Written and collected by Zia H Shah MD, Chief Editor of the Muslim Times

Sometimes, well-meaning Muslim scholars emphasize that the Quran is not a book of science and that we do not need to invoke science for its understanding and commentary. I agree that it is not a book of science but rather a book of theology emphasizing Monotheism, our accountability, and the afterlife. Nevertheless, we cannot do justice to it without bringing in information from what is generally considered a scientific domain in our day and age.

The Quran itself demands this position. In refuting allegations by some Christians, dating as back as the seventh century, that the Quran is plagiarized from the Bible, it argues:

The disbelievers say, ‘This (the Quran) can only be a lie he has forged with the help of others’––they themselves have done great wrong and told lies––and they say, ‘It is just ancient fables, which he has had written down: they are dictated to him morning and evening.’ Say, ‘It has been sent down by Him who knows the secrets of the heavens and earth. He is all forgiving, all merciful. (Al Quran 25:4-6)

It is indeed in showing that the Quran describes secrets of the heavens and the earth, many of which have been revealed by recent scientific progress that we can silence the critics. The verses that precede the above verses in Surah Furqan, present God as the Creator, as a proof of His divinity and uses it as also a proof against polytheism including refuting the divinity of Jesus, as claimed by some of the Christians:

Exalted is He who has sent the Differentiator down to His servant so that it may be a warning to all people. It is He who has control over the heavens and earth and has no offspring––no one shares control with Him––and who created all things and made them to an exact measure. Yet the disbelievers take as their gods things beneath Him that create nothing, and are themselves created, that can neither harm nor help themselves, and have no control over death, life, or resurrection. (Al Quran 25:1-3)

How the universe came to be is perhaps a metaphysical or philosophical question, but modern-day physicists and cosmologists have fully engaged in these discussions. There are books titled Universe from Nothing and other similar titles. The Quran frequently claims that God is the Creator of our universe and every single thing in the heavens and the earth glorifies Him. So, theology and establishing the attribute of creation for God cannot escape dealing with science.

Let me quote a verse from Surah Hashr that talks about God’s attribute of creation three times by using three related terms:

He is Allah, the Creator, the Maker, the Fashioner. His are the most beautiful names. All that is in the heavens and the earth glorifies Him, and He is the Mighty, the Wise. (Al Quran 59:24)

These attributes cannot be tackled without talking about laws of nature, mathematics, cosmology and physics.

The Quran also repeatedly describes God’s attribute of the Originator, for example:

He is the Originator of the heavens and the earth, and when He decrees something, He says only, ‘Be,’ and it is. (Al Quran 2:117)

And:

The Originator of the heavens and the earth! How can He have a son when He has no consort, and when He has created everything and has knowledge of all things? (Al Quran 6:101)

In Surah Luqman, Allah challenges those who worship other than the God of Monotheism:

He created the heavens without any visible support, and He placed firm mountains on the earth––in case it should shake under you––and He spread all kinds of animals around it. We sent down water from the sky, with which We made every kind of good plant grow on earth: all this is God’s creation. Now, show Me what your other gods have created. No, the disbelievers are clearly astray. (Al Quran 31:10-11)

These verses include a subtle reference to gravity, one of the four basic forces. Despite three centuries of investigation since Isaac Newton gave us a quantitative formula for gravity, physicists still don’t understand its reality, and humanity continues to be puzzled by it.

We could use these verses to refute not only any claim of polytheism but also atheists when they want to assign laws of nature, mathematics or platonic abstract objects with creative powers. They simply do not have the agency to create anything. Creator has to be a Being. Mathematical equations or laws of nature be they written in a computer, a paper or in platonic heaven simply cannot create or do anything on their own.

Monotheism and the afterlife are the two most important and common themes in the holy Quran. We have seen how important science is for discussing Monotheism in general and in the Quran. Now let us talk about afterlife.

Several times in the Quran, God presents His creativity as a proof or exhibit for the afterlife. For example:

Does not man see that We have created him from a mere sperm-drop? He disputes openly, producing arguments against Us, forgetting his own creation. He says, ‘Who can give life back to bones after they have decayed?’ Say, ‘He who created them in the first place will give them life again: He has full knowledge of every act of creation. It is He who produces fire for you out of the green tree, lo and behold, and from this you kindle fire. Has not He Who created the heavens and the earth the power to create the like of them?’ Yes, and He is indeed the Supreme Creator, the All-Knowing. Indeed, His command, when He intends a thing, is only that He says to it, ‘Be!,’ and it is. So Holy is He, in Whose hand is the kingdom of all things. And to Him will you all be brought back.’ (Al Quran 36:77-83)

And again in Surah Hajj we read:

O people, if you are in doubt concerning being raised up again, then consider that We created you from dust, then from a sperm-drop, then from clotted blood, then from a lump of flesh, formed and unformed. We cause that which We will to stay in the wombs for an appointed term, then We bring you forth as babes; then We cause you to grow that you may attain to your full strength. Then some of you die and some of you reach extreme old age, when after having acquired much knowledge you become empty of it. You observe the earth lose all its capacity, but when We send water thereon, it stirs and swells, and grows every kind of beauteous vegetation. This shows that Allah is Self-Subsisting and All-Sustaining, and that it is He Who brings the dead to life and that He has power over all things; and that the time appointed for everything is bound to come there is no doubt in it, and that Allah will raise up those who are in the graves. (Al Quran 22:5-7)

And again in Surah Bani Israel we read:

‘What? When we are turned to bones and dust, how can we be raised in a new act of creation?’ Do they not see that God, who created the heavens and earth, can create the likes of them [anew]? He has ordained a time for them–– there is no doubt about that–– but the evildoers refuse everything except disbelief. (Al Quran 17:98-99)

How can Muslims try to exclude science from our understanding of the Quran, when the scripture itself wants to keep it front and center?