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Scientific Miracles in the Quran: Difference between revisions
Scientific Miracles in the Quran (view source)
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Many modern Islamic scholars argue that {{Quran|25|53}} contains a scientifically-sound insight regarding the 'separation' of fresh and salt water in estuaries, where fresh water rivers meet the salty ocean. Critics and historians argue that this verse is merely stating what any person viewing the convergence of a river and ocean with their unaided eye would observe - namely, that the two bodies of water maintain distinct coloration. The additional proposition made in the verse regarding the existence of some sort of barrier that causes the maintenance of this difference in coloration, they continue, is simply what a premodern person inclined to believe in metaphysical entities might hypothesize as the cause. Critics point out that there is, in fact, no such 'barrier' present in estuaries and that the persistent distinction between the two bodies of water is due a difference in the density of fresh and salt water - even this distinction, however, can be compromised when other factors, such as wind and stronger tidal forces, are at play which cause the bodies of water to mix with one another at a greater rate.{{Quote|{{quran|25|53}}|'''Corpus:''' And He (is) the One Who (has) released the two seas [this] (one) palatable and sweet and [this] (one) salty (and) bitter, and He has made between them a barrier and a partition forbidden.<br>'''Daryabadi:''' And it is He who hath mixed the two seas: this, sweet ond thirst quenching; that, saltish ond bitter; and hath placed between the twain a barrier and a great partition complete.<br>'''Yusuf Ali:''' It is He Who has let free the two bodies of flowing water: One palatable and sweet, and the other salt and bitter; yet has He made a barrier between them, a partition that is forbidden to be passed.}} | Many modern Islamic scholars argue that {{Quran|25|53}} contains a scientifically-sound insight regarding the 'separation' of fresh and salt water in estuaries, where fresh water rivers meet the salty ocean. Critics and historians argue that this verse is merely stating what any person viewing the convergence of a river and ocean with their unaided eye would observe - namely, that the two bodies of water maintain distinct coloration. The additional proposition made in the verse regarding the existence of some sort of barrier that causes the maintenance of this difference in coloration, they continue, is simply what a premodern person inclined to believe in metaphysical entities might hypothesize as the cause. Critics point out that there is, in fact, no such 'barrier' present in estuaries and that the persistent distinction between the two bodies of water is due a difference in the density of fresh and salt water - even this distinction, however, can be compromised when other factors, such as wind and stronger tidal forces, are at play which cause the bodies of water to mix with one another at a greater rate.{{Quote|{{quran|25|53}}|'''Corpus:''' And He (is) the One Who (has) released the two seas [this] (one) palatable and sweet and [this] (one) salty (and) bitter, and He has made between them a barrier and a partition forbidden.<br>'''Daryabadi:''' And it is He who hath mixed the two seas: this, sweet ond thirst quenching; that, saltish ond bitter; and hath placed between the twain a barrier and a great partition complete.<br>'''Yusuf Ali:''' It is He Who has let free the two bodies of flowing water: One palatable and sweet, and the other salt and bitter; yet has He made a barrier between them, a partition that is forbidden to be passed.}} | ||
==See also== | =Purported historical miracles= | ||
Claims that the Qur'an miraculously preserves information from history generally involve the figure of Pharaoh and ancient Egypt. This section looks at the more common claims. | |||
==Preservation of Pharaoh's body== | |||
==Title of Malik (King) vs Pharaoh in the stories of Joseph and Moses== | |||
In the Quranic stories of Moses, the leader of the Egyptians is called Pharaoh (Firaun). However, in the Quranic stories of Joseph, the Egyptian ruler is always called "the king" (al-malik). In this way the Qur'an is said to avoid an anachronism of the Biblical parallels, in which the book of Genesis calls the ruler Pharaoh even in the story of Joseph set hundreds of years earlier. | |||
Critics point out that the most obvious reason for the different Quranic titles is that the author thought Pharaoh was the actual name of the Egyptian ruler and not a title borne by many rulers in Egyptian history. In every case he is simply called Firaun without the definite article, "al-". In contrast, the several instances mentioning the ruler in Surah Yusuf use the definite article, al-malik (the king). | |||
While the pharaoh at the time of the exodus story is traditionally believed to be Rameses II, it is unclear exactly when Joseph is supposed to have lived (secular historians generally consider neither Joseph nor Moses to be historical figures). Sometime during the era of the New Kingdom, Second Intermediate Period, the pharaoh title became the form of address for a person who was king. The [[w:Pharaoh#Etymology|earliest confirmed usage]] of pharaoh as a title is for Akhenaten (reigned c. 1353–1336 BCE), or possibly Thutmose III (c. 1479–1425 BCE). | |||
The miracle claim is somewhat inaccurate regarding its claims about the Bible given that the Joseph parallels in Genesis chapters 39-41 in fact use Melekh (king) and Pharaoh interchangably.<ref>[https://www.mechon-mamre.org/p/pt/pt0139.htm "Genesis Chapter 39 בְּרֵאשִׁית"] mechon-mamre.org</ref> Compare for example Genesis [https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Genesis%2039%3A20&version=NIV 39:20], [https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Genesis%2041%3A46&version=NIV 41:46], and [https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Genesis%2047%3A11&version=NIV 47:11]. | |||
==Pharaoh's claim to divinity== | |||
In a few verses, Pharaoh is quoted referring to himself as a god (See {{Quran|28|38}}, {{Quran|26|29}}, and {{Quran|79|24}}). This knowledge is claimed to have been lost by the time of the Quranic revelation. | |||
{{Quote|{{Quran|28|38}}|And Pharaoh said: O chiefs! I know not that ye have a god other than me, so kindle for me (a fire), O Haman, to bake the mud; and set up for me a lofty tower in order that I may survey the god of Moses; and lo! I deem him of the liars.}} | |||
Aside from controversies concerning exactly in what sense, when and by whom the pharoahs were considered to be divine, Jewish traditions in the centuries before the Quran maintained a trope that the pharoah made such a claim for himself. These were based on Rabbinic exegesis of two verses in the Biblical book of Ezekiel. | |||
{{Quote|[https://biblehub.com/ezekiel/29-3.htm Ezekiel 29:3]|Speak to him and say: ‘This is what the Sovereign Lord says: “‘I am against you, Pharaoh king of Egypt, you great monster lying among your streams. You say, “The Nile belongs to me; I made it for myself.”}} | |||
{{Quote|[https://biblehub.com/ezekiel/29-9.htm Ezekiel 29:9]|Egypt will become a desolate wasteland. Then they will know that I am the Lord. “‘Because you said, “The Nile is mine; I made it,”}} | |||
The earliest known Rabbinic tradition of this nature occurs in the Mekhilta of Rabbi Ismael (2nd century CE). The pharaoh is one of four Biblical figures together chastised in a number of sections for claiming to be a god. | |||
{{Quote|Mekhilta of Rabbi Ismael (Shirata 8:32)<ref>Patmore, Hector M. (2008) Adam, Satan, and the King of Tyre: The reception of Ezekiel 28:11-19 in | |||
Judaism and Christianity in late antiquity, Durham theses, Durham University pp. 170-171. Available at Durham | |||
E-Theses Online: http://etheses.dur.ac.uk/2381/</ref><ref>See also [https://www.sefaria.org/Mekhilta_d'Rabbi_Yishmael.15.11.1?lang=bi&with=all&lang2=en Mekhilta d'Rabbi Yishmael 15.11.1] - Sefaria.org</ref> | |||
|''Who Is Like unto Thee Among the Gods, 0 Lord'' (Exod. 15:11). Who is like unto Thee among those who call themselves gods? Pharaoh called himself a god, as it is said: 'The river is mine" (Ezek 29:9}; "And I have made myself" (Ezek. 29.3)}} | |||
We see similar exegesis occuring a number of times in the midrash Tanhuma, a name given to three texts, of which the relevant one is the Yelammedenu (also known as Tanhuma B), though also occuring in later texts such as Exodus Rabba. The earliest date for the final redactive layer of the Tanhuma Yelammedenu is the eigth or nineth century CE.<ref>[https://www.sefaria.org/Midrash_Tanchuma%2C_Introduction?lang=bi Midrash Tanchuma introduction] - Sefaria.org</ref> However, its first phase seems to have existed by the sixth century.<ref>Myron B. Lerner, "The works of Aggadic Midrash and Esther Midrashim" in Eds. Sefrai et. al. (2006) [https://books.google.co.uk/books?id=Aed5DwAAQBAJ&pg=PA150 The literature of the Sages: Second Part] Netherlands: Royal van Gorcum and Fortress Press, p.150</ref> See for example, Midrash Tanhuma Bereshit 7<ref>"Observe that everyone who desired to be worshipped as a divine being constructed a palace for himself in the midst of the sea. Pharaoh erected a palace in the midst of the water and dammed up the water of the Nile to keep it from flowing into the Mediterranean." <BR>[https://www.sefaria.org/Midrash_Tanchuma%2C_Bereshit.7.12?lang=bi&with=all&lang2=en Midrash Tanhuma Bereshit 7] Sefaria.org</ref> and Midrash Tanhuma Vaera 9.<ref>"See, I have set thee in God’s stead to Pharaoh (Exod. 7:1). The Holy One, blessed be He, said to Moses: The wicked Pharaoh boasts that he is a god. Make him realize that he is an insignificant being. Indeed, I will make you appear as a god to him. Whence do we know that he claimed to be divine? It is said: My river is mine own, and I have made it for myself (Ezek. 29:3). Therefore, he will look at you and say: “Surely this one is god.”"<BR>[https://www.sefaria.org/Midrash_Tanchuma%2C_Vaera.9.1?lang=bi&with=all&lang2=en Midrash Tanhuma Vaera 9] Safaria.org</ref> | |||
Another exegesis, this time of [https://biblehub.com/exodus/7-15.htm Exodus 7:15] also occurs in Midrash Tanhuma Vaera 14 as quoted by Prof. Scott Noegel. | |||
{{Quote|Midrash Tanhuma 2:2:14 (5th cent.)<ref>Footnote 1 in [https://www.thetorah.com/article/why-pharaoh-went-to-the-nile Why Pharaoh went to the Nile] by Prof. Scott B. Noegel Accessed 19 Oct 2021</ref><ref>It is also translated on the Sefaria site: "And the Lord said unto Moses: “Rise up early in the morning, and stand before Pharaoh; lo, he cometh from the water” (Exod. 8:16). Why did Pharaoh go to the waters early in the morning? Because the wicked one boasted that since he was a god, he had no need to go to the water to relieve himself." [https://www.sefaria.org/Midrash_Tanchuma%2C_Vaera.14.1?lang=bi Midrash Tanhuma Vaera 14] Saferia.org</ref>|Why was he going out to the water? Because the wicked man was boasting of himself, for he had said that he was a god and had no need to relieve himself. Therefore he went out to the water in the morning, so that no one would see he was a (mere) man.}} | |||
=See also= | |||
*[[Scientific Errors in the Quran]] | *[[Scientific Errors in the Quran]] | ||
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*[[Category:Prophecies|Islamic Prophecies]] | *[[Category:Prophecies|Islamic Prophecies]] | ||
=External links= | |||
*[https://www.answering-islam.org/authors/katz/haman/bucaille.html AnsweringIslam: The Haman Hoax] | *[https://www.answering-islam.org/authors/katz/haman/bucaille.html AnsweringIslam: The Haman Hoax] | ||
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*[https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLC0D4187BE2661850 The Rationalizer: Top scientists comment on the Quran] (video playlist, Interviews with quote-mined scientists who supposedly approved the so-called scientific miracles) | *[https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLC0D4187BE2661850 The Rationalizer: Top scientists comment on the Quran] (video playlist, Interviews with quote-mined scientists who supposedly approved the so-called scientific miracles) | ||
=References= | |||
<references /> | <references /> | ||
[[Category:Dawah]] | [[Category:Dawah]] | ||