Islamic Prophecies: Air-Traffic system

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"And by the heaven full of tracks" (51:7)


While prophesying about modern transport systems, Quran also foretold the air-traffic system which is an essential part of aviation. A person living in desert 1400 years ago cannot talk about such advance technologies unless revealed to him by God Almighty.


"And to Sulayman We gave the fiercely blowing wind, speeding at his command toward the land that We had blessed. And We had full knowledge of everything. (21:81)

And We gave Sulayman power over the wind-a month's journey in the morning and a month in the afternoon... (Qur'an, 34:12)


As the above verse relates, Allah placed the wind under Prophet Sulayman's (as) command and allowed him to use it as a vehicle. There is a strong possibility of an indication here that, as in Prophet Sulayman's (as) time, wind energy will also be used in the technology of the future.

The expression "a month's journey in the morning and a month in the afternoon" may be drawing attention to the fact that Prophet Sulayman (as) moved rapidly between different regions perhaps by using a technology similar to an airplane, or developed wind-powered vehicles that could cover long distances quickly. (Allah knows best.) There is thus a strong possibility that these verses point to modern airplane technology.



Rebuttal

Again, a loose translation is used. Here are three others:

Yusuf Ali: By the Sky with (its) numerous Paths,

Pickthal: By the heaven full of paths,

Shakir: I swear by the heaven full of ways.


[وَالسَّمَآءِ ذَاتِ الْحُبُكِ ] (By the heaven full of Hubuk,) Ibn `Abbas said; "Full of beauty, grace, magnificence and perfection. Mujahid, `Ikrimah, Sa`id bin Jubayr, Abu Malik, Abu Salih, As-Suddi, Qatadah, `Atiyah Al-`Awfi, Ar-Rabi` bin Anas and others said similarly. Ad-Dahhak, Al-Minhal bin `Amr and others said, "The meandering of the water, sand and plants when the wind passes over them; carving paths out of them, that is the Hubuk. All of these sayings return to the same meaning, that of beauty and complexity. The sky is high above us, clear yet thick, firmly structured, spacious and graceful, beautified with stars such as the sun and orbiting planets such as the moon and the planets of the solar system.
{ وَٱلسَّمَآءِ ذَاتِ ٱلْحُبُكِ } And by the heaven with all its tracks (hubuk is the plural of habīka, similar [in pattern and meaning] to turuq, tarīqa, ‘paths’), that is to say, [by the heaven] that is created with tracks similar to tracks made in the sand,
{ وَٱلسَّمَآءِ ذَاتِ ٱلْحُبُكِ } (By the heaven full of paths) this is another oath; Allah swears by the seemly and beautiful heaven that has paths; it is also said that full of paths means: it has stars, the sun, the moon; and it is also said that full of paths means: full of waves like those of water upon being hit by the wind, or like the waves of sand upon being blown by the wind, or like the waves of curly hair or the waves of armour made of iron; and it is also said this refers to the seven heaven by which Allah has sworn.
وَالسَّمَاءِ ذَاتِ الْحُبُكِ ﴿51:7﴾

51:7) By the heaven with its numerous forms: *5

  • 5 The word hubuk in the original is also used for the paths and for the waves which are produced on the sand of the desert and the surface of stagnant water by the wind; it is also spoken for the curls in wavy hair. Here, the sky has been characterized by "hubuk" either because the sky is often overcast with clouds of different shapes, which go on changing because of the wind, and no shape lasts nor resembles any other, or because at night one sees the stars scattered in the sky in many different combinations and no combination resembles any other combination.

It is apparent that this verse is referring to the attributes of the solar system and the Earth. Now on to the tafsir's for 21:81:


﴿وَكُنَّا بِكُلِّ شَىْءٍ عَـلِمِينَ﴾ (And of everything We are the All-Knower.) He had a mat made of wood on which he would place all the equipment of his kingship; horses, camels, tents and troops, then he would command the wind to carry it, and he would go underneath it and it would carry him aloft, shading him and protecting him from the heat, until it reached wherever he wanted to go in the land. Then it would come down and deposit his equipment and entourage.
{ وَلِسُلَيْمَانَ ٱلرِّيحَ عَاصِفَةً تَجْرِي بِأَمْرِهِ إِلَى ٱلأَرْضِ ٱلَّتِي بَارَكْنَا فِيهَا وَكُنَّا بِكُلِّ شَيْءٍ عَالِمِينَ } And, We disposed, for Solomon the wind to blow strongly — in another verse it is [described as being] rukhā’an, ‘to blow softly’ [Q. 38:36]; in other words, [it is either] blowing violently or gently [respectively], according to what he [Solomon] wanted — making its way, at his command, to the land which We have blessed, namely, Syria; and We have knowledge of all things, among them the fact that God, exalted be He, knew that what He gave to Solomon would prompt him to be subservient to his Lord, and so God did this in accordance with His knowledge.
{ وَلِسُلَيْمَانَ ٱلرِّيحَ عَاصِفَةً تَجْرِي بِأَمْرِهِ إِلَى ٱلأَرْضِ ٱلَّتِي بَارَكْنَا فِيهَا وَكُنَّا بِكُلِّ شَيْءٍ عَالِمِينَ } (And unto Solomon (We subdued) the wind in its raging. It set by His command) and it is also said that this means: by Solomon's command (towards the land which We had blessed) with water and trees; this is the Holy Land: Jordan and Palestine. (And of everything) We subdued for him (We are aware).
وَلِسُلَيْمَانَ الرِّيحَ عَاصِفَةً تَجْرِي بِأَمْرِهِ إِلَى الْأَرْضِ الَّتِي بَارَكْنَا فِيهَا وَكُنَّا بِكُلِّ شَيْءٍ عَالِمِينَ ﴿21:81﴾

21:81) And We had subdued to Solomon the strongly blowing wind which sped at his bidding to the land wherein We had placed Our blessings, for We had the knowledge of everything. This is also explained in XXXIV: 12: "And for Solomon We had subjected the wind which covered a month's journey in the morning and a month's journey in the evening", and in XXXVIII: 36: "So We subjected the wind to him. It blew softly at his bidding whither-soever he wanted it to blow." Thus it is clear that the wind was so subjected to Prophet Solomon that the voyages to places at one month's sea journey could be performed conveniently, because a favourable wind was always blowing for his ships to and from those places. It is confirmed by the Bible that Prophet Solomon had developedsea trade on a large scale. ( I Kings, 10: 22). On the one side, his trade ships sailed from Ezion-geber, through the Red Sea, towards Yaman and other southern and eastern lands, and on the other, his naval fleet called Thar-shish, sailed on the Mediterranean to the western countries. The great furnace which he had built at Ezion-geber for melting and moulding ores extracted from the copper and iron mines in the `Arabah in Edom, has been confirmed by modem archaeological researches as well. This molten iron and copper was used in building ships besides being put to other uses. The Qur'an refers to this when it says: "....and We made a fountain of molten copper to flow for him (Solomon)...." (XXXIV:12).

As ,regards the subjection of the wind, it may mean that Allah, by His special favour, had so arranged that the wind-and sea voyages in those days depended entirely on wind-was always favourable for Prophet Solomon's fleet. But if we take the literal meaning of v. 81: "it sped at his bidding", there will be no harm, for Allah is able to give such powers to any of His servants He pleases.

More tafsir's for Quran 34:12:


Having mentioned the blessings with which He favored Dawud, Allah follows this by mentioning what He gave to Dawud's son Sulayman (Solomon), may peace be upon them both. He subjugated the wind to him, so that it would carry his carpet one way for a month, then back again the next month. Al-Hasan Al-Basri said, "He set out from Damascus in the morning, landed in Istakhar where he ate a meal, then flew on from Istakhar and spent the night in Kabil. Between Damascus and Istakhar is an entire month's travel for a swift rider, and between Istakhar and Kabul is an entire month's travel for a swift rider.
{ وَلِسُلَيْمَانَ ٱلرِّيحَ غُدُوُّهَا شَهْرٌ وَرَوَاحُهَا شَهْرٌ وَأَسَلْنَا لَهُ عَيْنَ ٱلْقِطْرِ وَمِنَ ٱلْجِنِّ مَن يَعْمَلُ بَيْنَ يَدَيْهِ بِإِذْنِ رَبِّهِ وَمَن يَزِغْ مِنْهُمْ عَنْ أَمْرِنَا نُذِقْهُ مِنْ عَذَابِ ٱلسَّعِيرِ } And, We disposed, for Solomon the wind (the nominative reading of al-rīhu would be based on an implicit [missing verb] sakhkharnā, ‘We disposed’) its morning course, meaning its journey from the morning to the noon, was a month’s journey and its evening course, that is, its journey from the noon to sunset, was a month’s journey. And We caused a fount of [molten] copper to flow for him, in other words, We caused the copper to melt for him, and so the fount flowed for three days and nights like water, and to this day people have been using of that [copper] which was given to Solomon [at that time]. And of the jinn [there] were those who worked before him by the leave, by the command, of his Lord. And such of them as deviated from Our command, to him to obey him [Solomon], We would make them taste the chastisement of the Blaze, the Fire in the Hereafter — but it is also said, [that their chastisement was] in this world, in which case an angel would smite one of them with a lash thereof that would scorch him.
{ وَلِسُلَيْمَانَ ٱلرِّيحَ غُدُوُّهَا شَهْرٌ وَرَوَاحُهَا شَهْرٌ وَأَسَلْنَا لَهُ عَيْنَ ٱلْقِطْرِ وَمِنَ ٱلْجِنِّ مَن يَعْمَلُ بَيْنَ يَدَيْهِ بِإِذْنِ رَبِّهِ وَمَن يَزِغْ مِنْهُمْ عَنْ أَمْرِنَا نُذِقْهُ مِنْ عَذَابِ ٱلسَّعِيرِ } (And unto Solomon (We gave) the wind) and We made the wind subservient to Solomon, (whereof the morning course was a month's journey) He would go in the morning from Jerusalem to Istakhr, which was a month's journey (and the evening course a month's journey) and come back in the evening from Istakhr to Jerusalem which was another month's journey, (and We caused the fount of copper to gush forth for him) to make of it what whatever he pleased, (and (We gave him) certain of the jinn) and made the jinn subservient to him (who worked before him) by means of magic buildings and other things (by permission of his Lord) by command of his Lord. (And such of them as deviated from) as disobey or rebel against (Our command) with which We commanded them; it is also said that this means: the command of Solomon, (them We caused to taste the punishment of flaming fire) it is also said that an angel hit with a pillar of fire whoever disobeyed among the jinn.
وَلِسُلَيْمَانَ الرِّيحَ غُدُوُّهَا شَهْرٌ وَرَوَاحُهَا شَهْرٌ وَأَسَلْنَا لَهُ عَيْنَ الْقِطْرِ وَمِنَ الْجِنِّ مَنْ يَعْمَلُ بَيْنَ يَدَيْهِ بِإِذْنِ رَبِّهِ وَمَنْ يَزِغْ مِنْهُمْ عَنْ أَمْرِنَا نُذِقْهُ مِنْ عَذَابِ السَّعِيرِ ﴿34:12﴾

34:12) And We subdued the wind to Solomon: its morning course was a month’s journey and its evening course was a month’s journey. We gave him a spring flowing with molten brass, and We subdued for him jinn who, by his Lord’s permission, worked before him. Such of them as swerved from Our commandment, We let them taste the chastisement of the Blazing Fire. Some former commentators have taken this to mean that a spring from the earth had erupted for the Prophet Solomon from which molten copper flowed oat instead of water. But another interpretation of this verse can be that in the time of the Prophet Solomon the work of melting and moulding copper for different uses was done on a very large scale and the same has been referred to here as the flowing of a spring of molten copper for him. (For further details, see E.N. 74 of AI-Anbiya').

The question whether the jinns who had been subdued to the Prophet Solomon were human beings of the mountain tribes or really the jinns who are well known by this name as the hidden creation, has been discussed in detail in our commentary of Surah AI-Anbiya' and Surah An-Naml. (Please see E.N. 75 of AI-Anbiya' and E.N.'s 23, 45 and 52 of An-Naml).


After reading these two verses and explanations, is that Solomon somehow acquired a huge carpet/mat made of wood. On this mat, he placed all the equipment of his kingdom; his horses, camels, tents and troops, etc.. This Wooden carpet/mat had to be big enough to fit all of these things on; and strong enough to support all the weight. What kind of wood did Solomon acquire in order to have this constructed? How big would it have to have been to fit all of these things on it? A Structure of the size/strength required would not be able to be supported by wind alone. Either Solomon had a really small number of troops and few possessions or this story is beyond belief! One would need blind faith in order to think about this and then accept it fact!

Therefore we have a flying wooden carpet/mat that is propelled by the wind alone, with Jinn's kept at bay to stop them from interfering with the flight of this wooden carpet/mat. Considering that Airplanes don't use wind power alone in order to be propelled through the air, are not affected by Jinn's, are enclosed, etc.. I fail to see how this is in any way prophetic either. Its just a lame attempt at a "miracle" performed by Allah or Solomon.


Conclusion

The first is also not a fulfilled prophecy, nor even a prophecy! Its referring to the characteristics of the earth and solar system around the earth. Regarding Solomon, this is also not prophetic either. Even if you believe the ludicrous description of the HUGE wooden carpet/mat traveling by wind alone, it still doesn't ring prophetic of airplanes


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