Islam and Science
Then which of your Lord’s favors will you ˹humans and jinn˺ both deny?
- Ar-Rahman (13)
The Quran and Science
Animal Behavior
The holy Quran talks about the bee in Surah Al Nahl Chapter 16 Verse 68-69; (It is Allah SW who has taught the bee to build its cells in hills on trees and human habitations and to eat of what the earth produces and to find its spacious path of the Lord with great skills). Just few decades ago scientist Fon Fresh received the noble prize for describing the behavior and movement of the bee. Today after science has advanced, we know that whenever a bee finds a new garden or a flower it tells its fellows bees the exact direction of the garden or flower so that they could collect nectar by a process named “bee dance”. Science has proven this process recently.
Previously, we thought, it was the male bee which was worker bee. Today we have come to know that it is not the male bee, it is the female bee which is the worker bee. This is mentioned in the Quran in Surah Al Nahl Chapter 16 Verse 68-69. (And thy Lord taught the Bee to build its cells in hills, on trees, and in (men's) habitations; Then to eat of all the produce (of the earth) and find with skill the spacious paths of its Lord: there issues from within their bodies a drink of varying colors, wherein is healing for men: verily in this is a Sign for those who give thought). The words used in this verse: (Take) اتَّخِذِي, (Eat) كُلِي and (Follow) فَاسْلُكِي all are for a female subject, grammatically.
Surah Al Naml Chapter 27 Verse 17-18 (And gathered for Solomon were his soldiers of the Jinn and men and birds, and they were [marching] in rows, at length, when they came to a (lowly) valley of ants, one of the ants said: "O ye ants, get into your habitations, lest Solomon and his hosts crush you (under foot) without knowing it."). After science has advanced it tells us the animal or insect which has the closest resemblance to the human being is the ant. Ants bury the dead as the same way humans do. They have a sophisticated method of communication and labor, (manager, supervisor, worker, etc.), and an organized way of living.
Milk Production
Today, what we have to know about the production of milk is mentioned in the Quran 1400 years ago, in Surah Al Nahl Chapter 16 Verse 66 it says; (Verily in the cattle is a lesson for you, We give you to drink from what is within the body coming from a conjunction between the constituents of the intestine and blood: milk, which is pure for you to have).
The same message is repeated in Surah Al Mu’minoon Chapter 23 Verse 21 (That verily in the cattle is lesson for you, We give you to drink milk which is pure that come from within the body of the cattle, in it there are various benefits, and of that meat you can eat). So the Quran speaks about blood circulation and milk production 1400 years ago.
Embryology
Nearly 30 years ago, a group of students collected all the data that they could find in the Quran as well as the Hadith dealing with embryology and they presented it to Professor Keith Moore, following the verse of the Quran Surah Al Nahl Chapter 16 Verse 43, and Surah Al Anbiya Chapter 21 Verse 7 (And We sent not before you, [O Muhammad], except men to whom We revealed [the message], so ask the people of the Scriptures if you do not know or in doubt , ask the person who is knowledgeable).
This was 30 years ago, and Prof. Moore at the time was one of the highest authorities of the embryology department and the head of the department of anatomy in the University of Toronto, Canada. He said that most of the verses of the Quran that speak about embryology are in perfect conformity with the latest advances in the field of embryology. But there were a couple of verses of the Quran that he could not label as right or wrong as he did not know about them. Two such verses were Surah Al Alaq Chapter 96 Verse 1-2 (Read, recite, proclaim, in the name of the Lord who has created the human beings from something which clings a leach like substance).
Prof. Keith Moore said that he was unaware whether the initial stage of the embryo looks like a leech or not, so he went in his laboratory and under a very powerful microscope observe the early stage of the embryo and compared it with the photograph of a leech. And he was astonished of the striking resemblance. Later, when 80 questions were asked to him regarding embryology in the Quran and Hadith. He said, “if you would have asked me 30 years ago, I would not be able to answer more than 50% because embryology is a new branch of medicine which has developed recently. You can also refer to his book named, “The Developing Human”. In this book, he incorporated the new information he got from the Quran and the Hadith. The Prof. Keith Moore said that this information in the Quran cannot come from a human source. He added that the author of this Quran has to be almighty God and that he has no objection in agreeing that the prophet Muhammad (pbuh) was the messenger of God.
Quran says in Surah Al Taariq Chapter 86 Verse 5-7 (So let man observe from what he was created. He is created from a fluid coming from between the backbone and ribs). Science now knows that the genital organ in human beings in the embryonic age when the child is in the womb of the mother, develops from a space close to the kidneys and originates between the spinal column and 11th and 12th ribs.
The Quran has mentions is no less than 11 different places that the human being is created from a “Nutfah”. Surah Al Hajj Chapter 22 Verse 5 and Surah Al Mu’minoon Chapter 23 Verse13 (that the human being has been created from a Nutfah). It means a minor quantity of liquid. The Quran also say in Surah Al Sajdah Chapter 32 Verse 8 (that We have created the human being from the best part of the whole). Today, science tells us that only one Spermatozoa out of 300 million sperm that are emitted is sufficient to fertilize the ovum which Quran refers as “Sulalah”.
The Quran says in Surah Al Insaan Chapter 76 Verse 2 that (Indeed, We created man from a sperm-drop mixture that We may try him; and We made him hearing and seeing. We have created the human beings from Nutfah amshaj; a minute quantity, of mingled fluids). Today science says that both the male fluid and the female fluid is responsible for the birth of a baby.
Genetics
As we know, it is the sperm which is responsible for determining the sex of the child. The 23rd pair of chromosomes in the human being determine the sex of the child. If it’s XX, it’s female, if it’s XY, its male. Surah Al Najm Chapter 53 Verse 45-46 that (We have created the human being the male and female from a minute quantity of liquid ejaculated) it means it has to be a male fluid. A similar message is repeated in Surah Al Qiyaamah Chapter 75 Verse 37-39 (Had he not been a sperm from semen emitted? Then did he become a leech-like clot; then did (Allah) make and fashion (him) in due proportion. And of it He made two sexes, male and female). The Quran says the sperm is responsible for the sex of the child. The Quran says in Surah Al Zumar Chapter 39 Verse 6 that (He created you (all) from a single person: then created, of like nature, his mate; and he sent down for you eight head of cattle in pairs: He makes you, in the wombs of your mothers, in stages, one after another, in three veils of darkness. such is Allah, your Lord and Cherisher: to Him belongs (all) dominion. There is no god but He: then how can you be turned away?).
According to Pro. Keith Moore this verse of the Quran it refers to the anterior abdominal wall, the uterine wall and the embryonic chronic membrane. The Quran describes various embryological stages in great detail. In Surah Al Mu’minoon Chapter 23 Verse 12-14 that (We have created the human being from acquaintances of clay then made it into a (nutfah); a minor quantity of liquid then made it from nutfah to (alaqa); a leech-like substance, then made it into a chewed like lump then made this lump into (Izaama) bones then clothed the bones with flesh and then We made a different creature, glory be to Allah who is the best to create). These three verses of the Quran describe the various stages of development, especially the initial stages of development in the mother’s womb in detail. Up until these stages of development, it is similar to the development of a fish, rabbit, and many other vertebrates. According to Pro. Keith Moore, the description given in the Quran about the stages of development is far superior and easier than modern science.
The Function Of Mountains
The Quran draws attention to a very important geological function of mountains in Surah Al Anbiya, V.31 “We placed firmly embedded mountain on the earth, so that it would not move under them.” As noticed, it states in this verse that the mountains have the function of preventing shocks on the earth. This fact was not known by anyone at the time the Quran was revealed. It was in fact brought to light recently as the result of the study of geology. According to these findings, mountains emerge as the movement and collision of massive plates. “Where continents are thicker, as in mountain ranges, the crust sinks deeper into the mantle”. (General Science pg. 30, 1985)
In another verse, the role of the mountains is pointed out through a comparison with pegs. Surah An Naba, V.6-7, “Have We not made the earth as a bed and the mountains its pegs?” Mountains in other words clinch the plates in the earth crossed together by extending above and beneath the earth’s surface at the conjunction points of these plates. We may also compare a mountain to a nail that keeps pieces of wood together. This fixing function of the mountains is defined in scientific literature with the term Isostasy which means a general equilibrium in the earth’s crust maintained by a yielding flow of rock material beneath the surface under gravitational stress.
This role of mountains that was discovered by modern scientific research was revealed in the Quran as an example of supreme wisdom in God’s creation in Surah Al Anbiya, V.31. “We placed firmly embedded mountain on the earth, so that it would not move under them.”
Movement Of Mountains
The Quran draws attention to a very important geological function of mountains in Surah Al Anbiya, V.31 “We placed firmly embedded mountain on the earth, so that it would not move under them.” As noticed, it states in this verse that the mountains have the function of preventing shocks on the earth. This fact was not known by anyone at the time the Quran was revealed. It was in fact brought to light recently as the result of the study of geology. According to these findings, mountains emerge as the movement and collision of massive plates. “Where continents are thicker, as in mountain ranges, the crust sinks deeper into the mantle”. (General Science pg. 30, 1985)
In another verse, the role of the mountains is pointed out through a comparison with pegs. Surah An Naba, V.6-7, “Have We not made the earth as a bed and the mountains its pegs?” Mountains in other words clinch the plates in the earth crossed together by extending above and beneath the earth’s surface at the conjunction points of these plates. We may also compare a mountain to a nail that keeps pieces of wood together. This fixing function of the mountains is defined in scientific literature with the term Isostasy which means a general equilibrium in the earth’s crust maintained by a yielding flow of rock material beneath the surface under gravitational stress.
This role of mountains that was discovered by modern scientific research was revealed in the Quran as an example of supreme wisdom in God’s creation in Surah Al Anbiya, V.31. “We placed firmly embedded mountain on the earth, so that it would not move under them.”
The Mystery In Iron
Iron is one of the elements highlighted in the Quran. Surah Al- Hadid, V.25 (“We sent down iron in which there lies great force, and which has many uses for mankind”). The word sent down contains several meanings. It could particularly be iron in the world, but when we take into consideration the literal meaning of the word which is being physically sent down from the sky. When we realize that this verse implies very significant scientific miracles. This is because modern astronomical findings have disclosed that the metal of iron found in our world has sent down from the giant stars out of space exactly the same way stated in the verse.
Layers of the Atmosphere
Surah Al-Baqarah, Chapter 2 Verse 29 (It is He who created for you all of that which is on the earth. Then He directed Himself to the heaven, [His being above all creation], and made them seven heavens, and He is Knowing of all things.)
Scientists have found that the atmosphere consists of exactly seven layers. The layers differ in such physical properties as pressure and the types of gasses. These include the Troposphere, Stratosphere, Ozone Layer, Mesosphere, Thermosphere, Ionosphere, and the Exosphere. It is a great miracle that these facts which could not possibly be discovered without the technology of the 20th century were expressively stated by the Quran 1400 years ago.
The Returning Sky
Surah Al Taariq V.11 (“By the sky which returns [rain]”)
In the Quran, the secondary characteristics of the formation of rain are mentioned in Surah Al-Hijr, V.22 (“And We send the fecundating winds, then cause water to descend from the sky, therewith providing you with water in abundance”). In this verse, it is pointed out that the first stage of rain formation is wind. Until the beginning of 20th century, the only relationship between the wind and rain was known as the wind driving clouds. However, modern meteorologist findings have demonstrated the fecundating role of the wind and the formation of rain, which is exactly the same as the Quran has mentioned. Another verse says, Surah Al-Zukhruf, V.11 (“It is He Who sends down water in due measure from the sky by which We bring a dead land back to life. That is how you too will be raised (from the dead)”).
Sun, Moon: (“And the sun runs [on course] toward its stopping point. That is the determination of the Exalted in Might, the Knowing.”) - Surah Yasin, V. 38
Orbit, Creation of Universe: (“And it is He who created the night and the day and the sun and the moon; all [heavenly bodies] in an orbit are swimming.”) - Surah Al Anbiya, V. 33
Big Bang Theory ("Do not the unbelievers see that the heavens and the earth were joined together as one entity and we separated them into many pieces? Will they still then not believe?") - Surah Al-Anbiya V. 21-30
Heaven, Earth, and Sky: Following are the references from the Quran in which the God talks about the creation of Heaven and the Earth:
-
(“It is He who created for you all of that which is on the earth. Then He directed Himself to the heaven, [His being above all creation], and made them seven heavens, and He is Knowing of all things.”) Surah Al Baqarah, V. 29
-
(“Moreover He comprehended in His design the sky, and it had been (as) smoke: He said to it and to the earth: 'Come ye together, willingly or unwillingly.' They said: 'We do come (together), in willing obedience', So He completed them as seven firmaments in two Days, and He assigned to each heaven its duty and command. And We adorned the lower heaven with lights, and (provided it) with guard. Such is the Decree of (Him) the Exalted in Might, Full of Knowledge.”) - Surah Fussilat, V. 11-12
-
(“[He is] Originator of the heavens and the earth. How could He have a son when He does not have a companion and He created all things? And He is, of all things, Knowing.”) - Surah- Al Anam, V. 101
-
(“And the heaven We constructed with strength, and indeed, We are [its] expander.”) - Surah Adh-Dhariyat, V. 47 (“By the heaven containing pathways,”) - Surah Adh-Dhariyat, V. 7