Scientific Miracles and Mohammed’s authority as a prophet sent by God
Muslims often defend the idea of ”ijaz ilmiy”, the theory that there is scientific knowledge in the Koran.
This thesis is generally put forward to support the legitimacy of the prophetic mission of Muhammad, but Muslims also use it to defend the divine origin of the Koran.
While he was transmitting the Koran and responding to the questions listed in the Hadith, Muhammad is said to have demonstrated a scientific knowledge that he could not have had in his day. The conclusion drawn is that this knowledge was given by divine inspiration. Only God could have given Muhammad this supernatural wisdom, they argue, and therefore, he was a prophet sent from God.
The most notable miracle
Among the most quoted Scientific Miracles of the Koran is also this one, which reads:
“And it is He (Allah) who gives free course to the two seas: one soft, refreshing, the other salty, bitter. And he assigns between the two an intermediate zone and an impassable barrier. (Sura 25: 53)
Muslims say that it was only in the 20th century that the evidence for this scientific understanding of salt and fresh water was discovered, yet it was contained in the Koran since the days the sayings of Mohammed were written down. Jacques Cousteau the famous oceanographer is said to have discovered this to be true, found it was stated in the Koran and became a Muslim.
Here is a typical account circulating among Muslims of this story:
The famous French oceanographer Mr Jacques Yves Cousteau, who has spent his lifetime on undersea discoveries and is considered an authorithy on undersea exploration has embraced Islam after his amazing undersea discovery was confirmed by the Holy Qur’an the last and final revealed guidence of Allah (God Almighty) for the whole of Mankind and Jinns.
One day somewhere in deep ocean, Mr Jacques Yves Cousteau was doing some undersea exploration when he discovered that within the salty sea water there were several spring of sweet palatable water.
What amazed him most was the fact that the sweet water of the springs was not mingling with the salty water of the sea. For a long time he tried to find plausible excuse for this phenomena, but to no avail.
One day when he mentioned it to a Muslim Professor who told him this phenomena simply followed Allah’s command as clearly explained in the Holy Qur’an. He then read to Mr Cousteau the following verses from the Holy Qur’an :
“It is He (Allah) Who has let free the two bodies of flowing water : One palatable and sweet, and the other salty and bitter; yet has He (Allah) made a barrier between them, a portion that is forbidden to be passed” – (Sura 25 Al-Furqan : Verse 53)
“And He (Allah) made a separating bar between the two bodies of flowing waters.” – (Sura 27 An-Naml : Verse 61)
“He (Allah) let free the two bodies of flowing water, meeting together : between them is a barrier which they do not transgress.” – (Sura 55 Al-Rahman : Verse 19:20)
Hearing this, Mr Cousteau said that surely the Qur’an is a divine Book and embraced Islam. (This was reported in Al-Furqan-Ta-Ha Publishers, London).[1]
Is this a scientific miracle?
During an symposium by Nidhal Guessoum (an Algerian Muslim astrophysicist of international notoriety) [2] at the Faculty of Islamic Sciences in Paris, someone, a Muslim, made the following statement to him about his failure as a Muslim to accept the principle of ‘ijaz’ in the Koran:
“You do not accept the idea Of the ijaz, but when one takes the verse as, “And it is He who gives free course to the two seas: one soft, refreshing, the other salty, bitter. And it assigns between the two an intermediate zone and an impassable barrier.” 1400 years ago, with scientific precision behind it, and the recent scientific discoveries that confirm it, one can not deny the scientific miracle of the Koran.”
Nidhal (and please remember that he was a Muslim scientist) replied:
“The phenomenon of the seas described in this verse, you may not know, but it was already known to sailors and fishermen throughout the region. For millennia, it was known that these freshwater springs were emerging from the submarine coasts in Yemen. Today, we know that this was known.
I repeat, there is not a single example that passes the filter of careful scrutiny. It is very simple!”
The definition of ‘ijaz’ is that the Koran contains scientific truths that have only recently been discovered, and that Mohammed, 1400 years ago in Arabia could not possibly have know.
This example is in flagrant contradiction with this definition of ijaz, because, firstly, there is no evidence that the Sura refers to this place at all. It seems to be evidence of making something we have discovered in one place fit a statement made in another. Secondly, the fact of the freshwater springs under the sea was known and had been known before Mohammed in any case.
The idea that there is a linguistic or scientific miracle, etc., is indefensible. It relies, not on our ignorance of fresh water and sea water together in one part of one ocean. It relies on our ignorance of the fact that others did already know of it.
More significantly, it uses a lie to give it greater authority. The declaration that Jacques Cousteau converted to Isalm is a fabrication.
The following letter of clarification (dated 1991) from Didier Cerceau of the Cousteau Society emphatically states that Cousteau did not convert to Islam. Note that this is an official communication made by Cousteau’s Foundation and he did not repudiate it.
FC/DC
Paris, November 2, 1991
Sir, We have received your letter and we thank you for your interest in our activities. We state precisely to you that Commander Cousteau has not become a Muslim and that this rumour passes around without foundation.
Very cordially,
Didier CERCEAU
chargé de mission
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[1] In reality the French commander Jacques Yves Cousteau died non-Muslim, June 25, 1997 at the age of 87; His body passed through the Church, and he was buried in the Christian cemetery of the French commune of Saint-André-De-Cubzaz, located in the department of Gironde.
[2] Muslim astrophysicist of international notoriety. Nidhal Guessoum worked for several years at NASA. He is currently Professor and Deputy Director of the Department of Science at the American University of Sharjah (United Arab Emirates). He is regularly invited to international conferences, both in the Muslim and non-Muslim world.
[3] Sura 25:53. Also Sura 55: 19-22, “He gave free course to the two seas to meet. There is a barrier between them which they do not exceed. From these two seas emerge the pearl and the coral. ”
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