MODERN SCIENCE AND ISLAM
Sura Fussilat 41 Verse 53
ARABS WERE ILLITERATE
The Holy Prophet (salla' llaahu'alaihi wa sallam) did not go to any school. Arabia did not even have a Primary school run by Arabs. The Arabs were proud to be illiterate. They claimed they were born to wield swords and to wield the pen was the job of the merchant class. His uncle and grandfather, who were both uneducated, brought up the Prophet (Salla ‘llahu’ alaihi wa sallam. There was no contact with scholars of the time. Yet, the message that he delivered i.e. the Holy Quraan remains relevant and scientifically correct for all ages. The question is where did he get all the wisdom. Was he a genius?
When he was born, the Greco-Roman civilisation had its influence in the Arabian Peninsula. The cosmogony of Greco-Romans is that the earth is flat and the sky is in the form of a canopy, studded with lamps. This is a myth. On the other side of Arabia, there is Iran and India, the two great seats of culture and civilisation. Both held the same view. China had the same view. The Holy Prophet (salla' llaahu'alaihi wa sallam) did not come to teach Physical Science or Astronomy. But you will find in the Qur’aan, references to different Natural Phenomena to different Scientific problems. In these references you will find the Qur’aan absolutely modern, anti classical and hostile to the ancient thoughts of Mankind in that age. In connection with Cosmogony, the Qur’aan says:
Yasin Sura 36:40
Read any commentary or the Qur’aan even 1100 years ago.
Also (Ambiya: Sura 21 Verse 33)
How did the Prophet (Salla'llahu'alaihi wa sallam) know this? No observatory or laboratory was available to him. The Qur’aan says Fussilat Sura 41 Verse 53,
THE SUN MOVES
In modern history of Astronomy, unto Kepler, nobody knew that the sun moves. Until recently students of science were thought that, "the earth moves and the sun is stationary." Then science found, very recently, out the sun is moving constantly in a Horizontal line.
The Qur’aan says this:Yasin Sura 36 Verse 38
NOTE: The Arabic word for horizontal movement is Tajri
PAIRS IN HUMANS, PLANTS AND OTHER CREATION, The Qur’aan also speaks of pairs in Humans, Plants and other creation, which they did not know at the time
Yasin Sura 36 v.36
In the field of Botany, Male and female principle in plant life was discovered by a French Botanist towards the end of the 19th century and was established by an Indian Botanist, "Bose" in 1921. How did the Holy Prophet (salla' llaahu'alaihi wa sallam) know this?
PRINCIPLE OF PARITY
Modern physics also, has the "Principle of Parity"
The Atom is the Fundamental particle of all matter. In 1925 modern physics said that an atom is composed of a pair, male and female i.e. electron and proton. The Neutron is known as the "Marriage Officer", as a joke in scientific circles.
Another fact was that electrical current was unknown in those days. Today we know that the male is positive and the female is negative in electricity.
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. A Muslim scholar, Abdul-Majeed Azzindani contacted Dr. Moore. He was asked to participate in a three-year study of around twenty-five verses of the Qur’aan and the Sunnah (sayings of Muhammad (Salla’llahu’alaihi wa sallam) which speak about embryology, and to determine the their correspondence to modern scientific discoveries.
The Qur’aan and the Sunnah of the Prophet Muhammad (Salla’llahu’alaihi wa sallam) 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 in about 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.
Before this period, theories on human reproduction ran rampant. Some scientist believed that the menstrual blood developed into the foetus.
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 thirty years ago, or 1973 to be precise.
Now we must ask the question: where did Muhammad (Salla’llahu’alaihi wa sallam) 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’aan. 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.”
Islam in every dimension is unique, and the Qur’aan has to be expounded spiritually, practically and scientifically, as knowledge unfolds.
Point out these to Non-Muslims and bring them to Islam. Modern Tabligh should be undertaken with qualified missionaries. Modern civilization emphasizes only on Physical and no spiritual harmony exists. Defective thought in Islam today emphasizes only the spiritual and all other avenues are neglected. May Allah guide us to understand the Qur’aan and spread the message.
Updated and adapted FROM A LECTURE BY MOULANA FAZLUR RAHMAN ANSARI (Radiallahu anhu)