Why does the Quran differ from science
in describing the universe?
The creation of the sky and the earth
Surah Al-Anbiya 21: 30-32 Have those who disbelieve not seen that the heavens and the earth were a joined entity, then We separated them, and We made from water every living thing. Will they not then believe? (30) And We placed firm mountains on the earth lest it should sway with them, and We made in it paths as passages that they might be guided. (31) And We made the sky a protected canopy, yet they turn away from its signs. (32)
Surah Al-Nazi'at 79: 27-30 Are you harder to create or the sky? He built it (27) He raised its structure and proportioned it (28) He darkened its night and brought out its day (29) And after that He spread the earth (30)
Surah Al-Ra'd 13: 2 Allah is the One who raised the heavens without pillars that you can see, then He established Himself over the Throne, and He subjected the sun and the moon; each runs for a specified term. He manages the affair; He details the signs so that you may be certain of meeting your Lord.(2)
Surah Al-Mulk 67: 3 He who created seven heavens in layers. You do not see in the creation of the Most Merciful any inconsistency; so return your vision: do you see any cracks? (3)
Surah Al-Hajj 22: 65 Have you not seen that Allah has subjected to you what is in the earth and the ships that sail through the sea by His command, and He holds back the sky from falling upon the earth except by His permission. Indeed, Allah is to the people Kind and Merciful. (65)
Surah At-Talaq 65: 12 Allah is the One who created seven heavens and of the earth the like of them; the command descends among them so that you may know that Allah is over all things Competent and that Allah has encompassed all things in knowledge. (12)
Surah Al-Mulk 67: 5 And indeed We have adorned the nearest sky with lamps and made them to stone the devils, and We have prepared for them the punishment of the blazing Fire. (5)
Exegesis of Ibn Kathir: Have they not seen (that the heavens and the earth were joined)? That is: all was connected, coherent, piled up, one above another at the beginning , then He split this from that. He made the heavens seven and the earth seven, and He separated between the lowest heaven and the earth with the air, so the sky rained and the earth brought forth vegetation; therefore He said: (And We made from water every living thing; will they not then believe?) meaning: while they witness creatures coming into existence gradually before their eyes, and that is evidence of the existence of the Maker, the Doer, the Chooser, the Able to do whatever He wills.
Exegesis of al-Qurtubi: His statement: Allah who created seven heavens and of the earth the like of them, indicates the perfection of His power and that He is able to resurrect and to hold to account. There is no disagreement that the heavens are seven, one above another; this is indicated by the Hadith of al-Isra' and others. Then He said: and of the earth the like of them, meaning seven. They differed about them in two opinions: the first, which is the view of the majority, is that they are seven earths layered, one above another, and between each earth and earth is a distance like between each heaven and heaven, and in every earth there are inhabitants from the creation of Allah. Al-Dahhak said: and of the earth the like of them means seven earths, but they are clamped one upon another without gaps, unlike the heavens. The first is more correct, for the reports indicate it in al-Tirmidhi, al-Nasa'i, and others….
Commentary: Is the sky a solid substance such that it would hold together with the earth until Allah separated them by His infinite power, or is it the atmosphere that surrounds the earth? Since the earth has mountains and valleys, after their separation, Allah saw that the surface of the sky had ridges, so He built it and proportioned it, that is, He gave it thickness. Then He raised it above the earth without pillars (that is, columns) and adorned it with lamps (a lamp is small and can be held in the hand, not a star, which is larger than the Earth), and the devils are spirits not affected by material things, so who holds the stars to stone the devils with them? And He made from each of them seven heavens and seven earths and separated between every heaven and earth with air, and because Allah is compassionate toward His servants, He held back the sky from falling upon the earth so that people would not perish. (Is this reasonable and consistent with science)
And in the Gospel in Isaiah 40: 22: the One who sits above the circle of the earth, and its inhabitants are like grasshoppers.
And in Job 26: 7: He stretches out the north over empty space and hangs the earth upon nothing.
Sunset and sunrise
Surah Al-Kahf 18: 83-91 They ask you about Dhu al-Qarnayn. Say, I will recite to you a mention of him.(83) Indeed, We established him upon the earth and gave him of everything a means.(84) So he followed a way (85) Until, when he reached the place of the setting of the sun, he found itsetting in a muddy spring, and he found near it a people. We said, O Dhu al-Qarnayn, either you punish them or adopt among them good conduct. (86)……… Then he followed a way (89) Until, when he reached the place of the rising of the sun, he found it rising upon a people for whom We had made no shelter from it. (90)
It is stated in al-Qurtubi’s exegesis: “Until, when he reached the place where the sun sets, he found it setting in a muddy spring.” ‘Asim, ‘Amir, Hamza, and al-Kisa’i read it as “hamiyah,” meaning hot. The rest read it as “hami’ah,” meaning abundant in sludge, which is black clay. You say: hama’tu al-bi’r hama’ (with sukun) when you remove its sludge. And hami’atal-bi’r hama’ (with vowel movement) when its sludge increases. It is also possible that “hamiyah” comes from hama’ah, with the hamza lightened and turned into ya. One may combine the two readings and say: it was hot and full of sludge. ‘Abd Allah ibn ‘Amr said: The Prophet—peace and blessings be upon him—looked at the sun when it set and said: “God’s blazing fire; were it not restrained by God’s command, it would burn whatever is on the earth.” Ibn ‘Abbas said: (My father taught me it as the Messenger of God—peace and blessings be upon him—taught him: in a muddy spring ; and Mu‘awiya said: it is “hamiyah.” ‘Abd Allah ibn ‘Amr ibn al-‘As said: I side with the Commander of the Believers. They set Ka‘b as a judge between them and said: O Ka‘b, how do you find this in the Torah? He said: I find that it sets in a black spring, which agreed with Ibn ‘Abbas.) The poet, Tubba‘ al-Yamani, said: Dhu al-Qarnayn before me was a Muslim king; kings obeyed him and prostrated. He reached the Wests and the Easts seeking the means of a matter from a wise guide. He saw the sun’s setting place at its sunset in a spring of khalb and tha’t, pitch-black. akhalb : clay; and tha’t: sludge. And harmad: black.
Comment: The Qur’an explicitly states regarding Dhu al-Qarnayn, “We said.” So how does God speak to him when He did not speak to His greatest Prophet and the Seal of the Messengers, and instead sent him an angel whose matter was in doubt and required confirmation from his wife and Waraqa ibn Nawfal (the heretical Christian)? Reached (that is, arrived at), found (that is, saw and was sure), spring (that is, a well with a diameter perhaps not exceeding 4 meters), muddy (black water—glory be to God—that did not evaporate from the heat), and he saw it as black, so it is not seawater as some shaykhs try to interpret “spring” as “sea,” because the waters of all the seas of the world are colorless. And he found near it a people (how did they not burn?). It is known that scientists estimate the size of the sun as more than 1,000,000 times the size of the Earth. Also, the sun rises over the whole world, not first upon a people who are naked.
The Thunder
Surah al-Ra‘d 13: 13 And the thunder glorifies His praiseand the angels out of fear of Him; and He sends the thunderbolts and strikes with them whom He wills; yet they dispute about God, and He is severe
Explanation of Al-Qurtubi: Thunder is an angel who drives the clouds, and the vapor of water is in the hollow of his thumb; he is entrusted with the clouds and directs them as he is commanded; he glorifies God. When the thunder glorifies, no angel remains in the heavens but that he raises his voice in glorification; then the rain descends. From him also: when he heard the sound of thunder he would say, “Glory be to the One for whom it glorifies.” Malik narrated from ‘Amir ibn ‘Abd Allah from his father that when he heard the sound of thunder he would say, “Glory be to the One whom the thunder glorifies by His praise and the angels out of fear of Him,” then he would say: “This is a severe warning for the people of the earth.” And it was said: It is an angel sitting on a throne between heaven and earth, with 70,000 angels to his right and the like to his left; when he turns to his right and glorifies, all of them glorify out of fear of God; and when he turns to his left and glorifies, all of them glorify out of fear of God.
The Stars
Surah al-Mulk 67: 5 And We have indeed adorned the nearest heaven with lamps and We have made them to stone the devils and We have prepared for them the punishment of the Blaze. (5)
Exegeses of al-Tabari And We have indeed adorned the nearest heaven with lamps and We have made them missiles for the devils: God—exalted be His praise—created these stars for three purposes: He created them as adornment for the nearest heaven, and to stone the devils, and as signs by which one is guided. Whoever interprets them otherwise has spoken from his own opinion, missed the mark, lost his portion, and ventured into what he has no knowledge of.
Comment: And it is known that the devils are spirits without bodies like ours that are affected by material things. The lamps are very distant stars; that is why they appear small, yet they are extremely large—larger than the sun. So who is it that would seize such a star to strike the devils with it?
The seven heavens and the seven earths
Surah Fussilat 41: 12 He completed them as seven heavens in two days, and He revealed in each heaven its command; and We adorned the nearest heaven with lamps and as protection. That is the determination of the All-Mighty, the All-Knowing.
Surah Nuh 71: 15 Have you not seen how God created seven heavens in layers?
Surah al-Isra’ 17: 44 The seven heavens, the earth, and whoever is in them glorify Him; there is nothing that does not glorify His praise, but you do not understand their glorification. Indeed, He is Forbearing, Forgiving.
Surah al-Baqarah 2: 29 He is the One who created for you all that is on the earth; then He turned to the heaven and fashioned them as seven heavens; and He is Knowing of all things.
Surah al-Mulk 67: 3 The One who created seven heavens in layers. You do not see in the creation of the All-Merciful any inconsistency; so return your gaze—do you see any rifts?
Exegesis of Al -Qurtubi: The Most High said: God who created seven heavens and of the earth the like of them—this indicates the perfection of His power and that He is able to resurrect and call to account. There is no disagreement that the heavens are seven, one above another; this is indicated by the hadith of the Night Journey and others. Then He said: and of the earth the like of them, meaning seven. There are two views about them: the first, which is the view of the majority, is that they are seven earths, layered, one above another, with a distance between each earth as between each heaven; and in every earth there are inhabitants from among God’s creation. Al-Dahhak said: and of the earth the like of them, meaning seven earths, but they are packed together, one upon another, without gaps, unlike the heavens. The first view is sounder, because the reports indicate it in al-Tirmidhi, al-Nasa’i, and others. Dear esteemed sir, why this contradiction with science, and does God not know of this discrepancy?
The Jews used to twist the word of God from its places, so He said to them, “Woe to those who call evil good and good evil, who put darkness for light and light for darkness, who put bitter for sweet and sweet for bitter,” because it leads to eternal destruction. If you believe what is mentioned, you are entirely free to believe what you will, but please do not call me an unbeliever (KAFER).