Scientists on the Qur'aan
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).
Dr. Moore was a former President of the Canadian Association of
Anatomists, and of the American Association of Clinical Anatomists. He
was honoured by the Canadian Association of
Anatomists with the prestigious J.C.B. Grant
Award and in 1994 he
received the Honoured Member Award of the American Association of Clinical
Anatomists "for outstanding
contributions to the field of clinical anatomy."
"For the past three years, I have worked with the Embryology
Committee of King Abdulaziz 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 7thcentury 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.
Author of over 200
publications. Former President of the Teratology
Society among other accomplishments. Professor Johnson began to take an
interest in the scientific signs in the Qur'an at the 7th Saudi Medical
Conference (1982), when a special committee was formed to investigate
scientific signs in the Qur'an and Hadith. At first, Professor Johnson refused
to accept the existence of such verses in the Qur'an and Hadith. But after a
dicussuion with Sheikh Zindani he took an interest and concentrated his
research on the internal as well as external development of the fetus.
"...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.
Author and editor of over
20 books, and has published over 181 scientific papers. Co-author of The Developing Human (5th Edition, with Keith
L. Moore).He received the J.C.B. Grant Award in 1991. Professor Peraud presented several research papers.
"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." [1]
Joe Leigh Simpson
Professor and Chairman of the Department of
Obstetrics and Gynaecology, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, Texas, USA.
He is the President of
the American Fertility Society. He has received many awards, including theAssociation of Professors of Obstetrics and Gynaecology Public
Recognition Award in 1992. Like many others,
Professor Simpson was taken by surprise when he discovered that the Qur'an and
Hadith contain verses related to his specialised field of study. When he met
with Sheikh Abdul-Majeed A.Zindani, he insisted on verifying the text presented
to him from the Qur'an and Hadith.
"... these Hadiths
(sayings of Muhammad) could not have been obtained on the basis of the
scientific knowledge that was available at the time of the 'writer'... It
follows that not only is there no conflict between genetics and religion
(Islam) but in fact religion (Islam) may guide science by adding revelation to
some of the traditional scientific approaches... There exist statements in the
Qur'an shown centuries later to be valid which support knowledge in the Qur'an
having been derived from God." [1]
Gerald C. Goeringer
Professor and
Co-ordinator of Medical Embryology in the Department of Cell Biology, School of
Medicine, Georgetown University, Washington DC, USA.
Sheikh Abdul-Majeed
A.Zindani met with Professor Goeringer and asked him whether in the history of
embryology was there any mention of the different stages of embryonic
development, or whether there existed any embryological texts at the time of
the Prophet. Sheikh Zindani also asked his opinion regarding the terms the
Qur'an uses to describe the different phases of fetal development. After
several long discussions, he presented a study at the 8th Saudi Medical
Conference:
"...In a relatively
few ayahs (Qur'anic verses) is contained a rather comprehensive description of
human development from the time of commingling of the gametes through
organogenesis. No such distinct and complete record of human development such
as classification, terminology, and description existed previously. In most, if
not all instances, this description antedates by many centuries the recording
of the various stages of human embryonic and fetal development recorded in the
traditional scientific literature." [1]
Alfred Kroner
Professor of the
Department of Geosciences, University of Mainz, Germany.
Professor Kroner is one of the world's most famous
geologists, becoming well known among his colleague
scientists for his criticisms against the theories of some of the major
scientists in his field. Sheikh Abdul-Majeed A. Zindani met with him and
presented several Qur'anic verses and Hadith which he studied and commented
upon.
"Thinking where Muhammad came from... I think it is almost
impossible that he could have known about things like the common origin of the
universe, because scientists have only found out within the last few years with
very complicated and advanced technological methods that this is the
case."
"Somebody who did not know something about nuclear physics
1400 years ago could not, I think, be in a position to find out from his own
mind for instance that the earth and the heavens had the same origin, or many
others of the questions that we have discussed here...
If you combine all these
and you combine all these statements that are being made in the Qur'an in terms
that relate to the earth and the formation of the earth and science in general,
you can basically say that statements made there in many ways are true, they
can now be confirmed by scientific methods, and in a way, you can say that the
Qur'an is a simple science text book for the simple man. And that many of the
statements made in there at that time could not be proven, but that modern
scientific methods are now in a position to prove what Muhammad said 1400 years
ago." [1]
Yushidi Kusan
Director of the Tokyo
Observatory, Tokyo, Japan.
Sheikh Abdul-Majeed A. Zindani presented a number of Qur'anic verses describing
the beginnings of the universe and of the heavens, and the relationship of the
earth to the heavens. He expressed his astonishment, saying that the Qur'an
describes the universe as seen from the highest observation point, everything
is distinct and clear.
"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." [1]
Professor Armstrong
Professor Armstrong
works for NASA and is also Professor of Astronomy, University of Kansas,
Lawrence, Kansas, USA.
Prof. Armstrong was
asked a number of questions about Qur'anic verses dealing with his field of
specialisation. He was eventually asked, "You have seen and discovered for
yourself the true nature of modern Astronomy by means of modern equipment,
rockets, and satellites developed by man. You have also seen how the same facts
were mentioned by the Qur'an fourteen centuries ago. So what is your opinion?"
"That is a difficult
question which I have been thinking about since our discussion here. I am
impressed at how remarkably some of the ancient writings seem to correspond to
modern and recent Astronomy. I am not a sufficient scholar of human history to
project myself completely and reliably into the circumstances that 1400 years
ago would have prevailed.
Certainly, I would like to leave it at that, that what we have seen is
remarkable, it may or may not admit of scientific explanation, there may well
have to be something beyond what we understand as ordinary human experience to
account for the writings that we have seen." [1]
William Hay
Professor of
Oceanogprahy, University of Colorado, Boulder, Colorado, USA.
Professor Hay is one of the best known marine scientist in the USA. Sheikh
Abdul-Majeed A. Zindani met with him and asked him many questions about the
marine surface, the divider between upper and lower sea, and about the ocean
floor and marine geology.
"I find it very interesting that this sort of information is
in the ancient scriptures of the Holy Qur'an, and I have no way of knowing
where they would have come from. But I think it is extremely interesting that
they are there and this work is going on to discover it, the meaning of some of
the passages."
And when he was asked
about the source of the Qur'an, he replied, "Well, I would think it must
be the divine being." [1]
Durja Rao
Professor of Marine Geology teaching at King
Abdulaziz University, Jeddah, Saudi Arabia.
Sheikh Zindani presented to Prof. Rao many verses dealing with his area of
specialisation, and asked: "What do you think of the existence of the
scientific information in the Qur'an? How could Prophet Muhammad(Peace be upon
him) have known about these facts fourteen centuries ago?"
"It is difficult to
imagine that this type of knowledge was existing at that time, around 1400
years back. May be some of the things they have simple idea about, but to
describe those things in great detail is very difficult. So this is definitely
not simple human knowledge. A normal human being cannot explain this phenomenon
in that much detail. So, I thought the information must have come from a
supernatural source." [1]
Tejatat Tejasen
Chairman of the
Department of Anatomy and is the former Dean of the faculty of Medicine,
University of Chiang Mai, Chiang Mai, Thailand
Professor Tejasen studied various articles concerning the Qur'an and modern
embryology. He spent four days with several scholars, Muslims and non-Muslims,
discussing this phenomenon in the Qur'an and Hadith. During the 8th Saudi
Medical Conference in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia he stood up and said:
"In the last three
years, I became interested in the Qur'an... From my studies and what I have
learned throughout this conference, I believe that everything that has been
recorded in the Qur'an fourteen hundred years ago must be the truth, that can be
proved by the scientific means.
Since the Prophet Muhammad could neither read nor write, Muhammad
must be a messenger who relayed this truth which was revealed to him as an
enlightenment by the one who is eligible creator. This creator must be God, or
Allah.
I think this is the time to say La ilaha illa Allah, there is no
god to worship except Allah (God), Muhammad rasoolu Allah, Muhammad is
Messenger of Allah...
The most precious thing I
have gained from coming to this conference is La ilaha illa Allah, and to have
become Muslim." [1]
Dr. Maurice Bucaille
Born in 1920, former
chief of the Surgical Clinic, University of Paris, has for a long time deeply
interested in the correspondences between the teachings of the Holy Scriptures
and modern secular knowledge.
He is the author of a best-seller, "The Bible, The Qur'an and
Science" (1976). His classical studies of the scriptural languages,
including Arabic, in association with his knowledge of hieroglyphics, have
allowed him to hold a multidisciplinary inquiry, in which his personal
contribution as a medical doctor has produced conclusive arguments. His work,
"Mummies of the Pharaohs - Modern Medical Investigations" (St.
Martins Press, 1990), won a History Prize from the
Académie Française and another
prize from the French National Academy of Medicine.
His other works
include: "What is the Origin of Man" (Seghers, 1988), "Moses and
Pharaoh, the Hebrews in Egypt", (NTT Mediascope Inc, 1994); and
"Réflexions sur le Coran" (Mohamed Talbi & Maurice Bucaille,
Seghers, 1989)
After a study which
lasted ten years, Dr. Maurice Bucaille addressed the French Academy of Medicine
in 1976 concerning the existence in the Qur'an of certain statements concerning
physiology and reproduction. His reason for doing that was that :
"...our knowledge of these disciplines is such, that it is
impossible to explain how a text produced at the time of the Qur'an could have
contained ideas that have only been discovered in modern times."
"The above observation makes the hypothesis advanced by those
who see Muhammad as the author of the Qur'an untenable. How could a man, from
being illiterate, become the most important author, in terms of literary
merits, in the whole of Arabic literature?
How could he then
pronounce truths of a scientific nature that no other human-being could
possibly have developed at that time, and all this without once making the
slightest error in his pronouncement on the subject?"
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