Introduction for Non-Muslims

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Introduction for Muslims

Introduction for Non-Muslim

Signs of the Quran

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How scientific is the Quran?

What would be a scientific sign?

What we would typically expect from a book by God, as it claims to be, is, apart from a moral guidance, is some deep knowledge of the past, the present and the future. If it is supposed to be scientifically correct, there should be verses which describe discoveries in areas of research which are based on a high level of technology, such as statements about geological, astronomical or biological phenomena in nature. The phenomena that ought to be described should be known to modern science only since very recently and only due to the progress that has been made in areas such as those mentioned above. These could for example be precise descriptions of the structure of the earth, the different layers and characters of the atmosphere, maybe even the age of the universe and the earth, the Big Bang, Evolution of life, or even the precise embryological development of a child on maybe a microscopic level. There should be much more in it. And it should be morally beneficial.

And then there is still the question, whether the passages of such scientific meaning would really be significant and precise enough to wipe out any doubt about the truth of its source? Are those really signs of God or could those statements be interpreted differently? Or was it possible to make discoveries in those times that would have lead to a good enough knowledge to describe these natural phenomena?

The cultures in the Old World

Well, the fact is that the inhabitants of Arabia at the time when the Quran came into being were poetically but not at all scientifically skilled. Only after this revelation enlightened them, they started integrating the science of many cultures that embraced Islam at that time (see The Calendar, David Ewing Duncan, Fourth Estate London, 1999). The philosophers in Greece and Egypt had made many geometrical and mathematical discoveries but did not possess submarines, echolotes or telescopes. The Chinese drew maps and sailed across the Pacific but didn't have compasses, satellites or microscopes. The Indians invented Algebra and the concept of Zero but had no rockets or aeroplanes in those times. In fact the planetary view of these peoples alongside the dominating cultures of those times in the early Middle Ages was very different from the one today. The Roman Catholic Church laid the very foundations for the suppression of scientific knowledge during the Renaissance and had a geocentric view based upon their doctrines. Many scientists and followers of other religions were killed during the crusades and the inquisition (link image). Eminent European scholars at that time were learning from their Muslim colleagues in Spain and Persia. This period is remembered as the Renaissance, the rebirth of ancient philosophy in Europe which had been preserved and developed by the Muslims. In addition to that, Muslims had established experimental methods because God commands them to ponder on every detail of his creation:

"He Who created the seven heavens one above another; no want of proportion wilt thou see in the Creation of (Allah) Most Gracious so turn thy vision again: Seest thou any flaw?
Again turn thy vision a second time; (thy) vision will come back to thee dull and discomfited in a state worn out."

Surah Al-Mulk, 67 Ayah 3/4

Great writings of Socrates and Plato had been preserved by Muslims who had translated them into Arabic, Persian and Turkish before the originals were burnt by crusaders and tartars. Later many Muslim books were translated into Latin by Spanish Muslims in Grenada and Cordoba.

Figure 7. Inside a Mosque in Cordoba/Spain dating back to the Muslim Age

Talents such as Omar Khayyam, Al-Razi, Al-Geber (Algebra), Al-Hazen, Al-Ghazali, Al-Khuwarizmi (Algorithm) and Ibn-Rushd are only a few from the multitude of geniuses whom the Muslim world contributed to civilisation and who were held in honour by Thomas de Aquinus, Francis Bacon, Isaac Newton, Gallileo Galilei, Leonardo da Vinci and Descartes. These were all students of Muslim sciences and pioneers of the Renaissance, Age of Reason and Enlightenment in Europe. An age during which the fundaments of the Christian churches were shaken by a deep tremor of human awakening. The Muslim civilisation dominated world-wide as long as its citizens followed the commandments of Allah (,the only God).

The big challenge

So if the descriptions in the Quran are related to phenomena in nature which have only been possible to be discovered with the help of devices and instruments invented recently, then what does that mean for us? We have to check, whether the statements in the Quran just accidentally relate to these phenomena ? How many signs are there? Are there enough to convince us that the Quran is the true word of God? Here's a list and explanation; you have to judge for yourself about the he following promise:

"Soon will We show them Our Signs in the (furthest) regions and in their own souls until it becomes manifest to them that this (the Quran) is the Truth. Is it not enough that thy Lord doth witness all things?"

Surah Ha-Mim Surah 41 Ayah 53

Let's start with the furthest regions (the universe) and work our way to our own souls (the human body)…