Qur'aanic Verse 2:164:
Transliteration:
Transliteration:
164. Inna
fee khalqi alssamawati waal-ardi waikhtilafi
allayli waalnnahari waalfulki allatee tajree fee albahri
bima yanfaAAu alnnasa wama anzala Allahu
mina alssama-i min ma-in faahya bihi al-arda
baAAda mawtiha wabaththa feeha min kulli dabbatin watasreefi
alrriyahi waalssahabi almusakhkhari bayna alssama-i
waal-ardi laayatin liqawmin yaAAqiloona
Translation:
164. Indeed, in the creation of the heavens and the
earth, in the contrast between the day and the night, in the ship that sails on
the sea with things beneficial to mankind, in what Allah sends down of water
from the sky bringing the earth back to life after it was dead, in every kind
of animals dispersed therein, in the winds changing their directions, and in
the clouds under divine control between the sky and the earth, are compelling
signs for people who make use of their intelligence.264 to 268
Study Notes:
264. A study
of the Qur'aan reveals that the Messengers, who came before Muhammad (peace be
upon him and upon them all), were given some extraordinary signs to convince
people of the existence of an absolute solitary Power controlling the entire Universe
and also to convince them of the Messengers being the really authorised ones
from that Power. The earlier Messengers came when the level of general
knowledge among the people was low. Their (people's) knowledge therefore needed
to be supplemented by divinely given 'miracles'. But the last Messenger,
Muhammad, came at the threshold of an era in which human knowledge would
proliferate. The proliferation of human knowledge, combined with the divinely
endowed human intelligence, became sufficient for people to recognise the
Absolute Solitary Power. The supplement of 'miracles' was no more needed. The
people are now in a position to recognize the Power from the signs that
abound in Nature.
265. This divine exhortation
made in this Verse for study of Natural phenomena, moreover, imbibed the
scientific spirit, of reason and research, in the minds of the believers.
Consequently, a number of thinkers in various fields like medicine,
mathematics, physics, astronomy, literature etc. arose in the Muslim world, who
were instrumental in laying the foundation of the scientific renaissance that
the world is witnessing today. It was from the works of those great Muslim
scientists and thinkers of the middle Ages that the Western world got the
basics to develop from. And it makes one sad to think that while the Westerners
built the scientific edifice of the modern world on the foundation laid by the
Muslims, the Muslim world itself lost the scientific spirit with the weakening
of their Faith in the Qur'aan!
266. 'The creation of the
heavens and the earth' is the first Aayat (Sign) referred to in this
divine Verse. And we have already seen in Chapter Notes 20
and 21 how the seven layers of the earth's atmosphere have been
meticulously and correctly designed to act as a protective shield and a
provider of sustenance for all living creatures on the earth. Only an
unreasonable fool would dismiss this wonderfully exquisite arrangement as a
mere accident of nature. And then we have this mind-boggling spectacle of
innumerable heavenly bodies floating in their respective orbits with such
mathematical precision that they never bump into one another accidentally. We
cannot but marvel at the Power Who no doubt made all this possible –
consciously and purposefully. It would be irrational and unscientific for
anyone to think of it as a mere accident in nature.
267. As regards the other Signs
mentioned in the Verse, the night, following the day in every 24-hour cycle in
time, is an obvious provision made for rest, without which human life is
impossible to be sustained. Further, had it not been for the facility of
navigation by sea, transport of tonnes and tonnes of merchandise from one part
of the world to another wouldn't have been easy. Had it not been for the
periodic rains, there wouldn't be the recurring stock of vegetable products
necessary for sustenance of any kind of life on earth. One who ponders deeply
can easily detect that some Extraordinarily Intelligent Power is guiding the
directions of the cloud-bearing winds to bring rains to regions, as desired by
that Unseen Power. The sprouting of vegetation on dry earth after a rainfall,
moreover, provides an indication that human life could likewise be resurrected
even after death.
268.
With my limited knowledge, I have barely touched on the immense significance of the Signs mentioned in this Verse. Persons with adequate knowledge and
resources could write volumes and volumes on the significance – and on the
sciences – of these Signs. All these Signs, however, unmistakably point to the
Hidden Hand of the Supremely Super Power.
An extract from soon-to-be-published, inshaAllah, Qur'aanic Studies
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