ABSTRACT
The word
“Earth” is mentioned in the Holy Qur’ an 461 times to
describe the whole planet, its outer rocky cover or the soil
section on top of that cover. Verses of geological interest
amidst this large number exceed 11. Only a few of such
verses are quoted here which testify to the Divine purity of
this revealed book. These are:
1- Verse
(LXXXVI: 12) which plainly states that our planet is deeply
faulted, a fact proved very recently to be a characteristic
of our planet.
2- Verse
(LII:6) which describes certain seas to be physically set on
fire, a fact recently proved to characterize all present-day
oceans and some seas that are experiencing
sea-floor-spreading.
3- Verse
(LXXVIII: 7) which describes mountains as pegs (or pickets).
In as much as the largest length of the picket is buried in
the ground and the least of it shows on the surface and its
function is fixation; modern Earth Sciences have proved the
same for mountains.
4- Verses
(IXiIII:3); (XV: 19); (XVI: 15); (XXII:31); (XXIVII:61);
(IXXXIE: 10); (XLI: 10); (L:7); (LXXVII:25-27) and
(LXXIX:32) which emphasize that the main role of mountains
is the fixation of the Earth, lest it should shake with us.
5- Verse
(LVII: 25) which testifies to the celestial
(extra-terrestrial) origin of iron in our planet (at least)
by emphasizing that it was physically sent down to Earth, a
fact that came to our knowledge oniy a few decades ago.
INTRODUCTION
The Holy Qur’an is basically a book of guidance, revealed by
the Creator (all glory be to Him) to address areas that
cannot be fathomed by the human intellect such as the
essence of faith, the acts of worship, the moral code and
the rules and regulations that govern the various
transactions between human beings.
Besides this
guidance, the glorious Qur’an refers to the cosmos (the
earth and the heavens, as well as to many of their
components, inhabitants and phenomena) in numerous verses,
that exceed 1000 in number. Such references come in the
context testifying to the unlimited might, knowledge and
wisdom of The Creator Who has brought this universe into
being, and is capable of its annihilation and of its re
creation.
Consequently,
the Qur’anic cosmic verses are not meant to be pieces of
scientific information per se, as scientific knowledge has
been left for man to gain (through observation and
conclusion or experimentation, observation and conclusion)
over a long span of time. This is simply due to the
limitations of the human senses and the cumulative nature of
the scientific knowledge. Yet, the illustrious Qur’ an,
being the word of the Creator, and hence, the absolute
truth, Quranic verses with cosmic reflections must convey a
number of absolute facts about the universe. Of these
verses, many speak of the “earth”, which is mentioned 461
times throughout the Holy Qur’an to describe the whole
planet, its outer rocky cover, or the soil section on top of
that cover. Verses of geological interest amongst these
amount to more than 110, and can be grouped into 11
categories as follows:
1- One verse that instructs
man to travel through the earth, make his own observations
and use such surveillance to reflect on how creation was
originated (XXIX:20).
2- A group of verses
which refer to the shape of the earth (XIII:3; XV: 19;
IXXVI:28; XXXIX:5; L:7; LV:17; LXV: 12; LXVII:3; LXX:40,
41); its motions (XXI:33; XXXVI:40; XXVII:88; XIII:3
XCI:1-4; XCII:1,2; X:67; LX1XVIII:lO, 11; XXVII:71-73;
111:27; XXIX:61; XXXT:29; XIXXIV:13; LVII:6; XXXVI:37 II:
164; III: 190; X:6; XXIII:80; X1LV:5; XIV:33;) and its
origin (XXI: 30) where both the earth and the heavens are
clearly described to have constituted (in their distant
past) one entity (the initial singularity) before they split
apart (or the so-called Big Bang). This group also includes
verses that emphasize the vastly distant positions of stars
(LVI:75, 76), the expanding nature of the universe (LI:47),
the smoky nature of the early sky (universe) (XLI: 11, 12),
the existence of the interstellar matter (V:l7, 18; X:65;
XV:85; XX:6; XX 16; XXV:59; IXIXIVI:24; XXX:8; XXXII:4;
XXXVII:5; XXXVIII: 10, 27, 66; XLIII:85; XLIV:7, 38; XLVI:3;
L:38; LXXVIII:37) and the concentric nature of both the
heavens and the earth (the universe) {(LXVII:3)}; (LXXI:15)
and (LXV:12)}. *
3- One verse stating
that iron was sent down to us, thus emphasizing the
celestial (extra-terrestrial) origin of iron in our planet
(at least) (LVII: 25).
4- One verse that
describes the deeply (faulted) nature of the earth (LXXXVI:
12).
5- A group of verses that
describe some of the most recently discovered oceanographic
phenomena such as:
a) The
superheated nature of the bottoms of certain seas and
oceans (implying intensive submarine volcanic activity
associated with sea floor spreading) (LII:6).
b) The complete separation of different bodies of water
(fresh and saline, as well as saline waters of different
compositions) that do not mix completely or immediately
due to the constant pres ence of impassable barriers in
between (XXV:53; L V:19,20).
c) The multitude of darkness produced in the greatest
depths of oceans by deep currents, topped by surface
currents, topped by clouds (XXIV:40).
6- One verse that describes
mountains as pegs or pickets (LXXVIII:7), emphasizing their
relatively small, above-ground elevations, compared to their
much more deeply buried parts (roots), and their role in the
fixation of continental masses as well as of the whole
planet. This role is emphasized in ten other verses which
also ascribe more functions to mountains such as their part
in the process of precipitation of rain and in the formation
of natural heads for running streams (XIII:3); XV: 19; XVI:
15, XXI: 31; XXVII: 61; XXXI:10; L:7: LXXVII: 27; LXXIX:
32). In the twelfth verse of this group, the Qur an asks the
human beings to contemplate on a number of observations in
the universe, including how mountains are made to stand up
on the surface of the earth (LXXXVIII: 19). Such speculation
has led to the formulation of the concept of isostacy which
is currently used to explain the rising of mountains (and of
all other surface elevations) above its surroundings.
In another
verse of this group (XXXV:27), the Qur’an describes
mountains as being composed of white and red tracts of
various shades of colours and of others that are black and
intense in hue. This is in clear reference to both acidic
mountains (which are dominantly granitic in composition,
with overwhelming white and red colours of various shades)
and basic to ultrabasic mountains (which are dominantly
basaltic! gabbroic in composition with black coloured
ferromagnesian minerals). Each of these major primary rock
groups has its specific chemical and mineralogical
composition as well as its specific temperature of
separation from its mother magma. Their dominant colours are
also reflected in their secondary and br tertiary products
of sedimentary and metamorphic rocks, and hence, the
importance of these three principal colours (white, red and
black) in the classification of igneous rocks and of their
derivatives.
7- A group of verses that
reflect on the earth’s hydrosphere and atmosphere, which are
both clearly stated to have been outgassed from within the
earth(LXXIX: 30, 31), a fact that is only very recently
discovered. Other verses in this group comment on the
protective nature of the atmosphere for life on earth (XX
LXXXVI: 11), the absolute darkness of the outer space (XV:
14, 15), the reduction of atmospheric pressure with
elevation (VI: 125) and the glowing nature of the early
nights of our planet before the formation of its protective
atmospheric spheres (XVII: 12).
8- A group of verses that
emphasize the thinness of the earth’s crust (LXXI: 19), the
constant levelling and degradation of the earth’s surface
and the gradual change in the geographic dimensions of
continental masses, and even the contraction of the whole
planet and the deformation of its surface (XIII: 41;
XXII:44; LXXVIII: 6).
9- Verses emphasizing the
fact that groundwater is generated from rain, thus
reflecting on the hydro geological cycle (XV: 22; XXII: 18),
and others relating life on earth to water (XXI: 30; XXIV:
45) or reflecting on the possibility of classifying
lifeforms(VI:38).
10- Verses emphasizing
the fact that the process of creation took place in
successive stages over tremendously long spans of time (XLI:
9-12; XXII: 47; XXXII: 5, etc).
11- Two verses that
describe the end of our planet and of the whole universe by
reversing the process of its creation [ so-called Big Crunch
(XXI: 104)], after which the eternal universe will be
created (XIV: 48).
Such
knowledge was not available before the turn of the present
century, and most of it has just started to be understood
through the painstaking analysis of massive amounts of
scientific observations. The Qur’anic precedence with such
precise and comprehensive knowledge points to only one of
the multifarious miraculous nature of this Glorious Book,
being the last Divine message, and the only one that has
been kept intact with exactly the same language of
revelation word to word and letter to letter for more than
14 centuries.
From the
above mentioned discussion it is obvious that Qur’ anic
verses with geological notions exceed 110 fri number and
need voluminous texts to explain. Consequently, the present
paper concentrates on only a few of these verses which
represent established facts and concepts in the area of
Earth Sciences and are only given as examples of the
miraculous nature of the Holy Qur’ an as follows:
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by Dr. Z.R.M. EL-NAGGAR.
The Seventh International Conference on Scientific Signs in
Quran & Sunnah
* In each
of these paired numbers, the first (or the Roman Number)
indicates the number of the Qur’anic chapter (or Surah),
while the second (or the Arabic Number) indicates the number
of the Qur’anic verse or verses (Ayah or Ayat) in the Surah
(chapter).
* MYBP = Million Years Before Present |
