Re: Scientific Approach to the Qur'an
- From: "Torpedo" <guest@xxxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Mon, 2 Jan 2006 11:22:34 +1100
....through backside.
"Islam Will Replace Collapsing Amerikan Empire"
<islam_to_replace_amerikan_empire@xxxxxxxxx> wrote in message
news:3yVtf.117$H37.21441@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
> Scientific Approach to the Qur'an
> By Dr. Gary Miller
>
> A truly scientific approach to the Qur'an is possible because the Qur'an
> offers something that is not offered by other religious scriptures, in
> particular, and other religions, in general. It is what scientists demand.
> Today there are many people who have ideas and theories about how the
> universe works. These people are all over the place, but the scientific
> community does not even bother to listen to them. This is because within
the
> last century the scientific community has demanded a test of
falsification.
> They say, "If you have theory, do not bother us with it unless you bring
> with that theory a way for us to prove whether you are wrong or not."
>
> Such a test was exactly why the scientific community listened to Einstein
> towards the beginning of the century. He came with a new theory and said,
"I
> believe the universe works like this, and here are three ways to prove
> whether I am wrong!" So the scientific community subjected his theory to
the
> tests, and within six years it passed all three. Of course, this does not
> prove that he was great, but it proves that he deserved to be listened to
> because he said, "This is my idea; and if you want to try to prove me
wrong,
> do this or try that."
>
> This is exactly what the Qur'an has-falsification tests. Some are old (in
> that they have already been proven true), and some still exist today.
> Basically it states, "If this book is not what it claims to be, then all
you
> have to do is this or this or this to prove that it is false." Of course,
in
> 1,400 years no one has been able to do "This or this or this," and thus it
> is still considered true and authentic.
>
> Falsification Test
>
> I suggest to you that the next time you get into dispute with people about
> Islam and they claim that they have the truth and that you are in
darkness,
> you leave all other arguments at first and make this suggestion: Ask them,
> "Is there any falsification test in your religion? Is there anything in
your
> religion that would prove you are wrong if I could prove to you that it
> exists-anything?" Well, I can promise right now that people will not have
> anything - no test, no proof, nothing! This is because they do not carry
> around the idea that they should not only present what they believe but
> should also offer others a chance to prove they are wrong. However, Islam
> does that.
>
> A perfect example of how Islam provides man with a chance to verify its
> authenticity and "prove it wrong" occurs in the fourth surah. And quite
> honestly, I was very surprised when I first discovered this challenge:
>
> [Do they not consider the Qur'an? Had it been from any other than Allah,
> they would surely have found therein much discrepancy.] (An-Nisaa' 4:82)
>
> This is a clear challenge to the non-Muslims. Basically, it invites them
to
> find a mistake. As a matter of fact, the seriousness and difficulty of the
> challenge aside, the actual presentation of such a challenge in the first
> place is not even in human nature and is inconsistent with man's
> personality. One doesn't take an exam in school and after finishing the
> exam, write a note to the instructor at the end saying, "This exam is
> perfect. There are no mistakes in it. Find one if you can!" One just
doesn't
> do that. The teacher would not sleep until he or she found a mistake! And
> yet this is the way the Qur'an approaches people.
>
> Ask Those Who Have Knowledge
>
> Another interesting attitude that exists in the Qur'an repeatedly deals
with
> its advice to the reader. The Qur'an informs the reader about different
> facts and then gives this advice: "If you want to know more about this or
> that, or if you doubt what is said, then you should ask those who have
> knowledge." This too is a surprising attitude. It is not usual to have a
> book that comes from someone without training in geography, botany,
biology,
> etc., who discusses these subjects and then advises the readers to ask men
> of knowledge if they doubt anything. Yet in every age there have been
> Muslims who have followed the advice of the Qur'an and made surprising
> discoveries. If one looks to the works of many centuries ago, one will
find
> them full of quotations from the Qur'an. These works state that they did
> research in such a place, looking for something. And they affirm that the
> reason they looked in such and such a place was that the Qur'an pointed
them
> in that direction.
>
> For example, the Qur'an mentions man's origin and then tells the reader,
> "Research it!" It gives the reader a hint where to look and then states
that
> one should find out more about it. This is the kind of thing that Muslims
> today largely seem to overlook-but not always, as illustrated in the
> following example.
>
> Embryology
>
> A few years ago, a group of men in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, collected all of
> the verses in the Qur'an that discuss embryology, the growth of the human
> being in the womb. They said, "Here is what the Qur'an says. Is it the
> truth?" In essence, they took the advice of the Qur'an: "Ask the men who
> know." They chose, as it happened, a non-Muslim who is a professor of
> embryology at the University of Toronto. His name is Keith Moore, and he
is
> the author of textbooks on embryology-a world expert on the subject. They
> invited him to Riyadh and said, "This is what the Qur'an says about your
> subject. Is it true? What can you tell us?"
>
> While he was in Riyadh, they gave him all the help that he needed in
> translation and all of the cooperation for which he asked. And he was so
> surprised at what he found that he changed his textbooks. In fact, in the
> second edition of one of his books, called Before We Are Born, in the
> section about the history of embryology, he included some material that
was
> not in the first edition because what he found in the Qur'an was ahead of
> its time and that those who believe in the Qur'an know what other people
do
> not know.
>
> I had the pleasure of interviewing Dr. Keith Moore for a television
> presentation, and we talked a great deal about this. - The discussion was
> illustrated by slides and so on. He mentioned that some of the things that
> the Qur'an states about the growth of the human being were not known until
> 30 years ago. In fact, he said that one item in particular-the Qur'an's
> description of the human being as a "leech-like clot" (`alaqah) at one
stage
> (Al-Hajj 22:5; Al-Mu'minun 23:14; and Ghafir 40:67)-was new to him; but
when
> he checked on it, he found that it was true, and so he added it to his
book.
> He said, "I never thought of that before," and he went to the zoology
> department and asked for a picture of a leech. When he found that it
looked
> just like the human embryo, he decided to include both pictures in one of
> his textbooks.
>
> Although the aforementioned example of man researching information
contained
> in the Qur'an deals with a non-Muslim, it is still valid because he is one
> of those who is knowledgeable in the subject being researched. Had some
> layman claimed that what the Qur'an says about embryology is true, then
one
> would not necessarily have to accept his word. However, because of the
high
> position, respect, and esteem man gives scholars, one naturally assumes
that
> if they research a subject and arrive at a conclusion based on that
> research, then the conclusion is valid.
>
> Skeptics' Reaction
>
> Moore also wrote a book on clinical embryology, and when he presented this
> information in Toronto, it caused quite a stir throughout Canada. It was
on
> the front pages of some of the newspapers across Canada, and some of the
> headlines were quite funny. For instance, one headline read "SURPRISING
> THING FOUND IN ANCIENT PRAYER BOOK!" It seems obvious from this example
that
> people do not clearly understand what it is all about. As a matter of
fact,
> one newspaper reporter asked Professor Moore, "Don't you think that maybe
> the Arabs might have known about these things-the description of the
embryo,
> its appearance and how it changes and grows? Maybe they were not
scientists,
> maybe they did some crude dissections on their own-carved up people and
> examined these things." The professor immediately pointed out to him that
> he -the reporter- had missed a very important point: all of the slides of
> the embryo that had been shown and that had been projected in the film had
> come from pictures taken through a microscope. He said, "It does not
matter
> if someone had tried to discover embryology fourteen centuries ago. They
> could not have seen it!"
>
> All of the descriptions in the Qur'an of the appearance of the embryo are
of
> the item when it is still too small to see with the eye; therefore, one
> needs a microscope to see it. Since such a device had only been around for
> little more than two hundred years, Dr. Moore taunted, "Maybe fourteen
> centuries ago someone secretly had a microscope and did this research,
> making no mistakes anywhere. Then he somehow taught Muhammad (peace and
> blessings be upon him) and convinced him to put this information in his
> book. Then he destroyed his equipment and kept it a secret forever. Do you
> believe that? You really should not unless you bring some proof because it
> is such a ridiculous theory." In fact, when he was asked, "How do you
> explain this information in the Qur'an?" Dr. Moore's reply was, "It could
> only have been divinely revealed!"
>
>
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------
------
>
> * Excerpted with some modifications from The Amazing Qur'an, here cited
> from:http://www.ymsite.com/books/amazing_quran.htm.
>
> **Dr. Gary Miller is a Canadian former Christian theologian and minister
who
> converted to Islam. He now works on spreading and preaching Islam to the
> world.
>
> http://islamonline.net/english/Quran/2005/12/article02.shtml
>
>
.
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