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The Miraculous Nature of the Holy Qur'an
One of the more popular aspects of the i'jaaz (the miraculous nature) of the Holy Qur'aan in these times concerns its comments on aspects of science that the Holy Prophet (S.A.W.) and his people could not have known about. There are a number of books written about this topic, perhaps the most popular being Maurice Bucaille's The Bible, Qur'an, and Science1 It should be remembered however, that the Qur'aan is not meant to be a book primarily devoted to a discussion of 'science', but rather a book that is meant for the guidance of mankind. As such, any references to subjects of a scientific nature are typically brief and not very descriptive. The i'jaaz, however appears in the fact that even in these limited descriptions, the Qur'aan conforms exactly to modern science, and imparts knowledge that was unknown during the lifetime of the Holy Prophet (S.A.W.). These descriptions are free from retroactive ideas that plagued humanity from the earliest of times, such as the concept that the Earth is stationary, and all the other planets and stars rotate around it.
There are numerous examples of such verses, such as the description of the formation of human life. The sperm of man is referred to as a 'mixture of liquids' (76:2), since the sperm is composed of various secretions from the testicles, the seminal vesicles, the prostate and other glands. From the literally millions of sperms produced and ejaculated, only one sperm is actually used in the fertilization process - a very small quantity. This is referred to in a number of verses by the word 'nutfah' (75:37) which signifies a small quantity of mixed fluid. the sperm then hoins the female egg and forms the zygote. This occurs in the mother's womb, a 'safe lodging' (23:13). (see Chapters 3, 4, 5 and 6 - Web Ed.). ...
During the delivery process, the passage of the baby from the mother's womb to the outside world occurs through the birth canal. Typically, this canal is extremely narrow and tight. However, shortly before the birth, certain changes occur, including the release of certain hormones, the contractions of the uterus, and the breakage of the 'bag of water' surrounding the baby, all of which contribute to making the canal loose. This is referred to in 80:20, "then We made the passage (though the birth canal) easy."
Perhaps the best way to appreciate the beauty of the above verses is to see pictures of the human embryo as it goes through the various stages of development...(see Chapters 3, 4, 5 and 6 - Web Ed)
The vivid yet simple descriptions given in these verses (i.e. 22:5) were unknown to the people of the Holy Prophet's time, demonstrating the i'jaaz of the Qur'aan in Science.
Other facts that are given in the Qur'aan include the description of the formation of milk (16:66), the notion of orbits for the planets (21:33 and 36:40), and the description of the water cycle (15:22, 35:9 and more). Every verse that discusses nature and the creation falls into this category. In many verses, Allah Himself commands mankind to ponder over the creation, and mentions these as an indication of His Existence and Power. (3:190-191)
One final note on the concept of science as an i'jaaz of the Qur'aan: There can never be a real contradictions between the Qur'aan and the Laws of Allah concerning the creation (i.e. actual science). The Qur'aan is the Book of Allah, and since it is from Allah "there is no doubt in it" (2:1)
Likewise, the laws that govern the creation are also from Allah. What is studied as 'science', on the other hand, is the attempt by man to understand the creation and laws of Allah. Therefore it is possible fro a scientific assumption to be incorrect, and this is clearly demonstrated by historically scientific 'facts' as the Earth being flat, or the orbiting of the Sun around the Earth. These concepts were believed to in so strongly by the 'scientists' of their time that, on occasion, those who opposed them were harassed and even killed. Yet, later scientists discovered the inaccuracy of these concepts.
Therefore, when there is a conflict between the meaning of a clear, explicit verse (meaning qat'ee ad-dalaalah) of the Qur'aan and 'modern' science. a Muslim must take the verse of the Qur'aan - without hesitation - over any scientific 'fact'. A rejection of such a verse, or even the apparent meaning of such a verse, would be tantamount to a rejection of Allah's knowledge. For example, the theory of evolution is, for the most part, agreed upon by the majority of non-Muslim scholars. Whether there is strong proof to back up the theory or not is irrelevant - the Qur'aan is clear that Allah created Adam from His own Hands, and "From him He created his mate, and from these two He spread forth many men and women" (4:1)
Therefore a Muslim can never believe in the theory that men are descendants of apes, no matter what "proof" might seem to exist.2 Neither is it allowed, as some Muslim rationalists have done, to try to interpret clear Qur'aanic texts to suit modern theories. Following the above example, to try to interpret the story of the creation of Adam and Eve as actually having been the creation of some Neanderthal neo-human species is almost as blasphemous as rejecting the verse in the first place!
It is possible, however, for there to be an apparent conflict between a verse and a scientific fact, when no such conflict exists. This occurs when some scholars take one of the possible linguistic meanings of a vers, such that this meaning conforms with the verse, but is not the only meaning that may be derived from it (basically, the verse is dhannee ad-dalaalah). For example some scholars have understood certain verses of the Qur'aan (e.g., "And it is He who has spread out the Earth" (13:3), and (15:9)) to indicate that the Earth is flat, since the phrase 'madd' occurs, which means 'to spread out'. However, this verse is not explicit in stating taht the Earth is flat, and to conclude this from the above verse requires a degree of interpretation. Since there exists clear proof that the Earth is not flat, this interpretation must be rejected. The meaning of the verse, therefore, is that Allah has created this Earth as a very vast place for mankind, and not that the Earth is flat (This principle may also apply to the verse 'baynas sulbi wat taraaib" in soorah At-Taariq referring to semen and interpreted as "coming forth from between the backbone and the ribs or breastbone" - Web Ed).
Also, it is essential that scientific facts are not read in where they do not exist. Unfortunately, this has become an all too common trend among 'modernistic' Muslims who have specialised in science, but are not very familiar with the interpretation of the Qur'aan.3 Once again, the Qur'aan "...is a book of guidance...and not a book of science, nor a mine of cryptic notes on scientific facts."4
For example, many people interpret the following verse as a prediction of space travel by man:
O assembly of Men and Jinns! If you have power to pass through the zones of the Heavens and Earth - then pass! But you will never be able to pass them except with authority (from Allah) (55:33)
However, a look at the next verse, and the authentic tafseers of Ibn Katheer and At-Tabaree, will show that this verse is in reference to the jinns listening to the whispers of the angels in the Heaven (or to the Resurrection of the creation on the Day of Judgment), and not to inter-galactic travel!
In conclusion, although the scientific aspect of the Qur'aan is one of the aspects of it's i'jaaz, it must be put in its proper place, and a proper methodology needs to be followed in order to extract examples of such verses. It does more harm than good when certain verses in the Qur'aan are 'bent over backwards,' so as to say, to seek to prove that they contain certain implied scientific facts. One only needs to read works in which this methodology was followed to see how ludicrous the conclusions are. (For example, Muhammad Rasheed Ridaa (d. 1935), one of the founders of the 'Modernist' movement, claimed that the 'Jinns' that the Qur'aan was referring to actually alluded to the discovery of disease-arraying microbes  When such facts are clear and explicit from the verse, they should be mentioned (such as the examples quoted above - and in this book, inshaa-allah), but when they go against the intent and meaning of the verse, they should be abandoned.
Edited excerpt from "An Introduction to the Sciences of the Qur'aan" by Abu Amaar Yasir Qhadhi
Professor T.V.N. Persaud: "I have no difficulty in my mind in concerning that this is a divine inspiration or revelation which led him to relay the statement."
We present to you Dr. T.V.N. Persaud, Professor of Anatomy, Professor of Pediatrics and Child Health, and Professor of Obstetrics, Gynecology, and Reproductive Sciences at the University of Manitoba, Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada. There he was Chairman of the Department of Anatomy for 16 years. Professor Keith Moore introduced him to us and he thinks that there are free-minded scholars and scientists whose main preoccupation is searching for the Truth. Professor Persaud is one of those. He is well known in his field and is the author or editor of 22 textbooks and has published over 181 scientific papers. In 1991, he received the J.C.B. Grant Award from the Canadian Association of Anatomists. He also includes in these books some Qur'aanic verses and prophetic Ahadeeth that he presented at several conferences which he attended. Following is one of the Ahadeeth which Professor Persaud studied:
When forty-two nights have passed over the conceptus, Allah sends an angel to shape it and create its hearing, vision, skin, muscles and bones. Then the angel asks: O Lord, will it be male or female? And Allah decides what He wills and the angel records it. [Saheeh Muslim, Kitaab Al-Qadar]
This picture shows a fetus on the 35th day (Not shown - Ed.), which does not take a human form. And the following picture, shows the same fetus on the 42nd day. So far. Dr. Persaud says, we cannot discern a human shape. We see this illustrative picture, made by CIBA, depicting the fetus on the 42nd day (See Fig 7.1). One week later, during the seventh week, immediately after 42 days, the picture is completely changed as we see here (See Fig. 7.2). The prophetic hadeeth in this respect says:
When forty two nights have passed over the conceptus, Allah sends an angel to shape it and create its hearing, vision, skin, muscle and bones.
Dr. Persaud presented many researches concerning the relationship between both the Qur'aan and the Sunnah and modern science. The following is another hadeeth which Professor Persuad studied and made it the subject of one of his presentations:
If lewdness exists among people and then appears as a common and open practice, plagues and new diseases which did not exist before will spread among them. [Ibn Maajah, Al-Hakim]
Let us read Professor Persaud's explanation of this hadeeth:
"It is widely accepted that these malignant changes in the uterus cervix are related to the age of the woman, frequency of intercourse, and the number of partners. Several epidemiological studies have clearly indicated a significant correlation between exposure to multiple sexual partners and the high incidents of cervical carcinoma. The consequences and dangers of promiscuous sexual relationships and deviant sexual practices have been expressed in this Hadeeth some 1400 years ago. The word 'lewdness' encompasses adultery, fornication, I am told: homosexuality, bestiality, and all other sexual perversions, and it is not wide stretching of an imagination that we should consider Herpes and AIDS as clear examples of new diseases, and indeed at the present time new diseases for which we have no cure."
Today we can understand the significance of this hadeeth because homosexuality, prostitution and lewdness have become widespread and even legalized in many western countries. It has not been many years after the sexual revolution that these diseases which Professor Persaud spoke of have become widespread and some of them, such as AIDS, are constituting a serious health problem today. The words of the Prophet (S.A.W.) are very exact. AIDS is a very good example of the kind of disease which did not exist in the previous generations, but which is now increasing at an alarming rate and many people are now too afraid that they might catch it.
To Professor Persaud, we must express our gratitude for his effort. When we asked him his opinion about this phenomenon which to himself is well known and which he has researched, he stated the following:
"It seems to me that Muhammad was [a] very ordinary man. He could not read or write. In fact, he was illiterate. We are talking about 1400 years ago. You have someone who was illiterate making profound pronouncements and statements which are amazingly accurate about scientific nature. I personally cannot see how this could be a mere chance, there are too many accuracies and, like Dr. Moore, I have no difficulty in my mind concerning that this is a divine inspiration or revelation which led him to these statements."
These revelations have come to Prophet Muhammad, (S.A.W.), from Allah. Allah sent it from His knowledge, as Allah Himself states: But Allah bears witness that what He has sent unto thee He sent with His (own) knowledge. [Qur'aan 4:66]
This Book, the Qur'aan, is the Guide, The Proof, the Proven and Ever-Lasting Truth among us until the Last Hour.
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