Scientific Miracles in the Oceans & Animals

The Arabs to whom these verses came did not swim. They did not sail. They had no instruments, no submersibles and no means of observing anything below the surface of a sea most of them had never seen.

That is the whole force of this book, and it is worth holding in mind while reading it.

What the Qur'an Describes

• That the creation of all living things began from water
• The sending of rainfall, and the stages of cloud formation
• The layers of darkness in the deep ocean
• Internal waves — waves beneath the surface, between layers of differing density, invisible from above
• The differing colors of the seas
• The barrier between fresh water and salt water where they meet

Several of these were established only with modern oceanographic equipment. Internal waves in particular were not something anyone standing on a shore could have inferred.

An Oceanographer's Reaction

Professor Schroeder, one of West Germany's leading oceanographers, used to say that as science progresses, religion must inevitably retreat.

On hearing the translated meanings of these verses he was stunned, and said: "These cannot be the words of a human being."

A man who had stated the opposing position as a general principle, confronted with the specific case. That reversal is more persuasive than any argument the book could construct itself.

Who It Is For

Readers with an interest in the natural sciences, Muslim or not. Students meeting the claim that faith and evidence pull in opposite directions. Da'wah among educated readers. Families — the material holds children's attention in a way doctrinal books do not.

Related Reading

• Scientific Wonders on the Earth & in Space — the earth and space, by the same approach
• Miracles of the Qur'an — the scientific signs gathered more broadly
• Men and The Universe — Ibn Al-Qayyim on reflecting upon creation