Scientists' Comments On The Qur'an
Keith L. Moore
Professor Emeritus, Department of Anatomy and Cell Biology, University of Toronto. Distinguished embryologist and the author of several medical textbooks, including Clinically Oriented Anatomy (3rd Edition) and The Developing Human (5th Edition, with T.V.N. Persaud).
"For the past three years, I have worked with the Embryology Committee of King cAbdulaziz University in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, helping them to interpret the many statements in the Qur'an and Sunnah referring to human reproduction and prenatal development. At first I was astonished by the accuracy of the statements that were recorded in the 7th century AD, before the science of embryology was established. Although I was aware of the glorious history of Muslim scientists in the 10th century AD, and some of their contributions to Medicine, I knew nothing about the religious facts and beliefs contained in the Qur'an and Sunnah."[2]
At a conference in Cairo he presented a research paper and stated:
"It has been a great pleasure for me to help clarify statements in the Qur'an about human development. It is clear to me that these statements must have come to Muhammad from God, or Allah, because most of this knowledge was not discovered until many centuries later. This proves to me that Muhammad must have been a messenger of God, or Allah." [1]
Professor Moore also stated that:
"...Because the staging of human embryos is complex, owing to the continuous process of change during development, it is proposed that a new system of classification could be developed using the terms mentioned in the Qur'an and Sunnah. The proposed system is simple, comprehensive, and conforms with present embryological knowledge.
"The intensive studies of the Qur'an and Hadith in the last four years have revealed a system of classifying human embryos that is amazing since it was recorded in the seventh century A.D... the descriptions in the Qur'an cannot be based on scientific knowledge in the seventh century..."[1]
E. Marshall Johnson
Professor and Chairman of the Department of Anatomy and Developmental Biology, and Director of the Daniel Baugh Institute, Thomas Jefferson University, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA.
"...in summary, the Qur'an describes not only the development of external form, but emphasises also the internal stages, the stages inside the embryo, of its creation and development, emphasising major events recognised by contemporary science."
"As a scientist, I can only deal with things which I can specifically see. I can understand embryology and developmental biology. I can understand the words that are translated to me from the Qur'an. As I gave the example before, if I were to transpose myself into that era, knowing what I do today and describing things, I could not describe the things that were described...
I see no evidence to refute the concept that this individual Muhammad had to be developing this information from some place... so I see nothing here in conflict with the concept that divine intervention was involved in what he was able to write..." [1]
T.V.N. Persaud
Professor of Anatomy, and Professor of Paediatrics and Child Health, University of Manitoba, Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada.
"It seems to me that Muhammad was a very ordinary man, he couldn't read, didn't know how to write, in fact he was an illiterate...
We're talking about 1400 years ago, you have some illiterate person making profound statements that are amazingly accurate, of a scientific nature...
I personally can't see how this could be mere chance, there are too many accuracies and like Dr. Moore, I have no difficulty in my mind reconciling that this is a divine inspiration or revelation which lead him to these statements."
Yushidi Kusan
Director of the Tokyo Observatory, Tokyo, Japan.
"I say, I am very much impressed by finding true astronomical facts in Qur'an, and for us modern astronomers have been studying very small piece of the universe. We have concentrated our efforts for understanding of very small part. Because by using telescopes, we can see only very few parts of the sky without thinking about the whole universe. So by reading Qur'an and by answering to the questions, I think I can find my future way for investigation of the universe."
It wasn't meant as a slight, I thought Puff was quite inspirational. I guess you didn't watch the clip. So much for sharing enlightenment ;)
no, :)
i'll only convert when we decide to merry, but i'll stay racional, can assure i'll never reply that something is correct just because it's spoken on holly books :)
I'm going Morocco soon for her birthday :)
hope airline offers me ticket :)
Only God Can Judge Me
الله فقط يمكنه محاكمتي
I am you and you are me, if you love i love, if you suffer i suffer
أنا أنت, و أنت أنا, إذا أحببت نفسك أحببت نفسي, إذا عانيتَ عانيتُ
What happened to your muslim girl friend then? Is it already over because you did not convert?
Lol MD, i would never reply saying because it's written in "any" holly book, i'm a racional being and that's why i'm always asking people for not allowing themselfs to be fooled by scholars/clerics and always use your own brains to think.
The best example i can give are the muslim countries, only a few years ago, these countries, started to open more to the outside world, and some are really getting high standards of education like Bahrein, that has several international universities, but a few years before (around 10 years ago) muslim society was pretty closed on an inner circle, women rights have been improving but each time i hear Ahmenijad or extremists talking it makes me feal that they live apart from the remaining planet.
MD- I'm not muslim ;)
Only God Can Judge Me
الله فقط يمكنه محاكمتي
I am you and you are me, if you love i love, if you suffer i suffer
أنا أنت, و أنت أنا, إذا أحببت نفسك أحببت نفسي, إذا عانيتَ عانيتُ
Alexa, I don't expect any valuable explanation, because there isn't one. Thanks.
Southland, why do get personal if you have no arguments? Poor fellow.
Is your name "Puff"? Do you live by sea in a land called Hanalei?
http://noolmusic.com/youtube_videos/peter_paul_and_mary_-_puff_the_magic_dragon_-_music_video.php
Platao, and please don't say: we don't understand the Qur'an. It's all there but we are not able to see it. I don't buy that.
Platao, the list of headlines are the topics that astrophysicists are dealing with right now. It has to do with all the requirements, predictions, conclusions, and measurements that have to be studied in order to support the model of the creation and the state of the universe. I always hear muslims say, ah, yeah, but all of this is already mentioned in the Qur'an. However, they always come up with this after the scientists have found something. Why never before?? It is easy to interpret any suitable conspiracy into the one-dollar note after the dollar was created. But nobopdy was able to "predict" how it would look like beforehand.
So what I am asking is please explain to me from the Qur'an why a Blck Hole must be rotating or in other words is a Kerr object?
Did I make it clear for you, platao?
MD: Can you translate what u said into science for "dummies" please :)
Wizz: yes i agree, it's kinda hard to know what is God's/Allah words and what was written by humans in all holly books.
Only God Can Judge Me
الله فقط يمكنه محاكمتي
I am you and you are me, if you love i love, if you suffer i suffer
أنا أنت, و أنت أنا, إذا أحببت نفسك أحببت نفسي, إذا عانيتَ عانيتُ
These are the latest (last three days) accepted contributions to be published in scientific papers. Could you guys please tell me where I can find the answers to these topics in the Qur'an or the Bible, please.
On The Origin of the Blue Tilt in Extragalactic Globular Cluster Systems
Constraining Orbital Parameters through Planetary Transit Monitoring
Mid-infrared spectra of optically selected type 2 quasars
A Bursting Radio Transient in the Direction of the Galactic Center
The Atmospheric Signatures of Super-Earths: How to Distinguish Between Hydrogen-Rich and Hydrogen-Poor Atmospheres
Coreless Terrestrial Exoplanets
Ranges of Atmospheric Mass and Composition of Super Earth Exoplanets
Transiting Exoplanets with JWST
A Computational Tool to Interpret the Bulk Composition of Solid Exoplanets based on Mass and Radius Measurements
The Stellar Populations of M33's Outer Regions IV: Inflow History and Chemical Evolution
First Cosmological Constraints on Dark Energy from the Radial Baryon Acoustic Scale
Blazing trails: Micro quasars as head-tail sources and the seeding of magnetized plasma into the ISM
Unstable Disk Galaxies. II. The Origin of Growing and Stationary Modes
The effect of a stellar magnetic variation on the jet velocity
Dust properties and distribution in dwarf galaxies
Macroscopic Model of Geomagnetic-Radiation from Air Showers
The Environmental Dependence of Properties of Galaxies around the RDCSJ0910+54 Cluster at z=1.1
LSD and AMAZE: the mass-metallicity relation at z>3
An Iterative Method for Constructing Equilibrium Phase Models of Stellar Systems
Detection of 6.7 GHz methanol absorption towards hot corinos
Shear viscosity in neutron star cores
Proton-Rich Nuclear Statistical Equilibrium
X-ray pulsars through the eyes of INTEGRAL
Magnetic field measurements of O stars with FORS1 at the VLT
Neutrino Flavor Spin Waves
Gauging the cosmic microwave background
Varying-Alpha Cosmologies with Potentials
Instability of hyper-compact Kerr-like objects
Wiz: thks 4 your kind reply :)
I have been reading the Qur'an and been finding that Qur'an and the bible have several common stories or events always described the same way.
I'm aware that Arabs were advanced in the middle ages and that they tough the portuguese how to draw a navigation map, around 1530 we, portuguese, had already reached Japan.
I found following text in Wikipedia:
"The Qur'an, the central religious text of Islam, contains references to over fifty people also found in the Bible, typically in the same or similar narratives.
Western secular scholars have tended to analyze such similarities as evidence for the influence of pre-existing traditions on the composition of the Qur'an.[1] From a traditionalist Muslim perspective such a discussion can make no sense, as traditionally Muslims believe that the Qur'an was sent from Allah (God) through the angel Jibrael (Gabriel) to Muhammad in a series of revelations, and this perfect divinely-inspired text was then progressively dictated (word for word, and over and over again to make sure there were no mistakes) by Muhammad to the followers of Islam.
On the other hand, the stories in the Qur'an often contain more details and tend to concentrate more on the moral or spiritual significance of the story.[2] The Bible is also held to reflect true unfolding revelation from God; but revelation which had become corrupted or distorted (in Arabic: tahrif) in its handing down, both in its narrative and more importantly in its message; which necessitated the giving of the Qur'an to Mohammed, to correct this deviation. There are therefore guidelines set out in the way Muslims are to understand the Bible, the primary one being that the Qur'an is always more authoritative than the Bible. Therefore, anything in the Bible that agrees with the Qur`an is accepted, and anything in the Bible that disagrees with the Qur`an is rejected. Some things in the Bible are not talked about at all in the Qur`an; in regards to such passages, Muslims are instructed to neither believe nor disbelieve in them, but they are allowed to read them and pass them on if they wish to do so.
It may be argued that similarities between the two texts are only superficial in nature. Interpretation of scripture brings with it the underlying message of the text, and it is there that the interpreter will find systemic differences."
I'll try to find more stuff and will get back to you.
Always leurning :)
Only God Can Judge Me
الله فقط يمكنه محاكمتي
I am you and you are me, if you love i love, if you suffer i suffer
أنا أنت, و أنت أنا, إذا أحببت نفسك أحببت نفسي, إذا عانيتَ عانيتُ
My taking a quote directly from a Yahoo site demonstrates by example that you need to substantiate your sources when you advance an argument. RealSomeone doesn't even give us that honour. S/he just throws out some quotes without proof or support and expects them to be accepted as fact.
As for where they come from in Scripture, again I have to leave that to RSO. S/he says they come from the Quran but again offers no references or proof. I can point to examples of where the Islamic Scriptures get synergy from the Jewish Scriptures but I can't be sure if they are the same ones that RSO is thinking of.
And is the Quran the last of the Holy Books? It depends on your faith perspective. Some would say that it is the last, some would say that there are others since it was written, and some would say that it isn't even holy.
For it's part, Christianity has never definitively closed off the definition of the Canon (which is partly why the Roman Catholic Canon is larger than the Bible used in other churches). Christianity also says admits that God continues to speak in new ways to His people and thus while the basic message remains unchanged, the form and interpretation of that message for a particular time must continually be made new and fresh for each audience and generation.
As for other religions having "truths", (such as Mayans, etc.), of course this is often true. At the same time, religion has historically had a powerful effect of suppressing the truth. This is true for Christianity, Judaism, Islam, Hinduism and every other religion.
For centuries, Christianity denied equality to women and black people. It threatened Copernicus with excommunication for arguing that the sun was the center of the solar system. But it eventually found ways to repent of these sins and more accurately interpret the meaning of its Scriptures. This could only happen when it stopped seeing itself as a closed system ("I think God said this so it must be true and any other point of view is therefore wrong" or as umm-salayum said, "the signs are clear to see don't need much proof for it") and instead allowed science and logic and internal debate to challenge some of these "facts" that we always thought were true.
I would like to add that greeks and romans already had an astonishing knowledge regarding medacine.
A few days ago i saw on a tv program that scientists assembled a plane that was originally from egypt in the time of the Pharaohs.
The Mayas also had advanced knowledges in medicine and science.
Only God Can Judge Me
الله فقط يمكنه محاكمتي
I am you and you are me, if you love i love, if you suffer i suffer
أنا أنت, و أنت أنا, إذا أحببت نفسك أحببت نفسي, إذا عانيتَ عانيتُ
umm-salayum said wizmotr ...
so how can you take the answer on a yahoo site from a unknown person and say he or she is right, where is the source for that answer?!?
"Let's also keep in mind that most of Mohammed's ideas about creation (PBUH) were lifted from the Hebrew scriptures." and where is your proof for that statment?
Just wondering?"
hmmm wasn't the Qur'an the last of the holly books?If he was the last and according to itself Bible and Torah are also the word of God than, the Qur'am has some basis from them.
Only God Can Judge Me
الله فقط يمكنه محاكمتي
I am you and you are me, if you love i love, if you suffer i suffer
أنا أنت, و أنت أنا, إذا أحببت نفسك أحببت نفسي, إذا عانيتَ عانيتُ
Agree with wiz on some counts.
1. References: googled the info given here but could not find references to the articles mentioned above except in some blogs/sites that talk abt Islam. If someone could give a pointer to a webapge of a scientific institute/ a published paper/ a neutral agency that talks about the said studies it would indeed be helpful.
2. Holy Books of all relegions are full of colorful imageries, descriptions and cryptic references that can be assigned profound meanings to in different times. Say for eg, if u refer to some pagan myths u can find descriptions that cud fit a modern aircraft, WMD's, human cloning etc. I for one, have always felt awed by human imagination and literary endeavour of any era.
Then again, why do u need a HUMAN discovery/study to verify/ratify what u believe to be GOD's word??
I cited a source so you could review it and criticize it. I agree that it's not a good or credible source and I agree that my citation should be criticized. But THAT is the nature of logical discussion and debate! That fact that I told you where I got my "fact" allows you to question the quality of that fact, a respect and honour that realsomeone never showed us!
Please note that unlike some, I also do not say that "Allah said this so it must be so!" In reality, the most we can say (and even this needs to be supported since Mohammed was not a literate man and relied on others to record this words and actions) is that Mohammed PBUH apparently told someone that "God said this" to him. Even then, like any literature or verbal conversation, we need to discern the context, the meaning and the history of the words and ideas that are shared. No language is immune from misunderstandings and miscommunications whether it be Arabic or English. English words from even 50 years ago have very different meanings today. How much more so do we need to be discerning of the true meaning and not just the literal words behind our sacred Scriptures?
While I agree that a faith proposition cannot be proven, it can be supported with logic and reason. If we just accept everything that someone says is "from God", then we are like a reed blown back and forth by the winds of other people's opinion.
then its fart gas he gives them :-)
Oryx..its hard debating with someone who responds with comments like, "You guys need to understand Mr. RealsomeOne, he is the flying genie of QL. Sometimes, most of the time, the fuel he uses is partially compress fart gas."..
Personally i think ignoring insults is a better option...
lies? Like wizmotr he googled answer, to debate some one should be qualified in Medicine or when you do research get it from the correct source
I have one book The Quran & Modern Science compatible or incompatible and the author is Dr. Zakir Naik, he has taken
Dr. Keith's reference
Now we dont even know who is Sternchen
he can discuss the topic, like a human being!
Looks like you are only allowed to agree on this thread!
A topic open to praise only not debate!
Como dices: cada (- - -) tiene su cuento
or
chaqu'un a son gout!
if you have nothing to add, then no need to attack realsomeone.
You claim that he & his words are hilarious...well actually the most hilarious words I read on QL came from you!!! Remember? "God has a son"?
If you seek the the one and only true God, You shall know the Truth and the Truth shall set you free...
but your "patience" in responding to insults with maturity shows wisdom & understanding realsomeone.
Dr. Keith Moore is Professor Emeritus of Anatomy and Cell Biology at the University of Toronto, Toronto, Canada.
There, he was Associate Dean of Basic Sciences at the Faculty of Medicine and for 8 years was the Chairman of the Department of Anatomy.
In 1984, he received the most distinguished award presented in the field of anatomy in Canada, the J.C.B. Grant Award from the Canadian Association of Anatomists. He has directed many international associations, such as the Canadian and American Association of Anatomists and the Council of the Union of Biological Sciences.
Visit the below site for credentials of Keith Moore and Mr. Persaud
http://www.clinicalanatomy.org/honoredmembers.html
...You can't mean what you say unless you can say what you mean...
Sternchen is she qualified Doctor or scientist?? any dumb can participate in Yahoo answers
How dumb witzmore
Realsomeone, may Allah reward you for every reminder of Greatness of Allah and his prohet. And may Allah also reward you for putting up with the insults from ignorant ppl, Qatar is an Islamic coountry and there are whole alot of muslims on QL who do benefit from your posts, so brother, keep up the good work.
so how can you take the answer on a yahoo site from a unknown person and say he or she is right, where is the source for that answer?!?
"Let's also keep in mind that most of Mohammed's ideas about creation (PBUH) were lifted from the Hebrew scriptures." and where is your proof for that statment?
Just wondering?
For us Muslims we don't need proof after proof to believe in Allah.... it's just simple we believe in Allah and what was send down as a revelation to Muhammad(PBUH), to us the signs are clear to see don't need much proof for it masha allah!
Dont even bother realsome, its not worth it, each to their own..
OK. do you have something else to say? i bet you can define me more then i can myself? go ahead.
Poverty is not for the sake of hardship. No, it is there because nothing exists but God. Poverty unlocks the door -- what a blessed key!
- Jalaluddin al-Rumi
Is hilarious, when the best of the creme in Islamic studies, expose his controversy with true facts from the Koran.
You guys need to understand Mr. RealsomeOne, he is the flying genie of QL. Sometimes, most of the time, the fuel he uses is partially compress fart gas.
The source for all the holy sciptures is one ie God. So as muslims we do believe in the previously revealed books on David, Moses & Jesus (AS). So no muslim will deny any `fact' from these books.
ok you can argue how ever you want my friend.
Poverty is not for the sake of hardship. No, it is there because nothing exists but God. Poverty unlocks the door -- what a blessed key!
- Jalaluddin al-Rumi
The opening post in this thread contains no proof for the alleged comments by these listed academics. That in itself is un-academic. The source of these quotes is also not given. Googling some of these quotes reveals that they only exist on pro-Islamic proselytizing sites and no where else. I sincerely doubt their accuracy.
One author commented that:
Keith Moore was in the employ of the King Abdul Aziz University in Jeddah. His job was to interpret the many statements in the Qur’an and Sunnah referring to the human reproduction and prenatal development.
This writer went on to say that:
"1). Keith Moore is no scientist,
2). He has NOT published anything in any reputed journal about his work on Embryology.
2). Keith Moore has DONE NO RESERACH in Embryology.
3). Keith Moore was a Physician and very IMMATURE writer who coupled Q'uran to Embryology when he was employed by the former king Abdul Aziz."
http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20070613174129AAqVs0I
Let's also keep in mind that most of Mohammed's ideas about creation (PBUH) were lifted from the Hebrew scriptures. Any veracity of these facts in the Quran must also reflect positively on the authors of the Hebrew scriptures, a fact that many Muslims find loathsome.
Maybe Galileo, Da vinci or Darwin, could answer your questions better.
Hold on a minute, they are using wikipedia for the proper answer.
I was under the impression that there was a month more holy than Ramadan. Ramadan fasting is for 'mankind', yes?. Is there a fasting period/month for Allah?
A superb article! Two thumbs up!
A very interesting article and thought provoking..
Thanks
that has nothing to do with the science in the Quran.
It's a condition that Allah cause to have some of the mothers/infants !Like any other sickness or condition people are tested with!
Masha allah, here is a nice booklet online that talks about the science in the Quran ,
http://www.islam-guide.com/
Any explanation of the lethal condition known as pre-eclampsia?
***********
"There's this thing called being so open-minded your brains drop out". - Richard Dawkins
naturally and truly there is only one and everlasting Allah and only one everlasting book the Quran
southland, couple of links that focus on the suras where its mentioned..
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Qur'an_and_science
http://www.al-islam.org/about/contributions/humanreproduction.html
chapter 23
(12) Then placed him as a drop (of seed) in a safe lodging; (13) Then fashioned We the drop a clot, then fashioned We the clot a little lump, then fashioned We the little lump bones, then clothed the bones with flesh, and then produced it as another creation. So blessed be Allah, the Best of creators! (14)
chapter 41.
(10) Then turned He to the heaven when it was smoke, and said unto it and unto the earth: Come both of you, willingly or loth. They said: We come, obedie
(11) Then He ordained them seven heavens in two Days and inspired in each heaven its mandate; and We decked the nether heaven with lamps, and rendered it inviolable. That is the measuring of the Mighty, the Knower.
there is more.
Poverty is not for the sake of hardship. No, it is there because nothing exists but God. Poverty unlocks the door -- what a blessed key!
- Jalaluddin al-Rumi
So for those of us not familiar with the Quran which Sura are these?
Southland that will be Ramadan
Poverty is not for the sake of hardship. No, it is there because nothing exists but God. Poverty unlocks the door -- what a blessed key!
- Jalaluddin al-Rumi
Southland, what this article is saying is that scientist find it interesting that in the Quran(not hadeeth) theres " statements that were recorded in the 7th century AD, before the science of embryology was established...
He goes on to say "As a scientist, I can only deal with things which I can specifically see. I can understand embryology and developmental biology. I can understand the words that are translated to me from the Qur'an. As I gave the example before, if I were to transpose myself into that era, knowing what I do today and describing things, I could not describe the things that were described...
Hes going by facts..and as non muslim scientist, i dont see why he would say anything other than what he discovers, hes not going by faith, just facts..
Curious,
Which month is the most holy in the Muslim calendar?
yeah since they believe what they see that is why they are so impressed with what the Quran was able to tell before our scientists where able to see.
Poverty is not for the sake of hardship. No, it is there because nothing exists but God. Poverty unlocks the door -- what a blessed key!
- Jalaluddin al-Rumi
These scientists are of high calibre their respective fields.
No offense but most scientists live with blinders on.
For starter topic on believing in what you are seeing or more specifically not seeing start with Atomism.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Atomism
I can only assume that these Drs. are referring more to the Hadith and not the Quran specifically. Apparently Hadith were debated and written for up to 230 years after the death of Muhammad (PBUH).
the scientists are quoted from various parts of the Quran.
Poverty is not for the sake of hardship. No, it is there because nothing exists but God. Poverty unlocks the door -- what a blessed key!
- Jalaluddin al-Rumi
Inshallah more signs n facts will emerge until mankind is there on earth.
Nice article Realsome,
Jazakallah khair
great article realsomeone, food for thought..
Quite intersting realsomeone....
can you please quote the verses from Quran that these scientists are talking about?
Indeed Quran is the best holy book of knowledge.