The Holy Qur’an and its Scientific Interpretation

July 10, 2024

2 min read 2 min

Question

Many scholars interpret the Qur’ānic verses scientifically. You claim that the Holy Qur’an is not a book of science. This is a book of religious guidance and we should study specifically with this point of view. I want to know why can we not explain the verses that discuss scientific matters scientifically.

Answer

Nobody can deny the fact that the Holy Qur’an is a prophetic book of admonition and its main subject is to provide knowledge of the divine scheme and to teach the best manners to serve God. It does elaborate on some aspects regarding the universe and the creation of mankind by God but its main target is to draw the attention of mankind towards their Lord and make them conceive His greatness. It has nothing to do with scientific discoveries.

There are two approaches towards scientific discoveries. The first one is that whatever discovery scientists make should be somehow traced in the text of the Holy Qur’an. To carry out this task, some people do not mind ignoring the words and the context of the Holy Qur’an to offer wishful interpretations. This approach is expressly flawed. There is great danger in this approach. If, for example, a scientific theory is modified following some fresh discoveries what would come of the claim that we attributed to God? It will certainly be falsified. The second approach is the one you have mentioned. The Holy Qur’an contains some information about the creation of humans and the heavens and the earth. This information has been provided in a language easily understandable to an Arab at the time of revelation. Indeed, these statements can never be wrong and any corroboration through scientific discoveries makes the speech of God more prominent. But even here we run the risk of giving some different meanings to the words of the Holy Qur’an than what they originally signified, in which case the scientific discoveries prove it wrong and we are forced to take our words back.

The fact is that the Holy Qur’an is the ultimate truth and does not require validation from science. Its authority should be established by those methods that remain constant and unchanging. Nonetheless, we can cautiously utilize scientific discoveries to highlight and support the truths presented in the Qur’an.

(Translated into English by Abid Mahmood)

Answered by: Talib Mohsin
Edited by: Mushfiq Sultan

Originally Published: 2015-01-30

Share with

Mr Talib Mohsin was born in 1959 in the district Pakpattan of Punjab. He received elementary education in his native town. Later on he moved to Lahore and passed his matriculation from the Board of Intermediate and Secondary Education Lahore. He joined F.C College Lahore and graduated in 1981. He has his MA in Islamic Studies from the University of Punjab. He joined Mr Ghamidi to learn religious disciplines during the early years of his educational career. He is one of the senior students of Mr Ghamidi from whom he learnt Arabic Grammar and major religious disciplines. He was a major contributor in the establishment of the institutes and other organizations by Mr Ghamidi including Anṣār al-Muslimūn and Al-Mawrid. He worked in Ishrāq, a monthly Urdu journal, from the beginning. He worked as assistant editor of the journal for many years. He has been engaged in research and writing under the auspice of Al-Mawrid and has also been teaching in the Institute.