All praise is due to Allah, who enabled his servants to believe through sending a book full of miracles to address all centuries and nations. Peace and blessings be upon his Prophet, who endured any pain in order to proclaim this book. And peace be upon all my brothers and sisters, who struggle to make this miraculous book rule over the world...
Allah(swt) gave every Prophet a set of miracles as an evidence of their prophethood and these miracles were always sent in the specific areas which the people of that time knew best. Such as in the time of Prophet Musa(as) the area, which the people of that time knew best, was magic. Thus, Allah (swt) gave him a miracle in the area of magic. He overcame the magicians and they had no choice but to believe. If Allah (swt) had given Musa(as) a miracle in an area, that the people of that time did not know, they would have said: “If only he would show us a miracle in an area, that we know well, so we could see if what he shows is a sorcery or a real miracle.”
Just as Prophet Musa(as) our Prophet Muhammad (saw) has also been given a set of miracles. Some of these miracles were sensual, as for instance the crying tree trunk, the splitting of the moon, and the spouting of water out of his fingers. Other miracles were literary because what the people of that time knew best was poetry and literature. Therefore the Quran was revealed as a literary miracle and no single surah of its kind could ever be written. Moreover, as the Quran was sent to all humankind until the Day of Judgement, it would not have been correct, if it only contained miracles referring to the people of that time. It needed to have miracles referring to all people.
One of these are the verses concerning scientific issues, because Allah (swt) knows that in the time of this Ummah, science is going to develop. Accordingly, it was a necessity that the verses included miracles regarding basic scientific fields such as medicine, astronomy, and geography. It was necessary that the Quran had verses with knowledge, that no one knew and no one could possibly know, but that was proven to be true with the development of science. Consequently, these verses would prove for the disbelievers that the Quran was Kalâmullah, the Word of Allah, and they would strengthen the iman (faith) of those who believe. The scientific verses of the Quran are also an evidence that science is going to develop, which is another miracle. Because if science was not going to develop, the scientific verses of the Quran could not be proven as true and their existence in the Quran would not make sense. Let us begin to explain the topic by giving a few examples of those verses that are easy to understand.
THE EARTH IS ROTATING
In the 1540s N. Koperning stated that the earth is rotating. Later in the 1610s, Galileo Galilei observed the sky with his telescope. Taking advantage of Koperning’s discoveries, he wrote that the earth is rotating and he was consequently summoned to court. In the end, he had to sign a confession by force, which declared that the World does not rotate. However, when he left the court, he said: “Still, the earth rotates”.
While this was their situation, in the Islamic World 300 years before that in the 1200s, Omar Khayyam stated that the earth rotates around the sun. However, the Quran Al-Kareem stated it centuries before them in the 600s in Surah An-Naml: “And you see the mountains, thinking them rigid, while they will pass as the passing of clouds. [It is] the work of Allah, who perfected all things. Indeed, He is acquainted with that which you do.”1
Some Mufassiroon (glossators of Quran) understood the passing of the mountains like the passing of clouds as a description of the Day of Judgement when the mountains will be blasted and scattered. But this understanding is not appropriate. Because in the verse it says: “And you see the mountains, thinking them rigid” which explains a situation before the Day of Judgement. Moreover, the verse describes, that the mountains pass like the passing of clouds, whereas the scattering of the mountains on the Day of Judgement does not resemble the passing of clouds. Accordingly, this verse describes the present movement of the mountains. The movement of the mountains means the movement of the earth. As we can see with our open eyes, that the mountains do not move like the clouds, this means that the earth, which the mountains stand on, is moving.
In Surah Yasin it says: “It is not allowable for the sun to reach the moon, nor does the night overtake the day, but each, in an orbit, is swimming.”2 The fact, that the night cannot overtake the day, is a sign for the rotation of the earth. Because day and night consist of the rotation of the earth. If the earth would not rotate, the night could overtake the day and it could be night permanently.
Moreover, the verse implicates, that the rotation does only occur in one direction, that a reversed rotation is not possible and that this order cannot change. The Quran refers to the fact that the earth rotates, 1000 years before humankind explores this truth. But it uses a choice of words, which does not exactly reveal this truth without the development of science and a deep thinking about these verses. Scientific facts in the Quran are generally expressed implicitly. Hence, people are lead to explore.
THE EARTH IS A SPHERE
In Surah Az-Zumar it says: “He created the heavens and earth in truth. He wraps the night over the day and wraps the day over the night.”3 That the night is wrapped over the day and the day is wrapped over the night can only be the case when the earth is a sphere. Because it is only possible to wrap one thing over another when there is a round surface. Due to the fact that the heavens and the earth are created in a specific order and balance, this steadiness does never collapse. That this balance never collapses is an evidence that “He created the heavens and earth in truth”, as stated in the verse. The verse does not explicitly say, “The earth is a sphere” but expresses this truth in an implicit way that a thinking individual can understand.
In Surah An-Naziat the Quran states, “And after that, He spread the earth”4. Because of the word ‘daha’ in the verse, some Mufassiroon like Baydawi have pointed out that the earth is a sphere. Furthermore, one derivative of the verb ‘daha’, the word ‘dahw’, means ‘ostrich egg’. I. e. Allah (swt) has spread the earth in the form of an ostrich egg. Thus, the earth does not have the form of a real sphere or circle, but the form of an ellipse. In the 1550s, Mustafa Ibn Shamsaddin declared with this verse, that the earth has the form of an ostrich egg.
THE SUN RUNS ON ITS COURSE
In Surah Yasin, it states: “And the sun runs [on course] toward its stopping point. This is the decree of the AllMighty, All-Knowing God.”5. While until recently the whole world thought that the earth would rotate around the sun and that the sun would not move, the Quran had back then already told the fact that the sun is moving. Scientists found out that the sun is running at a speed of 19 km/sec in a system with other planets and satellites that are connected to it. Scientists could only reach this knowledge just recently, whereas the Quran informed about this fact 14 centuries ago.
As the verse tells us, that the sun does not stand still but move, it also tells us that this movement is not ran dom but in accordance to a specific rule and order and that it runs toward a stopping point which was determined for it. Furthermore, it expresses that this movement through space brings order and benefits, we cannot know, or that it is to come to rest and stop eventually. This movement will continue until a point of ending, i.e. the start of the Day of Judgement. Scientists have also pointed out that there is such a movement and that this whole system is running towards the star ‘Vega’. This is also stated in Surah Az-Zumar : “He has subjected the sun and the moon, each running [its course] for a specified term.”6
THE UNIVERSE IS EXPANDING
In Surah Adh-Dhariyat it says: “And the heaven We constructed with strength, and indeed, We are [its] expander”7. In this verse Allah (swt) states that He expands the heaven, i.e. the universe. Scientists have observed that nebulae diverge from our solar system and consequently, other physicists came to the conclusion, that the universe is expanding. In order to understand, how large the universe is, it is sufficient to note, that with present telescopes 200 billion galaxies could be found. In some galaxies, there are 100 billion stars, i.e. suns, while in others like the Milky Way, which we find ourselves in, there are 200 billion stars. And again in others, like the Andromeda galaxy, which is next to ours, there are 300 billion stars, i.e. suns.
The planets like the earth and the moon, that are around these stars are not included in these figures. And the distance between our galaxy and the galaxy next to us, which is the Andromeda galaxy, is 2.2 million lightyears. The distance to the other galaxies is much bigger. When you think about the fact that one lightyear counts 9.4 trillion km, you might understand that the universe is immeasurably huge. The Milky Way only measures as a flat surface from one end to the other 100 thousand lightyears, as its latitude measures 20 thousand lightyears. It is also known, that there are much bigger galaxies and that there are millions and even billions of lightyears between them and that all of this is only one universe, while there is also a possible existence of other universes. Hence, it is obvious how wide and how widely expanded the creation of Allah (swt) actually is.
YOU WILL GO TO THE MOON
In Surah Al-Inshiqaq it says: “And by the moon, when it reaches its fullness; you shall proceed onwards from stage to stage. So, what is the matter with them that they do not believe”8 . After swearing on the moon, the expression “you shall proceed onwards from stage to stage” shows, that the verse deals with the space and states, that we will proceed stages or layers of the atmosphere or space. Moreover, the verse states, that those, who will proceed from layer to layer will be the disbelievers and that they will despite this miracle they see, not believe. And so it happened.
The 4th October 1957 was the first time humankind could escape gravity and build a space shuttle. In a height of 175 km, the space shuttle found itself in a spectrum and started to rotate in its orbit. On 21st July 1969, the two American astronauts N. Armstrong and Aldrin set foot on the moon with Apollo 11.
And in Surah Al-Hijr the Quran states: “And [even] if We opened to them a gate from the heaven and they continued therein to ascend, they would say, “Our eyes have only been dazzled. Rather, we are people affected by magic”9. And just as the verse describes, the astronauts really said afterwards, that they were bewitched.
In Surah Ar-Rahman, Allah (swt) says: “O company of jinn and mankind, if you have the power to go beyond the bounds of the heavens and the earth, go beyond them! Yet you will be unable to go beyond them for that requires infinite power”10. The word “ن إ (in)” means “if” and shows that this case is possible. Hence, Allah (swt) states that it is possible to pass beyond the bounds of the heavens and the earth. In Surah Al-Inshiqaq, Allah (swt) states, “you shall proceed onwards from stage to stage”, from layer to layer and in Surah Ar-Rahman He tells that this requires infinite power, like the motors of a space shuttle. So the Quran states, that it is possible to go to space and that to do so a powerful vehicle is necessary. And this is exactly what was the case.
If the Quran was not Kalâmullah, the Word of Allah, (hasha), if it was the word of our Prophet Muhammad (saw)., how could he possibly know all these things? If he was a liar, hasha (far from it), that did not receive any revelation from Allah (swt), would he address these topics without being asked to by anyone?
1. Surah An-Naml, 88
2. Surah Yasin, 40
3. Surah Az-Zumar, 5
4. Surah An-Naziat. 30
5. Surah Yasin, 38
6. Surah Az-Zumar, 5
7. Surah Adh-Dhariyat, 47
8. Surah Al-Inshiqaq, 18-20
9. Surah Al-Hijr, 14-15
10. Surah Al-Rahman, 33
