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Scientific Miracles in the Quran: Difference between revisions
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===The Big Bang=== | ===The Big Bang=== | ||
Many modern Islamic scholars have argued that {{Quran|21|30}} describes the Big Bang. Historians, by contrast, have shown that the verse describes a version of | Many modern Islamic scholars have argued that {{Quran|21|30}} describes the Big Bang. Historians, by contrast, have shown that the verse describes a version of [https://www.metmuseum.org/toah/hd/epic/hd_epic.htm Mesopotamian mythology] which continued into late antiquity. According to the archetype of the myth, the Earth and heaven were united, then were split apart to become the Earth below and heaven above. | ||
{{Quote|{{Quran|21|30}}|Do not the Unbelievers see that the heavens and the earth were joined together (as one unit of creation), before we clove them asunder? We made from water every living thing. Will they not then believe?}} | {{Quote|{{Quran|21|30}}|Do not the Unbelievers see that the heavens and the earth were joined together (as one unit of creation), before we clove them asunder? We made from water every living thing. Will they not then believe?}} | ||
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{{Quote|A. Seidenberg (1969) [https://www.jstor.org/stable/1259101 The Separation of Sky and Earth at Creation (II)], Folklore 80(3), 188-196|Euripides the Greek Tragedian (Born 480 BC) - "And the tale is not mine, but from my mother, how sky and earth were one form and when they separated apart from each other they bring forth all things, and give them up into light; trees, birds, beasts, the creatures nourished by the salt sea, and the race of mortals"}} | {{Quote|A. Seidenberg (1969) [https://www.jstor.org/stable/1259101 The Separation of Sky and Earth at Creation (II)], Folklore 80(3), 188-196|Euripides the Greek Tragedian (Born 480 BC) - "And the tale is not mine, but from my mother, how sky and earth were one form and when they separated apart from each other they bring forth all things, and give them up into light; trees, birds, beasts, the creatures nourished by the salt sea, and the race of mortals"}} | ||
A version of the Mesopotamian myth is sustained even in late antique Syriac Christian homilies, where commentators such as Ephrem (d. 373 CE) expound on the Biblical Genesis story of the waters above and waters below being separated when the firmament is created.<ref name="EphremGenesis" /> See also the quotes from Ephrem in the section [[Scientific_Miracles_in_the_Quran#Every living thing from water|Every living thing from water]] below regarding the water part of {{Quran|21|30}} in the creation context. | |||
===A universe from smoke=== | ===A universe from smoke=== | ||
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'''Abdul Majid Daryabadi:''' And the heaven! We have built it with might, and verily We are powerful.}} | '''Abdul Majid Daryabadi:''' And the heaven! We have built it with might, and verily We are powerful.}} | ||
Critics also point out that exactly the same grammar has been used in the next verse 51:48. | Critics also point out that almost exactly the same grammar has been used in the next verse, Q. 51:48. | ||
{{Quote|{{Quran|51|48}}|'''Yusuf Ali:''' And We have spread out the (spacious) earth: ''How excellently We do spread out!''}} | {{Quote|{{Quran|51|48}}|'''Yusuf Ali:''' And We have spread out the (spacious) earth: ''How excellently We do spread out!''}} | ||
{{Quote|{{Quran|51|48}}|'''Pickthall:''' And the earth have We laid out, how gracious is the Spreader (thereof)!}} | {{Quote|{{Quran|51|48}}|'''Pickthall:''' And the earth have We laid out, how gracious is the Spreader (thereof)!}} | ||
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{{Quote|{{Quran|24|45}}|Allah has created every [living] creature from water. And of them are those that move on their bellies, and of them are those that walk on two legs, and of them are those that walk on four. Allah creates what He wills. Indeed, Allah is over all things competent.}} | {{Quote|{{Quran|24|45}}|Allah has created every [living] creature from water. And of them are those that move on their bellies, and of them are those that walk on two legs, and of them are those that walk on four. Allah creates what He wills. Indeed, Allah is over all things competent.}} | ||
The key to understanding the meaning is the context apparent in the first verse, 21:30, which is about the creation of the world. Gabriel Said Reynolds notes in his academic commentary on the Quran an earlier parallel taught by the Syriac church father Ephrem (d. 373 CE). He writes, "[...] Ephrem, who explains that God created everything through water: 'Thus, through light and water the earth brought forth everything.' Ephrem, ''Commentary on Genesis'', 1:1-10)."<ref>Gabriel Said Reynolds, "The Quran and Bible:Text and Commentary", New Haven and London: Yale University Press, 2018 p. 553. This is regarding {{Quran|24|45}}, though on p. 508 Reynolds cross references the same parallel regarding the other verse, {{Quran|21|30}}, which is more clearly a statement in the context of the Genesis creation story, like Ephrem's comment.</ref> Ephrem's comment is in the context of the Genesis creation story, much like the first Quranic verse, 21:30. Ephrem says that when heaven and earth were created there were no trees or vegetation as it had not yet rained, so a fountain irrigated the earth. Tafsirs say that when the heaven and earth were separated rain fell so that plants could grow. There is also a similarity with Ephrem in the other verse (24:45), which mentions creatures that move on two, four or no legs. Ephrem explains that as well as the "trees, vegetation and plants", the "Scripture wishes to indicate that all animals, reptiles, cattle and birds came into being as a result of the combining of earth and water".<ref>[https://www.trueorthodoxy.org/teachings/pat_stephraim_commentary_genesis.shtml Ephrem's commentary on Genesis] - True Orthodoxy website</ref> For many more parallels between the Quran and Syriac Christian literature see [[Parallelism_Between_the_Qur%27an_and_Judeo-Christian_Scriptures|this article]]. | The key to understanding the meaning is the context apparent in the first verse, 21:30, which is about the creation of the world. Gabriel Said Reynolds notes in his academic commentary on the Quran an earlier parallel taught by the Syriac church father Ephrem (d. 373 CE). He writes, "[...] Ephrem, who explains that God created everything through water: 'Thus, through light and water the earth brought forth everything.' Ephrem, ''Commentary on Genesis'', 1:1-10)."<ref>Gabriel Said Reynolds, "The Quran and Bible:Text and Commentary", New Haven and London: Yale University Press, 2018 p. 553. This is regarding {{Quran|24|45}}, though on p. 508 Reynolds cross references the same parallel regarding the other verse, {{Quran|21|30}}, which is more clearly a statement in the context of the Genesis creation story, like Ephrem's comment.</ref> Ephrem's comment is in the context of the Genesis creation story, much like the first Quranic verse, 21:30. Ephrem says that when heaven and earth were created there were no trees or vegetation as it had not yet rained, so a fountain irrigated the earth. Tafsirs say that when the heaven and earth were separated rain fell so that plants could grow. There is also a similarity with Ephrem in the other verse (24:45), which mentions creatures that move on two, four or no legs. Ephrem explains that as well as the "trees, vegetation and plants", the "Scripture wishes to indicate that all animals, reptiles, cattle and birds came into being as a result of the combining of earth and water".<ref name="EphremGenesis">[https://www.trueorthodoxy.org/teachings/pat_stephraim_commentary_genesis.shtml Ephrem's commentary on Genesis] - True Orthodoxy website</ref> For many more parallels between the Quran and Syriac Christian literature see [[Parallelism_Between_the_Qur%27an_and_Judeo-Christian_Scriptures|this article]]. | ||
Critics of the miracle claim sometimes also point out that the ancient Greek philosopher Empedocles had proposed that all living things are made from water, among other substances<ref>Frag. B17, (Simplicius, ''Physics'', 157-159)</ref>, and Thales of Miletus taught that the originating principle of everything including life is water.<ref>[https://iep.utm.edu/thales/#H5 Thales of Miletus] - Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy</ref> | Critics of the miracle claim sometimes also point out that the ancient Greek philosopher Empedocles had proposed that all living things are made from water, among other substances<ref>Frag. B17, (Simplicius, ''Physics'', 157-159)</ref>, and Thales of Miletus taught that the originating principle of everything including life is water.<ref>[https://iep.utm.edu/thales/#H5 Thales of Miletus] - Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy</ref> | ||