Scientific Miracles of the Qu’ran

The Qur’an is the holy book of Islam, the word of Allah SWT (the God). The Qur’an has been revealed to Prophet Muhammad (PBUH), the last and final Prophet in Islam, over the course of 23 years (during the 7th century) to guide humanity towards the teachings of Islam through past, present and all times to come. The Qur’an is not a book of science, philosophy, geology or history, but a revelation from Allah SWT to guide Humankind through accurate and precise information about a variety of subjects with in-depth details about each for every generation of humankind. The Qur’an is preserved in its original Arabic form, with over 75000 words and is unanimously accepted that it has never been altered to preserve it both orally and in written form. Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) never claimed to be the author of the statements in the Qur’an, Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) is simply a messenger of Allah SWT and the verses in the Qur’an was revealed to the prophet via Angel Gabriel (who acts as a messenger between Allah SWT and humans, the angel of Revelation).

“…when guidance comes to you from Me, whoever follows My guidance – there will be no fear upon them, nor will they grieve.” [Qur’an 2:38]

The Qur’an mentions many topics of science, including the origins of the universe, workings of celestial bodies, stages of embryonic human development, behavioural pattern in species, historical and archaeological truths and many more. None of the current discoveries about the Universe contradict a single verse of the Quran and every revelation about the Universe makes the words of the Qur’an more proportional to the knowledge and growth of that generation’s intellectual aptitude.?

In this blog, I will cover two scientific miracles of the Qur’an:?

? The Origin of the Universe including ‘Big Bang Theory’ and the expanding universe?

? Iron

The Origin of the Universe including ‘Big Bang Theory’ and The Expanding Universe

In 1922, Russian physicist and mathematician Alexander Friedmann proposed in his published paper “On the Curvature of Space”, that the universe could expand or shrink upon his study on Einstein’s “Theory of General Relativity” and exchanges with Einstein himself. He was aware that his studies had no astrological evidence and that all calculations were done by varying a few assumptions like the cosmological constant.?

In 1929, four years after Friedmann’s tragic death, American astronomer, Edwin Hubble made groundbreaking observations that changed the scientific world. Hubble concluded that the redshift of galaxies moving away from us has speeds that is directly proportional to their distance from us and from each other – proof of Friedmann’s theoretical work on the expansion of the universe. In 1966, a further discovery was made by US physicist Penzias and radio astronomer Wilson on the cosmic microwave background (CMB) radiation. CMB radiation is the oldest and first light in our universe, leftover radiation from the Big Bang or the time when the universe began. This discovery was key as it proposes us to the idea that the universe had a beginning. This is commonly known as the Big Bang Theory, proposed by Georges Lema?tre in 1927 which states that the universe began as a small, dense, primordial atom that disintegrated in an explosion and gave rise to space and time that is continuing till today.?

For fourteen hundred years, since the revelation of the Qur’an, Muslims had trouble understanding the verse:

“Have those who disbelieved not considered that the heavens and the earth were a [ratq] joined entity, and We [fataqa] separated them…. Then will they not believe? [Qur’an 21:30]

However, thanks to scientific and technological advancements, we can better understand the verses and know that the verses prove these scientific facts.?

The word “ratq” translates as ‘sewn to’ meaning ‘mixed in each, blended’ in Arabic. This refers to the “heaven and the earth” that were collected at one single point, the first moments of ‘Big Bang’. Then, this single point exploded – similarly as the phrase “fataqa” meaning ‘unstitched’. “Fataqa” implies to something that comes into existence by being teared apart, just as the explosion of the Big Bang caused matter to disunite.?

To further explain Hubble’s discovery, according to the known laws of physics, light heading towards a point of observation appears violet, and light moving away from that point appears with a reddish hue. A universe where things are moving further and further away from everything else implies an expanding universe. After the development of the radio telescope in 1937, further observations have been established to explain the expansion of the universe.?

This discovery has also been mentioned in the Qur’an:?

“And the heaven We constructed with strength, and indeed, We are [its] expander.” [Qur’an 51:47]

As we know now that the universe was first a cloud of ‘smoke’ (an opaque highly dense and hot gaseous composition) made of hydrogen and helium, and then the planets, the earth, the sun and the stars came about through a series of condensation and compressions. Scientist observe new stars forming out of the remnant of that ‘smoke’. Allah SWT has said in the Qur’an:

“Then He directed Himself to the heaven while it was smoke…” [Qur’an 41:11]

From this, we can further explain that the earth and the heavens above (the sun, the moon, stars, planets, galaxies etc) are formed from the same ‘smoke’ and that the earth and the heaven were once one entity.?

The Miracle of Iron

There are 114 surahs in the Quran and if you half that number, you get 57. Surah 57 is ‘al-Hadeed’, translated as ‘Iron’. Similarly, the centre of the Earth (inner core) is made of Iron.

“And We sent down iron, wherein is great military might and benefits for the people, and so that God may make evident those who support Him and His messengers unseen. Indeed, God is Powerful and Exalted in Might.” [Qur’an 57:25].

Verse 57:25, which mentions iron, contains the 26th mention of “God” in that chapter; that occurrence of the word “God” is also the 26th word of that verse (the dual occurrence of 26 could refer to a number of protons (26) and electrons (26) of Iron. Also, the most common isotope of iron on Earth is iron-56. It contains 26 protons, 26 electrons, and 30 neutrons, summing up to 82 particles. The sum of the chapter number (57) and verse (25) where iron is mentioned (57+25) is 82.

If you include the Basmalah, which is an unnumbered verse, then the word iron is the 26th verse of this sura, and it just happens that iron is the 26th element on the periodic table. Like Roman Numerals where every letter has a corresponding gematrical value, Arabic letters can be used in the same way. The word iron in Arabic, Hadeed has a gematrical value of 26, the atomic number of iron. While the gematrical value of Al-Hadeed has a gematrical value of 57.

It is well known amongst the scientific world that all the iron on Earth and the entire Solar System comes from outer space. Iron is produced during the formation of stars, due to repeated fusion of helium and other elements that are created in the core of the star (even the temperature of the sun is inadequate for the formation of iron). When the amount of iron exceeds a certain level in a star, the star can no longer accommodate it, and it eventually explodes in a ‘supernova’.?

As stated in the verse, iron was literally ‘sent down’ to benefit mankind. This astronomical finding about the origin of iron was not made until the end of 20th century, which is why this verse written in the 7th century is more astounding!

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This is not the limit of Allah SWT’s infinite knowledge. These are just two of many scientific miracles in the Quran.?

“This is the Book about which there is no doubt, a guidance for those conscious of God” [Qur’an 2:3]

*Allah SWT is an abbreviation for the Arabic phrase "Subhanahu wa ta'ala", used by Muslims to show respect to Allah, the one and only God in Islam. "Subhanahu wa ta'ala" means “glory be to Him, the exalted”.?

*PBUH is an abbreviation for ‘peace be upon him’. Muslims use this phrase after the name of all prophets in Islam to show respect. The Arabic phrase for PBUH is “Sallallahu alaihi wasallam”.?

Written by Tasfiha

Moderated by Adelene

References:?

Al-Mehri, A.B. and Qur'a?n Project (2010). The Qur’a?n : with Su?rah introductions and appendices : Saheeh International Translation. Birmingham, England: Maktabah Booksellers And Publishers.?

Donate Quran. (2024). Quran. [online] Available at: https://donatequran.com/download-quran/ [Accessed 26 Jan. 2025].

Joosse, T. (2024). May/June 1922: Friedmann Imagines a Changing Universe — to Einstein’s Chagrin. [online] Aps.org. Available at: https://www.aps.org/apsnews/2024/05/friedmann-universe-expand-contract.