Equivalence Principle in the Quran Miracle
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WikiIslam Archive,
Archives of the first iteration of WikiIslam, prior to acquisition and revamp by Ex-Muslims of North America
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Equivalence principle is not described in the Quran at all.
"Miracle"
1400 years ago people used the mass balance, however nobody knew that it doesn't work in zero-g.
The equivalence principle expresses a property which is at the basis of Einstein's general relativity: the equivalence between acceleration and a gravitational field. More precisely, observations made in a system in acceleration (e.g. a rocket) are indistinguishable from those made in a gravitational field (e.g. on Earth). The equivalence principle tells us that gravitational mass and inertial mass are identical. This is why it is at first so difficult to disentangle the notion of weight (related with the gravitational mass) from the notion of inertia (related with the notion of inertial mass). Gravity, Why test the equivalence principle?, 2019
There is no difference between an experiment on Earth and an experiment on an accelerating spaceship. However this is not true for zero-g. The mass balance doesn't work in zero-g. If you put a mass on just one side then it won't tilt in zero-g. If the spaceship accelerates then this mass balance will work again as if it were still on Earth. This was known recently, however this was portrayed in the Quran 1400 years before it was discovered.
[Quran 55:7] And the sky, He raised; and He set up the balance.
If God raised the sky then this an accelerating frame in outer space. And in the same verse the mass balance is on Earth. Today we know why they are in the same verse, because the mass balance only works in these two conditions, gravity or acceleration.
How could an illiterate man who lived 1400 years ago have known that the mass balance only works in gravity or acceleration?
The verse
And the sky, He raised; and He set up the balance.
The verse says nothing about mass, nothing about gravity and nothing about acceleration. The miracle claim is unsubstantiated.
The interpretation also doesn't fit in to the context:
55:7 And the heaven He raised and imposed the balance (الميزان)
55:8 That you not transgress within the balance (الميزان).
55:9 And establish weight in justice and do not make deficient the balance (الميزان).
The equivalence principle cannot be "transgressed" and it doesn't need people to "keep it in balance".
Meaning
Ibn Kathir explained that the word ميزان (meezaan) means "justice" and noted that the word was also mentioned in the verse 57:25, where it says that "the Balance" (ميزان) and the Book were sent with the prophets:
﴿وَالسَّمَآءَ رَفَعَهَا وَوَضَعَ الْمِيزَانَ ﴾
(And the heaven He has raised high, and He has set up the balance.) meaning the justice, as He said in another Ayah,
﴿لَقَدْ أَرْسَلْنَا رُسُلَنَا بِالْبَيِّنَـتِ وَأَنزَلْنَا مَعَهُمُ الْكِتَـبَ وَالْمِيزَانَ لِيَقُومَ النَّاسُ بِالْقِسْطِ﴾
(Indeed, We have sent Our Messengers with clear proofs, and sent down with them the Book and the balance (الميزان) that mankind may keep up equity.) (57:25) Allah said here,
﴿أَلاَّ تَطْغَوْاْ فِى الْمِيزَانِ ﴾
(In order that you may not transgress the balance.) meaning, He created the heavens and earth in justice and truth so that everything is founded on, and observing, justice and truth. Allah's statement,
﴿وَأَقِيمُواْ الْوَزْنَ بِالْقِسْطِ وَلاَ تُخْسِرُواْ الْمِيزَانَ ﴾
(And observe the weight with equity and do not make the balance deficient.) meaning, do not cheat in the weights and measures, but rather observe justice and fairness,
Scientific miracle?
The verse says that god "raised the sky". That indicates geocentric flat Earth model with a firmly established up direction (Earth is below us and heaven is above us). In reality, the Earth is a sphere and what we call "the sky" is just the rest of the universe around us. There's no up direction in space. So the verse is a scientific error.
