I'm in a debate where a guy thinks the Quran is from God. Please give me feedback from his arguments:
. Historical Accuracies in the Quran
The Quranic distinction between Pharaoh and King
In the Quran during the time of Prophet Yusuf (Joseph), the ruler of Egypt is referred to only as King. During the time of Moses, the ruler of Egypt is strictly referred to as Pharaoh. Chronologically, the story of Yusuf (Joseph) takes place before the story of Muusa (Moses) in the Quran (peace be upon both prophets).
==Surah Yusuf Chapter 12 Verse 43==
“The king (of Egypt) said: "I do see (in a vision) seven fat kine, whom seven lean ones devour, and seven green ears of corn, and seven (others) withered. O ye chiefs! Expound to me my vision if it be that ye can interpret visions."
==Surah Yusuf Chapter 12 Verse 72==
“They said: "We miss the great beaker of the king; for him who produces it, is (the reward of) a camel load; I will be bound by it.”
==Surah Al Araf Chapter 7 Verse 104==
“Moses said: "O Pharaoh! I am a messenger from the Lord of the worlds.”
==Surah Yunus Chapter 10 Verse 75==
“Then after them sent We Moses and Aaron to Pharaoh and his chiefs with Our Signs. But they were arrogant: they were a people in sin.”
From here we can see the ruler of Egypt during the time of Moses is strictly referred to as Pharaoh and that the ruler of Egypt during the time of Prophet Yusuf (Joseph) is referred to only as King (peace be upon the prophets). There are historical reasons for these clear distinctions within the Quran. The time line of Ancient Egypt is provided by the National Geographic [1].It is a well known fact historically that the title of Pharaoh began to come into use in the New Kingdom era of Egypt [2][3]. Before the New Kingdom era they use to refer to the ruler as king not Pharaoh. During the Middle Kingdom for example, the rulers were Theban Kings. So the title Pharaoh is used after the title king is used in ancient Egyptian history. Since the Quran is from Allah, we would expect the Quran to differentiate between this and this is exactly what it does. This matches up exactly with the Quran which makes these key distinctions and as such is historically accurate.
To Summarize: The Quran says the title King was used before Pharaoh, Ancient Egyptian history shows that the title King was used before Pharaoh
The Queen of Sheba and Sun Worship
==Surah An Naml Chapter 27 Verses 22-24==
“But the Hoopoe tarried not far: he (came up and) said: "I have compassed (territory) which thou hast not compassed, and I have come to thee from Saba with tidings true.
"I found (there) a woman ruling over them and provided with every requisite; and she has a magnificent throne.
"I found her and her people worshipping the sun besides Allah: Satan has made their deeds seem pleasing in their eyes, and has kept them away from the Path,- so they receive no guidance.”
Prophet Sulaiman (Solomon) (peace be upon him) was informed by the Hoopoe bird that he saw the people of Sheba and the Queen of Sheba. The Quran mentions that they were worshipping a sun diety. The modern evidence for the location of the kingdom of Queen Sheba is Southern Arabia around Yemen [4][5]. The national God of Sheba was called Almaqah. For a long time, people thought that this was a lunar diety. Recent investigations have shown that the characteristics represent a solar diety. This makes the Quran historically accurate with the most recent data (2012) available.
“Until recently Almaqah was considered to be a moon god, under the influence of a now generally rejected conception of a South Arabian pantheon consisting of an exclusive triad: Father Moon, Mother Sun (the word "sun" is feminine in Arabic), and Son Venus. Recent studies underline that the symbols of the bull's head and the vine motif that are associated with him are solar and Dionysiac attributes and are more consistent with a sun god, a male consort of the sun goddess.”[6]
2. Scientific accuracies in the Quran
Oceanography
==Surah An Nur Chapter 24 Verse 40==
“Or (the Unbelievers' state) is like the depths of darkness in a vast deep ocean, overwhelmed with billow topped by billow, topped by (dark) clouds: depths of darkness, one above another: if a man stretches out his hands, he can hardly see it! for any to whom Allah giveth not light, there is no light!”
What is most obvious at the beginning is that the Quran mentions darkness in the depths of the ocean. While it may seem obvious to us today, this could not have possibly known during the time the Quran was revealed. This is because man could only have dived at most 20-30m into the ocean. From 0-80m into the ocean is the euphotic zone which is well lit and sufficiently illuminated [7]. This verse in the Glorious Quran then mentions waves, and it clearly mentions waves inside a deep ocean. Therefore, it is mentioning internal waves in the ocean. What is stated in the Quran accurately agrees with modern science. The Massachusetts institute of technology says:
“internal waves — huge but nearly invisible ripples that occur in the oceans, the atmosphere and stars”[8]
Water Cycle
==Surah Az Zumar Chapter 39 Verse 21==
“Seest thou not that Allah sends down rain from the sky, and leads it through springs in the earth? Then He causes to grow, therewith, produce of various colours: then it withers; thou wilt see it grow yellow; then He makes it dry up and crumble away. Truly, in this, is a Message of remembrance to men of understanding.”
The Quran mentions the origins of Groundwater and springs as being rain which goes through the earth. This agrees with science [9]. One might try to argue that this has been copied or plagiarized from Greek philosophers but the fact of the matter is that none of the famous Greek philosophers had a clue about this fact. The Water Problems Institute, Russian Academy of Sciences, Moscow, Russia states:
“Aspects of groundwater origin were considered in many projects and philosophic works of the ancient Greek and Roman philosophers (Miletsky, Plato, Aristotle, Kar, Seneka, Pollio etc). The first quantitative concepts of groundwater formation due to infiltration of atmospheric precipitation were formed by French scientists P. Perro and E. Marriott in the middle of the eighteenth century based on the study of water balance in the Seine River” [10]
This is strong evidence that the origins of Groundwater or springs were not known or even conceived of during the time of Prophet Muhammad (peace and blessings be upon him) but the Quran mentions this amazing fact many centuries ago.
3. High Quality Literature
Precise wording of the Quran
==Surah Al Imran Chapter 3 Verses 96-97==
“The first House (of worship) appointed for men was that at Bakka: Full of blessing and of guidance for all kinds of beings.
In it are Signs Manifest; (for example), the Station of Abraham; whoever enters it attains security; Pilgrimage thereto is a duty men owe to Allah,- those who can afford the journey; but if any deny faith, Allah stands not in need of any of His creatures.”
The name Bakka is an ancient name and another name for Makka, specifically it is for the place of the Kaaba where Muslims perform pilgrimage [11]. The 'b' and the 'm' are interchangable as explained. The root word of Bakka in Arabic means to crowd, to suffocate (stifling) etc [12]. When we analyze the second verse after Bakka is used, this reveals a precision on the use of words within the specific context. The next verse then talks about the obligation of pilgrimage and the word Bakka is a much better word to use then Makka in this context since Bakka specifically refers to the Kaaba and the Kaaba is a place which is crowded with pilgrims. This reveals a precision on the usage of words in the Quran.
==>Conclusions<==
Arguments are unique to the Quran and cannot be applied to other scriptures. The arguments either could not have been known or reveal precision on the Quran, which provide proof that it is from Allah.
Sources
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Topic: Help with these "miracles."