Qur’an The Book of God-II

Qur’an The Book of God-II

1998 7-8 July-August 16-32 Qur’an The Book of God-II (4879)

Historical Inaccuracy

In the 20th century B.C., during the time of the Prophet Joseph, the Children of Israel entered Egypt. Seven centuries later they left Egypt along with Moses, crossing over into the Sinai peninsula. These events are mentioned in both the Bible, and the Qur’an. But, while the account in the Qur’an is entirely consistent with external history, the Bible relates several incidents which do not correspond to historical records. This has created problems for believers in the Bible. Should they accept what is written in the Bible, or should they go by history? Since the two contradict one another, they cannot accept both at the same time.

On January 12, 1985, a gathering was held in the Indian Institute of Islamic Studies at Tughlaqabad in New Delhi, which was addressed by Ezra Kolet, president of the Council of Indian Jewry. His topic was: ‘What is Judaism?’ Naturally, he dealt with Jewish history in his talk, mentioning, among other things, the Jew’s entrance into Egypt and their exodus from that country. The names of both Joseph and Moses figured in his talk as well as the kings who were ruling in Egypt in their respective times. For both kings, the contemporaries of Joseph and Moses, he used the term ‘Pharaoh.’

As everyone acquainted with the period knows, this nomenclature is historically incorrect. The reign of the kings known as Pharaohs only began in Moses’ time: in Joseph’s day, a different line of monarchs ruled in Egypt.

When Joseph entered Egypt, the kings of a dynasty known as the Hyksos ruled there. They were ethnically Arabs, and had usurped the Egyptian throne, ruling in that country from 2000 B.C. until the end of the 15th century B.C.. The indigenous population then rebelled against foreign rule and the Hyksos dynasty came to an end.

Home rule was then established in Egypt. The clan that took over sovereignty chose for itself the name of Pharaoh, which literally means son of the sun-god, for in those days Egyptians worshipped the sun, and in order to vindicate their right to rule over the Egyptians, they made themselves out to be incarnations of the sun-god.

In effect, Mr. Kolet was calling the Hyksos Kings, Pharaohs. He had no choice but to do so, for that is what they are called in the Bible, with reference to both Joseph’s and Moses’ respective periods. The Jewish speaker could either accept the Bible or history, but not both simultaneously. Since he was speaking in his capacity as president of the Jewish Council, he put history aside and based his talk on biblical accounts.

But in the Qur’an we do not find accounts which clash with history in this way, and those who follow the Qur’an are not compelled to forsake history in order to uphold their Holy Book. When the Qur’an was revealed, people had no knowledge of ancient Egyptian history. Only in later years did archeological excavations make it possible for Egyptologists to compile a record of the history of that country’s ancient kings.

Yet despite this, we hear mention in the Qur’an of the Egyptian monarch who was a contemporary of Joseph. For him, the Qur’an uses the title ‘King of Egypt.’ As for the king who ruled in Moses’ day, the Qur’an repeatedly calls him Pharaoh. We thus have a Qur’anic account that corresponds exactly with historical facts, unlike the biblical account which is historically inaccurate. This shows that the Qur’an is written by One who has direct recourse to true facts, without dependence on human sources of knowledge.

Example from History

According to the theory of evolution both man and animals belong to a common ancestor. That is, a species of animals through gradual stages of evolution developed into chimpanzee which further evolved into human beings.

Even if we take for granted the theory of evolution the question arises as to where are the middle, missing links between these evolutionary stages between animal and man. Where were the species still in the process of evolution bearing both animal and human features. Though no such real middle link has yet been discovered, evolutionists believe that those species did exist which have yet to be discovered. These imaginary links are wrongly termed ‘missing links.’

In 1912, the English newspapers trumpeted the news that a fragment of an ancient skull, half ape and half man, dating back to some nebulous pre-historic period, had been found at Piltdown, thus providing material evidence which confirmed Darwin’s theory of evolution.

This Piltdown man achieved instant popularity. The name appeared in standard text-books such as R.S. Lull’s Organic Evolution. Leading intellectuals counted the discovery among the great triumphs of modern man. In authoritative works such as H. G . Wells’ Outline of History and Bertrand Russell’s History of Western Philosophy, it was mentioned as though there was no doubt about the Piltdown Man’s existence.

For nearly half a century scholars remained enthralled with this “great discovery”. It was only in 1953 that some scientists became doubtful. They extracted the Piltdown man from its iron fire-proof box in the British Museum and subjected it to detailed modern scientific analysis, studying it from every relevant angle. Their final conclusion was that the Pildown Man was a forgery. The great acclaim it had received was totally unfounded. What had actually happened was that someone, who wished to discredit a rival by playing a trick on him, had taken the jaw of a chimpanzee and dyed it to make it look ancient and had then filed its teeth to make them look human. He then submitted his “find” to the British Museum, saying that he had come across it in Piltdown, England. He intended at a later stage to reveal the whole affair as a hoax, in order to make his rival look foolish, but when he saw the seriousness with which his trick had been taken by the entire body of western scientists, he was afraid to own up, and his silence then prevented positive thinking on evolution for several decades. (Encyclopaedia Britannica, 1984, Piltdown Man.)

The Mummy of Merneptah

One of the most intriguing predictions made by the Qur’an concerns a Pharaoh of Egypt, called Merneptah, who was the son of Rameses II. According to historical records, this king was drowned in pursuit of Moses in the Red Sea. When the Qur’an was revealed, the only other mention of Pharaoh was in the Bible, the sole reference to his having drowned being in the book of Exodus; ‘And the waters returned, and covered the Chariots, and the horsemen, and all the host of Pharaoh that came into the sea after them; there remained not so much as one of them. ‘

Amazingly, when this was all the world knew about the drowning of Pharaoh, the Qur’an produced this astounding revelation: ‘We shall save you in your body this day, so that you may become a sign to all posterity.

How extraordinary this verse must have appeared when it was revealed. At that time no one knew that the Pharaoh’s body was really intact, and it was nearly 1400 hundred years before this fact came to light. It was a Professor Loret who, in 1898, was the first person to find the mummified remains of the Pharaoh who lived in Moses’ day. For 3000 years the corpse had remained wrapped in a sheet in the Tomb of the Necropolis at Thebes where Loret had found it, until July 8, 1907, when Elliot Smith uncovered it and subjected it to proper scientific examination. In 1912 he published a book entitled The Royal Mummies. His research had proved that the mummy discovered by Loret was indeed that of the Pharaoh who knew Moses, resisted his pleas, pursued him as he took flight, lost his life in the process. His earthly remain were saved by the will of God from destruction to become a sign to man, as is written in the Qur’an.

In 1975, Dr. Bucaille, made a detailed examination of the Pharaoh’s mummy which by then had been taken to Cairo. His findings led him to write in astonishment and acclaim:

Those who seek among modern data for proof of the Holy Scriptures will find a magnificent illustration of the verses of the Qur’an dealing with the, Pharaoh’s body by visiting the Royal Mummies Room of the Egyptian Museum, Cairo!

As early as the seventh century A.D, the Qur’an had asserted that the Pharaoh’s body was preserved as a sign for man, but it was only in the 19th century that the body’s discovery gave concrete proof of this prediction. What further proofs is needed that the Qur’an is the Book of God? Certainly, there is no book like it, among the works of men.

Examples from Astronomy

Referring to sun and moon, the Qur’an tells us that all these heavenly bodies are floating in their own sphere/rounded courses (falak) (36:40). Dr Maurice Bucaille has discussed these verses in detail that falak here means what is called ‘orbit’ in science. While floating is the most appropriate term to describe the movement of celestial bodies in a vast and subtle space.

Dr. Maurice Bucaille further writes:

It is shown that the sun moves in an orbit, but no indication is given as to what this orbit might be in relation to the Earth. At the time of the Qur’anic Revelation, it was thought that the Sun moved while the Earth stood still. This was the system of geocentrism that had held away since the time of Ptolemy, 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 Qur’an, either here or elsewhere (p. 159).

Development of Biology

An interesting example in this connection is one published in the newspapers towards the end of 1984. The Canadian newspaper, The Citizen (22 November, 1984) published this news under the heading:

Ancient Holy Book 1300 Years Ahead of its Time.

Similarly The Times of India, New Delhi (10 December, 1984) published this news under this headline:

Koran Scores Over Modern Science.

Dr. Keith More, a famous embryologist and professor at Toronto University, Canada, has studied some verses from the Qur’an (23:14, 39:6), making a comparative study of the Qur’anic verses with modern research. In this connection he also visited the King Abdul Aziz University in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, several times, along with his colleagues. He found that the statements of the Qur’an, astonishingly corresponded in full with modern discoveries. He was very surprised that facts contained in the Qur’an were brought to light by the Western World as late as 1940. In a paper written in this connection, he says: “The 1300 years old Koran contains passages so accurately 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 Qur’an 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 Qur’anic description of certain stages in the development of the embryo corresponds exactly to what we today know about it, and the Qur’an 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 Qur’an informs us that the embryo passes through the stage of ‘chewed flesh,’ then osseous tissue appears and is clad in flesh (defined by a different word from the preceding which signifies ‘intact flesh’).

– Surah 23, verse 14:

“We fashioned the thing which clings into a chewed lump of flesh and We fashioned the chewed flesh into bones and We clothed the bones with intact flesh.”

‘Chewed flesh’ is the translation of the word mudgha; ‘intact flesh’ is lahm. This distinction needs to be stressed. The embryo is initially a small mass. At a certain stage in its development, it looks to the naked eye like chewed flesh. The bone structure develops inside this mass in what is called the mesenchyma. The bones that are formed are covered in muscle; the word lahm applies to them.

It is known how certain parts appear to be completely out of proportion during embryonic development with what is later to become the individual, while others remain in proportion.

This is surely the meaning of the word mukhallaq which’, signifies ‘shaped in proportion’ as used in verse 5, surah 22 to describe this phenomenon.

“We fashioned…into something which clings….into a lump of flesh fashioned and unfashioned.”

More than a thousand years before our time, at a period when whimsical doctrines still prevailed, man had a knowledge of the’ Qur’an. The statements it contains express in simple terms truths of primordial importance which man has taken centuries to discover.

ORIGIN OF THE UNIVERSE

The Qur’an says:

“Do not the disbelievers see that the heavens and the earth were one solid mass which we tore asunder…” (21: 30)

Ratq means wholesomeness, compactness while fatq is the opposite of it, that is, disintegration.

The modern studies in astronomy have confirmed the truth of this concept, various observations having led scientists to postulate that the universe was formed by an explosion from a state of high density and temperature (the ‘big-bang’ theory) and that the cosmos evolved from the original, highly compressed, extremely hot gas, taking the form of galaxies of stars, cosmic dust, meteorites and asteroids. The present outward motion of the galaxies is a result of this explosion. According to the Encyclopaedia Britannica (1984), this is ‘the theory now favoured by most cosmologists.’ Once the process of expansion had set in – about six billions years ago – it had to continue, because the more the celestial bodies moved away from the centre, the less attraction they exerted over one another. Estimates of the circumference of the original matter place it at about one thousand million light years and now, according to Professor Eddington’s calculations, the present circumference is ten times what it was originally. This process of expansion is still going on. Professor Eddington explains that the stars and galaxies are like marks on the surface of a balloon which is continuously expanding, and that all the celestial spheres are getting further and further apart. Ancient man supposed quite wrongly, that the stars were as close to one another as they appeared to be. How significant that the Qur’an should state in Surah 51, verse 47, ‘The heaven, We have built it with power. Verily we are expanding it.’ Now science has revealed that since the universe, came into existence 90 thousand million years B.C…, its circumference has stretched from 6 thousand to sixty thousand million light years. This means that there are inconceivably vast distances between the celestial bodies. And it has been discovered that they revolve as part of galactic systems, just as our earth and the planets revolve around the sun.

Just as within the Solar System, many planets and asteroids are situated at great distances from each other, yet revolve according to one system, likewise every material body is composed of innumerable ‘Solar Systems’ on an infinitesimally small scale. These systems are called atoms. While the vacuum of the Solar System is observable, the vacuum of the atomic system is too small to be visible. All things, however solid they appear, are hollow from the inside. For instance, if all the electrons and protons present within the atoms of a six foot tall man were to be squeezed in such a manner that no space were left, his body would be reduced to such a tiny spot as would be visible only through a microscope.

The farthest galaxy that has been observed is situated several million light years away from the sun. Yet it is held that if the total quantum of cosmic matter as worked out by astro-physicists – and it is enormous – were to be compressed so as to eliminate all space, the size of the universe would be only thirty times the size of the sun. In view of how recently these calculations have been made, it is quite extraordinary that 1500 years ago the Qur’an asserted that not only had the universe expanded from a condensed form but that its original quantum of matter had remained constant, so that it could conceivably be re-condensed into a relatively small space. It describes the end of the universe thus: “On that day, we shall roll up the heaven like a scroll of writing” (21:104).

The moon is our nearest neighbour in space, its distance from the earth being just two lakh and forty thousand miles. Due to this proximity, its gravitational force affects the sea waves, causing an extraordinary rise in the water level twice a day. At certain points these waves rise as high as sixty feet. The land surface too is affected by this lunary pull, but only in terms of a few inches. The present distance between the earth and moon is optimal from man’s point of view, there being several advantages. If this distance were reduced, for example to only fifty thousand miles, the seas would be so stormy that a major part of the earth would be submerged in them and, moreover, the continual impact of the stormy waves would cut the mountains into pieces and the earth’s surface, more fully exposed to the moon’s gravitation would start to crack open.

Astronomers estimate that at the time the earth came into existence, the moon was close to it and the surface of the earth had, therefore, been exposed to all kinds of upheavals. In the course of time, the earth and the moon drew apart, to their present distance from one another, according to astronomical laws. Astronomers hold that this distance will be maintained for a billion years, then the same astronomical laws will bring the moon back closer to the earth. As a result of conflicting forces of attraction, the moon will ‘burst when close enough and glorify our dead world with rings like those of Saturn.’

This concept bears out the Qur’an’s prediction to a remarkable degree. The following lines, in addition to presenting this phenomenon as a physical fact, explain its religious significance:

The Hour of Doom is drawing near, and the moon is cleft in two. Yet, when they see a sign, the unbelievers turn their backs and say, ‘Ingenious magic!’

The healing property of honey

The Qur’an tells us about the healing property of honey (16:69). In the light of this verse Muslims attached great importance to the medicinal aspect of honey, it became an important ingredient in their pharmacology. But the western world remained unaware of its medical value for centuries, they treated it as merely a liquid food-item. It was not before the twentieth century that the European physicians discovered the antiseptic properties of honey.

Here is a summary of modern researches on honey published in an American journal.

Honey is a powerful destroyer of germs which produce human diseases. It was not until the twentieth century, however, that this was demonstrated scientifically. Dr. W.G. Sackett, formerly with the Colorado Agricultural College at Fort Collins, attempted to prove that honey was a carrier of disease much like milk. To his surprise, all the disease germs he introduced into pure honey were quickly destroyed. The germ that causes typhoid fever died in pure honey after 48 hours’ exposure. Enteritidis, causing intestinal inflation, lived 48 hours. A hardy germ which causes broncho-pheumonia and septicemia held out for four days. Bacillus coli Communis which under certain conditions causes peritonitis, was dead on the fifth day of experiment. According to Dr. Bodog Beck, there’ are many other germs equally destructible in honey. The reason for this bactericidal quality in honey, he said, is in its hygroscopic ability. It literally draws every particle of moisture out of germs. Germs, like any other living organism, perish without water. This power to absorb moisture is almost unlimited. Honey will draw moisture from metal, glass, and evenstone rocks (Rosicrucian Digest, September 1975 p. 11).

Superiority of the Qur’an

The very language in which it is written – Arabic – is a kind of miracle, being an astonishing exception to the historical rule that a language cannot survive in the same form for more than 500 years. In the course of five centuries, a language changes so radically that the coming generations find it increasingly difficult to understand the works of their distant predecessors. For instance, the works of Geoffrey Chaucer (1342-1400), the father of English poetry, and the plays and poetry of William Shakespeare (1564-1616), one of the greatest writers of English language, have become almost unintelligible to twentieth century readers, and are now read almost exclusively as part of college curricula with the help of glossaries, dictionaries and ‘translations.’

But the history of the Arabic language is strikingly different, having withstood the test of the time for no less than 1500 years. Wording and style have, of course, undergone some development, but not to such an extent that words should lose their original meaning. Supposing someone belonging to the Quranic times of ancient Arabia could be reborn today, the form of language in which he would express himself would be as understandable to modern Arabs as it was to his own contemporaries.

It is as if the Qur’an had placed a divine imprint upon Arabic, arresting it in its course so that it should remain understandable right up to the last day. This being so, the Qur’an is never just going to collect dust on some obscure ‘Classical Literature’ shelf, but will be read by, and give inspiration to people for all time to come.

In the field of science, despite the great and rapid advances in knowledge in recent years, we come back to what was asserted in the Qur’an, so many centuries ago, as having arrived at the quintessence of the matter. Just as the Arabic language seems to have been crystallised at a particular point in time – in fact, at the moment of divine revelation, so also does science seem to have been arrested in its course, the Qur’an having the final say on matters which for centuries lay beyond man’s knowledge and which still, in many important cases, elude man’s intellectual grasp. The most significant of these is the origin of the universe.

Natural Phenomena

The Qur’an was revealed at a time when little was known about nature. Rainfall, for example, was believed to come from a river in heaven which gushed down on to the earth. The earth was thought to be flat and the heavens a kind of vault resting on the hilltops which provided a roof over the earth. Stars were considered to be shining silver nails set in the vault of heavens, or thought of as tiny lamps which were swung to and fro at night by means of a rope. The ancient Indians held that the earth rested upon the horns of a cow and when the cow shifted the earth from one horn to the other, this caused earthquakes. Up till the time of Copernicus (1473-1543 a.d.) it was generally believed that the earth was stationary and that the sun revolved around it (Two thousand years earlier, Aristarchus of Samos had anticipated this theory, but his ideas did not gain ground).

With the advances made in the field of science and technology, the range of human observation and experiment were vastly increased, opening up great vistas of knowledge about the universe. In all spheres of existence and in all disciplines of science, previously established concepts were proved wrong by later research and were discarded. This means that no human work dating back 1500 years can boast of total accuracy, because all ‘facts’ must now be re-evaluated in the light of recent information. No such book has, in fact, been found to be totally free of errors, with the notable exception of the Qur’an, whose authenticity has withstood all challenges over the centuries. This constitutes conclusive evidence of the Qur’an having had its source in an Omnipresent and Eternal Mind – one which knows all facts in their true forms and whose knowledge has not been conditioned by time and circumstances. Had it been a human fabrication it could not have withstood the test of time, human vision being, by contrast, narrow and limited.

The basic theme of the Qur’an is salvation in the life hereafter. That is why it does not fall into the category of any of the known arts and sciences of the world. But since it addresses itself to man, it touches on almost all the disciplines which concern him. In spite of the breadth of its scope, none of its statements has ever been shown to have been made on the basis of inadequate knowledge. Bertrand Russell, in his Impact of Science on Society makes the point that, renowned philosopher as he was, Aristotle, while ‘proving’ the inferiority of women to men, stated that ‘women have fewer teeth than men,’ thus revealing his ignorance of the fact that men and women have an equal number of teeth. No such ignorance or misconception is ever evinced in the Qur’an. This clearly shows that the origin of this work is a superior Being whose knowledge pre-dates time itself and goes infinitely far beyond present knowledge, no matter how advanced the latter may appear to be.

Newton’s Theory of Light

Another point on which human intelligence appeared to have arrived at a major scientific truth was that of the true nature of light. It was Sir. Issac Newton (1642-1727) who put forward the theory that light consisted of minute corpuscles in rapid motion which emanated from their source and were scattered in the atmosphere. Owing to the extraordinary influence of Newton, this corpuscular theory held away in the scientific world for a very long time, only to be abandoned in the middle of the nineteenth century in favour of the wave theory of light. It was the discovery of the action of photon which delivered the final blow to Newton’s theory. “Young’s work convinced scientists that light has essential wave characteristics in apparent contradiction to Newton’s corpuscular theory.

It had taken only 200 years to prove Newton wrong. The Qur’an, on the contrary, gave its message to the world in the 7th century, and even after a lapse of 1400 years its truth emerges unscathed. The reason for this is that it is of divine, not human origin: the absolute truth of its statements can be proved at all times – an extraordinary attribute that no other work can claim.

Einstein’s theory of relativity declares that gravity controls the behaviour of planets, stars, galaxies and the universe itself, and does so in a predictable manner.

This scientific discovery had already been developed into a philosophy of Hume (1711-1776) and other thinkers, who declared that the whole system of the universe was governed by the principle of causation, and that it had only been when man had not been aware of this, that God had been supposed to control the universe. The principle of cause and effect was then thought logically to dispense with the idea of God.

But later research ran counter to this purely material supposition. When Paul Dirac, Heisenberg and other eminent scientists bent their minds to analysing the structure of the atom, they discovered that its system contradicted the principle of causation which had been adopted on the basis of studies made of the solar system. This theory, called the quantum mechanic theory, maintains that at the sub-atomic level, matter behaves randomly.

The word ‘principle’ in science means something which applies in equal measure throughout the entire universe. If there is even one single instance of a principle failing to apply to something, its academic bonafides have to be called in question. It followed then that if matter did not function according to this principle of causation in an exactly similar manner at subatomic level as it did in the solar system, it should have to be rejected.

Einstein found this idea unthinkable and spent the last 30 years of his life trying to reconcile these seeming contradiction of nature. He rejected the randomness of quantum mechanics saying, “I cannot believe God plays dice with the universe.’ Despite his best efforts, he was never able to resolve this problem and it seems that the Qur’an has the final word on the reality of the universe. The fact that the universe cannot be explained in terms of human knowledge is aptly illustrated by Ian Roxburgh when he writes:

The laws of physics discovered on earth contain arbitrary numbers, like the ratio of the mass of an electron to the mass of a proton, which is roughly 1840 to one. Why? Did a Creator arbitrarily choose these numbers?

Through these words science seems to recognise the fact that the universe can never be encompassed by human knowledge. Universe is the manifestation of the will of the Almighty. Hence no explanation can be arrived at without the concept of the Will of God.