Last Updated - 28th October, 2009.
Qur'an and Modern Science
Compatible or Incompatible?
The Qur'an, the main source of the Islamic faith, is a book believed by Muslims to be of completely divine origin and that it contains Divine guidance for all humankind. Since the message of the Qur'an is believed to be for all times, it should therefore be relevant to every age. Does the Qur'an pass this test? In this forum, We intend to give an objective analysis of the Muslim belief regarding the divine origin of the Qur'an, in the light of established scientific discoveries.
Qur'an is the last and final revelation of God, the miracle of miracles revealed as a mercy to all mankind.
'' Science without religion is lame. Religion without science is blind''
(Albert Einstein)
Qur'an is not a book of science but a book of 'signs',i.e ayats. There are more than six thousand verses 'signs' in the Qur'an
of which more than a thousand deal with science.
Let us therefore study some of the verses of the Qur'an and analyze whether the Qur'an and modern science are
compatible or incompatible.
In this forum we have considered only established scientific facts and not mere hypotheses and theories that are based on assumptions and are not backed by conclusive proof.
The Creation of the Universe
The 'Big Bang'
The creation of the universe is explained by astrophysicists in a widely accepted phenomenon, popularly known as the 'Big Bang'. This theory is supported by observational and experimental data gathered by astronomers and astrophysicists for decades. According to the 'Big Bang' theory, the whole universe was initially one big mass (Primary Nebula). Then there was a 'Big Bang' (Secondary Seperation) which resulted in the formation of galaxies. These then divided to form stars, planets, the sun and the moon, among other things. The origin of the universe was unique and the probability of its occurring by 'chance' is zero.
The Qur'an contains the following verse, regarding the origin of the universe:
'Have those who believe not known that the heavens and the earth were joined together as one united piece,
then We parted them? (Qur'an 21:30)
The striking congruence between the Qur'an verse and the 'Big Bang' is inescapable!
How could a book which appeared in the deserts of Arabia more than 1400 years ago contain this profound scientific truth?
The Spherical Shape of the Earth
In early times people believed that the earth was flat. For centuries, men were afraid to venture out too far, lest they should
'fall off the edge'. Sir Francis Drake was the first person who proved that the earth is spherical when he sailed
around it in 1577.
Consider the following Qur'anic verse regarding the alternation of day and night:
'See you not that Allah merges the night into the day (i.e. the decrease in the hours of the night are added to the hours of the day) and merges the day into the night (i.e. the decrease in the hours of the day are added to the hours of the night)
(Qur'an 31:29)
Merging here means that the night slowly and gradually changes to day and vice versa. This phenomenon can only take place if the earth is spherical. If the earth was flat, there would have been a sudden change from night to day and from day to night.
The following verse also alludes to the spherical shape of the earth:
He has created the heavens and the earth with truth. He makes the night to go in the day and makes the day to go in the night
(Qur'an 39:5)
The Arabic word used here is kawwara meaning 'to overlap' or 'to coil' - the way a turban is wound around the head.
The overlapping or coiling of the day and night can take place if the earth is spherical.
The earth is not exactly round like a ball, but geo-spherical, i.e, it is flattened at the poles. The following verse contains a description of the earth's shape:
'And after that He spread the earth' (Qur'an 79:30)
The Arabic word for egg here is 'Dahaahaa' which means an ostrich-egg. The shape of an ostrich-egg resembles the geo-spherical shape of the earth.
Thus the Qur'an correctly describes the shape of the earth, though the prevalent notion when the Qur'an was revealed was that the earth was flat.
Embryology
Embryonic Stages
'' And indeed We created man (Adam) out of an extract of clay (water and earth). Thereafter We made him (i.e the offspring of Adam) as a nutfa (mixed drops of male and female sexual discharge and lodged in) in a safe lodging (i.e womb of the woman). Then We made the nutfa into a clot (i.e peace of thick coagulated blood), then We made the clot into a little lump of flesh, then We made out of that little lump of flesh bones, then We clothed the bones with flesh, and then We brought it forth as another creation. So Blessed is Allah, the Best of creators''. (Qur'an 23:12-14)
In this verse Allah states that man is created from a small quantity of liquid which is placed of rest, firmly fixed for which the Arabic phrase qaraarin makeen is used. The uterus is well protected from the posterior by the spinal column supported firmly by the back muscles. The embryo is further protected by the amniotic sac containing the amniotic fluid. Thus the foetus has a well-protected dwelling place.
This small quantity of fluid is made into alaqah, meaning something that clings. It also means a leech-like substance. Both descriptions are scientifically acceptable,as in the very early stages the foetus clings to the wall and also appears to resemble the leech in shape. It also behaves like a leech (blood sucker) and acquires its blood supply from the mother through the placenta.
The third meaning of the word alaqah is a blood clot. During the alaqah stage, which spans the third and fourth weeks of pregnancy, the blood clots within closed vessels. Hence the embryo acquires the appearance of a blood clot in addition to aquiring the appearance of a leech.
In 1677, Hamm and Leeuwenhoek were the first scientists to observe human sperm cells (spermatoza) using a microscope. They thought that a sperm cell contained a miniature human being that grew in the uterus to form a newborn. This was known as the perforation theory. When scientists discovered that the ovum was bigger than the sperm, it was thought by De Graf and others that the foetus existed in a miniature form in the ovum. Later in the 18th century, Maupertuis propagated the theory of biparental inheritance.
The alaqah is transformed into mudghah which literally means something that is chewed (having teeth marks) and also something that is tacky and small, which can be put in the mouth like gum. Both these explanations are scientifically correct. Professor Keith Moore took a piece of plaster seal and made it into the size and shape of the early stage of foetus and chewed it between the teeth to make it into a mudghah. He compared this with the photographs of the early stage of the foetus. The teeth marks resembled the 'somites' which is the early formation of the the spinal column.
This Mudghah is transformed into bones (idhaam). The bones are clothed with intact flesh or muscles (lahm). Then Allah makes it into another creature.
Professor Marshall Johnson is one of the leading scientists in the USA, and is the head of the Department of Anatomy and Director of the Daniel Institute at Thomas Jefferson University, Philadelphia, USA. He was asked to comment on the verse of the Qur'an dealing with embryology. He said that the verse of the Qur'an describing the embryological stages cannot be a coincidence. He said it was probably that Muhammed (Pbuh) had a powerful microscope. On being reminded that the Qur'an was revealed 1400 years ago and that microscopes were invented centuries after the time of Prophet Muhammed (Pbuh), Professor Johnson laughed and admitted that the first microscope invented could not magnify more than 10 times and could not show a clear picture.
Later he said.'' I see nothing here conflict with the concept that Divine intervention was involved when Muhammed (Pbuh) recited the Qur'an. According to Dr. Keith Moore, the modern classification of embryonic development stages that is adopted throughout the world is not easily comprehensible, since it identifies stages on a numerical basis. i.e. stage I, stage II, etc. The divisions revealed in Qur'an are based on distinctand easily identifiable forms or shapes, which the embryo passes through. These are based on different phases of prenatal development and provide elegant scientific descriptions that are comprehensible and practical.
O man! What has made you careless about your Lord, the Most Generous, Who created you, fashioned you perfectly, and gave you due proportion, in whatever form He willed He put you together. (Qur'an 82:6-8)
Foetus protected by three veils of Darkness
''He creates you, in the wombs of your mothers, creation after creation in three veils of darkness''
(Qur'an 39:6)
According to Professor Keith Moore, these three veils of darkness in the Qur'an refer to:
1.anterior abdominal wall of the mother
2.the uterine wall
3.the amnio-chorionic membrane
Sex Determination
The sex of a foetus is determined by the nature of the sperm and not the ovum. The sex of the child, whether male or
female depends on whether the 23rd pair of chromosomes is XX or XY, respectively.
Primarily, sex determination occurs at fertilization and depends upon the type of sex chromosome in the sperm that fertilizes
an ovum. If it is an 'X' bearing sperm that fertilizes the ovum, the foetus is a female, and if it is a 'Y' bearing sperm then the foetus is a male.
''And that He (Allah) creates the pairs, male and female, from nutfah (mixed drops of male and female sexual discharge)
when it is emitted'. (Qur'an 53:45-46)
nutfah specifically refers to sperm because it is ejaculated.
''Was he not a nutfah (mixed drops of male and female sexual discharge) emitted (i.e Poured forth)?
Then he became an alaqah (a clot); then (Allah) shaped and fashioned (him) in due proportion, and made of him two sexes, male and female''. (Qur'an 75:37-39)
Here again it is mentioned that a small quantity (drop) of sperm which comes from the man is responsible for the sex of the foetus.
Man Created from a drop emitted from between the Backbone and the Ribs
''So, let man see from what he is created! He is created from a fluid gushing forth,
proceeding from between the backbone and the ribs''. (Qur'an 86:5-7)
In embryonic stages, the reproductive organs of the male and female, i.e. the testicles and the ovaries, begin their
development near the kidney between the spinal column and the eleventh and twelfth ribs.
Later they descend; the female gonads (ovaries) stop in the pelvis while the male gonads (testicles) continue
their descent before birth to reach the scrotum through the inguinal canal. Even in the adult after the descent of the
reproductive organ, these organs receive their nerve supply and blood supply from the abdominal aorta, which
is in the area between the backbone (spinal column) and the ribs. Even the lymphatic drainage and the venous
return go to the same area.
Every Living thing is made of Water
Consider the following Qur'anic verse:
''Have those who disbelieve not known that the heavens and the earth were joined together as one united
piece, the We parted them? And We have made from water every living thing. Will they not then believe?
(Qur'an 21:30)
Only after advances had been made in science did we now know that cytoplasm, the basic substance of the cell, is made up of 80% water. Modern research has also revealed that most organism consist of 50% to 90% water and that every living entity requires water for its existence.
Was it possible over fourteen centuries ago for any human being to guess that every living being was made of water? Moreover, would such a guess be conceivable by a human being in the deserts of Arabia where there has always been scarcity of water?
Zoology
The Flight of Birds
Regarding the flight of birds, the Qur’an says:
Do they not see the birds held (flying) in the midst of the sky? None holds them but Allah (i.e. none give them the ability to fly but Allah). Verily, in this are clear signs for a people who believe (in the oneness of Allah). (Qur’an 16:79)
A similar message is repeated in the Qur’an in the verse;
Do they not see the birds above them, spreading out their wings and folding them in? None holds them except the Most Gracious (Allah). Verily, He is All Seer of everything.
(Qur’an 67:19)
The Arabic verb amsaka literally means, ’to put one’s hand on, seize, hold, hold someone back, which express the idea that Allah holds the birds up in His power and given them the ability to fly. These verses stress extremely close dependence of the birds’ behavior on Divine order. Modern science data has shown the degree of perfection attained by certain species of birds with regard to the programming of their movements. It is only the existence of a migratory programming in the genetic code of the birdsthat can explain the long and complicated journey that very young birds, without any prior experience and without any guide, are able to accomplish. They are also able to return to the departure point on a definite date.
In his book Power and Fragility, Professor Hamburger gives the example of ‘mutton-bird’ that lives in the Pacific Ocean with its journey of over 15,000 miles in the shape of figure ‘8’. It makes this journey over a period of six months and comes back to its departure point with a maximum delay of one week. The highly complicated instruction for a such a journey have to be contained in the birds’ nervous cells. They are definitely programmed.
Fruits Created in Pairs, Male and Female
'And of every kind of fruit He made two pairs' (Quran 13:3)
Fruit is the end product of reproduction of the superior plants. The stage preceding fruit is the flower, which has male and female organs (stamens and ovules). Once pollen has been carried to the flower, they bear fruit, which in turn matures and frees its seed. All fruits, therefore, imply the existence of male and female organs; a fact that is mentioned in the Qur'an.
In certain species, fruit can come from non-fertilized flowers (parenthocarpic fruit), e.g., bananas, certain types of pineapple, fig, orange and vine. They also have definite sexual characteristics.
The Expanding Universe
The Sun Rotates
In 1609, the German scientist Johannes Kepler published the Astronomia Nova in which he concluded that not only do the planets move in elliptical orbits around the sun but that they also rotate upon their axes at irregular speeds. With this knowledge it became possible for European scientists to explain correctly many of the mechanisms of the solar system
including the sequence of night and day.
''And He it is Who has created the night and the day and the sun and the moon, each in an orbit floating'' (Qur'an 21:33)
It is noticed that the sun has spots which complete a circular motion once every 25 days, i.e.,the sun takes approximately 25 days to rotate around its axis.
In fact, the sun travels through space at roughly 150 miles per second and takes about 200 million years to complete one revolution around the centre of our Milky Way Galaxy.
''It is not for the sun to overtake the moon, nor does the night outstrip the day. They all float, each in an orbit.'' (Qur'an 36:40)
Above verse mentions an essential fact discovered by modern astronomy, i.e., the existence of the individual orbits of the sun and the moon and their journey through space with their own motion.
The 'fixed place' towards which the sun travels, carrying with it the solar system, has been located exactly by modern astronomy. It has been given a name, the solar Apex. The solar system is indeed moving in space towards a point situated in the constellation of Hercules (alpha Lyrae) whose exact location is firmly established.
The moon rotates around its axis in the same duration that it takes to revolve around the earth. It takes approximately 29 1/2 days to complete one rotation.
One cannot help but be amazed at the scientific accuracy of the Qur'anic verses. Should we not ponder over the quesion: ''What is the source of knowledge contained in the Qur'an?''
