Is the Quran a Scientific Book?

When I started writing this blog “answering Islam”, I found out that when it came to Islam, I often started with “I once spoke to a Muslim”, just as I am About to start this too but guess it turns out that I like talking to people about the love of God and this is not for Muslims only and why is that?

Because when Jesus resurrected, he instructed his disciples in mark 16:15 and in Matthew 28:19 to go into the world and preach the gospel to all. The gospel would mean the death, burial and resurrection of Christ (and this is the love of God).

Because God doesn’t want anyone to die but that all will come to knowledge of him and to have a relationship with him.

With that being said, I once went out to evangelism in a park and I met some Muslim girls and I asked them why they believe in Allah, and one of the girls replied and said because of the miracles in the Quran and she began listing them and she also said that the Quran also predicted scientific things that we are finding out now.

So on hearing these things, I didn’t disagree because I have heard someone say a similar thing as she did, but then later I decided to read about it myself in the Quran and what I found out was that , it wasn’t as she has told me.

And I realised that , I dnt think she herself had read it in the Quran but that it was told to her.

So we will talk about all the “miracles” and “ prophecies”that I have heard while preaching to a Muslim. And of course there are many more but I am stating only the ones I have heard about.

1. The Earth Is Expanding

Surah 51:47

We built the universe with ˹great˺ might, and We are certainly expanding ˹it˺.

Now a Muslim used this verse to tell me that the prophet Mohammed prophesied about the earth expanding and it was found recently that the earth was expanding.

Now the problem with this is that the verse was talking about the “heavens” and that’s the word for “universe”.

And how do I know?

The Tafsirs clearly explains it; Proofs of Allah's Oneness abound in the Creation of the Heavens and the Earth

Allah reminds us of the creating of the higher and lower worlds,
وَالسَّمَآءَ بَنَيْنَـهَا
(We constructed the heaven.) meaning, `We made it as a high roof, protected from falling,'
بِأَيْدٍ
(with Hands), meaning, with strength, according to `Abdullah bin `Abbas, Mujahid, Qatadah, Ath-Thawri and several others, وَإِنَّا لَمُوسِعُونَ
(Verily, We are able to extend the vastness of space thereof.) means, `We made it vast and We brought its roof higher without pillars to support it, and thus it is hanging independently.'

And apart from the fact that the Tafsirs clearly explains it, the next verse then talks about the earth.

Surah 51:48

As for the earth, We spread it out. How superbly did We smooth it out!

وَالاٌّرْضَ فَرَشْنَـهَا
(And We have made the earth a Firash), meaning, `We have made it a resting place for the created,'
فَنِعْمَ الْمَـهِدُونَ
(how excellent a spreader (thereof) are We!), meaning, `We spread it for its inhabitants,'

So this means that the verse was never talking about the earth expanding, it was actually talking about the heavens expanding(and the Tafsir explained what it meant by the heavens expanding). So this is a scientific miracle that was later discovered. So this is just Eisegesis.

2. Fetus Development

Surah 23:12-14

And indeed, We created humankind from an extract of clay, then placed each ˹human˺ as a sperm-drop in a secure place, then We developed the drop into a clinging clot, then developed the clot into a lump ˹of flesh˺, then developed the lump into bones, then clothed the bones with flesh, then We brought it into being as a new creation.So Blessed is Allah, the Best of Creators.

This is another well known Quran miracle, now I usually hear Muslims say, that previously there was no microscope and people didn’t know anything about embryology. Now this is wrong, because there was Galen (2nd century AD) who wrote extensively about embryology and fetal development, especially in works like On Semen (De Semine) and On the Formation of the Fetus (De Foetu Formatione) and His ideas shaped medicine for over a thousand years.

So development of a fetus was known during 6th century (the time of the prophet ) but of course not as extensive as we know it now.

But anyways let’s see what the Quran says, because anyone who tells me about how the Quran predicted the development of a fetus, I usually tell them to pull up the verse so we can read it together and when they do, because most of them are medical students I ask them is that how a fetus develops?

Now we have the sperm that develops into a blood clot and then this clot into a chewed lump then the lump develops into bones and then we cloth the bones with flesh.

Now I will show a picture of a chewed lump and I will like to ask how that lump can turn into a bone and the bone is then clothed with flesh, that is not embryology. That is not how fetus develops.

Now the Tafsir even makes the verse worse.

ثُمَّ خَلَقْنَا النُّطْفَةَ عَلَقَةً
(Then We made the Nutfah into a clot,) meaning, `then We made the Nutfah, which is the water gushing forth that comes from the loins of man, i.e., his back, and the ribs of woman, i.e., the bones of her chest, between the clavicle and the breast. Then it becomes a red clot, like an elongated clot.' `Ikrimah said, "This is blood."
فَخَلَقْنَا الْعَلَقَةَ مُضْغَةً

So from the Tafsir , it is saying that men’s sperm comes from his loin and women’s egg from the bones of her chest.

And we know that is not true, because men’s sperm comes from the testes and women’s egg from the ovaries.

And I wouldn’t blame the commentator for believing that men’s sperm comes from his back because the Quran clearly says it; Surah 86:5-7 Let people then consider what they were created from! ˹They were˺ created from a spurting fluid, stemming from between the backbone and the ribcage.

And now moving forward, let’s even imagine the location of the testes and egg(ova) was not wrong. The testes and ova never forms a blood clot, it forms a zygote which then turns into an embryo.

Now let’s give it to the Quran that a chewed lump of flesh resembles an embryo then how can that lump become a bone ?

I know the Tafsir says;

فَخَلَقْنَا الْمُضْغَةَ عِظَـماً
(then We made out of that little lump of flesh bones,) meaning, `We gave it shape, with a head, two arms and two legs, with its bones, nerves and veins.'
فَكَسَوْنَا الْعِظَـمَ لَحْماً
(then We clothed the bones with flesh,) meaning, `We gave it something to cover it and strengthen it.'

But then if you read about embryology, you will realise that this verse doesn’t describe fetal embryology correctly or at-least not entirely correct.

3. Elevator (Shortness of Breath)

Surah 6:125

Whoever Allah wills to guide, He opens their heart to Islam.But whoever He wills to leave astray, He makes their chest tight and constricted as if they were climbing up into the sky. This is how Allah dooms those who disbelieve.

Now i once spoke to a Muslims and he said the Quran talked about shortness of breath and its being found out now, and spoke of this as the Quran talking about the discovery of elevators.

So usually when someone tries to use a verse to show that it’s a scientific miracle or prophecy, I usually tell them let’s check together if this was known before 6th century (the prophets time ) and if it was, it rules it out as a so called prophecy or scientific miracle.

And interestingly we checked this out and it was known before the prophets time that mountain climbers usually experienced difficulty breathing and physical constriction and they described it in their works of course they didn’t use the modern terms we use now like shortness of breath or chest tightening

And we see this in;

Chinese accounts (1st century AD)
The earliest known descriptions are preserved in the Chinese historical work:
Book of Han
This history (compiled by Ban Gu in the 1st century AD) describes a route through the Pamir Mountains known as the "Greater Headache Mountain" and "Lesser Headache Mountain." Travelers were reported to suffer symptoms such as headache, vomiting, and pallor when crossing these mountains. Modern historians recognize these as descriptions consistent with altitude sickness

Xuanzang (7th century)
The primary source is:
The Great Tang Dynasty Record of the Western Regions
English translations include:

• Li Rongxi, The Great Tang Dynasty Record of the Western Regions (Numata Center, 1996).
• Samuel Beal, Buddhist Records of the Western World (1884).

Xuanzang traveled across the Pamirs and the Hindu Kush between 629–645 AD and described the harsh effects of traversing very high mountains.

So since this was known it is also not a scientific miracle, Infact I believe that the verse is like a simile, “But whoever He wills to leave astray, He makes their chest tight and constricted as if they were climbing up into the sky”. So you see here they are comparing what the persons experience would be to the experience of someone who climbs hills/mountains.

And you can only make comparisons with things that are known to people. If not the readers or hearers wouldn’t be able to relate to what you are saying.

4. Iron

Surah 57:25

Indeed, We sent Our messengers with clear proofs, and with them We sent down the Scripture and the balance ˹of justice˺ so that people may administer justice. And We sent down iron with its great might, benefits for humanity, and means for Allah to prove who ˹is willing to˺ stand up for Him and His messengers without seeing Him. Surely Allah is All-Powerful, Almighty.

So a Muslim once told me that the Quran predicted that iron came from the space , now I do not even need to explain much on this because traditional Muslim scholars never took this verse literally.

Tafsir Ibn Kathir (14th Century)

• The Metaphor: Ion Kathir explicitly glossed anzalna ("We sent down") as "We created" (khalaqna).
• The Meaning: He argued that everything created by Allah originates from His divine decree "down" to Earth. He contextualized it as a provision given to humanity to make tools, weapons, and instruments of industry.

Tafsir al-Tabari (10th Century)

• The Metaphor: As one of the earliest comprehensive commentators, Al-Tabari interpreted "sent down" to mean bestowed or made available.
• The Meaning: He asserted that the phrasing reflects the physical reality that rain descends to grow food, and divine laws descend to govern; similarly, iron was "sent down" as a foundational tool meant to enforce the "Balance" (justice) on Earth.

Tafsir Al-Qurtubi (13th Century)

• The Metaphor: Al-Qurtubi framed the descent of iron as a metaphor for divine education and enablement.
• The Meaning: He noted that "sending down" iron meant that Allah blessed humanity with the knowledge of how to mine, smelt, and manipulate the element for agriculture, architecture, and defense.

And To prove it was a metaphor for creation and gifting, classical grammarians highlighted other verses in the Quran using the exact same verb (anzala):

• Surah Az-Zumar (39:6): "And He sent down (anzala) for you eight pairs of livestock." (Cattle obviously do not fall from the sky; it is universally understood here as a metaphor for divine creation and gifting).
• Surah Al-A'raf (7:26): "We have sent down (anzala) upon you clothing to cover your shame." (Clothing is manufactured by humans, making the "sending down" a metaphor for the provision of raw materials).

So if we also take these verse literally then it would mean also that clothing's and livestock's originates from the space.

Another claim regarding iron, would be that the Quran has 114 chapters and the middle/center is chapter 57(the chapter of Iron) and it is known that iron is found in the center of the earth, showing that the quran is the word of Allah.

Again as i would say, this is just made up because first of all the Quran didn't come in chapters and verses, these were added later by men for easy reading and referencing, so there is nothing divine about that and secondly we also know that ibn Masud’s codex contains 111 surahs, Ubay ibn Ka’b’s codex contains 116 surahs and the one which is used by Muslims (Zayd ibn Thabit's codex) is the one that contains 114 surahs, so if we apply the same logic to ibn Masud & Ubay’s codex it wouldn't work. Showing that the miracle in quote is a selected one at best.

5. Salt Water Doesn’t Merge With Fresh Water

Surah 25:53

And He is the One Who merges the two bodies of water: one fresh and palatable and the other salty and bitter, placing between them a barrier they cannot cross.

Also

Surah 55:19

He merges the two bodies of ˹fresh and salt˺ water, yet between them is a barrier they never cross.

So a Muslim told me that this was not known before but we are finding it out now that fresh water doesn’t mix with salt water and as I said when someone tells me something like this I usually tell them let’s check together and as we checked we found out that it was actually known before the 6th century(during the prophets time )

And we looked it up and this is what we found that this phenomenon (fresh water not mixing with salt water) was actually known before the 6th century;

Aristotle (4th century BC)
In his work Meteorologica, Aristotle discusses rivers flowing into the sea and the differing properties of fresh and salt water. He recognized that they behaved differently, although his explanations were not always scientifically correct.

Pliny the Elder (1st century AD)
In Natural History, Pliny described observations of rivers entering the sea and noted that fresh water could be distinguished from salt water in certain places. Sailors also knew they could sometimes obtain less salty water near large river mouths.
sailors in the Mediterranean, Red Sea, Persian Gulf, and Indian Ocean observed that:
River water could extend into the sea for some distance.Fresh water was sometimes drinkable near river mouths.The waters did not immediately mix completely.
And These were practical observations used in navigation and obtaining water.

So meaning that before 6th century Ancient people observed the phenomenon but explained it in various ways that differ from modern oceanography. So this also is not a scientific miracle.

6. The Sun

Surah Al-Anbiya (21:33)

“And He is the One who created the night and the day, and the sun and the moon—each floating in an orbit.”

This is the another common scientific miracles that Muslims point to, and say that before it wasn’t known that the sun moves.

According to the Tafsir (Ma'arif Al-Qur'an)

كُلٌّ فِي فَلَكٍ يَسْبَحُونَ (Each floating in an orbit - 21:33) The word فَلَک '' (falak) is used for circle or anything round. For this reason the word فَلَک '' (falak) is also used sometimes for sky. In this verse it means the orbits of the sun and the moon in which they revolve. The Qur'anic words do not specify the location of the orbits in the space but space research has now established that these orbits are located in the space much below the sky. This verse apparently indicates that the Sun also moves around an orbit. The scientists previously did not believe in the rotation of the Sun, but the most modern research has now accepted it.

Now this is not true because even before 6th century(the time of the prophet) it was known that the sun and moon moves however they believed in a geocentric model—meaning they thought the sun physically revolved around a stationary Earth rather than the currently believed heliocentric model where planets orbited the Sun.

The development of cosmological models in ancient Greece saw early ideas challenging a stationary Earth, with Pythagoreans like Philolaus and Hicetas in the 5th century BCE proposing that the Earth revolved around a central fire. Two centuries later, Aristarchus of Samos advanced this by suggesting a heliocentric model where planets orbited the Sun. However, these heliocentric ideas struggled to gain traction due to the inability to explain the lack of observable stellar parallax.

This led to the dominance of the geocentric model, most notably formalized by Ptolemy in the 2nd century CE. His mathematical system, detailed in the Almagest, used epicycles and deferents to accurately predict celestial motions, including retrograde movement. This geocentric system, which placed a stationary Earth at the center of the universe, persisted for approximately 1400 years.

The shift back towards heliocentrism began in the 16th century with Nicolaus Copernicus, whose work De revolutionibus orbium coelestium re-established the Sun-centered model. Galileo Galilei's support for this model famously led to his trial.

And this is a link to read more about the history of astronomy.
Astronomy - Ancient Greece, Stars, Planets | Britannica

And also

Geocentric model | Definition, History, & Facts | Britannica

Heliocentrism | Definition, History, & Facts | Britannica

So this thing was already known therefore it’s not a scientific miracle.

Another Claim About the Sun

Another about the sun would be

Surah 91:1-2

By the sun and its brightness, and the moon as it follows it.

This is saying the moon follows the sun or according to one tafsir that the moon reflects the sun(which in reality it is not really what the verse is saying).

So in context Allah is swearing by the objects and phenomena mentioned in verses [ 1-7].

So in essence it is saying “I swear by the sun and its brightness and I swear by the moon that follows the sun”

So the verse is literally assuming that the moon follows the sun and not talking about a particular period like the tafsir would describe; The second oath is taken by:

وَالْقَمَرِ‌ إِذَا تَلَاهَا (and by the moon when she follows him,...91:2). This signifies one of two things: [ 1] The moon following the sun is seen clearly during the middle of the lunar months when the full moon rises to dominate the sky with its radiance after sunset. [ 2] The phrase 'when she follows him' could signify just as the sun is seen in full in broad light, so does the moon, following the sun, becomes full.

So probably when the prophet saw the sun and the moon together he assumed that the moon follows the sun because This often occurs during
daylight hours or near dawn/dusk

7. Moon Splitting

Sahih al-Bukhari 4864
Narrated Ibn Masud:

During the lifetime of Allah's Messenger (ﷺ) the moon was split into two parts; one part remained over the mountain, and the other part went beyond the mountain. On that, Allah's Messenger (ﷺ) said, "Witness this miracle."

Sahih al-Bukhari 4865
Narrated `Abdullah:

The moon was cleft asunder while we were in the company of the Prophet, and it became two parts. The Prophet (ﷺ) said, Witness, witness (this miracle).

Sahih al-Bukhari 4866
Narrated Ibn `Abbas:

The moon was cleft asunder during the lifetime of the Prophet.

Sahih al-Bukhari 4867
Narrated Anas:

The people of Mecca asked the Prophet (ﷺ) to show them a sign (miracle). So he showed them (the miracle) of the cleaving of the moon.

Sahih al-Bukhari 4868
Narrated Anas:

The moon was cleft asunder into two parts.

And also in Surah 54:1-2;

The Hour has drawn near and the moon was split ˹in two˺
Yet, whenever they see a sign, they turn away, saying, “Same old magic!”

A few of the Muslims I have spoken to, when they say the reason they believe in Islam is because of its miracles for example, the prophet Mohammed split the moon. Three things I would say first of all, if the moon was really split, by now we should have 2 halves of the moon, some Muslims would say oh it split and rejoined back, now the problem with that is that there is no verse that actually says the moon joined back.

And if we want to take

[Sahih al-Bukhari 4868 Narrated Anas:
The people of Mecca asked the Prophet (ﷺ) to show them a sign (miracle). So he showed them (the miracle) of the cleaving of the moon.]

and say he showed them the cleaving of the moon, meaning that the moon joined together, because the word cleaving can either be splitting or cutting apart, and sticking or clinging closely.

But now the thing is that from the beginning of the verse I showed above, it was saying “cleave asunder”, and in case we want to say oh this particular one was narrated by a different person (Anas) the very next verse he clearly explains it well

Narrated Anas:

The people of Mecca asked the Prophet (ﷺ) to show them a sign (miracle). So he showed them (the miracle) of the cleaving of the moon.

Sahih al-Bukhari 4868
Narrated Anas:

The moon was cleft asunder into two parts.

Sahih al-Bukhari 4869.

Now apart from this, the second thing is that, if the prophet Mohammed actually split the moon how come there are many places in the Quran where people were asking the prophet to do a miracle and at one point it was said of him that the Quran is the sign from the prophet unto them.

Surah 29:50-51

They say, “If only ˹some˺ signs had been sent down to him from his Lord!” Say, ˹O Prophet,˺ “Signs are only with Allah. And I am only sent with a clear warning.”
Is it not enough for them that We have sent down to you the Book, ˹which is˺ recited to them. Surely in this ˹Quran˺ is a mercy and reminder for people who believe.

Surah 6:37

They ask, “Why has no ˹other˺ sign been sent down to him from his Lord?” Say, ˹O Prophet,˺ “Allah certainly has the power to send down a sign”—though most of them do not know

The word “other” is in bracket because it is not part of the original manuscript, it was added that’s why it’s in bracket.

Surah 21:5

Yet they say, “This ˹Quran˺ is a set of confused dreams! No, he has fabricated it! No, he must be a poet! So let him bring us a ˹tangible˺ sign like those ˹prophets˺ sent before.”

If he really split the moon and it was evident(because such a dramatic act should be known by many especially when the verses never said the moon rejoined back, people should even come and see the moon over the mountain) then people wouldn’t have been asking him to show a sign.

And also, astrologists has also said that there is actually no sign that the moon was split into halves;

“No current scientific evidence reports that the Moon was split into two (or more) parts and then reassembled at any point in the past," said Brad Bailey, a staff scientist from the NASA Lunar Science Institute.

Some Muslims claim that modern astronomy has discovered a scar showing that the Moon was once split into two. However, this is not what astronomers have concluded. The feature commonly presented as evidence is Rima Ariadaeus, a lunar linear rille. NASA classifies such features as geological structures, and astronomer Paul Groot of Radboud University in the Netherlands, said: "The 'split' indicated in the picture is present on the Moon, but it definitely does not extend around the Moon."

"It is a feature that is most likely connected to the impact that created Tycho crater, which is located to the bottom right of the feature in the orientation on the picture," he told AFP via email.

Below is a link to the AFP fact check website investigating this claim;
https://factcheck.afp.com/doc.afp.com.328Y6DA

And lastly, even a Muslim website dismantles this claim; saying that the moon splitting only refers to a future event.
I will share the link, and you can go through it.
Prophet's Miracles

The Floating Rock

Apart from this, another miracle linked with the prophet is the floating rock, of which islamic scholars has pointed out that is false, however I added it here because recently a Muslim guy showed me that proving the miracle done by Allah, and he looked at me and said that it's not photoshop, its real and i realized that not everyone actually know that it is not true.

So the image above is what he showed me, but i will show Muslim responses to this

And below is another Muslim link saying that it is a lie;
Saying that the rock of Jerusalem is floating on air is a fabricated lie

8. 360 Joints

Sunan Abi Dawud 5242
Narrated Abu Buraydah:

I heard the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) say: A human being has three hundred and sixty joints for each of which he must give alms. The people asked him: Who is capable of doing this ? He replied: It may be mucus in the mosque which you bury, and something which you remove from the road; but if you do not find such, two rak'ahs in the forenoon will be sufficient for you.

First of all for this, it was known by the time of the prophet Mohammed that the total number of joints in the human body was 360, so this is not something that was just discovered after the prophet Mohammed.

However the actual number of joints in the human body is actually not known, what medical personnel’s try to do is that they give a range of 250-350, some give a range of 350-360 but the exact number is not known.

A particular site states their reason for the range: A newborn’s skeleton contains 90 more bones than an adult’s—a surprising fact that shapes how we count the body’s structural connections. This natural fusion process complicates precise joint calculations, creating a medical mystery hiding in plain sight. Learn how many joints are in the human body and how they support movement and flexibility.

We understand the challenge of determining exact figures for anatomical structures. Medical definitions vary widely: some experts count every bone intersection, while others focus only on movable connections. Sesamoid bones, like those in the kneecap, further blur the lines between tendons and skeletal components.

Age plays a critical role in these calculations. As children grow, cartilage transforms into solid bone, reducing total counts by nearly 25%. These developmental changes mean joint numbers fluctuate throughout life, making standardized measurements difficult.

The human skeleton’s adaptability adds another layer of complexity. Joints evolve to support movement patterns, heal after injuries, and compensate for wear. This dynamic nature explains why estimates range from 250 to 350 connections—a spectrum reflecting both biological diversity and diagnostic interpretation.

There are a lot of reasons why the it’s taken that the total number of joints in the human body is 360: In antiquity, the human body was frequently viewed as a microcosm of the universe (the idea that man mirrors the heavens). Because ancient solar calendars calculated a year as 360 days (split into 12 months of 30 days), many cultures assumed the human body must have 360 corresponding structural units.

• Ancient Chinese Medicine (2nd Century BC): In the Luxuriant Dew of the Spring and Autumn Annals, philosopher Dong Zhongshu explicitly wrote: "Man has 360 joints, which match the number of Heaven (the round number of days in a year)"

However, Not everyone used a 360-day calendar. For instance, Medieval Irish medical beliefs shifted the number slightly to match their own calendar, asserting that the human body had 365 joints to mirror the exact 365 days of a standard year.

9. Surah 21:30

Surah 21:30

Do the disbelievers not realize that the heavens and earth were ˹once˺ one mass then We split them apart? And We created from water every living thing. Will they not then believe?

I once met a Muslim that showed me this verse and he said it predicted the Big Bang theory. And I read the verse and the Tafsir and I was wondering how this relates to the Big Bang theory , I had to go online to check why do Muslims think Surah 21:30 refers to the Big Bang theory and this is what I saw;

"The heavens and the earth were joined together" is understood to mean the universe began as a single, unified entity.
"We split them apart" is taken to describe the initial expansion of the universe—the Big Bang.
Therefore, the verse is claimed to describe a scientific discovery that would not have been known in the 7th century.

Now again, the Tafsir doesn’t say anything related to the big bang theory.

Ma'arif Al-Qur'an - commentary

أَنَّ السَّمَاوَاتِ وَالْأَرْ‌ضَ كَانَتَا رَ‌تْقًا فَفَتَقْنَاهُمَا (The heavens and the earth were closed, then We opened them. - 30) The word رَتَق (ratq) means to close and فَتَق (fatq) means to open. When used in combination the words mean full control in the management and execution of a job. The translation of the verse is that the earth and the sky were closed and Allah opened them up. Different exegesists have explained differently the sense of the words "closing" and "opening", but the meanings which the companions of the Holy Prophet ﷺ and the majority of the exegesists have adopted are that closing of sky and earth means shutting off rainfall from the sky and vegetation from the earth, and opening means the opening of these two i.e. the rainfall and vegetation.

So, in reality, this is just a modern exaggeration of the verse.

Quran Miracle Numbers

I have also heard a lot of mathematical miracles like the number of times a man and woman are mentioned in the Quran is 24 times each and men and women have 23 chromosomes each.

Another is that the word ‘month’ occurs 12 times, the word ‘day’ occurs 365 times, and so on.

Now for this I dnt need to talk about it because a Muslim site already debunked these claims.

So, i will just put the link here;
An alleged miracle in the Quran

However, there is a particular Quran mathematical miracle I would love to talk about, I once watched a video on YouTube and the Muslim said;

Chapter 32 of the Quran is called As-Sajdah (prostration), there are 30 verses, the prostration verse is verse 15 and it has exactly 15 words, the word prostration is the 186th word in this chapter and if we put 1 + 8 + 6‎ = 15(which is the verse number of 15). And if we take this number (15) and multiply it by 2, we get 30(which is the total number of verses .

Also if we take the 186th position and multiply it by 2 we get 372, which is the total number of words in chapter 32(prostration).

And the Muslim went on with other of these, now he said this shows that the Quran is from God, and in reality, it is very absurd because for example the Book of Mormon;

1st nephi- chapter 19, the word “I” was used 38 times in that chapter and 38 is a multiple of 19.

Chapter 19 has 5,586 characters which is also a multiple of 19.

Chapter 19 of 1st nephi tells how the prophet nephi is making engraven plates, now the words engraven and plates adds up to 19 words.

These words “his” and “prophets “ is also mentioned 19 times in the 19th chapter.

Now this doesn’t mean that the Book of Mormon is the word of God.

Even the Bible also, we can see the sevens in the Bible pointed out by chuck Missler.

https://youtu.be/8hOKA9fR2p4?si=VmPCsuHGA6JoXMMX

Or another example can be; the protestant bible contains 66books (39 Old Testament and 27 New Testament)

3 x 9‎ = 27 (total books in the New Testament).

The Bible has 66 books and the book of Isaiah has 66chapters .

From the same book of Isaiah 61:6, it says the same thing with exodus 19:6, and revelation 1:6.- that God has made us priests.

So, I can even say 6 seems like a magical number, lol.

Now these mathematical patterns do not prove that a book is from God, because any book both religious books and non- religious books can have patterns, because majority of these mathematical patterns are based on the person making then.

Prophecies

Now let’s go over to some of the prophecies I have heard.

Tall Buildings

One day I was preaching to a Muslim, and he told me the Quran predicted that Arabs would build tall buildings and he sent me this.

In regards to the Arabs competing to build the tallest buildings:

'and when you see barefoot, naked, destitute shepherds competing in constructing tall buildings.'
[Sunan Ibn Majah 63]

Similarly, an accompanying narration attributed to the companion Abdullah ibn 'Amr specifically mentions that the Hour is near when the buildings in Mecca rise higher than the peaks of the surrounding mountains.

Today we see this in full affect, with many of the tallest buildings in the world coming from the Arab world, with them actively trying to beat one another.

How could somebody have guessed this? The word barefoot and destitute were used to describe the Arabs in the Hadith above because the Arabs and the Arabian peninsula was notorious for being an impoverished place with little architectural history. Nobody in that time could even fathom building something as a tall as a mountain, even a few hundred years ago this was something extraordinary. So how could someone predict that some of the poorest and least architecturally advanced people would compete to build these mountain-like structures?

This is what the Hadith says in context;

Sunan Ibn Majah 63
It was narrated that 'Umar said:

"We were sitting with the Prophet (ﷺ) when a man came to him whose clothes were intensely white and whose hair was intensely black; no signs of travel could be seen upon him, and none of us recognized him. He sat down facing the Prophet (ﷺ), with his knees touching his, and he put his hands on his thighs, and said: 'O Muhammad, what is Islam?' He said: 'To testify that none has the right to be worshipped but Allah, and that I am the Messenger of Allah, to establish regular prayer, to pay Zakat, to fast in Ramadan, and to perform Hajj to the House (the Ka'bah).' He said: 'You have spoken the truth.' We were amazed by him: He asked a question, then told him that he had spoken the truth. Then he said: 'O Muhammad, what is Iman faith? He said: 'To believe in Allah, His angels, His Messengers, His books, the Last day, and the Divine Decree (Qadar), both the good of it and the bad of it.' He said' You have spoken the truth.' We were amazed by him. He asked a question, then told him that he had spoken the truth. Then he said: 'O Muhammad, what is Ihsan (right action, goodness, sincerity)? He said: 'To worship Allah as if you see Him, for even though you do not see Him, He sees you.' He asked: "When will the Hour be?' He said: 'The one who is being asked about it does not know more than the one who is asking.' He asked: 'Then what are its signs?' he said: 'When the slave woman gives birth to her mistress' (Waki' said: This means when non-Arabs will give birth to Arabs") 'and when you see barefoot, naked, destitute shepherds competing in constructing tall buildings.' The Prophet (ﷺ) met me three days later and asked me: 'Do you know who that man was? I said" 'Allah and his Messenger know best.' He said: 'That was Jibril, who came to you to teach you your religion

So in context of the Hadith (Sunan Ibn Majah 63) the prophet Mohammed said that the sign of the hour (the last day basically or the day of judgement) would be that barefoot, naked, destitute shepherds competing in constructing tall buildings, first thing here is that this Hadith doesn’t explicitly say who those barefoot, naked, destitute shepherds were because in Sahih Al-Bukhari 7121 says; ......(9) till the people compete with one another in constructing high buildings......

Also, Sahih Al- Bukhari 50 says; ..... 2. When the shepherds of black camels start boasting and competing with others in the construction of higher buildings. And the Hour is one of five things which nobody knows except Allah......

But let’s assume the people were Arabs, now , not only is the description of those who will compete unclear but also “tall buildings” is relative because even before the prophet mohammed , people have built tall buildings and after people continue to build tall buildings, so when it says “tall buildings” what is it being compared to?

However lets imagine this doesnt have any of the problems above, there is still a little problem, there is another place where the prophet Mohammed also gave a sign for the hour in even a more authentic Hadith (Sahih Muslim)

Sahih Muslim 2953 b
Anas b. Malik reported that a person asked Allah's Apostle (ﷺ):

When would the Last Hour come? Thereupon Allah's Messenger (way peace be upon him) kept quiet for a while. Then looked at a young boy in his presence belonging to the tribe of Azd Shanu'a and he said: If this boy lives he would not grow very old till the Last Hour would come to you. Anas said that this young boy was of our age during those days.

Now of course we know that the little boy is obviously dead and yet the last hour is not yet here, so even if we say the first prophecy about the last hour is true(in that it came to pass) , we know the second one didn’t come to pass. Therefore if we want to use the first prophecy as a criteria to say that Islam is the true religion, it doesn’t work because even from a more reliable Hadith the prophecy didn’t stand.

Rome

Then another interesting prophecy is about it Rome.

Surah 30:2-5

The Romans have been defeated in a nearby land. Yet following their defeat, they will triumph within three to nine years. The ˹whole˺ matter rests with Allah before and after ˹victory˺. And on that day the believers will rejoice at the victory willed by Allah. He gives victory to whoever He wills. For He is the Almighty, Most Merciful.

This verse is a bit controversial in that on one hand for the Muslims it is a clearly fulfilled prophecy and on the other hand for others it is debatable because for it to be confirmed as a fulfilled prophecy it was to be shown that it was written before the victory of the romans, and also there is another group of people that are of the opinion that they cannot ascertain if the prophecy was truly fulfilled or not owing to the fact that Arabic was originally consonantal and inclusion of the vowels and dots can give different readings.

However I am not necessarily on any point of view,But what I want to say is this, whether this is actually a fulfilled prophecy or not is not the question that is being addressed in this blog, the summary of what is being addressed is that if someone wants to say that the reason the Quran is the word of God is because of the prophecies gotten right in quote, then that would be worth thinking because if we go with the mentality that if one thing is true then it shows it’s from God that would then me that if one thing is wrong it would show it’s not from God.

The Sun Setting in a Spring

Let’s take an example, Surah 18:83-86

They ask you ˹O Prophet˺ about Ⱬul-Qarnain. Say, “I will relate to you something of his narrative”
Surely We established him in the land, and gave him the means to all things.
So he travelled a course,
until he reached the setting ˹point˺ of the sun, which appeared to him to be setting in a spring of murky water, where he found some people. We said, “O Ⱬul-Qarnain! Either punish them or treat them kindly.”

So we see that this verse says that the sun sets in a spring of murky water, now just like the tafsir some would want to say oh, it just appeared as though it did or it was the viewer’s perception.

But then there is a Hadith where the prophet Mohammed actually said the same thing, showing that it was probably believed, that was where the sun sets.

Sunan Abi Dawud 4002
Narrated Abu Dharr:

I was sitting behind the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) who was riding a donkey while the sun was setting. He asked: Do you know where this sets ? I replied: Allah and his Apostle know best. He said: It sets in a spring of warm water (Hamiyah).

In Summary

So, in summary, the aim of this blog is not to say that the Quran is entirely wrong, but most times scholars show people only the true part and leave the ones that seem wrong or incorrect, and people’s confidence are built entirely on those portions neglecting the other portions that seem problematic.

Research Notes