Miracles in The Qur'an

Miracles in Brief

Ever since the dawn of mankind, we have sought to understand nature and our place in it.  In this quest for the purpose of life many people have turned to religion.  Most religions are based on books claimed by their followers to be divinely inspired, without any proof.  Islam is different because it is based upon reason and proof.

There are clear signs that the book of Islam, the Quran, is the word of God and we have many reasons to support this claim:

·       There are scientific and historical facts found in the Quran which were unknown to the people at the time, and have only been discovered recently by contemporary science.

·       The Quran is in a unique style of language that cannot be replicated, this is known as the ‘Inimitability of the Quran.’

·       There are prophecies made in the Quran and by the Prophet Muhammad, may the mercy and blessings of God be upon him, which have come to be pass.

This article lays out and explains the scientific facts that are found in the Quran, centuries before they were ‘discovered’ in contemporary science.  It is important to note that the Quran is not a book of science but a book of ‘signs’.  These signs are there for people to recognise God’s existence and affirm His revelation.  As we know, science sometimes takes a ‘U-turn’ where what once scientifically correct is false a few years later.  In this article only established scientific facts are considered, not just theories or hypothesis.

Scientific Facts in the Quran

The Quran was revealed to the Prophet Muhammad in the 7th century.

Science at the time was primitive, there were no telescopes, microscopes or anything even close to the technology we have today.  People believed that the sun orbited the earth and that the sky was held up by big pillars at the corners of a flat earth.  Within this backdrop the Quran was revealed, and it contains many scientific facts on topics ranging from astronomy to biology, geology to sociology.

Some people may claim that the Quran was changed as new scientific facts were discovered but this cannot be the case because it is a historically documented fact that the Quran is preserved in its original language. 

The Quran was written down and memorised by people during the lifetime of the Prophet Muhammad.  One of the copies of the Quran which was written a few years after the death of the Prophet Muhammad is preserved in a museum in Uzbekistan.  This copy is over 1400 years old and is exactly the same as the Arabic Quran that we have today.

The following are nine scientific facts found in the Quran:

1.  Origin of Life

Water is essential for all living things.  We all know that water is vital to life but the Quran makes a very unusual claim:

We made every living thing from water? Will they not believe? (Quran 21:30)

In this verse water is pointed out as the origin of all life.  All living things are made of cells.  We now know that cells are mostly made up of water.  For example, 80% of the cytoplasm (basic cell material) of a standard animal cell is described as water in biology textbooks.

The fact that living things consist mostly of water was discovered only after the invention of the microscope.  In the deserts of Arabia, the last thing someone would have guessed is that all life came from water.

2.  Iron

Iron is not natural to the earth.  It did not form on the earth but came down to earth from outer space.  This may sound strange but it’s true.  Scientists have found that billions of years ago the earth was stuck by meteorites.  These meteorites were carrying Iron from distant stars which had exploded.

The Quran says the following on the origin of Iron:

“We sent down Iron with its great inherent strength and its many benefits for humankind.” (Quran 57:25)

God uses the words ‘sent down’ for Iron.  It is clear from the verse that Iron is not an earthly material, but was sent down for the benefit of humanity.  The fact that Iron came down to earth from outer space is something which could not be known by the primitive science of the 7th century.

3.  Sky’s Protection

The sky plays a crucial role in protecting the earth.  The sky protects the earth from the lethal rays of the sun.  If the sky did not exist then the sun’s radiation would have killed off all life on earth.  It also acts like a blanket wrapped around the earth, to protect it from the freezing cold of space.  The temperature just above the sky is approximately -270oC.  If this temperature was to reach earth then the planet would freeze over instantly.  The sky also protects life on earth by warming the surface through heat retention (greenhouse effect), and reducing temperature extremes between day and night.  These are some of the many protective functions of the sky.

The Quran asks us to consider the sky in the following verse:

“We made the sky a protective ceiling.  And yet they are turning away from Our signs!” (Quran 21:32)

The Quran points to the sky’s protection as a sign of God. The protective properties of the sky were discovered by scientific research conducted in the 20th century.

4.  Mountains

The Quran draws our attention to a very important characteristic of mountains:

“Did We not make the earth a resting place? And the mountains as stakes?” (Quran 78:6-7)

The Quran indicates that mountains have deep roots by using the word stakes to describe them.  In fact mountains do have deep roots, and the word stakes is an accurate description for them.  A book titled ‘Earth’ by Geophysicist Frank Press explains that mountains are like stakes, and are buried deep under the surface of the earth. Mount Everest, the height of which is approximately 9 km above ground, has a root deeper than 125 km.

The fact that mountains have deep ‘stake’ like roots was not known, until after the development of the theory of plate tectonics in the beginning of the 20th century.

5.  Expansion of the Universe

At a time when the science of Astronomy was still primitive, the expansion of the universe was described in Quran:

“And it is We who have built the Universe with [Our creative] power and keep expanding it.” (Quran 51:47)

The fact that the universe is expanding was discovered in the last century.  The physicist Stephen Hawking in his book ‘A Brief History of Time’ writes, “The discovery that the universe is expanding was one of the great intellectual revolutions of the 20th century.”.

The Quran mentioned the expansion of the universe even before the invention of the telescope!

These are points to ponder upon, for people those who are afraid of what after life holds for them.

The remaining points will be discussed in the next chapter in Sha Allah.

To Be Conti....