THE SCIENTIFIC MIRACLES OF THE QUR'ANINTRODUCTION Fourteen centuries ago, God sent down
Qur'an to mankind as a book of guidance. He called upon people to be guided to
truth by adhering to this book. From
day of its revelation to
day of judgement, this last divine book will remain
sole guide for humanity. The matchless style of
Qur'an and
superior wisdom in it are definite evidence that it is
word of God. In addition,
Qur'an has many miraculous attributes proving that it is a revelation from God. One of these attributes is
fact that a number of scientific truths that we have only been able to uncover by
technology of
20th century were stated in
Qur'an 1,400 years ago. Of course
Qur'an is not a book of science. However, many scientific facts that are expressed in an extremely concise and profound manner in its verses have only been discovered with
technology of
20th century. These facts could not have been known at
time of
Qur'an's revelation, and this is still more proof that
Qur'an is
word of God. In order to understand
scientific miracle of
Qur'an, we must first take a look at
level of science at
time when this holy book was revealed. In
7th century, when
Qur'an was revealed, Arab society had many superstitious and groundless beliefs where scientific issues were concerned. Lacking
technology to examine
universe and nature, these early Arabs believed in legends inherited from past generations. They supposed, for example, that mountains supported
sky above. They believed that
earth was flat and that there were high mountains at its both ends. It was thought that these mountains were pillars that kept
vault of heaven high above. However all these superstitious beliefs of Arab society were eliminated with
Qur'an. In Sura Sad, verse 2, it was said: "God is He who raised up
heavens without any support..." (The Qur'an, 13:2). This verse invalidated
belief that
sky remains above because of
mountains. In many other subjects, important facts were revealed at a time when no one could have known them. The Qur'an, which was revealed at a time when people knew very little about astronomy, physics, or biology, contains key facts on a variety of subjects such as
creation of
universe,
creation of
human being,
structure of
atmosphere, and
delicate balances that make life on earth possible. Now, let us look at some of these scientific miracles revealed in
Qur'an together. THE COMING OF THE UNIVERSE INTO EXISTENCE The origin of
universe is described in
Qur'an in
following verse: He is
Originator of
heavens and
earth. (The Qur'an, 6:101) This information given in
Qur'an is in full agreement with
findings of contemporary science. The conclusion that astrophysics has reached today is that
entire universe, together with
dimensions of matter and time, came into existence as a result of a great explosion that occurred in no time. This event, known as "The Big Bang" proved that
universe was created from nothingness as
result of
explosion of a single point. Modern scientific circles are in agreement that
Big Bang is
only rational and provable explanation of
beginning of
universe and of how
universe came into being. Before
Big Bang, there was no such thing as matter. From a condition of non-existence in which neither matter, nor energy, nor even time existed, and which can only be described metaphysically, matter, energy, and time were all created. This fact, only recently discovered by modern physics, was announced to us in
Qur'an 1,400 years ago.
THE EXPANSION OF THE UNIVERSE In
Qur'an, which was revealed 14 centuries ago at a time when
science of astronomy was still primitive,
expansion of
universe was described like this: And it is We who have constructed
heaven with might, and verily, it is We who are steadily expanding it. (The Qur'an, 51:47) The word "heaven", as stated in this verse, is used in various places in
Qur'an with
meaning of space and universe. Here again,
word is used with this meaning. In other words, in
Qur'an it is revealed that
universe "expands". And this is
very conclusion that science has reached today. Until
dawn of
20th century,
only view prevailing in
world of science was that "the universe has a constant nature and it has existed since infinite time". The research, observations, and calculations carried out by means of modern technology, however, have revealed that
universe in fact had a beginning, and that it constantly "expands". At
beginning of
20th century,
Russian physicist Alexander Friedmann and
Belgian cosmologist Georges Lemaitre theoretically calculated that
universe is in constant motion and that it is expanding. This fact was proved also by observational data in 1929. While observing
sky with a telescope, Edwin Hubble,
American astronomer, discovered that
stars and galaxies were constantly moving away from each other. A universe where everything constantly moves away from everything else implied a constantly expanding universe. The observations carried out in
following years verified that
universe is constantly expanding. This fact was explained in
Qur'an when that was still unknown to anyone. This is because
Qur'an is
word of God,
Creator, and
Ruler of
entire universe.