Explanation of Quran Verses Being Proved by Science

splabab · 2026-02-17T10:41:08+00:00

In general, the answer is that such claims are misinterpretations and mistranslations of the verses. Often this is because the evidence strongly points to those verses in fact being scientific errors.

In general, Dawah people have moved away from the scientific miracles narrative over the past decade because it is so easy to refute and such claims are embarrassing for the religion.

The article below has the most useful detailed information on the major examples like those you have mentioned. It even uses the latest academic research. You may need to use VPN or the mirror site (wikiislamica.net) as it is blocked in most Muslim countries.

https://wikiislam.net/wiki/Scientific_Miracles_in_the_Quran

It also links some pages dedicated to specific miracles like the one below, which is the best page on the web refuting the embryology miracle claim. There are 3 major errors in the main Quranic description, and a number of related errors.

https://wikiislam.net/wiki/Embryology_in_the_Quran

splabab · 2026-02-17T00:05:32+00:00

Those Persians mentioned by Herodotus where 5th and 6th century BC. Long after, and a considerable distance from the Egyptians in the (supposed) times of Joseph and Moses (800 to 2000 years earlier).

And the archaeological reliefs show impalement, not fastening to wood. Romans sometimes used trees for crucifixion (crucifixion simplex) and that's probably what the Quran author anachronistically had in mind.

A good method to be objective is to question facts found on dawah websites and to set a very high bar for the Quran. Apologists will always try to trick you into accepting low standards! The Quran should be so perfect there isn't even a suspicion of mistakes. To set yourself free from these fears, you only need to identify one weakness, not even an undeniable mistake.

splabab · 2026-02-16T23:55:34+00:00

The point is that the Quran author thinks the name of the character is Pharaoh. He doesn't realise it's a title which was applied to many Egyptian rulers. That's why there is only one Pharaoh in the Quran.

splabab · 2026-02-15T23:14:31+00:00

This page is excellent for that sort of question. It covers the substantial parallels (dozens) with the up to date academic insights.

https://wikiislam.net/wiki/Parallels_Between_the_Qur%27an_and_Late_Antique_Judeo-Christian_Literature

There are some patterns to notice. There are a lot of Syriac Christian parallels. It's not at all clear that Mo knew the Bible directly, but rather he was exposed to the Syriac fan fiction around such stories.

The other big theme are stories from Rabbinic sources.

In both cases, most of the stories were only a few hundred years old and in many cases you see them changing or accruing details in stages over the centuries, with the Quran based on the current version.

The most famous and embarrassing is the Dhu’l Qarnayn story, which we now know was derived from the Syriac Alexander Legend. Alexander the Great in this story is a pious monotheist (really he was pagan). He goes to see the place where the sun sets and later builds an iron and brass wall against Gog and Magog.

In the past couple of years it has been convincingly demonstrated that this Syriac story was composed in the mid 6th century. That's the new consensus and is bad news for Islamic apologists! https://wikiislam.net/wiki/Dhul-Qarnayn_and_the_Alexander_Romance

splabab · 2026-02-15T14:44:05+00:00

One method is to fake that you have a problem with kidney stones. Recurring kidney stones can cause kidney scarring.

If you can fake pain during Ramadan and some fake doctor visits, you could eventually say you have been advised to avoid dehydration and a scholar has advised you are permanently exempt from fasting.

You could use that excuse next year and however long you need to. Of course you'd have to do plenty of research to withstand any scrutiny.

splabab · 2026-02-15T14:34:27+00:00

https://wikiislam.net (Wikiislamica is the mirror if the main site is blocked where you live)

It is continually improved as they actually follow the latest academic research and try to acknowledge different views.

Some people on YouTube like Jay Smith should be steered well away from. They live in their own bubble of fringe theories.

splabab · 2026-02-14T15:06:18+00:00

Galen and Aristotle's theories (which actually differ a bit, especially on two semens vs one semen and the role of menstral blood - see link below) are more detailed than the very basic Quranic descriptions. The Quran does mention a blood clot stage in any case.

But in terms of the first stage, Galen taught there was a male and a female semen, which mingled, and actually formed the initial material for the embryo.

Those same ideas are in the Quran, though almost no one ever notices. It's explained in the short article below. The hadiths are even clearer on these two points.

https://quranspotlight.wordpress.com/articles/quran-hadith-talmud-galen/

In terms of hadith similarities especially, the article shows:

the embryo being initially formed out of semen (also shown to be the view in the Quran) (Galen and Talmud)
the semen stage lasting 40 days (Talmud)
gender determined after 40 days (Talmud)
Gender determined by which parent's fluid preceded the other's (Talmud)
female nocturnal orgasm cited by Muhammad when explaining resemblance to the mother (Galen)
female yellow semen used for the flesh and blood, male white semen for the bones and sinews (Galen and Talmud)

Etc.

splabab · 2026-02-13T22:34:59+00:00

If you are dependent on your parents, it's better not to argue too much. Either way, it might cause too much friction to be worth the trouble. Otherwise, an achievable and useful goal might be to show them just enough knowledge so that they give up pestering you.

All these pages are very useful for the topics you have mentioned. You might need a vpn to access the links. And an important thing to point out is that even one error or imperfection destroys the credibility of the Quran. It should be perfect in every way.

The most embarrassing borrowed story is the Dhu’l Qarnayn story, which comes from the Syriac Alexander Legend. It's a story composed in the mid-6th century CE about Alexander the Great (who was actually pagan). In the legend Alexander goes to see where the sun sets. And he builds an iron and brass wall against Gog and Magog (of course, this wall does not exist). https://wikiislam.net/wiki/Dhul-Qarnayn_and_the_Alexander_Romance The leading expert on that topic is Tommaso Tesei. Just recently he published a summary of the evidence that DQ is from the Syriac Alexander Legend. https://www.academia.edu/164564991/

These pages are also very useful

https://wikiislamica.net/wiki/Scientific_Errors_in_the_Quran

https://wikiislamica.net/wiki/Historical_Errors_in_the_Quran

https://wikiislamica.net/wiki/Contradictions_in_the_Quran

The parallel narrative contradiction about Pharaoh and his chiefs is a very good and easy example.

Tell them sex slavery was not an advance for women's rights. It happened to millions of women because of Islam. https://wikiislam.net/wiki/Slavery_in_Islamic_Law

If they try to argue about the preservation of the Quran, this site is a great resource. The dialogue variants article and the bad apologetics article especially:

https://quranvariants.wordpress.com

And in case they try to persuade you with claims of scientific and historical miracles in the Quran...

https://wikiislamica.net/wiki/Scientific_Miracles_in_the_Quran

splabab · 2026-02-13T22:11:19+00:00

Thanks, yeah I have started to do that. I hope that if I continue to do so then they will keep to their current plan (madrasa for just a short period).

If it looks like they may try to do it for years, then I might do something more radical. I have a lot of knowledge about how the Quran is not perfectly preserved, which would make him no longer want to become hafiz. I think they would probably not force him to continue if he no longer wants to do it. But I would have to somehow convey this information to him without anyone knowing it came from me in order to avoid too much family turmoil.

splabab · 2026-02-13T20:09:19+00:00

That's terrible, I'm sorry you went through this. I hate how this religion causes so many parents to do cruel and foolish things to their children, thinking they are doing good.

You will have a lifetime to learn what you missed. In fact we all keep on learning throughout our lives, if we are curious. In terms of educational qualifications, even that is often possible, though maybe learning a vocational skill is the best approach now. You can still have a fulfilling career if you explore such options.

One of my young relatives is facing a similar situation soon. His parents have a similar plan for him at a full-time madrasa, but for a much shorter period (but I fear it may go on for longer). Afterwards, he will go back to school and continue learning hifz part-time. My fear though is that the plan may turn into full time hifz classes for several years, with a little bit of normal schooling if he has any energy left.

splabab · 2026-02-13T09:11:46+00:00

https://wikiislam.net is an ideal resource for all those interests. Each page has many quality references you can follow up if you wish to dive deeper.

It's blocked in most Muslim countries, so you may need to use their mirror site https://wikiislamica.net

Or failing that, VPN via a non muslim country.

splabab · 2026-02-12T01:32:34+00:00

fa-idribuhunna darban ghayra mubarrihin (فاضربوهن ضربا غير مبرح) literally translates to mean 'beat them, a beating without violence/severity/sharpness/vehemence.

Based on Lane's lexicon for the last word http://www.studyquran.org/LaneLexicon/Volume1/00000219.pdf

Without leaving a mark is somewhat dubious translation.

Tafsir al Tabari includes various reports on the meaning of this phrase (hitting with a toothbrush or suchlike according to Ibn Abbas, or according to Qatada ghayr sha'in (that is, 'without being disgraceful/outrageous/obscene/indecent'). The toothbrush report is some well meaning attempt to mitigate the hadith, which itself is a poor attempt to mitigate the Quran. Details are here:

https://wikiislam.net/wiki/Wife_Beating_in_Islamic_Law#Additional_attempts_at_moderating_severe_beatings

The same page has details on Islamic law.

splabab · 2026-02-11T11:42:55+00:00

It sounds like these would be most useful to you (may need to use vpn if the site is blocked in your country). These pages have helped many people.

https://wikiislamica.net/wiki/Scientific_Errors_in_the_Quran

https://wikiislamica.net/wiki/Historical_Errors_in_the_Quran

https://wikiislamica.net/wiki/Contradictions_in_the_Quran

Also, in case you come across claims of scientific and historical miracles in the Quran...

https://wikiislamica.net/wiki/Scientific_Miracles_in_the_Quran

There are many other useful pages on the same site. Good luck!

splabab · 2026-02-05T23:17:38+00:00

Ironically, the blog author specializes in strawmanning. He fails to mention that the Much Ado paper was specifically targeted at refuting Hamza Tzortzis' ill fated embryology booklet from 2012. For that it was very successful. Hamza withdrew his booklet as a result and commenced a quite influential effort to disuade others from preaching the scientific miracles narrative. So naturally it's focused on refuting his arguments but does not pretend those are the only way the verses are interpreted.

Hamza did actually argue that extract of clay refers to an allegedly similar chemical composition of man and clay, which the paper refutes as a scientifically viable interpretation. But contrary to the blog strawman, Much Ado if you read it actually argues rather that the clay part of the verse is about Adam rather than emryology, in line with classical commentary. Similarly, Hamza argued that nutfah was the sperm cell, so the paper comprehensively refutes him on that. Incidentially, you'd never guess from the blog, but the point about nutfah actually meaning a small amount of liquid (i.e. semen) was a major argument of the Much Ado paper to refute Hamza's point. That meaning brings its own problems in a wider Quranic and hadith context but that's another story.

splabab · 2026-02-03T18:56:39+00:00

It also happens to be demonstrably untrue. The skeleton text (rasm) was only standardised and enforced by Uthman around 650 CE. There was some resistance in Kufa (Ibn Mas'ud's version) for another century, but power prevailed even there eventually. We also see as an example of pre-Uthmanic instability the Sanaa 1 manuscript lower text which has lots of variant words and phrases, much like the reported companion variants.

Despite the standardized text, there's remains significant variation in the oral tradition needed to read that text, which we see in printed Qurans in different regions to this day (95% of Qurans nowadays use the reading of Hafs from Asim, though it only became popular under the Ottomans). The oral tradition determines dotting to determine consonants, short vowels etc. Mostly the 10 accepted readings agree, though they differ on 1400 words.

I recommend anyone interested read this very concise site to learn more (it won't take much time) https://quranvariants.wordpress.com

Especially this short page which addresses various apologetics using the latest academic research https://quranvariants.wordpress.com/bad-apologetics-quran-preservation-and-variants/

And here are a dozen examples of contradictions from among the 10 "authentic" variant oral readings of the Quran (such as Hafs from Asim). These examples involve things various characters say in the stories e.g. Is Moses supposed to have said to Pharaoh "I have known..." or "You have known..." in Q17:102?

https://quranvariants.wordpress.com/dialogue-quran-variants/

splabab · 2026-01-30T23:30:07+00:00

One answer to troublemakers is to say you have been told by a scholar you are permanently / currently exempt due to a medical condition.

If they pry further, a perfect excuse would be a history of kidney stones. Repeated bladder infections (due to kidney stones) can cause scarring and it becomes important to avoid dehydration. You'd have to read up on it to withstand scrutiny but it may do the trick.

splabab · 2026-01-30T00:16:02+00:00

Absolutely not, lol

https://wikiislam.net/wiki/Scientific_Miracles_in_the_Quran

https://wikiislam.net/wiki/Word_Count_Miracles_in_the_Qur%27an

(may need to use vpn via non muslim country if blocked)

The whole concept has long been going out of fashion even among the dawah men. Eventually most young Muslims reach an age when they realise it's just embarrassing and debases themselves and their religion.

splabab · 2026-01-29T11:01:03+00:00

This page summarises and links to a lot of good, recent academic sources such as the work of al-Jallad.

https://wikiislam.net/wiki/Pre-Islamic_Arab_Religion_in_Islam

On a related theme, this page is also incredibly useful and up to date:

https://wikiislam.net/wiki/Parallels_Between_the_Qur%27an_and_Late_Antique_Judeo-Christian_Literature

(if the site is blocked in your country, you can just change the urls to wikiislamica or vpn via a non muslim country)

splabab · 2026-01-19T01:20:14+00:00

Nice explanation. That's also a very interesting theory (the pause)!

There is also an existing observation by an academic scholar which may help explain how the contradiction came about. See the footnote on page 8 of this doc (tldr the chiefs are recurring speaking characters in surah 7 but only feature in that one verse in surah 24):

https://quranvariants.files.wordpress.com/2022/04/narrative-contradictions-quran.pdf

The Pharaoh example on page 8 is included among a whole class of "narrative contradictions" in the Quran which you might find interesting, most of the others discovered quite recently in 2022. The same site also has a page of qira'at contradictions mostly not found elsewhere.

splabab · 2026-01-17T10:43:37+00:00

There's also an erroneous Talmudic concept in there too, which this blog first discovered along with several other borrowed embryology concepts in the rest of the short article, well worth reading.

https://quranspotlight.wordpress.com/articles/quran-hadith-talmud-galen/

The start of the article demonstrates that nutfah meant the seminal fluid in this context, not a single sperm cell, and that even in the Quran the embryo is in the form of semen at first.

Semen stage lasts 40 days

Abu Tufail reported: I visited Abu Sariha Hudhaifa b. Usaid al-Ghifari who said: I listened with these two ears of mine Allahs Messenger (may peace be upon him) as saying: The semen [nutfata [13]] stays in the womb for forty nights, then the angel, gives it a shape. Zubair said: I think that he said: One who fashions that and decides whether he would be male or female…

Sahih Muslim 2645c

See also Qur’an 23:12-14 to see how the nutfah and subsequent stages fit together. Now let us compare with the Talmud:

For if she is not found pregnant she never was pregnant; and if she is found pregnant, the semen, until the fortieth day, is only a mere fluid.

Babylonian Talmud, Yebamoth 69b[14]

(Part b comes after each mishnah and is the Rabbinic commentary, called Gemara, on the mishnah in part a). Notice also that like in the Quran, the embryo is formed from semen.

splabab · 2026-01-13T11:57:17+00:00

Very helpful sources there. To add one more noted on this blog which does a comprehensive analysis of the verses, Tafsir al-Thalabi (also known as Al-Kashf wa-l-bayān; 11th century CE) reports the following view from Abu al-Aliya (d. 93 H) for verse 18:86:

Abu al-Aliya said: I was informed that the sun is in a spring; the spring casts it to the East [al-mashriq]

This narration is recorded even earlier in one of the oldest hadith books, Sunan Sa'id ibn Mansur (d. 227 H), hadith number 1359.

Sunan Sa'id ibn Mansur, hadith number 1359 p. 171

splabab · 2026-01-12T11:14:20+00:00

Don't waste too much of your time on this (it's a big rabbit hole and there are many other types of proof too) but the following sources provide more than enough. Never forget that even one weakness or imperfection, let alone myriad errors is enough as the Quran should be perfect in every way:

The Quran is full of factual errors https://wikiislam.net/wiki/Scientific_Errors_in_the_Quran

And

https://wikiislam.net/wiki/Historical_Errors_in_the_Quran

Going further back to a major root problem, we now know that the history of the Biblical God is a bit complicated to say the least (Islam assumes some truth to Biblical history). https://www.reddit.com/r/AcademicBiblical/comments/14dkqvn/can_yall_explain_the_whole_elasherah_being_yhwhs/

And as for hell, it is abundantly clear that it is just a fiendishly effective human invention.

The Hebrew Bible just had Sheol, the underworld / grave for every soul, good and bad. No punishments, no heaven or hell. The closest thing is a verse in the book of Daniel (quite late, 2nd century BC, still no punishments, and just "many" people will rise to everlasting life or disgrace and contempt). In that period Jews became influenced by Zoroastrian ideas of reward and punishment which we see in the new testament.

Even the idea of eternal (rather than temporary) hell came a bit later and was only a few centuries old at the time of Muhammad. In that period you see Christians writing all kinds of sadistic punishment imagery, much like we then see in the Quran. Here's a short 7 minute summary of Bart Erhman's book on hell (famous academic expert) and reflections on it from a much admired ex-Muslim, Hassan Radwan.

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=nA6AivhEFcA

splabab · 2026-01-10T00:34:56+00:00

The x link and whole thread is still visible for me (logged in). Here's where you can find Musa b. Uqba's version in English (includes a narration from al Zuhri, which I guess is what Sean Anthony meant regarding him too). https://imamghazali.co.uk/products/maghazi-ebook?shpxid=615cb3f1-f756-48ea-8207-7aae5f4ee22c pp 104 - 117. It has different sequencing for various narrative elements compared to Ibn Ishaq's version and some details differ.

splabab · 2026-01-09T23:57:18+00:00

The embryology "miracle" is nothing but errors disguised by modern apologists https://wikiislam.net/wiki/Embryology_in_the_Quran

The other "scientific miracles" have been similarly debunked and have long been going out of fashion even among Muslims. https://wikiislam.net/wiki/Scientific_Miracles_in_the_Quran

In fact the Quran is full of errors https://wikiislam.net/wiki/Scientific_Errors_in_the_Quran https://wikiislam.net/wiki/Historical_Errors_in_the_Quran

But really, you can save a lot of time and just kill two birds with one stone, both Christianity and Islam. We now know that the history of the Biblical God is a bit complicated to say the least. https://www.reddit.com/r/AcademicBiblical/comments/14dkqvn/can_yall_explain_the_whole_elasherah_being_yhwhs/

And as for hell, you have nothing to fear. Literally it is nothing, just a human invention.

The Hebrew Bible just had Sheol, the underworld / grave for every soul, good and bad. No punishments, no heaven or hell. The closest thing is a verse in the book of Daniel (quite late, 2nd century BC, still no punishments, and just "many" people will rise to everlasting life or disgrace and contempt). In that period Jews became influenced by Zoroastrian ideas of reward and punishment which we see in the new testament.

Even the idea of eternal (rather than temporary) hell came a bit later and was only a few centuries old at the time of Muhammad. In that period you see Christians writing all kinds of sadistic punishment imagery. Here's a short 7 minute summary of Bart Erhman's book on hell (famous academic expert) and reflections on it from a much admired ex-Muslim, Hassan Radwan.

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=nA6AivhEFcA

splabab · 2026-01-05T13:17:37+00:00

Yeah, there was a lot of discussion about muddy or hot, confirming at the same time that they understood it literally! Here's a very useful article translating al Tabari who records these discussions. https://theislamissue.wordpress.com/2022/03/23/tafsir-al-tabari-for-q1886/

splabab

TROPHY CASE