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What the Quran mentions about the organization of the Universe
is important because "these references constitute a new fact of divine
Revelation" (The Bible, the Quran and Science, p. 153). The Quran deals
with this matter in depth although this is not dealt with in the previous
scriptures.
| Dr. Maurice Bucaille also points out the important fact that the Quran
does not contain "the theories prevalent at the time of the Revelation
that deal with the organization of the celestial world" (p. 153).If the
Quran was authored by any human being, he or she would have naturally included
the ideas prevalent at the time. But many of those ideas were later shown
to be inaccurate. |
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How did the author of the Quran know enough to exclude those ideas,
unless the author is God himself.
Those who say that Muhammad authored the Quran think that the Arabs
were very knowledgeable in the field of Science, and Muhammad was or course
one of them. But this explanation is based on the incorrect assumption
that the Arabs knew Science before the Quran was revealed. As pointed out
by Dr. Bucaille, the fact is that Science in Islamic
countries came after the Quran, not before. "In any case", writes
Dr. Bucaille, "the scientific knowledge of that great period would not
have been sufficient for a human being to write some of the verses to be
found in the Quran" (The Bible, the Quran and Science, p. 1 53-1 54)
Modern astronomers are aware that the stars and planets are kept within
ranges of precise distances from each other. Had it not been for this fact,
collision between them would be inevitable. The author of the Quran was
also aware of this. In the Quran we read "the sun
and the moon (are subjected) to calculations (Quran 55:5).
Again, we read: "For you (God) subjected the
sun and the moon, both diligently pursuing their courses" (Quran
14:33). The phrase 'diligently pursuing their courses' is a translation
of the Arabic term daa'ib which here means 'to apply oneself to something
with care in a perseverant, invariable manner, in accordance with set habits'
(The Bible, the Quran and Science, p.l55). And that indeed is how the sun
and moon behave.
Another verse in the Quran says, "the stars are
in subjection to His command" (Quran 16:12). Order in the universe
is essential for its preservation. God, who subjected them to that order
knew about it before any scientist.
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