Islam & Modern Science ( Part-2 )
Islam & Modern Science ( Part-2 )
Following are the topics included in PART-2 of this series....
6- THE SUN WILL EXTINGUISH
7- INTERSTELLAR MATTER
8- THE EXPANDING UNIVERSE
9- ATOMS CAN BE DIVIDED
10- THE WATER CYCLE
6- THE SUN WILL EXTINGUISH:
The light of the sun is due to a chemical process on its surface that has been taking place continuously for the past five billion years. It will come to an end at some point of time in the future, when the sun will be totally extinguished, leading to extinction of all life on earth.
Regarding the impermanence of the sun’s existence, the Qur’an says:
“And the Sun runs its course for a period determined for it; that is the decree of (Him) the exalted in Might, the All-Knowing.”
[Al-Qur’an 36:38]
The Arabic word used here is mustaqarr, which means a place or time that is determined. Thus the Qur’an says that the sun runs towards a determined place, and will do so only up to a pre-determined period of time – meaning that it will end or extinguish.
7- INTERSTELLAR MATTER:
Space outside organized astronomical systems was earlier assumed to be a vacuum. Astrophysicists later discovered the presence of bridges of matter in this interstellar space. These bridges of matter are called plasma, and consist of completely ionized gas containing equal number of free electrons and positive ions. Plasma is sometimes called the fourth state of matter (besides the three known states viz. solid, liquid and gas).
The Qur’an refers to the presence of this interstellar material in the following verse:
“He Who created the heavens and the earth and all that is between.”
[Al-Qur’an 25:59]
It would be ridiculous for anyone to even suggest that the presence of interstellar galactic material was known 1400 years ago!
8- THE EXPANDING UNIVERSE:
In 1925, American astronomer Edwin Hubble, provided observational evidence that all galaxies are moving away from one another, which implies that the universe is expanding. The expansion of the universe is now an established scientific fact.
This is what the Qur’an says regarding the nature of the universe:
“With power and skill did We construct the Firmament: For it is We Who create the vastness of Space.”
[Al-Qur’an 51:47]
The Arabic word musioon is correctly translated as 'expanding it’, and it refers to the creation of the expanding vastness of the universe. One of the greatest astrophysicist Stephen Hawking, in his book, ‘A Brief History of Time’, says, “The discovery that the universe is expanding was one of the great intellectual revolutions of the 20th century.” The Qur’an mentioned the expansion of the universe, before man even learnt to build a telescope!
Some may say that the presence of astronomical facts in the Qur’an is not surprising since the Arabs were advanced in the field of astronomy. They are correct in acknowledging the advancement of the Arabs in the field of astronomy. However they fail to realize that the Qur’an was revealed centuries before the Arabs excelled in astronomy. Moreover many of the scientific facts mentioned above, such as the origin of the universe with a Big Bang, were not known to the Arabs even at the peak of their scientific advancement. The scientific facts mentioned in the Qur’an are therefore not due to the Arabs’ advancement in astronomy. Indeed, the reverse is true: they advanced in astronomy, because astronomy occupies a place in the Qur’an.
9- ATOMS CAN BE DIVIDED:
In ancient times a well-known theory by the name of ‘Theory of Atomism’ was widely accepted. This theory was originally proposed by the Greeks, in particular by a scholar called Democritus, who lived about 23 centuries ago. Democritus and the people that came after him, assumed that the smallest unit of matter was the atom. The ancient Arabs used to believe the same. The Arabic word zarrah most commonly meant an atom. In recent times modern science has discovered that it is possible to split even an atom. That the atom can be split further is a development of the 20th century. Fourteen centuries ago this concept would have appeared unusual even to an Arab. For him the zarrah was the limit beyond which one could not go.
The following Qur’anic verse however, refuses to acknowledge this limit:
“The Unbelievers say, ‘Never to us will come The Hour’: say, ‘Nay! but most surely, by my Lord, it will come upon you – by Him Who knows the unseen – from Whom is not hidden the least little atom in the Heavens or on earth: nor is there anything less than that, or greater, but is in the Record Perspicuous.’”
[Al-Qur’an 34:3]
This verse also refers to the Omniscience of God, His knowledge of all things, hidden or apparent. It then goes further and says that God is aware of everything, including what is smaller or bigger than the atom. Thus the verse clearly shows that it is possible for something smaller than the atom to exist, a fact discovered only recently by modern science.
10- THE WATER CYCLE:
In 1580, Bernard Palissy was the first person to describe the present day concept of ‘water cycle’. He described how water evaporates from the oceans and cools to form clouds. The clouds move inland where they rise, condense and fall as rain. This water gathers as lakes and streams and flows back to the ocean in a continuous cycle. In the 7th century B.C., Thales of Miletus believed that surface spray of the oceans was picked up by the wind and carried inland to fall as rain. In earlier times people did not know the source of underground water. They thought the water of the oceans, under the effect of winds, was thrust towards the interior of the continents. They also believed that the water returned by a secret passage or the Great Abyss. This passage is connected to the oceans and has been called the ‘Tartarus’, since Plato’s time. Even Descartes, a great thinker of the eighteenth century, subscribed to this view. Till the nineteenth century, Aristotle’s theory was still prevalent. According to this theory, water was condensed in cool mountain caverns and formed underground lakes that fed springs. Today, we have come to know that the rainwater that seeps into the cracks of the ground is responsible for this.
This is described by the Qur’an in the following verses:
“Seest thou not that Allah sends down rain from the sky, and leads it through springs in the earth? then He causes to grow, therewith, produce of various colours.”
[Al-Qur’an 39:21]
“He sends down rain from the sky and with it gives life to the earth after it is dead: Verily in that are Signs for those who are wise.”
[Al-Qur’an 30:24]
“And We send down water from the sky according to (due) measure, and We cause it to soak in the soil; and We certainly are able to drain it off (with ease).”
[Al-Qur’an 23:18]
No other text dating back 1400 years ago gives such an accurate description of the water cycle.
EVAPORATION
“By the Firmament which returns (in its round),”
[Al-Qur’an 86:11]
WINDS IMPREGNATE CLOUDS
“And We send the fecundating winds, then cause the rain to descend from the sky, therewith providing you with water (in abundance).”
[Al-Qur’an 15:22]
The Arabic word used here is lawaaqih which is the plural of laqih from laqaha, which means to impregnate or fecundate. In this context, impregnate means that the wind pushes the clouds together increasing the condensation that causes lightning and thus rain.
A similar description is found in the following verses of the Qur’an:
“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.”
[Al-Qur’an 24:43]
“It is Allah Who sends the Winds, and they raise the Clouds: then does He spread them in the sky as He wills, and break them into fragments, until thou seest raindrops issue from the midst thereof: then when He has made them reach such of His servants as He wills, behold, they do rejoice!”
[Al-Qur’an 30:48]
Modern data on Hydrology agrees perfectly with the Qur'anic description on the same subject. The water cycle is described in several other verses of the Glorious Qur’an, including 7:57, 13:17, 25:48- 49, 35:9, 36:34, 45:5, 50:9-11, 56:68-70 and 67:30.
