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{{page_title|Scientific Errors in the Qur'an}} | {{page_title|Scientific Errors in the Qur'an}} | ||
A message from an all-knowing being should not contain any [[Contradictions and Errors|errors, mistakes]], or information that contradicts known facts about the universe. If even one error exists in the text of [[Islam]]'s holy book then the claims of divine authorship and infallibility are not true. An objective evaluation of the [[Qur’an]] shows that it contains numerous [[Islam and Science|scientific]] and historical errors and reflects a pre-scientific, 7<sup>th</sup> century view of the natural world. | |||
Some will contest these numerous | Some will contest these numerous errors in the Qur'an by appealing to metaphor, alternative meanings, or [[w:Phenomenology (philosophy)|phenomenological]] interpretations of the text. Even supposing alternative explanations were possible in every case, the problem would remain that the Qur’an contains no obvious attempts to differentiate its understanding of the natural world and historical events from the common folklore and unscientific misconceptions of the people living in 7<sup>th</sup> century Arabia. An all-powerful, all-knowing, perfect communicator would have been able to foresee how such misleading statements would be understood by future generations and the doubts and confusions they would cause. Such overwhelming weakness in the Qur'an when we should expect perfection is already reason enough to reject any claims to its divine authorship. | ||
==Astronomy== | ==Astronomy== | ||
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Centuries after Muhammad lived, people with better astronomical knowledge than him started to come up with creative interpretations of these verses to say that Dhu'l-Qrnayn only traveled until he reached "the west" or to a spot "at the time" when the sun set and not the "place" where the sun set. Unfortunately, these alternative interpretations are severely undermined by the [[Dhul-Qarnayn_and_the_Sun_Setting_in_a_Muddy_Spring_-_Part_One#First_interpretation:_He_reached_the_west_and_east|context and Arabic words]] used in these verses, which instead point to a physical location. There is plenty of evidence showing that the early Muslims understood the verse in this straightforward way. Again, we must ask why an all-knowing being would use such misleading verses that mimic the misconceptions and legends prevalent at the time if one of these alternative explanations is correct. | Centuries after Muhammad lived, people with better astronomical knowledge than him started to come up with creative interpretations of these verses to say that Dhu'l-Qrnayn only traveled until he reached "the west" or to a spot "at the time" when the sun set and not the "place" where the sun set. Unfortunately, these alternative interpretations are severely undermined by the [[Dhul-Qarnayn_and_the_Sun_Setting_in_a_Muddy_Spring_-_Part_One#First_interpretation:_He_reached_the_west_and_east|context and Arabic words]] used in these verses, which instead point to a physical location. There is plenty of evidence showing that the early Muslims understood the verse in this straightforward way. Again, we must ask why an all-knowing being would use such misleading verses that mimic the misconceptions and legends prevalent at the time if one of these alternative explanations is correct. | ||
===Stars | ===Meteors are Stars Shot at Devils=== | ||
{{Main|Mistranslations of Quran 67-5|l1=Mistranslations of Qur'an 67:5}} | {{Main|Mistranslations of Quran 67-5|l1=Mistranslations of Qur'an 67:5}} | ||
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===Sky can Fall Down on People=== | ===Sky can Fall Down on People=== | ||
The Qur'an author thought that the sky is like a ceiling that can fall on someone | The Qur'an author thought that the sky/heaven is like a ceiling held up by Allah that can fall to earth or fragments break off and fall on someone. This is obviously impossible as the earth's atmosphere is simply made of gas and outer space is not a solid object. | ||
{{Quote|{{Quran|52|44}}|And if they were to see a fragment of the heaven falling, they would say: A heap of clouds.}} | |||
{{Quote|{{Quran|34|9}}|See they not what is before them and behind them, of the sky and the earth? If We wished, We could cause the earth to swallow them up, or cause a piece of the sky to fall upon them. Verily in this is a Sign for every devotee that turns to Allah (in repentance).}} | {{Quote|{{Quran|34|9}}|See they not what is before them and behind them, of the sky and the earth? If We wished, We could cause the earth to swallow them up, or cause a piece of the sky to fall upon them. Verily in this is a Sign for every devotee that turns to Allah (in repentance).}} | ||
{{Quote|{{Quran|34|9}}|Hast thou not seen how Allah hath made all that is in the earth subservient unto you? And the ship runneth upon the sea by His command, and He holdeth back the heaven from falling on the earth unless by His leave. Lo! Allah is, for mankind, Full of Pity, Merciful.}} | |||
===Sky can be Rolled Up=== | ===Sky can be Rolled Up=== | ||
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{{Main|Qur'an, Hadith and Scholars:Creation}} | {{Main|Qur'an, Hadith and Scholars:Creation}} | ||
The Qur’an and Hadith contains stories concerning the 'first humans' and how all people are descended from these two earliest ancestors. It states that humans were created in a garden (paradise) and then brought to earth fully formed. This view of the origins of human life is clearly contradicted by the numerous fossils of pre-homosapien species that lived on earth for millions of years before modern humans first evolved.[http://humanorigins.si.edu/evidence] | The Qur’an and Hadith contains stories concerning the 'first humans' and how all people are descended from these two earliest ancestors. It states that humans were created in a garden (paradise) and then brought to earth fully formed. This view of the origins of human life is clearly contradicted by DNA evidence and the numerous fossils of pre-homosapien species that lived on earth for millions of years before modern humans first evolved.[http://humanorigins.si.edu/evidence] | ||
{{Quote|{{Quran|7|189}}| | {{Quote|{{Quran|7|189}}| | ||
"He it is Who created you from a single being, and of the same (kind) did He make his mate," | "He it is Who created you from a single being, and of the same (kind) did He make his mate,"}} | ||
Another verse is clear on literal descent of humanity from one man by sexual means (i.e. semen) after Allah had created him out of clay. | |||
{{Quote|{{ | {{Quote|{{Quran-range|32|7|8}}|Who made all things good which He created, and He began the creation of man from clay; Then He made his seed from a draught of despised fluid;}} | ||
The word translated “seed” in Pickthall’s translation is [http://www.studyquran.org/LaneLexicon/Volume8/00000286.pdf nasl] نسل, which means progeny (i.e. descendants). | |||
Some Muslim creationists will claim the view of two ancestral “parents” is consistent with recent scientific findings that show a common female and male ancestor of all modern humans. They often exploit the confusion caused by scientists referring to these genetic ancestors as [[W:Mitochondrial Eve|Mitochondrial Eve]] and [[W:Y-chromosomal Adam|Y-chromosomal Adam]]. These two individuals bear little resemblance to the Quranic account as they are simply the last common male and female ancestors of everyone alive today, not of all humans in history. The Qur'an clearly states Eve was created later than Adam, however [[W:Mitochondrial Eve|Mitochondrial Eve]] lived some 50,000 to 80,000 years earlier than [[W:Y-chromosomal Adam|Y-chromosomal Adam]].[http://biologos.org/blog/does-genetics-point-to-a-single-primal-couple] Genetic evidence overwhelmingly indicates that humans diverged from earlier species as a population, not a single couple. [http://whyevolutionistrue.wordpress.com/2011/09/18/how-big-was-the-human-population-bottleneck-not-anything-close-to-2/]. | Some Muslim creationists will claim the view of two ancestral “parents” is consistent with recent scientific findings that show a common female and male ancestor of all modern humans. They often exploit the confusion caused by scientists referring to these genetic ancestors as [[W:Mitochondrial Eve|Mitochondrial Eve]] and [[W:Y-chromosomal Adam|Y-chromosomal Adam]]. These two individuals bear little resemblance to the Quranic account as they are simply the last common male and female ancestors of everyone alive today, not of all humans in history. The Qur'an clearly states Eve was created later than Adam, however [[W:Mitochondrial Eve|Mitochondrial Eve]] lived some 50,000 to 80,000 years earlier than [[W:Y-chromosomal Adam|Y-chromosomal Adam]].[http://biologos.org/blog/does-genetics-point-to-a-single-primal-couple] Genetic evidence overwhelmingly indicates that humans diverged from earlier species as a population, not a single couple. [http://whyevolutionistrue.wordpress.com/2011/09/18/how-big-was-the-human-population-bottleneck-not-anything-close-to-2/]. | ||
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{{Quote|{{Quran-range|20|105|107}}|They will ask thee of the mountains (on that day). Say: My Lord will break them into scattered dust. And leave it as '''an empty plain''', Wherein thou seest neither curve nor ruggedness.}} | {{Quote|{{Quran-range|20|105|107}}|They will ask thee of the mountains (on that day). Say: My Lord will break them into scattered dust. And leave it as '''an empty plain''', Wherein thou seest neither curve nor ruggedness.}} | ||
===Permanent Barrier between Fresh and Salt Water=== | ===Permanent Barrier between Fresh and Salt Water=== | ||
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{{Main|Responses_to_Zakir_Naik#Water_Cycle_in_the_Qur.27an|l1=Water Cycle in the Qur'an}} | {{Main|Responses_to_Zakir_Naik#Water_Cycle_in_the_Qur.27an|l1=Water Cycle in the Qur'an}} | ||
Every verse about rain in the Qur'an implies that rain comes either directly from the sky or from Allah. However evaporation of water into the air is conspicuously never mentioned. | Every verse about rain in the Qur'an implies that rain comes either directly from the sky or from Allah. However the crucial step of evaporation of water into the air is conspicuously never mentioned, despite apologetics claiming that the water cycle is described in the Qur'an. | ||
{{Quote|{{Quran|43|11}}| | {{Quote|{{Quran|43|11}}| | ||
That sends down (from time to time) rain from the sky in due measure;- and We raise to life therewith a land that is dead; even so will ye be raised (from the dead)}} | That sends down (from time to time) rain from the sky in due measure;- and We raise to life therewith a land that is dead; even so will ye be raised (from the dead)}} | ||
===Hail | ===Mountains of Hail in the Sky=== | ||
Hail forms in cumulonimbus clouds when updrafts raise water droplets to an altitude where they freeze. However, the Qur' | Hail forms in cumulonimbus clouds when updrafts raise water droplets to an altitude where they freeze. However, the Qur'anic author seems to have imagined mountain-like masses of hail in the sky / heaven. | ||
{{Quote|{{Quran|24|43}}| | {{Quote|{{Quran|24|43}}| | ||
Hast thou not seen how Allah wafteth the clouds, then gathereth them, then maketh them layers, and thou seest the rain come forth from between them; '''He sendeth down from the heaven mountains wherein is hail''', and smiteth therewith whom He will, and averteth it from whom He will. The flashing of His lightning all but snatcheth away the sight. | |||
wayunazzilu (and he sends down) mina (from) alssamai (the sky) min (from) jibalin (mountains) feeha (in it ['it' is feminine so must refer to the sky]) min (of) baradin (hail) | '''Transliteration:''' wayunazzilu (and he sends down) mina (from) alssamai (the sky) min (from) jibalin (mountains) feeha (in it ['it' is feminine here so must refer to the sky]) min (of) baradin (hail) | ||
}} | |||
Tafsirs such as Jalalayn and the one attributed to Ibn Abbas say that this means mountains in the sky. Ibn Kathir notes two views, that these are mountains of hail in the sky, or that they are a metaphor for clouds. | Tafsirs such as Jalalayn and the one attributed to Ibn Abbas say that this means mountains in the sky. Ibn Kathir notes two views, that these are literally mountains of hail in the sky, or that they are a metaphor for clouds. Clouds could poetically be described as mountains in the sky, but for the verse to literally say "mountains of hail in the sky" strongly suggests large masses of ice (in the clouds or otherwise), and we can see it being understood in this literal way as evidenced in tafsirs. | ||
===Allah Uses Thunderbolts to Smite People=== | ===Allah Uses Thunderbolts to Smite People=== | ||
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{{Quote|{{Quran|67|3}}| | {{Quote|{{Quran|67|3}}| | ||
Who hath created seven heavens in harmony. Thou (Muhammad) canst see no fault in the Beneficent One's creation; then look again: Canst thou see any flaw?}} | Who hath created seven heavens in harmony. Thou (Muhammad) canst see no fault in the Beneficent One's creation; then look again: Canst thou see any flaw?}} | ||
==History== | ==History== | ||
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{{Quote|{{Quran-range|5|72|75}}|They surely disbelieve who say: Lo! Allah is the Messiah, son of Mary. The Messiah (himself) said: O Children of Israel, worship Allah, my Lord and your Lord. Lo! whoso ascribeth partners unto Allah, for him Allah hath forbidden paradise. His abode is the Fire. For evil-doers there will be no helpers. '''They surely disbelieve who say: Lo! Allah is the third of three'''; when there is no Allah save the One Allah. If they desist not from so saying a painful doom will fall on those of them who disbelieve. Will they not rather turn unto Allah and seek forgiveness of Him? For Allah is Forgiving, Merciful. '''The Messiah, son of Mary, was no other than a messenger''', messengers (the like of whom) had passed away before him. '''And his mother was a saintly woman. And they both used to eat (earthly) food.''' See how We make the revelations clear for them, and see how they are turned away!}} | {{Quote|{{Quran-range|5|72|75}}|They surely disbelieve who say: Lo! Allah is the Messiah, son of Mary. The Messiah (himself) said: O Children of Israel, worship Allah, my Lord and your Lord. Lo! whoso ascribeth partners unto Allah, for him Allah hath forbidden paradise. His abode is the Fire. For evil-doers there will be no helpers. '''They surely disbelieve who say: Lo! Allah is the third of three'''; when there is no Allah save the One Allah. If they desist not from so saying a painful doom will fall on those of them who disbelieve. Will they not rather turn unto Allah and seek forgiveness of Him? For Allah is Forgiving, Merciful. '''The Messiah, son of Mary, was no other than a messenger''', messengers (the like of whom) had passed away before him. '''And his mother was a saintly woman. And they both used to eat (earthly) food.''' See how We make the revelations clear for them, and see how they are turned away!}} | ||
It is particularly noteworthy that no other entity is mentioned (i.e. the holy spirit, which is the 3rd member of the trinity in actual Christian doctrine). Verse 75 even uses the | It is particularly noteworthy that no other entity is mentioned (i.e. the holy spirit, which is the 3rd member of the trinity in actual Christian doctrine). Verse 75 even uses the statement that the Messiah and Marium both ate food to demonstrate that they are normal humans and not a part of a divine trinity with Allah. | ||
=== Samaritans existing in ancient Egypt === | === Samaritans existing in ancient Egypt === | ||
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===Coat of Mail was Invented during the Reign of David=== | ===Coat of Mail was Invented during the Reign of David=== | ||
There is no evidence that Coats of mail existed during the time of David (10th century BCE). The earliest example of a coat of mail was Celtic | There is no evidence that Coats of mail existed during the time of David (10th century BCE). The earliest example of a coat of mail was Celtic and its invention is commonly credited to the Celts in the 3rd century BCE.<ref name="books.google.com">Richard A. Gabriel, [http://books.google.com/books?id=HscIwvtkq2UC&pg=PA79 ''The ancient world''], Greenwood Publishing Group, 2007 P.79</ref>. Mail has also been found in a 5th century BCE Scythian grave, and there is a cumbersome Etruscan pattern mail artifact from the 4th century BCE.<ref>Robinson, H. R., [https://books.google.co.uk/books?id=BaDMDAAAQBAJ&pg=PA10 ''Oriental Armour''], New York:Dover Publications, 1995, pp.10-12</ref> Such artifacts would have been easily preserved and found by archeologists if they had existed much earlier. | ||
In the Qur'an, David is taught by Allah how to make coats of iron chainmail ([http://www.studyquran.org/LaneLexicon/Volume4/00000022.pdf sabighatin] سَٰبِغَٰتٍ) and to measure the chainmail links ([http://www.studyquran.org/LaneLexicon/Volume4/00000071.pdf as-sardi] ٱلسَّرْدِ) thereof. It says people should be thankful for this knowledge which has been passed down from him. | In the Qur'an, David is taught by Allah how to make coats of iron chainmail ([http://www.studyquran.org/LaneLexicon/Volume4/00000022.pdf sabighatin] سَٰبِغَٰتٍ) and to measure the chainmail links ([http://www.studyquran.org/LaneLexicon/Volume4/00000071.pdf as-sardi] ٱلسَّرْدِ) thereof. It says people should be thankful for this knowledge which has been passed down from him. | ||
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{{Quote|{{Quran-range|7|123|124}}| | {{Quote|{{Quran-range|7|123|124}}| | ||
Said Pharaoh: "Believe ye in Him before I give you permission? Surely this is a trick which ye have planned in the city to drive out its people: but soon shall ye know (the consequences). Be sure I will cut off your hands and your feet on opposite sides, and I will cause you all to die on the cross." }} | Said Pharaoh: "Believe ye in Him before I give you permission? Surely this is a trick which ye have planned in the city to drive out its people: but soon shall ye know (the consequences). Be sure I will cut off your hands and your feet on opposite sides, and I will cause you all to die on the cross." }} | ||
===Noah's Flood=== | |||
Islamic websites try to escape the embarrassment that the Qur'an contains an un-historical, world-wide flood story as found in the Bible and ancient near-Eastern mythology. They claim instead that the textual evidence supports nothing more than a regional flood in the Qur'anic story of Noah. There are many severe weaknesses in this claim. | |||
If the flood was not world-wide then why was Noah instructed to spend time building a boat at all when he could have just taken his family out of the flood region with sufficient warning? Animals in the region could have done likewise by the same kind of miracle needed to bring them all to an ark. | |||
{{Quote|{{Quran|11|40}}|At length, behold! there came Our command, and the fountains of the earth gushed forth! '''We said: "Embark therein, of each kind two, male and female''', and your family - except those against whom the word has already gone forth,- and the Believers." but only a few believed with him.}} | |||
Why would Noah have to put every kind of animal on the ark to save them when there would have been more members of most species elsewhere in the world, unaffected by the regional flood? | |||
{{Quote|{{Quran|11|43}}|The son replied: "I will betake myself to some mountain: it will save me from the water." Noah said: '''"This day nothing can save''', from the command of Allah, any but those on whom He hath mercy! "And the waves came between them, and the son was among those overwhelmed in the Flood.}} | |||
A mountain, or simply fleeing the region would be enough to save someone from a regional flood, but this verse says nothing can save them. | |||
{{Quote|{{Quran|71|26}}|And Noah, said: "O my Lord! Leave not of the Unbelievers, a single one on earth!}} | |||
"The Earth" here could also be translated "the land", but why would Noah only care about a single region of disbelievers? | |||
The story of Noah was a [[w:Flood myth|famous myth]] of a ''world-wide'' flood. At very least it is a major weakness that the Qur'an makes no attempt to distinguish itself from the same world-wide flood myth that its listeners were familiar with. | |||
===Noah's Ark holds Every Species=== | ===Noah's Ark holds Every Species=== | ||
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===Supernatural Destruction of Cities=== | ===Supernatural Destruction of Cities=== | ||
The author of the Qur'an thought that outside the vicinity of Arabia there were cities and tribes destroyed by Allah for rejecting his messengers and Islam. In each specific example in the Qur'an (A'ad, Thamud, Midian, the people of Lot, Pharoah's army), the destruction of the disbelievers is sudden and total. Thanks to today's scientific progress, historical cities and tribes are known to have been destroyed by natural disasters, famine, wars, migration, or neglect, often taking years or decades to unfold. But the Qur'an merely repeats a common myth of the ancient Near East whereby these incidents are treated as swift and sudden punishments by God for people's sins. | |||
{{Quote|{{Quran|22|45}}|And how many a township have We destroyed because it had been immersed in evildoing - and now they [all] lie deserted, with their roofs caved in! And how many a well lies abandoned, and how many a castle that [once] stood high!}} | |||
The suddenness of Allah's punishment is stressed many times in Surah al-A'raf: | |||
{{Quote|{{Quran|7|4}}|How many a township have We destroyed! As a raid by night, or while they slept at noon, Our terror came unto them.}} | |||
{{Quote|{{Quran|7|34}}|And every nation hath its term, and when its term cometh, they cannot put it off an hour nor yet advance (it).}} | |||
{{Quote|{{Quran| | {{Quote|{{Quran-range|7|97|98}}|Are the people of the townships then secure from the coming of Our wrath upon them as a night-raid while they sleep? Or are the people of the townships then secure from the coming of Our wrath upon them in the daytime while they play?}} | ||
In the Qur'an, the people of Thamud were killed instantly by an earthquake {{Quran|7|78}} or thunderous blast {{Quran|11|67}}, {{Quran-range|41|13|17}}, {{Quran|51|44}}, {{Quran|69|5}}. The people of A'ad were killed by a fierce wind for 7 days {{Quran-range|41|13|16}},{{Quran-range|46|24|35}},{{Quran|51|41}}, {{Quran-range|69|6|7}}. The people of Midian (Midyan) were killed overnight by an earthquake {{Quran|7|91}}, {{Quran|29|36}}. The towns of Lot were destroyed by a storm of stones from the sky {{Quran|54|32}}, {{Quran|29|34}}. The actual locations of these towns or tribes are currently unknown, and Midian was a wide geographical area, so claims about their sudden demise may always be unfalsifiable. Many other polytheist towns throughout the world certainly did not experience any sudden destruction. | |||
===Humans can Live for a Thousand Years=== | ===Humans can Live for a Thousand Years=== | ||
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On the Day when their tongues, their hands, and their feet will bear witness against them as to their actions. }} | On the Day when their tongues, their hands, and their feet will bear witness against them as to their actions. }} | ||
=== | ===Sea Split in Half=== | ||
Moses and the Israelites crossed | Moses and the Israelites crossed a sea that was split into two halves. | ||
{{Quote|{{Quran|2|50}}| | {{Quote|{{Quran|2|50}}| | ||