The Scientific Miracles of the Qur’an 2/3

The Miracle of Fire and Wood, That Cannot Be Obtained Artificially

 Have you thought about the fire that you light? Is it you who make the trees that fuel it grow or are We the Grower? We have made it to be a reminder and a comfort for travelers in the wild. So glorify the name of your Lord, the Magnificent! (Surat al-Waqi 'a, 71-74)

One of the chemical substances mainly responsible for the structure of wood is "lignocellulose." This substance is a compound of the materials known as "lignin" and "cellulose" that give wood its hardness. In terms of chemical structure, wood is made up of 50% cellulose, 25% hemicelluloses and 25% lignin.22 An analysis of these substances' chemical formulae reveals three vital elements: hydrogen, oxygen and carbon. 

Hydrogen, oxygen and carbon are the building blocks of millions of substances in nature. But as a miracle from Allah, these three also combine to give rise to the substance "lignocellulose", which is found in plants. Although scientists know that hydrogen, oxygen and carbon are the ingredients of lignocellulose, some of the greatest minds in the world have been completely unable to reproduce this special material in plants. Although these elements can easily be obtained, scientists have been unable to create a single piece of wood by artificial means, despite having countless examples before them to study. Yet all the trees we see around us have been ceaselessly producing this compound for millions of years by combining oxygen, carbon, water and sunlight.

One of the compounds in lignocellulose is water, expressed by the formula H2O. Despite containing a large amount of water in its make-up, wood is still somehow one of the most flammable materials in nature. The above verse is very wise in noting that wood cannot be made by human beings. By means of these compounds and the water it contains, wood is one of the most important fuels of fire.

Trees are an important sphere of scientific research. Scientists are still struggling to grasp all the details in their Creation. The complex structures of the cells that constitute trees have still not been fully unraveled, despite advances in technology and intensive research. The Forestry Commission of Great Britain, one of the world's leading forestry research institutions, says the following under the heading "Lack of Information on the Chemistry and Structure of Wood Fibres":

Despite the knowledge resulting from earlier and ongoing research, there still exists a lack of information on the chemistry and structure of wood fibres. Large variations can be found within a single tree, from the pith to the bark and from the base to the top of a tree. Often the chemistry and structure of a wood cell are extremely heterogeneous and difficult to investigate with conventional techniques.23

A. 15% - 25% Lignin B. 23% - 32% Hemicellulose C. 38% - 50% Cellulose

An examination of the chemical structure of wood shows it consists of 50% cellulose, 25% hemicellulose and 25% lignin.

A paper in the scientific journal Plant Physiology titled "Our Understanding of How Wood Develops is not Complete" describes the limited knowledge of the subject that scientists possess:

Considering the important role that wood is foreseen to play in the near future, it is surprising to see that our understanding of how wood develops is far from complete. With a few exceptions, very little is known about the cellular, molecular, and developmental processes that underlie wood formation. Xylogenesis represents an example of cell differentiation in an exceptionally complex form. This process is controlled by a wide variety of factors both exogenous (photoperiod and temperature) and endogenous (phytohormones) and by interaction between them. It is driven by the coordinated expression of numerous structural genes (some of known function) involved in cell origination, differentiation, programmed cell death, and heartwood (HW) formation and by virtually unknown regulatory genes orchestrating this ordered developmental sequence. The presence of gene families and the extreme plasticity of the metabolism involved (as exemplified by the unusual behavior of plants with transformed cell walls; for review, see Fagard et al., 2000) add a further complexity to our understanding of the process of wood formation.24

The extraordinary Creation in wood is emphasized thus in another scientific journal, Annals of Botany:

Wood formation is a highly complicated process involving an unbelievable variety of metabolic steps in the roots, stem and crown of shrubs and trees. At the centre of these processes is cambial activity which results in the release of young woody cells that undergo maturation until autolysis of the protoplast, indicating the final developmental stage. Later on, in various tree species, woody cells become further modified by an additional process called heartwood formation. The properties of wood that make it an appropriate raw material for many purposes are largely determined by the specific architecture of the cell walls. Difficulties in investigating these many developmental stages appear when routine techniques, which work well for soft plant tissues, are applied. Therefore, in most cases, these techniques need modification or the use of completely revised protocols to yield good results for woody tissues.25

These details in the Creation of wood remind us, as set out in Surat al-Waqi 'a, that wood cannot be made by human beings. Just a few of the inimitable features of wood, which cannot be produced artificially, are as follows:

Wood, a Resistant Material

The hard and resistant nature of wood is the result of the cellulose fibers it contains. Cellulose is exceptionally hard and is insoluble in water. It is this property of cellulose that makes the use of wood in construction so advantageous. Cellulose, described as a "contractible and incomparable substance," has been used for centuries in the construction of buildings, bridges and many other structures.

The Mosquito, one of the aircraft most tolerant of damage, was made of laminated plywood.

Wood consists of parallel columns made up of convex cells laid end to end. These are surrounded by cellulose fibers in spiral form. In addition, these cells are contained in "lignin," a substance made from a complex, polymer structure resin. These spirally-enclosed layers make up 80% of the thickness of the cell wall and bears most of the load there is to bear. When a wood cell collapses internally, it absorbs the shock of a blow by detatching itself from the surrounding cells. Even when such collapses causes a crack along the length of the fiber, the wood remains remarkably unharmed. That is why wood is strong enough to bear specific loads even if it is broken.

In addition, wood is also able to absorb the energy of low-speed blows. World War Two era fighter plane known as the "Mosquito" was made by compressing wood between strips of fiber board, making it the most damage-resistant plane of its time. The rigid, resistant nature of wood make it a very reliable material because wood breaks or cracks slowly enough to be visible from the outside, thus giving people enough time to take the necessary precautions.26

A material based on the structure of wood can be up to fifty times more resistant than other synthetic materials currently in use.27 Today, these unique properties of wood are used against high speed impacts and destructive fragments such as bombs and bullets. Yet scientists have not been able, despite their staunchest efforts, to come even close to replicating a piece of wood with all its many attributes. Every detail in the Creation of wood, - the thickness of the internal layers, their level of compression, the number of vessels, their layout and the materials inside it, have been specially created to result in that resistance.

The Hydraulic System That Raises Water Many Meters against the Force of Gravity

The dead part of wood, known as the "xylem," contains hollow channels. These, also known as "wood vessels," consist of inanimate cells that gradually lose their nuclei and cytoplasm, and which are piled one on top of the other. Long, thin wood vessels form when the membranes between the cells dissolve and disappear.

Roots spreading out beneath the soil carry the water and minerals the plant needs upward through these tissues. The water is then transmitted as far as the leaves. The way the roots absorb the water in the ground is reminiscent of the “test bore technique”. The roots themselves have no engines to initiate the water absorption process; neither do they have any technical equipment with which to pump water and minerals for distances of up to several meters. But the roots absorb the water present in the depths of the soil by spreading over a very wide area.

As seen in the picture to the left, wood consists of tube or strawshaped cells. By combining one on top of the other, these cells, which make up the roots and trunks of plants, serve as channels that carry water and minerals right through the plant. This tissue, known as "xylem," also constitutes a powerful structure that enables the plant to remain upright. To the right, we can see a slice of dry wood in crosssection. When dried out, the tubelike channels become hollow, as shown in the illustration.28

This lifting process that the plant performs so flawlessly is an exceedingly complex one. Yet this system has still not yet been fully understood, even in these days of high technology and space travel. The presence of a "hydraulic system” in plants was determined some two centuries ago, but we still do not know how this action in defiance of the force of gravity takes place. The superior technology squeezed into such a confined space is just one of the examples demonstrating the incomparable knowledge of our Lord, the Creator of the system. Like everything in the universe, Almighty Allah created the transportation system in trees.

As seen in the picture above, wood consists of tubular or straw-shaped cells. By combining one on top of the other, these cells, which make up the roots and trunks of plants, serve as channels that carry water and minerals throughout the plant. This tissue, known as "xylem," also constitutes a powerful structure that enables the plant to remain upright. To the right, we can see a slice of dry wood in cross-section. When dried out, the tube-like channels become hollow, as shown in the illustration.

The Mosquito, one of the aircraft most tolerant of damage, was made of laminated plywood.

Roots Capable of Selecting Minerals from the Soil

Plants draw all the mineral nutrients they need from the soil; this includes potassium, phosphorus, calcium, magnesium and sulfur. Since the substances are not found separately in the soil, they absorb them as ions (positively or negatively charged atoms). Of all the many inorganic ions in dissolved state in the soil, plants absorb only the fourteen they need.

The iron concentration inside plant cells is 1,000 times greater than that in the soil outside.29 Under normal condition, an exchange of matter from a high density region to a lower density one will take place. But exactly the opposite happens in plant roots, and the ions in the soil are easily able to pass into the root cells.30

Because of this state of affairs that operates contrary to the pressure system, the plant uses a high level of energy in the pumping process. In addition, in the plant roots' taking up ions from the soil, there needs to be an identification system that attracts only the wanted ions and repels the unwanted ones. This shows that the ion pumps in the root cells are no ordinary pumps, but possess the ability to select between ions. Bearing in mind that the cell in the plant roots are made up of atoms devoid of any intelligence or consciousness, we must all surely acknowledge what an extraordinary process ion selection truly is.

Photosynthesis: The Superior Technology in a Miniature Factory

Whilst you may think that it is rare for a material to be as elusive to scientists as wood is, leaves tell a similar story. Leaves play a part in one of nature’s most important processes - photosynthesis. Photosynthesis, one of the systems that scientists still do not fully understand, may be summarized as plants manufacturing their own nutrients. Because of the delicate but perfect structure contained within plant cells, plants are able to store solar energy. At the end of various complex processes, this energy takes on a form which can readily be used by human beings as well as animals. In addition, the photosynthetic energy stored in trees is also emanated during burning. For example, the energy emitted by wood when burned to heat a house is actually energy from the Sun stored during the formation of wood.31

1. Sun Light 2. Carbon dioxide 3. Chlorophyll	4. Glucose 5. Water 6. Oxygen
During photosynthesis, whereby plants manufacture their own nutrients, they use the energy arriving from the Sun. Plants convert this into food as the result of a number of complex chemical processes. This sublime Creation in plants is one of the matchless examples of Allah’s creative artistry.

The photosynthesis system, which operates like a miniature factory, takes place in an organelle known as the "chloroplast" inside the plant cell. This is where it gets its distinctive green color from. Chloroplasts are just one-thousandth of a millimeter in size, for which reason they can only be seen under a microscope. When solar energy falls on the leaf, they transmit it to the layers inside it. Chlorophyll inside the chloroplasts in the leaf cells convert this light energy into chemical energy. The plant obtaining this chemical energy immediately uses it to obtain nutrients. It took scientists until the mid-20th century to obtain this information - summarized in just a few lines here. Pages of chain reactions were written to describe the whole process of photosynthesis. But some links in the chain are still a mystery to scientists. Yet, plants have been performing these processes uninterruptedly for hundreds of millions of years, thus providing the earth with food and oxygen. 

1. Ribosome 2. Plastpglobule 3. Internal Membrane 4. Intermembrane Space	5. External Membrane 6. Granum 7. Chloroplast DNA 8. Stroma	9. Lamella 10. Lumen 11. Thylakoid Membrane 12. Thylakoid
The chloroplast shown magnified in the illustration above is in fact just one-thousandth of a millimeter in size. It contains many organelles that assist with the process of photosynthesis. Photosynthesis, which takes place in many stages, not all of which are yet fully understood, takes place at high speed in these microscopic factories.

Here, we must take a moment to remind ourselves of the following: not a single cell constituting wood can be made by artificial means, and human beings' helplessness in the face of dead wood cells, shows the presence of a sublime Creator. The properties of wood, about which many volumes could be written, reveal the perfection in Allah’s Creation. The countless qualities which wood is synonymous with inspires scientists to research its make-up yet despite extensive efforts, there is still much that is not known about the true nature of wood. Allah’s Sublime Knowledge and intellect is the only possible explanation behind wood.

A Red Rose In The Sky: The Rosette Nebula

When the Heaven shall be cleft asunder, and become rose red, like stained leather. (Surat ar-Rahman, 37)

The Arabic expression translated above as "become rose red, like stained leather" is "wardatan kaalddihani." This term compares an image appearing in the sky to a red rose. This description bears a close similarity to red celestial bodies with a crumpled appearance, especially the "Rosette Nebula."

Nebula is the name given to cloud-like masses of gas in space. Before they become nebulae, they are stars - and since these stars are very large, they release gasses into space because of their high internal pressure and temperatures. These eruptions of gas are very large and fast. These gasses then coalesce to form a gas cloud, with a temperature of more than 15,000 0C.32

One type of nebula is known as the "Rosette Nebula" because of its close resemblance to a rose. The Rosette Nebula is also a vast cloud of gas and seems to have an area five times greater than that of the full moon.33  Its true diameter is estimated at 130 light years.34

 A team led by Leisa Townsley, a senior Penn State University researcher in the field of astronomy and astrophysics, examined the Rosette Nebula using the renowned Chandra X-ray telescope. They imaged hundreds of stars in the Rosette Nebula and determined that by crashing into one another, stars produce gas at temperatures of six million degrees. Townsley describes what she saw:

A ghostly glow of diffuse X ray emission pervades the Rosette Nebula and perhaps many other star-forming regions throughout the Galaxy. We now have a new view of the engine lighting the beautiful Rosette Nebula and new evidence for how the interstellar medium may be energized.35

The existence of this body seen in the illustrations can only be confirmed by high-tech observation equipment. This state of affairs regarding the skies noted in the Qur'an is in great agreement with the findings of present-day astronomy. In one verse of the Qur'an, we are told:

You do not engage in any matter or recite any of the Qur'an or do any action without Our witnessing you while you are occupied with it. Not even the smallest speck eludes your Lord, either on earth or in heaven. Nor is there anything smaller than that, or larger, which is not in a Clear Book. (Surah Yunus, 61)

The Heliocentric System

1. Mercury 2 . Venus 3. Earth 4. Mars	5. Jupiter 6. Saturn 7. Uranus 8. Neptune	9. Pluto 10. Moon 11. Sun
Like the Earth, other planets in the Solar System follow specific orbits.

He created the heavens and the earth with truth. He wraps the night around the day and wraps the day around the night, and has made the Sun and Moon subservient, each one running for a specified term. Is He not indeed the Almighty, the Endlessly Forgiving? (Surat az-Zumar, 5)

In the above verse, the movement of the Earth is described by the word "yukawwiru," which comes from root verb "takwir." This means "to cover up a spherical body," in the way that the rotation of the Earth gives rise to night and day, like the winding of a turban around the head of a man. In addition to the spherical shape of the Earth, the word is also the most accurate expression of its movement around the Sun. Because of the Earth's spherical shape and its movement around the Sun, the Sun always illuminates one side of the Earth while the other is in darkness. The side in shadow is shrouded by the darkness of night, only to be replaced seamlessly by the brightness of day when the Sun rises. The positions of the Sun and Earth are revealed as follows in Surah Ya Sin:

And the Sun runs to its resting place. That is the decree of the Almighty, the All-Knowing. And We have decreed set phases for the Moon, until it ends up looking like an old palm spathe. It is not for the Sun to overtake the Moon nor for the night to outstrip the day; each one is swimming in a sphere. (Surah Ya Sin, 38-40)

The movements of the Sun and Moon in the final verse of this excerpt are described by the Arabic word "yasbahoona," meaning "flowing, passing or swimming." This word refers to an action performed by someone without any help from others. Someone acting according to this verb continues to perform it alone, with no intervention from anyone else. The above verses may therefore be referring to the Sun's independent movement in the universe, independent of any other celestial body. (Allah knows the truth.) It is impossible for us to see or follow the movement of the Sun with our own eyes. In reality, the true nature of its existence is beyond us. It is only possible to determine that movement using special technological equipment. As stated in verse 39  of Surah Ya Sin, in addition to rotating around its own axis once every 26 days, the Sun also moves through its own course.

It is also reported in the verse that the Sun is not allowed to "overtake the Moon", and it stated in the Qur’an that the Sun and Moon do not revolve around the same body, as astronomers put it. At the same time, it is made clear in the verse that there is no connection between the motion responsible for night and day and the movement of the Sun and Moon. (Allah knows the truth.)

The above manuscript dating from the 1750s shows the geo-centric (Earth-centered) model of the universe. It took many years for this to be abandoned and replaced by the helio-centric model.	The model below is the helio-centric (solar-centered) one that has been proved today, while the model on top is the geocentric (Earth-centered) model that was thought to be true for many hundreds of years.

Until the 16th century, it was thought that the Earth was the center of the universe. This view is known as the "geocentric model," from the Greek words geo (Earth) and kentron (center). This belief was questioned by the famous astronomer Nicolaus Copernicus in 1543 in his book De Revolutionibus Orbium Coelestium (Of the Revolutions of Heavenly Spheres), in which he suggested that the Earth and the other planets revolve around the Sun.  As a result of observations using a telescope performed by Galileo Galilei in 1610, it was scientifically established that the Earth revolves around the Sun. Up until this point, it had been widely accepted that the Sun revolved around the Earth – so most scholars of the time stubbornly rejected Copernicus' theory.  The famous astronomer Johannes Kepler's views setting out the movements of the planets confirmed the heliocentric model in the 16th and 17th centuries. In this model, whose name comes from the words Helios (Sun) and kentron (center), the Sun is the center of the universe, rather than the Earth. Other heavenly bodies also revolve around the Sun. Yet this was all revealed 1400 years ago in the Qur'an.

By saying that the Earth was the center of the universe, the ancient Greek astronomer Ptolemy was responsible for the geocentric idea of the universe that dominated scientific thought for hundreds of years. For that reason, at the time of the revelation of the Qur'an, nobody knew that the Earth-centered model was incorrect. The information in the Qur'an refutes the thesis that the Earth is fixed while the Sun revolves around it.  It was believed that the stars and planets revolved around the Earth. Despite these prevalent errors of the time, the Qur'an contains information which was not known, or even considered, at that time. Many expressions in the Qur’an on this matter agree with the scientific facts regarding day and night:

By the Sun and its morning brightness, and the Moon when it follows it, and the day when it displays it, and the night when it conceals it. (Surat ash-Shams, 1-4)

As set out in the above verse, day – which is essentially the brightness of the Sun – results from the movement of the Earth. Our planet spins on its own axis. It is not the movement of the Sun that is responsible for night and day. In other words, the Sun is immobile in terms of night and day.  The Qur'an is clearly descended from the presence of our Lord. As science and technology advance more and more, examples of the compatibility between the Qur'an and science are coming to light. This is set out in another verse from the Qur'an:

There is instruction in their stories for people of intelligence. This is not a narration which has been invented but confirmation of all that came before, a clarification of everything, and a guidance and a mercy for people who believe. (Surah Yusuf, 111)

Quasars and The Gravitational Lens Effect

Gravitational lens effect

Allah is the Light of the heavens and the earth. The metaphor of His Light is that of a niche in which is a lamp, the lamp inside a glass, the glass like a brilliant star, lit from a blessed tree, an olive, neither of the east nor of the west, its oil all but giving off light even if no fire touches it. Light upon Light. Allah guides to His Light whoever He wills and Allah makes metaphors for mankind and Allah has knowledge of all things. (Surah an-Nur, 35)

Quasar is the name given to the extremely dense and bright bodies that look like stars and emit radio waves in space. Quasars are acknowledged as the brightest celestial bodies in the universe. The brightness of the brightest quasars in the universe is more than two trillion times greater than that of the Sun (2x1012) – this is approximately 100 times greater than the total light emitted by a galaxy such as the Milky Way.36

The word "noor" (nur) in the verse means "light, brightness, daylight, shining, illumination." The light referred to in the verse is suggestive, in terms of its brightness, of these celestial bodies known as quasars. Here, the visibility of quasar light and the source of that light seems to be the reason for this intricate description. (Allah knows the truth.)

The word "duriyyun" meaning "bright" in the expression "kaannaha kawkabun durriyyun" in the verse, itself meaning "like a brilliant star," is highly compatible with the scientific description of quasars as "bright, stellar bodies".37 In addition, it is mentioned of "giving off light even if no fire touches it." It is probable that this is a reference to the way quasars burn without fire, ie., nuclear fusion. Since oxygen is not naturally present in space, there can be no question of the burning of the brightness of quasars having anything to do with fire. The burning taking place here does so as hydrogen atoms are compressed and produce helium. The energy released during this process then illuminates space.

NASA's Hubble Space Telescope caught a single quasar in space producing images of five separate stars for the very first time. Bodies with a high density –a group of galaxies here– produce more than one image by giving rise to the gravitational lens effect, bending the light from objects behind them, in this case quasars.

The expression "light upon light" in the verse may well be a reference to the "gravitational lens effect" in astronomy. (Allah knows the truth.) Many astronomers investigating sources of light in the universe will easily understand this description. It seems to be a reference to the way light from a source behind a body with a very dense mass, such as a black hole, departs under the effect of that dense body. Thus, it reaches us from different angles. It appears that there is therefore more than one source of light for the images that we see. Due to this "gravitational lens effect," an object appears to be somewhere different to where it actually is, and in greater numbers.

A. Gravitational Microlensing by Black Hole
1. Star 2. Black Hole 3. Microlensed image	4. The two microlensed images appear as a single brightened star 5. Ground-Based Observatory
If a star is immediately behind the black hole, as in the illustration, the star will appear to be both to the right and to the left of the black hole.

The term "a niche in which is a lamp" –known as “the light verse” - may allude to the area of gravitational lens effect of a black hole. (Allah knows the truth.) It is significant that in describing the effect that arises, NASA scientists use the analogy of the effect of a drinking glass:

The gravitational effect of the galaxy on the distant quasar was similar to the lens effect of a drinking glass on a distant street light–it created multiple images.38

In his book The Whole Shebang, regarded as one of the leading books of the 20th century by the New York Times, the science writer Timothy Ferris clarifies the subject as follows:

As light from a quasar travels towards us… it may pass through either side of an intervening cluster of galaxies. The warped space surrounding the cluster can act as a lens, with a result that we see two images of what is (or was) actually one quasar.39

The reference in the verse to "light upon light" may be a description of reflected light forming more than one image. In addition, the term "neither of the east nor of the west" in the verse is in all likelihood a reference to the uncertainty of the light's source. (Allah knows the truth.)

1. Chandra 2. Galaxy 3. Microlensing Star	4. Source 5. View from Chandra
The illustration shows a quasar appearing to be in four separate places due to the gravitational lens effect. The images, obtained by the Hubble Space Telescope (Chandra), represent a distance of 11 billion light years.

Quasars are the brightest known objects in the universe. They are also the nuclei of growing galaxies with black holes in their center. Black holes arise as the result of the contraction of stars and gasses belonging to galaxies.40 They are the source of quasar energy. A quasar's brightness is spread by stars falling into the black holes at the centers of galaxies. Thinking of the "lamp" in the verse as a quasar, the "niche" may well be a reference to the black hole that feeds the quasar. (Allah knows the truth.)

Einstein suggested that due to the effect described as the "gravitational lens," bodies in space could bend light and that it was possible for an observer to see several images from one single source.41 However, this effect was only observed for the first time in the quasar known as the "Twin Quasar" in 1979. Quasars were first discovered in 1963, some fourteen centuries after the revelation of the Qur'an. The status of the heavenly bodies described in the 35th verse of Surat an-Nur is in total agreement with current scientific thinking. This, along with a many other scientific miracles, confirm that the only possible source of the Qur'an is our Omniscient Lord, the Creator of all things.

Present-Day Radar Technology

We gave David great favor from Us: 'O mountains and birds! Echo with him in his praise!' And We made iron malleable for him: (Surah Saba', 10)

We gave Solomon understanding of it. We gave each of them judgment and knowledge. We subjected the mountains to David, glorifying, and the birds as well. This is something We are well able to do. (Surat al-Anbiya', 79)

So We subjected the wind to him to blow at his command, softly, wherever he directed. (Surah Sâd, 36)

The above verses refer to the superior attributes bestowed on the Prophets David (as) and Solomon (as), and inform us that each was given knowledge from the Presence of Allah. The words chosen may refer to present-day radar technology, which works by the reflection of electromagnetic waves. (Allah knows the truth.) The word "awwibee" in verse 10 of Surah Saba', translated as "echoing" in the verse and meaning "the return or reiteration of sound," is reminiscent of echo-based radar technology as well as radio receivers mentioned in previous pages.

An image of Warsaw in Poland obtained using radar.	A radar image taken by satellite. This image, formed using microwaves, shows a mountainous region of Salt Lake City, Utah.

Radar is a location device used to determine the location, speed and direction of mobile or stationary objects, and works by reflecting micro-waves.42 The operating principle of radar bears a close similarity to the reflection of sound. For example, someone shouting in a valley or a cave hears his own voice being reflected back to him. If we know how fast sound travels through the air, we can calculate the distance and general direction of the object it bounces off.

In the radar system, electromagnetic energy signals are used in very much the same way. Signals with a microwave frequency are emitted toward an object and then return after being reflected by it. This part of the signal returning to the radar is called an "echo." Radar devices use this echo to determine the direction and distance of the object doing the reflecting.43 Since they also use electromagnetic energy, radio, television and the human eye all bear a close resemblance to radar systems, though their frequencies are ultimately different. In addition, radar uses the reflected energy known as the "echo," rather than directly transmitted energy as in these examples.44 Reflected signals are converted into numerical values by the radar receiver and recorded as data on "echo stores." Finally, the data is processed and converted into images.45

Radar used to control the traffic in New Zealand.	This 27-meter-high radar facility, reminiscent of a fly's eye, scans the sky above northern Alaska and is used as an early warning system against ballistic missiles.	Air radar used to identify powerful storms and track their movements.

The use of the Arabic verb "alanna," meaning "We have made malleable," in the tenth verse of Surah Saba' is again exceedingly wise. Iron is still described as soft, or malleable, despite being physically very hard. This form of iron, known as "soft magnetic iron" because of its magnetic properties is used greatly in radar and satellite technology.46 Soft iron is used because it strengthens the magnetic field and can be opened and closed as desired.

"The wind being told to blow at his command" is how the Qur’an describes the power given to the Prophet Solomon (as). Verse 36 of Sura Sad may very well be a reference to electromagnetic signals being transmitted as desired in the air—thanks to the use of soft iron. (Allah knows the truth.)

This radar facility, constructed in Florida in the 1960s, was used to identify ballistic missiles launched from submarines.

This satellite photograph (above) taken on 2 March, 1999, shows the clouds over Ohio, USA. "Soft iron" is frequently used in satellite and radar technologies because of its magnetic properties. Soft iron strengthens the magnetic field. The expression "We made iron malleable for him..." in verse 10 of Surah Saba' may be a reference to the soft iron used in satellite and radio technologies. (Allah knows the truth.)

The radar imaging used today scans the world at every moment and developments taking place anywhere on the earth can thus be constantly monitored. In addition, data can be collected about physical features on earth, such as mountains, glaciers and the oceans—and also about man-made objects, such as houses, bridges and cars. This operating principle, as well as the materials used in this advanced technology, can be found in the Qur’an. Could anybody have know these facts in the middle of the Arabian Peninsula in the 7th century AD? This information can only have come from our Lord, Who created past and future as a single moment and Who is unfettered by time.

The Expanding Earth

It is He Who stretched out the earth and placed firmly embedded mountains and rivers in it and made two types of every kind of fruit. He covers over day with night. There are signs in that for people who reflect. (Surat Ar-Ra‘d, 3)

The Arabic term “madda al-arda” translated “as stretched out” in the above verse, means “to be covered, spread out, stretched, pulled out, expanded or opened.” The use of this word in the context of the earth in referring to the formation of mountains and rivers is exceedingly wise, because looking at the scientific explanation of the formation of the earth, it does indeed appear that mountains and rivers formed through the stretching and expansion of the earth.

This photograph taken by NASA from space shows the Gulf of Aqaba and the Suez Canal, to the east of the Sinai Peninsula. The Sinai Peninsula, the Dead Sea and the River Jordan constitute the northern part of the Great Rift Valley.

Present day science says that the earth had a very different appearance in the very earliest times compared to what it is now. In his book Die Entstehung der Kontinente und Ozeane (The Origin of the Continents and Oceans) printed in 1915, the famous German scientist Alfred Lothar Wegener proposed that all the continents had originally been one single land mass.  This great land mass later came to be known by the Greek name Pangaea, meaning “all continents.47 According to Alfred Wegener's theory of “continental drift,” put forward in 1912, the continents at the two ends of the Atlantic Ocean are still moving away from one another. This theory assumed its latest, present-day state with the development of the scientific theory known as plate tectonics. Continents do not move away from one another by sliding over the ocean floor, rather the ocean floor and the continents drift together over a layer of liquid magma under great heat and pressure and known as the “astenosphere” or “upper crust.” Therefore, both the land continents on earth visible from the outside and also the crust under the sea are both in motion together.48

Because the plates that bear the continents move in a manner described as contraction and expansion, or stretching, the continents are today moving away from one another at a rate of approximately three centimeters per year.49 The most evident expansion taking place on the sea bed is that between Arabia and Africa, where the continents are moving away from one another three or four times faster. When the expansion takes place on the continent, rather than on the sea bed, the result is constantly widening valleys such as the Great Rift Valley in the East Africa-Arabia regions.

A reconstruction from the time when there was only one large continent - Pangaea- about 300 million years ago.

  The Great Rift Valley is a geographical and geological formation stretching some 6000 kilometers, from Sudan in North Africa to Mozambique in the east. The valley ranges from 30-100 kilometers in width and is several thousand kilometers deep.50 This deep valley brought such formations as Mount Kilimanjaro and Mount Kenya into being as Africa and the Arabian Peninsula moved away from one another over a process lasting millions of years. The eastern part of valley consists of the River Jordan, the Dead Sea and the Gulf of Aqaba. It then extends southward along the Red Sea and various lakes in Kenya. Most of these lakes are very deep and below sea-level.51

The book The Expanding Earth describes how it is not only mountains, but also certain river beds that formed due to the “expansion” of the earth:

In all cases the greatest stress occurred at the location of the earth's major rivers. This development suggests that the major riverbeds came into existence as a result of expansion rather than random erosion. Since the continents were fixed on an expanding surface, it may be logically deduced that expansion caused the land masses to stretch and, at the points of greatest tension, to break, thus forming the rivers.52

In statements regarding the continent of North America, the Utah Geological Research Center says:

The ranges and basins have been forming for the past 10 to 20 million years in response to east-west stretching of the earth's crust. Stretching creates tension that is released by slow continuous movement or sudden movement along a fault (a break in the earth's crust), which causes earthquakes. During an earthquake, the mountains rise while the valleys drop along the faults. The stretching continues today.53

Facts such as the expansion of the earth can only be established by comprehensive research and common data from various contemporary branches of science. For example, photographs taken by satellite, the product of 20th century technology, have confirmed the view that the continents were once complementary to one another. Highly accurate measurements have revealed that the expansion in the earth’s crust is continuing at a slow but specific rate. The presence of such special information in the Qur’an, at a time when nobody could determine anything about the continents and, what is more, about formations that took millions of years to develop, once again shows that it is the word of Allah. The way that the Qur’an, revealed 1,400 years ago, contains such profound information about the formation of the earth, is one of its scientific miracles.

The Sun Will Eventually Expire

And the Sun runs to its resting place. That is the decree of the Almighty, the All-Knowing. (Surah Ya Sin, 38)

A photograph of the Sun taken by NASA. The bright areas on the Sun are those regions where the magnetic field is strongest.

The Sun has been emitting heat for around five billion years as a result of the constant nuclear reactions taking place on its surface. At a moment determined by Allah in the future, these reactions will eventually come to an end - and the Sun will lose all its energy and finally go out, extinguished like a light bulb which runs out of power. In that context, the above verse may be a reference to the Sun's energy one day coming to an end. (Allah knows the truth.)

The Arabic word "limustaqarrin" in the verse refers to a particular place or time. The word "tajree" translated as "runs," bears such meanings as "to move, to act swiftly, to move about, to flow." It appears from the meanings of the words that the Sun will continue in its course in time and space, but that this motion will continue until a specific, predetermined time.  The verse "When the sun is compacted in blackness," (Surat at-Takwir, 1) which appears in descriptions of Doomsday, tells us that such a time will eventually come. Of course, the specific timing is known only to Allah.

The Arabic word "taqdeeru," translated as "decree" in the verse, includes such meanings as "to appoint, to determine the destiny of something, to measure." By this expression in verse 38 of Surah Ya Sin, we are told that the life span of the Sun is limited to a period of time ordained by Allah. Other verses of the Qur'an on the subject read:

Allah is He Who raised up the heavens without any support – you can see that – and then established Himself firmly on the Throne. He made the Sun and Moon subservient, each running for a specified term. He directs the whole affair. He makes the Signs clear so that hopefully you will be certain about the meeting with your Lord. (Surat ar- Ra'd, 2)

He makes night merge into day and day merge into night, and He has made the Sun and Moon subservient, each one running until a specified time. That is Allah, your Lord. The Kingdom is His. Those you call on besides Him have no power over even the smallest speck. (Surah Fatir, 13)

He created the heavens and the earth with truth. He wraps the night around the day and wraps the day around the night, and has made the Sun and Moon subservient, each one running for a specified term. Is He not indeed the Almighty, the Endlessly Forgiving? (Surah az-Zumar, 5)

The use of the word "musamman" in the above verses shows that the life span of the Sun will run for a "specified term."

Scientific analysis regarding the end of the Sun describes it as consuming four million tons of matter per second, and says that the Sun will die when that fuel has all been consumed.54 The heat and light emitted from the Sun is the energy released when matter is consumed: hydrogen nuclei turn into helium in the nuclear fusion process. The Sun's energy, and its life, will therefore come to an abrupt end once this fuel has been used up. (Allah knows the truth.) A report titled "The Death of the Sun" by the BBC News Science Department says:

... The Sun will gradually die. As a star's core crashes inwards, it eventually becomes hot enough to ignite another of its constituent atoms, helium. Helium atoms fuse together to form carbon. When the helium supply runs out, the centre collapses again and the atmosphere inflates. The Sun isn't massive enough to fully re-ignite its core for a third time. So it goes on expanding, shedding its atmosphere in a series of bursts... The dying core eventually forms a white dwarf - a spherical diamond the size of the Earth, made of carbon and oxygen. From this point on the Sun will gradually fade away, becoming dimmer and dimmer until its light is finally snuffed out.55

Periodic Table
1. Lanthanoids	2. Actinods

A documentary, also called "The Death of the Sun," broadcast by National Geographic TV, provides the following description:

It (the Sun) generates heat and sustains life on our planet. But like humans, the Sun has a limited lifespan. As our star ages, it will become hotter and expand, evaporating all of our oceans and killing all life on planet Earth... The Sun will get hotter as it ages and burns fuel faster. Temperatures will increase, eventually wiping out animal life, evaporating our oceans and killing all plant life... the Sun will swell and become a red giant star, swallowing up the nearest planets. Its gravitational pull will lessen and perhaps allow Earth to escape. By the end, it will shrink into a white dwarf star, emitting a weak glow for hundreds of billions of years.56

Scientists have only recently unraveled the structure of the Sun, thus discovering what goes on inside its burning mass. Before that, nobody knew how the Sun obtained its energy or how it emitted heat and light. The way that such a giant mass of energy would one day consume all its energy and expire was revealed fourteen centuries ago to mankind through Allah’s Final Messenger (pbuh.) Once again, the Qur'an its credentials as a source of sublime knowledge. That knowledge belongs to our Lord, Whose knowledge enfolds all things. It is revealed in another verse of the Qur'an thus:

... My Lord encompasses all things in His knowledge so will you not pay heed? (Surat al-An'am, 80)

The Sun's Hydrogen and Helium Content

The Sun is made up of 70% hydrogen (H) and 28% helium (He) atoms.57  Other substances make up less than 2% of the Sun’s constitutions. One of the most astonishing facts about the Sun is this: six hundred million tons of hydrogen are converted into a mind-boggling 596 million tons of helium in the Sun every second. The remaining 4 million tons is given off as heat and light energy.58  In that sense, the first thing that comes to mind when the Sun is mentioned is the letters H (hydrogen) and He (helium) that stand for the Sun. All the 15 verses in Surat ash-Shams of the Qur'an (Shams meaning 'Sun'), end in the letters H and E. The Arabic equivalent of these letters are:

The Arabic form of the verses in Surat ash-Shams and the final letters thereof can be seen below:

As can be seen, all the verses in Surat ash-Shams end in the letters He and Alif. The letter H stands for hydrogen and He for helium. No other Surah in the Qur'an ends in the letters HE in every verse from beginning to end. It is therefore extremely striking how only this Surah’s verses end with this particular sequence of letters. Surat ash-Shams's number – 91 - is also highly significant. Apart from hydrogen, there are ninety-one other elements in the Periodic Table, and these are made up of hydrogen elements. From hydrogen, the lightest element, to the heaviest – all of these are intra-atomic combinations of hydrogen atoms. For that reason, the H (hydrogen) atom in the Sun makes up the other ninety-one elements in nature. 59

Almighty Allah has created all the details in nature, and is still creating them. All our knowledge about such details allow us to comprehend our Lord’s Omniscience. In one verse, we are told:

Allah, there is no god but Him, the Living, the Self-Sustaining. He is not subject to drowsiness or sleep. Everything in the heavens and the earth belongs to Him. Who can intercede with Him except by His permission? He knows what is before them and what is behind them but they cannot grasp any of His knowledge save what He wills. His Footstool encompasses the heavens and the earth and their preservation does not tire Him. He is the Most High, the Magnificent. (Surat al-Baqara, 255)

It is He who appointed the sun to give radiance, and the moon to give light, assigning it phases so you would know the number of years and the reckoning of time. Allah did not create these things except with truth. We make the Signs clear for people who know. (Surah Yunus, 5)

Heart Massage

Many miraculous features of the Qur'an prove it is Allah’s Word. It contains scientific details, extraordinary scientific codes as well as many other features which categorically prove its divine status. In addition, information which could not have been scientifically proven during the lifetime of the Prophet Muhammad (saas) is found in abundance in Allah’s Holy Book. The fact that only 20th and 21st-century technology has confirmed some of the Qur’anic verses provides clear proof that the Qur'an cannot be the work of any human being.

One of the verses that may be referring to the future is verse 73 of Surat al-Baqara:

Remember when you killed someone and violently accused each other of it, and Allah brought out what you were hiding. We said, 'Hit him with part of it!' In that way Allah gives life to the dead and He shows you His Signs so that hopefully you will understand. (Surat al-Baqara, 72-73)

When the chest is struck from above during heart massage, the heart can start beating once again. The words “We said, ‘Hit him with part of it!’ In that way Allah gives life to the dead...” in the verse may be a reference to this effect of heart massage. (Allah knows the truth).

Among the meanings of the Arabic term "bibaadiha," translated as "with part of it" in the above verse, is "someone or some people." In the context of that meaning, the verse may be a reference to heart massage, striking the chest from above, which makes it possible to restart the heart if it has stopped beating. (Allah knows the truth.) 

In such a scenario, the person to whom the massage is administered has the characteristics of a dead body: loss of consciousness, debilitating respiratory problems and decreasing heartbeat. With our present-day knowledge, heart massage can be applied to someone whose heart has stopped, enabling heartbeat and vital functions to resume. Pressure is applied to the rib cage at specific intervals during heart massage. Then, the rhythmic contraction required for it to continue pumping blood can be re-established.  In that context, the striking of a dead body in such a way as to restore it to life, as stated in the verse, may be suggestive of the heart massage technique. The Qur'an is the word of Almighty Allah, He Who creates all things from nothing - and Whose knowledge enfolds all things. Every verse of the Qur'an therefore contains information revealed with the wisdom of our Almighty Lord. In one verse, Allah refers to the Qur'an itself as follows:

... Will they not ponder the Qur'an? If it had been from other than Allah, they would have found many inconsistencies in it. (Surat an-Nisa', 82)