CHAPTER ONE The Quran: The Book of God

the time of Ptolemy, in the second century B.C., and was to continue to do so until Copernicus in the sixteenth century A.D. Although people supported this concept at the time of Muhammad, it does not appear anywhere in the Quran, either here or elsewhere (p. 159). The Development of Biology An interesting example of the Quran’s foreknowledge of biology was highlighted in the press towards the end of 1984. The Canadian newspaper, The Citizen, (22 November,1984) published it under the heading: Ancient Holy Book 1300 Years Ahead of its Time. The Times of India, New Delhi (10 December,1984) stated with equal drama: Koran Scores Over Modern Sciences. This new light on ancient Quranic verses was shed by Dr. Keith More, a famous embryologist and professor at Toronto University, Canada. In order to make a comparative analysis of the assertions of the Quran and the findings of modern research on embryology, he made an in-depth study of the descriptions of the development of the foetus as given in certain verses such as 23:14 and 39:6. In this connection he also visited the King Abdul Aziz University in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, on several occasions, along with his colleagues. He found, astonishingly, that the statements of the Quran corresponded in every detail with modern discoveries. He was very surprised that facts contained in the Quran had been brought to light by the Western World as late as 1940. In a paper written on this subject, he says: “The 1300 years old Koran contains passages so accurate about embryonic development that Muslims can reasonably believe them to be revelations from God.” Convincing supportive details can be had from the analysis Maurice Bucaille makes in his book, The Bible, The Quran and Science which was published in 1970. We reproduce here some excerpts from the chapter entitled ‘Human Reproduction.’ Evolution of the Embryo inside the Uterus The Quranic description of certain stages in the development of the embryo corresponds exactly to what we know about it today, and the Quran does not contain a single statement that is open to criticism from modern science. After ‘the thing which clings’ (an expression which is well-founded, as we have seen) the Quran informs us that the embryo passes through the stage of ‘chewed-flesh,’ then osseous tissue appears and is clad