CLASH BETWEEN SCIENCE AND RELIGION

The Quran—Word of God The Quran is a preserved divine book. The very first verses of the Quran include these words: “There is no doubt in it.” (2: 2) That is, there can be no doubt that this is the divine book. The Quran declared that it was a book of guidance for all humankind and for all time. To support this claim, it was essential that the events of later times continued to testify to it. No such event should take place in later times as might refute this statement. This claim has astonishingly lived up to this standard. The 10th chapter of the Quran, titled Jonah, states that God drowned the Pharaoh, Ramesses II of Egypt, in the 15th century BC, for he had denied the message brought by Moses, the Prophet of God. At that time God said to him: “We shall save your body this day, so that you may serve as a sign for those who come after you.” (10: 92) This verse of the Quran was revealed in the first quarter of the 7th century, referring to an event which took place two thousand years before that. There was no printing press, no communications, and no record in known history of Pharaoh’s body. People had even forgotten this event. No one knew at that time that the Pharaoh’s body was going to come to light one day and would testify to the authenticity of this verse of the Quran. Twelve hundred years after this revelation, scientists in the latter half of the 19th century figured out a way to determine the period to which ancient objects belonged. Further progress encouraged a great spirit of enquiry among the people. In every field people became active in discovering things that had remained hidden for centuries. This spirit led scholars of Western Europe to head to Egypt. They began their research on the pyramids situated near Cairo. After concentrated efforts, they discovered that the pyramids contained the earthly remains of ancient Egyptian kings preserved in the form of mummies. With special care these mummies were taken out so that research could be done on them. During these investigations, astonishingly, the body of a Pharaoh was found inside one of the pyramids. Through radiocarbon dating, it was identified as the body of the Pharaoh who had been Moses’ contemporary. It was predicted in the Quran 1400 years ago that this will come to the knowledge of man at some future date. This is a proof that the Quran is a book of that God who has knowledge of all things. In His wisdom, He revealed this verse in the Quran. This discovery is a scientific testimony of the Quran as a divine revelation.