Through my monograph I have briefly shown how Islam has encouraged people to acquire knowledge and science, winnowing them from all sorts of superstition and false ideas that were prevailing during the Qur’anic revelation. Of course, since the human thought was still in its cradle, people could not perceive the scientific truths present in the Holy Qur’an. But nowadays, as science has reached its heyday, they begin to understand the scientific statements tackled in the Holy Book, concerning astronomy, geographical phenomena, medicine, sitology, animal and vegetable kingdoms and so on and so forth. As I have already stated in my introduction, since the topic is so large, I was obliged to deal with only the three first points mentioned above- astronomy, geographical phenomena and medicine. Through this monograph we undoubtedly realize how great is the Qur’an and its Divine words, and how science and its supporters all witness that this universe must have a Creator, and that the Qur’an could not be but a heavenly work of God Almighty. They have also become sure that science alone cannot solve all the serious problems humanity is still experiencing.
So a number of scientists, after years of assiduous research, have come to the ultimate result: This world must have a Supreme Omniscient God. Albert Einstein, quoted in Tabbarah (1988, p.37), for instance, says that:
“Faith is the strongest and noblest result of scientific research.”
Dr Albert Jacob Winchester, quoted in Tabbarah (Ibid. pp.36-7) states.
“My work in science has supported my faith in God and rendered it stronger and firmer than before. No doubt science increases man’s understanding of the Most Exalted God’s power; and with every new discovery man comes up with in his field of study, his faith in God increases.”
Mr Tabbarah also declares that:
“92% of the leading thinkers believe in the existence of God. This high percentage is a clear indication that the disagreement between faith and knowledge, which materialists consider as being a characteristic of well-educated people, does not exist; it also indicates that faith and knowledge rather complement each other and do not clash.”
If we take into respect all these declarations, we find that they agree completely with the Holy Qur’an.
{And so amongst men and crawling creatures and cattle are they of various colours. Those truly fear God, among His servants, who have knowledge: for God is Exalted in Might, oft-Forgiving.}
[XXXV: 28]
{There is not god but He: that is the witness of God, His angels and those endued with knowledge, standing firm on justice. There is no god but He, the Exalted in Power, the Wise.}
[III: 18]
Some of these famous scientists, whose knowledge and objective investigation have led them to study the Qur’an, acknowledged publicly in international scientific summits that the Qur’an could not be a mere work of a man -especially if he is illiterate as is the case of the Prophet (p.b.u.h.)- but it is really a great ultimate work of God Almighty. One of these is the Muslim doctor, Bucaille (1985, p.132), who confirms that:
“The hypothesis advanced by those who see Muhammad (p.b.u.h.) as the author of the Qur’an [is] quite untenable. How could a man, from being illiterate…pronounce truths of a scientific nature that no other human being could possibly have developed at the time, and all this without once making the slightest error in his pronouncements on the subject?”
Dr Al Sharif (1990, p.16) points out that Dr Keith Moore -teacher of anatomy and embryology at the university of Ottawa- attended a summit conference about the scientific miracles in the Holy Qur’an held in Cairo in 1986 where he affirms that he testifies the miracles of God in the creation of every phase of the embryonic stages, and in the accurate and precise description that is found in the Holy Book. He adds that he does not think that Muhammad (p.b.u.h.) or anybody else could have known what is going on in the embryo’s development since these developments have not been discovered until in the late years of the twentieth century. He also insists on the fact that every statement he has read in the Glorious Qur’an about the genesis of the embryo and its development inside the uterus agrees utterly with what he knows as an outstanding embryologist. Arthur Ellison -head of the Electric Engineering Department at the university of London, and whose name changed into Abdullah Ellison-, quoted in Al Juhaini (1989, p. 93 & p.96) explains why he has embraced Islam. He says that when he attended the summit conference about the medical miracles in the Holy Book held in Cairo in 1985 and saw a multifarious set of the Qur’anic and Prophetic truths which speak about the creatures and which agree totally with modern scientific data, he perceived that this Book cannot be a mere work of a man. He adds that what was brought by the Prophet (p.b.u.h.) 1410 years ago affirms that he is indeed God’s Messenger. He emphasizes on the fact that Muslims should introduce the scientific truths found in the Holy Qur’an as a main step to the West to Islam.
Though the Qur’an gives importance to science and values scientists, it puts more emphasis on the ethical and spiritual side of the individual. It focuses on the fact that science -or civilization in general- must go hand in hand with faith whose absence changes life into an absurd emptiness. As we notice nowadays, though the West has made numerous and great achievements in a lot of fields, it is still floundering in intricate problems, which have all gathered together to destroy the individual and the family because the spiritual side has been left without care.
“Thomas Carlyle said: ‘Prayer and calling on God, the deepest sources of our might and perfection have been very awfully discarded!’ ” (Mr Tabbarah: 1988, p.219)
Hence, humanity has fallen in the abyss of despair to the extent that it found itself lost in a world where people, especially in Western societies, as Dr Dubos (1979, p.258) states, consider science as if it were a strange, powerful and mystic god.
“The head of Cleveland municipality said mockingly: ‘If we are not conscious, history will remind us on the basis that we are the generation that has hoisted up a man to the moon…while he is still immersed to his knees in mire and garbage.’ ” (Ibid. p.230)
That is why John Dewey, the American philosopher, quoted in Dr Dubos (Ibid. p.43), warned the West and especially his country when he said:
“The civilization which permit science to destroy conventional values and does not trust in the power of this science to create new values…verily ruins itself by itself.”
Therefore, conscious intellectuals are earnestly calling people to return to religion. But a crucial question should be raised here- to which religion shall people return? To Judaism, Christianity or Islam? The first two are proved to be forged and contain things that are logically and scientifically unacceptable. In this connection one can check Dr Bucaille’s The Bible, The Qur’an And Science. Then, what remains is Islam, the true religion that has remained intact throughout many centuries.
{We have, without doubt, sent down the Message; and We will assuredly guard it (from corruption).}
[XV: 9]
So can we say with the Irish playwright, George Bernard Shaw, quoted in Dr Al Sharif (1990, p.255), that:
“The affairs of this civilization will never gain stability unless it returns to Muhammad’s instructions.”?
Of course, what G. B. Shaw and so many other objective and unbiased scholars said is not a joke or a mere nonsense. When they said that Islam would be the refuge of all mankind, they had their own reasons built on logical arguments. Then, what is the secret of Islam’s power and eternity- eternal in the sense that it is God’s light and Divine revelation?
Eventually, I hope that the coming generation may pay attention to my enquiries without forgetting to deal with the points I have failed to tackle because of the largeness of my topic. I hope, too, some may deal with the rhetorical and legislative miracles as a completion to the topic of the Qur’anic Miracles. I am quite chary of the fact that the task is not going to be so easy, but trying is at least better than nothing.