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.