Do scientific miracles really exist in the Quran?

The discussion about scientific ‘miracles’ of the Quran can be very argumentative. I generally try to stay away from it, mainly because I’m not a very big believer of the scientific miracles of the Quran.

Some of the verses in the Quran appear to be very insightful (like human conception, life beginning from water, the concept of atom etc) but overall I don’t think the Quran contains extraordinary revelation about any branches of sciences (physical, biological, astronomy, quantum, etc).

Perhaps some Muslims have found some very extraordinary claims (interesting or mysterious) from the Quran and so they see this as something very ‘magical’ and hence it must be from the God, otherwise how on earth can someone even possibly know all those ‘scientific’ facts, some of them that only came into existence as recent as the 19th and 20th century.

See, this is the part that has always confuses me. The so-called scientific verses from the Quran are very interesting, no doubt, but they don’t really translate well into real scientific statements/facts/theories that is contained in the modern scientific corpus.

For e.g, A verse from the Quran claims that that the life began/originate from water. I would of course agree because if we had no water then human being would die from thirst, the livestock and animals would die and no plants could grow to sustain life for the benefit of human and non-human. So without a doubt, water is the most crucial source of life. This is intuitive.

The folks who seem to believe in the scientific miracles of the Quran claim that we cannot just look at the most obvious interpretation of that verse but go one step further, at the creation of life itself (or the origin of every living being on earth). And this is where I think the whole argument falls apart.

Science of creation of living being doesn’t really give you a nice one sentence statement. It is a very complex chemical and biological process way beyond the comprehension of most folks in which water may have played a small/big role depending on how you choose to look at.

I’m also aware that a lot of these Quranic verses are twisted and tweaked to fit in the ‘scientific’ description. For, eg there’s one verse that talked about how ‘the earth and sky/heaven were initially joined together’ but then it was split apart. Someone actually think that this verse is talking about the big bang theory of the Universe! Can you believe that?!

Moving on.

I’m not entirely sure but I think this ‘looking for sciences in the Quranic verses’ is a recent phenomenon. I remember reading about a book written by a Muslim convert (ex-Christian?) who was soo impressed by what he was reading in the Quran that he started to read way more than he should have. Yep, he ‘discovered’ interesting ‘scientific facts’. His book became a bestseller of some sorts in the Muslim World. Muslims were convinced that the Quran contains many hidden proofs/gems that matched exactly with the modern science. Maybe the convert who wrote that book had the purest of intention but the people who came later didn’t have the purest of intentions. I’m not going to name names but I think you can guess who those folks are.

Let’s now look into the ancient and medieval Muslim scientists who were making breakthrough scientific discoveries. Did they have a deeper connection to the Quran than at the surface level as we know it? Perhaps they were inspired by the book to ponder on the environment/nature they are living in, be curious and seek knowledge. People who are considered as ‘Quran experts’ (translators, historian and exegists) don’t go beyond the traditional methods. They may have utilized scientific process in their work but they could care less about anything specific from the realm of natural sciences.

Human Conception

I've been reading about the first two verses of Surah Al-Alaq (The Clot) from the Quran.

http://quran.com/96/1 : Recite in the name of your Lord who created
http://quran.com/96/2 : Created man from a clinging substance.

The second verse describe the creation of human from Alaq. Alaq is defined as

The linguistic definition of ′alaq علق (singular 'alaqah علقة) is "leech", "medicinal leech", "coagulated blood", "blood clot", or "the early stage of the embryo".[1] ′Alaq is also a derivative of 'alaqa which means "attached and hanging to something." [2] Professor Abdul Haleem mentions that "′alaq can also mean anything that clings: a clot of blood, a leech, even a lump of mud. All these meanings involve the basic idea of clinging or sticking."[3]

But that's not all. There are other verses that eloborate conception of human in the womb. Look into Surah Al-Mu'mineen

http://quran.com/23/12 : And certainly did We create man from an extract of clay.
http://quran.com/23/13: Then We placed him as a sperm-drop in a firm lodging.
http://quran.com/23/14: Then We made the sperm-drop into a clinging clot, and We made the clot into a lump [of flesh], and We made [from] the lump, bones, and We covered the bones with flesh; then We developed him into another creation. So blessed is Allah , the best of creators.

I think the most striking verse is verse 14 of Surah al-Mu'mineen. The description of the human conception in that verse is no different than what we understand now (the process of human fertilization and pregnancy).

And I think this is a big deal for the simple fact that in most of the human history, right up to 18 and 19 century, we actually didn't really know how the human conception worked (fertilization and the growth of the baby in the mother's womb). That was until we could verify and validate via ultrasound or IVF.

So, the next question would be, if we didn't know how the baby formed, then what did people actually think was happening in the mother's womb for more than 9 months?

Here's one idea of human creation (Preformationism) and it is absolutely wrong!

In the history of biology, preformationism (or preformism) is the idea that organisms develop from miniature versions of themselves. Instead of assembly from parts, preformationists believe that the form of living things exist, in real terms, prior to their development.[1] It suggests that all organisms were created at the same time, and that succeeding generations grow from homunculi, or animalcules, that have existed since the beginning of creation.

A lot of big philosophers and scientists of the old days subscribed to this idea that human were already in their miniature form (mini me) before the birth. The main problem was that the people couldn't even imagine that human could evolve from single cells (one or two part to form a highly complex multi cell organism). Until people were convinced via science, they didn't think it was possible that something as simple as a blood clot can turn into what the Quran defined as the other creation.

Still, the idea that unorganized matter could ultimately self-organize into life challenged the mechanistic framework of Cartesianism, which had become dominant in the Scientific Revolution. Because of technological limitations, there was no available mechanical explanation for epigenesis. [6] It was simpler and more convenient to postulate preformed miniature organisms that expanded in accordance with mechanical laws. So convincing was this explanation that some naturalists claimed to actually see miniature preformed animals (animalcules) in eggs and miniature plants in seeds.[3] In the case of humans, the term homunculus was used.

Here's the link again if you are interested to read more about this.

References
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Al-Alaq
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Preformationism

Ibn Arabi - part 4

This is part 4 on the Ibn Arabi series. You may read the other parts here #1, #2 and #3

Recently, while reading the book [1], I came across the following paragraphs (I am reproducing the passage in its entirety)

At this point, we bring forth the following simple example and leave the detailed examples and illustrations for another time.
There are a series of verses (19-22) in Surah al-Rahman (55) which read:

“He has made the two seas to flow freely (so that) they meet together. Between them is a barrier that they cannot pass. Which then of the bounties of your Lord will you deny? There comes forth from them pearls, and coral.”

In the next few paragraphs, the author of the book discussed the meaning of the above Quranic verse. Then the author quoted a passage from Ibn Arabi's work. He started by saying

However, when Muhyad Din al- ̃Arab| (d. 1240 AD), who was absorbed in the teachings of mysticism (Irfan) and philosophy, went forth to comment on these verses, he did so with a mind so engrossed in philosophy and mysticism that he wrote:

“The meaning of the ‘bitter body of water’ are the corporeal and physical issues (related to the human being) whereas the meaning of the ‘sweet and pleasant body of water’ is the human spirit; both of these meet in the existence of the human being, and the barrier and separator between them is the ‘animal soul’, which although does not reach to the level of the human spirit in terms of purity and refinement, is higher and better than the physical body in terms of darkness and murkiness. At the same time neither of the two dimensions transcend their boundary: neither does the spirit bestow immateriality to the body, nor does the body make the spirit descend and place it among the material entities.” [text in the footnote: Tafsir of Ibne ̃Arabi, vol. 2 pg. 280. This is just one example of exegesis of the Qur`an according to one’s own personal opinion and the book of Tafsir of Ibne ̃Arabi, just as his work Fususul Hikm is full of such examples of Tafsir of the Qur`an according to his own personal whims and opinions which is both – from the viewpoint of the intellect and also the Islamic jurisprudence – not permissible.]

This is the final part of my reading on Ibn Arabi. Here is another interesting source for further reading.


Reference
[1] Subhani, A. Jafar (2006). Introduction to the Science of Tafseer of the Qur'an. United Kingdom: World Federation of KSIMC. ISBN 978-1-8984-4977-5.

How to speak to Khawarij

This is taken from the book [1]

Words of the Commander of the Faithful, ̃Ali b. Abi Talib

In one particular event, the Commander of the Faithful Ali b. Abi Talib sent Ibne Abbas towards the Khawarij (a group of individuals who had in fact, left the faith of Islam due to their deviant beliefs) to debate with them, however offered him the following advice:

“(O’ Ibne ̃Abbas) In your debates and discussions with them (the Khawarij), never resort to replying to them with the Qur`an, since surely the Qur`an contains verses which have various probabilities and possibilities to them (in their meaning and understanding). You shall speak to them (with the Qur`an), and they shall reply to you (with the Qur`an) and thus, your discussion with them will be prolonged. Rather, debate them using the sunnah since surely in that there is the straightforward and unequivocal reply and they will find no way to misrepresent the truth.” [2]

According to Ayatullah Jafar Subhani

This very valuable sentence clearly tells us that there are some verses of the Qur`an which have various possibilities in their meaning and it is not possible to specify one meaning to a verse without first going through the introductory steps (of understanding the verse). By merely possessing knowledge of the rules of the ̃Arabic language, the section of ambiguities will never be removed. Thus, the only way the ambiguities are removed is through the fourteen ways mentioned in this work.[1]

This hadith also relates to us the fact that all of the verses of the Qur`an are not straightforward proofs (which can be picked up and used without discretion) and thus in determining the true meaning where there is multiple possibilities of a particular verse, we must refer to other ways and means.

Reference
[1] Subhani, A. Jafar (2006). Introduction to the Science of Tafseer of the Qur'an. United Kingdom: World Federation of KSIMC. p. 72. ISBN 978-1-8984-4977-5.
[2] Nahjul Balagha, Letter 77

Love of the near kin

Al-Quran chapter 42:23

23. That is (the Bounty) whereof God gives Glad Tidings to His Servants who believe and do righteous deeds. Say: "No reward do I ask of you for this except the love of those near of kin."And if any one earns any good, We shall give him an increase of good in respect thereof: for God is Oft-Forgiving, Most Ready to appreciate (service).

ذَٰلِكَ ٱلَّذِى يُبَشِّرُ ٱللَّهُ عِبَادَهُ ٱلَّذِينَ ءَامَنُوا۟ وَعَمِلُوا۟ ٱلصَّٰلِحَٰتِ ۗ قُل لَّآ أَسْـَٔلُكُمْ عَلَيْهِ أَجْرًا إِلَّا ٱلْمَوَدَّةَ فِى ٱلْقُرْبَىٰ ۗ وَمَن يَقْتَرِفْ حَسَنَةًۭ نَّزِدْ لَهُۥ فِيهَا حُسْنًا ۚ إِنَّ ٱللَّهَ غَفُورٌۭ شَكُورٌ ﴿٣٢﴾

What is the Purpose of Life?

I have only created Jinns and men, that they may serve Me. [Al-Quran 51:56]

وَمَا خَلَقْتُ ٱلْجِنَّ وَٱلْإِنسَ إِلَّا لِيَعْبُدُونِ ﴿٦٥﴾

The actions or works of humans are an integral part of the faith--part 3

In the Quran, faith is mentioned in the verse of changing of the Qibla

We appointed the Qibla to which thou wast used, only to test those who followed the Messenger from those who would turn on their heels(From the Faith). Indeed it was (A change) momentous, except to those guided by God. And never would God Make your faith of no effect. For God is to all people Most surely full of kindness, Most Merciful. [2:143]

The following verses indicate that the faith of someone may increase

Whenever there cometh down a sura, some of them say: "Which of you has had His faith increased by it?" Yea, those who believe,- their faith is increased and they do rejoice. [9:124]

For, Believers are those who, when God is mentioned, feel a tremor in their hearts, and when they hear His signs rehearsed, find their faith strengthened, and put (all) their trust in their Lord.[8:2]

So, if the faith was already perfect with the initial confession, then there would be no room for any increase.

The hadiths mentioned a number of duties and practices as part of faith. And new duties/practices are added to reflect the various stages of the revelation.

Abu Ubayd (the Sunni Traditionalist) sums up by declaring that "Faith/Iman" consists in intention (niyya), speech and work". Whoever affirms his belief of God and his messenger is only entering the faith and not perfecting it.

Chapter 23 Verse 28 and 29

023.028
SHAKIR: And when you are firmly seated, you and those with you, in the ark, say: All praise is due to Allah who delivered us from the unjust people:

023.029
SHAKIR: And say: O my Lord! cause me to disembark a blessed alighting, and Thou art the best to cause to alight.

Chapter 66 Verse 8

Muhammad Sarwar: Believers, turn to God in repentance with the intention of never repeating the same sin. Perhaps your Lord will expiate your evil deeds and admit you to Paradise wherein streams flow. On the Day of Judgment, God will not disgrace the Prophet and those who have believed in him. Their lights will shine in front of them and to their right. They will say, "Our Lord, perfect our light for us and forgive our sins. You have power over all things".

Chapter 25 Verse 74

I thank the anonymous user who is making these verses available to me.

Shakir: And they who say: O our Lord! grant us in our wives and our offspring the joy of our eyes, and make us guides to those who guard (against evil).

Chapter 46 Verse 15

Shakir: And We have enjoined on man doing of good to his parents; with trouble did his mother bear him and with trouble did she bring him forth; and the bearing of him and the weaning of him was thirty months; until when he attains his maturity and reaches forty years, he says: My Lord! grant me that I may give thanks for Thy favor which Thou hast bestowed on me and on my parents, and that I may do good which pleases Thee and do good to me in respect of my offspring; surely I turn to Thee, and surely I am of those who submit.

Chapter 71 verse 28

This could also be recited in the Qunoot

Shakir: My Lord! forgive me and my parents and him who enters my house believing, and the believing men and the believing women; and do not increase the unjust in aught but destruction!

Tonight is a grand night

It is the Night of Power.

 1. Indeed We sent it down on the Night of Ordainment. ِ إِنَّآ أَنزَلْنَٰهُ فِى لَيْلَةِ ٱلْقَدْرِ ﴿١﴾  

2. What will show you what is the Night of Ordainment? وَمَآ أَدْرَىٰكَ مَا لَيْلَةُ ٱلْقَدْرِ ﴿٢﴾  

3. The Night of Ordainment is better than a thousand months. لَيْلَةُ ٱلْقَدْرِ خَيْرٌۭ مِّنْ أَلْفِ شَهْرٍۢ ﴿٣﴾  

4. In it the angels and the Spirit descend, by the leave of their Lord, with every command. تَنَزَّلُ ٱلْمَلَٰٓئِكَةُ وَٱلرُّوحُ فِيهَا بِإِذْنِ رَبِّهِم مِّن كُلِّ أَمْرٍۢ ﴿٤﴾  

5. It is peaceful until the rising of the dawn. سَلَٰمٌ هِىَ حَتَّىٰ مَطْلَعِ ٱلْفَجْرِ ﴿٥﴾

The Holy Quran chapter 97

Daughters of Allah

Why do people think Allah swt has daughters?

I was reading a wiki entry and found out that there is a huge misconception about the following Quranic verses (chapter 53 verses 19 and 20)

19. Have you considered Lāt and ‘Uzzā? أَفَرَءَيْتُمُ ٱللَّٰتَ وَٱلْعُزَّىٰ ﴿٩١﴾  

20. and Manāt, the third one? وَمَنَوٰةَ ٱلثَّالِثَةَ ٱلْأُخْرَىٰٓ ﴿۰٢﴾

Someone wrote on the wiki entry

The subtext to the event is that Muhammad was backing away from his otherwise uncompromising monotheism by saying that these goddesses were real and their intercession effective. The Meccans were overjoyed to hear this and joined Muhammad in ritual prostration at the end of the sūrah.(Note: Since no reference is provided here, I am assuming someone made this stuff up).

But…did anyone read the next three sentence after verse 20?

Chapter 53, verses 21, 22 and 23

21. Are you to have males and He females? أَلَكُمُ ٱلذَّكَرُ وَلَهُ ٱلْأُنثَىٰ ﴿١٢﴾  

22. That, then, will be an unfair division! تِلْكَ إِذًۭا قِسْمَةٌۭ ضِيزَىٰٓ ﴿٢٢﴾  

23. These are but names which you have coined —you and your fathers— for which Allah has not sent down any authority. They follow nothing but conjectures and the desires of the [lower] soul, while there has already come to them the guidance from their Lord.

إِنْ هِىَ إِلَّآ أَسْمَآءٌۭ سَمَّيْتُمُوهَآ أَنتُمْ وَءَابَآؤُكُم مَّآ أَنزَلَ ٱللَّهُ بِهَا مِن سُلْطَٰنٍ ۚ إِن يَتَّبِعُونَ إِلَّا ٱلظَّنَّ وَمَا تَهْوَى ٱلْأَنفُسُ ۖ وَلَقَدْ جَآءَهُم مِّن رَّبِّهِمُ

The Quran is in no way saying that Allah swt has daughters. It was merely pointing out the foolishness of people who assigned children of specific gender to God.

Al-Quran - Chapter 28 Verse 88

88. And do not invoke another god besides Allah; there is no god except Him. Everything is to perish except His Face. All judgement belongs to Him, and to Him you will be brought back.

وَلَا تَدْعُ مَعَ ٱللَّهِ إِلَٰهًا ءَاخَرَ ۘ لَآ إِلَٰهَ إِلَّا هُوَ ۚ كُلُّ شَىْءٍ هَالِكٌ إِلَّا وَجْهَهُۥ ۚ لَهُ ٱلْحُكْمُ وَإِلَيْهِ تُرْجَعُونَ ﴿٨٨﴾

Narrated to us Muhammad bin Hasan bin Ahmad bin Walid (r.a.) that he said: Narrated to us Muhammad bin Hasan as-Saffar from Muhammad bin Husain Ibne Abil Khattab from Ja’far bin Basheer from Amr bin Aban from Dhuraith Kunnasi from Abi Abdullah (a.s.) regarding the words of Allah, the Mighty and Sublime:

“We (Ahlul Bayt) are that face through which Allah can be reached (is recognized).”

Reference
Kamaaluddin wa Tamaamun Ni’ma (Perfection of faith and completion of divine favor) by Shaykh as-Sadooq in Pg. 238

An Index to the Qur'an

Useful for looking up something quickly

The Quran Index

Sahih International

Sahih International is yet another translation of the Holy Quran. I found it while browsing some websites (many websites are utilizing this translation).

Initially, I was under the impression that it was named Sahih because of heavy reliance on Sunni “Sahih” (authentic) books. Wrong!. It is just a branding or marketing ploy. Putting the word Sahih on the cover doesn’t make the translation more authentic.

I am told that the translation is pretty decent. Though, I found a few badly translated verses.

Online Quran Project

I found a nice website for studying the Quran, the Online Quran Project. Here, I am listing a number of features available on the website

1. The whole interface is fully customizable
2. Support for other languages
3. Very good Navigation (Pane of left side) with search and browsing capabilities
4. Drop down menu to access chapters and verses.
5. Translation of the text and the ability to customize the Arabic text
6. You are also able to change the translation of the Quran. The way to do this is sort of hidden. You need to scroll all the way down until you see the language (e.g. English).
7. The following translations are available: Abdullah Yusuf Ali, maududi, Ali Quli Qarai (in my view this is the best so far) and others.
8. On the right side is the Quran (In Arabic) and it’s translation.
9. The most wonderful feature is the ability to view the footnotes by clicking the footnote link (number) positioned at each verse.
10. You can also increase the font for both the Quran (Arabic script) and also the English translation

Abdullah Yusuf Ali

He translated verses of the Holy Quran from Arabic to English. His Quranic translation (The Holy Qur'an: Text, Translation and Commentary) was one of the earliest. It was published in 1938. He was a very well respected scholar in his time and was credited to bring more English readership (to Islam's Holy Book) than anyone else [looking for source that can be quoted here].
 

I used to own two versions of the Quran translated by him. I had an original translation by him that was very detail. It was a huge book (over a thousand pages).
 

I also posses an abridged version printed in Saudi Arabia. It was heavily censored (footnotes, hadiths and explanations).

There is an interesting article on Al-Islam website about the changes that was made from the original translation done by Abdullah Yusuf Ali and the translation printed by the Saudis. You can see for yourself here 

A fact that is unknown by most people about the translator was that he was born from a Dawoodi Bohra (Ismaili Mustalian Tayyibi) parents. He was reported to have converted to the Sunni sect. No matter which sect he followed, he was among the very few who were honest enough to report the merits of Ahl al-Bayt in verses of the Holy Book.