Chapter 13: The miracle and challenge of the Qur’an

“We shall show them Our signs on the horizons and within themselvesuntil it will become clear to them that it is the Truth. Does it not sufficethat your Lord is Witness over all things?”The noble Qur’an, Fussilat(41):53.Muslims are taught that throughout the ages, Allah Almighty has senta prophet to every nation as a warner and a bearer of glad tidings. “Verily! We have sent you (O Muhammad) with the Truth, a bearerof glad tidings and a warner; and there is not a nation but a warner has passedamong them,” The noble Qur’an, Fatir(35):24.Each prophet was wisely selected by Allah in order to be the bestperson for the job. He was then provided by Allah with miracles as proof of histruthfulness and his message. These miracles were wisely selected by Allah inorder to be in the same field as that which these people excelled in so thatthey could fully comprehend the magnitude of these miracles.For instance, the people during the time of Mosesexcelled at magical trickery. Their rulers used to surround themselves with themost powerful of these wizards as a sign of power. This is why Allah made themiracles of Moses (pbuh) similar to their magical trickery (changing a stickinto a snake, parting of the sea… etc.) but of a much greater magnitude thananything they could ever hope to accomplish. For they were not tricks, butactual physical miracles.The people at the time of the prophet Jesus (pbuh) excelled inmatters of medicine. For this reason, his miracles were of a medical nature(raising of the dead, healing of the blind…etc.), but of a degree that theycould never hope to imitate. Similarly, one of the major miracles of Islam wasa new and unheard-of type of literature similar to the Bedouin’s poetrybut far beyond anything they could ever hope to match. Although they did indeedtry. This new literature was called “The Qur’an.”The Arabic language, as can be attested to by any of it’s scholars,is a very rich and powerful language. The Bedouin people of the Arabian desertwere, in general, illiterate people of very little scientific knowledge. Thething that set them apart, however, was their mastery of poetry .Spending their days as they did in the desert watching their sheep graze gotquite boring. They alleviated their boredom by continually composing andrefining poetry. They would spend entire years composing and refining theirpoetry in anticipation of a yearly face-down of the poetic compositions oftheir peers from all over the country. The fact that they were illiterateforced them to also train themselves in the memorization of works of literatureto such an extent that they were able to memorize complete works from a singlerecitation. Even in matters of leadership, one of the major criteria forselecting the leaders of the various Bedouin tribes was the individual’sprowess in literary composition and memorization.The Arabian Bedouins took great pains to make their poetryas compact and picturesque as humanly possible, constantly expanding thelanguage along the way. A single word could convey complete pictures. TheQur’an, however, has put even these great efforts to shame. You will noticethat when a Muslim translates a verse of the Qur’an he usually does not say”the Qur’an says so and so” but rather “An approximation of themeaning of what the Qur’an says is so and so.” You really need to know thelanguage to comprehend this.In the English language, we find that the words:”mustang,” “colt,” “mare,” “pony,””stallion,” “bronco”… etc. all refer to the same thing; ahorse. Each one of these words conveys a slightly different mental picture. Themental picture we get when we hear the word “colt” is slightlydifferent than the picture we get if we hear the word “mare.” In asimilar manner, the Arabic language progressed in such a fashion as to make itpossible to convey such mental pictures in as concise and picturesque a formatas possible. It is not at all uncommon to find over three hundred words thatrefer to the same thing in the Arabic language. Each one of these words gives aslightly different picture than the others.Many centuries of this constant refinement eventually lead to a verycomplex and rich vocabulary, and the primary miracle of Muhammad (pbuh), theQur’an, was in exactly this fieldIn the noble Qur’an we find a challenge from Allah to compose aliterary work on a par with this Qur’an it is indeed the work of mankind. Theycould not. The Qur’an continued to reduce it’s challenge until the challengefinally became: “compose only a single verse comparable to this Qur’an andyou will have won.” They still could not. This in addition to thefairness, justice, and logic of the Qur’an eventually won them over and slowlymore and more people became Muslims.”Well then, if the Koran were his own [Muhammad’s] compositionother men could rival it. Let them produce ten verses like it. If they couldnot (and it is obvious that they could not), then let them accept the Koran asan outstanding evidential miracle” Mohammedanism, H. A. R. Gibb, Oxford University Press, p. 42″From the literary point of view, the Koran is regarded as aspecimen of purest Arabic, written in half poetry, half prose. It has been saidthat in some cases grammarians have adopted their rules to agree with certainexpressions used in it, and though several attempts have been made to produce awork equal to it as far as elegant writing is concerned, none yet hassucceeded” Glimpses of the Noble Qur’an, Muhammad Azizullah, CrescentPublications, pp. 104-105 “In making the present attempt to improve on the performance ofmy predecessors, and to produce something which might be accepted as echoinghowever faintly the sublime rhetoric of the Arabic Koran, I have been at painsto study the intricate and richly varied rhythms which – apart from the messageitself – constitute the Koran’s undeniable claim to rank amongst the greatestliterary masterpieces of mankind… This very characteristic feature – ‘thatinimitable symphony,’ as the believing Pickthall described his Holy Book, ‘thevery sounds of which move men to tears and ecstasy’ – has been almost totallyignored by previous translators; it is therefore not surprising that what theyhave wrought sounds dull and flat indeed in comparison with the splendidlydecorated original.” The Koran Interpreted, Arthur J. Arberry, Oxford University Press,1964, p. x. “The Koran admittedly occupies an important position among thegreat religious books of the world. Though the youngest of the epoch-makingworks belonging to this class of literature, it yields to hardly any in thewonderful effect which it has produced on large masses of men. It has createdan all but new phase of human thought and a fresh type of character. It firsttransformed a number of heterogeneous desert tribes of the Arabian peninsulainto a nation of heroes, and then proceeded to create the vastpolitico-religious organizations of the Muhammadan world which are one of thegreat forces with which Europe and the East have to reckon today.”G. Margoliouth, Introduction to J.M. Rodwell’s, The Koran, New York:Everyman’s Library, 1977, p. vii. “A work, then, which calls forth so powerful and seeminglyincompatible emotions even in the distant reader – distant as to time, andstill more so as a mental development – a work which not only conquers therepugnance which he may begin its perusal, but changes this adverse feelinginto astonishment and admiration, such a work must be a wonderful production ofthe human mind indeed and a problem of the highest interest to every thoughtfulobserver of the destinies of mankind … Here, therefore, its merits as aliterary production should perhaps not be measured by some preconceived maximsof subjective and aesthetic taste, but by the effects which it produced inMuhammad’s contemporaries and fellow countrymen. If it spoke so powerfully andconvincingly to the hearts of his hearers as to weld hitherto centrifugal andantagonistic elements into one compact and well-organized body, animated byideas far beyond those which had until now ruled the Arabian mind, then itseloquence was perfect, simply because it created a civilized nation out ofsavage tribes, and shot a fresh woof into the old warp of history.” Dr. Steingass, quoted in T.P. Hughes’ Dictionary Of Islam, p.526-528. Many claims have been made against Muhammad in that day and this.Among them are the claims that he was a lunatic, a liar, or deceived by thedevil. If Muhammad was a lunatic or a liar then we have to wonder how all ofhis prophesies came true?. Further, if he was a deceived by Satan then we arefaced with another problem. For we know that all Muslims are taught that whenreading the Qur’an they must first begin with the words “I seek refuge inAllah from Satan the stoned* one.” and thenfollow this up with the words “In the name of Allah, Most Compassionate,Most Merciful” So we have to wonder if Satan would”inspire” a man to teach mankind to seek refuge in God from Satan?Indeed this is the exact same accusation which was made against Jesus (pbuh).Let us read how Jesus responded to this claim:”But some of them (the Jews) said, He (Jesus) casteth out devilsthrough Beelzebub (Satan) the chief of the devils. And others, tempting [him],sought of him a sign from heaven. But he, knowing their thoughts, said untothem, Every kingdom divided against itself is brought to desolation; and ahouse [divided] against a house falleth. If Satan also be divided againsthimself, how shall his kingdom stand? because ye say that I cast out devilsthrough Beelzebub.” Luke 11:15-18It has been the case throughout the ages that with all previousprophets, their miracle was separate from their book. Although we may claimthat we have the “Torah” of Moses, still, it is not possible now tobring Moses ‘ (pbuh) staff and see it perform miracles as it did inhis time. Similarly it is not possible today to see Jesus (pbuh) raise the deadas he did so many centuries ago. However, since the message of Islam was thefinal message of God to mankind, therefore, the book of Islam itself was madethe main miracle of Islam and it has continued to renew it’s challenge tomankind throughout the ages.What does this mean? Nowadays, the number of people who canappreciate the literary content of the Qur’an has dwindled and this challengeno longer has the same impact it did fourteen hundred years ago. However, as wehave seen in the verse quoted at the beginning of this chapter, Allah Almightyhas promised to continually renew the challenge of the Qur’an throughout theages. So how will it be renewed?Recently, a new field of study has opened up to scholars. Peoplenowadays are fascinated with science. This is the age of technology andscientific discovery. For this reason, mankind has begun to study the religiousscriptures of mankind from a scientific point of view in order to challenge thescientific claims made in these scriptures. Many works have been published onthis topic. In this chapter I will give a brief taste of these matters and thenleave it up to the interested reader to learn more from any one of the manybooks which have been published in this regard (see list at back of this book).As mentioned previously, Muhammad (pbuh) lived among tribes ofpeople who were for the most part illiterate. He himself was also illiterate.These people used to live extremely simple lives. Some were traders andbusinessmen, others were farmers, and yet others were nomadic sheepherders whotraveled from place to place depending on where they could find grass for theirsheep to graze. When Muhammad (pbuh) brought them the Qur’an, the believersfound in the Qur’an the command to go out, seek knowledge, and confirm thepresence of their Creator by studying His creation. Muslims began to fulfillthis command of the Qur’an and this resulted in one of the greatest explosionsof scientific advancement mankind has ever seen. All of this was going onduring a period that the West calls “The Dark Ages ,”wherein the scientists of the West were being persecuted and killed assorcerers and wizards. During this period, Muslims scholars introduced into theworld such things as:* Mathematical evolution of spherical mirrors* Rectilinear motion of light and use of lenses* Refraction angle variations* Magnifying effects of the plano convex lens* Introduced the concept of the elliptical shape of cosmologicalbodies* Study of the center of gravity as applied to balance* Measurement of specific weights of bodies* Rule of algebraic equations* Solutions to quadratic and cubic equations* Work on square roots, squares, theory of numbers, solution of thefractional numbers* Solutions of equations of cubic order* Wrote on conic geometry elaborating the solution of algebraicequations* Determined the Trinomial Equation* Avicenna’s “Canon of Medicine.” He is know as the Princeof Physicians to the West* Wrote the first description of several drugs and diseases asmeningitis.* Treatment of physiological shocks* Expertise in psychosomatic medicine and psychology* Al-Biruni mentions fifty six manuscripts on pharmacology * Credited for identifying small pox and its treatment* Use of alcohol as an antiseptic* Use of mercury as a purgative for the first time* First to describe the circulation of blood.* “Holy Abbas” was, after Rhazes, the most outstandingPhysician. His works were authoritative till the works of ibn Sina appeared* Writings on Cosmology, Astrology, Science of numbers and letters* Proved that the earth is smaller than the sun but larger than themoon.* Final authorities on Chemistry for many Centuries* Classified metals into three classifications* Laid the basis of the Acid Base theory* Distillation, calcination, crystallization, the discovery of manyacids* Cultivation of Gold – is a continuation of Jabir’s work* Theory of Oscillatory motion of equinoxes* Addition of ninth sphere to the eight Ptolematic astronomy* Discovered the increase of the suns apogee* Gravitational force* Responsible for the discovery motion of the solar apsides* wrote ‘ On the Science of Stars ‘* Determination of latitudes and longitudes* Determination of geodetic measurements* Described the motion of the planets* Solved the problems of spherical trigonometry* First to study the isometric oscillatory motion of a pendulum* Invented the instrument ‘ Sahifah “* Responsible for the proof of the motion of the apogee of the sunwith respect to the fixed stars.* authorities on the theory of the system of homocentric spheres* Prepared a calendar that was more accurate than the Gregorian onein use today…………….and much, much more.All of this began with a single illiterate Arab from the desertfourteen hundred years ago. The book that was brought into the world by such aman cries out to be studied from a scientific aspect. We will now give you aglimpse of the results:”So ask the People of Knowledge if you do not know”The Qur’an, Al-Anbia(21):7Example Number 1: Embryology:Dr. Keith L. Moore is a Professor ofAnatomy and Cell Biology, University of Toronto, Toronto, Canada. He is a worldrenowned scientist and a distinguished researcher in the fields of anatomy andembryology, he has published more than 150 research articles, chapters andbooks in this field. He is the author of several medical textbooks, such as thewidely used and acclaimed “The Developing Human: Clinically oriented Embryology” (now in it’s fifth edition, and translated into eight differentlanguages), “Before We Are Born” and “Clinically OrientedAnatomy.” He has also recently co-authored “Qur’an and ModernScience, Correlation Studies.” Dr. Moore is the recipient of numerousawards and honors, including, in 1984, the J.C.B. Grant Award, which is thehighest honor granted by the Canadian Association of Anatomists. He has servedin many academic and administrative positions, including the President of theCanadian Association of Anatomists, 1968-1970. Let us see what Dr. Moore’sopinion is on the scientific statements regarding embryology to be found in theQur’an:Dr. Moore was contacted by a Muslim scholar by the name ofAbdul-Majeed Azzindani. He was asked to participate in a three-year study ofaround twenty-five verses of the Qur’an and the Sunnah (sayings of Muhammad,pbuh) which speak about embryology, and to determine the their correspondenceto modern scientific discoveries. Dr. Moore’s conclusion regarding this matterwas:

Fig. 12 The human fetus in various stages ofdevelopment, at six, eight and 14 weeks”For the past three years, I have worked with the EmbryologyCommittee of King Abdulaziz University in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, helping them tointerpret the many statements in the Qur’an and the Sunnah referring to humanreproduction and prenatal development. At first I was astonished by theaccuracy of the statements that were recorded in the seventh century AD, beforethe science of embryology was established. Although I was aware of the glorioushistory of Muslim scientists in the 10th century AD, and of some of theircontributions to Medicine, I new nothing about the religious facts and beliefscontained in the Qur’an and Sunnah. It is important for Islamic and otherstudents to understand the meaning of these Qur’anic statements about humandevelopment, based on current scientific knowledge. The interpretations of the”verses” in the Qur’an and the Sunnah, translated by ShaikhAzzindani, are to the best of my knowledge accurate.” From the forward of “The Developing Human: Clinically orientedEmbryology,” third edition, by Dr. Keith L. Moore. The Qur’an and the Sunnah of the prophet Muhammad (pbuh) provide avery detailed description of the microscopic development of the human embryofrom a mere sperm drop up to the stage of a completely formed human being. Itis well known that microscopes were not developed until the sixteenth centuryAD, and even at that were very crude in design. Zacharias Janssen is creditedwith having invented the compound microscope in about 1590. With it, remarkablescientific discoveries were made in the 17th and 18th centuries. The Dutchnaturalist Anthony van Leeuwenhoek produced lenses powerful enough to provethat many tiny creatures are not spontaneously generated but come from eggs. Before this period, theories on human reproduction ran rampant. Somescientist believed that the menstrual blood itself developed into the fetus.Later on, a new theory was developed wherein the sperm drop was popularlybelieved to contain a completely developed miniature human (homunculus) whichlater grew to the size of a baby. The science of embryology as we know it todaydid not discover many of the detailed aspects of human development which aretaken for granted today until only about twenty years ago, or 1973 to beprecise.Now we must ask the question: where did Muhammad (pbuh) get suchdetailed knowledge of the microscopic development of the human embryo in the6th century AD without a microscope, technical training, a laboratory of anykind, or even the ability to write his own name? The only logical conclusion isthat it came from exactly where he claimed it did. From the one who createdmankind, God Almighty!Prof. Moore has since given numerous lectures on the topic ofembryology in the Qur’an. He is quoted in one of these lectures as saying:”It is clear to me that these statements must have come toMuhammad from God, or Allah, because most of this knowledge was not discovereduntil many centuries later. This proves to me that Muhammad must have been amessenger of God, or Allah.” Prof. Moore was so impressed with the Qur’anic classification of thestages of development of the human embryo, that he suggested the adoption ofthe Qur’anic system in place of the system currently in use by scientiststoday. Prof. Moore said: “Because the staging of the human embryo is complex owing to thecontinuous process of change during development. It is therefore suggested thata new system of classification could be developed using the terms mentioned inthe Qur’an and the Sunnah. The proposed system is simple, comprehensive, andconforms with present embryological knowledge.”When Dr. Moore first presented his findings in Toronto it causedquite a stir throughout Canada. It was on the front pages of some of thenewspapers across Canada. One newspaper reporter asked Professor Moore, “Don’t you think That maybe the Arabs might have known aboutthese things – the description of the embryo, its appearance and how it changesand grows? Maybe there were not scientists, but maybe they did some crudedissections on their own – carved up people and examined these things.” Professor Morre immediately pointed out to him, however, that he hadmissed a very important point. All of the slides of the embryo that Dr. Moorehad based his study upon had come from pictures taken through a microscope. Hesaid, “It does not matter if someone had tried to discover embryologyfourteen centuries ago, they could not have seen it!.”Dr. Moore taunted, “Maybe fourteen centuries ago someone secretly had amicroscope and did this research, making no mistakes anywhere. Then he somehowtaught Muhammad and convinced him to put this information in his book. Then hedestroyed his equipment and kept it a secret forever?. Do you believe that? Youreally should not unless you bring some proof because it is such a ridiculoustheory.” When he was asked “How do you explain this information in theQur’an?” Dr. Moore’s reply was, “It could only have beendivinely revealed.” Example Number 2: The Universe:Another example of such scientifically accurate statements in theQur’an can be found in the following analysis:”And the firmament(sky) We constructed with power and skill andverily We are expanding it” The noble Qur’an, Al-Thariyaat(51):47.(Remember: “we” is the Arabic plural of respect, not the Christian plural of “Trinity, ” as seen inchapter 14).”Do not the disbelievers see that the heavens and the earth werefused then We ripped them asunder, and We created from water every livingthing, do they not believe?” The noble Qur’an, Al-Anbia(21):30.”Then He settled/equilibrated unto the firmament(sky) when itwas smoke and said unto it and to the earth: come willingly or unwillingly.They said: we come willingly” The noble Qur’an, Fussilat(41):11.Allah Almighty has in these three concise verses answered questionsthat it has taken some of the greatest physicists and astronomers of historycenturies to answer. It was only in this century that they finally found thetruth.Mankind has studied the heavens and the earth for countlesscenturies. The Greeks were some of the first people to attempt to describevarious cosmological phenomena. They gave us many of the very first theoriesregarding the universe and it’s composition. The majorcontribution came with the writings of Plato . Plato claimed thatthe universe was created by what he called “The Demiurge.” Accordingto Plato, the universe was the result of reasoning and planning, it wasconstructed by the Demiurge upon precise mathematical and geometricalprinciples. Later on, Aristotle, Plato’s student, adopted his teacher’s basicconcept. Aristotelian cosmology was based on the concept of an enclosed cosmoscomprising a series of concentric, spheres revolving around a stationary Earth.Motion was provided by the “prime mover” and, once initiated,would remain circular, uniform and eternal.Both Plato and Aristotle taught that the universewas eternal, with neither beginning nor end. The universe as a whole wasconsidered steady and unmoving, and this was the basis for the later formationof the “steady state theory.” In 1915, Albert Einstein hadpublished the famous general theory of relativity. Soon afterward he proposed astatic model of the universe, but he would later declare that it was “oneof the greatest mistakes of my career.” Why?, Because in 1925,Edwin Hubble (after whom the Hubble Space telescope is named) provided theobservational evidence for the expansion of the universe, or as Stephen Hawkingput it “The universe is not static, as had previously been thought, it wasexpanding.”Although mankind did not discover these facts till this 20thCentury, still, we find that Allah Almighty had provided the answers formankind 1400 years ago in the Qur’an through the agency of His illiterateProphet Muhammad (pbuh). During Muhammad’s (pbuh) time, the Greeks wereclaiming that the cosmos was static and not expanding. So how did he know thatthe universe was expanding 1300 years before the foremostscientist of the West proved this to be a scientific fact?However, this is not the only claim that the Qur’an makes withregard to the universe . Let us study the next two verses:At the present time, the Big Bang theory of the origin of the universeis the cosmological model most widely accepted by astronomers. It holds thatabout 20,000,000,000 years ago the universe began with the explosive expansionof a single, extremely condensed state of matter (“the heavens and theearth were fused then we ripped them asunder”). As mentionedabove, a further development of this model, known as “inflationarytheory,” describes the original condensed matter as arising fromvirtually empty space. It was only after the development of radio telescopes in1937 AD that the necessary observational precision was achieved in order forastronomers to arrive at the above conclusion. Out of the observations of suchscientists has arisen the so called “Hubble Constant” (Ho) which isquantity currently used to gauge the rate at which the universe isexpanding. In other words, the issue is no longer whether the universe isexpanding or not, rather, it is only a question of how fast it isexpanding.The second and third verses presented appear to claim that theheavens and the earth were once a single mass then were “rippedasunder,” The exact root words used in the Qur’an are the words”ra-ta-qa” and “fa-ta-qa,” or “the heavens and theearth were ‘ra-ta-qa’ then we ‘fa-ta-qa’ them””Ra-ta-qa” is an Arabic wordwhich has the general meaning of “to fuse, to sew, to mend, to patch up,to repair.” (“Lisan Al-Arab,” by Ibn Mandoor, Vol. 10, DarAl-Fikr, p. 114, and also “A Dictionary of Modern Written Arabic,”Hans Wehr, Librairie du Liban, p. 325)Similarly, “fa-ta-qa” has the general meaning of”To rip, to undo sewing, to unstitch, to tear apart, to rend, to ripopen.” (“Lisan Al-Arab,” by Ibn Mandoor, Vol. 10, Dar Al-Fikr,p. 296, and also “A Dictionary of Modern Written Arabic,” Hans Wehr,Librairie du Liban, p. 695)The verse then goes on to say that Allah Almighty created theheavens and the earth from a celestial “smoke.” Astronomers todayhave pictures of galaxies being formed by exactly this process, i.e. thecondensation of spiraling celestial “mists.” Isn’t it an incrediblecoincidence that an illiterate man from the desert, without the aid ofobservatories or satellite imaging was making these claims over 1400 yearsago?. Was he just guessing? Further, the cosmic phenomenon depicted in the following two figuresis commonly referred to by astronomists as a cosmic “mist.” However,if we were to read the second verse of the Qur’an presented above we will findthat the Qur’an more accurately refers to it as a “smoke.” This isbecause “mist” implies a cool and tranquil spray of water. However,”smoke” implies a hot gas containing airborne particles. This isindeed another example of the literary miracle of the Qur’an in that it managesto convey to us in a very concise language a very accurate and detaileddescription of the topic at hand.

Fig. 13 The Spiral Galaxy M100 courtesy of the Hubble SpaceTelescopeFig. 14 M100 again. The distance to the swirling grand designspiral M100 is causing quite a stir among astronomers. Many believe that theHubble Space Telescope’s recent distance measurement to this galaxy accuratelycalibrates the “Hubble’s constant.” A scientific debate involving theactual value of Hubble’s constant titled “The Scale of the Universe”is scheduled to occur in April 1996 in Washington, DC.”And those who have been given knowledge know that thatwhich has been revealed to you from your Lord is the Truth”The noble Qur’an, Saba(34):6″Do they not consider the Qur’an (with care) or are therelocks upon their hearts?”The noble Qur’an, Muhammad(47):24Example Number 3: Water and Life:In the Qur’an we read:”Do not the disbelievers see that the heavens and the earth werejoined together then we split them asunder, and we created from water everyliving thing, do they not believe?” The noble Qur’an, Al-Anbia(21):30.”And Allah has created every trodding creature fromwater……” The noble Qur’an, Al-Noor(24):45.”It is He who created from water a human….” The noble Qur’an, Al-Furqan(25):54.Water is the most common substance on Earth, covering more than 70%of the planet’s surface. All living things consist mostly of water; forexample, the human body is about two-thirds water (when you cremate a humanwhat happens to him? Why?). Scientist tell us that all forms of life known tohumanity today require three basic conditions: Temperature, the existence ofwater, and the existence of an atmosphere.All metabolisms require water to survive, so animals that exist inarid regions have body mechanisms that protect against water loss and makemaximum use of water (camels for example). Dehydration in humans results fromlack of food, drink, and from sweating, in addition to other factors. This losseventually affects the proper functioning of the heart, central nervous system,and organs containing smooth muscle. Finally, intercellular water is lost,which upsets vital chemical processes in the cells. If water is not restored tothe body, death will usually occur within a few days.The blood of all living creatures is composed of 55 percent plasma,which in turn is composed of more than 90 percent water. Jan Baptista vanHelmont, the first experimental physiologist, around 1640 AD concluded thatwater is the only soil component required for plant growth. We could go on andon. Again we find ourselves asking the question: How did Muhammad (pbuh) knowthat all living creatures are created from water centuries before mankinddiscovered this fact through scientific experimentation? Did he randomly selectan element from the countless billions of possible choices? Why did he notclaim that mankind was created from air, or from wood, or from light? Whywater? Example Number 4: Deep sea currents:In the Qur’an we read:”Or as darkness on a vast, abysmal sea. There covers it a wave,above which is a wave, above which is a cloud. Layer upon layer ofdarkness.” The noble Qur’an, Al-Noor(24):40.Mankind began to build submersibles in the seventeenth century. Thefirst crude craft known to have ventured underwater was built by CornelisDrebbel, court engineer to James I of England, and was demonstrated on theThames river in 1620. From then onwards, development of submarines continueduntil the twentieth century, or 1954 to be exact, when the first nuclearsubmarine became a reality. With mankind’s study of the sea came therealization that the waters lying underneath the surface waves were not theplace of tranquil calmness they were previously envisioned to be. Rather, therewere underwater currents called deep sea currents which could at times becomesuch violent storms as to rearrange sediments in the ocean bottom. How didMuhammad (pbuh) know about these underwater currents centuries before mankindinvented the tools necessary for underwater exploration? “Say: It was sent down by He who knows the secrets in theheavens and the earth.” The noble Qur’an, Al-Furqaan(25):6.It is worth mentioning here in connection with the above verse thatsome scientists have interpreted the “layer upon layer of darkness”to be the gradual separation of the light spectrum within the ocean, one colorat a time until complete darkness is finally achieved. In other words, at onedepth, the yellow bandwidth is suppressed and “yellow darkness” isachieved. At another depth, the red bandwidth is suppressed and “reddarkness” is achieved, and so forth.There are many other scientific statements made in the Qur’an whichwere only discovered to be scientifically accurate many centuries afterMuhammad’s death. Many of them have only been discovered in this century. Theyrange over many fields of science including Anatomy, Chemistry, Astronomy,Geology, Hydrology, and many other disciplines which are only beginning to beaddressed by scientists today.For example, the Qur’an makes reference to the fact that a human’spain receptors are located in the skin (Al-Nissa(4):56). That the frontal lobesof the brain are responsible for lying and sin (Al-Alak(96):16). That mountainshave below them roots that extend deep into the earth’s surface(Al-Naba(78):7). That mountains pin the earth’s crust and prevent it frommoving (Al-Nahil(16):15). That there exists a physical barrier between bodiesof fresh and salt water (Al-Rahman (55):20). There is also informationregarding the formation of milk in cows (Al-Nahi(16):66). And on and on. Sowhere was Muhammad (pbuh) getting all of these scientific facts if not from theCreator of mankind and the universe ? Allah Almighty askes:”Is this sorcery or is it that you do not see?”The noble Qur’an, Al-Tur (52):15.Prof. Keith Moore is not the only scholar who has been presentedwith such verses of the Qur’an. Many other scholars from all over the worldhave been presented with similar statements from the Qur’an in their field ofexpertise. Only a few of these people are:1) Dr. E. Marshall Johnson, Professor and Chairman of the Departmentof Anatomy and Developmental Biology, and the Director of the Daniel BaughInstitute, Thomas Jefferson University, Philadelphia, USA. Author of over 200publications. Former President of the Teratology Society among otheraccomplishments. After studying the verses of the Qur’an he came to thefollowing conclusion: “The Qur’an describes not only the development of external formbut emphasizes also the internal stages – the stages inside the embryo of itscreation and development, emphasizing major events recognized by contemporaryscience… If I was to transpose myself into that era, knowing what I do todayand describing things, I could not describe the things that were described… Isee no evidence to refute the concept that this individual Muhammad had to bedeveloping this information from some place… so I see nothing in conflictwith the concept that divine intervention was involved…”2) Dr. Joe Leigh Simpson. Professor and Chairman of the Departmentof Obstetrics and Gynecology at Baylor Collage of Medicine, Houston, Texas. Heis the President of the American Fertility Society, and has served in manyother professional, national, and international organizations. He has receivednumerous awards including Association of Professors of Obstetrics andGynecology Public Recognition Award in 1992. He has published more than 400chapters and articles in journals and books. He says: “… these Hadeeths (sayings of Muhammad) could not have beenobtained on the basis of the scientific knowledge that was available at thetime of the writer’… It follows that not only is there no conflict betweengenetics and religion (Islam) but in fact religion (Islam) may guide science byadding revelation to some of the traditional scientific approaches… Thereexist statements in the Qur’an shown centuries later to be valid which supportknowledge in the Qur’an having been derived from God.” 3) Dr. T.V.N. Persaud. Professor and Head of the Department ofAnatomy, Professor of Pediatrics and Child Health, and Associate Professor ofObstetrics, Gynecology and Reproductive Sciences, University of Manitoba,Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada. He is the author and editor of 25 books, hascontributed 31 chapters to publications, and has published over 180 scientificpapers. In 1991 he received the most distinguished award presented in the fieldof anatomy in Canada, the J.C.B. Grant Award from the Canadian Association ofAnatomists. He says: “Muhammad was a very ordinary man, he couldn’t read, didn’t knowhow to write, in fact he was an illiterate… were talking about 1400 yearsago, you have some illiterate person making profound statements that areamazingly accurate, of a scientific nature… I personally can’t see how thiscould be mere chance, there are too many accuracies and like Dr. Moore, I haveno difficulty in my mind reconciling that this is a divine inspiration orrevelation which lead him to these statements.”4) After a study which lasted ten years, the famous French physicianMaurice Bucaille addressed the French Academy of Medicine in 1976 and expressedthe complete agreement of the Qur’an and established findings of modernscience. He presented his study on the existence in the Qur’an of certainstatements concerning physiology and reproduction. His reason for doing thatwas that “our knowledge of these disciplines is such, that it isimpossible to explain how a text produced at the time of the Qur’an could havecontained ideas that have only been discovered in modern times.”5) Dr. Tejatet Tejasen, Head of the Department of Anatomy, Facultyof Medicine, University of Chiang Mai, Thailand. After his study on the Qur’anpassages dealing with embryology: “From my studies and what I have learnt at this conference Ibelieve that everything that has been recorded in the Qur’an 1400 years agomust be true. That can be proved the scientific way.”Others include:6) Dr. Gerald C. Goeringer. Professor and Coordinator of Medical Embryologyin the Department of Cell Biology in the Georgetown University school ofMedicine. Washington, D.C. He has published numerous articles dealing mainlywith the study of teratogenesis.7) Dr. Alfred Kroner, Professor of Geology, Germany. 8) Dr. Yoshiodi Kozan, Director of the observatory of Tokyo, Japan.9) Dr. William Hay, Professor of Oceanography, University ofColorado, Boulder, Colorado.10) Dr. Pete Palmer, Professor of Geology, University of Colorado,Boulder, Colorado.11) Dr. Sayawida, Professor of Marine Geology, Japan. 12) Dr. Armstrong, Professor of Astronomy, University of Kansas,Lawrence, Kansas.13) Dr. Draga Persaud Rauw, Professor of Marine Geology, KingAbdulaziz University, Jeddah, Saudi Arabia14) Dr. Schroeder, Professor of Oceanography, Germany. The response of these scholars when presented with verses of theQur’an in their field of specialization, varied. One thing however was alwaysconstant. They all confirmed the accuracy of the scientific statements made inthe Qur’an, and they all could not explain how Muhammad (pbuh) could have knownwith such accuracy the scientific claims to be found in the Qur’an so manycenturies before mankind discovered them to be scientific truths.Allah Almighty tells us in the Qur’an:”Allah did not create (all) that except in truth. He detailsthe signs for people of knowledge.”The noble Qur’an, Yunus(10):5″And those who were given knowledge see that which was sentdown upon you by your Lord is the truth and guides to the path of the ‘Exalted'(in Might) the ‘worthy of all praise’.”The noble Qur’an, Saba(34):6.”Had We sent down this Qur’an upon a mountain, you would surelyhave seen it humbling itself and rending asunder for fear of Allah. Such arethe parables We put forth for mankind that they may reflect.”The noble Qur’an, Al-Hashr(59):21″Verily! this Qur’an guides to that which is most upright, andgives glad tidings to the believers who work deeds of righteousness that theirswill be a great reward”The noble Qur’an, Al-Isra(17):9″And We have indeed simplified [the comprehension of] thisQur’an for remembrance, so is there any that will remember [and beadmonished]?”The noble Qur’an, Al-Qamar(54):17 To obtain a more in-depth analysis of these matters including videotapes containing interviews with many of these pioneering Western scholars,contact one of the following (ask for the video tape titled “It is theTruth”): 1) Islamic Academy for Scientific Research.8150 West 111 StreetPalos Hills, IL 60465U.S.A.Phone: (708) 974-91512) Islamic Society of North America (ISNA)P.O. Box 38Plainfield, Indiana, 46168U.S.A.Phone: (317) 839-81573) Academy for the Miracles of Science in the Qur’an and the SunnahP.O. Box 5736Makkah Al-MukarramahSaudi ArabiaPhone: (2) 545-1519Also look for the books:

1. “The Bible, the Qur’an and Science,” by Dr. MauriceBucaille
2. “The Qur’an and Modern Science,” by Dr. Maurice Bucaille
3. “An Introduction to Understanding the Qur’an,” by SyedAbdul A’ala Maudoodi
4. “The Sources of the Qur’an: A Critical Review of the AuthorshipTheories,” by Hamza Mustafa Njozi
5. “Muhammad’s Prophethood: An Analytical View,” by Dr. JamalBadawi

Muslim-SA@acsu.buffalo.eduLast modified: Mon Nov 18 14:18:24 EST 1996