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Scientific Untruths of the Quran (by Council of Ex-Muslim forum members)
How is man created?
There are many contradictory accounts of how this occurred.
It tells us "we are created from earth (11:61), sometimes from dry clay (15:26,28,33, 17:61, 32:7), sometimes from nothing (19:67), sometimes not from nothing (52:35), sometimes from wet earth (23:12), or from mire (38:71), sometimes from water (25:54, 21:30, 24:45), sometimes from dust (3:59, 30:20, 35:11) or even sometimes from the dead (30:19, 39:6)".
The beauty of such multifaceted philosophy is no matter what scientists discover, Muslims will have a verse to refer to that verifies the miraculous knowledge of the Qur'an.
Human Reproduction
Starting with Muhammad's account of embryology, we can easily determine its scientific inaccuracy in addition to its obvious plagarisation from earlier works by Greek philosophers and scientists such as Galen, Hippocrates and Aristotle, or Indian theses on the subject by Charaka and Susruta.
The account that follows the four stages described by the Greek physician Galen, writing around 150 CE. It should also be noted that one of Muhammad's companions, Harith ben Kalada, studied at the school of Jandi-Shapur in Persia and would have been well acquainted with the teachings of Aristotle, Hippocrates, and Galen.
Sura 23:12-14 says God created man from "wet earth, then placed him as (a drop of) sperm (nutfah) in a safe lodging; then We made the sperm into a clot of congealed blood (alaqa); then out of that clot We made a (foetus) lump (mudghah), then We made out of that lump bones and clothed the bones with flesh; then We developed out of it another creature."
Nowhere in this description, nor the Quran, is the females egg mentioned. The Quran says a baby is born by a sperm turning into a blood clot, and then into a lump. Out of the lump, bones are formed and then on the bones flesh is placed.
Actually organs and flesh are the first that begin cellular division and formation. Later, as the child grows, bone structures begin to develop along with organs and flesh.
'Nutfah' (semen) is mentioned in verse 86:6, is the fluid issued from between the loins and ribs, not, as we know today, from the testicles. This reflects the mistaken view of Hippocrates still prevalent at the time of Muhammad.
In particular lauded examples of the Quran are when it states that the embryo behaves like a leech, or is similar to "a piece of chewing gum" etc. Having read these quotes without bias, i.e. in the same way that you would expect from proper research, then there really does not appear to be very much to them. Leech like behaviour would be inherently obvious during birth with to the umbilical cord being attached to the baby, and the bleeding when it is removed. Regarding chewed gum, I wonder if any small organism not yet formed could be described in this way.
None of these facts would be considered as miraclulous event if they were read with the same integrity as you would expect from a serious piece of research.
Sahih Bukhari 54:430 has Muhammad saying, "A human being is put together in the womb of the mother in forty days, and then he becomes a clot of thick blood for a similar period, and then a piece of flesh for a similar period." ; That is a total of 120 days before becoming a foetus twice as long as we now know it to be.
In Sahih Muslim 33:6395 Muhammad says, "The semen stays in the womb for forty nights, then the angel, gives it a shape and decides whether he would be male or female. Then the angel says: Would his limbs be full or imperfect? And then the Lord makes them full and perfect. Then he says: My Lord, what about his livelihood, and his death and what about his disposition? And then the Lord decides about his misfortune and fortune." So according to Muhammad, an angel comes down forty days after the semen enters the womb and decides on the gender of the child and whether it should be deformed in anyway and Allah will decide on the future fortunes of the child. "
Haram Foods and prevention of disease
A believer eats in one intestine whereas a non-believer eats in seven intestines?. Muslim Vol. III, Nos. 5113, chapter DCCCLXII
What really is so wrong with eating pork, and drinking alcohol? The west eats pork, and suffers no more long term damage from it than it does with other meats such as beef. In fact the BMA are yet to issue guidelines against the eating of pork, as they did with beef after BSE. Provided alcohol is consumed sensibly then it can be enjoyed as it is by the majority of non-Muslims in the world today. In fact, scientific research has demonstrated an association between moderate alcohol consumption and a lower risk of cardiovascular disease.
Prophet Mohammed believes that certain types of food provide protection against all types of diseases. This applies in particular to honey; dates as well as black seed, all were his favourite food. Number 663: Saud: The Prophet said, "If somebody takes seven 'Ajwa dates every morning, he will not be affected by poison or magic on that day till night." Number 592: Narrated Abu Huraira: I heard Allah's Apostle saying, "There is healing in black seed for all diseases except death."
Prophet Mohammed advocated using camels? urine and milk as medicine.
According to Anas, Volume 8, Bk 82, No794: Some people from the tribe of 'Ukl came to the Prophet and embraced Islam. The climate of Medina did not suit them, so the Prophet ordered them to go to the (herd of milch) camels of charity and to drink, their milk and urine. They did so, and after they had recovered from their ailment (became healthy) they turned renegades (reverted from Islam) and killed the shepherd of the camels and took the camels away. The Prophet sent (some people) in their pursuit and so they were (caught and) brought, and the 90 Prophets ordered that their hands and legs should be cut off and that their eyes should be branded with heated pieces of iron, and that their cut hands and legs should not be cauterized, till they die.
The discovery of the healing properties of dipping flies in one?s food as described in this hadith: Number 673: Narrated Abu Huraira: Allah's Apostle said, "If a fly falls in the vessel of any of you, let him dip all of it (into the vessel) and then throw it away, for in one of its wings there is a disease and in the other there is healing (antidote for it) i e. the treatment for that disease."
Psychiatric Disorders
Muslims believe that invisible spirits called jinn influence our lives. The non-Muslim jinn cause trouble to Muslim humans. The bizarre behaviour of patients with psychiatric disorders is explained by a kafir jinni that rides the human Muslim and influencing his/her behaviour. The Arabic word for a mad man is majnoon which means ridden (or influenced) by a jinn. The treatment now becomes straight forward, to beat the jinni (by beating the patient) and the jinni will leave! Psychiatric disorders are still treated in this way in many Islamic countries, as per the Quran.
Can there really be a spirit inside us that will rise when we are dead. Certainly scientifically there appears to be nothing to show that we have one. Also if ghosts/invisible beings/magic are real and acceptable notions, then why in the real world are they derided and seen as a sign of lunacy when taken out of context of religion?
The Earth
2.22: "Who has made the earth your couch, and the heavens your canopy; and sent down rain from the heavens?;
Rain is sent from the heavens, as opposed to being part of a natural process called the water-cycle. I am sure many scholars could find ways to attempt to justify these clauses as I am sure that I could if I felt obligated to try. But would it be justification for justification?s sake? This would be left for the fair & honest reader to decide.
There was a time when Muslims clerics would establish fatwa?s against those claiming the earth to be spherical. Although the Qur'an describes a flat earth we find Muslims today adamant that the Qur'an portrays a round one. However no verse exclaiming this planet is round can be found in the Qur'an.
21:31-32 And We have set on the earth mountains standing firm, lest it should quake with them, and We have made therein broad highways between mountains for them to pass through. And we have made the sky a roof withheld from them. 13:2 Allah raised the heavens without any pillars that ye can see; He is firmly established on the throne; and has subjected the sun and the moon each one to run its course for a term appointed. 18:86 Until, when he reached the setting of the sun, he found it set in a spring of murky water: Near it he found a People.
Reading these verses together provides an image of a very primitive understanding of the cosmos. A heaven that is raised with pillars that we cannot see, a sky put as a roof above our heads, mountains placed as pegs to hold the earth down thereby preventing earthquakes, a sun that sets in a muddy spring with people living nearby; all nonsensical concepts having no alignment with modern science. There is no description of a great explosion and the formation of solar systems with orbiting planets around centric stars, no black holes, no corona, no ionosphere or quasars, but a heaven on invisible pillars.
It is also possible to categorically disprove several myths that are quoted by Muslims in terms of the age and origin of the Earth and universe - sadly too complicated to go into here.
Other arguments I have heard are that is impossible to prove that there is a no God; in the same way that it is impossible to prove that there is a God. This is only because it is impossible prove that something, that shows no tangible sign of existence (i.e. cannot be seen, touched or heard) and defies all scientific logic, can actually proven to exist by scientific means. In the same way as it is impossible to disprove that the fairy at the bottom of my garden created us, and will banish to hell those who do not believe in it.
The future
In the last 250,000 years since man has existed, science has largely played little part in finding out the answers. Only in the last 100 years has science made its exponential rise. Replacing a human heart with a pigs heart, travelling to outer space, manufacturing of artificial limbs are all recent successes, what will the next 1000 years bring? We will certainly further our understanding and continue to answer the remaining unanswered questions. It would not surprise me how far this may eventually go?
Artificial creation of human beings?
Topic: Scientific Miracles in the Qur'an Debunked.