Scientific Themes In The Glorious Qur’an

Dr Mohammed Jamil Al Habbal

Consultant Physician and Nephrologist

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

King Fahad Specialist Hospital Dammam

The Qur,an 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 sciences ( 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(Al-Alaq:1-5).

Third: The studied ayaat were categorized according to their scientific topics as follows:

Medicine(416); Physics(138); Biology(130); Astronomy and Cosmology(105); Geography(98); Agriculture(89); Mathematics and Statistics(79); Geology(69); Seas and rivers(35); Transportation(28); Origin of Man and others(27); Engineering(12); Chemistry(11); Language of birds and animals(8); and finally there are over 20 ayaat which are applicable to all mentioned and/or other sciences.

Fourth: Approximately 170 ayaat are mentioned repeatedly in more than one scientific theme as they include two or more scientific subjects: for example in Surah Al-Baqarah ayat no.164 and Surah Al-Haj ayat no.5 .

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, for example Surah An-Nisa’ ayat no. 136. It was found that there is a strong correlation (about 92%) between such ayaat and these principles of Iman as follows:

Iman in Allah Almighty(738); Iman in Angels(24); Iman in Holy Books(53); Iman in Messengers(100); Iman in the Hereafter(120); and Iman in Destiny(30).

B.   The unprecedented nature of scientific content: to stimulate reflection and research in order to discover more about the universe. (Surah Taha: ayat 114).

C.   The scientific inimitability 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 ) ( Surah Fussilat: ayat 53)

D.   To express the power of Allah Almighty and his unique creations( Surah Al-Mu’minun:ayaat 20-24).

E.    To show the mercy and the numerous favours of Allah Almighty to mankind (Surah An-Nahl:ayat 18).

In this study we have arrived at the following conclusions:

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

2.     The suggested approach presented in our work could be taken into consideration as a useful 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.