[align=left]Quran and modern science
U.K.I.M.DAWAH CENTRE
Introduction
Dr. Maurice Bucaille is an eminent French surgeon, scientist, scholar and author of “THE
BIBLE THE QUR’AN AND MODERN SCIENCE”, and “WHAT IS THE ORIGIN OF
MAN?” which contains the result of his research into the Judeo-Christian Revelation and the
Qur’an. It is a unique contribution in the field of religion and science.
Being an outstanding scientist, he was selected to treat the mummy of Merneptah (pharaoh)
which he did. During his visit to Saudi Arabia he was shown the verses of the Holy Qur’an in
which Allah - God Almighty says that the dead body of the Pharaoh will be preserved as a
‘sign’ for posterity. An impartial scientist like Dr. Bucaille, who (being also a Christian) was
conversant with the Biblical version of Pharaoh’s story as being drowned in pursuit of Prophet
Moses. He was pleasantly surprised to learn that unknown to the world till only late, the Holy
Qur’an made definite prediction about the preservation of the body of that same Pharaoh of
Moses’ time. This led Dr. Bucaille to study the Qur’an thoroughly after learning the Arabic
language. The final conclusion of his comparative study of the Qur’an and the Bible is that the
statements about scientific phenomena in the Holy Qur’an are perfectly in conformity with
the modern sciences whereas the Biblical narrations on the same subjects are scientifically
entirely unacceptable.
The present booklet, which is a lecture given by Dr. Bucaille on the subject “The Qur’an
and Modern Science” at the Commonwealth Institute London, will provide guidance
towards the eternal truth about Islam.
THE QUR'AN AND MODERN SCIENCE
On 9 NOVEMBER 1976, an unusual lecture was given at the French Academy of
Medicine. It’s title was ‘Physiological and Embryological data in the Qur’an’. I presented
my study on the existence in the Qur’an of certain statements concerning physiology and
reproduction. My reason for doing this was that our knowledge of these disciplines is such,
that it is impossible to explain how a text produced at the time of the Qur’an could have
contained ideas that have only been discovered in modern times.
There is indeed no human work prior to modern times that contains statements which were
equally in advance of the state of knowledge at the time they appeared and which might be
compared to the Qur’an.
In addition to this, a comparative study of data of a similar kind contained in the Bible (Old
Testament and Gospels) seemed desirable. This is how the project was formed of a
confrontation between modern knowledge and certain passages in the Holy Scriptures of each
monotheistic religion. It resulted in the publication of a book under the title, The Bible, The
Qur’an and Science. The first French addition appeared in May 976. (Seglers, Paris). English
and Arabic editions have now been published.
It comes as no surprise to learn that Religion and Science have always been considered to
be twin sisters by Islam and that today, at a time when science has taken such great strides,
they still continue to be associated, and furthermore certain scientific data are used for the
better understanding of the Qur’anic text. What is more, in a century where, scientific truth has
dealt a deathblow to religious belief, it is precisely the discoveries of science that, in an
objective examination of the Islamic Revelation, have highlighted the supernatural character of
certain aspects of the Revelation.
When all is said and done, generally speaking, scientific knowledge would seem in spite of
what people may say, to be highly conducive to reflection on the existence of God.
Once we begin to ask ourselves in an unbiased or unprejudiced way about the metaphysical
lessons to be derived from some of today’s knowledge, (for example our knowledge of the
infinitely small or the problem of life), we indeed discover many reasons for thinking along these
lines. When we think about the remarkable organisation presiding over the birth and and
maintenance of life, it surely becomes clear that the likelihood of it being the result of chance
gets less and less, as our knowledge and progress in this field expand. Certain concepts must
appear to be increasingly unacceptable; for example, the one put forward by the French winner
of the Nobel prize for Medicine who tried to get people to admit that living matter was selfcreated
as the result of fortuitous circumstances under effect of certain outside influences using
simple chemical elements as their base. From this it is claimed that living organisms came into
being, leading to the remarkable complex called man. To me, it would seem that the scientific
progress made in understanding the fantastic complexity of higher beings provides strong
arguments in favour of the opposite theory: in other words, the existence of an extraordinarily
methodical organisation presiding over the remarkable arrangement of the phenomena of life.
In many parts of the Book, the Qur’an leads, in simple terms, to this kind of general
reflection. But it also contains infinitely more precise data which are directly related to facts
discovered by modern science: these are what exercise a magnetic attraction for today’s
scientists.
ENCYCLOPEDIA KNOWLEDGE NECESSARY TO
UNDERSTAND THE QUR’AN
For many centuries, man was unable to study them, because he did not possess sufficient
means. It is only today that numerous verses of the Qur’an dealing with natural phenomena
have become fully comprehensible. I should even go so far as to say that, in the 20th century,
with its compartmentalization of ever-increasing knowledge, it is not always easy for the average
scientist to understand everything he reads in the Qur’an on such subjects, without having
recourse to specialised research. This means that to understand all such verses of the Qur’an
one is today required to have an absolutely encyclopedic knowledge, by which l mean, one
which embraces very many disciplines
I use the word ‘science’ to mean knowledge which has been soundly established. It does not
include the theories which, for a time, help to explain a phenomenon or a series of phenomena,
only to be abandoned later in favour of explanations which have become more plausible thanks
to scientific progress. I basically only intend to deal with comparisons between statements in the
Qur’an and knowledge which is not likely to be subject to further discussion. Wherever I
introduce scientific facts which are not 100% established, I shall, of course, make it quite clear.
There are also some very rare example of statements in the Qur’an which have not, as yet,
been confirmed by modern science: I shall refer to these by pointing out that all the evidence
leads scientists to regard them as being highly probable. An example of this is the statement in
the Qur’an that life is of aquatic origin; and another is that somewhere in the Universe there are
Earths similar to our own.
These scientific considerations should not, however, make us forget that the Qur’an remains a
religious book par excellence and that it cannot, of course, be expected to have a ‘scientific’
purpose per se. Whenever man is invited to reflect upon the works of creation and the
numerous natural phenomena he can observe the obvious intention, in using such examples, is
to stress Divine Omnipotence. The fact that, in these reflections, we can find allusions to data
connected with scientific knowledge is surely another of God’s gifts whose value must shine out
in an age where scientifically based materialistic atheism seeks to gain control at the expense of
the belief in God.
Throughout my research I have constantly tried to remain totally objective. I believe I have
succeeded in approaching the study of the Qur’an with the same objectivity that a doctor has
when he opens a file on a patient: in other words, by carefully confronting all the symptoms he
can find to arrive at a diagnosis. I must admit that it was certainly not a faith in Islam that
first guided my steps, but simple research for the truth. This is how I see it today. It was
mainly fact which, by the time I had finished my study, had led me to see in the Qur’an a text
revealed to a Prophet.
We shall examine statements in the Qur’an which appear today merely to record scientific
truth, but which men in former times were only able to grasp the apparent meaning of. How
is it possible to imagine that, were there any subsequent alterations to the text, these obscure
passages scattered throughout the text of the Qur’an were able to escape human manipulation.
The slightest alteration to the text would automatically have destroyed the remarkable
coherence which is characteristic of them, and prevented us from establishing their conformity
with modern knowledge. The presence of these statements spread throughout the Qur’an looks
to the impartial observer like an obvious hallmark of authenticity.
The Qur’an is a preaching which was made known to man in the course of a revelation
which lasted roughly twenty years. It spanned two periods of equal length on either side of the
Hegira1. In view of this, it was natural for reflections having a scientific aspect to be scattered
throughout the book. In the case of a study such as the one we have made, we had to
regroup them according to subject, collecting them sura by sura2.
How should they be classified? I could not find any indications in the Qur’an suggesting any
particular classifications. So I have decided to present them according to my own personal one.
It would seem to me, that the first subject to be dealt with is Creation. Here it is possible to
compare the verses referring to this topic with the general ideas prevalent today on the
formation of the Universe. Next, I have divided up verses under the following general headings:
Astronomy, the Earth, the Animal and Vegetable Kingdoms, Man, and Human Reproduction in
particular; the latter is a
1. Hegira: The emigration of the Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) from Makkah to Medinah,
became reference point for
the Islamic calendar - publisher.
2. Sura: An Arabic word meaning chapter. The Qur’an consists of 114 Suras - publisher.
subject which, in the Qur’an, is allotted a very important place. To these general
headings it is possible to add sub-headings.
Furthermore, I thought it useful to make a comparison between Qur’anic and Biblical
narrations from the point of view of modern knowledge. This has been done in the case of such
subjects as the Creation, the Flood and the Exodus.
CREATION OF THE UNIVERSE
Let us first examine the Creation as described in the Qur’an.
An extremely important general idea emerges: its dissimilarity with Biblical narration. This
idea contradicts the parallels which are often, and wrongly, drawn by Western authors to
underline solely the resemblances between the two texts.
When talking of the Creation, as of other subjects, there is a strong tendency in the West to
claim that Muhammad only copied the general outlines of the Bible. It is indeed possible to
compare the six days of the Creation as described in the Bible, plus an extra day of rest on
God’s sabbath, with this verse from sura Al Araf (7:54)
Your Lord is Allah Who created the heavens and the earth in six days.
We must point out straight away that modern commentator stress the interpretation of ayyam,
one translation of which is ‘days’, as meaning ‘long periods’ or ‘ages’ rather than periods of
twenty-four hours.
What to me appears to be of fundamental importance is that, in contrast to the narration
contained in the Bible, the Qur’an does not lay down a sequence for the Creation of the Earth
and Heavens. It refers both to the Heavens before the Earth and the Earth before the Heavens,
when it talks of the Creation in general , as in this verse of the sura Taha (20:4)
A revelation from Him (Allah) Who created the earth and the heavens.
In fact, the notion to be derived from the Qur’an is one of a con-comitance in the celestial and
terrestrial evolutions. There are also absolutely fundamental data concerning the existence of an
initial gaseous mass (dukhan) which is unique and whose elements, although at first fused
together (ratq) subsequently became separated (fatq). This notion is expressed in the sura
Fussilat (41:11).
And God turned to heaven when it was smoke.
And the same is expressed in the sura Al Anbiya (21:30).
Do not the Unbelievers see that the heavens and the earth were joined together (as one unity of
creation), then We (Allah) clove them asunder?
The separation process resulted in the formation of multiple worlds, a notion which crops up
dozen of times in the Qur’an, once it has formed the first verse in the sura Al Fatiha (1:1)
Praise be to God, the Lord of the Worlds.
All this is in perfect agreement with modern ideas on the existence of primary nebula and the
process of secondary separation of the elements that had formed the initial mass. This
separation resulted in the formation of galaxies and then, when these divided, of stars from
which the planets were to be born.
Reference is also made in the Qur’an to an intermediary Creation between the Heavens and
the Earth, as in the sura Al Furqan (25:59).
God is the One Who Created the heavens and the earth
and all that is between them.
It would seem that this intermediary Creation corresponds to the modern discovery of
bridges of matter which are present outside organised astronomical systems.
This survey certainly shows us how modern data and statements in the Qur’an agree on a
large number of points. We have come a long way from the Biblical text with its successive
phases that are totally unacceptable; especially the one placing the Creation of the Earth (on the
3rd day) before that of the Heavens (on the 4th) day, when it is a known fact that our planet
comes from its own star, the sun. In such circumstances, how can we imagine that a man
who drew his inspiration from the Bible could have been the author of the Qur’an, and, of his
own accord, have corrected the Biblical text to arrive at the general concept concerning the
formation of the Universe, when this concept was not to be formed until centuries after his
death
ASTRONOMY - LIGHT AND MOVEMENT
Let us now turn to the subject of astronomy
Whenever I describe the details the Qur’an contains on certain points of astronomy to
Westerners, it is unusual for someone not to reply that there is nothing special in this,
considering the Arabs made important discoveries in this field long before the Europeans.
This is, in fact, a singularly mistaken idea resulting from an ignorance of history. In the
first place, science was developed in Arabian countries at a time that was considerably after the
Qur’anic Revelation had occurred; in the second, the scientific knowledge prevalent at the highpoint
of Islamic civilisation would not have made it possible for a human being to have written
statements on the Heavens comparable to those in the Qur’an.
Here again, the subject is so wide that I can only provide an outline of it.
Whereas the Bible talks of the Sun and the Moon as two luminaries differing in size, the
Qur’an distinguishes between them by the use of different epithets: light (nur) for the Moon,
torch (siraj) for the Sun. The first is an inert body which reflects light, the second a celestial
formation in a state of permanent combustion, and a source of light and heat.
The word ‘star’ (najm) is accompanied by another qualifying word which indicates that it
burns and consumes itself as it pierces through the shadows of the night: it is word thakib.
In the Qur’an, the Kawkab definitely seems to mean the planets which are celestial
formations that reflect and do not produce light like the Sun.
Today it is known how the celestial organisation is balanced by the position of stars in a
defined orbit and the interplay of gravitational forces related to their mass and speed movement,
each with its own motion. But isn’t this what the Qur’an describes, in terms which have only
become comprehensible in our own day, when it mentions the foundation of this balance in the
sura Al Anbiya (21:33)
[God is] the One Who created the night, the day the sun and the moon. Each one is travelling in
an orbit with its own motion.
The Arabic word which expresses this movement is a verb sabaha (vasbahun in the text): it
carries with it the idea of a motion which comes from any moving body, be it the movement of
one’s legs as one runs on the ground, or the action of swimming in water. In the case of a
celestial body. One is forced to translate it in the original sense, that is, ‘to travel with one’s
own motion’.
The description of the sequence of day and night would, in itself, be rather
commonplace were it not for the fact that, in the Qur’an, it is expressed in terms that today are
highly significant. This is because it uses the verb kawwara in the sura Al Zumar (39:5) to
describe the way the night ‘winds’ or ‘coils’ itself about the day and day about the night, just
as, in the original meaning of the verb, a turban is wound around the head. This is a totally
valid comparison; yet at the time the Qur’an was revealed, the astronomical data necessary to
draw it were unknown.
The evolution of the Heavens and the notion of a settled place for the Sun are also described.
They are in agreement with highly detailed modern ideas. The Qur’an also seems to have
alluded to the expansion of the Universe.
There is also the conquest of space. This has been undertaken thanks to remarkable
technological progress and has resulted in man’s journey to the Moon. But this surely springs to
mind when we read the sura Al Rahman (55:33).
O assembly of jinns and men, if you can penetrate regions of the heavens and the earth, then
penetrate them. You will not penetrate them save
with [Our] Power.
This power comes from the All-Mighty, and the subject of the whole sura is an invitation to
recognise God’s Beneficence to man.
THE EARTH
Let us now return to the Earth.
Let us examine, for example, this verse in the sura Al Zumar (39:21).
Hast thou not seen that God sent water down from the sky and led it through sources into the
ground? Then He caused sown fields of
different colours to grow.
Such notions seem quite natural to us today, but we should not forget that they were not
prevalent long ago. It was until the sixteenth century. with Bernard Palissy, that he gained the
first coherent description of the water cycle. Prior to this, people talked about the theory
whereby the water of the oceans, under the effect of winds, were thrust towards the interior of
the continents. They then returned to the oceans via the great abyss, which, since Plato’s time,
has been called the Tartarus. In the seventeenth century, a great thinker such as Descartes
believed in it, and even in the nineteenth century there was still talk of Aristotle’s theory,
according to which water was condensed in cool mountain caverns and formed underground
lakes that fed springs. Today, we know that it is the infiltration of rainwater that is
responsible for this. If one compares the facts of modern hydrology with the data to be found in
numerous verses of the Qur’an on this subject, one cannot fail to notice the remarkable degree
of agreement between the two.
In geology, a fact of recently acquired knowledge is the phenomenon of folding, which was to
form the mountain ranges. The same is true of the Earth’s crust, which is like a solid shell on
which we can live, while the deeper layers are hot and fluid, and thus inhospitable to any form of
life. It is also known that the stability of the mountains is linked to the phenomenon of folding,
for it was the folds that were to provide foundations for the reliefs that constituted the
mountains.
Let us now compare modern ideas with one verse among many in the Qur’an that deals with
this subject. It is taken from the sura Al Naba’ (78:6-7).
Have We not made the earth an expanse and the mountains stakes?
The stakes (awtad), which are driven into the ground like those used to anchor a tent, are the
deep foundations of geological folds.
Here, as in the case of other topics, the objective observer cannot fail to notice the absence of
any contradiction with modern knowledge.
But more than anything else, I was struck, at first, by statements in the Qur’an dealing with
living things, both in animal and vegetable kingdoms, especially with regard to reproduction.
I must once again stress the fact, that it is only since modern times, that scientific progress has
made the content of many such verses more comprehensible to us. There are also other
verses which are more easily understandable, but which conceal a biological meaning that is
highly significant. This is the case of the sura Al Anbiya’, a part of which has already been
quoted:
And We (Allah) got every living thing out of the water.
Will they then not believe.
This is an affirmation of the modern idea that the origin of life is aquatic. Progress in botany at
the time of Muhammad was in no country advanced enough for it to be established as a rule that
plants have both male and female parts. Nevertheless, we may read the following in the sura
Taha (20:53) .
(God is the One Who) sent water down from the sky and thereby We brought forth pairs of
plants each separate from the other.
Today, we know that fruit comes from plants that have sexual characteristics (even when it
comes from unfertilised flowers, like bananas). In the sura Al Ra’d (13:3) we read:
And fruit of every kind He made in pairs, two and two.
Reflections on reproduction in the animal kingdom were linked to those on human
reproduction. We shall examine them presently.
In the field of physiology, there is one verse which, to me, appears extremely significant: one
thousand years before the discovery of the circulation of the blood, and roughly thirteen
centuries before it was known what happened in the intestine to ensure that organs were
nourished by the process of digestive absorption, a verse in the Qur’an describes the source of
the constituents of milk, in conformity with these notions.
To understand this verse, we have to know that chemical reactions occur in the intestine and
that, from there, substances extracted from food pass into the bloodstream via a complex
system, sometimes by way of the liver, depending on their chemical nature. The blood
transports them to all the organs of the body, among which are the milk-producing mammary
glands.
Without entering into detail, let us just say that, basically, there is the arrival of certain
substances from the contents of the intestines into the vessels of the intestinal wall itself, and the
transportation of these substances by the bloodstream.
This concept must be fully appreciated, if we are to understand this verse in the Qur’an sura
An Nahl (16:66).
Verily, in cattle there is a lesson for you. We (Allah) give you to drink
of what is inside their bodies, coming from a conjunction between
the contents of the intestines and the blood, a milk pure and
pleasant for those who drink it.
THE CREATION OF MAN
In the Qur’an the subject of human reproduction leads to a multitude of statements which
constitute a challenge to the embryologist seeking a human explanation to them. It was only
after the birth of the basic sciences which were to contribute to our knowledge of biology, and
especially after the invention of the microscope, that man was able to understand such
statements. It was impossible for man living in the early seventh century to have expressed
such ideas. There is nothing to indicate that, at this time, men in the Middle East and Arabia
knew anything more about this subject than men living in Europe or anywhere else. Today,
there are many Muslims with a thorough knowledge of the Qur’an and natural sciences who
have clearly recognised the comparisons to be made between the verses of the Qur’an dealing
with reproduction and human knowledge. I shall always remember the comment of an eighteen
years old Muslim, brought up in Saudi Arabia, replying to a reference to the question of
reproduction as described in the Qur’an. Pointing to it, he said, ‘But this book provides us
with all the essential information of the subject. When I was at school they used the Qur’an to
explain to me how children were born; your books on sex-education are a bit late on the
scene!’.*
It is on this point in particular, that a comparison between the beliefs current at the time of the
Qur’an, that were full of superstitions and myths, and the contents of the Qur’an and modern
data, leaves us amazed at the degree of concordance between the latter and the absence in the
Qur’an to the mistaken ideas that were prevalent at the time.
Let us now isolate, from all those verses, precise ideas concerning the complexity of the
fertilizing liquid and the fact that an infinitely small quantity is required to ensure fertilization, its
‘quintessence’ - if I may so translate the Arabic word ‘sulala’.
The implantation of the egg in the female genital organ is perfectly described in several verses
by the word ‘Alaq, which is also the title of the sura in which it appears:
God fashioned man from something which clings....
I do not think there is any reasonable translation of the of the word ‘Alaq other than to use its
original sense.
The evolution of the embryo inside the maternal uterus is only briefly described, but the
description is accurate, because the simple words referring to it correspond exactly to
fundamental stages in its growth. This is what we read in a verse from the sura Al Muminun
(23:14)
We (Allah) 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. Then We developed out of it another
creature. So blessed be Allah, the Perfect Creator.
The term ‘chewed flesh’ (mudga) corresponds exactly to the appearance of the embryo at a
certain stage in its development.
It is known that the bones develop inside this mass and that they are then covered with
muscle. This is the meaning of the term ‘intact flesh’ (lahm).
The embryo passes through a stage where some parts are in proportion and others out of
proportion with what is later to become the individual. Maybe this is the meaning of a verse in
the sura Al Hajj (22:5) which reads as follows:
* Emphasised by publisher.
We created you out of dust, then out of sperm, then We fashioned
him into something which clings into a little lump of flesh, partly
formed and partly unformed.
Next, we have a reference to the appearance of the senses and viscerae in the sura Al Sajda
(32:9)
[God] appointed for you the senses of hearing, sight and the viscerae.
Nothing here contradicts today’s data and, furthermore, none of the mistaken ideas of the
time has crept into the Qur’an.
QUR’AN AND BIBLE
We have now come to the last subject: it is the confrontation, with modern knowledge, of
passages in the Qur’an that are also referred to in the Bible.
We have already caught a glimpse of the problem when talking of the Creation. Earlier I
stressed the perfect agreement between modern knowledge and verses in the Qur’an, and
pointed out that the Biblical narration contained statements that were scientifically unacceptable.
This is hardly surprising when we know that the great narration of the Creation contained in
the Bible was the work of priests living in the sixth century BC, hence the term ‘Sacerdotal’
narration. This seems mainly to have been conceived as the theme of a preaching designed to
exhort people to observe the sabbath. The narration was constructed with a definite end in
view, and, as Father de Vaux (a former head of the Biblical School of Jerusalem) has noted, this
end was essentially legalist in character.
The Bible also contains a much shorter and older narration of the Creation, the so-called
‘Yahvist’ version, which approaches the subject from a completely different angle.
They are both taken from Genesis, the first book of the Pentateuch or Taurah: Moses is
supposed to have been its author, but the text we have today has, as we know, undergone
many changes.
The Sacerdotal narration of Genesis is famous for its whimsical genealogies, that go back to
Adam, and which nobody takes very seriously. Nevertheless, such Gospel authors as
Matthew and Luke have reproduced them, more or less verbatim, in their genealogies of
Jesus. Matthew goes back as far as Abraham, and Luke to Adam. All these writings are
scientifically unacceptable, because they set a figure on the age of the world and the time man
appeared on the Earth, which is most definitely out of the keeping with what has today been
established with certainty. The Qur’an, on the other hand, is completely free of data of this
kind.
Earlier on, we also noted how perfectly the Qur’an agrees with general, modern ideas on the
formation of the Universe, whereas the Biblical narration stands in contradiction to them; the
allegory of the primordial waters is hardly tenable, nor is the creation of light on the first day,
before the creation of the stars which produce this light; the existence of an evening and a
morning before the creation of the Earth; the creation of the Earth on the third day before that of
the Sun on the fourth; the appearance of beasts on the Earth on the sixth day after the
appearance of the birds of the air on the fifth day, although the former come first: all these
statements are the result of beliefs prevalent at the time this text was written and do not have any
other meaning.
As for the genealogies contained in the Bible, which form the basis of the Jewish calendar and
assert that today the world is 5738 years old, these are hardly admissible either. Our solar
system may be over 41/2 billion years old, and the appearance on the Earth of man, as we
know him today, may be estimated in tens of thousands of years, if not more.
It is absolutely essential, therefore, to note that the Qur’an does not contain any such
indications as to the date, and that these are specific to the Biblical text.
There is a second, highly significant, subject of comparison between the Bible and the Qur’an:
this is the Flood. In actual fact, the Biblical narration is a fusion of two descriptions in which
events are related differently. The Bible speaks of a universal flood and places it roughly 300
years before Abraham. According to what we know of Abraham, this would imply a universal
cataclysm around the twenty-first or twenty-second century B.C. This would be untenable, in
view of the historical data.
How can we accept the idea that, in the twenty-first or twenty-second century B.C, all
civilisation was wiped off the face of the Earth by a universal cataclysm, when we know that this
period corresponds, for example, to the one preceding the Middle Kingdom in Egypt, at
roughly the date of the first Intermediary period before the eleventh dynasty?
None of the preceding statements are acceptable according to modern knowledge.
From this point of view, we can measure the enormous gap separating the Bible from the
Qur’an.
In contrast to the Bible, the narration contained in the Qur’an deals with a cataclysm that
is limited to Noah’s people. They were punished for their sins, as were other ungodly peoples.
The Qur’an does not locate the cataclysm in time. There are absolutely no historical or
archeological objections to the narration in the Qur’an.
A third point of comparison, which is extremely significant, is the story of Moses, and
especially the Exodus from Egypt of the Hebrews enslaved to the Pharaoh. Here I can only
give a highly compressed account of the study of this subject that appears in my book. I
have noted the points where the Biblical and Qur’anic narrations agree and disagree, and,
for some details I have found points where the two texts compliment each other in a very useful
way. Among the many hypotheses concerning the position occupied by the Exodus in the
history of the Pharaohs, I have concluded that the most likely is the theory which makes
Merneptah, Rameses II’s successor, the Pharaoh of the Exodus. The confrontation of the data
contained in the Scriptures with archeological evidence speaks strongly in favour of this
hypothesis. I am pleased to be able to say that the Biblical narration contributes weighty
evidence leading us to situate Moses in the history of the Pharaohs: Moses was born during
the reign of Rameses II. Biblical data are therefore of considerable historical value in the story
of Moses.
The medical study of the mummy of Merneptah has yielded further useful information on
the possible causes of this Pharaoh’s death.
The fact that we today possess the mummy of this Pharaoh, which to be exact,was
discovered in 1898, is one of paramount importance. The Bible records that it was engulfed
in the sea, but does not give any details as to what subsequently became of the body.
The Qur’an, in the sura Yunus (10:92), notes that the body of the Pharaoh, who was to be
damned, would be saved from the waters.
So this day We (Allah) shall save your (dead) body that you (Pharaoh)
may be a sign for those who come after you! And verily, many
among mankind are heedless of Our signs.
A medical examination of this mummy, has moreover, shown that the body could not have
stayed in the water for long, because it does not show any signs of deterioration due to
prolonged submersion.
Here again, the confrontation of the narration in the Qur’an with the data provided by
modern knowledge does not give rise to the slightest objection from a scientific point of view.
The Old Testament constitutes a collection of literary works produced in the course of roughly
nine centuries and which has undergone many alterations. The part played by man in the actual
composition of texts of the Bible is quite considerable.
The Qur’anic Revelation has a history which is radically different. From the moment it was
first communicated to man, it was learnt by heart and written down during Muhammad’s own
lifetime. It is thanks to this that the Qur’an does not pose any problem of authenticity.
A totally objective examination of it, in the light of modern knowledge, leads us to recognise
the agreement between the two, as has already been noted on repeated occasions. It makes
us deem it quite unthinkable for a man of Muhammad’s time to have been the author of such
statements, on account of the state of knowledge in his day. Such considerations are part of
what gives the Qur’anic Revelation its unique place, and forces the impartial scientist to admit
his inability to provide an explanation which calls solely upon materialistic reasoning.
sssssssssss
THE LIGHT OF REVELATION
INTRODUCTION
WHAT IS LIFE?
Man’s existence in this world and the creation of this entire universe are not mere
accidents or products of a fortuitious nature. This universe, every single atom of it, manifests
and points us to the realization of a Loving, Merciful and All-Power Creator. Without a
Creator nothing can exist. Every single soul knows that he is existing and that hios existence is
dependent on a Creator - he knows for sure that he cannot create himself. Therefore it is his
duty to know his madter creator - God.
MANKIND
Man is a unique creature. God establishes man as His Representative or Deputy to
govern over all other creatures in this world. He is endowed with the faculty of REASON,
which differentiates him from all other animals. The Prophe Muhammad (peace be upon him)
said:
“God has not created anything better than Reason or anything more perfect or more
beautiful than Reason....”
Together with this faculty to dicriminate and discern, man is given the freedom (freewill)
to choose for himself a way of life worthy of his position as God’s Representative or to fall
lower than the lowest of all animals or creation. Man is born pure and sinless. He is given the
free will to do righteous deeds or induldge in sins.
DIVINE GUIDANCE
God, out of His abundant Love and Mercy for mankind has not left us in the darkness
to discover the right path by trial and error alone. Coupled with our intellectual capability to
reason, God bestowed upon us DIVINE GUIDANCE that outlines the Criterion for truth and
the knowledge and reality of our existence in this world and the Hereafter.
REVELATIONS
From the beginning of mankind God sent Prophets to convey His REVELATION and
to invite to the path of TRUE PEACE and OBEDIENCE to One true God. This is ISLAM.
This message conveyed to successive generations of man through
different Prophets, all inviting mankind to the same path.
However, all the earlier messages or revelations from God were distorted by people
of later generations. As result, pure Revelation from God was polluted with myths,
superstitions, idol worship and irrational philosophical ideologies. The religion of God was lost
in a plethora of religions.
Human history is a cronical of man’s drift between light and darkness, but God out of
His abundant Love for mankind has not forsaken us.
FINAL REVELATIONS
When mankind was in the depths of the dark Ages, God sent the final Messenger,
Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) to redeem humanity. The revelation to the Prophet
Muhammad represents the ultimate and permanent sourse of guidance for mankind.
CRITERIA FOR TRUTH
How do we know that a revelation like the Qur’an is the word of God? The criteria
for truth can be easily understood by all:-
1. RATIONAL TEACHING: Since God bestowed reason and intellect on mankind, it is our
duty to use it to distinguish truth from falsehood. True un-distorted revelation from God must be
rational and can be reasoned out by all unbiased minds.
2. PERFECTION: Since God is all perfect, His revelations must be perfect and
accurate, free from mistakes, omissions, interpolation and multiplicity of versions. It should be
free from contradictions in its narration.
3. NO MYTHS OR SUPERSTITIONS: True revelation from God is free from myths or
superstitions that degrade the dignity of God or man.
4. SCIENTIFIC: Since God is the Creator of all knowledge, true revelation is scientific and
can withstand the challenge of science at all times.
5. PROPHECY: God is the Knower of the past, present and future. Thus His word of
prophecies in His revelation will be fulfilled as prophesied.
6. INIMITABLE BY MAN: True revelation from God is infallible and cannot be
imitated by man. God’s true revelation is a Living miracle, an open Book challenging all
mankind to see and prove for themselves.[/align]
U.K.I.M.DAWAH CENTRE
Introduction
Dr. Maurice Bucaille is an eminent French surgeon, scientist, scholar and author of “THE
BIBLE THE QUR’AN AND MODERN SCIENCE”, and “WHAT IS THE ORIGIN OF
MAN?” which contains the result of his research into the Judeo-Christian Revelation and the
Qur’an. It is a unique contribution in the field of religion and science.
Being an outstanding scientist, he was selected to treat the mummy of Merneptah (pharaoh)
which he did. During his visit to Saudi Arabia he was shown the verses of the Holy Qur’an in
which Allah - God Almighty says that the dead body of the Pharaoh will be preserved as a
‘sign’ for posterity. An impartial scientist like Dr. Bucaille, who (being also a Christian) was
conversant with the Biblical version of Pharaoh’s story as being drowned in pursuit of Prophet
Moses. He was pleasantly surprised to learn that unknown to the world till only late, the Holy
Qur’an made definite prediction about the preservation of the body of that same Pharaoh of
Moses’ time. This led Dr. Bucaille to study the Qur’an thoroughly after learning the Arabic
language. The final conclusion of his comparative study of the Qur’an and the Bible is that the
statements about scientific phenomena in the Holy Qur’an are perfectly in conformity with
the modern sciences whereas the Biblical narrations on the same subjects are scientifically
entirely unacceptable.
The present booklet, which is a lecture given by Dr. Bucaille on the subject “The Qur’an
and Modern Science” at the Commonwealth Institute London, will provide guidance
towards the eternal truth about Islam.
THE QUR'AN AND MODERN SCIENCE
On 9 NOVEMBER 1976, an unusual lecture was given at the French Academy of
Medicine. It’s title was ‘Physiological and Embryological data in the Qur’an’. I presented
my study on the existence in the Qur’an of certain statements concerning physiology and
reproduction. My reason for doing this was that our knowledge of these disciplines is such,
that it is impossible to explain how a text produced at the time of the Qur’an could have
contained ideas that have only been discovered in modern times.
There is indeed no human work prior to modern times that contains statements which were
equally in advance of the state of knowledge at the time they appeared and which might be
compared to the Qur’an.
In addition to this, a comparative study of data of a similar kind contained in the Bible (Old
Testament and Gospels) seemed desirable. This is how the project was formed of a
confrontation between modern knowledge and certain passages in the Holy Scriptures of each
monotheistic religion. It resulted in the publication of a book under the title, The Bible, The
Qur’an and Science. The first French addition appeared in May 976. (Seglers, Paris). English
and Arabic editions have now been published.
It comes as no surprise to learn that Religion and Science have always been considered to
be twin sisters by Islam and that today, at a time when science has taken such great strides,
they still continue to be associated, and furthermore certain scientific data are used for the
better understanding of the Qur’anic text. What is more, in a century where, scientific truth has
dealt a deathblow to religious belief, it is precisely the discoveries of science that, in an
objective examination of the Islamic Revelation, have highlighted the supernatural character of
certain aspects of the Revelation.
When all is said and done, generally speaking, scientific knowledge would seem in spite of
what people may say, to be highly conducive to reflection on the existence of God.
Once we begin to ask ourselves in an unbiased or unprejudiced way about the metaphysical
lessons to be derived from some of today’s knowledge, (for example our knowledge of the
infinitely small or the problem of life), we indeed discover many reasons for thinking along these
lines. When we think about the remarkable organisation presiding over the birth and and
maintenance of life, it surely becomes clear that the likelihood of it being the result of chance
gets less and less, as our knowledge and progress in this field expand. Certain concepts must
appear to be increasingly unacceptable; for example, the one put forward by the French winner
of the Nobel prize for Medicine who tried to get people to admit that living matter was selfcreated
as the result of fortuitous circumstances under effect of certain outside influences using
simple chemical elements as their base. From this it is claimed that living organisms came into
being, leading to the remarkable complex called man. To me, it would seem that the scientific
progress made in understanding the fantastic complexity of higher beings provides strong
arguments in favour of the opposite theory: in other words, the existence of an extraordinarily
methodical organisation presiding over the remarkable arrangement of the phenomena of life.
In many parts of the Book, the Qur’an leads, in simple terms, to this kind of general
reflection. But it also contains infinitely more precise data which are directly related to facts
discovered by modern science: these are what exercise a magnetic attraction for today’s
scientists.
ENCYCLOPEDIA KNOWLEDGE NECESSARY TO
UNDERSTAND THE QUR’AN
For many centuries, man was unable to study them, because he did not possess sufficient
means. It is only today that numerous verses of the Qur’an dealing with natural phenomena
have become fully comprehensible. I should even go so far as to say that, in the 20th century,
with its compartmentalization of ever-increasing knowledge, it is not always easy for the average
scientist to understand everything he reads in the Qur’an on such subjects, without having
recourse to specialised research. This means that to understand all such verses of the Qur’an
one is today required to have an absolutely encyclopedic knowledge, by which l mean, one
which embraces very many disciplines
I use the word ‘science’ to mean knowledge which has been soundly established. It does not
include the theories which, for a time, help to explain a phenomenon or a series of phenomena,
only to be abandoned later in favour of explanations which have become more plausible thanks
to scientific progress. I basically only intend to deal with comparisons between statements in the
Qur’an and knowledge which is not likely to be subject to further discussion. Wherever I
introduce scientific facts which are not 100% established, I shall, of course, make it quite clear.
There are also some very rare example of statements in the Qur’an which have not, as yet,
been confirmed by modern science: I shall refer to these by pointing out that all the evidence
leads scientists to regard them as being highly probable. An example of this is the statement in
the Qur’an that life is of aquatic origin; and another is that somewhere in the Universe there are
Earths similar to our own.
These scientific considerations should not, however, make us forget that the Qur’an remains a
religious book par excellence and that it cannot, of course, be expected to have a ‘scientific’
purpose per se. Whenever man is invited to reflect upon the works of creation and the
numerous natural phenomena he can observe the obvious intention, in using such examples, is
to stress Divine Omnipotence. The fact that, in these reflections, we can find allusions to data
connected with scientific knowledge is surely another of God’s gifts whose value must shine out
in an age where scientifically based materialistic atheism seeks to gain control at the expense of
the belief in God.
Throughout my research I have constantly tried to remain totally objective. I believe I have
succeeded in approaching the study of the Qur’an with the same objectivity that a doctor has
when he opens a file on a patient: in other words, by carefully confronting all the symptoms he
can find to arrive at a diagnosis. I must admit that it was certainly not a faith in Islam that
first guided my steps, but simple research for the truth. This is how I see it today. It was
mainly fact which, by the time I had finished my study, had led me to see in the Qur’an a text
revealed to a Prophet.
We shall examine statements in the Qur’an which appear today merely to record scientific
truth, but which men in former times were only able to grasp the apparent meaning of. How
is it possible to imagine that, were there any subsequent alterations to the text, these obscure
passages scattered throughout the text of the Qur’an were able to escape human manipulation.
The slightest alteration to the text would automatically have destroyed the remarkable
coherence which is characteristic of them, and prevented us from establishing their conformity
with modern knowledge. The presence of these statements spread throughout the Qur’an looks
to the impartial observer like an obvious hallmark of authenticity.
The Qur’an is a preaching which was made known to man in the course of a revelation
which lasted roughly twenty years. It spanned two periods of equal length on either side of the
Hegira1. In view of this, it was natural for reflections having a scientific aspect to be scattered
throughout the book. In the case of a study such as the one we have made, we had to
regroup them according to subject, collecting them sura by sura2.
How should they be classified? I could not find any indications in the Qur’an suggesting any
particular classifications. So I have decided to present them according to my own personal one.
It would seem to me, that the first subject to be dealt with is Creation. Here it is possible to
compare the verses referring to this topic with the general ideas prevalent today on the
formation of the Universe. Next, I have divided up verses under the following general headings:
Astronomy, the Earth, the Animal and Vegetable Kingdoms, Man, and Human Reproduction in
particular; the latter is a
1. Hegira: The emigration of the Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) from Makkah to Medinah,
became reference point for
the Islamic calendar - publisher.
2. Sura: An Arabic word meaning chapter. The Qur’an consists of 114 Suras - publisher.
subject which, in the Qur’an, is allotted a very important place. To these general
headings it is possible to add sub-headings.
Furthermore, I thought it useful to make a comparison between Qur’anic and Biblical
narrations from the point of view of modern knowledge. This has been done in the case of such
subjects as the Creation, the Flood and the Exodus.
CREATION OF THE UNIVERSE
Let us first examine the Creation as described in the Qur’an.
An extremely important general idea emerges: its dissimilarity with Biblical narration. This
idea contradicts the parallels which are often, and wrongly, drawn by Western authors to
underline solely the resemblances between the two texts.
When talking of the Creation, as of other subjects, there is a strong tendency in the West to
claim that Muhammad only copied the general outlines of the Bible. It is indeed possible to
compare the six days of the Creation as described in the Bible, plus an extra day of rest on
God’s sabbath, with this verse from sura Al Araf (7:54)
Your Lord is Allah Who created the heavens and the earth in six days.
We must point out straight away that modern commentator stress the interpretation of ayyam,
one translation of which is ‘days’, as meaning ‘long periods’ or ‘ages’ rather than periods of
twenty-four hours.
What to me appears to be of fundamental importance is that, in contrast to the narration
contained in the Bible, the Qur’an does not lay down a sequence for the Creation of the Earth
and Heavens. It refers both to the Heavens before the Earth and the Earth before the Heavens,
when it talks of the Creation in general , as in this verse of the sura Taha (20:4)
A revelation from Him (Allah) Who created the earth and the heavens.
In fact, the notion to be derived from the Qur’an is one of a con-comitance in the celestial and
terrestrial evolutions. There are also absolutely fundamental data concerning the existence of an
initial gaseous mass (dukhan) which is unique and whose elements, although at first fused
together (ratq) subsequently became separated (fatq). This notion is expressed in the sura
Fussilat (41:11).
And God turned to heaven when it was smoke.
And the same is expressed in the sura Al Anbiya (21:30).
Do not the Unbelievers see that the heavens and the earth were joined together (as one unity of
creation), then We (Allah) clove them asunder?
The separation process resulted in the formation of multiple worlds, a notion which crops up
dozen of times in the Qur’an, once it has formed the first verse in the sura Al Fatiha (1:1)
Praise be to God, the Lord of the Worlds.
All this is in perfect agreement with modern ideas on the existence of primary nebula and the
process of secondary separation of the elements that had formed the initial mass. This
separation resulted in the formation of galaxies and then, when these divided, of stars from
which the planets were to be born.
Reference is also made in the Qur’an to an intermediary Creation between the Heavens and
the Earth, as in the sura Al Furqan (25:59).
God is the One Who Created the heavens and the earth
and all that is between them.
It would seem that this intermediary Creation corresponds to the modern discovery of
bridges of matter which are present outside organised astronomical systems.
This survey certainly shows us how modern data and statements in the Qur’an agree on a
large number of points. We have come a long way from the Biblical text with its successive
phases that are totally unacceptable; especially the one placing the Creation of the Earth (on the
3rd day) before that of the Heavens (on the 4th) day, when it is a known fact that our planet
comes from its own star, the sun. In such circumstances, how can we imagine that a man
who drew his inspiration from the Bible could have been the author of the Qur’an, and, of his
own accord, have corrected the Biblical text to arrive at the general concept concerning the
formation of the Universe, when this concept was not to be formed until centuries after his
death
ASTRONOMY - LIGHT AND MOVEMENT
Let us now turn to the subject of astronomy
Whenever I describe the details the Qur’an contains on certain points of astronomy to
Westerners, it is unusual for someone not to reply that there is nothing special in this,
considering the Arabs made important discoveries in this field long before the Europeans.
This is, in fact, a singularly mistaken idea resulting from an ignorance of history. In the
first place, science was developed in Arabian countries at a time that was considerably after the
Qur’anic Revelation had occurred; in the second, the scientific knowledge prevalent at the highpoint
of Islamic civilisation would not have made it possible for a human being to have written
statements on the Heavens comparable to those in the Qur’an.
Here again, the subject is so wide that I can only provide an outline of it.
Whereas the Bible talks of the Sun and the Moon as two luminaries differing in size, the
Qur’an distinguishes between them by the use of different epithets: light (nur) for the Moon,
torch (siraj) for the Sun. The first is an inert body which reflects light, the second a celestial
formation in a state of permanent combustion, and a source of light and heat.
The word ‘star’ (najm) is accompanied by another qualifying word which indicates that it
burns and consumes itself as it pierces through the shadows of the night: it is word thakib.
In the Qur’an, the Kawkab definitely seems to mean the planets which are celestial
formations that reflect and do not produce light like the Sun.
Today it is known how the celestial organisation is balanced by the position of stars in a
defined orbit and the interplay of gravitational forces related to their mass and speed movement,
each with its own motion. But isn’t this what the Qur’an describes, in terms which have only
become comprehensible in our own day, when it mentions the foundation of this balance in the
sura Al Anbiya (21:33)
[God is] the One Who created the night, the day the sun and the moon. Each one is travelling in
an orbit with its own motion.
The Arabic word which expresses this movement is a verb sabaha (vasbahun in the text): it
carries with it the idea of a motion which comes from any moving body, be it the movement of
one’s legs as one runs on the ground, or the action of swimming in water. In the case of a
celestial body. One is forced to translate it in the original sense, that is, ‘to travel with one’s
own motion’.
The description of the sequence of day and night would, in itself, be rather
commonplace were it not for the fact that, in the Qur’an, it is expressed in terms that today are
highly significant. This is because it uses the verb kawwara in the sura Al Zumar (39:5) to
describe the way the night ‘winds’ or ‘coils’ itself about the day and day about the night, just
as, in the original meaning of the verb, a turban is wound around the head. This is a totally
valid comparison; yet at the time the Qur’an was revealed, the astronomical data necessary to
draw it were unknown.
The evolution of the Heavens and the notion of a settled place for the Sun are also described.
They are in agreement with highly detailed modern ideas. The Qur’an also seems to have
alluded to the expansion of the Universe.
There is also the conquest of space. This has been undertaken thanks to remarkable
technological progress and has resulted in man’s journey to the Moon. But this surely springs to
mind when we read the sura Al Rahman (55:33).
O assembly of jinns and men, if you can penetrate regions of the heavens and the earth, then
penetrate them. You will not penetrate them save
with [Our] Power.
This power comes from the All-Mighty, and the subject of the whole sura is an invitation to
recognise God’s Beneficence to man.
THE EARTH
Let us now return to the Earth.
Let us examine, for example, this verse in the sura Al Zumar (39:21).
Hast thou not seen that God sent water down from the sky and led it through sources into the
ground? Then He caused sown fields of
different colours to grow.
Such notions seem quite natural to us today, but we should not forget that they were not
prevalent long ago. It was until the sixteenth century. with Bernard Palissy, that he gained the
first coherent description of the water cycle. Prior to this, people talked about the theory
whereby the water of the oceans, under the effect of winds, were thrust towards the interior of
the continents. They then returned to the oceans via the great abyss, which, since Plato’s time,
has been called the Tartarus. In the seventeenth century, a great thinker such as Descartes
believed in it, and even in the nineteenth century there was still talk of Aristotle’s theory,
according to which water was condensed in cool mountain caverns and formed underground
lakes that fed springs. Today, we know that it is the infiltration of rainwater that is
responsible for this. If one compares the facts of modern hydrology with the data to be found in
numerous verses of the Qur’an on this subject, one cannot fail to notice the remarkable degree
of agreement between the two.
In geology, a fact of recently acquired knowledge is the phenomenon of folding, which was to
form the mountain ranges. The same is true of the Earth’s crust, which is like a solid shell on
which we can live, while the deeper layers are hot and fluid, and thus inhospitable to any form of
life. It is also known that the stability of the mountains is linked to the phenomenon of folding,
for it was the folds that were to provide foundations for the reliefs that constituted the
mountains.
Let us now compare modern ideas with one verse among many in the Qur’an that deals with
this subject. It is taken from the sura Al Naba’ (78:6-7).
Have We not made the earth an expanse and the mountains stakes?
The stakes (awtad), which are driven into the ground like those used to anchor a tent, are the
deep foundations of geological folds.
Here, as in the case of other topics, the objective observer cannot fail to notice the absence of
any contradiction with modern knowledge.
But more than anything else, I was struck, at first, by statements in the Qur’an dealing with
living things, both in animal and vegetable kingdoms, especially with regard to reproduction.
I must once again stress the fact, that it is only since modern times, that scientific progress has
made the content of many such verses more comprehensible to us. There are also other
verses which are more easily understandable, but which conceal a biological meaning that is
highly significant. This is the case of the sura Al Anbiya’, a part of which has already been
quoted:
And We (Allah) got every living thing out of the water.
Will they then not believe.
This is an affirmation of the modern idea that the origin of life is aquatic. Progress in botany at
the time of Muhammad was in no country advanced enough for it to be established as a rule that
plants have both male and female parts. Nevertheless, we may read the following in the sura
Taha (20:53) .
(God is the One Who) sent water down from the sky and thereby We brought forth pairs of
plants each separate from the other.
Today, we know that fruit comes from plants that have sexual characteristics (even when it
comes from unfertilised flowers, like bananas). In the sura Al Ra’d (13:3) we read:
And fruit of every kind He made in pairs, two and two.
Reflections on reproduction in the animal kingdom were linked to those on human
reproduction. We shall examine them presently.
In the field of physiology, there is one verse which, to me, appears extremely significant: one
thousand years before the discovery of the circulation of the blood, and roughly thirteen
centuries before it was known what happened in the intestine to ensure that organs were
nourished by the process of digestive absorption, a verse in the Qur’an describes the source of
the constituents of milk, in conformity with these notions.
To understand this verse, we have to know that chemical reactions occur in the intestine and
that, from there, substances extracted from food pass into the bloodstream via a complex
system, sometimes by way of the liver, depending on their chemical nature. The blood
transports them to all the organs of the body, among which are the milk-producing mammary
glands.
Without entering into detail, let us just say that, basically, there is the arrival of certain
substances from the contents of the intestines into the vessels of the intestinal wall itself, and the
transportation of these substances by the bloodstream.
This concept must be fully appreciated, if we are to understand this verse in the Qur’an sura
An Nahl (16:66).
Verily, in cattle there is a lesson for you. We (Allah) give you to drink
of what is inside their bodies, coming from a conjunction between
the contents of the intestines and the blood, a milk pure and
pleasant for those who drink it.
THE CREATION OF MAN
In the Qur’an the subject of human reproduction leads to a multitude of statements which
constitute a challenge to the embryologist seeking a human explanation to them. It was only
after the birth of the basic sciences which were to contribute to our knowledge of biology, and
especially after the invention of the microscope, that man was able to understand such
statements. It was impossible for man living in the early seventh century to have expressed
such ideas. There is nothing to indicate that, at this time, men in the Middle East and Arabia
knew anything more about this subject than men living in Europe or anywhere else. Today,
there are many Muslims with a thorough knowledge of the Qur’an and natural sciences who
have clearly recognised the comparisons to be made between the verses of the Qur’an dealing
with reproduction and human knowledge. I shall always remember the comment of an eighteen
years old Muslim, brought up in Saudi Arabia, replying to a reference to the question of
reproduction as described in the Qur’an. Pointing to it, he said, ‘But this book provides us
with all the essential information of the subject. When I was at school they used the Qur’an to
explain to me how children were born; your books on sex-education are a bit late on the
scene!’.*
It is on this point in particular, that a comparison between the beliefs current at the time of the
Qur’an, that were full of superstitions and myths, and the contents of the Qur’an and modern
data, leaves us amazed at the degree of concordance between the latter and the absence in the
Qur’an to the mistaken ideas that were prevalent at the time.
Let us now isolate, from all those verses, precise ideas concerning the complexity of the
fertilizing liquid and the fact that an infinitely small quantity is required to ensure fertilization, its
‘quintessence’ - if I may so translate the Arabic word ‘sulala’.
The implantation of the egg in the female genital organ is perfectly described in several verses
by the word ‘Alaq, which is also the title of the sura in which it appears:
God fashioned man from something which clings....
I do not think there is any reasonable translation of the of the word ‘Alaq other than to use its
original sense.
The evolution of the embryo inside the maternal uterus is only briefly described, but the
description is accurate, because the simple words referring to it correspond exactly to
fundamental stages in its growth. This is what we read in a verse from the sura Al Muminun
(23:14)
We (Allah) 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. Then We developed out of it another
creature. So blessed be Allah, the Perfect Creator.
The term ‘chewed flesh’ (mudga) corresponds exactly to the appearance of the embryo at a
certain stage in its development.
It is known that the bones develop inside this mass and that they are then covered with
muscle. This is the meaning of the term ‘intact flesh’ (lahm).
The embryo passes through a stage where some parts are in proportion and others out of
proportion with what is later to become the individual. Maybe this is the meaning of a verse in
the sura Al Hajj (22:5) which reads as follows:
* Emphasised by publisher.
We created you out of dust, then out of sperm, then We fashioned
him into something which clings into a little lump of flesh, partly
formed and partly unformed.
Next, we have a reference to the appearance of the senses and viscerae in the sura Al Sajda
(32:9)
[God] appointed for you the senses of hearing, sight and the viscerae.
Nothing here contradicts today’s data and, furthermore, none of the mistaken ideas of the
time has crept into the Qur’an.
QUR’AN AND BIBLE
We have now come to the last subject: it is the confrontation, with modern knowledge, of
passages in the Qur’an that are also referred to in the Bible.
We have already caught a glimpse of the problem when talking of the Creation. Earlier I
stressed the perfect agreement between modern knowledge and verses in the Qur’an, and
pointed out that the Biblical narration contained statements that were scientifically unacceptable.
This is hardly surprising when we know that the great narration of the Creation contained in
the Bible was the work of priests living in the sixth century BC, hence the term ‘Sacerdotal’
narration. This seems mainly to have been conceived as the theme of a preaching designed to
exhort people to observe the sabbath. The narration was constructed with a definite end in
view, and, as Father de Vaux (a former head of the Biblical School of Jerusalem) has noted, this
end was essentially legalist in character.
The Bible also contains a much shorter and older narration of the Creation, the so-called
‘Yahvist’ version, which approaches the subject from a completely different angle.
They are both taken from Genesis, the first book of the Pentateuch or Taurah: Moses is
supposed to have been its author, but the text we have today has, as we know, undergone
many changes.
The Sacerdotal narration of Genesis is famous for its whimsical genealogies, that go back to
Adam, and which nobody takes very seriously. Nevertheless, such Gospel authors as
Matthew and Luke have reproduced them, more or less verbatim, in their genealogies of
Jesus. Matthew goes back as far as Abraham, and Luke to Adam. All these writings are
scientifically unacceptable, because they set a figure on the age of the world and the time man
appeared on the Earth, which is most definitely out of the keeping with what has today been
established with certainty. The Qur’an, on the other hand, is completely free of data of this
kind.
Earlier on, we also noted how perfectly the Qur’an agrees with general, modern ideas on the
formation of the Universe, whereas the Biblical narration stands in contradiction to them; the
allegory of the primordial waters is hardly tenable, nor is the creation of light on the first day,
before the creation of the stars which produce this light; the existence of an evening and a
morning before the creation of the Earth; the creation of the Earth on the third day before that of
the Sun on the fourth; the appearance of beasts on the Earth on the sixth day after the
appearance of the birds of the air on the fifth day, although the former come first: all these
statements are the result of beliefs prevalent at the time this text was written and do not have any
other meaning.
As for the genealogies contained in the Bible, which form the basis of the Jewish calendar and
assert that today the world is 5738 years old, these are hardly admissible either. Our solar
system may be over 41/2 billion years old, and the appearance on the Earth of man, as we
know him today, may be estimated in tens of thousands of years, if not more.
It is absolutely essential, therefore, to note that the Qur’an does not contain any such
indications as to the date, and that these are specific to the Biblical text.
There is a second, highly significant, subject of comparison between the Bible and the Qur’an:
this is the Flood. In actual fact, the Biblical narration is a fusion of two descriptions in which
events are related differently. The Bible speaks of a universal flood and places it roughly 300
years before Abraham. According to what we know of Abraham, this would imply a universal
cataclysm around the twenty-first or twenty-second century B.C. This would be untenable, in
view of the historical data.
How can we accept the idea that, in the twenty-first or twenty-second century B.C, all
civilisation was wiped off the face of the Earth by a universal cataclysm, when we know that this
period corresponds, for example, to the one preceding the Middle Kingdom in Egypt, at
roughly the date of the first Intermediary period before the eleventh dynasty?
None of the preceding statements are acceptable according to modern knowledge.
From this point of view, we can measure the enormous gap separating the Bible from the
Qur’an.
In contrast to the Bible, the narration contained in the Qur’an deals with a cataclysm that
is limited to Noah’s people. They were punished for their sins, as were other ungodly peoples.
The Qur’an does not locate the cataclysm in time. There are absolutely no historical or
archeological objections to the narration in the Qur’an.
A third point of comparison, which is extremely significant, is the story of Moses, and
especially the Exodus from Egypt of the Hebrews enslaved to the Pharaoh. Here I can only
give a highly compressed account of the study of this subject that appears in my book. I
have noted the points where the Biblical and Qur’anic narrations agree and disagree, and,
for some details I have found points where the two texts compliment each other in a very useful
way. Among the many hypotheses concerning the position occupied by the Exodus in the
history of the Pharaohs, I have concluded that the most likely is the theory which makes
Merneptah, Rameses II’s successor, the Pharaoh of the Exodus. The confrontation of the data
contained in the Scriptures with archeological evidence speaks strongly in favour of this
hypothesis. I am pleased to be able to say that the Biblical narration contributes weighty
evidence leading us to situate Moses in the history of the Pharaohs: Moses was born during
the reign of Rameses II. Biblical data are therefore of considerable historical value in the story
of Moses.
The medical study of the mummy of Merneptah has yielded further useful information on
the possible causes of this Pharaoh’s death.
The fact that we today possess the mummy of this Pharaoh, which to be exact,was
discovered in 1898, is one of paramount importance. The Bible records that it was engulfed
in the sea, but does not give any details as to what subsequently became of the body.
The Qur’an, in the sura Yunus (10:92), notes that the body of the Pharaoh, who was to be
damned, would be saved from the waters.
So this day We (Allah) shall save your (dead) body that you (Pharaoh)
may be a sign for those who come after you! And verily, many
among mankind are heedless of Our signs.
A medical examination of this mummy, has moreover, shown that the body could not have
stayed in the water for long, because it does not show any signs of deterioration due to
prolonged submersion.
Here again, the confrontation of the narration in the Qur’an with the data provided by
modern knowledge does not give rise to the slightest objection from a scientific point of view.
The Old Testament constitutes a collection of literary works produced in the course of roughly
nine centuries and which has undergone many alterations. The part played by man in the actual
composition of texts of the Bible is quite considerable.
The Qur’anic Revelation has a history which is radically different. From the moment it was
first communicated to man, it was learnt by heart and written down during Muhammad’s own
lifetime. It is thanks to this that the Qur’an does not pose any problem of authenticity.
A totally objective examination of it, in the light of modern knowledge, leads us to recognise
the agreement between the two, as has already been noted on repeated occasions. It makes
us deem it quite unthinkable for a man of Muhammad’s time to have been the author of such
statements, on account of the state of knowledge in his day. Such considerations are part of
what gives the Qur’anic Revelation its unique place, and forces the impartial scientist to admit
his inability to provide an explanation which calls solely upon materialistic reasoning.
sssssssssss
THE LIGHT OF REVELATION
INTRODUCTION
WHAT IS LIFE?
Man’s existence in this world and the creation of this entire universe are not mere
accidents or products of a fortuitious nature. This universe, every single atom of it, manifests
and points us to the realization of a Loving, Merciful and All-Power Creator. Without a
Creator nothing can exist. Every single soul knows that he is existing and that hios existence is
dependent on a Creator - he knows for sure that he cannot create himself. Therefore it is his
duty to know his madter creator - God.
MANKIND
Man is a unique creature. God establishes man as His Representative or Deputy to
govern over all other creatures in this world. He is endowed with the faculty of REASON,
which differentiates him from all other animals. The Prophe Muhammad (peace be upon him)
said:
“God has not created anything better than Reason or anything more perfect or more
beautiful than Reason....”
Together with this faculty to dicriminate and discern, man is given the freedom (freewill)
to choose for himself a way of life worthy of his position as God’s Representative or to fall
lower than the lowest of all animals or creation. Man is born pure and sinless. He is given the
free will to do righteous deeds or induldge in sins.
DIVINE GUIDANCE
God, out of His abundant Love and Mercy for mankind has not left us in the darkness
to discover the right path by trial and error alone. Coupled with our intellectual capability to
reason, God bestowed upon us DIVINE GUIDANCE that outlines the Criterion for truth and
the knowledge and reality of our existence in this world and the Hereafter.
REVELATIONS
From the beginning of mankind God sent Prophets to convey His REVELATION and
to invite to the path of TRUE PEACE and OBEDIENCE to One true God. This is ISLAM.
This message conveyed to successive generations of man through
different Prophets, all inviting mankind to the same path.
However, all the earlier messages or revelations from God were distorted by people
of later generations. As result, pure Revelation from God was polluted with myths,
superstitions, idol worship and irrational philosophical ideologies. The religion of God was lost
in a plethora of religions.
Human history is a cronical of man’s drift between light and darkness, but God out of
His abundant Love for mankind has not forsaken us.
FINAL REVELATIONS
When mankind was in the depths of the dark Ages, God sent the final Messenger,
Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) to redeem humanity. The revelation to the Prophet
Muhammad represents the ultimate and permanent sourse of guidance for mankind.
CRITERIA FOR TRUTH
How do we know that a revelation like the Qur’an is the word of God? The criteria
for truth can be easily understood by all:-
1. RATIONAL TEACHING: Since God bestowed reason and intellect on mankind, it is our
duty to use it to distinguish truth from falsehood. True un-distorted revelation from God must be
rational and can be reasoned out by all unbiased minds.
2. PERFECTION: Since God is all perfect, His revelations must be perfect and
accurate, free from mistakes, omissions, interpolation and multiplicity of versions. It should be
free from contradictions in its narration.
3. NO MYTHS OR SUPERSTITIONS: True revelation from God is free from myths or
superstitions that degrade the dignity of God or man.
4. SCIENTIFIC: Since God is the Creator of all knowledge, true revelation is scientific and
can withstand the challenge of science at all times.
5. PROPHECY: God is the Knower of the past, present and future. Thus His word of
prophecies in His revelation will be fulfilled as prophesied.
6. INIMITABLE BY MAN: True revelation from God is infallible and cannot be
imitated by man. God’s true revelation is a Living miracle, an open Book challenging all
mankind to see and prove for themselves.[/align]