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The Qur'an and the Oily Red Rose Nebula
The Qur'an and the Oily Red Rose Nebula
There are many Muslim webpages propagating one particular example
of the miraculous scientific knowledge of the Qur'an, supposedly
proven by a picture from the NASA Hubble Space Telescope on
January 11, 1995,
but having reached the attention of the Muslims apparently when it was the featured
image at the NASA web site
on October 31, 1999. Starting from that date, some Muslim discovered that this is
may make a good miracle, spread the news and many have taken up the story (cf.
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One of the most elaborate articles on this topic was written by Shibli Zaman, making the claim:
Lifecyle of the Universe Foretold in the Qur'ân.
His claims, the statements presented as facts and the conclusions drawn from them,
are thoroughly examined in two articles: Is the Lifecycle
of the Universe Foretold in the Qur’an? by Alastair M. Paterson (PDF file, looking at
the scientific questions) and Does
the Qur'an Speak About a "Lifecycle of the Universe"? (on exegetical issues regarding
Surah 55:37).
For the remainder of this discussion I will look at one claim made by most of the above
linked Muslim articles, but not by Mr. Zaman and therefore not discussed in the above two
rebuttals. The Muslim sites usually display the NASA picture together with a verse from
the Qur'an, then a variety of similar statements or questions are presented:
This picture of the "Cat's Eye Nebula," taken on September 18, 1994,
by the NASA Hubble Space Telescope is officially referred to as NGC 6543.
Estimated to be 1,000 years old, the nebula is a visual "fossil record" of
the dynamics and late evolution of a dying star. NGC 6543 is an exploding
star 3,000 light-years away in the northern constellation Draco.
They should have called it the "Oily Red Rose Nebula." As the Quran
states in Surat ar-Rahman (chapter 55), "When the sky is torn apart, so it was
(like) a red rose, like ointment." How would the Quran know 1,400 years ago
that when a star explodes, it is like a oily red rose?
(Source)
We see it now in the years 1999/2000! and Quran mentioned it almost 1400
years ago. (Sources 1,
2,
3)
It is amazing with regards how accurately the Quran describes these events some
1400 years ago!!! (Source)
"When the sky splits apart, and turns rose-like..." (Qur'an 55:37)
Compare this statement in the Qur'an to the above NASA picture taken by the Hubble Telescope.
The picture captures the "Splitting" of "a" sky. Why didn't NASA call this the "rose nebula"
instead of the Cat's Eye Nebula? (Source)
There are, however, several problems with the Muslim claims. The first one will become
obvious when comparing a number of translations of Surah 55:37:
And when the heaven splitteth asunder and becometh rosy like red hide - (Pickthall)
When the sky is rent asunder, and it becomes red like ointment: (Yusuf Ali)
And when the heaven splits up and turns crimson like red hide (Nooruddin)
And when the heaven is rent asunder, and then becomes red like red hide. (Shakir)
When the sky disintegrates, and turns rose colored like paint. (Khalifa)
And when the sky is rent asunder, and becomes red like [burning] oil (Asad)
Then when the heaven is rent asunder,
and it becomes rosy or red like red oil, or red hide - (Hilali and Khan)
When the sky splits asunder and reddens like a rose or stained leather (Dawud)
And when the heaven shall be cleft asunder, and become rose red,
like stained leather (Rodwell)
And when heaven is torn asunder, and turns crimson like red leather (Arberry)
And when the heaven is rent asunder and become rosy red - (melting) like
grease! (Palmer)
And when the heaven shall be rent in sunder, and shall become [red as] a rose,
[and shall melt] like ointment: (Sale)
The issue is that the crucial word in the Arabic text is so obscure that
we do not even know what it exactly means, and so translators make some
educated guesses. Can we really call a statement of unclear meaning
a scientific miracle? There seems to be a general agreement that this
verse talks about some kind of a red color, similar to the COLOR of
a rose or stained leather or hot oil, but most of the translators do NOT say
that the sky will have the FORM of a rose or look like a rose. However,
this is obviously the point of connecting the verse with the image of this star
in most of the Muslim articles. They claim that this event is mentioned
in the Qur'an.
The authors of the translations used in the various Muslim articles referred
to above remain unidentified. They render Surah 55:37 for example like this:
And if the sky is torn apart to become a rose as in a painting,
(Source)
When the sky splits apart, and turns rose-like...
(Source)
When the sky is torn apart, so it was (like) a red rose, like ointment.
(most of the pages, e.g. this one)
Apparently, these Muslims have adjusted the translation to fit the image,
but what is their justification for doing so? Would it not be a matter of
intellectual integrity to state that we really do not know what the word
exactly means? An minor issue is that this amateurish translation doesn't
make much sense because of inconsistent tenses: "When the sky is (present
tense) ..., so it was (past tense) ...". The consequence of something
happening in the present (or future) can hardly be an effect in the past.
This violates the scientific law of cause and effect.
Furthermore, it is important to observe that the verse clearly says "when
the sky is torn apart", not "when one star loses part of its substance".
The image of this star having shed its outer layers was only possible because
of a very powerful telescope since it is so small and so faint and represents
only a very tiny dot on the sky.
Thus we have to ask: Since (a) the sky has so far obviously NOT been torn apart,
and (b) even this particular star is still there and not torn apart either (as
one can clearly see in the center of the image), WHY would anyone suppose that
this verse of the Qur'an talks about the event captured in this particular image?
And if it doesn't, where is the miracle?
The problem of applying the image of only one star (among billions of stars)
to the whole sky was recognized by one Muslim author, and so he writes:
The above photograph of the exploding Nebula raises a distinct possibility
that the explosion at some very early stage of the big bang might have looked
like the photograph of the Nebula. In that case the Qur'anic verse in Sura
Ar-Rahman is yet another reference to the big bang. Notice that the verse in
Sura Ar-Rahman says that "when the sky is clove apart ..." and not when
"a star is torn apart ..". The reference to sky rather than a star suggests
an explosion involving the whole universe as in the big bang.
(Source)
This reasoning is not valid either for several reasons:
First, the verse of the Qur'an clearly talks about a future event,
even about the end of this World (Judgment Day, cf. the article
Does the Qur'an
Speak About a "Lifecycle of the Universe"?) not the beginning
of the world. Second, one can only tear apart a sky that already exists.
Before the Big Bang, there was no sky to tear apart. Thus, this explanation
does not make much sense scientifically either. Third, according to the theories
of astrophysics, our universe is several billions of years old and there are
several billions of years to come before it may die. Thus, we are currently
soemwhere in the middle of its life. How can a verse from the Qur'an speaking
about the end of the world combined with an image of one star taken in
the middle of the life of the universe be evidence that the Qur'an teaches
that in the very beginning the universe started with the Big Bang?
Such logic is beyond me.
Jochen Katz
Qur'an, Islam & Science
Answering Islam Home Page