Scientific Foreknowledge in Sacred Texts - Qur'an

Qur'an

Muslims believe that the Qur'an is the literal word of God as revealed to the prophet Muhammad through the Archangel Gabriel. Many Muslims believe that the Qur'an contains scientific information that would only be discovered by the world in modern times, centuries after their revelation, proving its divine origin. These are claimed to include scientific information pertaining to creation, astronomy, biology, and human reproduction.

One such claim is based on an interpretation of the passage in the Qur'an which states: "Have not those who disbelieve known that the heavens and the earth were of one piece, then We parted them and we made every living thing of water? Will they not then believe?" Muslims claim that the first part of the verse is referring to the Big Bang and the second part of the verse refers to the fact that all living things are made of water since and water being a necessary component for life. Muslims also believe that the Qur'an also refers to the protective properties of the atmosphere when it says, “We made the sky a preserved and protected roof yet still they turn away from Our Signs.” In addition to this, Muslims believe the Qur'an mentions the rotation and orbit of the Sun and the Moon when it states, "It is He who created the night and the day, and the sun, and the moon; each of them swim along in its rounded course."

Muslims have cited the following Qur'anic verse as miraculous, "After that (Allah) spread the Earth out (dahaha: from the verb 'daha')" . This verse has been interpreted by many Muslims as foreshadowing the concept that the figure of the Earth has an ellipsoid shape. Kamel Ben Salem's explanation for this is that "the ancient exegetes had earlier explained the Arabic verb (dahaha) by (has flattened it)" but that "the origin of this verb is found in the word (Ud-hiya)," which means "egg of ostrich," thus "the Earth would look like an ostrich’s egg" which is accurate with scientific data that confirms that the Earth is slightly flat at the poles very similarly to the shape of the egg of an ostrich. Rashad Khalifa alternatively translated the verse as: "he made the earth egg-shaped."