In answer to the video "43 Scientific Mistakes in the Quran"
23:14"[We] then formed the drop into a clot and formed the clot into a lump and formed the lump into bones and clothed the bones in flesh; and then brought him into being as another creature..."
This embryology verse, read without any preconceived notions and with the correct understanding of each Arabic word is very straightforward. It all starts with a nutfa, or drop. This singular nutfa is connected in 76:2 to the plural "amshajin" denoting it being a blend of components. So until now, we know that embryonic life necessitates, not only the drop, ie the sperm, but the drop to be mixed with other components.
This wasnt revealing to the primary Arab addressees anything they didnt already know in terms of knowledge of nature. They obviously understood that complex life could not simply spring from a drop of sperm, they understood they needed to impregnate a woman. They also knew that impregnation wasnt sometimes enough as women could be infertile. So they knew, just as the verse is saying, that the sperm needs to be mixed with the appropriate female components for the first stages of life to be possible. Hence the statement attributed to the prophet
"man is created from a man's nutfa and a woman's nutfa".
The verse continues, after the "drop" stage, comes the clot. The word used is ALAQA, meaning something that sticks, or attaches to another. The famous poems hanged on the Kaaba in pre-islamic times were called mu-allaqaat. In abstract, it expresses one's emotional attachement. The early embryo shares many concrete features with the alaqa. A blood clot, because it is sticky, is called ALAQA but the term is by no means used exclusively for it. After the "sticky thing" stage comes the mudghata which means a lump of flesh. That lump is elsewhere described with an expression denoting its very primitive state
22:5"formed and unformed".
This evokes the image of the small aggregate of embryonic cells before their complete differentiation. Within this lump, bones are formed and are covered with flesh. At this point the verse doesnt say whether that flesh was shaped before, after or together with the bones. All the passage speaks of is the COVERING of the bones with flesh, not the making of this flesh itself. The particle used to link every stage is called FA isti'nafiya which simply connects 2 statements without indicating sequential order. And even if for argument's sake we take the particle as denoting sequence, it remains irrelevant to the contention that this covering flesh was formed after the bones. This is because, as already noted, the FORMATION of the flesh is nowhere mentionned. This silence does not warrant the arbitrary conclusion that it must have formed after the bones. For that conclusion to be justified one would need an absolute assertion "ALL the lump was made into bones". Also one expects the formation of the flesh to be listed, just as it lists the previous relevant stages in the verse.
Finally, to justify the "flesh after bones" theory, no statement elsewhere in the Quran should allow the possibility that something other than bones could be formed in that lump. But the Quran neither uses absolute terms (all), nor does it list the formation of the flesh among the stages of the fetus. That omission, and the flexible use of words are both highly relevant, testifying to the Quran's surgical precision and internal consistency. Because in fact, there is in 22:5 a statement allowing for the bones and flesh to have formed within the lump, which is a stage prior to the "covering" of the bones with flesh. It says the completed human being is made from the mudgha/lump. This of course includes his bones, flesh and every particle making up his body. At most, what a critic could try arguing is that first the bones were formed, then they were covered with flesh. Obviously, a non-existent entity cannot be covered with flesh. Bones need to first exist or begin their formation for them to be covered with flesh.
In answer to the video "43 Scientific Mistakes in the Quran"
Although revealed in an environement where poetry and oratory speeches were loaded with explicitly lustful and indecent language and allusions, the Quran never departs from its pattern of using respectable language and concepts. This is particularily made clear in sura Yusuf, the "best of stories", when detailing the mistress' attempted seduction of Yusuf.
The Quran beautifully combines in that context, precision in expression with a dignified vocabulary, and despite the fact that it talks about lust, utilizes the principles of piety, morals and respect without being paralysed in the process. When the Quran addresses the themes of sex or sexual organs, its eloquence necessitates that it does not directly speak of testicles, penis or vagina. This is an established Quranic pattern accross several topics.
Contrary to the Bible with its known rude language and unsophisticated imageries, as is amply found in modern pop culture, news, and magazines, the Quran seeks not to flood the imagination with crude details so as to not trivialize certain themes. There are ample examples, such as 2:222 where it refers to sexual intercourse by using the imagery of the farmer cultivating his tilth with tenderness and deep consideration aforehand, or as "touching" the mate 2:236,237,4:43,5:6,33:49etc.
The word for 'touching' is laamastum from the root L-M-S that means skin feeling an object interactively. It is used to mean mainly sex, or at least some form of foreplay. Other terminologies used in the Quran to refer to sexual intercourse is "covering" the mate 7:189 or in the context of refraining from sex it says
"guarding the private parts"
23:5,33:35. In some instances where the Quran refers to women's sexual organs it literaly speaks of
60:12"what lies between their legs and hands"
among other apellations. Now we come to the passage in question which is of interest to this youtuber. 86:5-7 speaks of the fluid "coming out". It doesnt speak of origin or formation, but exiting.
All people know from where seminal fluid exits from. The determination of the location where the fluid is formed is irrelevant to the point of the verse. The verse speaks of man's humble and simple origins despite him growing into a highly complex creature, and how he will inevitably be humbled once again to simple elements then recreated and brought forth to render account. The rejecters of resurrection saw it as a far fetched thing, an impossibility for a human being to be grown back after its death, decay, and return to the earth.
So instead of telling these arrogant people, who see their current state as a highly complex entity impossible to re-create, that they were once a simple fluid that exited from their father's penises, it says they exited
"from between the sulb and the taraaib".
Sulb stems from S-L-B, implying strength, hardness, firmness, uprightness. Words like the backbone or the saleeb/crucifix, because of standing firmly upright, are derived from it.
Taraaib stems from T-R-B, implying some sort of resemblence, uniformity, harmony, symetry. It is used for example for turab/soil or dust, because dust grains are resembling and corresponding.
Elsewhere it denotes how the mates of paradise match oneanother in many aspects 56:37,78:33 and it can similarily describe how certain body parts like the eyes, the hands, the legs, or the ribs etc. are matching. The statement
"exiting from between the sulb/backbone and the taraaib/legs or ribs"
refers to man's sexual organ just like
"what lies between their legs and hands"
subtely alludes to women's sexual parts. Any other propostition would suggest the people back in 7th century Arabia, or whomever the sceptics allege wrote the Quran, were ignorant of the function of testicles. This of course is an untenable assertion. For example, they used to practice castration on animals, and knew of the existence of eunuchs. An equally valid interpretation as noted by the early tafasirs, including Makki ibn abi Talib, al Mahdawi or ibn Atiya, is that yakhruju/exiting may refer to the human being spoken of earlier. This is valid both linguistically and biologically, as the womb is located between the backbone and ribs of the woman. Between, as a side note, does not entail "middle".
In answer to the video "43 Scientific Mistakes in the Quran"
On a general note first, Contrary to Christians who went to such extent in their over-exaltation of their prophet that, in the absence of a birthday for Jesus went searching in the pagan calendar for a date to artificially ascribe as Jesus' birthday, the Muslims do not celebrate their prophet's birth or death. The importance is focused on the message and this is why we celebrate the only month mentioned by name in the Quran, that of Ramadan. We gratefuly fast, which is a symbol of self sacrifice, in remembrance of God's sending in this month, a guiding light for all of mankind, to the heart of His prophet on a night of Ramadan, the Night of Destiny/laylatul Qadr. The root is R-M-Dhad, meaning "heat". RAMADAN was the month of heat because it fell in the heat of the summer.
The pre-Islamic Arabs used a combined Lunar/Solar calendar, and would periodically add a month in order to compensate for the shorter lunar year as opposed to the solar year. This resulted in fixing their rituals, like the yearly pilgrimage, to more convenient times from certain aspects. However, Islam banned the addition of such months 9:36-7. This meant that the month of Ramadan is now rotating through the year in a 33 year cycle. This avoids the convenient fixation of certain religious practices according to human whims, for purely worldly motives, violating God's established sacred months and allowing an ordinary month to be observed as sacred and vice versa.
For example the pre-Islamic Arabs used this practice to avoid the disadvantages for their trade. Banning the intercalary month opens up the way for spiritual improvement, training one to perform his duties at all times of the year and under all circumstances. Also, from the viewpoint of the universality of religion, it is obvious that the periods of fasting and performing Haj cannot satisfy all if they be fixed, always falling in the same season and month in different places-summer or winter or very hot or very cold or rainy or dry or harvesting or sowing-year after year. The Islamic time-keeping system is in fact the most scientifically relevant, because it does not require intercalation and thus making its precise reference point known to the day.
Add to this the fact that the Islamic calendar is the only one that is divested from all elements of overt and parenthetical shirk, such as how the days of the week and the months of the year are named. Fasting is an act of great virtue and piety practiced by nations and prophets long before Muhammad 2:183-187,Ex24:18,Joel2:11-13,Matt4:2,6:16-18etc The abstinence prescribed, from gratifying material desires, satisfying the body's lust and inclinations purges the soul from the love of worldly affairs, focuses the attention on the spiritual realm. It is a period of self-improvement, where Muslims start a spiritual and moral training that shapes their lives for the months ahead, from one Ramadan to the next. It is a command literally aimed at "doing guarding"/laAAlakum tattaqqun 2:183. Often translated "fear", taqwa stems from w-q-w meaning guarding, or protection (see 73:17). In Arabic, as in any language, synonyms have one or more common elements but every synonym on its own carries some sort of specific nuance. For example many words are used in the Quran to denote fear, including khushuaa, Khawf, Hadhr, rawaa, awjas, rahb, ruaab, taqwa etc. The common denominator between these words is fear but every time with a nuance highly meaningful to the context. The specificity of the taqwa type of fear is that it is the fear of future consequences, hence the implicit notion of guarding oneself. The prophet is reported to have stated that
"A person might fast and he gets nothing from his fast but hunger".
That is because he did not do it with taqwa, guarding his spirituality.
So, just as the body must go through physical training to become protected in specific situations, the soul needs the same in order to be guarded from deviations. Fasting, along with all its spiritual implications is one of the means given in the Quran for the achievement of that objective. This taqwa/guarding of the soul happens through consciousness of God in all deeds, by increasing help to the underprivileged members of society, working towards improving social interactions, including strengthening ties of kinship, showing forgiveness and compassion. Fasting also teaches one that if he can abstain from that which is otherwise lawful and a primary need such as food, natural sexual desires and passions, how much more necessary is it that he should abstain from the evil ways which are forbidden by God and are not only unnatural but oppose one's own conscience.
It is made compulsory except on the sick or temporarily incapacitated from travel
"but whoever among you is sick or on a journey".
That person must later redeem himself by fasting the same number of missed days (when the conditions become more favorable for a fast) and in addition must feed a needy person if he can afford it (the pronoun HU in yatiqunahu refers to taam/feeding). In all cases, whether it be to redeem a missed fast or not
"whoever does good spontaneously it is better for him; and that you fast is better for you if you know".
The important point about fasting as said in the passage's opening statement is that it is aimed at increasing piety, God-consciousness. It is thus the responsibility of the one seeking spiritual betterment to make all necessary preparations for the attainment of that objective. This doesnt only apply to fasting but to all other religious practices, like praying, spending for charity, going on pilgrimage or fighting in self-defense when required. All religious rites demand the fulfillment of certain conditions to be valid and so is the practice of fasting, counting among its conditions the witnessing of certain natural phenomena. These phenomena are the start and end of a lunar month
"whoever of you witnesses the month"
and the start and end of a day
"and eat and drink until the whiteness of the day becomes distinct from the blackness of the night at dawn, then complete the fast till night".
The Quran strongly refutes spiritual determinism, the idea that the performance of one's religious duties is solely dependant on circumstantial factors. Things like lifestyle, living area, social atmosphere should all be molded either permanently or temporarily (geographical location suited for fasting for example) to allow the performance of one's spiritual duties, just as one readily sacrifices, among other things, his own health for the attainment of worldly objectives
"A Muhajir (emigrant) is the one who gives up (abandons) all what Allah has forbidden."
Herein lies the whole Quranic concept of hijra, migrating unto God
4:97-100"Surely (as for) those whom the angels cause to die while they are unjust to their souls, they shall say: In what state were you? They shall say: We were weak in the earth. They shall say: Was not Allah´s earth spacious, so that you should have migrated therein? So these it is whose abode is hell, and it is an evil resort. Except the weak from among the men and the children who have not in their power the means nor can they find a way (to escape); So these, it may be, Allah will pardon them, and Allah is Pardoning, Forgiving. And whoever flies in Allah´s way, he will find in the earth many a place of refuge and abundant resources".
When the conditions are such that one has no choice but to remain in an environment that is unfavorable for the performance of the religious duties, then the Quran states to simply act sincerely and with God consciousness
73:20"and Allah measures the night and the day. He knows that you are not able to do it, so He has turned to you (mercifully), therefore read what is easy of the Quran. He knows that there must be among you sick, and others who travel in the land seeking of the bounty of Allah, and others who fight in Allah´s way, therefore read as much of it as is easy (to you), and keep up prayer and pay the poor-rate and offer to Allah a goodly gift, and whatever of good you send on beforehand for yourselves, you will find it with Allah; that is best and greatest in reward; and ask forgiveness of Allah; surely Allah is Forgiving, Merciful".
This is the Quran's supreme realism. The Quran continues, even in those spiritually challenging circumstances, one should never comprise the principles of the religion and its virtues in order to assimilate in an environment devoid of proper morality, no matter how attractive it might be
5:100"The evil and the good are not equal, though the abundance of evil may dazzle you. So be in awe of Allah, O' possessors of intellects, that you may be prosperous".
In answer to the video "43 Scientific Mistakes in the Quran"
It has already been established in previous videos how the Quran draws a parallel between the hospitability of our world for life, and a comfortable and well secured tent.
Then the Quran talks about the mountains as pegs 78:6-7,79:32. Pegs provide stability to the sheltering tent as implied in the imagery. Without these pegs it would fall or be blown away by storm.
The Quran calls the mountains pegs, in the context of drawing a picture of creation. These huge, stabilizing, sheltering objects are part of the system that allows mankind to develop and thrive physically. Just as by their massive presence, they allow human life to physically thrive, they do have their equivalent, on an even more massive scale in the metaphysical realm to allow humans to thrive, this time, spiritually. The revelation, should it descend in our material world, it would instantly shatter the most massive of those mountains by virtue of its spiritual weight
13:31,59:21"Had We sent down this Quran on a mountain, you would certainly have seen it falling down, splitting asunder because of the fear of Allah, and We set forth these parables to men that they may reflect".
In the darkest times of his prophetic mission, towards the beginning, the prophet Muhammad would often retreat in fear and would thus be pulled out from reclusion by revelation. He would be told to rise and through acts of devotion, to prepare himself spiritualy to be able to bear what is about to come down on him from on high
73:5"Surely We will make to light upon you a weighty Word".
The Quran often uses the image of vastness, greatness found in nature and more particularly the mountains when it wants to express the massive importance of a thing, more specifically of this Revelation 14:46,10:22-23,42:33. This kind of imagery is pictured in many places, and is meant at contrasting those whose hearts are more inert and harder to penetrate by divine guidance, than a massive mountain would be. This literary style also serves the purpose of picturing the importance of Revelation as already pointed earlier; it takes a special kind of creature with a special kind of internal disposition to be able to bear it, in addition to bearing the consequences of having to communicate it.
The Israelites begged Moses to be their intermediary with God instead of receiving revelation themselves. The experience at Horeb was so violent and traumatic that they did not want God to speak directly to them anymore, fearing they would die. The word used in sura sharh to describe what kind of burden Muhammad was relieved from through God's expansion of his chest is wizr, used for something nearly unbearable
94:1-3"Have We not expanded for you your breast, And taken off from you your burden, Which pressed heavily upon your back".
What is rendered "pressed heavily" is anqada which actually is used when something is about to break. The prophet Moses at the beginning of his call and prior to his confrontation with Pharao requested from God the same spiritual relief and strengthening 20:25. We see here how the Quran consistently keeps its notions, although scattered all throughout the divine writings, connecting them together.
Back to the mountains as a physical object and the way they affect nature around them. The Arabs were familiar with mountains, considering the landscape around Mecca and Medina. The mountain was a refuge when the earth shook as it absorbs a great deal of the shock. A person would naturally seek refuge by or behind huge, stable and immovable objects, such as mountains, when the earth shook
16:15,81"And Allah has made for you of what He has created shelters, and He has given you in the mountains places of retreat".
As a basic law of physics, even the tiniest piece of rock would dissipate the force somewhat of an earthquake, but it is so minuscule, it would make absolutely no difference to a major earthquake. Shallow earthquakes however do not travel for long distances because the waves are absorbed by loose earth materials. Mountains are the most significant natural earthquake shock absorbers both because of their size and the bedrock underneath. And when those mountains over a significant period of time, become ranges, earthquake force is dissipated even more. The mechanism of mountain formation itself is a stabilizing factor. When 2 earth surfaces collide and the earth's crust bends upward to form a mountain, the energy from the collision is diffused. If the mountains were not formed then the tension would be much higher, continuous, and devastating with no mechanism by which to diffuse the energy from plate collisions. Interestingly, a hadith seems to refer to that situation
"When Allah created the earth, it started shaking/oscillating. So He created the mountains, and said to them: ‘Upon it’ so it began to settle. The angels were amazed at the strength of the mountains.."
The Quran in the context of creation alludes to that mechanism too
21:31,50:7,31:10"He set in/FEE the earth anchors/RAWASI".
FEE primarily means IN or inside. RAWASI linguistically means Anchors. The main word for mountain is jabal, not rawasi (the Quran also uses tur or tawd 26:63 for a very large mountain as seen from its use in preislamic poetry). So although rawasi can sometimes be used for mountains, it does not mean it means mountains in every context. These rawasi fee al ard/anchors in the earth, could be anything including the forces that create the mountains and prevent disasters when two earth plates collide. RAWASI then fits perfectly because the anchors themselves created the mountains and anchored the land plate and the mountain as well. As stated in
41:10"He made in it RAWASI from above it".
The Arabic is difficult to translate and clearly implies an entity from within the earth towering above it.
To corroborate further,
88:19"and the mountains, how they are fixed/erected".
The word nusibat carries both the meanings of raised up and fixed, which correctly describes mountains. 78:7 similarly says
"WALJIBAL ARSAHA/and the mountains, He anchored them".
The Quran in places describes the earth as made to receive these rawasi in it 16:15. Alqa/to receive fits the concept of rawasi fee al ard, as it is a phenomenon which God made to exist within the earth.
In the Arabian peninsula, the mountains are among the most ancient and their surfaces are dense and solid, immune to land-sliding in general. In places like the Himalayas, damage is done primarily because of lightly-packed soil which results in land-slides.
The Quran is simply saying, the mountains provide a stabilizing factor in preventing the land from shaking, so as to take men with them. It doesnt say the mountains stabilize the earth as a whole and completely prevent earthquakes.
Such an assertion predicates that the Arabs, or whomever this youtuber supposes wrote the Quran, believed there was no such thing as earthquakes, or that they never experienced them because the mountains allegedly prevent such phenomena. This of course is absurd considering because Arabs did experience earthquakes. The Hijaz is part of the Great Rift Valley. What the Arabs believed, and what the law of physics are clear on, is that mountains act as a stabilizing force against the shocks of earthquakes, absorbing a great deal of its energy.
So the protection is not absolute. Similarly the sky as a canopy, as per the imagery of the hospitable tent, does not always provide protection when calamities fall from above or bad weather comes, some inhospitable areas of the earth do not conform to the imagery of a carpet spread for honoring guests inside the comfortable tent. These various imageries point out the general benefits man gets from these phenomenons, without giving an absolute description of their functions. There are many such usages in the Quran, for example garments are said to have the purpose of protection from heat 16:81 and this is because the verse's primary addressees were desert dwellers, who also experienced the harsh cold of the night and used these garments for warmth.
As always the Quran, being a book of guidance, whenever it points to a natural phenomenon it isnt solely on account of its material function. It is always trying to make the reader and listener ponder upon these entities and find a link between them and the spiritual realm. Besides their protective and sheltering nature, mountains also serve as a guidance to the traveller, just like Allah sent His prophets to guide mankind towards the ultimate destination, protecting them from the calamities of a mighty Day
21:31"And We have made great mountains in the earth lest it might be convulsed with them, and We have made in it wide ways that they may follow a right direction".
When the Quran refers to the power unleashed on the Day of Judgement, it states these mountains, which are in human psyche the last natural objects one would think could be uprooted, the ultimate shelter one can find, yet it says that through a single blow they will all be thrown from their roots 69:14,20:105, tossed in the sky 52:10, floating like clouds 27:88, ripped appart like carded wool 70:9,101:5 shattered and scattered 73:14,77:10,56:5.
As an interesting linguistic observation here, testimony once more to the Quran's surgical use of words and the way in which its interconnects its statements at different places with great consistency, in these places describing the state of the mountains during the cataclysm of the last day, when it compares them to soft wool beaten and tossed around in the air, it isnt any kind of wool that is meant. It is the type of wool as said in 70:9 above, that is dyed in different colors and this is because elsewhere, in a completely different context, when attracting the reader's attention to the variety in God's creation, it speaks of mountains existing in many different types and colors 35:27. One must keep in mind that the Quran is composed of revelations instantly recited then put to writing and memorized, with several witnesses present everytime, making it impossible for the prophet to retract a statement, go back on it and re-edit any of its contents. And yet, despite it being revealed in public in so many different contexts and situations, over a long period of 23 years, it still manages to connect even the most apparently insignificant details throughout its passages.
In parallel to the obliteration of the mountains, the earth's surface will be smoothed and levelled 18:8,47,20:105-7 therefore striping men from any place of concealment and shelter from the judgement. This day, as is here described through the stripping away of all places of refuge, even the most massive, is a day that will catch men no matter where they hide in the heavens or earth to bring them to account 29:22, and leave men standing in ranks
18:48"as We created you at first"
with only their deeds to shield them from the punishement of that Day.
In answer to the video "43 Scientific Mistakes in the Quran"
The Quran implies the non-solid nature of the various created samawaat/heavens. It firstly says that the primordial sama' was gaseous 41:11. It calls sama' the area where we are, above the ground composed of jaww/air where birds fly, clouds move 16:79,30:48 which is nothing else than the troposphere. There are living creatures WITHIN (not under or upon) the heavens/assamawaat 27:87,29:22,42:29, including ourselves.
"Pieces from the sky" coming down on earth, as the disbelievers repeatedly challenged the prophet 17:92,26:187 does not mean chunks coming off the gaseous atmospheric entity above, but rather simply signifies originating from the region of the sky. This includes any meteorological phenomena such as hail, or stones as occurred with the destroyed town of Lot, or as similarly happened with the invading army of the elephant in Mecca, meteors, asteroids or any other space debris. It even includes clouds, coming down from the sky. In fact the Quran states that when this phenomenon occurs on the resurrection, these disbelievers will think they are invaded by clouds 52:44, yet it will neither be solid pieces nor clouds but a smoke coming from assama'/the sky that will overtake them in such a way they will not find any escape route from it 44:10-11. Had the Quran assumed a solid sky, this would have been the most appropriate place for it to speak of chunks of canopy detaching and falling.
A quiet dreadful image is pictured in 39:16,77:30-4 with the disbelievers on the day of resurrection, told to proceed and advance to what they denied, only to find themselves trapped from their front, left and right, from above and below, with a kind of "shade" that will neither be cooling nor protecting, but rather blazing and sparking.
That shade, which actually is the darkness cast by a thick and burning smoke, will pursue them until hell 56:43-44 -hence the often alluded to blackened and dusty face of the doomed 80:40-2- where they will be trapped from all sides and engulfed by the fire 7:41,29:55.
If the opponent wants to argue that the broad and general word sama' refers in 17:92,26:187,52:44 to the atmosphere, then it still means the Quran is correctly implying it is composed of gases. No solid entities will fall from it. As a side note, the Quran says the sama' is expanding 51:47 and that the sun and moon, which are all in one same sama' with other cosmic bodies like the stars 25:61, all literally swim/yasbahun in it 21:33,36:40,79:3. There is no swimming in a solid entity.
All the samawaat/plural of sama', have been raised high 20:4 (see Bible in Isa55:9). Particular attention is directed at one of these layers and how it was raised 88:18,55:7 with its highest point, which we could interpret as the top of the atmosphere, appearing like a vault above the earth, called the roof/saqf 52:5. The sama' was originally one entity, then perfected into a "good" state, made thick/samk 79:28, into several distinct but harmonious entities as denoted with tabaq/levels/layers 2:29,67:3,71:15. Each layer has its function 78:12 and is firmly secured. Some of these layers offer protection to the earth like a roof does (stratosphere, mesosphere, upwards) 2:22,40:64 which is why many translators rendered binaa'/structure as roof or canopy in these verses. As shown earlier these verses clearly parallel the hospitability of our world to a tent, with its comfortable floor (earth), elsewhere likened to a cradle 20:53,78:6 and its stretched roof providing protection.
The spreading of heavens is a notion found all throughout the Hebrew Bible Ps104:2,Isa42:5,44:24,45:12,Jer10:12, with the added qualification that it is a "hard" entity that could not have been spread other than by the power of God Job37:18. Due to that hardness, the descent of an entity down to earth necessitates the bending and parting of the solid heavens 2Sam22:10,Ps18:10. These heavens also appear like a circular canopy above the earth, on which God "sits" Isa40:22. Nothing even remotely similar appears in the Quran although the metaphors of creation employed in both the HB and the Quran are very close.
The samawaat/heavens are in a state of harmony, they are guarded and remain layered as they are for the maintenance of life on Earth. The massive heavenly components above do not collide nor come down on Earth as to cause complete destruction 21:32,22:65. It is Allah Who upholds all the heavens/samawaat so as to avoid that outcome, without any pillars as we can see 13:2. This verse, meant at striking the reader with the constant necessity for Allah's might and mercy by holding up the complex order of things above at all times without relying on any supports like pillars, would make absolutely no sense if it meant Allah actually relied on invisible pillars to do the job. He does so through His laws of nature which He maintains at each instant 32:5,65:12 making both heavens and earth to subsist by His command 30:25, these laws through which He prevents both heaven and earth from ceasing to function, and which uphold them BOTH
22:65,35:41"upholds the heavens and the earth lest they come to naught".
Allah therefore upholds/yumsik both heavens and earth, not only the heavens or what is above the earth. This gives an additional dimension to the word "upholding", giving it the sense of "sustaining" as well. This passage also demonstrates the delicate balance the Quran makes in its use of general but appropriate words, so as to not confirm nor deny the views of nature of its reader, focusing instead on the spiritual message. By upholding both heavens and earth, the Quran does not depict the earth as "the bottom" of the universe for just as the heavens are upheld, the earth too is upheld by Allah. If one wishes to find "indications" on whether the earth is stationary or not, then one can as well reflect the Quranic depiction of the general motion of all celestial bodies floating in their independent trajectories, as applying to the earth too which is floating in space. A modern reader could then also assume, since this upholding is done without any visible pillars, then it must be done through God establishing an equilibrium between the repelling and attractive forces at play in the universe. These forces by the way are known to be on the thinnest of razor edges, where the slightest variation will throw the entire system into disarray
54:49"Surely We have created everything according to a measure".
In the Hebrew Bible, God causes earthquakes by "touching" the land Amos9:5, which in turn shakes the pillars underneath and above it
Job9:6"He Who causes the earth to quake from its place, and its pillars shudder"
Isa24:18"the foundations of the earth have trembled"
Job26:11"The pillars of the heavens trembled and are astonished from His rebuke".
As stated again in 2Sam22:8, when the earth shakes, the tremor is felt in the heavens too because of the pillars holding them up. God's anger causes this quacking and the mountains are what the writers had in mind when speaking of "pillars" Ps18:7,104:32,114:4,Isa5:25.
To the primitive and imaginative mind, mountains, these huge objects set on the earth with the strength of God Ps65:7, existing since the beginning of the earth's creation Ps104:5-6, appear to be preventing earth and heavens from collapsing into one another. Elsewhere however there is mention of other pillars, holding the world itself up and that are visible at the bottom of the seas 1Sam2:8,2Sam22:16. These are the pillars that keep the land afloat above the waters on which it was established Ps24:2,136:6.
These citations arent meant at disparaging the Bible, rather at showing how different would have the Quran looked, had it represented the views of the ancients people who are supposed to have authored it. The Quran had plenty of occasions to make such statements, as the imageries used are many cases similar with the HB. And yet in not one instance does it even slip so as to betray the hand of its 7th century Arabian scribes.
Back to the Quran, it is God only that preserves the order of the things above us without having recourse to massive structures like pillars, as well as below us. He maintains that order despite man's ungratefulness, and if He would stop upholding them both, nothing -no pillars- would maintain them in order
"and if they should come to naught, there is none who can uphold them after Him; surely He is the Forbearing, the Forgiving".
Linguistically, the negation of a possibility does not necessarily entail its opposite. The statement "without pillars you can see" does not entail "with pillars you cannot see".
The universe, above and below, is thus maintained without disruptions, although cataclysms from heaven may exceptionally descend
22:65"except with His permission".
Until such a time arrives, the sky remains a source of protection to man like a structure just as the earth is a comfortable "couch" or a "cradle" allowing the development of life 2:22,20:53,40:64.
The verse 50:6 directs our eyes to a specific region of the sky; that of the stars where it precisely says that the cosmic bodies literally swim/yasbahun, ie a non-solid area. The verse 67:3 directs us for inspection not only to that same area but to all the heavens. These verses ask the audience and readers to look at all that is above and notice the coherence. There is no break in that coherence because of the regularity and uniformity of the laws working in the universe
"Who created the seven heavens one above another; you see no incongruity/futur in the creation of the Beneficent Allah; then look again, can you see any disorder?".
"Futur" literally means splitting lengthwise, though it also connotes breaking the fast, inconsistency, and corruption. Corruption is the intended sense herein. The blessed Verse is saying that no matter how attentively man studies the world of Creation, he may not find the least defect or disharmony in it. Many natural occurrences whether in the earth when floods, or earthquakes occur, or in the heavens when stars explode and celestial bodies collide, appear as blemishes at the first glance within the order of things. Further observations however reveal that there are significant causes behind them.
These verses come in the context of providing proof for divine justice because just as One Being subjected this world to coherent laws without any sudden break in uniformity, He will subject the hereafter to the same principle of coherence especially in regards to the just reward of good and evil.
In answer to the video "43 Scientific Mistakes in the Quran"
Al-sama' is a general term to mean "what is above". This is established in classical Arabic as well as pre-Islamic literature where the word is used for the roof of a house or the top of a mountain. The Quran refers to the different created heavens being in layers until we reach the furthest point possible which is the real sama'/above, the ultimate above overlooking everything and above which there is nothing. So there might be a sama' above another sama'.
The Quran may refer to all of those entities together with sama', or to one of them specifically with sama' or to one object within any of them as sama'. It is the context of its use that determines the meaning such as 71:11 where the sending of the sama' stands for the sending of the "cloud". It calls sama' the area where we are, above the ground composed of jaww/air where birds fly, clouds move 16:79,30:48. This is speaking of the atmosphere. This atmosphere, which appears like a canopy above the earth is used in the context of imagery where a parallel is made between the hospitability of our world and the tent of the desert nomad, with its comfortable floor (earth), elsewhere likened to a cradle 20:53,78:6 and its stretched roof providing protection 2:22,40:64.
That is why many translators rendered binaa', meaning a structure in these verses, as "roof" or "canopy". The Quran also says, there are seven layered heavens 2:29,67:3. It is a knowledge of creation present among the prophets since at least the time of Noah 71:15. Each heaven is firm and has its distinctions 41:12,78:12. The Quran thus uses the word sama' generically and specifically. When it calls the clouds sama', or the air we breath in which birds fly as sama', it is being generic.
When it speaks of the 7 created, layered, distinguished samawaat, it is being specific. The first of those specific samawaat is sama' addunya, which is outter space. In the story of the prophet's ascent throughout the heavens, it says that he went up from an earthly location until he arrived to sama' addunya, the first heaven where he made a stop. A gate was opened for him, allowing him to enter and ascend within it (the Arabic says . This doorway allowed him to reach the location of the prophet Adam. This was still inside sama' addunya, or outter space. After that point, new realms opened up for him; the 2nd, 3rd, until the 7th heaven
"..Then he took my hand and ascended with me to the nearest heaven, when I reached the nearest heaven, Gabriel said to the gatekeeper of the heaven, 'Open (the gate).'...So the gate was opened and we went over the nearest heaven and there we saw a man..."
Just as it is specific when it speaks of the seven created heaven, the Quran emphatically states, that this earth of ours is created in the same number seven 65:12. These earths may be scattered in the universe that is within our reach or throughout the other created realms. This by the way points to the existence of lifeforms elsewhere in the universe
42:29"And one of His signs is the creation of the heavens and the earth and what He has spread forth in both of them of living beings; and when He pleases He is all-powerful to gather them together".
In 10:66 the entities spread through the heavens are described with the pronoun "man" which is only used for creatures with an intellect, as opposed to "ma" used two verses later that also covers inanimate entities.
Al-sama' is thus a purposefuly chosen broad term, which the Quran uses with great eloquence in order to convey its ideas. By its very nature as a word accepting several meanings in its range the Quran successfully achieves its goal without disrupting nor confirming the natural worldview of its addressees.
The Quran is meant to provide spiritual, not scientific guidance.
The miraculous way of the Quranic speech, its description of the universe and nature made sense to the ancient people all the while maintaining sufficient flexibility and space so that when the intellect and knowledge of men reach its peak, then that same Book becomes a permanent evidence. For example the verses 2:22,20:53,40:64 draw the image of a comfortable and protective tent with a sheltering binaa' above (the word is applied to tents and canopies and the like used by Bedouins). The ancients, just like us today, would firstly understand that the binaa' provides them with protection which in turn would ignite their God-consciousness and gratitude
88:18-20"And the heaven, how it is reared aloft, And the mountains, how they are firmly fixed, And the earth, how it is made a vast expanse".
This is the spiritual intent of the verses and if that is appreciated then the Quran has fully reached its objective. The readers and listeners can then go after the collateral, indirect and ambiguous meanings. They may inject their own erroneous views of nature onto the broad and ambiguous terms by equating binaa' with a solid physical canopy, just like we can blend our current scientific knowledge with the general words, so as to equate binaa'/structure with the protective atmosphere and upwards such as the magnetosphere. The Quran's ambiguous wording on the other hand would neither confirm nor negate any of the 2 interpretations. The only explicit stance of the Quran is as regards the spiritual portent of the verse, which both ancient and modern readers can grasp regardless of their understanding of nature.
Al-sama' just as with the earlier example of binaa' can easily be interpreted in light of our current knowledge. It may refer to the protective layers surrounding the Earth like a complex structure/binaa' 2:22,40:64 well guarded 21:32 by Allah through the laws of physics He established.
In answer to the video "43 Scientific Mistakes in the Quran"
The imagery of creation in the Quran is compared to a bedouin tent (sama' as canopy, earth as carpet, mountains as pegs) because tents are folded up by beduoin dwellers as they move on to their next life and destination. Like a tent, the earth and heavens too will be folded up to usher in a new existence. There is nothing that depicts temporality better than the tent-life of a beduoin.
Also it is in such tents where a traveller seeks shelter, food and hospitality from the generous host. In this case, the host is the Almighty God. The imagery of a tent is well sumarized in
88:17-20"Will they not then consider the camels, how they are created? And the heaven, how it is reared aloft, And the mountains, how they are firmly fixed, And the earth, how it is made a vast expanse?"
The image starts with the high efficiency of the ultimate desert vehicule, the camel. It allows men to travel long distances, without themselves having to carry the burden of travelling by foot. The traveller is then drawn attention to what is above him (al-sama') which is raised much higher than the canopy of his tent, without any pillars he can see ie by Allah Himself. This stresses the awesome power needed to do such a thing 88:18,52:5,55:7. The analogy with a binaa'/structure 2:22,40:64 conveys the idea of a protective roof and whichever direction he looks, this sama' is protecting him.
The imagery of creation compared to a tent, is used in previous scriptures too when drawing attention to the merciful design of creation Ps104:2,Isa40:22,Job26:13. The Quran uses this metaphor in other instances, to convey the opposite image of hospitability, as in 3:112 where the "tent of shame" is pitched over the transgressors, or 18:29 where the fire of hell will envelop those who die in a state of unbelief
"like the walls and roof of a tent".
In sura al-mursalaat the picture painted of the sama' being rent asunder is clearly that of a tent in a strong storm. And again in
21:104,39:67"..and the whole earth shall be in His grip on the day of resurrection and the heavens rolled up in His right hand..".
This is a particularly beautiful analogy with the tent being folded up by the voyager when he leaves his destination just as the Almighty will fold up the universe to take man on a new journey to eternity 21:104. That image of the rolling up of the heavens is employed in Hebrew scriptures in the same sense, in the context of destruction of the wicked nations and ushering of a new order Isa34:4.
Now of course, those devoid of spiritual insight hardly appreciate these eloquent metaphors of creation meant at inspiring one's sense of gratitude and obedience to the merciful Creator. But even to those sceptics, the Quran leaves no chance at distorting its intent and paint it in an erroneous light.
In answer to the video "43 Scientific Mistakes in the Quran"
When the Quran refers to the cosmic bodies moving on to their appointed term/ajalin musamma 13:2,31:29,35:13,39:5 it is referring -as is clear from the contexts- to the Day of Resurrection where all the universe will be destroyed and created anew
"and He made the sun and the moon subservient (to you); each one pursues its course to an appointed time/ajalin musamma; He regulates the affair, making clear the signs that you may be certain of meeting your Lord".
Ajalin musamma refers to the appointed end of a thing 6:2,40:67. In 36:38 it speaks of the sun "running", which is a perfect description of the sun's movement accross the galaxy. The word denotes rapid movement contrary to the perceived motion of the sun. So it cannot be speaking of sunrise and sunset, which certainly arent rapid motions. The sun is "running" to its place of rest, its end point. And the end of its rapid course will be, as with allthings, the day of resurrection. The variant reading attributed to both ibn Abbas and ibn Masud in which they recited 36:38 LAmustaqarrin/no resting place, instead of LImustaqarrin/to its resting place is inauthentic.
In answer to the video "43 Scientific Mistakes in the Quran"
A major theme reiterated in the Quran to provide argument for a single independant cause, is the concept of interconnection in all of creation. For instance although the sun and the moon, the night and day, light and darkness are seemingly opposing to one another as regards their appearance and temperament as well as the effects they cause, yet they are part of a global machinery in which they work in complete harmony with one another
36:40"Neither is it allowable to the sun that it should overtake/tudrika the moon, nor can the night outstrip/sabiqu the day; and all float on in a sphere".
The verse says that if one element or phenomenon oversteps its limits then disorder appears. This sends a message to the creatures endowed with intellect and freewill, that they should respect the bounds set for them to prevent disorder. Tudrika is derived from D-R-K and it means reaching. The Sun is prevented from going out of its way and collide with the Moon.
Similarily the phenomena of nighttime/daytime cannot ever overcome one another, if daytime comes, nighttime cannot impose itself. When a portion of the earth is facing the sun (daytime), the nighttime phenomenon cannot occur on this same area. The concept of harmonious order of entities and phenomena, each being restrained to its divinely decreed function or place, is a recurrent theme in the Quran.
In answer to the video "43 Scientific Mistakes in the Quran"
In 25:45 it tells the reader to look at the shadows' movement, spreading and contracting. It then says the sun is the dalil/proof or indicator of the shadow's movement, not the other way around, with the shadow being an indicator of the sun's movement. This is because without sunlight directly hitting an object, the shadow wouldnt exist and there would be no proof or indication of it spreading or contracting regardless of the earth's movement around the sun. Try standing outside in daytime without sunlight directly hitting you, where is your shadow, do you see it contracting and spreading? You dont, despite the Earth's movement around the sun. Now try again with complete sun exposure. You will see your shadow spreading and contracting, because of its indicator, the sun.
