Religions teach backward ideas - Yes & No

[peace2u]

I would be interested, and with the actual passage the fact relates to as well. You don't have to do all 50 at once though

Would you like me to send the document rather than post it because it over 60 pages long? The document is title ‘Quran and Modern Science - Conflict or Conciliation.

[leo-rcc]

Ah, Zakir Naik's work.

[Darwinian]

I would be interested, and with the actual passage the fact relates to as well. You don't have to do all 50 at once though

Would you like me to send the document rather than post it because it over 60 pages long? The document is title ‘Quran and Modern Science - Conflict or Conciliation.

I don't think so really.. That's very good of you but just a few examples will do..

[Kyuuketsuki]

I'm not sure for what other religions say, but Islam does not teach backward ideas but in fact it is up-to-date for many ideas which man did not know.

Please supply the SPECIFIC quotes and references BEFORE you claim things like that ... NOT the interpretations, the actual scriptural quotes.

Kyu

[peace2u]

Below are some of the many Scientifics facts mentioned in the Quran way before man proved it to be accurate.

1. The Sun will Extinguish

And the sun runs [on course] toward its stopping point. That is the determination of the Exalted in Might, the Knowing. (Chapter 36 verse 38)


2. The Expanding Universe

In 1925, Edwin Hubble, provided observational evidence that all galaxies are moving away from one another, which implies that the universe is expanding. The expansion of the universe is now an established scientific fact. This is what the Qur’an says regarding the nature of the universe.

And the heaven We constructed with strength, and indeed, We are [its] expander. (Chapter 51 verse 47)


3. Initial Gaseous Mass Before Creation of Galaxies

Scientists agree that before the galaxies in the universe were formed, celestial matter was
initially in the form of gaseous matter. In short, huge gaseous matter or clouds were present before the formation of the galaxies. To describe initial celestial matter, the word ‘smoke’ is more appropriate than gas. The following Qur’anic verse refers to this state of the universe by the word dukhaan which means smoke.

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." (Chapter 41 verse 11)


4. Mountains are like tent pegs

Geologists tell us that the radius of the Earth is about 6,035 km and the crust on which we live is very thin, ranging between 2 to 35 km. Since the crust is thin, it has a high possibility of shaking. Mountains act like stakes or tent pegs that hold the earth’s crust and give it stability. The Qur’an contains exactly such a description:

Have We not made the earth as a wide expanse, And the mountains as pegs? (Chapter 78 Verse 6-7)

The word awtaad means stakes or pegs (like those used to anchor a tent); they are the deep foundations of geological folds.


5. Barrier Between Sweet and Salt Water

He has let loosed the two seas (the salt water and the sweet) meeting together. Between them is a barrier which none of them can transgress. (Chapter 55 Verse 19-20)


6. Plants Have Male and Female

Previously, humans did not know that plants too have male and female gender distinctions. Botany states that every plant has a male and female gender. Even the plants that are unisexual have distinct elements of both male and female.

"He Who has, made for you the earth like a carpet spread out; has enabled you to go about therein by roads (and channels); and has sent down water from the sky." With it have We produced diverse pairs of plants each separate from the others. (Chapter 20 Verse 53) For Fruits (Chapter 13 Verse 3)


7. Sense of Hearing and Sight

The first sense to develop in a developing human embryo is hearing. The foetus can hear sounds after the 24th week. Subsequently, the sense of sight is developed and by the 28th week, the retina becomes sensitive to light. The Qur'an explains it thus:

But He fashioned him in due proportion, and breathed into him something of His spirit. And He gave you (the faculties of) hearing and sight and feeling (and understanding): little thanks do ye give! (Chapter 32 Verse 9) (Chapter 76 Verse 2) (Chapter 23 Verse 78)

In all these verses the sense of hearing is mentioned before that of sight. Thus the Qur’anic description matches perfectly with the discoveries in modern embryology.


8. Fingerprints

Does man think that We cannot assemble his bones? Nay, We are able to put together in perfect order the very tips of his fingers. (Chapter 75 Verse 3 – 4)

Why does the Qur’an, while speaking about determination of the identity of the individual,
speak specifically about fingertips? In 1880, fingerprinting became the scientific method of identification, after research done by Sir Francis Golt. No two persons in the world can ever have exactly the same fingerprint pattern, not even identical twins. That is the reason why police forces worldwide use fingerprints to identify criminals. Fourteen hundred years ago, who could have known the uniqueness of each human’s fingerprint? Surely it could have been none other than the Creator Himself!


9. Pain Receptors In The Skin

It was thought that the sense of feeling and pain was dependent only on the brain. Recent discoveries however prove that there are pain receptors present in the skin, without which a person would not be able to feel pain. When a doctor examines a patient suffering from burn injuries, he verifies the degree of burns by a pinprick. If the patient feels pain, the doctor is happy, because it indicates that the burns are superficial and the pain receptors are intact. On the other hand, if the patient does not feel any pain, it indicates that it is a deep burn and the pain receptors have been destroyed. The Qur’an gives a clear indication of the existence of pain receptors in the following verse:

Those who reject our Signs, We shall soon cast into the Fire: as often as their skins are roasted through, We shall change them for fresh skins, that they may taste the penalty: for Allah is Exalted in Power, Wise. (Chapter 4 Verse 56)



Conclusion

The scientific evidences of the Qur’an clearly prove its Divine origin. No human could have produced a book, fourteen hundred years ago, that would contain such profound scientific facts. The Qur’an, however, is not a book of Science but a book of ‘Signs’. These signs invite Man to realize the purpose of his existence on earth, and to live in harmony with Nature. The Qur’an is truly a message from Allah, the Creator and Sustainer of the universe. It contains the same Message of the Oneness of God, that was preached by all prophets, right from Adam, Moses, Jesus to Muhammad (peace be upon them).

[chatpilot]

Deviating from the current discussion at hand in my view religion is a backward idea in itself and a product of primitive thinking in a pre-scientific age.

There was a time when religion ruled the world. It is
known as the Dark Ages.
—RUTH HURMENCE GREEN

[Kyuuketsuki]

Conclusion

The scientific evidences of the Qur’an clearly prove its Divine origin. No human could have produced a book, fourteen hundred years ago, that would contain such profound scientific facts. The Qur’an, however, is not a book of Science but a book of ‘Signs’. These signs invite Man to realize the purpose of his existence on earth, and to live in harmony with Nature. The Qur’an is truly a message from Allah, the Creator and Sustainer of the universe. It contains the same Message of the Oneness of God, that was preached by all prophets, right from Adam, Moses, Jesus to Muhammad (peace be upon them).

Well ... I'm impressed!

I'm impressed that you can twist such obviously NON-SCIENTIFIC scriptures to mean something they quite obviously weren't meant to so let me put it to you straight ... the Quran is NOT NOW and NEVER WILL BE a book of science any more than the bible or the Torah are. They are books of religious beliefs, sometimes attempts to explain the universe from the POV of technologically primitive peoples, but NOT books of science.

It's worth noting that some Christians do EXACTLY the same thing as you've just done and they were talking bollocks as well.

Kyu

[peace2u]

I'm impressed that you can twist such obviously NON-SCIENTIFIC scriptures to mean something they quite obviously weren't meant to so let me put it to you straight ... the Quran is NOT NOW and NEVER WILL BE a book of science any more than the bible or the Torah are. They are books of religious beliefs, sometimes attempts to explain the universe from the POV of technologically primitive peoples, but NOT books of science.

In the conclusion, I said that the Quran is NOT a book of science but a book of Signs. Now why is that? It is because the Quran was meant to stand the test of time. Let me explain, before it was the age of Miracles, whereby when a Prophet of God came to the people, the people ask for miracles of God from the Prophets (splitting of the sea by Moses, cure for blind by Jesus, Splitting of the Moon by Muhammad (PBUT)) whereby all of these miracles done by God to show that the prophets were telling the truth. Now when cannot go back and check these Miracles. So how do you then check the authenticity of the Quran or test it?

Then came the age of Literature. Literature and poetry have been instruments of human expression and creativity, in all cultures. The world also witnessed an age when literature and poetry occupied pride of position, similar to that now enjoyed by science and technology. Even non-Muslim scholars agree that the Qur’an is Arabic literature par excellence – that it is the best Arabic literature on the face of the earth. The Qur’an challenges mankind to produce the likes of it:

And if ye are in doubt as to what We have revealed from time to time to Our servant, then produce a Surah like thereunto; and call your witnesses or helpers (if there are any) besides Allah, if your (doubts) are true. But if ye cannot and of a surety ye cannot then fear the Fire whose fuel is Men and Stones, which is prepared for those who reject Faith. (Chapter 2 Verse 23-24).

The challenge of the Qur’an, is to produce a single Surah (chapter) like the Surahs it contains. The same challenge is repeated in the Qur’an several times. The same challenge to produce a Surah (in Arabic of course), which, in beauty, eloquence, depth and meaning is at least somewhat similar to a Qur’anic Surah remains unmet to this day.

A modern rational man, however, would never accept a religious scripture which says, in the best possible poetic language, that the world is flat. This is because we live in an age, where human reason, logic and science are given primacy. Not many would accept the Qur’an’s extraordinarily beautiful language, as proof of its Divine origin. Any scripture claiming to be a divine revelation must also be acceptable on the strength of its own reason and logic. According to Albert Einstein, “Science without religion is lame. Religion without science is blind.”

We all know that many a times Science takes a ‘U-turn’. In the previous post I only considered established scientific facts and not hypotheses and theories based on mere assumptions and not backed by proof. Therefore, the Quran is from divine which could not have been written by man over 1400 years ago.

To conclude as the Quran says;

Soon will We show them Our Signs in the (furthest) regions (of the earth), and in their own souls until it becomes manifest to them that this is the Truth. Is it not enough that thy Lord doth witness all things? (Chapter 41 Verse 53)

Behold! in the creation of the heavens and the earth, and the alternation of Night and Day,― there are indeed Signs for men of understanding (Chapter 3 Verse 190)

[Kyuuketsuki]

You're still talking crap ... the Quran is not a book of science yet you MOST DEFINITELY tried to claim it was with your post that I last replied to.

The Quran has no answers for the rationalist.

Kyu

[peace2u]

You're still talking crap ... the Quran is not a book of science yet you MOST DEFINITELY tried to claim it was with your post that I last replied to.

The Quran has no answers for the rationalist.

Ok fine, we both agree that the Quran is not the book of science. So let me ask you some simple questions, from looking at the scientific facts mentioned in the Quran, who could have known this over 1400 years ago? I mean how is it possible that all these facts were mentioned in the Quran before Mankind proved it?