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[[File:Noahs-Ark-Edward-Hicks.jpg|right|thumb|275px|"Noah's Ark" (1846) painted by Edward Hicks. The Quranic story raises questions of historical as well as scientific fact.]]
{{QualityScore|Lead=4|Structure=4|Content=4|Language=4|References=4}}A common criticism of the [[Quran]], [[Scientific Errors in the Hadith|as with the Hadith]], is that it contains numerous [[Islam and Science|scientific]] and [[Historical Errors in the Qur'an|historical errors]], with no obvious attempts to differentiate its understanding of the natural world and historical events from the common folklore and misconceptions of the people living in 7<sup>th</sup> century Arabia. Modern responses typically appeal to metaphor, alternative meanings, or phenomenological interpretations of such verses. They also argue that the wording needed to be acceptable to people of its time. Critics typically argue that an all-knowing, perfect communicator would nevertheless have been able to avoid statements in the Quran that reinforced misconceptions of the time, caused future generations to have doubts about its perfection, and on a scale that critics contend is an overwhelming weakness.
{{QualityScore|Lead=4|Structure=4|Content=4|Language=4|References=4}}A common criticism of the [[Quran]], [[Scientific Errors in the Hadith|as with the Hadith]], is that it contains numerous [[Islam and Science|scientific]] and [[Historical Errors in the Qur'an|historical errors]], with no obvious attempts to differentiate its understanding of the natural world and historical events from the common folklore and misconceptions of the people living in 7<sup>th</sup> century Arabia. Modern responses typically appeal to metaphor, alternative meanings, or phenomenological interpretations of such verses. They also argue that the wording needed to be acceptable to people of its time. Critics typically argue that an all-knowing, perfect communicator would nevertheless have been able to avoid statements in the Quran that reinforced misconceptions of the time, caused future generations to have doubts about its perfection, and on a scale that critics contend is an overwhelming weakness.


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{{Main|Geocentrism and the Quran|l1=Geocentrism and the Qur'an}}
{{Main|Geocentrism and the Quran|l1=Geocentrism and the Qur'an}}


The Qur'an mentions a few times that the sun and the moon travel in an orbit or sphere/hemisphere (fee falakin فِى فَلَكٍ<ref>[http://www.studyquran.org/LaneLexicon/Volume6/00000227.pdf Lane's Lexicon p. 2443 فَلَكٍ] and [http://www.studyquran.org/LaneLexicon/Volume6/00000228.pdf p. 2444]</ref>), but does not mention once that the Earth does too. This is consistent with an Earth-centered (geocentric) view of the cosmos that places a motionless Earth at the center of the universe and all "heavenly bodies" travel around the Earth. This was the prevailing understanding of the universe prior to the 16<sup>th</sup> century when Copernicus helped explain and popularize a sun-centered (heliocentric) view of the universe. Tellingly, the sun's orbit is almost always mentioned in the context of night and day ({{Quran|13|2}} being the only exception) and is always mentioned with that of the moon (which does in fact orbit the Earth each month, and likewise appears, to the unaided eye, to traverse the sky each night when it is visible).
The Qur'an mentions a few times that the sun and the moon travel in an orbit or sphere/hemisphere (''fee falakin'' فِى فَلَكٍ<ref name="LLFalak">[http://www.studyquran.org/LaneLexicon/Volume6/00000227.pdf Lane's Lexicon p. 2443 فَلَكٍ] and [http://www.studyquran.org/LaneLexicon/Volume6/00000228.pdf p. 2444]</ref>), but does not mention once that the Earth does too. This is consistent with an Earth-centered (geocentric) view of the cosmos that places a motionless Earth at the center of the universe and all "heavenly bodies" travel around the Earth. This was the prevailing understanding of the universe prior to the 16<sup>th</sup> century when Copernicus helped explain and popularize a sun-centered (heliocentric) view of the universe. Tellingly, the sun's movement is almost always mentioned in the context of night and day (seven times; {{Quran|13|2}} is the sole exception) and is always mentioned with that of the moon (which does in fact orbit the Earth each month, and likewise appears, to the casual observer, to traverse the sky each night when it is visible).
{{Quote|{{cite quran|36|37|end=40|style=ref}}|
{{Quote|{{Quran-range|36|37|40}}|A token unto them is night. We strip it of the day, and lo! they are in darkness. And the sun runneth on unto a resting-place for him. That is the measuring of the Mighty, the Wise. And for the moon We have appointed mansions till she return like an old shrivelled palm-leaf. It is not for the sun to overtake the moon, nor doth the night outstrip the day. They float each in an orbit.}}
A token unto them is night. We strip it of the day, and lo! they are in darkness. And the sun runneth on unto a resting-place for him. That is the measuring of the Mighty, the Wise. And for the moon We have appointed mansions till she return like an old shrivelled palm-leaf. It is not for the sun to overtake the moon, nor doth the night outstrip the day. They float each in an orbit.}}
{{Quran-range|36|37|40}}, occurring in a passage about night and day, right after describing the change from day to night, states that the sun runs on to a resting place for it (''li-mustaqarrin lahā'' لِمُسْتَقَرٍّ لَّهَا). Useful linguistic evidence is found in a [[sahih]] [[hadith]] ({{Muslim|1|297}}) which mentions the sun's daily cycle using the same Arabic word to mean a resting place, which is underneath Allah's throne, and is where each night the sun prostrates and is asked to go and rise 'from its rising place' (مِنْ مَطْلِعِهَا). This cycle repeats, until one day Allah asks the sun to rise 'from your setting place' (مِنْ مَغْرِبِكِ).
{{Quran-range|36|37|40}}, occurring in a passage about night and day, right after describing the change from day to night, states that the sun runs on to a resting place for it (لِمُسْتَقَرٍّ لَّهَا). There are also [[sahih]] [[hadith]] ({{Muslim|1|297}}) that mention the sun's daily cycle using the same Arabic word to mean a resting place, which is underneath Allah's throne, and is where each night the sun prostrates and is asked to go and rise 'from its rising place' (مِنْ مَطْلِعِهَا). This cycle repeats, until one day Allah asks the sun to rise 'from your setting place' (مِنْ مَغْرِبِكِ).


An alternative view cited by classical exegetes such as Ibn Kathir (d. 1373 CE), attributed to Qatada ibn Di'amah (d. 735 CE),<ref>[https://quranx.com/tafsirs/36.38 Tafsir ibn Kathir for 36:38]</ref> and which is favoured by many Muslim scholars today, was that this refers to the sun's final 'resting' on the last day.
An alternative view cited by classical exegetes such as Ibn Kathir (d. 1373 CE), attributed to Qatada ibn Di'amah (d. 735 CE),<ref>[https://quranx.com/tafsirs/36.38 Tafsir ibn Kathir for 36:38]</ref> and which is favoured by many Muslim scholars today, was that this refers to the sun's final 'resting' on the last day. Other verses talk about the sun swimming for a 'term appointed' (though using a different Arabic word).


Other verses talk about the sun swimming for a 'term appointed' (using a different Arabic word). Another version of the above hadith possibly supports this view (for details of all these things, see the footnotes [https://wikiislam.net/wiki/Geocentrism_and_the_Quran in the main article]). Whichever interpretation was intended, the sun's movement is nevertheless mentioned right after describing day and night, just as the next verse mentions the different mansions appointed for the moon each night. The whole passage is about day and night and the sun and moon's movement in that context.
Whichever interpretation was intended, the sun's movement is nevertheless mentioned right after describing day and night, just as the next verse mentions the different mansions appointed for the moon each night. The whole passage is about day and night and the sun and moon's movement in that context.
{{Quote|{{Quran|21|33}}|And He it is Who created the night and the day, and the sun and the moon. They float, each in an orbit.}}
{{Quote|{{Quran|21|33}}|And He it is Who created the night and the day, and the sun and the moon. They float, each in an orbit.}}


A modern vantage point would explain the above Qur'anic description of the sun moving in an orbit as a reference to our sun orbiting the black hole at the center of the milky way galaxy every 225 million years. Critics argue that this is of no relevance to human time scales, and that nothing from the text implies that the sun is orbiting anything other than the Earth. The Quran never in any way differentiates the sun's orbit from that of the moon and consistently implies that they are of a common nature.  
A modern vantage point would explain the above Qur'anic description of the sun moving in an orbit (''fee falakin'' - see note above) as a reference to our sun orbiting the black hole at the center of the milky way galaxy every 225 million years. Critics argue that this is of no relevance to human time scales, and that nothing from the text implies that the sun is orbiting anything other than the Earth. The Quran never in any way differentiates the sun's orbit from that of the moon and consistently implies that they are of a common nature.  


{{Quote|{{Quran|31|29}}|'''Hast thou not seen''' how Allah causeth the night to pass into the day and causeth the day to pass into the night, and hath subdued the sun and the moon (to do their work), each running unto an appointed term; and that Allah is Informed of what ye do?}}
{{Quote|{{Quran|31|29}}|'''Do you not see''' that Allah causes the night to enter the day and causes the day to enter the night and has subjected the sun and the moon, each running [its course] for a specified term, and that Allah, with whatever you do, is Acquainted?}}
Here the sun running / pursuing its course (يَجْرِىٓ)<ref>[http://www.studyquran.org/LaneLexicon/Volume2/00000051.pdf Lane's Lexicon p. 415 يَجْرِىٓ]</ref> is something that the author expects people to have seen (thus posing another challenge for the galactic orbit interpretation).  
Here the sun running / pursuing its course (يَجْرِىٓ)<ref>[http://www.studyquran.org/LaneLexicon/Volume2/00000051.pdf Lane's Lexicon p. 415 يَجْرِىٓ]</ref> is something that the author expects people to have seen or at least know about (thus posing another challenge for the galactic orbit interpretation).  


{{Quote|{{cite quran|91|1|end=2|style=ref}}|
{{Quote|{{Quran-range|91|1|2}}|By the sun and its brightness And [by] the moon when it follows it}}
By the Sun and his (glorious) splendour; By the Moon as she follows him; }}
The word translated as "follow"<ref>[http://www.studyquran.org/LaneLexicon/Volume1/00000350.pdf Lane's Lexicon p. 313 تَلَىٰ]</ref> is primarily defined as to follow, go or walk behind, follow in way of imitation, of action etc. and was often used for animals like camels following behind each other. The Moon does not actually follow behind the sun's movement, nor does it provide its own light like the sun. The verse is most suggestive of a worldview in which the moon and sun traverse the same or similar paths after one another, which is what a 7th century person might believe from observing the sky. Critics would expect a less suspicious choice of wording in a perfect book if it merely meant the sun and moon appear one after the other. One day instead of following the sun, the moon will by joined with it according to another verse (see the [[Scientific_Errors_in_the_Quran#Implied_similar_size_and_distance_of_the_sun_and_moon|Implied Similar Size and Distance of the Sun and Moon]] section below).
The word translated as "follow"<ref>[http://www.studyquran.org/LaneLexicon/Volume1/00000350.pdf Lane's Lexicon p. 313 تَلَىٰ]</ref> is primarily defined as to follow, go or walk behind, follow in way of imitation, of action etc. and was often used for animals like camels following behind each other. The Moon does not actually follow behind the sun's movement, nor does it provide its own light like the sun. The verse is most suggestive of a worldview in which the moon and sun traverse the same or similar paths after one another, which is what a 7th century person might believe from observing the sky. Critics would expect a less suspicious choice of wording in a perfect book if it merely meant the sun and moon appear one after the other. One day instead of following the sun, the moon will by joined with it according to another verse (see the [https://wikiislam.net/index.php?title=Scientific_Errors_in_the_Quran&stable=0#Implied_similar_size_and_distance_of_the_sun_and_moon Implied Similar Size and Distance of the Sun and Moon] section below).


{{Quote|{{Quran|2|258}}|Abraham said, ‘Indeed Allah brings the sun from the east; now you bring it from the west.’ So the disbeliever was overwhelmed [by astonishment], and Allah does not guide the wrongdoing people.}}
{{Quote|{{Quran|2|258}}|Abraham said, ‘Indeed Allah brings the sun from the east; now you bring it from the west.’ So the disbeliever was overwhelmed [by astonishment], and Allah does not guide the wrongdoing people.}}
Here the Qur'an quotes a few lines from a debate between Abraham and a disbelieving King, where Abraham replies that Allah 'brings the sun' (''yatee biashshamsi'' يَأْتِى بِٱلشَّمْسِ) from the east. The Arabic verb and preposition indicates that the sun actually moves. The verb means to come<ref>[http://www.studyquran.org/LaneLexicon/Volume1/00000052.pdf Lane's Lexicon p. 15 يَأْتِى]</ref>, and when it has an object with the bi- preposition it means to bring, as in many other instances in the Qur'an. While the story is quoting a mere human's words, the author apparently believes it to be a good response and sees no problem with it.
Here the Qur'an quotes a few lines from a debate between Abraham and a disbelieving King, where Abraham replies that Allah 'brings the sun' (''yatee biashshamsi'' يَأْتِى بِٱلشَّمْسِ) from the east. The Arabic verb and preposition indicates that the sun actually moves from East to West across the sky. The verb means to come<ref>[http://www.studyquran.org/LaneLexicon/Volume1/00000052.pdf Lane's Lexicon p. 15 يَأْتِى]</ref>, and when it has an object with the bi- preposition it means to bring, as in many other instances in the Qur'an. While the story is quoting a mere human's words, the author apparently believes it to be a good response and sees no problem with it.


===Setting and rising place of the sun===
===Setting and rising place of the sun===
{{Main|Dhul-Qarnayn and the Sun Setting in a Muddy Spring - Part One|Dhul-Qarnayn and the Sun Setting in a Muddy Spring - Part Two}}
{{Main|Dhul-Qarnayn and the Sun Setting in a Muddy Spring - Part One|Dhul-Qarnayn and the Sun Setting in a Muddy Spring - Part Two}}


In these verses, the author presents a version of a popular [[Dhul-Qarnayn and the Alexander Romance|Syriac legend]] from the 6th or early 7th century in which a man called Dhu'l-Qarnayn visits the places where the sun sets and rises.
In these verses, the author presents a version of a popular [[Dhul-Qarnayn and the Alexander Romance|Syriac legend from the mid 6th century]] (which used to be dated to the early 7th) in which Alexander the Great visits the place where the sun sets and also describes its rising place in a similar way to the Quran. Later he builds a wall to block Gog and Magog among other close similarities.


{{Quote|{{Quran|18|86}}|
{{Quote|{{Quran|18|86}}|
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Till, when he reached the rising-place of the sun, he found it rising on a people for whom We had appointed no shelter therefrom. }}
Till, when he reached the rising-place of the sun, he found it rising on a people for whom We had appointed no shelter therefrom. }}


Centuries after Muhammad lived, commentators with better astronomical knowledge introduced interpretations of these verses such that Dhu'l-Qarnayn only traveled until he reached "the west" and "the east", or to spots "at the time" when the sun set and rose and not the places where it actually did so. However, these alternative interpretations are severely undermined by the [[Dhul-Qarnayn_and_the_Sun_Setting_in_a_Muddy_Spring_-_Part_One#First_interpretation:_He_reached_the_west_and_east|context and Arabic words used in these verses]], which instead point to physical locations where the sun did its setting and rising. An abundance of evidence from poems, hadiths and Quranic commentaries show that the early Muslims understood the verse in this straightforward way.
Centuries after Muhammad lived, commentators with better astronomical knowledge introduced interpretations of these verses such that Dhu'l-Qarnayn only traveled until he reached "the west" and "the east", or to spots "at the time" when the sun set and rose and not the places where it actually did so. Additionally, in these interpretations the Quran merely comments on how the sun ''appeared'' to set and rise at those destinations. However, these alternative interpretations are severely undermined by the [[Dhul-Qarnayn_and_the_Sun_Setting_in_a_Muddy_Spring_-_Part_One#First_interpretation:_He_reached_the_west_and_east|context and Arabic words used in these verses]], which instead point to physical locations where the sun did its setting and rising. An abundance of evidence from poems, hadiths and Quranic commentaries show that the early Muslims understood the verses in this straightforward way.


===Earth and heavens created in six days===
===Earth and heavens created in six days===
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The Qur'an presents the prevailing Middle-Eastern myth that the Earth and heavens were formed in six days. This is in sharp contrast with the findings of modern cosmology which show the Earth to have formed some 9 billion years after the beginning of the universe.  
The Qur'an presents the prevailing Middle-Eastern myth that the Earth and heavens were formed in six days. This is in sharp contrast with the findings of modern cosmology which show the Earth to have formed some 9 billion years after the beginning of the universe.  


Unlike the hundreds of other verses where the Arabic word yawm or its plural ayyam (أَيَّامٍ) is understood to mean day or days, when the Quran describes the creation of the world some modern Muslim scholars have appealed to its alternative meaning, 'time period'. The author makes no attempt to convey long time periods or to distinguish his description from the prevailing Middle-Eastern creation myths in this regard (or from his own usage of the term 'yawm' elsewhere in the text), which feature six literal days of creation (for example, the Bible in Genesis 1:5 reads, "Evening came and morning came: The first day.").
Prevailing Middle-Eastern creation myths featured six literal days of creation (for example, the Bible in [https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Genesis%201&version=NIV Genesis 1:5] reads, "Evening came and morning came: The first day"). Similarly, in the Quranic creation account the Arabic word for day, ''yawm'' is used (cognate to the Biblical yôm), which means day in the hundreds of other verses where it occurs. In this case,  however, many modern Muslim scholars appeal to an alternative meaning for yawm, 'time period', and point to verses stating that, with Allah, a day is like a thousand years ({{Quran|22|47}} and {{Quran|32|5}}), or that angels ascend in a day like fifty thousand years ({{Quran|70|4}}). A similar motif occurs in [https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Psalm%2090&version=NIV Psalm 90:4] in the Bible.<ref>Julien Decharneux (2023), Creation and Contemplation: The Cosmology of the Qur’ān and Its Late Antique Background, Berlin: De Gruyter, p. 165</ref>


Neither the universe nor Earth were formed in six distinct long periods of time. There is likewise apparently no attempt to indicate, even poetically, the vast duration of time in which the universe has developed, (namely, 13.8 billion years).
Nevertheless, neither the universe nor earth were formed in six distinct periods of time, and there is no attempt in the creation verses to indicate, even poetically, the vast duration of time in which the universe has developed (namely, 13.8 billion years).


{{Quote|{{Quran|50|38}}|
{{Quote|{{Quran|50|38}}|
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The [[w:Abundance of elements in Earth's crust|elements in the Earth's crust]] and core were first formed in stars by [[w:Nucleosynthesis|nucleosynthesis]]. When those stars exploded as [[w:Supernova|supernovas]], they expelled the elements that were used in future solar systems such as Earth's own. Modern radiometric dating of meteorites and rocks from the Earth and Moon show that these bodies were formed at the same time as the sun and its other planets, [[w:Age_of_the_Earth|4.5 billion years ago]]. The Qur'an, on the other hand, describes the Earth as being fully formed before the stars.
The [[w:Abundance of elements in Earth's crust|elements in the Earth's crust]] and core were first formed in stars by [[w:Nucleosynthesis|nucleosynthesis]]. When those stars exploded as [[w:Supernova|supernovas]], they expelled the elements that were used in future solar systems such as Earth's own. Modern radiometric dating of meteorites and rocks from the Earth and Moon show that these bodies were formed at the same time as the sun and its other planets, [[w:Age_of_the_Earth|4.5 billion years ago]]. The Qur'an, on the other hand, describes the Earth as being fully formed before the stars.


{{Quran|41|12}} states that lamps (or more specifically, stars in the similar verse {{Quran|37|6}}) were placed in the nearest of the seven heavens. But before there were seven heavens and while heaven was just smoke, the Earth already existed according to the previous verse, {{Quran|41|11}}, and the Earth's creation and completion in the preceding days is described in the verses immediately preceeding that one {{Quran-range|41|9|10}}, discussed in the previous section above. The creation sequence is thus as follows:  
{{Quran|41|12}} states that lamps (or more specifically, stars in the similar verse {{Quran|37|6}}) were placed in the nearest of the seven heavens. But before there were seven heavens and while heaven was just smoke, the Earth already existed according to the previous verse, {{Quran|41|11}}, and the Earth's creation and completion in the preceding days is described in the verses immediately preceeding that one, {{Quran-range|41|9|10}} discussed in the previous section above. The creation sequence is thus as follows:  


#Heaven and completed Earth;
#Heaven and completed Earth;
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He it is Who created for you all that is in the earth. Then turned He to the heaven, and fashioned it as seven heavens. And He is knower of all things.}}
He it is Who created for you all that is in the earth. Then turned He to the heaven, and fashioned it as seven heavens. And He is knower of all things.}}


The word lamps (masabeeha مَصَٰبِيحَ) in {{Quran|41|12}} and {{Quran|67|5}} with which Allah adorns (zayyanna زَيَّنَّا) the lowest heaven would need, of course, to include any luminous bodies such as the stars. These are termed as ''kawakib'' (كَوَاكِبِ) in {{Quran|37|6}}, a word that also appears in Joseph's dream ({{Quran|12|4}}) and the destruction of the heavens ({{Quran-range|82|1|2}}).
The word lamps (masabeeha مَصَٰبِيحَ) in {{Quran|41|12}} and {{Quran|67|5}} with which Allah adorns (zayyanna زَيَّنَّا) the lowest heaven would need, of course, to include any luminous bodies such as the stars. Stars are termed as ''kawakib'' (كَوَاكِبِ) in the very similar verse {{Quran|37|6}}, a word which also appears in Joseph's dream ({{Quran|12|4}}) and the destruction of the heavens ({{Quran-range|82|1|2}}).


Some modern Muslim scholars attempt to reconcile the Qur'anic description with modern science by arguing that the word 'Then' in the verses above does not indicate sequence, but that it instead means 'moreover'. This argument collides with the fact that these words (thumma in {{Quran|41|11}} and {{Quran|2|29}}, and fa in {{Quran|41|12}} - all translated as 'then') are generally used to indicate sequence. In other contexts, thumma was sometimes used to mean 'moreover'. This alternative usage, however, would always be unambiguous and clear in context, unlike in the passages quoted above, which evidently describe a stepwise process - the creation of the heavens subsequent to that of the Earth.
Some modern Muslim scholars attempt to reconcile the Qur'anic description with modern science by arguing that the word 'Then' in the verses above does not indicate sequence, but that it instead means 'moreover'. This argument collides with the fact that these words (thumma in {{Quran|41|11}} and {{Quran|2|29}}, and fa in {{Quran|41|12}} - all translated as 'then') are generally used to indicate sequence. In other contexts, thumma was sometimes used to mean 'moreover'. This alternative usage, however, would always be unambiguous and clear in context, unlike in the passages quoted above, which evidently describe a stepwise process - the creation of the heavens subsequent to that of the Earth. In any case, the Arabic particle ''fa'' in the latter of these three verses unambiguously indicates sequence.<ref>[http://www.studyquran.org/LaneLexicon/Volume6/00000105.pdf Lane's Lexicon p. 2321 ف]</ref>


In another passage, {{Quran-range|79|27|33}}, the heaven (singular) has already been raised and proportioned as a ceiling before the earth is spread, pastures produced and mountains fixed. Ibn Kathir notes in his tafsir that Ibn 'Abbas said the Earth was created first before each of these events and that scholars interpreted the Arabic word dahaha (دَحَىٰهَآ) in verse 79:30 to refer to a specific kind of spreading that occurred after everything on Earth had been created.<ref>[https://quranx.com/tafsirs/2.29 Tafsir ibn Kathir 2:29]</ref> However, the passage nevertheless appears to contradict the sequence of {{Quran-range|41|9|12}}, in which the heaven is still "smoke" after Earth's sustenance and mountains have been placed.
In another passage, {{Quran-range|79|27|33}}, the heaven (singular) has already been raised and proportioned as a ceiling before the earth is spread, pastures produced and mountains fixed. Ibn Kathir notes in his tafsir that Ibn 'Abbas said the Earth was created first before each of these events and that scholars interpreted the Arabic word dahaha (دَحَىٰهَآ) in verse 79:30 to refer to a specific kind of spreading that occurred after everything on Earth had been created.<ref>[https://quranx.com/tafsirs/2.29 Tafsir ibn Kathir 2:29]</ref> However, the passage nevertheless appears to contradict the sequence of {{Quran-range|41|9|12}}, in which the heaven is still "smoke" after Earth's sustenance and mountains have been placed.
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If the flaming missiles mentioned by the Quran are to be identified with meteors burning up in the Earth's atmosphere, this would locate the eavesdropping devils (or jinn) in the upper atmosphere too, which leaves no way for the (extremely distant) stars to serve as guards in this process as outlined in the verses. However, these verses would of course fit a relatively small universe as imagined by 7th century Arabs, in which a heavenly firmament is adorned with stars able to pelt shooting stars at any devils or jinn in their vicinity, seeming to cover interstellar distances in a flaming streak across the sky. This is further supported by {{Quran|21|32}} which describes the heaven as a guarded ceiling.
If the flaming missiles mentioned by the Quran are to be identified with meteors burning up in the Earth's atmosphere, this would locate the eavesdropping devils (or jinn) in the upper atmosphere too, which leaves no way for the (extremely distant) stars to serve as guards in this process as outlined in the verses. However, these verses would of course fit a relatively small universe as imagined by 7th century Arabs, in which a heavenly firmament is adorned with stars able to pelt shooting stars at any devils or jinn in their vicinity, seeming to cover interstellar distances in a flaming streak across the sky. This is further supported by {{Quran|21|32}} which describes the heaven as a guarded ceiling.


=== The locations of the stars ===
The Quran swears on the places where the stars settings/positions/locations (''mawāqiʿi'')<ref>[https://www.almaany.com/en/dict/ar-en/%D9%85%D9%88%D9%82%D8%B9/#google_vignette موقع] - Almaany dictionary entry</ref> of the stars in Q56:75. Many pre-modern people believed stars were fixed in place,<ref>Pedersen, Olaf (1974). ''Early physics and astronomy : a historical introduction''. Pihl, Mogens. London: MacDonald and Janes. pp. 65–67. ISBN <bdi>0-356-04122-0</bdi>. OCLC 1094297.</ref> as did ancient Arabs as found in pre-Islamic poetry.<ref>Neuwirth, Angelika. The Qur'an: Text and Commentary, Volume 1: Early Meccan Suras: Poetic Prophecy (pp. 166-167). Yale University Press.
''The scattering of the stars alters the ancient Arab cosmic conception, according to which the stars—as perceived by the poet who stays awake at night—appear as if fixed by ropes; see Imruʾ l-Qays, Mu ʿallaqa, v. 47: fa-yā laka min laylin ka-anna nujūmahū / bi-kulli mughāri l-fatli shuddat bi-yadhbulī jandalī (“What a night—as if the stars are held by ropes pulled tight to Mount Yadhbul”; cf. the slightly divergent text in SEAP, 1082).''</ref>
{{Quote|{{Quran|56|75}}|I swear by the locations of the stars.}}
In reality stars don't have fixed settings as they are constantly orbiting e.g. black holes and other stars - they just appear that way from Earth as they are so far away.<ref>''[https://www.wtamu.edu/~cbaird/sq/2013/10/16/why-are-all-the-stars-fixed-in-space/ Why are all the stars fixed in space?]'' Science Questions with Surprising Answers. West Texas A& University Website. Dr Christopher S. Baird. Physics professor at West Texas A&M University. 2013</ref> The verse must be referring to actual stars, as these also 'fall and scatter' ({{Quran|81|2}} and {{Quran|82|2}}) on judgement day, and are thrown at spying jinn; Quran 37:6-10, Quran 67:5, Quran 15:16-18 (''see: [[Shooting Stars in the Quran]])''. However we aren't even seeing the locations of the stars (which the Quran is telling it's audience it is swearing on), but rather light which is centuries to millions of years old<ref>[https://www.pbs.org/seeinginthedark/astronomy-topics/light-as-a-cosmic-time-machine.html#:~:text=The%20Sun%20is%2093%20million,it%20was%208%20minutes%20ago ''Light as a Cosmic Time Machine.''] Andrew Fraknoi. PBS</ref> so the star has since moved away from that 'position', and is constantly orbiting.
Muslims may take a non-literal view of the verse such as arguing it is from a human perspective. But critics argue the Quran could simply have sworn on e.g. the stars (al-nujūm) themselves rather than the literal positions of the stars, to avoid bringing in a concept that would become scientifically outdated as our knowledge of the universe has increased - and adds no value/serves no purpose in the Quran.
===Implied similar size and distance of the sun and moon===
===Implied similar size and distance of the sun and moon===
{{Main|Geocentrism and the Quran|l1=Geocentrism and the Qur'an}}
{{Main|Geocentrism and the Quran|l1=Geocentrism and the Qur'an}}
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{{Quote|{{Quran|24|35}}|
{{Quote|{{Quran|24|35}}|
  Allah is the Light of the heavens and the earth. The Parable of His Light is as if there were a Niche and within it a Lamp: the Lamp enclosed in Glass: the glass as it were a brilliant star: Lit from a blessed Tree, an Olive, neither of the east nor of the west, whose oil is well-nigh luminous, though fire scarce touched it: Light upon Light! Allah doth guide whom He will to His Light: Allah doth set forth Parables for men: and Allah doth know all things.}}Furthermore, an almost perfect opportunity to explain that the moons light is not it's own, but rather the sun's shining of it's surface, comes when Muhammad is asked about the phases of the moon. The 'phases/new moons' are caused by the sun only illuminating half of the moon at a time, and as the moon orbits the Earth, at some points the sunlit part of the moon can be seen from the Earth, and at other points, we can only see the parts of the Moon that are in shadow.<ref>See: ''[https://science.nasa.gov/moon/lunar-phases-and-eclipses/ NASA - Lunar Phases and Eclipses]'' for an explanation of the phenomena.</ref>
  Allah is the Light of the heavens and the earth. The Parable of His Light is as if there were a Niche and within it a Lamp: the Lamp enclosed in Glass: the glass as it were a brilliant star: Lit from a blessed Tree, an Olive, neither of the east nor of the west, whose oil is well-nigh luminous, though fire scarce touched it: Light upon Light! Allah doth guide whom He will to His Light: Allah doth set forth Parables for men: and Allah doth know all things.}}
 
Muhammad gives a response. Instead of any explanation which could verify itself scientifically, we are told it's for timekeeping and to mark when pilgrimage begins (i.e., something that was already in use)<ref>For example, see discussions on the pre-Islamic calendar, noting use of the moon and it's links to pilgrimage.
 
Ioh, H. (2014). ''[https://brill.com/view/journals/arab/61/5/article-p471_1.xml The Calendar in Pre-Islamic Mecca]''. ''Arabica'', ''61''(5), 471-513. <nowiki>https://doi.org/10.1163/15700585-12341319</nowiki>
 
[https://www.academia.edu/114436617/The_Arabian_Calendar_and_an_Archeoastronomical_Investigation_of_the_Pre_Islamic_Pilgrimage_Shrines_at_Mecca ''The Arabian Calendar and an Archeoastronomical Investigation of the Pre-Islamic Pilgrimage Shrines at Mecca.''] Hisham Abad.
</ref>.
{{Quote|{{Quran|2|189}}|<b>(Muhammad), they ask you about the different phases of the moon. Tell them that they are there to indicate to people the phases of time and the pilgrimage season.</b> It is not a righteous act to enter houses from the back. Righteousness is to be pious and enter the houses from the front door. Have fear of God so that perhaps you will have lasting happiness.}}


===The entire heaven has a night and day===
===The entire heaven has a night and day===
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This is particularly problematic for apologists that claim the closest sky/heaven is the visible universe (based off those verses that it is adorned with stars).
This is particularly problematic for apologists that claim the closest sky/heaven is the visible universe (based off those verses that it is adorned with stars).


==== Day and night as veils pulled across the heavens, not from the Sun or the Earths movement ====
====Night and day as moving entities====
As the above states, night and day are a property of the sky/heavens rather than a specific phenomena only occurring almost entirely on the surface of the Earth; as one side of it moves (both via rotation on it's own axis and via the movement as it orbits the sun) to face away from the sun. The Qur'ans description extends to the night covering/veiling the day ({{Quran|7|54}}) which then follows the night. And god 'strips' the night of the day ({{Quran|36|37}}).  
As the above section explains, night and day in the Quran are a property of the entire heaven rather than a specific phenomena only occurring almost entirely on the surface of the Earth as it rotates and orbits the sun. The Qur'anic description extends to the night covering/veiling the day, chasing it rapidly ({{Quran|7|54}}). And god 'strips' the night of the day ({{Quran|36|37}}). The day and night are also said to successively overlap ({{Quran|39|5}}) or enter into each other ({{Quran|35|13}}, {{Quran|3|27}}, {{Quran|22|61}}, and {{Quran|57|6}}), which some Muslim scholars take as a reference to Earth's rotation though the earth is not mentioned in this process.


In Q6:96 and Q10:5, we are told that the sun and moon are lights created for timekeeping, with both being mentioned in the same way - but not once is the main function of the sun for humans listed; i.e. as the actual source of daylight.
In addition, not only the sun and moon, but the day and night too are each (Kullun, which means "all"<ref>[https://www.studyquran.org/LaneLexicon/Volume8/00000256.pdf Lane's Lexicon supplement p. 3002 كُلّ]</ref>) floating/swimming in an orbit/sphere/hemisphere (fee falakin<ref name="LLfalak" />) in Q. 21:33 and Q. 36:40.
{{Quote|{{Quran|6|96}}|[He is] the cleaver of daybreak and has made the night for rest and the sun and moon for calculation. That is the determination of the Exalted in Might, the Knowing.}}{{Quote|{{Quran|10|5}}|It is He who made the sun a radiance and the moon a light, and ordained its phases that you might know the number of years and the calculation [of time]. Allah did not create all that except with justice. He elaborates the signs for a people who have knowledge.}}
{{Quote|{{Quran|21|33}}|And He it is Who created the night and the day, and the sun and the moon. They float, each in an orbit.}}{{Quote|{{Quran|36|40}}|And He it is Who created the night and the day, and the sun and the moon. They float, each in an orbit.}}
On top of this the day and night are swimming in orbit themselves, along with the sun and the moon in Q21:33 and Q36:40, where they are mentioned as distinct entities.
 
{{Quote|{{Quran|21|33}}|It is He who created the night and the day, the sun and the moon, each swimming in an orbit.}}{{Quote|{{Quran|36|40}}|Neither can the sun overtake the moon, nor the night outpace the day: Each of them keeps coursing in its orbit.}}
Some critics doubt that the author even understood the sun to be the source of daylight, or that the night is dark due to the lack of light therefrom. In {{Quran|6|96}} and {{Quran|10|5}}, we are just told that the sun and moon are lights and created for timekeeping, with both being mentioned in the same way. {{Quran-range|91|1|4}}, however, swears by the day when it 'reveals' the sun, and by the night when it 'covers' it. Some modern Muslim scholars take this as a reference to the Earth's rotation, though critics also point to a similar passage, {{Quran-range|92|1|2}}, which in a general sense states that the day reveals and the night covers (using the same Arabic verbs as the first passage), with no particular object to those verbs. In addition, {{Quran|10|27}} says the faces of evil doers will be dark, as though covered by pieces of the night.
And finally that the daylight actually 'reveals' the sun, and the night 'enshrouds' it, which makes no sense as daylight is solely from the sun, and night is simply a result of it's absence on one side of the Earths surface.
{{Quote|{{Quran-range|91|1-4}}|By the sun and its brightness,  
{{Quote|{{Quran|91|1-4}}|By the sun and its brightness,  
And [by] the moon when it follows it,  
And [by] the moon when it follows it, by the day when it reveals it,
And [by] the day when it reveals it,
And [by] the night when it covers it
And [by] the night when it covers it}}
Which the day reveals the sun, and the night enshrouds it}}
{{Quote|{{Quran-range|92|1|2}}|By the night when it covers And [by] the day when it appears}}
This clear separation of the sun (and moon) as a light for timekeeping that is separate from the 'veils/covers' of day and night 'swimming in orbit' has lead to some classical commentators to believe that the day is not caused by the sun at all, but is rather a totally separate event in the sky.<ref>For example, the famous tafsir '''al-Tafsir al-Kabi''r ' of Fakhr al-Din al-Razi (d. 1209) (often referred to as Al-Razi), he explains on his [https://www.altafsir.com/Tafasir.asp?tMadhNo=0&tTafsirNo=4&tSoraNo=7&tAyahNo=54&tDisplay=yes&Page=22&Size=1&LanguageId=1 ''commentary on Verse 7:54''], that the sun has two types of movements; one in a day, and one in a year. ''He says that night and day, however, are not due to the movement of the sun, but rather to the movement of the great orb/sky which is also Allah's throne''. Angels are said to separately move the heavenly bodies.</ref>  
This apparent separation of the sun (and moon) as a light for timekeeping that is distinct from the swimming and overlapping day and 'cover/veil' of night led some classical commentators to believe that the day is not caused by the sun at all, but is rather a totally separate event in the sky.<ref>For example, the famous tafsir ''al-Tafsir al-Kabi'r'' of Fakhr al-Din al-Razi (d. 1209) (often referred to as Al-Razi), he explains on his [https://www.altafsir.com/Tafasir.asp?tMadhNo=0&tTafsirNo=4&tSoraNo=7&tAyahNo=54&tDisplay=yes&Page=22&Size=1&LanguageId=1 ''commentary on Verse 7:54''], that the sun has two types of movements; one in a day, and one in a year. ''He says that night and day, however, are not due to the movement of the sun, but rather to the movement of the great orb/sky which is also Allah's throne''. Angels are then said to separately move the sun, moon and other heavenly bodies.</ref>  


===The sky/heaven as a ceiling===
===The sky/heaven as a ceiling===
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{{Quote|{{Quran|39|67}}|No just estimate have they made of Allah, such as is due to Him: On the Day of Judgment the whole of the earth will be but His handful, and the heavens will be rolled up in His right hand: Glory to Him! High is He above the Partners they attribute to Him!}}
{{Quote|{{Quran|39|67}}|No just estimate have they made of Allah, such as is due to Him: On the Day of Judgment the whole of the earth will be but His handful, and the heavens will be rolled up in His right hand: Glory to Him! High is He above the Partners they attribute to Him!}}


=== The gates of heavens ===
===The gates of the sky/heaven===
The Quran states in many verses that there are gates in the sky/heavens (see: {{Quran|7|40}}, {{Quran|15|14}},  {{Quran|78|19}}, {{Quran|5|11}}), of which Allāh alone holds the keys to {{Quran|42|12}}, and are at least close enough for water to fall to the Earth from, and flood it after Noah's preaching.
The Quran states in many verses that there are gates in the sky/heavens (see: {{Quran|7|40}}, {{Quran|15|14}},  {{Quran|78|19}}, {{Quran|54|11}}), of which Allāh alone holds the keys to {{Quran|42|12}}, and are at least close enough for water to fall to the Earth from, and flood it after Noah's preaching.
{{Quote|{{Quran|54|11}}|Then We opened the gates of the sky with pouring waters}}
{{Quote|{{Quran|54|11}}|Then We opened the gates of the sky with pouring waters}}
===The sky-ways/cords of the heavens===
{{Main|Cosmology of the Quran}}
Similar to other ancient Near-East and West Asian cosmologies, the sky/heavens are equipped with pathways or conduits, called sabab (singular) asbāb (plural),<ref>van Bladel, Kevin, ''"[https://islamspring2012.voices.wooster.edu/wp-content/uploads/sites/192/2018/09/van-Bladel_heavenly-cords.pdf Heavenly cords and prophetic authority in the Qur’an and its Late Antique context]", pp. 223-224.'' Bulletin of the School of Oriental and African Studies 70 (2): 223-246, 2007. <nowiki>https://www.jstor.org/stable/40379198</nowiki></ref> that are some kind of ropes or cords (as per their literal meaning)<ref>Sinai, Nicolai. ''Key Terms of the Qur'an: A Critical Dictionary (p. 412).'' Princeton University Press. Kindle Edition. </ref> that support or run along the high edifice of the heaven, which can be traversed physically by people who arrive at them. Al-Rabīʿ ibn Anas (d. 756), to whom is attributed an early Quran commentary on verse Q38:10 notes: "The asbāb are finer than hair and stronger than iron; it [sic] is in every place although it is invisible.<ref>van Bladel, Kevin, ''"[https://islamspring2012.voices.wooster.edu/wp-content/uploads/sites/192/2018/09/van-Bladel_heavenly-cords.pdf Heavenly cords and prophetic authority in the Qur’an and its Late Antique context]",  pp. 237.'' Bulletin of the School of Oriental and African Studies 70 (2): 223-246, 2007. <nowiki>https://www.jstor.org/stable/40379198</nowiki></ref>
{{Quote|{{Quran|36-37}}|And Pharaoh said, "O Haman, construct for me a tower that I might reach the ways (asbāb) - The ways (asbāb) into the heavens - so that I may look at the deity of Moses; but indeed, I think he is a liar." And thus was made attractive to Pharaoh the evil of his deed, and he was averted from the [right] way. And the plan of Pharaoh was not except in ruin.}}
{{Quote|{{Quran|38|10}}|Or is theirs the dominion of the heavens and the earth and what is between them? Then let them ascend through [any] ways (asbāb) of access}}
Despite the existence of space exploration and telescopes these have not been found.


===Stars as something that fall===
===Stars as something that fall===
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{{Quote|{{Quran|81|2}}|And when the stars fall}}
{{Quote|{{Quran|81|2}}|And when the stars fall}}


The structure of space-time is such that nothing, not even stars, can move faster than the velocity of light. That is, even if the stars were to move close to light speed across the sky, their apparent motion would be so slight relative to their distance that it would nonetheless be imperceptible to the naked eye. Moreover, as many visible stars are hundreds of light years away (the nearest star is more than four light years away), the light from such events would take years to reach our eyes. Indeed, many stars still visible in the sky ceased to exist centuries ago and it is only their light which is just now reaching the Earth.
The structure of space-time is such that nothing, not even stars, can move faster than the velocity of light. Even if the stars were to move close to light speed across the sky, their apparent motion would be so slight relative to their distance that it would nonetheless be imperceptible to the naked eye. Moreover, as many visible stars are hundreds of light years away (the nearest star is more than four light years away), the light from such events would take years to reach our eyes. Indeed, many stars still visible in the sky ceased to exist centuries ago and it is only their light which is just now reaching the Earth.


Similarly the stars are said to disperse/scatter (intatharat انْتَثَرَتْ) on judgement day, which classical commentaries have also linked to dispersing/falling on Earth,<ref>''[https://quranx.com/Tafsir/Abbas/82.2 Tanwîr al-Miqbâs min Tafsîr Ibn ‘Abbâs Verse 82.2]''. Ibn Abbas. Unknown date.</ref> <ref>''[https://quranx.com/Tafsir/Jalal/82.2 Tafsir Al-Jalalayn Verse 82.2.]'' Jalal al-Din al-Mahalli (d. 864 ah / 1459 ce) and his pupil Jalal al-Din al-Suyuti (d. 911 ah / 1505 ce).
Similarly the stars are said to disperse/scatter (intatharat انْتَثَرَتْ) on judgement day, which classical commentaries have also linked to dispersing/falling on Earth,<ref>''[https://quranx.com/Tafsir/Abbas/82.2 Tanwîr al-Miqbâs min Tafsîr Ibn ‘Abbâs Verse 82.2]''. Ibn Abbas. Unknown date.</ref> <ref>''[https://quranx.com/Tafsir/Jalal/82.2 Tafsir Al-Jalalayn Verse 82.2.]'' Jalal al-Din al-Mahalli (d. 864 ah / 1459 ce) and his pupil Jalal al-Din al-Suyuti (d. 911 ah / 1505 ce).
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When reading this verse one may also wonder in what sense day and night each have an orbit (See [[Geocentrism and the Quran]]).
When reading this verse one may also wonder in what sense day and night each have an orbit (See [[Geocentrism and the Quran]]).


See also the [https://wikiislam.net/index.php?title=Scientific_Errors_in_the_Quran&stable=0#Fasting_and_Prayer_Requirements_Near_the_Poles Fasting and Prayer Requirements Near the Poles] section below.
See also the [[Scientific_Errors_in_the_Quran#Fasting_and_prayer_requirements_near_the_Poles|Fasting and prayer requirements near the Poles]] section below.


==Biology==
==Biology==


===Evolution===
===Evolution===
{{Main|Evolution and Islam}}


The Qur'an takes what is perhaps best described as the creationist view of the origins and history of life on earth. This diverges sharply from the overwhelming scientific evidence that humans have evolved from prior life forms, over the course of millions of years and through natural selection.<ref>https://humanorigins.si.edu/evidence</ref> Consequently, while some Muslim scholars reinterpret the Quran in order that they may accept the theory of evolution, most reject it in favor of a creationist world view. Opinion polls show that the majority of Muslims agree Islam and evolution are not compatible.  
The Qur'an takes what is perhaps best described as the creationist view of the origins and history of life on earth. This diverges sharply from the overwhelming scientific evidence that humans have evolved from prior life forms, over the course of millions of years and through natural selection.<ref>https://humanorigins.si.edu/evidence</ref> Consequently, while some Muslim scholars reinterpret the Quran in order that they may accept the theory of evolution, most reject it in favor of a creationist world view. Opinion polls show that the majority of Muslims agree Islam and evolution are not compatible.  


====First humans created from clay====
====First humans created from clay====
{{Main|Creation of Humans from Clay}}
{{Main|Creation of Humans from Clay|Evolution and Islam}}


The Qur’an states that the first man was created instantaneously from clay (''salsalin'' صَلْصَٰلٍ) / ''mud'' (hamain حَمَإٍ). There is no indication that the author is aware of the evolution of human life over millions of years or our common ancestry with apes and primates. While some scientists argue over the detailed mechanisms driving evolution, they agree that common descent is an overwhelmingly proven fact.
The Qur’an states that the first man was created instantaneously from clay (''salsalin'' صَلْصَٰلٍ) / ''mud'' (hamain حَمَإٍ). There is no indication that the author is aware of the evolution of human life over millions of years or our common ancestry with apes and primates. While some scientists argue over the detailed mechanisms driving evolution, they agree that common descent is an overwhelmingly proven fact.
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He created man from clay like [that of] pottery.}}
He created man from clay like [that of] pottery.}}


The Quran also states, in a similar vein, that the first man was created from dust (''turabin'' تُرَابٍ).
{{Quote|{{Quran-range|38|71|75}}|[So mention] when your Lord said to the angels, "'''Indeed, I am going to create a human being from clay. So when I have proportioned him and breathed into him of My [created] soul, then fall down to him in prostration.'''" So the angels prostrated - all of them entirely. Except Iblees; he was arrogant and became among the disbelievers. [Allah] said, "O Iblees, what prevented you from prostrating to '''that which I created with My hands?''' Were you arrogant [then], or were you [already] among the haughty?" He said, "I am better than him. '''You created me from fire and created him from clay.'''"}}


{{Quote|{{Quran|3|59}}|
====Descent from Adam and Eve====
Lo! the likeness of Jesus with Allah is as the likeness of Adam. He created him of dust, then He said unto him: Be! and he is.}}
{{Main|Evolution and Islam|Qur'an, Hadith and Scholars:Creation}}
 
====Adam and Eve====
{{Main|Qur'an, Hadith and Scholars:Creation|Evolution and Islam}}


The Qur’an contains stories concerning the 'first humans' which detail, among other matters, how all people are descended from Adam and Eve (called ''Hawa'' in Arabic), the two earliest ancestors. These humans were created in a garden (the word for paradise in Arabic is ''jannah'', which literally means 'garden') and then brought to Earth fully formed (Sahih Hadiths say Adam was 60 cubits - or 90 feet - tall). This view of the origins of human life is directly challenged by overwhelming DNA evidence and the numerous fossils of pre-Homo sapiens species that lived on earth for millions of years prior to the evolution modern humans.<ref>http://humanorigins.si.edu/evidence</ref> Powerful DNA evidence that humans have common ancestry with other primate families includes endogenous retroviruses in the exact same genetic locations of our respective genomes<ref>[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oXfDF5Ew3Gc DNA Evidence That Humans & Chimps Share A Common Ancestor: Endogenous Retroviruses] - Youtube.com</ref> and the fusion of two primate chromosomes to become chromosome 2 in humans<ref>[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dK3O6KYPmEw Professor Ken Miller on DNA fusion events] - Youtube.com</ref> (for more detail see the main article).
The Qur’an contains stories concerning the 'first humans' which detail, among other matters, how all people are descended from Adam and Eve (called ''Hawa'' in Arabic), the two earliest ancestors. These humans were created in a garden (the word for paradise in Arabic is ''jannah'', which literally means 'garden') and then brought to Earth fully formed (Sahih Hadiths say Adam was 60 cubits - or 90 feet - tall). This view of the origins of human life is directly challenged by overwhelming DNA evidence and the numerous fossils of pre-Homo sapiens species that lived on earth for millions of years prior to the evolution modern humans.<ref>http://humanorigins.si.edu/evidence</ref> Powerful DNA evidence that humans have common ancestry with other primate families includes endogenous retroviruses in the exact same genetic locations of our respective genomes<ref>[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oXfDF5Ew3Gc DNA Evidence That Humans & Chimps Share A Common Ancestor: Endogenous Retroviruses] - Youtube.com</ref> and the fusion of two primate chromosomes to become chromosome 2 in humans<ref>[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dK3O6KYPmEw Professor Ken Miller on DNA fusion events] - Youtube.com</ref> (for more detail see the main article).
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{{Quote|{{Quran-range|32|7|8}}|Who made all things good which He created, and He began the creation of man from clay; Then He made his seed from a draught of despised fluid;}}
{{Quote|{{Quran-range|32|7|8}}|Who made all things good which He created, and He began the creation of man from clay; Then He made his seed from a draught of despised fluid;}}
The word translated “seed” in the Pickthall translation is nasl نسل, which means progeny (i.e. descendants).<ref>[http://www.studyquran.org/LaneLexicon/Volume8/00000286.pdf Lane's Lexicon p. 3032 نسل]</ref>
The word translated “seed” in the Pickthall translation is nasl نسل, which means progeny (i.e. descendants).<ref>[http://www.studyquran.org/LaneLexicon/Volume8/00000286.pdf Lane's Lexicon p. 3032 نسل]</ref>
Other verses address humanity as banī ādama ("children of Adam"), including {{Quran|7|27}} which describe the first couple as "your parents". See also {{Quran|17|70}} and {{Quran|4|1}}.


Some modern Muslim scholars argue that the notion of two ancestral “parents” is consistent with recent scientific findings that show a common female and male ancestor of all modern humans. This results, however, from a confusion with the nicknames (Mitochondrial Eve and Y-chromosomal Adam) by which scientists have referred to human's earliest genetic ancestors. These two individuals, however, are distinct from the Quranic characters as they are simply the last common male and female ancestors of everyone alive today and not of all humans in history. More importantly, whereas the Qur'an describes Eve as Adam's wife (who, notably, was created ''after'' him), Mitochondrial Eve lived some 50,000 to 80,000 years earlier than Y-chromosomal Adam.<ref>[http://biologos.org/blog/does-genetics-point-to-a-single-primal-couple Adam, Eve, and Human Population Genetics: Responses to Popular Arguments] - Biologos website</ref> Genetic evidence also overwhelmingly indicates that humans diverged from earlier species as a population rather than as a single couple.<ref>[http://whyevolutionistrue.wordpress.com/2011/09/18/how-big-was-the-human-population-bottleneck-not-anything-close-to-2/ How big was the human population bottleneck? Another staple of theology refuted.] - Why Evolution is True website by Professor Jerry Coyne</ref>
Some modern Muslim scholars argue that the notion of two ancestral “parents” is consistent with recent scientific findings that show a common female and male ancestor of all modern humans. This results, however, from a confusion with the nicknames (Mitochondrial Eve and Y-chromosomal Adam) by which scientists have referred to human's earliest genetic ancestors. These two individuals, however, are distinct from the Quranic characters as they are simply the last common male and female ancestors of everyone alive today and not of all humans in history. More importantly, whereas the Qur'an describes Eve as Adam's wife (who, notably, was created ''after'' him), Mitochondrial Eve lived some 50,000 to 80,000 years earlier than Y-chromosomal Adam.<ref>[http://biologos.org/blog/does-genetics-point-to-a-single-primal-couple Adam, Eve, and Human Population Genetics: Responses to Popular Arguments] - Biologos website</ref> Genetic evidence also overwhelmingly indicates that humans diverged from earlier species as a population rather than as a single couple.<ref>[http://whyevolutionistrue.wordpress.com/2011/09/18/how-big-was-the-human-population-bottleneck-not-anything-close-to-2/ How big was the human population bottleneck? Another staple of theology refuted.] - Why Evolution is True website by Professor Jerry Coyne</ref>
===Genetics===
====Noah's ark human population bottleneck====
''Main Article: [[Historical Errors in the Quran#Noah's%20worldwide%20flood|Historical errors in the Qur'an - Noah's worldwide flood]]''
The Qur'an contains the Biblical worldwide flood story, common to many ancient Near-East and Mesopotamian cultures, whereby Noah escapes on an ark with his family (bar a disbelieving son who attempts to hide up a mountain to avoid the flood),<ref>Reynolds, G. S. (2017). ''[https://eurasia.org.uk/docs/academic/biblical-character/Noahs_Lost_Son_in_the_Quran.pdf Noah’s Lost Son in the Qurʾān]. Arabica, 64 (2), 129-148.'' <nowiki>https://doi.org/10.1163/15700585-12341452</nowiki></ref> and a pair of all living things. Though not mentioned in the Qur'an, some traditions put eighty people with him,<ref>E.g. Tafsir Ibn Kathir on [https://quranx.com/Tafsir/Kathir/11.40 Q11:40] who mentions this report comes from Ibn Abbas</ref> including forty men and women.<ref>E.g. Tafsir Al-Jalalyan on [https://quranx.com/Tafsir/Jalal/11.40 Q11:40]</ref> The majority of prominent tafsirs say founders of all contemporary different nations such as the Byzantines, Turks and Persians etc. are descended from a different one of Noah's surviving sons.<ref>E.g. see many English translated classical commentaries/tafsirs on [https://quranx.com/tafsirs/37.77 Q37:33].</ref>{{Quote|{{Quran|11|40}}|[So it was], until when Our command came and the oven overflowed, '''We said, "Load upon the ship of each [creature] two mates and your family''', except those about whom the word has preceded, and [include] whoever has believed." But none had believed with him, except a few.}}There is no genetic evidence for a population bottleneck that could match this event whatsoever, of which we would expect.<ref>''David Reich. 2018. Who We Are and How We Got Here: Ancient DNA and the New Science of the Human Past.'' Covers the history of modern humans from a genetic POV including notable population bottlenecks - of which none match this story.
[''Chapters 1 to 4'' covers the origins of ancient humanoids into modern humans, effectively debunking Adam and Eve too.]</ref>Including (but not limited to): Genetic diversity analysis (inc. reduced heterozygosity and the loss of rare alleles), runs of homozygosity (ROH) in the genome, the allele frequency spectrum (AFS) showing a skewed distribution: favoring common alleles and reducing the prevalence of rare ones, and with statistical modelling, researchers can compare observed allele frequencies with theoretical expectations under different demographic scenarios. As well as analyzing Mitochondrial and Y-Chromosome DNA with Lineage Tracing, reconstructing genealogies with coalescent models to trace genetic lineages back to common ancestors, the presence of genetic signatures showing; Reduced effective population size (Ne) and/or Linkage disequilibrium (LD) (alleles at different loci may show higher correlations (association of genes) than expected due to the reduced population size and limited recombination events), plus analyzing and directly comparing ancient DNA with modern Ancient DNA (aDNA), and further simulation and modelling, such as using Bayesian Inference Computational methods simulate genetic data under various demographic scenarios to identify the most likely historical events - software such as BEAST and msprime have been made specifically for this.<ref name=":0">Some academic papers discussing these methods for both humans (and ancient pre-human hominins as in the first article) and animals include for example:
''"[https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/37651513/ Genomic inference of a severe human bottleneck during the Early to Middle Pleistocene transition]"'' Authors: Wangjie Hu, Ziqian Hao, Pengyuan Du, Fabio Di Vincenzo, Giorgio Manzi. Published in: Science, 2023
''[https://doi.org/10.48550/arXiv.2202.08394 Dynamical phases in growing populations: understanding recovery from bottlenecks].'' Emanuele Crosato, Jeffrey N. Philippson, Shashi Thutupalli, Richard G. Morris. 2022. <nowiki>https://doi.org/10.48550/arXiv.2202.08394</nowiki>
''[https://academic.oup.com/jhered/article-abstract/107/5/392/2622901?redirectedFrom=fulltext Genetic Evidence of a Population Bottleneck and Inbreeding in the Endangered New Zealand Sea Lion],'' Osborne AJ, Negro SS, Chilvers BL, Robertson BC, Kennedy MA, Gemmell NJ. Phocarctos hookeri. J Hered. 2016 Sep;107(5):392-402. doi:    10.1093/jhered/esw015. Epub 2016 Mar 19. PMID: 26995741.
Li H, Roossinck MJ2004. [https://journals.asm.org/doi/10.1128/jvi.78.19.10582-10587.2004 ''Genetic Bottlenecks Reduce Population Variation in an Experimental RNA Virus Population'']. J    Virol78:.<nowiki>https://doi.org/10.1128/jvi.78.19.10582-10587.2004</nowiki>
Lucena-Perez M, Kleinman-Ruiz    D, Marmesat E, Saveljev AP, Schmidt K, Godoy JA. [https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/eva.13302 ''Bottleneck-associated    changes in the genomic landscape of genetic diversity in wild lynx    populations.''] Evol Appl. 2021 Oct 8;14(11):2664-2679. doi:    10.1111/eva.13302. PMID: 34815746; PMCID: PMC8591332.</ref>
====Animals and plants====
Part of the legend of Noah's Ark is that a pair of every living species was stored on board. Similarly none of this even more extreme bottleneck of two living pairs has been found in animal genetics either (and at the same time across all species and the human bottleneck),<ref name=":0" /> (nor plants, which most traditional Islamic scholars such as Ibn Kathir agree are considered part of these pairs)<ref>Tafsir Ibn Kathir on [https://quranx.com/Tafsir/Kathir/11.40 ''verse 11:40'']</ref> of which we would expect to see a notable sudden and extreme bottleneck of two animals, also causing inbreeding being far below the safe level needed for long-term species survival.<ref>Pérez-Pereira, N., Wang, J., Quesada, H. et al. ''[https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10531-022-02456-z Prediction of the minimum effective size of a population viable in the long term]. Biodivers Conserv 31, 2763–2780 (2022).'' <nowiki>https://doi.org/10.1007/s10531-022-02456-z</nowiki></ref>
This goes without mentioning the practical problems of such a task. While we do not know exactly how many animals Muhammad, or specific 7th century Arabs were aware off, it can be assumed they were aware of local cattle, birds and visible insects etc. in Arabia - where gathering two of every pair was a difficult, but not certainly not impossible task. Modern science has, however, revealed over 2.1 million species identified so far across all taxonomic groups. This includes over a million identified insect species, 110,000 arachnids, 11,000 birds, 11,000 reptiles and 6,500 mammals that live spread across the entire planet and each of which require different climates, habitats, and diets, while a widely cited estimate for the total number of terrestrial species including those as yet undiscovered is 6.5 million.<ref>[https://ourworldindata.org/how-many-species-are-there#:~:text=Species%20that%20we%20have%20identified,million%20species%20on%20the%20planet How many species are there?] - Our World in Data website</ref>Furthermore many animals are a severe risk to the humans on board (e.g. polar bears), gathering them across different parts of the world including isolated islands and keeping the rest alive whilst getting others is essentially impossible, and many are predators of each other so would soon have destroyed the ecosystem if one was eaten by another etc.<ref>Many practical issues of the account are covered in this article on Talk Origins by Mark Isaak ''<nowiki/>'[https://talkorigins.org/faqs/faq-noahs-ark.html Problems with a Global Flood]''', focusing on the biblical version of the story - but with most applicable to the Qur'anic version.</ref>
These discoveries appear to render the idea that all animals could have been kept on board a single ship impossible.


===Embryology===
===Embryology===
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{{Main|Quran and Semen Production|l1=Qur'an and Semen Production}}
{{Main|Quran and Semen Production|l1=Qur'an and Semen Production}}


The Qur'an states that semen originates from somewhere between the backbone and ribs. Other verses and hadiths too suggest a reproductive function for the backbone. While this aligns with the views of the physicians of antiquity, modern science has shown that sperm comes from the [[w:testicle|testicles]] and semen from various glands behind and below the bladder, which is not between the backbone and ribs.
The Qur'an states that semen originates from somewhere between the backbone and ribs, though Muslim scholars have proposed a wide range of alternative interpretations. The word for backbone here is ''sulb'' (صلب), meaning the back, particularly the lumbar / loins portion of it.<ref>
[http://www.studyquran.org/LaneLexicon/Volume4/00000436.pdf Lane's Lexicon p. 1712 - صلب]</ref>. Other verses and hadiths too suggest a reproductive function for the backbone. While this aligns with the views of the physicians of antiquity, modern science has shown that sperm comes from the [[w:testicle|testicles]] and semen from various glands behind and below the bladder, which are not between the backbone and ribs.


{{Quote|{{Quran-range|86|6|7}}|
{{Quote|{{Quran-range|86|6|7}}|
He is created from a drop emitted- Proceeding from '''between the backbone and the ribs''' }}
He is created from a drop emitted- Proceeding from '''between the backbone and the ribs''' }}
We see this concept also in another verse using another Arabic word for a man's back, ''thahr'' (ظهر, translated below as loins<ref>[http://www.studyquran.org/LaneLexicon/Volume5/00000212.pdf Lane's Lexicon p. 197 - ظهر]</ref>) whereby a man's future progeny are somehow in his back before conception, a notion also found in hadiths discussed in the main article.
{{Quote|{{Quran|7|172}}|And [mention] when your Lord took from the children of Adam - from their loins - their descendants and made them testify of themselves, [saying to them], "Am I not your Lord?" They said, "Yes, we have testified." [This] - lest you should say on the day of Resurrection, "Indeed, we were of this unaware."}}


====Embryo formed from semen====
====Embryo formed from semen====
{{Main|Greek and Jewish Ideas about Reproduction in the Quran and Hadith}}
{{Main|Greek and Jewish Ideas about Reproduction in the Quran and Hadith}}


The Qur'an describes the initial formation of a human embryo out of fluid emanating from the man, which has been placed in the womb (and possibly mixed with a female fluid). This reflects the widespread contemporary view at that time that semen is the material from which the embryo is initially formed, as taught by Hippocrates, Galen, and the Jewish Talmud. It is also evident in hadiths. By contrast, modern science has shown that semen is the vehicle for the sperm cells, one of which fuses with a woman's [[w:ovum|ovum]] in her [[w:fallopian tube|fallopian tube]], and that the resulting cell divides (rather than the seminal medium) and travels back into the womb for implantation.  
The Qur'an describes the initial formation of a human embryo out of fluid emanating from the man, which has been placed in the womb (and possibly mixed with a female fluid). This reflects the widespread contemporary view at that time that semen is the material from which the embryo is initially formed, as taught by Hippocrates, Galen, and the Jewish Talmud. It is also very evident in hadiths. By contrast, modern science has shown that semen is the vehicle for the sperm cells, one of which fuses with a woman's [[w:ovum|ovum]] in her [[w:fallopian tube|fallopian tube]], and that the resulting cell divides (rather than the seminal medium) and travels back into the womb for implantation.  


While many English translations mention a "drop of seed", or "drop of sperm", the Arabic word used in the Quran is ''nutfah'', which literally means a small amount of liquid and was a euphemism for semen.
While many English translations mention a "drop of seed", or "drop of sperm", the Arabic word used in the Quran is ''nutfah'', which literally means a small amount of liquid and was a euphemism for semen.


{{Quote|{{Quran-range|77|20|22}}|
{{Quote|{{Quran-range|77|20|22}}|
Did We not create you from a '''liquid disdained'''? And '''We placed it in a firm lodging''' For a known extent.}}
Did We not create you from a '''liquid disdained'''[ma-in maheenin]? And '''We placed it in a firm lodging''' For a known extent.}}


{{Quote|{{Quran|23|13}}|'''Then placed him''' as a drop (of seed) [nutfah] '''in a safe lodging;'''}}
{{Quote|{{Quran-range|23|13|14}}|'''Then We placed him''' as a sperm-drop [nutfatan] '''in a firm lodging.'''<BR />Then We made the sperm-drop [nutfata] into a clinging clot […]}}


{{Quote|{{Quran-range|80|18|19}}|
{{Quote|{{Quran-range|80|18|19}}|
'''From what thing''' doth He create him? From a drop of seed [nutfah]. He createth him and proportioneth him}}
From what substance [shay-in, which means “thing”] did He create him? From a sperm-drop [nutfatin] He created him and destined for him;}}


{{Quote|{{Quran|76|2}}|Indeed, We created man from a sperm-drop mixture [nutfatin amshajin] that We may try him; and We made him hearing and seeing.}}
{{Quote|{{Quran|76|2}}|Indeed, We created man from a sperm-drop mixture [nutfatin amshajin] that We may try him; and We made him hearing and seeing.}}
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{{Quote|{{Quran|22|46}}|So have they not traveled through the earth and '''have hearts by which to reason''' and ears by which to hear? For indeed, it is not eyes that are blinded, but blinded are '''the hearts which are within the breasts'''.}}
{{Quote|{{Quran|22|46}}|So have they not traveled through the earth and '''have hearts by which to reason''' and ears by which to hear? For indeed, it is not eyes that are blinded, but blinded are '''the hearts which are within the breasts'''.}}


{{Quote|{{Quran|17|46}}|And We place upon their hearts veils lest they should <b>understand</b> it, and in their ears a deafness; and when thou makest mention of thy Lord alone in the Qur'an, they turn their backs in aversion. }}
{{Quote|{{Quran|11|5}}|Lo! now <b>they fold up their breasts</b> that they may hide (their thoughts) from Him. At the very moment when they cover themselves with their clothing, Allah knoweth that which they keep hidden and that which they proclaim. Lo! <b>He is Aware of what is in the breasts</b> (of men). }}


{{Quote|{{Quran|11|5}}|Lo! now they fold up their <b>breasts</b>  that they may hide (their thoughts) from Him. At the very moment when they cover themselves with their clothing, Allah knoweth that which they keep hidden and that which they proclaim. Lo! He is Aware of what is in the <b>breasts</b> (of men). }}''See also the below: [[Scientific Errors in the Quran#The soul in the literal heart]]''
{{Quote|{{Quran|7|179}}|And We have certainly created for Hell many of the jinn and mankind. '''They have hearts with which they do not understand''', they have eyes with which they do not see, and they have ears with which they do not hear. Those are like livestock; rather, they are more astray. It is they who are the heedless.}}
 
{{Quote|{{Quran|17|46}}|And We place '''upon their hearts veils lest they should understand''' it, and in their ears a deafness; and when thou makest mention of thy Lord alone in the Qur'an, they turn their backs in aversion. }}


===Characteristics of Milk===
===Characteristics of Milk===
The Qur'an states that milk is produced in the body somewhere between excretions and blood. The mammary glands, where milk is produced and stored, are, however, not located near the intestines, which is where excrement is stored. Sometimes cattle and goat milk needs processing or pasteurization before it can safely be consumed; the milk is often infected with bacteria and other micro-organisms. A significant number of humans [[w:Lactose_intolerance|lactose intolerant]], especially in some regions of the world, and are unable to digest much milk without experiencing abdominal bloating and cramps, flatulence, diarrhoea, nausea, or vomiting. This occurs in adults who lack genes for lactase enzyme persistance which maintains lactose tolerance beyond childhood and is a relatively recent evolutionary development. These realities appear to challenge the Qur'anic notion that milk is 'pure' and 'agreeable' to anyone who drinks it.
The Qur'an states that milk is produced in the body somewhere between excretions and blood. The mammary glands, where milk is produced and stored, are not, however, located near the intestines, which is where excrement is stored. Sometimes cattle and goat milk needs processing or pasteurization before it can safely be consumed; the milk is often infected with bacteria and other micro-organisms. A significant number of humans are [[w:Lactose_intolerance|lactose intolerant]], especially in some regions of the world, and are unable to digest much milk without experiencing abdominal bloating and cramps, flatulence, diarrhoea, nausea, or vomiting. This occurs in adults who lack genes for lactase enzyme persistance which maintains lactose tolerance beyond childhood and is a relatively recent evolutionary development. These realities challenge the Qur'anic notion that milk is 'pure' and 'agreeable' to anyone who drinks it.


{{Quote|{{Quran|16|66}}|
{{Quote|{{Quran|16|66}}|
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===Flat Earth===
===Flat Earth===
{{Main|Islamic Views on the Shape of the Earth}}The Qur'an describes a flat-Earth cosmography. The later idea that Islamic scriptures themselves indicated a spherical Earth was a creative act of reinterpretation as this view became more prominent due to advances in astronomy. Attempts to explain Quranic verses about the Earth only in terms of local flatness at a human level, non-literal readings, and/or by adding context to them never explicitly stated, are often challenged by critics, as discussed in the [[Islamic Views on the Shape of the Earth|main article]], which also contains further evidence and verses beyond those listed here.
{{Main|Islamic Views on the Shape of the Earth}}The Qur'an describes a flat-Earth cosmography. The later idea that Islamic scriptures themselves indicated a spherical Earth was a creative act of reinterpretation when Islamic scholars encountered advances in astronomy. Attempts to explain Quranic verses about the Earth only in terms of local flatness at a human level, non-literal readings, and/or by ignoring context, are often challenged by critics, as discussed in the [[Islamic Views on the Shape of the Earth|main article]], which also contains further evidence and verses beyond those listed here.


====Fasting and prayer requirements near the Poles====
====Fasting and prayer requirements near the Poles====
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The Qur'an instructs Muslims to face the direction of the Kaaba in Mecca when they pray. In consideration of the roundness of the Earth, scholars developed the great circle method to carry out this instruction. However, a number of problems have been suggested: one facing Mecca also necessarily has their back turned to it (a display of disrespect which is roundly prohibited in Islam), and one directly opposite Mecca on the globe may pray in any direction.  
The Qur'an instructs Muslims to face the direction of the Kaaba in Mecca when they pray. In consideration of the roundness of the Earth, scholars developed the great circle method to carry out this instruction. However, a number of problems have been suggested: one facing Mecca also necessarily has their back turned to it (a display of disrespect which is roundly prohibited in Islam), and one directly opposite Mecca on the globe may pray in any direction.  


Another issue leads many North American Muslims, who live in the hemisphere of this antipode of Mecca, to instead prefer the rhumb-line technique (i.e. a straight line on a standard Mercator flat map projection). This is in disagreement with those who follow the great circle method, which causes people north and south in the Americas to face away from each as they pray (great circle lines from this antipode diverge cross the Americas before they start to converge again when they enter the hemisphere of Mecca), and requires much of North America to pray northwards, which to many people feels awkward. Finally, Astronauts in Earth's orbit or on the Moon and Mars would are essentially unable to follow these instructions (suggesting that the author of the Qur'an did not have such future realities in mind).
Another issue leads many North American Muslims, who live in the hemisphere of this antipode of Mecca, to instead prefer the rhumb-line technique (i.e. a straight line on a standard Mercator flat map projection). This is in disagreement with those who follow the great circle method, which causes people north and south in the Americas to face away from each as they pray (great circle lines from this antipode diverge cross the Americas before they start to converge again when they enter the hemisphere of Mecca), and requires much of North America to pray northwards, which to many people feels awkward. Finally, Astronauts in Earth's orbit or on the Moon or Mars are essentially unable to follow these instructions (suggesting that the author of the Qur'an did not have such future realities in mind).


{{Quote|{{Quran|2|149}}|
{{Quote|{{Quran|2|149}}|
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===Permanent barrier between "the two seas" of fresh and salt water===
===Permanent barrier between "the two seas" of fresh and salt water===
{{Main|A Barrier Between Two Seas and the Cosmic Ocean}}
When a fresh water river flows into the sea or ocean, there is a transition region in between. This transition region is called an estuary where the fresh water remains temporarily separated from the salt water. However, this separation is not absolute, is not permanent, and the different salinity levels between the two bodies of water eventually homogenize. The Qur'an, by contrast, suggests that there is a separation between two seas, one salty and one fresh water, maintained by some sort of divine barrier placed between them.  
When a fresh water river flows into the sea or ocean, there is a transition region in between. This transition region is called an estuary where the fresh water remains temporarily separated from the salt water. However, this separation is not absolute, is not permanent, and the different salinity levels between the two bodies of water eventually homogenize. The Qur'an, by contrast, suggests that there is a separation between two seas, one salty and one fresh water, maintained by some sort of divine barrier placed between them.  


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Historically, Judaism has been a strict form of monotheism. The Quran, by contrast, describes the Jews as practitioners of polytheism by stating that they hold ''Uzair'' (Ezra) to be the son of God. This is compared directly with the Christian doctrine which hold Jesus to be the son of God. This appears to be a confusion resulting from conflating the alternative senses in which Jewish and Christian theologians have employed and understood the word "son".
Historically, Judaism has been a strict form of monotheism. The Quran, by contrast, describes the Jews as practitioners of polytheism by stating that they hold ''Uzair'' (Ezra) to be the son of God. This is compared directly with the Christian doctrine which hold Jesus to be the son of God. This appears to be a confusion resulting from conflating the alternative senses in which Jewish and Christian theologians have employed and understood the word "son".


{{Quote|{{Quran|9|30}}|
{{Quote|{{Quran|9|30}}|The Jews say, "Ezra is the son of Allah "; and the Christians say, "The Messiah is the son of Allah." That is their statement from their mouths; they imitate the saying of those who disbelieved [before them]. May Allah destroy them; how are they deluded?}}
The Jews call 'Uzair a son of Allah, and the Christians call Christ the son of Allah. That is a saying from their mouth; (in this) they but imitate what the unbelievers of old used to say. Allah's curse be on them: how they are deluded away from the Truth! }}


===David invented coats of mail===
===David invented coats of mail===
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[[w:Thamud|Thamud]] is a term used by experts for a people or peoples of a particular region over a number of centuries (8th century BCE to the 4th century CE), but the Qur'an speaks only of a particular destruction of Thamud after the warnings of their prophet Salih went unheeded. It describes them as the builders of well known palaces and homes, skillfully carved from the mountains, clarified in the Quran and hadith as a place in Arabia known as al Hijr (the rocky tract), or Mada'in Salih today.  
[[w:Thamud|Thamud]] is a term used by experts for a people or peoples of a particular region over a number of centuries (8th century BCE to the 4th century CE), but the Qur'an speaks only of a particular destruction of Thamud after the warnings of their prophet Salih went unheeded. It describes them as the builders of well known palaces and homes, skillfully carved from the mountains, clarified in the Quran and hadith as a place in Arabia known as al Hijr (the rocky tract), or Mada'in Salih today.  


The errors in the Quran here are two-fold: It is now known that these were actually elaborately carved tombs, not homes or palaces, and that they  were made by the Nabateans from the 2nd century BCE to the 2nd century AD, not before the time of the Pharaohs<ref>[https://whc.unesco.org/en/list/1293 Hegra Archaeological Site (al-Hijr / Madā ͐ in Ṣāliḥ) - unesco.org (includes many photographs of the tombs)]</ref>. Petra in Jordan was the Nabateans' more famous city before al Hijr. There are over 100 tombs at al-Hijr, some very large, and many of them small, believed even by a 14th Century CE Arab traveller to contain the bones of the people of Thamud in their houses.<ref>[https://whc.unesco.org/document/168945 al-Hijr UNESCO nomination document] p.36 (includes detailed site description)</ref>. Nabatean inscriptions forbid opening the tombs, reusing them or moving the bodies. The town of al-Hegra where the people lived some distance from the surrounding rock tombs was built of mud-brick and stone.<ref>[https://www.arabnews.com/node/350178 History and mystery of Al-Hijr, ancient capital of the Nabateans in Arabia] - Arabnews.com</ref>
The errors in the Quran here are two-fold: It is now known that these were actually elaborately carved tombs, not homes or palaces, and that they  were made by the Nabateans from the 2nd century BCE to the 2nd century CE, not before the time of the Pharaohs<ref>[https://whc.unesco.org/en/list/1293 Hegra Archaeological Site (al-Hijr / Madā ͐ in Ṣāliḥ) - unesco.org (includes many photographs of the tombs)]</ref>. Petra in Jordan was the Nabateans' more famous city before al Hijr and both share a common style of construction and carving. There are over 100 tombs at al-Hijr, some very large, and many of them small, believed even by a 14th Century CE Arab traveller to contain the bones of the people of Thamud in their houses.<ref>[https://whc.unesco.org/document/168945 al-Hijr UNESCO nomination document] p.36 (includes detailed site description)</ref>. Nabatean inscriptions forbid opening the tombs, reusing them or moving the bodies. The town of al-Hegra where the people lived some distance from the surrounding rock tombs was built of mud-brick and stone.<ref>[https://www.arabnews.com/node/350178 History and mystery of Al-Hijr, ancient capital of the Nabateans in Arabia] - Arabnews.com</ref>


The Quran says Thamud carved palaces from its plains, and homes from its mountains:
The Quran says Thamud carved palaces from its plains, and homes from its mountains:
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The people landed at the land of Thamud called Al-Hijr along with Allah's Messenger (ﷺ) and they took water from its well for drinking and kneading the dough with it as well. (When Allah's Messenger (ﷺ) heard about it) he ordered them to pour out the water they had taken from its wells and feed the camels with the dough, and ordered them to take water from the well whence the she-camel (of Prophet Salih) used to drink.}}
The people landed at the land of Thamud called Al-Hijr along with Allah's Messenger (ﷺ) and they took water from its well for drinking and kneading the dough with it as well. (When Allah's Messenger (ﷺ) heard about it) he ordered them to pour out the water they had taken from its wells and feed the camels with the dough, and ordered them to take water from the well whence the she-camel (of Prophet Salih) used to drink.}}
===Samarians in ancient Egypt===
===Samarians in ancient Egypt===
The Qu'ran states that Moses dealt with a Samarian during his time. However the Samarians did not exist until well over half a millennium after Moses is supposed to have existed.
The Qu'ran states that Moses dealt with a Samarian during his time. However the Samarians did not exist until well over half a millennium after Moses is supposed to have existed.
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The Quran contains a version of the worldwide-flood story widespread in ancient near-Eastern mythology and most famously found in the Bible. Since geological evidence suggests such a flood never took place, some modern Muslim scholars have reinterpreted the account in the Quran as referring to a more limited, local flood. Several elements in the tale, however, militate against this rereading. Elsewhere in the Quran whenever the heavens and earth are mentioned together, it means in their entirety. In this story waters are released from both of them. Another such detail is the storage of "two of each kind" of animal aboard the ship, since it is not clear what purpose this would serve if the flood were local. Similarly, the purpose of the boat itself appears unclear in this reading - as with the ample warning time that Noah was given, he and his family could have simply evacuated the area that was to be flooded. The relevant passage also states plainly that nothing, not even a tall mountain, could save an individual from drowning on that day except for Allah - this seems to contradict the idea that individuals and animals could have escaped the flood simply by evacuating the flooded area. Noah is recorded praying to God, "O my Lord! Leave not of the Unbelievers [kuffar], a single one on Earth!" - the flood is an answer to this prayer, which likewise suggests that the flood described is a global flood that drowns all those not chosen by Allah to persist aboard the ark.
The Quran contains a version of the worldwide-flood story widespread in ancient near-Eastern mythology and most famously found in the Bible. Since geological evidence suggests such a flood never took place, some modern Muslim scholars have reinterpreted the account in the Quran as referring to a more limited, local flood. Several elements in the tale, however, militate against this rereading. Elsewhere in the Quran whenever the heavens and earth are mentioned together, it means in their entirety. In this story waters are released from both of them. Another such detail is the storage of "two of each kind" of animal aboard the ship, since it is not clear what purpose this would serve if the flood were local. Similarly, the purpose of the boat itself appears unclear in this reading - as with the ample warning time that Noah was given, he and his family could have simply evacuated the area that was to be flooded. The relevant passage also states plainly that nothing, not even a tall mountain, could save an individual from drowning on that day except for Allah - this seems to contradict the idea that individuals and animals could have escaped the flood simply by evacuating the flooded area. Noah is recorded praying to God, "O my Lord! Leave not of the Unbelievers [kuffar], a single one on Earth!" - the flood is an answer to this prayer, which likewise suggests that the flood described is a global flood that drowns all those not chosen by Allah to persist aboard the ark.


{{Quote|{{Quran-range|54|11|12}}|Then opened We the gates of heaven with pouring water And caused the earth to gush forth springs, so that the waters met for a predestined purpose.}}{{Quote|{{Quran|11|40}}|At length, behold! there came Our command, and the fountains of the earth gushed forth! '''We said: "Embark therein, of each kind two, male and female''', and your family - except those against whom the word has already gone forth,- and the Believers." but only a few believed with him.}}{{Quote|{{Quran|11|43}}|The son replied: "I will betake myself to some mountain: it will save me from the water." Noah said: '''"This day nothing can save''', from the command of Allah, any but those on whom He hath mercy! "And the waves came between them, and the son was among those overwhelmed in the Flood.}}{{Quote|{{Quran|71|26}}|And Noah, said: "O my Lord! Leave not of the Unbelievers, a single one on earth!}}
{{Quote|{{Quran-range|54|11|12}}|Then opened We the gates of heaven with pouring water And caused the earth to gush forth springs, so that the waters met for a predestined purpose.}}{{Quote|{{Quran|11|40}}|[So it was], until when Our command came and the oven overflowed, We said, "Load upon the ship of each [creature] two mates and your family, except those about whom the word has preceded, and [include] whoever has believed." But none had believed with him, except a few.}}{{Quote|{{Quran|71|26}}|And Noah, said: "O my Lord! Leave not of the Unbelievers, a single one on earth!}}{{Quote|{{Quran|11|43}}|The son replied: "I will betake myself to some mountain: it will save me from the water." Noah said: '''"This day nothing can save''', from the command of Allah, any but those on whom He hath mercy! "And the waves came between them, and the son was among those overwhelmed in the Flood.}}
 
===Flood waters boiled from an oven===
 
Aside from waters pouring from gates in the heaven, the Qur'an further describes the flood waters as boiling from an oven. There is no scientific nor historical evidence for a large flood of this nature. This element is not found even in more ancient versions of the story (Epic of Gilgamesh, Atra hasis, and Ziusudra). Its ultimate origin appears to be a highly tenuous rabbinical exergisis in the Babylonian Talmud, based on a word in an unrelated verse that means heat or wrath.<ref>[https://biblehub.com/lexicon/esther/7-10.htm biblehub.com]</ref>
 
{{Quote|1=[https://www.sefaria.org/Rosh_Hashanah.12a.4?lang=bi Tracate Rosh Hashanah]|2=The Gemara answers: Even according to Rabbi Eliezer a change was made, in accordance with the statement of Rav Ḥisda, as Rav Ḥisda said: They sinned with boiling heat, and they were punished with boiling heat; they sinned with the boiling heat of the sin of forbidden sexual relations, and they were punished with the boiling heat of scalding waters. This is derived from a verbal analogy. It is written here, with regard to the flood: “And the waters abated” (Genesis 8:1), and it is written elsewhere, with regard to King Ahasuerus: “And the heated anger of the king abated” (Esther 7:10), which implies that the word “abated” means cooled. This indicates that at first the waters of the flood had been scalding hot.}}
 
Note that in his translation, Yusuf Ali mistranslates the Aramaic loan word for the oven (alttannooru ٱلتَّنُّورُ)<ref>[http://www.studyquran.org/LaneLexicon/Volume1/00000355.pdf Lane's Lexicon p. 318 تَّنُّورُ]</ref> as "fountains". The Arabic verb translated "gushed forth" (fara فَارَ) means "boiled" in the context of water in a cooking pot<ref>[http://www.studyquran.org/LaneLexicon/Volume6/00000241.pdf Lane's Lexicon p. 2457 فور]</ref>, as well as in the other verse where it is used, {{Quran|67|7}}.
 
{{Quote|{{Quran|11|40}}|
(Thus it was) till, when Our commandment came to pass '''and the oven gushed forth water''', We said: Load therein two of every kind, a pair (the male and female), and thy household, save him against whom the word hath gone forth already, and those who believe. And but a few were they who believed with him.}}
 
{{Quote|{{Quran|23|27}}|
Then We inspired in him, saying: Make the ship under Our eyes and Our inspiration. Then, when Our command cometh '''and the oven gusheth water''', introduce therein of every (kind) two spouses, and thy household save him thereof against whom the Word hath already gone forth. And plead not with Me on behalf of those who have done wrong. Lo! they will be drowned.}}
 
===Noah's ark holding every species===
 
Part of the legend of Noah's Ark is that a pair of every living species was stored on board. While we do not know exactly how many animals Muhammad, or specific 7th century Arabs were aware off, it can be assumed they were aware of local cattle, birds and visible insects etc. in Arabia - where gathering two of every pair was a difficult, but not impossible task.
 
Modern science has, however, revealed over 2.1 million species identified so far across all taxonomic groups. This includes over a million identified insect species, 110,000 arachnids, 11,000 birds, 11,000 reptiles and 6,500 mammals that live spread across the entire planet and each of which require different climates, habitats, and diets, while a widely cited estimate for the total number of terrestrial species including those as yet undiscovered is 6.5 million.<ref>[https://ourworldindata.org/how-many-species-are-there#:~:text=Species%20that%20we%20have%20identified,million%20species%20on%20the%20planet How many species are there?] - Our World in Data website</ref>
 
These discoveries appear to render the idea that all animals could have been kept on board a single ship impossible.
 
{{Quote|{{Quran|11|40}}|
(Thus it was) till, when Our commandment came to pass and the oven gushed forth water, We said: Load therein two of every kind, a pair (the male and female), and thy household, save him against whom the word hath gone forth already, and those who believe. And but a few were they who believed with him.}}


===Countable currency in ancient Egypt===
===Countable currency in ancient Egypt===
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Some 1.9 million species of plants and animals have been identified and named, out of some 8.7 million that may actually exist<ref name="plos">{{cite journal | author= Mora, C.| title=How Many Species Are There on Earth and in the Ocean?|journal=[[PLoS Biology]]|date=August 23, 2011|url=http://www.plosbiology.org/article/info:doi/10.1371/journal.pbio.1001127 |doi=10.1371/journal.pbio.1001127 |pmid=21886479 |pmc=3160336 |volume=9 |pages=e1001127|display-authors=etal}}</ref>. Millions more have become extinct. Far more numerous are the living objects, galaxies, the countless stars and planets of the universe. In light of this, it is not clear what is meant by the idea that Allah taught Adam 'all the names', especially since the first humans do not appear to have been extremely knowledgeable.
Some 1.9 million species of plants and animals have been identified and named, out of some 8.7 million that may actually exist<ref name="plos">{{cite journal | author= Mora, C.| title=How Many Species Are There on Earth and in the Ocean?|journal=[[PLoS Biology]]|date=August 23, 2011|url=http://www.plosbiology.org/article/info:doi/10.1371/journal.pbio.1001127 |doi=10.1371/journal.pbio.1001127 |pmid=21886479 |pmc=3160336 |volume=9 |pages=e1001127|display-authors=etal}}</ref>. Millions more have become extinct. Far more numerous are the living objects, galaxies, the countless stars and planets of the universe. In light of this, it is not clear what is meant by the idea that Allah taught Adam 'all the names', especially since the first humans do not appear to have been extremely knowledgeable.


Incidentally, the element in the Quranic verse in which the angels could not name animals after had Adam done so was a tale invented by a Rabbi. See the relevant section on that topic in the article [[Parallels_Between_the_Qur%27an_and_Late_Antique_Judeo-Christian_Literature#The_angels_could_not_name_animals_when_Adam_was_created|Parallels Between the Qur'an and Late Antique Judeo-Christian Literature]].
Incidentally, the element in the Quranic verse in which the angels could not name animals after Adam had done so was a tale invented by a Rabbi. See the relevant section on that topic in the article [[Parallels_Between_the_Qur%27an_and_Late_Antique_Judeo-Christian_Literature#The_angels_could_not_name_animals_when_Adam_was_created|Parallels Between the Qur'an and Late Antique Judeo-Christian Literature]].


===Arabic as eminently accessible===
===Arabic as eminently accessible===
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{{Quote|{{Quran-range|29|28|29}}|And [mention] Lot, when he said to his people, "Indeed, you commit such immorality as no one has preceded you with from among the worlds. Indeed, you approach men and obstruct the road and commit in your meetings [every] evil." And the answer of his people was not but they said, "Bring us the punishment of Allah, if you should be of the truthful."}}
{{Quote|{{Quran-range|29|28|29}}|And [mention] Lot, when he said to his people, "Indeed, you commit such immorality as no one has preceded you with from among the worlds. Indeed, you approach men and obstruct the road and commit in your meetings [every] evil." And the answer of his people was not but they said, "Bring us the punishment of Allah, if you should be of the truthful."}}


=== The testimony of a woman is worth half of a man's ===
===The testimony of a woman is worth half of a man's===
''Main Articles: [[Islam and Women|Islam and Women - WikiIslam]] and [[Qur'an, Hadith and Scholars:Women]]''
''Main Articles: [[Islam and Women|Islam and Women - WikiIslam]] and [[Qur'an, Hadith and Scholars:Women]]''


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==Miracles and myths==
==Miracles and myths==
{{Main|Magic, Miracles, and the Supernatural in the Qur'an}}
While miracles by definition are supposed to defy the laws of nature and scientific explanation, the examples of myths and legends briefly listed in this section illustrate the pre-scientific worldview with which the Quran was composed.
While miracles by definition are supposed to defy the laws of nature and scientific explanation, the examples of myths and legends briefly listed in this section illustrate the pre-scientific worldview with which the Quran was composed.


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And he took a muster of the Birds; and he said: "Why is it I see not the Hoopoe? Or is he among the absentees? I will certainly punish him with a severe Penalty, or execute him, unless he bring me a clear reason (for absence). But the Hoopoe tarried not far: he (came up and) said: "I have compassed (territory) which thou hast not compassed, and I have come to thee from Saba with tidings true. I found (there) a woman ruling over them and provided with every requisite; and she has a magnificent throne.}}
And he took a muster of the Birds; and he said: "Why is it I see not the Hoopoe? Or is he among the absentees? I will certainly punish him with a severe Penalty, or execute him, unless he bring me a clear reason (for absence). But the Hoopoe tarried not far: he (came up and) said: "I have compassed (territory) which thou hast not compassed, and I have come to thee from Saba with tidings true. I found (there) a woman ruling over them and provided with every requisite; and she has a magnificent throne.}}


=== The existence of magic and sorcerers ===
===The existence of magic and sorcerers===
''Main article: [[Qur'an, Hadith and Scholars:Witchcraft and the Occult]]''
''Main article: [[Qur'an, Hadith and Scholars:Witchcraft and the Occult]]''


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{{Quote|{{Quran|34|10}}|
{{Quote|{{Quran|34|10}}|
And assuredly We gave David grace from Us, (saying): O ye hills and birds, echo his psalms of praise! And We made the iron supple unto him}}
And assuredly We gave David grace from Us, (saying): O ye hills and birds, echo his psalms of praise! And We made the iron supple unto him}}
=== The soul in the literal heart ===
Alongside the outdated idea of [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cardiocentric_hypothesis cardiocentrism] (''see the above: [[Scientific Errors in the Quran#Functions of the heart]]''), where the heart was believed to be responsible for thought as opposed to the brain, we see this imagery furthered as the heart being the literal seat of the mythical soul in the body, that rises to the throat at death.
{{Quote|{{Quran|75|26}}|Yes, when the soul reaches to the clavicles}}{{Quote|{{Quran|56|83}}|Then why not when it reaches the throat,}}
As Islamic scholar Angelika Neuwirth notes:
{{Quote|Neuwirth, Angelika. The Qur'an: Text and Commentary, Volume 1: Early Meccan Suras: Poetic Prophecy (p. 257). Yale University Press.|The conception that the soul rises up to the clavicle bone—see the related image in the somewhat later sura 56:83: idhā balaghati l-ḥulqūm (“when it reaches up to the throat”)—presupposes an analogy between soul (nafs) and heart (qalb). In Q 33:10 there is mention of the rising up of the heart into the throat in a situation of fear (see also Q 40:18, cf. on this Seidensticker 1992: 41).}}{{Quote|{{Quran|40|18}}|Warn them of the Approaching Day, when the hearts will be at the throats, choking with suppressed agony, [and] the wrongdoers will have no sympathizer, nor any intercessor who might be heard.}}{{Quote|{{Quran|33|10}}|[Remember] when they came at you from above you and from below you, and when eyes shifted [in fear], and hearts reached the throats and you assumed about Allah [various] assumptions.}}
One has to wonder how [https://www.nhs.uk/conditions/heart-transplant/ heart transplants] work in this situation.


==Other==
==Other==
CPO675
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