The Amazing Quran (part 8 of 9)

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Description: A series of articles compelling the reader to ponder over the marvels of the Quran.  Part 8: An objective approach to looking at the truthfulness of the Quran.

  • By Dr.  Gary Miller (edited by www.islamhouse.com)
  • Published on 21 Jan 2013
  • Last modified on 04 Dec 2014
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A Mathematical Approach

AmazingQuran8.jpgAllof theexamplessofargivenconcerningthevariousanglesfromwhichonecanapproach theQuranhaveundoubtedly been subjectiveinnature;however,theredoesexistanother angle,amongothers,whichisobjectiveandwhosebasisismathematical.

ItissurprisinghowauthentictheQuranbecomeswhenoneassembleswhatmightbereferred toasalistofgoodguessesMathematically,itcanbeexplainedusingguessingandprediction examplesForinstance,ifapersonhastwochoices(i.e.,oneisright,andoneiswrong),andhe closeshiseyesandmakesa choice,thenhalf ofthetime(i.e.,onetimeoutoftwo)hewillbe rightBasically,hehasaoneintwochance,forhecouldpick thewrongchoice,orhecould picktherightchoice.

Nowifthesamepersonhastwosituationslikethat(i.e.,hecouldberightor wrongabout situationnumberone,andhecouldberightor wrongaboutsituationnumbertwo),andhe closeshiseyesandguesses,thenhewillonly berightone-fourthof thetime(i.e.,onetimeout offour).  Henowhasaoneinfourchancebecausenowtherearethreewaysforhim tobe wrongandonlyoneway forhim toberight.  In simpleterms,hecouldmakethewrongchoice in situationnumberoneandthenmakethewrongchoicein situationnumbertwo;orhecould makethewrongchoicein situationnumberoneand thenmaketherightchoicein situation numbertwo;orhecouldmaketherightchoicein situationnumberoneandthenmakethe wrongchoicein situationnumbertwo;orhecouldmaketherightchoicein situationnumber oneand thenmaketherightchoicein situationnumbertwo.

Of course,the(onlyinstanceinwhichhecouldbetotally rightisthelastscenariowherehe couldguesscorrectly inboth situationsTheoddsofhisguessingcompletely correctlyhave becomegreaterbecausethenumberofsituationsforhim toguessinhaveincreased;and the mathematicalequationrepresentingsuchascenariois½x½(i.e.,onetimeoutoftwoforthe firstsituationmultipliedbyonetimeoutoftwoforthesecondsituation).

Continuingonwiththeexample,ifthesamepersonnowhasthreesituationsinwhichtomake blindguesses,thenhewillonly berightone-eighthofthetime(i.e.,onetimeoutofeightox ½x½)Again,theoddsof choosingthecorrectchoiceinallthreesituationshavedecreased hischancesofbeingcompletely correcttoonly onetimeineightItmustbeunderstoodthat asthenumberofsituationsincrease,thechancesofbeingrightdecrease,forthetwo phenomenaareinversely proportional.

NowapplyingthisexampletothesituationsintheQuran,if onedrawsupalistofallof the subjectsaboutwhichtheQuranhasmadecorrectstatements,itbecomesvery clearthatitis highly unlikely thattheywerealljustcorrectblindguessesIndeed,thesubjectsdiscussedinthe Quranarenumerous,and thustheoddsofsomeonejustmakinglucky guessesaboutallofthembecomepracticallynilIf thereareamillionwaysfortheQurantobewrong,yeteachtimeitisright,then itisunlikely thatsomeonewasguessing.

ThefollowingthreeexamplesofsubjectsaboutwhichtheQuranhasmadecorrectstatements collectivelyillustratehowtheQurancontinuestobeattheodds.

The Female Bee

Inthe16thchapter(Surahan-Nahl16:68-69)theQuranmentionsthatthefemalebeeleaves itshometogatherfood.  Now,apersonmightguessonthat,saying,Thebeethatyousee flyingaround-itcouldbemale,oritcouldbefemale.  I thinkI willguessfemale.Certainly,he hasaoneintwochanceofbeingrightSoithappensthattheQuranisrightButitalso happensthatthatwasnotwhatmostpeoplebelievedatthetimewhentheQuranwas revealedCanyoutellthedifferencebetweenamaleandafemalebeeWell,ittakesa specialisttodothat,butithasbeendiscovered thatthemalebeeneverleaveshishometo gatherfood.  However,inShakespearesplay,HenrytheFourth,someofthecharactersdiscuss beesandmentionthatthebeesaresoldiersandhaveakingThatiswhatpeoplethoughtin Shakespearestime-thatthebeesthatoneseesflyingaroundaremalebeesandthatthey go homeandanswertoakingHowever,thatisnottrueatallThefactisthatthey arefemales, and they answertoaqueenYetittookmodern scientificinvestigationsinthelast300yearsto discoverthatthisisthecase.

So,backtothelistofgoodguesses,concerningthetopicofbees,theQuranhada50/50 chanceofbeingright,andtheoddswereoneintwo.

TheSun

Inadditiontothesubjectofbees,theQuranalsodiscussesthesunand themannerinwhichit travelsthrough spaceAgain,apersoncanguessonthatsubjectWhenthesunmoves through space,therearetwooptions:itcantraveljustasastonewould travelif onethrewit,or itcanmoveofitsownaccord.  TheQuran statesthelatter-thatitmovesasaresultofitsown motion(Surahal-Anbiya21:33)Todosuch,theQuranusesaform ofthewordsabahato describethesunsmovementthrough spaceInordertoproperly providethereaderwitha comprehensiveunderstandingoftheimplicationsofthisArabicverb,thefollowingexampleis given.

Ifamanisinwaterand theverbsabahaisappliedinreferencetohismovement,itcanbe understood thatheisswimming,movingofhisownaccordandnotasaresultofadirectforce applied tohim.  Thuswhenthisverbisusedinreferencetothesunsmovementthrough space, itinnoway impliesthatthesunisflyinguncontrollablythrough spaceasaresultofbeing hurledorthelikeItsimplymeansthatthesunisturningandrotatingasittravelsNow,thisis whattheQuranaffirms,butwasitaneasythingtodiscover?  Canany commonmantellthat thesunisturningOnlyinmoderntimeswastheequipmentmadeavailabletoprojectthe imageofthesunontoa tabletopsothatonecouldlookatitwithoutbeingblinded.  And throughthisprocessitwasdiscovered thatnotonly aretherespotsonthesunbutthatthese spotsmoveonceevery 25daysThismovementisreferred toastherotationof thesunaround itsaxisand conclusively provesthat,astheQuran stated1400yearsago,thesundoes, indeed,turnasittravelsthrough space.

Andreturningonceagaintothesubjectofgoodguesses,theoddsofguessingcorrectly aboutboth subjects-thesexofbeesand themovementofthesun-areoneinfour!

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