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THE
QURAN IS THE GREATEST OF ALL THE
PROPHETIC MIRACLES, AND
PROPHET MUHAMMAD WAS ENDOWED IN FULL
WILL
ALL THE LEVELS OF ALL THE DIVINE NAMES
The
wise Quran is the supreme miracle of
the Prophet Muhammad, upon him be peace
and blessings, the seal of the office of
Prophethood, the leader of the Prophets
and cause of pride of all beings. To his
cause of Messengership the miracles of
all the previous Prophets are like a
single miracle. He was endowed in full
with all the levels of all the Names
which were taught in brief to Adam, upon
him be peace. The Prophet Muhammad, upon
him be peace and blessings, by raising
his finger in a mood of majesty, split
the moon, and by lowering it in
manifestation of grace, made water flow
from it abundantly; and he was verified
and corroborated by hundreds of
miracles. Through numerous clear verses
like,
Say:
‘If men and jinn banded together
to produce the like of this Quran,
they would never produce its like,
not though they backed one
another.’ (17:88)
which
expresses the purity of its explanation
and the eloquence of its expression, the
comprehensiveness of its meanings, and
the sublimity and sweetness of its
styles which together constitute one of
the most brilliant aspects of the Quran’s
miraculousness-through verses like
these, it attracts the attention of men
and jinn to the most manifest and
brilliant aspects of that Eternal
Miracle. It provokes all men and jinn.
Stirring up the zeal of its friends and
the obstinacy of its enemies, it
encourages and stimulates them with
great intensity to produce a like of it,
to imitate it, and to resemble it with
their words. It places that miracle
before the eyes of creatures as if the
only aim in man coming into this world
is to take it as his goal and guiding
principle in life, and studying it, to
advance consciously and knowingly to the
goal destined in man’s creation.
In
brief: The miracles of the other
Prophets, upon them be peace, each point
to a wonder of human arts or crafts and
technology, and the miracle of Adam,
upon him be peace, indicates in concise,
summarized from, besides the basis of
those crafts, the indexes of the
sciences and branches of knowledge, and
of wonders and perfections, and urges
man towards them. As for the Quran of
Miraculous Expression, the supreme
miracle of Muhammad, upon him be peace
and blessings, being the object of the
manifestations of all the Divine Names
in their fullness, it shows fully the
true goal of sciences and all branches
of knowledge, and the perfections,
attainments, and happiness pertaining to
this world and the next. Also, with
truly powerful encouragement, it urges
man towards them. It urges in such a way
that it means:
O
man! The sublime aim in the creation
of this universe is your response to
the manifestation of Divine
Lordship-administering, directing,
training and sustaining-with
universal worship, while your
furthest aim is to realize that
worship through sciences,
attainments and perfections.
The
Quran states this in such a way that
through it it hints:
For
sure, at the end of time, mankind
will all pour into science and
learning. They will derive all
strength from science. Power and
rule will pass to the hand of
science and knowledge.
Also,
by frequently emphasizing its eloquence
and beauty of style, the Quran of
Miraculous Expression suggests:
At
the end of time, eloquence and
beauty of expression, which are the
most brilliant of sciences and
branches of knowledge, will be most
sought after in all their varieties.
Even, in order to make one another
accept their opinions and exercise
their rule, men will find their most
effective weapon in eloquent
expression, and their most
irresistible force in fine oratory.
In
short: Most of the Quran’s verses
are each a key to a treasury of
perfections and a store of knowledge. If
you would like to ascend to the sky of
the Quran and reach up to the stars
of its verses, make those twenty Words,
which you have already read, a stairway
of twenty steps, and climb to them. You
will see what a brilliant, shining sun
the Quran is! Notice how it radiates
a pure light over the Divine truths and
the truths of the contingent (created)
realm! See what a brilliant light it
spreads!
Conclusion:
Since the verses concerning the Prophets
contain some allusions to the wonders of
the present level of technology, and
have a manner of expression which
suggests their furthest limits, and
since it is certain, as is unanimously
agreed, that each verse of the Quran
bears a great variety of meanings, and
since there are categorical commands to
follow and obey the Prophets, then
besides their explicit meanings, the
verses mentioned above must be pointing
to the importance of man’s arts and
sciences, and urging man towards them.
Other
examples of the Quran’s reference
to scientific discoveries
The formation and the developmental
phases of an embryo in the uterus
What
the Quran reveals about the formation
and the developmental phases of an
embryo in the uterus is striking:
O
mankind! if you have a doubt about
the Resurrection, (consider) that
We created you out of dust, then
out of sperm, then out of a
leech-like cloth, then out of a
lump of flesh, partly formed and
partly unformed, in order that We
may manifest (what We will) to
you. (22:5)
In
another verse, the development is
explained in greater detail, and the
distinct phases more clearly
emphasized:
Man
We created from a quintessence (of
clay). Then We placed him as (a
drop of) sperm in a place of rest,
firmly fixed. Then we made the
sperm into a clot of congealed
blood. Then of that clot We made a
lump (embryo); then we made out of
that lump bones and clothed the
bones with flesh. Then We
developed out of it a new
(distinct, individual) creature.
(23:12-4)
The milk and the process of its
production
What
the Quran has said about milk and the
process of its production is as
brilliant as the drink itself is.
And
verily in cattle (too) will you
find an instructive sign. From
what is from their bodies,
between excretions and blood, We
produce, for your drink, milk,
pure and agreeable to those who
drink it. (16:66)
The
Quran narrates the process in
remarkable detail: part-digestion of
what is ingested as food, absorption of
it; a second process and refinement in
the glands. Milk is a wholesome and
agreeable diet for man, yet it is a
secretion, like other secretions,
between the excretions which the body
rejects as useless and the precious
blood-stream which circulates in the
body.
Creation in pairs
The
Quran has revealed that all
things in nature are created in
pairs.
Glory
be to God, who created in pairs
all things, of what the earth
produces, of themselves, and of
which they have no knowledge.
(36:36)
All
things are in twos. Every thing has its
pair or counterpart, opposite to it or
complementary. The complementarity of sexes in man and animals and certain
plants has long been known. But, what
about the pairs in all things, of which
they have no knowledge? This may refer
to a whole range of entities, inanimate
as well as animate. In the subtle forces
and principles of nature within (as well
as among) animate or inanimate entities,
there are many kinds of pairs. All
things, from atoms to clouds, as our
modern instruments can confirm, do
indeed occur in twos.
The first creation of the world and
of living forms in it
The
Quran recounts, in its own
unique idiom, the first creation
of the world and of living forms
in it:
Do
not the unbelievers see that the
heavens and the earths were joined
together (as a single mass),
before We clove them asunder? We
made from water every living
thing. Will they not then believe?
(21:30)
The
narrative in the Quran is manifest
and clear, and should not be
confounded with the different
hypotheses that are aired as to whether
the primary material in creation is an
ether or a large cloud, a huge nebula, a
mass of hot gas or something else. The
Quran has also explained that every
living thing was created of water. The
Scripture does not concern itself with
whether this unique source of life came
about as a result of gases and vapors
which first rose from the earth, later
condensing and returning to it as
rain, then formed the seas and so
prepared a suitable context and
condition for life to form, or whether
it happened in some other way. The verse
in the Quran explicitly and
unmistakably presents the universe as
a single miracle of creation.
Everything in the universe is an
integral part of that miracle and bears
signs that prove it so. Everything is
interconnected, like the leaves in some
massive tree which are different but
like one another and linked to a common
root. The verse is, of course, also
emphasizing the vitality and
significance of water which constitutes
three-fourths of the mass of most living
bodies.
The movement of the sun
The
sun has a special and significant place
in the creation. The Qur’an reveals
the most important aspects of it in just
four words of Arabic whose full meaning
cannot easily be rendered:
And
the sun runs its course (mustaqarr)
determined for it. That is His
decree, the Exalted in Might,
the All-Knowing. (36:38)1
In
fact, mustaqarr here may mean a
determined route in space, or a fixed
place of rest or dwelling, as well as
a determined route in time. We are
told not only that the sun runs a
predetermined course, but also that it
moves towards a particular point in
the universe. The solar system (the
sun and its dependent planets and
satellites), as we now know, is
running to the constellation Lyra at
an almost inconceivable speed (every
second we come ten miles closer to
that constellation, almost a million
miles a day). Our attention is also
drawn to the fact that when the sun
has finished its appointed task it
will abide by a command and come to
rest.
Such
is the richness of the Quran that
many truths are told in so few words.
Here, in only four words, many vaguely
known things are clarified although
the Quran was revealed fourteen
centuries ago when people generally
believed that the sun made a daily
circuit around the earth.
Expansion of the universe
Another
of the inspiring and eloquent
utterances in the Quran concerns
the spreading out or expansion of the
universe in space; again, the Arabic
original uses only four words:
And
the firmament: We constructed it
with power and skill, and We are
spreading it. (51:47-8)
The
verse reveals to us that the distance
(space) between celestial bodies is
increasing, the universe is
expanding. In 1922 the astronomer
Hubble claimed that all galaxies
except the five closest to the
earth, are moving further away into
space at a speed directly proportional
to their distance from the earth.
According to Hubble, a galaxy one
million light years away is moving
away at a speed of 168 km/year, one
two million light years away at twice
that speed, and so on. Le Maître, a
Belgian mathematician and priest,
later proposed and developed the
theory that the universe is expanding.
No matter how human beings try to
express this reality, whether through
Hubble’s coefficient or (in the
future) through someone else’s, the
Revelation is unmistakably clear as
regards the reality itself.
The laws of general gravitation
and repulsion
We
are given some indication in the Quran
of the invisible operation of what
we now call the laws of physics, such
as attraction and repulsion, and
rotation and revolution in the
universe:
God
is He Who raised the heavens
without any pillars that you can
see. (13:2)
The
celestial bodies, from individual
satellites to entire solar systems,
move in order, balance and harmony.
They are held and supported in this
order by pillars but not of the sort
one can see. Some of these pillars are
repulsion or centrifugal force:
He
holds back the sky from falling
on earth except by His leave.
(22:65)
From
this verse we understand that the
heavenly bodies may at any moment
collapse on the earth except that the
All-Mighty does not allow it, and that
is an instance of the universal
obedience to His Word which, in the
language of contemporary science, is
explained as a balance of
centripetal and centrifugal forces.
It is of far greater importance that
we turn our minds to that obedience
and to the Divine Mercy by which the
universe is held in its reliable
motion than to whether people now
follow Newton’s or Einstein’s
theories about the mechanical and
mathematical terms of that obedience.
Traveling in space
There
is a verse in the Quran which some
commentators have thought may be a
reference to traveling to the moon, a
once remote possibility which, not so
long ago, became an actuality:
By
the moon’s fullness! you shall
surely travel from stage to
stage. (84:18-9)
Earlier
commentators understood this verse
quite differently. They read it
figuratively in reference to man’s
spiritual life considered as an
ascent, from one stage to the next
above it, from one heaven to another.
Others interpreted the verse as
referring to change in general from
one state to another. Over the course
of time, later interpreters of the Quran
tried to explain the sense in
roundabout ways because the literal
meaning of the verse did not agree
with what they felt sure they knew
about the possibility of actually
traveling distances of this magnitude.
But in fact, the more appropriate
sense of the words following the oath
(By the moon!), given the immediate
context of the verse, is that of
really traveling to the moon, whether
literally or figuratively.
The shape of the earth and changes
in it
The
words in the Book about the
geographical shape of the earth and
change in that shape are
particularly interesting:
Do
they not see how We gradually
shrink the land from its
outlying borders? Is it then
they who will be victors?
(21:44)
The
reference to shrinking from its
borders could relate to the now known
fact that the earth is compressed down
at the poles, rather than to the
erosion of mountains by wind and rain,
or of the sea-shores by the sea, or to
the encroachment of the desert upon
lands cultivated (and so dominated)
by man.
At
a time when people generally believed
that the earth was flat and
stationary, the Qur’an revealed in
several different verses, explicitly
and implicitly, that it is round. More
unexpectedly still, it also tells us
that the precise shape is more like an
ostrich egg than a sphere.
After
that He shaped the earth like an
egg, whence He caused to spring
forth the water thereof, and the
pasture thereof. (79:30-2)
The
verb in Arabic (daha’) means to
shape like an egg, the derived noun
form (da’hia) is still used to mean
an egg. Because the scientific fact
may have appeared in their time to be
contrary to sense-impression, some
interpreters misunderstood the
meaning of the word, as stretched out,
perhaps fearing that the literal
meaning might be difficult to
understand and so mislead. Of course,
modern instruments have established
quite recently that the shape of the
world is indeed more like an egg than
a perfect sphere, that there is a
slight flattening around the poles and
a slight curving around the equator.
The early forms of the sun and the
moon
As
a last example, consider what the Quran
says about the sun and the moon:
We
have made the night and the day
as two signs; the sign of the
night We have obscured, while
the sign of the day We have made
to enlighten you. (17:12)
According
to Ibn ‘Abbas, the sign of the night
refers to the moon, the sign of the
day to the sun. Therefore, from the
words the sign of the night We have
obscured, we understand that the moon
once emitted light as the sun does;
and that God took its light from it,
caused it to darken or obscured it.
While the verse thus accurately
recounts the past of the moon, it
also points to the future destiny of
other heavenly bodies.
There
are many more verses in the Quran
that are related to what we now call
scientific facts. The existence of
such verses indicates that man’s
seeking of knowledge is a portion of
Divine Mercy graciously bestowed upon
him by his Creator. Indeed, Divine
Mercy is one of the Quran’s names
for itself, and all that it contains
of truth and knowledge is beyond the
compass of man to even tell, let alone
to hold in his mind. We must remember,
however, that while the Quran
contains allusions to many scientific
truths, it is not therefore to be read
as a book of science or scientific
explanations. Rather it is, and has
always been understood by believers to
be, the book of guidance which teaches
mankind the way to right belief and
right action so that we may be worthy
of Divine Mercy and Forgiveness. It is
the responsibility of Muslims to
ensure that the pursuit of knowledge,
scientific or otherwise, is
conducted in the light of the Quran
which so encourages and supports it
and not in a spirit of arrogance and
insolence and vainglory, which is
the way of unbelievers and which will
lead to desolation of mind and the
degradation of man and the earth
which, only by God’s leave, man
temporarily inhabits and hold in
trust.
Atmospheric temperature,
gravitational attraction and
balance
In
the verse about the creation of the
universe, “Then, He turned to the
heaven when it was smoke, and said to
it and to the earth, ‘Come willingly
or unwillingly.’ They said: ‘We
come willingly” (40:11) the Quran
indicates that there is a difficulty
in the cooperation between the earth
and heaven. As is known, the molecules
and atoms in the atmosphere try to
escape into space while the earth
tries to attract and captivate them.
For the formation of an atmosphere,
the motions leading to the escape of
molecules have to be counterbalanced
by the gravitational attraction of the
earth. This is an almost impossibly
difficult condition to fulfill. From
the standpoint of Geophysics, these
extremely difficult conditions require
the preservation of three important
balances: (i) atmospheric temperature,
(ii) proportionate gravitational
attraction on the part of the earth,
and (iii) the non-violation of this
balance by various radiant energies
arriving from space. The Quran
expresses all these facts by the
phrases “Then He turned to the
heaven.. and said to the heaven and
the earth: Come willingly or
unwillingly”. That the almost
impossible conditions are fulfilled
only by God’s power is indicated by
the phrase, “They said: ‘We come
willingly.’”
Star locations
The
verses 75 and 76 of the Chapter ‘The
Fearful Event’, “No, I swear by
the positions of stars; and if you but
knew, that is indeed a mighty oath”
are interpreted by modern scientists
to allude to the ‘star locations’
or ‘black holes’ and ‘white
holes (quassars)’. The verse, “Glory
be to Him, Who created in pairs all
things that the earth produces, as
well as their own selves, and many
other things of which they know
nothing” (36:36), after beginning
with the warning that God Himself is
beyond being involved in any
duplication, any likeness or equal,
proceeds with telling of the existence
of created things in pairs, this
existence indicates opposition
simultaneously with similarity. The
scientific definition of the creation
in pairs implies ‘similar opposites’.
The Quran gives three examples of
existence in pairs: (i) Pairs produced
by the earth (positron-electron,
antiproton-proton,
antineutron-neutron; pairs that differ
in their physical and chemical
characteristics, e.g. metals and
nonmetals; biologically opposed pairs:
male and female sexes of plants and
animals, and physically opposed
pairs.) (ii) Pairs of their selves
(man and woman, personality traits
such as cruel - compassionate,
generous - mean, and traits which are
similar but subject to opposed value
judgments such as hypocrisy -
consideration..) (iii) Pairs we do not
know about. The discovery of the
positron and ‘parity’ (creation in
pairs) may be regarded as a turning
point in contemporary Physics, a fact
which was mentioned fourteen centuries
ago by the Quran.
Spherical shape of planets and
their rotations
The
verse “He is the Lord of the heavens
and the earth, and all that lies
between them; He is the Lord of the
easts” (37:15) indicates the
spherical shape of planets and their
rotations. Because the concept of the
‘Easts’ introduces infinite
dimensions, and differs for each
location on the earth. A point on the
earth is in the east with respect to
its western regions, therefore the ‘East’
concept is different at every point on
earth, and these form an ensemble of
easts. Besides, there are 180 points
of sunrise, that is, the Sun rises at
one place for only two days in the
year so there are 180 ‘easts’.
Therefore, this verse is also
indicative of meridians as well as of
infinite dimensions, and of the
relativity of space and the spherical
shape of planets as well as the
rotation of the earth.
A barrier between “two seas”
The
French scientist Jacques Cousteeu has
discovered that the Mediterranean and
the Atlantic Ocean differ in terms of
their chemical and biological
constitution. Captain Cousteau
conducted various undersea
investigations at the Straits of
Gibraltar in order to explain this
phenomenon, concluding that “unexpected
fresh water springs issue from the
Southern and Northern coasts of the
Gibraltar. These water sprouts gush
forth towards each other at angle of
45°, forming a reciprocal dam like
the teeth of a comb. Due to this fact,
the Mediterranean and the Atlantic
Ocean cannot intermingle.”
Subsequent to this assessment,
Cousteau was amazed upon being shown
the Quranic verse “He has let
forth the two seas, that meet
together. Between them a barrier, they
do not overpass” (55:19-20). This
verse further invites our attention to
the plankton composition of the seas,
and to the flora and fish
distributions that change with
variations in temperature. There are
many other verses in the Quran
which shed light upon scientific
facts, and it invites everyone to
study it: “Now We made the Quran
easy for reflection and study. Is
there any that will study and reflect?”
1.
“The sun moves (in its course)
to a resting-place for it”
The
statement just discussed comprises
only five words. All the
statements of the Quran contain
lots of information either
explicitly or implicitly and
allusively to satisfy all levels
of understanding in all times
until the Judgment Day. Another
example is a statement of, in its
original, only four words: The sun
moves (in its course) to a
resting-place for it (36.38).
Before
elucidating other meanings and
connotations of this statement, we
should remember that in the past
people, judging again by their
sense-impressions, believed that
the earth was motionless while the
sun moved around it. Later
developments in science and
observation showed that the earth
spins upon its own axis and orbits
the sun which is, relatively,
motionless. First of all, since
people see the sun moving, the Quran
mentions it as moving. Second, the
Quran mentions the sun here as
an illustration of the magnificent
order prevailing throughout the
universe as a sign of God’s
Might and Knowledge. The context
where this statement is, is as
follows:
A
sign for them is the night. We
strip it of the day, and behold!
they are in darkness. And the
sun moves (in its course) to a
resting-place for it. That is
the measuring and ordaining of
the All-Mighty, the All-Knowing.
And for the moon We have
appointed mansions till it
return like an old shriveled
palm-leaf. It is not for the sun
to overtake the moon, nor does
the night outstrip the day. They
float, each in an orbit.
(36.37-40)
We
understand from the statement in
its context that the sun has a
vital function in the universal
order. The word the Quran uses
in the statement, mustaqarr, means
stability, of the course and the
place in which stability is
secured. So, the statement can
mean that the sun has a central
position in the order of the
universe. Second, the preposition
used together with the word mustaqarr, li, has three meanings:
for, to, and in. Therefore, the
exact meaning of the statement
comprising four words is: The sun
moves following a route or course
to a fixed place determined for it
for the purpose of its (system’s)
stability.
The
recent discovery about the
movement of the sun
In
recent decades, solar astronomers
have been able to observe that (Bartusiac,
M. (1994) ‘Sounds of the Sun’,
American Scientist,
January-February, pp.61-68) the
sun is not in fact motionless. It
quivers and shakes and continually
rings like a well-hit gong. These
vibrations of the sun reveal vital
information about the sun’s deep
interior, its hidden layers,
information which affects
calculations of the age of the
universe. Also, knowing exactly
how the sun spins internally is
important in testing Einstein’s
theory of general relativity. Like
so many other significant findings
in astronomy, this discovery about
the sun was totally unexpected.
Having discovered the quivering
and ringing sun, some astronomers
have commented that it is as if
the sun were a symphony orchestra,
with all the instruments being
played simultaneously. All the
vibrations combine at times to
produce a net oscillation on the
solar surface that is thousands of
times stronger than any individual
vibration.
What
did Bediuzzaman write concerning
the movement of the sun almost a
century ago?
Commenting
on the Qur’anic verse, The sun
moves to a resting-place for it,
several decades before this
totally unexpected discovery in
astronomy, Said Nursi had written
(Muhakemat (‘Reasonings’),
Istanbul pp. 68-69):
As
the word ‘moves’ points to a
style, the phrase ‘in its
course’ demonstrates a
reality. The sun, like a vessel
built of gold, travels and
floats in the ocean of the
heavens comprising ether and
defined as a stretched and
tightened wave. Although it
quivers and shakes in its course
or orbit, since people see it
running, the Qur’an uses the
word travel or float. However,
since the origin of the force of
gravity is movement, the sun
moves and quivers in its orbit.
Through this vibration, which is
the wheel of its figurative
movement, its satellites are
attracted to it and preserved
from falling and scattering.
When a tree quivers, its fruits
fall. But when the sun quivers
and shakes, its fruits-its
satellites-are preserved from
falling.
Again,
wisdom requires that the sun
should move and travel on its
mobile throne-its course or
orbit-accompanied by its
soldiers-its satellites. For the
Divine Power has made everything
moving and condemned nothing to
absolute rest or motionlessness.
Divine Mercy allows nothing to
be condemned to inertia which is
the cousin of death. So, the sun
is free, it can travel provided
it obeys the laws of God and
does not disturb others’
freedom. So, it may actually be
traveling, as its traveling may
also be figurative. However,
what is important according to
the Qur’an is the universal
order the wheel of which is the
sun and its movement. Through
the sun, the stability and
orderliness of the system are
ensured.
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