Wednesday, December 17, 2014

Muhammad Explains the Universe (Islam and Science, Part One)

Many Muslim speakers and apologists assert that the Qur'an contains scientific miracles, and that Muhammad made claims about science that were not verified until centuries after his death. However, when we actually examine the Muslim sources (the Qur'an, the Hadith, the Sira, and the Tafsir), we find that Muhammad was wrong about almost everything he said concerning science. The only scientific statements Muhammad got right would have been known by virtually anyone in seventh-century Arabia. Hence, the "argument from scientific accuracy" fails rather miserably.

25 comments:

ImmersionHomeschool said...

Off Topic Prayer Request: I know that this is incredibly minor compared to what others are doing and experiencing, but I am in a polite dialogue / book removal process to get a book about the life of Muhammad geared towards middle school students pulled from the shelves of our library. It is nothing but propaganda. CAIR could have written it. I can't imagine most Muslims would approve either. It's just trash.

If I can get it pulled from our library, it can get marked as having been banned as historically inaccurate which could result in any other libraries pulling it as well. I may also have the opportunity to recommend a replacement book. So, if you think of it, would you please pray for me?

Peace said...

David one day hope to see you inline with Yousuf Estes
For better understanding google and watch the videos on below

yusuf estes
Dr Zakir Naik

http://www.islamtomorrow.com/
http://www.peacetv.tv/

Unknown said...

It is utterly nonsense to say Quran is a scientific book. Science is truth, nothing but whole truth and can be tested with evidence or historical facts.

But whereas Quran is a political fascist book of seventh centuries used as revelation from god but collected from teaching of Jews, Christians as well as rituals of idol worshipers to bring peoples under Muhammad’s leadership. Even today Quran is used in political arena. All Muslim countries especially Pakistan and ISIS are a typical example to justify Quran as political book. Believe it or not, it is up to you.

Anonymous said...

Muhammad may have also tried to mimic the symbolic and metaphorical scriptures that are found in the Book (Bible). If this is the case then his attempts have been an obvious failure in regard to both spiritual symbolism, metaphor or any Islamic claim to scientific reality.

Or it could also be possible that Muhammad was just having a bit of a private joke and a good laugh at peoples expense.

But either way, whatever he says is not true.

WhatsUpDoc said...

Come on David, Koran clearly states the big bang theory " earth and heaven were joined together and we clove them asunder". Quran clearly states that the earth was " ostrich egg shaped"

The only minor problem is that Muslims misunderstood those passages including Muhammed. The only role west has played in last 50 years to help Muslims understand the real meaning of their passages. They just misunderstood it for nearly 1400 years thats all.

Unknown said...

@Dr. Naik,

You have Ph.D., how do you dare to defend Quran a religious-political book as scientific book. It is political because it prescribes how to govern a state by fear with severe punishment, e.g. chopping fingers for stealing, oppose to modern punishment allowing criminals opportunity for correction to adjust with the civil society. Are SHARIA LAWS scientific approach for correction, Dr. Naik??

True God, maker of Heaven and earth, living and non-living commanded us in the Bible to believe Him by seeing His amazing works like hanging our planet earth, stars and galaxies in universe without any rope or pillar in space, provides food to big or small animals etc. for survival. He throws challenge to mankind in the Bible to make universe like this He made, if we don’t believe Him. But Allah in the Quran challenges mankind to write a book like Quran. What a silly challenge! It is like saying write a book like Shakespeare. What a childish, don’t you agree, Dr. Naik???

Osama Abdallah said...

Hello Everyone,

Just so that you don't get confused, a lot of the "Hadiths" that non-Muslims use are not Hadiths at all. They're either:

1- Commentaries from early Islam scholars.

2- Opinions of some of the companions of the Prophet, which got inserted into the Hadiths.

3- Paraphrased Hadiths and not exact quotes from the Prophet.

4- False hadiths invented on the Prophet.

For examples, please visit: http://www.answering-christianity.com/hadiths_of_the_fly.htm

I also debated David Wood on the Scientific Miracles of the Glorious Quran before. The debate is on my website and youtube channel. You can visit it at:

http://www.answering-christianity.com/ac20.htm

http://www.youtube.com/QuranSearchCom

Note: YOU WON'T FIND THEM ON ANY OTHER SITE, INCLUDING DAVID'S!

Take care,
Osama Abdallah

Osama Abdallah said...

And while we're at it, Dr. David Wood, I also would like to challenge you to a ROUND 2 debate on:

1- Is the Quran a Scientific Miracle.


Are you up for this debate? I can debate up to four debates in one weekend. So consider the earlier ones I suggested, and please give me a time sometime between mid March and April if you accept.

Take care,
Osama Abdallah

Unknown said...

@WhatsUpDoc
Eh?
Are you serious or are you being sarcastic?

There is no way that the vague quote you mention can be regarded as a statement of the big bang theory. Nothing was joined together, and the big bang theory doesn't include heaven.

I'm not sure the ostrich egg hypothesis for the earth's shape has too much value either.

It's great to find out that the West has helped Muslims rediscover the wisdom of their book though. Obviously it's the West's fault for not pointing it out sooner that Islam has achieved nothing but misery and destruction in its 1400 years.

It's not the only thing the West did to help in relatively recent times though. They also applied the pressure that led many Islamic nations to renounce the (unislamic obviously) practice of slavery.

Glad to help!

Osama Abdallah said...

If David Wood keeps ignoring my posts and challenges to him, then I will record a video of myself dancing in front of my camera and title the video:

"WHERE THE HELL IS DAVID?"

Here is a sample of what my recording will look like:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zlfKdbWwruY

Cheers! :)
Osama Abdallah

AliciaGoodluck said...

To Osama Abdallah, instead of meandering with which scholarly haddith (book) is preferred. It is now beholden upon you to declare which scholarly haddith (book) you abide by.

Thank you.
Alicia

AliciaGoodluck said...

Apparently, it took Allah 23 years to send the entire Quran to Muhammad. The same Allah that was supposed to create heaven and earth in seven days.

70% of the Quran contains text that was already extant then. So, effectively Allah took 23 years to send Muhammad 30% of the Quran.

The Arabs didn't even have a proper alphabet, let alone a complete language. It was long after Muhammad's death that the modern and complete Arabic language cam about.

So, Allah decided to recant his covenant with the Jewish people, to replace them with a pagan people without any linguistic appreciation.

Then, the person given this 23-year revelation goes on to commit some of the worst crimes against humanity the world as ever seen.

We are also told of scientific marvels based on one or less than a handful of surahs as proof of scientific invention.

It should not be lost that if Allah sent his scientific surahs, as they exist in the Quran, to any modern scientific journal, he would be laughed at and ignored for the rest of his life.

And we are supposed to believe such a story?

AliciaGoodluck said...

The purported believe that the Quran is a scientific book actually shows the desperation of Muslims.

I say purported because no one in their right mind would dare declare a scientific prove based on extremely vague verses.

That the Quran was not compiled until after Mohammad's death, should make very clear that any time he mentions the Quran, in the Quran, that verse becomes an indisputable lie.

David said...

@osama, is there any serious work out there that tells us which hadith are genuine and which are weak or made up? This issue needs to be cleared up before us christians make the mistake of thinking we can use ahadith to get to the core of mohammed's teaching.

AliciaGoodluck said...

@ Osama Abdallah

I believe there has been serious work done on vetting haddiths. This is why they are categorized into three groupings -
1) authentic
2) strong/good
3) weak

These bring forth the following questions -
a) is there a single author whose entire collection of haddiths, has been deemed authentic, prior to abrogation?

b) is there a single tome bearing all the authentic haddiths?

You can discount Shia haddiths from this question.

Your answers will be most welcomed. If anyone else has the answer, then please let us know.

AliciaGoodluck said...

@ David, not only Christians but Muslims and people of other religious affiliations want to know more about Islam and its teachings.

The entire world has Islam on stage.

The world wants to know how Islam balances its theology, military, legal, historical and civic teachings to the 21st century.

Unknown said...

What Osama says...

'Just so that you don't get confused, a lot of the "Hadiths" that non-Muslims use are not Hadiths at all. They're either:...'

What Osama means...

Any hadith that support my point of view are obviously correct. Any that don't are obviously false.

Seriously Osama, there is no point in debating Christians whilst Muslims are acting as they do. You need to debate Muslims and eradicate all of the horrible things done in the name of Islam.

Only then would it be worth debating Christians. Whatever you tell us about what Islam is or says is fatally undermined by Muslim actions at the present time.

MustSee said...

Muslim sheik blasts over sect over belief that earth rides on a whale that holds up a bull;

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KDuJ9Jo_c6I

Dacritic said...

Derek, you hit the nail on the head. I think I have mentioned what you said a couple of times too, which is, perhaps these "moderate" Muslims should actually debate the radical Muslims, if we can get them. Let's see who's living up the real Islam. Let's see who really is following Muhammad to the core.

Don't think the moderates are gonna win (just hope they don't get killed by being labelled "hypocrites" in the process :P).

Osama Abdallah said...

"Muslim sheik blasts over sect over belief that earth rides on a whale that holds up a bull;

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KDuJ9Jo_c6I"

Actually even with this false interpretation of the Glorious Quran, the Holy Book's Scientific Miracles about the EARTH TRAVELING IN SPACE still remains sound.

You see, this whale and other nonsense comes from your pagan sources, which also found their way into Jews' and Christians' writings. The Holy Quran on the other hand states clearly that:

1- Earth is spherical.

2- Earth is rotating around itself.

3- EARTH IS ROLLING DOWN IN SPACE.

4- Earth is going in orbits.

5- Earth is speeding very fast or running very fast in space.


Visit: www.answering-christianity.com/ac20.htm#links

This whale nonsense is not mentioned in the Holy Quran. People had no true concept of how earth was like in space. This is where these additions come from.

Islam is the Divine Truth, and trinity is a falsehood.

Again, visit: www.answering-christianity.com/ac20.htm#links

And last and not least, whales do not sit still in water. They do travel. They're almost always in motion. So even with using the wrong interpretation, still even the ones got it wrong still got the earth is traveling in space right.

May Allah Almighty open up your heart to the Divine Truth and Light of Islam. Ameen.

Take care,
Osama Abdallah

Joseph said...

It's amazing that Muslims will tell you all day long that the Hadiths we quote are not "Authentic" but refuse to provide a general body of ahadith that qualifies as authentic. Perhaps because every Hadith contains damaging truths about Mohammed? Things that make you go Hmmmm.....

Anonymous said...

"May Allah Almighty open up your heart to the Divine Truth and Light of Islam. Ameen"

One should always beware when someone talks about a pagan belief system, as Islam has shown itself to be, in terms of "divine, truth and light".

For Satan himself transforms himself into an angel of light. 2 Corinthians 11:14

Dacritic said...

www.prophetofdoom.net.

Another 1,000 reasons why I'd prefer Islamic hell than the "light" of Islam.

Danny L. Newton said...

http://www.tucsonnewsnow.com/story/20387248/1990-tucson-mosque-murder-suspect-found-guilty
https://creepingsharia.wordpress.com/2012/12/23/arizona-muslim-guilty-killed-imam-for-removing-koran-verses/

It seems that I remember an event in the Southwest where a Muslim tried to say that the earth was egg shaped. I can not find it now but I believe he was stabbed 37 times and in a Mosque. Maybe one of the above URLs is it. The time period is about right but the details of the motive differ. I would like to see any proof that the Qur'an says that the earth is spherical. It confuses westerners when something in the Hadith is not revered or supported by Muslims. Supposedly circumcision is in the Hadith and not in the Qur'an, the same applies to the Charity Tax, especially the details of collecting it. It seems like prayer is three times a day in the Qur'an but five times a day in the Hadith.?

Unknown said...

I'm sure David can answer these better, but I enjoy trying.

The Quran supposedly says that the earth is egg shaped. Some claim it a miracle as the earth is not perfectly spherical but this was only recently found out.
It's nonsense for a number of reasons. Firstly the earth is much much closer to a sphere than an egg. It is nothing like an egg at all. Second the whole egg quote is almost certainly due to a mistranslation anyway, the correct translation indicates flat.

http://www.answering-islam.org/Quran/Science/earth_flat.html

The hadith are (often questionable) recordings of what Muhammad and his people said and did. The Koran would always override them, but it doesn't make much sense a lot of the time without them to help explain it.

Many things in Islam are derived from the hadith. Halal food is a good example. All of the rituals (and they are not uniform) around food preparation are derived from scholars interpretations of the hadith. The Koran only says a couple of basic things.

Circumcision is mostly from the hadith (although the Koran does say to follow the religion of Ibrahim-Ibrahim circumcised himself).

The charity tax (zakat) is mentioned extensively in the Koran. A lot of the rules on how to collect it and what is should be spent on though are derived from the hadith and later scholarly work.

The Koran seems to contradict itself (not uncommon) on how many times to pray 2 or 3. Actually it seems to be more times of day to pray rather than how many times.
Ultimately there is a story in the hadith where Muhammad actually goes to heaven. He has a kind of negotiation with Allah about how many times to pray. Moses keeps persuading him to go back and get a better (lower number of prayers) deal.
He ends up with 5 I think before deciding he doesn't want to push his luck any further.
I guess the hadith was referred to in making the final determination that Muslims follow now and overcome the ambiguity in the Koran 'correctly'.