‘SCIENTIFIC ERRORS‘ Refuted
Critics often cherry pick verses of the Qur’an as well as Hadith to create the misleading impression of errors within them.
In this post we will refute 5 common allegations regarding ‘scientific errors’ in Islamic sources.
Islamic ‘Scientific Error’ 1: A Sahih Hadith (Ibn Dawud 4002) has the Prophet (pbuh) saying the Sun sets in a muddy spring, based on Surah 18:86. This in an egregious error.
RESPONSE:
Labelling any hadith as ‘Sahih’ is a subjective exercise. Great scholars often take different and contradictory views on the reliability of narrators.
Moiz Amjad points out the addition about the sun setting in a spring is reported by only a few versions from a single source – Al Hakam Al ‘Utaybah from Sufyan bin hussain. Both of these narrators have been criticised for making some mistakes in narration:
As it happens the version of the hadith referring to the sun setting in a spring is not reported by the more the reliable versions of the text, including those reported in Bukhari and Muslim.
“it is clear that with the number of hadiths that report it differently than the one cited above combined with the fact that they come from only one narrator who was also criticized, makes the case that this hadith has been reported wrongly. Thus, the “critics” of Islam have no basis to their argument if they have not appreciated the actual statement of the hadith. Had they attempted to understand better they may have realized that the hadith in question is unreliable”
As for the Quran in 18:86 Dr. Amjad explains:
“The verse, as is obvious, is not referring to a scientific reality, but to a person’s vision. In other words, the verse is not saying that the sun, at the referred place, used to set in a murky lake; on the contrary, it is informing us that Dhu al-Qarnain reached a place where it appeared to him as if the sun was setting in a murky lake”
Islamic ‘Scientific Error’ 2: Sahih Bukhari (1039) quotes the Prophet (pbuh) saying that nobody knows what is in the womb but Allah (referring to the sex of the fetus) However, scans and so on, can now reveal the sex of an unborn baby due to modern science.
RESPONSE:
The hadith is question is as follows:
Allah’s Messenger (ﷺ) (p.b.u.h) said, “Keys of the unseen knowledge are five which nobody knows but Allah . . . nobody knows what will happen tomorrow; nobody knows what is in the womb; nobody knows what he will gain tomorrow; nobody knows at what place he will die; and nobody knows when it will rain.
Sahih Bukhari 1039
It clearly does not say ‘nobody can ever know the sex of the child in the womb’. One cannot assume this without any basis. It simply says nobody knows what is in the womb i.e. what the unborn child will be like.
Now think about this. Does anyone know whether the child will grow up to be kind or cruel? Healthy or afflicted with illnesses? Humorous or serious? Fortunate or unlucky? Whether they will live long, or die before birth?
In other words, nobody except Allah knows EVERYTHING about the person in the womb, not just their sex or basic anatomy which science can fathom.
Indeed ultrasound scans can mistakenly assign the wrong sex up to 5 percent of the time, so even this is open to question.
The hadith also mentions ‘where it will rain’. Now while Modern science can predict rainfall, it cannot do so always with total accuracy. Thus some things are known in their entirety to Allah alone, just as the hadith states.
Islamic ‘Scientific Error’ 3: Qur’an 36:36 says Allah created everything in pairs but Science tells us many animals and plants have only one sex.
RESPONSE
- The verse in question does not in fact say ‘all things have been created in pairs’ although others do. THIS verse says Allah created ALL the pairs in the earth, in humans and what we do not know of. This means WHATEVER pairs do exist were created by God, even those we currently do not understand.
- The verse does not mention sex, gender or sexual reproduction at all.
- Tabari, Saadi, Al Qurtubi, Ibn Kathir relying on the opinion of Mujahid rejected the opinion that the pairs referred to here are sexual pairs. They argued this refers to opposites, complements and types not biological sex.
As-Sa‘di (may Allah have mercy on him) said:
“…that is, every kind of plant that is pleasant to the eye and brings delight and joy to the observer, as food for the sons of Adam and their livestock, and bringing other benefits.
So zawj means type, and zawjayn means a pair of opposite types or counterparts, such as sweet and sour, fresh and salt [referring to water]. Apples are one type, oranges are another type, and each type has its own taste and colour”
- All the commentators above are pre-modern. One cannot accuse them of changing the meaning of the Qur’an to avoid modern scientific knowledge. Clearly they understood that the word ‘zawj’ is used by the Quran in a much broader way than just sex, although it does also refer to that in some instances.
- In terms of science, we know that DNA consists of the double helix which base-pair together. This is true of all living organisms:
“The structure of DNA is dynamic along its length, being capable of coiling into tight loops and other shapes. In all species it is composed of two helical chains, bound to each other by hydrogen bonds”.
DNA
In addition all atoms have positive and negative charges, all matter has anti-matter etc. In many ways all things exist in pairs, even when they are produced asexually since at the molecular level, atomic or subatomic level they consist of pairs.
Islamic ‘Scientific Error’ 4: Surah 6:38 says all animals live in communities. Modern science tells us some animals do not form Communities. They live solitary lives.
RESPONSE
The Quran does not deny that some animals are solitary. This is a total misunderstanding of the blessed verse. It simply says that all of them are part of a community, just as humans are.
This is true in at least two ways:
- All living organisms are groups of individuals with common anatomy and physiology, ancestry, diets and behaviours. In this respect all tigers are part of the ‘nation’ of big cats, regardless of the fact that they live solitary lives.
- All organisms are part of biological communities, ecosystems and biomes. Here different types of organisms interact with each others as human communities do. The Encyclopedia Britannica explains what a biological community is:
“Community, also called biological community, in biology, an interacting group of various species in a common location. For example, a forest of trees and undergrowth plants, inhabited by animals and rooted in soil containing bacteria and fungi, constitutes a biological community”
It is clear all animals do indeed belong to communities as the Quran states.
Islamic ‘Scientific Errors’ 5: Did the Prophet deny infections illnesses exist in Tirmidhi (2143)?
RESPONSE
The Prophet (Pbuh) certainly knew that infections diseases exist.
That is why he ordered that healthy animals should not be mixed with the healthy and ordered people not to leave or enter a place afflicted with the plague:
Sa’d reported: The Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, said, “If you hear of a plague in a land, then do not go into it. If it happens in land where you are, then do not go out of it.”
Sahih Bukhari 5396
Allah’s Apostle said: The cattle (sheep, cows, camels, etc.) suffering from a disease should not be mixed up with healthy cattle, (or said: “Do not put a patient with a healthy person”.
Bukhari vol.7 Book 71:665e
Moreover he asked people to flee from lepers to avoid infection:
“Flee from the leper as you would from the lion.”
Sahih Bukhari 5707
The meaning of the hadith ‘there is no adwa’ (contagion) is not that no contagious diseases exist, but NO disease has the power to infect without the will of Allah. Classical scholars understood this:
“Ibn Hajar al-Asqalani argued it was a refutation of the disbelievers who claimed disease is infectious by its inherent nature (bi tab’ihi) telling them the contagion appears by the will of Allah.
This understanding is quite apparent if one read ahead in a version of the hadith where a man said to the Messenger (saw) his healthy camels will catch the disease if they mix with unhealthy camels, to which the Messenger (saw) replied, “And who infected the first one?” (Bukhari), suggesting it did not come by itself but by the will of Allah” (Islamqate.com)
https://www.islamiqate.com/3766/what-does-hadith-bukhari-mean-when-there-contagious-disease