The Amazing Quran (part 8 of 9)
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
Allof theexamplessofargivenconcerningthevariousanglesfromwhichonecanapproach theQuranhaveundoubtedly been subjectiveinnature;however,theredoesexistanother angle,amongothers,whichisobjectiveandwhosebasisismathematical.
ItissurprisinghowauthentictheQuranbecomeswhenoneassembleswhatmightbereferred toasalistofgoodguesses. Mathematically,itcanbeexplainedusingguessingandprediction examples. Forinstance,ifapersonhastwochoices(i.e.,oneisright,andoneiswrong),andhe closeshiseyesandmakesa choice,thenhalf ofthetime(i.e.,onetimeoutoftwo)hewillbe right. Basically,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 situations. Theoddsofhisguessingcompletely correctlyhave becomegreaterbecausethenumberofsituationsforhim toguessinhaveincreased;and the mathematicalequationrepresentingsuchascenariois½x½(i.e.,onetimeoutoftwoforthe firstsituationmultipliedbyonetimeoutoftwoforthesecondsituation).
Continuingonwiththeexample,ifthesamepersonnowhasthreesituationsinwhichtomake blindguesses,thenhewillonly berightone-eighthofthetime(i.e.,onetimeoutofeightor½x ½x½). Again,theoddsof choosingthecorrectchoiceinallthreesituationshavedecreased hischancesofbeingcompletely correcttoonly onetimeineight. Itmustbeunderstoodthat asthenumberofsituationsincrease,thechancesofbeingrightdecrease,forthetwo phenomenaareinversely proportional.
NowapplyingthisexampletothesituationsintheQuran,if onedrawsupalistofallof the subjectsaboutwhichtheQuranhasmadecorrectstatements,itbecomesvery clearthatitis highly unlikely thattheywerealljustcorrectblindguesses. Indeed,thesubjectsdiscussedinthe Quranarenumerous,and thustheoddsofsomeonejustmakinglucky guessesaboutallofthembecomepracticallynil. If 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 hasaoneintwochanceofbeingright. SoithappensthattheQuranisright. Butitalso happensthatthatwasnotwhatmostpeoplebelievedatthetimewhentheQuranwas revealed. Canyoutellthedifferencebetweenamaleandafemalebee? Well,ittakesa specialisttodothat,butithasbeendiscovered thatthemalebeeneverleaveshishometo gatherfood. However,inShakespeare’splay,HenrytheFourth,someofthecharactersdiscuss beesandmentionthatthebeesaresoldiersandhaveaking. Thatiswhatpeoplethoughtin Shakespeare’stime-thatthebeesthatoneseesflyingaroundaremalebeesandthatthey go homeandanswertoaking. However,thatisnottrueatall. Thefactisthatthey arefemales, and they answertoaqueen. Yetittookmodern scientificinvestigationsinthelast300yearsto discoverthatthisisthecase.
So,backtothelistofgoodguesses,concerningthetopicofbees,theQuranhada50/50 chanceofbeingright,andtheoddswereoneintwo.
TheSun
Inadditiontothesubjectofbees,theQuranalsodiscussesthesunand themannerinwhichit travelsthrough space. Again,apersoncanguessonthatsubject. Whenthesunmoves through space,therearetwooptions:itcantraveljustasastonewould travelif onethrewit,or itcanmoveofitsownaccord. TheQuran statesthelatter-thatitmovesasaresultofitsown motion(Surahal-Anbiya21:33). Todosuch,theQuranusesaform ofthewordsabahato describethesun’smovementthrough space. Inordertoproperly providethereaderwitha comprehensiveunderstandingoftheimplicationsofthisArabicverb,thefollowingexampleis given.
Ifamanisinwaterand theverbsabahaisappliedinreferencetohismovement,itcanbe understood thatheisswimming,movingofhisownaccordandnotasaresultofadirectforce applied tohim. Thuswhenthisverbisusedinreferencetothesun’smovementthrough space, itinnoway impliesthatthesunisflyinguncontrollablythrough spaceasaresultofbeing hurledorthelike. Itsimplymeansthatthesunisturningandrotatingasittravels. Now,thisis whattheQuranaffirms,butwasitaneasythingtodiscover? Canany commonmantellthat thesunisturning? Onlyinmoderntimeswastheequipmentmadeavailabletoprojectthe imageofthesunontoa tabletopsothatonecouldlookatitwithoutbeingblinded. And throughthisprocessitwasdiscovered thatnotonly aretherespotsonthesunbutthatthese spotsmoveonceevery 25days. Thismovementisreferred toastherotationof thesunaround itsaxisand conclusively provesthat,astheQuran stated1400yearsago,thesundoes, indeed,turnasittravelsthrough space.
Andreturningonceagaintothesubjectofgoodguesses,theoddsofguessingcorrectly aboutboth subjects-thesexofbeesand themovementofthesun-areoneinfour!
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