The Qur'an Has Scientific Errors

I thank Esiar for instigating this debate. :) - I’d like to first point out that the Qur’an is not a scientific book, & thus should not be considered as such. The Qur’an is a book of guidance that promotes knowledge, reason & encourages it. Also, the Qur’an is a Revelation, & thus it asserts its origin is God, & assert thus Prophethood & Miracles. - Pro hasn’t define Scientific Error in the Qur’an, & so I’ll take the initiative & define it as: a statement from the Qur’an contradicting established scientific findings or established facts. & thus, if the Miracles mentioned in the Qur’an have natural causes, they thus can be proven or disproven scientifically ; if, on the other hand, they do not have natural causes, as in: they violate Causality, then the scientific method can not falsify them, for it presupposes Causality. Since the Qur’an is not clear which of the two is the right definition of Miracle (the two major Theological Schools of Thought in the Islamic Tradition differ on whether Miracles have natural Causes or supernatural causes), it would be pointless to argue that the Miracles mentioned in the Qur’an are scientific errors. - The Resolution reads: ‘the Qur’an has Scientific Errors’, thus, it’s on Pro the BOP to demonstrate the positive existence of scientific errors in the Qur’an. Case: Here is the relevant part of the verses invoked by Pro: So he followed a way ; Until, when he reached the setting of the sun, he found it [as if] setting in a spring of dark mud, and he found near it a people. > In Transliteration: Faattba’a sababa ; Hatta itha balagha maghriba ash-shamsi wajadaha taghrubu fee ‘aynin hami-atin wa wajada ‘indaha qawma. Fattaba’a = fallowing/pursuing sababa = way/road/course Hatta = conjunction of time or place meaning: as far as/up to/until. itha = when balagha = (He) reached/arrived at maghriba = east \ time of sunset. ash-shamsi = sun. wajadaha = (He) found \ spotted \ stumbled upon \ came upon \ deemed \ considered (it) taghrubu = setting (the sun). fee = in \ at. ‘aynin = spring \ lake \ sea \ ocean (any reserve or source of water or liquid). hami-atin = muddy/murky/dark \ hot/warm. <<< this word is a variant of pronunciation & so it can either be read: hami-atin, Or hamiatin (hot). wa wajada = (and) ‘wajada’ ‘indaha = conjunction of time or place meaning: at/when/by (it). qawma = people, group. Verse 85: > It states that Thul-Qarnayn was following/pursuing a way/road/course, thus he must be going towards a destination. Verse 86: > It starts first by a conjunction of time & place: Hatta, & so it suggests that whatever comes next is in fact a time or a place or both; > & another: iItha’ (when) suggesting that there will be simultaneity among the following events. >> Then, It follows the line of the previous verse & announces that Thul-Qarnayn reached his destination (balagha). & then tells of that destination , which is in the east (maghriba), which also suggests that the arrival at this destination happened at the time of sunset (maghriba ash-shamsi). >>> After, the verse relates that Thul-Qarnayn (He) found\spotted (wajadaha) the sun (it) setting (taghrubu), which follows naturally, as expected, from the fact that he indeed arrived at sunset. & thus the act of spotting the sun setting happened upon arrival. >>>> & so, it follows: the setting of the sun, as Thul-Qarnayn spotted it, was in\at (fee) a reserve of water\liquid (‘aynin). It is thus understood that the sun was setting behind water & not in it, for he (Thul-Qarnayn) had witnessed such sunset, & thus, it would seem to him as if the sun was going into the water. Which, thus, indicates that he was at the coast/seashore/border. Eg. if I say: ‘I saw you in the sea’ it would mean that I was at the sea when I saw you. >>>> Then, it describes the nature of the water behind which the sun was then setting: hami-atin\hamiatin. Implying that it (the water\liquid = spring\lake\sea\ocean) was of a muddy/murky/dark nature, Or hot/warm (depending on the pronunciation). >>>>> & then, the verse relates further what Thul-Qarnayn found\stumbled-upon\came-upon\spotted (wajada) when (‘inda) he arrived at the border of that water, & that is a people/group by this spring\lake\sea\ocean (‘indaha, i.e. living near it). => The dual use of time & place interchangeably in the verse is testament to the high rhetorical style of the Arabic in the Qur’an. => The interpretation of the nature of the water\liquid (‘aynin hami-atin), as proposed by some Exegetists, may refer to the Mediterranean Sea, the Atlantic Ocean, the Caspian Sea, or even as some suggested (such as Ben ‘Ashour): an oil field near the Caspian Sea (because it conforms with the description of dark liquid). The first two were favourites of the earlier Exegetists, the last two were favourites of the more recent ones, for the Caspian Sea fits more the description: it either is warm, or muddy, or has nearby oil fields. Rebuttals: Argument 1: - Claim: verse 18:86 states that the sun sets in a ‘spring of dark mud’. => That can not be true, because the verse does not say: ‘Until, when he reached the maghrib of the sun, IT was setting in a spring of dark mud’ <<< that is to say: it doesn’t assert anything about where or how the sun sets! It rather describes the scenery surrounding Thul-Qarnayn when he arrived at his destination (from his own perspective) : ‘[. . .] , HE found\spotted it -as if- setting in a spring of dark mud’ Argument 2: - Claim: Muhammad himself interprets it differently. Sunan Aba Dawud 3991says, "I was sitting behind the Messenger 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 (Hamiyah).” > That narration was reported by Abu Dharr (a companion of the Prophet): - Narrated Abu Dharr: I was sitting behind the Messenger 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 (Hamiyah) [^Abu Dawud #4002] > Another similar narration reported by the same companion as follows: Narrated Abu Dharr: Once I was with the Prophet in the mosque at the time of sunset. The Prophet said, "O Abu Dharr! Do you know where the sun sets?" I replied, "Allah and His Apostle know best." He said, "It goes and prostrates underneath (Allah's) Throne; And that is the interpretation of the Statement of Allah: "And the sun Runs its fixed course For a term (decreed). that is The Decree of (Allah) The Exalted in Might, The All- Knowing." [(36.38)] [^al-Bukahri #3199, #4801, 7424] + [^Muslim #159] + [^at-Tarmidhi #2286, #3227] + [^Abu Dawud #368] + [^an-Nisai #229] - The former narration appears in only one of the Six Canonical Collections of Hadith (the most authentic collections of Hadith). The latter narration appears in five of the Six Canonical Collections. The two narrations are reports by the same companion of the same account, & thus they must be variants of transmission, i.e. only one of the two can be true. & the latter is definitely the True version, because: 1. For the reason I cited above, the latter is reported in almost all authentic sources of Hadith, the former is reported in just one. 2. In the single chain of transmission of the former there is a narrator called: al-Hakam Ibn ‘Utaybah, who was accused of fabrication of distorted reports by an-Nisai (of of the authors of the Six Canonical Collections) & by others (such as Ibn Hiban . . .). In the multi chain of transmission of the latter, there are besides al-Hakam ibn ‘Utaybah, others fully trustworthy narrators, such as: Musa Ibn Musayb, al-A’mash. . . 3. Both narrations depict a description of the sunset that is inspired from the Qur’an, the former from the verse 18:86 (“setting in a dark/warm water”) ; the latter from the verse 22:18 “Do you not see that to Allah prostrates whoever is in the heavens and whoever is on the earth and the sun, the moon, the stars [. . .]”. & so there is reason to suspect why one narrator may confuse the two, & replace one with the other, either intentionally or unintentionally. => It’s clear from the above arguments, that the latter narration report the true account, & thus the former is a mistaken one.Sources: http://sunnah.com... http://library.islamweb.net...