http://www.islam-guide.com/ch1-1.htm#ch1-1
http://www.islam-guide.com/truth.htm
the message board for Dubai English speaking community
pinoy1 wrote:Ok. I don't see anything scientific about the comparison of the shapes of a leech and a human embroyo. Sorry.
scot1870 wrote:If Islam embraces science so much what has it contributed in the last 100 years? You could even make that 1000 years and it would still be a very small proportion of overall scientific evolution.
Jamal wrote:all i gots to say is once the foundation is set an its firm an proper .. that till today the load at the top which is continously being added is cause the current knowledge shows the foundation cant be encaved.. is cause of the muslim and middle eastern scholars ( let me name one IBN SINA ) .. not only in the field of medicine but philosophy astronomy an so on ..
i mean when these nigggas were chillin in palaces an chewin on kebabs the western world hardly existed an if they was chewin on somethin it was raw meat ..
an the only reason why the west be workin continously on the medicine front these days ... is cause them nigggas be the cause of all new diseases .. we already cured wateva we had to ... but you all niggas bringing all this aids sh.it around an em dirty chinks startin all these sar's , bird flu's , an mad cow diseases ... now you all gots to deal with it .. you done takin our oil money an foolin us to build big building for no reason an makin us buy 100's of planes for no reason .. to help strenghten ur economy .. an you still want us to be the one's researchin .. easy on us now ... use the money you done robbed an continue the reaserches we started out .. evolutioni as you said ..
and p.s dont start arguin about aids not being a disease started in the west .. and dont start claimin that it came from green monkeys up in africa ... cause if you do say that an claim that .. then J gots only but one question .. what in the fu ck was you all doin in africa gettin fu cked by them green monkeys..????
easy on me with the disses that you all gonna come up with now .. i was just tryin to be as intellectual minded as i can ..
uaebadoo wrote:Influence on European science
Further information: Latin translations of the 12th century
Contributing to the growth of European science was the major search by European scholars for new learning which they could only find among Muslims, especially in Islamic Spain and Sicily. These scholars translated new scientific and philosophical texts from Arabic into Latin.
scot1870 wrote:uaebadoo wrote:Influence on European science
Further information: Latin translations of the 12th century
Contributing to the growth of European science was the major search by European scholars for new learning which they could only find among Muslims, especially in Islamic Spain and Sicily. These scholars translated new scientific and philosophical texts from Arabic into Latin.
Yup, you confirmed your input was next to nothing. Translating books centuries ago? Forget the steam engine, telephone, television, internet or anything vaguely important, you guys had it cornered years ago.
I would go as far as to say the shopping trolley is a greater invention than anything out of the Islamic world in the last 100 years.
scot1870 wrote:uaebadoo wrote:Influence on European science
Further information: Latin translations of the 12th century
Contributing to the growth of European science was the major search by European scholars for new learning which they could only find among Muslims, especially in Islamic Spain and Sicily. These scholars translated new scientific and philosophical texts from Arabic into Latin.
Yup, you confirmed your input was next to nothing. Translating books centuries ago? Forget the, you guys had it cornered years ago.
I would go as far as to say the shopping trolley is a greater invention than anything out of the Islamic world in the last 100 years.
scot1870 wrote:Their contribution to those was tiny, that's my point
Yes, on the contrary Islam encourages science and discoverypinoy1 wrote:Someone please educate me on this one...
Since the topic's about Islam and science (thus technological innovations), I've HEARD before that Islam tells muslims to shun away from these materialistic technological advances. Am I entirely wrong?
uaebadoo wrote:scot1870 wrote:uaebadoo wrote:Influence on European science
Further information: Latin translations of the 12th century
Contributing to the growth of European science was the major search by European scholars for new learning which they could only find among Muslims, especially in Islamic Spain and Sicily. These scholars translated new scientific and philosophical texts from Arabic into Latin.
Yup, you confirmed your input was next to nothing. Translating books centuries ago? Forget the, you guys had it cornered years ago.
I would go as far as to say the shopping trolley is a greater invention than anything out of the Islamic world in the last 100 years.
Read 123456789 and 0
These are ARABIC Numbers, without them no ( steam engine, telephone, television, internet or anything vaguely important) as you said could have been invented, even your name scot1870 can't be written without using Arabic Numbers
node88 wrote:OnT:
The miracles of the koran doesnt really seem like miracles to me. I'll explain later if I have time. Theres some things thats remarkable that a 700th century beduin wudve known but calling it miracle is a bit far. Its all about interpretation of the text. Either way, can it really be called scientific miracle when we have to discover it first in order to be able to interpretate it the right way? Why doesnt it for example say "The montains are created from the tectonail plates colliding"? then i wudve gone and converted right away.
shafique wrote:node88 wrote:OnT:
The miracles of the koran doesnt really seem like miracles to me. I'll explain later if I have time. Theres some things thats remarkable that a 700th century beduin wudve known but calling it miracle is a bit far. Its all about interpretation of the text. Either way, can it really be called scientific miracle when we have to discover it first in order to be able to interpretate it the right way? Why doesnt it for example say "The montains are created from the tectonail plates colliding"? then i wudve gone and converted right away.
It appears you have done some reading on the role the Islamic civilization/empire played in the preservation and transmission of earlier scientific materials. This also extended to literature, poetry and even music. You play down the new achievements - i.e. advancements made by the Muslims. Fair enough - this is what some 'orientalist' writers portray, but just a wander around Ibn Battuta mall puts this into context... anyway, I'm sure others will be able to enumerate the advances made in sciences, mathematics, astronomy etc by Muslim and Non-Muslim poly-maths under the Golden era of the Islamic Empire.
However, I wanted to ask you a question based on the above quote:
Going back just a few decades back, say, how would you have explained to the average man in the street what a microwave oven is and how it operates? What words would you use that they would understand? Would you speak in scientific terms and be understood, or would you express the concepts in terms and words they would understand?
How would you explain to a person from 150 years ago how you could see and speak to a person standing on the moon (let alone describe how they would get there)?
I ask the questions just to make the point that descriptions from 1500 years ago of natural phenomena necessarily do not use technical/scientific terms because these terms had not yet been invented.
The miracles of the Quran are many. On the scientific claims, the Quran's verses are remarkable in that as new scientific discoveries are made (uncovering God's work), one is amazed to look back at the verses of the Quran and find that they are in total agreement and even (with the benefit of hind-sight) an exposition of the findings.
The Nobel Laureate for Physics awarded in 1979, Prof. Abdus Salaam was the first Muslim awarded this prize for science - and his prize was for work he did predicting the unification of two of the fundamental forces of nature. He was at the cutting edge of science, but also wrote a lot on how the Quran was his guiding light and that all his findings were in total accordance with the Quran. He pointed out that the Quran has more verses advocating believers to study the creation of God (i.e. Science) than there were verses stating the 'rules'/'laws' that mankind should follow - I think it was at least twice as many verses telling people to study creation.
However, at the end of the day religion is based on faith - I take a logical approach and believe in things that make sense to me. This approach does not apply to many others - for them logic is not as important, but personal experience, cultural significance or just what they were born into are more important.
From the first records of religion, there have always been two reactions to miracles - those who see them as miracles, and those who dismiss them or disregard them. No record exists of people seeing a miracle - or experiencing a prophecy fulfilled - and then all agreeing to the truth of the prophet/messenger (the closest though is the account of the people of Jonah who did repent, pray and have the punishment averted.). That is not how God created us - at the root of our existence is the choice God has given us.
If it wasn't for free will, there would be no need for religion, laws, heaven, hell etc.
All the best.
Cheers,
Shafique
node88 wrote:And talking about that, what about the stuff that contradicts todays science? That sperm is produced between the backbone and the ribs for example. How can the holy book be wrong about such a basic thing? Or are todays science wrong about such a simple thing? And whats up with the sun settling in a muddy pond? That doesnt seem very scientific to me...
shafique wrote:node88 wrote:And talking about that, what about the stuff that contradicts todays science? That sperm is produced between the backbone and the ribs for example. How can the holy book be wrong about such a basic thing? Or are todays science wrong about such a simple thing? And whats up with the sun settling in a muddy pond? That doesnt seem very scientific to me...
node88 - please give me the references and translations of the verses according to where you got these from, and I'll look them up and comment on these for you.
I don't recall the reference of sperm in relation to the backbone and ribs, so am intrigued.
As for the sun setting in a muddy pond, this does ring a bell - but please refresh my memory with the reference and I'll post the correct translation for you and explain this one (sun set, you will know from your science lessons is only relevant to a being on a rotating planet - and today depending on where you are, the sun sets into the sea or land).
I note however that you chose not to answer my questions about what words you would use.. disapointed, but not surprised.
Oh, almost forgot - doesn't the fact that people did not understand the cryptic references 1500 years ago, but that these do make sense today say something about the foresight of the Quran?
Cheers,
Shafique
node88 wrote:
"Now let man but think from what he is created! He is created from a drop emitted-Proceeding from between the backbone and the ribs," (Qur'an 86:5-7).
And accoring to the verse at the miracles site this drop is sperm most probably.
"We created man from an extract of clay. Then We made him as a drop in a place of settlement, firmly fixed. Then We made the drop into an alaqah (leech, suspended thing, and blood clot), then We made the alaqah into a mudghah (chewed substance)... " (Quran, 23:12-14)
node88 wrote:And the verse about the sun settling in a muddy pond
Koran 18:86
"Till, when he [the traveller Zul-qarnain] reached the setting-place of the sun, he found it going down into a muddy spring..."
node88 wrote:This verse further suggests that the sun is orbiting around the earth.
Koran 36:40 "It is not for Sun to overtake the moon, nor doth the night outstrip the day. They float each in an orbit."
node88 wrote:Ure probably gonna interpretate that in a totally different way than me, but compare these verses to the one in the scientific miracles site. Isnt these verses clearer than many of the ones on that site? But i guess u see what u want to see, but i suppose it isnt very convincing to most people thats not muslim though.
node88 wrote:Im sure that if there was a scientific miracle site a thousand years ago when ppl believed that the earth was flat, those last two verses wud be hailed as miracles. Its all about interpretation but its hardly convincing and definatly not miracles.
node88 wrote:And about the words used, Ill have to agree with u, of course theres a barrier to how much ppl cudve understood back then. Explaining the internet to a 700th century man wudve been impossible. But we are able to teach kids without any prior education many of those things (listed at the miracles site) quite easily. How come god cant explain it better than this. Chewed substance = an embryo? Even I can come up with a better explanation than that.
shafique wrote:node88 wrote:
"Now let man but think from what he is created! He is created from a drop emitted-Proceeding from between the backbone and the ribs," (Qur'an 86:5-7).
And accoring to the verse at the miracles site this drop is sperm most probably.
"We created man from an extract of clay. Then We made him as a drop in a place of settlement, firmly fixed. Then We made the drop into an alaqah (leech, suspended thing, and blood clot), then We made the alaqah into a mudghah (chewed substance)... " (Quran, 23:12-14)
The second quotation talking about creation from a blood-clot is a very good description of a fertilized egg before it becomes a recognisable foetus - incredible stuff!
The first verse is pretty impressive stuff as well - saying that a person is created from a sperm, something that wasn't confirmed by science until much later. I'll have to look up the translation of the latter part of the verse and see whether it is as you have copied, and whether it is referring to the sperm or the development of the foetus (if correctly translated).node88 wrote:And the verse about the sun settling in a muddy pond
Koran 18:86
"Till, when he [the traveller Zul-qarnain] reached the setting-place of the sun, he found it going down into a muddy spring..."
This reads to me like a description of a human (Dhul Qarnain) reaching the western-most part of his land to find it was a 'muddy' body of water. Do you think any person reading this verse thinks that the Sun physically goes into a muddy pool?node88 wrote:This verse further suggests that the sun is orbiting around the earth.
Koran 36:40 "It is not for Sun to overtake the moon, nor doth the night outstrip the day. They float each in an orbit."
I can't see how you get from the above descriptions that celestial bodies have 'fixed' orbits and don't crash into each other - nor do I see where it says that the sun orbits the earth - it just says it has an orbit.
This is an incredible statement to come out of Arabia 1500 years ago - and again, literally has been proved true by scientific progress.node88 wrote:Ure probably gonna interpretate that in a totally different way than me, but compare these verses to the one in the scientific miracles site. Isnt these verses clearer than many of the ones on that site? But i guess u see what u want to see, but i suppose it isnt very convincing to most people thats not muslim though.
I don't expect people to be convinced, but I would hope that objections are limited to facts and not propaganda. From the above, at worst you could argue that these are luck predictions that have been proved correct by science, or that they are sufficiently general that they cannot be 'proved wrong'. What cannot be disputed is that they haven't been proved wrong by science.
However, at the end of the day the Quran is not a manual on physics, but a religious book which contains God's final law to mankind and contains the literal word of God (as claimed by the book itself), and one of the logical features of such a book (if the claims are true) is that it should not contain contradictions, or facts which later proved to be wrong or contrary to science.
I will look up the reference to the ribs - but I note with satisfaction that the translations you have given prove the point of this thread magnificently - I thank you for this.node88 wrote:Im sure that if there was a scientific miracle site a thousand years ago when ppl believed that the earth was flat, those last two verses wud be hailed as miracles. Its all about interpretation but its hardly convincing and definatly not miracles.
People's hearts are not moved by miracles or scientific prophecies. This just a fact. It would be a hollow faith to just follow something because it is amazing - David Copperfield will be considered a 'god' if that was the casenode88 wrote:And about the words used, Ill have to agree with u, of course theres a barrier to how much ppl cudve understood back then. Explaining the internet to a 700th century man wudve been impossible. But we are able to teach kids without any prior education many of those things (listed at the miracles site) quite easily. How come god cant explain it better than this. Chewed substance = an embryo? Even I can come up with a better explanation than that.
Why choose one of the meanings 'chewed substance' when another i.e. 'blood clot' is a better fit in the context? You gave this meaning above ... did you not read what you posted?
How better will you describe a ball of cells of an early fertilized egg (zygote) - how is it NOT like a 'clot of blood'?
You say you can come up with a better explanation - please let us hear it.
Cheers,
Shafique
shafique wrote:I never said that the verse stating man being created from sperm was a scientific miracle of the Quran - and the Quran itself doesn't make this a big point, in context the verse is saying that man should ponder from whence he came...
As for the Quran being clear - well, we don't have to speculate on this point, the Quran itself clarifies. It is written in clear language - pure Arabic - but contains verses which are self-evident and others which are not so clear and subject to interpretation:
Chapter 3 (Aal-e-`Imran): Verse 7
He it is who has sent down to thee the Book; in it there are verses that are firm and decisive in meaning - they are the basis of the Book - and there are others that are susceptible of different interpretations. But those in whose hearts is perversity pursue such thereof as are susceptible of different interpretations, seeking to cause discord and seeking wrong interpretations of it. And none knows its right interpretation except Allah and those who are firmly grounded in knowledge; they say, 'We believe in it; the whole is from our Lord.' - And none take heed except those gifted with understanding -
Chapter 41 (Ha Mim Al-Sajdah): Verse 44
And if We had made it a Qur'an in a foreign tongue, they, surely, would have said, 'Why have not its verses been made clear? What! a foreign tongue and an Arab Prophet?' Say, 'It is a guidance and a healing for those who believe.' But as to those who believe not, there is a deafness in their ears and to them it is blindness. They are, as it were, being called from a far-off place.
Cheers,
Shafique
uaebadoo wrote:Thanks Shafique for your explanation
I invite eveybody to read about THE MIRACLE OF IRON
http://www.miraclesofthequran.com/scientific_30.html
and more
http://www.miraclesofthequran.com/scientific_index.html
Return to Philosophy and Religion Forums