SCIENTIFIC THEMES IN THE

GLORIOUS QUR’AN

By :Dr. Mohammad Jamil Al Habbal

Consultant Internal Medicine

MRCP (UK) , FRCP (Edinburgh), FRCP (London)

The Qura’n is a book of faith (Iman) and guidance (Hidaayah). It also includes educational dimensions for the establishment of a virtuous society. Allah (SWT) says:

”وَنَزَّلْنَا عَلَيْكَ الْكِتَابَ تِبْيَانًا لِّكُلِّ شَيْءٍ وَهُدًى وَرَحْمَةً وَبُشْرَى لِلْمُسْلِمِينَ “

“And we have sent down to thee the book explaining all things, a guide, a mercy and glad tidings to muslims” (An Nahl:89). There are many verses (ayaat) in Al Qur’an al Kareem which deal with different branches of science ( medical and cosmic). In this work we have reviewed and classified these
verses according to their scientific topics and also studied the rationale behind their recurrence in the Qur’an.

The results were as follows:

First: There are approximately 1200 ayaat which refer to the different sciences, which constitutes nearly 20% of the total number of ayaat (6236) in Al Qur’an al Kareem

Second: There are approximately 70 ayaat praising science and scientists, encouraging them to be involved in discovering the universe for the good of humanity. As a matter of fact the first five ayaat revealed to the Prophet
Muhammad (PBUH ) ordered him to read and learn.

“اقرأ باسم ربك الذي خلق, خلق الإنسان من علق , اقرأ وربك الأكرم , الذي علم بالقلم
,علم الإنسان ما لم يعلم “

“Read! In the Name of your Lord, Who has created , Has created man from a clot, Read! And your Lord is the Most Generous, Who has taught by the pen, Has taught man that which he knew not” (Al-Alaq: 1-5).

Third: The studied ayaat were categorized according to their scientific topics as follows: Medicine (416), Physics (138), Biology (130), Astronomy & Cosmology (105), Geography (98), Agriculture (89), Math. & Statistics (79).Geology ( 69)
, Seas & Rivers (35), Transportation ( 28), Origin of Man & others (27), Engineering (12) , Chemistry ( 11), Language of birds & animals (8), In addition there are over 20 aayaat which are applicable to all mentioned topics and/or other sciences.

We have deduced from our study and Allah knows best, that the rationale for the recurrence of those ayaat are to achieve the following aims:

A: To support the six principles of Faith (Iman), especially the Iman in Allah Almighty and in the hereafter. It was found that there is a strong correlation (about 92%) between such ayaat and these principles of Iman for example as follows:

“ يَأَيُّهَا الَّذِينَ ءَامَنُواْ ءَامِنُواْ بِاللَِّه وَرَسُولِهِ وَالْكِتَابِ الَّذِي نَزَّلَ عَلَى رَسُولِهِ وَالْكِتَابِ الَّذِي أَنَزلَ
مِن قَبْلُ وَمَن يَكْفُرْ بِاللَِّه وَمَلَئِكَتِهِ وَكُتُبِهِ وَرُسُلِهِ وَالْيَوْمِ الآخر فَقَدْ ضَلَّ ضَلالاً بَعِيداً”

“O you who believe! Believe in Allâh, and His Messenger, and the Book which He has sent down to His Messenger,and the Scripture which He sent down to those before, and whosoever disbelieves in Allâh, His Angels, His Books, His
Messengers, and the Last Day, then indeed he has strayed far away” (An-Nisa: 136).
B: the unprecedented nature of scientific content: to stimulate reflection and research in order to discover more about the universe.

“فتعالى الله الملك الحق ولا تعجل بالقرآن من قبل أن يقضى إليك وحيه وقل رب زدني
علما”

“Then High above all be Allâh, the True King And be not in haste with the Qur’ân before its revelation is completed to you, and say: “My Lord! Increase me in
knowledge” (Tah:144).


C: The scientific miracle of the Qur’an (I’jaz): to show and give evidence that the
Qur’an is the word of Allah Almighty revealed to his Prophet Muhammad (PBUH)

“سنريهم آياتنا في الآفاق وفي أنفسهم حتى يتبين لهم أنه الحق أولم يكف بربك أنه على
كل شيء شهيد”
“We will show them Our Signs in the universe, and in their ownselves, until it becomes manifest to them that this (the Qur’ân) is the truth Is it not sufficient in regard to your Lord that He is a Witness over all things? “ (Fussilat: 53)

D: To express the power of Allah Almighty and his unique creations

“ وإن لكم في الأنعام لعبرة نسقيكم مما في بطونها ولكم فيها منافع كثيرة ومنها
تأكلون وعليها وعلى الفلك تحملون”

“And Verily! In the cattle there is indeed a lesson for you We give you to drink (milk) of that which is in their bellies And there are, in them, numerous (other) benefits for you, and of them you eat and on them, and on ships you are
carried” (Al-Mu’minun 21 -22). E: to show the mercy and the numerous favors of Allah Almighty to mankind

“وإن تعدوا نعمة الله لا تحصوها إن الله لغفور رحيم”

“And if you would count the graces of Allâh, never could you be able to count them Truly! Allâh is Oft-Forgiving, Most Merciful”(An-Nahl: 18).

In this study we have arrived at the following conclusions:

1. The educational outlines in the Glorious Qur’an endeavour to strongly coordinate Iman and science.

2. The suggested approach presented in our work could be used as a practical outline to follow in designing future programs in education, teaching and research in order to achieve more scientific advances and a more fulfilled
human existence on Earth.