Islam And Science (2/2)

During  the  first  40  days  of  gestation,   all  the  body  parts  and  organs  are completely,  though consecutively formed.  And begin to be formed, assembled, and the fetus appears twisted. The  Prophet Muhammad,  (sallallahu  'alaihi  wa sallam),  has informed  us in a hadeeth  that:  “In every one of you,  all  components   of your  creation  are gathered together  in your  mothers' womb by 40 days.”  (Narrated in Saheeh Muslim and Al-Bukhari).

In another  Hadeeth, Prophet  Muhammad  (sallallahu 'alaihi wa sallam) said: “When forty-two  nights have passed  over the drop (nutfah), Allah sends an angel to it, who shapes it and makes its ears, eyes, skin, flesh  and bones. Then he says, “O Lord! Is it male or female?" And your Lord decides what he wishes.” (Reported by Muslim).

Professor  Simpson  studied  these  two  hadeeths  extensively,  noting  that the first 40 days constitute  a clearly distinguishable  stage of embryogenesis. He was particularly impressed by the absolute precision and accuracy of those hadeeths.  Then  during  one of the  conferences  which  he attended  he gave the following  opinion: So that the two hadeeths  that have been noted can provide   us  with  a  specific   time  table  for   the  main  embryological development  before 40 days. Again,  the point  had been made repeatedly  by other  speakers   this  morning   that  these   hadeeths   could  not  have  been obtained on the basis of the scientific  knowledge  that was available  at the time of their recording.

Professor Simpson says that religion can successfully guide the pursuit of knowledge. The West, as we said, has rejected this. Here is an American scientist  who  says  that  religion,  namely  Islam,  can  achieve  this  with success. By analogy, if you go to a factory and have with you the operation manual of the factory then you will be able to easily understand the kind of operation that goes on in that factory, thanks to that manual by the factory designer and builder. If you do not have this manual with you, chances are much less that you will have good understanding of the various processes there.

Professor Simpson said: It follows, I think, that not only is there no conflict between genetics and religion, but in fact religion can guide science by adding revelation to some traditional scientific approaches. That there exists statements  in  the  Qur'an shown  by  science  to  be  valid,  which supports knowledge in the QUI' 'an having been derived from  Allah.

This is true. Certainly, the Muslims can lead the way in the pursuit of knowledge  and  that  they  can  accord  knowledge  in  its  proper  status. Moreover, Muslims know how to use knowledge as a proof of the existence of  Allah,  May  Allah  be   Exalted  and  Glorified,  and  to  affirm  the Messenger-ship   of Muhammad (sallallahu 'alaihi wa sallam).

Allah said in the Qur'an: “Soon will We show them Our Signs in the (furthest} regions (of the earth), and in their own souls, until it becomes manifest to them that this is the truth. Is it not enough that thy Lord does Witness all things?” (Qur'an, Surah Fussilat, 41:53).

After having realized through examples of Scientific Miracles in the Qur’an as well as knowing the related comments of the objective scientists on them, let us ask ourselves these questions:

a) Could it be a coincidence that all this recently discovered scientific information from different fields was mentioned in the Qur’an which was revealed 14 centuries ago?

b) Could this Qur’an have been authored by Muhammad (sallallahu 'alaihi wa sallam) or by any other human being?

The only possible answer to that is that the Qur’an must be the literal word of God (Allah) revealed by Him. The Qur’an is the literal word of Allah which He revealed to His Prophet Muhammad (sallallahu 'alaihi wa sallam) through the Angel Jibreel (Gabriel). It was memorized by Muhammad (sallallahu 'alaihi wa sallam) who then dictated it to his Companions. They in tum memorized it, wrote it down and reviewed it with the Prophet Muhammad   (sallallahu 'alaihi wa sallam).

Moreover, the Prophet Muhammad (sallallahu 'alaihi wa sallam) reviewed the Qur’an with the Angel Jibreel once every Ramadan (the month of fasting) and twice in the last year of his life in the same Islamic calendar. Since the Qur’an was revealed up until this day, there has always been a huge number of Muslims who have memorized all of the Qur’an, letter by letter. Some of them have been able to memorize all of the Qur’an by the age of ten. Thus, it is not surprising to note that not one letter of the Qur’an has been changed for centuries up to now.

The Qur’an which was revealed 14 centuries ago mentioned facts that are only recently discovered by proven scientists. This proves without doubt that the Qur’an must be the literal word of Allah, revealed by Him to the Prophet Muhammad (sallallahu 'alaihi wa sallam) and it also proves that Muhammad (sallallahu 'alaihi wa sallam) is truly a Messenger and Prophet sent by Allah. It is beyond reason that anyone fourteen hundred years ago would have known these facts discovered or proven very recently with advanced equipment and sophisticated methods.