Science: The Muslim's Friend

Bismillah ir-rahman ir-rahim

Assalaam alaikum

Subhanallah, one of my favourite things about Islam is how it is not pitted against science in some competition. We go off this crazy belief that if Allah hadn't wanted science then... it wouldn't exist. To me, science is a little gift Allah gave us to try to help us understand His world better.

The end? Hah, not quite. The Qur'an and even Hadith (words and sayings of the Prophet (SAW)) are just FULL of science. It's incredible.

Let us start with an example from our humble Prophet Mohammad (SAW). Abu Huraira narrated (according to Bukhari, volume 7, book 71, number 592): "I heard Allah's Apostle (SAW) saying, 'There is healing in black cumin for all diseases except death.'"

Now, for the sake of argument, let us suppose that the Prophet (SAW) was speaking in hyperbole, though we cannot know for sure. According to the Kitchen Doctor (http://www.kitchendoctor.com/articles/blackcumin.html), black cumin is one of the most curative things you can find in your pantry. It has the most spectacular results with asthma and allergies (especially when used in conjunction with garlic), and has been known to preemptively destroy future cancer cells (the process by which the body does this is complex--you can read about it at the above link).

At the very least, it couldn't hurt to try, right? Black cumin hasn't ever hurt a soul! The way I see it, I would try a natural remedy before putting poison in my body. But who am I?

Moving along...

Moving back, actually--way, way far back to the origins of the universe. According to a handy little book I have, the common theory today of cosmology, is that at one time was a cloud of "smoke" (an opaque, dense, and hot gaseous composition). Scientists today can observe how new stars are formed by thick, smoky clouds. Allah has told us in the Qur'an:

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

Over time, this smoke separated and formed what we have now: Big Bang, anyone?

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

This stuff only gets better. True, these particular ayahs (verses, for the sake of my meaning, but the actual meaning is more complex) don't seem particularly convincing to my point, but there are more.

The Holy Qur'an has verses pertaining to the seas as well. As we know nowadays thanks to modern science, when two seas (including oceans) meet, between them is a barrier of sorts. This barrier makes it so that the separate bodies of water have their respective salinity (saltiness), temperature, and density (according to Principles of Oceanography page 92-93). For example, there is a place where the Atlantic Ocean meets with the Mediterranean Sea. The Mediterranean is warmer, more dense, and more salty that the Atlantic.

What I am trying to explain is that even though in the big picture, they can still be viewed as one body of water, scientists have discovered the the waters to not mix and they are made distinct by their separate temperatures, etc (in spite of how interesting I find this all, science is not my forté, which is why I am having a hard time expressing myself).

Anyhow, in the neighbourhood of 1500 years ago, the Qur'an was revealed to say: "He has set free the two seas meeting together. There is a barrier between them. They do not transgress." (Surah 55:19-20). That one is a bit more blunt.

There are so many examples of this kind of thing in both Qur'an and Hadith, but I am going to wrap it up with two of my favourites and implore you to just google "Qur'an Hadith and science" if you don't know a lot about it already.

I studied psychology this past semester (the science kind, not the Freud kind), so I found this one particularly interesting.

This following ayah is found in the Qur'an referring to someone who would not allow the Prophet (SAW) to pray at the Kaaba (a building that predates Islam which Abraham (AS) built--it what Muslims face when we pray).

"No! If he does not stop, We will take him by the naseyah, a lying, sinful naseyah!" (Surah 96:15-16)

I know your next question: what in the world is "naseyah"? Well, it is the word in Arabic that refers to the front of the head.

This may seem like strange wording. Specific wording, too. Why not the face? Why not the back of the head? The head in its entirety? Well, modern neuroscience can shed some light on this. According to the books Essentials of Anatomy and Physiology and The Human Nervous System the prefrontal area of the brain (at the the front of the head) is associated with motivation and aggression, and it is involved with foresight to plan and initiate both good and sinful behaviour.

Lastly, the Qur'an has a few things to say about human development in the womb.

"We created man from an extract of clay. Then We made him as a drop in a place of settlement, firmly fixed. Then We made the drop into an alaqah, then We made the alaqah into a mudghah..." (Surah 23:12-14)

Okay, so let's decode this. So we can see so far from what we understand of English that the fertilized egg becomes "firmly fixed" to the womb. But what is this alaqah business?

The word alaqah has three meanings in Arabic: leech, suspended thing, blood clot. These are all appropriate descriptions of a baby at this point of its development.

Let's take leech. Below is a picture of a fetus at the alaqah stage (left) and a leech (right).

There is a pretty goo resemblance, but of course a baby is not a leech. The description goes beyond mere appearance. At this stage of development, the fetus gets its nourishment from the blood of the mother, as a leech gets its nourishment from the blood of... any ol' human.

Taking alaqah to mean "suspended thing" refers to how the embryo is suspended in the womb of its mother. Attached to the uterine wall, of course, but suspended, as demonstrated in this picture.

The third meaning of alaqah--blood clot--refers to the large amount of blood inside the baby at this time. Also, the blood does not circulate in the embryo until the third week, essentially making it like a clot of blood.

Then there is the mudghah stage. What does mudghah mean? In Arabic is means "chewed substance." This simply refers to the appearance of the fetus at this stage of its development (see left).

Today, this science is obvious. We know all these things commonly, or many of them. The incredible thing is that this sort of thing was not known at all 1500 years ago when the Qur'an came into existence. Mohammad (SAW) had never seen a developing baby, nor did he know what area of the brain controlled motivation to do malevolent deeds, etc etc. This, subhanallah, is one of the most important things that brought me to Islam. To me, this was proof that the Qur'an came from Allah, from God. No man almost 1500 years ago could have known things like these. I hope you can appreciate the beauty of this science. Alhamdulillah!