The
Relationship of the Quran
to Modern Science: Part I
The Quran deserves to be
evaluated from different points of view. One topic for examination is the artistic and
verbal beauty of the Quran and its style which is neither poetry nor prose. It does not
have the characteristics of poetry, which may be thought as giving free flight to the
imagination and indulging in poetic exaggeration, and equally it does not exemplify
conventional prose, for it is imbued with a distinctive rhythm and melody that are the
means for it to exert a powerful and unique spiritual attraction on all who make its
acquaintance.
Then the intellectual and
scientific content of the Quran also calls for examination. It is true that it is not the
aim of the Noble Quran to uncover and expound scientific phenomena, to set forth all the
natural motions and events that occur within the system of being in accordance with a
specific set of laws, or to explain the properties and mode of operation of nature.
We should not expect the Quran to
discuss, in an organized manner, the various branches of science and to analyze the topics
connected with each of those branches, or to solve the various problems that are
encountered in different fields of research. The ability to experiment and to conduct
scientific research has been made inherent in the human being's nature, and he can obtain
the knowledge and the arts he needs in his life by means of thought and reflection. He
makes valuable advances through his unceasing efforts to gain control over the forces of
nature. Concerns such as these are alien to a book of moral edification.
The aim pursued by the Quran is
the training of the human being as a being conscious of his duties; it reinforces and
accelerates his spiritual ascension, together with all of his qualities, toward a state of
true loftiness and the dignity of which the human being is worthy. The emergence of such a
being requires a comprehensive reform of the human being, involving various changes such
as the negation of false values and meaningless criteria deriving from the Age of
Ignorance and the creation and fostering of a creative energetic spirit within him. The
Quran can thus be said to melt the spirits of human beings and pour them into a new mould,
where they acquire a different, richer and more valuable form.
Although this may be said to be
the principal aim of the Quran, it summons the human being insistently, at the very same
time, to reflect and to ponder, and to acquire a realistic view of the world; it guides
him on to the path of thought, of teaching and learning.
In the very first verses of the
Quran to be revealed, we encounter praise and ennobling of the pen, of the acquisition of
knowledge and of the study of nature as one of the principal sources of cognition; a
profound awareness of nature may lead to the boundaries of the supranatural realm. Through
the inspiration given by the Quran and as a result of the scientific movement launched by
Islam, a vital and active people blossomed into maturity, uniquely gifted with knowledge
and virtue. The viewpoint of Islam on science represented a major development that
prepared the way for subsequent developments.
Iqbal, the well-known Indo-Muslim
thinker, says: "The birth of Islam, as I hope to be able presently to prove to your
satisfaction, is the birth of inductive intellect...The constant appeal to reason and
experience in the Quran, and the emphasis that it lays on Nature and History as sources of
human knowledge, are all different aspects of the same idea of finality.
"Inner experience is only
one source of human knowledge. According to the Quran, there are two other sources of
knowledge - Nature and History; and it is in tapping these sources of knowledge that the
spirit of Islam is seen at its best."[32]
All forms of scientific endeavor
are necessarily based on respect for the intellect and for the development of the human
being and on freedom of thought from all kinds of fetters. The principal advances and
developments in the natural sciences are all due to these premises.
The contemporary human being is
heir to the knowledge and the researches of millions of thinkers and scholars who in their
investigations discovered the foundations of the various sciences, and who gained access
to some of the mysteries of being by means of their intellectual originality and
creativity and their untiring efforts.
In the age when the Quran was
revealed - an age known as the Age of Ignorance - creative and innovative thought, marked
by the comprehensive spirit of science, was non-existent, and no one was able to discern
the mysteries of the vast, unknown universe.
When expounding the mysteries of
creation, the Quran is clear and explicit whenever clarity and explicitness are desirable.
In cases where the perception of complex truths was difficult for the people of that age,
the Quran contents itself with making allusions, so that in the course of time as the
intellects and knowledge of human beings developed and the mysteries of nature came more
clearly to the fore, these matters would become more easily comprehensible.
In expounding the contents of the
Quran, Muslim scholars have continually put forward different views, as a result both of
their own researches, investigations and reflections, and of the vast spiritual richness
of the Quran. Given this spiritual richness, it is inconceivable that such a great and
infinite source of truth could have been produced by the talent and intellectual genius of
the human being.
If something takes place by way
of natural causation, it should be possible for people living either at the time of its
first occurrence or in a later age to produce something similar. But if a phenomenon takes
place outside the natural course of things, so that natural laws and criteria are
suspended, people will be unable at all times to attempt its replication.
In the case of the Quran, we see
that all conventional criteria and principles were violated; the entirety of the book
represents a transcendence of all norms.
We have said that the Quran
refers allusively to scientific truths, almost as secondary matters serving as a
preliminary to the attainment of a greater and more glorious goal. We cannot, therefore,
regard it as a technical work of specialization that discusses matters only from the
viewpoint of science.
The Quran refers to certain
aspects of the life of the human being, the earth, the heavens and the plants, but it
would be entirely wrong to imagine that it does so with the intention of elucidating the
natural sciences or resolving dubious points connected with them. The purpose of the Quran
is rather to expound truths that are relevant to the spiritual life of the human being and
the exaltation of his being and conducive to his attaining a life of true happiness.
Furthermore, when expounding
scientific truths which might be couched in a different terminology in every age, the
Quran does not make use of technical terms. For although scientific truths and the laws
governing all phenomena enjoy stability and immutability, and although they have always
existed and always will exist, it is possible that scientific terminology might change
from one age to the next and appear in a totally different form from before.
Discussions in the Quran
concerning the world of creation relate to a series of truths and principles that are not
situated in the sensory realm. The human being can grasp these matters only by recourse to
particular scientific instruments.
Dr. Bucaille, the French
scientist, writes as follows: "A crucial fact is that the Quran, while inviting us to
cultivate science, itself contains many observations on natural phenomena and includes
explanatory details which are seen to be in total agreement with modern scientific data.
There is no equal to this in the Judeo-Christian Revelation.
"These scientific
considerations, which are very specific to the Quran, greatly surprised me at first. Up
until then, I had not thought it possible for one to find so many statements in a text
compiled more than thirteen centuries ago referring to extremely diverse subjects and all
of them totally in keeping with modern scientific knowledge...A thorough linguistic
knowledge is not in itself sufficient to understand these verses from the Quran. What is
needed along with this is a highly diversified knowledge of science. A study such as the
present one embraces many disciplines and is in that sense encyclopedic. As the questions
raised are discussed, the variety of scientific knowledge essential to the understanding
of certain verses of the Quran will become clear.
"The Quran does not aim at
explaining certain laws governing the Universe, however; it has an absolutely basic
religious objective. The descriptions of Divine Omnipotence are what principally incite
the human being to reflect on the works of Creation. They are accompanied by references to
facts accessible to human observation or to laws defined by God who presides over the
organization of the universe both in the sciences of nature.
"One part of these
assertions is easily understood, but the meaning of the other can only be grasped if one
has the essential scientific knowledge it requires...
"The hypothesis advanced by
those who see Muhammad as the author of the Quran is quite untenable. How could a man,
from being illiterate, become the most important author, in terms of literary merit, in
the whole of Arabic literature? How could he then pronounce truths of a scientific nature
that no other human being could possibly have developed at the time, and all this without
once making the slightest error in his pronouncements on the subject?
"The ideas in this study are
developed from a purely scientific point of view. They lead to the conclusion that it is
inconceivable for a human being living in the seventh century AD to have made statements
in the Quran on a great variety of subjects that do not belong to his period and for them
to be in keeping with what was to be known only centuries later. For me, there can be no
human explanation to the Quran." [33]
Let us briefly examine a few
examples of this kind of topic. One, the best-known theory concerning the emergence of the
solar system is the hypothesis of Laplace, some of whose views were later refuted by
certain scientists as a result of further research.
Although there are other views
concerning the factors that caused the emergence of the solar system, all scientific
circles in the world today are agreed that the planets were originally composed of a mass
of sodium gas: first the heavens and the earth were joined together as a single entity and
then they separated from each other.
Centuries ago, the Quran alluded
to this scientific theory. It says, when describing the creation of the heavens:
"Then God turned to the creation of the heavens (the planets), when they were but a
smoky substance." (41:11) "Do the unbelievers not see that the heavens
and the earth were joined together before We separated them, and that We brought all
living things into existence from water? Why do they still not believe in God?"
(21:30)
The well-known scientist Gamof
says: "As we know, the sun came into being out of cumulative gases, and the sun then
emitted a series of gases from itself that came into being after the separation from it of
the planets. How did this burning mass of planetary matter come into being and what forces
were involved in its origination? Who assembled the materials needed for their
construction?
"These are questions which
confront us with respect to the moon as well as every other planet in the solar system;
they form the basis of all cosmological theories and are riddles that have preoccupied
astronomers for centuries."[34]
James, an English scientist,
writes: "Millions of centuries ago, a planet was passing in the vicinity of the sun
and created an awesome tidal effect, so that matter separated from the sun in the shape of
a long cigarette. Then this matter was divided: the weightier portion of the cigarette
became the great planets, and the lighter portions brought the lesser planets into
being."[35]
The words used by the Quran in
the verse quoted above, attributing the origin of the heavens to smoke (=gas), indicates
the profundity with which this Divine book treats matters. All scientists are of the
opinion that sodium is a gas mixed with ferrous materials, and the word smoke/gas may be
taken to include both gas and iron. The word 'smoke' is, then, the most scientific
expression that might be employed in the context.
Thus the Quran unveils one of the
great mysteries of nature: the separation of the planets from a huge object and then their
separation from each other. Since at the time of the revelation of the Quran, the general
level of knowledge and science was extremely low, does this not constitute a proof of the
heavenly nature of the Quran?
Does not the exposition of these
matters by the Quran, in a manner conforming to quite recent discoveries made by
astronomers, prove that the voice speaking in the Quran belongs to one who is acquainted
with all the mysteries and truths of existence?
Dr. Bucaille makes the following
open admission: "At the earliest time it can provide us with, modern science has
every reason to maintain that the Universe was formed of a gaseous mass principally
composed of hydrogen and a certain amount of helium that was slowly rotating. This nebula
subsequently split up into multiple fragments with very large dimensions and masses, so
large indeed, that specialists in astrophysics are able to estimate their mass from 1 to
100 billion times the present mass of the Sun (the latter represents a mass that is over
300,000 times that of the Earth). These figures give an idea of the large size of the
fragments of primary gaseous mass that were to give birth to the galaxies.
"It must be noted, however,
that the formation of the heavenly bodies and the Earth, as explained in verses 9 to 12,
surah 41....required two phases. If we take the Sun and its sub-product, the Earth as an
example (the only one accessible to us), science informs us that their formation occurred
by a process of condensation of the primary nebula and then their separation. This is
exactly what the Quran expresses very clearly when it refers to the processes that
produced a fusion and subsequent separation starting from a celestial 'smoke'. Hence there
is complete correspondence between the facts of the Quran and the facts of science.
"Such statements in the
Quran concerning the Creation, which appeared nearly fourteen centuries ago, obviously do
not lend themselves to a human explanation."[36]
Two, one of the most subtle
problems in science concerns the expansion of the universe, its tendency constantly to
extend its boundaries. This was something completely unknown to the human being until the
last century. This mystery is, however, mentioned by the Quran in the following terms,
which again bear witness to its remarkable profundity when discussing such matters: "We
created the heavens with Our strength and power, and constantly expand them."
(51:47)
This verse speaks in categorical
terms of the expansion of the universe, its constellations and galaxies, although not more
than a century has passed since the discovery of the expansion of the universe.
The well-known scholar Baresht
writes as follows: "Astronomers gradually became aware that certain regular motions
were underway in the most distant galaxies that were barely visible to their telescopes.
Those distant galaxies appear to be moving away both from the solar system and from each
other.
"The regular flight of these
galaxies, the closest of which is five hundred light-years away from us, is completely
different from the placid motion of attraction exerted by bodies close to us. Those
distant motions may have an effect on the curvature of the universe. The universe is not,
then, in a state of immobility and balance; it is more like a soap bubble or a bellows in
its constant expansion."[37]
Another scholar, John Pfeffer,
writes as follows: "The universe is expanding. Wherever we look, we see the galaxies
becoming more distant from each other; the distance between them is constantly growing.
The most distant galaxies are becoming ever more removed from us, at the greatest
conceivable speed. For example, while you have been reading this sentence, some of the
galaxies will have become 250,000 miles farther removed from the earth.
"The parts of the universe
are becoming farther removed from each other. It is as if a bullet had exploded in the
air, the galaxies corresponding to the particles of the bullet as they hasten farther and
farther apart. The theory of the big bang is based on precisely such a comparison.
"According to this theory,
there was a time when all the matter in the universe was gathered together into a single
dense mass. It was a substance suspended in space, with a volume hundreds of times greater
than the sun, and resembled a bomb ready to explode. Then, about ten billion years ago,
the explosion took place with a blinding flash, and the huge ball of matter became
scattered in space. Its components are still being scattered forth in every direction, in
a process of unceasing expansion - gases, rays, galaxies."[38]
The Glorious Quran draws people's
attention to the splendor inherent in the ordering of the universe and the complexity of
its creation, and it reminds them that the signs of the Creator's workmanship are so
numerous in the universe that if the human being reflects aright he will inevitably come
to believe in the eternal power of God, the source of all being. Then he will bow humbly
before His magnificence.
We read in Surah al-Imran:
"Certainly in the creation of the heavens and earth and in the alternation of night
and day, there are clear signs for the intelligent, those who at all times make
remembrance of God and constantly reflect on the creation of the heavens and the earth and
say: 'Oh Creator! You have not created this expanse of splendor and magnificence in vain;
You are pure and transcendent, so preserve us through Your favor from the torment of the
fire.' "(3:190-91)
References:
The Seal of the Prophets and His Message
By: Sayyid Mujtaba Musavi Lari
Translated by: Hamid Algar
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