QURAN
AND
THE GEOLOGICAL
SCIENCE
AND
THE GEOLOGICAL
SCIENCE
INTRODUCTION:-
سورة فاطر الأيات 27 - 28
Hast thou not seen how that God sends down out of heaven water
and therewith We bring forth fruits of diverse hues?
And in the mountains are streaks white and red ,of diverse hues,
and pitchy black,
men too, and beasts and cattle -diverse are their hues.
Even so only those of His servants
fear God who have knowledge; surely God is
All mighty; All - forgiving.[1]
there is no god but He --
and the angels, and men possessed of knowledge --
upholding justice,
there is no god but He,
the All - mighty, the All- wise.
In chapter 39 verse 9, God says that learned people and ignorant ones are not equal:
سورة الزمر
Say "are they equal- those who know and
those who know not? Only men possessed
of minds remember.
While in "Sheba
سورة سبأ
Those who have given knowledge see
that what has been sent down to thee from thy
Lord is the truth, and guides to the path of
the All- mighty , the All- laudable.
The prestige and value of science and scientists is highly elevated in The Holy Qur’an, because the more man gains knowledge the more he is convinced that God is there. There is no wonder then, that the first verse came down from heaven, is a clear invitation to read and write. Chapter 96 opens with the following verses:
Recite. In the Name of thy Lord who created,
created Man of a blood clot[2]
Recite . And thy Lord is the Most Generous,
who taught by the Pen,
taught Man , that he Knew not.
God has given supreme status to science and scientists, because through the different scientific knowledge, man gains faith in Allah. He says:
سورة فاطر آية 28
……… only those of His servants
fear God who have Knowledge.[3]
God also orders us in The Holy Qur’an to meditate and think profoundly about His signs in heaven and on earth. He says:
سورة الجاثية الآيات 3 - 5
Surely in the heavens and the earth there are signs
for the believers;
and in your creation,
and the crawling things He scattered abroad, there are signs
for people having sure faith
and in the alternation of night and day
and the provision God sends down from heaven,
and therewith revives the earth after it is dead,
and the turning about of the winds, there are signs
for a people who understand.[4]
To glorify knowledge and writing God, in chapter 68 " The Pen" , swears by it in verse one:
سورة القلم الآيات 1 - 2
Nun
By the Pen, and what they inscribe
God praises scientists in many verses in The Holy Qur’an. Beside what is already mentioned we find in " The House of Imran " in two different places God tells us who are the men of knowledge? They are who worship God and meditate deeply and think profoundly about his creation:
سورة آل عمران الآيات 190-191
Surely in the creation of heavens and earth
and in the alternation of night and day
there are signs for men possessed of minds
who remember God, standing and sitting
and on their sides, and reflect upon
the creation of the heavens and the earth:
"Our Lord, Thou hast not created this for
vanity. Glory be to Thee! Guard us against
the chastisement
of the Fire …." [5]
In "The House of Imran " chapter 3 verse 7 God also says
سورة آل عمران الآية 7
It is He, who sent down upon them the Book,
wherein are verses clear that are the Essence
of the Book, and others ambiguous.
As those in whose hearts is swerving
they follow the ambiguous part, desiring
dissension, and desiring its interpretation,
and none knows its interpretation, save
only God. And those firmly rooted in
knowledge say, "We believe in it, all
is from our Lord," yet none remembers, but men
possessed of minds.
In chapter 29 verse 49, God says:
سورة العنكبوت الآية 49
Nay, rather it is signs, clear signs
in the breasts of those who have been given
knowledge, and none denies Our signs but
the evildoers
Prophet Mohammed’s tradition, "sunna", is rich and clear in advocating all kinds of knowledge whether it is religious or scientific.
I will quote a few of his sayings from "Prophet of Islam Muhammad and some of His Traditions," by Ismail Kashmiri:
1) Scientists are the inheritors of Prophets.
2) The acquisition of knowledge is a duty incumbent on every Muslim, male and female.
3) Seek knowledge from the cradle to the grave.
4) He who leaves his home in search for knowledge walks on the path of Allah.
5) If Allah likes someone to be good, He makes him understand and learn. Certainly knowledge is the result of learning.
In Islam there is no contradiction between science and religion. On the contrary, there is a healthy close and balanced relationship between them both. In Islam there is a balance between the heart and the mind, between what is spiritual and ethereal and what is real and down to earth. A divine balance that gives each its due.
In this respect Dr. Maurice Bucaille in his book, "The Bible, The Qur'an and Science: The Holy Scriptures Examined in the Light of Modern Knowledge," says:
The association between the Qur'an and science
is a priori a surprise, especially since it is going
to be one of harmony and not of discord.
He goes on saying:
The Qur’an, while inviting us to cultivate science,
itself contains many observations on natural
phenomena and includes explanatory details,
which are seen to be in total agreement with
modern scientific data.
The greatness and strength of The Holy Qur’an lies in the fact that the more science progresses the more it reveals the authenticity and truth of what was written more than 1400 years ago when the whole world was deeply slumbering in the darkness of ignorance.
I do not mean that The Holy Qur’an could be proved by anything outside Itself, God forbid, but science makes what has been obscure to us clear like daylight. Science, in this way, is a means of clarification, and it strengthens and renews one's faith and makes one fears God The Almighty.
[1] Chapter 35 verses 27-28
[2] (علق) means in Arabic “leach-Like “ I’m going to explain in detail later on
[3] Chapter 35 verse 28
[4] Chapter 45 verses 3-5
[5] Chapter 3 verse 190 - 191
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