[This is based on a discussion in which questions were asked from an Islamic perspective promoting, it seems, the claims made in a booklet (available to read online) claiming that the Quran contains numerous demonstrations of scientific knowledge which could only be known to Muhammad through supernatural revelation.
Q: What do you think about the amazing scientific knowledge displayed in the following passages of the Quran?
A: They are not amazing; the text displays knowledge which Muhammad acquired by entirely natural means. [Let's take a look at the passages in question one by one.]
39:5 ~ The Hilali-Khan translation just says that "He makes the night to go in the day and makes the day to go in the night." There's no more scientific description of "rolling" here than when one says that the days keep rolling on.
Q: Show me an ancient civilization that said the sun and moon are running for a finite period!"
A: The society of the Hebrews, whose prophets anticipated the eventual cessation of the light of the sun and moon (in Joel 2:10 and 2:31, for example).
Q: What about 79:30 ~ "He made the earth egg-shaped"?
A: The Hilali-Khan translation says, "And after that He [Allah] spread the earth." It looks to me that it is you who are using the flawed translation -- a translation intentionally designed to accent any possible renderings which make the Quran look scientifically accurate.
Q: What about 27:88 ~ "When you look at the mountains, you think that they are standing still. But they are moving, like the clouds. Such is the manufacture of GOD, who perfected everything. He is fully Cognizant of everything you do."
A: Look at the context! 27:88 describes events in the last days: it's describing the movement of mountains in the last days ("The Day on which the trumpet will be blown," as the preceding verse says). Not only is this nothing new -- Muhammad is borrowing material from the Old Testament prophets -- but it does not in any way, shape, or form mean that the earth is rotating, as you seemed to suggest.
Q: "Show me an ancient society that believed mountains move."
A: The Hebrew society -- see Job 9:5, Job 28:9, Psalm 46:2-3, Isaiah 41:15, Isaiah 42:15, Isaiah 54:10 ("For the mountains shall depart and the hills shall be removed"), and many more similar passages.
Q: The verses -- 10:5, 25:61, 25:61-62, and 71:16 specifically say the moon is a light, but not radiant.
A: This is not extraordinary, since the sun is much brighter than the moon and if one refers to the sun as radiant, some lesser term would naturally be used to describe the moon.
Q: [referring to 21:30] "One solid mass" was the first object in the universe one Planck unit across.
A: The description in the Quran is just what one would expect a person to believe who had read, or heard, Genesis 1, in which God creates the heavens and the earth, and then creates the earth's sky (clear atmosphere) on "Day 2." There's no particularly new information here about Planck units and such.
Q: [referring to 21:31] "Stabilizers are mountains. If you have studied modern geology you can see why it calls them stabilizers."
A: I've looked into geology a bit, and I /don't/ see why you'd call mountains stabilizers. Earthquakes tend to occur most frequently near coastal mountain ranges; rare is the severe earthquake that occurs far from a mountain-range. I can see why a person would *think* that mountains are stabilizers -- they're big, and heavy, and they're more stable than sandy deserts -- but it's just not the case.
Q: [referring to 21:32] "Guarded ceiling = ozone layer"
A: The Quran's statement that the sky is a roof, a "guarded ceiling," as evidence of the Quran's scientific accuracy. However, the guards referred to are not the ozone-layer. They're stars (see surah 37:6-8), which the Quran says guard "against every rebellious devil" lest a mischievous jinn try to sneak into Allah's throne-room and hear discussions about the future. Then if a jinn or devil succeeds in the attempt, a star is thrown at him, as a missile, and this is the Quranic explanation of meteors, in 37:10.
Get the picture? Muhammad explained meteors by saying that they were missiles that were thrown to hit devils and/or jinn who had sneaked into the domain of Allah and the angels in hopes of getting some information about the future. This looks like an explanation which an Arabian theologian might naturally invent. It does not look like a sound scientific description of the nature of meteors and the sky.
Q: [referring to 51:47] "The sky here refers to the universe. Expansion of the Universe theory."
A: The probability-level is not impressive here: either the universe is expanding, or shrinking, or staying the same size. So there's a 1-in-3 chance to start with. But in the Hilali-Khan translation, the text says, "With power did We construct the heavens. Verily, We are able to extend the vastness of space thereof." Taken this way, this is just a statement about the power of Allah -- He can make more room in the universe if He wants to. That's not exactly an earth-shattering revelation; anyone contemplating the power of God in general would reach the same conclusion.
Q: [alluding to 51:49] "This is not really talking about genders here."
A: Yes it is.
Q: [referring to 41:11] "Then He turned to the sky, when it was still gas, and said to it, and to the earth, "Come into existence, willingly or unwillingly." They said, "We come willingly.""
A: Genesis describes (without the detail about how the sky and earth /talked to their Creator/) the gaseous nature of the atmosphere on "Day 2," and something similar is described in Genesis 2:4-6.
Q: [on 24:45] "Indeed, most scientists agree that life started in water."
A: And in Genesis, plant life and animal life emerge in water prior to appearing on land.
Q: [on 15:28-30 and related verses] "Reference to aged mud again."
A: Thats in sync with Genesis and rabbinical traditions. And, in other respects, borrowed from the "Gospel of Bartholomew."
Q: [referring to 71:14] "Tell me this isn't referring to evolution."
A: This isn't referring to evolution. It's referring to fetal development in the womb. (And as such, it is true, but it's not a sign of special divine revelation.)
Q: [on 55:19-20 and 25:53] "Modern Science has discovered that in places where two different seas meet, there is a barrier between them. This barrier divides the two seas so that each sea has ita own temperature, salinity and density. {Principles of Oceanography, Davis, pp. 92-93.)
A: It could scarcely be otherwise that freshwater flowing into the sea would, at some point, stop being freshwater. But do we really see an "inviolable barrier" there? I don't think so; the freshwater eventually /does/ blend into the sea.
Q: [on 24:40] "How would ANYONE at that time dive deep enough to not see his hand?"
A: By diving at a time when the sunlight is obscured by dark clouds, exactly as the verse describes, of course.
Q: "With a few simple equations:
If 1 day (for God) = 1000 years (for man)
1 year = 1000 x 365 (for man)
= 365,000 years
50,000 years (for God) = 365,000 x 50,000 (for man)
= 18.25 billion!"
A: Too bad for the Quran, then, since the COBE [Cosmic Background Explorer] and WMAP data indicate an age of the universe at only about 13.5 billion years.
Q: [referring to 55:37] "Self-explanatory."
A: But nothing new; see Joel 2:30-31 and Revelation 6:12-13.
Q: [on 16:4] "Fertilization takes place with only one sperm among several tens of million produced by man."
A: The term "Nutfah" does not actually refer to one individual sperm, however.
Q: [on 23:13] "Implantation of the blastocyst in the uterus"
A: However, by the time implantation occurs, the sperm-drop is not a sperm-drop anymore. The Quran's description is just about what one would expect it to be, given the training of some of Muhammad's associates. But the blastocyst is not a sperm-drop.
Q: [on 23:14] "This resemblance of the human embryo to a leech is an appropriate description of the human embryo from days 7-24, when it clings to the endometrium of the uterus."
A: I agree. However, first of all, "leech" is a rather novel way of rendering "alaqa," and secondly, the human embryo is in fact still a completely /human/ embryo, not a leech, and thirdly, this was something that was taught among the doctors who lived during and well before Muhammad's lifetime -- it was taught by the Greeks and Romans.
Q: Dr. Keith Moore, Professor of Embryology, after analyzing the verses of the Quran for three years comments . . . "
A: Hey, are you just cutting-and-pasting material from the "Illustrated Guide to Understanding Islam" booklet/site???
Yours in Christ,
Waterrock
Q: What do you think about the amazing scientific knowledge displayed in the following passages of the Quran?
A: They are not amazing; the text displays knowledge which Muhammad acquired by entirely natural means. [Let's take a look at the passages in question one by one.]
39:5 ~ The Hilali-Khan translation just says that "He makes the night to go in the day and makes the day to go in the night." There's no more scientific description of "rolling" here than when one says that the days keep rolling on.
Q: Show me an ancient civilization that said the sun and moon are running for a finite period!"
A: The society of the Hebrews, whose prophets anticipated the eventual cessation of the light of the sun and moon (in Joel 2:10 and 2:31, for example).
Q: What about 79:30 ~ "He made the earth egg-shaped"?
A: The Hilali-Khan translation says, "And after that He [Allah] spread the earth." It looks to me that it is you who are using the flawed translation -- a translation intentionally designed to accent any possible renderings which make the Quran look scientifically accurate.
Q: What about 27:88 ~ "When you look at the mountains, you think that they are standing still. But they are moving, like the clouds. Such is the manufacture of GOD, who perfected everything. He is fully Cognizant of everything you do."
A: Look at the context! 27:88 describes events in the last days: it's describing the movement of mountains in the last days ("The Day on which the trumpet will be blown," as the preceding verse says). Not only is this nothing new -- Muhammad is borrowing material from the Old Testament prophets -- but it does not in any way, shape, or form mean that the earth is rotating, as you seemed to suggest.
Q: "Show me an ancient society that believed mountains move."
A: The Hebrew society -- see Job 9:5, Job 28:9, Psalm 46:2-3, Isaiah 41:15, Isaiah 42:15, Isaiah 54:10 ("For the mountains shall depart and the hills shall be removed"), and many more similar passages.
Q: The verses -- 10:5, 25:61, 25:61-62, and 71:16 specifically say the moon is a light, but not radiant.
A: This is not extraordinary, since the sun is much brighter than the moon and if one refers to the sun as radiant, some lesser term would naturally be used to describe the moon.
Q: [referring to 21:30] "One solid mass" was the first object in the universe one Planck unit across.
A: The description in the Quran is just what one would expect a person to believe who had read, or heard, Genesis 1, in which God creates the heavens and the earth, and then creates the earth's sky (clear atmosphere) on "Day 2." There's no particularly new information here about Planck units and such.
Q: [referring to 21:31] "Stabilizers are mountains. If you have studied modern geology you can see why it calls them stabilizers."
A: I've looked into geology a bit, and I /don't/ see why you'd call mountains stabilizers. Earthquakes tend to occur most frequently near coastal mountain ranges; rare is the severe earthquake that occurs far from a mountain-range. I can see why a person would *think* that mountains are stabilizers -- they're big, and heavy, and they're more stable than sandy deserts -- but it's just not the case.
Q: [referring to 21:32] "Guarded ceiling = ozone layer"
A: The Quran's statement that the sky is a roof, a "guarded ceiling," as evidence of the Quran's scientific accuracy. However, the guards referred to are not the ozone-layer. They're stars (see surah 37:6-8), which the Quran says guard "against every rebellious devil" lest a mischievous jinn try to sneak into Allah's throne-room and hear discussions about the future. Then if a jinn or devil succeeds in the attempt, a star is thrown at him, as a missile, and this is the Quranic explanation of meteors, in 37:10.
Get the picture? Muhammad explained meteors by saying that they were missiles that were thrown to hit devils and/or jinn who had sneaked into the domain of Allah and the angels in hopes of getting some information about the future. This looks like an explanation which an Arabian theologian might naturally invent. It does not look like a sound scientific description of the nature of meteors and the sky.
Q: [referring to 51:47] "The sky here refers to the universe. Expansion of the Universe theory."
A: The probability-level is not impressive here: either the universe is expanding, or shrinking, or staying the same size. So there's a 1-in-3 chance to start with. But in the Hilali-Khan translation, the text says, "With power did We construct the heavens. Verily, We are able to extend the vastness of space thereof." Taken this way, this is just a statement about the power of Allah -- He can make more room in the universe if He wants to. That's not exactly an earth-shattering revelation; anyone contemplating the power of God in general would reach the same conclusion.
Q: [alluding to 51:49] "This is not really talking about genders here."
A: Yes it is.
Q: [referring to 41:11] "Then He turned to the sky, when it was still gas, and said to it, and to the earth, "Come into existence, willingly or unwillingly." They said, "We come willingly.""
A: Genesis describes (without the detail about how the sky and earth /talked to their Creator/) the gaseous nature of the atmosphere on "Day 2," and something similar is described in Genesis 2:4-6.
Q: [on 24:45] "Indeed, most scientists agree that life started in water."
A: And in Genesis, plant life and animal life emerge in water prior to appearing on land.
Q: [on 15:28-30 and related verses] "Reference to aged mud again."
A: Thats in sync with Genesis and rabbinical traditions. And, in other respects, borrowed from the "Gospel of Bartholomew."
Q: [referring to 71:14] "Tell me this isn't referring to evolution."
A: This isn't referring to evolution. It's referring to fetal development in the womb. (And as such, it is true, but it's not a sign of special divine revelation.)
Q: [on 55:19-20 and 25:53] "Modern Science has discovered that in places where two different seas meet, there is a barrier between them. This barrier divides the two seas so that each sea has ita own temperature, salinity and density. {Principles of Oceanography, Davis, pp. 92-93.)
A: It could scarcely be otherwise that freshwater flowing into the sea would, at some point, stop being freshwater. But do we really see an "inviolable barrier" there? I don't think so; the freshwater eventually /does/ blend into the sea.
Q: [on 24:40] "How would ANYONE at that time dive deep enough to not see his hand?"
A: By diving at a time when the sunlight is obscured by dark clouds, exactly as the verse describes, of course.
Q: "With a few simple equations:
If 1 day (for God) = 1000 years (for man)
1 year = 1000 x 365 (for man)
= 365,000 years
50,000 years (for God) = 365,000 x 50,000 (for man)
= 18.25 billion!"
A: Too bad for the Quran, then, since the COBE [Cosmic Background Explorer] and WMAP data indicate an age of the universe at only about 13.5 billion years.
Q: [referring to 55:37] "Self-explanatory."
A: But nothing new; see Joel 2:30-31 and Revelation 6:12-13.
Q: [on 16:4] "Fertilization takes place with only one sperm among several tens of million produced by man."
A: The term "Nutfah" does not actually refer to one individual sperm, however.
Q: [on 23:13] "Implantation of the blastocyst in the uterus"
A: However, by the time implantation occurs, the sperm-drop is not a sperm-drop anymore. The Quran's description is just about what one would expect it to be, given the training of some of Muhammad's associates. But the blastocyst is not a sperm-drop.
Q: [on 23:14] "This resemblance of the human embryo to a leech is an appropriate description of the human embryo from days 7-24, when it clings to the endometrium of the uterus."
A: I agree. However, first of all, "leech" is a rather novel way of rendering "alaqa," and secondly, the human embryo is in fact still a completely /human/ embryo, not a leech, and thirdly, this was something that was taught among the doctors who lived during and well before Muhammad's lifetime -- it was taught by the Greeks and Romans.
Q: Dr. Keith Moore, Professor of Embryology, after analyzing the verses of the Quran for three years comments . . . "
A: Hey, are you just cutting-and-pasting material from the "Illustrated Guide to Understanding Islam" booklet/site???
Yours in Christ,
Waterrock
