Written and collected by Zia H Shah MD

Abstract

Modern Quranic exegesis has increasingly engaged with the natural sciences, as contemporary Muslim thinkers seek harmony between scripture and scientific knowledge. This paper explores how science has influenced Quranic commentary in recent decades, focusing on contributions by figures like Dr. Maurice Bucaille, Dr. Zia H. Shah, and others. It provides an overview of the trend of “scientific exegesis” in Islam, then examines three key scientific domains—cosmology, embryology, and geology—where modern discoveries intersect with Quranic verses. Through these case studies, we illustrate how Muslim commentators interpret the Qur’an’s description of the cosmos (e.g. the Big Bang and cosmic expansion), human embryonic development, and the earth’s geological features (such as mountains) in light of contemporary science. The discussion highlights the use of scientific methodology and findings to enrich tafsīr (Quranic interpretation), often as an apologetic response to secular critiques. Written from a Muslim perspective, the analysis demonstrates that many believers view the convergence of Quran and science as evidence of the Qur’an’s timeless divine wisdom. A concluding epilogue reflects on the broader themes of faith, reason, and the pursuit of knowledge in modern Quranic commentary.

Introduction

In the modern era, Muslim scholars and writers have increasingly looked to science as both a tool and a testimony in interpreting the Qur’an. The rise of this approach—often termed tafsīr ʿilmi (scientific exegesis) or the search for iʿjāz ʿilmi (scientific miracles in the Qur’an)—reflects a broader desire to reconcile religious teachings with contemporary knowledge. Far from seeing science as a threat, many modern commentators argue that scientific inquiry can support and even vindicate the Qur’an’s message thequran.love thequran.love. Dr. Zia H. Shah, for example, contends that Muslims should welcome science in religious discourse, warning that “if we disallow science in the matters of religion, we have, as a matter of fact, disallowed reason and logic… and religion becomes no more than blind faith in a set of dogma.” thequran.love. This perspective echoes a long-standing Islamic ethos that true revelation and true science, as twin manifestations of God’s truth, cannot ultimately conflict.

The modern emphasis on science in Quranic commentary can be traced back to the late 19th and especially the mid-20th century. Under colonial pressures and the ascendancy of Western science, scholars like Sir Sayyid Ahmad Khan and Muhammad Abduh in the 1800s began reinterpreting scriptural passages to show compatibility with natural laws zygonjournal.org zygonjournal.org. However, it was in the latter half of the 20th century that the “scientific miracles” narrative gained global popularity among Muslims. A landmark was Dr. Maurice Bucaille’s 1976 book The Bible, The Qur’an and Science, which argued that the Qur’an contains precise descriptions of natural phenomena that were only verified by modern science centuries later zygonjournal.org. Bucaille highlighted examples in embryology, astronomy, and the expansion of the universe, asserting that such verses demonstrate the Qur’an’s divine origin zygonjournal.org. His work sparked what some call the “Bucailleist” school of thought – a wave of Muslim apologists and commentators who comb through the Qur’an for references to scientific facts. Figures such as Zaghloul El-Naggar and Harun Yahya (Adnan Oktar) further popularized claims of scientific miracles in the Qur’an in the 1980s and 1990s. During this period, identifying Qur’anic allusions to modern discoveries became a prominent apologetic strategy to bolster faith and invite skeptics to Islam zygonjournal.org. Preachers and writers presented Islam as a religion deeply compatible with science, often in direct response to secular or atheist critiques that portrayed religion as outdated zygonjournal.org.

At the same time, this approach has not been without debate. Some Muslim scholars caution against retroactively reading scientific theory into scriptural verses without solid basis zygonjournal.org. They remind that the Qur’an is not a science textbook and warn that overzealous “scientific tafsīr” can lead to strained interpretations if not carefully grounded. Nonetheless, even many cautious scholars acknowledge that the Qur’an’s language often remarkably aligns with scientific realities, at least at the level of broad hints or metaphors. The absence of pre-modern scientific errors in the Qur’an is frequently noted as significant thequran.love. For instance, verses describing human development omit the folktales and misconceptions about reproduction that were common among ancient physicians, which is striking given the 7th-century context thequran.love. Thus, while urging moderation, scholars still see value in exploring how modern knowledge can illuminate the Qur’an’s signs (āyāt). Institutions like the Yaqeen Institute for Islamic Research have engaged these topics in recent years, aiming to approach “Qur’an and science” narratives with academic rigor. The prevailing sentiment among contemporary Muslim thinkers is that sound science and authentic Qur’anic interpretation enrich one another: scientific discoveries can act as a lens to appreciate the wisdom of scripture, and the Qur’an in turn provides a meaningful framework to understand the cosmos and our place in it thequran.love thequran.love.

In the following sections, we provide a general overview of science’s role in modern Quranic commentary and then delve into focused discussions on three scientific domains: cosmology, embryology, and geology. In each domain, we examine key Qur’anic verses that have been reinterpreted or highlighted in light of modern scientific insights. We will also note how these interpretations often serve as responses to challenges posed by skeptics—demonstrating how scientific facts are used to defend the Qur’an against claims of error or irrelevance. Throughout, the tone remains academic yet rooted in a Muslim perspective that views the convergence of Qur’anic revelation and scientific discovery as a sign of the Qur’an’s enduring divine guidance.

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