5 SCIENTIFIC MIRACLES OF THE QURAN
COSMOLOGY
1. The Big Bang
100 years ago, the world’s best scientific minds thought that the universe had always existed. Since it always existed, it didn’t need a Creator.
Einstein changed all that.
His ‘field equations’ suggested that the universe was expanding like a balloon. The mathematician and Belgian Priest, George Lemaître, realised that this expansion had to have started from somewhere. It must have come from an initial, dense point. This idea became known as the Big Bang. Today, it is the basis for understanding the origin of the universe.
What few people know however is that the Holy Quran described the Big Bang perfectly, 1400 years earlier.
اَوَ لَمۡ یَرَ الَّذِیۡنَ کَفَرُوۡۤا اَنَّ السَّمٰوٰتِ وَ الۡاَرۡضَ کَانَتَا رَتۡقًا فَفَتَقۡنٰہُمَا ؕ وَ جَعَلۡنَا مِنَ الۡمَآءِ کُلَّ شَیۡءٍ حَیٍّ ؕ اَفَلَا یُؤۡمِنُوۡنَ
Do not the disbelievers see that the heavens and the earth were a closed-up mass (ratqan), then We opened them out? And We made from water every living thing. Will they not then believe?
Holy Quran, 21:31
The arabic word ratqan means a closed-up mass. It also means darkness. A dark, closed-up mass is a perfect description of what we know the universe looked like in its earliest moments. The heavens and the Earth were indeed opened out from this mass to produce the universe we see today.
The verse further says that water is the basis of life. This is now an accepted scientific fact. When NASA look for planets that can bear life, they look for water.
The shocking power of this verse is a grand sign for our disbelieving age.
2. The Expansion Of The Universe
Einstein’s equations tell us that the universe is expanding. This discovery surprised everyone.
For decades thereafter, scientists thought the universe exploded out of the Big Bang, and has been slowing down ever since. But they were wrong. The universe’s expansion has recently been speeding up. This mysterious re-expansion is driven by what we call dark energy. About 5 billion years ago, this mysterious anti-gravity began pushing the universe outwards once more.
The Holy Quran describes this perfectly:
وَالسَّمَاءَ بَنَيْنَاهَا بِأَيْدٍ وَإِنَّا لَمُوسِعُونَ
And We have built the heaven with might and We continue to expand it indeed.Holy Quran 51:48
This astonishing verse does not just tell us that the universe has expanded. The arabic ‘la-mūsiʿūna’ tells us that the universe is continuing to expand.
Such a statement is a sure sign of the Prophet Muhammad’s truth, peace be upon him.
To read more about Big Bang cosmology in the Quran, see this in-depth article.
3. The End Of The Universe
The Quran does not only tell us about things that have already been discovered. Rather, it tells us about scientific phenomena still debated today. These next two are not yet confirmed but their mere discussion is worthy of note.
One such topic is the end of the universe. Will it continue to expand forever, or collapse back in on itself? The Holy Quran sheds light on this enigmatic matter:
یَوۡمَ نَطۡوِی السَّمَآءَ کَطَیِّ السِّجِلِّ لِلۡکُتُبِ ؕ کَمَا بَدَاۡنَاۤ اَوَّلَ خَلۡقٍ نُّعِیۡدُہٗ ؕ وَعۡدًا عَلَیۡنَا ؕ اِنَّا کُنَّا فٰعِلِیۡنَ
“Remember the day when We shall roll up the heavens like the rolling up of written scrolls by a scribe. As We began the first creation, so shall We repeat it — a promise binding upon Us; We shall certainly perform it.”
Holy Quran 21:105
This vivid description of the Quran completely fits the picture of the universe collapsing into a black hole. Angular momentum would cause the fabric of space to enter into it like the rolls of parchment. Then, a new universe would emerge.
It is only a matter of time until this shocking fate of the universe is confirmed to be the most likely by physicists.
4. Extraterrestrial Life
Next we come to Extraterrestrial life. In 1960, Frank Drake performed the first modern SETI experiment, in the Search for Extra-Terrestrial Intelligence. Yet God’s pronouncements outpaced man’s imagination by more than a millennium.
وَمِنْ آيَاتِهِ خَلْقُ السَّمَاوَاتِ وَالْأَرْضِ وَمَا بَثَّ فِيهِمَا مِن دَابَّةٍ ۚ وَهُوَ عَلَىٰ جَمْعِهِمْ إِذَا يَشَاءُ قَدِيرٌ
“And among His Signs is the creation of the heavens and the earth, and of whatever living creatures (dābbah) He has spread forth in both. And He has the power to gather them together (jam-‘i-him) when He will so please.”
Holy Qur’an 42:30
In this verse, the Quran speaks of living creatures which inhabit space — the ‘heavens’ — and which move on land, this being the meaning of the word ‘dābbah.’
The verse goes on to declare that mankind will one day come into contact with these creatures in some way (jam-’i-him). In other verses the Quran proclaims that they receive revelation as we do.
These declarations of the Quran constitute evidence for its divine origin, for which man of that age could not only envisage the existence of aliens on far away planets, but proclaim future contact with them?
One hopes the day will come soon when this extraordinary prophecy finds its fulfilment.
Read more about extra-terrestrial life in the Quran here.
BIOLOGY
5. Evolution In The Quran
While most people today believe that evolution was first described by Darwin, nothing could be further from the truth.
The first descriptions of biological evolution are found in the writings of Muslim scholars, over a millennium ago. John William Draper, author of The History of the Conflict Between Science and Religion (1874) wrote that:
“Theological authorities were therefore constrained to look with disfavor… on the Mohammedan theory of the evolution of man from lower forms, or his gradual development to his present condition in the long lapse of time.”
Draper was right. Scholars such as the Brethren of Purity, Al-Jāḥiẓ, Ibn Khaldūn, and Rumirhfreely discussed evolution. They found the idea described in the Holy Quran:
مَا لَکُمۡ لَا تَرۡجُوۡنَ لِلّٰہِ وَقَارًا
وَ قَدۡ خَلَقَکُمۡ اَطۡوَارًا
…
وَ اللّٰہُ اَنۡۢبَتَکُمۡ مِّنَ الۡاَرۡضِ نَبَاتًا
“What is the matter with you that you do not ascribe dignity to Allah? And certainly he has created you in stages… And Allah has raised you from the Earth like the raising of vegetation.” Holy Quran 71; 15-16, 18
The Quran proposes that man underwent development through different stages, adopting different forms and conditions (atwāran) before culminating in his current condition. It implicates plant life as part of human development — an area for further research.
Evolution discussed by the Quran does not take the Darwinian form, which is guided by chance. Rather, the Quran tells us that God Himself guides biological evolution:
وَ رَبُّکَ یَخۡلُقُ مَا یَشَآءُ وَ یَخۡتَارُ ؕ مَا کَانَ لَہُمُ الۡخِیَرَۃُ ؕ سُبۡحٰنَ اللّٰہِ وَ تَعٰلٰی عَمَّا یُشۡرِکُوۡنَ
“And thy Lord creates whatever He pleases and selects. It is not for them to select. Glorified be Allah, and far is He above all that they associate with Him.” Holy Qur’an 28:69
You can find all our material on this topic under the ‘evolution’ sub-tab on our Topic Index.
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