Refuting the scientific error claims
Introduction: Unlike any other religious scripture, the Quran in chapter 4:82 invites all of mankind to find error with it. This is what makes the Quran unique. Many critics have answered this call, however none seem to be produce anything of substance. Their vain attempts, have backed fired upon them - because it further proves that it is impossible to disprove the Quran. These critics have played a vital role in help proving the Quran is from God. Please examine the evidence for yourself:| Scientific Error Claims | Responses |
|---|---|
Claim #1: Muhammad(P) claimed that Adam was ninety feet tall, and that people have been shrinking ever since Adam. If this were true, we would expect paleontologists to find fossils of extraordinarily large femurs and skulls. But they don’t. | RESPONSE |
Claim #2: The Quran states that man was created from a clot, this is false!"We have created you from dust, then from a Nutfah, then from a clot (a piece of thick coagulated blood) then from a little lump of flesh" Chapter 22:05 | RESPONSE |
Claim #3: The Quran states that Zul-qarnain was able to reach the place of the setting...and that he found it setting in a pool of murky water. What? That is scientifically wrong!: "Until, when he reached the setting place of the sun, he found it setting in a spring of black muddy (or hot) water" Chapter 18:86 | RESPONSE |
Claim #4: The Quran states that sperm comes from between the backbone and ribs. This is scientifically false!:"So let man see from what he is created! He is created from a water gushing forth Proceeding from between the back-bone and the ribs" Chapter 86:6-9 | RESPONSE |
Claim #5: The Quran gives the wrong sequence of embryonic development - it says bones comes before the muscles. This is false! Muscles comes before the bones: "Then We made the Nutfah into a clot (a piece of thick coagulated blood), then We made the clot into a little lump of flesh, then We made out of that little lump of flesh bones, then We clothed the bones with flesh..." Chapter 18:86 | RESPONSE |
Claim #6: The Quran states that ants talked to each other, everyone knows ants don't talk! They use chemicals to communicate: "Till, when they came to the valley of the ants, one of the ants said: "O ants! Enter your dwellings, lest Sulaiman (Solomon) and his hosts crush you, while they perceive not." Chapter 27:18 | RESPONSE |
Claim #7: There is a hadith states it's okay to drink water with a dead donkey carcass floating in it! This is, of course, totally false. Water can be filled with deadly germs. | RESPONSE |
Claim #8: The Prophet said, "If a house fly falls in the drink of anyone of you, he should dip it (in the drink), for one of its wings has a disease and the other has the cure for the disease."But there are many bacteria and parasites that infest the fly, making flies a major factor in spreading many diseases! | RESPONSE |
Claim #9: The Quran teaches that the earth is flat in chapter 79:30! "And after that He spread the earth". This of course is false. | RESPONSE |
Claim #10: Muhammad(P) said, " If a man has sexual intercourse with his wife and gets discharge first, the child will resemble the father, and if the woman gets discharge first, the child will resemble her."This of course is false, if man happens to climax before the woman, it will not affect the resemblance of the child. | RESPONSE |
Claim #11: Prophet Muhammad(P) said that the believer drinks from 1 intestine, while the non-believer drinks from 7 intestines. | RESPONSE |
Claim #1:
Muhammad(P) claimed that Adam was ninety feet tall, and that people have been shrinking ever since Adam. If this were true, we would expect paleontologists to find fossils of extraordinarily large femurs and skulls. But they don’t.
The hadith he is quoting is as follows:
This claim shows ignorance of science. Let's read what the Cambridge University experts has to say:Sahih Bukhari Volume 004, Book 055, Hadith Number 543
Narrated Abu Huraira:
Narated By Abu Huraira : The Prophet said, "Allah created Adam, making him 60 cubits tall...People have been decreasing in stature since Adam's creation.
Now let's take a look at the skulls like they wants us to:Cambridge University experts say humans are past their peak and that modern-day people are 10 per cent smaller and shorter than their hunter-gatherer ancestors
Notice the following:
In conclusion, what started out as an attempt to show a scientific error has backfired and has proven the scientific accuracy of Muhammad(P)!
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The Quran states that man was created from a clot, this is false!"We have created you from dust, then from a Nutfah, then from a clot (a piece of thick coagulated blood) then from a little lump of flesh" Chapter 22:05
Response:
The verse of the Quran in question is Chapter 22:05:
This verse is speaking of the creation of Adam because the verse states we created you from dust. The Quran identifies Adam as being created from dust in Chapter 3:59:O mankind! If you are in doubt about the Resurrection, then verily! We have created you (i.e. Adam) from dust, then from a Nutfah (mixed drops of male and female sexual discharge i.e. offspring of Adam), then from a clot (a piece of thick coagulated blood) then from a little lump of flesh...
Please also read Chapter 23:12-14 which discusses Adam's creation. Therefore, Adam was created out of dust, then God made him as a nutfah then God made the nutfah into a clot. Of course, these are not embryonic stages since Adam had no mother to begin with!Truly, the likeness of Jesus, in God's sight, is as Adam's likeness; He created him of dust, then said He unto him, 'Be,' and he was.
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Claim #3:
The Quran states in Chapter 18:86 that Zul-qarnain was able to reach the place of the setting...and that he found it setting in a pool of murky water. What? That is scientifically wrong!: 
Until, when he reached the setting place of the sun, he found it setting in a spring of black muddy (or hot) water
Response:
I believe this has already been refuted here, however there are multiple ways to debunk this claim. The main problem with this argument, is that this verse has been taken out of context. please read the verse right before it, Chapter 18:84:
Zul-qarnain was able to reach the place of the setting of the sun because God gave him the means for everything. In other words, God did a miracle for Dhul-Qarnain. Please pay close attention to the definition of a miracle:Verily, We established him in the earth, and We gave him the means of everything...
When we read "he found IT SET IN a spring of murky water", because we are dealing with miracles as stated in previous verse - 18:84, this means we should not try to explain these things by the laws of nature. Therefore, this claim #3 is illogical.An event that appears inexplicable by the laws of nature
The same holds true for the statement "he found it setting in a pool of murky water", again, we should not try to use the laws of nature to explain a miracle. But we should also keep in mind, that if we use a healthy does of common sense, this verse is describing HIS personal experience and how it appeared to him. The author is not stating how the universe works.
91. Abu Dharr narrated, “Once I was with the Prophet (riding) a donkey on which there was a saddle or a (piece of) velvet. That was at sunset. He said to me,‘O Abu Dharr, do you know where this (sun) sets?’ I said, ‘Allah and His Messenger know better.’ He said, ‘It sets in a spring of murky water, (then) it goes and prostrates before its Lord, the Exalted in Might and the Ever-Majestic, under the Throne. And when it is time to go out, Allah allows it to go out and thus it rises. But, when He wants to make it rise where it sets, He locks it up. The sun will then say, “O my Lord, I have a long distance to run.”
Allah will say, “Rise where you have set.” That (will take place) when no (disbelieving) soul will get any good by believing then.’” (Ahmad) (The Translation of: The Meaning of the Fifty Hadith of Jame Al-uloom Wal-Hakim (“A Compilation of Knowledge and Wisdom”), compilation by Ibn Rajab al-Hanbali (736 H-795 H), translated and spotlights by Yaseen Ibrahim al-Sheikh (Vol. 1), A Selection of Authentic Qudsi (Sacred) Hadiths, translated by Muhammad M. ‘Abdul-Fattah, edited by Reima Youssif Shakeir (Vol. 2) [Dar Al-Manarrah for Translation, Publishing & Distribution], pp. 319-320)http://abdurrahman.org/sunnah/50Hadith-JameAl-UloomWal-Hikam-selectionAuthenticQudsi-ibnRajab-336p.pdf The sun going down into murky (warm water) is part of a process or series of actions. However, once we understand this process, then we will see that there is no scientific error because science can not be logically applied here. For example, one of the series of actions for this processes is the following: The sun will then say, “O my Lord, I have a long distance to run.” This happens after it goes down in murky waters. This is a supernatural event because the sun talking is not something we can understand. The laws of science as we know it do not apply here because our knowledge is very limited and can not give us any information on this issue, it can not confirm it nor deny it. Therefore, if you must understand the entire process, and it is impossible to understand the process scientifically, then you can not claim there is a scientific error. Please also pay attention to the definition of a miracle: The Quran has already exposed this kind of false argument in chapter 3:7
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Claim 4:
The Quran states that sperm comes from between the backbone and ribs. This is scientifically false!: "So let man see from what he is created! He is created from a water gushing forth Proceeding from between the back-bone and the ribs" Chapter 86:6-9
Response:
The only problem here... is that the word "sperm" is no where to be found in this verse! Here are the versesChapter 86:6 and verse 7 in Arabic: of the Quran in Arabic:
The word for sperm in Arabic is mani, which is no where to be found in this verse. But the word used in this verse is ma which means water. This of course, is a statement which you can neither prove nor disprove. There is no way you can prove that molecule of water from this region was ever used in human reproduction.He was created from a fluid, ejected. Emerging from between the backbone and the ribs.
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Claim 5:
The Quran gives the wrong sequence of embryonic development - it says bones comes before the muscles. This is false! Muscles comes before the bones: "Then We made the Nutfah into a clot (a piece of thick coagulated blood), then We made the clot into a little lump of flesh, then We made out of that little lump of flesh bones, then We clothed the bones with flesh..." Chapter 23:19
Response:
Once again, this verse is taken out of context. This verse is talking about the creation of Adam. Please read the verses just before it,here are the verses: Chapter 23:12-14:
Who is him as mentioned in this verse? It is Adam. Adam was created from clay in the following inChapter 38:71:And indeed We created man (Adam) out of an extract of clay (water and earth).Thereafter We made him (Referring to Adam!) as a Nutfah in a safe lodging.
Therefore, Adam was created out of clay, then God made him as a nutfah then God made the nutfah into a clot. Of course, these are not embryonic stages since Adam had no mother to begin with!(Remember) when your Lord said to the angels: "Truly, I am going to create man from clay".
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Claim 6:
The Quran states that ants talked to each other, everyone knows ants don't talk! They use chemicals to communicate: "Till, when they came to the valley of the ants, one of the ants said: "O ants! Enter your dwellings, lest Sulaiman (Solomon) and his hosts crush you, while they perceive not." Chapter 27:18
Response:
According to the following article, Hills are alive with the sound of ants — talking to each other we reading the following:
But the main problem with this argument, is that this verse has been taken out of context. please read the verse right before it, Chapter 27:16:Advances in audio technology have enabled scientists to discover that ants routinely talk to each other in their nests... "
"The astonished researchers, who managed to make the first recordings of queen ants “speaking”, also discovered that other insects can mimic the ants to make them slaves.
The imporant point here, is that God did a miracle for Solomon as the Quran states, "on us have been bestowed all things..." Please pay close attention to the definition of a miracle:And Sulaiman (Solomon) inherited (the knowledge of) Dawud (David). He said: "O mankind! We have been taught the language of birds, and on us have been bestowed all things...
Because we are dealing with miracles as stated in 27:16, this means we should not try to explain these things by the laws of nature.Therefore, this claim #6 is illogical.An event that appears inexplicable by the laws of nature
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Claim 7:
The following hadith states it's okay to drink water with a dead donkey carcass floating in it! This is, of course, totally false. Water can be filled with deadly germs. Response:
Here is the hadith in question:
Sunan Abu-Dawud, Book 1, Number 0067:There are 5 main points to be made here:
Narrated AbuSa'id al-Khudri: I heard that the people asked the Prophet of Allah (peace_be_upon_him): Water is brought for you from the well of Buda'ah. It is a well in which dead dogs, menstrual clothes and excrement of people are thrown. The Messenger of Allah (peace_be_upon_him) replied: Verily water is pure and is not defiled by anything.
1. The people who raise this type of objection must live in a shoebox. There are millions of people in the slums of Indiawho drink out of water like this every day as we can see in the picture on the left hand side.
Drinking from putrid stagnant water is a matter of life or death. If they do not drink from these water sources, they will surely die. The same holds true for the Arabian desert, which is one of the most arid and inhosipitable places on earth, which is known for it's scarcity of water. I many cases, there are no other viable drinking source other than this available. Therefore, there are no other options.
Drinking from putrid stagnant water is a matter of life or death. If they do not drink from these water sources, they will surely die. The same holds true for the Arabian desert, which is one of the most arid and inhosipitable places on earth, which is known for it's scarcity of water. I many cases, there are no other viable drinking source other than this available. Therefore, there are no other options.
2. The Discovery channel and the internet are filled with survival shows such as Dual Survival and Man vs. Wild in which survival experts drink from stinking putried water with dead animals in it and they show you how to do it. Therefore, water sources with dead animals are a viable and vital drinking source. These survival experts literally walk up these water sources and pose the same indentical question and then show you the different techniques on how to drink that water.
Quoting Survival Expert Bear Grylls:Important point here - drinking from putrid stagnant water is a matter of life or death. If they do not drink from these water sources, it will surely result in death.When you're in the desert, even filthy, stinking water is a welcome sight. See how Bear Grylls creates a filtration system in order to drink from a stagnant spring.
3. Please read the following question submitted to the Australian Department of Health's brochure, Your private drinking water supply, page 8:
4. Every society knows how to treat and drink water. If they are ignorant of this, they will die. Therefore, logic dictates that this should be your presuppostion before you read this hadith. The hadith litriture do not document these types of non-religious related issues, such as daily survival skills. But if we use a health dose common sense we will realize that they will not live to see their 1st birth day if they did not have techniques for water purification.What should I do if I find a dead possum or bird in my tank? A dead animal in your tank will not necessarily cause illness if you drink the water, but it is best to drain all water from the tank as a precaution.
Therefore, the Muslims were not asking Muhammad(P) about this issue from a scientific point of view, they already know the answers because these daily survival skills have been passed down from generation to generation. Rather the Prophet Muhammad(P) advised them from a religous point of view, not a scientific point of view. They wanted to know if it was sinful (haram) or permissible(halal) in the eyes of God to drink this water.
5. The New Testament teaches the same thing as we read in Mark 7:18 (KJV) :
Point to be noted - why don't people jump up and say "hey! this is a scientific error! If you consume rotten meat you will become very sick!" Well, any Christian will retort, no.. no.. you see the gospel author is not speaking from a medical point of view, but rather spiritually, that God does not see any food sinful to consume. Therefore, we should not hold a dishonest double-standard when it comes to Islam. We should allow the same reasoning to be applied to this hadith in question - drinking putrid stagnant water "can not defile him", as the Bible teaches, especially when your life depends on this kind of water source.And he saith unto them, Are ye so without understanding also? Do ye not perceive, that whatsoever thing from without entereth into the man, it cannot defile him; Because it entereth not into his heart, but into the belly, and goeth out into the draught, purging all meats?
In conclusion, here are a review of the 5 main points:
✔ In order to live in the desert, you must learn how to drink from putrid stagnant water or else it will mean certain death.
✔ The Arabs were masters in desert survival, the already knew how to drink from this water source.
✔ They did not come to Muhammad(P) to see if it was ok to drink from this water source from a scientific point of view.
✔ Muhammad(P) was giving them advice from a religious point of view - that there is no water which is sinful to consume.
✔ The New Testament teaches the same thing - that which enters man "can not defile him".
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Claim 8:
The Prophet said "If a house fly falls in the drink of anyone of you, he should dip it (in the drink), for one of its wings has a disease and the other has the cure for the disease."But there are many bacteria and parasites that infest the fly, making flies a major factor in spreading many diseases!
Response:
The hadith states:
Volume 4, Book 54, Number 537:It is important to note, that this hadith DOES NOT STATE TO DRINK IT. The hadith is simply pointing out that there is a cure for a disease contained in the fly. let us see what scientists at Macquarie Universityare saying now about the fly:
Narrated Abu Huraira: The Prophet said "If a house fly falls in the drink of anyone of you, he should dip it (in the drink), for one of its wings has a disease and the other has the cure for the disease."
Therefore, scientists are looking for antibiotic on the surface of the fly. They discovered that their larvae all showed antibacterial properties. In conclusion, some people have a tendecy to jump to conclusions, such as the hadith states to drink it, or that the Quran is talking about a specific disease or all diseases. I would like to remind us all that we must not read into the text what is not there, nor make baseless assumptions."The surface of flies is the last place you would expect to find antibiotics, yet that is exactly where a team of Australian researchers is concentrating their efforts. Working on the theory that flies must have remarkable antimicrobial defences to survive rotting dung, meat and fruit, the team at the Department of Biological Sciences, Macquarie University, set out to identify those antibacterial properties manifesting at different stages of a fly’s development. Our research is a small part of a global research effort for new antibiotics, but we are looking where we believe no-one has looked before, said Ms Joanne Clarke, who presented the group’s findings at the Australian Society for Microbiology Conference in Melbourne this week. The project is part of her PhD thesis."
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Claim 9:
The Quran teaches that the earth is flat in chapter 79:30!:"And after that He spread the earth".
This of course is false.
Response:
If we read the following 5 translations of Chapter 79:30, NONE of them translates this verse that the earth is flat:
The earth being spherical and spread out at the same time does not contradict each other. The spherical earth is soo vast compared to humans that it is indeed spread out for life. The earth being "spread" is common sense and does not need any kind of explanation. It is important to point out that when we say that the earth is spherical, it is round in relations to the universe. However, in relations to man, then the earth is indeed flat. If the earth was not flat in relations to humans, then we would fall off the earth. However, this verse does not speak of the shape of the whole earth. There is no verse in the Quran which states that the shape of the earth is flat. Therefore we should not make these false assumptions into the text.Muhsin Khan: And after that He spread the earth;
Yusuf Ali: And the earth, moreover, hath He extended (to a wide expanse);
Pickthal: And after that He spread the earth,
A. J. Arberry: and the earth -- after that He spread it out
Sahih International: And after that He spread the earth.
Finally, there is a dishonest double-standard at play here. When engineers, scientists say the earth is "spread out" there is no problem with that. No one jumps up and say, "hey, don't you know the earth is flat?". Here are some examples of people in the scientific community using this phrase.
Popular Mechanics July 1929 "The Song of the Motor" pg 95 states:
Robert Ruhl, Medford Mail Tribune, July 26, 1919, page 4:by such careful procedure the crank-cases are bought inot shape without strain, machined thinner and lighter with no sacrifice of strength, worked slowly to the point where the finished piece is ready to play its part in the reliable performance of the motor, when the earth is spread out like a relief map far below the plane.
Supplement: Flying as a Sport An article by Wilbur Wright in Scientific American, February 29, 1908 :You are a mile or so in the air, and the earth is spread out below in remarkable peace, beauty and geometrical precision
The earth is spread out before the eye with a richness of color and beauty of pattern never imagined by those who have gazed at the landscape edgewise only.
If others are free to use this phrase without question, then we should not hold a double-standard with the author of the Quran.
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Claim 10:
Muhammad(P) said, " If a man has sexual intercourse with his wife and gets discharge first, the child will resemble the father, and if the woman gets discharge first, the child will resemble her."This of course is false, if man happens to climax before the woman, it will not affect the resemblance of the child.
Response:
If we read the hadith in question, no where does it state anything about climaxes, orgasms, or ejaculation of sperm. This is all conjecture. The hadith speaks about a "discharge", but discharge what? The hadith simply does not say. This discharge is something unknown, the evidence is that women who are mothers, do not even what this is. In the following hadith, Umm Salama asked Muhammad(P) about this, and she smiled and said: “Does a woman get discharge?":
Volume 4, Book 55, Number 545This is something which can neither be proved or disproved, especially since we are talking about some variable "X" which no one knows about. Therefore, the claim for scientific error is debunked over here and there is no need to go further.
Umm Salama said: “O Allah’s Apostle! Allah does not refrain from saying the truth! Is it obligatory for a woman to take a bath after she gets nocturnal discharge?” He said: “Yes, if she notices the water (i.e. discharge).” Umm Salama smiled and said: “Does a woman get discharge?” Allah’s Apostle (the blessing and peace of Allah be upon him) said: “Then why does a child resemble (its mother)?”
However, if we did some research we would find that a woman's ovaries contains Graafian follicle which emits a fluid known as the liquor folliculi and this fluid is described as "clear yellow fluid". The Prophet Muhammad described the woman's discharge as thin and yellow . This is virtually an exact match.
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Claim 11:
Muhammad(P) said, " If a man has sexual intercourse with his wife and gets discharge first, the child will resemble the father, and if the woman gets discharge first, the child will resemble her."This of course is false, if man happens to climax before the woman, it will not affect the resemblance of the child.
Response:
The hadith can be found here: Imam Malik's Muwatta Chapter No: 49 Hadith no: 10 :
If we read the hadith in context, this is referring to a miracle. When the kafir became a mumin(the word Muslim is not used here), Muhammad(P) knew that supernatural changes has happened to him, so that is why he ordered a sheep to be bought to him to show that his desire to drink an excessive amount of his milk has miraculously vanished. It was his tranformation into a "mumin", which caused his desire to vanish. This is some kind of supernatural experience. Please pay close attention to the definition of a miracle: definition of a miracle:Narrated: Abu Huraira
Yahya related to me from Malik from Suhayl ibn Abi Salih from his father from Abu Hurayra that the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, gave hospitality to a kafir guest. The Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, ordered a sheep to be brought for him and it was milked. He drank its milk. Then another came, and he drank it. Then another came and he drank it until he had drunk the milk of seven sheep. In the morning he became muslim, and the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, ordered a sheep for him. It was milked and he drank its milk. Then he ordered another for him and he could not finish it. The Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, said, "The mumin drinks in one intestine, and the kafir drinks in seven intestines." Relevance: 4.05772972106934
This means we should not try to explain this hadith by the laws of nature. The laws of nature can not explain how a "mumin" causes the desire to vanish. Therefore, the claim of scientific error is illogical.An event that appears inexplicable by the laws of nature
Finally, The mumin "drinks in one intestine" is something vague and ambigous. This is clearly a colloquial phrase meaning that disbelievers over-eat. I don't think Muhammad(P) was intentionally describing some kind of mechanism of digestion or else he would have given us more detail which we can understand. Therefore What exactly is the scientific process being described here? It simply is not mentioned. In addition to that, what does 1 intestine consist of versus 7? Therefore, we simply do not have enough information to know what exactly what of science is being mentioned here. Drinking from an intestine is not defined. 7 intestines is not defined. We don't even know if Muhammad(P) had the intention to describe some kind of scientific process. Therefore, science can not explain this hadith, we should look for another way to interpret it - common sense. The Quran in chapter 111:1 uses many metaphorical phrases to explain, such as "May the hands of Abu¯ Lahab be ruined..." . Now does this means that God is going to physically ruin his hands? No. The context explains taht Abu Lahab will be burn in hell for the rest of eternity.
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