The Holy Quran as a Source of Scientific Knowledge

By Prof. Dr. Mahdi Golshani
In more than ten percent of the Quranic verses, we see references to natural phenomena. A subject of fundamental importance is to discover the kind of message that the so-called scientific verses have for us, and how we benefit from them. There are two views about this matter.
One view says that the Holy Quran includes all kinds of knowledge and therefore it contains the basic ingredients of all the sciences of nature. The second holds that the Quran is merely a book of guidance, and there is no room for the physical and natural sciences in it. We shall, first, explain these two views in some detail and then try to spell out our own views.
In our times we see many people who try to interpret some of the Quranic verses in the light of our present scientific knowledge. The main aim of these people is to show the miracle of the Quran in the scientific domain to convince non-Muslims of the glory and uniqueness of the Quran, and to make fellow Muslims feel proud of having such a great scripture.
But the view of considering the Quran as a source of all knowledge is not a new one, and we see many great Muslim scholars of the past who are proponents of this view. One is Imam al-Ghazali. In his book Ihya’ ‘Ulum al-Din (The Revival of Religious Sciences), he quotes Ibn Mas’ud as saying: “If one desires to have the knowledge of the sciences of the ancients and the moderns, he should ponder over the Quran.” He further adds: In short, all sciences are included in the works and attributes of Allah, and the Quran is the explanation of His essence, attributes, and works. There is no limit to these sciences, and in the Quran there is an indication of their confluence.[1]
And in his other book Jawahir al-Quran (The Jewels of the Quran), which was written after the Ihya, he has more to say about this matter. In the chapter on “The Stemming of the Sciences of the Ancients and the Moderns from the Quran”, he says: The principle of these sciences, which we have enumerated and of those which we have not specified, are not outside the Quran, for all of these sciences are drawn from one of the seas of knowledge of God—may He be exalted—i.e., the sea of His works. We have already mentioned that the Quran is [like] a sea which as no shore, and that “if the ocean became ink for [transcribing] the words of my Lord, surely the ocean would be exhausted before the words of my Lord came to an end.” Among the works of God—may he be exalted—which [for their vastness can be called] the sea of His works are, for instance, recovery and disease, as He—may He be exalted—narrating the words of Abraham, said, “When I fall ill it is He who restores me to health”….This single work can only be known by him who knows the science of medicine completely, for this science means nothing but the knowledge of all aspects of disease together with their symptoms, and knowledge of their cure and its means. Among the works of God are [also] the determination of [man’s] knowledge of the sun and the moon and of their stages according to a fixed reckoning, as God—may He be exalted—said “The sun and the moon move according to a fixed reckoning.”
“He ordained stages for the moon so that you might learn the method of calculating years and determining time….” The real meaning of the movements of the sun and the moon according to a fixed reckoning and of the eclipses of both, of the merging of the night into day and the manner of wrapping one of them around the other, can only be known by him who knows the manner of the composition of the heavens and the earth, and this itself is a science (i.e., astronomy)….Should we go on narrating the details of Divine works to which the verses of the Quran point, it would take a long time. Only an indication of their confluence is possible [here], and we have done this where we have mentioned that knowledge of Divine works is among the sum total of knowledge of God—may He be exalted. That sum total includes these details. Likewise, every division we have briefly described, will, if further divided, branch off into many details[2].
Reflect, then, on the Quran and seek its wonderful meanings, so that perchance you may encounter in it the confluence of the sciences of the ancients and the moderns and the sum total of their beginnings. Reflection on the Quran is intended only for reaching from the brief description of these sciences to their detailed knowledge and it is [like] an ocean that has no shore.
Al –Suyuti (d. 911/1505) too, has the same view[3]. In his book al-Itqan fi ‘ulum al-Qur’an, he tries to argue that the Quran contains all sciences. Using verses like: “…We have not neglected anything in this Book…” (6:38)
“…And We have revealed the Book to you explaining clearly everything.” (16:89)
and also prophetic traditions such as: The Prophet said, “There shall be evils”. He was asked, “What can save us from them?” He answered, “Allah’s Book; there is in it the news of what happened before you and the news of what shall happen after you….
he argues that the Quran contains the sciences of the ancients and of the moderns. Furthermore he says: Allah’s Book contains everything. There is no basic section or problem of any science for which there is no indication in the Quran. In the Quran, one finds the wondrous aspects of the creatures, the spiritual dimension of the heavens and the earth, what is in the horizon’s loftiest part and what is beneath the sod, the beginning of creation…[4]
We find this kind of outlook in Muslim scholars of recent times too. For example, ‘Abd al-Rahman al-Kawabiki (d. 1902), in his book, Tab ‘al-‘Istibad (the Nature of Despotism) says: In recent centuries, science has revealed many facts and these are attributed to their discoverers who are European or American. But those who examine the Quran carefully, find that most of those facts were stated, explicitly or implicitly, in the Quran thirteen centuries ago; and these were not left hidden but to show, upon their discovery a miracle of the Quran, and to indicate that it is the word of the Lord who only is aware of the hidden.[5]
And among the recent proponents of this view is Mustafa Sadiq al-Rafi’i. In the Quran, he said, one finds many hints for the scientific facts; and modern science helps us to interpret the meanings of some of the Quranic verses and to discover their facts.[6]Also Shaykh Muhammad Bakit says: Those who think that the Quran is a book for the statement of the (Islamic) laws and for legislation are avoiding the truth. The Quran is the source of all sciences and the human civilization…. The Quran, with its statements and hints, has evidence for the essence and attributes of all things and their quantitative and qualitative changes and contains all sciences dealing with the external realities, whether they are heavenly or earthly.[7]
At this point , it is necessary to mention that the early ‘ulama’s motive in considering the Quran as the source of all sciences arose out of their conviction in the comprehensiveness of the Quran, but the recent scholars, while believing in this, have more emphasis on proving the miraculous state of the Quran in the scientific domain. Therefore, they try to adapt the Quran to the findings of contemporary science.
Some of them believe that there is nothing in the new findings of science which was not predicted by the Quran. For example, al-Tantawi, in his commentary on the Quran, tries to extract the results of the physical and natural sciences from the Quran, and is afraid that he might not live long enough to locate all of the findings of science and technology in the Quran. Yet, he is happy that the discoveries of science up to now are indicative of the prophetic power of the Quran.[8]
He even tries to reconcile unestablished theories of science with the Quran. In our time we find a tremendous increase in this kind of activity, and some Muslim scholars want to extract all the findings of contemporary science from the Quran, and thereby prove the miraculous nature of the Quran and its fitness for survival. For instance, ‘Abd al-Razzaq Nawfal in his book The Quran and Modern Science, says: Thus, when we prove to non-Arabs that the Quran contains the principles of modern science and it has already spoken of every new scientific phenomenon, in this kind of miracle of the Quran not enough to attract their attention to the Quran…. Isn’t the scientific miracle of the Quran the way to attract non-Arabs to Islam…? The day that we accomplish the translation, into various languages, of what the Quran has predicted and the development of various sciences has confirmed, our mission would be over and our call would be communicated, and the miraculous nature of the Quran would be clear for non-Arabs.[9]
And Maurice Bucaille says: The Quran follows on from the two revelations that preceded it and is not only free from contradictions in its narrations, the sign of various human manipulations to be found in the Gospels, but provide a quality all of its own for those who examine it objectively and in the light of science, i.e., its complete agreement with modern scientific data. What is more, statements are to be found in it (as has been shown) that are connected with science: and yet it is unthinkable that a man of Muhammad’s time could have been the author of them. Modern scientific knowledge therefore allows us to understand certain verses of the Quran which, until now, it has been impossible to interpret.[10]
Some of the authors have tried very hard to extract every important idea of contemporary science from the Quran, and in this effort have outstretched the normal usage of the Arabic language. For example, some people claim that the idea of atom and sub-atomic particles is mentioned in the Quran: To prove this, they resort to the following verses:[11]
…There does not lie concealed from your Lord the weight of a small particle in the earth or in the heaven, nor anything less than that nor greater, but it is in a clear Book. (10:61)
…Not the weight of a (small) particle is absent from Him in the heavens or in the earth, and neither less than that nor greater, but (all) is in a clear Book. (34:3)
Here, they identify the Arabic word “dharrah” with atom, whereas the customary meaning of it was “small ant” or “a small dust particle”[12], and there is no convincing reasons to believe that Allah has used a terminology that our prophet’s contemporaries could not understand.
The efforts to reconcile a sacred scripture with contemporary science are not restricted to Muslims. Christians, too, try to extract modern science from the Bible, and Jews have done the same thing with the Old Testament. They, too, consider this to be a sign of validity of their book.
Notes:
[1] Abu Hamid al-Ghazali, Ihya’ ‘ulum al-Din (Dar al-Ma’rifah) vol. 1, p. 289.
[2] Abu Hamid al-Ghazali, The Jewels of the Quran, trans. by Muhammad Abu al-Qasim (Routledge & Kegan Paul, 1983), pp. 45-48
[3] M.H. al-Dhahabi, al-Tafsir wal mufassirun (Dar al-Kutub al-Hadith), vol. 2 p. 420.
[4] M.H. al-Dhahabi, al-Tafsir wal mufassirun vol. 2 477-484.
[5] Abd al-Rahman al-Kawakibi, Tab’ al-‘istibdad (Dar al-Qur’an al-Karim, 1373), p. 42.
[6] Mustafa Sadiq al-Rafi’I, I’jaz al-Qur’an wa al-balaghat al-Nabawiyyah (Dar al-Kitab al-‘Arabi), pp. 127-129
[7] Shaykh Muhammad Bakhit, Tanbih al-Uqul al-Insani… (Maktabat A. Rabi’), pp. 9-10.
[8] ‘Ref. 3, pp. 505
[9] Abd al-Razzaq Nawfal, al-Quran wal ‘ilm al-hadith (Dar al-Kitab al-‘Arabi), p. 26.Maurice Bucaille, The Bible, the Quran, and Science, Crescent Publishing Co. (1978), p. 251.
[10]Maurice Bucaille, The Bible, the Quran, and Science, Crescent Publishing Co. (1978), p. 251.
[11] Yusuf Muruwwah, al-Ulum, al-tabi’iyyah fi al-Quran (Muruwwah al-‘Ilmiyyah), pp. 161-165.M.J.
[12] Maghniyyah, al-Tafsir al-kashif (Dar al-‘ilm lil-Malayin), vol. 4, p. 173.