The Bosnian thinker and philosopher “Ali Izetbegovic” says:
“Aristotle wrote three scientific books, on the naturals, the heavens, and on the earth. These three books do not have a single scientifically correct sentence today from the perspective of modern science”.
He also said:
“ I did not find a single Qur’anic verse contradicts a single scientific fact. Rather, the Qur’an preceded modern science in many ways, and corrected many of the scientific theories that were prevalent in its time”
He says:
“For example, the idea that groundwater was formed by a deep chasm at the bottom of the continents. Did the Qur’an validate this scientific myth that prevailed in that era? “
The answer is “No”.
Rather the Qur’an says:
Do you not see that Allah (God) sends down rain from the sky—channelling it through streams in the earth—then produces with it crops of various colours, then they dry up and you see them wither, and then He reduces them to chaff? Surely in this is a reminder for people of reason. (Alzumar:21)
An atheist once told me:
We atheists believe in empirical science. If a new scientific theory refutes an old theory we accept it. As well as for historical stories.
While you Muslims are fanatic about your old book. You do not accept any scientific or historical information that contradicts it.
I said to him:
What’s best for you, to get the right information straight away? Or does it remain for life in search for the truth, by shifting from one scientific theory to another, or from one myth to another?
At the beginning of the last century, the difference between Qur’anic facts and scientific theories was vast.
During these years empirical science is getting closer and closer to the Qur’an, although the Qur’an has not changed and science is constantly changing.
What does that indicate?
Almighty says:
If you are in any doubt whether it is We Who have revealed this Book to Our servant, then produce just a surah like it, and call all your supporters and seek in it the support of all others save Allah. Accomplish this if you are truthful. (Al-Baqarah: 23).
This verse presents a challenge to find any error in the Qur’an.
The source of the Qur’an for us is the Creator who originated the universal laws that scientists are trying to discover.
The Creator is the witness to the universal events as well.
Therefore, the Quranic scientifical facts and Quranic historical events stories are accurate because they came from the source that established the universal laws and testified to the life events on earth.
He is the First and the Last, the Most High and Most Near, and He has ˹perfect˺ knowledge of all things. (Al- Hashr:3)
The scientific method came from a Muslim named “Hassan Ibn Al-Haytham”, about 800 years before Galileo. It is said to be the first scientist ever.
Secular historians such as “David Hillenburg” admit that the scientific method came from the Islamic world.
British researcher “Sabour Ahmed” says:
Philosophically, there are several roots of knowledge.
Science, which gives us the root of knowledge.
Philosophy.
Self-proven facts.
“Philosophically, nothing in science which based upon induction can challenge something which is based upon deduction“.
He says:
“If what is based on intellectual exhortation conflicts with textual and deductive evidence, then we must choose the deductive” .
The researcher continues:
“We believe that the faith in the Creator is not based on logic, but rather it is an innate belief that is supported by logic” .
“The belief in the Qur’an is based on logic. Therefore, it must contain things that can be tested and refuted” .
“If science comes with a theory that the Qur’an did not talk about or that contradicts a scientific fact mentioned in the Qur’an, then of course the Muslim will start thinking and researching, but all that science can do is to develop workable scientific theories models. This is based on scientific research”.
Philosophically, scientific research cannot be a substitute for textual evidence.
For example:
“Bachelors are unmarried. Nothing in observation can challenge that. It is something that’s not based upon observation. The circle is not square. And so on” .
“In the same way, the faith in the Qur’an stems from the fact that the Creator challenges us to find any faults that we did not find” .
“The Qur’an rejects blind faith by following the religion of the ancestors” .
“These important points that the Qur’an presented, and many important points in the sayings of the Messenger, peace be upon him, give us a strong evidence and certainty that this Qur’an is from God” .
Accordingly, if a person comes up with something related to science, I say to him:
You have come up with something related to scientific research, which is theoretical has not yet been proven, and I have a strong deductive evidence.
What motivates me to believe something empirical and leave an accurate text according to the factors I explained earlier?
All what I can say is: maybe what you came up with is correct.
This philosophical criteria has nothing to do with religion. It applies even to non-religious matters.
Any opinion, even if it is not religious، based on reliable textual evidence, cannot be challenged by theories of science at all.
The researcher continues:
For example:
There is a great debate among philosophers about human rationality and logic.
Where did human rationality come from?
How does inanimate matter affect tangible matter and lead to rationality?
Nothing comes out of nothingness.
How do we get our rationality from irrationality?
The believer says in this case that the Creator created the universe and its contents. The Creator gifted humans with this rationality to give them the ability to distinguish between right and wrong.
While from the natural perspective of an atheist, there is no reason to believe in rationality.
The atheist philosopher “Thomas Nagel”, despite his atheism, had the same position as the believer.
He has written a book called “Mind and Cosmos” , which has been published by Oxford University.
Thomas said:
“Nothing that Darwinian-thinking evolutionary biologists do makes me change my mind to make me accept it. Because I have a deductive evidence that the human mind can be logically trusted”.
He says:
“The Darwinian claim that life came from random mutations and genetic errors to give us a chance of survival is worthless“.
He also said:
” You may live on false beliefs without being able to differentiate between right and wrong based on this theory.”
We understand from the above that Darwin theory for the philosopher “Thomas” contradicts his belief that his mind is trustworthy.
He formally rejected Darwin’s theory on the grounds that it did not reach the strength of his deductive evidence.
There is a consensus among scholars and philosophers of modern science that empirical science is inductive. It does not depend on textual evidence.
It is well known to them as well that religious metaphysical doctrines can be arrived at by deduction and textual inference.
For example, we are all sure that our world is real. No one can prove this fact using an experiment.
This is a metaphysical belief, which science depends on but cannot prove.
Dr. Gary Miller (Abdulahad Omar), a mathematician, Christian theologian, and former missionary, says in his book “The Amazing Qur’an”:
“Every author begins his book by apologizing for the mistakes that occurred in his book, and there is no author in the world who dares to write a book and then say: This book is free of errors, but the Qur’an,n on the contrary, begins in Surat Al-Baqarah with the challenge of being free of errors”.
This is the Book about which there is no doubt, a guidance for those conscious of Allah (Qur’an 2 Al-Baqara)
The case of authorship applies to all holy books of people of other faiths, except for the Qur’an, for example:
Many writers continued in writing the Old Testament. The last was the writer of Second Maccabees Conclusion [15/39-40], the last Book of the Catholic Old Testament.
He said:
“Which if I have done well, and as it becometh the history, it is what I desired: but if not so perfectly, you must pardon me. It is always harmful to drink wine, or always water, but pleasant to use sometimes the one, and sometimes the other: so if the speech is always nicely framed, it will not be grateful to the readers. But here it shall be ended”.
In an interpretation of the book “Songs of Songs,” we read in its introduction:
“Who composed it and when? Why was it collected? If it is true that its presence in the Bible law was only a coincidence, how did it gain its place? It even found its role in the Jewish Passover rank at a later time! It’s difficult to determine the page order of the Book with repeated verses, topics, pictures, and situations… “.
As for the New Testament:
It is just written stories. Luke says in the introduction to his Gospel (1/1-4):
“Many have undertaken to draw up an account of the things that have been fulfilled among us, just as they were handed down to us by those who from the first were eyewitnesses and servants of the word. With this in mind, since I have carefully investigated everything from the beginning, I too decided to write an orderly account for you, most excellent Theophilus, so that you may know the certainty of the things you have been taught”.
This text states:
- Luke reminds people to “compose” stories about (biography) of Jesus, their point of view.
- Luke’s goal was to write a letter to his friend “Theophilus,” to know the certainty of the words.
- Luke declares that he did not see Christ, as he is only the reporter.
God said:
Do they not then reflect on the Quran? Had it been from anyone other than Allah, they would have certainly found in it many inconsistencies. (Qur’an 4 An-Nisa:82)
Gary Miller says after reading this verse from Surah An-Nisa:
“One of the well-known scientific principles at present is the principle of finding errors or investigating errors in theories until they are proven correct. The amazing thing is that the Qur’an has been calling Muslims and non-Muslims to find errors in it 14 centuries ago”.
Miller says:
“There is no book in the so-called religious scriptures that speaks in this way. All the other books are a collection of information, and they always tell you if you want more information, you can read Book X or Book X because this information came from it” .
“Unlike the Qur’an, which supplies the reader with the knowledge, then he tells you this is new information and even asks you to verify it if you are hesitant about the authenticity of the Qur’an in a way that cannot be from a human mind. The astonishing thing about the matter is the people of Maccah at that time”.
“Time after time, they used to hear it and hear the challenge that this is new information that was not Muhammad, and his people know it, despite that they did not say this is not new, rather we know it. They never said: We know from where Muhammad came with this information”.
Notes:
The Christians, Jews, and Muslims in the Middle East use the word “Allah” to refer to God, which refers to The Only True God.
The word “Allah” was mentioned in the earlier version of the Old Testament 89 times. (Refer to Genesis 2:4, Book of Daniel 6:20 Hebrew and Arabic Bible).The word ‘Allah’ appears in the original Sanskrit text. (Reg Veda – Book 2 hymn 1, Verse 11).
The reference of God to Himself as WE or US in many verses of the Qur’an denotes Grandeur and Power in Arabic. In the English language this is known as the royal WE, where a plural pronoun is used to refer to a single person holding a high office, such as a monarch. For the avoidance of doubt, the Qur’an has consistently reminded us of the SINGULAR pronoun in reference to God, when called upon by His servants.
From the book:
A Universal Religion
Faten Sabri