"Lo! In the creation of the heavens and earth and in the alteration of the night and day, there are indeed signs for men of understanding. Such as remember Allah standing, sitting, and reclining and consider the creations of the heavens and earth, (and say): Our Lord! You have not created this in vain. Glory be to you! Preserve us from the doom of fire." (Al-Imran 3:190-191)

The Holy Qur�an, sent to the Prophet Muhammad salla�llahu �alahi wa sallam as the final message to all mankind until the reckoning of the Day of Resurrection, is an everlasting miracle. This article will briefly discuss a few of the scientific phenomena that were revealed. Discoveries made in recent years serve to confirm the authenticity of the Qur�an � it is a force not to be challenged! Indeed, Science is a means by which one finds the Truth.

"Do not the unbelievers see that the heavens and the earth were joined together, then We clove them asunder, and made from water every living thing? Will they not then believe?" (Al-Anbiya 21:30)

The Qur�an tells of how the origin of the universe was from one piece. Such a concept was beyond the understanding of mankind 1400 years ago. Even up till today, man continues to verify this divine revelation, most notably with what is known as �The Big Bang� theory. Further the idea that all life originated from water would not have been an easy thing to convince people then of. Imagine yourself in that era, pointing to your body and saying, "For your information, I am mostly made up of water." No one would have believed you. The proof only came with the invention of the microscope when it was discovered that the cytoplasm, the basic substance of a cell is 80% water. This shows that the Qur�an contains information that man will discover only in due course � it stands the test of time.

Centuries before the advent of Muhammad�s prophethood, a Greek philosopher, Democritus, advanced a theory of atomism which was to become the basis of matter theory of other philosophical systems. According to atomists, matter consists of tiny, indestructible and indivisible particles called atoms. The Arabs too used to deal with this concept � the Arabic word dharrah commonly refers to the smallest particle known to man. Now modern science has proven that this smallest unit of matter (i.e. the atom which has all of the same qualities of its element) can be further split into its component parts. This is a new idea, a scientific development of the last century; yet interestingly, the information has already been documented in the Qur�an:

"He [i.e. Allah] is aware of an atom�s weight in the heavens and on the earth and even anything smaller than that�" (Saba� 34:3).

Indeed, science today has journeyed beyond atoms to penetrate the realms of quarks, muons, taos and leptons. Truly, the Qur�an is the literal word of Allah subhana�llahu wa ta�ala. It is not possible for anyone living 14 centuries ago to have known such a fact as this; which is discovered only recently with advanced equipment and sophisticated methods.

A few years ago, a group of men in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia collected all the verses in the Qur�an which discuss embryology and asked, �This is what the Qur�an expounds. Is it the truth?� In essence, they acted upon the advice of the Qur�an: �Ask the men who know� and chose, as it happened, a non-Muslim professor of embryology at the University of Toronto, Prof. Keith Moore. They invited him to share his knowledge with them as a well-known expert on the subject, while they in turn gave him the help he needed in translation and the cooperation for which he asked. Prof. Moore was so surprised with his findings that in the second edition of one of his textbooks on embryology, �Before We Are Born�, he included some material pertaining to the history of embryology. What he found in the Qur�an was in fact information ahead of its time because the Prophet s.a.w. lived in the medieval period when there were very few high points of scientific discovery made which are known today.

Professor Keith Moore in a television presentation confirms some of the revelations of the Qur�an about the growth of a human being in the womb that were not known to man until thirty years ago. In fact, one item in particular � the Qur�an�s description of a "leech-like clot" (�alaqah) at one stage of its development (Al-Hajj 22:5; Al-Mu�minun 23:14; Ghafir 40:67) � was new to him. He said, "I never thought of that before" and went to the zoology department to ask for a picture of a leech. When he saw that a leech looked just like the human embryo, he included both pictures in one of his books. Those who believe in the message of the Qur�an clearly have knowledge of that which others do not, even if their understanding of the knowledge is limited to the scientific development of the time.

The Qur�an describes the appearance of the embryo, a thing too small to see with the naked eye, with amazing clarity. It can only be seen with a microscope, a device which has been around for little more than two hundred years. Prof. Moore taunted skeptics, "Maybe fourteen centuries ago someone secretly had a microscope and did this research, making no mistakes anywhere. Then he somehow taught Muhammad new (s.a.w.) and convinced him to put this information in his book. Then he destroyed his equipment and kept it a secret forever. Do you believe that? You really should not unless you bring some proof because it is such a ridiculous theory." The Qur�an, Prof. Moore said, "could only have been divinely revealed!"

The aforementioned example of a man researching information contained in the Qur�an may be of a non-Muslim, but because he is an esteemed scholar, the conclusion he arrives is necessarily to be accorded its due recognition. Had a layman claimed the truth of a scientific miracle of the Qur�an, his word need not be accepted. A scientist on the other hand, can prove the divine revelation.

A truly scientific approach to the Qu�ran is therefore possible because the Qur�an offers something that is not offered by other religious scriptures, in particular, and other religions, in general. It is an open book of miracles for all to examine its contents. This is what scientists need. The linchpin of scientific thought today however, is the concept of falsification developed within the last century. The scientific community says, �If you have a theory, do not bother us with it unless you bring with that theory a way for us to prove whether you are right or wrong� This was why scientists listened to Albert Einstein. He came up with a new theory, �I believe the universe works like this, and here are three ways to prove if I am wrong.� His theory was subjects to these tests, all of which it passed, within six years. Coming up with tests to disprove a theory means that Einstein deserved some attention, but such an approach has its limitations - falsification is a method for demarcating science from non-science, and not the way to ultimate truth.

Every single verse of the Qur�an contains divine knowledge, but it is only in attaining higher levels of scientific understanding, that mankind is then capable of discerning the revelation within it. Thus, with the ever continuing process of human progress, man will come to understand more and more of the scientific miracles of the Qur�an. May Allah s.w.t. guide everyone close to the Truth.

Reference:

1. "The Holy Qur�an" Text, Translation and Commentary by Abdullah Yusuf Ali, 1943. (Latest publisher: Amana Publications, Beltsville, MD, USA; Title: "The Meaning of the Holy Qur�an" 1992). Includes subject index.
2. "The Meaning of the Glorious Koran" An Explanatory Translation by Mohammed Marmaduke Pickthall, a Mentor Book Publication.
3. "The Bible, The Qur�an and Science (Le Bible, le Coran et la Science)" The Holy Scriptures Examined in the Light of Modern Knowledge, by Maurice Bucaille, English version published by North American Trust.
4. Internet webpages.