Re: The sun is a flat disk -Quran error refuted

إِذَا الشَّمْسُ كُوِّرَتْ

When the sun is Kuwwirat . 

http://quran.com/81/

The great events mentioned indicate that the present familiar state of the universe, with its perfect harmony, measured movement, controlled relations, perfected by a meticulous and able Maker will suffer a break down of its system on the Day of Resurrection. It will have completed its role. Along with all creation, it will move into a new predetermined phase of life, unlike anything known to us in this world .    

The word kawwara is derived from Takwir which denotes for the sun 'to lose its light'. Sayyidna Hasan Basri has attached this interpretation to it. Another sense of the word is 'to cause to fall'. Rabi' Ibn Khaitham assigns the following interpretation to this verse: The Sun will be thrown into the ocean, and as a result of its heat the entire ocean will turn into fire. The two interpretations are not contradictory. They may be reconciled thus: first, its light will be put off and then it may be thrown into the ocean. Sahih of Bukhari records from Sayyidna Abu Huharirah  that the Holy Prophet  said that on the Day of Resurrection the Sun and the Moon would be thrown into the ocean. Musnad of Bazzar has the addition that they will be thrown into Hell. Ibn Abi Hatim, Ibn Abid-Dunya and Abush-Shaikh stated that on the Day of Resurrection Allah will throw the Sun, the Moon and all stars into the ocean. Then a violent wind will blow over them, as a result of which the entire ocean will turn into fire. Thus it is correct to say that the Sun and the Moon will be put into the ocean. It is likewise correct to say that they will be put into Hell, because the entire ocean at that time will have been turned into Hell. [Derived from Mazhari and Qurtubi]

[*Another meaning of Takwir is 'to fold', and the translation in the text is based on this meaning. The sense of folding the sun is that its function will come to an end, and it will lose its light. As such, it comes to mean same thing as mentioned in first interpretation. Muhammad Taqi Usmani:

This is a matchless metaphor for causing the sun to lose its light. Takwir means to fold up; hence takwir al-amamah is used for folding up the turban on the head. Here, the light which radiates from the sun and spreads throughout the solar system has been likened to the turban and it has been said that on the Resurrection Day the turban will be folded up about the sun and its radiation will fade.  

This surah may be divided into two parts, each of them treating one major principle of faith. The first is the principle of Resurrection accompanied by a great upheaval in the universe, which affects the sun and the stars, the mountains and the seas, heaven and earth, wild and domestic animals, as well as man. The second principle, discussed in the second half of the surah, is the principle of revelation. The surah has something to say about the angel carrying the Divine revelation, the Prophet receiving it, the people addressed by it, and the Supreme Will which has shaped their nature and sent down to them this revelation.

The rhythm of the surah is one of violent movement which leaves nothing in its place. Everything is thrown, smashed or scattered away. The movement is so violent that it excites and frightens. It alters every familiar situation and shakes men's hearts violently for a long period so that they feel deprived of both shelter and reassurance. 

The surah is also a gem of striking images drawn from the universe in both its present beautiful condition which is familiar to us and its condition on the Day of Resurrection when every familiar thing is changed beyond recognition. The surah is, moreover, rich in fine expressions which add colour to the images portrayed. As the surah is so short, the rhythm, images and fine expressions combine together to produce a very strong and lasting effect.

The darkening of the sun probably means that it will cool down and its flames which stretch out for thousands of miles in space will dwindle and die down. As the sun is now in gas form because of its intense heat, which reaches a maximum of 12,000 degrees, its darkening probably means its transformation by freezing to a form similar to that of the surface of the earth. It may adopt a circular shape without becoming stretched out.

This is probably the meaning of the opening verse, but it could also mean something different. As to how it will happen, or what will cause it to happen, we can only say that this is known only to Allah.

 

Re: The Sky is made of rocky material -Quran 50:6 scientific error refuted.

أَفَلَمْ يَنظُرُوا إِلَى السَّمَاءِ فَوْقَهُمْ كَيْفَ بَنَيْنَاهَا وَزَيَّنَّاهَا وَمَا لَهَا مِن فُرُوجٍ

Sahih International

Have they not looked at the heaven above them - how We structured it and adorned it and [how] it has no rifts?

http://quran.com/50/6

Here, by the sky is implied the whole firmament that man finds spread over him, day and night, in which the sun shines in the day and the moon and countless stars glitter at night, which amazes him even when he sees it with the bare eye, but which appears as a vast, limitless Universe when he looks at it through the telescope. It seems to be starting from nowhere and ending nowhere. 
Millions of times larger planets than our earth are moving in it like tiny balls; thousands of times brighter stars than ow sun are shining in it our this entire solar system is located in a comer of its only one galaxy; only in this one galaxy there exist at (east three thousand million other stars like our own sun, and man's observation has s0 far discovered one million such galaxies. Out of the lacs of galaxies our nearest, neighboring galaxy is 'so distant from us that its light reaches the earth in ten lac years traveling at the speed of 186,000 miles per second. This shows the vastness of that part of the Universe which has so far been observed and explored by man. As to how vast is the entire Universe of God we have no means to estimate and judge. 
Maybe that the known Universe of man does not bear with the entire Universe even that ratio which a drop of water beats with the ocean. If about the God Who has brought this huge and wonderful Universe into being, this tiny talking animal, called man, who creeps the earth, asserts that He cannot recreate him once again after death, it would be due to narrowness of his own mind. The power of the Creator of the Universe would not at aII be affected by it !

That is, "In spite of its amazing vastness the wonderful order of the Universe is so coherent and firm and its composition so perfect that there is no crack or cleft in it, and its continuity breaks nowhere. This can be understood by an example. Radio astronomers of the present age have observed a galactic system which they have named Source 3c 295. They think that its rays which are now reaching us might have left it more than four thousand million years ago. The question is: How could it be possible for the rays to reach the earth from such a distant source had the continuity and coherence of the Universe between the earth and the galaxy been broken somewhere and its composition been split at some point. AIIah, in fact, alludes to this reality and puts this question before man "When you cannot point out even a small breach in this system of My Universe, how did the concept of any weakness in My power enter your mind, that after the respite of your test is over, if I like to bring you back to life to subject you to accountability before Me, I would not be able to do so?" This is not only a proof of the possibility of the Hereafter but also a proof .of Tauhid. These rays' reaching the earth from a distance of four thousand million light years and being detected by the man-made instruments expressly points to the fact that from the galaxy to the earth the entire world has been made up of one and the same substance continuously, one and the same kind of the forces are working in it, and they are functioning according to the same laws without any difference and disparity. Were it not so the rays could neither have reached here, nor detected by the instruments which Tnan had made after understanding the laws working on the earth and its surroundings. 
This proves that One God alone is the Creator of this whole Universe and its Master and Ruler and Controller . 

 

Re: The Universe is contracting -quran 41:11 error refuted

ثُمَّ اسْتَوَىٰ إِلَى السَّمَاءِ وَهِيَ دُخَانٌ فَقَالَ لَهَا وَلِلْأَرْضِ ائْتِيَا طَوْعًا أَوْ كَرْهًا قَالَتَا أَتَيْنَا طَائِعِينَ

Then He turned  to the heaven while it was smoke and said to it and to the earth, "Come [into being], willingly or by compulsion." They said, "We have come willingly."

 

(and said to it and to the earth: "Come willingly or unwillingly.'') meaning, `respond to My command and be subjected to this action, willingly or unwillingly.'

This command addressed to the earth and sky and their compliant and obedient reply is an expression for the readiness of the earth and the sky to comply with every order from Allah Almighty. Nothing here is about a 'contracting universe' !

The Quran on the Origin of the Universe:

The science of modern cosmology, observational and theoretical, clearly indicates that, at one point in time, the whole universe was nothing but a cloud of ‘smoke’ (i.e. an opaque highly dense and hot gaseous composition).1  This is one of the undisputed principles of standard modern cosmology.  Scientists now can observe new stars forming out of the remnants of that ‘smoke’ (see figures 10 and 11).

Figure 10: A new star forming out of a cloud of gas and dust (nebula), which is one of the remnants of the ‘smoke’ that was the origin of the whole universe. (The Space Atlas, Heather and Henbest, p. 50.)

Figure 11: The Lagoon nebula is a cloud of gas and dust, about 60 light years in diameter.  It is excited by the ultraviolet radiation of the hot stars that have recently formed within its bulk. (Horizons, Exploring the Universe, Seeds, plate 9, from Association of Universities for Research in Astronomy, Inc.)  (Click on the image to enlarge it.)

The illuminating stars we see at night were, just as was the whole universe, in that ‘smoke’ material.  God has said in the Quran:

 Then He turned to the heaven when it was smoke...  (Quran, 41:11)

 

Because the earth and the heavens above (the sun, the moon, stars, planets, galaxies, etc.) have been formed from this same ‘smoke,’ we conclude that the earth and the heavens were one connected entity.  Then out of this homogeneous ‘smoke,’ they formed and separated from each other. God has said in the Quran:

 

 Have not those who disbelieved known that the heavens and the earth were one connected entity, then We separated them?...  (Quran, 21:30)

 

Dr. Alfred Kroner is one of the world’s renowned geologists.  He is Professor of Geology and the Chairman of the Department of Geology at the Institute of Geosciences, Johannes Gutenberg University, Mainz, Germany.  He said: “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.”²  (To view the RealPlayer video of this comment click here ).  Also he said: “Somebody who did not know something about nuclear physics fourteen hundred 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.”³  (View the RealPlayer video of this comment ).

____________

Footnotes:

(1) The First Three Minutes, a Modern View of the Origin of the Universe, Weinberg, pp. 94-105.

(2) The reference for this saying is This is the Truth (videotape).  For a copy of this videotape, please visit this page.

(3) This is the Truth (videotape).

The Arabic word for “smoke” in the above verse is “dukhanun,” which describes the hot, cosmic smoke in question. This word in the Qur’an, in pinpoint fashion, describes this smoke very accurately for it is a warm body of gas containing mobile particles connected to solid substances. Here, the Qur’an has employed the most appropriate word from the Arabic language for describing the appearance of this phase of the universe. Let us note that only in the 20^th century have scientists discovered that the universe emerged from a hot gas in the form of smoke.

 

The Expansion of the Universe

Edwin Hubble with his giant telescope

In the Qur'an, which was revealed 14 centuries ago at a time when the science of astronomy was still primitive, the expansion of the universe was described like this:

"And it is We who have constructed the heaven with might, and verily, it is We who are steadily expanding it."
(The Qur'an, 51:47)

The word "heaven", as stated in this verse, is used in various places in the Qur'an with the meaning of space and universe. Here again, the word is used with this meaning. In other words, in the Qur'an it is revealed that the universe "expands". And this is the very conclusion that science has reached today.

Until the dawn of the 20th century, the only view prevailing in the world of science was that "the universe has a constant nature and it has existed since infinite time". The research, observations, and calculations carried out by means of modern technology, however, have revealed that the universe in fact had a beginning, and that it constantly "expands".

At the beginning of the 20th century, the Russian physicist Alexander Friedmann and the Belgian cosmologist Georges Lemaitre theoretically calculated that the universe is in constant motion and that it is expanding.

This fact was proved also by observational data in 1929. While observing the sky with a telescope, Edwin Hubble, the American astronomer, discovered that the stars and galaxies were constantly moving away from each other. A universe where everything constantly moves away from everything else implied a constantly expanding universe. The observations carried out in the following years verified that the universe is constantly expanding. This fact was explained in the Qur'an when that was still unknown to anyone. This is because the Qur'an is the word of God, the Creator, and the Ruler of the entire universe.

From the moment of the big bang, the universe has been constantly expanding at a great speed. Scientists compare the expanding universe to the surface of a balloon that is inflated.

Re: Allah makes the bird fly - Quran 16:79 error refuted

Regarding the flight of birds the Qur’aan says:

“Do they not look at The birds, held poised In the midst of (the air And) the sky? Nothing Holds them up but (the power Of) Allah. Verily in this Are Signs for those who believe.” [Al-Qur’aan 16:79]

أَلَمْ يَرَوْا إِلَى الطَّيْرِ مُسَخَّرَاتٍ فِي جَوِّ السَّمَاءِ مَا يُمْسِكُهُنَّ إِلَّا اللَّهُ ۗ إِنَّ فِي ذَٰلِكَ لَآيَاتٍ لِّقَوْمٍ يُؤْمِنُونَ

Sahih International

Do they not see the birds controlled in the atmosphere of the sky? None holds them up except Allah . Indeed in that are signs for a people who believe.

 http://quran.com/16/79

 

The Arabic key word here that we must look at is musakhkharatin or musakhkharat.   The word is derived from the root word "sakhkhara", which means:

1. To dedicate something as a resource for a task.
2. To preserve or hold special sources for accomplishing something.
3. To enable or to cause for a creation to do something for another creation.
4. To subject something for something else.

 Everyone during Prophet Muhammad's, peace be upon him, time knew that birds fly, and they were special-designed to fly.  The Noble Verse was rather speaking about the Glory of GOD Almighty and how Miraculous it is indeed to have birds fly on their own.

 

 

A similar message is repeated in the Qur’aan in the verse: “Do they not observe The birds above them, Spreading their wings And folding them in? None can uphold them Except (Allah) Most Gracious: Truly it is He That watches over all things.” [Al-Qur’aan 67:19]

The Arabic word amsaka literally means, ‘to put one’s hand on, seize, hold, hold someone back,’ which expresses the idea that Allah holds the bird up in His power. These verses stress the extremely close dependence of the birds’ behaviour on Divine order. Modern scientific data has shown the degree of perfection attained by certain species of birds with regard to the programming of their movements. It is only the existence of a migratory programme in the genetic code of the birds that can explain the long and complicated journey that very young birds, without any prior experience and without any guide, are able to accomplish. They are also able to return to the departure point on a definite date. 

Prof. Hamburger in his book ‘Power and Fragility’ gives the example of ‘mutton-bird’ that lives in the Pacific with its journey of over 15,000 miles in the shape of figure ‘8’. It makes this journey over a period of 6 months and comes back to its departure point with a maximum delay of one week. The highly complicated instructions for such a journey have to be contained in the birds’ nervous cells. They are definitely programmed. Should we not reflect on the identity of this ‘Programmer’?

(Qur'an and Modern Science: Compatible or Incompatible?)

It's only their desire to reject God & the quran which can't be logically justified.

Re:Horses created for our transportation -Quran 16:8 error refuted

خَلَقَ السَّمَاوَاتِ وَالْأَرْضَ بِالْحَقِّ ۚ تَعَالَىٰ عَمَّا يُشْرِكُونَ

Sahih International

He created the heavens and earth in truth. High is He above what they associate with Him.

16:4

خَلَقَ الْإِنسَانَ مِن نُّطْفَةٍ فَإِذَا هُوَ خَصِيمٌ مُّبِينٌ

Sahih International

He created man from a drop; then at once, he is a clear adversary.

16:5

وَالْأَنْعَامَ خَلَقَهَا ۗ لَكُمْ فِيهَا دِفْءٌ وَمَنَافِعُ وَمِنْهَا تَأْكُلُونَ

Sahih International

And the grazing livestock He has created for you; in them is warmth and [numerous] benefits, and from them you eat.

16:6

وَلَكُمْ فِيهَا جَمَالٌ حِينَ تُرِيحُونَ وَحِينَ تَسْرَحُونَ

Sahih International

And for you in them is [the enjoyment of] beauty when you bring them in [for the evening] and when you send them out [to pasture].

16:7

وَتَحْمِلُ أَثْقَالَكُمْ إِلَىٰ بَلَدٍ لَّمْ تَكُونُوا بَالِغِيهِ إِلَّا بِشِقِّ الْأَنفُسِ ۚ إِنَّ رَبَّكُمْ لَرَءُوفٌ رَّحِيمٌ

Sahih International

And they carry your loads to a land you could not have reached except with difficulty to yourselves. Indeed, your Lord is Kind and Merciful.

16:8

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وَالْخَيْلَ وَالْبِغَالَ وَالْحَمِيرَ لِتَرْكَبُوهَا وَزِينَةً ۚ وَيَخْلُقُ مَا لَا تَعْلَمُونَ

Sahih International

And [He created] the horses, mules and donkeys for you to ride and [as] adornment. And He creates that which you do not know.

The verses affirm the Oneness of Allah through the great signs of the creation of the universe. The first such creation pointed to is the creation of the heavens and the earth. Then comes the creation of human beings whom Allah Ta'ala has made the ones who are served by the whole universe. How did man originate? He was created from an insignificant drop. What happened then was:  (and soon he turned into a quarrelsome person expressing himself openly). In other words, when the elementally weak man was endowed with strength and speech, he turned into a critic of the Creator Himself disputing His Being and Attributes publicly.

The gulf is so huge between the origin and the end, between the worthless Nutfah and the man in open contention. He disputes with his  Lord and denies Him. He argues about His existence or His oneness. Yet the way the verse runs leaves no gap between the point of origin, the drop of sperm, and the grown up man engaged in dispute and contention. This shows the contrast to be  complete and the gulf too wide. Such brevity is intended for enhanced effect. 

After human beings, mentioned there was the creation of things which were made for their benefit. Therefore, the sūrah mentions some of the creation God has made subservient to man.

  'And (He created) horses, mules and donkeys so that you may ride on them (which includes loading as a corollary) and (they were also created so that) they may look good - 8.' The word:  (zinah) used here means the same favourable quality of life which, as commonly recognized, is the pleasing possession of these animals by their owners.

Here we encounter a particularly interesting point in the Islamic outlook of life, whereby beauty constitutes an important aspect.
God’s blessing does not merely satisfy essential needs, such as food, drink and mounts. It also satisfies healthy desires beyond basic needs. Here we find satisfaction of the sense that enjoys beauty and seeks pleasure, and also satisfies human feelings that are more sublime than animal desires and needs. 

In the last sentence of verse 8, after having mentioned three animals particularly used for riding, that is, horses, mules and donkeys, what was said about other kinds of rides appears in the future tense as follows:

And He creates [or, will create] what you do not know (yet).

This sentence comments on the creation of cattle, horses, mules and asses and the different uses to which they are put and the benefits they provide. Thus it invites people’s imagination to look beyond their immediate environment and the time in which they live. Beyond what exists at a particular location and in a particular time there are other forms and types of life. God wants people to expect this so as to broaden their vision. He also wants them to accept such other forms of life when they are available.
They must not refuse to benefit by such new types, saying that they will only use the cattle, horses, mules and asses their fathers used. Similarly, no one should be so rigid as to say that since the Qur’ān only mentioned these, no other form of transport can be used.
Islam is open minded and flexible. It equips its followers with the ability to use all potentials and resources that are available at any time. The Qur’ān thus prepares people’s minds and hearts to receive whatever God creates and science discovers or produces in the future. A proper Islamic conscience is  always ready to accept any new remarkable addition to God’s creation or to scientific discovery. Over the years many new means of riding and carrying loads have been added, as well as many objects of beauty. None of these  were known to people when the Qur’ān was revealed. There will be many more which are unknown to us. The Qur’ān prepares us to accept these without difficulty by stating that God “creates things of which you have no knowledge.” (Verse 8)

Re: The moon and the sun orbit the earth. Quran 91:1-2 error refuted

Another non-existent alleged quranic error. Nowhere in the quran we read 'The moon and the sun orbit the earth'.

Their proof for their funny claim:

Sahih International

By the sun and its brightness

Sahih International

And [by] the moon when it follows it

http://quran.com/91/1-2

Allah swears by these objects and universal phenomena as He swears by the human soul, how it is fashioned and how it is inspired. The oath gives these creatures an added significance and draws man's attention to them. Man ought to contemplate these phenomena and try to appreciate their value and the purpose of their creation. 

There exists in fact, some kind of a special language through which the human heart communicates with the universe and its marvellous scenes and phenomena. This language is part of human nature. It is a language which does not use sounds and articulation. It is a communication to the hearts and an inspiration to the souls which come alive whenever man looks up to the universe for an inspiring touch or a cheerful sight. Hence, the Qur'an frequently urges man to reflect upon the surrounding universe. It does this in various ways, sometimes directly and sometimes with hints and incidental touches and stimuli, as in this case where some phenomena of the universe are made the subject of Allah's oath, in order to serve as a framework for what follows in the surah. These explicit directives and indirect hints are very frequent in this thirtieth part of the Qur'an. There is hardly one surah in it which does not encourage man, in one way or another, to communicate with the universe, in their secret language, so that he may appreciate its signs and understand its address.

Here we have an inspiring oath by morning. The oath also specifies the time when the sun rises above the horizon, when it is indeed at its most beautiful. Indeed, mid-morning is, in winter, a time for refreshing warmth. In summer, it is the time when the atmosphere is just mild and fresh before the blazing heat of midday sets in, and the sun is at its clearest.

The oath is also by the moon as she follows the sun and spreads its beautiful and clear light. Between the moon and the human heart there is an age-long fascination that is well established in men's inmost souls. It is a fascination that is born anew every time the two meet. The moon issues her own special whispers and inspirations to the human heart, and she sings her songs of praise to the Creator, which a poet can almost hear through the tenderness of moonlight. On a clear moonlit night, one can almost feel oneself sailing through the moonlight, clearing off one's worries and enjoying a perfect bliss as one feels the hand of the Maker beyond this perfect creation. 

Re: Quran: The Sun is not a star- 7:54 scientific error refuted ?!!!

This is a supposed "scientific error", again we say to liars, "Produce your proof, if you should be truthful."

Their "proof":

Sahih International

Indeed, your Lord is Allah , who created the heavens and earth in six days and then established Himself above the Throne. He covers the night with the day, [another night] chasing it rapidly; and [He created] the sun, the moon, and the stars, subjected by His command. Unquestionably, His is the creation and the command; blessed is Allah , Lord of the worlds.

 http://quran.com/7/54

The fallacy of disconnection is obvious here.

Disbelievers say that God shouldn't mention the name of sun, otherwise, this indicate it's different from the stars !

The term 'star' is nondescript & generic, giving it a name. "shams" or 'sun' enables the reader to ponder the immediate and the far.. Many other stars in the Quran are also referred to by the names known to the Arab astronomers for instance Sirius..  

It is He Who is the Lord of Sirius. (Qur'an, 53: 49).

again if referred to as a mere star how would the people who took Sirius for a God know to distinguish it from any other star? 

When we refer to the sun, or a sunny day, we don't say, "Gosh, the biggest star's shining brightly today", or, the weathermen don't say, "It'll be a starry day tomorrow". Allah has referred to them in the context known by people, so that they may understand.

This is called Takhsees or particularization in arabic science.

From an "earthly" point of view (as the quran is sent to humans), we tend to make a difference between the sun and any other normal star. We always see the sun as a special star. It's the most close to us. Its role is special too (its presence controls the difference between day and night, it controls the seasons, etc).

If we look at the previous words in the verse (before mentioning the stars) we can see that the context before was the duality of the day and the night :
"He brings the night as a cover over the day, seeking it rapidly, and (He created) the sun, the moon, the stars subjected to His Command".

According to this, if we continue the duality, what you see in day is the sun, and what you see in night is the moon and the stars.
This type of dualities exist in many places in the quran : day and night, good and evil, life and death, heaven and hell, believers and non-believers.