PART – I
The glorious Qur’an was revealed upon Prophet Mohammad (SAW) over a period of 23 years in the first half of 7th century AD. This is the period when modern science had not even taken its birth. It was the era of geocentric model of universe proposed by a Greek astronomer Ptolemy in 2nd century AD. Although, Brahmagupta, an Indian mathematician and astronomer of 7th century AD revolutionized the study of numbers with his treatise Brahmasphutasiddhanta, Jabir Ibn Hayyan (721-815 AD) of Arabia contributed significantly in alchemy and chemistry, Al Battani (862-929 AD), an Iraqi astronomer and mathematician made important and accurate measurements of stars and planets and Ibn Sina (980-1037AD), a polymath of Islamic world contributed remarkably and enormously to medicine and pharmacology with his famous encyclopedic books ‘Al-Qanun fi al-tibb’ and ‘Kitab al-shifa’, the science with all its modernity and innovativeness was in its embryonic stage and the intervention of technology in day to day life, as we experience now, was a faraway reality.
With the invention of telescope and microscope in 16th and early 17th century AD respectively scientists began to work on astronomy, physics, chemistry and biological systems etc. in a methodical way. After a long gap of around 1400 years geocentric model was challenged by a Polish astronomer Nicolaus Copernicus whose heliocentric model was published in 1543 AD. The basic unit of life, the cell, was discovered by a British scientist Robert Hooke in 1665 AD and oxygen gas, which is the lifeline of all biological systems, was discovered by Joseph Priestly in 1774 AD. Arab world was living in utter darkness, which is commonly called as the ‘Age of Ignorance’. Polytheism was common. Economically, the Jews were the leaders of Arabia. They were the owners of best arable lands and best entrepreneurs of industries that existed during those days. Socially it was a male-dominated society. They used to bury their female infants live.
Women had no status of any kind other than sex objects. Gambling and wine-drinking were rampant. There was a total absence of any organized political system. They never acknowledged any authority other than the authority of the chiefs of their tribes. No government, no law enforcing agency was there. The only law of the land was lawlessness. Under these highly hostile and inhuman conditions Allah (SWT) blessed the mankind, especially Arabs, by sending down a messenger from among them, with his commandments. Holy Quran (3:164) has so beautifully sketched the purpose of sending Prophet Mohammad (SAW) as a savior of mankind: ‘Certainly did Allah confer great favor upon the believers when He sent among them a Messenger from among themselves, reciting to them and teaching them the book and wisdom, while, before that they had been in manifest error’.
With unrelenting advancements in science, observations and hypotheses keep on changing. An observation/hypothesis published today could be challenged and modified tomorrow. Holy Qur’an is not a book of scientific theories, as it was not revealed for teaching science and technology but it is a book of guidance for the entire mankind. However, the scientific facts discussed in Quran are final, flawless and sustainable because they are divine in origin. These facts have been referred in the Quran to make us understand that Allah (SWT) only is the creator, sustainer and cherisher of the worlds and to persuade us to ponder and to cogitate so that our faith in the existence of God (Allah) and His supremacy becomes strong and unwavering. Had it been a book of science then God would never have skipped to discuss at least DNA, the genetic material of all living beings, chlorophyll – the green pigment, rubisco, the most abundant protein on earth and the key enzyme of photosynthesis and many more important concepts of science.
As a student of Botany in Kashmir University when I studied and understood to the best of my capability the details of DNA structure, its replication and packaging (nucleosome concept) into chromatids and chromosomes, structure and function of bio-membranes especially cell membrane and those found around nucleus, chloroplasts and mitochondria, transcription and translation (protein synthesis), cell signaling, synthesis of ATP by ATP synthase, structure and distribution of PSI, PSII, cytochromes and ATP synthase on thylakoid membranes of chloroplasts and their collective role in synthesis of carbohydrates, and many more pathways and cellular/subcellular details, my faith in the existence of Almighty Allah (SWT), His supremacy and His high-end engineering became more strong.
The physiological processes going on within living systems and their checks and balances are more amazing. How such delicate and microscopic structures and intricate and hard to understand and shrouded processes are taken care of without an iota of error, was never less than a wonder to me. The following Quranic verses (67:3-4) always used to reverberate in my mind and compelling me to bow down in humility:
‘You will never see any imperfection/ disproportion in the creation of the Most Gracious (Allah). Look again do you see any flaws. Then look again and again – your sight will return dull and discomfited in a state worn out’.
The scientific concepts discussed in the Holy Qur’an are covered in more than 250 verses. These facts deal with numerous fields of science including geology, geography, astronomy, embryology, physiology, physics, chemistry, biology, environmental science, etc. Some of the Quranic verses that unambiguously deal with some common scientific facts are briefly described below:
Creation of Universe
Although creation of universe has always been considered as the marvelous and most wonderful piece of divine architectural engineering from our point of view but to Allah (SWt) it has been a very easy, simple and instant task. In Qur’an (50:38) Allah (SWT) says that weariness did not even touch Him while creating the universe. When He wills a thing, it comes into existence forthwith. The same is reflected in verse 36:82 where Allah (SWT) says ‘Verily, when he intends a thing, His command is “Be”, and it is’. In verses 44:38 and 21:16 Allah (SWT) says that He has not created the heavens and the earth and all between them merely in idle play, but all the creations have been made with a purpose. Allah (SWT) has mentioned the creation of universe with all its robes and that of man itself in the wise book of Qur’an just to remind us His sole supremacy, power and authority and to make us God-fearing.
While giving the terse details of the creation of universe, the Quranic verse (21:30) indicates that the universe, as it exists now, has been created from a single mass that got fragmented into pieces forming different galaxies. ‘Do not the unbelievers see that the heavens and the earth were joined together (as one unit of creation), before We clove them asunder’. The Big Bang theory, as propounded by Roman Catholic Priest and physicist George Lemaitre in 1931, states that there must have been a time when all the matter and energy constituting the universe were concentrated at one place in the form of a super dense agglomeration is in line with the Quranic assertion. The creation and the location of seven firmaments/skies, one above the other, however, is beyond our limited understanding. ‘He who created seven heavens one above another. And We have adorned the lowest heaven with lamps’ (67:3, 5). The Arabic word used for heaven/sky/firmament in Qur’an is ‘Samaa’ meaning something high above that is spread like a canopy and its plural is ‘Samavaat’. The seven skies/firmaments, as Allah (SWT) says, are located one above the other, but we are able to see only the lowest or the nearest firmament (Samaa’d Dunya) that is adorned with stars. Further, the stars are not equidistant from the earth but are floating in space at various distances, millions of light years away from earth and apart. They appear to us studded to a sheet-like firmament, the existence of which continues to be a mystery.
A few questions are really puzzling and quite difficult to comprehend at this point of time. What skies are made up of? Are the skies gaseous coverings only or they are something extraordinary beyond atmospheric limits which we are unaware of? If the blue sky, that is visible to us and seems to be adorned with stars is the first sky (Samaa’d Dunya), where are the other six skies/firmaments located? Do they exist in concentric envelops around earth or they exist somewhere else in the solar system or the Milky Way or in other galaxies of our universe? How far are they from each other and how do they exist without any prop/support? All these questions are very difficult to answer. Our limited knowledge compels us to say ‘Wallahua’lam’.
Some other Quranic verses (32: 4; 67:3, 5; 41:9, 10, 12) deal with the time period the heavens and the earth and everything present between them were created in. Earth, along with mountains and oceans and all other things, visible or hidden, have been created in four days and seven heavens/skies in two days, meaning that the whole universe has been created in six days. During these six days, the final structure, function and the commandments governing the universe were finalized. The earth was divided into numerous biomes and ecosystems and each ecosystem was equipped with necessary and sufficient biotic and abiotic components. The lower most sky, that is visible to us through naked eyes, was adorned with stars. What was the duration/time period of the six days the universe was created in is known to Allah (SWT) only, although, in Qur’an (22:47) Almighty Allah says, ‘Verily a day in the sight of your Lord is like a thousand years of your reckoning’.
The word ‘Samaa’ (heaven/ sky) has been used by Allah in the Book of Wisdom in different connotations. Sometimes, it is used as the limit the stars are located up to (67:5) and at certain other occasions (31:10) it is used as the limit from which rain comes down. We well know that the stars are millions/billions of light years away from our earth, the closest star, sun, being at a distance of 150 million km, whereas the clouds which get converted into rain are proximate to our earth, floating only in troposphere, at a height of just 2.5-6.0 km. Which one is the lowest sky, the sky limited to the location of stars visible to naked eye or the troposphere where clouds float and rain or all the concentric spheres of atmosphere taken as a unit? Allah (SWT) knows the best.
‘Then He turned to the sky, and it had been (as) smoke: he said to it and to the earth, “Come ye together, willingly or unwillingly”. They said, “we do come (together) in willing obedience” (41: 11).
From the above verse one can understand that the sky, which was in gaseous state (smoke) was created after earth’s creation. Since Allah (SWt) ordered the sky (gas/smoke) and the earth to come together with ease or with difficulty, it can be inferred with our limited understanding that it was perhaps the atmosphere which was created around the earth to act as its first sky (Samaa’d Dunya) or all the seven skies in concentric layers. Allah (SWT) knows the best.
(To be concluded…)
(Author is Principal (Rtd) J&K Higher Education Department. Feedback: [email protected])
