Islam vs Science

Creationism, Cosmology, and the Qur’an’s Scientific Claims

Phase 2 – Post #6

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🔍 Introduction: Between Revelation and Reality

Islam is often presented by its defenders as a religion that harmonizes with science — a divine message consistent with the natural world. Popular apologists point to “scientific miracles” in the Qur’an, claiming it anticipated embryology, the Big Bang, oceanography, and more. These claims are part of an increasingly prominent genre called "Islamic scientific exegesis".

But how well do these claims hold up to scrutiny?

This article explores the complex and often contradictory relationship between Islam and science — with a focus on:

• Quranic cosmology and embryology

• Creationism and evolution

• The historical tension between Islamic orthodoxy and scientific inquiry

• The rise (and fall) of "Quranic miracle" apologetics

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1. 🧪 Scientific Miracles in the Qur’an: The Claims

Many Muslims assert that the Qur’an contains knowledge that could not have been known in the 7th century:

Popular Claims:

• Embryology (Surah 23:12–14): Describes development from “a clot”

• Big Bang (Surah 21:30): “Heavens and the Earth were joined together”

• Expanding Universe (Surah 51:47): "We are expanding it"

• Mountains as pegs (Surah 78:6–7)

• Barrier between salty and fresh water (Surah 25:53)

These are framed as proof of the Qur’an’s divine origin.

Leading Advocates:

• Zakir Naik, Harun Yahya, Maurice Bucaille (The Bible, The Qur’an and Science)

• iERA, Yusuf Estes, and numerous da’wah channels online

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2. 🧠 Critical Analysis: Science or Stretch?

Upon closer inspection, many of these “miracles” fall apart under linguistic, scientific, and historical scrutiny.

Example: Embryology (Surah 23:14)

“We created the drop into a clot (alaqah), then the clot into a lump (mudghah)…”

Problems:

• “Clot” is a mistranslation; alaqah more accurately means “leech-like substance,” or even “a clinging thing.”

• The developmental stages are vague and incorrect by modern standards — blood clots do not resemble embryos.

• Greek physician Galen (129–216 AD) described similar stages centuries earlier.

Conclusion: This is not cutting-edge science — it reflects pre-Islamic embryology known to Greeks and Persians.

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Example: Expanding Universe (Surah 51:47)

“We built the heaven with might, and We are expanding it.”

Problems:

• Classical commentators (al-Tabari, al-Qurtubi) never interpreted this as cosmic expansion — the “expansion” was reinterpreted after Hubble.

• The Arabic word mu'si'ūna refers to “expanding it” in strength or power, not spatial volume.

• Post hoc reinterpretation — a classic case of retrofitting modern science into ancient scripture.

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Example: Barrier Between Salt and Fresh Water (Surah 25:53)

“And He made a barrier between the salty and sweet water.”

Problems:

• While a halocline (mixing zone) exists, salty and fresh waters do mix over time.

• No scientific mechanism is described — only an observable phenomenon inaccurately attributed to a divine barrier.

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3. 📜 Origin of the “Scientific Qur’an” Genre

The concept of a “scientific Qur’an” is a modern development — not classical Islamic thought.

Timeline:

• 1960s–1970s: French doctor Maurice Bucaille publishes The Bible, The Qur’an and Science, laying the foundation for miracle claims.

• 1980s–2000s: Apologists like Zakir Naik and Harun Yahya popularize these ideas.

• 2000s–2020s: Internet Da’wah movement pushes “scientific miracles” aggressively on platforms like YouTube, iERA, and Facebook.

But modern Muslim scholars have started backing away from this genre.

“The ‘scientific miracles’ genre is intellectually dishonest and theologically dangerous.”
— Dr. Nidhal Guessoum (Muslim astrophysicist), Islam’s Quantum Question

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4. 🧬 Evolution: Rejection or Reconciliation?

Islamic Creationism

Most Islamic countries officially or socially reject Darwinian evolution.

• In a 2013 Pew study, only 22% of Muslims in the Middle East accepted evolution.

• Harun Yahya (Adnan Oktar) became the Muslim world's leading creationist with books like Atlas of Creation.

Quranic Creation Narrative:

• Man created from clay (Surah 23:12, 32:7).

• Adam was created directly by God, not through evolution.

• No gradual progression, no common ancestry with animals.

Conflicts with Modern Science:

• Fossil record, genetics, and comparative anatomy contradict the literal Adam story.

• Islam does not just reject the origin of man through evolution — it equates rejection with disbelief in some interpretations.

Efforts to harmonize evolution with the Qur’an are highly controversial and often labeled heretical by orthodox scholars.

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5. 🧠 Islamic Cosmology vs Modern Science

The Seven Heavens

The Qur’an describes the universe as having seven heavens (Surah 67:3, 71:15).
Classical tafsir views these as stacked layers, akin to Ptolemaic astronomy.

• No concept of galaxies, redshift, relativity, or a vast universe.

• Earth is central — stars are in the lowest heaven (Surah 37:6).

"And We have certainly beautified the nearest heaven with stars…" (Surah 67:5)

This reflects a geocentric, flat-earth model, not scientific cosmology.

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Flat Earth?

While the Qur’an does not explicitly say “flat,” it repeatedly uses phrases like:

• "The Earth is spread out" (madadnāhā) – Surah 15:19

• "He made the earth like a carpet" (mihād, firāsh) – Surah 20:53, 78:6

Classical scholars like al-Khwarizmi and Ibn Kathir accepted a flat or dome-shaped model.
Only modern reinterpretations claim the Qur’an supports a spherical Earth.

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6. ⚔ Suppression of Scientific Inquiry in Islamic History

The Islamic Golden Age (8th–12th centuries)

Muslim scientists and philosophers made real progress in:

• Astronomy: Al-Biruni, Al-Tusi

• Medicine: Avicenna (Ibn Sina)

• Mathematics: Al-Khwarizmi (algebra)

What Went Wrong?

By the 12th–13th centuries:

• Orthodoxy triumphed over inquiry.

• Al-Ghazali declared that Greek philosophy was heretical (The Incoherence of the Philosophers)

• Ibn Taymiyyah and later Salafis condemned “rationalism” and innovation (bid’ah).

Science was sidelined in favor of theological certainty.

“The gate of ijtihad [independent reasoning] was closed.” — Traditional Islamic Legal Theory

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7. 🧨 The Danger of "Science as Apologetics"

Treating the Qur’an as a science book leads to:

1. Eisegesis: Reading modern ideas into ancient texts.

2. Dogmatism: Scientific discoveries become “threats” to faith.

3. Backfire: If one scientific claim is disproven, the Qur’an’s credibility is at risk.

It also fosters a hostile attitude toward actual science:

• Evolution becomes blasphemy.

• Big Bang cosmology is acceptable only if it’s in the Qur’an.

• Empirical inquiry becomes subordinate to revelation.

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📚 Sources & References

• Nidhal Guessoum, Islam’s Quantum Question (2011)

• Pew Research Center, “Muslim Views on Evolution” (2013)

• Maurice Bucaille, The Bible, The Qur’an and Science (1976)

• Al-Tabari, Tafsir al-Tabari

• Al-Ghazali, The Incoherence of the Philosophers

• Harun Yahya, Atlas of Creation

• BBC, “Science and Islam” documentary series

• Dr. Usama Hasan, Islam, Muslims and Darwin (Quilliam Foundation, 2013)

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✅ Conclusion: Revelation or Retrofitting?

The Qur’an, like many ancient religious texts, reflects the cosmology and biology of its time. While modern Muslim apologists work hard to align it with today’s scientific understanding, these efforts often amount to intellectual gymnastics rather than genuine alignment.

Islam’s relationship with science today is deeply conflicted:

• Creationism is dominant.

• Evolution is widely rejected.

• Cosmology is still filtered through Quranic literalism.

• Scientific “miracles” are promoted with little regard for methodological integrity.

In truth, the Qur’an is not a science book — and treating it as one undermines both science and scripture.

Western observers, educators, and reformers must distinguish genuine inquiry from apologetics. Only then can a real, honest engagement with science take root in the Islamic world.