the term swim refers to movement with one's own internally
generated force. Furthermore the movement of a swimmer is graceful, measured,
and smooth. This is a very fitting description for the movement of the stars and
planets including the sun and the moon.
After describing the scientific data concerning the rotation of the sun and the
moon, Dr. Bucaille says: "These motions of the two celestial bodies are
confirmed by the data of modern science, and it is inconceivable that a man
living in the seventh century A.D.... could have imagined them" (The Bible, the
Qur'an and Science, p. 163).
It is also amazing that the Qur'an uses a different term for the movement of the
clouds and the mountains (see Qur'an 27:88). Obviously, the clouds and mountains
are driven by external forces. The cloud is driven by the wind and the mountains
move with the rotation of the earth. The sun and moon, however, move with their
own motion, and therefore the Qur'an uses a peculiar term "they swim" to refer
to their smooth, graceful, self-propelled movement.
How did the author of the Qur'an know enough to make this choice of words that
will reflect a modern scientific truth? The Qur'an is no less than a revelation
from God.
What Shape is the Earth?
Today we can look at a globe and know that the earth is somewhat like a ball, a
sphere. The Qur'an makes certain statements that led Muslim scientists to
understand long before their European counterparts that the earth is spherical.
When Europe was in the dark ages thinking that the earth was flat, Muslim
students were using globes for studying the earth in Islamic universities.
Since it was not the purpose of the Qur'an to teach science, the Qur'an did not
need to state explicitly that the earth is spherical in shape (or more
precisely, a geoid). But some of what the Qur'an says stimulates you to think of
the world as a globe. Take, for example, the following verse: "Have you not seen
how God merges the night into the day and merges the day into the night?"
(Qur'an 31:29).
Another verse tells us that God coils the day and night around: "He coils the
night upon the day and He coils the day upon the night" (Qur'an 39:5).
The word 'coils' in the verse above is a translation of the Arabic verb kawwara
which is used in describing the action of coiling a turban around the head. To
understand this statement fully, readers of the Qur'an had to think of the earth
as a sphere.
To fully appreciate the above two statements in the Qur'an, try this experiment
at home: You need a flashlight and a globe. Take these items into a dark room.
Using the flashlight to simulate the light of the sun, shine the light upon the
globe. Notice that only one half of the globe is lighted up. The other half is
in darkness. Half the world is having day, the other half is having night. Now,
recall that the earth is continuously rotating on its axis and will go around
completely in twenty four hours. Slowly turn the globe around to simulate this
rotation. Notice that as the globe turns, the day is going around the globe to
light up the other half of the world. The night is also going around the globe
to give rest to the other half of the world.
The day and night are perpetually coiling around the earth with some degree of
interpenetration. This is exactly how it appears to astronauts during their
space flights.
Dr. Bucaille makes the following remark: "This process of perpetual coiling,
including the interpenetration of one sector by another, is expressed in the
Qur'an just as if the concept of the earth's roundness had already been
conceived at the time?which was obviously not the case." (The Bible, the Qur'an
and Science, p. 165).
How do we explain the presence of this knowledge in the Qur'an? This obviously
did not reflect the level of learning of the time, but was helpful in
stimulating Muslim scientists to conceive of the earth in its real shape
The material for this page are
from the Velayat Yahoo Group.