Inner Ear Miracle in the Quran

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The term "inner ear" wasn't mentioned in the Quran at all [1]. But some Islamic apologists like to claim that the Quran gives detailed knowledge about the inner ear.

The miracle claim

1400 years ago people thought that ears were responsible for hearing only. However today we know that ears are also responsible for balance.

Providing balance, when moving or stationary, is also a central function of the ear. The ear facilitates two types of balance: static balance, which allows a person to feel the effects of gravity, and dynamic balance, which allows a person to sense acceleration.
Wikipedia, Ear, 2019

The inner ear is responsible for balance. However 1400 years ago the Quran described people who got knocked out by blows to their ears:

[Quran 18.11] Then We hit on their ears in the cave for a number of years.

In Arabic "Darabna ala Athanihim فَضَرَبْنَا عَلَىٰ آذَانِهِمْ " means we hit them on their ears. If you see these people you will think they are awake however they actually couldn't wake up. If you are asleep anything can wake you up however if you are knocked out then nothing can wake you up. Just watch a boxing match and see the difference. Since these people couldn't wake up then they were knocked out by blows to their ears.

How could an illiterate man who lived 1400 years ago have known that you could get knocked out by your ears?


The verse

The verse obviously doesn't talk about a simple knockout, because a knockout within nature doesn't last a number of years:

Then We hit on their ears in the cave for a number of years.


Quran 18:11, translated by miracles-of-quran.com [2]

If the meaning is that they got knocked out and then they were unconscious for years without food and drink and then they just woke up, then it's a scientific error in the Quran. Because people can't survive without food and drink for years. And if it's supernatural, then it's not about science.

And the miracle was supposed to be about the inner ear, but the verse doesn't talk specifically about the inner ear.

Daraba means knockout?

Apologists talk about the word daraba (ضرب) in context of boxing matches and knocking out. But what about the verse 4:34 which commands Muslim men to do daraba on their women? Is this knockout?

Men are in charge of women by [right of] what Allah has given one over the other and what they spend [for maintenance] from their wealth. So righteous women are devoutly obedient, guarding in [the husband's] absence what Allah would have them guard. But those [wives] from whom you fear arrogance - [first] advise them; [then if they persist], forsake them in bed; and [finally], strike (اضربوا) them. But if they obey you [once more], seek no means against them. Indeed, Allah is ever Exalted and Grand.


The word اضربوا (idriboo) is usually translated as "strike" or "hit". This verse is already problematic. But now apologists want to translate the word daraba as "knockout" which makes it even worse.

See also

References