In the name of Allah
Assalamu aleikum wa rahmatullahi wa barakatuhu
PART FOUR
Questions and Answers on
The Inimitability of the Holy Qur’anChapter 1
Selections from the Inimitability of the Holy Qur’an
Question 145: What are the forms of inimitability found in the Holy Qur’an and holy prophetic traditions?
Answer 145: The miraculous forms of the Holy Qur’an and true prophetic traditions share common totalities, which include:
1. The Linguistic Inimitability: The Holy Qur’an is of the highest degree of eloquence and rhetoric in the Arabic language and has always rendered the people of eloquence and rhetoric incapable of producing something similar.
2. The Legislative Inimitability: The Holy Qur’an contains a perfect code of life to secure the interests of the servants of God in this world and save them from punishment in the Hereafter. It is valid for all times and places.
3. The Informative inimitability: A great deal of news was given in the Holy Qur’an as to what would happen in the future; events took place accordingly. It also gave news about past events that had happened long time before, like telling about the peoples of Noah, Hud, Salih and others. Without what was revealed in the Holy Qur’an, Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) , he would not have known anything himself.
4. The Scientific Inimitability: Some verses in the Noble Qur’an indicate scientific facts which had not been known before, and science has been discovering them with the course of time. These verses include empirical, human, natural as well as other kinds of science.
5. The Inimitability of Guidance: This is embodied in various examples; anyone wanting to learn about them, he can refer to the books written on scientific inimitability in the Noble Qur’an, in the Prophetic traditions and in the Inimitability magazine, which is issued by the Islamic World Association.
Question 146: How did the modern scientific discoveries confirm the truth of the well-known saying that “the Qur’an’s inimitability does not know an end?”
Answer 146: God the Almighty has pointed out that He taught His prophet what he had not known before. He says:
“God has sent down to you the book (The Qur’an), and al-Hikmah (Islamic laws, knowledge of legal and illegal things i.e. the Prophet’s Sunnah–legal ways), and taught you that which you knew not. And Ever Great is the Grace of God unto you (O Muhammad (pbuh).” (Holy Qur’an: 4: 113).
These types of knowledge conveyed through the messenger of God (pbuh) were brought in the form of revelation from God the Almighty and from the kinds of knowledge the prophet had. The God’s prophet (pbuh) said: “Every prophet was given knowledge which made his people believe him and I hope I will be the most followed prophet on the Resurrection Day.”[1] Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) showed that the miracles of his predecessor prophets (peace be upon the all) were kinds of miracles admitted by the peoples in their own times. They were supernatural and could not be challenged neither in their own times nor in times to come; all confirming the prophethood of those who showed them.
The miracles of the prophet Muhammad (pbuh) were both scientific and intellectual. They were heavenly revelations. It will take a man’s life-long to realize and recognize essence and truth of the heavenly revelation (the Qur’an). Yet, the miracles of this holy book do not end in the course of time; in every age a clear sign of this revelation is confirmed and a bright proof is seen—all conforming to the true revelation, the Holy Qur’an, from God upon His prophet/messenger. This also confirms the prophethood of Muhammad (pbuh). We see in every age natural scientists producing facts after a long reach and efforts. These facts are taken for granted by the Muslim who reads the book of God the Almighty and contemplates its meanings.
Embryology, for example, is considered to be one of the most modern sciences which scientists could not explore until modern civilization provided them with instruments that could show what was happening in the womb of the mother without hurting the mother or the fetus. They reached some facts which had been taken for granted by Muslims, things like the beginning of the formation of the fetus, when the sperm enters the ovum of the woman. Almighty God said: “And that He [God] creates the pairs, male and female, from Nutfah (drops of semen – male and female discharges) when it is emitted.” (Holy Qur’an: 53: 45-46). God also said: “Was he not a nutfah (mixed male and female sexual discharge) of semen emitted (poured forth)?” (Holy Qur’an: 75: 37).
Out of the millions sperms man ejaculates during his sexual intercourse, only one fertilizes the ovum. Human semen forms 99% of the ejaculated liquid, while the sperms form between 0% and 1% from the total amount of the semen. Only one sperm out of millions in the semen is made to fertilizes the ovum, according to the will of God, so that it grows and becomes a fetus, then a child, then a young boy or girl, then a man or a woman. Abi Saeed al-Khudri related that the messenger of God (pbuh) was once asked about ejaculation outside the vagina during sexual intercourse (for contraceptive purposes), he said: “The child does not come from all the liquid (sermen) and if God intends to create anything, nothing can prevent it (from coming into existence).[2] This prophetic hadith show that a woman perceives from some of the semen, as modern science says, and that there might be ejaculation without conception. Also conception is not necessarily formed after each sexual intercourse, and that there might be ejaculation without conception. This is explained by gynaecologists who say that the days between the menstruation periods are not the same with respect to the possibility of pregnancy, and that sperms might not be strong enough to fertilises the ovum. Science has proved that the sperms in the semen must be lively, active and gushing forth, which is one condition for fertilisation, as science has proved. Science has also proved that the woman’s liquid, which contains the ovum, comes out flowingly to the womb canal (Fallopian canal) and that the ovum must be lively, active and flowing so that fertilisation could be achieved. God the Almighty said: “So let man see from what he is created! He is created from a water gushing forth” (Holy Qur’an: 86: 5-6)
Determination of the baby’s sex (male or female):
Scientists have found out that the number of genes in every human cell is 23 pairs, one gene from each pair is responsible for determining the sex of the baby in all dimensions of man, physical and psychological, and that the key to the determination of the sex of the baby exists in this pair of genes. It was noticed that this pair in the male is different and it is referred to as (XY). Also, the feminine ova have only one chromosome of one shape (XX), while the sperms of man have two shapes of genes (X) and (Y).
The determination of the baby’s sex as such becomes obvious. The sperm is responsible for the determination of the sex of the baby for it contains the contrasted shapes of sexual genes. If the sperm has a (Y) gene, and it combines with an (X) gene in the ovum, the bay will be a baby-boy, and if an (X) gene unites with an (X) gene in the ovum, the baby will be a baby-girl. Here are some formulas clarifying the point further:
A (Y) gene + (X) = baby-boy (YX)
An (X) gene + (X) = baby-girl
Four possibilities:
1) XX female 2) YX male 3) XX female 4) YX male
This is what has been mentioned in the Noble Qur’an fourteen hundred years ago, when it attributed the responsibility of determining the sex of the baby to the sperm of the man. God Almighty said: “And that He [God] creates the pairs, male and female, from Nutfah (drops of semen – male and female discharges) when it is emitted.” (Holy Qur’an: 53: 45-46). The prophetic tradition expresses this fact accurately. If the sperm of the man dominates, i.e. (Y) gene dominates and united with an (X) chromosome – the baby will be a boy, and if the liquid of the woman dominates, the baby will be a girl. Thawban related that a Jew once approached the prophet and asked him about the (sex) of the child. The prophet (pbuh) said:
“The reproductive substance of man is white and that of woman (i. e. ovum central portion) yellow, and when they have sexual intercourse and the male's substance (chromosomes and genes) prevails upon the female's substance (chromosomes and genes), it is the male child that is created by Allah's Decree, and when the substance of the female prevails upon the substance contributed by the male, a female child is formed by God’s decree.”[3]
After fourteen hundred years, nobody can speak more clearly than what the prophet has stated.
Question 147: Modern technology has helped contemporary scientists to understand the scientific inimitability in the Qur’an and the prophetic traditions. How could the Muslim ancestors understand this inimitability without possessing the modern technology?
Answer 147: The Muslim surely believes that the Noble Qur’an is the words of God the Almighty, and that the prophetic traditions are what He revealed to His messenger, prophet Muhammad (pbuh). Everything mentioned in either source is completely true, and should be taken for granted by every faithful believer whether he/she knew know that before, or could not know it practically. These above mentioned scientific matters like the embryo, for example, are regarded as absolutely true by the Muslim. It is taken for granted as absolutely true, because it is the word of God, although the Muslim could not see what happened in the womb of the woman. Modern technology has only made these facts clearer. The same applies to other matters: for example, Muslims believe that mountains are pegs to fix the land although he does not know that a third of the mountain height goes above the land while two thirds are deeply planted under the earth, like pegs. The same could be said about the formation of mountain-like clouds in the sky. The hale stones come down from those mountains of clouds. The Muslim believes that although he did not ascend to sky. He knows that clouds gather together in the form of mountains. He absolutely believes and acknowledges every scientific discovery that had already been mentioned in the Qur’an or concorded with it, or even came mentioned in the tradition of the prophet. The Noble Qur’an, therefore, refers to the scientific discoveries that will show people the miracles of God the Almighty. God says: “We will show them Our Signs in the universe, and in their own selves, until it becomes manifest to them that this (the Qur’an) is the truth.” (Holy Qur’an: 43: 53).
Question 148: Muslims believe that only God knows what exists in the wombs, how could they reconcile between this and the modern technology that could show the embryo and know its sex before birth?
Answer 148: This Question refers to the saying of God the Almighty:
“Verily, Allah, with Him (Alone) is the knowledge of the Hour, he sends down the rain, and knows that which is in the wombs. No person knows what he will earn tomorrow, and no person knows in what land he will die. Verily God is All-Knower, All-Aware (of things) (Holy Qur’an: 31:34)
Abdullah Bin Umar related that the prophet (pbuh) said: “The keys to the unseen world are five and nobody knows them except Allah,” then he quoted the above verse from the Noble Qur’an. It is God alone who knows absolutely what is in the wombs in every moment and at every stage; He knows everything small and big. No doubt that He knows every conception when it comes into existence, when the conception does not even show a sign of weight or form; and He knows whether the sex of the conception is male or female, at the time when no one could have the ability to know anything about at the first moment of the uniting of the sperm and the ovum, and the features, the characteristics, the condition and readiness of the embryo. This knowledge is absolutely exclusive to God, the All-Knowing, and the All-Aware. The term “what is in the womb” is more general than the embryo, and mean more than its sex, whether it is perfect or imperfect in physically, sane or insane, believing or non-believing.
We have already mentioned in a previous Answer the possible equation of the determination of the sex of the embryo, whether male or female. The same could be said about every characteristic of the embryo, as to what colour of the complexion and body will be, the colour of the eyes, the size of every organ, etc. All this is subject to the law of possibilities, according to medical specialists. This is an uncontrolled law, and nobody knows how the chromosomes will combine in the embryo, how the new features will be. No one knows when the baby will be a boy or a girl. Man is unable to know that before and during its happening. It is only God who knows this. As to the period after its determination, it becomes a fact and is not more a part of the unseen. Man may know something about the embryo, as he knew the stages of the formation of the embryo. The verse and the prophetic traditions speak about the stage when the baby is a part of the unseen. If it becomes a part of the factual world that man can know, there is no objection to knowing it.
Question 149: I would like you to explain the following Qur’anic verses scientifically:
A. “The likeliness of those who take (false deities as) Auliya’ (protectors, helpers) other than God is the likeness of a spider who builds (for itself) a house; but verily, the frailest (weakest) of houses is the spider’s house – if they but knew. Verily, God knows what things they invoke instead of Him. H e is the Al-Mighty, the All-Wise. And these similitudes We put forward for mankind; but none will understand them except those who have knowledge (of God, and His Signs)” (Holy Qur’an: 29: 41-43).
B. “So I swear by the setting of the stars. And verily that is indeed a great oath, if you but know” (Holy Qur’an:56:75-76).
C. “See they not that We gradually reduce the land (of the disbelievers, by giving it to the believers, in war) from its outlying borders” (Holy Qur’an: 13:41).
D. “With power did We construct the heaven. Verily, We are Able to extend the vastness of space thereof” (Holy Qur’an: 51:47).
E. “And whomsoever God will s to guide, He opens his breast to Islam, and whomsoever He wills to send astray, He makes his breast closed and constricted, as if he is climbing up to the sky” (Holy Qur’an: 3:26).
F. “And has made the moon a light therein and made the sun a lamp” (Holy Qur’an: 71:16).
Answer 149: The Answer to this Question is as follows:
A. The esteemed verses are given as sayings for those who worship deities other than God the Almighty, they depend on, trust, and give them their pledges and charters ignoring that resorting to those powers, whether they are in the hands of individuals or groups, are like the resort of the spider to its web. The spider’s web is weak, powerless and defenseless against its molluscan physique: spiders are helpless against their weak houses. God, the Almighty, and the all-Powerful protect them. It is this great fact that the Noble Qur’an is interested in establishing in the selves of the faithful. It is with this fact that the faithful were more powerful than all the powers that tried to block their way, and treaded on the pride of the oppressors on this earth and destroyed their fortresses and castles. The enemies of the call for God who seek the help of supporters other than Him, who knows the truth about those supporters, it is the truth described in the previous saying, a spider seeking refuge in its web. The witty scholar is the one who understands this saying, and realizes that everyone on earth is as powerless and weak as the spider’s web. The inimitability in this verse is the reference to the web rather than to its threads. Scientifically speaking, the threads of the spider, in terms of length and diameter, are four times stronger than cast iron. The weakness lies in the web not in the threads. The spider’s web, despite the strength of its threads, is weak from within, as it stands for the killing of its household. The female spider kills its male mate after impregnation if it does not run away from it quickly, and it eats its offspring when they hatch if they do not flee, and the little ones each other. The spider’s web, then, is the most rhetorical example of what man may imagine about the best house which becomes the worst in destiny. The conclusion of the holy verse “if they but knew” has come as a reference to the fact that there will come a time when man will know that fact though this might come late. It is known that these biological secrets have been scientifically proved only recently.
B. Those addressed in this verse, “So I swear by the setting of the stars. And verily that is indeed a great oath, if you but know” (Holy Qur’an: 56:75-76) knew only little about the setting of the stars which they saw with their naked eyes, yet they felt the greatness of their setting in their hearts. Despite our limited knowledge of the settings of the stars; yet, we do recognize the greatness of this oath (which is related to God who swear by His own creation). We know for example that the star galaxy our solar system belongs to comprises billions of starts, some of these stars could see with the naked eye, others can only be seen with microscopes/ and or telescopes, still others cannot be seen. All these starsswim in the mysterious space, and there is no possibility that one magnetic orbit can come near another, or that one star would run into another orbit. The location of each star, which must be far from its fellow stars, has been situated carefully and wisely: it is well-coordinated in terms of effects and mutual effects with all the other stars and planets so that all of them could be balanced in this vast space. The positions of stars in their orbits are the secrets of their balance; neither a star goes near another, nor a planet goes near another, nor a sun goes near another. Each has its own position in which it revolves and does not go beyond or exceed. If a star deviates from its position and moves in another track, it will be gravitated into another space and will collide with another star, which adds to the size of the new star formed from the collision of the two stars. Eventually, its gravitation increases and attracts a third star, and so on and so forth until the end of the universe as a whole. This is what is referred to, according to scholars, by God’s words “the perforating star”, which is described by space scientists as “the black hole.” Therefore, God’s oath by the setting of stars, which He created for us, is an allusion to contemplate and know that this universe is run under the management of the Lord of the heavens and earth. One of the examples of the setting of stars is the sun, as mentioned in the French magazineScience and Life (issue: June, 1986) which includes the following facts: if the position of the earth with respect to the sun where the ray of its orbit around the sun is 4% less than it is now, i.e. 144 km instead of 150 million km, the temperature of the earth will increase gradually to 450 centigrade, will cause the water to evaporate and life will disappear, as it is on Venus. Likewise, if location of the earth is 1% more, i.e. 151.5 million km, the temperature of the earth will be go down gradually to –4 centigrade, and water will freeze and life will be impossible on its surface, as the case is on mars. It is said that the galaxies and stars may seem static, but they are mobile and their distances increase continuously, as it is the case in the theory in the expansion of the universe. Eventually, the star acquires new positions continuously and with those new positions of billions of galaxies and stars, the balance of the powers of the universe remain as gravitation forces. All of this makes the oath in the verse so great.
C. “See they not that We gradually reduce the land (of the disbelievers, by giving it to the believers, in war) from its outlying borders.” (Holy Qur’an: 13:41). This verse means that the land is gradually reduced from its outlying borders and that people can see that? How does this happen?
First, the reduction of the land from its northern and southern sides should include its two poles. It is known that the land is not completely globular, it is elliptical, i.e. the equator is longer than the line going through the two poles. Scientists have found out that the equator is 21 km longer and that this length increases gradually in the course of time and the globe becomes more elliptical, and the line going through the two poles is getting shorter and shorter.
Second, the crust of the earth is exposed to sunshine, rain, wind and the various elements of corrosion and erosion—something that reduces the crust of the earth gradually. Scientists expect that the continuous corrosion is the cause of the earthquakes and giving away of the earth. This also indicates that the earth is reduced from its outlying borders, which is one of the things that man can see in all parts of the earth. It is a clear scientific miracle throughout all ages.
D. This verse shows that God the Almighty created the vast sky including the stars, planets and suns and moons; it continues to expand throughout time, and this verse, which proves the expansion of the universe. The well-known theory of the expansion of the universe has come into existence in the scientific field. In 1912, this theory was affirmed by the scientist Silipher who said that certain galaxies are moving away, increasingly, from our galaxy. In 1916, Einstein’s Theory of Relativity has come to confirm the theory of the universe expansion. He tried to calculate the speed of that expansion associating it with the speed of the light, 300,000 km/s. In 1929, the two scientists Hobble and Humoson confirmed the theory of the expansion of the universe. Hobble has set a law carrying his name, which estimates the increasing distance of the galaxies from each other and from ours. By virtue of this law, it was possible to use the reverse way to calculate the approximate age of the universe. With the progress of modern physics and the introduction of the study of specter, it was possible to study the light of stars and galaxies, and the turning of the specter into red, and eventually calculated the speed of the departing of the galaxies away from each other according to the theory. The further the galaxies and stars depart from our galaxy, the redder their specter turns. For instance, the distance of the galaxy Amos de Lavierge from ours, the milky way, increases at 1200 km/s, and the distance of Amos de Lavierge increases at 60 km/s. It is two billion light year speed. Contemporary astrologists confirm that theory. Hubert Reeves said: “We can say that the expansion of the universe is almost certain.” Maurice Bukaille said: “The expansion of the universe is the greatest phenomenon modern science has discovered and completely confirmed today. The discussion deal only with the pattern through which the expansion is happening.” One of the phenomena that support this theory is what is called the “night darkness.” In spite of the big number of galaxies in the sky, and although they consist of billions of stars, there are not enough stars to fill the sky with light. Moreover, the expansion of the universe disperses the light of the stars. Therefore, the light seems insufficient although it is very strong and the night appears dark. The point of inimitability in this Qur’anic verse is that suppose there was a man in the present age who knew nothing about astronomy and scientific laws, did not have any modern technology, especially optical one, furthermore if he had lived in a remote unknown jungle, a desert or a mountain, stated such laws, and reached those conclusions which scientists reached only after spending a great deal of efforts, long research and coordinated efforts of cooperation, people would consider that a sort of fiction and an impossibility. Eventually they would attribute such information to an external supernatural power. What could be said then about this man, the prophet, who lived fourteen hundreds ago? He was illiterate, living in a desert far from the centers of any science and civilization then, and in age whose people knew nothing about the universe, its beginning, life and its evolution. This man states his theory firmly and in a certain manner, while connecting it firmly with other phenomena and theories. What could be said then? It is undoubtedly, the information coming from revelation from God the Almighty.
E. “And whomsoever God will s to guide, He opens his breast to Islam, and whomsoever He wills to send astray, He makes his breast closed and constricted, as if he is climbing up to the sky” (Holy Qur’an: 3:26). This verse gives a picture of two personalities:
First, the Islamic personality which believes in God and the prophethood of Muhammad; whose breast opened, expanded and felt the spaciousness of the world crated by God the Almighty; and recognized the universal and Qur’anic miracles
Second, the non-believing personality which is fed up with Islam and does not get guided to the right path. It feels breathless because disbelief is a kind of contrition and stagnation. It is discomfort, deviation from the easy human common sense; it is hardship, deprivation and worry. God the Almighty gave an example of this kind of personality and described it as feeling breathless like the one who climbs to the sky.
But why does one’s breast feel closed when climbing to the sky? One may wonder, who told Muhammad (pbuh) in the 6th century A.D. that the layers of air get looser the more we rise up in the sky? Oxygen decreases and breathing becomes difficult. It is well know that scientists have discovered this fact only recently. There is no doubt that these words in this verse were the revelation of God upon His prophet. Man feels more difficult to breathe the more he goes up into the sky, which is well-known, scientifically speaking, as the upper air layers are looser and their pressure is lower. Now, who taught Muhammad (pbuh) this scientific truth, which was unknown to the people of his age and even to the people of the later ages after him until the present age with its amazing advanced technology to prove the scientific truth? It is the Lord of mankind and the jinn, the Lord who created everything, then proportioned it, and who has measured preordainments, then guided, and Who taught us what we had not known.
F. “And has made the moon a light therein and made the sun a lamp” (Holy Qur’an: 71:16). In this verse, we find that God the Almighty differentiates in His description between His two creations the sun and the moon. He describes the sun as a “lamp.” In another verse of the Holy Qur’an God says: “and We have made (therein) a shining lamp (the sun)(Holy Qur’an: 78:13). The sun is described a glowing lamp. It is the heat-generating machine, on whose power so many things in life depend. It affects the formation of the clouds, through the evaporation of water from the vast ocean one earth and raising it to the upper layers of air. In the lamp, there is burning, heat and light; all are available in the sun. The choice of the word “lamp” is so accurate and has been chosen carefully to suit reality. As for the moon, God describes it as illuminating only, something which does not mean that it is a source of heat: it only conveys light. The scientific discoveries have come to prove that the sun is a source of heat. The temperature degree of it mounts to 15 million centigrade. The sun only reflects the sunlight, not more. It is not a source of light; it only reflects as a mirror does. Therefore, the Qur’anic expression about the moon is also an accurate one. Astronomers have established this fact only recently. The sun light consists of seven shining waves known as “white light” which constitutes the spectrum colors (from ultra to infra violet). It also contains gamma rays, radio short waves, and some unknown kinds of rays. The accuracy of the Qur’anic description is crystal clear in God’s words: “It is He Who made the sun a shining thing and the moon as a light.” So the light that comes from the moon is not more a reflection of the sunshine, which falls on its surface. As to the sunlight, it consists of seen shining (light and heat), and unseen ray (which scientists use in the lighting, x-ray films, astronomy and biology).
Question 150: Why does the Holy Qur’an focus on man’s forelock and not other parts of the body in God’s words “if he ceases not, We will catch him by the forelock”— The frontal lobe is mentioned in another verse: “I put my trust in Allah, my Lord and your Lord! There is not a moving (living) creature but He has the grasp of its forelock. Verily, my Lord ion the Straight Path (the truth)” (Holy Qur’an: 11: 56).
Answer 150: At to the top of the forehead, there is one bone in the skull called frontal bone. It protects the frontal lobe which contains many neural centers: the main and secondary centers of motion, the frontal eye field, the centers of articulation movements, and the most important part, the pre-frontal cortex which represents the biggest part of the frontal lobe of the brain. The function of the frontal cortex is associated with the formation of the individual’s personality; it performs an organized role in the depth of the individual’s senses and feelings. It influences the taking of initiative and judgment. It directs some of man’s acts which express his personality, like honesty, lying, right and wrong.
The destruction of this cortex because of a certain disease, tumor, or an accident, leads to the loss of initiative taking and recognition. Some emotional changes may take place also; which leads to cheering up and trance. One loses his interest in his social appearance. Instead of being wise, observing others’ affairs around him, he becomes indifferent, irresponsible for himself and for others around him. The intoxicating drinks affect the tissues of the frontal areas of the brain.
The frontal folds of the brain are important for the mind, for they are connected with the supreme mental acts. We do those plans inside these folds. Thus, they affect the acts and functions of the other parts of the brain, like our thoughts, feelings and emotions.
The frontal lobe, then, is the location that controls the behavior of animals; eventually those ayas which were mentioned in the Noble Qur’an in the seventh century (A.D.) include knowledge understanding the whole functions of the frontal folds of the brain.[4]
------[1] Cited in Bukhari and Muslim, from the narration of Abu Hurayrah.[2] Cited in Muslim, Nikah Book as narrated by Abi Saeed al-Khudri.[3] Cited in Muslim, The Book of Marriage.[4] See Scientific Inimitability in Frontal Lobe, Qur’anic and Prophetic Tradition Inimitability, Islamic World Association.
Assalamu aleikum wa rahmatullahi wa barakatuhu
PART FOUR
Questions and Answers on
The Inimitability of the Holy Qur’anChapter 1
Selections from the Inimitability of the Holy Qur’an
Question 145: What are the forms of inimitability found in the Holy Qur’an and holy prophetic traditions?
Answer 145: The miraculous forms of the Holy Qur’an and true prophetic traditions share common totalities, which include:
1. The Linguistic Inimitability: The Holy Qur’an is of the highest degree of eloquence and rhetoric in the Arabic language and has always rendered the people of eloquence and rhetoric incapable of producing something similar.
2. The Legislative Inimitability: The Holy Qur’an contains a perfect code of life to secure the interests of the servants of God in this world and save them from punishment in the Hereafter. It is valid for all times and places.
3. The Informative inimitability: A great deal of news was given in the Holy Qur’an as to what would happen in the future; events took place accordingly. It also gave news about past events that had happened long time before, like telling about the peoples of Noah, Hud, Salih and others. Without what was revealed in the Holy Qur’an, Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) , he would not have known anything himself.
4. The Scientific Inimitability: Some verses in the Noble Qur’an indicate scientific facts which had not been known before, and science has been discovering them with the course of time. These verses include empirical, human, natural as well as other kinds of science.
5. The Inimitability of Guidance: This is embodied in various examples; anyone wanting to learn about them, he can refer to the books written on scientific inimitability in the Noble Qur’an, in the Prophetic traditions and in the Inimitability magazine, which is issued by the Islamic World Association.
Question 146: How did the modern scientific discoveries confirm the truth of the well-known saying that “the Qur’an’s inimitability does not know an end?”
Answer 146: God the Almighty has pointed out that He taught His prophet what he had not known before. He says:
“God has sent down to you the book (The Qur’an), and al-Hikmah (Islamic laws, knowledge of legal and illegal things i.e. the Prophet’s Sunnah–legal ways), and taught you that which you knew not. And Ever Great is the Grace of God unto you (O Muhammad (pbuh).” (Holy Qur’an: 4: 113).
These types of knowledge conveyed through the messenger of God (pbuh) were brought in the form of revelation from God the Almighty and from the kinds of knowledge the prophet had. The God’s prophet (pbuh) said: “Every prophet was given knowledge which made his people believe him and I hope I will be the most followed prophet on the Resurrection Day.”[1] Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) showed that the miracles of his predecessor prophets (peace be upon the all) were kinds of miracles admitted by the peoples in their own times. They were supernatural and could not be challenged neither in their own times nor in times to come; all confirming the prophethood of those who showed them.
The miracles of the prophet Muhammad (pbuh) were both scientific and intellectual. They were heavenly revelations. It will take a man’s life-long to realize and recognize essence and truth of the heavenly revelation (the Qur’an). Yet, the miracles of this holy book do not end in the course of time; in every age a clear sign of this revelation is confirmed and a bright proof is seen—all conforming to the true revelation, the Holy Qur’an, from God upon His prophet/messenger. This also confirms the prophethood of Muhammad (pbuh). We see in every age natural scientists producing facts after a long reach and efforts. These facts are taken for granted by the Muslim who reads the book of God the Almighty and contemplates its meanings.
Embryology, for example, is considered to be one of the most modern sciences which scientists could not explore until modern civilization provided them with instruments that could show what was happening in the womb of the mother without hurting the mother or the fetus. They reached some facts which had been taken for granted by Muslims, things like the beginning of the formation of the fetus, when the sperm enters the ovum of the woman. Almighty God said: “And that He [God] creates the pairs, male and female, from Nutfah (drops of semen – male and female discharges) when it is emitted.” (Holy Qur’an: 53: 45-46). God also said: “Was he not a nutfah (mixed male and female sexual discharge) of semen emitted (poured forth)?” (Holy Qur’an: 75: 37).
Out of the millions sperms man ejaculates during his sexual intercourse, only one fertilizes the ovum. Human semen forms 99% of the ejaculated liquid, while the sperms form between 0% and 1% from the total amount of the semen. Only one sperm out of millions in the semen is made to fertilizes the ovum, according to the will of God, so that it grows and becomes a fetus, then a child, then a young boy or girl, then a man or a woman. Abi Saeed al-Khudri related that the messenger of God (pbuh) was once asked about ejaculation outside the vagina during sexual intercourse (for contraceptive purposes), he said: “The child does not come from all the liquid (sermen) and if God intends to create anything, nothing can prevent it (from coming into existence).[2] This prophetic hadith show that a woman perceives from some of the semen, as modern science says, and that there might be ejaculation without conception. Also conception is not necessarily formed after each sexual intercourse, and that there might be ejaculation without conception. This is explained by gynaecologists who say that the days between the menstruation periods are not the same with respect to the possibility of pregnancy, and that sperms might not be strong enough to fertilises the ovum. Science has proved that the sperms in the semen must be lively, active and gushing forth, which is one condition for fertilisation, as science has proved. Science has also proved that the woman’s liquid, which contains the ovum, comes out flowingly to the womb canal (Fallopian canal) and that the ovum must be lively, active and flowing so that fertilisation could be achieved. God the Almighty said: “So let man see from what he is created! He is created from a water gushing forth” (Holy Qur’an: 86: 5-6)
Determination of the baby’s sex (male or female):
Scientists have found out that the number of genes in every human cell is 23 pairs, one gene from each pair is responsible for determining the sex of the baby in all dimensions of man, physical and psychological, and that the key to the determination of the sex of the baby exists in this pair of genes. It was noticed that this pair in the male is different and it is referred to as (XY). Also, the feminine ova have only one chromosome of one shape (XX), while the sperms of man have two shapes of genes (X) and (Y).
The determination of the baby’s sex as such becomes obvious. The sperm is responsible for the determination of the sex of the baby for it contains the contrasted shapes of sexual genes. If the sperm has a (Y) gene, and it combines with an (X) gene in the ovum, the bay will be a baby-boy, and if an (X) gene unites with an (X) gene in the ovum, the baby will be a baby-girl. Here are some formulas clarifying the point further:
A (Y) gene + (X) = baby-boy (YX)
An (X) gene + (X) = baby-girl
Four possibilities:
1) XX female 2) YX male 3) XX female 4) YX male
This is what has been mentioned in the Noble Qur’an fourteen hundred years ago, when it attributed the responsibility of determining the sex of the baby to the sperm of the man. God Almighty said: “And that He [God] creates the pairs, male and female, from Nutfah (drops of semen – male and female discharges) when it is emitted.” (Holy Qur’an: 53: 45-46). The prophetic tradition expresses this fact accurately. If the sperm of the man dominates, i.e. (Y) gene dominates and united with an (X) chromosome – the baby will be a boy, and if the liquid of the woman dominates, the baby will be a girl. Thawban related that a Jew once approached the prophet and asked him about the (sex) of the child. The prophet (pbuh) said:
“The reproductive substance of man is white and that of woman (i. e. ovum central portion) yellow, and when they have sexual intercourse and the male's substance (chromosomes and genes) prevails upon the female's substance (chromosomes and genes), it is the male child that is created by Allah's Decree, and when the substance of the female prevails upon the substance contributed by the male, a female child is formed by God’s decree.”[3]
After fourteen hundred years, nobody can speak more clearly than what the prophet has stated.
Question 147: Modern technology has helped contemporary scientists to understand the scientific inimitability in the Qur’an and the prophetic traditions. How could the Muslim ancestors understand this inimitability without possessing the modern technology?
Answer 147: The Muslim surely believes that the Noble Qur’an is the words of God the Almighty, and that the prophetic traditions are what He revealed to His messenger, prophet Muhammad (pbuh). Everything mentioned in either source is completely true, and should be taken for granted by every faithful believer whether he/she knew know that before, or could not know it practically. These above mentioned scientific matters like the embryo, for example, are regarded as absolutely true by the Muslim. It is taken for granted as absolutely true, because it is the word of God, although the Muslim could not see what happened in the womb of the woman. Modern technology has only made these facts clearer. The same applies to other matters: for example, Muslims believe that mountains are pegs to fix the land although he does not know that a third of the mountain height goes above the land while two thirds are deeply planted under the earth, like pegs. The same could be said about the formation of mountain-like clouds in the sky. The hale stones come down from those mountains of clouds. The Muslim believes that although he did not ascend to sky. He knows that clouds gather together in the form of mountains. He absolutely believes and acknowledges every scientific discovery that had already been mentioned in the Qur’an or concorded with it, or even came mentioned in the tradition of the prophet. The Noble Qur’an, therefore, refers to the scientific discoveries that will show people the miracles of God the Almighty. God says: “We will show them Our Signs in the universe, and in their own selves, until it becomes manifest to them that this (the Qur’an) is the truth.” (Holy Qur’an: 43: 53).
Question 148: Muslims believe that only God knows what exists in the wombs, how could they reconcile between this and the modern technology that could show the embryo and know its sex before birth?
Answer 148: This Question refers to the saying of God the Almighty:
“Verily, Allah, with Him (Alone) is the knowledge of the Hour, he sends down the rain, and knows that which is in the wombs. No person knows what he will earn tomorrow, and no person knows in what land he will die. Verily God is All-Knower, All-Aware (of things) (Holy Qur’an: 31:34)
Abdullah Bin Umar related that the prophet (pbuh) said: “The keys to the unseen world are five and nobody knows them except Allah,” then he quoted the above verse from the Noble Qur’an. It is God alone who knows absolutely what is in the wombs in every moment and at every stage; He knows everything small and big. No doubt that He knows every conception when it comes into existence, when the conception does not even show a sign of weight or form; and He knows whether the sex of the conception is male or female, at the time when no one could have the ability to know anything about at the first moment of the uniting of the sperm and the ovum, and the features, the characteristics, the condition and readiness of the embryo. This knowledge is absolutely exclusive to God, the All-Knowing, and the All-Aware. The term “what is in the womb” is more general than the embryo, and mean more than its sex, whether it is perfect or imperfect in physically, sane or insane, believing or non-believing.
We have already mentioned in a previous Answer the possible equation of the determination of the sex of the embryo, whether male or female. The same could be said about every characteristic of the embryo, as to what colour of the complexion and body will be, the colour of the eyes, the size of every organ, etc. All this is subject to the law of possibilities, according to medical specialists. This is an uncontrolled law, and nobody knows how the chromosomes will combine in the embryo, how the new features will be. No one knows when the baby will be a boy or a girl. Man is unable to know that before and during its happening. It is only God who knows this. As to the period after its determination, it becomes a fact and is not more a part of the unseen. Man may know something about the embryo, as he knew the stages of the formation of the embryo. The verse and the prophetic traditions speak about the stage when the baby is a part of the unseen. If it becomes a part of the factual world that man can know, there is no objection to knowing it.
Question 149: I would like you to explain the following Qur’anic verses scientifically:
A. “The likeliness of those who take (false deities as) Auliya’ (protectors, helpers) other than God is the likeness of a spider who builds (for itself) a house; but verily, the frailest (weakest) of houses is the spider’s house – if they but knew. Verily, God knows what things they invoke instead of Him. H e is the Al-Mighty, the All-Wise. And these similitudes We put forward for mankind; but none will understand them except those who have knowledge (of God, and His Signs)” (Holy Qur’an: 29: 41-43).
B. “So I swear by the setting of the stars. And verily that is indeed a great oath, if you but know” (Holy Qur’an:56:75-76).
C. “See they not that We gradually reduce the land (of the disbelievers, by giving it to the believers, in war) from its outlying borders” (Holy Qur’an: 13:41).
D. “With power did We construct the heaven. Verily, We are Able to extend the vastness of space thereof” (Holy Qur’an: 51:47).
E. “And whomsoever God will s to guide, He opens his breast to Islam, and whomsoever He wills to send astray, He makes his breast closed and constricted, as if he is climbing up to the sky” (Holy Qur’an: 3:26).
F. “And has made the moon a light therein and made the sun a lamp” (Holy Qur’an: 71:16).
Answer 149: The Answer to this Question is as follows:
A. The esteemed verses are given as sayings for those who worship deities other than God the Almighty, they depend on, trust, and give them their pledges and charters ignoring that resorting to those powers, whether they are in the hands of individuals or groups, are like the resort of the spider to its web. The spider’s web is weak, powerless and defenseless against its molluscan physique: spiders are helpless against their weak houses. God, the Almighty, and the all-Powerful protect them. It is this great fact that the Noble Qur’an is interested in establishing in the selves of the faithful. It is with this fact that the faithful were more powerful than all the powers that tried to block their way, and treaded on the pride of the oppressors on this earth and destroyed their fortresses and castles. The enemies of the call for God who seek the help of supporters other than Him, who knows the truth about those supporters, it is the truth described in the previous saying, a spider seeking refuge in its web. The witty scholar is the one who understands this saying, and realizes that everyone on earth is as powerless and weak as the spider’s web. The inimitability in this verse is the reference to the web rather than to its threads. Scientifically speaking, the threads of the spider, in terms of length and diameter, are four times stronger than cast iron. The weakness lies in the web not in the threads. The spider’s web, despite the strength of its threads, is weak from within, as it stands for the killing of its household. The female spider kills its male mate after impregnation if it does not run away from it quickly, and it eats its offspring when they hatch if they do not flee, and the little ones each other. The spider’s web, then, is the most rhetorical example of what man may imagine about the best house which becomes the worst in destiny. The conclusion of the holy verse “if they but knew” has come as a reference to the fact that there will come a time when man will know that fact though this might come late. It is known that these biological secrets have been scientifically proved only recently.
B. Those addressed in this verse, “So I swear by the setting of the stars. And verily that is indeed a great oath, if you but know” (Holy Qur’an: 56:75-76) knew only little about the setting of the stars which they saw with their naked eyes, yet they felt the greatness of their setting in their hearts. Despite our limited knowledge of the settings of the stars; yet, we do recognize the greatness of this oath (which is related to God who swear by His own creation). We know for example that the star galaxy our solar system belongs to comprises billions of starts, some of these stars could see with the naked eye, others can only be seen with microscopes/ and or telescopes, still others cannot be seen. All these starsswim in the mysterious space, and there is no possibility that one magnetic orbit can come near another, or that one star would run into another orbit. The location of each star, which must be far from its fellow stars, has been situated carefully and wisely: it is well-coordinated in terms of effects and mutual effects with all the other stars and planets so that all of them could be balanced in this vast space. The positions of stars in their orbits are the secrets of their balance; neither a star goes near another, nor a planet goes near another, nor a sun goes near another. Each has its own position in which it revolves and does not go beyond or exceed. If a star deviates from its position and moves in another track, it will be gravitated into another space and will collide with another star, which adds to the size of the new star formed from the collision of the two stars. Eventually, its gravitation increases and attracts a third star, and so on and so forth until the end of the universe as a whole. This is what is referred to, according to scholars, by God’s words “the perforating star”, which is described by space scientists as “the black hole.” Therefore, God’s oath by the setting of stars, which He created for us, is an allusion to contemplate and know that this universe is run under the management of the Lord of the heavens and earth. One of the examples of the setting of stars is the sun, as mentioned in the French magazineScience and Life (issue: June, 1986) which includes the following facts: if the position of the earth with respect to the sun where the ray of its orbit around the sun is 4% less than it is now, i.e. 144 km instead of 150 million km, the temperature of the earth will increase gradually to 450 centigrade, will cause the water to evaporate and life will disappear, as it is on Venus. Likewise, if location of the earth is 1% more, i.e. 151.5 million km, the temperature of the earth will be go down gradually to –4 centigrade, and water will freeze and life will be impossible on its surface, as the case is on mars. It is said that the galaxies and stars may seem static, but they are mobile and their distances increase continuously, as it is the case in the theory in the expansion of the universe. Eventually, the star acquires new positions continuously and with those new positions of billions of galaxies and stars, the balance of the powers of the universe remain as gravitation forces. All of this makes the oath in the verse so great.
C. “See they not that We gradually reduce the land (of the disbelievers, by giving it to the believers, in war) from its outlying borders.” (Holy Qur’an: 13:41). This verse means that the land is gradually reduced from its outlying borders and that people can see that? How does this happen?
First, the reduction of the land from its northern and southern sides should include its two poles. It is known that the land is not completely globular, it is elliptical, i.e. the equator is longer than the line going through the two poles. Scientists have found out that the equator is 21 km longer and that this length increases gradually in the course of time and the globe becomes more elliptical, and the line going through the two poles is getting shorter and shorter.
Second, the crust of the earth is exposed to sunshine, rain, wind and the various elements of corrosion and erosion—something that reduces the crust of the earth gradually. Scientists expect that the continuous corrosion is the cause of the earthquakes and giving away of the earth. This also indicates that the earth is reduced from its outlying borders, which is one of the things that man can see in all parts of the earth. It is a clear scientific miracle throughout all ages.
D. This verse shows that God the Almighty created the vast sky including the stars, planets and suns and moons; it continues to expand throughout time, and this verse, which proves the expansion of the universe. The well-known theory of the expansion of the universe has come into existence in the scientific field. In 1912, this theory was affirmed by the scientist Silipher who said that certain galaxies are moving away, increasingly, from our galaxy. In 1916, Einstein’s Theory of Relativity has come to confirm the theory of the universe expansion. He tried to calculate the speed of that expansion associating it with the speed of the light, 300,000 km/s. In 1929, the two scientists Hobble and Humoson confirmed the theory of the expansion of the universe. Hobble has set a law carrying his name, which estimates the increasing distance of the galaxies from each other and from ours. By virtue of this law, it was possible to use the reverse way to calculate the approximate age of the universe. With the progress of modern physics and the introduction of the study of specter, it was possible to study the light of stars and galaxies, and the turning of the specter into red, and eventually calculated the speed of the departing of the galaxies away from each other according to the theory. The further the galaxies and stars depart from our galaxy, the redder their specter turns. For instance, the distance of the galaxy Amos de Lavierge from ours, the milky way, increases at 1200 km/s, and the distance of Amos de Lavierge increases at 60 km/s. It is two billion light year speed. Contemporary astrologists confirm that theory. Hubert Reeves said: “We can say that the expansion of the universe is almost certain.” Maurice Bukaille said: “The expansion of the universe is the greatest phenomenon modern science has discovered and completely confirmed today. The discussion deal only with the pattern through which the expansion is happening.” One of the phenomena that support this theory is what is called the “night darkness.” In spite of the big number of galaxies in the sky, and although they consist of billions of stars, there are not enough stars to fill the sky with light. Moreover, the expansion of the universe disperses the light of the stars. Therefore, the light seems insufficient although it is very strong and the night appears dark. The point of inimitability in this Qur’anic verse is that suppose there was a man in the present age who knew nothing about astronomy and scientific laws, did not have any modern technology, especially optical one, furthermore if he had lived in a remote unknown jungle, a desert or a mountain, stated such laws, and reached those conclusions which scientists reached only after spending a great deal of efforts, long research and coordinated efforts of cooperation, people would consider that a sort of fiction and an impossibility. Eventually they would attribute such information to an external supernatural power. What could be said then about this man, the prophet, who lived fourteen hundreds ago? He was illiterate, living in a desert far from the centers of any science and civilization then, and in age whose people knew nothing about the universe, its beginning, life and its evolution. This man states his theory firmly and in a certain manner, while connecting it firmly with other phenomena and theories. What could be said then? It is undoubtedly, the information coming from revelation from God the Almighty.
E. “And whomsoever God will s to guide, He opens his breast to Islam, and whomsoever He wills to send astray, He makes his breast closed and constricted, as if he is climbing up to the sky” (Holy Qur’an: 3:26). This verse gives a picture of two personalities:
First, the Islamic personality which believes in God and the prophethood of Muhammad; whose breast opened, expanded and felt the spaciousness of the world crated by God the Almighty; and recognized the universal and Qur’anic miracles
Second, the non-believing personality which is fed up with Islam and does not get guided to the right path. It feels breathless because disbelief is a kind of contrition and stagnation. It is discomfort, deviation from the easy human common sense; it is hardship, deprivation and worry. God the Almighty gave an example of this kind of personality and described it as feeling breathless like the one who climbs to the sky.
But why does one’s breast feel closed when climbing to the sky? One may wonder, who told Muhammad (pbuh) in the 6th century A.D. that the layers of air get looser the more we rise up in the sky? Oxygen decreases and breathing becomes difficult. It is well know that scientists have discovered this fact only recently. There is no doubt that these words in this verse were the revelation of God upon His prophet. Man feels more difficult to breathe the more he goes up into the sky, which is well-known, scientifically speaking, as the upper air layers are looser and their pressure is lower. Now, who taught Muhammad (pbuh) this scientific truth, which was unknown to the people of his age and even to the people of the later ages after him until the present age with its amazing advanced technology to prove the scientific truth? It is the Lord of mankind and the jinn, the Lord who created everything, then proportioned it, and who has measured preordainments, then guided, and Who taught us what we had not known.
F. “And has made the moon a light therein and made the sun a lamp” (Holy Qur’an: 71:16). In this verse, we find that God the Almighty differentiates in His description between His two creations the sun and the moon. He describes the sun as a “lamp.” In another verse of the Holy Qur’an God says: “and We have made (therein) a shining lamp (the sun)(Holy Qur’an: 78:13). The sun is described a glowing lamp. It is the heat-generating machine, on whose power so many things in life depend. It affects the formation of the clouds, through the evaporation of water from the vast ocean one earth and raising it to the upper layers of air. In the lamp, there is burning, heat and light; all are available in the sun. The choice of the word “lamp” is so accurate and has been chosen carefully to suit reality. As for the moon, God describes it as illuminating only, something which does not mean that it is a source of heat: it only conveys light. The scientific discoveries have come to prove that the sun is a source of heat. The temperature degree of it mounts to 15 million centigrade. The sun only reflects the sunlight, not more. It is not a source of light; it only reflects as a mirror does. Therefore, the Qur’anic expression about the moon is also an accurate one. Astronomers have established this fact only recently. The sun light consists of seven shining waves known as “white light” which constitutes the spectrum colors (from ultra to infra violet). It also contains gamma rays, radio short waves, and some unknown kinds of rays. The accuracy of the Qur’anic description is crystal clear in God’s words: “It is He Who made the sun a shining thing and the moon as a light.” So the light that comes from the moon is not more a reflection of the sunshine, which falls on its surface. As to the sunlight, it consists of seen shining (light and heat), and unseen ray (which scientists use in the lighting, x-ray films, astronomy and biology).
Question 150: Why does the Holy Qur’an focus on man’s forelock and not other parts of the body in God’s words “if he ceases not, We will catch him by the forelock”— The frontal lobe is mentioned in another verse: “I put my trust in Allah, my Lord and your Lord! There is not a moving (living) creature but He has the grasp of its forelock. Verily, my Lord ion the Straight Path (the truth)” (Holy Qur’an: 11: 56).
Answer 150: At to the top of the forehead, there is one bone in the skull called frontal bone. It protects the frontal lobe which contains many neural centers: the main and secondary centers of motion, the frontal eye field, the centers of articulation movements, and the most important part, the pre-frontal cortex which represents the biggest part of the frontal lobe of the brain. The function of the frontal cortex is associated with the formation of the individual’s personality; it performs an organized role in the depth of the individual’s senses and feelings. It influences the taking of initiative and judgment. It directs some of man’s acts which express his personality, like honesty, lying, right and wrong.
The destruction of this cortex because of a certain disease, tumor, or an accident, leads to the loss of initiative taking and recognition. Some emotional changes may take place also; which leads to cheering up and trance. One loses his interest in his social appearance. Instead of being wise, observing others’ affairs around him, he becomes indifferent, irresponsible for himself and for others around him. The intoxicating drinks affect the tissues of the frontal areas of the brain.
The frontal folds of the brain are important for the mind, for they are connected with the supreme mental acts. We do those plans inside these folds. Thus, they affect the acts and functions of the other parts of the brain, like our thoughts, feelings and emotions.
The frontal lobe, then, is the location that controls the behavior of animals; eventually those ayas which were mentioned in the Noble Qur’an in the seventh century (A.D.) include knowledge understanding the whole functions of the frontal folds of the brain.[4]
------[1] Cited in Bukhari and Muslim, from the narration of Abu Hurayrah.[2] Cited in Muslim, Nikah Book as narrated by Abi Saeed al-Khudri.[3] Cited in Muslim, The Book of Marriage.[4] See Scientific Inimitability in Frontal Lobe, Qur’anic and Prophetic Tradition Inimitability, Islamic World Association.
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