The Qur'an and Modern Science

The Qur'an and Modern Science

By Amjad Rafiq. Based upon extracts from the video The Truth.
The Islamic Society University of Essex

RELIGION and SCIENCE have always been considered to be twin sisters by Islam
and today at a time when science has taken great strides, they still
continue to be associated. Furthermore, certain scientific data are used for
a better understanding of the Qur'anic text. In a century where, for many,
scientific truth has dealt a deathblow to religious belief, it is precisely
the discoveries of science that, in an objective examination of the Islamic
Revelation, have highlighted the supernatural character of various aspects
of the Revelation.

After a study which lasted ten years, the famous French physician Maurice
Bucaille adressed the French Academy of Medicine in 1976 and expressed the
complete agreement of the Qur'an and established findings of modern science.
He presented his study on the existence in the Qur'an of certain statements
concerning physiology and reproduction. His reason for doing that was that
"our knowledge of these disciplines is such, that it is impossible to
explain how a text produced at the time of the Qur'an could have contained
ideas that have only been discovered in modern times".

Decades later a noted embryologist Keith L. Moore and expert in his field,
upon being presented with the statements made in the Qur'an regarding the
stages of the formation of the embryo from the mixing of the male and female
gametes up to the embryo's full development remarked "It has been a pleasure
for me to help clarify statements in the Qur'an about Human Development. It
is clear to me that these statements must have come to Muhammad from God or
Allaah because almost all of this knowledge was not discovered until many
centuries later." Professor Moore presented his findings to scientists at
several conferences. Several Canadian periodicals published many of Moore's
statements and in addition he presented three television programmes in which
he highlighted the compatibility of modern science with what has been
revealed in the Qur'an 1400 years ago. Consequently, he was asked: "Does
this mean that you believe that the Qur'an is the word of God?" to which he
replied "I find no difficulty in accepting this."

In fact Professor Moore was so amazed at the accuracy of the descriptions
and the terminology used for the various stages of the development of the
embryo that he modified his own textbook on the subject. He incorporated all
the relevant Qur'anic passages and authentic statements of the Prophet
Muhammad into his book, The Developing Human: Clinically oriented embryology
with Islamic additions, which was published by WB Saunders in 1987 and was a
standard university textbook in the United States. The book now contains
passages of the Qur'an and the Hadeeth (verified statements of the Prophet
Muhammad) for every stage of development and Professor Moore has also
adopted the classification used in the above two sources.

Consider also the statement of Tejatet Tejasen (Professor at the Dept. of
Anatomy, Faculty of Medicine, Chiang Mei University, Thailand) after his
study on the Qur'an passages dealing with embryology: "From my studies and
what I have learnt at this conference I believe that everything that has
been recorded in the Qur'an 1400 years ago must be true. That can be proved
the scientific way". Also the statement of E. Marshal Johnson (Professor and
Chairman, Dept. of Anatomy, Daniel Bough Institute, Thomas Jefferson
University, Philadelphia, USA) when he became aware of such statements in
the Qur'an and investigated them: "The Qur'an describes not only the
development of external form but emphasizes also the internal stages - the
stages inside the embryo of its creation and development, emphasizing major
events recognized by contemporary science... If I was to transpose myself
into that era, knowing what I do today and describing things, I could not
describe the things that were described... I see no evidence to refute the
concept that this individual Muhammad had to be developing this information
from some place... so I see nothing in conflict with the concept that divine
intervention was involved..."
Upon being presented with hadeeths (verified statements of the Prophet
Muhammad) concerning dominant and recessive characteristics Joe Leigh
Simpson (Professor of Obstretics and Gynecology, Northwestern University
Medical School, Chicago, Illinois, USA) said: "... these Hadeeths could not
have been obtained on the basis of the scientific knowledge that was
available at the time of the'writer'... It follows that not only is there no
conflict between genetics and religion (Islam) but in fact religion (Islam)
may guide science by adding revelation to some of the traditional scientific
approaches... There exist statements in the Qur'an shown centuries later to
be valid which support knowledge in the Qur'an having been derived from
God".

Consider also the statement of T.V.N. Persaud (Professor and Head, Dept. of
Anatomy, Faculty of Medicine and Dentistry, University of Manitoba, Canada):
"Muhammad was a very ordinary man, he couldn't read, didn't know how to
write, in fact he was an illiterate... were talking about 1400 years ago,
you have some illiterate person making profound statements that are
amazingly accurate, of a scientific nature... I personally can't see how
this could be mere chance, there are too many accuracies and like Dr. Moore
I have no difficulty in my mind reconciling that this is a divine
inspiration or revelation which lead him to these statements".

These are just a number of quotes from the "Scientific Community" regarding
the nature and the origins of the Qur'an. In fact the Qur'an and Hadeeth do
not just talk about embryology but hundreds of other phenomenon including
the earth and sun being round, spinning around their own axis and following
their own orbits, the origin and formation of the universe, the two types of
seas between which is a barrier, the role of mountains in stabilising the
earths crust, the formation of milk in cows, the cause of sexual diseases,
the location of pain receptors within the body, the expansion of the
universe, the precise nature of the water cycle, the change in atmospheric
pressure at high altitudes, the gender of the bee which is responsible for
producing honey (female), the stars consuming themselves via the combustion
of their gases and this being the source of their light and many more.

Explaining all these statements by chance alone is something which has been
resorted to, surprisingly by those deemed to be possessors of intellect and
erudition. However this is not tenable as the following demonstration will
show. When you make a guess regarding the true nature of something (in an
accurate and precise manner that is) there are only two possibilities.
Either you are right or wrong. If you make another guess then you only have
one chance in four of being correct both times. If you make a third guess
then you have one chance in eight of being correct all three times and so
on. The chances of correctly describing, lets say, ten phenomena are 1 in
1024. Another point to bear in mind is that the greater the number of things
you describe, the chance of being wrong is greater and thus the risk you are
taking of being discredited gets bigger and bigger. The Qur'an and the
Sunnah (Authentic sayings of the Prophet (sas)) make statements on literally
hundreds of phenomenen and at the same time openly calls the scientific
community to verify them. If one from the scientific community was to make
hundreds of new claims regarding his particular field and was then to call
all his fellow specialists to prove him wrong he would know without doubt
that he is standing on an undermined sand cliff which is ready to crumble
with him. How then for the one who makes statements about the specialities
of others?

One will be surprised to learn that such a scientific approach has been
commanded in the Qur'an with the objective of ascertaining its truthfulness.

Do they not carefully consider (investigate) the Qur'an or are there locks
upon their hearts. [Surah 47:24]

Do they not carefully analyse the Quran. If it had been from other than
Allaah then surely they would have
found many discrepancies therein [Surah 4:82]

So religious (that is Islamic) beliefs are not based upon blind acceptance
as many have generalised to all religions and thus falsely attributed to the
Qur'an and Islam. This has been the experience of Europe in the past 3-400
years in which scientific advancement and its findings were seen as
heretical, its proponents ridiculed and often exiled and tortured. Islam has
never had that experience.
It is true that peoples academic capabilities differ and thus some will be
unable to ascertain the truth of it and therefore may accept it blindly. But
again they have the opportunity to ask the people of knowledge, those who
are in a position to make such a judgement, like those quoted above. It is
from the principles of wisdom and justice that when you don't know you don't
make a judgement yourself but rather consult one who is in a position to do
so. In fact this is something Allaah has also commanded:

So ask the People of Knowledge if you do not know [Surah 21:7]

and He has also said

And those who have been given Knowledge know that that which has been
revealed to you from your Lord is the Truth [Surah 34:6]

This is a clear proof of the lack of the dependance upon dogma, superstition
and personal experience and an indication of the obligation to research,
ascertain and to verify in a scientific manner the credibility of religious
(Islamic) belief. Fortunately there are those who have done exactly that
like Keith Moore and his scientific colleagues but there are others who have
invented lies and slanders in order to discredit the Qur'an and the Prophet.
However when these lies and slanders are put to the test scientifically they
fail miserably and their irrationality and bias becomes evident. Some of the
common claims are that Muhammad was possessed or was an eloquent poet or was
a magician or was one who was brainwashed or was a soothsayer. In fact all
of these have been denied and rebutted in the Qur'an itself in numerous
places and numerous times. It is even more strange that these were the very
same claims made by the people who belied the Prophet during his lifetime,
and they are the only ones that are resorted to today. What a great
advancement!

Nay! We hurl the Truth against falsehood and it does smash it's brains and
thus it perishes. And woe be to you for what you describe (with your
tongues) [Surah 21:18]

http://thetruereligion.org/modules/wfsection/article.php?articleid=93


.

Loading