Among the questions that intrigues me, is why we Muslims tend to implicate science from the Quran AFTER the Science have been uncovered, not from Quranic sources. We have the Quran in our hands and we have failed to apply it forward, instead we tend to backtrack proven scientific phenomena, and work our way back to the Quran. Had we payed attention to God's words, and really analyze them and observe the scientific values, then we may have become the people uncovering God's creations.
Of course we can't talk about science in Islam without bragging about the Islamic Golden Age, a renaissance that was a one time off, which is sad. Don't get me wrong. I am thrilled that Muslims at that era made use of the Quran, even though mainly for the purpose of religion. What should have happened was, the Muslims of generation that came after that, should have sustained the effort hitherto. Instead, Muslims chose to become pedantic and parochial, indulging in trivial matters that led to inter-Muslim disintegration and somehow have missed the bigger picture. Anyone who cannot agree with this, please explain to me the war between Iran and Iraq, with the Americans bagging cash from arms sales. I rest my case.
Islam during the Islamic Golden Age was progressive in nature. And when I say Muslims, please bear in mind that Muslims does not mean just the Arabs, but comprises of many races like the Egyptian, Persian etc.
Encouraged by God's words like, (the first Ayat ever bestowed upon the prophet)
“ Read ! In the name of thy Lord who created” al-Alaq Ayah:1
and;
"And He made subservient to you whatsoever is in the heavens and whatsoever is in the earth, all from Himself; most surely there are signs in this for the people who reflect." (Al-Jathiya Ayah 13)
that had made Muslims realize the importance of reading ergo learning, and encourages the thirst for knowledge, for curiosity only kills the cat, but on human, combined with tenacity of satisfying that curiosity, results in discoveries, in any aspect of life.
In al-Haj Ayah:26-27 “We appointed Abraham to establish the Shrine: "You shall not idolize any other god beside Me, and purify My shrine for those who visit it, those who live near it, and those who bow and prostrate. "And proclaim that the people shall observe Hajj pilgrimage.They will come to you walking or riding on various exhausted (means of transportation). They will come from the farthest locations."
and;
“The count of months, as far as GOD is concerned, is twelve.* This has been GOD's law, since the day He created the heavens and the earth. Four of them are sacred. This is the perfect religion; you shall not wrong your souls (by fighting) during the Sacred Months. However, you may declare all-out war against the idol worshipers (even during the Sacred Months), when they declare all-out war against you, and know that GOD is on the side of the righteous.”[9:36]
(Footnote: *9:36 The word ``month'' is mentioned in the Quran 12 times, and ``day'' 365 times. )
and also;
"And it is He who ordained the stars for you that you may be guided thereby in the darkness of the land and the sea." (6:97)
which was the basis of motivation of Muslim involvement in the astronomical and navigational success during that era..How else could Muslims from far come to perform Hajj, coming from afar, without a superior astronomical/ navigational knowledge? His words was made to full use for people to perform Hajj and needed to navigate their ships hence the Muslims began to find better observational and navigational instruments. Most navigational stars today have Arabic names.
This spending time in trivial matters had made the Muslim loose out on Scientific discoveries, which should have been ours should we have paid attention to Quran instead of getting caught up with invading of land in the name of God.
Here are some of the verses in the Quran that has scientific scent on them.
THE EARTH IS ROUND
When Christopher Columbus made the discovery that the earth was round, centuries later backed up by the photos taken from space by astronaut, it was no surprise. I bet someone may have said "Yeah, so? The main news channel , the women gossipers (even from way back) have not reported anyone falling off an abyss, so the world cannot be flat". The poor guy did not have to sail all the way across the world to prove the world is round. All he had to do was look into the Quran and he may have saved the hassle, which, ironically not even the Muslims did. But then again, it's not about the destination, rather, the journey.(not to mention the hidden intentions disguised with the love for spices.)
In surah; Al Hijr: 19
"And the earth We have spread out (like a carpet); set thereon mountains firm and immovable; and produced therein all kinds of things in due balance."
For those who observe, they will deduct that the only shape logical for men to be at any point on earth, only to find it “spread out”, would be a round shape. Otherwise, we would have found and abyss somewhere on earth, which was never the case.
Moreover, in surah An-Nazi'at Ayah 30; God said;
"And the earth moreover, Hath he extended (to a wide expanse)"The word "daha-ha" in Arabic have an ambiguous meaning to it. It symbolizes, meaning in Arabic, something that is roundish in shape. The Arabs named the Ostrich egg "udhiyyah" and "udhuwwah", both derived from the word "daha".
I suppose there is a good reason for the God to sound ambiguous as He wanted His words to reach out to that present generation, as well as the generations later, who are more accustomed to ideas of science. Besides, a Prophet burnt like Bruno at the stake by Rome for merely suggesting that the earth move around the sun, would not serve any purpose to mankind.
THE EARTH, SUN AND MOON ROTATES WITHIN THEIR OWN ORBITS.
In al-Anbiyak; Ayah 33, God said,
"It is He who created the night and the day, and the sun and the moon: all (the celestial bodies) swim along, each in it's rounded course"
"And He hath made subject to you the sun and the moon, both diligently pursuing their course; and the Night and the Day hath He(also) made subject to you"
"He created the heavens and the earth in true (proportions): He makes the Night overlap the Day, and the Day overlap the Night: He has subjected the sun and the moon (to His law) each one follows a course for a time appointed. Is not He the Exalted in Power, He Who forgives again and again? "
According to translation from Edip Yuksel,
az-Zumar Ayah 5;
"He created the heavens and the earth with truth. He rolls the night over the day, and He rolls the day over the night. He committed the sun and the moon, each running for an appointed term. Absolutely, He is the Noble, the Forgiving".*
*FootnoteThe verb " yuKaWiRu" (rotates, rolls around) used in the verse clearly indicates the roundness of the earth. See 21:33; 27:88; 36:40; 68:1; 79:30
The word "rotates and roll around" indicates that the earth rotates on it's axis and role around it's orbits.
And in the Surah an-Naml, Ayah:88,
"Thou seest the mountains and thinkest them firmly fixed: but they shall pass away as the clouds pass away: (such is) the artistry of Allah, Who disposes of all thing in perfect order: for He is well acquainted with all that ye do"
Take note at the words:
"........thinkest them firmly fixed; but they shall pass away as the clouds pass away"
The word "they shall pass away as clouds pass away" suggests that the earth is not static, but moves "as clouds pass away". How do clouds pass away? It is driven to move by the wind, an external force. We can therefore, postulate that the mountains are moving due to some force and the force is the movement of the earth.
Surah Yasin:
The constant argument that I have when engaged with a discussion with the elder generation would be that of a lost cause in explaining that, although reciting the Al-Quran is good, it is more superior to understand the meaning of the Quran instead of just reciting them like a parrot. I argued, while it is very easy to find teachers to teach children to read and recite the Quran, the accessibility and abundance of teaching force to learning it's translation is scarce.
We celebrate with feast of pulut kuning when our children "khatam Quran" but only a few are bothered that the children were not taught the content of what they are able to recite.
At a young age, I was able to memorize then recite the Yasin, but when ask the meaning, that was when I will use the Malay standard answer, "tak tahu". And there it is, right under our very noses, this beautiful surah;
Surah Yasin Ayah 38-40
(Translation by Yusuf Ali)
Surah Yasin:
[38] And the sun runs its course for a period determined for it; that is the decree of (Him), the Exalted in Might, the All-Knowing.
[40] It is not permitted to the Sun to catch up the Moon, nor can the Night outstrip the Day: each (just) swims along in (its own) orbit (according to law).
From this surah, we can postulate;
1. The sun and moon runs on their own courses, the orbits with under a set of laws meant for them . Each will not run into the other.
2. The night will not catch up with the day , only means they exist simultaneously.
This suggests that the earth have got to be in such a way that even though men experience night and day at separate times, the fact remains that night and day is present at same time. This hint, paired with the ayah that hinted that the world is round, should have resulted in the "globe experiment" (minus the globe of course, but if one can think of a world being round instead of flat, for sure he could have thought of a substitute for a globe.) that later will come to conclusion that the earth rotates on it's axis
"And the sun runs its course for a period determined for it......."
Together with this phrase; you can postulate:-
-. That the sun revolves on it's own axis, towards somewhere until something happens to it and it ceases ; some kind of an expiry date.
Either or, with the advanced technology that took us years to get here, (and the journey is hardly over), it is an establish theory that the sun does revolve on it's own axis, while moving towards a spot known as Solar Apex, which I will talk about in the second part.
Modern science are also working on the belief that the sun is slowly moving toward a spot called the solar apex, southwest of Vega and adjacent to the constellation of the Hercules.
My next article would be current astrophysics findings that have correlation with the surah in the Quran. I have time constrain but I will do my best to satisfy your curiosity of the universe.
I remember a snippet from the film "Sumolah"
"Masa. Siapakah yang mencipta masa? Kerana masa lah jiwaku sentiasa berada di dalam keadaan tertekan"....
But think about it. Is there such a thing called time, in relation to the universe? What could possibly God meant when he said;
"By (the Token of) Time (through the Ages), Verily Man is in loss" al-Asr Ayah 1&2
And what about when God said; in al Ma'arij Ayah 4:
"The angels and the Spirit ascend unto Him in a Day the measure whereof is (as) fifty thousand years"
.......means we are always behind time. Could it possibly be that life as we see it at present, our present, is actually what may have been in the past? I'll let you boggle your mind upon pondering..Till the next post, have a good weekend.
When the world turn their back on you, you show your butt to them...
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