Talk:The Quran and science/Temp
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Creating this page to hold sections of the article still in need of sources. - Valarauka(T/C) 21:07, 10 October 2006 (UTC)
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[edit] Astronomy
[edit] Big Bang
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Qur'an:
| “ | Have not those who disbelieve known that the heavens and the earth were of one piece, then We parted them, and we made every living thing of water? Will they not then believe? | „ |
Science: Here Quran indicate towards the Big Bang theory. In physical cosmology, the Big Bang is the scientific theory of how the universe emerged from a tremendously dense and hot state about 13.7 billion years ago. The theory is based on the observations indicating the expansion of space. [ copied from Big Bang
[edit] Creating of Galaxies
Qur'an:
| “ | Moreover He comprehended in His design the sky, and it had been (as) smoke. | „ |
Science: Scientists say that before the galaxies in the Universe were formed, celestial matter was initially in the form of huge gaseous matter or clouds.
Commentary by Maurice Bucaille:[1]
| “ | The Qur'an presents in two verses a brief synthesis of the phenomena that constituted the basic process of the formation of the Universe i.e. verse 21:30 and 41:11. The important things to remember at present are the following:
This concept of the separation of a whole into several parts is noted in other passages of the Book with reference to multiple worlds. The first verse of the first sura in the Qur'an proclaims, after the opening invocation, the following: "In the name of God, the Beneficent, the Merciful", "Praise be to God, Lord of the Worlds." The terms 'worlds' reappears dozens of times in the Qur'an. The Heavens are referred to as multiple as well, not only on account of their plural form, but also because of their symbolic numerical quantity: 7. |
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[edit] Motion of Sun and Moon
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Quran:
| “ | It is He Who created the Night and the Day, and the sun and the moon: all (the celestial bodies) swim along, each in its rounded course. | „ |
Science: According to science, planets (including Earth) rotate around the sun in elliptical orbits. Furthermore, the Sun also orbits the center of the Milky Way galaxy at a distance of about 25,000 to 28,000 light-years from the galactic center, completing one revolution in about 225–250 million years.[2] Still, science currently does not support creationism.
[edit] Shape of Earth
Quran:
| “ | And the earth, He expanded it after that. | „ |
| “ | And the earth, moreover He has made egg shaped. | „ |
Explanation: The Arabic word used for earth is "dahhaahaa" is derived from ``Dahhyah which means egg. However it also means "in an expand or spread".[1][2]
Science: The Earth's shape is very close to an oblate spheroid, although the precise shape (the geoid) varies from this by up to 100 meters (330 ft).[ text copied from Earth]
[edit] Formation of day and night
Quran:
| “ | Do you not see that Allah makes the night to enter into the day, and He makes the day to enter into the night, and He has made the sun and the moon subservient (to you); each pursues its course till an appointed time; and that Allah is Aware of what you do? | „ |
[edit] Water cycle
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Quran:
| “ | It is Allah Who sends the winds, and then they raise clouds: then He spreads them in the sky as He wills and makes them dark, then you see the drops issue from the midst of them... | „ |
| “ | Seest thou not that Allah makes the clouds move gently, then joins them together, then makes them into a heap? - then wilt thou see rain issue forth from their midst. And He sends down from the sky mountain masses (of clouds) wherein is hail: He strikes therewith whom He pleases and He turns it away from whom He pleases, the vivid flash of His lightning well-nigh blinds the sight. | „ |
These verses can be explained as follows:[3]
| “ | The two verses are describing the stages in the formation of rain clouds, which is in turn a stage in the water cycle. A close examination of these two verses suggests that they make reference to two different phenomena, one of "spreading" the clouds and the other of "joining" them together, two different processes by which rain clouds might be formed. Modern meteorology has come to this very conclusion within the last two centuries. There are two types of clouds which can yield precipitation, and they are classified by their shape: stratus (layer-type) and cumulus (heap- type). The precipitative layer clouds are further subdivided into stratus and nimbostratus (nimbo meaning rain). The first verse above on rain clouds, 30:48, precisely sums up the formation of layer rain clouds. It is known today that these types of clouds are started under conditions of gradual, rising winds. | ” |
Also there are many other verses indicating towards water-cycle, e.g. 39:21, 30:24, 15:52, 23:18, 7:17, 25:14, and 25:41.
[edit] Biology
![.. And Allah has created every animal from water... [24:45]](../../../upload/shared/thumb/f/fc/Water_droplet_blue_bg05.jpg/140px-Water_droplet_blue_bg05.jpg)
[edit] Sex of plants
Quran:
| “ | He Who has, made for you the earth like a carpet spread out; has enabled you to go about therein by roads (and channels); and has sent down water from the sky. With it have We produced diverse pairs of plants each separate from the others. | „ |
Science: Plants display a wide range of sexual characteristics. While many species do indeed "come in pairs", having both male and female members, there are many species whose members are either bisexual or asexual.
[edit] Life with Water
Quran:
| “ | ... and we made every living thing of water? Will they not then believe? | „ |
| “ | And Allah has created every animal from water: of them there are some that creep on their bellies; some that walk on two legs; and some that walk on four. Allah creates what He wills for verily Allah has power over all things. | „ |
Science: From a biological standpoint, water has many distinct properties that are critical for the proliferation of life that set it apart from other substances. It carries out this role by allowing organic compounds to react in ways that ultimately allows replication. All known forms of life depend on water. [ copied from Water_effect_on_life] On the origin of life in water, Renaissance scientists including Harvey and Redi, and in the 1850's, Louis Pasteur's research on bacteriology proposed that life emerged from a long, increasingly complex chain of chemical reactions. These reactions are believed to have begun in the depths of the oceans because the atmosphere was not sufficiently developed to protect living organisms from ultraviolet radiation. [3]
[edit] Geology
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Quran:
| “ | Verily, verily they shall soon (come to) know! Have We not made the earth as a wide expanse, And the mountains as pegs? | „ |
| “ | .. He set on the earth mountains standing firm, lest it should shake with you;... | „ |
According to modern earth science and orology, it is proven that mountains have deep roots expanded 10 to 15 times their surface size more within the earth. The word "peg" fits perfectly, since much of a peg is hidden under the surface of the ground. The expansion within the earth keeps it together while it revolves with high speeds around itself, thusly preventing it from loosing balance and shaking while it revolves. Likewise, the modern theory of plate tectonics discovered in the late 1960's proves that mountains work as stabilizers for the earth. Instead of increasing the pressure that results in earthquakes, molten rock may sometimes prevent quakes by filling spaces in the earth’s stretching crusts that otherwise would form faults.[3] If mountains and hills were not present, the earth's rapid rotational speed along its axis would be very unstable.
[edit] Medicine
[edit] Honey as medicine
Quran:
| “ | There issues from within their bodies a drink of varying colors wherein is healing for people. | „ |
[edit] Oceanology
[edit] Barrier between Sweet and Salt Waters
| “ | He has let free the two bodies of flowing water, meeting together: Between them is a Barrier which they do not transgress. | „ |
[edit] Darkness in the depth of Ocean
| “ | Or (the Unbelievers' state) is like the depths of darkness in a vast deep ocean, overwhelmed with billow topped by billow, topped by (dark) clouds: depths of darkness, one above another: if a man stretches out his hands, he can hardly see it! for any to whom Allah giveth not light, there is no light! | „ |
[edit] Physiology
| “ | And verily in cattle (too) will ye find an instructive sign. From what is within their bodies between excretions and blood, We produce, for your drink, milk, pure and agreeable to those who drink it. | „ |
[edit] Zoology
[edit] The Bee
Quran:
| “ | 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 colours, wherein is healing for men: verily in this is a Sign for those who give thought. | „ |
[edit] Communication between Ants
Quran:
| “ | And before Solomon were marshalled his hosts,- of Jinns and men and birds, and they were all kept in order and ranks. 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. | „ |
Caryl Parker Haskins in "The Ant and Her World" writes:[4]
| “ | In fact ants are little chemical factories continuously producing an array of substance called pheromones, that serves the ant language. Through these pheromones the ants convey messages ranging from location of food to the presence of danger." (for more detail see wikipedia article on Ants Communication). | ” |
[edit] On pollution and the wasting of natural resources
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The neutrality of this section is disputed. Please see the discussion on the talk page. |
Quran:
| “ | Mischief has appeared on land and sea because of (the meed) that the hands of men have earned, that (Allah) may give them a taste of some of their deeds: in order that they may turn back (from Evil). | „ |
| “ | O Children of Adam! wear your beautiful apparel at every time and place of prayer: eat and drink: But waste not by excess, for Allah loveth not the wasters. | „ |
The importance of understanding the ecological consequences of our actions as individuals or as a society was not fully appreciated until this century. We now understand that we cannot alter the face of the earth indiscriminately without paying some penalty, which may be disastrous. We also understand that caution ought to be applied globally, not just locally but truly "on land and sea". Ecological awareness does not imply asceticism however. According to the Qur'an, we are not forbidden to take pleasure in this life, however we are forbidden from wasting resources needlessly.[3]
[edit] Fossils of ancient humans
There are three basic verses in Qur'an which are related to human creation:[5]
| “ | The similitude of Jesus before Allah is that of Adam. He created him from clay. | „ |
| “ | O mankind fear your Lord who created you from one person and created his mate from his kind and from these two scattered countless men and women. | „ |
| “ | He began the creation of man with clay; then made his progeny from the essence of an ordinary fluid; then he perfected him and breathed into him something of his spirit and gave you the faculties of hearing and sight and the heart. | „ |
According to the first two verses, Adam and Eve were directly created by God from clay. They did not descend from any other species as proposed by Darwin. The rest of mankind is the progeny of Adam and Eve. The third verse implies that there were three stages in their creation, and can be interpreted in two ways:[5]
- First possibility:
- Adam and Eve were created from clay
- They subsequently developed the ability to reproduce at a later age
- Finally, after some more time elapsed, they entered the third phase in which they were perfected both physically and spiritually, and received the divine spirit from God.
- Second possibility: All these three phases did not pass on the first humans created, rather each of the phases lasted for many years during which many life forms were created from clay having the characteristic of their respective periods together with that of the previous one.
- Human forms were initially directly created from clay because they did not have the ability to reproduce. This first stage may have lasted for millions of years, and in it, the humans forms' physical forms after passing through various stages culminated in the homo sapiens of today. Millions of species may have been created from clay like this. Among them, many went extinct and the others lived to enter the second phase, the first of which were Adam and Eve.
- The human forms now had the ability to reproduce and direct creation was no longer required. Adam and Eve were the first directly created pair from clay which had this ability to reproduce. In the second phase, except Adam and Eve all other pairs who had the ability to reproduce pairs were not perfected and later died away.
- It was this very pair which entered the third phase and was perfected physically so that it could receive the divine spirit from the God and be blessed with the faculties of sense and reason as is specified by the last part of the verse.
Under the second interpretation, the fossils which we find today belong to the millions of people created from clay in the first and second phases.
[edit] Evolution of Universe
Kamel Bin Salim has suggested an alternative model for the evolution of the Universe based on his interpretation of the Qur'an. He finds many concepts similar in both theories, e.g. Big bang,[6] Big crunch,[7] expansion of the Universe,[8] cyclic nature of the Universe,[9] orbital movement of heavenly bodies,[10] possibility of more Universes,[11] and ratio of earth's age to Universe' age.[12] However, some details of this model contradict known scientific knowledge, such as stabilization of Universe after 4.6 billion years and beginning of Big crunch.
| Periods in Qur'an | 0 | 2 | 4 | 6 | 8 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Actual Years (x109) | 0 | 4.6 | 9.2 | 13.8 | 18.4 |
| Cosmological event | Big Bang | Stabilization of Universe | Earth formation | Present state | Beginning of Big Crunch |
| Relevant Quranic verse(s) | 51:47 | 41:12 | 41:9 | 32:4 | 41:10 39:67 |
[12](p.55)
The basis of the numbers of actual years shown above is that the age of the universe as we know it today is divided by the age of the universe as shown in the Qur'an. The age of the universe using scientific methods has evolved to be within a range of values but the most commonly used value by astronomers is (13.7 ± 0.2) × 109 years derived from the NASA's Wilkinson Microwave Anisotropy Probe (WMAP) project. The Qur'an follows on from prior texts, specifically the Book of Genesis in the Torah in that the age of the universe is stated in days. This is stated as 6 days though this is deemed allegorical by many and referred to as periods. The Quranic studies use a close example of one of the most common scientifically used age of the universe values as the basis for the duration of these periods by dividing the age of the universe from scientific studies by the number of days used for the age of the universe as stated in the Qur'an i.e. 13.8 × 109 years / 6. This yeilds a period of 2.3 × 109 years. Similar allegorical interpretation of Genesis are possible and Christians throughout the centuries have been divided over whether to interpret the days of creation in Genesis as literal days, or to understand them allegorically.
[edit] Reflection of light by heavenly bodies
Qur'an differentiates between light coming from moon (a reflection) and light coming from the sun (because of burning).[12](p.40) As in Qur'an:
| “ | Blessed is He Who made the constellations in the heavens and made therein a lamp [sun] and a shining moon. | „ |
Similarly, in a Qur'anic parable, reflection from glass of luminary because of lamp is compared to reflection of light from planets.[12]
| “ | God is the light of the heavens and the earth. The similitude of His light is as if there were niche and within it a luminary. The luminary is in a glass. The glass is as if it were a planet glittering like a pearl, lit from a blessed olive-tree, neither eastern nor western, the oil whereof almost gives light though fire touch it not-- light upon light-- Allah guides to His light whom He pleases, and Allah sets forth parables for men, and Allah is Cognizant of all things. | „ |
