the miracle and challenge of the quran of science

8/8/2019 The Miracle and Challenge of the Quran of Science

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The Miracle and Challenge of the Quran .prove

the opposite if you can

With an introduction by Magdy Abd Al-

SHafy

The Holy Quran is a miracle that beggars

description , words fail to describe this miracle

, it is a miracle in the full sense of the term .

Different specialists ,

according to the branch of science they arespecialized in , find it miraculous . Prophet Mohummed said

commenting on the Holy Quran saying " it unfolds the secrets of the

nations that preceded you , and secrets of the future treasured in it " It

is the Holy Book that Jinnee , on hearing to it , did not leave their

place till they believed in it . It is the book which unbelievers gave

positive witness to .

Dr. Keith L. Moore is a Professor of Anatomy and Cell Biology,

University of Toronto, Toronto, Canada. He is a world renowned

scientist and a distinguished researcher in the fields of anatomy and

embryology, he has published more than 150 research articles,

chapters and books in this field. He is the author of several medical

textbooks, such as the widely used and acclaimed "The Developing

Human: Clinically oriented Embryology" (now in it's fifth edition, and

translated into eight different languages), "Before We Are Born" and

"Clinically Oriented Anatomy." He has also recently co-authored

"Qur'an and Modern Science, Correlation Studies." Dr. Moore is the

recipient of numerous awards and honors, including, in 1984, theJ.C.B. Grant Award, which is the highest honor granted by the

Canadian Association of Anatomists. He has served in many academic

and administrative positions, including the President of the Canadian

Association of Anatomists, 1968-1970. Let us see what Dr. Moore's

opinion is on the scientific statements regarding embryology to be

found in the Qur'an:


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Dr. Moore was contacted by a Muslim scholar by the name of

Abdul-Majeed Azzindani. He was asked to participate in a three-year

study of around twenty-five verses of the Qur'an and the Sunnah

(sayings of Muhammad, pbuh) which speak about embryology, and to

determine the their correspondence to modern scientific discoveries.Dr. Moore's conclusion regarding this matter was:

"For the past three years, I have worked with the Embryology

Committee of King Abdulaziz University in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia,

helping them to interpret the many statements in the Qur'an and the

Sunnah referring to human reproduction and prenatal development. At

first I was astonished by the accuracy of the statements that were

recorded in the seventh century AD, before the science of embryology

was established. Although I was aware of the glorious history of

Muslim scientists in the 10th century AD, and of some of theircontributions to Medicine, I knew nothing about the religious facts

and beliefs contained in the Qur'an and Sunnah. It is important for

Islamic and other students to understand the meaning of these Qur'anic

statements about human development, based on current scientific

knowledge. The interpretations of the "verses" in the Qur'an and the

Sunnah, translated by Shaikh Azzindani, are to the best of my

knowledge accurate."

From the forward of "The Developing Human: Clinically orientedEmbryology," third edition, by Dr. Keith L. Moore.

The Qur'an and the Sunnah of the prophet Muhammad (Sallalahu

Alayhi Wa Salam) provide a very detailed description of the

microscopic development of the human embryo from a mere sperm

drop up to the stage of a completely formed human being. It is well

known that microscopes were not developed until the sixteenth

century AD, and even at that were very crude in design. Zacharias

Janssen is credited with having invented the compound microscope inabout 1590. With it, remarkable scientific discoveries were made in

the 17th and 18th centuries. The Dutch naturalist Anthony van

Leeuwenhoek produced lenses powerful enough to prove that many

tiny creatures are not spontaneously generated but come from eggs.


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Before this period, theories on human reproduction ran rampant.

Some scientist believed that the menstrual blood itself developed into

the fetus. Later on, a new theory was developed wherein the sperm

drop was popularly believed to contain a completely developed

miniature human (homunculus) which later grew to the size of a baby.The science of embryology as we know it today did not discover many

of the detailed aspects of human development which are taken for

granted today until only about twenty years ago, or 1973 to be precise.

Now we must ask the question: where did Muhammad

(Sallalahu Alayhi Wasallam) get such detailed knowledge of the

microscopic development of the human embryo in the 6th century AD

without a microscope, technical training, a laboratory of any kind, or

even the ability to write his own name? The only logical conclusion is

that it came from exactly where he claimed it did. From the one who

created mankind, God Almighty!

Prof. Moore has since given numerous lectures on the topic of

embryology in the Qur'an. He is quoted in one of these lectures as

saying: "It is clear to me that these statements must have come to

Muhammad from God, or Allah, because most of this knowledge was

not discovered until many centuries later. This proves to me that

Muhammad must have been a messenger of God, or Allah."

Prof. Moore was so impressed with the Qur'anic classification of

the stages of development of the human embryo, that he suggested the

adoption of the Qur'anic system in place of the system currently in use

by scientists today. Prof. Moore said: "Because the staging of the

human embryo is complex owing to the continuous process of change

during development. It is therefore suggested that a new system of

classification could be developed using the terms mentioned in the

Qur'an and the Sunnah. The proposed system is simple,

comprehensive, and conforms with present embryological

knowledge."

When Dr. Moore first presented his findings in Toronto it

caused quite a stir throughout Canada. It was on the front pages of

some of the newspapers across Canada . One newspaper reporter

asked Professor Moore,


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"Don't you think That maybe the Arabs might have known about these

things - the description of the embryo, its appearance and how it

changes and grows? Maybe there were not scientists, but maybe they

did some crude dissections on their own - carved up people and

examined these things."

Professor Morre immediately pointed out to him, however, that

he had missed a very important point. All of the slides of the embryo

that Dr. Moore had based his study upon had come from pictures

taken through a microscope. He said, "It does not matter if someone

had tried to discover embryology fourteen centuries ago, they could

not have seen it!." Dr. Moore taunted, "Maybe fourteen centuries ago

someone secretly had a microscope and did this research, making no

mistakes anywhere. Then he somehow taught Muhammad and

convinced him to put this information in his book. Then he destroyed

his equipment and kept it a secret forever?. Do you believe that? You

really should not unless you bring some proof because it is such a

ridiculous theory."

When he was asked "How do you explain this information in the

Qur'an?" Dr. Moore's reply was, "It could only have been divinely

revealed."

Iterated by Br. Mohamed Rawat

Medical Phenomenon Confuse American Scientists

Translated by Bayan Taleb

Revised by Magdy Abd Al-Shafy

Skeptics had always tried to criticize the Holy

Koran and prove for their followers that the Koran is

scientifically contradicted with the already


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discovered facts and full of legends that are far away from the

scientific logic;

in their attempts, they brought several examples such as the story of

the people of the Cave.

They are asking in their skeptical sites: how could they sleep for such

long years with their eyes open then wake up? They are saying that is

against medicine laws, this phenomenon cannot be medically realized.

Glory is to Allah the Greatest! Whenever you read a criticism of the

Koran, you find in the scientists' discoveries what verity the Koran

and refute the claims of the opposites. That's because Allah the

Exalted said in his glorious book: (and never will Allah grant to the

disbelievers a way (to triumph) over the believers) Al-Nisa'a 141.

Ernest Kretschmer discovered a relatively new phenomenon in the

year 1940, and then came the Spanish scientist Bryan Jennett and the

American scientist Fred Plum to accurately describe this phenomenon,

they called it the vegetative state. In this state, the patient enters a state

of lethargy but with the eyes open, he can sometimes smile and feel

what is going on around him, he can also swallow his saliva. He is in a

partial state of consciousness, he looks as if he is awake but actually

he is lethargic. This state happens because of an injury or a disease.


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The study indicated, using FMRI(Functional magnetic resonance

imaging), that the brain is active during the coma or lethargy the

patient suffers which can last for years. This is what confused the

scientists: what stimulates this brain? What inspires the patient to stay

alive even though he is completely unconscious? And what makes him

wake up suddenly and talk as if nothing happened?

In the beginning, scientists thought that this phenomenon is deep

sleep, but then it became evident that it is not sleep but a unique

unexplained phenomenon. We'd like to indicate that the patient in this

state needs nutrition injected with special means.

Scientists say that the brain releases signs indicating its reaction to the

surrounding; the patient can move and respond to outer effects but he

is unconscious. If you look at him during the lethargy state, he seemsawake; when you talk to him, his brain will respond to the orders, but

he is lethargic and unconscious.The people of the cave

Allah Almighty tells us about a few young men who believed in their

Lord and escaped the unjust king to win their religion and their

afterlife. They took refuge in a cave, and Allah honored them with a


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great miracle so that they would be an example for their people at that

time, Allah Almighty said what means : ((Remember) when the young

men fled for refuge (from their disbelieving folk) to the Cave, they

said: "Our Lord! Bestow on us mercy from Yourself, and facilitate for

us our affair in the right way!" Therefore We covered up their (senseof) hearing (causing them, to go in deep sleep) in the Cave for a

number of years. Then We raised them up (from their sleep), that We

might test which of the two parties was best at calculating the time

period that they had tarried.) Al-Kahf 10-12.

If we meditate on this story, we will find it similar the scientific

medical phenomena in the way the people of the cave slept and the

way they were turned from the left side to the right side. Scientists that

made a brain scan for the patients that are in the vegetative state said

that the results of the scan showed that the activity of their brain is

similar to that of a normal one. These patients look very normal, and

you would think they are awake.

Here we remember Allah the Exalted saying about the people of the

cave: (and you would have thought them awake, while they were

asleep) Al-Kahf 18. And describing their turning from the right side to

the left side which is a normal reaction that the sleeper would respond

to, Allah the Exalted says: (and We turn them on their right and on

their left sides) Al-Kahf 18.

From here we conclude that the Koran is very logical in describing

this story, but the miracle here is that these young men slept for a very

long time, 309 years, without food or water; this is a divine miracle

that we believers should be sure of . Medically speaking sleeping of

long years is something completely normal.

Scientists confused

A few days before writing this article, an American patient with the

vegetative state who had been six years in this state suddenly woke up

and started talking with her family as if nothing had happened; she

remained awake for three days talking with the people around her then

went back to her first state! Doctors say that she woke up four times

during her lethargy. The thing that confuses about this state is that it's


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neither sleep nor coma. What is wondrous, dear reader, is that Allah

the Exalted called a similar state that happened to the people of the

cave sleep saying: (and you would have thought them awake, while

they were asleep)

Scientists consider the fact that she came back to life a miracle!! This

phenomenon confused the American scientists because they couldnt

explain it, they consider such cases miracles. The question is: if the

westerner scientists see with their own eyes people sleeping for long

years, why arent they convinced that the Holy Koran is truthful when

talking about the people of the cave?

The second question: how could Prophet Muhammad peace be upon

him had he not been a messenger from Allah describe accurately the

state of these sleepers and say: (and you would have thought themawake, while they were asleep). The Koran is the creation of Allah,

and Allah had put in it evidences proving its truthfulness (and who is

truer in statement than Allah?) Al-Nisa'a 87.

References

1- Major Brain Activity Found in Vegetative Patient,

www.foxnews.com, September 08, 2006.

2- Coma and Persistent Vegetative State, www.healthlink.mcw.edu.

3http://arabic.cnn.com/2007/scitech/3/8/vegetativestate.lilly/index.htm

l

The Holy Quran on the darkness of the

universe

By Magdy Abdalshafy


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After man landed on the moon and pictures

were sent to the earth, it has become certain that

the earth and the whole of the universe are

immersed in darkness

and that light is just a thin layer that envelops the half part facing the

sun and that the general role is darkness and light is something

accidental connected with the day layer.

Man's thirst for more and more about the universe is never

quenched. So, among the many discoveries that man reached after

long observations and calculations is that whole of the universe is a

huge building and that there is nothing in the universe could be called"

empty place" as the matter and all the different kinds of energy fill the

universe.( Professor Zagloul Al-Nagar)

In the Holy Quran, God's final word to humanity, there are scientific

statements that are completely in agreement with modern science;

among these are scientific statement about most of discoveries man

made as regard the universe.

It is noteworthy that most of the cosmos verses in the Holy Quran

always correlate between the universe and atheists- the universe andits wonders are compelling evidence to the existence of God.

Modern astrophysics statements about the universe are found in the

Holy Quran, The Holy Quran gives new evidence to the modern

atheists that this universe has a Creator and moreover these are

evidences to non-Muslims that this book was revealed by God and

that Mohammed was a real prophet.

We will select verse number"15" from chapter"14" and you will beastonished at the number of the scientific facts mentioned in it and

how this verse is compatible with the science, so what does this verse

say:

"Even if We opened out to them a gate from heaven, and they were to

continue (all day) ascending ( in a curve line) therein, (14) They


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would only say: "Our eyes have been covered: Nay, we have been

bewitched by sorcery." (14:14-15)

So what can we conclude from reading this verse:

Man will someday conquer the universe

The universe is a huge structure

Motion in the universe can't be in straight line

The universe is engulfed by darkness

When we finish discussing this verse we will move to another verse

that gives the following scientific facts:

(1) The day layer turns the invisible sun light into visible light

(2) The size of the day layer to the darkness of the universe.

Let's discuss the first verse in the light of the new scientific

discoveries

Man will travel into space

The verse says: Even if We open a door in the heavens and theyascend through it in broad daylight, (14) They will say all the same:

"Our eyes were dazed (and clouded over). We were a people

ensorcelled." (14:14-15)

The few words shaded with yellow implies that man will conquer the

universe and this prophecy was fulfilled as in late 1960s, man landed

on the moon and many space travels followed to study the universe.

The Holy Quran, God last word to humanity, predicted this great

incident.

The Universe is a huge building

The scientific fact implied in the first few words shaded in yellow also

implies that the universe is building. "Even if We open a door in the

heavens"Have you ever seen gates without building, the fact that


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the universe is building is stressed in many other verses, the use of the

words" gates" is significant, Dr Zagloul Al-Nagar says that the

universe does have what look like gates.

Does science refer to the universe as a building?

The answer is plain" yes"

It is now scientifically established that no place in the universe that

can be empty, the universe is filled with the different kinds of energy

and matter that resulted from the big bang, scientists calculate the rate

of the dark and energy matter to be a little over (90%) of the whole

mass of the universe. Moreover, the way that galaxies are formed and

arranged emphasizes that the universe is a huge building.

Scientists say that today's huge galaxies are the result of mergingsmall building-block galaxies in the early Universe. Now, they have

detected for the first time such "bricks" with the Hubble's Advanced

Camera for Surveys and the Near Infrared Camera and Multi-Object

Spectrometer.


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http://news.softpedia.com/news/Astronomers-Have-Discovered-the-

Building-Blocks-of-the-Universe-64919.shtml

Motion into space

Einstein theory of relativity has predicted that light curves in space,

and moreover; modern astrophysical studies have proved that motion

into space should be in a curve course not straight course because of

gravity in the universe. The Holy Quran uses the Arabic word

Yaerogoun , the word is used in Arabic when we refer to a walk

which is not in straight line, also, the Holy Quran always uses the

word when referring to ascending into space.

So the Holy Quran and science are in agreement

The darkness of the universe

The verse says " Even if We opened out to them a gate from heaven,

and they were to continue (all day) ascending therein, (14)They would

only say: "Our eyes have been covered: Nay, we have been bewitched

by sorcery."(14:14-15)

The verse means if God opens a gate into sky for the disbeliever, theywill say that our eyes are covered, that is, they are unable to

seewhy? Because of the darkness that engulfs the whole of the

universe, the Holy verse says" our eyes are covered" what can

you see when you cover your eyesjust try it is darknesswhat

does modern science say about the darkness of the universe?

When the first space ship was launched for the first time, it carried

back, among its findings, one of the most important discoveries; this

was thewhole of the universe is completely immersed in darkness ."Pictures of the earth from the moon shows that the earth is hanging in

darkness, even pictures for the sun shows that it is hanging in the

darkness of the universe.

So how can light be produced in the earth day and is there any

reference to this in the Holy Quran?


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The earth is engulfed by darkness of the universe, just a thin layer of

light can be seen

It has become scientifically known that light travels from the sun to

the earth invisible, it only turns into light when it begin to penetrate

our atmosphere where water vapours and solid tiny matters hanging in

the atmosphere and this helps in fractioning and reflecting this

invisible rays and thus these rays turn into light. The sun, along with

the stars, is seen as blue dots when moving out the atmosphere

because the universe is completely engulfed with darkness.

So it became an established fact that the thin layer that surround the

earth is responsible for LIGHT

Dr. Alfandi, an Egyptian expert in this field, says the sun rays cant

be seen unless dispersed by air and dust particles when penetrating the

atmosphere. This explains why the sun rays can't be seen in the outerspace where there is no atmosphere, moreover the whole of the

universe is completely dark, even the center of the sun is dark despite

the high temperature. Rays travel from the center of the sun unseen

and can be only distinguished into light in the outer layer of the sun

then travel to the earth unseen and can only be seen when it penetrates

the atmosphere.


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"..He raised its thickness .." is a reference to the expansion of the

universe and this fact is stressed also in the following verse:

"The heaven, We have built it with power. Verily. We are expanding

it((sura 51, verse 47)

"He made dark its nigh" is a reference to the creation of the universe

darkness in the successive stages of the universe creation, note the

pronoun" its" refers to the universe, so we can say that this Holy verse

refers to the darkness of the universe; in a later stage the celestial

entities began to shrink and the in-between dusts began to be swept

and thus the light of the sun began to be sent and be seen as the second

pronoun" its" points out.

The day layer turns the invisible sun light into visible light

The Holy Quran determines the Day Layer

By the sun and its brightness (1) And [by] the moon when it follows it

(2) And [by] the day when it displays it (3) And [by] the night when it

covers it (4) And [by] the sky and He who constructed it (91:1-5)

This verse wonderfully expresses one of the amazing facts that was

only reached during the last few decades; according to this verse it is

not the sun which makes the day with its beautiful light. Then what?

The verse says it is the day (atmosphere) which makes the sun light

visible or the light.

It is scientifically known that day layer is the one which makes the

sun visible and it is, too, the one which makes it invisible. So the Holy

Quran is an agreement with science.

So, according to Dr Nohammed Gamal Al-Fandy, the day layer is so

thin( 200km) and this separate the darkness of the universe from us.

The Holy Quran determines the size of the day layer to the size of the

universe.

"And a sign to them is the night: We skin from it the day, then lo! they

are in the dark" (36:36-37)


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The verse emphasizes the previously discussed scientific statements,

the verse implies that the general rule is darkness, darkness that

everywhere. The Holy verse likens the darkness to a slaughtered

animal and the day light to the skin of the slaughtered animal.

The light of sun, being likened to the skin of a slaughtered animal, is

so thin to the darkness of the universe being likened to the huge body

of the slaughtered animal if compared to its skin.

So you have to imagine the darkness of the universe under it is a layer

of light---what if you draw this layer? Surely it is darkness.

THE ROUNDNESS OF THE 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 "takwir." 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


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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 Description of the Barrier Between Two Seas

Oceanographers, in the

wake of the scientific

progress in this age,

have discovered the

barrier between two

seas. They have found

that a barrier separates

two neighboring seas.

The barrier movesbetween them, and it is

called by scientists a

front compared to the

front between two

armies. By virtue of

this barrier each sea

retains its own

characteristics which

Allah (SWT) has assigned to it and which are suitable for the

organisms living in that environment.

Because of this barrier, the two neighboring seas mingle so slowly that

the amount of water that passes from one sea to the other acquires the


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characteristics of the other sea while crossing the barrier which

overturns the waters crossing from one sea to the other, keeping each

sea with its own characteristics.

The gradual progress of human knowledge about the fact of the

differences between seawater masses and the existence of barriers

between them :

Oceanographers discovered that there were certain differences

between water samples taken from various seas in 1284 AH/1873 AD,

by the British Marine Scientific Expedition of the Challenger Voyage.

It was discovered that masses of sea water vary in their composition,

in respect of salinity, water temperature, density and types of marine

organisms. The data were obtained from 362 oceanographic stations.

The report of the expedition filled 29,500 pages in 50 volumes andtook23 years to complete. One of the great achievements of scientific

exploration, the expedition also showed how little man knew about the

sea.

After 1933 AD another American expedition set out in the Mexican

Gulf and installed hundreds of sea stations to study the characteristics

of seas. It found out that a large number of stations in a certain area

gave similar information about the characteristics of the water in that

area, whether in respect of salinity, density, temperature, marineorganisms or solubility of oxygen in water, while another group of

stations in another area gave a different set of data about that area. So,

oceanographers concluded that there were two distinctive seas with

different characteristics, and not just limited samples as the Expedition

of Challenger showed.

Man installed hundreds of marine stations to study the characteristics

of various seas. Scientists have found out that the differences in these

characteristics distinguished one sea from another. But why do theseseas not mix and become homogeneous in spite of the effect of tide

and ebb that moves sea water twice a day, and causes seas to move

forward and backward turbulently, besides other factors that cause sea

water to be in continuous movement and turbulence, such as surface

and internal waves and sea currents?


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The answer appeared for the first time in scientific books in 1361

AH/1942 AD. Extensive studies of marine characteristics revealed

that there are water barriers separating neighboring seas and

maintaining the distinctive properties of each sea with respect to

density, salinity, marine life, temperature and solubility of oxygen inwater.

There are large waves, strong currents, and tides in the Mediterranean

Sea and the Atlantic Ocean. Mediterranean Sea water enters the

Atlantic by Gibraltar. But their temperature, salinity, and densities do

not change, because of the barrier that separates them.

After 1962 AD there was known the role of sea barriers in modifying

the properties of the water masses that pass from one sea to another, to

prevent one sea from overwhelming the other. So salty seas retain

their own properties and boundaries by virtue of these barriers.

A field study comparing the waters of Oman Gulf and those of the

Arabian Gulf has shown the difference between them regarding their

chemical properties, the prevalent vegetation and the barrier

separating them.

About a hundred years of research and study has been required to

discover the fact of the existence of barriers between sea water masses

and their role in making each sea retain its own properties. Hundred ofresearchers took part and numerous precise scientific instruments and

equipment were used to achieve that.

Fourteen centuries ago the Holy Quran revealed this fact.

Allah (SWT) says: (He has let free (MARAJA) the two sees meeting

together. Between them is a barrier that they do not transgress. Then


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which of the Blessings of your Lord will you both (Jinn and men)

deny? Out of them both come out pearls and carol. (LV: 19-22) Allah

(SWT) also says: And He made a barrier between the two seas.)

(XXVII: 61)

Linguistic meanings and the commentators sayings:

Maraja (let free):

IbnFaris said: maraja: The consonants m, randj form a root

indicating a movement of going and coming and turbulence.

Al-Bahrayn (the two seas):

Al-

Asfahani said: Some say that the word bahr (sea) is usuallyused to mean salt water rather than fresh water.

Ibn Manzursaid: Bahr is more frequently used to describe salt water

than fresh water.

If the word bahr is used without qualification it means salt water;

otherwise, it means the thing qualified. The Holy Quran uses

nahr (river) to indicate abundant running fresh water, while it uses

bahr (sea) to indicate salt water. Allah (SWT) says: (And He has

made the ships to be of service to you that they may sail through thesea by His Command; and He has made rivers (also) to be of service

to you.)(XIV: 32)

In the hadith, bahr (sea) is also used to mean salt water. Allahs

Messenger (Peace be upon him) was asked by a man who said: O

Allahs Messenger! We travel by sea and carry with us a little fresh

water. If we should use it forwudu (ablution) we would get thirsty.

May we use seawater forwudu? Allah Messenger (Peace be upon

him) said: Its water is pure and its dead (animals) are lawful (toeat).

Al-Barzakh: It is the barrier. Most commentatorssuggest that it is

invisible.


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Al-baghi: Ibn Manzursaid: Al-Baghimeans transgression,

exceeding the limits.

Al-Jawhari and Al-Asfahani said the same.

Al-Marjan: Ibn Al-Jawzi said: Al-Qadi Abu Yali says that Al-Marjan is a kind of bar-like pearls. Al-Zajjajsaid: Al-Marjan is

white, very white. Ibn Masudsaid: Al-Marjan is red beads. Abu

Hayyan said that to some people Al-Marjan is red stone. Al-Qurtubi

said: It is said that Al-Marjan is the big pearls. The same is also said

by Ali and Ibn Abbas (May Allah bestow His Mercy on them both).

The small pieces ofMarjan are the small pearls. It is also reported on

their authority the opposite: the big pieces are called pearls and the

smaller are calledMarjan. Al-Dahhak and Qatadah said the same.

Al-Alusi said: If we take into consideration the connotation of

brilliance and glitter which the Arabic word pearls carries, and the

connotation of movement and mixing that the word Marjan carries,

we can say that pearls is used for big pieces and Marjan for small

ones.

Anyhow,Marjan is a kind of ornament that is found in various colors:

white and red. It may be in big or small pieces. It is bar-like stone. In

the Verse it is something other than pearls, for the conjunction andimplies talking bout two different things. Marjan (carol), however, is

found in salt seas only.

The Verse shows us the minute secrets which oceanography has

revealed only recently. They describe the meeting between salt seas.

Following is the evidence to that:

First: The Verse uses the word bahrayn (two seas) without any

qualification. This means that salt seas are intended here.

Second: The Verses in SuratAl-Rahman show that the two seas yield

pearls and Marjan(carol). It has become evident thatMarjan is

found in salt seas only. This indicates that the Verse is referring to two

salt seas. Allah (SWT) says: Out of them both come out pearls and

carol, i.e. out of each of them.


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Who knew in the past that salt seas differ in many respects in spite of

their apparent similarity to the observer? (They all taste salt, look

blue, have waves, contain fish, etc.) How can they differ although they

meet each other? We know that when two amounts of water are mixed

in a container they get homogenous. How can seas remaindifferentiated even in the presence of the factors of mixing, such as

the ebb and flow of the sea, currents and storms?

The Verse mentions the meeting of two salt seas that differ from one

another. If the two seas were similar to one another, they would be

one sea. However, differentiating between them in the Quranic

utterance implies the difference between them although they are both

salt.

(He has let free (Maraja) the two seas meeting together) means thatthe two seas are mixed; they are in the state of backward and forward

movements, of mixing and turbulence at the site of the meeting, as is

understood from the literal meaning ofMaraja . This is the fact that

science has discovered, that is to say, the barrier is described as being

zigzag or wavy and shifting in position during the various seasons

because of the tide and winds.

This Verse by itself implies the presence of so much mixing and

merging between these seas as would deprive them of their distinctiveproperties. But Allah (SWT), the All-Knower, shows in the following

Verse that between them is a barrier which they do not transgress,

i.e. In spite of this state of merging and turbulence that characterizes

the seas there is a barrier between them preventing them from

transgressing or exceeding their limits.

This is what man has discovered as a result of the advances achieved

in his sciences and instruments. It has been found that a third water

mass separates the two seas and it has such properties as are differentfrom those of each of the two seas separated by it.

Yet, in spite of the presence of the barrier, the waters of the two

adjacent seas mix very slowly without one sea encroaching upon the

other through carrying over its own properties to it, for the barrier

zone is a region for changing the water crossing from one sea to the


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other so that it gradually acquires the properties of the sea that is

going to enter and loses the properties of the sea it has come form.

Thus neither of the two seas transgresses by carrying its own

properties to the other, although they mix during the process of

meeting. How truthful is Allahs Saying: (He has let free (maraja) thetwo seas meeting together. Between them is a barrier which they do

not transgress.)

Most commentators suggest that the barrier that separates the two seas

referred to here is an invisible barrier created by Allah. Some

commentators find it difficult to reconcile the idea of the seas being

merging and the presence of a barrier at the same time, for the

presence of a barrier entails the prevention of merging. So the mention

of merging (maraja) entails the absence of a barrier. This apparent

contradiction has been resolved by discovering the secrets of the seas.

The Miraculous Aspects of the Previous Verses:

We can conclude the following from the discussion above:

The Holy Quran, which was revealed more than 14 centuries ago,

includes very precise pieces of information and knowledge about

marine phenomena that have been discovered only recently by means

of very sophisticated equipment. An instance in this respect is theexistence of water barriers between seas. Allah (SWT) says:(He has

let free (maraja) the two seas meeting together. Between them is a

barrier which they do not transgress.)

The historical development of Oceanography shows that no precise

information had been available on seas before Challenger Expedition

(in 1873 AD), let alone at the time when the Holy Quran was being

revealed 14 centuries ago to an illiterate Prophet that lived in a desert

environment and never traveled by sea.

Oceanography has witnessed no advances except in the last two

centuries, particularly in the latter half of the twentieth century. Prior

to that a sea was considered as something fearful and mysterious.

Myths and superstitions were fabricated about it. Sea voyagers were

only interested in their own safety and how to find the correct routes


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during their long journeys. Man discovered that salt seas are different

only in the thirties of the twentieth century, after thousands of marine

stations had been established by researchers to analyze samples of sea

water to measure the differences between the degrees of temperature,

salinity, density and oxygen dissolubility in the sea water recorded atall those stations, and then realize that salt seas are different.

Man did not know anything about the barrier that separates between

salt seas till the establishment of the aforesaid stations, and after

spending a long time tracing these wavy moving barriers that change

their geographical locations with the change of seasons.

Man did not know that the water masses of the two seas are separated

by a water barrier and are mixed at the same time till he started

studying with his ships and equipment the water movement in themeeting region of the seas and analyzing the water masses in those

regions.

Man did not apply this rule to all seas that meet together except after

vast scientific surveying, investigation and verification of this

phenomenon, which occurs between each pair of adjacent seas in the

world.

Now then, did Allahs Messenger (Peace be upon him) own stationsand equipment for analyzing water and the ability to trace the

movement of various water masses? Did he carry out a comprehensive

surveying process, although he never sailed the sea and lived at a time

when superstitions were prevalent, particularly in the field of seas?

Were, at the time of Allahs Messenger (Peace be upon him) such

researches, instruments and studies as are available for the

oceanographers of today who have discovered all these secrets by

means of research and study?

This knowledge, which the Quran came with, included a precise

description of the subtlest secrets at a time when humanity could

never have known them, which indicates that its source is Divine, as

Allah (SWT) says: (Say: the (Quran) was sent down by Him Who

knows the secret (that is) in the heavens and the earth: Verily He is

Oft-Forgiving, Most Merciful.) (XXV: 6)


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It also indicates that the one to whom the Book was sent down was a

Messenger inspired. Allah (SWT) but says the Truth in the

Verse:(Soon will We show Our Signs in the Universe and in their

own selves, until it becomes manifest to them that this the Truth. Is it

not sufficient that your Lord does witness all things?)

the miracle and challenge of the quran of science

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