THE MIRACULORS IRON
THE MIRACULORS IRON
Iron is one of the elements highlighted in the Qur'an. In Surat al-Hadid, meaning "iron," we are informed:
And We also sent down iron in which there lies great force and which has many uses for mankind... (Qur'an, 57:25)
The word "anzalnaa," translated as "We sent down" and used for iron in the verse, could be thought of having a metaphorical meaning to explain that iron has been given to benefit people. But, when we take into consideration the literal meaning of the word, which is, "being physically sent down from the sky," as in the case of rain and Sun rays, we realize that this verse implies a very significant scientific miracle. Because, modern astronomical findings have disclosed that the iron found in our world has come from giant stars in outer space.39
Not only the iron on Earth, but also the iron in the entire Solar System, comes from outer space, since the temperature in the Sun is inadequate for the formation of iron. The Sun has a surface temperature of 6,000 degrees Celsius (11,000oF), and a core temperature of approximately 20 million degrees (36 million degrees Fahrenheit). Iron can only be produced in much larger stars than the Sun, where the temperature reaches a few hundred million degrees. When the amount of iron exceeds a certain level in a star, the star can no longer accommodate it, and it eventually explodes in what is called a "nova" or a "supernova." These explosions make it possible for iron to be given off into space.40
One scientific source provides the following information on this subject:
There is also evidence for older supernova events: Enhanced levels of iron-60 in deep-sea sediments have been interpreted as indications that a supernova explosion occurred within 90 light-years of the sun about 5 million years ago. Iron-60 is a radioactive isotope of iron, formed in supernova explosions, which decays with a half life of 1.5 million years. An enhanced presence of this isotope in a geologic layer indicates the recent nucleosynthesis of elements nearby in space and their subsequent transport to the earth (perhaps as part of dust grains).41
|
All this shows that iron did not form on the Earth, but was carried from supernovas, and was "sent down," as stated in the verse. It is clear that this fact could not have been known in the 7th century, when the Qur'an was revealed. Nevertheless, this fact is related in the Qur'an, the word of Allah, Who encompasses all things in His infinite knowledge.
Astronomy has also revealed that other elements also formed outside the Earth. In the expression "We also sent down iron" in the verse, the word "also" may well be referring to that idea. However, the fact that the verse specifically mentions iron is quite astounding, considering that these discoveries were made at the end of the 20th century. In his book Nature's Destiny, the well-known microbiologist Michael Denton emphasizes the importance of iron:
Of all the metals there is none more essential to life than iron. It is the accumulation of iron in the center of a star which triggers a supernova explosion and the subsequent scattering of the vital atoms of life throughout the cosmos. It was the drawing by gravity of iron atoms to the center of the primeval earth that generated the heat which caused the initial chemical differentiation of the earth, the outgassing of the early atmosphere, and ultimately the formation of the hydrosphere. It is molten iron in the center of the earth which, acting like a gigantic dynamo, generates the earth's magnetic field, which in turn creates the Van Allen radiation belts that shield the earth's surface from destructive high-energy-penetrating cosmic radiation and preserve the crucial ozone layer from cosmic ray destruction...
Without the iron atom, there would be no carbon-based life in the cosmos; no supernovae, no heating of the primitive earth, no atmosphere or hydrosphere. There would be no protective magnetic field, no Van Allen radiation belts, no ozone layer, no metal to make hemoglobin [in human blood], no metal to tame the reactivity of oxygen, and no oxidative metabolism.
The intriguing and intimate relationship between life and iron, between the red color of blood and the dying of some distant star, not only indicates the relevance of metals to biology but also the biocentricity of the cosmos...42
This account clearly indicates the importance of the iron atom. The fact that particular attention is drawn to iron in the Qur'an also emphasises the importance of the element. In addition, there is another hidden truth in the Qur'an which draws attention to the importance of iron: Surat al-Hadid 25, which refers to iron, contains two rather interesting mathematical codes.
"Al- Hadid" is the 57th sura in the Qur'an. The abjad of the word "Al-Hadid" in Arabic, when the numerological values of its letters are added up, is also 57. (For abjad calculations see the section on Numerological Calculations (Abjad) in the Qur'an.)
The numerological value of the word "hadid" alone is 26. And 26 is the atomic number of iron.
Moreover, iron oxide particles have been used in a cancer treatment method, called MagForce Nanotherapy, since 2003. Dr. Andreas Jordan, of the world famous Charité Hospital in Germany, destroys cancer cells, without causing any damage to the healthy ones, with this technique he developed-magnetic fluid hyperthermia (high temperature magnetic liquid).
This method of treatment can be summarised as follows:
1- A liquid containing iron oxide particles is injected into the tumour by means of a special syringe. These particles spread throughout the tumour cells. This liquid consists of thousands of millions of particles, 1,000 times smaller than the red blood corpuscles, of iron oxide in 1 cm3 that can easily flow through all blood vessels.43
2- The patient is then placed in a machine with a powerful magnetic field.
3- This magnetic field, applied externally, begins to set the iron particles in the tumour in motion. During this time the temperature in the tumour containing the iron oxide particles rises by up to 45 degrees Celsius (113oF).
4- In a few minutes the cancer cells, unable to protect themselves from the heat, are either weakened or destroyed. The tumour may then be completely eradicated with subsequent chemotherapy.44
The spread of this technique is a major development in the treatment of this potentially lethal disease. In the treatment of such a widespread disease as cancer, the use of the expression "iron in which there lies great force and which has many uses for humanity" (Qur'an, 57:25) in the Qur'an is particularly noteworthy. Indeed, in that verse, the Qur'an may be indicating the benefits of iron for human health. (Allah knows best.)
THE FORMATION OF PETROL
Glorify the Name of your Lord, the Most High: He Who created and moulded; He Who determined and guided; He Who brings forth green pasture, then makes it blackened stubble. (Qur'an, 87:1-5)
 Petrol platform |
As we know, petrol forms from the remains of plants and animals in the sea. Once these have decayed on the sea bed after millions of years, all that is left are oily substances. These, under layers of mud and rock, then turn into petrol and gas. Movements in the Earth's crust sometimes lead to the sea petrifying and to the rocks containing petrol being buried thousands of metres deep. The petrol that forms sometimes leaks through the pores in the rock layers from several kilometres down, and rises to the surface, where it vaporises (turns into gas), leaving a mass of bitumen behind.
The three elements identified in the first four verses of Surat al-A'la parallel the formation of petroleum. It is quite likely that the term "mar`aa," meaning "pasture or meadow," refers to the organically-based substances in the formation of petroleum. The second word of note in the verse is "ahwaa," used to describe blackish-green, greenish-black, dark or sooty colours. This word can be thought of as describing the waste plant matter accumulated underground gradually turning black, since these words are supported by a third word, "ghuthaa'." The word "ghuthaa'" translated as "stubble," can also mean "flood-water plants, plants brought together by waste matter being collected and dispersed around valleys, rubbish, leaves or foam." In addition to the connotation of "vomiting out" implied in the word, it may also be translated as "to flood forth vomited matter," and describes the way that the earth "vomits" forth petroleum. In fact, in the light of the formation of petroleum, the way it emerges, its foam-like appearance and its colour, one can better see with what wisdom were employed the words in the verses.
As has been discussed, the plant in the verse turning into a dark and viscous liquid bears a strong resemblance to the formation of petroleum. The description of such a formation over many years, at a time when the formation of petroleum was unknown, is without doubt another proof that the Qur'an is the revelation of Allah.
THE RELATIVITY OF TIME
Today, the
relativity of time is a proven scientific fact. This was revealed by
Einstein's theory of relativity during the early part of the 20th
century. Until then, it was not known that time was relative, nor that
it could change according to the circumstances. Yet, the renowned
scientist Albert Einstein proved this fact by discovering the theory of
relativity. He showed that time is dependent on mass and velocity.
However, the Qur'an had already included information about time's being relative! Some verses about the subject read:
... A day with your Lord is equivalent to a thousand years in the way you count. (Qur'an, 22:47)
He directs the whole affair from heaven to Earth. Then it will again ascend to Him on a day whose length is a thousand years by the way you measure. (Qur'an, 32:5)
The angels and the spirit ascend to Him in a day whose length is fifty thousand years. (Qur'an, 70:4)
The fact that the relativity of time is so definitely mentioned in the Qur'an, which began to be revealed in 610, is more evidence that it is a Divine book.
CREATION IN SIX DAYS
Your Lord is Allah, Who created the heavens and the Earth in six days and then settled Himself firmly on the Throne... (Qur'an, 7:54)
One
example of the harmony between the Qur'an and modern science is the
subject of the age of the universe. Cosmologists estimate the age of the
universe as 16-17 billion years. The Qur'an states that the entire
universe was created in six days. These two time frames, which may seem
contradictory, are actually surprisingly compatible. In fact, both these
figures concerning the age of the universe are correct. In other words,
the universe was created in six days, as revealed in the Qur'an, and
this period corresponds to 16-17 billion years in the way that we
experience time.
In 1915 Einstein proposed that time was relative, that the passage of time altered according to space, the speed of the person travelling and the force of gravity at that moment. Bearing in mind these differences in the passage of time, the period of time in which the universe was created as revealed in seven different verses of the Qur'an is actually highly compatible with scientists' estimations. The six-day period revealed in the Qur'an can be thought of as six periods. Because, taking into account the relativity of time, a "day" refers only to a 24-hour period experienced on Earth under current conditions. Elsewhere in the universe, however, at another time and under other conditions, a "day" could refer to a much longer period of time. Indeed, the word "ayyaam" in the period of six days (sittat ayyaam) in these verses (Qur'an 32:4, 10:3, 11:7, 25:59, 57:4, 50:38, and 7:54) means not only "days," but also "age, period, moment, term."
In the first period of the universe, the passage of time took place much faster than that with which we are familiar today. The reason for this is that, at the moment of the Big Bang, our universe was compressed into a very small point. The expansion of the universe and increase in its volume ever since the moment of that explosion has extended the borders of the universe to millions of light years. Indeed, the stretching of space ever since that moment has had very important ramifications for universal time.
The energy at the moment of the Big Bang slowed down the flow of time 1012 (one million million) times. When the universe was created the speed of universal time was higher up to a million million times, as time is experienced today. In other words, a million million minutes on Earth is the equivalent of just one minute in universal time.
When a six-day period of time is calculated according to the relativity of time, it equates to six million million (six trillion) days. That is because universal time flows a million million times faster than time on Earth. Calculated in terms of years, 6 trillion days equates to approximately 16.427 billion years. This is within the estimated range for the age of the universe.
6,000,000,000,000 days/365.25 = 16.427104723 billion years
On the other hand, each of the six days of creation equates to very different periods, as we perceive time. The reason for this is that the speed of the passage of time declines in proportion to the expansion of the universe. Ever since the Big Bang, as the size of the universe doubled, so the passage of time halved. As the universe grew, the speed at which the universe doubled increasingly slowed down. This rate of expansion is a scientific fact acknowledged the world over and described in the text book The Fundamentals of Physical Cosmology. When we calculate every day of creation in terms of Earth time, the following situation emerges:
* Looked at from the moment when time began, the first day of creation (first phase) lasted 24 hours. This period, however, is the equivalent of 8 billion years in Earth terms.
* The second day of creation (second phase) lasted 24 hours. This, however, lasted half as long, in our terms, as the preceding day, in other words 4 billion years.
* The third day (third phase) lasted half as long as the second day, in other words 2 billion years.
* The fourth day (fourth phase) lasted 1 billion years.
* The fifth day (fifth phase) lasted 500 million years.
* And the sixth day (sixth phase) lasted 250 million years.
* Conclusion: When the six days of creation, in other words the six phases, are added together in Earth terms, the resulting figure is 15 billion 750 million years. This figure displays an enormous parallel with modern-day estimations.
This conclusion is one of the facts revealed by 21st century science. Science has once again confirmed a fact revealed in the Qur'an 1,400 years ago. This harmony between the Qur'an and science is one of the miraculous proofs that the Qur'an is the revelation of Allah, the Creator, the Omniscient.
THE TRUTH OF DESTINY
But you will not will unless Allah wills. Allah is All-Knowing, All-Wise. (Qur'an, 76:30)
As a result
of experiments he performed in 1973, Professor Benjamin Libet, a
neurophysiologist at the University of California, revealed that all our
decisions and choices are set out beforehand, and that consciousness
only comes into play half a second after everything has been determined.45
This is interpreted by other neurophysiologists as
meaning that we actually live in the past and that our consciousness is
like a monitor which shows us everything half a second later.
Therefore, none of the experiences we perceive are in real time, but are delayed by up to half a second from the real events themselves. Libet carried out his research by making use of the fact that brain surgery can be performed without the use of narcosis, in other words while the subject is fully conscious. Libet stimulated the brains of his subjects with small electrical currents, and when they experienced a perception that their hands had been touched the subjects said that they had felt that "touch" almost half a second before. As a result of his measurements, Libet arrived at the following conclusion:
All perceptions are normally transmitted to the brain. As these are subconsciously evaluated and interpreted, the ego is unaware of anything. The information that appears before our minds, in other words that we can be aware of, is transmitted to the cortex, the seat of consciousness, after a certain delay.46
The conclusion from this may be summarised as follows: The decision to move a muscle takes place before that decision reaches the consciousness. There is always a delay between a neurological or perceptual process and our becoming aware of the thought, feeling, perception or movement it represents. To put it another way, we can only be aware of a decision after that decision has been taken.
In Professor Libet's experiments, this delay varies between 350 and 500 milliseconds, although the conclusion that emerges is in no way dependent upon those figures. Because, according to Libet, whatever the length of that delay-it makes no difference whether it is great or small, whether it lasts an hour or a microsecond-our physical life is always in the past. This demonstrates that every thought, emotion, perception or movement happens before reaching our consciousness, and that proves that the future is entirely outside our control.47
In other experiments, Professor Libet left the choice of when the subjects would move their fingers up to them. The brains of the subjects were monitored at the moment their fingers moved, and it was observed that the relevant brain cells went into action before the subjects actually took the decision. To put it another way, the command "do!" reaches the individual, and the brain is readied to perform the action; the individual only becomes aware of this half a second later. He or she does not take a decision to act and then performs that action, but rather performs an action predetermined for him or her. Yet, the brain makes an adjustment, removing any recognition that the individual is actually living in the past. For that reason, at the moment we refer to as "now," we are actually living something determined in the past. As already discussed, these studies manifest the fact that everything happens by the will of Allah, as revealed in Surat al-Insan 30. (See Harun Yahya, Timelessness and the Reality of Fate, Goodword Books, New Delhi, 2001)
DUALITY IN CREATION
Glory be to Him Who created all the pairs: from what the earth produces and from themselves and from things unknown to them. (Qur'an, 36:36)
While "male and female" is equivalent to the concept of "pair," "things unknown to them," as expressed in the Qur'an, bears a broader meaning. Indeed, we encounter one of the meanings pointed to in the verse in the present day. The British physicist Paul Dirac, who discovered that matter was created in pairs, won the Nobel Prize for Physics in 1933. This finding, known as "parity," revealed the duality known as matter and anti-matter. Anti-matter bears the opposite characteristics to matter. For instance, contrary to matter, anti-matter electrons are positive and protons negative. This fact is expressed in a scientific source as follows:
... every particle has its antiparticle of opposite charge... [T]he uncertainty relation tells us that pair creation and pair annihilation happen in the vacuum at all times, in all places.48
 There are antimatter equivalents of all the basic particles in the universe. Antimatters possess the same mass but carry opposite charges. For that reason, when matter and antimatter make contact they disappear by turning into energy. |
Another example of duality in creation is plants. Botanists only discovered that there is a gender distinction in plants some 100 years ago.49 Yet, the fact that plants are created in pairs was revealed in the following verses of the Qur'an 1,400 years ago:
It is Allah Who created the heavens with no support-you can see them-and cast firmly embedded mountains on the earth so that it would not move under you, and scattered about in it creatures of every kind. And We send down water from the sky and make every generous plant grow in it, in pairs. (Qur'an, 31:10)
It is He Who made the earth a cradle for you and threaded pathways for you through it and sent down water from the sky by which We have brought forth diverse pairs of plants. (Qur'an, 20:53)
In the same way, fruits, are of two types: male or female. As the Qur'an proclaims:
He stretched out Earth and placed firmly embedded mountains and rivers in it, and made two types [male and female] of every kind of fruit. He covers over day with night. There are signs in that for people who reflect. (Qur'an, 13:3)
The word "zawjayni," translated as "two types," comes from "zawj," meaning "one of a pair." As we know, fruits are the final product produced by ripening plants. The stage before fruit is the flower. Flowers also have male and female organs. When pollen is carried to the flower and fertilization takes place, they begin to bear fruit. The fruit gradually ripens and starts to release seeds. The fact that fruits have gender-specific features is another piece of scientific information indicated in the Qur'an.
SUB-ATOMIC PARTICLES
2. Atoms consist of a dense nucleus surrounded by a cloud of electrons. Electromagnetic force holds the nucleus and electrons together. 3. The nucleus consists of protons and neutrons held together by a powerful nuclear force. 4.Protons and neutrons consist of three quarks each and are held together by powerful nuclear force. |
Following the development of the atomic theory of the Greek philosopher Democritus, people used to believe that matter consisted of minute, indivisible and indestructible particles known as atoms. However, advances in the study of atoms have refuted this notion. At the present time, modern science has revealed that the atom, previously regarded as the smallest particle, can actually be split. This fact only emerged in the last century, but was revealed in the Qur'an 1,400 years ago:
... He is the Knower of the Unseen, Whom not an atom's weight eludes, either in the heavens or in the earth; nor is there anything smaller or larger than that which is not in a Clear Book. (Qur'an, 34:3)
... Not even an atom's weight eludes your Lord, either on earth or in heaven. Nor is there anything smaller than that, or larger, which is not in a Clear Book. (Qur'an, 10:61)
This verse refers to "atom" and smaller particles still.
Up until 20 years ago, it was believed that the smallest particles were the protons and neutrons which comprise the atom. Very recently, however, even smaller particles of which these themselves consist were discovered. A specialised branch of physics, called "particle physics," emerged to study these "sub-particles" and their particular behaviour. Particle physics research has revealed that the protons and neutrons which comprise the atoms actually consist of sub-particles known as quarks. The size of these quarks, the basic components of protons, whose small size is beyond human conception, is astonishing: 10-18 (0.000000000000000001 of a metre).50
Another point worthy of note is that these verses draw particular attention to the weight of the atom. The word "mithqaal," in the expression "mithqaalu tharratin" (an atom's weight) in the above verses, means weight. In fact, it has been discovered that the protons, neutrons and electrons which form the atom are also compounds which give the atom its weight. Therefore, it is yet another scientific miracle of the Qur'an that attention is drawn instead to the weight of the atom and not its size or any other feature. (See Harun Yahya, The Miracle in the Atom, Ta-Ha Publishers, UK, 2004)
BLACK HOLES
The 20th century saw a great many new discoveries regarding celestial phenomena in the universe. One of these entities, which has only recently been encountered, is the Black Hole. These are formed when a star which has consumed all its fuel collapses in on itself, eventually turning into a black hole with infinite density and zero volume and an immensely powerful magnetic field. We are unable to see black holes even with the most powerful telescope, because their gravitational pull is so strong that light is unable to escape from them. However, such a collapsed star can be perceived by means of the effect it has on the surrounding area. In Surat al-Waqi'a, Allah draws attention to this matter in this way, by swearing upon the position of stars:
And I swear by the stars' positions-and that is a mighty oath if you only knew. (Qur'an, 56:75-76)
The term "black hole" was first employed in 1969 by the American physicist John Wheeler. Previously, we imagined that we were able to see all the stars. However, it later emerged that there were stars in space whose light we were unable to perceive. Because, the light of these collapsed stars disappears. Light cannot escape from a black hole because it is such a high concentration of mass in a small space. The enormous gravitation captures even the fastest particles, i.e. the photons. For example, the final stage of a typical star, three times the mass of the Sun, ends after its burning out and its implosion as a black hole of only 20 kilometres (12.5 miles) in diameter! Black holes are "black," i.e. veiled from direct observation. They nevertheless reveal themselves indirectly, by the tremendous suction which their gravitational force exerts on other heavenly bodies. As well as depictions of the Day of Judgement, the verse below may also be pointing to this scientific discovery about black holes:
When the stars are extinguished. (Qur'an, 77:8)
Moreover, stars of great mass also cause warps to be perceived in space. Black holes, however, do not just cause warps in space but also tear holes in it, as astrophysicists put it. That is why these collapsed stars are known as black holes. This fact may be referred to in the verse about stars, and this is another important item of information demonstrating that the Qur'an is the word of Allah:
[I swear] by Heaven and the Tariq! And what will convey to you what the Tariq is? The Star Piercing [the darkness]! (Qur'an, 86:1-3)
PULSARS: PULSATING STARS
[I swear] by Heaven and the Tariq! And what will convey to you what the Tariq is? The Star Piercing [the darkness]! (Qur'an, 86:1-3)
|
The word "Tariq," name of the Sura 86, comes from the root "tarq," whose basic meaning is that of striking hard enough to produce a sound, or hitting. Bearing in mind the word's possible meaning as "beating," "striking hard," our attention may be being drawn in this sura to an important scientific fact. Before analysing this information, let us look at the other words employed in the verse to describe these stars. The term "al-taariqi" in the above verse means a star that pierces the night, that pierces the darkness, born at night, piercing and moving on, beating, striking, or sharp star. Furthermore, the term "wa" draws attention to the things being sworn on-the heaven and the Tariq.
Through research carried out by Jocelyn Bell Burnell, at Cambridge University in 1967, a regular radio signal was identified. Until that time, however, it was not known that that there was a heavenly body that could be the source of regular pulse or beating rather like that of the heart. In 1967, however, astronomers stated that, as matter grows denser in the core as it revolves around its own axis, the star's magnetic field also grows stronger, and thus gives rise to a magnetic field at its poles 1 trillion times stronger than that of Earth. They realised that a body revolving so fast and with such a powerful magnetic field emits rays consisting of very powerful radio waves in a conic form at every revolution. Shortly afterwards, it was also realised that the source of these signals is the rapid revolution of neutron stars. These newly discovered neutron stars are known as "pulsars." These stars, which turn into pulsars through supernova explosions, are of the greatest mass, and are the brightest and fastest moving bodies in the universe. Some pulsars revolve 600 times a second.51
The word "pulsar" comes from the verb to pulse. According to the American Heritage Dictionary, the word means to pulsate, to beat. Encarta Dictionary defines it as to beat rhythmically, to move or throb with a strong regular rhythm. Again, according to the Encarta Dictionary, the word "pulsate," which comes from the same root, means to expand and contract with a strong regular beat.
Following that discovery, it was realised that the phenomenon described in the Qur'an as "tariq," beating, bore a great similarity to the neutron stars known as pulsars.
Neutron stars form as the nuclei of super giant stars collapse. The highly compressed and dense matter, in the form of a rapidly revolving sphere, entraps and squeezes most of the star's weight and magnetic field. The powerful magnetic field created by these rapidly revolving neutron stars has been shown to cause the emission of powerful radio waves observable on Earth.
In the third verse of Surat at-Tariq the term "al-najmu al-thaaqibu," meaning piercing, moving on, or opening holes, indicates that Tariq is a bright star that pierces a hole in the darkness and moves on. The concept of the term "adraaka" in the expression "And what will convey to you what the Tariq is?" refers to comprehension. Pulsars, formed through the compression of stars several times the size of the Sun, are among those celestial bodies that are hard to comprehend. The question in the verse emphasizes how hard it is to comprehend this beating star. (Allah knows best.)
As discussed, the stars described as Tariq in the Qur'an bear a close similarity to the pulsars described in the 20th century, and may reveal to us another scientific miracle of the Qur'an.
THE STAR SIRIUS
|
When certain concepts mentioned in the Qur'an are studied in the light of 21st century scientific discoveries we find ourselves imparted with yet more miracles of the Qur'an. One of these is the star Sirius, mentioned in Surat an-Najm 49:
... it is He Who is the Lord of Sirius. (Qur'an, 53: 49)
The fact that the Arabic word "shi'raa," the equivalent of the star Sirius, appears only in Surat an-Najm, meaning only "star," 49 is particularly striking. Because, considering the irregularity in the movement of Sirius, the brightest star in the night sky, as their starting point, scientists discovered that it was actually a double star. Sirius is actually a set of two stars, known as Sirius A and Sirius B. The larger of these is Sirius A, which is also the closer to the Earth and the brightest star that can be seen with the naked eye. Sirius B, however, cannot be seen without a telescope.
The Sirius double stars orbit in ellipses about one another. The orbital period of Sirius A & B about their common centre of gravity is 49.9 years. This scientific data is today accepted with one accord by the departments of astronomy at Harvard, Ottawa and Leicester Universities.52 This information is reported as follows in various sources:
Sirius, the brightest star, is actually a twin star... Its orbit lasts 49.9 years.53
As is known, the stars Sirius-A and Sirius-B orbit each other in a double bow every 49.9 years.54
The point requiring attention here is the double, bow-shaped orbit of the two stars around one another.
However, this scientific fact, the accuracy of which was only realised in the late 20th century, was miraculously indicated in the Qur'an 1,400 years ago. When verses 49 and 9 of Surat an-Najm are read together, this miracle becomes apparent:
It is He Who is the Lord of Sirius. (Qur'an, 53: 49)
He was two bow-lengths away or even closer. (Qur'an, 53:9)
The description in Surat an-Najm 9 may also describe how these two stars approach one another in their orbits. (Allah knows best.) This scientific fact, that nobody could have known at the time of the revelation of the Qur'an, once again proves that the Qur'an is the word of Almighty Allah.
LIGHT AND DARK
Praise belongs to Allah Who created the heavens and the Earth and appointed darkness and light... (Qur'an, 6:1)
We all know that without light a person cannot see his surroundings with the naked eye. However, the light that we can see is only a very small part of all light-emitting energy. There are other kinds of light-emitting energy that human beings cannot perceive, such as infra-red, ultra-violet, x-rays and radio waves. Human beings are effectively blind to such light waves.
It is interesting, therefore, that the word for "darkness" in the Qur'an is always in the plural. The Arabic word, "thulumaat," is used in the plural in 23 verses of the Qur'an, and never used in the singular. The use of the word "darkness" in the Qur'an indicates that in addition to those light waves we can see, there may also be other kinds.
Only recently did scientists discover why the plural may have been used here. Wave lengths vary in a form of energy known as electromagnetic radiation. All the different forms of electromagnetic radiation behave as energy waves in space. This can be compared to the waves which form when a stone is thrown into a pond. As the waves on a pond can be of different sizes, so electromagnetic radiation has different-sized waves.
 |
Stars and other sources of light do not all give off the same kind of emissions. These different rays are classified according to their wavelengths. The spectrum of wavelengths is quite wide. There is a 1025 difference between gamma rays, with the smallest size wavelength, and radio waves, which are the largest. Nearly all the rays emitted by the Sun are squeezed into just one part of this 1025 spectrum.
In order to better understand the colossal dimensions of this figure, it will be useful to make a comparison. If we wanted to count to 1025, and if we counted day and night without pause, it would take us 100 million times the age of the Earth to finish. The different wavelengths in the universe are distributed within a spectrum of just such a size. 70% of the different wavelengths emitted by the Sun are limited to a very narrow spectrum between 0.3 microns and 1.5 microns. There are three kinds of light within that band: visible light, infra-red light and ultraviolet light. Despite occupying a band less than 1 in 1025, the rays known as visible light represent 41% of all the Sun's rays.
As has been discussed, electromagnetic waves perceivable to the human eye are responsible for only a very small part of the light spectrum. The other regions represent only darkness for human beings, who are blind to wavelengths outside that band.55
COMBUSTION WITHOUT FIRE
Allah is the light of the heavens and the Earth. The metaphor of His Light is that of a niche in which is a lamp, the lamp inside a glass, the glass like a brilliant star, lit from a blessed tree, an olive, neither of the east nor of the west, its oil all but giving off light even if no fire touches it. Light upon light. Allah guides to His Light whoever He wills and Allah makes metaphors for mankind and Allah has knowledge of all things. (Qur'an, 24:35)
This verse refers to something that emits light. This light-emitting entity is compared to a star. The fact that the fuel used by this star-like, light-emitting body belongs to neither East nor West may be an indication that the body has no physical dimensions. If one assumes that the fuel source is in an energy dimension, then it is very likely that the fuel in the verse refers to electrical energy, and the light-emitting body to a light bulb.
A bulb is a body which shines like a star and emits light, inside glass, and that is in full conformity with the description in the verse. Unlike oil lamps and gas lamps, light bulbs do not burn oil, and, in line with the description supplied in the verse, combustion without fire takes place inside it. As a result of the vibration among the atoms of the heat-resistant tungsten wire, the temperature inside the bulb rises to over 2,000 degrees Celsius (3,630oF). This temperature, which would melt other metals, is so high that it gives rise to a powerful, visible light. Despite that heat, however, no combustion takes place, again in line with the verse, since the bulb contains no oxygen. In addition, the filament inside the bulb closely resembles a bright star.
If we bear in mind the fact that electricity is one of the greatest discoveries in the history of the world, and that it lights just about the entire world by means of bulbs, then we may well assume that the verse may be pointing to this major discovery. (Allah knows best.)
Another explanation could be that the light is emitted as a result of the nuclear reaction in stars. Stars are bright, hot, rotating masses of gas which emit large quantities of light and heat as a result of nuclear reactions. Most newly-forming large stars begin to collapse under the weight of their own gravitational pull. That means that their centres are hotter and denser. When the matter in the centre of the star is sufficiently heated-when it reaches at least 10 million degrees Celsius (18 million degrees Fahrenheit)-nuclear reactions begin.56 What happens inside a star is that with enormous energy (fusion), hydrogen turns into helium. Nuclear fusion takes the particles that make up hydrogen and sticks them together to make helium (1 helium atom is made from 4 hydrogen atoms). In order to make the protons and neutrons in the helium stick together, the atom gives off tremendous energy. The energy released in the process is radiated from the surface of the star as light and heat. When the hydrogen is consumed, the star then begins to burn with helium, in exactly the same way, and heavier elements are formed. These reactions continue until the mass of the star has been consumed.
However, since oxygen is not used in these reactions inside stars, the result is not ordinary combustion, such as that takes place when burning a piece of wood. The combustion seen as giant flames in stars does not actually derive from fire. Indeed, burning of just this kind is described in the verse. If one also thinks that the verse refers to a star, its fuel and combustion without fire, then one can also think that it is referring to the emission of light and mode of combustion in stars. (Allah knows best.)
THE MIRACLE OF FIRE AND WOOD, THAT CANNOT BE OBTAINED ARTIFICIALLY
Have you thought about
the fire that you light? Is it you who make the trees that fuel it grow
or are We the Grower? We have made it to be a reminder and a
comfort for travellers in the wild. So glorify the name of your Lord,
the Magnificent! (Surat al-Waqi ‘a, 71-74)
One of the chemical substances mainly responsible for the structure of wood is “lignocellulose.” This substance is a compound of the materials known as “lignin” and “cellulose” that give wood its hardness. In terms of chemicalstructure, wood is made up of 50% cellulose, 25% hemicelluloses and 25% lignin. (http://www.forestpathology.org/wood.html; Wood Chemistry and Anatomy, 2005.) An analysis of these substances’ chemical formulae reveals three vital elements: hydrogen, oxygen and carbon.
Hydrogen, oxygen and carbon are the building blocks of millions of substances in nature. But as a miracle from Allah, these three also combine to give rise to the substance “lignocellulose” found in plants. Although scientists know that they contain these substances they are unable to reproduce this special material in plants. Although these elements found in large amounts in nature can easily be obtained, scientists have been unable to obtain a single piece of wood by artificial means, despite having countless examples before them. Yet all the trees we see around us have been ceaselessly producing this compound for millions of years by combining oxygen, carbon, water and sunlight.
One of the compounds in lignocellulose is water, expressed by the formula H2O. The fact that wood is one of the most flammable materials despite containing a large amount of water is a most special state of affairs. The above verse is very wise in noting that wood cannot be made by human beings, by fire. Thanks to these compounds and the water it contains, wood is one of the most important fuels of fire.
Trees are an important sphere of scientific research, and inspire scientists, who are still struggling to grasp all the details in their creation, in a number of areas. The complex structures of the cells that constitute trees have still not been fully unraveled, despite advances in technology and intensive research. The Forestry Commission of Great Britain, one of the world’s leading forestry research institutions, says the following under the heading "Lack of Information on the Chemistry and Structure of Wood Fibres":
Despite the knowledge resulting from earlier and ongoing research, there still exists a lack of information on the chemistry and structure of wood fibres. Large variations can be found within a single tree, from the pith to the bark and from the base to the top of a tree. Often the chemistry and structure of a wood cell are extremely heterogeneous and difficult to investigate with conventional techniques. (http://www.forestresearch.gov.uk/fr/INFD-6FMCUS; The Research Agency of the Forestry Commission, 2007.)
A paper in the scientific journal Plant Physiology titled "Our Understanding of How Wood Develops is not Complete" describes the limited knowledge of the subject that scientists possess:
Considering the important role that wood is foreseen to play in the near future, it is surprising to see that our understanding of how wood develops is far from complete. With a few exceptions, very little is known about the cellular, molecular, and developmental processes that underlie wood formation. Xylogenesis represents an example of cell differentiation in an exceptionally complex form. This process is controlled by a wide variety of factors both exogenous (photoperiod and temperature) and endogenous (phytohormones) and by interaction between them. It is driven by the coordinated expression of numerous structural genes (some of known function) involved in cell origination, differentiation, programmed cell death, and heartwood (HW) formation and by virtually unknown regulatory genes orches trating this ordered developmental sequence. The presence of gene families and the extreme plasticity of the metabolism involved (as exemplified by the unusual behavior of plants with transformed cell walls; for review, see Fagard et al., 2000) add a further complexity to our understanding of the process of wood formation. (Christophe Plomion, Gregoire Leprovost, Alexia Stokes, "Wood Formation in Trees", Plant Physiology, December 2001, Vol. 127, pp. 1513–1523.)
The extraordinary creation in wood is emphasized thus in another scientific journal, Annals of Botany:
Wood formation is a highly complicated process involving an unbelievable variety of metabolic steps in the roots, stem and crown of shrubs and trees. At the centre of these processes is cambial activity which results in the release of young woody cells that undergo maturation until autolysis of the protoplast, indicating the final developmental stage. Later on, in various tree species, woody cells become further modified by an additional process called heartwood formation. The properties of wood that make it an appropriate raw material for many purposes are largely determined by the specific architecture of the cell walls. Difficulties in investigating these many developmental stages appear when routine techniques, which work well for soft plant tissues, are applied. Therefore, in most cases, these techniques need modification or the use of completely revised protocols to yield good results for woody tissues. (Uwe Schmitt, "Chaffey, N.J. ed. Wood formation in trees—cell and molecular biology techniques", Annals of Botany, 2002, Vol. 90, no. 4, pp. 545-546.)
These details in the creation of wood remind us, as set out in Surat al-Waqi ‘a, that wood cannot be made by human beings. Just a few of the inimitable features of wood, which cannot be produced artificially, are as follows:
Wood, a Resistant Material
|
The
Hydraulic System That Raises Water
|
Roots Capable of Selecting Minerals from the Soil:
|
Photosynthesis: The Superior Technology in a Miniature Factory
|
THE WEIGHT OF CLOUDS
The weight
of clouds can reach quite astonishing proportions. For example, a
cumulonimbus cloud, commonly known as the thunder cloud, can contain up
to 300,000 tons of water.
The fact that a mass of 300,000 tons of water can remain aloft is truly amazing. Attention is drawn to the weight of clouds in other verses of the Qur'an:
It is He Who sends out the winds, bringing advance news of His mercy, so that when they have lifted up the heavy clouds, We dispatch them to a dead land and send down water to it, by means of which We bring forth all kinds of fruit... (Qur'an, 7:57)
It is He Who shows you the lightning, striking fear and bringing hope; it is He Who heaps up the heavy clouds. (Qur'an, 13:12)
At the time when the Qur'an was revealed, of course, it was quite impossible to have any information about the weight of clouds. This information, revealed in the Qur'an, but discovered only recently, is yet another proof that the Qur'an is the word of Allah.
RAIN IN MEASURED AMOUNTS
Another
item of information provided in the Qur'an about rain is that it is sent
down to Earth in "measured amounts" This is mentioned in Surat
az-Zukhruf as follows:
It is He Who sends down water in measured amounts from the sky by which We bring a dead land back to life. That is how you too will be raised [from the dead]. (Qur'an, 43:11)
This measured quantity in rain has again been discovered by modern research. It is estimated that in one second, approximately 16 million tons of water evaporates from the Earth. This figure amounts to 505 trillion tons of water in one year. This number is equal to the amount of rain that falls on the Earth in a year. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Water_cycle)Therefore, water continuously circulates in a balanced cycle, according to a "measure." Life on Earth depends on this water cycle. Even if all the available technology in the world were to be employed for this purpose, this cycle could not be reproduced artificially.
Even a minor deviation in this equilibrium would soon give rise to a major ecological imbalance that would bring about the end of life on Earth. Yet, it never happens, and rain continues to fall every year in exactly the same measure, just as revealed in the Qur'an.
The proportion of rain does not merely apply to its quantity, but also to the speed of the falling raindrops. The speed of raindrops, regardless of their size, does not exceed a certain limit.
Philipp Lenard, a German physicist who received the Nobel Prize in physics in 1905, found that the fall speed increased with drop diameter until a size of 4.5 mm (0.18 inch). For larger drops, however, the fall speed did not increase beyond 8 metres per second (26 ft/sec).57 He attributed this to the changes in drop shape caused by the air flow as the drop size increased. The change in shape thus increased the air resistance of the drop and slowed its fall rate.
As can be seen, the Qur'an may also be drawing our attention to the subtle adjustment in rain which could not have been known 1,400 years ago.
HOW RAIN FORMS
 The above illustration shows the water droplets being released into the air. This is the first stage in the formation of rain. After that, the water droplets in the newly formed clouds will be suspended in the air and then condense to form rain. All of these stages are related in the Qur'an. |
How rain was formed remained a great mystery for quite some time. Only after the weather radar was invented was it possible to discover the stages by which rain is formed.
According to this discovery, the formation of rain takes place in three stages. First, the "raw material" of rain rises up into the air with the wind. Later, clouds are formed, and finally raindrops appear.
The Qur'an's account of the formation of rain refers exactly to this process. In one verse, this formation is described in this way:
It is Allah Who sends the winds which stir up clouds which He spreads about the sky however He wills. He forms them into dark clumps and you see the rain come pouring out from the middle of them. When He makes it fall on those of His servants He wills, they rejoice. (Qur'an, 30:48)
Now, let us examine these three stages outlined in the verse in more detail.
FIRST STAGE: "It is Allah Who sends the winds..."
Countless air bubbles formed by the foaming of the oceans continuously burst and cause water particles to be ejected towards the sky. These particles, which are rich in salt, are then carried away by winds and rise upward in the atmosphere. These particles, which are called aerosols, function as water traps, and form cloud drops by collecting around the water vapour themselves, which rises from the seas as tiny droplets.
 (A) Isolated small pieces of clouds (cumulonimbus clouds) (B) When the small clouds join together, updrafts within the
larger
cloud increase. As a result, the cloud is stacked up. |
SECOND STAGE: ".... which stir up clouds which He spreads about the sky however He wills. He forms them into dark clumps..."
The clouds are formed from water vapour that condenses around the salt crystals or dust particles in the air. Because the water droplets in these clouds are very small (with a diameter between 0.01 and 0.02 mm [0,0004 and 0,0008 inch]), the clouds are suspended in the air, and spread across the sky. Thus, the sky is covered in clouds.
THIRD STAGE: "...and you see the rain come pouring out from the middle of them"
The water particles that surround salt crystals and dust particles thicken and form raindrops, so, drops that become heavier than the air leave the clouds and start to fall to the ground as rain.
As already discussed, every stage in the formation of rain is related in the verses of the Qur'an. Furthermore, these stages are explained in exactly the right sequence. Just as with many other natural phenomena on the Earth, Allah gave the most correct explanation of this phenomenon, and made it known in the Qur'an centuries before it was discovered.
In another verse, the following information is given about the formation of rain:
Haven't you seen how Allah drives along the clouds, then joins them together, then makes them into a stack, and then you see the rain come out of it? And He sends down from the sky mountain masses [of clouds] with cold hail in them, striking with it anyone He wills and averting it from anyone He wills. The brightness of His lightning almost blinds the sight. (Qur'an, 24:43)
Scientists studying cloud types came across surprising results with regards to the formation of rain clouds. Rain clouds are formed and shaped according to definite systems and stages. The stages of formation of one kind of rain cloud, cumulonimbus, are these:
1. STAGE, Being driven along: Clouds are carried along, that is, they are driven along, by the wind.
2. STAGE, Joining: Then, small clouds (cumulonimbus clouds) driven along by the wind join together, forming a larger cloud.58
3. STAGE, Stacking: When the small clouds join together, updrafts within the larger cloud increase. The updrafts near the centre of the cloud are stronger than those near the edges. These updrafts cause the cloud body to grow vertically, so the cloud is stacked up. This vertical growth causes the cloud body to stretch into cooler regions of the atmosphere, where drops of water and hail formulate and begin to grow larger and larger. When these drops of water and hail become too heavy for the updrafts to support them, they begin to fall from the cloud as rain, hail, etc.59
We must remember that meteorologists have only recently come to know these details about cloud formation, structure and function, by using advanced equipment like planes, satellites, computers etc. It is evident that Allah has provided us information that could not have been known 1,400 years ago.
THE QUIVERING AND SWELLING OF THE EARTH
And you see the earth dead and barren. Then, when We send down water onto it, it quivers and swells and sprouts with luxuriant plants of every kind. (Qur'an, 22:5)
The Arabic word for "quivers" is "ihtazzat," meaning "to set in motion, come alive, quiver, move, stir; the movement and stretching of a plant." The word "rabat," translated as "swells," bears the meanings "to increase, grow in number, swell, grow, develop, rise (of a plant), provision, fill with air." These words describe in the most appropriate manner the changes that occur in the molecular structure of soil during rain.
The motion described in the verse is different from the movement of Earth's crust, such as when a portion of it moves to produce an earthquake, for it is only the soil particles that are moving. These particles are composed of layers, each of which is on top of the other. When water penetrates the layers, it causes the swelling of mud particles. The stages referred to in the verse can be scientifically explained as follows:
1. Quivering of the soil: The electrostatic charge on the particle surface that appears after the water falls on the soil in sufficient amount would cause its instability and quivering movements. This movement is stabilized only after this charge has been neutralized with an opposing one. The soil particle's moving and quivering is also due to its collision with water particles. Since the water particles move in no specific direction, the soil particles move as they are struck from all sides. Robert Brown, a Scottish botanist, discovered in 1827 that when raindrops fall on the soil, they cause a kind of shaking and vibration in the soil molecules. He described this movement of microscopic particles, which today is known as the "Brownian motion."60
2. Swelling of the soil: When it rains, those raindrops hitting the soil cause its particles to swell and increase in volume. This is because when there is abundant water, the space between soil particles, which allows water particles and dissolved ions to enter, increases. When water and the nourishing elements dissolved in it diffuse between the layers, the size of the soil particles increases. Consequently, these particles serve as water deposits that bring the soil to life. It is due to Allah's infinite grace upon humanity that this water is stored in this manner without seeping downward due to the action of gravity. If the soil could not hold water and these mineral deposits could not be laid down in the soil, the water would soak into Earth's deepest parts and, because of its resulting absence, all plants would soon die. However, our Lord has created the soil in such a way that various products can emerge from it.
3. Sprouting of the earth: When there is enough water in the soil, the seeds become active and absorb simple nutritious material. Growing plants meet their water requirements for 2 to 3 months from these deposits.
The above verse describes, in three stages, what happens when rain falls onto dry ground: the soil particles quiver, and the soil swells and then brings forth various products. These stages, which the Qur'an revealed 1,400 years ago, are strikingly parallel to the scientific descriptions. Another verse reveals this about plants:
A sign for them is the dead land that We bring to life and from which We bring forth grain, of which they eat. (Qur'an, 36:33)
RAINS WHICH BRING A DEAD LAND BACK TO LIFE
The rain's
function of "bringing a dead land back to life" is indicated in several
verses of the Qur'an:
... We send down from heaven pure water so that by it We can bring a dead land to life and give drink to many of the animals and people We created. (Qur'an, 25:48-49)
As well as bringing water, an essential requirement for living things, to the earth, the rain also has a fertilising property. Drops of rain which evaporate from the sea and reach the clouds contain certain substances which "revitalise" dead soil. These raindrops with such "revitalising" properties are called "surface tension droplets." These form from the top layer of the surface of the sea, called the micro-layer by biologists; in this surface layer, less than one-tenth of a millimetre thick, are found large quantities of organic waste formed from the decomposition of microscopic algae and zooplanktons. Some of these wastes collect and absorb elements such as phosphorus, magnesium and potassium, which are rarely found in sea water, as well as heavy metals such as copper, zinc, cobalt and lead. Seeds and plants on the surface of the Earth receive large quantities of the mineral salts and elements they need to grow from these raindrops. The Qur'an refers to this in these terms:
And We sent down blessed water from the sky and made gardens grow by it and grain for harvesting. (Qur'an, 50:9)
These salts which descend with the rain are examples in miniature of fertilisers traditionally used to enhance productivity (calcium, magnesium, potassium etc.). Heavy metals of the kind found in aerosols create elements which increase productivity during growth and production of plants. In short, rain is an important fertiliser. With the fertiliser provided by rain alone, within a hundred years, a soil of poor quality can obtain all the elements necessary for plants. Forests also grow and are nourished with help from these chemicals which originate from the sea.
In this way, every year some 150 million tons of particles of fertiliser fall to earth. Were it not for this fertilising function, there would have been far fewer plants on the Earth and the balance of life would have been disturbed. The information about the revitalisation of plants in the verse is just one of the countless miraculous properties of the Qur'an.
THE FORMATION OF HAIL, THUNDER AND LIGHTNING
... He sends down mountains from the sky with hail inside them, striking with it anyone He wills and averting it from anyone He wills. The brightness of His lightning almost blinds the sight. (Qur'an, 24:43)
The above verse refers to hail and lightning. When the formation of hail and lightning are examined, it can be seen that an important meteorological truth is being indicated in this verse. About the formation of lightning and hail, the book Meteorology Today says that a cloud becomes electrified as hail falls through a region in the cloud of supercooled droplets and ice crystals. Liquid droplets freeze and release latent heat as they collide with a hailstone. This keeps the surface of the hailstone warmer than that of the surrounding ice crystals. An important phenomenon occurs when the hailstone comes in contact with an ice crystal: Electrons flow from the colder object toward the warmer one. In this way, the hailstone becomes negatively charged. This effect also occurs when supercooled droplets come in contact with a hailstone and small pieces of positively charged ice break off. These particles, which are lighter and positively charged, are carried to the upper part of the cloud by currents of air. The hail has a negative charge now, and falls towards the bottom of the cloud, thus the lower part of the cloud becomes negatively charged. These negative charges are then discharged as lightning. It may be concluded from this that hail is the main factor in the formation of lightning.61
In the following verse, however, attention is drawn to the link between rain clouds and lightning, and to the order of formation, information that parallels that discovered by science:
Or [their likeness is] that of a storm-cloud in the sky, full of darkness, thunder and lightning. They put their fingers in their ears against the thunderclaps, fearful of death... (Qur'an, 2:19)
Rain clouds are tremendous masses covering 20 to 260 square metres (10 to 100 square miles) and reaching great vertical heights of 9,000 to 12,000 metres (30,000 to 40,000 ft.). Due to these extraordinary dimensions, the lower part of these clouds are dark. It is impossible for the Sun's rays to pass through them, because of the large quantities of water and ice particles they contain. Very little solar energy therefore reaches the Earth through the clouds, which is why the clouds appear dark to someone looking up at them.62
The stages of the formation of thunder and lightning after that darkness, mentioned in the verse, are as follows: An electrical charge forms inside the rain cloud. This comes about as a result of such processes as freezing, the division of raindrops and charge formation during contact. The accumulation of such electrical charges, when the air between becomes unable to insulate them, leads to a great spark, a discharge between the positive and negative fields. The voltage between two oppositely charged areas can reach 1 billion volts. The spark can also form within the cloud, can cross between two clouds, from a positively charged area to a negative one, or be discharged from the cloud to the ground. These sparks form dazzling lightning strikes. This sudden increase in the electrical charge along the line of lightning causes intense heat (10,000 degrees Celsius [18,030 degrees Fahrenheit]). As a result, there is a sudden expansion of the air, which in turn causes the loud noise associated with thunder.63
As has been discussed, dark layers, followed by the electrically charged sparks known as lightning, and then the loud noise called thunder, form within a rain cloud. Everything modern science has established about clouds, and has to say about the causes of thunder and lightning, is in complete accord with the descriptions in the Qur'an.
WINDS THAT FECUNDATE
In one
verse of the Qur'an, the "fecundating" characteristic of the winds, and
the resulting formation of rain are mentioned.
And We send the fecundating winds, then cause water to descend from the sky, therewith providing you with water in abundance. (Qur'an, 15:22)
This verse points out that the first stage in the formation of rain is wind. Until the beginning of the 20th century, the only relationship known between the wind and the rain was that it was the wind that drove the clouds. However, modern meteorological findings have demonstrated the "fecundating" role of the wind in the formation of rain.
As explained earlier, this fecundating function of the wind works in the following way:
 |
The picture above shows the stages in the formation of a wave. Waves are formed by the wind blowing above the surface of the water. With the wind, water particles start to move in a circular motion. This movement soon forms waves, one after the other, and bubbles formed by the waves spread in the air. This is the first stage in the formation of rain. This process is declared in the verse as "We send the fecundating winds and then cause water to descend from the sky." |
 |
On the surface of oceans and seas, a large number of air bubbles form because of the water's foaming action. The moment these bubbles burst, thousands of tiny particles, with a diameter of just one hundredth of a millimetre, are thrown up into the air. These particles, known as "aerosols," mix with dust carried from the land by the wind, and are carried to the upper layers of the atmosphere. These particles carried to higher altitudes by winds come into contact with water vapour up there. Water vapour condenses around these particles and turns into water droplets. These water droplets first come together and form clouds, and then fall to the Earth in the form of rain. As mentioned, winds "fecundate" the water vapour floating in the air with the particles they carry from the sea, and eventually help the formation of rain clouds.
 The diagram to the side shows the formation of air currents and winds on the Earth. |
If winds did not possess this property, water droplets in the upper atmosphere would never form, and there would be no rain.
The most important point to be recognized here is that this critical role of the wind in the formation of rain was stated centuries ago in the Qur'an, at a time when very little was known about natural phenomena...
Further information provided in the verse about the fertilising quality of the wind is its role in the pollination of flowers. Many plants on Earth disperse their pollen by means of the wind in order to ensure the survival of their species. Several open-seeded plants, pine trees, palm and similar trees, seeded plants that produce flowers, and grass-like plants are entirely pollinated by the wind. The wind carries the pollen from the plants to others of the species, thus fertilising them.
Until recently, the way that the wind was able to fertilise plants was unknown. When it was realised, however, that plants are divided into males and females, the fertilising role of the wind was also discovered. This truth was already indicated in the Qur'an: "... [He] sent down water from the sky by which We have brought forth various different types of plants in pairs." (Qur'an, 20:53)
THE STAGES OF WIND FORMATION
... and [in His] directing of the winds, there are signs for people who use their intellect. (Qur'an, 45:5)
Wind is a movement of air which forms between two different temperature centres. Due to the different pressures caused by different temperatures in the atmosphere, air constantly flows from areas of high pressure to areas of low pressure. If differences between pressure centres, in other words, temperatures in the atmosphere, are large, the flow of air, in other words, the wind, is very strong, so strong in fact that tornadoes which can inflict terrible damage can be formed.
What is astonishing here is that, despite there being belts of very different temperatures and pressures, such as the equator and the poles, thanks to the order in Allah's creation, our Earth is not exposed to disastrously fierce winds. Were the force of the winds that would otherwise blow between the poles and the equator not tempered, the Earth would become a dead planet constantly buffeted by tornadoes.
In the Arabic expression "tasreefi al-riyaah," in the above verse, the word "tasreef" means "turning over many times, directing, shaping something, managing, distributing." The choice of this word for the wind fully describes the way it blows in an ordered manner. It is also a clear expression of the fact that the wind does not blow by chance, of its own accord. It is Allah Who directs the winds in such a way as to make human life possible.
HOW THE PROCESS OF PHOTOSYNTHESIS BEGINS IN THE MORNING
And [I swear] by the night when it draws in, and by the dawn when it breathes in. (Qur'an, 81:17-18)
 Light is one of the most essential elements in the performance of photosynthesis. Photosynthesis varies in proportion to the intensity and duration of the light source. With the reception of the Sun’s rays in the morning, photosynthesis—in other words, the production of oxygen begins. |
When plants undergo photosynthesis, they take in carbon dioxide, a harmful gas that human beings cannot consume, from the air, and give off oxygen instead. Oxygen, which we breathe and which is our basic source of life, is the main product of photosynthesis. Some 30% of the oxygen in the atmosphere is produced by plants on land, the remaining 70% being produced by plants and single-celled living things in the seas and oceans.
Photosynthesis is a complex process, and one which scientists have still not yet fully understood. This process cannot be observed with the naked eye, because the mechanism employs atoms and molecules. However, we can see the results of photosynthesis in the oxygen which enables us to breathe, and in the foodstuffs that keep us alive. Photosynthesis is a system which involves complicated chemical formulae and units of weight, and on very small scale, and consisting of the most sensitive equilibriums. There are trillions of chemical laboratories that carry out this process in all the green plants around us. Furthermore, plants have been meeting our oxygen, food and energy needs non-stop for millions of years.
The productivity of photosynthesis is measured by the level of oxygen output. The greatest point is in the morning, when the Sun's rays are most concentrated. At dawn, the leaves begin to sweat, and photosynthesis increases accordingly. In the afternoon, however, the opposite applies; in other words photosynthesis slows down, and respiration increases because as the temperature rises perspiration also increases. At night, as the temperature falls, perspiration declines and the plant rests.
The term "itha tanaffasa" in Surat at-Takwir, in reference to the morning hours, in other words, "when it breathes in," is a metaphorical reference to breathing, respiration, or breathing deeply. This term particularly emphasises the way that the production of oxygen begins in the morning, and that the greatest levels of oxygen, essential for respiration, are given off at that time. The importance of the phenomena is also emphasised by the way that Allah swears upon it. The way that Allah indicates the action of photosynthesis, among the most important discoveries of the 20th century, in this verse, is another of the scientific miracles of the Qur'an.
 |
Photosynthesis is the use by
plants and sometimes
by certain bacteria and single-cell life forms of the Sun’s rays
in order to produce sugar (carbohydrate) from carbon dioxide and
water.
As a result of this reaction, the energy in the Sun’s rays is
stored
inside the sugar molecule produced. The following formula
summarises
the reaction that takes place during the process by which
unusable solar
energy is transformed into usable chemical energy:
6H2O + 6CO2 ---PHOTOSYNTHESIS---> C6H12O6+ 6O2 (6 water molecules + 6 carbon dioxide molecules are turned into 1 sugar molecule and 6 oxygen molecules by means of photosynthesis.) |
39. Kazi, 130 Evident Miracles in the Qur'an,
110-111;
and www.wamy.co.uk/announcements3.html, from Prof. Zighloul Raghib
El-Naggar's
speech.
40. Ibid.
41. Priscilla Frisch, "The Galactic Environment of the Sun," American
Scientist, January-February 2000;
ww.americanscientist.org/template/AssetDetail/assetid/21173?fulltext=true
42. Michael J. Denton, Nature's Destiny (The Free Press: 1998),
198.
43. "Highlights;"
www.inm-gmbh.de/cgi-bin/frame/frameloader.pl?sprache=en&url=http://www.inm-gmbh.de/htdocs/technologien/highlights/highlights_en.htm
44. "Nanotechnology successfully helps cancer
therapies," IIC
Fast Track, Nanotech News from Eastern Germany, Industrial Investment
Council,
October 2003; www.iic.de/uploads/media/NANO_FT_Nov2003_01.pdf
45. Benjamin Libet, "Unconscious cerebral initiative and the role of
conscious
will in voluntary action," Behavioral and Brain Sciences, 1985,
529-566.
46. Melih Kafa, "Conscious;"
www.genetikbilimi.com/genbilim/bilincbeyninkuklasi.htm
47. "Conscious mind and free will;" http://faculty.virginia.edu/consciousness/new_page_8.htm#5.10.%20Free%20will%20as%20the%20possibility%20of%20alternative%20action
48. Henning Genz, "Nothingness: The Science of Empty Space," 205,
www.2think.org/nothingness.shtml
49. "Wanna C A Miracle: Quran: The Living Miracle," The Revival
5, Issue 2,
www.therevival.co.uk/Revival_issue/vol5_iss2_quran_miracle.htm
50. L.M. Ledermann, and D.N. Schramm, "Demonstration: Die Bausteine der
Materie," 1989; http://i115srv.vu-wien.ac.at/physik/ws95/w9560dir/w9561d10.htm
51. "First Double Pulsar Found," January 9, 2004;
www.atnf.csiro.au/news/press/double_pulsar/
52. Leicester edu dept of Physics & astronomy;
www.star.le.ac.uk/astrosoc/whatsup/stars.html;
University of Ottowa;
www.site.uottawa.ca:4321/astronomy/index.html#Sirius;
Harvard-Smithsonian
Center for Astrophysics;
http://cfa-www.harvard.edu/~hrs/ay45/Fall2002/ChapterIVPart2.pdf
53. "Exposes Astronomiques, La troisième loi de KEPLER;"
http://www.astrosurf.com/eratosthene/HTML/exposetheoastro.htm
54. http://www.dharma.com.tr/dkm/article.php?sid=87
55. Husaini, Qur'an for Astronomy and Earth Exploration from Space,
175-182.
56. Digitale Ausgabe LexiRom (Digital Expenditure LexiRom).
57. Keith C. Heidorn, Ph.D., "Philipp Lenard: Brushing the Teardrops
from
Rain;" www.islandnet.com/~see/weather/history/lenard.htm
58. Richard A. Anthes, The Atmosphere,
3rd ed.,
(Columbus: Charles E. Merrill Publishing Company: 1981), 268-269;
Albert Millers,
Jack C. Thompson, Elements of Meteorology, 2nd ed.,
(Columbus: Charles
E. Merrill Publishing Company: 1975), 141.
59. Anthes, The Atmosphere, 269; Millers, and Thompson, Elements
of
Meteorology, 141-142.
60. Brian J. Ford, "Brownian Movement in Clarkia Pollen: A Reprise of
the
First Observations," The Microscope, 1992, vol. 40, no. 4, pp.
235-241; http://www.brianjford.com/wbbrowna.htm
61. C. Donald Ahrens, Meteorology Today: An Introduction to Weather,
Climate
and Environment, 3rd ed., (St. Paul: West Publishing Company:
1988), 437.
62. Athar Lila, "The Quran and Modern Physics," December 10, 1998;
http://webhome.idirect.com/~alila/Writings/Physics.htm.
63. Ibid.
THE STRUCTURAL DIFFERENCES BETWEEN THE SUN, THE MOON AND THE STA
THE STRUCTURAL DIFFERENCES BETWEEN THE SUN, THE MOON AND THE STARS
We built seven firm layers above you. We installed a blazing lamp. (Qur'an, 78:12-13)
 |
As we know, the only source of light in the Solar System is the Sun. With advances in technology, astronomers discovered that the Moon was not a source of light but that it merely reflects the light reaching it from the Sun. The expression "lamp" in the above verse is a translation of the Arabic word "siraaj," which most perfectly describes the Sun, the source of light and heat.
In the Qur'an Allah employs different words when referring to such celestial bodies as the Moon, the Sun and the stars. This is how the differences between the structures of the Sun and Moon are expressed in the Qur'an:
Don't you see how He created seven heavens in layers, and placed the Moon as a light in them and made the sun a blazing lamp? (Qur'an, 71:15-16)
In the above verse, the word "light" is used for the Moon ("noor" in Arabic) and the word "lamp" for the Sun ("siraaj" in Arabic.) The word used for the Moon refers to a light-reflecting, bright, motionless body. The word used for the Sun refers to a celestial body which is always burning, a constant source of heat and light.
On the other hand, the word "star" comes from the Arabic root "najama," meaning "appearing, emerging, visible." As in the verse below, stars are also referred to by the word "thaaqib," which is used for that which shines and pierces the darkness with light: self-consuming and burning:
It is the star that pierces through darkness! (Qur'an, 86:3)
We now know that the Moon does not emit its own light but reflects that reaching it from the Sun. We also know that the Sun and stars do emit their own light. These facts were revealed in the Qur'an in an age when mankind simply did not have the means to make scientific discoveries of their own accord. It was an age when peoples' knowledge of celestial bodies was severely restricted, to say the least. This further emphasises the miraculous nature of the book of Islam.
ORBITS AND THE ROTATING UNIVERSE
One of the most important reasons for the great equilibrium in the universe is the fact that celestial bodies follow specific paths. Stars, planets and satellites all rotate around their own axes and also rotate together with the system of which they are a part. The universe functions within a finely-tuned order, just like the wheels in a factory.
There are more than 100 billion galaxies in the visible universe and each small galaxy contains approximately a billion stars. Furthermore, each big galaxy contains more than a trillion.17 Many of these stars have planets and many of those planets have satellites. All these celestial bodies follow the most finely calculated paths and orbits. For millions of years, each one has been moving in its own path in flawless harmony with all the others. In addition to these, there are also a great many comets moving along in their own pre-determined paths.
 Like many other comets in the universe, Halley's comet, seen below, also moves in a planned orbit. It has a specific orbit and it moves in this orbit in a perfect harmony with other celestial bodies. All celestial bodies-including planets, satellites of these planets, stars and even galaxies-have their own orbits that have been determined with very delicate computations. The One Who established this perfect order and maintains it is Allah, Who created the entire universe. |
In addition, the paths in the universe are not restricted to a few celestial bodies. The Solar System and even other galaxies also exhibit considerable motion around other centres. Every year, Earth, and the Solar System with it, move some 500 million km (310 million miles) from where they were the previous year. It has been calculated that even the slightest deviation from celestial bodies' paths could have drastic consequences which might spell the end of the entire system. For example, the consequences of the Earth's deviating from its course by a mere 3 mm have been described in one source as follows:
While rotating around the sun, the earth follows such an orbit that, every 18 miles, it only deviates 2.8 millimetres from a direct course. The orbit followed by the earth never changes, because even a deviation of 3 millimetres would cause catastrophic disasters: If the deviation were 2.5 mm instead of 2.8 mm, then the orbit would be very large, and all of us would freeze. If the deviation were 3.1 mm, we would be scorched to death.18
Another characteristic of heavenly bodies is that they also rotate around their own axes. The verse which reads "[I swear] by Heaven which returns," (Qur'an, 86:11) indicates this truth. Naturally, at the time when the Qur'an was revealed, people had no telescopes with which to study bodies millions of kilometres away in space, advanced observation technology or our modern knowledge of physics and astronomy. It was therefore impossible to establish that space had "its oscillating orbits," (Qur'an, 51:7) as described in the verse. The Qur'an however, revealed at that time, provided clear information concerning that fact. This is proof that this book is indeed Allah's word.
THE SUN'S TRAJECTORY
 |
It is stressed in the Qur'an that the Sun and Moon follow specific trajectories:
It is He Who created night and day and the Sun and Moon, each one swimming in a sphere. (Qur'an, 21:33)
The word "swim" in the above verse is expressed in Arabic by the word "sabaha" and is used to describe the movement of the Sun in space. The word means that the Sun does not move randomly through space but that it rotates around its axis and follows a course as it does so. The fact that the Sun is not fixed in position but rather follows a specific trajectory is also stated in another verse:
And the Sun runs to its resting place. That is the decree of the Almighty, the All-Knowing. (Qur'an, 36:38)
These facts set out in the Qur'an were only discovered by means of astronomical advances in our own time. According to astronomers' calculations, the Sun moves along a path known as the Solar Apex in the path of the star Vega at an incredible speed of 720,000 kmph (447,000 mph). In rough terms, this shows that the Sun traverses some 17.28 million km (10.74 million miles) a day. As well as the Sun itself, all the planets and satellites within its gravitational field also travel the same distance.
THE MOON'S ORBIT
And We have decreed set phases for the Moon, until it ends up looking like an old date branch. It is not for the Sun to overtake the Moon nor for the night to outstrip the day; each one is swimming in a sphere. (Qur'an, 36:39-40)
The Moon does not follow a regular orbit like the satellites of other planets. As it orbits the Earth, it sometimes moves behind it and sometimes in front. As it also moves with the Earth around the Sun, it actually follows a constant pattern resembling the letter "S" in space. This route, traced by the Moon in space, is described in the Qur'an as resembling an old date branch and does indeed resemble the twisted form of the date tree branch. Indeed, the word "urjoon" employed in the Qur'an refers to a thin and twisted date branch and is used to describe that part left after the fruit has been picked. The way that this branch is described as "old" is also most appropriate since old date branches are thinner and more twisted.
There is no doubt that it was impossible for anyone to have any knowledge about the orbit of the Moon 1,400 years ago. The way that this pattern, identified by modern technology and accumulated knowledge, was revealed in the Book is yet another scientific miracle of the Qur'an.
 |
Since the Moon revolves around the Sun together with the Earth, it follows a path through space which resembles the letter "S." The appearance of this orbit resembles the twisted shape of a dry date branch, as is revealed in the Qur'an. |
CALCULATING THE LUNAR YEAR
It is He Who appointed the Sun to give radiance, and the Moon to give light, assigning it phases so you would know the number of years and the reckoning of time. Allah did not create these things except with truth. We make the signs clear for people who know. (Qur'an, 10:5)
And We have decreed set phases for the Moon, until it ends up looking like an old date branch. (Qur'an, 36:39)
In the first of the above verses, Allah has clearly revealed that the Moon will be a means of measurement for people to calculate the year. Furthermore, our attention is also drawn to the fact that these calculations will be performed according to the positions of the Moon as it revolves in its orbit. Since the angles between the Earth and Moon and the Moon and Sun constantly change, we see the Moon in different forms at different times. Furthermore, our ability to see the Moon is made possible by the fact that it is illuminated by the Sun. The amount of the lighted half of the Moon we see from Earth changes. Bearing in mind these changes, a number of calculations can be made, making it possible for human beings to measure the year.
In former times a month was calculated as the time between two full moons, or the time it took the Moon to travel around the Earth. According to this, one month was equal to 29 days, 12 hours and 44 minutes. This is known as the "lunar month." Twelve lunar months represent one year, according to the Hijri calendar. However, there is a difference of eleven days between the Hijri calendar and the Gregorian calendar, in which a year is the time it takes the Earth to orbit the Sun. Indeed, attention is drawn to this difference in another verse:
They stayed in their cave for three hundred years and added nine. (Qur'an, 18:25)
We can clarify the time referred to in the verse thus: 300 years x 11 days (the difference which forms every year) = 3,300 days. Bearing in mind that one solar year lasts 365 days, 5 hours, 48 minutes and 45.5 seconds, 3,300 days/365.24 days = 9 years. To put it another way, 300 years according to the Gregorian calendar is equal to 300+9 years according to the Hijri calendar. As we can see, the verse refers to this finely calculated difference of 9 years. (Allah knows best.) There is no doubt that the Qur'an, which contains such pieces of information, which transcended the everyday knowledge of the time, is a miraculous revelation.
THE FORCE OF GRAVITY AND ORBITAL MOVEMENTS
No! I swear by the planets-that recede, that ride their course [and] hide themselves. (Qur'an, 81: 15-16)
The word "khunnas"
in Surat at-Takwir 15 bears such meanings as shrinking and cowering,
retracting and turning back. The Arabic expression translated as
"hide
themselves" in the 16th verse is "kunnas,"
the plural form of "kaanis," which refers to a
specific path: entering a nest, the home of a body in motion, or things
entering their homes and hiding there. Again in verse 16, the word "jawaar,"
the plural form of "jariyah," which means one that
moves and flows, is translated as "that
ride their course." Bearing the meanings in mind, it is
very possible that these verses refer to the gravitational forces of the
planets and their movements around their orbits.
These words in the above verses fully describe orbital movements stemming from the force of gravity. Of these, the word "khunnas" refers to the planets' attraction towards their own centres and also their attraction towards the Sun, which is the centre of our Solar System. (Allah knows best.) The force of gravity already existed in the universe-although it was only possible to reveal this attractive force with mathematical formulae with Sir Isaac Newton, who lived in the 17th and 18th centuries. The word "jawaar" in the following verse emphasises the orbital movements that arise as a result of the centrifugal force that opposes this attractive one. There is no doubt that the use of the word "jawaar" together with "khunnas" (attraction towards the centre, shrinkage) and "kunnas" (path, entering the nest, the home of a body in motion) indicates an important scientific truth that nobody could have known about 1,400 years ago. (Allah knows best.) Moreover, these verses, one of the subjects sworn on in the Qur'an, are another indication of the importance of the subject.
THE SPHERICAL EARTH
He has created the heavens and the Earth for truth. He wraps the night up in the day, and wraps the day up in the night. (Qur'an, 39:5)
In the
Qur'an, the words used for describing the universe are quite remarkable.
The Arabic word which is translated as "to wrap" in the above verse is
"yukawwir." In English, it means "to
make one thing lap over another, folded up as a garment that is laid
away." For instance, in Arabic dictionaries this word is used
for the action of wrapping one thing around another, in the way that a
turban is put on. The information given in the verse about the day and
the night wrapping each other up includes accurate information about the
shape of the world. This can be true only if the Earth is round. This
means that in the Qur'an, which was revealed in the 7th century, the
roundness of the world was hinted at.
However, it should be remembered that the understanding of astronomy of the time perceived the world differently. It was then thought that the world was a flat plane and all scientific calculations and explanations were based on this belief. However, the glorious Qur'an has employed the most definitive words when it came to describing the universe. These facts, which we could only correctly fathom in our century, have been in the Qur'an for a vast length of time.
THE EARTH'S DIRECTION OF ROTATION
You will see the mountains and reckon them to be solid; but they go past like clouds-the handiwork of Allah Who gives to everything its solidity. He is aware of what you do. (Qur'an, 27:88)
The above verse emphasises that the Earth not only rotates but that it also has a direction of rotation. The direction of movement of the main cloud masses at 3,500-4,000 metres (11,500-13,000 feet) high is always from West to East. That is why it is generally the state of the weather in the West which is looked at in meteorological forecasts.19
The main reason why cloud masses are pulled from West to East is the direction in which the Earth rotates. As we now know, our Earth spins from West to East. This scientific fact, only recently established by science, was revealed in the Qur'an 1,400 years ago, at a time when the Earth was believed to be flat, and to be resting on the back of an elephant.
THE EARTH'S GEOID SHAPE
After that He smoothed out the Earth. (Qur'an, 79:30)
In the
above verse, the word "dahaa" is used in the original Arabic. It,
translated as "smoothed out," comes from the word "dahaw," meaning "to
spread." Although the word "dahaw" also means to cover or to set out,
the meaning of the verb is more than just a prosaic setting out, since
it describes setting out in a circle.
The concept of roundness is also present in other words derived from "dahaw." For example, the word "dahaw" also refers to children dropping a ball into a hole in the ground, games involving throwing stones into holes and games played with walnuts. Words derived from that root are also used for an ostrich making a nest, cleaning stones from where it is about to lie down, the place where it lays its eggs and the egg itself.
Indeed, the Earth is round, in a manner reminiscent of an egg. The slightly flattened spherical shape of the Earth is known as geoid. From that point of view, the use of the word "dahaa" contains important information about the shape that Allah has given to the Earth. For hundreds of years, people imagined the Earth to be completely flat and only learned the truth thanks to technology. Yet, this fact was revealed in the Qur'an fourteen centuries ago.
THE DIAMETERS OF THE EARTH AND SPACE
Company of jinn and men, if you are able to pierce through the confines of the heavens and Earth, pierce through them. You will not pierce through except with a clear authority. (Qur'an, 55:33)
The Arabic word translated as "confines" in the above verse is "aqtaar." This is the plural form of the word "qutr," meaning diameter and refers to the skies and the Earth having many diameters. It is possible in Arabic to tell from the form in which a word is used whether it is singular, plural (more than two), or employed in a dual form. Therefore, the form of the word used here, the plural, refers to another piece of miraculous information.
A three-dimensional body can only be said to have a single diameter if it is perfectly spherical. The term "diameters" can only refer to an irregular but basically spherical shape. This word chosen in the Qur'an-diameters-is important from the point of view of indicating the geoid shape of the Earth. The second noteworthy subject in the verse is that the Earth and the heavens are mentioned separately in reference to diameters.
According to Albert Einstein's General Theory of Relativity, the universe is expanding. But this does not mean that the galaxies and other heavenly bodies are being dispersed in space. This means that space is expanding and that the distance between the galaxies is increasing.
The definition of the "confines of the heavens" in Surat ar-Rahman 33 indicates the spherical structure of space. (Allah knows best.) In the same way that the diameters of space will be different from different points in space, so the diameters of a constantly expanding space will also display differences. From that point of view the use of the plural form of the word confine is full of wisdom, and is one of the indications that the Qur'an is the revelation of our Omniscient Lord.
ATMOSPHERIC LAYERS
One fact about the universe revealed in the verses of the Qur'an is that the sky is made up of seven layers:
It is He Who created everything on the Earth for you and then directed His attention up to heaven and arranged it into seven regular heavens. He has knowledge of all things. (Qur'an, 2:29)
Then He turned to heaven when it was smoke. (Qur'an, 41 : 11 )
In two days He determined them as seven heavens and revealed, in every heaven, its own mandate. (Qur'an, 41:12)
The word "heavens," which appears in many verses in the Qur'an, is used to refer to the sky above the Earth, as well as the entire universe. Given this meaning of the word, it is seen that the Earth's sky, or the atmosphere, is made up of seven layers.
|
Today, it is known that the world's atmosphere consists of different layers that lie on top of each other.20 Based on the criteria of chemical contents or air temperature, the definitions made have determined the atmosphere of the Earth as seven layers.21 According to the "Limited Fine Mesh Model (LFMMII)," a model of atmosphere used to estimate weather conditions for 48 hours, the atmosphere has also 7 layers. According to the modern geological definitions the seven layers of atmosphere are as follows:
1. Troposphere
2. Stratosphere
3. Mesosphere
4. Thermosphere
5. Exosphere
6. Ionosphere
7. Magnetosphere
The Qur'an says, "[He] revealed, in every heaven, its own mandate," in Surah Fussilat 12. In other words, Allah is stating that He assigned each heaven its own duty. Truly, as will be seen in following chapters, each one of these layers has vital duties for the benefit of human kind and all other living things on the Earth. Each layer has a particular function, ranging from forming rain to preventing harmful rays, from reflecting radio waves to averting the harmful effects of meteors.
The verses below inform us about the appearance of the seven layers of the atmosphere:
Do you not see how He created seven heavens in layers? (Qur'an, 71:15)
He Who created the seven heavens in layers... (Qur'an, 67:3)
The Arabic word "tibaaq" in these verses, translated into English as "layer" means "layer, the appropriate cover or covering for something," and thus stresses how the top layer is well suited to the lower. The word is also used in the plural here: "layers." The seven heavens in layers, as described in the verse, is without doubt the most perfect expression of the atmosphere. It is a great miracle that these facts, which could not possibly be discovered without the technology of the 20th century, were explicitly stated by the Qur'an 1,400 years ago.
THE WELL-GUARDED SKY
In the Qur'an, Allah calls our attention to a very important attribute of the sky:
We made the sky a preserved and protected roof yet still they turn away from Our signs. (Qur'an, 21:32)
This attribute of the sky has been proved by scientific research carried out in the 20th century: The atmosphere surrounding the Earth serves crucial functions for the continuity of life. While destroying many meteors-big and small-as they approach the Earth, it prevents them from falling to Earth and harming living things.
All these scientific findings prove that the world is protected in a very particular way. The important thing is that this protection was made known in the Qur'an in the verse "We made the sky a preserved and protected roof" fourteen centuries ago. |
In addition, the atmosphere filters the light rays coming from space that are harmful to living things. The most striking feature of this function of the atmosphere is that it lets only harmless and useful rays-visible light, near ultraviolet light and radio waves pass through. All of this radiation is vital for life. Near ultraviolet rays, which are only partially let in by the atmosphere, are very important for the photosynthesis of plants and for the survival of all living things. The majority of the intense ultraviolet rays emitted from the Sun are filtered out by the ozone layer of the atmosphere. Only a limited and essential part of the ultraviolet spectrum reaches the Earth.
The protective function of the atmosphere does not end here. The atmosphere also protects the Earth from the freezing cold of the space, which is approximately -270oC (-454oF).
|
Most people looking at the sky do not think about the protective aspect of the atmosphere. They almost never think what kind of a place the world would be like if this structure did not exist. The above photo belongs to a giant crater caused by a meteor that fell in Arizona, in the USA. If the atmosphere did not exist, millions of meteoroids would fall to the Earth and the Earth would become an inhabitable place. Yet, the protective aspect of the atmosphere allows living things to survive in safety. This is certainly Allah's protection of people and a miracle proclaimed in the Qur'an. |
It is not only the atmosphere that protects the Earth from harmful effects. In addition to the atmosphere, the Van Allen Belt-the layer caused by the magnetic field of the Earth-also serves as a shield against the harmful radiation that threatens our planet. This radiation, which is constantly emitted by the Sun and other stars, is deadly to living things. If the Van Allen belt did not exist, the massive outbursts of energy called solar flares that frequently occur in the Sun would destroy all life on Earth.
On the importance of the Van Allen Belt, Dr. Hugh Ross says:
In fact, the Earth has the highest density of any of the planets in our Solar System. This large nickel-iron core is responsible for our large magnetic field. This magnetic field produces the Van-Allen radiation shield, which protects the Earth from radiation bombardment. If this shield were not present, life would not be possible on the Earth. The only other rocky planet to have any magnetic field is Mercury-but its field strength is 100 times less than the Earth's. Even Venus, our sister planet, has no magnetic field. The Van-Allen radiation shield is a design unique to the Earth.22
The energy transmitted in just one of these bursts detected in recent years was calculated to be equivalent to 100 billion atomic bombs, each akin to one dropped on Hiroshima at the end of World War II. Fifty-eight hours after the burst, it was observed that the magnetic needles of compasses displayed unusual movement and 250 kilometres (155 miles) above the Earth's atmosphere, the temperature suddenly increased to 2,500oC (4,532oF).
In short, a perfect system is at work high above the Earth. It surrounds our world and protects it against external threats. Centuries ago, Allah informed us in the Qur'an of the world's atmosphere functioning as a protective shield.
THE SKY MADE A DOME
It is He Who made the Earth a couch for you, and the sky a dome. He sends down water from the sky and by it brings forth fruits for your provision. Do not, then, knowingly make others equal to Allah. (Qur'an, 2:22)
Here, the sky is described as "al-samaa' binaa'." As well as the meaning of "dome" or "ceiling," this also describes a kind of tent-like covering used by the Bedouin.23 By describing the sky as a tent-like structure, the Qur'an is emphasizing that it is a form of protection against external elements.
 |
Even if we are generally unaware of it, a large number of meteors fall to the Earth, as they do to the other planets. The reason why these make enormous craters on other planets but do no harm on Earth is that the atmosphere puts up considerable resistance to a falling meteor. The meteor is unable to withstand this for long and loses much of its mass from combustion due to friction. This danger, which might otherwise cause terrible disasters, is thus prevented thanks to the atmosphere. As well as the verses regarding the protective properties of the atmosphere cited above, attention is also drawn to the special creation in the following verse:
Don't you see that Allah has made everything on the Earth subservient to you and the ships running upon the sea by His command? He holds back the heaven, preventing it from falling to the Earth-except by His permission. Allah is All-Compassionate to humanity, Most Merciful. (Qur'an, 22:65)
The protective property of the atmosphere we discussed in the preceding section protects the Earth from space-in other words, from external elements. With the word "dome," referring to the sky in the above verse, attention is drawn to this aspect of the sky, which could not possibly have been known at the time of our Prophet (saas). The fact that this information was imparted 1,400 years ago in the Qur'an, when there were no spacecraft or giant telescopes, shows that the Qur'an is the revelation of our Lord, the Omniscient.
THE SKY THAT RETURNS
The verse 11 of Surat at-Tariq in the Qur'an, refers to the "returning" function of the sky.
[I swear] by heaven which returns. (Qur'an, 86:11)
The word "raj`" interpreted as "return" in Qur'an translations has meanings of "sending back" or "returning." As is known, the atmosphere surrounding the Earth consists of many layers. Each layer serves an important purpose for the benefit of life on Earth. Research has revealed that these layers have the function of turning the materials or rays they are exposed to back into space or back down to the Earth. Now let us examine, employing a few fitting examples, this "returning" function of the layers encircling the Earth.
 |
The presence of
water is essential
for life on Earth. One of the factors acting in the formation
of water
is the Troposphere, one of the layers of the atmosphere. The
troposphere
layer enables water vapour rising from the surface of the
Earth to
be condensed from whence it returns to the Earth in the form
of rain. |
 |
The atmosphere
layer that blocks
the rays that might be fatal to life on Earth is the
Ozonosphere. The
Ozonosphere turns harmful cosmic rays like ultraviolet back to
space,
hence preventing them from reaching the Earth and harming
life. |
 |
Each layer of the
atmosphere
has beneficial attributes for human beings. For example, the
Ionosphere
layer, one of the upper layers of the atmosphere, reflects
radio waves
broadcast from a certain centre back down to the Earth, thus
enabling
broadcasts to be received from long distances. |
The troposphere, 13 to 15 kilometres (8 to 9.3 miles) above the Earth, enables water vapour rising from the surface of the Earth to be condensed and turned back as rain. The ozone layer, the lower layer of stratosphere at an altitude of 25 kilometres (15.5 miles), reflects harmful radiation and ultraviolet light coming from space and turns both back into space.
The ionosphere reflects radio waves broadcast from the Earth back down to different parts of the world just like a passive communications satellite. Thus, it makes wireless communication, radio, and television broadcasting possible over long distances. The magnetosphere layer turns the harmful radioactive particles emitted by the Sun and other stars back into space before they reach the Earth.
The fact that this property of the atmosphere's layers, that was only demonstrated in the recent past was announced centuries ago in the Qur'an, once again confirms that the Qur'an is Allah's word.
THE LAYERS OF THE EARTH
One item of information about the Earth given in the Qur'an is its similarity to the seven-layered sky:
It is Allah Who created the seven heavens and of the Earth the same number, the command descending down through all of them, so that you might know that Allah has power over all things and that Allah encompasses all things in His knowledge. (Qur'an, 65:12)
The information in the above verse is confirmed in scientific
sources, wherein it is explained that the Earth consists of seven
strata. These, as scientists have identified, are:
1st layer: Lithosphere (water)
2nd layer: Lithosphere (land)
3rd layer: Asthenosphere
4th layer: Upper Mantle
5th layer: Inner Mantle
6th layer: Outer Core
7th layer: Inner Core
The word lithosphere is derived from the Greek word lithos, meaning stone, which is a hard stratum forming the Earth's top layer. It is quite thin in comparison to the other strata. The lithosphere under the oceans is still thinner, and is a region with volcanic activity. Its average thickness is 80 km (49.7 miles). It is colder and harder than the other strata, and therefore, forms the Earth's shell.
Below the lithosphere is the stratum known as the asthenosphere, from the Greek word for "weak," asthenes. This layer is thinner than the lithosphere and shifts. It was formed of hot, semi-solid substances capable of melting when exposed to high temperatures and pressure over geological time. It is thought that the hard lithosphere floats or moves over the slowly moving asthenosphere.24 Under these layers is a high-temperature layer some 2,900 km (1,800 miles) thick, made up of semi-solid rock known as the mantle. This contains more iron, magnesium and calcium than the crust, and is also hotter and denser, because temperature and density in the Earth increase with depth.
At the centre of the Earth is the core, approximately twice as dense as the mantle. The reason for that density is that it contains a higher proportion of metals (iron-nickel alloy) than rock. The Earth's core consists of two parts. One is the 2,200 km (1,370 miles) thick liquid outer core, the other a 1,250 km (777 miles) thick solid inner core. The liquid outer core provides the Earth's magnetic field as the planet rotates.
The truth of this similarity between the sky and the layers of the Earth, only identified by 20th century technology, is without doubt another of the Qur'an's scientific miracles.
THE EARTHS DISGORGES ITS CHARGES
When the Earth is convulsed with its quaking and the Earth then disgorges its charges and man asks, "What is wrong with it?", on that day it will impart all its news. (Qur'an, 99:1-4)
The word
"zilzaal" in Arabic means earthquake, or tremors, and the word
"athqaalahaa" means "charges, heavy burdens." When one considers the
above verses in the light of the first meaning, it can be seen that
reference is being made to an important scientific fact about
earthquakes.
Surat az-Zilzal 2 mentions the Earth disgorging its charges. Indeed, as a result of research in recent years, it has been realised that there are heavy metals at the centre of the Earth, and that these appear as a result of movements on the Earth's surface. According to geologists' calculations, as the Earth cooled, heavy and dense substances sank to its centre, while lighter ones rose to the surface. For that reason, the Earth's crust consists of the least heaviest substances (basalt and granite rocks), while heavy metals (nickel and iron) are found in the core. As a result, the subsurface, which consists of molten metals, is made of a material that is much heavier and denser than the surface.
During earthquakes, the heavy substances below the surface have an opportunity to rise, and the Earth thus disgorges its charges, as revealed in the Qur'an. Moreover, those regions where metal reserves are most concentrated are also those with the greatest volcanic activity. These scientific findings, which emerged only recently, and as a result of wide-ranging research, are just some of the scientific facts indicated by Allah in the Qur'an.
MOUNTAINS' ROLE
The Qur'an draws attention to a very important geological function of mountains:
We placed firmly embedded mountains on the Earth, so it would not move under them... (Qur'an, 21:31)
Mountains have roots deep under the surface of the ground. (Press and Siever, Earth, 413.) Schematic section. Mountains, like pegs, have deep roots embedded in the ground. (Andre Cailleux and J. Moody Stuart, Anatomy of the Earth (McGraw-Hill Companies: 1968), 220.)
Another illustration shows how mountains are peg-like in shape, due to their deep roots. (Edward J. Tarbuck and Frederick K. Lutgens, Earth Science (USA: Macmillan USA: 1993), 158.)
The verse states that mountains perform the function of preventing shocks in the Earth. This fact was not known by anyone at the time the Qur'an was revealed. It was, in fact, brought to light only recently, as a result of the findings of modern geological research.
Formerly, it was thought that mountains were merely protrusions rising above the surface of the Earth. However, scientists realised that this was not actually the case, and that those parts known as the mountain root extended down as far as 10-15 times their own height. With these features, mountains play a similar role to a nail or peg firmly holding down a tent. For example, Mount Everest, the summit of which stands approximately 9 km above the surface of the Earth, has a root deeper than 125 km (77.7 miles).25
Mountains emerge as a result of the movements and collisions of massive plates forming the Earth's crust. When two plates collide, the stronger one slides under the other, the one on the top bends and forms heights and mountains. The layer beneath proceeds under the ground and makes a deep extension downward. Consequently, as stated earlier, mountains have a portion stretching downwards, as large as their visible parts on the Earth.
In a scientific text, the structure of mountains is described as follows:
Where continents are thicker, as in mountain ranges, the crust sinks deeper into the mantle.26
Professor Siaveda, a world-renowned underwater geologist, made the following comment in reference to the way that mountains have root-like stalks attaching them to the surface:
The fundamental difference between continental mountains and the oceanic mountains lies in its material... But the common denominator on both mountains are that they have roots to support the mountains. In the case of continental mountains, light-low density material from the mountain is extended down into the earth as a root. In the case of oceanic mountains, there is also light material supporting the mountain as a root... Therefore, the function of the roots are to support the mountains according to the law of Archimedes.27
Furthermore, a book titled Earth, by Dr. Frank Press, former president of the U.S. National Academy of Sciences, which is still used as a text book in a great many universities, states that mountains are like stakes, and are buried deep under the surface of the Earth.28
In other verses, this role of the mountains is pointed out by a comparison with "pegs":
Haven't We made the Earth as a bed and the mountains its pegs? (Qur'an, 78:6-7)
In another verse it is revealed that Allah "made the mountains firm." (Qur'an, 79:32) The word "arsaahaa" in this verse means "was made rooted, was fixed, was nailed to the earth." Similarly, mountains extend to the surface layer joining lines on and below the surface, and nail these together. By fixing the Earth's crust they prevent any sliding over the magma layer or amongst the layers themselves. In short, mountains can be compared to nails holding strips of wood together. The fixing effect of mountains is known as isostasy in scientific literature. Isostasy is the state of equilibrium between the upward force created by the mantle layer and the downward force created by the Earth's crust. As mountains lose mass due to erosion, soil loss or melting of glaciers, they can gain mass from the formation of glaciers, volcanic explosions or soil formation. Therefore, as mountains grow lighter they are pressed upwards by the raising force implemented by the liquids. Alternatively, as they grow heavier they are pressed into the mantle by the force of gravity. Equilibrium between these two forces is established by isostasy. This balancing property of mountains is described in these terms in a scientific source:
G.B Airy in 1855 suggested that the crust of the earth could be likened to rafts of timber floating on water. Thick pieces of timber float higher above the water surface than thin pieces and similarly thick sections of the earth's crust will float on a liquid or plastic substratum of greater density. Airy was suggesting that mountains have a deep root of lower density rock which the plains lack. Four years after Airy published his work, J.H Pratt offered an alternative hypothesis... By this hypothesis rock columns below mountains must have a lower density, because of their greater length, than shorter rock columns beneath plains. Both Airy and Pratt's hypothesis imply that surface irregularities are balanced by differences in density of rocks below the major features (mountains and plains) of the crust. This state of BALANCE is described as the concept of ISOSTASY. 29
Today, we know that the rocky external layer of the Earth's surface is riven by deep faults and split into plates swimming above the molten lava. Since the Earth revolves very quickly around its own axis, were it not for the fixing effect of the mountains, these plaques would shift. In such an event, soil would not collect on the Earth's surface, water would not accumulate in the soil, no plants could grow, and no roads or houses could be built. In short, life on Earth would be impossible. Through the mercy of Allah, however, mountains act like nails, and to a large extent, prevent movement in the Earth's surface.
This vital role of mountains, which has been discovered by modern geological and seismic research, was revealed in the Qur'an centuries ago as an example of the supreme wisdom in Allah's creation.
... [He] cast firmly embedded mountains on the Earth so that it would not move under you... (Qur'an, 31:10)
We gave Dawud great favor from Us: “O mountains and birds! Echo with him in his praise!” And We made iron malleable for him: (Surah Saba’, 10)
 A radio telescope on Peach Mountain, in Dexter, Michigan |
The description of mountains “echoing” in the above verse may be a reference to the way that radios work. (Allah knows the truth.) The basic principles on which radios operate may be summarized as follows:
The radio system consists of a transmitter and a receiver. The transmitter takes the message to be sent, encodes it in what is known as a “sinus wave” and transmits it in the form of waves. The receiver takes in the radio waves and deciphers the message sent on the sinus wave. In this way, the message is received in exactly the same form as it was sent. The word "awwibi," translated as “echo” in the above verse and meaning “sound being repeated or returned”, may very well be a reference to the transmission of these radio waves. (Allah knows the truth.)
Sounds emitted in the form of sound waves by way of an antenna in order that the receiver can take in the data sent are also met by an antenna linked to the receiver. The purpose behind using antennae is the transmission into space of the waves emitted by the radio transmitter. The receiving antenna is intended to collect as many radio waves and messages as possible. That is why NASA uses giant antennae bowls 70 meters across for its satellites millions of kilometers away in space.
 Each of the antennae in the picture weighs 212 tons, is as high as a 10-storey building and measures 25 meters across. (http://www.val-tech.com/nelsone/vla.html) |
There are also radio telescopes which use radio waves to form images. Since radio waves are very long, a radio telescope has to be much larger in order to collect them as images sufficiently clear to be compared. In order to obtain sharper and better images, astronomers use a connected series of smaller telescopes or receptors. These telescopes act collectively as one very large one. And in physical appearance, these series resemble mountain systems.
In addition, "repeaters" are employed to permit radio communications over every great distances. These devices repeat and strengthen weak signals and enable them to be transmitted over considerable distances. Such devices are generally sited on tall buildings or on the tops of mountains for preference, in order to have the greatest effect. The use of the word "evvibi," translated as "echo" in the above verse, is exceedingly wise. The statement of, "O mountains and birds! Echo with him in his praise!’" in verse 10 of Surah Saba’ may thus be a description of that technology. Allah knows the truth.
THE MOVING MOUNTAINS
In one verse, we are informed that mountains are not motionless as they seem, but are in constant motion.
You see the mountains you reckoned to be solid going past like clouds. (Qur'an, 27:88)
This motion of mountains is caused by the movement of the Earth's
crust that they are located on. The Earth's crust "floats" over the
mantle layer, which is denser. It was at the beginning of the 20th
century when, for the first time in history, a German scientist by the
name of Alfred Wegener proposed that the continents of the Earth had
been attached together when it first formed, but then drifted in
different directions, and thus separated as they moved away from each
other. 
Geologists understood that Wegener was right only in the 1980s, 50 years after his death. As Wegener pointed out in an article published in 1915, the land masses on the Earth were joined together about 500 million years ago, and this large mass, called Pangaea, was located in the South Pole.
Approximately 180 million years ago, Pangaea divided into two parts, which drifted in different directions. One of these giant continents was Gondwana, which included Africa, Australia, Antarctica and India. The second one was Laurasia, which included Europe, North America and Asia, except for India. Over the next 150 million years following this separation, Gondwana and Laurasia divided into smaller parts.
These continents, that emerged after the split of Pangaea, have been constantly moving on the Earth's surface at a rate of several centimetres per year, and in the meantime changing the sea to land ratios of the Earth.
Discovered as a result of the geological research carried out at the beginning of the 20th century, this movement of the Earth's crust is explained by scientists as follows:
The crust and the uppermost part of the mantle, with a thickness of about 100 kms, are divided into segments called plates. There are six major plates, and several small ones. According to the theory called plate tectonics, these plates move about on Earth, carrying continents and ocean floor with them. Continental motion has been measured at from 1-5 cm per year. As the plates continue to move about, this will produce a slow change in Earth's geography. Each year, for instance, the Atlantic Ocean becomes slightly wider.30
There is an important point that needs to be stated here: Allah referred to the motion of mountains as drifting in a verse of the Qur'an. Today, modern scientists also use the term "continental drift" for this motion.31
Continental drift is something that could not have been observed at the time of the revelation of the Qur'an, and Allah clearly indicated how it was to be understood: "You see the mountains you reckoned to be solid." Though, He described a fact afterward, stating that the mountains were going past like clouds. As has been indicated, attention is clearly drawn to the movement of the layer in which the mountains are fixed.
It is without doubt a great miracle that this scientific fact, only recently discovered by science, should have been revealed in the 7th century, when conceptions of the nature of the universe were based on superstition and myth. This is another very important proof that the Qur'an is the word of Allah.
DIFFERENT POINTS IN THE RISING AND SETTING OF THE SUN
No! I swear by the Lord of the easts and wests that We have the power. (Qur'an, 70:40)
Lord of the heavens and the Earth and everything between them; Lord of the easts. (Qur'an, 37:5)
The Lord of the two easts and the Lord of the two wests. (Qur'an, 55:17)
As can be discerned, the words east and west are used in the plural sense in the above verses. For instance, the word "mashaariq," used in the first verse for "east," and the word "maghaarib" used for "west," are in plural form, indicating that there are two of each. The words "mashriqayn" and "maghribayn" in the last verse are used for two easts and two wests. "Mashaariq" and "maghaarib" also mean the place where the Sun rises and sets. The above verses are therefore referring to different sites of the dawning and closing of the day. It is also worthy of note that the vow is taken by the Lord of "the easts and wests" in the first verse.
The axis around which the Earth revolves itself is at an angle of 23° 27'. Due to that angle, and the spherical shape of the Earth, the light rays from the Sun do not always strike it at the same angle. This means that the Sun rises at different points in the east and sets at different points in the west.
That the expressions regarding east and west in the above verses indicate the Sun rising and setting at different points reveals a great wisdom. (Allah knows best.)
LAND LOSS AT THE EXTREMITIES
Don't they see how We come to the land eroding it at its extremities?... (Qur'an, 13:41)
... Don't they see how We come to the land eroding it from its extremities?... (Qur'an, 21:44)
The Earth is bombarded by proton, electron and alpha particles from the Sun. These solar winds are powerful enough to separate the atmosphere from the Earth. However, it will take about five times longer than the total life of the Sun at the Earth's present rate of matter loss (at most 3 kg [6.6 lbs] per second) for the atmosphere to be used up.32 That is because, thanks to the powerful magnetic field formed by the magnetosphere in the atmosphere, the Earth is to some extent protected from this powerful erosion. The loss of ions-oxygen, helium and hydrogen-dispersed over the Earth's ionosphere layer into the depths of space is of much smaller dimensions than the vast layer of air surrounding the Earth. Even so, the amount leaking into space is nevertheless of a significant size.33
 2. 8 minutes : Ultraviolet and x-ray emissions travelling at the speed of light can block out radio broadcasts. 3. 30 minutes: Charged particles at a high energy level can threaten satellites and high-flying jets. 4. Between 48 minutes and 96 hours: The Earth’s magnetic
field
is disrupted by mass solar particles. The effect of this is to
endanger
electricity networks. |
Thanks to NASA (National Aeronautiocs and Space Administration) spacecraft, researchers have obtained concrete evidence that energy explosions on the Sun cause oxygen and other gases to disperse into space from the outer layer of the Earth's atmosphere. Scientists first observed that the Earth experiences a loss of matter from its outer layers on September 24-25, 1998.34
However, the above verses may also be referring to the loss of land on Earth in another regard.
At the present time, the polar ice caps are melting and the water level in the oceans is rising. The increasing quantity of water is covering ever more land. As coastal areas come under water, the land surface or total amount of land is decreasing.35 The expression "eroding it from its extremities" in the above verses may well be pointing to coastal areas being covered by water.
A New York Times report on this subject reads:
|
Over the last century, the average surface temperature of the globe has risen by about 1 degree Fahrenheit, and the rate of warming has accelerated in the last quarter-century. That is a significant amount... Previous studies of satellite and submarine observations have seemed to establish a warming trend in the northern polar region and raise the possibility of a melting icecap. Scientists at the Goddard Space Science Institute, a NASA research center in Manhattan, compared data from submarines in the 1950's and 1960's with 1990's observations, demonstrating that the ice cover over the entire Arctic basin has thinned by 45 percent. Satellite images have revealed that the extent of ice coverage has significantly shrunk in recent years.36
The findings made towards the end of the 20th century help us to understand the wisdom of Surat ar-Ra'd 41, and Surat al-Anbiya' 44.
This loss at the extremities, as revealed by Allah, may be understood in light of another scientific fact revealed in the Qur'an. The fact that the Earth, which revolves around its own axis, has a geoid shape, is a fact that has gained acceptance in recent centuries.
Research has revealed that the equatorial diameter of the Earth expands under the effect of the force stemming from this rotation, and that it is compressed at its extremities, in other words the poles. Furthermore, since the Earth is in constant rotation this change continues to occur. Indeed, the term "nanqusu" in Surat ar-Ra'd 41, translated as "eroding," shows that this process of erosion is an ongoing one.
It is the force of gravity that has given such celestial bodies as the Earth their spherical form. However, that shape is not exactly spherical; it flattens out somewhat at the poles and thickens at the equator. According to NASA figures, the radius of the Earth is 6,378.1 km (3,963.2 miles) at the equator but only 6,356.8 km (3,949.9 miles) from pole to pole.37 This is a difference of some 0.3%.
This model of the shape of the Earth was suggested by Sir Isaac Newton in 1687. This fact, revealed in the Qur'an 1,400 years ago, is another of its scientific miracles.
THE SPLITTING EARTH
[I swear] by heaven which returns and the Earth which splits. (Qur'an, 86:11-12)
The Arabic word "sad`" in the above verse means "cracking, splitting apart." Allah's swearing by the splitting of the Earth points to an important phenomenon, as do the other scientific miracles in the Qur'an. Scientists first descended to the depths of the seas and oceans in order to study mineral resources in 1945-1946. One of the most important facts to emerge from that research was the fissured structure of the Earth. The rock layer on the external surface of the Earth was split by large numbers of cracks (faults), tens of thousands of kilometres long, running from north to south and east to west. Scientists also realised that there was molten magma under the sea, at depths of 100-150 km (60-90 miles).
 |
 |
The above representative pictures show the fragmented structure of the Earth. The magma layer under the Earth’s crust is allowed to escape to the surface by this fragmented structure. This significantly reduces the temperature of the Earth. |
|
Due to these splits and cracks, lava flows from volcanoes on the sea bed. Due to this fissured structure, a significant amount of heat is also given off, and a large part of molten rocks forms the mountains under the oceans. If the Earth did not possess this structure, which allows large amounts of heat to escape from its crust, life on Earth would become impossible.38
 |
|
There is no doubt that such information, which required such advanced technology to be discovered, being given 1,400 years ago is yet another proof that the Qur'an is the word of Allah.
17. World Book Encyclopedia, 2003;
contributor:
Kenneth Brecher, Ph.D., Professor of Astronomy and Physics, Boston
University.
18. Bilim ve Teknik (Science and
Technology Journal),
July 1983.
19. "Effects of Rotation (Coriolis Effect)," The Woodrow Wilson National
Fellowship Foundation; www.woodrow.org/teachers/esi/1998/p/weather/Corriolis.HTM
20. Michael Pidwirny, "Atmospheric Layers," 1996,
http://royal.okanagan.bc.ca/mpidwirn/atmosphereandclimate/atmslayers.html
21. "Numerical Prediction Models used by NWS," Integrated Publishing;
www.tpub.com/weather3/4-27.htm
22. "The Incredible Design of the Earth and Our Solar System;"
www.godandscience.org/apologetics/designss.html
23. "The Quran and Modern Physics;"
http://webhome.idirect.com/~alila/Writings/Physics.htm
24. "Inside the Earth;"
http://pubs.usgs.gov/publications/text/inside.html
25. Prof. Zighloul Raghib El-Naggar, "The Miraculous Qur'an;"
www.wamy.co.uk/announcements3.html
26. Carolyn Sheets, Robert Gardner, and Samuel F. Howe, General
Science,
(Newton, MA: Allyn and Bacon Inc., 1985), 305.
27. www.beconvinced.com/science/QURANMOUNTAIN.htm
28. Frank Press, and Raymond Siever, Earth, 3rd ed. (San
Francisco:
W. H. Freeman & Company, 1982).
29. M. J. Selby, Earth's Changing Surface, (Oxford: Clarendon
Press:
1985), 32.
30. Sheets, Gardner, and Howe, General Science, 305.
31. Powers of Nature, (Washington D.C.:
National
Geographic Society: 1978), 12-13.
32. "Press Release," Swedish Institute of Space Physics (IRF),
March 9, 2001; www.irf.se/press/press_010309eng.html
33. "Solar Wind Blows Some of Earth's Atmosphere into Space," NASA;
http://science.nasa.gov/newhome/headlines/ast08dec98_1.htm
34. Ibid.
35. Kazi, 130 Evident Miracles in the Qur'an, 115.
36. John Noble Wilford, "Ages-Old Icecap at North Pole Is Now Liquid,
Scientists
Find," New York Times, August 19, 2000; www.planetwaves.net/polar_NYT.html
37. "Earth Fact Sheet;"
http://nssdc.gsfc.nasa.gov/planetary/factsheet/earthfact.html
38. "Arctic Explorers," June 23, 2000;
http://tea.rice.edu/schauer/6.23.2000.html;
Tetsuzo Seno, Satoru Honda, "Mantle Convection and The Global Sea
Level:
When Did Plate Tectonics Begin on The Earth?;"
www.eri.u-tokyo.ac.jp/seno/sealevel_abst.html; "Mantle
Convection," http://theory.uwinnipeg.ca/mod_tech/node195.html;
Prof.
Zaghloul El-Naggar, "Scientific Signs in the Qur'an: Examples from
the Area of Earth Sciences;"
www.nekkah.com/Main/EngPage/Scientific_Signs_in_the_Quran.htm
BOOK ONE ALLAH'S SCIENTIFIC MIRACLES IN THE QUR'AN
BOOK ONE
ALLAH'S SCIENTIFIC MIRACLES IN THE QUR'AN
THE FORMATION OF THE UNIVERSE
 |
Until the mid-20th century, the prevalent view across the world was that the universe was infinite, had existed forever and that it will continue to do so for all time. According to this view, known as the "static universe model," the universe had no end or beginning.
In maintaining that the universe is a collection of fixed, static and unchanging substances, this view has constituted the basis of materialist philosophy and has consequently rejected the existence of a Creator. However, as science and technology progressed during the 20th century, the static universe model has been completely uprooted.
We have now entered the 21st century and a new dawn is upon us. Through numerous experiments, observations and calculation conducted by some of the world's most prominent thinkers, modern physics has proven that the universe did indeed have a beginning, that it came into being from nothing in a single moment in a huge explosion. Furthermore, it has been established that the universe is not fixed and
static, as materialists still stubbornly maintain. On the contrary, it is undergoing a constant process of movement, change and expansion. These recently-established facts all act as nails in the coffin of the static universe theory. Today, all these facts are universally accepted by the scientific community.
The origin of the universe is described in the Qur'an in the following verse:
He created the heavens and the Earth from nothing. (Qur'an, 6:101)
This information is in full agreement with the findings of contemporary scientists. As we stated earlier, the conclusion that astrophysics has reached today is that the entire universe, together with the dimensions of matter and time, came into existence as a result of a great explosion that occurred a long time ago. This event, known as "The Big Bang," is the catalyst for the creation of the universe from nothingness. This explosion, all parties in the scientific community agree, emanated from a single point some 15 billion years ago. (See Harun Yahya, The Creation of the Universe, Al-Attique Publishers Inc., Canada, 2000)
|
THE EXPANDING UNIVERSE
In the Qur'an, which was revealed fourteen centuries ago at a time when the science of astronomy was still primitive, the expansion of the universe was described in the following terms:
And it is We Who have constructed the heaven with might, and verily, it is We Who are steadily expanding it. (Qur'an, 51:47)
|
The word "heaven," as stated in the verse above, is used in various places in the Qur'an. It is referring to space and the wider universe. Here again, the word is used with this meaning, stating that the universe "expands." The Arabic word "moosi'oona" in the term "inna lamoosi'oona," translated into English as "it is We Who are steadily expanding it," comes from the verb "awsa'a," meaning "to expand." The prefix "la" emphasises the following name or title and adds a sense of "to a great extent." This expression therefore means "We expand the sky or the universe to a great extent." This is the very conclusion that science has reached today.1
Until the dawn of the 20th century, the only view prevailing in the world of science was that "the universe has a constant nature and it has existed since infinite time." However, modern research, observations, and calculations carried out by means of modern technology have revealed that the universe in fact had a beginning and that it constantly "expands."
 From the moment of the Big Bang, the universe has been constantly expanding at a great speed. Scientists compare the expanding universe to the surface of a balloon that is inflated. |
At the beginning of the 20th century, the Russian physicist Alexander Friedmann and the Belgian cosmologist Georges Lemaître theoretically calculated that the universe is in constant motion and that it is expanding.
This notion was confirmed by the use of observational data in 1929. While observing the sky with a telescope, Edwin Hubble, the American astronomer, discovered that the stars and galaxies were constantly moving away from each other. This discovery is regarded as one of the greatest in the history of astronomy. During these observations, Hubble established that the stars emit a light that turns redder according to their distance. That is because according to the known laws of physics, light heading towards a point of observation turns violet, and light moving away from that point assumes a more reddish hue. During his observations, Hubble noted a tendency towards the colour red in the light emitted by stars. In short, the stars were moving further and further away, all the time. The stars and galaxies were not only moving away from us, but also from each other. A universe where everything constantly moves away from everything else implied a constantly expanding universe. The observations carried out in the following years verified that the universe is constantly expanding.
In order to gain a clearer understanding of this, let us imagine the universe to be the surface of a balloon being inflated. In the same way that the more the balloon is inflated, the further away the points on its surface move from one another, celestial bodies also move away from one another as the universe expands. This was theoretically discovered by Albert Einstein, regarded as one of the greatest scientists of the 20th century. However, in order to avoid violating the "static universe model" that was generally accepted at that time, Einstein laid that discovery aside. He would later describe this as the greatest blunder of his life.2
This fact was explained in the Qur'an in a time when telescopes and similar technological advancements were not even close to being invented. This is because the Qur'an is the word of Allah: the Creator and Ruler of the entire universe.
THE END OF THE UNIVERSE AND THE BIG CRUNCH
As we have stated above, the creation of the universe began with a huge explosion. From this point, the universe has been expanding ever since. Scientists say that when the mass of the universe has reached a sufficient level, this expansion will come to an end because of gravity, causing the universe to collapse in on itself.3
 The Big Crunch theory proposes that the universe, that began expanding with the Big Bang, will collapse in on itself with increasing speed. According to the theory, this collapse of the universe will continue until the universe has lost all its mass and turned into a single point of infinite density. |
It is also believed that the contracting universe will end in a fierce heat and contraction known as the "Big Crunch." This would lead to the end of all forms of life as we know them. Renata Kallosh and Andrei Linde, professors of physics from Stanford University, made the following statements on the subject:
The universe may be doomed to collapse and disappear. Everything we see now, and at a much larger distance that we cannot see, will collapse into a point smaller than a proton. Locally, it will be the same as if you were inside a black hole... We have found that some of the best attempts to describe dark energy predict that it will gradually become negative, which will cause the universe to become unstable, then collapse... Physicists have known that dark energy could become negative and the universe could collapse sometime in the very distant future... but now we see that we might be, not in the beginning, but in the middle of the life cycle of our universe.4
This is how this scientific hypothesis of the Big Crunch is indicated in the Qur'an:
That Day We will fold up heaven like folding up the pages of a book. As We originated the first creation so We will regenerate it. It is a promise binding on Us. That is what We will do. (Qur'an, 21:104)
In another verse, this state of the heavens is described thus:
They do not measure Allah with His true measure. The whole Earth will be a mere handful for Him on the Day of Resurrection the heavens folded up in His right hand. Glory be to Him! He is exalted above the partners they ascribe! (Qur'an, 39:67)
According to the Big Crunch theory, the universe will begin to collapse slowly and will then increasingly pick up speed. At the end of the process the universe will have infinite density and be infinitely hot and small. This scientific theory runs parallel to the Qur'anic explanation of this particular scientific concept. (Allah knows best)
CREATION FROM HOT SMOKE
 |
Scientists today are able to observe the formation of stars from a hot gas cloud. Formation from a warm mass of gas also applies to the creation of the universe. The creation of the universe as described in the Qur'an confirms this scientific discovery in the following verse:
He placed firmly embedded mountains on it, towering over it, and blessed it and measured out its nourishment in it, laid out for those who seek it-all in four days. Then He turned to heaven when it was smoke and said to it and to the Earth, "Come willingly or unwillingly." They both said, "We come willingly." (Qur'an, 41:10-11)
The Arabic word for "samaa'," translated here as "heaven," refers to the entire universe. The word "dukhaanun" for "smoke" describes the matter before the universe took its shape-the hot, cosmic smoke present during the creation of the universe, as now acknowledged by scientist.5 This word in the Qur'an, in pinpoint fashion, describes this smoke very accurately for it is a warm body of gas containing mobile particles connected to solid substances. Here, the Qur'an has employed the most appropriate word from the Arabic language for describing the appearance of this phase of the universe. Let us note that only in the 20th century have scientists discovered that the universe emerged from a hot gas in the form of smoke.
In addition, the word "thumma," translated as "then" in the expression "Then He turned to heaven when it was smoke," bears other meanings such as "at this, in addition, furthermore, moreover, again, once more." Here, "thumma" is employed not as an expression of time, but as an additional clarification.6
The fact that such information about the creation of the universe is given in the Qur'an is nothing short of a miracle of the Qur'an.
THE SEPARATION OF THE HEAVENS AND THE EARTH
Another verse about the creation of the heavens is as follows:
Do not the unbelievers see that the heavens and the Earth were sewn together and then We unstitched them and that We made from water every living thing? So will they not believe? (Qur'an, 21:30)
The word "ratq" translated as "sewn to" means "mixed in each, blended" in the Arabic vernacular. It is used to refer to two different substances that make up a whole. The phrase "we unstitched" is the verb "fataqa" in Arabic and implies that something comes into being by tearing apart or destroying the structure of things that are sewn to one another. The sprouting of a seed from the soil is one of the actions to which this verb is applied.
 |
Let us take a look at the verse again. In the verse, sky and earth are at first subject to the status of "ratq." They are separated (fataqa) with one coming out of the other. Intriguingly, when we think about the first moments of the Big Bang, we see that the entire matter of the universe collected at one single point. In other words, everything-including "the heavens and earth" which were not created yet-were in an interwoven and inseparable condition. Then, this point exploded violently, causing its matter to disunite.
THE CREATION OF WHAT LIES BETWEEN THE HEAVENS AND THE EARTH
The Qur'an contains a great many verses concerning the creation of the Earth, the heavens and what lies between:
We did not create the heavens and Earth and everything between them, except with truth. The Hour is certainly coming, so turn away graciously. (Qur'an, 15:85)
Everything in the heavens and everything on the Earth and everything in between them and everything under the ground belongs to Him. (Qur'an, 20:6)
We did not create heaven and Earth and everything in between them as a game. (Qur'an, 21:16)
Scientists state that first of all, a mass of hot gas increased in density. This mass later divided into smaller parts to form galactic matter and later still, the stars and planets. To put it another way, the Earth along with stars around it, are all parts which separated from a united body of gas. Some of these parts brought the suns and planets into being, thus leading to the emergence of the many Solar Systems and galaxies. As we have set out in earlier sections of this book, the universe was first in a state of "ratq" (fusion: combined together, united) and then became "fataqa" (divided into parts). The emergence of the universe is described with the most suitable words in the Qur'an, in such a way as to confirm the scientific accounts.7
On the occasion of every division, a few particles remained outside the new, fundamental bodies forming in space. The scientific name for these extra particles is "interstellar galactic material." Interstellar matter consists of 60% of hydrogen, 38% of helium and 2% of all other elements. Of the interstellar matter, 99% consists of interstellar gas and 1% of interstellar dust, which probably consists of heavy elements in small particles of 0.0001 to 0.001 mm in diameter.8 Scientists regard these substances as very important from the point of view of astrophysical measurements. These substances are so fine as to be capable of being regarded as dust, smoke or gas. However, when one considers these substances as a whole, they represent a larger mass than the total of all the galaxies in space. Although the existence of this interstellar galactic matter was only discovered in 1920, attention was drawn to the existence of these particles, described as "maa baynahuma"-translated as "everything between them"-hundreds of years ago in the Qur'an.
THE PERFECT EQUILIBRIUM IN THE UNIVERSE
He Who created the seven heavens in layers. You will not find any discrepancy in the creation of the All-Merciful. Look again-do you see any gaps? Then look again and again. Your sight will return to you dazzled and exhausted! (Qur'an, 67:3-4)
The billions of stars and galaxies in the universe move in perfect equilibrium in the paths set out for them. Stars, planets and satellites rotate not only around their own axes but also together with the systems of which they are an integral part. Sometimes, galaxies containing 200-300 billion stars move across each others' paths. Yet amazingly, no collisions take place that might damage the great order in the universe. This miracle is something over which all of us should reflect.
In the universe, the concept of speed assumes giant dimensions when compared to earthly measurements. Stars, planets, galaxies and conglomerations of galaxies-whose numerical properties can only be conceived by mathematicians-weigh billions or trillions of tons, and move through space at extraordinary speeds.
For example, the Earth rotates at 1,670 kmph (1,038 mph). If we consider that the fastest-moving bullet today possesses an average speed of 1,800 kmph, we can see how fast the Earth is moving, despite its enormous size and mass.
The speed of the Earth as it orbits the Sun is some 60 times faster than a bullet: 108,000 kmph. If we were able to construct a vehicle capable of moving at that speed, it would be able to circumnavigate the Earth in 22 minutes. These figures apply only to the Earth.
Those for the Solar System are even more fascinating. The speed of that system is such as to exceed the bounds of reason: The larger the systems in the universe, the greater their speed. The Solar System's speed of orbit around the centre of the galaxy is 720,000 kmph. The Milky Way, with its 200 billion or so stars, moves through space at 950,000 kmph.
There is no doubt that there is a very high risk of collisions in such a complicated and fast-moving system. Yet nothing of the sort actually happens and we continue with our lives in complete safety. That is because everything in the universe functions according to the flawless equilibrium set out by Allah. It is for this reason that, as stated in the verse, there is no "discrepancy" in the system.
THE FINE TUNING IN THE UNIVERSE
He Who created the seven heavens in layers. You will not find any flaw in the creation of the All-Merciful. Look again-do you see any gaps? Then look again and again. Your sight will return to you dazzled and exhausted! (Qur'an, 67:3-4)
Don't you see how He created seven heavens in layers? (Qur'an, 71:15)
He to Whom the kingdom of the heavens and the earth belongs. He does not have a son and He has no partner in the Kingdom. He created everything and determined it most exactly. (Qur'an, 25:2)
Materialist philosophy emerged with the claim that all the systems in nature and the universe were like machines that functioned on their own, that the flawless order and balance within them were the work of chance. However, today, the false nature of materialism and of Darwinism, its so-called scientific foundation, has been scientifically demonstrated. (See Harun Yahya, The Evolution Deceit, 8th ed., Ta-Ha Publishers, 2004 and Darwinism Refuted, Goodword Books, 2003.)
The scientific discoveries of the 20th century that followed swiftly, one after the other, in the fields of astrophysics and biology have proved that life and the universe were created. As the theses of Darwinism collapsed, the Big Bang theory has shown that the universe was created from nothing. Discoveries have revealed that there is a great design and fine-tuning in the material world and this has categorically demonstrated the groundless nature of the claims of materialism.
Considering the conditions necessary for life, we see that only the Earth meets these particular conditions. For an environment suitable for life, there are innumerable conditions taking place simultaneously and unceasingly all around us. There are some hundred billion galaxies, each with-on average-a hundred billion stars. In all the galaxies, there are perhaps as many planets as stars.9 In the face of such overpowering numbers, one can better comprehend the significance of the formation of such an exceptional environment on the Earth.
From the force of the Big Bang explosion to the physical values of atoms, from the levels of the four basic forces to the chemical processes in the stars, from the type of light emitted by the Sun to the level of viscosity of water, from the distance of the Moon to the Earth to the level of gases in the atmosphere, from the Earth's distance from the Sun to its angle of tilt to its orbit, and from the speed at which the Earth revolves around its own axis to the functions of the oceans and mountains on the Earth: every single detail is ideally suited to our lives. Today, the world of science describes these features by means of the concepts of the "Anthropic Principle" and "Fine-Tuning." These concepts summarise the way that the universe is not an aimless, uncontrolled, chance collection of matter but that it has a purpose directed towards human life and has been designed with the greatest precision.
Attention is drawn in the above verses to the measure and harmony in Allah's creation. The word "taqdeer," meaning "to design, measure, create by measuring," is employed in Qur'anic verses such as Surat al-Furqan 2. The word "tibaaq," meaning "in harmony," is used in Surat al-Mulk 3 and Surah Nuh 15. Furthermore, Allah also reveals in Surat al-Mulk with the word "tafaawut," meaning "disagreement, violation, non-conformity, disorder, opposite," that those who seek disharmony will fail to find it.
The term "fine-tuning," which began to be used towards the end of the 20th century, represents this truth revealed in the verses. Over the last quarter-century or so, a great many scientists, intellectuals and writers have shown that the universe is not a collection of coincidences. On the contrary, it has an extraordinary design and order ideally suited to human life in its every detail. (See Harun Yahya, The Creation of the Universe, Al-Attique Publishers, November 2002 and A Chain of Miracles, Global Publishing, May 2004.) Many features in the universe clearly show that the universe has been specially designed to support life. The physicist Dr. Karl Giberson expresses this fact thus:
In the 1960s, some physicists observed that our universe appears to have been fine-tuned for the existence of human life.10
The British astrophysicist Professor George F. Ellis refers to this fine-tuning in these terms:
Amazing fine tuning occurs in the laws that make this [complexity] possible. Realization of the complexity of what is accomplished makes it very difficult not to use the word "miraculous" without taking a stand as to the ontological status of the word.11
The Speed of the Big Bang Explosion:
The balances established with the Big Bang, the instantaneous formation of the universe, are one of the proofs that the universe did not come into being by chance. According to the well-known Adelaide University professor of mathematical physics Paul Davies, if the rate of expansion that took place following the Big Bang had been just one in a billion billion parts different (1/1018), the universe could not have come into being. 12 In his book A Brief History of Time, Stephen Hawking recognises this extraordinary precision in the universe's rate of expansion:
 |
If the rate of expansion one second after the big bang had been smaller by even one part in a hundred thousand million million, the universe would have recollapsed before it ever reached its present size.13
The Four Forces:
All physical motion in the universe comes about thanks to the interaction and equilibrium of the four forces recognised by modern physics: gravity, electromagnetic force, strong nuclear force and weak nuclear force. These forces possess extraordinarily different values to one another. Michael Denton, the famous molecular biologist, describes the extraordinary equilibrium among these forces thus:
If, for example, the gravitational force was a trillion times stronger, then the universe would be far smaller and its life history far shorter. An average star would have a mass a trillion times less than the sun and a life span of about one year. On the other hand, if gravity had been less powerful, no stars or galaxies would have ever formed. The other relationships and values are no less critical. If the strong force had been just slightly weaker, the only element that would be stable would be hydrogen. No other atoms could exist. If it had been slightly stronger in relation to electromagnetism, then an atomic nucleus consisting of only two protons would be a stable feature of the universe-which would mean there would be no hydrogen, and if any stars or galaxies evolved, they would be very different from the way they are. Clearly, if these various forces and constants did not have precisely the values they do, there would be no stars, no supernovae, no planets, no atoms, no life.14
The Distances between Celestial Bodies:
The distribution of celestial bodies in space and the enormous spaces between them are essential to the existence of life on Earth. The distances between celestial bodies have been set out in a calculation compatible with a great many powerful universal forces in such a way as to support life on Earth. In his book Nature's Destiny Michael Denton describes the distance between supernovae and stars:
The distances between supernovae and indeed between all stars is critical for other reasons. The distance between stars in our galaxy is about 30 million miles. If this distance was much less, planetary orbits would be destabilized. If it was much more, then the debris thrown out by a supernova would be so diffusely distributed that planetary systems like our own would in all probability never form. If the cosmos is to be a home for life, then the flickering of the supernovae must occur at a very precise rate and the average distance between them, and indeed between all stars, must be very close to the actual observed figure.15
Gravity:
- If gravity were stronger, excessive ammonia and methane would collect in the Earth's atmosphere, which would have a most damaging effect on life.
- If it were weaker, the Earth's atmosphere would lose excessive quantities of water, making life impossible.
The Earth's Distance from the Sun:
- If this were any greater, the planet would grow very cold, the water cycle in the atmosphere would be affected, and the planet would enter an ice-age.
- If the Earth were any closer to the Sun, plants would burn up, the water cycle in the Earth's atmosphere would be irreparably damaged, and life would become impossible.
The Thickness of the Earth's Crust:
- If the crust were any thicker, then an excessive amount of oxygen would be transferred to it from the atmosphere.
- If it were any thinner, the resulting amount of volcanic activity would make life impossible.
The Speed at which the Earth Revolves:
- If this were any slower, the temperature difference between day and night would grow enormously.
- If it were any faster, then atmospheric winds would reach enormous speeds, and cyclones and storms would make life impossible.
The Earth's Magnetic Field:
- If this were any more powerful, very strong electromagnetic storms would arise.
- If it were any weaker, then the Earth would lose its protection against the harmful particles given off by the Sun and known as solar winds. Both situations would make life impossible.
The Albedo Effect (The Fraction of Light Reflected by the Earth):
- If this were any greater, an ice-age would rapidly result.
- If it were any less, the greenhouse effect would lead to excessive warming. The Earth would first be flooded with the melting of the glaciers, and would then burn up.
The Proportion of Oxygen and Nitrogen in the Atmosphere:
- If this were any greater, vital functions would be adversely accelerated.
- If it were any less, vital functions would adversely slow down.
The Proportion of Carbon Dioxide and Water
in the Atmosphere:
- If this were any greater, the atmosphere would overheat.
- If it were any less, the temperature of the atmosphere would fall.
The Thickness of the Ozone Layer:
- If this were any greater, the Earth's temperature would fall enormously.
- If it were any less, the Earth would overheat and be defenceless against the harmful ultraviolet rays emitted by the Sun.
Seismic Activity (Earthquakes):
- If this were any greater, there would be constant upheaval for living things.
- If it were any less, the nutrients at the sea bottom would fail to spread into the water. This would have a damaging effect on life in the seas and oceans and all living things on Earth.
The Earth's Angle of Tilt:
The Earth has a 23 degree angle of inclination to its orbit. It is this inclination that gives rise to the seasons. If this angle were any greater or any less than it is now, the temperature difference between the seasons would reach extreme dimensions, with unbearably hot summers and bitterly cold winters.
The Size of the Sun:
A smaller star than the Sun would mean the Earth would freeze and a larger star would lead to its burning up.
The Attraction between the Earth and the Moon:
- If this were any greater, the powerful attraction of the Moon would have extremely serious effects on atmospheric conditions, the speed at which the Earth revolves around its own axis and on the ocean tides.
- If it were any less, this would lead to extreme climate changes.
The Distance between the Earth and the Moon:
- If they were just a little closer, the Moon would crash into the Earth.
- If they were any further, the Moon would become lost in space.
- If they were even a little closer, the Moon's effect on the Earth's tides would reach dangerous dimensions. Ocean waves would inundate low-lying areas. The friction emerging as a result of this would raise the temperature of the oceans and the sensitive temperature balance essential to life on Earth would disappear.
- If they were even a little further away, the tides would decrease, leading the oceans to be less mobile. Immobile water would endanger life in the seas, and the level of the oxygen we breathe would be endangered.16
The Temperature of the Earth and Carbon-Based Life:
The existence of carbon, the basis of all life, depends on the temperature remaining within specific limits. Carbon is an essential substance for organic molecules such as amino-acid, nucleic acid and protein: These constitute the basis of life. For that reason, life can only be carbon-based. Given this, the existing temperature needs to be no lower than -20 degrees and no higher than 120 degrees Celsius (248oF). These are just the temperature limits on Earth.
These are just a few of the exceedingly sensitive balances which are essential for life on Earth to have emerged and to survive. Yet even these are sufficient to definitively reveal that the Earth and the universe could not have come into being as the result of a number of consecutive coincidences. The concepts of "fine-tuning" and the "anthropic principle" that began to be employed in the 20th century are further evidence of Allah's creation. The harmony and proportion therein were described with magnificent accuracy fourteen centuries ago in the Qur'an.
THE SUN’S HYDROGEN AND HELIUM CONTENT
The Sun is made up of 70% hydrogen (H) and 28% helium (He) atoms. (http://observe.arc.nasa.gov/nasa/exhibits/sun/sun_2.html; http://www.nineplanets.org/sol.html) Other substances make up less than 2%. Six hundred million tons of hydrogen are converted into 596 million tons of helium in the Sun every second. The remaining 4 million tons is given off as heat and light energy. (http://observe.arc.nasa.gov/nasa/exhibits/sun/sun_5.html) In that sense, the first thing that comes to mind when the Sun is mentioned is the letters H (hydrogen) and He (helium) that stand for the Sun. All the 15 verses in Surat ash-Shams of the Qur’an (Shams meaning ‘Sun’), end in the letters H and E. The Arabic equivalent of these letters are:
 |
(The Arabic
letter He) |
 |
(The Arabic letter Elif) |
The Arabic form of the verses in Surat ash-Shams and the final letters thereof can be seen below:
 |
As can be seen, all the verses in Surat ash-Shams end in the letters He and Elif. The letter H stands for hydrogen and He for helium. No other Surah in the Qur’an ends in the letters HE in every verse from beginning to end. It is therefore extremely striking how only this Surah in the Qur’an ends in such a sequence of letters. Surat ash-Shams’s number, 91, is also highly significant. Apart from hydrogen, there are 91 other elements in the Periodic Table, and these are made up of hydrogen elements. To put it another way, all atoms. From hydrogen, the lightest element, to the heaviest are intra-atomic combinations of hydrogen atoms. For that reason, the H (hydrogen) atom in the Sun makes up the other 91 elements in nature. (http://periodic.lanl.gov/elements/1.html; William D. Harkins, "The Abundance of the Elements in Relation to the Hydrogen-Helium Structure of the Atoms", Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of USA, April 1916, Vol. 4, pp. 216–224.)
Almighty Allah has created all the details in nature, and is still creating them. All our knowledge about such details is permitted to us in order for us to comprehend the omniscience of our Lord. In one verse, we are told:
Allah, there is no god but Him, the Living, the Self-Sustaining. He is not subject to drowsiness or sleep. Everything in the heavens and the earth belongs to Him. Who can intercede with Him except by His permission? He knows what is before them and what is behind them but they cannot grasp any of His knowledge save what He wills. His Footstool encompasses the heavens and the earth and their preservation does not tire Him. He is the Most High, the Magnificent. (Surat al-Baqara, 255)
1. S. Waqar Ahmed Husaini, The
Quran for Astronomy and Earth Exploration from Space, 3rd ed.
(New Delhi:
Goodword Press: 1999), 103-108.
2. "Edwin Hubble;"
www.time.com/time/time100/scientist/profile/hubble.html
3. Philip Ball, "Black Crunch Jams Universal Cycle," Nature,
December 23, 2002; Dr. David Whitehouse, "Universe is 'doomed to
collapse'," BBC
News Online, October 22, 2002,
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sci/tech/2346907.stm;
and Mark Schwartz, "Cosmic 'big crunch' could trigger an early demise
of our universe," Stanford Report, September 25, 2002.
4. Schwartz, "Cosmic 'big crunch' could trigger an early demise of our
universe," Stanford Report, September 25, 2002.
5. Mahdi La'li, A Comprehensive Exploration of the Scientific
Miracles
in Holy Qur'an, (Canada: Trafford Publishing: 2003), 35-38.
6. Abu-I A'la Mawdudi, "Tafhimul Quran;"
www.enfal.de/tefhim/
7. Dr. Mazhar U. Kazi, 130 Evident Miracles in the Qur'an,
(New York,
USA: Crescent Publishing House: 1998), 53.
8. Digitale Ausgabe LexiRom (Digital Expenditure LexiRom), Meyers
Lexikon in drei Bänden (Meyers Encyclopedia in three volumes)
(Mannheim:
Bibliographisches Institut & F.A. Brockhaus AG, 1995).
9. Carl Sagan, Cosmos, (Avenel, NJ: Wings Books: April 1983),
5-7.
10. Karl Giberson, "The Anthropic Principle," Journal of
Interdisciplinary
Studies 9 (1997). (emphasis added)
11. George F. Ellis, "The Anthropic Principle:
Laws and Environments," The Anthropic Principle, F. Bertola
and U. Curi, (New York: Cambridge University Press, 1993), 30.
(emphasis
added)
12. Paul Davies, Superforce: The Search for a Grand Unified Theory
of Nature,
1984, 184.
13. Stephen Hawking, A Brief History of Time, (London: Bantam
Press,
1988), 121-125.
14. Michael Denton, Nature's Destiny: How the Laws of Biology
Reveal Purpose
in the Universe, (New York: The Free Press, 1998), 12-13.
15. Ibid., 11.
16. "The Elemental Forces of the Universe;"
www.pathlights.com/ce_encyclopedia/01-ma10.htm#Elemental
Forces
PREFACE
PREFACE Fourteen centuries ago, Allah sent down the Qur'an. This book of guidance and wisdom calls man to the truth and instructs all human beings to adhere to the values which this mighty revelation contains. From the day of its revelation to the Day of Judgement, this last Divine book will remain as the sole guide for humanity. The book of Allah states, "But it is nothing less than a Reminder to all the worlds." (Qur'an, 68:52)
The perfection of the literary language of the Qur'an, the incomparable features of its style and the superior wisdom contained within it are some of the definitive proofs that it represents the word of our Lord. In addition, the Qur'an contains within its words many miracles which
prove it to be Allah's word. One of these attributes is the remarkable
number of scientific truths which are contained in the Book of Islam. In
this book which was revealed over fourteen centuries ago to the Prophet
Muhammad (saas), there are innumerable examples of information humanity
have only been able to uncover by the technology of the 20th and 21st
centuries. Of course, we should not view the Qur'an as a book of science for it is primarily a book of moral and spiritual guidance. However, many scientific facts that are expressed in an extremely concise and profound manner, within the verses of the Qur'an, have only been discovered by scientists with the aid of the technological advancement of the 20th and 21st centuries. Quite simply, these facts which we now point out to the reader could not have been known at the time of the Qur'an's revelation, and this is still more proof that the Qur'an is the word of Allah. In order to understand the scientific miracles contained in the Qur'an, we must first look at the level of scientific knowledge which existed at the time when this holy book was revealed. When one understands the context in which the Qur'an was revealed, one can understand more clearly how extraordinary the book of Islam actually is. In the 7th century, when these sacred verses were sent down, Arab society was awash with many superstitious and groundless notions. Lacking the technology to examine the universe and nature, these early Arabs believed in uncorroborated tales inherited from past generations and did not question them. For example, they supposed that mountains supported the sky above. They believed that the Earth was flat and that mountains acted as pillars that kept the vault of heaven high above us. Into this atmosphere of legend and myth, the Qur'an came down. It replaced ignorance with knowledge and illogical conjecture with guidance and certainty. One verse of the Qur'an states, "Allah is He Who raised up the heavens without any support..." (Qur'an, 13:2) This verse invalidated the belief that the sky remains above because of support from the mountains. The Qur'an is filled with important facts which were revealed at a point in human history when no man could possibly have known them. The Qur'an-which was revealed at a time when people knew very little about astronomy, physics, or biology-contains key facts on a variety of subjects all of which point to the fact that it is revealed by Allah, the Lord of the Worlds. Some of the subjects explained and dealt with in the Qur'an are: the creation of the universe, the creation and miraculous development of the human being from miniscule embryo to grown adult, the structure of the atmosphere in which we live and the delicate balances that make life on Earth possible. In order to understand some of these points more fully, let us look at some of these scientific miracles revealed in the Qur'an together. |
|
THE WONDROUS BEAUTY IN ANIMALS -8-
THE
WONDROUS BEAUTY IN ANIMALS -8-
Gannets spend most of their time in the sea and form colonies on the rocks or on islands, where they lay their eggs. Gannets living in the northern hemisphere lay one egg, and those in the southern hemisphere lay two. Left alone by their parents when they are only three months old, the young go out to forage for food. Most often, they start to fly as soon as they leave the nest.
 |
Young storks in the forests of Thailand have a very original way of being protected from the heat. The mother and father bring water in their bills and empty it on the babies whose feathers have not yet grown. This cold shower makes the babies comfortable for a while, but it is not enough. They also need shade.
Again this need is met by the parents' self-sacrifice. They spread open their wings to protect their young against the strong rays of the sun.
Storks are among the best parents in the world, considering the care, attachment and self-sacrifice that they show towards their young. When we look at the natural world, we always encounter the same fact: Allah has created every living thing. Each creature, with its wonderful characteristics, is a proof of the reality of creation. Allah is the Lord of all the wonders of creation in heaven, on Earth and in between. Thinking people should consider Allah’s creation and praise Him for it.
 |
For living creatures, Africa’s heat can sometimes be fatal. For this reason, many animals look for shady places where they can protect themselves from the direct sun. The ostrich of South Africa thinks about her eggs and her chicks more than herself when she protects them from the heat. She stands over them and often opens her wings so that the sun’s heat will not strike her eggs or hatchlings. But in doing this, this creature subjects her own body to the sun’s rays. The reason for this behavior, as with other creatures, is because ostriches act by Allah’s inspiration. The ostrich is just another creature into which Allah has inspired a sense of tenderness and protectiveness:
… Everything in the heavens and Earth, willingly or unwillingly, submits to Him and to Him you will be returned. (Surah Al ‘Imran: 83)
 |
Dolphins protect their young from the moment they are born. Immediately before giving birth, the mother dolphin begins to move more slowly and other female dolphins, seeing this, assist her when she is in labor. These helpers swim on either side of the mother dolphin to protect her and, when the baby is born, make sure that it gets up to the water's surface to take its first breath.
For the first two weeks, the baby never leaves the mother's side. Within a short time after its birth the baby learns to swim and gradually ventures farther and farther away from its mother. The new mother cannot keep up with her baby's swift, rapid movements; and so cannot give it sufficient protection. In this situation, the helper female dolphins come on the scene to provide the baby with excellent defense.30
 |
Creatures caring for one another's welfare is a clear challenge to Darwinists, who believe that this kind of behavior-that is, one creature assisting another-is of no use for an individual animal's survival. On the contrary, they believe that such acts can put a "selfless" animal's life at risk.
The self-sacrificial behavior of mother dolphins can be seen when they put half of their own food, already digested, into the mouths of their babies. Another example of such behavior is dolphins helping one of their number when it is injured. Instead of fleeing, they exhibit behavior that poses considerable risk to their own lives.31
Dolphins act in concert to protect their young from sharks. One or two dolphins will swim out to attract the shark's attention. When the shark turns to follow this decoy, other dolphins attack strongly from other directions; one advances swiftly from behind the others striking the shark's side with their noses. Typically the shark gives up, but dolphins have sometimes even killed sharks in this way.32
 |
Seahorses live on warm ocean reefs where they can hide among the seaweed, coral and sponges. Their thick, hard skin serves as armor against their enemies; they have eyes that can look in several directions at once which help them catch their prey. The male seahorse has a pouch similar to that of the female kangaroo. At mating time, the female seahorse deposits many eggs in this pouch where they remain for six weeks. The male seahorse feeds the eggs in his pouch with a fluid until they develop into miniature seahorses, and he provides oxygen for them by means of capillaries in the inner tissues of the incubation pouch.33
 |
When their mating season comes, sea turtles crawl onto the beach in numbers. But it is not just any beach they come to; it is the beach where they were born. Sometimes they have to travel 800 kilometers (498 miles) to reach their birthplace. At the end of their journey, they lay their eggs and bury them under the sand. So, why do they always gather at the same beach at the same time? If they did so at a different time and on a different beach, would their young survive?
When we try to answer this question, we meet a very interesting situation. The tiny turtles that hatch from the eggs weigh only about 31 grams (1.1 ounce) and a single turtle cannot dig its way up through the layer of sand above them. But with them all helping one another, the job is easily done. Soon they emerge to the surface of the sand altogether and hurry towards the sea.
 |
How do these new hatchlings know that they have to dig through to the top of the sand? Who taught them that they must make their way towards an ocean that they have never seen? These tiny creatures could not do this with their own intelligence, so, where does this conscious behavior come from? There is only one answer to this question: Allah has inspired this conscious behavior into sea turtles.
 |
Meerkats live in communities, and because of the dangers that exist in their environment, their support for one another is of vital importance for their survival. Every morning, meerkats first do a security check before spreading out into the surrounding area to find food.
Every individual in the community has his own job to do. For example, some meerkats stand guard to ensure the safety of the others, and watch for hours under the blazing sun without eating or drinking anything. If the guard sees some danger, he gives the alarm to warn his friends. Hearing this alarm, the other meerkats run to take refuge in the burrow.
The group's most important task is to rear and protect their young, and the young females are chiefly responsible for looking after the babies. Every day, one of them stays in the burrow to tend the young. The cooperation and mutual assistance in the group ensures that the babies will remain safe.34
It is Allah Who has taught meerkats the supportive and self-denying behavior they show towards one another.
 |
A baby antelope takes between five and ten minutes to be born. During this time, it is difficult for the mother to move, and she is defenseless against her enemies. But while she gives birth, the mother is not alone. All the while there is another female at her side to provide support and protection.
From the moment it is born, the baby has no time to lose. The mother immediately nudges it with her nose to get it to take some steps. But its legs are weak, and it falls down. It gets up again and takes a few more steps. Within a few minutes, it is trotting by its mother's side and never leaves her because if it did, the young antelope would go hungry or be killed by wild animals.35
Everything in nature is the work of the eternal knowledge and power of Allah. With His supreme power, compassion, mercy, intelligence, knowledge and wisdom, He has given baby antelopes the strength to run at their mothers’ side within a very short time.
 Among His Signs is the creation of the heavens and Earth and all the creatures He has spread about in them. And He has the power to gather them together whenever He wills.(Surat ash-Shura: 29) |
A mother rhinoceros gives birth to a baby that weighs only 4% of her own weight. Within one hour of its birth, a baby rhinoceros can stand up with its little armored body. Mother and baby spend a few weeks in a remote location, apart from others and come to recognize each other's scent.
Mother and baby spend all their time together until the next baby is born, between three and five years later. The baby rhino mostly follows behind its mother. Even though it stops nursing at two years of age, it still stays at her side and remains with her throughout her next pregnancy. Almighty Allah has given the rhinoceros the instinct to protect and patiently look after her young.36
 |
 |
As a family, the mother cheetah and her offspring are very attached to one another. The mother performs many selfless acts while rearing her young. In order to feed them, she often goes hungry, losing nearly half her weight. If she must, she will even give her own life for her kittens. For example, a lion is a great threat to baby cheetahs. Without hesitation, the mother will throw herself into the lion's path and, putting her own life in jeopardy, she draws the lion's attention away from her young to herself, giving them time to run away. This kind of altruistic behavior calls for consideration.
 |
If this mammal were, as the evolutionists propose, a creature that assembled itself by chance through untold generations and by acting with selfish concern only for its own survival, we would expect it to flee and desert its young. Yet the cheetah does not do this, but confronts the lion and, if necessary, gives up her own life. Surely, it is Allah Who gives mother cheetahs this exemplary sense of self-sacrifice.
Squirrels carry their young in their teeth by the loose skin on their abdomens. If her nest is destroyed, a mother squirrel will carry her babies to another place tirelessly, no matter how far away it is. She carries away one baby and returns to the old nest, time after time, until she is convinced that all have been safely removed.37
30. Janine M. Benyus, The Secret Language
and Remarkable Behavior of Animals, p. 313; "Port Phillip Bay's Smiling
Ambassadors,"
Troy Muir; www.polperro.com.au/s9.html)
31. Gordon Rattray Taylor, The Great Evolution Mystery, p. 224.
32. Russell Freedman, How Animals Defend Their Young, p. 66-67.
33. A. Vincent, "The Improbable Seahorse," National Geographic, October
1994, pp. 126-140.
34. "Slender Tailed Meerkat," Wellington Zoo;
www.wellingtonzoo.com/animals/animals/mammals/meerkat.html
35. "Antelope," Animal Bytes;
www.sandiegozoo.org/animalbytes/t-antelope.html
36. Janine M. Benyus, The Secret Language and Remarkable Behavior of
Animals,
p. 186.
37. Red Squirell;
www.yptenc.org.uk/docs/factsheets/animal_facts/red_squirrel.html
THE WONDROUS BEAUTY IN ANIMALS -7-
THE
WONDROUS BEAUTY IN ANIMALS -7-
This mutual assistance among wolves shows the self-sacrifice of which animals are capable and gives the lie to evolutionists who claim that animals are merely selfish. A hummingbird's nest is about half the size of a golf ball, but one of its most striking features is that as the babies grow, the nest expands automatically. This is because the parent hummers weave together tree bark, moss and plant stems with very strong, pliable spiders' webs. How can these tiny birds know to choose such an ideally useful material for the construction of their nests? Like every creature on Earth, hummingbirds act by Allah’s inspiration and, with this intelligence and foresight given by Allah, are able to make their babies comfortable.
When most baby birds hatch, they are blind and lack feathers. Mother birds must attend to their fledglings' every need. Even after they leave the nest, their mothers typically follow them to make sure that they can fend for themselves. Our Lord protects and looks after all His creatures; it is He Who inspires the hummingbird with intelligent forethought to build nests that can stretch and expand; and gives other species a sense of responsibility toward its young.
Ocean terns build their nests in communal groups on islands surrounded by water, but even so, these nests are not completely safe. They can be easily reached by the winged thieves. Building their nests beside those of their neighbors affords the terns protection from danger from above. Staying apart from everyone else lets a predator focus all its attention on you, but being immersed in a group means that you have less probability of being singled out for attack. Besides, neighboring birds can assist in driving away an attacker. Birds arrange their nesting colonies as if they knew this. Allah looks after and protects every living creature.25
The albatross has the widest wingspan of all birds, reaching 3.5 meters (11.5 feet). These birds take characteristically great care in building nests to protect their eggs and their young. During the mating season, they gather together in colonies-but weeks before the females come, the males arrive to repair already-existing nests.
Albatrosses sit on the eggs in their well prepared nests for 50 days without moving. Like some other species of animals, albatrosses perform great acts of self-sacrifice on behalf of their offspring. Allah teaches these animals to think about the welfare of their young, to feed and protect them. It is He Who looks after and protects every living creature. The food and water an embryonic chick needs to develop is present in the egg, whose yoke contains protein, fat, vitamins and minerals. The gelatinous white serves to store a constant supply of water. Besides this, the chick needs to take in oxygen and expel carbon dioxide; they also need a source of heat, calcium to develop its bones, and a system to prevent bacterial infection and to protect against physical trauma. The eggshell serves all these purposes. The chick absorbs oxygen and releases carbon dioxide through a layer filled with capillaries on the inner surface of the shell membrane. It does not use its lungs to breathe as adult birds do, but exchanges air through small pores in the shell.
But that eggshell nevertheless needs to be strong enough to ensure the proper functioning of gasses, water and heat within it. It needs to be resistant enough to protect the embryo from external trauma and from the weight of the mother as she sits on the nest. But the egg does all these things perfectly. Allah , Who holds everything in heaven and Earth in His control, gives us such examples to make us aware of His flawless creation. Ducks, like all water birds, have hollow bones-one reason why they are able to float on the water. Ducks also have air sacks in their bodies that resemble little balloons. When they fill with air, they help them float on the water.
When a duck wants to dive, it pumps the air out of the sacks. With very little air left in its body, its buoyancy is decreased and it can easily go under the water. Ducks can fly at speeds of more than 50 kilometers (31 miles) an hour. In addition, often they change their direction when flying to avoid falling prey to wild animals. When they want to dive beneath the water, they do it so quickly that they make very difficult targets for hunters.26
The babies of diving birds like grebes travel on their mothers' backs when they are swimming on the water's surface. In order to keep them from falling off, the mother spreads her wings out slightly and feeds them by stretching her head back and to one side. When the young are first hatched, the mother and father make them eat feathers they have collected from the water's surface or plucked from their own bodies. Every baby swallows quite a lot of feathers, which are difficult for them to digest, but are not really intended as food.
Rather than being digested, these feathers collect in the babies' stomach-for a very important reason. Later on, fish bones and other indigestible bits of food will collect there, and so the feathers prevent injury to the babies' delicate stomachs and digestive systems. This habit of eating feathers will stay with the birds for their whole lives-a very important precaution to ensure that these fish-eating birds survive.27
The characteristics of water birds, and of every creature in the natural world, prove the existence of a Creator. That almighty and eternally powerful Creator is Allah . Every creature behaves in the way that God has determined. The noted biologist, Prof. Jeffrey P. Schloss, writes about the contradiction between Darwinism and animals' self-sacrificial behavior: Because natural selection by definition eliminates traits that reduce reproductive success relative to others, any trait that entails a reduction in fitness while increasing the fitness of others (i.e., "biological sacrifice") will be eliminated from populations. Biological altruism, defined as genetically "self-destructive behaviour performed for the benefit of others," is incompatible with Darwinism.28
Within hours of their birth, baby cranes can walk well enough, to leave their nest and begin to follow their parents around. Parents and babies use a special sound to communicate with one another. The parents make a soft murmur, but when in danger or trouble, the babies make a more high-pitched sound to which the parents immediately respond. In the mating season, both parents stay on the ground to guard the spot where they will build their nest. After the female lays her eggs, both parents take turns sitting on the nest throughout the day. But toward the end of the incubation period, this alteration becomes more frequent. In this way, both birds are free to move about and feed themselves. The time the eggs hatch corresponds to the time when the insects appear that will be food for the babies. This timing is vitally important for cranes, since they have to migrate before winter comes-and before that time, the young have to grow, develop and gain strength. These and all other similar features in the life of a crane are the work of Allah , the All-Powerful Creator.
When baby swans are born, they are brown or cream-colored and very ugly. They emerge from their eggs with short necks and covered with thick down, and they can run and swim within a few hours. The mother and father swans look after them for a few months until they finally turn into magnificent adults. In order to keep their eggs warm as they develop, Trumpeter swans sit on them. They only get up from time to time to turn the eggs over. In this way, the heat is distributed equally. Surely, it is Allah Who inspires in swans the kind of care their eggs will need.29 |
||||||||||||||||
|
25. David Attenborough,
Life of Birds, Princeton University Press, New Jersey: 1998, p. 221.
26. National Geographic, November 1984, p. 581.
27. David Attenborough, Life of Birds, p. 256.
28. William Dembski, Mere Creation, Science, Faith & Intelligent
Design, InterVarsity
Press, USA, 1998, p. 238; [Wilson 1975, 578]
29. Roger B. Hirschland, How Animals Care for Their Babies, p. 6.
THE WONDROUS BEAUTY IN ANIMALS -6-
THE
WONDROUS BEAUTY IN ANIMALS -6-
Even though baby deer can stand up right after they are born, they are essentially helpless and cannot walk until later. So meanwhile, how are they protected from their enemies?
Until it can run as fast as its mother, a baby deer's best protection is to hide. Because of the dead-leaf color of its fur and the spotted designs it is virtually invisible in its underbrush environment. The mother deer hides its baby in the forest where the white spots on the baby's reddish brown fur blend with dappled sunlight. When its mother is away foraging, the baby lies down and waits, motionless. Usually the mother deer is always somewhere nearby but, to avoid drawing attention to her baby, she rarely approaches it closely except for short visits.23
How does the baby deer know that it must hide to protect
itself? How
does it know that the spots of its fur will blend with the
overhanging
vegetation and that enemies will not perceive it if it stays
completely
still?
 |
 Say: “Who is the Lord of the heavens and the Earth?” Say: “Allah.” Say: “So why have you taken protectors apart from Him who possess no power to help or harm themselves?” Say: “Are the blind and seeing equal? Or are darkness and light the same? Or have they assigned partners to Allah who create as He creates, so that all creating seems the same to them?” Say: “Allah is the Creator of everything. He is the One, the All-Conquering.” (Surat ar-Ra’d: 16) |
 What is in the heavens and in the Earth belongs to Allah. Allah suffices as a guardian. (Surat an-Nisa’: 132) |
 Say :Have you thought about your partner gods, those you call upon besides Allah? Show me what they have created of the Earth…” (Surah Fatir: 40 |
 Do not set up another god together with Allah. Truly I bring you a clear warning from Him. (Surat adh-Dhariyat: 51) |
 The Unseen of the heavens and the Earth belongs to Allah and the whole affair will be returned to Him. So worship Him and put your trust in Him… (Surah Hud: 123) |
 … He knows everything in the land and sea. No leaf falls without His knowing it… (Surat al-An’am: 59) |
Surely, the baby cannot know these things by itself. These features and behavior are inspired in it by Almighty Allah, Who knows all creatures’ needs and protects them:
Everything in the heavens and everything in the Earth belongs to Him. He is the Most High, the Magnificent. (Surat ash-Shura: 4)
Shortly after birth, baby mountain goats must move on and follow their mothers, or they will remain unprotected. Allah has created every creature with perfection and has given it all the special characteristics it may require.
When baby mountain goats are born, they can hear and see. Their hair has already grown long enough to protect them against the cold, and they start to climb steep slopes with their mothers soon after they are born.24
 |
Wolves are thought of as one of the most savage animals in the
natural
world, yet both parents look after their babies together. A
basic wolf
pack comprises an alpha male, a female, newborn cubs and
sometimes one
or two young wolves. Females in the pack assist each other.
Sometimes,
one will stay in the den all night to look after the pups, which
allows
their mothers to go hunting.
 |
 He is Allah--the Creator, the Maker, the Giver of Form… (Surat Al-Hashr: 24) |
 Mankind! Remember Allah’s blessing to you. Is there any creator other than Allah providing for you from heaven and Earth? There is no god but Him. So how have you been led astray? (Surah Fatir: 3) |
 And mankind and beasts and livestock are likewise of varying colors. Only those of His servants with knowledge have fear of Allah...(Surah Fatir: 28) |
22. David
Attenborough, The Trials of Life, pp. 30-33.
23. Russell Freedman, How Animals Defend Their Young, pp. 47-48.
24. Roger B. Hirschland, How Animals Care for Their Babies, National
Geographic
Society, Washington D.C.: 1987, p. 8.
THE WONDROUS BEAUTY IN ANIMALS -5-
THE
WONDROUS BEAUTY IN ANIMALS -5-
A researcher once put a heat-sensing device in the roof of a den, with some very interesting results. When the temperature outside fell to as much as -30° C (-22° F), the air in the den never went below 2 or 3° C (36-37° F).
Of course, it’s impossible that a polar bear could plan such a den on its own, much less ensure that it maintained the proper temperature. It is Allah, with His limitless knowledge and eternal power, Who teaches polar bears to do these things. In the Qur’an, He tells us about His sovereignty over living creatures: Everyone in the heavens and Earth belongs to Him. All are submissive to Him. (Surat ar-Rum: 26)
Shortly after mother penguins lay their eggs, winter comes. The females leave their nests to the male penguins and go back to the sea in search of food. In order to keep her egg from freezing, the father penguin carries it on the tops of his feet. His thick feathers will protect the egg from the cold.
This is a very difficult period for male penguins, since they must remain in the exact same place and cannot forage for food. Tiny baby penguins are born in the spring.
They have not yet developed the layer of fat that will protect them from the cold, so they remain on the top of their fathers' feet. Their first food is the gruel that their fathers have stored in their craw. Although the father penguin has not eaten in three months, he performs a great act of self-sacrifice by not swallowing the food stored in his craw, but keeps it for his offspring. At exactly this time, the mother penguins return from the sea. They have not been idle for those three months, but have been hunting continually and bring back a store of food in their craws for their babies after they hatch. And as soon as they return and feed their young, they return to the sea again-this time, to hunt for the fathers who have been without nourishment for four months now.19 Why a penguin would remain without food for four months and endure the cold for four months for the sake of its young? Proponents of the theory of evolution cannot explain it. Who inspires all penguins to perform such great acts of self-sacrifice? Who makes the males shelter their young on their feet for four months? To these questions, there is only one answer: Allah has created penguins. He has taught them all to perform these extraordinary acts of self-sacrifice in order to perpetuate their species. The females of the musk ox, which lives in Alaska, northern Canada and Greenland, give birth to their young in May. Within one hour after its birth, baby musk oxen can stand up and follow their mothers around. When they encounter an enemy, musk oxen face the aggressor, form a circle and push the young inside it. Each adult musk ox weighs between 350 and 400 kilograms (772 and 882 pounds), and by standing shoulder to shoulder, they form a veritable shield between their babies and any enemy. Every individual making up the circle will attack the enemy and return again to the circle so that it is not broken and the young remain protected. Evolutionists, who claim that nature is rife with cruelty and aggression, cannot explain this self-sacrificial behavior of musk oxen. There is only one explanation for this self-sacrifice: Allah, the Lord of all, in His supreme power has inspired in every creature these acts of self-sacrifice and extraordinary ways of protecting its young.20
All mammal babies spend a period of time in their mother's womb, and when they come into the world, not all are fully developed. A newborn kangaroo is no bigger than a bean, and its legs have only just begun to develop. When first born, baby kangaroos are blind. For this reason, the mother kangaroo's furry pouch is a very important place of security for the babies. This pouch expands as the baby grows and there are special muscles at its entrance that prevents the babies from falling out. When the mother goes into the water, these muscles prevent it from entering the pouch.21
The kangaroo's milk is exactly what her baby needs. Over time, as the baby grows, the proportion of fat and other nutrients in the composition of the milk changes.
When the first baby is born and begins to nurse a second baby kangaroo is born immediately afterwards, and it too receives precisely the kind of milk that it can digest most easily. Then when her third baby is born, the mother begins producing three different kinds of milk, each with different nutrients! Each baby can easily locate the milk especially prepared for it; there is no confusion. Clearly this feeding system is the result of a special creation. No mother kangaroo could possibly organize this system consciousl.22 How is it that these three different kinds of milk are delivered through three different ducts? How can an animal unknowingly calculate the compositions of the milk needed by its three different-sized babies? Even if it could, how could it produce it in its own body? Certainly, no kangaroo can perform any of this on its own; she does not even realize that her body produces three different kinds of milk. This extraordinary production is due to the wonder in Allah's creation of the kangaroos: … No female becomes pregnant or gives birth except with His knowledge. And no living thing lives long or has its life cut short without that being in a Book. That is easy for Allah. (Surah Fatir: 11) When baby raccoons are six months old, they leave their tree nests with their mother in search of food. Following the instructions their mothers give them, gradually they become skilled at hunting. Inspired by Allah, mother raccoons always look after their babies and protect them. Like all other animals, raccoons are under Allah’s protection..
|
|||||||||||||
19. David Attenborough, The
life of
Birds, pp. 290-291. |
THE WONDROUS BEAUTY IN ANIMALS -4-
THE
WONDROUS BEAUTY IN ANIMALS -4-
In the middle of winter when brown bears are hibernating, their cubs are born blind and naked, without fur. They are the size of a chipmunk and have only enough strength to climb to the teats where they can find their milk. The female's milk is rich in calories and fat, and during the winter the cubs grow quickly. When their mother awakens up in the spring, the cubs are strong enough to follow her out of the den.
The cubs are very active and once outside, quite vulnerable. For a year they stay with their mother, who protects them from every danger while they learn how to look after themselves. Because they are fed constantly for a certain length of time, they grow quickly. Always playing games, they try to climb on top of their mother and wrestle with each other. Like other animal parents, mother bears can be very ferocious towards intruders who may want to harm their cubs. For three years, the mother bear looks after and protects her cubs constantly.14
In the regions where seals live, spring temperatures seldom reach -5° C (23° F). But seals do not mind the cold, because their fur and stored body fat keeps them warm. Seals live in large herds, so how can a mother seal recognize her own cub in such a crowded environment? As do many other animals, she smells and fondles her baby after giving birth. Coming to recognize its scent, she never confuses it with other babies.
Baby seals are completely helpless and unable to protect themselves, but their mothers supply their every need. They are born covered with a layer of baby fat that insulates their tiny bodies and helps keep them always warm. The young of very few mammals grow as rapidly as baby seals do. Within three weeks, their weight increases three or four times! This is because seals' milk is twelve times fattier than cows' milk, with four times as much protein. This lets the babies grow very fast, and much of their mother's fatty milk is immediately transformed into a protective layer of fat in their bodies.15
Allah has created every creature in the best way, supplying its daily food and looking after all its needs: How many creatures do not carry their provision with them! Allah provides for them and He will for you. He is the All-Hearing, the All-Knowing. (Surat al-’Ankabut: 60) Beneath the skin of polar bears, a layer of fat 11 centimeters (4.3 inches) thick serves as insulation. This lets them swim continuously for 100 kilometers (62 miles) in icy water at a speed of 10 kmph (6.2 mph). Polar bears are also equipped with a very acute sense of smell; able to smell carrion-a dead whale, for example-from as far as 32 kilometers (20 miles) away, and can sniff out seal dens covered with snow.16 Polar bear babies are usually born in the middle of winter, very small, furless and blind. They need a den to live in order to survive the subzero winter cold. But female polar bears make dens only when they are pregnant or have babies. Under banks of snow, they make their dens-round spaces about half a meter (1.6 feet) in diameter which they enter through a tunnel two meters long (6.5 feet).
Usually polar bears make more than one room in their dens, and typically place them at a level higher than the den's entrance. In this way, the warm air in the rooms, which naturally rises, is prevented from escaping through the entrance-because at the entrance to their dens, the bears always leave a channel open wide enough for air to pass through it.17 A mother polar bear constructs the roof of her shelter to be from 75 centimeters (2.5 feet) to 2 meters (6.6 feet) thick. Because of this special construction design, heat is retained.18 |
||||||||
|
14. Catherine D. Hughes, "Brown
Bears,"
http://www.nationalgeographic.com/kids/creature_feature/0010/brownbears2.html
15. David Attenborough, The Trials of Life, pp. 36-38; Fort Wayne
Children's Zoo,
ZAP, "Bringing Up Baby;"
http://www.kidszoo.com/pdfs/BrUpBaby.pdf
16. "Polar Bears," SeaWorld/Busch Gardens Animal Information Database,
http://www.seaworld.org/infobooks/PolarBears/pbadaptations.html;
Stirling, 1988;
"Polar Bear,"
www.wonderclub.com/Wildlife/mammals/PolarBear.htm
17. Thor Larsen, "Polar Bear: Lonely Nomad of the North," National
Geographic,
April 1971, p. 574.
18. International Wildlife, November-December 94, p. 15.
THE WONDROUS BEAUTY IN ANIMALS -3-
THE
WONDROUS BEAUTY IN ANIMALS -3-
On the other hand, a male duck uses his brightly colored feathers to protect his females, diverting the attention of enemies while she is building the nest or sitting on it.
If trouble approaches the nest, the male immediately takes flight, making a lot of noise; doing everything he can to lead the enemy away from the nest. These acts of self-sacrifice, vitally important for baby ducklings’ survival, sometimes end with the death of a parent and provide yet another example of Allah’s creative artistry.
One of the most noticeable characteristics of elephants is their attachment to one another. Acts of self-sacrifice and assistance occur not only among families but throughout the entire herd. For example, when hunters shoot at members of the herd, the other elephants do not flee but hurry toward those in danger.
The young elephants are the reason behind this tightly knit cohesion of the whole group.11 A newborn elephant receives great love and tenderness from adults in the herd. If a mother elephant dies, another lactating elephant will continue to suckle it.12
For the first six months, a mother will follow her baby elephant wherever it goes. Each makes sounds that keep them continually in touch with each other. If the baby makes the indication that it's in any danger, all members of the herd come together to investigate the situation-a tactic that is quite good at dissuading enemies.13
This raises some questions: Why is it that all elephants act in concert on behalf of their young? How can they determine their needs? How do elephants and other animals understand one another since before they are born?
 |
 And horses, mules and donkeys both to ride and for adornment. And He creates other things you do not know. (Surat an-Nahl: 8) |
 All That inhabits the night and the day belongs to Him. He is the All-Hearing, the All-Knowing. (Surat al-An’am: 13) |
 Do you not know that Allah is He to Whom the kingdom of the heavens and the Earth belongs and that, besides Allah, you have no protector and no helper? (Surat al-Baqara: 107) |
 To mankind the love of worldly appetites is painted in glowing colors: women and children, and heaped-up mounds of gold and silver, and horses with fine markings, and livestock and fertile farmland. All that is merely the enjoyment of the life of this world. The best homecoming is in the Presence of Allah. (Surah Al ‘Imran: 14) |
 When swift horses, champing at the bit, were displayed before him in the afternoon, he said, “Truly do I love the love of good, with a view to the glory of my Lord…” (Surah Sad: 31-33) |
None of these creatures can manage these accomplishments through their own intelligence and willpower. The fact that elephants in every part of the world assist one another in these ways is an indication that a single Creator created them all; and that Creator is Allah with His limitless power. The amazing acts of self-sacrifice among animals form one of the wonders of His creation. In the Qur’an, Allah says:
The kingdom of the heavens and Earth belongs to Allah. Allah has power over all things. (Surah Al ‘Imran: 189)
A mother zebra will risk her life to save her baby. If an enemy attacks, she uses her body as a shield between her foal and the attacker. Although she can run much faster, she runs much more slowly so that, if a predator animal catches up with them, she will fall victim and not her baby. As a result of one of these dangerous encounters, the mother zebra may expose herself to death and even lose her life to protect her baby-behavior that cannot be explained by the imaginary theory of evolution.
 |
All animals in the natural world are engaged in a struggle. They hunt to survive and may attack when they have to defend themselves. Evolutionists take only these characteristics into account, disregarding the acts of self-sacrifice that animals employ to protect their young. In addition, behavioral patterns of cooperation, support and concern for the welfare of other creatures are frequently encountered in the animal world.
Because the theory of evolution regards the natural world as a battlefield, it can't explain the instances of self-sacrifice that occur there. The way animals live in the natural world clearly invalidates the basic claim of this theory. It cannot explain why a zebra that had run away to safety from its enemies returns at the risk of its own life and rescues other zebras surrounded by those enemies.
 |
The self-sacrificial and cooperative behavior exhibited by animals is clear proof of the fact that the theory of evolution is untenable. Allah is the Supreme Creator Who has made the universe and every creature acts by His inspiration:
Allah created every animal from water. Some of them go on their bellies, some of them on two legs, and some on four. Allah creates whatever He wills. Allah has power over all things. (Surat an-Nur: 45)
 |
It is unthinkable that acts of self-sacrifice by living creatures could result from millions of years of evolution. The intelligent behavior exhibited by animals is not a strategy they have developed over time, nor a solution produced by chance. We can't possibly expect intelligent, self-sacrificial behavior from a creature that is supposedly the product of natural selection, struggling to prolong its own lifespan in a savage world. The evident foresight and planning that animals display destroys Darwinism's basic assumption, that every creature is engaged in a self-centered battle for its own individual survival.
|
|
Creation is the only way to explain all of these animals’ special characteristics. The instances of mutual support and intelligent strategy in every species clearly demonstrate Allah’s dominion over living creatures. All the abilities they possess, as well as their intelligent behavior, are taught to them by Allah, the Creator of all, Who teaches them and shows them how to use their abilities. In His endless compassion and mercy, He protects and looks after all His creatures.
11. Janine M. Benyus, The
Secret Language
and Remarkable Behavior of Animals, p.136
12. David Attenborough, Trials of Life, William Collins Sons & Co.
Ltd, London:
1990, p.50
13. Janine M. Benyus, The Secret Language and Remarkable Behavior of
Animals,
p. 155.