Science in Quran? ;) ]]
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Let's Examine THE QUR'AAN AND MODERN SCIENCE COMPATIBLE OR INCOMPATIBLE? By Dr. ZAKIR NAIK ISLAMIC RESEARCH FOUNDATION http://www.irf.net Author: Indian Agnostic (http://agniveer.com) Dr. Zakir Naik , in his book The Quran and Modern Science: Compatible or Incompatible? places certain quranic verses as evidence before us, in support of his claim that Quran and modern science are indeed compatible (The booklet can be downloaded from IRF Site) In this article, we will examine his arguments and evidences to ascertain if there is any truth to the claim or it is yet another propagandist stunt of Dr. Naik. This article is heavily inspired from the RATIONAL arguments/facts published on Islam-critiquing sites like FaithFreedom.org , Islam-Watch.org, AnsweringMuslims.org etc. So many a thanks to all of them for making the job a cinch :) [ *Extracts from Dr. Naik's book appear in shaded boxes below, followed by our response. Emphasis, underline ours] "In this booklet, I intend to give an objective analysis of the Muslim belief regarding the Divine origin of the Qur'aan, in the light of established scientific discoveries." Tall claim Dr. Naik ! Let's see how objective, factual and rational you have been in this work of yours "There was a time, in the history of world civilization, when 'miracles', or what was perceived to be a miracle, took precedence over human reason and logic. But how do we define the term 'miracle'? A miracle is anything that takes place out of the normal course of life and for which humankind has no Explanation" "However, we must be careful before we accept something as a miracle. An article in 'The Times of India' Mumbai, in 1993 reported that 'a saint' by the name 'Baba Pilot' claimed to have stayed continuously submerged under water in a tank for three consecutive days and nights. However, when reporters wanted to examine the base of the tank of water where he claimed to have performed this 'miraculous' feat, he refused to let them do so. He argued by asking as to how one could examine the womb of a mother that gives birth to a child. The 'Baba' was hiding something. It was a gimmick simply to gain publicity. Surely, no modern man with even the slightest inkling towards rational thinking would accept such a 'miracle' " Point well taken Dr. Naik! So, how about subjecting a Quranic miracle to a similar scrutiny. 1. Let's pick up a miracle claim of the Quran (Surah 57 Verse 1 ). This verse talks about the miracle of Prophet Muhammad splitting the moon in two!!! (Source: http://www.usc.edu/schools/college/crcc/engagement/resources/texts/muslim/quran/054.qmt.html#054.001 ) YUSUFALI: The Hour (of Judgment) is nigh, and the moon is cleft asunder. PICKTHAL: The hour drew nigh and the moon was rent in twain. SHAKIR: The hour drew nigh and the moon did rend asunder 2. Now ask yourself : If staying submerged in water for 3 days was 'baba pilots' gimmick to gain publicity, then what should we call Muhammad's claim of him splitting the moon in two? If a man can split moon into two parts from earth, what is the big deal if some other person remains submerged in water without oxygen? Which one is more preposterous of the two claims? Borrowing Dr. Naiks words: No modern man with even the slightest inkling towards rational thinking would accept any of these 'miracles'! The way Dr. Naik discards baba pilot staying under water for 3 days as irrational, we expect him to apply the same rationale in discarding Muhammad's miracle of splitting the moon in two. So Dr. Naik, when you get to read this, we expect you to treat the Quran the same way you treat baba pilot. Needless to say, a rational modern thinking man (and woman) would discard BOTH of these so-called 'miracles'. Appears as if we have already rendered Dr. Naiks booklet void. But anyways, for the sake of a more detailed postmortem, lets delve a bit deeper into Dr. Naiks arguments. THE CHALLENGE OF THE QUR'AAN "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."Muslims as well as non-Muslims agree that Al-Qur'aan is Arabic literature par excellence - that it is the best Arabic literature on the face of the earth. The Qur'aan, challenges mankind in the following verses: "And if ye are in doubt As to what We have revealed From time to time to Our Servant, then produce a Soorah 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 you cannot. Then fear the Fire Whose fuel is Men and Stones - Which is prepared for those Who reject Faith." [Al-Qur'aan 2:23-24] The challenge of the Qur'aan, is to produce a single Soorah (chapter) like the Soorahs it contains. The same challenge is repeated in the Qur'aan several times. The challenge to produce a Soorah, which, in beauty, eloquence, depth and meaning is at least somewhat similar to a Qur'aanic Soorah remains unmet to this day. Dr. Naik understands that literature and poetry are instruments of HUMAN expression and creativity. This implies that the brilliance or mediocrity of a literary work can only be attributed to a HUMAN and not to some DIVINE entity. Despite that understanding, he naively reproduces the Challenge of the Quran to prove it's Divinity. How can an instrument of human expression prove or disprove the DIVINITY of a text? It's impossible! Let's list down the facts that make the challenge of the Quran self-defeating and naive: 1. Literary excellence is no guarantee of divinity of a text. So It's futile to throw or accept this challenge, as it would not prove or disprove the divinity of the book even when the challenge is met! 2. The challenge builds on a flawed assumption that if no comparable work exists for a given work, then it must be Divine. By that logic, even Mona Lisa is from God and Meghadootam of Kalidas is the word of God because these masterpieces have no parallels. Right? 3. Another flaw in this challenge is that it sets the challenger as the arbitrator/judge. So any Tom, Dick and Harry with a bunch of his friends can defeat the author of the Quran. All they have to do, is to attest that their friend has written a surah better than the author of the Quran and we're done! 4. The biggest blunder of this challenge is that the author of the Quran was unaware of the almost zero structural impact of replacing nouns and pronouns with each other within certain statements/verses . For example, if we change "Muslims" with "kafirs" and "kafirs" with "Muslims" in any verse of the Quran, we would have created an ANTI-QURAN which matches exactly and undoubtedly with the Quran in literary excellence!!! [[And interestingly this new book, being divine (as it fulfills Allah's criterion of divinity which was to be something similar or better than Quran in literary excellence), will make Muslim friends along with Zakir Bhai shed tears as they will be now going to the hellfire for eternity and the Kafirs will be enjoying the houris (who were originally meant for Muslims) in everlasting heaven! In addition to it, Muhammad, being a non Muslim (as per new DIVINE book), ceases to be a messenger and thus Quran claimed to be revealed to him loses its divine status ]] 5. Finally, it's utterly dumb of a Creator to challenge his Creation to outdo Him. Why would a sensible creator do that? Imagine a car manufacturer (we like the car example because that's a favorite of Zakir Bhai) throwing challenge at the car to run above its maximum design speed! Such a manufacturer would need a brain check up as he seems to forget that it is HE ALONE who has put the limits to the speed of his car. If he is not sure about the speed limits of his car, it implies that he lacks complete knowledge of his own product! On the other hand, if he does know the speed limits of the car and still challenges it, he needs mental treatment. Thus either Allah is not omniscient or He needs medical attention. [[Here we would remind you of another eccentricity of the author of Quran in which He first made Adam knowledgeable keeping the angels deliberately dumb and then organized a GK competition between Adam and the illiterate angels! How fair!..Are you still looking for science in Quran? ;) ]] In one paragraph we found the irrationality of a quranic miracle, and in the next Dr. Naik offered us an irrational, preposterous challenge of Quran. I am afraid, as we investigate further...Would we end up concluding that Quran is not meant for rational persons at all? Allah forbid! [ PS: Dear reader, these are additional facts. Not necessary, but good to know in this context: • Many people have produced surahs like the Quran and few could tell the difference .Please Google about the furqan and suralikeit controversy to know more • Many Muslim as well as non-Muslim scholars DO NOT agree with the claim that Al-Quran is literature par excellence.