This verse of the Quran: “Do they not ponder on the Quran? If it had been from anyone other than God, they would have found much inconsistency in it” (4:82), was revealed in the first quarter of the seventh century A.D. This was long before the discoveries made by science. The revelation of this verse of the Quran prior to the age of scientific discovery was as if to claim that all the findings of science will be exactly in accordance with the Quran. There will be no inconsistency between Quranic statements and scientific discoveries. In this way, this would testify to the fact that the Quran is a book of the Lord, the Knower of the Unseen because, except for the Knower of the Unseen, no one can tell of these realities in advance.
When looked at from this angle, we learn that many phenomena, such as the Big Bang, were alluded to in the Quran far in advance of modern times. We quote here a relevant verse of the Quran: “Do not those who deny the truth see that the heavens and the earth were joined together and that We then split them asunder? And that we have made every living thing out of water? Will they still not believe?” (21:30)
In this verse of the Quran, three stages of creation have been mentioned. The first stage has been described as heaven and earth being joined together, which means that all the particles of the universe were joined together. This indicates the existence of the cosmic ball. The second stage has been called splitting them asunder (fatq). This indicates the event of the Big Bang. Then, in the third stage, it is mentioned that everything was made up of water. Here, ‘water’ symbolizes water and all other things.
Water is a substance. Many substances other than water are to be found in the universe. Water is made up of two atoms of hydrogen and one atom of oxygen. The same is true of other material things. Everything is composed of atoms. And the atom could be formed when mass was added to particles released after the Big Bang. Thus, in this verse with the mention of water, all other material things of this nature have been indirectly mentioned.
The Quran is not a book of science. But the Quran makes many references to the phenomena of nature, which are the subject of scientific investigation. The purpose of the Quran in referring to the signs existing in nature is for people to study branches of human knowledge which have discovered in detail about these phenomena. Many fragmentary references to the phenomena of nature are found in the Quran. Man did not know anything about these natural phenomena in ancient times. The mention of these references in the Quran became a means of informing and enlightening the human generations of the future to increase their knowledge by undertaking studies in this direction. In this way, it would become possible for a person to enhance his understanding of the universe and the natural world, thereby being in a position to deeply appreciate the Creator who has fashioned the world in His exceptional intelligence.
