Scientific Miracles in the Qur'an Debunked.
Reply #458 - October 07, 2015, 11:43 AM
I want to explain those "Scientific miracles" in more detail.
1. "Have those who disbelieved not considered that the heavens and the earth were a joined entity, and We separated them and made from water every living thing? Then will they not believe?" -(21:30)
This verse indicates that the earth and heavens were already existent at that time, but were separated. During the Big Bang, the earth was completely non-existent, so even doctoring of language fails to prove Quran scientific.
The idea that the heavens and earth were once joined and then separated by the activity of Gods and Goddesses was actually quite common among pagans of the Middle East. Among the Egyptians for example, it was the involuntary separation of Geb (the earth god) from his wife and sister Nut (the sky goddess) that was responsible for the division of the earth from the sky. The Sumerian Epic of Gilgamesh likewise describes the moment “when the heavens had been separated from the earth, when the earth had been delimited from the heavens” as a result of the separation of a sky God (An) from a earth Goddess (Ki). If you remove the pagan references, you have the same story as found in the Quran:
"Heaven and earth were inseparable before Enlil split them in two. His father An carried away heaven, while his mother Ki, in company with Enlil, took the earth. In this context, Enlil was also known as the inventor of the pickaxe/hoe (favorite tool of the Sumerians) who caused plants to grow and mankind to be born. After cleaving the heavens from the earth, Enlil created the pickaxe and broke up earth's crust. It was this act that caused human beings to spring from the earth. As the Lord of the Winds, Enlil had charge of both the great storms and the kindly winds of spring, which came forth at his command from his mouth and nostrils."
2. "We have built the heaven with might, and We it is Who make the vast extent (thereof)." -(51:47)
In Arabic, there are what are called "verb paradigms" where a verb takes on a specific related meaning by changing the paradigm (there is no equivalent in English). One paradigm is called the "causative", so for example, "teach" (in Arabic darrasa) is the causative of "learn" (in Arabic darasa) because when you teach someone something it causes them to learn. As a result, in this verse, if God is the "expander" we need a causative verb (because it is causing something else to expand). The Arabic uses the normal verb* to describe the universe being "expansive", not in a state of caused expansion. As a result, the muslims have to force the Arabic grammar to deny itself in order to come to their conclusion. The fakery becomes more obvious when you realize that only Qurans translated into English after the Big Bang was widely accepted have this change. (Pickthall, Muhsin Khan, and Yusuf Ali, who all translated before the Big Bang was discovered do not make the same normal-to-causative jump, which is correct.)
3. "And it is He who created the night and the day and the sun and the moon; all [heavenly bodies] in an orbit are swimming." -(21:33)
These imply a belief that there were locations where the sun sets and rises:
Ibn ‘Umar reported Allah’s Messenger (may peace be upon him) as saying: "Do not intend to observe prayer at the time of the rising of the sun nor at its setting, for it rises between the horns of Satan." -Sahih Muslim 4:1807
…then cease prayer till the sun sets, for it sets between the horns of devil, and at that time the unbelievers prostrate themselves before it… -Sahih Muslim 4:1812
The demonstrates a belief that the sun actually moves through the sky each day:
…So, the prophet carried out the expedition and when he reached that town at the time or nearly at the time of the ‘Asr prayer, he said to the sun, ‘O sun! You are under Allah’s Order and I am under Allah’s Order. O Allah! Stop it (i.e. the sun) from setting.’ It was stopped till Allah made him victorious…. -Sahih Bukhari 4:53:353
The whole Quran never once mentions the revolution of earth, it only mentions the motion of the sun and moon.
This verse has the word "yasbehuna" in it, which means "they swim". There is actually a word for revolve (and it existed back then) which is "yaduruna", which comes from the word "da'era" - meaning circle. As a result, it would have been perfectly possible for Muhammad to say that the planets were "revolving in their orbits" instead of "swimming in their orbits". There is no other place in Arabic where "swimming" is used for "revolving". Of course, it becomes more obvious what fakery they are engaging in when you realize that the dominant theory at the time was that the planets were suspended in a liquid (not vacuous space) and, therefore, would actually have to swim to move forward.
4. The Quran implies a belief of a flat earth.
In Arabic, each word must be derived from its root. The root usually consists of three letters that can be manipulated, by adding vowels, prefixes and suffixes in order to produce different words with different meanings. For example, "ka-ta-ba" (to write) is the root for many words such as kitab (book), maktaba (library), katib (author), maktoob (written), kitabat (writings) et cetera. Let's now take the word mentioned to mean egg of an ostrich, "Duhiya". This word is not a root. It is a noun and is derived from "da-ha-wa", the same root that the verb "dahaha" comes from. Furthermore, Duhiya does not even mean the egg of an ostrich. The word "dahaha" means the place in the sand where the ostrich lays its eggs.(Nevertheless, many Muslims still cling to the belief that dahaha means an ostrich egg, despite the scientific difficulty this presents in that the earth is an oblate spheroid while the ostrich egg is a prolate spheroid. Thus the earth and the ostrich egg are dissimilar in three dimensions.)
The verse (2:144) tells all muslims to pray towards the Kaaba (qiblah being the direction that one has to face in order to do this). Even if we were to use the traditional muslim method of determining qiblah (i.e. a great circle) this would still be blasphemous because you would be simultaneously praying with your face and backside aimed towards the Kaaba. There is also one point on the opposite 'side' of the earth where any direction for all 360 degrees would be facing 'towards' Mecca and consequently, there would be no one direction that would be the "correct one."
The verse (2:187) tells muslims, when fasting, to not eat, drink, or have sexual intercourse during sunlight hours. This can cause a huge problem for those who live close to the North or South poles. The closer we get to the poles, the longer our days or nights become. They can eventually extend for up to several months each, making this verse, the fourth Pillar of Islam, impossible to practice without starving yourself to death. Again, this problem would not exist on a flat earth model.
Muslim apologists often use these verses (22:61, 31:29, 39:5) to support their claim of the Quran indicating a belief of a spherical earth. They claim, "Merging here means that the night slowly and gradually changes to day and vice versa. This phenomenon can only take place if the earth is spherical. If the earth was flat, there would have been a sudden change from night to day and from day to night." However, this claim is false. The gradual shift from day to night and vice versa would still happen on a flat earth model. The only difference is that the flat earth model would be lit up at the same time, there would be no timezones just the same night and day for everyone. A simple experiment can be done to demonstrate the point. All that is needed is a dark room, table and flashlight. If the flashlight is slowed raised above the edge of the table (similar to a sunrise), a gradual shift from darkness to light will be observed. So these verses give no information about the earth's shape. They are merely observations that anyone can make. In addition, these verses erroneously refer to lightness and darkness as two different things. They are in fact the same thing. The Night does not "overlap" the Day because there is only light, and darkness is nothing but the absence of light.
This implies a bounded, flat earth belief:
Thauban reported that Allah’s Messenger (may peace be upon him) said: "Allah drew the ends of the world near one another for my sake. And I have seen its eastern and western ends…." -Sahih Muslim 41:6904
Source: Wikiislam
5. Quran claiming the heavens are in layers:
"Do you not consider how Allah has created seven heavens in layers." -(71:15)
Aristotle had a concept of the heavens consisting of layers. (Search "The Universe of Aristotle and Ptolemy")
Quran claiming there are seven heavens and seven earths:
"It is Allah who has created seven heavens and of the earth, the like of them. [His] command descends among them so you may know that Allah is over all things competent and that Allah has encompassed all things in knowledge. -(65:15)
Sumerian incantations of the late second millennium BCE make references to seven heavens and seven earths. One such incantation is: "an-imin-bi ki-imin-bi" (the heavens are seven, the earths are seven.)
In antiquity, the classical planets or naked eye planets were the seven non-fixed objects visible in the sky. The classical planets were, therefore, the Sun and Moon and the five planets Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter, and Saturn. The number "seven" was superstitious to pagans. (Search "Classical planet")
Topic: Scientific Miracles in the Qur'an Debunked.