Many people have been deceived into thinking that the knowledge in the Quran comes from God. A closer examination of the knowledge reveals that it comes from man and not any divine being.

The Islamic claim of scientific knowledge in the Quran has the following origins:

1. The Greek, Egyptian, and Pagan writings which existed long before the Quran.

• The Christian and Jewish scriptures which existed long before the Quran.

• General observation by those who lived in the desert.

The compiler of the Quran basically took the existing knowledge and placed it in the Quran. The followers claim this as a divine revelation from God.

The scientific approach is the truth approach. The ability to doubt, question everything, do comparisons with other theories, and seek proof is the scientific approach. Accepting something when it’s not supported by the facts is denial of the truth.

1. The earth is flat?

“Who has made earth for you like a bed (spread out).” (Quran 20:53)   “Have We not made the earth as a bed.” (Quran 78:6)   There are many other Quranic verses which very clearly state that the earth is flat. The Arabic word used in the Quran to describe the earth shape is ‘Mahdan’, which means bed.

Origin: General Observation. The earth is flat is a general observation statement which would be made by anyone with very limited education, and especially if they lived in the desert. An educated person would not make such a statement.

Scientific Facts

The earth is round and not flat. One can get on a plane and prove this within a few days.

• The Earth is fixed?

“Is not He (best) Who made the earth a fixed abode, and placed rivers in the folds thereof, and placed firm hills therein, and hath set a barrier between the two seas? Is there any Allah beside Allah? Nay, but most of them know not!” (Quran 27.61)

Many other Quranic verses also support the above verse in exhorting Allah’s decree that the earth is completely immovable (30.25, 25.41, 31.10, 2.22, 16.15).

The Arabic word for earth is ‘Ard’ and the Arabic word for rotation is ‘Falak’. There is no verse in the Quran that states the earth is rotating (‘Ard Falak’ or ‘Falak Ard’).  

Scientific Facts

The earth is moving and not fixed in one place. The earth is rotating on its axis and rotating around the sun.

• The sun submerges in murky water at night, is situated at the end of a road, and there are people near it?

“And he followed a road. Till, when he reached the setting-place of the sun, he found it setting in a muddy spring, and found a people thereabout.” (Quran 18:85-86)   “Then he followed a road. Till, when he reached the rising-place of the sun, he found it rising on a people for whom We had appointed no shelter therefrom.” (Quran 18.89-90)   The Prophet of Islam also confirms that the sun sets in water. “Abu Dharr (one of Muhammad’s close companions) said: I was sitting behind the Apostle of Allah who was riding a donkey while the sun was setting. He asked: Do you know where this sets? I replied: Allah and his Apostle know best. He said: It sets in a spring of warm water.” (Sunan Abi Dawud 4002)

Origin: General Observation. The sun submerging into murky water to create night and emerging from the murky water to create day is an assumption that would be made by those who live in the desert with no education.

Scientific Facts

The sun does not submerge, nor emerge from muddy water to form night and day.

The earth is spinning on its own axis and rotating around the sun. Due to the positioning of the earth relative to the sun, there is day and night in different parts of the world.

The sun is 93 million miles from earth and not at the end of a road in the desert of Arabia as the Quran states. Based on the scientists if more than 400 billion nuclear weapons were to be set off at the same time, this is the amount of heat that the sun generates in 1 second. It’s impossible for any people to be near it, not even within millions of miles from the sun.

• Does the sun rise and set?

“Allah brings up the sun from the east… (Quran 2.258)   Based on the Prophet of Islam, the sun sets and rises.   “The Prophet (ﷺ) asked me at sunset, “Do you know where the sun goes (at the time of sunset)?” I replied, “Allah and His Apostle know better.” He said, “It goes (i.e. travels) till it prostrates Itself underneath the Throne and takes the permission to rise again…”. (Sahih al-Bukhari 4.54.421)

Origin: General Observation. The sun rises, and sets is a general assumption that would be made by those who live in the desert with no education.

Scientific Facts

The sun does not rise, nor does it set.

The earth is spinning on its own axis and rotating around the sun. Due to the positioning of the earth relative to the sun, there is day and night in different parts of the world. It takes 365 days for the earth to go around the sun once and it takes 24 hours for the earth to spin once on its axis.

• Humans have existed for only 6,000 years and we all originate from one couple?

Based on the Quran, and Hadiths. Adam and Eve were the first humans created by God. They lived about 6,000 years ago and all humans originate from them. This same theory is also supported by the Bible and accepted by many Christians.   “O mankind! Be dutiful to your Lord, who created you from a single person (Adam), and from him (Adam) He created his wife [Hawwa (Eve)], and from them both He created many men and women.” (Quran 4:1)   Based on the Islamic tree of prophets. Noah existed between 4900 and 5900 years ago. Before Noah was Enoch and before him was Adam, the first human.

Origin: General Observation and the Bible. For the people who live in the desert, they would have a very poor fund of knowledge and thus they will base everything on their own limited perception. Those who have no scientific reasoning of investigation, will blindly accept what they are told.

Scientific Facts

Based on genetic science, it’s impossible for the population of humans in the world today to originate from one couple and humans have existed for millions of years and not just 6,000 years. The bones of humans dating back to millions of years can be seen in museums around the world.

• Semen comes from the backbone and ribs?

The Quran, Surah 86, verses 6-7:   “He is created from a drop emitted- Proceeding from between the backbone and the ribs.”     In the above ‘drop’ means semen.

Origin: Greeks More than a thousand years before the Quran, the Greek physician Hippocrates (370 BC – 460 BC) stated that semen comes from all the fluid in the body, diffusing from the brain, ribs, and back bone. The above is incorrect based on modern scientific knowledge. The compiler of the Quran basically took the knowledge that was known at the time and put it in the Quran. He did not consider whether it was correct or not.

Scientific Facts

The semen does not come from the backbone and the ribs. During ejaculation, the prostate glands secrete a fluid which is mixed with millions of sperms which are produced in the testicles (balls) of males, and this is expelled as semen. The prostate glands are below the bladder.

• The sky can fall down to earth?

“He withholds the sky from falling on the earth except by His leave…” (Quran 22.65)

In Yusuf Ali’s translation, realizing the absurdity of this verse, he deceptively has added (rain) in parenthesis after the word sky. There is no mention of rain in the Arabic version.

Scientific Facts

The sky is made of air which can never fall on the earth. The compiler of the Quran lacks basic physics knowledge.

• The Earth was first created and then the universe?

Based on the Quran, the earth was first created and then the universe.   “It is He who created for you all of that which is on the earth. Then He directed Himself to the heaven….” (Quran 2.29)

Origin: General Observation and the Bible. General observation by an Arab living in the desert.

Scientific Facts

The earth planet is within the universe and thus first the universe must be created and then the earth and other planets.

• The Big Bang Theory in the Quran and the Earth and Universe were one piece?

The Quran, Surah 21 verse 30:   “The heavens and the earth were of one piece, then We parted them …”   Some Muslim claim the above Quranic verse proves the big bang theory from the Quran. A closer examination reveals this to be false.

Origin: Egyptian. According to an Egyptian creation myth, Geb (the god of earth) and Nut (the goddess of sky) angered the sun god Ra, because they were locked in a perpetual embrace. On the orders of Ra, they were separated by Shu (the god of air) who stood on Geb and lifted Nut high up above him. Creating the atmosphere by separating the sky from the earth.

The Quran will not mention the pagan gods and goddess. But one can clearly see that the statement in the Quran about Heaven (sky) and earth being one and then separated are from the Egyptian creation myth. The compiler of the Quran took the knowledge that was already existing and placed it in the Quran and revealed it to be from God. He never considered whether the knowledge was correct or not.

Scientific Facts

The Quran is incorrect in saying ‘the heavens and earth were of one piece, then we parted them’.

The earth was never existing as one piece joined with the universe. It was created after the universe was created, and it is within the universe and it will never part from the universe. Also, based on the scientists this physical earth planet that we are living on is around 4.5 billion years old, thus it never existed before 4.5 billion year ago. Some Muslims claim that Quran 21:30 supports the big bang theory but this verse is completely incorrect based on the facts. The scientists estimate that the big bang occurred 13.8 billion years ago, and this physical earth planet did not exist until 9.3 billion years after the big bang. It makes no sense to think that the earth was one piece with the universe at creation and then it parted. Since there was no earth until 9.3 billion years after the big bang and the creation of the universe. Also, some scientists are now rejecting the big bang theory.

1. Embryo creation in the Quran

The Quran, Surah 23 verses 13-14:           [1] “Thereafter We made him (the offspring of Adam) as a Nutfah (mixed drops of the male and female sexual discharge and lodged it) in a safe lodging (womb of the woman).   [2] Then We made the Nutfah into a clot (Alaqa , a piece of thick coagulated blood),       [3] then We made the clot into a little lump of flesh (Mudghah),       [4] then We made out of that little lump of flesh bones, then We clothed the bones with flesh, and then We brought it forth as another creation. So blessed be Allah, the Best of Creators!”

Origin: Greeks.   The below is what the Greek Physician Galen (AD 129-199) wrote on embryology, more than 400 years prior to the Quran being transmitted.   “But let us take the account back again to the first conformation of the animal, and in order to make our account orderly and clear, let us divide the creation of the fetus overall into four periods of time.   1. The first is that in which, as is seen both in abortions and in dissection, the form of the semen prevails (Arabic Nutfah). At this time, Hippocrates too, the all-marvelous, does not yet call the conformation of the animal a fetus; as we heard just now in the case of semen voided in the sixth day, he still calls it semen. 2. But when it has been filled with blood (Arabic Alaqa), and heart, brain and liver are still unarticulated and unshaped yet have by now a certain solidarity and considerable size, this is the second period; the substance of the fetus has the form of flesh and no longer the form of semen. Accordingly, you would find that Hippocrates too no longer calls such a form semen but, as was said, fetus. 3. The third period follows on this, when, as was said, it is possible to see the three ruling parts clearly and a kind of outline, a silhouette, as it were, of all the other parts (Arabic Mudghah). You will see the conformation of the three ruling parts more clearly, that of the parts of the stomach more dimly, and much more still, that of the limbs. Later, they form “twigs”, as Hippocrates expressed it, indicating by the term their similarity to branches. 4. The fourth and final period is at the stage when all the parts in the limbs have been differentiated; and at this part Hippocrates the marvelous no longer calls the fetus an embryo only, but already a child, too when he says that it jerks and moves as an animal now fully formed.”

It can clearly be seen that the statements in this Quranic verse originate from the account of the Greek Physician Galen. The credit should be given to the Greeks and not the Quran. The compiler of the Quran simply quoted the knowledge that was already existing for more than 400 years before Islam and the Quran.

Scientific Facts

There are many errors in the embryology knowledge in the Quran, which originates from the Greeks and accepted by the Muslims as divine knowledge from Allah. One can visit medical sites on the web or ask medical professionals and confirm all the below.

1. The most important part of embryology knowledge is the role of the female egg and fertilization. This is completely missing in the Quranic embryology.
2. The Quran mentions that the mixed drops of the male and female sexual discharge are first lodged in the womb and then the development starts. This is incorrect. The Quran does not mention that a drop of semen contains millions of sperms, and just one sperm creates pregnancy. One sperm fertilizes the female egg and then it starts multiplying fast and leaves the fallopian tube and enters the uterus where it attaches and develops into an embryo. Then the full development of body occurs. The real science of embryology is completely missing from the Quran.
3. The female discharge of egg occurs even without sex. The Quran does not mention this.
4. Not every male discharge (of sperm) will result in pregnancy. The Quran does not mention this.
5. The male and female discharge does not develop into an embryo. The sperm from the male fertilizes the egg from the female and then the fertilized egg (zygote) multiplies and develops into an embryo.
6. The male and female discharge does not mix with the blood nor does it form into a clot.
7. The bones are not first created as stated by the Quran.

The Origin of the Embryology Knowledge in the Quran

In AD 555, a medical school was founded by Anusharwan in Jundishapur, which is now southern Iran. This school combined Greek, Indian, and Iranian medical knowledge. According to Muslim medical historians, including ibn Abi Usaybia and al-Qifti, one early graduate of Jundishapur medical school was a doctor named al Harith ibn Kalada. He became a companion of the Prophet Muhammad who sought medical advice from him. Thus, the knowledge which originates from the Greek Physician Galen and others, influenced the Prophet who declared it as a revelation from Allah and put it in the Quran.

1. Kill birds and praying to Allah will bring them back?

[Allah] said, “Take four birds and commit them to yourself. Then [after slaughtering them] put on each hill a portion of them; then call them – they will come [flying] to you in haste. And know that Allah is Exalted in Might and Wise” (Quran 2.260).

The Muslims will say the Quran is the truth, can any Muslim prove the above? Where is the might of Allah?

1. Living beings are created from water?

The Quran, Surah 21 verse 30:   “We made every living thing of water…”

Origin: Greeks   A Greek known as Thales of Miletus (624 BC – 546 BC) stated the below more than 1100 years before the Quran was transmitted:   “The originating principle of nature was a single material substance: water.”

It is clear that the theory of life originating from water predates the Quran by more than 1100 years. The compiler of the Quran took the knowledge from the Greeks and placed it in the Quran. The Muslims consider this as divine knowledge from Allah.

The Quran also makes contradictory statements. The above verse clearly states every living being is made from water, but in the below 2 verses, it clearly states man is made from clay.

“Behold! thy Lord said to the angels: “I am about to create man, from sounding clay from mud moulded into shape” (Quran 15:28)

“Behold, thy Lord said to the angels: “I am about to create man from clay” (Quran 17:61)

Scientific Facts

The bodies of living beings are not created from water nor clay. Water is present within the body but it’s not the building block of life. The bodies are created from cells which multiply to form tissues and bones in various formations depending on the species.

1. Man created from semen without female egg and fertilization?

The Quran, Surah 16, verse 4:   “He has created man from a sperm-drop; and behold this same (man) becomes an open disputer!”

Origin: The Bible and general observation. “he spilled his semen on the ground to keep from providing offspring…” (Genesis 38:9) The knowledge that man is created from semen was documented in the Bible hundreds of years before the prophet of Islam and the Quran. This is also a general observation by anyone.

Scientific Facts

This Quranic verse statement on creation of man is incomplete and was known long before the Quran. It does not mention the role of the female egg and fertilization. It is the female egg which is within the female that is fertilized by a sperm within the sperm-drop (semen) which develops into a human being. Not the sperm itself. Without the female egg and fertilization, there can be no creation of man. Not every release of the sperm-drop (semen) will result in pregnancy or creation of man.  This verse is simply a direct observation of what is released from a male in the human and animal species. The Quran mentions only humans, but the males in every species can and know that they need to release (impregnate) a fluid (semen) into a female to reproduce.

1. Gender of child is based on quantity of discharge from male and female?

Sahih Muslim, Book 3, Hadith 38:   “I have come to ask you about the child. He (the Holy Prophet) said: The reproductive substance of man is white and that of woman (i. e. ovum central portion) yellow, and when they have sexual intercourse and the male’s substance (chromosomes and genes) prevails upon the female’s substance (chromosomes and genes), it is the male child that is created by Allah’s Decree, and when the substance of the female prevails upon the substance contributed by the male, a female child is formed by the Decree of Allah. The Jew said: What you have said is true; verily you are an Apostle. He then returned and went away. The Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) said: He asked me about such and such things of which I have had no knowledge till Allah gave me that.”

Origin: Greeks. More than a thousand years before the Quran, the Greek physician Hippocrates (370 BC – 460 BC) stated that the gender of the child will be based on the greater strength or quantity of fluid discharge from the male and female. The above is incorrect based on modern scientific knowledge. The prophet of Islam basically states the same thing as above.

Scientific Facts

The gender of the child is not based on the strength or quantity of the male or female substance and the female substance that develops into a human being is an egg and only one egg is released at a time. So, it is incorrect to say the quantity or strength of female substance because it’s just one egg that is released every 28 days.

The male sperm cells have either X or Y type chromosome. The female egg cells have only X type chromosome.

If the sperm that fertilizes an egg is X type, then the child will be girl. If the sperm that fertilizes an egg is Y type, then the child will be a boy. So regardless of the strength or quantity of sperms. The gender of the child is purely based on which sperm cell (X or Y type) first fertilizes an egg.

1. Milk in cows comes from between feces and blood in the belly?

The Quran teaches a lesson on grazing livestock. It teaches that milk comes from between feces and blood in the belly of livestock like cows.   “And indeed, for you in grazing livestock is a lesson. We give you drink from what is in their bellies – between excretion and blood – pure milk, palatable to drinkers.” (Quran 16:66)

Origin: General Observation. The people who live in the desert, would have a very poor fund of knowledge and thus they will base everything on their own limited perception.

Scientific Facts

This teaching from the Quran shows that the compiler of the Quran had no biology knowledge. The milk comes from the mammary glands of livestock like cows and not from between feces and blood. There are no feces, nor blood within the belly. The feces are in the colon.

1. Mountains are Pegs to stabilize the earth?

Based on the Quran, the mountains are like tent pegs or stakes which stop the earth from shaking.   “And the mountains as pegs?” (Quran 78.7) “He who created the earth in two days…” (Quran 41.9)   “And He placed on the earth firmly set mountains over its surface…” (Quran 41.10)

Origin: General Observation. For those who live in the desert, the mountains will seem like pegs to hold the earth, because they have no knowledge.

Scientific Facts

The purpose of the mountains is not to keep the earth stable as claimed by the Quran. So many people have been deceived by this and other false Quranic teachings.

The mountains are part of the ecosystem which affect the weather and fresh water supply. Wind pushes air and clouds upwards when they hit mountain slopes. As the altitude increases, the air pressure decreases. Then, moisture in the clouds condenses and falls as rain. About 80 percent of the planets fresh water originates from the mountains. This very clearly explains the purpose of the mountains based on facts.

Based on the scientists the planet earth is around 4.4 billion years ago, and it had no mountains for millions of years in the early days of the planet, but still it was stable just as it is today. The mountains are gradually formed over a period of millions of years, but still the planet is stable from day 1 of formation even though there were no mountains.

Based on the Quran (14.9-10), the earth was created in 2 days with mountains over its surface. This is false based on science. The mountains did not exist until millions of years after the creation of earth.

The moon planet is kept very stable even though it has no naturally formed mountains. All the mountains on the moon are created by impact from asteroids. So, if you go back millions of years in the early days of the moon, there were no mountains, but still the moon was just as stable then as it is today.

The Quranic theory of mountains keeping the planet stable is false.

1. Medical advice from the Prophet of Islam

Based on the Prophet, water does not get contaminated by dead dogs, and excrement of people.

“Narrated AbuSa’id al-Khudri: I heard that the people asked the Prophet of Allah (ﷺ): Water is brought for you from the well of Buda’ah. It is a well in which dead dogs, menstrual clothes and excrement of people are thrown. The Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) replied: Verily water is pure and is not defiled by anything.”(Sunan Abu Dawud Book 1, Hadith 67)

The Prophet prescribed drinking camel urine.

“The Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) sent them to some pregnant camels of his and told them to drink their milk and urine until they recovered.” (Sunan an-Nasai Volume 1, Book 1, Hadith 307 and Bukhari 7.71.590)

Drink camel’s urine as a medicine… (Sahih Bukhari, 2.24.577)

The Prophet prescribed eating fly wings.

The Prophet said “If a house fly falls in the drink of anyone of you, he should dip it (in the drink), for one of its wings has a disease and the other has the cure for the disease.” (Sahih Al-Bukhari: Volume 4, Book 54, Number 537)

Scientific Facts

The World Health Organization (WHO) is urging people to “avoid drinking raw camel milk or camel urine.”

Those with some basic science knowledge will know that water will become contaminated with deadly toxic bacteria if it touches dead bodies or excrement. Flies carry many deadly bacteria on their wings and bodies and thus should never be touched.

Conclusion

1. The knowledge is the Quran was compiled from knowledge that was already existing before the Quran and the Prophet of Islam.

• The scientific knowledge in the Quran is incorrect based on basic science.

• There are many contradictions and mistakes in the Quran.