Many Muslims claim that the Qur’an contains scientific information that could not have been known during the time that it was written and, as a result of this, believe that the Qur’an must be divine revelation. Here I will address some of the more common “scientific miracle” verses of the Qur’an that are presented in this leaflet. I will attempt to demonstrate that these verses are often either drawn from the Bible or misinterpreted to seem as though they contain some sort of miraculous scientific knowledge.
1. The Origin of Life
(Qur’an 21:30) Have those who disbelieved not considered that the heavens and the earth were a joined entity, and We separated them and made from water every living thing? Then will they not believe?
This verse of the Qur’an is not scientific foreknowledge, it is a paraphrase of Genesis:
(Genesis 1:1-10) In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth. The earth was without form and void, and darkness was over the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God was hovering over the face of the waters. And God said, “Let there be light,” and there was light. And God saw that the light was good. And God separated the light from the darkness. God called the light Day, and the darkness he called Night. And there was evening and there was morning, the first day. And God said, “Let there be an expanse in the midst of the waters, and let it separate the waters from the waters.” And God made the expanse and separated the waters that were under the expanse from the waters that were above the expanse. And it was so. And God called the expanse Heaven. And there was evening and there was morning, the second day. And God said, “Let the waters under the heavens be gathered together into one place, and let the dry land appear.” And it was so. God called the dry land Earth, and the waters that were gathered together he called Seas. And God saw that it was good.
As you can tell, the separation of the heavens and earth comes from v. 7-10 and the concept of everything being made from water is a misinterpretation of v. 2 where the “Spirit of God was hovering over the face of the waters” before He creates every living thing.
2. Iron
(Qur’an 57:25) We have already sent Our messengers with clear evidences and sent down with them the Scripture and the balance that the people may maintain [their affairs] in justice. And We sent down iron, wherein is great military might and benefits for the people, and so that Allah may make evident those who support Him and His messengers unseen. Indeed, Allah is Powerful and Exalted in Might.
First of all, all the elements came from space—this is not something unique to iron. Second, the context of this verse is that iron was “sent down for great military might and benefits for the people”, not that it was an element sent down from space. There is not any scientific foreknowledge in this verse, you are reading science into it. Third, the phrase “wa-anzalnā” (“we sent down”), and all words from the root نزل, are used mostly to specify that something is divine revelation, i.e. “We have revealed this to you”, and whenever it is used in a context similar to this verse about iron, it is always about Allah’s provision. Here are just a few instances:
(Qur’an 2:57) And We shaded you with clouds and sent down to you manna and quails, [saying], “Eat from the good things with which We have provided you.” And they wronged Us not – but they were [only] wronging themselves.
(Qur’an 7:57) And it is He who sends the winds as good tidings before His mercy until, when they have carried heavy rainclouds, We drive them to a dead land and We send down rain therein and bring forth thereby [some] of all the fruits. Thus will We bring forth the dead; perhaps you may be reminded.
(Qur’an 7:160) And We divided them into twelve descendant tribes [as distinct] nations. And We inspired to Moses when his people implored him for water, “Strike with your staff the stone,” and there gushed forth from it twelve springs. Every people knew its watering place. And We shaded them with clouds and sent down upon them manna and quails, [saying], “Eat from the good things with which We have provided you.” And they wronged Us not, but they were [only] wronging themselves.
(Qur’an 9:26) Then Allah sent down His tranquility upon His Messenger and upon the believers and sent down soldiers angels whom you did not see and punished those who disbelieved. And that is the recompense of the disbelievers.
Winds, rain, manna, quails, and tranquility do not come from space. Unless you can demonstrate that this verse is specifically talking about iron being sent down from space and not being sent down in the general sense of God’s provision, you are just reading science into an ancient text.
3. Sky’s Protection
(Qur’an 21:32) And We made the sky a protected ceiling, but they, from its signs, are turning away.
This verse has nothing to do with the “sky’s” (not a word a scientist would use when discussing the atmosphere) protection of the earth, but is just the same Ancient Near Eastern cosmology you find even among the Ancient Israelites. Bring to mind the Genesis narrative I quoted earlier, you will recall God’s separation of an expanse of water, one of which He calls “heaven” (just another word for sky). That expanse of water above the earth is, according to this model, kept above the earth by a “dome”. That is why in the flood narrative found in Genesis 7, God speaks of “the windows of the heavens” being opened and water flooding the world. So the fact that the Qur’an calls the sky a “protected ceiling” is not noteworthy, it is to be expected. The Ancient Israelites saw the sky as a protective barrier as well.
4. Mountains
(Qur’an 78:6-7) Have We not made the earth a resting place? And the mountains as stakes?
(Job 28:9) Man puts his hand to the flinty rock and overturns mountains by the roots.
I do not take the same approach most Muslims do with Scripture, I do not treat my Holy Text as a science book. As you may or may not know, I am an evolutionary theist—so I do not hold to the six day, young earth creation narrative. Therefore I do not attempt to read science into or out of the Scriptures and do not take this verse in Job as “proof” that the Scriptures can be referred to in a geology class. This is just to demonstrate that the Qur’an’s view on mountains having “roots” is (1) not as clear from the word “stake” and (2) present, much more clearly, in the Old Testament long before the Qur’an had existed.
5. Expansion of the Universe
(Qur’an 51:47) And the heaven We constructed with strength, and indeed, We are [its] expander.
Again, not an example of scientific foreknowledge, just reading science into a text that could have been lifted from the Old Testament:
(Job 9:8) who alone stretched out the heavens and trampled the waves of the sea
The idea of God “stretching” or “expanding” the heavens/universe is found in the Old Testament and is not referring to the 20th century discovery of the continually expanding universe. These are Ancient Near Easterners trying to understand the world they live in through the lens of a God who creates. When they look up at the sky and see this huge expanse, words like “stretched” and “expanded” might come to their minds.
6. Sun’s Orbit
(Qur’an 21:33) And it is He who created the night and the day and the sun and the moon; all [heavenly bodies] in an orbit are floating.
The word translated as “floating” actually means “swimming”.
The word translated as “orbit” is structurally identical to the word “ship”.
فَلَك – orbit, falak
فُلْك – ship, ful’k
Literally the only difference between the two words are the diacritical marks which, as I have addressed before, were added in much later and heavily edited. So, not only does it make more sense to translate this word as “ship” because of the word “swimming”, but even if we were to grant the word “orbit” here, this is still a bizarre argument to make. There is more evidence to suggest that the Qur’an, just like every other Ancient Near Eastern religion, is articulating a geocentric cosmology where the sun and moon revolve around the earth. You are, once again, reading science into this text.
7. The Ocean
(Qur’an 24:40) Or [they are] like darknesses within an unfathomable sea which is covered by waves, upon which are waves, over which are clouds – darknesses, some of them upon others. When one puts out his hand [therein], he can hardly see it. And he to whom Allah has not granted light – for him there is no light.
First of all, this verse describes this sea as “unfathomable”, meaning this is hyperbole. The “waves, upon which are waves” bit is not scientific foreshadowing for internal waves, it is just emphasizing the chaos and destruction found in the soul of an unbeliever. Second, the “over which are clouds—darknesses” could have easily been lifted from the Old Testament:
(Job 38:8-9) Or who shut in the sea with doors when it burst out from the womb, when I made clouds its garment and thick darkness its swaddling band.
8. Lying and Movement
(Qur’an 96:15-16) No indeed! If he does not stop, We will seize him by the forehead, his lying, sinful forehead!
The word nāṣiyatin means “forelock”, the piece of hair right above the forehead. The word for forehead is “jibāh”, which is used in the Qur’an only once in 9:35 and could have been used in these verses had the author intended to mention the forehead. Instead the word “forelock” was used which, outside of these two verses, is only used once:
(Qur’an 11:56) Indeed, I have relied upon Allah, my Lord and your Lord. There is no creature but that He holds its forelock. Indeed, my Lord is on a path [that is] straight.
The forelock is what Allah “holds” to guide a person, so in light of that bit of context it makes more sense to say that 96:15-16 is a call to stop being a cruel and oppressive leader and to follow the straight path, not an example of scientific foreshadowing.
Islam Meets Orthodoxy 