By Naseer Ahmed, New Age Islam
28 February 2023
In my article, “The Quranic Truths of Qayamat and Resurrection”, I have detailed the basis for a rational belief in the Quran as the word of Allah, and the rational basis for rejecting the claim that it is the word of Allah as follows:
The Nature of the Quran
The Quran makes a claim that it is the word of God without a doubt who is the all-knowing, all-Hearing and all-wise Creator. What logically follows from it is that it is a Book of absolute truths. It is therefore only to be expected that as our knowledge about our material world grows with the pursuit of science, the absolute truths in the Quran about our material world are empirically proved correct progressively. Until such time, science will lag behind the Quran but eventually converge with what the Quran has said.
The Rational Disbelievers
By definition, the disbelievers are those:
Who do not believe in Allah and/or in the Quran as Allah’s Word.
They, therefore, believe the Quran is the word of mere mortals.
It, therefore, follows that the Quran cannot have verses containing knowledge of our world unknown to man when the Book was written and which became known from science only in the last few centuries or more than a thousand years after the Book was written.
The above is very logical and rational until confronted with evidence that disproves his assumptions and proves the believers right.
Proof That the Quran Is A Book Of Absolute Truths
There are many such verses but, in this article, I will dwell on the verses about creation and the scientific history of mankind.
Creation, Destruction and Recreation of the Universe
The Quran has some remarkable verses on the cycle of creation, destruction and recreation of the Universe.
(51:47) AND IT IS We who have built the universe with [Our creative] power; and, verily, it is We who are steadily expanding it.
The observations of the wavelength of light and radiation reaching the earth led to the discovery that the Universe is expanding which implied that it was all squeezed together once before the expansion began or to the Big Bang theory of creation. The empirical evidence of an expanding universe agrees with what verse 51:47 is saying.
(21:30) Do not the Unbelievers see that the heavens (l-samāwāti) and the earth were joined together (as one unit of creation) before We clove them asunder? We made from water every living thing. Will they not then believe?
Nobody could see that the heavens and the earth were joined together or brought together before they were cloven asunder. Scientists believed in a steady-state universe until a century ago. This verse is addressed to the present-day disbelievers who can now see that the Quran speaks the truth and that it is not an outdated 7th-century book as they seem to think. It is they who are asked to see the proof that the Quran is eternal in its relevance and contains absolute truths and not mere theories or speculation.
Another Complementary Version of Creation in the Quran
The creation of the Universe which includes the earth takes only two days (41:9 and 12). Making the earth fit for sustaining life takes another four days (41:10) or a total of six days. Verse 41:11 again speaks about bringing together everything before cleaving them asunder. The big bang speaks of the starting position as a singularity before which nothing existed and an expansion from a size less than an atom. It differs from the Quran in a material way and the difference has been discussed in my article:
The Big Bang Theory and the Quran
Science, however, is well on the way to converging with what the Quran says as follows:.
(41:9) Say: Is it that ye deny Him Who created the earth in two Days? And do ye join equals with Him? He is the Lord of (all) the Worlds.
(10) He set on the (earth), mountains standing firm, high above it, and bestowed blessings on the earth, and measure therein all things to give them nourishment in due proportion, in four Days, in accordance with (the needs of) those who seek (Sustenance).
(11) Moreover He comprehended in His design the sky, and it had been (as) smoke: He said to it and to the earth: "Come ye together, willingly or unwillingly." They said: "We do come (together), in willing obedience."
(12) So He completed them as seven firmaments in two Days, and He assigned to each heaven its duty and command. And We adorned the lower heaven with lights, and (provided it) with guard. Such is the Decree of (Him) the Exalted in Might, Full of Knowledge.
The day here is not our 24-hour day but a cosmic day which the Quran describes in one context as our thousand years and in another context as our 50 thousand years. In different contexts, a cosmic day is defined differently. The concept of relativity of time is there bang in your face. In the context of the creation of the Universe, the cosmic day is not defined. This is because the number is very large for which there was no name in the vocabulary of the 7th century Arabs. The word million was coined only in the 14th century and billion in the 16th century. The cosmic day of creation we now know from science, is of the order of 1.72 billion years.
The creation of the earth and the rest of the Universe in 2 days means that it took an estimated 3.44 billion years for the earth to be recognised as a distinct body from the rest of the Universe.
Further four days for bestowing blessings on the earth, and measure therein all things to give them nourishment in due proportion, in accordance with (the needs of) those who seek (Sustenance) equal 6.87 billion years as per our present state of knowledge from science. The relative proportion of time taken to create the Universe and twice that to make the earth support life that the verse speaks of is remarkable. We know now from science that everything that is needed to support life such as Oxygen, Nitrogen, Carbon, water, the other elements, the soil, the Sun etc. needed time to make and it is only the earth that has these things in the required measure to sustain life. This also confirms what the Quran says that the rest of the Heavens serve the earth its required needs in the right measure.
Verses about the End and Recreating a New Universe
(21:104) The Day that We roll up the heavens (l-samāa) like a scroll rolled up for books (completed),- even as We produced the first creation, so shall We create a new one: a promise We have undertaken: truly shall We fulfil it.
(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 (wal-samāwātu) will be rolled up in His right hand: Glory to Him! High is He above the Partners they attribute to Him!
The four verses 21:30, 41:11, 21:104 and 39:67 taken together, support, reinforce and clarify each other which leaves no room for any doubt about what they mean. How do the Heavens and the Earth become a single Unit (21:30)? By coming together when Allah commanded them to do so (41:11). What will happen when the world is brought to an end? On the command of Allah, it will roll up and fit into Allah’s hand which is allegorical for saying it will be compressed to a very small size (21:104 and 39:67). This is before recreating the Universe (21:104). The process at the recreation is identical to the process at creation; the verses clarify and reinforce each other.
Science is also converging to the view that the creation, destruction and a new creation may be a cyclical process.
Although brief, the verses remarkably cover the entire gamut of creation, destruction and recreation which also tells us what may have been before this creation and also that the next creation is a certainty. Recent developments in science have made belief in Qayamat (end of the Universe), the creation of a new Universe believable based on empirical evidence and scientific theories. The possibility of resurrection based on information alone is a proven scientific truth.
Answering the Disbelievers
So, does the Quran contain the Big Bang theory of creation? Wrong question. The Quran is not a Book of scientific theories which are subject to revision. It is a Book of absolute truths. We should never look for science in the Quran but for the Quran in science because the Quran is Al-Furqan or the Book of absolute truths and not science. The creation event described in the Quran was true even when the scientists held the steady state view of the universe - that it is neither created nor destroyed but always was and will continue to be as it is. Having said that, the current scientific thinking is converging to the absolute truth in the Quran on this subject
The disbelievers bent on disparaging the Quran point out similar beliefs in folklore and other scriptures about the creation event to insinuate that the Quran is a collection of folklore and beliefs of other people. The Quran is the word of Allah and according to the Quran, there is nothing that Allah has now revealed in the Quran that He has not revealed before to the previous prophets. Some of the revelations have survived as Books and some as oral traditions. What Allah has revealed about the Creation event was also revealed to the previous prophets. If you, therefore, find something in the Quran but not elsewhere, then that should raise eyebrows and not finding something similar elsewhere. What is beyond doubt is that the Quran having been preserved exactly as revealed is free from the errors found in the previous versions and every other version is full of glaring flaws.
Example 2 the Scientific History of Mankind
This is covered in detail in my article: A Brief History of Mankind
The literal translation of verse 76:1 is:
"( هَلْ أَتَىٰ عَلَى الْإِنسَانِ) Has there not passed over mankind,
(حِينٌ مِّنَ الدَّهْرِ) an era or a very long period of time (hinun) in Dahr,
(لَمْ يَكُن شَيْئًا مَّذْكُورًا) during which he was a thing not mentioned?
There is no confusion about the literal meaning of the verse by the Mufassarin and the translators. The expected answer obviously is:
"Yes, certainly, there has passed over mankind a very long period in dahr during which he was not a thing mentioned"
However, what is the detailed explanatory response? The way the question is structured determines what constitutes the correct response and must be structured in an identical manner. The following explanatory response satisfies the structural and grammatical integrity required as well as conforms with the known facts discovered by science about the lost history of mankind.
"Certainly yes. In the Dahr of 13.8 billion years, man has existed for 2.5 million years and a very long period of 2.43 million years has passed over mankind during which he was not a thing mentioned".
From cosmology and from the scientific history of mankind, we know that time began 13.8 billion years ago. Man came into existence about 2.5 million years ago and for about 2.43 million years, his existence and intellectual abilities were indistinguishable from that of any other creature. There is therefore nothing worth mentioning about his existence. Then about 0.07 million years ago, modern man made his appearance with intellectual abilities on par with ours and it is from this time that we find archaeological and other evidence of significant achievements of man worth mentioning.
The above response to the question in 76:1 finds a perfect fit between the structures of the correct response expected and known facts.
However, the findings from science are recent. How did the people then respond to this verse without the correct knowledge? People without correct knowledge will necessarily interpret in terms of what they know. Their response was unsatisfactory in every respect and was as follows:
"Yes, a very long period of 9 months in Dahr passes over every person in the womb when he/she is not worthy of mention"
This response is not talking about what happened in the past with mankind but what happens to every person, considers 9 months to be a very long period of time, and the reference to Dahr is meaningless. Besides, the existence and the growth of the child in the womb is not what can be called “not worth a mention” as the child is eagerly expected, talked about and planned for with elaborate preparations, and talked to and played with while still in the womb. Such existence for nine months which is less than 2% of its life expectancy is a very small period of time and not what can be described as a very long period in Dahr. Anyway, when people do not have the right answer, they will come up with their best effort and this was their best effort and is understandable.
Now that we know what the correct answer is which satisfies the structural and grammatical integrity expected of the correct response, who but a contumacious rejecter will argue against it?
The Reaction of Ordinary Disbelievers
An ordinary disbeliever uninterested in religion may respond to such proofs with “sounds interesting” and move on.
The Reaction of the Wilfully Irrational Disbeliever or the Contumacious Rejecter
The contumacious rejecter is a different kind of animal altogether. He is wilfully irrational in his disbelief and therefore no amount of reason will work with him. His argument is “all that he is doing is to appropriate scientific achievements to claim prescience for the Quran”. It shows the kind of fixed mindset cast in concrete this argument is coming from. For him there is no God and/or the Quran is not the word of God and therefore it cannot have verses that contain perfect knowledge of the world unknown to science until discovered recently. The contumacious rejecter is heavily invested in his disbelief and will argue endlessly without giving up. He will lie and use every dishonest trick in his bag but will never accept the evident truth. His bag of dishonest tricks consists of:
1. The first line of offence is to call such an article “deceptive”, “misleading”, “pablum”, “pap”, “mumbo jumbo” etc. without a shred of evidence to support the vitriol.
2. Destructive criticism: Dispute what is said without offering an alternate explanation because he doesn’t have any.
3. Strawman arguments: If he cannot argue against what the other has said, he pretends the other has said what he can argue against and then argues against what was never said.
4. Word blindness: He deliberately takes the wrong meaning and insists that is correct.
5. He will concede to the minor arguments by repeating the same in his own words and pretend that the idea is his.
6. Acts Dumb: When he cannot respond to what the other has said, he repeats himself ignoring what the other has said. This can go on endlessly.
7. Digression: When all else fails, instead of conceding defeat, digress.
8. Play the psychological game of Rapo by saying something outrageous about the Quran such as describing belief in the Hereafter as a “humbug theory” and when an appropriate verse from the Quran is quoted, cries out “Takfeer”! Another version of the game is to unnecessarily bring into the discussion the difference between the Quran and the Bible on the subject and when the Biblical version is shown to be flawed, scream “Supremacism”!
9. Keep on with inane arguments and when ignored, claim victory. He takes a highly aggressive approach to every discussion and exhibits zero-sum thinking. He knows that he cannot win any argument and therefore does what is next best which is to create doubt and confusion about what the other has said and try to discredit it any way he can.
10. The contumacious rejecter never gives up no matter how many times he has evidently lost the argument. He is an indestructible monster who will bring up the same topic in thread after thread under different articles. That is what makes him a contumacious rejecter. He is a vicious animal immune to reason and will not rest even when you tell him “To you be your way and to me mine”
The Quran has several apt verses about the contumacious rejecters. They have by their own choice made themselves dumb, deaf and blind to the truth and will never return to the straight path shown by Allah. The very same verses can be understood as his cognitive bias which makes him sink deeper and deeper into contumacious rejection of the truth.
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A frequent contributor to NewAgeIslam.com, Naseer Ahmed is an Engineering graduate from IIT Kanpur and is an independent IT consultant after having served in both the Public and Private sector in responsible positions for over three decades. He has spent years studying Quran in-depth and made seminal contributions to its interpretation.
URL: https://newageislam.com/the-war-within-islam/rational-believers-irrational-disbelievers/d/129217
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4:45 AM
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